> Reformation of the Hives > by law abiding pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1: Rebirthday > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Parties in Canterlot were hardly rare events, and when Pinkie Pie was in town, the weekly party count usually doubled. The Sparkle Manor was as lively as ever with one this very night. The large backyard and much of the manor itself was crowded with ponies and changelings alike as everyone sang to the playfully embarrassed lavender matriarch standing near the pool. “Happy Re-birth day, to you!” They all sang with merriment filling the air along with spilled champagne. “Happy Re-birth day, to you!” Rainbow Dash had a foreleg wrapped around her beloved sister swinging Twilight Sparkle back and forth with the rhythm of the song. “Happy Re-birth day, dear Twilight/Momma!” Giggles spilled across the crowd between ponies and drones. “Happy Re-birth daaaay, toooooo yoooouuu!” Cheering heralded multiple corks being launched from their bottles coupled with thundering hooves and buzzing wings in applause. Pinkie Pie rolled out a massive three meter cake with big bold letters ‘Happy 12th re-birthaversery!!!!’ “Heeey everybody! Let’s carve this cake!” Twilight snickered and took the large knife in her magic and cut the first piece. Barely a second after she had her plate, ponies and drones alike raced forward to devour the confectionary delicacy that only Pinkie could make. Twilight and Rainbow Dash hastily made off with their slices before the throng of drones could crush them. The pair found a quiet corner to eat. “Twilight, I gotta say, for a birthday party, we’ve done more talking than dancing.” “But I need to talk,” Twilight replied with a goofy imitation of Rarity’s daughter. Rainbow retorted with mumbled sarcastic nonsense. She spotted Night Light squeezing his way through the crowd with a middle-aged unicorn mare in tow. “Twilight, honey! Even with you being as tall as you are, it’s nearly impossible to find you. I had to wait for the song to single you out.” The aging stallion roped both queens into a hug to which they eagerly returned. The trio had caught up with each other earlier that night, but neither matriarch was going to pass up an embrace from their father and adopted father, respectively. “Natural camouflage, daddy,” Twilight joked while flicking her mane over. She had been letting it grow longer than usual to match Rainbow Dash’s nearly meter long mane and tail. “Can never be too sure if the PCE is still hanging around.” “Well they would be foalish indeed to attack tonight with the princesses here.” Night Light looked over to his female companion and waved a hoof at her. “Uh, I actually have someone special to acquaint you with. Please, let me introduce my new marefriend, Azure Skies.” Rainbow noticed Twilight’s aura flicker wildly at that. Her parents’ divorce had been hard, and she was sure that Night would have wallowed in misery alone with his children living so far away from home. He has to grieve the hard way. Props to him for burying his past. “Ah, hello, your highness,” Azure babbled, clearly uncomfortable around royalty. “I have to say it is a profound honor to meet you.” The poor unicorn wasn’t exactly sure what to do with a changeling diarch. Do I bow, curtsy, kiss her hoof, what?! Falling back on what she knew, Azure simply stuck her hoof out to shake. “I know I can’t replace Velvet, but I hope I can bring happiness to the family, if, well you know…” Azure wilted at her own clumsy words. Twilight simply smiled and shook the embarrassed mare’s hoof. “You seem like a good mare, Azure Sky, I hope father and you make each other happy.” She noticed Ratchet hovering nearby waiting for the conversation to end. Night Light smiled broadly at his daughter’s approval. The way things looked last time I was there, I lost all hope of getting the real Velvet back. Casting the sour thought away, he refocused on the present. “Ah what a time to be alive, when a father needs his daughter’s approval for courting another. I didn’t think I was that old just yet.” He knew full well about the Day of Mourning, and how Twilight had grieved for the loss of Velvet’s love, but he still wanted to keep his daughter as happy as possible. With the ice broken, all four of them peeled out laughter, giving Twilight the perfect excuse to telekinetically nudge Ratchet into the conversation. “Since he’s here,” Twilight started with a sly wink to the confused consort, “you might as well meet my Prime Consort, Ratchet Altair. Ratchet, this is my father’s marefriend, Azure Sky.” Quick on the uptake, Ratchet shook Azure’s hoof who had absently left it up after Twilight let go. “A pleasure to be sure.” Rainbow Dash decided to split her awareness to puppet a drone back in Phoenix’s Roost and started up a Hoofball game. If my body’s going to be stuck here talking instead of actually partying, then I’m going to put my brain somewhere else. As long as I stick around Sis, she won’t mind. Rainbow didn’t get far into her hoofball plans when Iron Fist all but barged his way into the conversation. The old minotaur was as craggy as ever, and had aged well, revealing only a scant few grey hairs. “There, you are, Queenbow!” Rainbow gave a fang filled smirked at the pet name. The conversation ground to a halt as Iron Fist let the head of his wooden mallet drop to the soft grass. “The time for talk is over. Now we must spar or else I’ll go mad with these docile pony customs.” “Ha!” Rainbow came forward while eagerly buzzing her wings. “Anytime, anywhere. I’ll put you on the ground in nine seconds flat.” “Ah, so you’ve improved. Good! My son shall assist me in battle.” He let off a deep belly laugh at the prospect of having a good fight. “Since your heir being groomed into flabby administrator, bring one of your warrior brood instead. It shall be a glorious battle, one worthy of my changeling friends and allies!” “No doubt.” Rainbow didn’t even need to do anything more than mentally ping her sister to say her temporary goodbye. To the rest, she merely nodded before following after Iron Fist The drone had been in the middle of watching a group of griffins, sphinxes, and a few ponies play poker when the call came in. Much to his chagrin, Thunderfury had been banned from playing due to his hive mind and other drones blanketing the room. He double checked that his shields were still on his back before taking off. As Rainbow Dash and Iron Fist began to exchange bruises for the next hour, Aegis and Blitz were exiting one of the showers after a round in one of the guestrooms that the drones had decided to make a temporary ‘love palace’ for the party’s duration. Blitz was completely out of breath and was leaning against the cool wooden walls after the hot shower with her royal counterpart. Thanks to Rainbow’s intense training regimen, Aegis was only slightly out of breath, so she was able to stand unassisted while flexing her flesh and blood hands. While Aegis was completely at ease resting on two legs in public with ponies, Blitz was far less keen on it. If either changeling princess dropped back onto four legs they’d easily be as tall as Luna. As if Aegis would let me stay on four hooves around here with an excuse like that. It took her a moment to fully comprehend Aegis’ comment. “Wait, what? You bedded with Rasua?! But I thought she was…” Blitz groaned as her tired brain failed to find the words. “What do mammals call it?” “Straight,” Aegis answered while joining her counterpart in slipping to vocalization. “Sadly I did not. Buuut, Thunderfury did, and I got both his and Rasua’s consent to watch his memories of their little get together sessions to get pointers.” Aegis rubbed her fingers together, reminding Blitz of the last several minutes. Twilight’s teachings had given Blitz more composure than Aegis, so she was able to pass the gesture off with an amused snort. “Where is Rasua anyway? I haven’t seen her all night.” Aegis’ eyes lost focus as she communed with the changeling half of the security detail. The act left Blitz to pass the time by looking out of the window towards the collection of Royal Guards and Jevruun Vrunningee watching over the guests. The years had seen the Equestrian military being armed with a number of infantry weapons including the new clockwerk repeating rifles. The entire weapon was covered in multiple failsafe inscriptions to make sure only the designated owner could fire it. It’s not perfect, but it’s worked so far. Plus the refit of Equestria’s military has us rolling in bits. Aegis perked up, catching Blitz’s attention. “She’s over with Uncle Shiny talking about the Crystal Empire.” “She’s not a very discreet spy is she?” Aegis just shrugged. “As if our ambassador in the Federation mainland is any better. It’s how nations play the game.” “It’s a credit to your mothers that you understand the International Game,” a voiced called out from the behind Aegis. Both princesses turned to find Cadence with a pleased expression and an aura to match. “You two are lucky to have Twily and Rainbow for both mothers and mentors.” Aegis grinned and glomped her aunt-in-law while Blitz sheepishly twirled a lock of her prismatic mane with a finger. Crud. If she could sneak up on us, we need to stop vocal-talking about that stuff. “Hey Aunty Kay. Life in the Empire as calm as usual?” Cadence used her magic to smoothen Aegis’ rowdy mane. “You mean boring? Yes, though I don’t know if I should be glad or sad about that.” Aegis gave one last squeeze before letting go. “Well you’d be far less bored if you and Uncle Shiny finally had a foal or two, ya know.” It was an old argument, and Cadence had little hope to pass it off smoothly. “Tell that to your uncle. Part of the problem of being an alicorn is that I can’t use the biological clock of menopause as an excuse.” “I’m sure he’ll come around,” Blitz offered placatingly. “Maybe he’s just scared of the idea after looking at all seventy one thousand offspring between Aunty Twilight and momma. At least if you count the nymphs and eggs.” Cadence chuckled at that before an idea struck her, causing the pink mare’s grin to turn sinister. “I might just have to threaten him that I’ll get rebirthed into a queen to make my own foals if he doesn’t give me some soon. Do you have any idea how awkward it is to be the Alicorn of Love without any children of my own?” “Probably as weird as a queen with no drones to her name,” Aegis replied flatly. She completely missed Blitz’s chiding glare and was oblivious to Cadence’s flustered state thanks to the alicorn’s careful composure. “Well I’m sure I can get him to come around soon enough” Cadence said to shift topic. She cantered over to try and locate her husband in the crowd. “You two aren’t that far off from going off on your own.” Aegis grinned wickedly as she looked down at her belly mentally prodding it to hurry up and start making eggs. Even Blitz was being swayed by the royal hormones flowing through her, and had to work to keep eggs off the brain. “Yup, Resta says we should start oviparing in a couple of weeks or so. She’s convinced that being overdosed on love all the time and our proximity to,” she paused to glance conspiratorially around before leaning into Cadence’s ear, “the Tree,” Aegis leaned back to speak normally. “Is accelerating our overall development faster than Momma Twilight intended.” Cadence couldn’t stop herself from laughing at that. “What a crazy idea. Being overdosed with love is such a bewildering concept.” So is living without the song of the hive mind, Aegis mused defensively. Thankfully even she had the presence of mind to keep that thought to herself. “Our queen-mothers have been stockpiling building materials and bits. We’re already breaking ground, but we’re in no rush to get everything going right away. Even if we started laying tonight it would still be another three years before we had any adult children.” “And another year or so after that for them to be educated enough to start running a hive,” Blitz stated matter of factly. Cadence was still bewildered by the whole thing. Twilight’s rebirthday was a clear indicator on how old Aegis was. She’s not even a teenager, and Aegis is going to be a ruler soon. Not to mention Blitz is even younger. “Don’t you feel like you should have more time just by yourselves?” The question baffled the princesses. Logically, they knew about the pony life cycle, but they didn’t truly understand it. Blitz glanced at her mildly confused counterpart before mirroring that expression to Cadence. “What do you mean?” Now it was Cadence’s turn to feel slight embarrassment, but she still wanted to ask. She uncomfortably cleared her throat before continuing. “From what I understand, normal changeling princesses require something akin to three decades to become queens. You’re barely getting a third of that between you.” Aegis wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that, but Blitz used every ounce of Twilight’s tutelage. “Well, I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but we’re changelings. We’re all so different from each other it’s a wonder we can even consider ourselves one single species. What’s normal for another, would be weird for us.” “I see,” Cadence conceded. “That must be a real pain for cross hive medical treatment, if such a thing happens.” Aegis snorted derisively. “I doubt that’ll ever happen outside of our mothers’ bloodline. Well, the Home Guard don’t count. The war down there must be winding down by now, one would think, so who knows.” Rasua sat at the bar with Shining Armor downing shots of whisky with the best of them. The unicorn was right there with her, matching her drink for drink. “I must say, what is it with griffins?!” She roared with inebriated delight. “Did someone pluck a sphinx in half and plant an eagle in the hole?!” Shining’s shot glass wavered erratically in his magic. “I bet the gardener who pulled that one off was drunker than we are!” The pair laughed uproariously with Shining ordering another round for the both of them with a wobbly shake of his hoof to the nearest bottle. Rasua absently watched the pegasus barkeep refill her shot with drunken enthusiasm. “Hey I just had a thought.” “Careful now, those hurt ya know?” Shining laughed at his own joke, but Rasua was too drunk to process it. “Do griffins lay eggs like other birds?” Rasua’s head hung low as she stared at the blank faced Shining Armor who was trying to remember. “Ya know, I’m pretty sure they do.” He wildly swung his head around to look at her. “Hey, you both have kitty cat back halves. Do you lay eggs?” She waved an angry finger at him, but it looked comical if nothing else. “It’s not a kitty cat, it’s a proud feline warrior body! And no, we don’t lay eggs. I can’t think of any cat things that do.” “The griffins do,” Shining deadpanned. Rasua threw her hands up in exasperation. “What?! You gotta be crazy! Why would the bird half make the mammal back half lay eggs?!” “Well, ask him then!” Shining Armor pointed to the figure behind Rasua. She turned around to find an immaculately dressed male griffin who was glaring at them with insulted fury the likes of which had never been seen in the aviaries before. “So,” Rasua slurred, “what’s the deal with you and eggs huh?” “You drunken louts are appalling.” He snorted derisively and turned his beak up. “I half expected this from you arrogant sphinxes, but you, Prince Shining Armor, I expected better.” With a loud harrumph, the griffin stormed away from the bar. A flash of dread passed over the unicorn after he noticed griffin’s the ceremonial saber. “I think that was General Razor Beak. Oh that won’t be fun.” “Ha ha! Prepare the royal couch!” Rasua belted off snorting laughter at her drinking buddy’s expense. Cadista sat on a stone bench near the far corner of the hedge fence at the back end of the property. The area was much quieter, and the din of the hive mind was more than enough to keep her company. She was more than happy to let her daughter have her day with all of her pony family. The former queen was a little shorter now, about the size of a consort, and she now had the round irises and glowing eyes to match any drone. With her ability to lay eggs removed, she no longer had any expansionist desires, nor the queenly pheromones to match. All in all, the only real thing she kept of her royal blood was her gender, ability to resist mental domination, and her psionic prowess. Yet despite her desire for a quieter corner to rest after hours of intermingling in party, she was not alone. Arya had come along with a scant few Tea’la. The plant ponies were still sluggish with integration into such a technological society, but celebrations were universal. Arya spotted the false-consort and approached Cadista with her wooden wings wrapped around several drinks. “Hail, friend Cadista. Why you seek escape from celebration? This is grand time for living, yes?” “For many, I’m sure,” Cadista replied calmly. Twilight was never able to smoothen the translation spell due to how different a plant brain worked. For the moment though, Cadista suppressed a sigh, refusing to let her mood fall. “But not especially for me. My daughters have become strong and independent of me. My life’s goal is complete.” “You use strange ideas.” Arya thrust a drink ladden wing at the former queen. “Life work always there. If you done with one, get another one.” Cadista genuinely chuckled and took a couple of drinks off of the plant pony. “I am old, my leafy friend, all I’m good for these days is being the wise elder.” Arya gave her the narrowed gaze of a pony who had a little too much alcohol, or in her case, too much sugar. “You say that as bad thing. Is good thing, very, very important that old teach young.” Cadista wordlessly nodded at the point. “And on other leaf, life purpose not need to be better than old one. Just a new one.” “You have a way with words, you know that?” Cadista had listened to Twilight and even Rainbow Dash say the same thing multiple times, but there was something about the green and brown Tea’la that always made those thoughts weigh heavier than usual. “So what should I do, besides advise my daughters?” “My no know. I Tea’la, Druid Guardian of the Tree, not wise one. You know what you should do, but no do it. So you need do it or you stay sad ever more.” “I’ll think on it,” Cadista replied automatically as she did to Twilight and Rainbow whenever the topic came up. For a moment, it seemed that Ayra would leave Cadista to her painfully sugary drinks. However, the plant pony latched onto Cadista’s foreleg and pulled her to her hooves. “Bad mojo on you. You must have cleansing ritual, is only way to banish sad spirits. Come this way!” Ayra bounded over to the deep end of the pool and jumped in with a howling warcry. Cadista was more amused than annoyed at being forced from her isolation, but only just. She ignored the wary looks from the scores of swimming ponies and drones and waited for Arya to surface. “Come into the pony-lake! Water is soother of spirit. I know because I am druid.” At any earlier time in her life, Cadista would have refrained from joining the rambunctious plant pony. Now however, her pride as a queen was all but gone. I’ve done my part. Perhaps I’ve earned a chance to have some fun. Casting hundreds of years and multiple lifetimes of decorum aside for the night, Cadista gently slid into the cool water and floated there without a word. The act spread like wildfire across the grey drones in attendance before going hive wide. Cadista was allowing herself some public form of enjoyment. Clearly, the Silver City would be abuzz with gossip within seconds. Ayra felt happy sap spread throughout her veins. She paddled over to the lounging queen with her wings acting as poor flippers. “The spirits that watch you are happy now. Their singing is joyous, friend Cadista.” Cadista didn’t believe in the Tea’la spirits, but she smiled at the compliment all the same. “Glad to see my ancestors approve.” The night progressed with wild abandon. Twilight Sparkle found herself sitting a large circular couch with her closest pony family, Ratchet, Princess Luna, and Rainbow Dash who was sporting some new bruises. In addition, Rainbow’s parents had finally caught up to their daughter after her sparring match. Sadly, Celestia had to bid farewell for the night an hour earlier. Prism was a lean but muscularly built stallion who still wore his army soft cap wherever he went, even though he was long retired. Howling Wind was a sky blue pegasus who never tried to hide the pride in her eyes every time she looked at her husband or daughter. As was becoming the norm, the queens leaned against each other, relishing the other’s proximity. “So, Colonel Prism,” Twilight started up after polishing off her beverage. “I think father has never heard about how you and Howling Wind reacted to RD becoming a changeling.” Rainbow glowered at her sister. “Ah come on, Twi, don’t ask them that! I have a repu-” She got no further as that’s when Howling Wind flew over and embraced her beloved daughter. She inadvertently caused Twilight to back away a little from her sister. “Oh momma’s little flier was scared to the high heavens, she was shivering on her hooves like a frozen puppy. Wasn’t she Prizzy?” “That she was,” Prism replied with a mirthful grin at the prospect of dishing out parental embarrassment. “Poor girl was scared stiff with just the idea of showing us her half and half state, so much that we didn’t know anything about it until after my little Rainbow woke up a royal bug.” Rainbow buried her face in her hooves and groaned as old self-consciousness threatened to overwhelm her. Not even a military career could get her to ignore parental mortification. Not that her mother noticed, and continued where her husband left off. “She came in like the little trooper she is without using any disguise magic. Just strode right in and told us what happened.” Wind mussed her daughter’s unruly mane. “To think she believed a little thing like holes and fangs could stop us from loving our only daughter.” “Well to be fair,” Rainbow announced through her hooves, “I had some good reasons at the time to be anxious, what with Twilight’s lack of success.” Both Twilight and Night Light soured at that, even if Twilight was expecting Rainbow’s poor choice of words. She glanced over at Night Light and was pleased to see that Azure Sky hugged her father a little tighter. She’s supportive, even in subtle moments. Prism glowered at Rainbow who only reacted because she sensed his aura grow chastisingly bitter. “I see your mouth still runs a mile ahead of your brain. I apologize for her lack of social graces,” he said to the Sparkle family. “Between us, her drill instructors, and commanding officers, we never could ween that out of her.” Luna carefully watched the whole exchange, including who Twilight’s gaze was focused on. Did she really bring that topic up just to gain some insight on Night’s marefriend? Luna cast the annoyed thought aside. “So, Azure Sky, you started work quite recently at my Royal Observatory correct?” The pale blue unicorn nodded briskly. “Yes, princess, that’s also where I met, Nighty.” She nuzzled his neck briefly. By now, Rainbow had recovered from her embarrassment and Wind was returning to her husband’s side. “I was there by request of the Chief Astronomer,” Night Light said with wistful remembrance, “when we met each other.” The couple went on to tell the tale while Twilight carefully masked a detection spell by simultaneously levitating her cup to drink. She’s not a changeling, or using any enchantments. So she’s probably who she says she is. “That’s interesting,” she said warmly, “I still find time to stargaze even now.” Azure Sky grinned and was about to go into her favorite constellations when a Lunar Guard caught her attention as he whispered into Luna’s ear from behind. She passed it off to speak. “Well I’ve always been fascinated by the ponyhead nebula. It’s eerie, really.” “It does seem strangely similar, to be sure,” Twilight conceded with a thin smile. “Although recently I’ve been infatuated with the Cat's Eye Nebula. It feels like a distant queen is looking back at me.” Azure took a moment to truly notice the queens’ cat-like eyes. “It does doesn’t it. Although I’m sure we all thought that of Messier 57.” “The great eye in the heavens,” Twilight identified with an interested hum. Rainbow Dash nudged her sister. Once she had her sister’s attention, Rainbow sat up. “Something wrong Luna?” All eyes turned to the midnight mare who rose to her hooves. “There are two changeling drones at the front gates claiming to be from the ‘Home Guard’.” Rainbow remembered that only pony guards were stationed at the front. No wonder I didn’t hear about it first. “This must be important if the HG are coming all the way here to speak with us personally.” Twilight kissed Ratchet before joining her sister on getting up. “Excuse us, everypony, we’ll be back shortly.” Rainbow took a slight lead in moving to the front. Aegis had been contemplating on finding a way to see what Cadence’s love tasted like when the call came in. Both princesses shared a bewildered stare before taking to the air. Blitz lightly slapped her counterpart’s head. Blitz made sure to keep Twilight and Rainbow in on the conversation, to which Twilight was equally pleased with Blitz as she was displeased with Rainbow’s area of instruction. Rainbow knew exactly what her sister was going to say before the words even formed in her mind. “Neither one of us had the luxury of all these extra years,” Twilight reminded her. “Exactly,” Rainbow all but shouted, temporarily drawing eyes towards her. “I wouldn’t wish that on anypony, let alone our royal kids! Besides, we had our pony lives to draw experience from.” Twilight followed her sister out the front door and saw the two princess buzzing over the roof to join them. “Let’s just be glad we have them in-hive for at least another four years while their drones mature.” Twilight’s instincts surged at the prospect of Aegis maturing into a proto-queen soon, but her logical side was adamant in training both princesses before they moved out. Aegis and Blitz landed next to their mothers right outside the gate where a pair of thestral guards were watching over the two undisguised Home Guards. Blitz had to remind herself that most changelings didn’t have fur. Ugh. I hate chitin. Looks so cold and uncomfortable to snuggle up against compared to fur. The two chitin bound drones genuflected at Twilight and Rainbow’s approach while the two ponies backed off a ways. “Queens Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, we thank you for granting us an audience.” Twilight gave a respectful bow, prompting the others to do the same. Then both queens started speaking in unison. “Rise, honorable Home Guard. An audience is the least we can do for your ageless service. What brings you here?” Assuming the speech pattern was a show of unity, the left drone barely reacted to it. “Your highnesses, it has been four years since Queen Silandrus’ death. With war still raging across the home-jungles, the Ebony Throne has remained vacant for too long. By ancient accord enacted by the First Mother, since no one has stepped forward with enough support to name themselves the new Prime Matriarch, we are calling a temporary end to the fighting. By the First Mother’s will, we will name a new Prime Matriarch, as is our right by tradition.” Rainbow spoke with dubious interest at the news. “That could be trouble. Who did you pick?” “That can only be disclosed officially at the Summit itself,” replied the right drone. “We can only say that every surviving queen must be in attendance. Failure in this could lead to being declared rogue. Including any heirs, as usual.” “As if we’d miss a Summit meeting,” Twilight replied flatly. “When will it be held?” “In two weeks’ time, your highnesses” replied the first with a slight twinge of relief. “Then we will depart tomorrow morning,” Rainbow announced definitively. “Blitz, I want you to lead the preparations first thing tomorrow morning. Aegis, shore up the security detail. We’re still open to attack until a three days before the meeting itself.” She looked at the pair of princesses with a stoic glare. “I want no surprises between now and the start of the Summit.” “Yes, my queen,” they barked back. The princesses physically paused while giving off dozens of orders to the various naval crews, but ultimately it didn’t take them long. Twilight mentally nodded in satisfaction with her sister’s commands. “I guess now we’ll get to see our grandchildren.” “That’ll be a hell of a reunion,” Rainbow scoffed. “I don’t think we’ll be able to take any of them to court for visitation or custody battles.” “We’ll see,” Twilight replied crytically. “For now, we should enjoy the rest of the night while we can.” With the orders given, the princesses joined their mothers inside, but everyones’ thoughts remained in the jungle. > 2: Changeling Politics 101 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The changeling royal navy was making a very brief stay in Phoenix’s Roost before heading out to the Summit. With the construction of a cloakable tender vessel, Rainbow Dash was able to size down the cargo capacity on both capital ships, allowing better tactical movement at the cost of slightly reduced independent operational range. The removal of the hatchery from the Deception was enough to make room for the new Octavia engines. Little of that knowledge passed through Rasua’s mind as she disembarked from the Deception at the Phoenix’s Roost airship dock, mostly because of the massive hangover she was nursing with a canteen of water. What she did know however, was that the refit of Octavia engines onto the frigate worried her greatly. I know Aegis said these engines were in development for decades, but the willingness they show to so quickly embrace any new technology is frightening. What if that diplomat of theirs gets his mitts on something important back in the homeland? They may have one over on us in airships, but we have more than the lightning cannons and electrified crossbows they’ve seen so far. Shaking such musings aside, Rasua made her way to the edge of the dock which hung a good fifteen stories up. Stretching from the central palace to ten miles at the outer walls was a complex of civic planning that was superb as far as Rasua was concerned. The industrial district blanketed the entire south half of the hive with a singular spire jutting up to match the palace in height. The forest of smokestacks rising above the factories and warehouses belched grey and black smoke that was being pulled towards the spire. Rasua remembered seeing large blackened lumps being constantly removed from the base of the spire, but ultimately didn’t bother finding out what was being done with them. They could be dumping them in the ravine or selling them for all I care. The northern half of the hive bore all of the residences, primarily small apartments or large boarding houses for those drones that didn’t require much personal space. A large number of parks and other buildings one would find in a normal city spread out, each one filling some need for Phoenix’s Roost. Rasua choked down her whiskey induced migraine and leapt from the dock, flying off towards a specific building that was flush against the northern stone wall. Since I’m not going south with the royal family, I’m free to get my next session before going back to my smithing work. Her path was beset by thousands of nymphs flying or running all over the hive. While the local drones were able to ward the nymphs away from anything dangerous, that didn’t include poor Rasua. The hungover huntress was being stalked by a swarm of curious nymphs. Rasua was assailed by constant questions to which she gave short answers until she finally reached her destination. Thankfully a caretaker was already present and chased after the nymphs to shoo them away from Rasua. With the changelings gone, Rasua found several sphinxes milling around the two story structure. A large sign read ‘Federation Immigration Office’ in both Vespid and Felionian. Clutching her psionic-dampening smithing medallion to make sure it was there, Rasua landed near the front door. The building itself was rather generic with regularly spaced windows and a roof access. It bore the brass and gunmetal grey finish that prevailed throughout most of the technophiles basic building colorscheme. The three sphinxes near the door all bore the brand of a psyker upon their forehead. It was a crimson brand of a stylized open eye seared upon them by the either the government or the Order to show to the world that they were willing practitioners of their psionic abilities. The only sign of them being Psykira was a single lock of blue dyed hair across the left side. The three of them knew Rasua on sight as the one who scouted the Alliance as a safe harbor for the Psykira. “Hail, honored huntress, have you come for Dr. Arvatus?” She nodded briskly. “Yes, is he in?” “He just returned from lunch barely a minute ago.” He pointed a paw at the front lobby towards an aging Egyptian tom who was chatting with the secretary. “So he is, thank you,” she replied in a friendly manner. Glad the Sestapo works as discretely as they’re known for. We haven’t intercepted a single warning from the Order’s monks in Equestria so far. The reception lobby was almost completely empty, save for a scattering of waiting room chairs. Dr. Arvatus noticed Rasua’s entry almost immediately and smiled at her. “Ah, my honored huntress. I was just thinking about you. I feared your time in the pony capital might have caused you to miss your treatment.” She shivered at the idea. “Believe me, I was scared that I’d lose three years of progress if I was too late as well. But I was able to convince my masters that my presence was unnecessary in the southern jungles.” Arvatus waved towards the hallway before walking towards his office with Rasua falling in behind him. “So I see. How was the party? Was it as extravagant as everyone expected it to be?” “I don’t really remember much of it,” Rasua admitted with only a hint of self-consciousness. “I had to get drunk to keep your work from unraveling. I didn’t expect the royal family to stay in Canterlot as long as they did.” Arvatus caught a whiff of stale alcohol. She doesn’t like drinking this heavily. I think she’s developing additional fear about her phobia returning. “Well, you are here now. Let us get started.” The doctor’s workplace was akin to a psychiatrist’s office complete with patient couch, desk, various personalized nick nacks and statuary of various individuals important to Arvatus. Chief among them was a figurine of Rasua on the right side of his desk. It was a tribute to the jane who helped him in more ways than she could possibly know. Rasua took to the couch and rested her head on the end closest to Arvatus’ chair. “I’m sure you know the routine by now, keep your mind’s eye on that which you fear most,” he said while taking a small paper cup and filling it from a water cooler nearby. “Thank you.” She downed it in one go while taking her dampening medallion off. Getting comfortable, she pulled up images of spiders, millipedes, the sound of hundreds of buzzing changeling wings, their eyes, and worst of all, the tens of thousands of them speaking with one voice. With their constant gentle glow, their eyes always looked like compound bug eyes from even a short distance to her. As she pulled all these fears to the surface, Arvatus primed himself by massaging his temples and focusing on Rasua’s surface thoughts. From there he followed the pathways they all shared to her entomophobia. He perceived it as a knot of tangled rope from which he started slowly pulling apart as he had done since their first session years ago. Too quick and he might cause any latent psionic potential within her to awaken. Too slow and he would never see appreciable results. “So tell me, how goes your relationship with Thunderfury?” Active conversation was encouraged during sessions, yet Rasua’s migraine had kept her silent thus far. “Difficult, doctor, you already know these changelings find monogamy laughably backwards at worst and unnecessary for them at best.” He nodded while placing his hands on her head, careful to avoid messing up her hairstyle. “They are a very strange culture to get used to, I agree.” He teased a strand of the knot free, letting it dissipate. “But the lack of psyker phobias really helps smooth things over.” Almost makes me wish the Harieta province had stayed out of the Federation, but war would have followed us there. No further attempts at conversation were made and silence reigned for over an hour as Rasua relaxed her guard to let Arvatus work more freely. Eventually he released her head and leaned back in his chair mentally exhausted. “There, that should negate your fears for another week.” Shuddering a moment, Rasua climbed back to her paws. “Thank you doctor. You are a credit to Psykira everywhere.” Arvatus took a cup of water for himself and sipped it. “Hardly. I am simply abiding the Faithocrattic oath, as any good doctor should.” He leaned forward as Rasua made for the door. “One thing before you go.” For a brief moment, Rasua thought he would ask for payment for once. Being the one to realize the Equestrian Alliance as a safe harbor for Psykira, Arvatus usually waived all fees for her. “I noticed the knot of fear weakens every time you have,” he coughed uncomfortably, “intimate relations with Thunderfury. It is as I expected, you have the Grenger Disposition.” “I am not familiar with that, doctor.” “Most aren’t,” he chuckled, “especially since medical Psykira specializing in the mind like myself are few and far between. It’s difficult work, and even more so to practice safely. “GD simply means personal contact, real love, or simple friendship can make my efforts more natural and permanent for you. Which is rare,” he added with an amused guffaw, “since the focus of most phobias can’t really be loved, only tolerated. But if you can resolve your personal issues with Thunderfury’s polyamory, or any other changeling I suppose, you could rid yourself of your phobia for good.” “…Interesting, doctor. That might be necessary if I am to remain the Sestapo’s agent here.” Rasua was about to leave but her curiosity got the better of her, and she stopped at the door before turning back to him. “Doctor?” He looked up from her file and hummed inquisitively. “I’ve been wondering about the changeling hive mind ever since Aegis first told me about it, but I never cared to know more about it until after asking for your services.” “Ahh, I see. You wish to know what it sounds like, yes?” Rasua moved back over to the couch after nodding. He closed the file and sat behind his desk with a creased brow. “It is… very dangerous to psykers like us, though I’m glad those Psykira who opt to remain in Phoenix's Roost are strong enough to resist it.” “How is it so dangerous? Thunderfury has always told me it is central to their society.” Unbidden memories came to him, making Arvatus pinch his nose. “I’m sure it would cause no physical damage, though I have no evidence. But the reason it’s dangerous, huntress, is that it is a nigh irresistible siren’s song.” She gave him the puzzled look all non-psykers gave him when talking about such things. “Oddly enough, every drone I have ever come in contact with is almost completely mute psionically.” Rasua did a double take. “Surely you jest. How can there be a siren song if they’re mute?” “I said almost, honored huntress,” he said with less mirth than she expected. Arvatus cupped his hands and spread them out. “For us sphinxes, without our childhood training, we all radiate our surface thoughts like radio waves. These drones however, send their messages like a lightning bolt to their queen. While they refrained from speaking on it further, I suspect this technique is perfected during childhood.” Rasua mulled over the information, filing it away in her mind. “You keep talking about the drones. What about the queens? I imagine that must be very different if they are the psionic hubs they claim to be.” “Oh very much so,” Arvatus nodded in agreement. “I actually approached Queen Rainbow Dash around spring last year, to give thanks for providing sanctuary to us. Out of morbid curiosity, I let my inquisitiveness surpass my better judgement and asked to briefly connect to this wonderful hive mind I kept hearing about.” Rasua’s jaw dropped. “I thought prolonged linked minds went against the Psykira covenant.” He gave a self-deprecating sigh. “It does, which is why I only wanted to catch a glimpse of it.” He gave a short humorless laugh. “As you might expect, she warned me against it, saying that it was a threshold no one outside of the changelings themselves should cross. “But in my arrogance, I protested, stating that my mental discipline was strong enough to resist any addictive nature. To her credit, it took me five separate requests on different days, but eventually she granted my request for a single minute. For the life of me, I wish she hadn’t.” Rasua furrowed her brow when he shuddered at the memory. “Was it that traumatic?” “Yes, but not in the manner you’re thinking,” he clarified with a halting finger. Arvatus centered himself as the memory of the loud welcoming chorus of voices from all vocal ranges assailed him. Arvatus had to forcefully shake his head to clear it. “I was wholly unprepared for the hive mind. No sphinx could be,” he attested while jabbing a finger on his desk. “The moment I was brought into the changeling Link, I was surrounded by tens of thousands of voices. It felt like I was thrust into a giant forum with hundreds of conversations that weaved together with harmonious order.” He wrung his hands trying to put the mind-numbing experience into words. “But it - it wasn’t something you’d find in something as mundane as a school cafeteria. There was something like a carrier wave that brought a form of order to it all. The constant chatter sounded more like a song, all unified by the queen’s orchestration. Queen Rainbow’s presence was strangest part to it all.” “They say they’re the focus of each section of the hive mind,” Rasua stated with growing worry on how far her doctor went with this little experiment. “Oh they are,” Arvatus declared flatly. “But they are unlike any sound I have ever heard. I can only describe it as a heavenly tone not unlike your mana-tap chant. What I can tell you is that Rainbow’s psionic voice was guiding me to join the choir. It was completely automatic for her.” Arvatus choked up just thinking about the beauty of it, and had to pause for several seconds to compose his voice. “I nearly caved in to add my voice to that holy chorus, but Rainbow’s conscious mind must have been watching me closely because she severed my connection before I could add my own voice to that choir.” He remained quiet for a minute, brooding on foolishness he thought he had long grown out of. “I didn’t want to leave it, honored huntress. At that moment, I would have given my life to remain a part of the Link.” “That’s… unsettling,” Rasua admitted hesitantly. “If what you say is true, this it is a testament to your fortitude that you have resisted that siren’s call for so long,” Rasua praised with a thin reassuring smile. Arvatus gave a self-deprecating huff. “For you, huntress, I will speak the truth. I do not deserve your approbation. I wanted to be reconnected. By the Great Cycle I begged and pleaded for the longest time, and to be honest… what scares me the most is that some part of me still does.” Twilight Sparkle stood silently on the bridge of the Longshot as it was preparing to depart for the jungles. Captain Darya, one of Rainbow’s drones, calmly overviewed her crew’s performance. She was a newer strain with improved observational capability over the hive mind itself, allowing her greater awareness over the battlefield. The strain was made in direct response to the carrier’s fighters. Rainbow Dash may not believe in the carrier, but she’s wise enough to give it a chance. At least until her new cruiser is complete. She’s already promised to gift it to Aegis and Blitz, but I can at least use it for the Summit trip. With no need to micromanage, Twilight searched the hive mind for one ambassador in particular. Gem Shield was far to the northwest along the griffin-pony border where a large mountain range currently hosted a dragon horde. Twilight pinged Gem with a puppet request which was quickly granted. With a rush, Twilight’s awareness raced across the hive mind to fill Gem Shield completely. She found her far away daughter in a personal cavern nestled inside an open wax sleeping cocoon that was a staple for on demand sleeping accommodations. Gem never was one to enjoy modern technology. A small torch at the entrance provided the only light source. Twilight was about to leave the rather spartan room when Spike appeared at the door. “Hey, Gem, just got those notes back about the next migration location.” He paused after catching Gem’s wide grin and cat-like eyes. Twilight, in Gem Shield’s body, admired the young drake Spike had become over the years. Spike had grown to match Princess Luna, with wings that were not quite large enough to carry him aloft though that would inevitably change. He was about as lanky as any teenager who hadn’t quite filled out yet. “Hey, Spike, how’ve you been?” “Terrible,” he groaned before dropping the box to hug his adopted sister. With him being so much taller than a drone, Twilight had to rear up to embrace him. He let go first and started ranting while digging through the scrolls. “Okay, I admit, hanging out with my own kind was really good for a few years, I even managed to get Garble to back down from raiding anymore phoenix nests.” “He’s the one you met on your first dragon migration, right?” Twilight asked while moving to the other side of the box. She wasn’t sure which scroll he was looking for, so she opted to just let him work. “Yeah, that’s the one. Prick.” “Language, Spike,” Twilight warned. He deflated briefly with a sigh before continuing. “My bad. Anyway, I’m getting sick of this place.” He quickly looked to the cave entrance to make sure no other dragons were possibly listening in. Sensing no one, he returned to the crate and found the right scroll. “My people are so preoccupied with hoards and general bickering with each other, it’s a wonder the matriarch has any real power over them at all.” He waved the scroll at Twilight. “There’s only so many times I can go to the bathroom without a toilet or running water around here before I go crazy. Or wake up in a dark cave without even a straw bed, or fridge for breakfast, or even a book to read! I only get scrolls to read, and even that’s frowned upon here!” Giving him her best reassuring smile, Twilight nuzzled Spike. “I know it’s rough around here, but it’s draconic tradition. They think technology separates people from the world they’re connected to.” Spike spat in disgust at the concept. “Well it’s stupid. Who’s to say the world doesn’t want us to live like cave people? If you ask me, I think the reason why we have so many intelligent species is so that somebody gets the right idea that tech and magic needs to be constantly improved, not so our brains are rotted by idiotic backwards thinking. What good’s a brain if all you use it for is survival?!” It was a rant he had given often enough that Twilight knew what he meant, even if the words changed. “I agree completely, Spike. But it is the dragon’s way.” “Well it’s not my way!” he huffed angrily. “At least not when I can leave this dump. I haven’t even been able to see any of my pony friends, or even go to your birthdays. At least with Gem around you can visit me.” “I understand your frustration. Outside of my bloodline, no other queen sees the value in non-biological technology. Such as it is though, you only have to stick around long enough for Gem and that cranky old unicorn Wise Consul to earn the matriarch’s trust enough for you to return to the Alliance. The Rites of Velandus should be over in a few months, and then you can come home.” Spike perked up at that and cast Twilight a thin smile. “I still have your old basket, just the way you left it,” she added with a teasing smirk. “You still have that thing? I probably can’t even fit my foot in that anymore,” he chuckled loudly. Spike could feel some of his dragon aimed resentment begin to cool. “Never fear,” Twilight announce with a hoof twirl, “I’m sure I can commision a replica to fit you.” “Ha! At that point, you might as well call it a full-fledged bed than a basket.” Spike finally remembered the scroll he held, unfurled it, and then passed it on to Twilight with a deep frown. “I had some news for Gem Shield, but you might as well hear it too. The matriarch is finally letting you guys off the hook from that assassination attempt by finally accepting your hive as a separate nation from Chrysalis.” “That’s great!” Twilight beamed as she started reading. “If only,” Spike amended with a sour tone. “She’s demanding two metric tons of starlight infused sunstone in tribute to be delivered to her by the time the migration reaches the next location or she won’t add Phoenix’s Roost to the list of protected nations.” “What?!” Twilight scanned the scroll with shock and indignation rising in equal levels. “But that would allow any dragon to raid us for gems, gold and whatever else they may want!” Spike twirled his claw dramatically. “As the matriarch oh so delicately put it ‘not my problem anymore.’ I tried to tell her that your hive’s defenses would be more than enough for any pissed off dragon, but she couldn’t care less. Makes me sick.” Shoring up Celestia’s tutelage, Twilight took a deep breath to focus on the solution instead of the problem with only limited success. “So is she purposefully asking for the impossible? You can’t infuse sunstones with starlight, let alone two tons of it.” Spike grumbled as he sat down. “No offense to her, but the whole thing is partially Luna’s fault.” Twilight’s planning for a rant came to a halt at that. “She showed up a few months ago with a big pile of gems as part of the once a decade princess visit. The ‘cherry on top’ of it all was a starlight infused sunstone barely the size of my finger.” “So let me guess,” Twilight growled at the scroll. “The matriarch or someone important liked it and now thinks she can blackmail two tons of it out of us since we’re friends with Luna?” “That and she loathes the fact that you focus so much on tech,” Spike added bitterly. “I think if anypony has any right to say whether or not we’ve lost our connection to the world, it would be Arya and the other Tea’la.” Twilight rubbed the temples of both her puppet and her real body. Even Gem Shield, who was observing it all from the back of her mind, groaned at the news. “I’ll be sure Rolled Scroll passes the message to Luna. It’s entirely possible that the sunstone is easy for her to make or find.” Twilight forcibly pushed those thoughts aside for the moment. “As troubling as this is, I don’t want my visit to be all about bad news. How are you getting along with Slytha?” she asked with a knowing grin. I always knew Spike’s crush on Rarity was just a phase. “Ah well, you know,” Spike flustered with reddened cheeks. The purple drake tried to scowl at her, fully knowing she was playing with him. “I don’t think it’s going to go very far,” he said with masked regret. “She’s got the hots for Deventh.” Spike spat his name as if it was poison. Seeing her attempt failed miserably, Twilight hugged him again. “Don’t worry, I’m sure another dragoness will come around in time.” “Yeah, maybe.” Spike shrugged defeatedly. He’s done so much for everypony, only to lose Slytha… An idea struck her, making her gasp in joy. “Hey, Spike, what if I found a fire ruby for you?” Spike blanked for a second before a toothy grin cleaved his face. “Yeah, yeah! That would work! Slytha always said fire rubies are her favorite, but there aren’t any anywhere near the roost.” “Don’t worry about that, Spike, I’ll get it taken care of. Gem will tell you when I find one.” “Awesome, thanks, Twilight!” He ran over and scooped her up in a crushing hug. “Anything for you, Spike,” Twilight wheezed out. “Spikivar, I require your presence immediately,” boomed a growling dragon from deeper within the cavern. Twilight and Spike shuddered at the ear rattling roar echoing in the small chamber. “Your matriarch suffers an itch.” Being the center of a free-love hive, Twilight’s fears immediately went to the gutter. Spike rolled his eyes and dragged himself to the door. “Bah. She’s so old, every time she eats rubies her spines start itching like mad.” Twilight sighed in profound relief, but kept just enough composure to keep a compassionate visage. “I suppose I’ll have to leave you to it. Just remember you’ll finally be able to come home by late fall.” Dreams of being Twilight’s assistant again and living in a place where plumbing was expected, gave him the strength to keep going. “Thanks, Twilight, I hope we get a chance to talk again soon, but I’ll need to join the scavenging party after tending to Itchy Scales.” “Well good luck,” Twilight called out as Spike ran off. From the depths of her mind, Gem Shield wordlessly indicated she had duties to tend to soon as well. Twilight’s dominating presence in Gem Shield’s mind faded as quickly as it had come. With Twilight’s attention focused elsewhere, she missed Gem squirming on the ground relishing the ecstasy after being puppeted. “Ohhhh, yeeeaaahhh.” Her eyes rolled back as waves of pleasure washed over her. The flotilla which set out from Phoenix’s Roost consisted of three ships, the Deception, Longshot, and a tender vessel called Cornucopia. With the loss of Stripped Gear and it’s volcanic crystal factory, cloaking crystals were exceedingly difficult to produce. As a result they were rarely used anymore, save for the Cornucopia due to its vulnerability. Twilight insisted that their flightpath avoid the ruins of Stripped Gear lest bad memories color their actions in the Summit. From her elevated perch on the Longshot’s bridge, Twilight watched the flight deck crews drilling to launch the biplanes. Ultimately though, Twilight trusted Rainbow’s assessment. At the very least they might be a shock value instead of any real tactical usefulness. Twilight looked to her left to find Aegis watching the crews with an eagerness usually reserved for flamethrowers and eggs. “They’re beautiful aren’t they?” Aegis pressed her face against the glass trying to drink in every action of the crew and pilots. While she genuinely favored the pilots, Aegis was doing so more to ignore the large swaths of burnt and diseased trees the warships passed by on their way south. The sight of it all disturbed Aegis to no end should such forces ever be leveled against her home. “To look at, from an engineer’s standpoint at least,” Twilight conceded, breaking Aegis out of her dark thoughts. “But I’m glad you seem to like them. The Longshot will be your flagship after all.” “I still don’t know what you and Aunty have against fighters.” She looked up at her mother with a borderline condescending eyebrow and half frown. “Our whole business model is maximizing each individual drone’s combat ability isn’t it? What better way than fighters to do that?” Twilight shook her head at the headstrong princess. “I don’t focus on combat, Aegis, and you know that. I can defend myself in a fight, but I leave everything else to Rainbow. If she thinks the carrier is a bad idea, then I’ll back her decision. You know we only kept this ship operational because mother insisted we give the concept a chance to prove itself.” “Well don’t worry about that,” Aegis declared as she refocused on the aircraft. “I’ll figure out a way to make it work even if you two can’t.” “You’d better,” Twilight warned with masked mirth, “I’d hate to see all the bits dumped into this ship end up being a waste. I’ve always tried to instill creativity in all my children.” She gave her daughter a loving smile whereas Aegis responded with a curious look. “Let’s see if all that effort’s paid off,” Twilight added while poking Aegis’ ribs. “Gah!” The poke coincided with an abdominal cramp. Aegis bounced away from her mother’s invading hoof causing Twilight to giggle. Ignoring the poke, Aegis rubbed her abs grinning maniacally. “That’s the third cramp since yesterday. You think I’ll finally start laying today?” Twilight frowned before pointing out the bow window. “I hope not, because we’re here.” The Longshot’s forward engines shuddered to a halt with the Ebony Castle looming ahead. Unlike the hostile jungles below, it showed no signs of the war. The black edifice was immaculate as always, bringing a strong sense of nostalgia in Twilight. Joining her sister’s announcement from the Deception, Rainbow Dash added her own. Everyone scrambled to obey with the shuttle pilots and Queens’ Guard in particular preparing to depart. Aegis scowled at how the biplanes were being left on the flight deck. What’s the point of having them if we don’t use them? Aegis waited for Rainbow’s reaction to the first time those fighters would be scrambled for a non-drill. This time Rainbow spoke to Aegis alone. Aegis found herself steepling her fingers to think. Aegis smirked as the first plane took off. Rainbow snorted in approval. Waiting for the second of the five plane squadron to take off, Aegis made for the stairwell and the shuttle hangar below. With an hour left until the Summit, the four royals of Phoenix’s Roost cantered through the hallways of the Ebony Castle with a squad of eight Queens’ Guard behind them and a pair of Home Guard taking the lead. While she kept her expression and aura neutral, Twilight was still troubled by being here. Cadista remained in Phoenix’s Roost going over the latest budget projections. Twilight walked by a tapestry depicting the First Mother’s victory in battle. It was the same tapestry she had seen the first time she came to this lonely palace. She glanced backwards at Aegis and Blitz who weren’t even bothering to hide their bipedal movement and hands. Being so in tune with her sister, Rainbow Dash, picked up on the conversation. While Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Cadista conspired about their rival queens, Blitz cringed when an abdominal cramp nearly made her drop to all fours. This is bad. Aegis saw Blitz absently rub her lower stomach. The discomfort lingered for only a minute before passing. Blitz realized and let her hand drop. Aegis buzzed her wings out of excitement. Blitz gulped when the two Home Guard drones flanked one last black stone door. “Please, only your royal majesties in the chamber itself,” the corporal on the right announced respectfully. Twilight turned to Intel and her squad. “You know the drill.” “Yes, my queen,” Intel snapped a salute and barked some quick orders to the other drones to stand at the ready. Intel called out to Aegis as she moved to follow their mother into the Summit. Aegis snarked back. Squaring her shoulders, Aegis marched past the door with every intention of making her mark on changeling society. If they were honest with themselves, Twilight and Rainbow Dash didn’t really know what to expect. Several queens were already present and waiting. Polybia was the first to catch the pair’s eyes. She was in the middle of talking with an unrecognized queen who looked tired, worn out, and had the look of recently molted chitin across her left foreleg and chest. By contrast, Polybia looked physically imposing with a self-assured expression and dominating stance. However, both Aegis and Rainbow Dash noticed there were odd discolored splotches on her chitin, starting on Polybia’s horn and becoming rarer near her tail. Polybia only stopped talking to watch Aegis and Blitz walking by on two legs with obvious confusion and bloodshot eyes. Kreesus sat flanked by one other queen and a single proto-queen if her height was anything to go by. Aegis was surprised to see that proto-queen was not part of Twilight’s bloodline due to the lack of any fur. While her two apparent allies whispered to each other, Kreesus stared at Twilight with mixed emotions that neither Twilight nor Rainbow could read with any certainty. Sitting quietly beside Kreesus’ single queen ally was a diminutive blue princess who had chitin covering her entire barrel and half of her neck. Fur grew along the princess’ legs and head and it looked as if that fur was started to grow over the leading edges of the chitin. What really caught Twilight’s attention though was Chrysalis seated off to the side in an isolated section of the amphitheater with only Jstrul, and two princesses at her side, one purple and one blue. The princess’ had the same strange mixture of chitin and fur that Kreesus’ ally possessed. However Chrysalis’ strong and collected demeanor could do nothing to hide the vicious scars crisscrossing her chitin. Her whole neck was a dull pink due to the chitin being completely shed and a new shell growing in. Jstrul had both of her eyes gauzed over and a chipped fang. With no medical salve of their own, Jstrul had dirty bandages covering her barrel, though Twilight could only discern dirt, not blood, soiling the once white strips. Lastly, Captain Thoran, leader of the Home Guard, was standing alone near the empty seat Silandrus once occupied. “Announcing Queen Twilight Sparkle, Queen Rainbow Dash, and their heirs, Princess Aegis Altair, and Princess Blitzkrieg respectively.” Blitz groaned and smacked her face out of exasperation. “Did he really have to use my full name? It doesn’t even match my job in any way shape or form!” she grumbled under her breath along with a few Prench obscenities. Unbeknownst to Blitz, Rainbow shot an apologetic look at her daughter. Well not everypony can be prophetic with foal names anyway. Almost everyone in the room was keeping to their own council, and not gawking at Aegis or Blitz’s bipedal movement. Like Rainbow before her, Aegis growled at the lack of interest. Twilight stated flatly. She would have injected some humor, but the blatant presence of purple and blue princesses was almost insulting. Doing her absolute damnedest to ignore her sister’s verbal prodding, Rainbow Dash was glowering at all the queens with princesses. Unlike her sister, she wasn’t hampered by trival things like ‘diplomatic grace’. “I’ve heard of shameless salad tossers before, but you all take the rutting cake! None of you had the First Mother damned common courtesy to recolor any of our grandchildren so it wasn’t stupidly obvious?” Polybia cast a condescending eye at her. “We have had more important matters to attend to than insulting Queen Twilight’s intelligence. You, however, are more than capable of doing that for the both of you.” Rainbow jumped to her hooves fully intending to lay out some verbal murder. “Oh yeah?! I bet you’d love to know our consorts were keeping score on you sorry hags. A corpse would be a better lay than any of you.” The collected queens scoffed more than anything else with Kreesus speaking the general consensus. “We have better uses of our time than frivolous bedroom exploits, Rainbow Dash.” “You don’t know what you’re missing then,” Rainbow replied with a snide grin. “And that’s Queen Rainbow Dash to you, you repulsive honorless traitor!” Kreesus’ reaction was almost all the satisfaction Rainbow needed. “Pardon my impertinence, your majesties,” Thoran interrupted before the Summit could descend into anarchy. “But it appears all surviving queens and their heirs have joined us, and the allotted time for the Summit to begin has elapsed.” Rainbow halted her tirade, but never stopped glaring at Kreesus. It finally took a mental prod from Twilight to make Rainbow retake her seat. Returning to her sister’s side, Rainbow Dash silently glowered at their rivals. Queens are completely insane, Thoran mused darkly. I’m so glad we Home Guard don’t have one. Satisfied that the various royals were listening, Thoran continued. “It has been four years since Queen Silandrus’ death was confirmed. As my messengers have informed all of you, since no other queen has been able to gather enough political support to be nominated as the next Prime Matriarch, it falls upon us, the Home Guard, to name a successor.” A gentle rumble of gossip passed quickly as Thoran continued after a moment. “Until that successor accepts the position, I will be acting as temporary Head of Summit, and act in accordance to the rules of conduct Queen Silandrus enforced previously. “We of the Home Guard have debated this selection ever since Silandrus’ death on who would best fit the future survival of our species. Records indicate that this choice is usually difficult, but in this case, it was not.” The rumor mill tripled in volume, so Thoran simply spoke over it. “We of the Home Guard have decided to name Queen Twilight Sparkle as the next Prime Matriarch.” While Kreesus and many other queens were shocked by the declaration, Polybia however jumped to her hooves frothing with rage. “Are you mad, drone!?” Twilight was completely speechless in all of this with Rainbow Dash going bugeyed. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want Twilight to be PM? Rock on!” “She’s far too young to be the Prime!” Kreesus added with much more composure than either previous speaker. “She’s barely into her first century. She can’t even rule a hive by herself!” To his credit, Thoran remained firm in his position. That never stopped you from allying with Yumia and Cadista. Keeping the thought to himself, Thoran answered her with only the barest hint of his snide musings. “From my understanding, Queen Twilight’s style of rule is voluntary, not a symptom of weakness. As for her age, she is the eldest queen capable of producing love. That love is ultimately the deciding factor.” Chrysalis remained oddly quiet throughout it all, not that Polybia noticed as she spat hatred at Rainbow Dash. “Neither of you are true changelings! You’re half-breeds that destroyed the sanctity of the First Mother! The Home Guard be damned, neither of you have any right to be on that throne!” “We have just as much right as you do, fanatic,” Twilight stated with all of the aristocratic sass she used to put up with in Celestia’s court. Rainbow took to hovering in the air, but stayed close to her sister. “Besides, the HG didn’t ask us to vote. They’re the ones who get to pick.” She kept her gaze on Polybia, but mentally nudged her sister. Twilight replied quickly. Not desiring to waste her breath confronting Twilight or Rainbow directly, Kreesus zeroed in on Thoran. “You’re making a mistake. Twilight is too weak to rule a hive by herself, let alone the rest of us, even if the position of PM is little more than a figurehead!” The ‘debate’ faded from Aegis’ awareness as she felt something solid shift in her gut. Her jaw dropped and her eyes dilated to the size of dinner plates as she felt four objects move in her abdomen before moving down her canal. “Holy frick, it’s happening now!?” Aegis looked over to see Blitz was sweating profusely as she grimaced and squatted down. Blitz started pressing down on her stomach, but Aegis was too preoccupied to finish watching. She looked down to see her first egg fall out of her and roll on the stone bench. Barely two seconds passed before the second egg came, followed by the third and fourth soon after. Completely ignoring the world around her, Aegis scooped the eggs up in her hands just to make sure they were real. A manic grin that would feel right at home in a mental asylum cleaved Aegis’ face as her vision centered on the four lavender eggs in her hands. Her wings were buzzing so fast out of exhilaration she started floating up. “I – I – I laid eggs. I, me, Aegis, I laid eggs! I finally laid eggs! I’m a proto-queeeeeeeen!!” Aegis didn’t even need to manually feed them love. The raw emotion she radiated being more than enough to satiate them. Between Aegis and Blitz, their love was so intense that it radiated throughout the amphitheater. The range and strength was more than enough for the other changelings in the room to siphon off some for themselves. Aegis fed the glowing eggs a little bit anyway to link them to her. It was only then that she turned to Blitz and saw her quartet of blue eggs were also glowing, though Blitz’s exultant grin was rapidly fading to mortification when her eyes drifted off the eggs. Confusion washed over Aegis as she followed her counterpart’s gaze to find all the other queens staring at them ranging from Polybia and Kreesus’ shock, to Chrysalis’ steely visage. Aegis found herself being telekinetically yanked back down to her seat, with an extra magic field keeping the eggs secure in her hands. Twilight gave her daughter a brief hug. Tucking her eggs close to her chest, Aegis flew off to the exit. Blitz caught up to her, with her eggs held firmly in her magic. Blitz’ embarrassment was so profound her disguise magic went wild, causing her whole head to turn bright red. Things were only made worse for her embarrassment with the fur on her nethers and back legs being damp. Aegis got the door and swung it open. Blitz found it difficult to be mad at Aegis when she was still wrestling with the elation of her first laying. Once the two new proto-queens closed the door behind them, Chrysalis turned back to the now silent Summit. “Well, if Queen Twilight is capable of producing a proto-queen in less than twelve years, that’s more than any of you have accomplished,” she deadpanned towards Kreesus and Polybia. “Hey, I’m here too ya know!” Rainbow shouted sourly. “In case you hadn’t noticed, one of those proto-queens came from me!” Kreesus was more or less able to conceal her shock at the scene, as were most of the other queens, including Chrysalis. Polybia, however, was dumbstruck by it all. As Chrysalis so diplomatically put it, Twilight had barely been a changeling for twelve years, and Rainbow Dash even less than that, and they had already produced not one, but two proto-queens. This was not sudden news to most thanks to their spies, but to have it so flatly pointed out was a blow to everyone’s pride, even for Chrysalis herself. That wounded pride was far worse for Polybia who had let her information network decay into complete ignorance of everything outside of the jungles. Luckily for Twilight, she had been expecting this would happen fairly soon and collected herself first. “Captain Thoran before I accept your nomination, I need to know exactly what that entails.” The other queens found their voices and moved to raise more objections when Thoran shouted ahead of them. “The floor recognizes Queen Twilight Sparkle.” The others silenced themselves more out of habit than any regard to the purple queen. Wanting to get out of the increasingly hostile and bizarre Summit meeting, Thoran talked quickly. “As Prime Matriarch, you may preside over the Summit as you so please. In addition, you are granted the status of ‘Last Bastion’ which means that no one is allowed to make war upon you because you stand as the “last bastion” of our species. Records show that it was Queen Silandrus who created this law upon acquiring the position after the last jungle-wide war ended up killing all but three queens out of the twenty seven before the war. A startling parallel to our current situation, wouldn’t you say?” He added with veiled disdain. “It is generally believed that is why she lived as long as she did. She only fought wars she knew she could win.” Polybia couldn’t believe her ears and snarled at him. “Are you trying to tell me we wouldn’t be allowed to attack her at all!?” Not wanting to push his luck, Thoran didn’t chastise her for speaking out of turn. “Only in self-defense. Should the Prime Matriarch declare war on you, you may end the war in any way you see fit. As always, a war only ends when both parties cease hostilities.” Chrysalis steeled her voice and stood up to get Thoran’s attention who nodded at her. “The floor recognizes Queen Chrysalis.” “I agree with Thoran’s decision.” Twilight, Rainbow, and even Thoran himself did a double take. “The Prime Matriarch is meant to be the last of our kind should the jungles claim us. Regardless of age, we must have love production as a species.” With renewed fire, Chrysalis glared at Polybia who was staring daggers right back at her. “Since no other love-maker is of age yet, let alone in possession of their own hive, Twilight is the most logical choice.” Chrysalis briefly shifted her gaze to Kreesus who was fuming, but Chrysalis knew she wasn’t stupid enough to deny reason. She turned back to Polybia who was silently promising a painful death. “Our future should be all that matters, not your pathetic little fantasy world of scriptures that your bitch of a mother made about the Silver City and the First Mother.” To the end of her days, Rainbow Dash would swear Polybia spontaneously combusted out of pure rage. “You will regret that, Chrysalis,” she said in a low growl. “I will not accept the Prime Matriarch being some outsider!” She jabbed an accusatory hoof at the former ponies. “I will have nothing to do with a Prime who treats our most sacred beliefs as nothing more than some research project!” “Ultimately, that it is not your decision.” Thoran countered with just enough authority to stop Polybia’s rant. The zealot charged her horn to incinerate him where he stood. “Not another word, drone!” Flames licked at Thoran’s chitin, but before he could be consumed, Twilight and Rainbow Dash fired off a counterspell at both him and Polybia respectively. Kreesus and Chrysalis jumped to flank Polybia and charged their horns. “Have you gone mad, Polybia!?” Kreesus shouted with bewilderment and indignation in equal measures. “Thoran is still acting PM. Attacking him is tantamount to going rogue!” Polybia scanned the queens who were arrayed against her. Even her singular ally was paralyzed in fear between siding with her or being declared rogue along with her. “As if any of you can stand against me now.” She let go of the spell and shoved past Chrysalis to focus on Twilight Sparkle. “Not even your warships will save you, profligate!” Thoran recovered from the shock of the sudden attack and pointed at Polybia. “You have broken the Summit Accord! I hereby declare you rogue and your crown forfeit, as is your life!” Kreesus and Chrysalis wasted no time in firing off two killing curses, but Polybia deflected one with a burst of mana, and dodged the second. Spoiling for a fight, Rainbow Dash charged headlong straight at Polybia with her wings glowing white hot with Arcane Wing magic. Twilight shielded her sister during the charge but Polybia blasted everyone with a blinding flare. Everyone who was looking at Polybia got caught in the spell, an intense flash blinding them. Except for Thoran, every queen either reactively shielded themselves or wildly fired spells in all directions. By the time Twilight sundered the spell on both Rainbow and herself, Polybia and the princess of her ally were gone. Rainbow Dash rubbed the spots out of her eyes and looked around to find her target. “Is she insane?! Why would she go rogue like that?” Chrysalis expanded her magical senses to compensate for her blinded vision, but she couldn’t sense Polybia. “She’s gone mad after using corruptive dark magic for so long.” Twilight flew over to help her sister, and to learn more. “What kind of dark magic?” Rainbow Dash removed herself from the gathered queens when Captain Darya spoke over the hive mind. Seems like you made a good call, if for the wrong reasons, Aegis. Rainbow Dash focused on the carrier captain, glad that she had something to work with. Darya’s blood ran cold and she couldn’t process the news while Rainbow relayed similar orders to the Deception. Within seconds, five biplanes angled to intercept the rogue queen while all the royals converged on Polybia’s ally demanding answers. > 3: So Much for Solidarity > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is this? No pony episode this week?! Then allow me to offer up some pony words instead. Viper Squadron leader Rusty Spring throttled up the engine of his Hornet biplane and rumbled off the Longshot. He was the last one back in the air after refueling since Aegis’ scramble order came in over five hours ago. He tapped the Octavia pressure readout as the engine coughed to push the aircraft in a near vertical take off. “Come on, baby, I know you don’t like waking up.” Wish the lab coats had figured out how to keep the engine going during refueling. A few coughs and growls later, Rusty eased the hornet away from the flight deck and banked towards the Ebony Castle. Overall it was an uneventful mission so far. Once he was back at his patrol rotation, he looked at Fluffy hovering off in the distance which, as expected, remained passive. His wingmate, Greasy Piston seemed to know what he was looking at even with her aircraft being on the opposite side of the castle. Rusty rolled his eyes, but ultimately just let Greasy ramble on about nonsense. When you live with a choir in the back of your mind for so long, one more voice in your ear doesn’t matter much. He was far more interested in the blackened and charred landscape below the mesa. Stretching for miles in all directions were large swaths of dead ground with oddly geometric sections of living jungle trapped within. Looks like the queens have been going at each other’s throats hardcore down there for some time now. Kinda odd how close it is to the Castle. Passing over the ruined city surrounding the castle, Rusty spotted hundreds of sleeping drones of all colors. Such is the life of a mindless drone. Just sleeping their lives away waiting for something to do. Not like a fight would start up now of all times. Rusty lazily watched the world spin as he entered into orbit around the castle when Darya called out to the squadron. A round of acknowledgements rang out from the pilots with Greasy snickering at the hive mind wide shout Aegis had let off a few minutes earlier. another pilot named Breaker replied derisively. A round of stilted laugher passed through the pilots when the last pilot, Aileron, spoke up with a troubled tone. Almost as one, hundreds of drones started killing the others in their sleep, but before any of the other pilots could comment on it, Greasy yelled over the squadron section of the Link. Fear spiked through the pilots as their gaze was caught between the all-out brawl starting up below them while some looked up at the Summit amphitheater where a lone queen jumped off the ledge and fled straight down towards the ruined mesa city. Rusty started sweating in his cockpit despite the rushing air. Darya’s shaky tone matched Rusty’s nerves at the sight of battle around the Summit. This ain’t right. The Summit’s supposed to be a sanctuary! ... of sorts. Polybia barely got a fourth of the way down when Darya barked over the squad’s local sub-link. Rusty instantly banked his fighter to obey even as his mind reeled at the news. Greasy whooped with far too much cheer. Rusty moved to sweep around the castle to get a bead on Polybia, who had spotted the fighters. Breaker formed up to Cloud’s left wing as the pair dove down to close in on Polybia. The whirling high speed hum of the biplanes quickly reached Polybia’s ears and she immediately tried to incinerate Breaker’s aircraft, but the flames only slipped around the Octavia field instead of burning the pilot. Breaker poured on the speed only to find several acidic green bolts flying up at him from below, with one shot tearing a hole into his fighter’s left wings. His controls were shaky, but the aircraft wasn’t downed that easily. Greasy jeered as she pointed her nose down to locate the threat. A flock of twenty drones had broken off from the all-out battle in the ruins below and were firing up at her wingmates. “C’mon ya mindless cannon fodder, time to eat!” Greasy cackled as she unloaded ten bursts from her flak cannons. The group of drones were torn apart, but more were breaking off from the fight below with several of Chrysalis’ black drones in hot pursuit. Cloud was close enough that she could see the blue princess wrapped tightly in Polybia’s legs. The wind tore over her open canopy and at her goggled face. She angled her craft around to get alongside of Polybia. However Polybia was having none of that, and fired off three quick bursts of magic at the aircraft, punching holes in the tail section, and completely tearing the rear half off. “Oi, I’ll kill you for that!” Cloud jumped from her doomed aircraft and tackled Polybia in midair. She shot off random bolts at Polybia’s face while trying to wrestle the weeping princess free. “Give her up, Poly!” One blast nailed Polybia in the jaw, but she refused to relinquish the panicked princess. “I can’t!” Polybia managed to get her back hooves underneath Cloud and kicked her off. With enough distance between them the queen aimed her horn and launched a fireball, charring the drone’s fur and wings off. The other pilots watched helplessly as Cloud plummeted in freefall. Raging at the loss of their wingmate, with only the captive princess staying their retaliation. Yet before Polybia could refocus on escape, five of Chrysalis and Jstrul’s drones managed to break through Polybia’s defenders from below and tackled the rogue queen. “You’re so predictable, Polybia,” Chrysalis mocked through her puppets before a wave of hatred rolled off of her when Yeelindrus’ broken body flashed across Chrysalis’ reddening vision. “It’s a shame the technophiles’ wrath is too quick for my liking, but we all make sacrifices.” Between the five of them, the drones were more than able to physically overpower Polybia and wrenched the princess from her grasp. With their prize in hand, two of the drones cast a sleep spell on the panicking princess to keep her from struggling as they sped away. The remaining three drones kept Polybia’s wings pinned and pulled on her horn to make it too painful to cast spells. They capitalized on the queen’s lack of physical prowess and spat gooey green glue all over Polybia’s wings and joints to end any hope of her freeing herself. The four of them tumbled out of control while dozens of Polybia’s drones broke off from the fight below to save their queen. Rusty was unsure what to do until Rainbow barked at him and everyone else in the squadron. At least Cloud didn’t give her life for nothing. That was all Greasy needed to hear as her aircraft finished reloading. The three biplanes lined up the tumbling queen and unloaded thirty flak shells at Polybia. The shredded bodies continued to fall as an unrecognizable mass. However, Polybia’s drones didn’t go crazy with the death of their queen as Chrysalis and the pilots expected. As one, Polybia’s remaining drones froze stock still for a few seconds before wailing a soul crushing psionic scream. As they screamed, the signature purple laced ebony aura of black magic poured out of their eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouths in a horrid miasma. The dark cloud enveloped all the remaining drones from the other queens, rotting the flesh and chitin off their bones, with numerous lost souls twisting around the forming maelstrom. Greasy freaked over the local Link. Similar shocked expletives escaped from the other pilots with Rusty pulling his fighter away from the growing dark storm. The remaining fighters sped away to safety, but none of the other drones were fast enough to escape, save for the two with the princess, having ascended high enough away to escape the storm’s fury. The tempest grew to match the Ebony Castle in size before coalescing into an ethereal shadowy form with massive barbed horns that curled over and over to form a crown. Two impossibly black pits for eyes formed as its head stared down upon the queens in the Summit Amphitheater. Twilight and the other queens, who had been interrogating Polybia’s ally stared up at the demonic cloud that lorded over them, as a massive bell rung a single gut rattling deep note. A feeling of dread overcame Twilight as her mind put a name to the looming form above them. Grogar?! Twilight’s stomach plummeted at the sight of the legendary demon. Grogar waited until the bell’s echo faded before speaking in a booming, breathy voice. “The wheel tuuuuurnssss.” Twilight’s terror rose sharply as the cloudy specter took a deep breath. Rapidly telling her sister what to do, the both of them cast a shield dome of golden magic over themselves. Sensing it was not a basic defense shield, Chrysalis trusted Twilight’s magical knowledge and kept her blinded sister from leaving the shield dome. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Queen Twilight.” As she spoke, Chrysalis added her own magical strength to the shield with her sister joining in shortly after. Seeing this, Kreesus mirrored Chrysalis’ actions after telekinetically pulling all of the princesses into the shield dome. A sinister grin escaped the shadowy figure as if he had been waiting for everyone to gather into a single target. Grogar breathed his miasma directly on the queens’ shield before any of them could have second thoughts. Thoran fled the rapidly spreading mist by flying out and away from the castle itself while giving a warning to the rest of the Home Guard. With Grogar’s attention focused completely on the gathered royals, the great shadow ignored him completely. The demon’s cloudy body expelled itself upon the barrier as well as flooding the castle itself, sinking down through the old palace, killing and rotting everything it touched. The corrosive magic burned away at the shield, but the queens poured every bit of magic they had into Twilight and Rainbow’s barrier to keep it strong. Even then, the two queens’ horns began to burn and ache under the strain. Twilight started seeing spots from the strain as the toxic cloud continuously poured over the huddled changelings. Grogar’s cold piercing gaze narrowed upon them and redoubled his breath attack upon the golden shield. “I don’t suppose you could trouble yourself by teleporting us away from this infernal thing,” Chrysalis demanded with regal tact. “In case you hadn't noticed,” Twilight growled back with pain in her voice. “I’m a little busy here! What’s stopping you?” The howl of rushing winds beating down on the weakening shield caused Chrysalis to dump more mana into the barrier. “I had hoped our combined efforts would give you enough wiggle room to get us out of here.” Twilight ignored any further conversation to focus. Having little of her sister’s arcane strength, Rainbow Dash started to buckle under the strain, causing her to drop to one knee. Her pain forced her head down, but she kept pushing back. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a blue princess looking up at her with fear and a desperate hope for safety in her watery eyes. With renewed determination, Rainbow redoubled her efforts, but the spectral ram showed no signs of slowing as the world around the royals was cast into shadow. The sound of shipboard artillery roared through the rushing fetid air followed shortly by the rolling thunder of exploding shells. Grogar roared in shock and disbelief before losing cohesion. His cloud body attempted to reform but another volley of golden light blasted the miasmic demon apart. Twilight kept the shield up since there was still a heavy mist clinging to the floor, the task made much easier without the torrent of death pressing down on her. Captain Rourke called out to her. Rainbow muttered back as she scanned the other changelings around her. Rainbow felt a pounding migraine coming on around the length and base of her horn. Blitz answered promptly. Rainbow broke communication to look around. Those who had princesses were in the middle of trying to calm them down with various methods and degrees of success. Rainbow arched a curious eyebrow at Chrysalis who stiffly hugged her purple daughter and gently stroked her mane. Maybe Twilight was on to something after all. She turned to Twilight to find her sister was brooding with a worried scowl. Leaving her sister to her thoughts, Rainbow was about to summon a gust of wind to blow the lingering mist away when a massive shadow fell upon the Summit theater. A gut-vibrating shrill cry drew everyone’s attention up towards Fluffy as the living airship closed in. The leviathan created a massive gust of wind with several wings, sweeping the misama away before moving off at Kreesus’ command. Finally free of the toxic mist, the royals spread out again when Twilight and Rainbow dropped the shield. With her daughter calmed and now sleeping restlessly on her back, Chrysalis faced the former ponies. “You continue to surprise me, Queen Twilight Sparkle. You have light magic shells for your ship now too?” Rainbow glowered at being ignored again. “For your information, Chrysalis, the light-blessed ammo was my idea.” Chrysalis decided to honor Rainbow by giving her a neutral look as the former pegasus continued. “After what happened with that old nag, Silandrus, I made sure we had some countermeasures against dark magic.” “Well, it worked quite well,” Kreesus butted in, ignoring the hateful glare of both former Equestrians. The mention of Silandrus reminded them of the fall of Stripped Gear, and it was no secret that the living embodiment of loyalty could never forgive her. “I still can’t believe Polybia of all changelings would defile the sanctity of the Summit though.” “I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Twilight replied coldly, trying to forego her resentment of traitorous queen in favor of the moment. “I think that shadow being was Grogar.” None of the other queens even so much as batted an eye at the name. Twilight groaned and rubbed her temples. “Of course none of you would know him. Stupid genetic indifference to history,” she grumbled under her breath. “We can talk about it later, we have more pressing matters to tend to, such as seeing if there are any Home Guard left in the castle.” Chrysalis hummed in mild disapproval while Jstrul held up a hoof for everyone to wait. “You Equestrians have been too far removed from the war if you think the danger is passed. Polybia’s been using necromancy for at least the past year. We can’t assume she’s dead until we destroy her body completely.” Rainbow sneered at the blinded queen with it painfully evident in her tone. “Poly got shredded into a pile of meat. She’s deader than dead.” “No,” Twilight warned with a waving hoof, “Queen Jstrul is right. Any time there’s a necromancer involved, you can never discount the dead without a proper inspection and disposal of the body. And if Polybia summoned even a fragment of Grogar, then we need to confirm she’s truly dead.” “Just who is this Grogar individual?” Chrysalis asked flatly. Twilight measured the crowd of queens, gauging just how she wanted to word her response without sounding overly frightened and weak. “I thought he was just some obscure fairy tale Celestia shared with me a few times during Nightmare Night. He is a demonic ram from Tambelon - a necromancer of untold power. I don’t remember what his goals were, only what the pictures of him looked like.” “Perhaps Polybia simply used his image to strike fear,” Kreesus replied dismissively. Rainbow could feel her sister’s conviction in her aura. “Right. Ol’ Poly used the image of a fairy tale demonic goat that meant nothing to any of us except Twilight.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “That makes total sense.” Polybia’s ally was curled up in the center of the gathered royalty, thus far staying quiet. She only spoke up when she saw Chrysalis’ drones deliver her abducted daughter to the Summit theater. “Given the dangers, perhaps we should return to our hives and continue these talks via proxies.” She suggested almost hopefully. Kreesus tentatively stepped onto the pockmarked stone and was glad to see there was no lingering effect. “Don’t even try it, Sectovaria,” Kreesus growled threateningly. “You still need to tell us of any other contingency plans Polybia may have laid.” With everyone’s attention back on her, Sectovaria shielded her prized royal daughter in her forelegs. “I don’t know anything. My pact with Polybia was that she would provide military protection in return for raising her newest love-producing daughter in a way that would keep that production possible.” Twilight looked down at the now awake, curious but frightened princess with sympathy. She wanted more than anything to retreat to her airship and shake off the horror of seeing Grogar made manifest, but she checked her fear in front of the other queens. “If she has one, why was she absent from the Summit?” “Because she hasn’t even hatched yet,” Sectovaria rebutted defensively. “Polybia knew she could never raise a love-maker, but saw that I could.” Sectovaria nodded towards her daughter as evidence. “Probably all that ludicrous dogma of hers,” Jstrul said with a condescending sneer. A moment of silence came when no one joined in the mockery. That moment gave Rainbow Dash a chance to investigate Jstrul’s comment, not so much for its message, but for what Jstrul was not saying. The blinded queen attempted to look steady as a rock as she fumbled to return to her original seat with Chrysalis guiding her back. Rainbow, however, noticed their wings were twitching nervously and their ears were in constant motion at every little sound. Rainbow saw those same signs in Kreesus who was putting on a convincing stoic face. However the cracks in that façade appeared in her allied proto-queen, Valera. She had lost all composure and was clinging to Kreesus like a terrified filly. Kreesus was giving her a side long hug that was just as tight as Valera’s own. Rainbow noticed those same signs in every other queen present, including her sister. Everypony’s completely freaked out from the attack, and trying to hide it. Might be a good idea to end the Summit soon before anyone else goes insane. Twilight shored up her composure by spreading her stress and fear throughout the hivemind. Rainbow gave her sister her patented ‘Cold as Ice, Fang Filled Smirk of Awesomeness and Radicalness’. Sadly, a few seconds showed that that wasn’t enough to get her point across. Rainbow replied dismissively as she focused on getting the squadron to investigate the approximate location of Polybia's remains. Twilight told herself she should have expected such flippancy over seemingly minor details from her sister, but even to this day it rankled her to no end. Looking around, Twilight found Captain Thoran had returned, and was now fidgeting in place near the ebony throne. It doesn’t take a genius to know he’s desperate to assess the damage and casualties below. “Captain Thoran,” Twilight called out loud enough to grab his attention and everyone else around her. “I’ll accept your nomination for Prime Matriarch, but on the stipulation that my sister and I share the throne.” Twilight knew the other queens would immediately object so she turned to them to head it off. “We rule a single hive together, it is only fitting that we share this throne as well. Should either of us live long enough to be rebirthed, we’ll both abdicate the position.” Even Rainbow Dash was stunned at first, but saw her sister’s logic and held her tongue. Well at least then they can’t just flat out ignore me. Thoran thought it over briefly. “It is unprecedented, but as Prime Matriarch that is your prerogative. The wording of the First Mother’s formation of the Summit never said there could be only one.” Jstrul was able to speak a single stilted word of protest before Chrysalis silenced her with a gentle hoof to her mouth. “I need to think on this, sister,” she whispered. As Jstrul tried to argue with Chrysalis, Kreesus was also in deep thought. The other queens gave half-baked objections but Thoran’s knowledge of the actual rules and traditions shot them all down. None of them had the right of veto since it had taken so long for a new Prime Matriarch to be named. Chrysalis eventually waved at Thoran to gain the floor. “While I think Queen Twilight Sparkle is doing this out of loyalty to her co-ruler, I believe this is a necessary decision in regards to ‘Last Bastion’.” Both former Equestrians looked at her curiously. “Due to their shared hive, any future aggression towards Queen Twilight could be indirectly aimed at Rainbow Dash since the right of ‘Last Bastion’ wouldn’t extend to her otherwise. In effect,” Chrysalis gave Twilight a respectful nod, “this simply takes care of a loophole, and little else. Besides that, the Prime Monarch has no power outside of this chamber.” “Wasn’t it your dream to be Prime Matriarch?” Jstrul whispered to her sister. “That will have to go to one of our daughters,” Chrysalis returned in hushed tones with veiled resignation. “I would not disgrace the position or the throne with an obsolete queen, even if I fit that category. Besides… This two queen system might be the key we’ve been overlooking.” All eyes shifted to Kreesus as the last objector, but she ultimately sat down in a huff. “I can accept the condition Queen Twilight gave regarding rebirth. I withdraw my objection.” Silenced into impotent resentment, the other queens followed their allies’ into reluctant acceptance. With that, Thoran finally felt free to step down from the raised dais of the throne and waved Twilight and Rainbow towards the seat. “Then all matters are settled. I will leave your majesties to any further deliberations.” Rainbow finally took a long look at the Ebony Throne only to find a broken pockmarked nub of stone remaining. “That’s great and all that, but I think somepony’s going to need to make a new chair for both of us.” Thoran wilted at the sight of the once proud throne. “I’ll add it to the list of repairs,” he added with a defeated tone. He made his way for the exit, but stopped halfway there. “Before I go, however, I would like to place a formal request for any aid your majesties can bequeath. Our hatchery survived, so even early egg donations would be much appreciated.” Chrysalis’ eyes glinted with predatory mirth. “Since Queen Twilight Sparkle is now Prime Matriarch, and had been thus far removed from the jungle wars I suggest that she be the one to lend such aid.” Rainbow Dash saw her moment to one-up Chrysalis and grinned wickedly. “We’d be happy to give aid, but that’s rather difficult with our non-aggression pact in place.” For the first time all day, Chrysalis truly looked at Rainbow Dash with something other than condescension or disapproval. “I’m sure we can renegotiate terms.” Mentally giving her sister accolades, Twilight Sparkle addressed Thoran. “We’ll have engineers down here as soon as the other royals depart.” “Thank you, Prime Matriarchs.” With his job complete, Thoran left before any further bickering could start up. Kreesus watched him go before addressing Rainbow Dash. “You have forces sweeping where Polybia’s body landed. Is she truly dead?” Even though she wanted nothing to do with that traitor, Rainbow knew Polybia was a bigger threat. “There’s a lot of gore and meat down there, along with tons of broken chitin, but no one’s ID’d Poly yet. It’s possible her body got completely destroyed by that shadow cloud goat.” “Don’t bet on it,” Jstrul warned. “We’ve lost enough battles thinking her dead can’t resurrect themselves. We’ve had to start burning the bodies because it’s not even safe to capture some for experimentation.” She waved at her eyes for emphasis Chrysalis mulled over it all as the others spoke before voicing her own concerns. “Queen Twilight, you said earlier you know of that being. Grogar I believe you said. I get the feeling he didn’t want to make himself known,” Chrysalis stated darkly. “I propose everyone here suspend hostilities and marshal our strength to root out the truth about this potential threat to us all.” Twilight saw the signs of battle fatigue make a resurgence in the five remaining queens. At any other time, I’m sure someone would call her out for weakness, but no one here is willing to push that particular issue. Kreesus all but jumped at the chance. “I agree. Polybia has been able to pick off the lion’s share of the lesser queens since the wars began. At the very least, a cease-fire until her death can be verified is more than acceptable.” Chrysalis carefully masked a knowing smirk at Kreesus before facing Twilight. “Since you have such a knack for research, and… legal access to Canterlot and it’s allies’ libraries, I suggest you be the one to search for any information you can get on this Grogar person. We must know our enemy to defeat him. Assuming that shadow being wasn’t just a case of psychological warfare.” “I can agree to that,” Twilight replied with hesitant approval. Is she on the level, or is she playing one of her games? “We’ll renegotiate the terms of our non-aggression pact later today. For now though, if there is nothing else, I move to end today’s Summit.” Twilight looked expectantly at Rainbow Dash who was more or less staring off into space. Yet her sister’s scrutiny was enough to bring the blue queen’s attention back to the present where she gave Twilight a confused look. Shoring up her rarely used regal bearing, Rainbow Dash spoke with that eloquent tone that Celestia had briefly tried to teach her before realizing the futility of her efforts. “I concur to close today’s proceedings.” Not wasting any time, Kreesus, Valera and their ally fled immediately. Chrysalis, her sister, and Twilight stepped over to one of the side rooms to discuss the pact, while Sectovaria tried to leave quietly. Rainbow quickly moved to intercept her. “Hey, you with the face, you’re not going anywhere just yet. How do I know you’re not running off to bring back Polybia as a zombie or something?” “Because she went rogue that’s why,” Sectovaria wanted nothing more than to leave, but the sound of a few passing biplanes made her wilt at the thought. “L-look, I’ve only been a queen for three years. I lost my mother barely five months after that, I just lost my military security, my primary love source, and now everyone’s going to go after me the instant this whole Grogar thing turns out to be just some hoax Polybia used to scare everyone. I need to leave to have any chance in saving my hive.” Rainbow didn’t budge as she pinged Twilight to verify Sectovaria’s story. Unfortunately, the only knowledge Twilight had was that Sectovaria was a recognized late-stage princess at the last Summit five years ago. “...Fine, good luck to you then.” Sectovaria began to move away but stopped after catching Rainbow giving her princess a forlorn frown. “W-wait, Queen Rainbow Dash. Can I ask something of you?” Rainbow did a double take at finally being addressed by her title for once. “What is it?” Sectovaria chewed on her cheek and tried to summon the courage to voice her request. “I - I know how much you former Equestrians care about your offspring, royal or not. I barely have five hundred drones to my name, including love collectors. Without Polybia’s support, I’ll never be able to gather enough love to feed Khirala,” she said while moving a foreleg away to reveal the cowering blue princess not even a year out of the shell. “Or defend ourselves for that matter.” Khirala fumbled back over to hide behind her mother’s hoof, tugging heavily on Rainbow’s heartstrings. “If you can’t support Khirala, why did you create her then?” she demanded heatedly. The dark grey queen tried not to cower at Rainbow’s ire, but her emotions were too raw to resist backing away. “I didn’t have a choice! When Polybia killed my mother, she came after me, easy pickings and all that,” Sectovaria admitted darkly. “The only way to save myself was to say I could raise a loving daughter, and that I could do the same for her.” Casting aside any regal bearing, Sectovaria laid down on her belly to properly comfort Khirala. After she coaxed Khirala from her sniffling so she could look upon her grandmother without excessive fear, Sectovaria continued. “It’s worked so far, so Polybia gave me her royal egg in exchange for all the love and protection I would need. I don’t even know if the nymph will even be capable of producing love in the first place, but Khirala can.” With her granddaughter’s well being on the line, Rainbow Dash didn't even bother trying to rationalize things. “So you’re in a bad way, I get it.” Rainbow looked down at the blue princess. “Khirala is my granddaughter, but you seem to care for her like any real mother should,” Rainbow stated definitively with a hint of overt approval. “I can offer you protection, love crystal shipments, and even a place to settle your new hive, but would require an oath of fealty to both me and my sister.” “That… is a good offer,” Sectovaria said defeatedly at the ground. “I admit I only expected to survive a month at most without Polybia’s protection. Attempt to hide out in a pony city or something.” Shoring up what little regal bearing she had, Sectovaria looked Rainbow Dash in the eyes. “For both my daughter and my own survival, I pledge my undying fealty to you and Queen Twilight Sparkle until you release me, or death takes me.” Despite Kreesus’ betrayal, Rainbow Dash was still willing to take any other queen at her word. This was mostly because Chrysalis had never gone back on hers, much to Rainbow’s continued surprise. “Good to hear it. For now, instead of a city, I want you to relocate your hive up north to the Chaos Lands, and take your daughter with you.” Hope she had not dared to indulge in, shown forth in a grateful smile. This was better than being given some small slice of the northern jungles with outside protection, nor was it a relocation to Alliance territory where she would come under scrutiny of Equestria. The Chaos Lands?! That is so far away from the jungles, none of the other queens would ever bother me again! “T-thank you, my liege.” “Hey, you’re the mother of my grandkid, and you seem like a cool cat down on your luck. But since you’re going to be our newest ally, we’ll send over regular love crystal shipments so you can focus more drones on building your new hive.” “That would be most helpful, thank you. What form of tribute would you require in exchange for that and your protection?” Rainbow Dash had to think of that for a moment before it came to her in stark realization. “I want you to start having intelligent drones like Twilight and I. Chances are good that Khirala will have intelligent drones by default, and they are critical to a love producing hive.” “I… see,” Sectovaria shifted uncomfortably as she climbed back up to her hooves with Khirala asleep on her back. “I was always told intelligent drones were too great of a risk to the queen… But if you and Queen Twilight were willing to elevate two of them into princesses, maybe those fears are unfounded. With a basic alchemical template I could start alchemically altering myself to create them naturally.” “Great. I’d also ask about you shedding the chitin… but I think that bit at least, should be your choice. We’ll go over more details later, but before you go...” Rainbow said conspiratorially. “What will you do with Polybia’s royal egg?” “Simple. I’ll keep it in my current hatchery and safeguard it from scavenging animals and feral drones. If Polybia’s not truly dead, she’ll come for it. If she’s alive, I let her take it. I don’t think it wise to keep a possibly undead queen from what is hers, rogue or not.” “Maybe…” Rainbow tapped her chin until an idea struck her. “Actually, that’s pretty smart thinking. Keep Poly’s egg where it is. If she takes it, then we’ll know for sure whether she’s alive or not. Any other queen would simply destroy it. Should anyone except Polybia enter the hatchery, tell them that egg’s off limits by my authority.” Sectovaria’s gaze went vacant for a moment before focusing back on Rainbow. “As you wish.” “Cool beans, now, since you’re having to move so far north, why don’t we give you a lift as far as Canterlot in our airship? Unless you got something you need to do personally.” Sectovaria’s eyes dilated at the thought. She looked out at the two distant warships with the handful of fighters still patrolling the skies. “I admit I never expected to think of those ships as anything other than a threat… But yes, that would make things much easier, I appreciate it.” Rainbow smirked and wrapped a far too friendly foreleg around Sectovaria’s neck. “Stick with us kid, and you’ll go far.” Sectovaria forced a grateful smile in return. Technically, I’m a year older than you. While Rainbow Dash spoke with Sectovaria, Twilight had the ignoble task of dealing with Chrysalis and Jstrul. “So it’s settled then,” Twilight said flatly. “Until the issue with Grogar and Polybia is resolved I have free access throughout the jungles without breaking the Non-aggression pact.” “And in return you only have to give us any information you have on him and we’ll give you any news on Polybia.” Jstrul kept her tone level, but she was still having internal struggles. Why is sister wanting to deal with them at all? This whole Grogar thing is just some foalish fairy tale. Perhaps sister is just using this as an excuse to force a reprieve to give us time to regroup. “Well, if that’s everything,” Twilight looked to Chrysalis and Jstrul who made no move to speak further, “then I’ll be going.” I hope Celestia has something more than children books on Grogar. Chrysalis smirked as Twilight flew off to the waiting airships. “We should thank, Polybia, really. This pause in the war will help us far more than Kreesus.” With them being the only remaining royals in the amphitheater, Chrysalis was able to wait for her sister to summon a seeing-eye drone. “You really think we’ll be able to challenge her? She’s made mistakes, but tactically, she’s almost on par with the technophiles in terms of current strength.” “Maybe so,” Chrysalis replied with more than a little irritation. “But we should prepare in case Grogar actually exists. It is not like Twilight to jump upon flights of fancy, especially since pausing the war is of no benefit to her or her hive.” Deep in the green heart of the vast jungles, Polybia’s hive chittered and writhed as a large lump of bulbous tissue was carried in by two drones through the smooth tunnels. The way was lit by glowing algae along the walls. Deep underground, the two drones located a frothing hot pond of teal liquid. It radiated a faint light, casting the small chamber in murky shadows. The lumpy flesh was carefully deposited into the pool. The flesh squirmed and thrashed violently as bones formed and muscles grew. The legs formed first with soft chitin growing along them, then came Polybia’s head breaking out of a weakening membrane before her body finished reconstituting itself. She heaved herself out of the pool still covered in the slushy substance. “May you rot in Tartarus, Chrysalis. I should have known you were up to something when you visited Thoran last month.” Polybia’s rapid regrowth left her physically exhausted, and she laid there panting out of breath. Her veins felt like they were on fire while her nerves ached, and muscles spasmed from the rapid growth. Good thing I wormed that soul separation spell out of that wretch, but by the First Mother does it hurt. Aside from the two drones that had brought in Polybia’s “contingency plan” there was only one other thing inside the chamber besides the pool. It was a pod with dozens of wards, both physical and magical, with only the occupant’s head clear of the wax. “Well, well, my reluctant student was able to master the art of using a phylactery after all,” a barely interested baritone grating voice range out. “A pity you used a lump of living flesh to do it. A crystal vase serves as a much cleaner soul vessel.” Polybia glared daggers at the proto-queen sized ram. He stared right back at her with hollow pits for eyes that glowed red like embers of a dying fire. “I told you I’m only going to use necromancy to win this war. The moment I’ve conquered my rivals I’m casting this vile magic away, along with you.” “You only make things harder for yourself that way,” the ram replied as if he were speaking to a child. “I don’t need a pond of muck to restore my body every time it’s destroyed.” Polybia shakily climbed to her hooves. “I don’t even want to know what you do use.” “Oh don’t be so rigid, Polybia,” he said with affected disappointment. “You would be capable of so much more if you put aside such misguided morals. It’s not the spells themselves that are sinful, only how you use them. Even the Equestrians are more… tolerant of necromancers than you, although they regulate it far too heavily for my tastes. Who’s to say the First Mother wouldn’t approve of more advanced necromancy?” Polybia stopped as her mind grew fuzzy. Her vision lost focus the longer the necromancer stared at her. I must still be weak from the revival. Doing her best to shake it off, Polybia turned to face him. “I refuse to dishonor the First Mother! Even if none of the other queens seems to care for her anymore, at least I still will.” “I said nothing about dishonor, Queen Polybia. I merely recommend that maybe you should reexamine your scriptures. Perhaps they are not as stringent as you originally believed. After all, the last remaining faithful queen mustn’t fall victim to misinterpretation.” Polybia growled and strengthened the shielding in her mind. “Don’t toy with me, Grogar! I will not let you twist me into your puppet!” “You can’t blame me for trying,” he chided while tugging at his restraints for emphasis. “I’m not going to sit here idly, and be your little Well of Power every time you need to syphon my essence for your little war.” “I will take what I need, and whenever I need it. Remember that, Grogar,” Polybia rebuked with a bitter scowl. “For now, perhaps. In any event, it seems you’ve dug quite a deep hole for yourself. I wonder how much longer it’ll be before you have to step down from your high morals to save yourself. After today’s little incident…” He narrowed his gaze with a hint of a smile coming to him. “Speaking of which, what is the last thing you remember before your body was ripped to pieces?” “I don’t have time for this, Grogar, I need to retrieve my royal egg. Without a hostage, Sectovaria will destroy it soon.” “I should certainly hope not,” Grogar said as Polybia departed. “Killing sinless youths is a dark stain to bear indeed.” Polybia looked at him with confusion clearly written all over her face before leaving the chamber. Grogar’s gaze followed her even after she faded from view. I wish you would have modified that dead-mare spell. It galls me to no end to have my image broadcast for the world to see. > 4: Four Queens, Rogue High > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nestled within the tender vessel Cornucopia, the shipboard side hatchery could easily hold a month’s worth of eggs from both queens. However that did not account for four egg layers, but thankfully the majority of the alcoves were empty. Aegis Altair leaned against Blitz while gushing over eight of those eggs in particular. She had Blitz wrapped into a tight side long hug. “It’s finally happened, Blitz, we’re becoming queens!” That was almost enough to pull Blitz’s gaze away from her enclosed eggs. “Technically we’ve been turning into queens ever since being reborn.” “Oh shush, you know what I mean,” Aegis snorted while nuzzling her counterpart. “What do you think they’ll hatch with; hooves or hands?” “I would imagine hooves, since that is our natural state.” Blitz waggled her fingers, even now, still in awe at how natural they felt. Over the years, she had developed a much higher level of dexterity with her fingers than she ever thought possible. Aunty did a really good job on me. I wonder if she made our hands superior to even the sphinxes. The pair was mostly oblivious to Gear Ratio who was swooning along with her fellow caretakers a few meters away in the control room. The four of them were eternally grateful for the glass divider between them and the proto-queens. Gear had a professional reputation to maintain, and squealing in joy like a nymph was rather unbecoming, in her eyes anyway. “To think, girls, we’ve got to service not one, but three proto-queens’ first clutches.” A round of joyous giggling passed through the group of caretakers. One of the assistants put the finishing touches on the eggs’ nutrient solution and cranked several wheels to cycle the liquid. “Don’t forget, sisters, our caretaker corps will double within the year to handle the new workload. But…” She gestured for her coworkers to lean in close so that she could whisper. “I heard from Gentle Touch that there’s talks of retooling the hive’s economy to support a second pair of princesses as soon Aegis and Blitz move out.” Gear Ratio looked at the pair of proto-queens with anticipation before the comment finally registered and she looked at her co-worker with disbelief. “Get out!” “No lie,” Caretaker Feather Soft replied manically, “Buz Bug’s honor!” “Girls, we’re the luckiest caretakers to ever live!” Gear Ratio and the others squealed and dance-hugged each other for a few moments before an alert bell started ringing, making the drones jump back at the controls. “How about we celebrate after we’re off-duty.” “Agreed,” the rest replied bubbly. Gear Ratio took a deep breath before refocusing on her work. Ultimately it had only been a timer instead of a problem cropping up so she addressed the matter quickly. With little else to do but monitor the eggs, Gear Ratio looked out at the rows of incubators, and the two proto-queens who were close by. I hope they really didn’t hear any of that. Any embarrassment was quickly forgotten when her eyes drifted over the proto-queens’ wings, and seeing something was off about them. “Feather Soft, Jelly, come on, we need to perform our first proto-queen physical.” The group slid up next to Blitz who jumped a little at the sudden appearance of the three drones. “Alright you two, you know what needs to happen.” Gear made a snapping noise with her magic causing Feather to start inspecting Aegis from top to bottom while Jelly assaulted Blitz with medical probes. Gear went over to Blitz’s wings. Aegis instinctively went rigid as her medic/caretaker started with a quick scan for irregularities. “Couldn’t you guys give us a bit more time to admire our first clutch?” Blitz took it in stride, completely at ease with the inspection. It helped that this was a bi-weekly event for them. Probably going to be a daily thing now. “Come on, Aegis, you know such rapid growth needs to go smoothly. Any complications now could take decades to correct if you hassle them.” Gear Ratio didn’t get far before she paused at Blitz’s wings. Along the mare’s long prismatic gossamer wings, was an outline of Rainbow’s all too familiar cutie mark, formed by Blitz’s longitudinal veins. Before saying anything, Gear inspected Aegis’ broader red wings and quickly identified she had an outline of Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark that was becoming more pronounced as the veins thickened. At this point, Gear Ratio scowled and flew over to face the tall blue mare who now rivaled Princess Celestia in height as she stood on two legs. “Blitz, did either of you decide to alchemically alter your wings? You know how dangerous that can be during the proto-queen stage.” “What are you talking about?” Blitz turned around and flared her wings to see what the issue was. “I barely understand the alchemy of my design, let alone have any inkling on how to alter it safely.” Everyone started looking at Blitz’s wings as their owner quickly quieted at the sight of the pattern. “Hey, sweet tat, Blitz.” Aegis teased by ribbing Blitz. “I knew you loved your momma, but damn.” Blitz puffed her face in irritation before looking at Aegis’ wings. “Well that’s the pot calling the kettle black. You have Aunty Twilight’s mark on your wings.” She jabbed an accusatory hoof at her counterpart. Before Aegis could compound the confusion, Gear Ratio cleared her throat. “Now, let’s not get out of hoof here. This might just be a prank Aunty Rainbow is playing on us. In fact…” As if on cue, both matriarchs of the hive entered the hatchery to find their prized royal daughters. Rainbow was quickest and charged in for a squashing embrace, nearly knocking the caretakers aside. “Ha, ha! Congrats, Blitz, you’re a momma now!” Aegis met Twilight halfway and the two hugged for a long moment. Aegis had to momentarily drop to all fours to do so properly. “I was so worried you might have been caught by Grogar’s attack.” Twilight pulled back to give her daughter a pride filled smile. I’m so glad her hive presence is so much brighter now, it was impossible to miss her survival. “So, was your first laying all you hoped it would be?” Blitz blushed furiously at the embarrassment while Aegis laughed it off. “I couldn’t ask for better than announcing to the whole world Blizzy and I are ready to enter the big stage via a public laying.” “I certainly can,” Blitz shot back without any real malice. “But…” she heaved a sigh as Aegis climbed back up to two hooves. “At least it saves time on sending letters out, right?” “Oh that’s right,” Twilight announced worriedly. “I was so caught up in everything I completely forgot to inform Rolled Scroll and Blue Flare what to actually tell Celestia about Grogar.” With Twilight momentarily preoccupied, Gear Ratio took a moment to slide in between the royals and fix Rainbow with a knowing scowl. “Aunty RD, I have to ask, did you tamper with their alchemical formula without our foreknowledge?” she asked while pointed at the proto-queens. “I tamper with lots of things,” Rainbow countered innocently. “I can’t be expected to remember all of them.” Gear flew up and gently tugged Blitz’s right wing out to show the outlined cutie mark on them. “Then maybe this can jog your memory. Honestly Aunty, I hope this isn’t your handiwork.” Rainbow lit up and ‘ooo’d’ at that sight of the outlined cloud and thunderbolt. “Interesting…” she purred with pride and delight, “but no, I didn’t do this.” Her inspection came to a quick halt and she turned to Gear Ratio. “Hey, GR, who’s my consort for the day?” “Ahhh,” she shook her head to compensate for the subject change. “No one, not for the next two days.” “Great, then I’ll lay right now.” One of the caretakers ran off and returned with a pillow and a couple of towels. If they were honest with themselves, both Aegis and Blitz felt a serious twinge of jealousy and anticipation at Rainbow laying a full clutch of fourteen eggs. With only changelings around, Rainbow had long since lost any reservations about laying in front of them. By the time Rainbow fed her eggs and gotten cleaned up, Twilight reawakened from her communion with Rolled Scroll. “Okay, girls, I’m going to have my diplomatic staff and a few others sent over to Canterlot Archives to search for anything on Grogar as soon as Celestia gives them the go-ahead. As for us, we’re going back to PR to put together a proper naval force.” Blitz was puzzled by that. “We’re coming back here?” This time it was Rainbow who answered. “Sis and I are, at least until Polybia is dealt with.” Twilight started where Rainbow left off. “I examined the remains of the body via proxy as I came onboard. There’s strong evidence that the body hasn’t held a soul for at least a month, but I’m not that familiar with necromancy, so there’s no way to be sure.” “Don’t you worry your eggbrain about that!” Rainbow jeered playfully while patting Twilight’s head. “I already got a plan to find out if Polly Pocket is alive or not thanks to Sectovaria.” “Yeah, I know…” Twilight tried to ease up by reveling in the fact that Aegis was now a proto-queen. Yet before she could voice her renewed good humor, Rainbow slid up next to Aegis. “It’s almost a pity you started laying, squirt,” she jeered while ribbing Aegis. “But at least now you get to have practical experience at long range command of a battlespace.” Aegis’ mixed smile fell crestfallen. Blitz on the other hand was more than happy to avoid tangling with a necromancer that could bring her aunt to nervous shakes. “Maybe we could help with the archives research? With the rail line between the hive and the primary Equestrian network now complete, we could use incubation cars while we’re there instead of relying on airships which will be needed elsewhere.” Aegis gave her counterpart the Ultimate Rage-filled Scowl of Supreme Displeasure. With Twilight considering Blitz’s preposition, it gave her time to respond. “I like it,” Twilight said at last, making Aegis wilt. “Good thinking, Blitz. I’ll order an incubator train car to move to Canterlot station immediately.” As Twilight started outlining her plan in more detail, Gear Ratio was getting tired of waiting and silently flew up and pulled one of Aegis’ wings open to show the pattern to her mother. Aegis wanted to pull it back into a resting position, but Gear kept looking between Twilight and the wing, trying to get her to notice without having to resort to pinging her. Aegis was about to snap at the chief caretaker when Twilight finally turned to see what her daughter and chief caretaker were silently fighting over. Gear Ratio finally stopped tugging when Twilight narrowed her eyes at the pattern. “What the…” She briefly used her magic to sniff out any disguise magic and found none. “Aegis, why is my cutie mark on your wing?” Much to Aegis’ protests, Gear flew over to pull the other wing open. “Wings?!” “So neither of you did this?” Gear asked worriedly. “I may be more vain since becoming queen,” Twilight answered hesitantly after thinking of all the artwork and architecture that decorated Phoenix’s Roost, “but nowhere near that level.” Gear Ratio’s mane started frizzing out. “Complications are bad, really, really, bad! What if this gets worst! What if they start growing extra limbs or cancer!?” Panic started rising in the room with Twilight at the forefront. Within seconds the vessel lurched into motion. “Okay, we need to get back to the hive, scratch Canterlot. Aegis, Blitz, you’re restricted to your quarters until we get this sorted out.” Out of all of them, Rainbow Dash was more confused at her sister’s reaction, than the existence of the marks. “Why are all of you getting so bent out of shape? They just got cutie marks… in a really weird place that are copies of yours and mine. How’s that a bad thing?” “Of course it’s bad!” Twilight flustered with spittle thankfully flying over Rainbow’s head as she ducked down. “Changelings don’t get cutie marks! This could be a sign that something else is wrong, something we didn’t account for! I have to tell mother, maybe she knows what to do!” “Now hold on,” Rainbow swatted Twilight with a wing before she could speak with Cadista. “You and I are still part pony right? That’s the whole reason we can still produce love and all that,” she stated while rolling a hoof in the air. “So I would think that all of our kids, royal or not, are part pony then too right?” “If that were true, then wouldn’t the drones get these too?” Blitz offered while showing off her mark. “Yes, that’s right!” Twilight agreed, descending deeper into panic. “This might be a major problem with our bloodline that could only show up with royal daughters! UGH!!” Rainbow had seen her sister mentally spiral out of control one too many times to let it happen again. She smacked her sister with her wing again, this time a bit harder than before. “Twilight, you seriously need to chillaxe!” Aegis, Blitz, and Gear Ratio cringed at the impact leaving Twilight speechless for a moment. The purple queen blinked a few times before using her breathing technique, something Blitz and Gear quickly mimiced. “Right… thanks, sis.” “Anytime, Twilight.” Twilight’s mane continued to frizz out but her expression had settled down to mostly calm. Can’t work properly if I get too wigged out anyway. Shoving her nerves aside, Twilight started scanning her daughter while Gear Ratio and one other caretaker inspected Blitz. “Okay… so, I only did minor work on your brains to make you more adaptive to shapeshifting hands and bipedalism, so I’ll start there.” Out of the pair, Aegis was far less worried as she stared deeply at her wing pattern while scratching her chin. “You know… I think I’ve seen this wing thing before. Like, when I was still a drone.” Twilight halted before she could grab a magical probe one of the caretakers had brought in. “What do you mean?” It took Aegis almost a minute to place the memory. “I just remember seeing this pattern show up every once in a while in my sex partners’ wings for a few moments after climax, but it never lasted long, and no one ever said anything about it, so I thought it was normal and didn’t pay it much attention.” “Which partners?” Blitz asked quickly. “Because now that I think about it. I’ve seen the same thing a few times, but only with my clutchmates.” “I ahh… heh haha… I didn’t exactly keep track,” Aegis shrugged shamelessly and a bit sheepishly. Rainbow snorted in amusement. “Well I’ve never seen it.” “Nor I,” Twilight confirmed with mixed relief. “But if you’ve seen it since being a drone, this might not be a disaster after all.” Rainbow scoffed at the whole issue and teased her sister by flicking her nose with a wing tip. “There you go again, thinking the sky’s falling over a cutie mark that just wanted to move. Are you sure there isn’t a pill for that?” “I’m going to ignore that,” Twilight stated with a harumph. Over the next few minutes, Twilight’s scans failed to reveal any other complications, causing her to blush in embarrassment. “I can’t find anything wrong so far, but,” she warned with a raised hoof while her sister rolled her eyes, “this could simply be an early sign of something insidious. I can’t go in too much depth with just my horn and this small scanner,” she waved the brass tool for emphasis. Sickbay doesn’t have any scanning equipment the hatchery doesn’t. Pointedly ignoring her sister’s ‘I told you so’ face, Twilight addressed her chief caretaker. “Gear, keep a close eye on them until we get back to the hive to do some proper inspections.” “Yes, my queen.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the whole thing. “Honestly, I thought the appearance of a cutie mark was a good thing.” Twilight had already walked over to the hatchery control room to speak further with Gear Ratio. “Annnyway, when this whole cutie mark insanity blows over, as I know it will, maybe you two can customize them to fit you better.” Blitz was still concerned about it, but Aegis shared her aunt’s jovial attitude. “What? You don’t want your cutie mark displayed even more for the world to see?” “Ha! No need for that when I have tens of thousands of kids with my coat, mane and wings of awesomeness. Even more so if Blitz never alters her coat or mane colors. Once you guys are full queens and can change it safely, I think you should personalize them. It’s not every day somepony gets to choose their cutie marks… or should we call it wing marks?” “Well I’m glad you two are having a blast,” Blitz huffed. She glanced worriedly at her mother’s cutie mark outlined on her wing. “I really hope you’re right momma. I really do.” Deep in the fetid jungles, a small contingent of drones approached a cave entrance covered in wax along a jagged rocky outcropping. Reptilian eyes shone forth from the leader as she tried to locate the guards that should have been there. Aside from the noise of lesser insects and birds, the jungle was unnaturally quiet being this close to Sectovaria’s hive. Has she relocated that quickly? Where could she possibly go? Fearing a trap, she sent two drones out in the open ground between her underbrush hiding spot and the cave entrance. The pair made it across without incident, further worrying Polybia. As one, all twenty of her advance force charged into Sectovaria’s hive. With only a few soldiers spared to cover her flanks, Polybia’s primary puppet raced through the darkened tunnels, knowing exactly where to go. However nothing barred the way, driving her fears ever higher. It was only when she finally arrived at the hatchery did she find other changelings. Two of Sectovaria’s guards stood at the entrance, but Polybia could not see further in due to the large organic door akin to a sphincter sealing the hatchery away. There’s no way she’d negotiate with me, now that I’ve been labeled a rogue, she thought with renewed fury towards Chrysalis, but I have to know the fate of my egg. All of that crossed her mind between the time of seeing the guards and charging in to attack. The two guards tensed, but seemed to refrain from using their bladed arms or spines upon recognizing Polybia’s drones. With their guard lowered, Polybia pinned the left one under her puppet’s alicorn sized girth while the rest of her troops killed the other soldier before laying siege to the door. “Sectovaria, answer me!” Having expected this, Sectovaria responded quickly by puppeting the captured drone. “Polybia. This may go without saying, but due to… recent events, our treaties and my fealty are nullified. I no longer answer to you.” “Rogue or not, Sectovaria, you better still have what belongs to me,” Polybia growled with her horn glowing threateningly. “Or I will hunt you down to the depths of Tartarus if I have to!” Even with it just being a puppet, Sectovaria cowered at the pool of dark magic gathering in Polybia’s horn. “I’m not an idiot, Polybia. I kept your egg safe and sound. Although I don’t know how useful it’ll be once she loses her ability to love.” Polybia’s drones confirmed the royal egg was alive and unharmed, lifting a massive weight off her shoulders. Not that she allowed that to show through her puppet. “Don’t worry about that. I… thank you, for not killing or stealing it away. However little you take my word, I will leave you alone for it, so long as you stay out of my way.” “Y- you’ll get no trouble from me. Not that I could do much to you anyway.” Without further ceremony, Polybia’s drones retreated from the hive. Ultimately she was torn on Sectovaria. Such a pushover, for a queen, and yet she has a loving daughter… What a cruel joke. For her part, Sectovaria leaned back in her chair. The ship’s cabin was starkly different compared to the welcoming comfort of soft wax, plush leaves, and glowing lichen of her home. Will Polybia actually leave me alone? She looked sane, but no sane queen would ever get themselves declared rogue like that. A large part of her mental power was devoted to moving her drones north, so she didn’t notice Khirala tugging on her leg until she started whimpering. With a forced smile to hide her deep-seated fears, Sectovaria picked her up and started rocking her while feeding the nymph some love as she searched for the nymph food one of Rainbow’s drones had provided earlier. “Don’t you worry little one. You’re safe now.” She continued to whisper soothing stories that ultimately got Khirala to drift off into a fitful sleep. I hope all the stories of Twilight and Rainbow being too soft on their family are true. It’d be my luck to go from one psychopathic master to another. Heaving herself up, Sectovaria made her way to the door and opened it to find two blue guards just outside. “Tell your queen that her fears were justified. Polybia is still alive.” Far removed from such dreadful events, Celestia was actually having a rather pleasant day at court. The nobles were noticeably less bothersome, the lobbyists pushing fewer one-sided bills, and most surprisingly of all, there were more than seven petitions and propositions that were genuine improvements. She tried to ignore the facts that six of them were done out of selfish aims, but she took her points when she could. Why does Luna’s court get most of the well-meaning lobbyists? Currently, she was silently reviewing a monument construction project proclaiming the harmonious peace between the known races to be built in Ponyville. “I have to say, I love the idea, Steel Chisel. I think a statue of all friendly races, including the immigrate sphinxes would go a long way towards continued harmony. I think Ponyville would be the perfect place for it.” “I knew you would, Princess,” the dusty unicorn stallion replied excitedly at the prospect of a contract. “With Ponyville’s recent growth though, you might need to rename it Pony City.” It was a horrible joke, and several royal guards’ military bearing were tested to keep from groaning. Celestia was able to titter politely. “We just might,” she agreed while signing the petition. “I will have my secretary provide you the detail on how to proceed from here.” “Thank you, Princess, you won’t regret it!” Steel Chisel departed with such a bounce in his step he almost missed the changeling ambassador, Blue Flare, barging into the room nearly tripping over the hapless sculptor. “P-Princess Celestia, there is an urgent situation from the jungles!” Celestia put up a halting hoof towards the next supplicant as her brow furrowed along with her smile evaporating. “What happened?” Not wanting to cause a panic, Blue Flare flew over, bowed quickly and moved to speak in the diarch’s ear. “One of the other queens, Polybia, has gone rogue, and Aunt Twilight believes she is allied with an ancient being named Grogar.” “Grogar?” Celestia looked at the ambassador with bewilderment. Blue Flare nodded in affirmation. It took Celestia a few moments to place the unfamiliar name. “But he’s just a foal’s book villain I read to her once during Nightmare Night. He was never real. What is she basing this off of?” “Just a giant cloud demon bearing his likeness assaulting the Summit. She said that it was even accompanied by the tolling of bells as the old stories go.” That got a troubled eyebrow lift out of the old alicorn. “That is troubling.” ’The Grim Tales’ never was a very popular foal story collection. And has fallen even further into obscurity over the millennia. I highly doubt a changeling queen would use such an obscure image… “I assume Twilight wants access to the archives for research.” “I always tell Scroll that Aunty is too predictable at times,” Flare replied with an amused smirk. “But yes, she does.” “Very well, and get Aged Page to assist you. If a fairy tale has come to life, he might have some insight on the matter. At the very least he’ll get a kick out of it.” “Thank you, your highness. My queens send their gratitude.” Blue Flare bowed again and departed, leaving many of the ponies, guards and court members alike, in an uneasy state. Celestia quickly noticed the wave of concern chilling the room. I really hope Twilight is wrong about this one, she thought now that the old story tales were being pulled from the depths of her memories. Something like Grogar should stay imaginary. Grogar festered in his cocoon prison as he was brought into a familiar chamber by a small group of drones. The room itself was vast with several tall pillars made from a sort of wax and rock based cement keeping the chamber stable. There were thousands of pods blanketing the walls and pillars, each containing prisoners from many races both near and far, average and exotic. The necromancer’s smoldering fury was dampened a bit after he passed by a sleeping sphinx. The oddity of seeing a new creature barely passed through his ancient mind before turning back to look at the destination. In a small clearing, several pods had been harvested from the stores and lined up beside Polybia. He scanned the lot of them with mild curiosity. “What’s this? Are you giving me a selection or a feast?” “The latter,” she stated distastefully. “With my rogue status, I will need more of your power than ever before.” “So you’re trying to… fatten me up, as they say.” Ultimately, he never got much of a rise out of her any time he spoke about feeding time. To think there are mortal species out there with the same disregard for sapient life as my bedeviled kin. “I know not their crimes, or even if they’re guilty. Just eat your fill. I will drain you later.” With a quick burst of magic, Polybia activated an anti-magic barrier so powerful it even managed to give Grogar a migraine. Once done, the drones removed his bindings and sliced his cocoon open so he could move freely. The old ram jostled his stiff limbs while casting his ears about, picking up the sound of numerous drones nearby, just waiting for him to make a wrong move. “And what if I don’t desire to feed? I have no interest in your little war.” Polybia eyed him dangerously. “Then I will drain you anyway. The demonologist was quite specific about how close I can bring you to true death.” She had two of her drones pull one of the captives off the line and threw it at Grogar’s hooves. “At such a weakened state, even a demon of your power can be made to feel true pain.” “Child, I was ancient before your species even existed,” Grogar replied with supreme disinterest. However he distinctly caught on to the demonologist comment. That would explain things. “I have experienced pain beyond your imagination, and you think you can do worse? You do know which realm I came from don’t you?” He started lazily studying the offered prisoners more closely, starting with the one at his hooves. “And yet you wander this realm, rarely if ever leaving. You may not be from this world, but I doubt you are as indifferent to pain as you would have me believe. However…” Polybia walked over to him slowly. “Perhaps torture is the wrong tool.” Grogar remained passive towards her advance. She stopped a few inches away. “If you’re unwilling to fuel my war, I’ll simply have to return these prisoners to their respective societies.” Grogar’s ear twitched, but otherwise revealed nothing. “Why would you give up your food?” “I have over nine thousand of the very worst criminals their societies have brought forth in various secure locations, Grogar. By far, too many for my own needs.” She eyed him, searching for any sign of emotional tell. “And now that all of the other queens are arrayed against me, I can’t keep them all. You keep telling me my sins weigh heavily upon me, so killing any of them in cold blood certainly isn’t helping in that regard. In fact,” she added with a knowing smirk, “the only logical thing to do would be to release them at various cities. I’m sure they can find new lives for themselves out there.” “...It would be a shame if all that sin were to go to waste,” he said with measured poise. His eye fell upon the prisoner below him. It was a minotaur bull with scars almost hidden by the pod’s coating. With practiced ease, one of the drones carefully sliced it open and pulled out a green gel covered arm. Ignoring the mess, Grogar bent down and sliced the arm to withdraw some blood. He licked his hoof, humming in culinary delight. “Murder, child rapist, and… Oohh, now that’s a kink I haven’t tasted in a long time. This will almost be worth the trouble you put me through, Polybia,” he said as he turned his gaze up at her. “But don’t think this buffet will win you salvation when all of this is over. I will claim your soul one day.” “You still don’t understand changeling queens, do you, Necromancer?” Polybia huffed in disdain. “We are not some common riffraff you can find in any other civilization. I don’t care about my fate.” Only that of my progeny, she added to herself. “So you claim,” he replied with a disbelieving tone. He tore open the rest of the sleeping minotaur's cocoon, scowling all the way. Just a bit longer, Polybia, and your mind will no longer be your own. Grogar’s teeth sharpened into knives as he bit down on the bull’s gut, and tore off a mass of flesh, forcing the minotaur to awaken screaming. Polybia watched in muted horror as the demon slowly devoured the bull, all the while keeping him alive as long as possible. Within short order, Grogar consumed the body, bones and all, and still looked famished for more. Where does he put it all? Grogar repeated the process eight times, cursing Polybia all the while as he put the last few alterations to his mana. It was slow, tedious work under the anti-magic field, but hardly as impossible as Polybia believed. That plan was put on hold after he tasted a sphinx’s blood. “Petty theft, and little else,” he muttered quietly. He pushed the arm back into the pod. He looked at Polybia carefully, before adopting a disinterested look. “He’s not to my liking. Put him back.” “I am not your chef, demon,” Polybia stated darkly. “This one is producing only a trickle of love. He’s of no use to me.” “Then I suppose you’ll just have to release him back into the wild,” Grogar returned with thinly veiled contempt. “Fine then.” Three drones grabbed the pod and made for the exit. “I wonder how long he’ll survive the jungles.” Grogar appeared to not care in the least. However he used the distraction to alter his internal magic. “Not my concern anymore.” “Perhaps…” Polybia replied contemplatively. A few moments later she commanded her drones to take the pods back into storage. “You’ve eaten enough, in any event.” Five more drones flew over and grabbed Grogar before starting to encase him in wax so Polybia could personally apply the wards and seals. “I will come for you shortly.” Grogar hid a satisfied smirk as he was carried away to the pool room. It’s taken quite awhile, but I finally altered my magic enough. We’ll see who comes out on top, Polybia. > 5: The Demonologist > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aegis liked to think she had impressive patience. After all, she suffered years of princesshood, biweekly medical checks, her mother and aunt’s sometimes ridiculous tests, and then there was the “Cake Incident”. She shuddered at the terror of so much cake batter. All of the seemingly fruitless research wasn’t exactly helping matters. Several paper stacks and old tomes dotted the ground floor with drained tea cups scattered about. Blitz wanted coffee above all, but the caretakers forbade it for the time being. “Hold still, please,” Gear Ratio asked while inspecting every square inch of the purple proto-queen’s scalp. “Four bulbs. Excellent, your crown is growing in nicely.” Aegis started scratching the bulbs with those delightfully dexterous fingers. “They itch like crazy.” Gear gently smacked the hand away. “Don’t irritate them. The bone hasn’t hardened yet so if you mess with them, they’ll break and you’ll start growing in a second crown. Now, drop down so I can set up the probulator.” “Joy,” Aegis grumbled as she reluctantly returned to her original quadruped stance. She eyed Burny, who was resting at her hooves, and picked it up in her magic to nuzzle her favorite weapon. He just doesn’t feel complete without a loaded fuel canister, but the castle staff keep getting all uppity about it. Gear Ratio rolled over a machine as large as Celestia herself. Aegis would have blanched at all of the prods, needles, clamps, and various other implements of medical torture were it not a daily ritual Gear seemed to love doing, with an evil cackle at that. Whelp, I know what I’m banning the moment I start ruling my future hive. A tittering giggle drew Aegis’ ears towards Blitz who was getting inspected as well. A few weeks had passed since the Summit, and the group was now in their personal suite in Canterlot Castle. It was actually Twilight’s old home before moving to Ponyville, which gave everyone a huge sense of wonder. Though that wonder was subdued for both proto-queens. “Aegis, you really need to just let the caretakers work. The sooner they're done, the sooner we can go back to our research.” Aegis grumbled and groaned, but otherwise quietly complied to be poked and prodded. Mother neglected to mention how much the caretakers would probe us with cold steel tools. Actually, you know what? Screw it, my first act as queen will to make all medical probes double as sex toys. It had already been late afternoon when the caretakers had begun, and by the time they finished, it was already well past sundown. A knock on the door was followed up by a voice. “Kitchen Service.” Feather Soft was the only one not occupied by the examinations, having been taking notes. As such it fell upon her to answer the door, only to find Princess Luna waiting on the other side. “Good evening, Caretaker.” Feather jumped in surprise, but managed to speak without stuttering. “Princess Luna, it’s an honor!” Feather stepped aside to allow Luna and the servants entrance. With a respectful nod, Luna stepped in to find the other caretakers abandon their physical while the proto-queens happily cantered over. Aegis more than the others after seeing the two serving carts laden with food being wheeled in by the servants. “Hey, Princess, what brings you here?” The three royals exchanged brief hugs. “I’ve been so busy as of late, I’ve not had a chance to see you since you arrived.” Luna sized them up. It was ultimately difficult to gauge the progress of the two changeling proto-queens towards full physical maturity since they were much taller standing on two legs. It is a little odd feeling when they kneel down to hug, rather than go back onto four legs. “I trust the city’s been kind to you.” “Funny you should say that,” Blitz answered with a face somewhere between humored and confused. “We went to go sightseeing this morning and ponies kept asking us if we were costumed minotaurs.” “Or a new species,” Aegis continued with a snicker, “and that one kid who thought we were changeling infested minotaurs coming here for a cure.” Luna couldn’t help but to chuckle as the caretakers took turns hugging Luna. “Well it is certainly better than pitchforks, and hazmat suits.” Leaving the royals to their chat, Gear Ratio shooed her staff over to set up the dining table. Blitz laughed only to slowly stop at Luna’s serious expression. “Ah… Well, anyway, umm, I’m glad that didn’t happen.” “As are we all,” Luna replied with a brief sly smirk towards Aegis. “Archmage Aged Page is not the young stallion he used to be, so I have brought his latest findings with me,” she said while summoning several pieces of paper and an old tome. Aegis’ face lit up at sight of the documents. “So he actually managed to find something? And here I thought we’d be stuck with fairy tales, ones that I hope have been blown out of proportion.” Blitz hummed thoughtfully before her face lit up with an idea. “I think we should go over all of our information first, and you, Luna, can correct or add where we’re lacking.” “Sounds reasonable,” Luna remarked. “Why don’t we try in one of your Linkscapes for better visualization?” Aegis and Blitz were about to telekinetically grab the food Gear Ratio had brought over when Luna’s comment made them all hesitate. “Wait a second, since when can you enter our hive mind?” Both proto-queens were momentarily surprised they spoke in unison before Blitz shook it off as a fluke. "I thought your part in defeating Silandrus was just you piggybacking off of momma." Luna shot Aegis a calm smile. “That is true. Nevertheless, you forget, because I am one with The Dreamer, I am psychic. However, I view the hive mind differently than what’s been described to me. To my sight, your hive mind appears more as lights and souls, rather than a choir, so I can't truly join your Link. However, I believe I can at least enter Linkscapes since they are likely just a different form of lucid dreaming.” “Incredible.” Blitz stated with an amazed tone. “I think it’s worth a shot.” Blitz turned to Aegis who nodded in agreement. “Just so long as you don’t actually join the hive mind. I really don’t want to have to explain to mother that you’ve been enveloped like Aunty was.” Gear Ratio quickly set the plates down before quietly scampering off to join her staff. Undoubtedly to gossip, Luna mused with a hint of laughter. The trio ate for a bit as Blitz pulled upon Twilight’s lessons and crafted a Linkscape in the form of a grassy meadow with rolling hills. “Okay, everypony, I think we’re ready to start.” With practiced ease, Luna’s mind departed her body with just enough intelligence left behind to keep eating. Since Blitz was not resisting her, Luna was able to enter the proto-queen’s mind without incident, and followed the tether of her consciousness to the waking dream. The Linkscape appeared to be a blobby window to the meadow until she passed through into the faux dream world. There she found Blitz and Aegis waiting for her with excited expressions written all over them. “This is too cool!” Aegis cheered. “I would say I wish we could have done this sort of thing with Aunty all those years ago, but” she squashed Blitz with a sidelong embrace, causing her counterpart to wheeze despite not needing to breathe. “Then I wouldn’t have the best mare in the world for a counterpart.” She nuzzled Blitz with deep affection, who couldn’t help but to snicker and return it in earnest. “I think it all worked out well for everypony involved,” Luna replied diplomatically. This being her first time in a Linkscape, Luna took stock of her senses and mental condition, if only to have an excuse to not look at her companions’ lack of inhibitions. Luna wanted to make sure she wasn’t slowly becoming too attached to the hive mind. It never hurts to be cautious. Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, but keeping herself alert, Luna turned to the heatedly amorous pair of future queens. She coughed loudly before speaking. “Show me what you have, if you have a moment or two.” Blitz suddenly remembered Luna was still there as she and Aegis were in the middle of an intimate kiss. She broke off and momentarily became vaporous to slide out of Aegis’ grasp before reforming slightly away from her. “R-r-right, sorry. Okay, so, we’ll start with the foal tale Celestia originally told Aunty Twilight.” Aegis giggled at her counterpart’s insecurity about public displays of affection around non-changelings. Blitz replied without any real force. The image of a stylized ram portrayed in an oil painting appeared. He had dark blue fur, curling horns, and stark angry red glowing eyes. His maw was filled with knives, bearing a cruel hate filled grin. Upon his neck was a bronze metal band that had several thin bells on it, with a much larger one hanging from the bottom. Overall, he was only slightly larger than other rams Luna had seen in her day. Even then, he didn’t quite match her in height. His fur was scraggly and unkempt, but it was impossible to know if that was just an effect of the painter’s style or not. “Necromancer Grogar,” Aegis opened up with a calculating gaze upon her foe. “The three folk tales were all over the place on describing him, even in the same story, but I think we nailed down the most common factors.” Blitz circled around the portrait to stand at Aegis’ right. “In one instance, he is said to be a ruler of sorts. His kingdom was called Tambian.” “It’s Tambelon,” Luna corrected as she waved a mental copy of Aged Page’s notes. “It’s supposed to be a subdivision of, or at least closely linked to Tartarus.” “The storybooks must have lost the original spelling,” Blitz replied as she summoned a piece of paper into existence and scribbled on it. It disappeared a moment later when the amended text appeared above Grogar’s head. Aegis stared contemplatively at the demonic ram. “All the kiddy stories we found said he kills whomever he pleases, sending their souls to either Tartarus at large, or to be enslaved within Tambelon.” “I have no real information to add on that part,” Luna stated with a worried frown. “Other than that it seems to be either both, or that he personally picks which place the victims are sent.” “The old stories also said that he raised the dead to destroy whole cities, or to gobble up bad little foals.” Blitz created a ghostly pony, and a zombie one. “The legend says that with each victim he gained two more soldiers: the mindless corpse, and the ghost.” “That’s roughly what the archmage uncovered as well,” Luna added. “Though I have to question the validity of these legends. As you originally feared, it’s all too likely that these stories get blown out of proportion. Did you find anything on his goals, or is he just an engine for destruction?” “None that I could find,” Blitz replied with Aegis shaking her head. “But judging by the language of the stories, the writer either fully believed he was writing fiction, or was so overloaded with superstition that everything they say is suspect.” “Yeah, that one kept saying Breezies are heralds of famine and drought,” Aegis scoffed. “The guy also said that Grogar was actually an earth pony originally, and also a minotaur for a while before becoming a demon.” “I noticed a similar trend in Page’s notes,” Luna stated with mounting concern. “But it’s entirely possible that there were other spirits and demons either mistaken for Grogar, or were actively using his name to spread fear.” “I hope that’s all we’re dealing with here then,” Blitz stated with waning fear. “Polybia might have secured an alliance with a demon or con artist posing as Grogar. For all we know, Polybia could have used the necromancer’s image on purpose because she thought Twilight would hold us all back while we investigate Grogar.” “That’s certainly a possibility,” Luna agreed. “If Polybia went rogue in the manner you told me, I would expect a queen to use disinformation like this.” The hive mind chimed the late hour causing both changelings yawn sleepily. Blitz felt around the hive mind to find that Twilight was highly distracted in other matters. “Hey Aegis, do you know what Aunty’s up to? She’s usually very punctual.” “I can answer that,” Luna said with deep concern. “Thanks to her sister’s prodding, both Twilight and Rainbow are out exploring less… savory sources of information.” Intel ‘la ‘Gence, Ferrum, Counterspell, and Thunderfury strode through Lower Canterlot disguised as a quartet of pegasi drifters along a narrow mountain road. Lower Canterlot was perched the very slope of Canterhorn Mountain along northern face, opposite of the old monastery. Taking up the rear guard, Thunderfury gazed to his left. Without even a railing, the thin road flanked a sheer drop for thirty meters before reaching the roof of another building below. During his training, Thunderfury gained much needed insight into the ground-bound lives of unicorns and earth ponies. Had anyone been able to see through his disguise, they would have found Thunderfury bearing his mother’s catlike eyes. Rainbow Dash was watching the expedition through him, but letting him remain in full control for the time being. Twilight Sparkle kept her misgivings about this dilapidated community masked behind scholarly lectures. Through Intel’s eyes, Twilight silently mourned the glory days she never got to see. Intel didn’t look back at her squad mate to avoid giving any hints to their silent conversation. Like Thunderfury, she too bore her mother’s eyes. The path came to a collasped rope bridge, forcing everyone to fly across. Ferrum was outwardly bored but inwardly scoffing at his commander. Twilight fussed to keep them focused. Counterspell pulled his tattered cloak tighter across his face as he passed by a skeletal old griffin who had flies buzzing around his rasping beak. Disgusting. Rainbow Dash hummed negatively. Intel kept trying to look suspicious of others but also nonchalant. Not something that came easy, even for a changeling. She spied a young pegasus colt no older than she was, chronologically at least, who eyed them like a hawk until the squad passed in front of a dilapidated house. The path was so eroded and narrow that she had to take to the air to keep from falling. As soon as the last squad member followed suit, the group felt an overwhelmingly powerful magical force muscle past their natural resistance to telekinesis. With a yelp, Intel was dragged into the house along with the rest of her crew to find a glowing mana engine holding them tight while three earth ponies with crude black market replica muskets held their weapons leveled right at them. A unicorn stepped away from the bulky engine’s controls, bringing the changelings’ attention to her and the Ponies for the Conservation of Equestria graffiti tag behind her. “Well what do we have here,” the unicorn announced with a drawl. “I would have thought the police finally realized they aren’t welcome down here.” “What the hell makes you think we’re cops!?” Counterspell shouted accusingly. “Is there a badge on me that I didn’t know about? Did someone tattoo one on my flank without my knowing!?” Twilight and Rainbow tried to think of a plan, so the drones decided to stall. One of the earth gunponies snorted dismissively. “We saw the lot of you coming down from Middle Canterlot, and we’ve never seen you before. Besides, all of you walk too stiff to be riffraff.” Ferrum let off a terse laugh at Counterspell. “Well lookie there, CS, somepony thinks you look respectable.” “Will you two shut up!” Intel growled at them. She turned to the leader, forcing her disgust of the bigot down. “Look, we all got thrown out of the Guard for nearly beating some Ling Lover to death up there. We were actually coming down here to find work. There’s always somepony needing some muscle down here.” “We should know,” Thunderfury said with general disdain. The earth ponies kept their weapons trained on the disguised drones, but they looked to the unicorn for direction. The mare glanced behind her, knowing the P.C.E. logo was clearly visible. “A likely story. I was in the Guard myself not too long ago, and I don’t remember any of you. Who was your commanding officer?” Using Thunderfury’s voice, Rainbow Dash was the one who answered. “That old prick Captain March Step of the Forty Eighth Regiment. I couldn’t stand the guy after finding out he had a griffin fetish.” Using Rainbow’s information, the remaining three changelings gave similar stories about fellow guardponies and Twilight supplied some gossip on castle life until Intel was the last to speak. “And the old nag had the gall to tell me I was wrong, so I clocked her so hard she’ll be needing a new set of dentures.” The earth ponies were smirking at the mental image, but had enough discipline to keep their weapons up. The unicorn still frowned suspiciously. “Enough!” she barked harshly. The room fell silent as the mare studied each of the disguised changelings intently. Twilight started to fear that they had pushed the cover story too far, and were moments away from having to resort to violence. Not sure how effective that’ll be with the mana engine forcing our children to be sitting ducks. The unicorn watched each of her hostages with a slow steady eye as her magic tightened around the engine’s controls. She hunted for any sign of deception, no matter how faint. Eventually though, all she could do was huff bitterly. “Fine... You proved you at least can act like former guards. But you’re all from different units, so…” The changelings watched as the unicorn returned to the mana engine’s controls and let Counterspell fall to the ground. She telekinetically grabbed a spare rifle from behind her chair and gave it to him. “You should have no loyalty to any of them. Kill one, and I’ll believe you. Don’t, and I’ll have you shot right here and now.” Counterspell stalled for time while verbalizing his disgust for the shoddy weapon in his hooves. It doesn’t look to be of changeling make. This could be a bad sign. Counterspell spotted a removable anti-telekinesis ward on the rifle. A back up? These guys aren’t fooling around. He narrowed his gaze at Thunderfury who started to wiggle futilely within the mana-engine’s grasp. “Now wait a minute! We just proved we’re who we say we are, there’s no need for this!” Thunderfury shrieked out of convincing fear. The unicorn mare pulled a dagger from under her chair and leveled it at Counterspell’s spine. “You’ve proven you were Guard. But now I want proof you’re not undercover agents. Shoot him,” she demanded of Counterspell, “Or we kill you and make one of your buddies take the next shot.” “Fine by me,” Counterspell lied smoothly, “Never did like you much, Paddle Bat, you always bitched too much.” Adopting the standard Royal Guard firing stance, Counterspell aimed and fired at the distraught false pegasus. With everyone so focused on Thunderfury screaming a death knell, Twilight used Counterspell’s horn for a subtle alteration of the air, making it sound like the bullet hit flesh rather than the concealed shield. Rainbow Dash had successfully guided Thunderfury to fidget so his hidden shields were at an angle that caused the bullet to ricochet outside. Noticing none of this, the unicorn only saw what they wanted her to: a simple execution. Satisfied, the mare had the engine throw Thunderfury out of the room and down the cliff before any blood could fall. “You’re either very dedicated to your cover story, or you might just be legitimate. But there is one other thing…” The trio of earth ponies readjusted their aim back towards Counterspell as the unicorn charged her horn. “There is one other group who has such disregard for the lives of others.” With a pulse of magic, she bathed Counterspell in purple magic. Twilight instantly knew the spell, and couldn’t help but to smirk. My old disguise removal spell with quite a few nasty improvements. Honestly, did you really think I wouldn’t have developed a counter to that root design? Having no way to see the distant queen’s superior grin, the unicorn frowned when Counterspell remained a pegasus. “They’re clean.” The earth ponies lowered their weapons, but kept them at the ready in case any of them wanted revenge for Thunderfury. With a few adjustments to the controls, the unicorn shut the mana-engine down and let the remaining two Queens’ Guard drop to the ground. “The P.C.E. is always looking for new recruits, but Don Cannoli will want to know you’re in the area first.” “And where can we find him,” Intel growled, forcing herself to keep her eyes away from the door. “You don’t find the Don, he finds you. But all the same, go the pawn shop two levels down along Edge Street. You’ll run into one of Cannoli’s people down there before long.” “Yeah, sure, sure,” Ferrum said dismissively as he made his way towards the door. Intel leveraged every ounce of her self-control to keep from attacking the terrorists right then and there, instead opting to just silently leave. That left Counterspell to toss the spent firearm at one of the earth stallions. “We’ll visit him soon enough.” “Don’t make him wait too long,” one of the stallions warned. “Cannoli doesn’t tolerate disrespect and if you piss him off, you can forget about working with us.” “I’ll keep that in mind,” Ferrum replied before he too left the house. Twilight was far more reserved about her distaste for the group. The thought of any ponies calling the P.C.E. comrades made Rainbow’s blood boil. Thunderfury commented, sharing his mother’s bloodlust. Twilight countered with her usual motherly tone. Rainbow jumped in smoothly as her sister quieted. The three remaining false pegasi regrouped once the P.C.E. house and the suspected lookout colt were out of sight. They found Thunderfury disguised as a scraggly pale brown unicorn lazily leaning against the cliff. Even without their empathy, they could tell he was badly drained of mana. He was wearing a new cloak that was even more ragged than his old one. He showed off his torn cloak as if it was a fashionable accessory. Counterspell snarked. Rainbow Dash ignored the banter. Shuffling through the rundown sections of Lower Canterlot, the drones finally reached a small storehouse with a sign reading ‘Grizwalo’s Junction’. By any normal standards, anyone would think the business went under long ago. Intel rounded some broken wooden crates to find a beggar huddled around the cargo entrance to the building. The beggar was sleeping on her belly, seemingly oblivious to the midday sun beating down on all of them. Thunderfury stopped trying to act like he wasn’t tailing the group and moved forward to meet up with his squad as Rainbow Dash took full control over him. Twilight did the same with Intel before stepping up to the beggar. She had to keep up appearances of a new criminal so she adopted a harsh tone. “Hey, old mare, you know where we can find a friend of ours?” A dry raspy cackle escaped the mare’s parched lips. Her neck audibly cracked as she turned to look at Twilight with lifeless eyes. “What kind of friend? I can be yours for five bits.” Her crusted eyes looked over the other three disguised drones. “Ten bits for the lot of you, what do you say?” Even for the free-love changelings, none of them wanted to go anywhere near that topic with her. “I think we’ll pass,” Twilight stated flatly. “We’re more interested in meeting with Tobi.” The broken mare cackled loudly as if she was not made of bone and muscle, unnerving the drones. “So you want the special do ya!? Well it’s in the back. Come along.” With surprising strength, the mare got to her hooves and pushed her way inside one of the broken side doors into the storehouse. Twilight watched her go before turning Intel towards the rest of the squad. The pair sent their acknowledgements before taking positions around the building while Intel and Thunderfury followed after the beggar. However, instead of stepping into a disused storehouse, the pair stepped into a candlelit library filled with dusty tomes, arcane diagrams on the floor and on paper, a few skulls of various species, and a young looking earth stallion bent over a stone altar. “Always horrible timing,” he complained morosely. Twilight scanned the room and looked back at the door to find solid stone with an ivory door frame. The frame itself had the magic scent of unicorn horns. Rainbow was equally confused, but left her sister to the exploration. She focused her attention squarely on the pony. When Twilight finally gathered her wits, she took a closer look at the pony and his altar. Some glowing green liquid was slowly bubbling, as if it was evaporating in the open air. Rainbow Dash’s arcane senses told her he was using a glamor spell. Feels like the spellwork is entirely different from our disguise magic, but the end result is the same. Is he a non-pony? Or has his trade of choice corrupted his appearance? “Fel-Weaver Schadenfreude, we’re here because Aged Page said you’re the one to go to for information of demonic nature.” One of Schadenfreude’s ears turned backwards towards Twilight and Rainbow. He reached for a gnarled old staff with enchanted bones hanging off of it. With a rattling clatter, he stomped the butt of the staff on the ground, causing the glowing liquid to condense into a pool before slithering back into a cup he then set upright. Finally, he turned around to reveal a very plain looking face with grey eyes matching his drab gray fur and mane. His cutie mark was obscured by a fine cloak. “Is that so?” His eyes flashed red for a few seconds before he returned the staff to its original resting place. “So what’s your poison? I doubt he’d send you if all you wanted was to bargain your souls for power.” “We want all you’ve got on a demon named Grogar,” Rainbow demanded bluntly. “Grogar?” he asked incredulously before quickly masking his surprise. “Afraid I can’t do that.” “Why not?” Twilight fished inside Intel’s cloak and pulled out a decent sized bag of bits and threw it down. “We don’t have any souls to spare, but we can pay your monetary price at least.” “It’s not a question of money, Miss…” “Call me Loki,” Twilight said. It took Rainbow a second to remember she was occupying a male body. “Rainy Days.” Schadenfreude gave Thunderfury a curt nod. “As I said, Miss Loki, I can’t divulge anything about Grogar for another month. A client of mine paid for my extended silence regarding him, and quite handsomely at that. When you’re in my kind of business, your word is all you have to keep ponies like the archmage from frying you where you stand.” “Even if that knowledge could save the world?” Rainbow rebuked harshly. Schadenfreude made a dismissive sound and walked over to a filled wine glass and drain a little of it. “I’m a demonologist, Days, I follow my contracts better than any lawyer that ever existed. If it’s in my contract, I abide by it.” “A snake who stays true to his word, can’t say I expected that,” Rainbow huffed. “But that is at least something I can respect.” Schadenfreude merely shrugged at the derogatory name. It was beyond tame in his book, and suspected it was in his as well. “As can I,” Twilight began as she let her eyes wander around the cramped room. “But I have it on good authority that client of yours was a changeling. One, Polybia, if I’m not mistaken.” To his credit, Schadenfreude didn’t react at all. “It’s possible. My client base is quite large, so I wouldn’t doubt at least one changeling decided to request my services. And before you go flashing some obscure law at me, Aged Page and I agreed that I abide by my client’s native laws and customs. Not necessarily Equestria’s.” “Funny you should mention that.” Rainbow saw her opening and took it. “Let’s say that client was Polybia. Are you familiar with the concept of rogues in changeling society?” This time he actually chuckled. “Changeling society? Outside of those bugs down in the Everfree," he prodded with a knowing smirk, "there is no society with them. Just a bunch of egomaniacal queens ruling soulless subjects. It’s unbelievably droll.” “You’d be surprised,” Twilight interjected with an unexpected grin at the stallion’s flippant posture. “Being declared a rogue queen is a serious problem. You see, all of that queen’s loyalties and agreements are considered completely null and void. Any and all contracts you have with her are no longer binding.” “How convenient.” Schadenfreude settled down in a leather chair and sipped his red wine. “And why should I believe you?” Sharing a nod between them, Twilight and Rainbow dropped their disguises with a flash of purple and fuchsia magic. Schadenfreude looked at them with not as much shock as they expected. “We are Queens Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. I would like to think we know something about changeling society and its laws,” they announced in unison. Schadenfreude’s amusement lasted only a few seconds before he slipped into an intrigued expression. “How very interesting… I admit this is the first time I’ve seen one of you Phoenix’s Roost changelings up close. But even if you’re right about this rogue law, unless you have some tangible evidence of my assumed client going rogue, I simply can’t help you in regards to Grogar.” Rainbow Dash tossed an even heavier bag of bits at his hooves. “I'm sure you have your own way of checking.” Greed flashed through his eyes as he scooped up the money. “I'm glad you understand.” His glamor spell shifted slightly, revealing his teeth were razor sharp. Schadenfreude bit down hard on his foreleg and let his blood spill into his wine glass. “Gelnath feltu, Feralian!” He threw his bloodwine onto the stone floor, splattering it everywhere and sending broken glass in all directions. Twilight flinched a little as one spec of the wine touched her fetlock. The stench of chemically burning fur started to fill the room before the blood pulled itself off her leg. The crimson liquid formed a pentagram beside Schadenfreude’s chair. Both mares waited nervously. Oily fel magic saturated every inch of the room, trying to claw its way into their minds. Rainbow Dash could feel the corruptive magic pouring out of a hole that formed in the middle of the diagram. The poisonous energy tried to crawl up their hooves, but Twilight burned it away with a bubble of holy magic. Rainbow followed suit, but her shield was actually much stronger than her sister’s, much to Twilight’s chagrin and disbelief. Twilight watched Schadenfreude carefully as the stallion gazed deeply into the abyssal opening in front of him. The fel magic swirled around him, caressing him like a lover. Rainbow Dash had to suppress a gag. “I would keep those barriers of yours up,” Schadenfreude warned with a smirk. “Unless you want the demons on the other side to mark you. Once they do that, it’s nearly impossible to avoid an exorcism. Unless you’re interested in studying the darker magics?” “Thank you but no. And you could have warned us sooner,” Twilight growled. Using holy magic was highly difficult for her. Holy magic from the Silver City was drawn upon far differently than from the Elysian Fields of ponykind. I don’t get it though. I’ve seen mother pull upon the City’s holy magic with such ease, and yet I have to work so damned hard to keep even this bubble up. If it wasn’t for the other queens at the Summit… Finally, a diminutive shadowy figure crawled out of the floor portal. It spoke with a hollow echo that grated the changelings’ ears. “Master… How can this one serve?” “Go to the Record Keeper. See if my contract with client Ginger Bell is still in effect.” Schadenfreude grabbed a raw and meaty bone off the end table to his right and tossed it at the small demon. It’s mouth expanded to double its body’s size and devoured the whole thing in one go. “As you wish, master.” A whirlpool seemed to form, rapidly sucking all of the fel energy back through the portal along with the demon. The portal closed and the bloodwine cracked and dried in an instant. Schadenfreude got up to retrieve another glass of wine. Rainbow Dash saw tiny shadowy creatures peek out from various nooks and crannies and take the remaining shards of glass away. “We shouldn’t have to wait long,” Schadenfreude explained as he poured a new glass. “I gave it a particularly tasty treat. I believe you can appreciate expediency.” He waved a hoof at a pair of red velvet chairs across from him. “Please sit. I get so few high profile visitors… from this plane of existence anyway.” Twilight scanned the furniture and found no obvious traps before accepting the seat with Rainbow taking the one to her right. “This might be a dumb question to you, but how can you trust those things?” He chuckled louder than Twilight thought proper while letting his true blood red eyes flash from behind the glamor spell. “Just like mortal beings, demons come in all shapes and mentalities. But unlike mortals, they are bound to any contract they sign to the absolute letter. Even if he wanted to, my little messenger could never lie to me.” He briefly pulled a scroll out from his cloak before replacing it. “I keep his contract close at hoof to make sure of that.” “I see,” was all Twilight was willing to say on the subject. “Assuming this record keeper is up on current events, and he reveals you are free of your contract, we will still pay you handsomely for any useful information regarding Grogar.” “I’d expect no less,” Schadenfreude stated flatly. He examined the two possessed drones with intense curiosity. “Tell you what. I’ll offer you a discount in exchange for some information about the two of you.” Rainbow spoke before Twilight had a chance. “We’re not saying a thing until word comes back from your bookie. If he’s been slouching we’re not giving information for free.” A wide toothy grin cleaved Schadenfreude’s muzzle. “Fair enough. I’ll be willing to offer this discount to any future dealings we have. It’s obvious you hate even being in this room,” he directed more so at Twilight than Rainbow Dash. “But I can offer a great deal of services, even to more… legitimate governments. After all, I wouldn’t be on retainer with the archmage if I wasn’t. He’s getting along in years, even for a unicorn of his power. I’d prefer to stay off the most wanted lists, on the mortal plane at least.” Rainbow asked her sister. There was an air of disbelief in the warrior-queen’s tone. Twilight confirmed. Rainbow finished with deep scowl. Rainbow spat. “We can start things off cordially enough,” Twilight began with a thin smile after finally addressing the demonologist. “I will answer what I deem unimportant to national security.” Schadenfreude’s grin never wavered. His eyes turned a smoldering red again. “You won’t regret it. I know Page hasn’t… by and large,” he shrugged. “So tell me, your highnesses. The last changeling client I had, I could see her for what she was right away, even with her flawless disguise. But you two…” His grin shifted from mirth to fascination. “To the best of my admittedly limited knowledge, your drones are typically carbon copies of their queens. The curious exception is that your drones possess fully fledged sapient souls, but I'll get into that later. What I really want to know is how these carbon copies of you have souls as individualistic as normal ponies. You must be altering them somehow, but no one seems to know how. Not even my contacts.” “So you want to know about that?” Rainbow carefully avoided using the word ‘alchemy’. “If you think you can use that to improve yourself, then you better be ready to become a changeling to do so.” Schadenfreude’s grin fell into a scowl and slumped back in his chair. “Is that so? What a shame.” He saw Twilight was about to speak but waved her off. “I don’t care to learn anymore about it then. I respect you, but I have no interest in becoming one of you.” He took a long drag of his wine. “That being said… How does a whole hive of changelings possess souls that are are such seamless mergers of changeling and a pony?” “What?” Twilight and Rainbow Dash asked in unison. “Oh it’s as plain as day to me, now anyway. I knew exactly what you four were the moment you approached my door.” Schadenfreude watched them carefully to sniff out any deception. “I don’t identify people by their face, but by their soul. Griffins, ponies, zebras, and changelings all have such unique souls from one another. So I have to ask, humor me if you please, why do both you two and your little drones outside have such unique souls?” “Well…” Twilight was still a little weirded out by the news, as was Rainbow. “My sister and I were converted into changelings, but I thought that was public knowledge.” Schadenfreude hummed in contemplation. “Yes, I know of it. I’ve personally seen a pony’s soul be corrupted to the point where she was indistinguishable from a demon. A soul mutates to fit the mind and body, so I anticipated such a change in both of you. However, it’s your children that fascinate me. They also possess this smooth melding where instead I expected them to have predominantly changeling souls. I find myself wondering if I’m gazing upon a whole new species rather than a simple hybrid.” “A lot of people say that,” Rainbow snarked. “Our whole body-change-science alters who we are. Sometimes the only thing the different hives have in common is that we all call ourselves changelings.” Schadenfreude deflated a little. “I see… So this melding is just a common side effect of your transformative abilities? It could be possibly tied to your original connection to the elements, but that, too, is beyond my… legal reach. Yet more disappointment. Ah well,” he stated with mild resignation. “Then tell me this, did you purposely intertwine your souls or is that a side effect for pony to changeling conversion?” “Entwined souls?” both mares responded in surprise. “What do you mean?” Schadenfreude keenly noted that neither queen seemed at all bothered after speaking in unison. “You honestly don’t know?” He slouched back in his chair, his interest rapidly morphing into dismissiveness. “I wouldn’t worry yourselves over much. It’s probably harmless.” Rainbow said before her sister could start to overthink it. Twilight was able to reign in her shock, and settled into a more passive posture. It wasn’t long before some of Cadista’s earlier remarks started to surface. Yumia was my other half… My soulmate. Was mother just being dramatic, or was there more to it than just our old ties to the elements? Whatever it is, it can’t be too dangerous. Our hive mind focuses on maintaining individuality, so a soul merger is unlikely. Even so, I’m going to need to speak to mother when our business here is done. Fel magic started filling the room, emanating from the original portal. The tiny demon crossed over much faster this time, and crawled out almost immediately. “Master, the client committed a heinous act indeed, for the Keeper says the contract is void, but not broken… odd, no?” Schadenfreude looked to the queens with intrigue. “Not really. You may go.” Wordlessly, the demon retreated back through the portal which closed after it. “So you’re free to spill the beans?” Rainbow half-demanded impatiently. “Indeed I am,” Schadenfreude confirmed with a wave of his now empty wineglass. “I’ll keep my payment in simple bits. For a demon of Grogar’s caliber, five million bits sounds reasonable.” “three million,” Twilight countered. “I should push for two and a half since you said you’d give us a discount.” He flashed a toothy smirk. “That was with the discount. But… I like you two, your highnesses. I have a feeling you’ll be good customers.” Fat chance of that, both queens mused while keeping their expressions from shifting. “Fine, but three and a quarter million is my final offer. Business expenses, you see.” “Deal,” both queens said in unison. “We’ll open a bank account at the Canterlot Reserve under the name Fair Skies for you.” Rainbow Dash levitated Twilight's unclaimed bag of bits on the ground and slipped it back inside Thunderfury’s cloak. “That is acceptable.” Schadenfreude got up and walked over to his bookshelves while scanning the titles. Rainbow hesitated for a few moments as something bothered her, more than the room at least. “Just out of curiosity, what did Polybia pay you?” “Souls,” Schadenfreude replied without inflection. Both queens’ hearts went cold, and it took Twilight a moment to speak evenly. She thanked the stars the demonologist’s back was turned so he didn’t see their pale faces. “Drone souls?” “No.” … … Schadenfreude wasn’t bothered by the heavy silence in the least. While he couldn’t sense it, he just knew the queens were probably ranging from horrified to furious. He was not wrong. At last, he reached the tome he was seeking and withdrew it. “Ahhh, here we are Grogar. Where would you like to start, hmm?” > 6: Contingency > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A dozen questions raced through Twilight and Rainbow after Schadenfreude told them of Polybia’s method of payment. Most of them centered on disbelief and shock. I know those other queens probably see non-changelings as nothing more than food, but this is a new low, Rainbow mused darkly. Poly better hope I never get my hooves on her. Schadenfreude ignored the queens’ obvious anger as he pulled the relevant tome from the shelves and reclaimed his seat and wine glass after topping it off. He was however, surprised neither of them were condemning him for accepting such payment. Are they ignoring it so I can give them the information first, or do they actually accept it as standard business practice for me? In any event, he had no use for a client that was too furious to conduct business in a professional manner. “If it’ll put your minds at some level of ease,” he started flatly, snapping the queens from their brooding. “Most of the souls had already damned themselves. They were simply going to Tartarus a little early. Well… after I make use of them, anyway.” “Most of them?” Twilight asked darkly. “And what about the… morally salvageable souls?” It didn’t sound quite right, but she didn’t know of any other way to say it to a demonologist. “I give them over to Aged Page, of course.” He grinned behind his wineglass as both queens look at him in renewed silent scrutiny. “Is that the other reason you’re not on government wanted lists?” Rainbow half accused. “I suspected that would be the obvious conclusion.” His smug grin never left as he started searching the tome for the relevant information. “Ultimately it’s not a terrible arrangement for all parties involved. Such souls… are less useful for my purposes, so I don’t lose all that much, and the Archmage gets to soothe his conscience by giving those souls over to clerics or paladins, or whoever he gives them to, it doesn’t matter to me.” Twilight shook off the creep factor of the demonologist’s laughter at the whole thing. “As grateful as I am to hear of your… charity work, I would prefer to move along to the Grogar issue.” Twilight cleared her throat and nodded towards the notes. Schadenfreude cast a overly humored smirk at her. “Down to business, I like that. Now, Grogar. What would you like to know first?” It was Rainbow who spoke up. “Did Polybia form an alliance with that goat?” “Ram,” Twilight corrected automatically. Ignoring the sisters’ quirks, Schadenfreude answered without even looking at his documents. “Based on what she wanted to know, I strongly doubt it. She came here looking for ways to bend him to her will. Cantraps, true names, the usual routine. Grogar isn’t someone you can simply control, he is only a half demon after all. He may not have all of the powers a full demon possesses, but he doesn’t have as many weaknesses either.” He saw in their eyes that he would need to elaborate. “To the best of my knowledge, Grogar was originally an earth pony mare, though I know not his original name.” “A mare, you gotta be kidding me,” Rainbow scoffed. I know that sort of thing is commonplace among the hive, but outside of that? Schadenfreude smirked at the irony. “I’ve actually dined with him a few times. Fun fact, Chardonniegh is his favorite wine.” He saw neither queen was interested in trivia. He shrugged at the lost humor. “In Grogar’s own words: “gender is a construct of life, and I am necromancer by trade”. He simply adopts the gender of whatever new body he possesses as his own because he doesn’t see the point in changing it. Personally I think he’d change his tune if he bothered to get laid every once in a while.” “Fascinating… truly,” Twilight said with an obvious lie. If Polybia was looking for binding spells and tools, it’s possible that there is no alliance, and she took control over him by force. Doesn’t mean they didn’t strike a deal after she met with Schadenfreude though. “The sexual predilections of demonic necromancers aside, how do we defeat him?” “That is a simple matter that is anything but,” Schadenfreude replied, taking a moment to enjoy the queens’ irritation. “Grogar is no more powerful than anyone else without his Band of Bells.” “Bells? Seriously?” Rainbow snorted in amusement. “I’m sure bells took on a more significant meaning in whatever mortal culture Grogar originally belonged to,” Schadenfreude shrugged. “He wasn’t exactly forthcoming in that regard. Either way, because he is not a full demon, Grogar can’t bring his full power with him every time he swaps bodies once the old one dies. So he locked most of it into his bells which, as you can imagine, is far easier to take with you from one body to the next.” “That’s it?” Twilight asked incredulously. “Take off his necklace and his power is diminished?” “Partly. The problem is that that power diffuses into his current body until the bells themselves are empty vessels,” Schadenfreude clarified with a serious tone. “You would have to kill his body, then ward his bells from being summoned to where ever he has a spare body lying around. Taking the neckband without killing him would be largely pointless.” Despite such welcome news, Twilight couldn’t help but to feel dubious. “If this is such a big weakness… How well known is this vulnerability, in your circles?” “I do so love it when my customers ask the right questions,” Schadenfreude said with slightly growing respect. “It is very well known indeed. Grogar was not always as powerful as he is now. The nature of his self-altered soul means he’s stuck with this particular problem, and many of his enemies have taken advantage of that over the centuries.” He took a sip of his wine before grabbing a tobacco pipe and lit it with a candle. “I think it is a general rule of his to believe all of his enemies know about it.” “Can we reason with him, perchance?” Twilight knew her sister was going to rebuke that idea until she silently reminded Rainbow who they were talking to. Schadenfreude puffed on his pipe, letting the throat burning smoke waft away. “But of course. He’s as civilized as they come, so long as you don’t anger him. I dare say he would be irked by our little discussion. Not that I gave away his secrets, mind you, but at how little you paid for them.” Schadenfreude’s eyes wandered up to the ceiling with that ever present unsettling grin plastered on his face. “He always assumed he would be worth at least half a billion bits. I must say I am writhing with anticipation on what his response will be once he discovers how much those secrets actually sold for.” “Just so long as he directs any vengeance solely upon you,” Rainbow started with a smug grin of her own, trying to play his unsaid game. “I’d like to watch.” “Care to see if I’m worth a prolonged contract, your highness?” Schadenfreude’s flat teeth were suddenly replaced by yellowed fangs. “I’m almost tempted to tell Grogar myself. At least once this whole Polybia issue he has is resolved. She wouldn’t be the first to forcefully enlist his aid.” “This has happened before?” both queens asked with mixed levels of surprise and disbelief. Schadenfreude let off a sensible chuckle. “His demonic half is a succubus… well,” he paused with a head tilt, “incubus now, at least. If you ask me, I believe he quells the remaining incubus urges he has left with the bondage part of being a prisoner. Not that he would let it show.” “Are you saying he still possesses modesty?” Twilight asked with a sarcastic snort. “Ha! You are not as blinded as most mortals, Queen Twilight Sparkle, I’ll give you that.” Schadenfreude entirely missed Twilight forcibly hiding her confusion at guessing correctly. Rainbow Dash was admittedly not the sharpest bowling ball outside of combat, but even she could see something was off. “Wait a minute… how does a half sex-demon never get laid? I thought that was supposed to be their thing.” Twilight looked to Schadenfreude for answers only to find the stallion was for once at a loss for words. “You know… I never actually gave that much thought. Demons are creatures of emotions, but I suspect his use of necromancy has twisted his body to the point that such urges are smothered.” “Well that makes sense,” Twilight added with a contemplative shallow frown. “All magic use influences the wielder, be it holy, arcane, or demonic if one school is used excessively over the others. Necromancy is no exception.” She looked at Schadenfreude for confirmation of her next theory. “Even if demons are indeed creatures of emotion, they are still living organic beings. Since necromancy eventually renders the practitioner undead, most of those urges die with them.” “Quite an interesting idea, your majesty. I know of nothing that could contradict you.” “Okay, so we know he’s an emotionless smart zombie demon.” Rainbow drew upon Twilight’s knowledge of necromancy to think of a meaningful question. “What about his… phylactery?” I think that’s how you say it. “Can we find it and break it?” “It’s possible,” Schadenfreude admitted easily. “If I read her right, Polybia was by far most interested in finding Grogar’s phylactery. Not as impossible as ignorant ponies think. Even the most powerful necromancers have a limited range on their phylactery. If they go beyond that range…” Schadenfreude clapped his hooves hard. “His consciousness would be torn away from his vessel and pulled back into the phylactery. “So if we grab it, we can just fly away with it to disable him?” Rainbow leaned forward in her seat at the prospect of a quick win. “Assuming you find it, of course,” Schadenfreude countered with a smirk. “He’d have to keep the soul vessel here on the mortal plane to keep the bond between his body and phylactery strong.” “So he can’t cheat in hiding it?” Rainbow mirrored Schadenfreude’s devilish smirk. “Now that is something worth knowing.” Polybia stumbled into her hatchery, still glowing with the chilly mana of Grogar’s power. The massive chamber was blanketed in her eggs, and those stolen from the most recent queen she had eliminated from before the Summit. Even if they were not of her blood, they were still viable soldiers. Grogar’s mana fought against hers as Polybia struggled to bring it under her control. He’s doing something with his mana. It’s never been this difficult to subdue. Still, I need it’s power before attacking Kreesus. She summoned a pair of caretakers to help carry her so she could put more focus on the riotous mana. By the time she was brought to her destination, most of Grogar’s power had been brought to heel. However it still lingered around her head, clouding her vision. She forcibly shook herself to clear it to little effect. I guess he wants even less food. Resting before her in a large alcove of the main hatchery were dozens of green glowing pods filled with pony captives. Twilight may have gotten us to return all of the love farmed ponies, but loopholes are too easy to exploit. The four dozen captives were not actually used for love harvesting, but for knowledge instead. With a hive of dimwitted, but surprisingly competent drones, there was always going to be something that would be impossible to accomplish with Polybia’s direction alone. The ponies here were used for their assortment of talents. Farming, medicine, logistics, combat tactics, and anything else Polybia perceived as useful skills. With her mental strength returning, Polybia perused over the mass of pods. “Now… Which of you are the least important?” Looking over the gathered specialists and mulling over the state of her war torn hive, her focus fell upon two of her older pods. “Thanks to Kreesus’ last raid, my farmlands are diminished to the point where I don’t need as many agriculture experts. I can make do without you for a while yet.” She looked down at the pair of caretakers sitting beside her, awaiting to fulfill her wishes. “Cut those two from their pods and bring the royal egg to me.” “At once,” they replied emotionlessly. Carefully removing them from the ceiling, the caretakers moved the pods near their queen and went through the motions of awakening the occupants and carving them out of the pods. Polybia arched a disapproving eyebrow at the pair when enough pod fluid had been washed off of them to see them clearly. As with all of her pony specialists, they had been partially converted by the pods themselves into changelings. Otherwise connecting them to the hive mind would have been impossible. However, it was impractical to completely stop the transformation, only immensely slow it down. As as result, these two captives had been in the pods for so long they had grown fully formed horns and glossimer wings. While their hooves were black chitin, the fur had only retreated a few inches above the fetlocks. Short fangs poked out from their mouths and their fluttering eyes were indistinguishable from any other drone. Outside of that however, they looked like normal ponies, save for their cutie marks being a garbled mess of color. Polybia scowled at the hybrids. Damn. Perhaps they’ve been in there for too long. I don’t need mindless servants, I need someone who can act independently… for once. A small spark of hope remained as she noticed the rest of their fur remained thick and strongly colored. The cutie marks were not entirely missing, that at least gave her some confidence and stopped her from ordering them back to the pods. “Quasi, speak!” The pale greyish yellow furred stallion of the pair was big and nearly as tall as Luna without her horn. The pod had done nothing to diminish his toned build. “I hear and obey, my queen.” The curly carrot haired mare looked up Polybia with ghostly hatred in her eyes, but it was dwarfed by her devotion. “I live to serve, my queen.” She had faint peach colored fur with turquoise eyes. Polybia regarded the brilliantly red maned stallion with an inquisitive eye. “What do you remember of life before the hive?” She questioned hoping to find enough intelligence within them for her purposes. “Ah worked a farm, but don’t rightly remember what exactly Ah was farm’n,” the stallion replied hesitantly. He wanted to rub his head, but the presence of his queen held him back. “Do you remember where you used to live?” The mare wracked her brain, and was able to mostly ignore her forbearance about rubbing her head. A frustrated scowl marred her features. “No, my queen. Only that I helped with the farm. Maybe we were farmhooves or we owned it.” She looked at the big pale yellow stallion. “But I remember him quite clearly.” Perhaps you remember enough to be useful after all. Polybia saw the growing spark of intelligence in their eyes as some of their memories came back. “Do you think you could reintegrate into pony society?” “If that is your will, my queen.” The stallion replied evenly. “I - I would like that, my queen,” the mare said with extreme reservation. “B-but only if you wish it, of course.” If they have this much emotion… well, the mare anyway, then this might work out acceptably. Stallions have always been able to get away with being less emotional in Equestria if I recall correctly. Even so, their appearance could make it all useless. Injecting the knowledge of disguise magic into the two quasi, Polybia was ready for her final test. “Disguise yourselves.” While the stallion accepted the knowledge without issue, the mare had to blink away tears of pain. Polybia saw the tears, but felt no will to resist from her. Grey-green flames washed over the stallion first with the mare recovering from the sudden migraine for a few seconds. The mare felt her queen’s heavy glower hanging over her before she too hid her changeling features. Polybia inspected the pair with a critical eye for several minutes. “Your plot marks are still garbled, and both of you are still earth ponies. From here on, you are to disguise as unicorns or pegasi only.” The pair replied with the stallion becoming a pegasus, and the mare a unicorn. Squaring her shoulders, Polybia had her royal egg brought before the former earth ponies. Excellent. They have enough natural loyalty with that necessary spark of intelligence for the task at hoof. “I have a mission of the utmost importance. From here on out, the defense of this egg and its occupant is your sole purpose in life.” Polybia weaved a weak geas of devotion and loyalty before sinking it into both quasi. Any stronger and it would impede their mission. “What would you have us do?” the stallion asked while the mare carefully took the egg in her magic almost instinctively. “Take the egg north into Equestria, and wait for it to hatch within the next ten days.” Polybia withdrew a hoof sized gemstone and a necklace with a diamond shaped into a heart. “I have a love collector in Middle Canterlot. Go there, you will receive more instructions as needed.” It didn’t take the mare long to realize what she was holding. Some small part of her wanted to smash it then and there. Revenge for all the years she had been held captive would have been so very sweet. Another part fought against the first, wanting to protect the unborn life. The lion’s share of her mind cared nothing for the internal war and held it’s charge protectively as the queen had commanded. “But my queen, this is a royal egg! Shouldn’t it stay here with-“ “Enough!” Polybia barked harshly at being questioned by an underling. The mare cowed towards the stallion out of fear. It took Polybia a moment to realize the mare had not actually disobeyed her, but was only expressing concern. Good. This should work better than expected. Still expressing her ire, Polybia lowered her voice. “You show independent thought. A dangerous thing to have for a quasi, but for this task, it is necessary.” Marred with confusion, the mare calmed down and gently placed the egg on the waxy ground at her hooves. Polybia made a few other commands over the hive mind before continuing. “I have tried raising a love producing daughter multiple times, but they have always ended as failures. As far as I can tell, they require a pony style upbringing to continue producing love. Something I realize is completely beyond me. So you two are my plan B. Go to exit forty seven. I have soldiers there that will escort both you and the egg into Equestria. Do not fail me, quasi. Now go!” “Yes, my queen!” the stallion replied quickly before scooping up the egg. He made to leave when he noticed the mare was much more hesitant. “M-my queen. I-I don’t think any part of Canterlot is a good place for us.” More questions? This is why I prefer simple-minded drones. Taking a partial example from Cadista’s bloodline, Polybia opted to heatedly explain herself rather than slap the mare into submission. After all, she was queen. Blind obedience was a fact of life, and a cherished one at that. “Deal with it. I have no other love collectors beyond the jungles. There has been no need to replace those lost with all of the prisoners I’ve collected.” The stallion glowered at the mare for angering their queen, but the rebellious spark within her flared with new life in defiance all the same. “I - I understand, my queen,” she stated placatingly. “But all we know is farming. We know nothing of city life.” Did she simply guess I was going to have them stay there, or did she actually figure it out? Every fiber of Polybia’s being and upbringing demanded that the mare be killed on the spot. Unbound quasi are too dangerous. A few motes of Grogar’s mana swam around Polybia’s head, clouding her vision and derailing her thoughts. It took her more time than she would have liked to clear the cotton from her brain. When she she finally regarded the mare shaking in terror, a different thought came to mind. “Perhaps you’re right… Your assignment will be long term, and my royal daughter will be depending on you.” Polybia was struck with inspiration as her inquisitive wandering eyes fell upon the rest of the cocooned quasi. “Leave. I will find something among the rest of these experts with which to aid you. For now, time is short. Be gone!” Surprised that the mare had not ended up as a red smear on the ground, the stallion pulled his companion up by her fore leg and led her to the exits with the egg in tow. Polybia seethed at what she had to do. Damn you, Twilight Sparkle. Just by existing you have torn changeling traditions asunder. Coddling upbringing for love, and now I have to suffer two high level intelligences being awake and aware in my Link, even if they are little more than quasi. Polybia watched over her hatchery, trying to will her cocooned soldiers to hatch. However, those same traditions dictate that I take this path. Better it is to have a love producing queen who’s too soft, than a proper but love dependent daughter. Still… If I happen to come out on top of this little war, I can always reclaim my daughter when she is of age. In the end, Polybia knew love was not the sole reason she was sending her daughter away. A queen had to think of everything, and plan for even the worst event possible. I know that look in Grogar’s dead eyes. He wants revenge. That much is beyond obvious. Even with all of my contingencies in place, I will not leave my daughter vulnerable to him by keeping her in the hive. A little over an hour after first meeting with Schadenfreude, Twilight and Rainbow departed from their children's’ minds to return their awareness back to Twilight’s royal chambers. (Only after Intel and Thunderfury found some privacy first, for modesty’s sake.) The pair was resting against each other on the sofa. With the sun dipping below the horizon, the only light within the room was a single reading lamp on the far end and the lights of the hive below. Rather than getting up immediately, Twilight leaned a little more heavily on her sister to enjoy her presence a while longer. Rainbow reciprocated without complaint and affectionately nuzzled her in return. Twilight became aware of Ratchet snoozing on her other side, and couldn’t help but to breathe in contentment. The two queens, and one prime consort, basked in each other’s love. I was blind for years before Rainbow became my sister. Maybe it’s the Equestrian in me, or Celestia and Luna’s example, but I feel so much more… complete with her at my side. While it was never said, all it took was for Twilight to feel Rainbow’s delicious unconditional love to know she felt the same way. Yet with all things, the problems of the world conspired against them to end the moment of peace far too early. Gentle Touch spoke to the pair, dragging the sisters back to the present. Twilight gently kissed Ratchet before gingerly extracting herself from the couch. The act forced a reluctant Rainbow Dash to do the same, but Ratchet slept through it all. The heavy scent of lubricant and welding smoke still wafting from his workbench lent credence to his exhaustion. Rainbow Dash stretched like a cat, buzzing her wings lightly to get the kinks out. With Captain Rourke and the Deception acting as honor guard for the proto-queens in Canterlot, it fell upon the moderately inexperienced carrier captain. As a result, Rainbow had to walk her through a lot of it. Rainbow remained neutral. <...Ah, yes! The quartermaster has been informed of the request.> Twilight sniffed out the fretfulness in the shipmaster and left her sister to her duties with one final nuzzle before departing into the central corridor. I’m sure Rainbow can settle anything on that front. It may not be combat, but she’s gotten a lot better at directing the logistics side of things too. It didn’t take long before Twilight reached the door leading to her mother’s quarters. Cadista’s quarters were just a bit smaller than Twilight’s personal workshop/bedroom. A short ping announced her a moment before entering. Akin to her home back in Stripped Gear, Cadista had filled the walls with paintings over the last four years. Without a hive to rule, and the queenly pair more than able to run things on their own, Cadista dove more deeply into her artwork, at least when her work as the hive’s economic trade advisor allowed it. Currently, Cadista stood before an easel with a paintbrush clasped in her orange magic. By in large, most of her works were either cityscapes or renditions of the various machinery found around the technocity. So it was a pleasant surprise for Twilight to find her mother working on a piece of what looked like abstract art vaguely reminiscent of the baking disaster Pinkie’s son had a hoof in some time ago. Twilight remained respectfully quiet since her mother was completely engrossed in her artwork. For an empath, watching her mother express herself upon canvas was a breathtaking experience. It’s one thing to go to an exhibit and try to interpret the artist’s mood, but to feel those emotions as they’re given physical form? Twilight gave off a wistful sigh, unwittingly snapping Cadesta out of her zen state. The sudden shift in Cadista’s emotions made Twilight squeak out of embarrassment, but her mother took it in stride while putting her brush down. “Your aura is mostly clear. I assume your meeting with the demonologist went well.” “It did. Schadenfreude gave us enough information to deal with Grogar, one way or another.” Nodding in satisfaction, Cadista started cleaning up her paints and brushes, knowing she was unlikely to return to her zen state for the rest of the night. “I hope you didn’t have to bargain away too much. Fel Shapers and summoners are always out for number one.” “Just bits, thankfully. It’ll hold back the construction of the newest aluminum foundry by a few months, but that’ll give the miners time to have rotating vacations for a little while. Explore Equestria or whatever they decide to do with themselves.” “Like hoofball?” Cadista verbally prodded with a smirk. Twilight huffed in suppressed irritation. “Yes, even hoofball. Though I can’t imagine why so many of my kids find it fun.” She tried to distract herself by looking out of the grand open balcony and down to the bustling hive below. A sea of lights upon the inky backdrop of the Everfree. Canterlot’s spear of light in the distance really ties it all together. Cadista snickered over her daughter’s harmless ire. “Reminds me of the old days.” She almost said ‘good old days’, but Twilight and Rainbow’s success was enough to trump the time when Yumia still lived. “Yumia and I used to joke how our eggs kept getting switched at birth. I never understood why so many of my children took after Yumia so strongly, and vice versa.” Twilight’s ears perked up and she turned away from the view of the city lights. “Actually, that’s part of the reason why I’m here.” “Oh?” Cadista asked while never turning away from her cleaning work. She moved on to sealing up her paint tubes. “Yes… Schadenfreude said something odd. He mentioned that Rainbow Dash and my souls are intertwined. Rainbow is just passing it off as our old connection to the Elements of Harmony, but I…” She scuffed the ground nervously. “I wouldn’t be bringing this up if it was just Schadenfreude’s comment alone. I feel like Rainbow Dash is more than just a sister to me.” Cadista slightly turned away from her work to give her daughter a sarcastic sidelong glance. “So she’s sending your heart aflutter?” “No!” Twilight rebuked with puffed cheeks. Knowing her mother was teasing her, she buzzed her wings in short lived irritation. “Honestly, I think that would spoil it for the both of us.” “Really? Well maybe next lifetime then,” Cadista added with an attempt to inject some humor. “Back on topic,” Twilight said with a slacking scowl. “I don’t want to ruin the mood, but I feel so… complete around RD. More so than when I’m immersing myself within the hive mind. I was wondering if you and Yumia experienced such a thing.” Cadista’s smile faded and was replaced by an old pained frown. She was at least glad that her back was turned to Twilight so she wouldn’t see it, even if she could sense it. “Yumia and I… Had something I’ve never seen in anyone else, though I admit I have seen some signs of it in you two. I wouldn’t be surprised if such signs soon popped up between Aegis and Blitz.” It didn’t take long before Twilight put the pieces together. “You think it’s because we rule side by side?” “That’s my theory.” Cadista finished with the paints and started putting everything away into cupboards. “The Equestrians have that phrase: soulmates. A romantic term to be sure, probably even true. But from what I’ve seen, it is only half of what two queens experience when they rule side by side. The bond they share is unbreakable, and that’s not always a good thing.” Cadista turned fully to face her daughter and raised a hoof to cover her chest. “I’m not going to sugar-coat this, Twilight. I fully believe I carry a piece of Yumia’s soul with me, even today. Just as she did with a part of mine. When she died,” Cadista forced her tears back, but couldn’t stop her eyes from going bloodshot. “A part of me died with her, in more ways than any pony could ever understand.” Twilight quickly embraced her mother with a crushing hug, partly to give her a daughter's love, and partly to keep her from getting any dark ideas. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Cadista was taken off guard by the sudden heartfelt embrace. Am I slipping, or is she reading me better? The topic and Twilight’s mournful aura chipped away at Cadista’s stoicism. I can’t let her see me like that. Try as she might, Cadista couldn’t reign in her deepening despondency. “No, no, it’s better this way.” Cadista blinked away a few rebellious tears, and took a deep calming breath. Even after all this time, I still have tears to shed? With long practiced ease, she restored her composure; even going so far as to use disguise magic to hide her puffiness. “I was going to tell you, I needed to tell you, but I wasn’t sure how or when. I didn’t even fully believe it was happening between you two until you brought it up.” For a long while, Twilight held her mother close, giving Cadista time to rebuild her mask. The old former queen still had some of her pride, and bottled the old melancholy up as best she could. Eventually, she separated from Twilight to give her daughter a look that bore the weight of the world behind it. “You and Rainbow will be as close as two people can be, without being joined at that hip, but never lose her, Twilight. Don’t ever lose her!” She tapped Twilight in the chest to drive the point home. “You’ll lose all color in the world if that ever happens.” “I won’t, momma.” Twilight snuck in a brief nuzzle. “I promise you and Rainbow that.” “We made the same promises to each other, Yumia and I. You may not be the militant that Rainbow is, but…” Cadista trailed off, feeling any further words were unneeded. She wanted nothing more than to let her emotions drain out. “You might as well go tell her about it then.” “Yes, of course.” Twilight made to leave, but hesitated at the door. She turned back to see Cadista stoically watching the city below. A small twinge of worry crossed Twilight’s thoughts. “For what’s it’s worth, mother. I’m glad it happened with Rainbow Dash. I get the feeling that this is how we queens are meant to rule, side by side with another. Why else would it happen so naturally? I know RD is the happiest she’s ever been.” Cadista debated whether or not Twilight was trying to simply make sense of it, or trying to comfort her in imagined guilt and unhealable pain. “Perhaps.” Twilight stood at the door waiting for Cadista to continue, but silence was her only answer. In the end, Twilight wordlessly departed to speak to her sister. This was not a conversation she felt would be sufficient over the Link alone. Aegis all but threw herself onto the balcony lounge chair attached to her mother’s old castle home. Her bones ached, her muscles burned, her wings hung limp by her side, and her mane was matted with sweat. “Why was that last lap so hard?” Blitz flopped onto a large cushion on the ground next to the sofa, and was in even worse shape than Aegis was. “We’re not drones anymore, remember? Our bodies are designed for fertility, hive command, and bipedalism, not physical prowess.” Aegis merely groaned loudly in reply. It was a coarse sentiment, but one that Blitz shared. “Now I know what Aunty felt like after finding out she was a royal.” Aegis brightened considerably after seeing Gear Ratio canter over with a pitcher of royal jelly tea, the first she’d seen all week. “Now I want you two to drink every last drop. This is fresh off the train barely an hour ago.” Both proto-queens needed no further prompting and used their magic to pour the cups and down their first round. Aegis wanted to use her hands, but she struggled to close a fist after the latest round of experimental exercises. It’s not exactly easy coming up with new workouts for muscles that never existed a few years ago. Several minutes later, Aegis downed the last drop from her glass before sighing in culinary delight. “Ahh! Now that hit the spot. Another round, we got eggs baking here!” Blitz drank the last of her share with far more social grace than her counterpart, which wasn’t saying much. She stifled a yawn, and blinked blearily. Like Aegis, her body was still acclimating to oviposition, so between that, the exercise, medical examinations, and her body’s rapid growth, Blitz was utterly exhausted. Unlike Aegis however, she didn’t start off with an athletic body so she dragged herself to her hooves. She was actually amazed she was able to stand on two legs at all. The thought of walking off on four legs didn’t even occur to her fatigue addled mind. “You go ahead, I need some sleep.” “Before you do,” Gear Ratio stated while taking a clipboard one of her caretakers brought her, “I suspect you might want to hear our latest findings regarding your wing marks.” Summoning a little mental strength, Blitz flared her wings to look at her mother’s cutie mark outlined on her wings. “Fineee,” she half groaned at being denied her rest. “It’s good news, so I thought giving it to you now would help you sleep, Blitz.” The proto queens perked up a bit as Gear Ratio finished scanning the important details on the report. “So far, I have seen no negative symptoms regarding the marks. Your wings are as strong to be expected. While everything else looks green, your mana seems to pool around the symbols, much like how mother and Aunty’s magic is strongly tied to their cutie marks. I would still like to study them,” the proto-queens groaned and sagged at the news, not that Gear Ratio seemed to mind. “At least until one month has passed after you’ve fully developed into queens. After that we can postpone them to simply monthly visits and maybe even phase them out entirely if no complications arise.” “A silver lining at last!” Aegis ranted before her attention suddenly snapped towards the star filled sky. Blitz felt an alert go out over the four royals, but the message was focused on Aegis. “What’s wrong?” Shrugging off her fatigue as a wave of adrenaline coursed through her, Aegis moved over to the balcony railing and pointed towards the north. “Something’s not right. There’s an Equestrian naval ship approaching the Deception unannounced.” Blitz and Gear Ratio followed Aegis’ hoof towards the frigate. It was on station above the recently built naval airship dock that was adjacent to the Palace District. From this distance, it looked as if there was a tender vessel moving over towards the frigate. Blitz tilted her head questioningly. “I didn’t think the Equestrians had adopted tender vessels yet. It’s still new to us.” “They haven’t as far as I know,” Aegis replied worriedly. She had to control herself to keep from flying off to figure out what was going on in person. She didn’t exactly trust her wings right now, adrenaline or not. “But that ship’s getting way too close. Since Aunty’s not here, I have overall command of our visiting forces. I’ve already given word to have the local authorities drive them off, but ponies communicate so slowly it might take an hour. As for us, it’s not like we can give warning shots over Canterlot itself, so I told a few crewmembers to go over to the other ship to tell them to back off.” “Why is it not slowing down?!” Gear Ratio yelled as the tender vessel was closing too quickly. “It’s an attack?!” Aegis freaked as her messengers to the other ship were getting fired upon by unicorn spells. The Deception tried to bank away from it, but the armored warship was too sluggish. The tender vessel slammed into the port side, splintering against the reinforced steel hull of the frigate. For a moment, Aegis gave a smug grin and pumped a fist in victory when the Deception showed no sign of damage after it rocked from the impact. “Changeling engineering, baby!” Yet that smirk vanished when a huge explosion consumed both ships in a blinding arcane fireball. Everyone watching the skies that night were dumbstruck as splintered wood careened throughout parts of the city. The Deception emerged from the fireball trailing the telltale blue flames of burning octavia along the port side as it slammed into the naval docks beneath it, destroying the airbags of two Equestrian warships. The weight of all three ships snapped the dock apart before they sank to the forests below Canterlot Mountain. Blitz and Gear Ratio were utterly stunned while Aegis ground her teeth. Rage erupted within her as her mind cycled through possible suspects ranging from Polybia, the PCE, and even Chrysalis. She started barking orders over the hive mind for damage control and to set up rescue parties from the soldiers who were on leave in the city. The proto-queens’ wings buzzed with righteous fury, their earlier fatigue forgotten completely. Aegis tightened her grip on Burny. “Blitz, when we finish rescuing the survivors, we’ve got some heads to collect.” > 7: The Wheels in Motion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia sat alone at her rarely used war table, deep within Canterlot Castle. The oppressive pale marble of the windowless walls seemed to bear down upon her. The last of her advisors had departed barely a minute ago as she took a moment to organize her thoughts against the lack of sleep. Several newspapers were cast about in front of her. While she knew much of what happened above the naval docks last night, a relatively new habit of hers was to read the headlines to see what the people knew. ALLIES UNDER ATTACK! FLAGSHIP OF PHOENIX ROOST SUNK BY EQUESTRIAN NAVY VESSEL! Celestia became heavily agitated by such an inflammatory headline, and hoped it was alone. THE DECEPTION DESTROYED BY DECEPTION! ATTACK SINKS TWO EQUESTRIAN SHIPS AND CRIPPLES THE CHANGELING FLAGSHIP! Celestia glowered at the dark humor, hating it even more when it stirred a ghost of a laugh out of her. She was about to gloss over a third newspaper when there was a rapping knock on the oak doors. She took the papers and shuffled them into a neat stack. “Enter!” A pair of earth pony stallions emerged and bowed briefly before cantering over to either side of the Celestia. “I hate to tell you this, Princess” said the beige stallion with a non-descript black mane, “but I warned you this would happen.” “So it truly was the P.C.E?” she said neutrally, revealing nothing. “Undoubtedly,” said the albino stallion circling around to her right. “Our colts are still sifting through the bodies. We’ve only found three groups: the hybrid changelings, Equestrian sailors still garbed in uniform or sleepwear, and ponies in civilian garb.” The albino heaved one of his saddlebags off and dropped it on the table to start pulling out records. “As I’m sure you already know, naval dress code regulation aboard ship expressly forbids civilian attire.” “The P.C.E. is also the only criminal group with entirely anti-changeling goals,” his beige companion finished. “If I may be frank, your highness, if we had the funding and horsepower I asked for, we might not be in this problem.” Celestia fixed him with a measured scowl. “Director Mild Spice, your own reports confirmed that P.C.E. membership was at an all-time low, and due to recent efforts, public approval of Phoenix’s Roost was nearly on par with my sister. All the signs said you didn’t need a doubled budget.” Spice’s accomplice cleared his throat. “I understand the needs of a balanced budget, your majesty, but with rogue griffin bandits increasing along the national border, and the monitoring of all Matriarch aligned dragons, our department has been stretched too thin to keep a desirable level of surveillance on the P.C.E.” “We can bicker about blame another time,” Celestia stated tersely. “Right now, I want your plan on how to handle this. The destruction of two of our own warships, the docks, and the loss of the sailors themselves should obliterate any public support these…” It had been a long time since she had to use the word floating around in her mind. Bandits, pirates, mafia, and more were bad enough, but this one was the worst of all to the ageless alicorn. “These terrorists had left. I want all of you to-” A much angrier banging on the door resounded through the chamber, stifling any further discussion. And here comes a glimpse of the future. Celestia steeled herself, shoring up all of her diplomatic clout. “Enter.” Aegis all but kicked the door open as she stormed in with Blitz right behind her. “With all due respect, princess, what the hell?!” Celestia spied the heavy bags under Aegis’ bloodshot fatigued eyes. Neither proto-queen had gotten an ounce of sleep after personally joining the rescue efforts alongside Luna and the Canterlot emergency services. “How could this happen right next to your castle!?” “We’re in the process of discovering that ourselves, Proto-Queen Aegis Altair.” Celestia shifted her attention towards Blitz who was just as fatigued, but veiled her animosity better than her counterpart. “We will find out who did this, and punish them accordingly.” She noticed no drones had followed after the pair. “I’d like to wait until your mothers can join us.” “They aren’t coming,” Blitz replied with some semblance of diplomatic grace. “That light show you might have seen above the Everfree… Well, let’s just say Aunty Twilight doesn’t trust mother to keep from biting somepony’s head off and causing tensions between us.” And Aegis has more control? Celestia mused silently to herself. “Plus Aunty thinks this is a good test for our crisis management skills.” Blitz finished with a terse grimace. Hell of a first crisis test though. Aegis’ horn flashed and Burny was summoned with a fully loaded fuel canister and its pilot light already lit. The two earth ponies jumped back a step after realizing it was a flamethrower, one of the most feared and controversial weapons the changelings used regularly. “Give me a target, a building, a suspect, anything!” Unlike her subordinates, Celestia didn’t believe Aegis would actually do anything rash, in this room anyway. “We need to be calm and collected. The last thing we need is you leading a charge along the streets breaking into houses looking for suspects. That would only play into the P.C.E’s hooves.” “So it was the P.C.E?” Aegis demanded heatedly. Her grip on Burny tightened at the prospect of using it. Mild Spice did his best to appear unafraid. By the goddess, who thought it was a good idea to make this pyromaniac a breeder?! “That is what my department’s informants are trying to ascertain, but as of now we only have speculation to go on. I highly doubt the destruction of two pony warships and part of the naval dock was part the plan, so they’re probably going to deny any responsibility on this.” “Then that’s all the more reason to go out and bust some heads!” Aegis shouted with murder in her eyes. “We’ve got the best infiltrators in the game, but this is your turf, so give us something to do!” Celestia glanced at Blitz to find the same call for blood in her deep scowl as well, and counted herself fortunate it wasn’t directed at her or her ponies in general. They aren’t former Equestrians like their mothers. Aegis and Blitzkrieg will be far more difficult to handle once they form a nation of their own. They don’t seem to possess the same conviction for peace their mothers have. All it took was for several memories to surface of the recent battles Twilight and Rainbow had found themselves in ever since becoming changelings. All the more reason to keep their ire in check and properly directed. “Mild Spice has been requesting additional horsepower and funding for a while now.” Celestia pointedly did not look at the smug ‘I told you so’ face he was making, and opted to gesture a hoof at him. “I admit we haven’t tried joint agencies before, but if anything, now is the time to combine our efforts more closely.” Aegis was taken aback by the proposal while Blitz saw it for what it was. “’Turn tragedy into victory.’ Aunty taught me that quite a few times. You want to use this as an excuse to tighten the alliance even closer.” “You disagree?” Celestia said in that thought provoking tone that always worked on Twilight in her youth. Despite herself, Blitz gave a short chuckle with a half grin. “Not at all. Aegis and I of the same mind with our mothers. We want this alliance to strengthen to the point where ponies are as comfortable around us as the three tribes are to each other.” Aegis shouldered Burny after turning the pilot light off and crossing her arms. “Not to mention it’d be the perfect slap to the face against these bastards.” “Good luck with that if these changelings keep adding on more weird body styles,” Mild Spice’s assistant whispered in his ear. Ignoring his assistant's comment, Mild Spice stepped back up to the table. He gave both changelings a respectful nod. “The Equestrian Intelligence Bureau already has a taskforce assembled, but as the princess stated, we’re short-staffed.” He had to keep his mind off the potential of greater access to changeling technology. “We’ll accept any assistance you can offer.” “The crown will offer expanded funds,” Celestia added with a stern visage. “This attack was perpetrated right here in the Equestrian capital, and most likely by some of my own subjects. To do any less is irremissible. In addition, the EIB is a publicly acknowledged agency. I’ll be making a statement to the press about this joint arrangement.” It was Celestia’s turn to put some fire in her speech and bang the table with a hoof. “I want the world to know that nothing will break this alliance.” Aegis huffed in approval before taking a seat opposite of Celestia. She let Burny rest on the side of her chair as Blitz took a seat of her own. “Glad to see you’re not taking the soft approach, Princess Celestia. I’ll pull our best spies out of the neighboring kingdoms. I’d rather not have drones fresh out of the shell for this.” “A prudent call,” Celestia replied as she smoothly reclaimed her typical warm yet commanding tone. Mild Spice went about planning the cooperative element in his head while his assistance gave the proto-queens a puzzled look. “Begging your pardon. But I was under the impression Phoenix’s Roost hadn’t started its intelligence agency yet.” “We haven’t, technically.” Blitz replied with a hint of mirth across her lips. “Our meager team doesn’t go after military or political secrets.” As if anyone except the sphinxes could be a military threat. “They’re out there assessing the markets,” Aegis jumped in. “Honing their skills on more… legitimate secrets.” That didn’t sound very impressive to either earth stallion, but Celestia had to hide a frown behind a neutral façade. Luna warned me that changelings are naturally secretive. I can only hope that Twilight and Rainbow can continue to guide that nature along constructive avenues. So far so good though… “We’ll get started on having all of our up to date information ready for your perusal then,” Celesia said half to the changelings, and half to Mild Spice. “The sooner we root out the culprits the better.” Blitz hummed in thought for a moment before glancing at the princess. “Then might I suggest recruiting Aunty Applejack to spearhead the media front on this? Her dedication to the factual truth during the original public relations campaign earned her quite a bit of respect for brutal honesty, even among our harshest… opponents to the formal alliance. Even the P.C.E. could never argue effectively against her.” Aegis’ wings buzzed in agreement while Celestia simply nodded with an impressed smile. “Must be quite a reputation indeed since I believe you were barely a hatchling back then.” Both proto-queens couldn’t help but to feel complimented by Celestia’s usage of the changeling term. Blitz flashed a simple diplomatic smile that Celestia instantly recognized as belonging to Twilight. “Mother and Aunty Twilight believe hatred is born from ignorance and fear. No pony has such conviction to the real truth as Applejack. Besides, the public will almost certainly be expecting her to speak on this attack as everypony is going to start pointing at the P.C.E. very soon,” she glanced at the scattered newspapers on the table, “if they haven’t already.” Celestia marved at Blitz’s reasoning. “I must say, Twilight has taught you well. I have a feeling you will make an excellent civic ruler.” Aegis scoffed playfully and snatched one of the newspaper with her magic. “I think we all have you to thank for mother’s savviness.” “Perhaps,” Celestia admitted with a rare admission of ego. “As for Applejack, I have little doubt she’ll accept the request.” Rainbow Dash was buried horn deep in her work trying to juggle the naval preparations and tightening security around the hive. Fuel, food, spare parts, border checks for non-changelings, bolstering the national guard, and focusing the patrolling gunships closer to the hive, all of it crossed Rainbow’s plate with the mare taking it all in as best she could. By themselves, it might not have been overly difficult, but Rainbow Dash was chomping at the bit to personally put those who killed her children and crippled her favorite ship into the dirt. Her seething dark mood wasn’t helped by the fact that Twilight talked her into letting their daughters handle that matter. I know my girl will jack them up, but by the First Mother, we should be up there, not stuck down here getting ready to trounce Poly Pocket. “Grraaa! I can’t even keep producing eggs once we move south!” Rainbow Dash raged as she leapt from her bed and started beating on a well worn bucking bag Twilight Sparkle was snapped out of her Link-Trance by her sister’s outburst. “I know it’s tough, Rainbow, believe me I do, but it needs to be our daughters that handle the attack. At this point it won’t do us any good if you or I handle it.” Rainbow Dash kicked the bag hard enough to nearly strain her leg. She glowered at her sister with anger, although it was not directed at her. “Why? We have to show we’re not going to take this crap lying down! A and B aren’t ready for this kinda thing!” “And we were, when we went up against dragons, diamond dogs, Discord, and then Chrysalis’ army during my brother’s wedding?” Twilight challenged with a little steel, forcing Rainbow to back down a bit. “Fact is, we’re doing all we can to train them to be proper and competent queens. Not only do they need this to grow, but it will also allow us to focus on our more dangerous tasks.” “I distinctly remember losing our fight against Chrysalis,” Rainbow Dash muttered just loud enough to be heard. “Which only proved how far we still had to go. But I gave this task to them for one other reason.” Rainbow returned her attention to the object of her physical abuse and started beating on it again, leaving her sister to keep talking. “The public still sees the two of us as former ponies, and believe much of our loyalty to Equestria stems from that. However, they don’t know what to make of our daughters since they have always been changelings.” “Wait,” Rainbow stopped mid kick to look at Twilight with a conspiratorial grimace. “So you’re using the death of our kids and the destruction of my ship for a PR stunt?” “Way to make it sound dirty,” Twilight half growled. “I’m trying to make the best out of a horrible situation! We’re not a group of friends with no pony relying on us to make big picture decisions anymore, and we haven’t been for well over a decade.” Twilight matched Rainbow’s glower with her own. “Then why can’t we at least look like we’re personally going after both? That way we don’t look like we couldn’t care enough about our bloody flagship getting crippled to do it ourselves!” Twilight actually hesitated her follow-up at that. Seeing she was gaining ground, Rainbow continued pressing her point. “I get big picture stuff, okay? I’m not a fly by my tail daredevil anymore.” Twilight cocked a sarcastic eyebrow at that, making Rainbow fluster. “Your prank career aside, my point still stands. The fact of the matter is, sister, is that we need to let our daughters handle it.” “And I say we need to make sure that the ponies don’t think we’re just passing the buck like we don’t care!” Twilight glowered at her stubborn sister’s scowling face before suddenly dropping her stern expression and turning away dismissively. “Very well, have it your way. You want to ignore focusing on Grogar and leave me to do it all? Go ahead, but…” A thread of fear surged through Rainbow whenever her sister took that tone. Twilight’s horn glowed briefly as she summoned a book. It wasn’t just any book, oh no, it was the gold encrusted first edition Daring Do and the March of the Yao Guai with AK Yearling’s signature right on the cover addressed specifically to Queen Rainbow Dash. Rainbow’s eyes widened at the sight of the new book with her wings flaring instantly. “I - Is that the uncut version!?” “It sure is!” Twilight replied with a coy tone. “Buuuut, since you’ll be staying here, you won’t have any reading time that steaming down to the jungle would afford, so I guess you’ll just have to wait to find out what happens in the fight against the Legion of Doom. I’ll just have to read it all by my lonesome…” She cast half lidded eyes at her sweating sister. “And announce spoilers throughout the whole trip.” Rainbow scrunched her muzzle in a patented Massively Uncool Scowl of Eternal Shame. “That’s low.” Twilight levitated the heavenly book to her side. “I mean it when I say this plan is for the best. I know you’re itching to fight these morally bankrupt scum, but this is as much of a civic matter as it is a military one. Aegis has learned well from you, hasn’t she? I know Blitz will do us both proud. So trust not just me but them as well. Do that, and the book is yours.” Rainbow chewed on the inside of her mouth for several moment. Her eyes darted between her sister’s face and the seductive book right next to her. “I probably won’t have time to read anyway with all the work I have to do.” All Twilight did in response was to waggle the book a little bit with a lopsided smirk that said ‘I know you’ll make the time’. Rainbow swallowed the lump in her throat before dashing forward and snatching the book with her magic before wrapping her legs around it, all while keeping herself aloft. “Okay fine, you win, cheater! This better not come back to bite us in the flank or it’s on your head.” Satisfied, Twilight nodded with a thin smile. “I have every confidence that Aegis and Blitz are ready for this. They are our heirs after all. The public will see that sending both of them on this task is evidence enough that we are serious about the attack, especially since rumors are already circulating in the other nations about the war brewing in the jungle. Without Silandrus keeping explorers out, there’ve been many sightings of non-ponies down there lately.” Neither queen got any further into the conversation when Captain Rourke spoke over the Link. Rainbow hung her head in exasperation. She focused entirely on Rourke, knowing full well her mood would be dictated by the report. Twilight got up and briefly nuzzled her sister to try and calm her down. Both queens carefully held out optimism after hearing that. While they sensed the loss of life over the hive mind, an exact count was very difficult to determine. So the ship’s still salvageable?! A different matter still clung to Rainbow’s thoughts. Rourke paused at the question. I thought they’d be able to tell already. Then again, I don’t know how a queen’s mind works. Rainbow’s earlier fury was renewed in earnest. Twilight shared her sister’s revulsion until a dark realization hit her. Oh no… What if this is exactly what the P.C.E. wanted? I hadn’t even thought of what the other races would make of this. She’s probably already suspected something, but I better warn Celestia about how the other nations will view this attack. At the very least our ambassadors should be taking careful note of anything unusual. Not wanting to worry her already hell-bent sister any further, Twilight refrained from voicing the concern and quietly passed the news on to her ambassador Rolled Scroll. She got off her chair and looked towards the Long Shot hanging off in the distance above the naval yard. Acknowledging the dismissal, Rourke bid her farewell, leaving Rainbow Dash fuming at everything in general. She took a sidelong glare at Twilight, but ultimately held no anger towards her. “Okay, okay, I get it, Poly and Grogar are the bigger threats. It’s just that…” She groaned aloud in frustration. ”They’re more than just our kids, Twi. They’re our royal kids-” “They’ll have the princesses, some of our best infiltrators, the backing of Equestria, and our pony friends if the need arises,” Twilight gave her sister the dark, fang-filled humorless smirk of a mother wronged. “Which is more than we had going for us up against Nightmare Moon and all the others back in the day.” Rainbow sat there in contemplation for several long seconds before growling dismissively. “Fine. I don’t like it, but maybe you’re right.” At any other time, Twilight would have been both proud and happy to see her sister learning to let their royal daughters carve their own path. Circumstances as they were, she’d have to settle for just pride. “How long until we’re able to join the other queens against Polybia? They might be willing to wait, but Polybia knows she’s on a time limit.” Rainbow grimaced as she quickly went over the various reports her drones were feeding her. “Ten days, tops, eight if we push it, but I don’t like sloppy work, especially on those flimsy fighters.” “It takes time to steam south, they can fine tune it on the way,” Twilight offered. “That is with them doing it along the way,” Rainbow countered flatly. “I’m also counting on Poly to try and ambush us in some way before we even get to the jungle. Not to mention a hundred other things on my plate before the week’s out. At the very least, it’ll give me some time to keep an eye on Sectovaria before she crosses into the Chaos Lands a few days from now.” Nodding, Twilight made to leave her sister’s room. “I’ll leave you to it then. The girls may be handling who attacked us at Canterlot, but I need to personally handle the diplomatic fallout for the time being.” That was one battle Rainbow was more than happy to sit out. Unless it involved the minotaurs’ ‘aggressive negotiations’, diplomacy was not her forte. Barring that, Rainbow buzzed her wings in acknowledgement to her sister before refocusing on her work, but one thing still nagged at her. Twilight wilted a little at her sister’s morose tone. Polybia stood atop a precipice at the very fringe of a rival hive’s territory, northeast of her own hive. The jungles here along the leading edge grew unchecked by changeling hooves. The thick canopy shrouded Polybia from the glaring noon-time sun. Ordinarily, the creeping vines in the area would be trying to latch onto the queen’s legs to sink her into the earth for fertilizer. However Grogar’s necrotic magic withered the vines around her while forcing others to shy away. Polybia was becoming more discolored with her face and upper neck becoming a pale blue as she gathered the stolen magic together. Violetia… I may not be able to attack Kreesus directly just yet, but I can return the favor for that raid against my farmlands by eliminating you with one fell stroke. Summoning up Grogar’s power, a massive deep roar resounded throughout the jungle, chilling the distant drones and their queen to the bone. Polybia’s horn shone forth with icy blue magic as thundering steps cracked the rocky ground and shook loose rocks into the gorge below. Two massive Silence Behemoths emerged from the jungle, snapping trees aside to make room for their muscle bound girth. Their scaly grey hide easily snapped the wooden obstacles along their path, with their draconic tails swaying behind them. The once-proud natural predators against changelings now served a queen with all the devotion of a mindless servant. The behemoths’ ten eyes glowed with the same icy blue magic swirling around Polybia’s horn. Huge gashes crisscrossed all over each beast, exposing muscle and shriveled organs to the open air. However, no blood leaked out of their cold dead flesh. Their Link-silencing power lay dormant for the time being as they flanked their master. Though they towered over her at more than fifteen meters tall, Polybia did not flinch, fully knowing they were in her thrall in death. “Violetia, you should have sided with me all those years ago. Now you’re going to pay the price for such a lack of foresight.” She sneered at the prospect of unleashing her wrath, and savored the moment for a bit before finishing the marking spell. Now, every forest green changeling would be marked for death in the eyes of the behemoths. Bellowing another bone-rattling roar, the two beasts’ talons cracked the rock beneath them before they leaped across the short chasm and charged forth to kill for their mistress. Once they were safely out of range, Polybia commanded them to reactivate their Link silencing abilities, ensuring the doom for any changeling in their path. Excellent. Even if Violetia does somehow manage to bring down both of them, this will give my egg carriers enough of a distraction to flee without incident. An idea struck her as she peered through her spies along Kreesus and Chrysalis’ hives. Most of their drones were focused within the hives’ territory, as if waiting for reinforcements. Hmm… No doubt hoping Twilight and her warships will tip the scales. Well… one warship now. What fortuitous timing. Perhaps I can devote more forces into this assault after all. Polybia summoned up an army of drones to her position, awaiting the behemoths’ defeat. Not only her living drones, but the undead corpses of other drones answered the call of their mistress. The mass formed up behind the tree line near Polybia. “I think it’s time to add another crown to my collection,” she sneered at her expected victory. As the sounds of battle started ringing out, Polybia started flying back to her hive, content to watch the violence unfold from the eyes of her living drones. The other queens can act like they’re allied with each other all they want. None of them could set aside their pride to pool their forces in one place, so I will pick them apart like the prima donnas they are. I will earn your forgiveness, First Mother, for being declared rogue and losing your blessing. As much as she hated the other queens for it, Polybia couldn’t deny she was legitimately marked as rogue. All of this must be another test from the First Mother. It has to be. These trials over Grogar and being rogue have to all be part of her plan to mold me into her perfect instrument. Polybia gazed up at the midday moon where she believed the portal to the Silver City rested. “I will regain my honor as queen. The others will either vote to restore it, or will die by my hooves.” > 8: The Home Front > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the last chapter was so tiny baby small, I have brought Heavy Chapter Guy to the front! Enjoy! Canterlot. To most it was a city of marble and the seat of Equestrian power, hanging off the side of a mountain. For the quasi mare, crouched behind a shrub along the road up the mountain, the city looked like a fortress. A ghost from her memory. The palace sitting near the crown was deeply familiar, yet the sight of smokestacks along the middle section of the city chilled any fond memories she had. She wasn’t sure of the reason, as she loosely recognized it as a sign of industry, but the mare didn’t like the sight of it. Her stallion counterpart was at her side, keeping out of sight from passersby while holding Polybia’s royal daughter on his back. The recent hatchling was stabilized in between his gossamer wings. Not that he had too much to fear of her falling since he was laying on his belly. There were only a scant few travelers along the road since most took the train, but there were normally a decent number of patrols as well. Thankfully, the local guards weren’t examining any travelers along this route too intensely. The exodus out of the jungle had been exceedingly exhausting. Fleeing the jungle and evading Equestrian notice had taken longer than they had hoped. The egg hatched a few days ago, leaving the quasi’s escorts in bad shape. Within the span of two days days the princess demanded far more love than any of them could provide. One by one, the drone escorts sacrificed themselves to give their entire love reserves to the ravenous princess until they all dropped dead. The quasi escaped this fate, only by virtue of not necessarily requiring love to survive. At present, the stallion carefully watched from behind the thick nook of shrubs as a light blue unicorn cantered by as she pulled a gaudy wagon behind her. Some part of him felt a thrill of excitement at seeing the stage wagon but that thrill struggled against the deadened feel of his nerves. Without love neither quasi were capable of more than sluggish movement that could make a drunk pony look like the pinnacle of lucidity. Thankfully for both of them, their minds were still as sharp as before starvation set in and could not die from love starvation directly. The two quasi were resting, panting for breath from their week-long exodus from the changeling jungle. Dodging roving changeling patrols and the jungle denizens had been difficult compared to the comparatively lax security in Equestria. Could have saved a day of travel if we could have passed through Phoenix’s Roost, but the queen forbade it, the mare mused bitterly as she weakly checked the nymph’s breathing by raising her fetlock near the princess’s mouth. The geas induced pressure in the back of her mind softened slightly when she reaffirmed that the little royal still lived. Every effort from both quasi was geared not only to keep the princess alive, but also asleep. It was not a difficult task since the princess had passed out from love starvation hours ago. In one of the brief moments the princess wasn’t dominating her thoughts, the mare’s will to defy her queen raged within her. It grew constantly, and yet it was still a weak voice compared to the dominating voice-of-command of her queen over the hive mind. If only I could rid myself of her control, but… The quasi reached up and tapped her changeling horn, still feeling weirded out by its presence. A pang of maternal concern washed over her as the geas flashed in her mind, making her double check the sleeping princess. Fearing his fatigue would let the sleeping nymph fall, he asked the mare to assist him in moving her. They opted to keep the princess snug alongside him. She fidgeted sluggishly as her little body hibernated to save itself. His deep fear over the nymph’s welfare was carved into a heavy frown, even as sweat rolled off of him. The geas was only making it harder on the mare who could do nothing to help the little nymph. She tried to break the feedback cycle of mounting fear for the princess’ life by focusing entirely on herself. With the mad dash from the jungle hive, it was only now that she had a spare moment to actually reflect on herself. The most prominent thing she latched onto was the spike that always hovered at the top of her vision. I remember some old class lesson about unicorn horns. Part of your brain is in them... or maybe it’s a separate nerve cluster? She heavily rubbed her temples in exasperation at how hazy her old memories were. The lesson itself stuck out to her, but her teacher, classmates, even the name of the school was trapped behind a cottony haze that refused to lift. Either way, ain’t no way Ah can cut this off without killing mahself. There ain’t no way in Tartarus Ah’m off’n mahself after being freed like that. Ah want to live, dang nab it! “Hey,” the stallion said calmly, breaking the mare from her brooding. She snapped her head up to look at his undisguised self. She felt a pang of sorrow seeing him like this, but suspected he was content with his changeling half. “Ah want to know where you stand in all this.” “What’re you talkin’ about?” she replied genuinely. It was rare to hear him speak aloud. He usually preferred speaking over the Link, but Polybia despised such high intelligences speaking over her hive mind. “The geas may compel you to protect the princess. But Ah know somethin’s off about you. Our queen may not be able to sense it this far from the hive, but Ah can tell. You’re aura is growing more sour every passing day.” While his tone was accusatory, his posture remained neutral. “Our lives belong to both Polybia and her,” he said nudging the princess, “and their will is our own, no matter who we used to be.” “It’s not that,” she lied unconvincingly. “Ah’m just terrified the love collector might not reach us in time to save the princess.” That much was convincing to him, but he suspected that was more the geas talking than her. “She’ll be here soon. It’ll be close, but the queen is sure that the princess will survive.” The pressure of the geas on the back of her mind softened a bit at the reassurances. “But that ain’t the whole story now is it? Spill!” The mare turned away, somewhere between shame and relief. “Ah’m overwhelmed with the prospect of being around ponies again. Just wish it was in a smaller town again.” As with his companion, the stallion was also resenting the cloudiness of his thoughts. His unquestioning loyalty to Polybia was unblemished, yet as of late, he regretted his harsh treatment of his companion. Like it or not, mah queen decreed that we work side by side. Better for the princess that we remain amicable. He glanced out of the shrub to find no one in sight before finding a level soft patch of grass to rest the weakened nymph upon. Despite the princess’ miserable state, there was little he could do until the love collector arrived. Truly the queen was wise to make the geas weak or Ah’d be crippled with worry. Refocusing on the mare, he tried to remember how to comfort others. His memories were sadly lacking in that regard, not even Polybia granted him any knowledge in that field, so he opted to lightly place a hoof on her withers. “Look – Ah – uhhh – Ah know it’s rough. The queen asks much of us. We don’t have the same clarity of purpose that pure drones have, Ah’ll givya that. But she’s count’n on us ta get this job done. If we do good, she might start letting us speak over the Link more, or, or…” He searched his limited knowledge of her for some comforting words. “-Let us find a more outta the way place to live since ya don’t like the city and all. Or heck, she might even give us names!” The mare was dumbstruck that he was trying to comfort her at all. It was nice, familiar, something she desperately longed for, but she couldn't help but to question the reasoning behind it. He’s probably just saying all that to make work’n together easier. Ah wish Ah could really believe he cares about me. She gave him a stink eye while casting worried glances at the princess to make sure she wasn’t going anywhere. “Speaking of names,” she stated dismissively, “We need some if’n we’re going to spend any time around ponies.” Feeling rebuffed, the stallion huffed while looking at his ruined cutie mark. It looked like spinach and mustard smeared over his flank. Any semblance of an icon was long gone. Well that’s no help. “If Ah recall correctly, Canterlot is mostly unicorns. So we should pick names like them. Ah’ll be… Paint Brush?” he half asked, still trying to make sense of the splotches of color on his flank. “Unicorns are big time artsy ponies, right?” “I’d rather have mah old name,” the mare fumed aloud. “But if Ah have to make a new one…” She was about to pull a name out of her plot like Paint Brush did, when her original name slammed into her thoughts like a freight train. Ah know who Ah was! Or at least mah name anyway. Paint Brush started testing a low maintenance version of his disguise magic, keeping his pony aspects alone, and simply hiding his changeling features, save for replacing his changeling horn with that of a unicorn. “Well? Just think’a something before the love collector shows up, or worse, a patrol.” Fearing just that, he started looking for an alcove to hide the nymph in, but their hiding spot was painfully sparse in the already cramped hiding place. Now more than ever, she wanted to keep her pony guise that of an earth pony, but for now, she’d settle for the name. “I’ll go with Pear Butter,” she said with finality. “It’ll go well with my fur.” “Don’t match your fuzzed up cutie mark,” Paint warned with a grimace. "Not that much would Ah guess.” He spotted a few travelers coming up the pass. He tried to pass himself off as someone just looking to get out of the sun for a bit in case they spotted the quasi. “Sides, we gotta go in as unicorns, and Ah don't think they're usually named after food.” “Ah know that!” she barked, caring less for being spotted. “Who’s to say a unicorn can’t be called that, huh? Ah’m going with Pear Butter and that’s that!” “It’s gunna get us caught!” he growled under his breath to avoid drawing attention. “What kinda unicorn gets an earth pony name?” “Me, that’s who!” Pear Butter stomped her hoof, stubbornly holding her ground. Paint Brush wanted to argue, but felt it was useless if her conviction could get that much of a rise out of her even with her being so badly weakened from love starvation. A ping from nearby made the words catch in his throat if only because Polybia had been the only one to ever do so. Tossing away the leaves, he instinctively tried to make the unconscious princess look more presentable. The nymph’s short rainbow hair was starting to get tangles and her fur had little pieces of plant matter that he couldn’t remove in time. Pear peered through the shrub to find a forest-green pegasus headed straight for them. “That’s our contact.” She made sure her disguise was in place with Paint Brush following suit. The pegasus mare landed softly within the shrub and dropped her disguise to levitate several pink crystals out of a saddlebag. “Give her here, quickly.” Obeying, the quasi did as instructed and watched in silence as the undisguised drone took the simple crystal necklace from around the princess’ neck and fed crystal after crystal’s worth of love through the necklace before it moved on into the nymph. Pear Butter saw that the entire left saddlebag was bulging with love crystals. The pile of discarded crystals piled higher and higher around the drone’s hooves. Neither quasi knew much about love feeding, but even they could tell that using over thirty crystals with no sign of stopping was a bad news. The pair were starting to lose hope when the pile started to reach the drone’s fetlocks. The drone was starting to scrape the bottom of the bag when at last the princess could take no more, leaving the latest crystal with a faint glow remaining. The princess stirred, but remained asleep with a much more peaceful look on her small, blue-furred face. The drone sighed in relief. “I almost feared I didn’t bring enough.” It took one look at the sagging quasi before picking up the last six crystals and gave three to each of them. “Here, you need your strength to keep from drawing attention.” The feeding had been exactly what the quasi needed. With her nervous system’s strength returning to normal, Pear Butter felt her muscles come alive again with renewed vigor. She flexed her legs to get the stiffness out with Paint Brush doing the same. As they did so, the drone wrapped the nymph in a blanket and deposited her in the other saddle bag, hiding her from view, while gathering up the crystals and returning them to her bags. “We should move, we’ve lingered here for too long as it is.” Without another word, the drone doned its original disguise of a pegasus mare and started walking up the path towards the city. Pear and Paint jumped to followed after her. “Keep your heads down and your posture relaxed. We need to get into the city without being targeted for random checks. Ever since the attack on that warship, going in the normal route is safer than sneaking in.” Pear Butter was put off by the mare’s feel over the hive mind. It wasn’t the dim but sharp voice of drones, instead it shared a lot in common with Polybia herself, only several orders of magnitude weaker. She waited until a passing wagon went out of earshot to speak. “Ah thought our queen despised intelligent minds over the Link.” “Free standing ones, yes,” the love collector replied without inflection. This time, Paint Brush shared in Pear’s curiosity. “You mean like conscious quasi like us, Miss…?” She gave him a long disapproving stare before turning front again. “You can call me by my cover name, if you must. I’m Stopwatch.” A modicum of sorrow colored her voice. “And you have my sympathies for not being pure drones.” Pear Butter bristled, but held her tongue about it. “So what does that make you?” “My body has all the brainpower and more of a typical pony, but it is my deeper connection with our queen which gives me the spark of intelligence. In essence, I am the queen, but only a partitioned part of her mind in a separate body.” Pear Butter dropped any further line of inquiry while Paint Brush burned with envy. “What an honor! Not only to know you always have the queen’s favor by simply existing, but to be a part of her as well!” And be killed on a whim or if Polybia ever dies? No thanks. Pear Butter fell into silence for the rest of the journey towards Canterlot. The small rebellious voice continued to gain strength with every passing step. However, she couldn’t help but to feel troubled every time she looked at Paint Brush and his unwavering devotion to Polybia. Why do Ah feel this need to… to do something to help you. But help you do what, exactly? Aegis Altair paced back and forth within a crowded third story hotel storeroom presiding over a sting operation down in the streets of Middle Canterlot via a window. With Rainbow Dash placing the best of the Queen’s Guard under Aegis’ command, the proto-queen felt confident in this sanctioned raid being successful. If there’s anything we have over the ponies, it’s combat experience. Camped out with her was Intel’s squad, Caretaker Feather Soft, and a single thestral acting as liaison for the Night Guards stationed one floor below. For all of their built-in natural subterfuge talents, espionage was more of a matter of racial honor than actual skill for the changelings of Phoenix’s Roost. As such, it was actually the thestrals who were not only keeping watch on the suspects’ apartment building, but calling the shots as well. Aegis’ forces were to be the muscle behind the coiled punch that was waiting to be thrown. Just as well, Aegis brooded as she couldn’t see much activity outside. Blitz was right that the ponies should be in charge of this while inside Canterlot. Still, if it were up to me, we’d have stormed the place by now. The police have already built enough of a case to justify the raid on top of Celestia and Luna’s blessings. Intel double-checked her gas mask and trio of tear gas grenades. While the drones had gas masks, the ponies didn’t. I still don’t get those guys. Just because they don’t have any training fighting with the masks they tell me to only use the gas as a last resort instead of part of the breaching action? By the First Mother I wish Aegis was calling the shots. At least they let me have authorization to use them instead of waiting for the commander to give the order. Putting aside her general distaste for Equestrian rules of engagement, Intel refocused on rechecking her quad-barreled shotgun. The rock salt loaded weapon was a finicky prototype so she had to make sure nothing was clogging the gearwork. Even with her maintenance check, she was keeping a close eye on her tensed proto-queen. She glanced at Feather Soft who looked decidedly out of her element among so many warriors. She was trying to distract herself with a game of solitaire. Aegis turned away from the window to look at the Guard Captain with a bemused expression. Like her mother before her, Aegis’ royal blood gave her no overall authority over her siblings, but she still found such candid comments amusing given her position. Her tone became a lot more strained. “Pah,” Intel scoffed aloud as she wiped down the excess lubricants with a small rag. “I’m running the outfit better than you ever did,” she said with playful mockery. Aegis rolled her eyes and turned back to the window. “Only ‘cause you have more experience now, than I did back then.” “All I hear are excuses,” Intel teased back with a grin. “She’s got you there, sis,” Ferrum jabbed, earning a raspberry from Aegis. When a bit of activity outside grabbed their attention, the room fell back into silence. It ultimately was just a dog being let out of the apartment, but no one started talking again. Aegis kept rubbing her lower belly in some vain attempt to speed her clutch along. The thestral liaison had been working with changelings since the beginning of the formal alliance, and yet he still couldn’t get used to those conversations constantly switching between Linkspeak and vocalized Vespid. Instead he resigned himself to waiting for the ‘go’ order. In the meantime he couldn’t help but to marvel at the oddity of mainstream pony architecture in regards to Aegis. You’d think with everypony being so much shorter than those bipedal queens, they’d have to duck everywhere they went, but most rooms and doors fit them well enough. …I wonder if that’s so minotaurs can be accommodated in any given building for some odd diplomatic reason. The other thing that occupied him were the oblong cylinders across each changelings’ combat harness that gave him an involuntary shudder. He remembered the after-report about tear gas usage on the monastery, and had reluctantly agreed to it’s use as a semi-last resort. Command loves their new guns, but balks at giving us time to train with gas masks because they might frighten the civilians? It’s not like we’re using it on non-combatants. Aegis is right, we should be using the gas first thing, but it’s out of my hooves now. For the time being, the targeted four story apartment was quiet. A few shapes passed by curtained windows, but otherwise the occupants were making it difficult to get a headcount. Aegis’ empathy sensed the gathered changelings were a mixed bag of emotion. Intel was masking her nervousness well enough to seem calm and collected from the other drones, but Aegis’ royal blood could sniff out her true feelings. Mare or stallion, Intel always gets like this before an operation. She’ll fall into place once things get moving. Thunderfury was overly excited, and was practicing various shield stances, but kept his magic low to keep the arcane sense of any unicorns in the target apartment from possibly noticing him. Aegis didn’t get a chance to assess the others when she saw two ponies and a single Grecian sphinx tom down in the street approach the apartment lobby. Aegis strained to get a better look at him, but it was impossible to see any real details without a spyglass. However she was still able to make out the large triangular object on his back that was wrapped up in thick white cloth. Ferrum joined her at the window with an equally confused expression. Intel shoved her head in between her two clutchmates to take a look for herself. Aegis scowled at the news. Ferrum added coldly. The trio of suspects waited by the front door after knocking. After several long seconds, the door opened revealing an orange earth pony mare with a black mane who had half of her left ear missing. The weathered mare meant little to Aegis, but the thestral who was watching from the other window bristled. “That’s Knife Point. She’s wanted for several murders including an attempt on Prince Blueblood’s life. This is the first we’ve seen of her joining up with the P.C.E. though.” The group watched intently as the newcomers exchanged words that were lost to the wind. There appeared to be some minor bickering at first, probably details on payment Aegis surmised, but the trio was admitted entry shortly thereafter. The door of the hotel room opening behind them all made the changelings turn back to see a mare thestral Night Guard in riot armor carrying a quarterstaff with a stun enchantment. Aegis remembered she was the task force commander. “We’ve waited long enough, and the perimeter around the building's been established. Intelligence says most of the residents will start leaving for the night shift jobs soon. We go in now and sort them all out later, let’s move!” Applejack stepped off the train at Canterlot station with a purpose in her step. The throng of ponies boarding and departing the train swarmed around her in a mass of color. The long train ride always bothered the farm mare. Lounging around for hours on end was reserved for sleeping and just about nothing else as far as she was concerned. She turned around to gaze back into the train car. “Woooawwee! Good to be able to stretch mah legs again.” She would have loved to do some practice bucks, but the dense crowd made it impossible. “Come on Apple Bloom, you don’t wanna miss your honorary cousins now do ya?” A soft yellow mare with a stark red mane decorated in a pink bow pulled her way out of the press of bodies trying to exit the passenger car. “Sorry, it ain’t exactly easy ya know, with all the- aahhh!!” Apple Bloom squeezed through only to stumble to the dirt under the weight of her luggage. “Ow,” she moaned from under it all. Applejack chuckled at her sister before cantering through the crowd and gave Apple Bloom a hoof to pull her back up. “There ya go, Sugarcube. No harm done.” The farm mare relieved her sister of a few suitcases loaded with books, spare pink bows, and other essentials. “Thanks.” Apple Bloom’s cheeks burned with embarrassment, even if no one else seemed to care outside of having to walk around her. Applejack took a moment to indulge the pride she had in Apple Bloom. Her sister had grown into a fine, proud mare. Her mane was ruffled, and still bore her trademark pink bow, though it looked far smaller on her now than during her foalhood. As befitting a proper lady, her coat was immaculate and her posture, although dampened by the heavy saddlebags, exuded strength and proper upbringing. Well, proper as far as Applejack was concerned, not Rarity. Liquid pride fell from Applejack’s face as her muzzle curled into a smile. “Look at you all grown up, ready to start fancy school’n. Ah can’t tell you how proud Ah am to see you go’n to Twilight’s Engineering College. Yer goin’ to be top a’ your class, Ah just know it!” She hugged Apple Bloom with all her might, making it hard to breathe. Apple Bloom returned the embrace, but kept an eye out for any ponies her age that might be in the area. It wouldn’t do to get an embarrassing nickname so early. “Well, Ah’m just glad the farm’s go’n be okay without me. Ah couldn’t live with mahself if Ah put the farm in jeopardy by leave’n. Ah promise to make the family proud!” Applejack wiped her tears away and led her sister towards the station’s interior. “Ah know you will. You got a knack for buildin’ and tinker’n Ah ain’t never seen before. And even better, Sweetie Belle should be in Canterlot as well, attending Luna’s school for Gifted Artists. Kinda odd name for including singers too if you ask me, but all the same.” Apple Bloom gazed out at the white marble splendor of Upper Canterlot before the train station obscured it all with their entry. “Yup, and with Scootaloo already a trainee Wonderbolt, the three of us will be able to hang out together all over again!” The two sisters lapsed into small talk as they made their way through the station’s early evening traffic. Neither of them were strangers to cities or large crowds, but it was rare enough that Apple Bloom felt an electric current running through her at the prospect of refining her special talent. Ah can’t believe Ah finally made it! Right here in the big city. Sure there’s Phoenix's Roost, but this is where Twilight’s biggest co-op university is. Her eyes fell upon one of the reasons the crowd was so dense a ways up towards the front of the train. A minotaur delegation centered around Crown Prince Cho’Gal was milling around as servants stacked the luggage. There was an angry scowl on Cho’Gal’s face that worried the young mare. “Ah there you are!” a familiar voice called out, stopping both earth mares in their tracks and pulling Apple Bloom’s attention away. They didn’t have to search long before spotting the bipedal changeling bearing Rainbow Dash’s colors. Blitz’s thin, albeit tall, profile allowed her to easily slip through the crowd as the Apples moved over to join her. It also helped that most ponies were still put off by the notion of what appeared to be a minotaur changeling, and gave Blitz a moderately wide berth. The proto-queen grinned widely at the two old friends. “And you came too, Apple Bloom?” “Ayup!” The trio quickly exchanged hugs. “Ain’t no way Ah’m missin’ orientation.” Blitz giggled at herself. “Oh that’s right, well, congratulations on your acceptance. I only wish that was the only reason for your visit.” Applejack huffed with a mix of pragmatism and irritability. “That downright despicable attack on that ship a’ yours and the princess’ request meant we ended up sharing a ride together. Speaking of which…” Applejack glanced around at the passing ponies nervously. More than a few of them gave Blitz a weary look. “Don’t you think it’s a mite dangerous to be out here all by your lonesome?” “Oh it is,” Blitz replied with a lopsided smirk as she tapped a finger on her clockwerk vambraces and jingled the necklace on her neck. “I have my own defenses in place without the need for obtrusive guards. I am the civic queen-to-be after all. Celestia taught me some pointers on how to read a crowd.” Apple Bloom marveled at the proto-queen’s forearm armor, knowing full well that changeling equipment was never to be taken at face value. The vambraces were brass colored steel, if Apple Bloom’s keen eye was correct. It was, over all, simplistic looking save for the high quality straps and the shallow indentations along its surface that were almost lost in the overall smoothness. If Ah had to guess, Ah bet those’re maintenance panels, and the real magic is all inside. There ain’t nothing that changelings make that can be taken at face value. “If it’s all the same though,” Applejack stated friendly enough, “we should get move’n.” She spotted a few sphinxes in civilian dress up in the rafters giving the changeling hate-filled looks. The majority of Federalists never bothered keeping their hatred of psykers a secret. At the very least they mostly directed that hate at the queens alone due to their superior psionic capabilities compared to the drones. Unfortunately, that did little for Blitz and her tell-tale reptilian eyes. “We stick around any longer and somethin’ is bound ta’ happen anyway,” Applejack warned as she put in a little more speed to her gait. Blitz followed Applejack’s gaze towards the sphinxes who jumped a little in fear of her. The group bid a begrudging retreat, but tried to make it look like they were leaving anyway. Blitz shrugged. “They can fester all they want. A requirement of any sphinx immigrants is to spend five months at the hive. That way we know there won’t be any “problem children” gaining citizenship. Any visitors wouldn’t dare attack me. If not out of fear of the alliance reprisals, then the Sestapo deters them enough.” So far anyway. “But you’re right, there’s no need to risk it. We should go to the university first,” she directed at Apple Bloom. A mass of activity over the local hive mind on Aegis’ corner of the Link jerked Blitz’s head to the north. “Actually, it looks like something’s going on right now after all.” Blitz started walking towards a carriage with the Apples following close behind her. Applejack didn’t like how Blitz kept stealing glances to the north every time the line of buildings broke to allow her to see past them. Ah know that face. Aegis is gettin’ into trouble something fierce. Intel raced through the open window of her team’s hotel and across the street like a purple spear. Sheathing herself in a cone of lavender-orange mana, Intel was joined by seven other changelings causing many of the ponies below to have flashbacks of the first invasion of Canterlot. An equal number of thestrals and local police ponies followed in their wake. The changeling squad smashed through windows and solid walls with a great crash of shattered glass and masonry. A single pegasus police officer barked orders through a megaphone. “This is the Alliance Domestic Police Force, surrender immediately, you are all under arrest!” Intel only barely heard the warning as she smashed into a game room complete with a billiards table. Three stallions jumped back in shock at her sudden entrance and fell back at the sight of her shotgun. Intel quickly assessed the two earth ponies and one unicorn. “Keep your hooves where I can see them, and don’t even try to use magic,” she directed at the unicorn. The two earth stallions quickly dropped their pool cues and onto their haunches while lifting their forelegs up. The craggy muscle bound unicorn however magically shoved his companions at Intel while bolting for the open door. The thestral ponies that followed in after Intel arrived barely in time to see her vault over the two living projectiles and fire a shot at the fleeing unicorn. “Go after him, I’ll secure these two!” the first one barked at her. “Got it!” Intel yelled back as she took cover by the door right as two mana bolts sailed past her head. The thestrals settled in at the opposite side of the door waiting for her signal. Alarmed shouting erupted from the room beyond as well as scrambling hooves and clattering items. Intel rolled into the common room and fired off a couple of her own mana bolts at the fleeing unicorn, conserving her ammunition. There the unicorn barged his way through a collection of two dozen scrambling individuals, composed of multiple species. Several poker tables had been overturned, chips covering the ratty carpet like snow. A scant few of them surrendered immediately at the sight of not just Intel, but three other changelings and a pair of thestrals emerging from exterior rooms of their own. However the vast majority of the beings, ranging from ponies, zebras, minotaurs, and even a scant few sphinxes jumped up to fight, heedless of the warnings. Intel brought up a circular metal shield in her magic and charged forward with the rest of her kin following suit. The unicorns tried to raise arcane shields of their own or fire off kinetic bolts, but Counterspell lived up to his name by slamming the butt of his warstaff on the ground and muttering his mother’s incantations, destabilizing all unicorn style magic save for telekinesis within the building. Without the enemy’s mana shields, Intel fired at a minotaur bull charging at her with his fists at the ready. The rock salt did little to pierce his thick hide, but a few particles got into his eyes making him flail around wildly. Thunderfury weaved into the charging crowd like a needle to hit the biggest threat. His shields crackled with power as he slammed full force into a second minotaur bull, shocking him into unconsciousness. Thunderfury would have gotten swarmed by the other criminals were it not for the four thestrals and one pegasus guard that raced in after him, further disrupting the hasty defense. Thunderfury grinned wickedly as he worked. His shields ripped through the air against his unarmored opponents stunning everyone it touched with electric wrath. The police were hardly idle. The thestrals’ staves whirled around, smashing against targets constantly. Thunderfury saw a sphinx jane about to clobber him with a chair right when his shields were out of position, but a blast of rock salt from Intel threw the jane off balance long enough for Thunderfury to finish her off with an electric shield to the chest. Right as it seemed that the police were wrapping things up to start their arrests, one of the Egyptian toms that had feigned surrender at the beginning used the commotion to slip behind his large chair, pull out a repeating crossbow and leveled it at Counterspell. Thunderfury tried to get his shields between the two of them, but the tom acted first and fired off three rapid bolts. The first bolt carved a thin grazing line across Counterspell’s face while the second was deflected by the staff. The third however sunk deeply into his chest, defeating his thin armor as if it were paper. The moment he cried out and collapsed, the unicorns in the room varied between forcing the police off of their brethren with shields and reviving those too stunned to fight. With Counterspell’s incantation gone, Intel and the other changelings brought up their own shields to deflect the incoming storm of arcane bolts from the hostile ponies. She desperately wanted to check on him, but the P.C.E. demanded her attention. He coughed up blood, but the act was lost to everyone when a thestral mare bellowed a challenge, forcing the rest of the police force to go in after her. Intel took the time to fire off a few supporting arcane bolts while painstakingly reloading her shotgun for the larger sphinxes and minotaurs. Her real objective was to remain beside Counterspell as Ferrum tried to move him out of the room. She barely had a single barrel loaded when an Egyptian jane broke through the line of police ponies and made a beeline straight for the wounded Counterspell with a short sword held high. Intel fumbled to pull the ramming rod out of her weapon as the jane closed in. “Psyker filth be purged!” Ferrum turned on his hooves before reaching Counterspell to face down the jane with a sneer. The swordling growled a challenge and pulled his brother’s skysteel longsword off his back and angled it to block the downward thrust of the jane’s blade. The runes flashed upon impact, sending secondary kinetic impact through the blades, knocking her sword out of position. “You come to our land, you leave that bigotry at the rutting door!” “Sphinx or changeling, all psykers must-” Boom The jane was abruptly cut off by Intel’s shotgun at near pointblank range, ravaging the sphinx with lacerations all over her left side and shedding her clothing and burying themselves within her. The salt itself redoubled the pain making her cry out in sheer agony, giving a newly arriving police pegasus to cuff her. Ferrum dropped his weapon to pick up his bleeding squadmate. Intel started reloading her weapon again and gestured Ferrum towards the new holes the task force was creating. “Get him out of here, I’ll keep your sword.” With a nod, Ferrum made for the exit while Intel started giving new orders to the squad. Even with the new arrivals, the suspects were rallying even stronger than before with an organization Intel thought impossible. She growled at the sight of a police pegasus getting pulped by a minotaur's hammer. This is getting out of hoof. She started pulling her gask mask on while priming three tear gas grenades. The other drones backed off to quickly put their own masks on, feeling pity for their pony allies. Aegis paced in front of the window of her lookout room with her wings buzzing impatiently. While she was still unable to piggyback on a drone’s eyes, she could still hear the chatter going on from the task force. Every iota of her being wanted to be down there with her clutchmates. Every time she heard a spell go off, a gunshot, or cry of battle, she had to check herself before racing over with Burny in hand. “I can’t do it. I still haven’t laid today’s eggs yet. Damn it, after that whole siege of Stripped Gear crap, the worst problem my princesshood has endured was the toilet backing up! And now when we have the P.C.E. being dilwads and that Grogar guy, yet I’m stuck here at the whim of my eggs!” Caretaker Feather Soft was trying to enjoy a spot of tea off in the corner of the room. With the soldiers-turned-police gone, she was finally able to get a sense of peace. Much like her clutchmate, Blue Flare, Feather Soft had a dignified mane style, but didn’t wear clothing, mostly because the nature of her work would soil them far too regularly. “And here I thought this was exactly what you wanted, sister,” she said with obvious sarcasm. Due to the tight relationship the two queens had, the purple and blue changelings felt more like siblings than cousins. “To spend days, weeks, or even years on end laying eggs for all eternity.” Feather swooned dramatically with a weak hoof to her forehead, much to Aegis’ annoyance as she shot her a sour look that could curdle milk. “Such is the dream life for me, as you always said.” Aegis groaned loud enough to put her mother to shame. “Is there anything you can do? Make me start laying now, or make it so I can actually hold onto the eggs for an hour or so, or delay their production for just as long?! I should be down there doing my job wrecking face!” She turned back to the window and winced when she saw one of the hotel’s windows blow out from magical fire. Not even Feather Soft could ignore that one as panic started spreading through the streets. She cringed at the screams and stampeding hooves from all those who briefly let their curiosity superseded their caution. “With all due respect, Aegis, your job right now is to wait out your maturation until you’re a full queen.” Aegis scanned the area around the P.C.E. structure, looking for any way to contribute. Giving orders right now would just distract them. The grocery store adjacent to the hotel across the street had ponies fleeing into the streets when a whole section of wall from the P.C.E. building collapsed and fell onto the store, causing more noise than actual damage. It took Aegis a moment to see that one of the Guard pegasi had been tossed alongside the wall, and remained still. One Grecian jane and a unicorn stallion leapt down from the new hole. Intel slammed the butt of her shotgun into the jaw of a minotaur bull who took the hit like it was tickling him. “That’s it, I’m going down after them!” Aegis was halfway out of the window when what felt like a giant vice clamped down on her tail and started to drag her back inside. “Oh no you don’t!” Feather grunted with effort from the other side of the room. “You’ll just get hurt if you start laying in the middle of a chase! You know you can’t fly properly while laying!” Aegis yelp in pain, but kept trying to force her way out. “I can’t just let those two escape, what if they were the ringleaders?!” Weaving a spell her mother taught her, Aegis easily vanquished Feather’s telekinetic hold. She locked eyes on the two suspects, yet before Aegis could even get out of the window the familiar feeling of eggs descending into the ready position halted her in an instant. “Not now!” She shuffled back inside and skidded along the wall as her eggs starting coming. “Why didn’t you come like ten minutes ago, come on!” The heavy sound of dozens of feathered and leathery wings upon the air filled the air outside, making Aegis try to look outside. A large number, no less than twenty by Aegis’ count, of police ponies converged on the suspects filtering out onto the roof in an effort to escape. Her efforts were halted entirely as Feather Soft raced over to start cleaning up the three eggs already present. “Let Intel and the ponies handle things. You have your own job to do, sis.” Even from her poor angle of the window, Aegis was able to spy several Royal Guard ponies arriving on the scene, but none of them seemed to change direction to intercept the two suspects she had seen. If the sirens flooding the streets were any indication, the paramedics were on their way as well. The worst part of it all to Aegis, was sitting on the sidelines, as if she couldn’t fulfill her obligations as the militant queen. This is going to be the longest eight weeks of my life. Blitz daintily stepped out of the public restroom of a fine diner barely ten minutes’ trot from the train station with a sheepish grin as she approached the awaiting Apple sisters. Thankfully the room had been empty at the start, and the two earth mares were more than enough to ward away any of the restaurant’s patrons for a several minutes, along with a healthy tip to the manager for the inconvenience. A grey-furred caretaker with a closed egg crate bid a hasty retreat right after the proto-queen left to make her way to the train yard. “I’m really sorry about that,” Blitz said with a brightly flushed face, so red she almost looked like a beet. “I can’t really control when that happens just yet.” Applejack snickered and clapped a hoof on Blitz’ back before walking for the exit. The proto-queen lifted herself back up to two legs as she left the restaurant behind. Apple Bloom was enamored at the sight of her forehooves morphing into hands. “Shoot, girl, Ah may not be hanging around Phoenix's Roost as often as RD did Stripped Gear before she went Ling, but ya don’t need to feel embarrassed about that ‘round me.” Apple Bloom nodded in agreement as the trio made it back into the street. “After sum of the stuff mah friends and Ah crusaded, that’s not weird at all. Sides,” she added with an elbow bump on Blitz’s leg. “If it weren’t for you guys, Ah’d a never found mah cutie mark.” She waggled her hip, showing off the gear shaped red apple. Happy to see her family friends so understanding, Blitz momentarily dropped down to four legs and squashed them both in a tight hug. “Thanks. But I think you would have found your mark without us, Apple Bloom.” “Pshah, not as cool as this one though,” Apple Bloom countered with a light-hearted smirk. “Well, now that delay is out of the way,” Blitz turned to Applejack. “Let me escort you to your palace suite to drop your luggage off before taking Apple Bloom on a tour of the university.” Applejack sighed with a mix of determination and old anger. “Fine by me. Ah got a lot of thinking ta do on what to say about this whole sabotage attack on the navy. Bunch of backwards thinkin’ cowards if you ask me. They’re willin’ to go on a suicide attack, but can’t get it that you changelin’s are the best thing to happen to Equestria since Luna’s return? It’s sad more than anythin’ else.” Apple Bloom noticed a passing thestral in the air. “Ah mean, just the Jiyya fruit was huge. Let alone all the fancy new gizmos around the farm that makes Apple Buck season a breeze. I mean, even Granny Smith is in love with that so called ‘new-fangled whatchamacallit’ that carts off all the apple buckets leaving us free to keep bucking the trees.” Blitz’s heartfelt smile was radiant at the praise, and when her empathy told her both earth mares were truthful in their accolades. This was the real reason Blitz wanted to have the same connection to ponykind that her mother had. The Apples were true friends that Blitz would hold onto dearly. It also helped that by her very nature, the changeling wanted as many sources of genuine love as possible. “Thank you, really. Most ponies know about that part of a queen’s life, but it’s more of a tolerance and ‘out of sight out of mind’ thing than any real acceptance.” “Ah don’t see why,” Apple Bloom tutted as they made their way past a pair of massive elevators suspended on meter-thick cables that brought ground-bound passengers between the various levels of Canterlot. The sheer density of pedestrians made their progress slow down considerably, even if it was still the best way to get to the palace. “Griffins lay eggs, and no pony minds that. You’d think all of the old wars ponies and griffins would have more of an effect than Chrysalis’ single invasion. Not to mention that griffins used to eat us. Ah’d think that’d be worse than emotion sucking… ah, no offense,” she added with a sheepish chuckle. Applejack and Blitz couldn’t help but to look about nervously at the throng of bodies. Even with Blitz’s safeguards, all it took was one assassin to get lucky. Apple Bloom relaxed with Blitz merely shrugging at the unintended insult. Feeling that the conversation wasn’t going to start back up until they were clear of the dense mass of ponies, Apple Bloom started looking around at all the sights of her home for the next four years or so. The first thing that caught her eyes was mint green unicorn mare several paces ahead of them who had stopped dead in her tracks. Her utterly dumbfounded expression was giving her earth pony friend a half worried, half irritated look. Apple Bloom followed the unicorn’s gaze towards Blitz. At first Apple Bloom feared the unicorn was a bigot, but then noticed a maniacally wide grin cleave her muzzle as she started bouncing on her hooves. Weird. The earth pony dragged her gushing friend away right as Apple Bloom’s group walked past them. Wanting to keep her mind away from the odd mare, Apple Bloom looked down a shallow flight of stairs to one of the massive elevators. They were quite open to the sky, and could easily fit forty ponies side by side five ranks deep. Their gold colored frames and elegant metal artwork sang of traditional pony art style from the classical period several hundred years ago, but the elevators themselves were only half a century old. Apple Bloom’s eyes danced this way and that, but came to a stop when she saw two ponies on the closest elevator. There was a pale yellow stallion with a bright red mane who was as gigantic as her big brother, and a peach mare with an orange mane that reminded her of Applejack. There was a strange ghost of familiarity about them, like she should know them. Then it finally clicked. Wait a second… they look like ma and pah from those pictures Granny has in her album! Apple Bloom was inches from asking her sister to look at them until she saw both ponies turn their heads to talk to a pegasus and revealed their unicorn horns. Oh. Weird. Ah must be imagining things. She shook her head and turned away. Honestly, Apple Bloom, it ain’t like they’re the only ponies to have those colors ya know. Seeing her friend and sister were getting away from her, Apple Bloom raced through the crowd to catch up to them. Pear Butter rocked on her hooves as she and her two traveling companions finally entered the love collector’s domicile, directly above a bordello. Every fiber of her being wanted to just slouch onto the old moldy couch near the door, but the huge part of her still loyal to her queen kept her on her hooves, waiting for orders. The effects of the love feeding faded in lieu of true muscle fatigue from the exodus. “This room is safe, and I have an arrangement with the madam of this establishment.” Stopwatch took the wrapped up princess out of the saddlebag and inspected her carefully to make sure everything was in order. “You may drop your disguise and rest.” Both quasi complied with Paint Brush staying by the center of the room awaiting further instructions. While Stopwatch’s preferred disguise was that of a mare, her true form was more of an ‘it’ in Pear Butter’s eyes. Probably so she doesn’t have any qualms about… servicing any client. Pear Butter flopped onto the moldy couch in a heap. It stunk to high hell and it felt grimy, but at that moment she was too tired to care. The rest of the room had that faint scent of the hive she originally awoke in, but it wasn’t strong enough to identify if one didn’t know the origin. I doubt she services anypony in here. “As much as you may want to,” Stopwatch stated at Pear Butter after placing the resting nymph in its waxy alcove and hiding it behind a tablecloth. “Do not form any wax cocoons. I know those are more comfortable than these pony-style beds, but they are far too conspicuous to the madam who visits me up here every so often. I’ll need your assistance in getting rid of the princess’ wax bed once she’s been relocated.” Pear Butter cast a wary eye at Stopwatch, noticing with a touch of dread that the love collector was solely directing that warning at her, and her alone. “Do I even want to know why you’re saying that first part to me?” Stopwatch cocked her head at the question. “You mean you don’t know how we make wax? Well, I’m sure you’ll find out on your own before too long. Just be sure to clean it up when you do. It’s bad enough we need any wax at all for the princess, because a crib would have been hard to explain away to the madam.” The collector started scrounging up some food after sequestering away empty love crystals. While Stopwatch was doing that, Pear Butter pointedly distracted herself with observing her lodging. Stopwatch had the whole top floor to herself, no doubt marking her importance to the establishment below. The entry hall led to a number of rooms, which Pear suspected was where Stopwatch brought her clients. This room, however, was more of a small condo. From the couch she could see the moderately well-stocked kitchenette, the hidden alcove, and a rickety dining table with equally flimsy looking chairs. The wallpaper was a bland brown that matched Stopwatch’s chitin and disguise’s fur color. A few rooms branched off behind the kitchen. Seeing that he wasn’t going to be getting any orders, Paint Brush cantered over to the kitchen. “Is there any way I can assist in cooking?” “Do you even remember how?” Stopwatch asked while grabbing a pot and several items from the icebox. “I may be a subdivision of the queen’s mind, but I cannot inject knowledge into you. I doubt Polybia would bother either.” Paint Brush shook his head sadly. “No, I can’t recall any cooking ability, but I can at least observe. Our queen gifted us with knowledge of mating habits for various races so we could support ourselves.” “Fitting,” Stopwatch replied. “The Madam is in need of another escort.” She turned to briefly glance at Pear Butter. The former pony had heard every word, and was holding her hind legs tightly with her tail pulled close. Stopwatch sniffed dismissively and returned to her food preparation. “It’s perfect work for us really, although it would look too suspicious to speak for two new employees at once. There are many eyes out there looking for our kind. These Equestrians may permit those from Phoenix’s Roost, but they will be suspicious of any one who looks like a half changeling who doesn’t have purple, blue, or grey fur. Not to mention that running into either of those runs the risk of identifying you as not part of their hive mind.” The conversation petered out as Stopwatch started instructing Paint Brush on how to make a simple yet filling stew. Pear Butter settled on staring at the body length mirror next to a fireplace. Her eyes fixated on the gnarled tan colored horn jutting out of her head. She brushed a fetlock against it, still acutely aware of how alien it felt. It was wrong. It didn’t belong there, it shouldn’t be a part of her. Her wings fidgeted as if to remind her of the other part of her that was wrong. Now that she wasn’t running for her life through the jungle or fearing detection and death slinking through Equestria, these festering thoughts clung to her mind’s eye like glue. I shouldn’t be like this. I know I used to be a pony. A normal pony. Not some thing corr-changed... Her rebelliousness swelled, but her built-in loyalty was not going to fall away so easily. Pear Butter stared at her hooves. The tan chitin shell stood in stark contrast to her gold fur. It’s like my queen started from the inside and her mut-changes only recently started showing on the outside. Am I nothing more than a changeling with pony skin, or is there something more of the old me inside? The old Pear Butter and the new quasi tore at each other within the mare’s head, vying for control. Yet with the hive mind still active within her subconscious and the geas Polybia placed upon her, rebellious thoughts was all she could muster. Pear Butter lost all track of time as her old personality struggled against the compulsions of her new anatomy to the point where a loud hoof stomp nearby startled her back to the present. She found Stopwatch glaring at her in disinterest with a steaming bowl held aloft. “Here, you will need your strength.” “T-thank you.” Pear sat up properly and took the offered bowl and spoon into her magic. A small part of her twinged in irritation at how natural she slipped into using telekinesis. By now, Paint Brush was already eating at the table with Stopwatch joining him. “Pear Butter, you used to be farmer. How well do you think you could perform in carpentry?” The mare sucked on the first bite of agreeable stew for a long moment to think. “Ah think Ah could do that. Ah probably had to do a lot of that on mah old farm, Ah’m sure it’ll come back to me.” “Good.” Stopwatch took a few bites before continuing. “I’ll arrange an opening for you down by Split Beam’s shop in Upper Canterlot. That will put you close enough to the target house to keep watch over it without being conspicuous.” “Target house?” Paint Brush queried as he wolfed down his food so he’d be free to speak. Pear Butter sat up a little straighter in expectation. “More like target family.” Stopwatch downed the last of her broth in one long swig. “The hatchling princess needs to have a massive amount of love to survive, as I’m sure you noticed. However, I alone can’t do that. I fed her two months' worth just to satisfy her today. No matter how many clients I service, lust just isn’t as nutritious as actual love, but it can serve us in a pinch.” “But the princess can’t make do with just a pinch, right?” Pear asked already knowing the answer. “Exactly. So I’ve been scoping out families across Upper Canterlot for the perfect surrogate parents.” Stopwatch got up and cantered over to a desk, rummaged through it before producing several manilla envelopes. Each one had a family name and crest on them. She took one envelope and deposited its contents on the table: maps, photographs, charts, and other data sheets. “Given the imminent timing of the princess’s hatching, the Harthworth family is the ideal family to raise the princess to ensure she retains the ability to produce love.” Paint Brush sifted through the charts, which he quickly realized were the target family’s finances. “Ah guess the money won’t be a problem. A twenty five thousand bit a month profit? Gaw dang that’s a hefty sum.” Pear Butter checked over the dozen pictures. Only two unicorns were in all of them. A stately if haughty looking yellow stallion with a slicked back brown mane. The wife was much better looking to Pear’s eyes. She had a gentle warmth about her in all the pictures, but the most telling attribute was her advanced pregnancy. “You’re going to put the princess with this family as a sister or somethin’?” “No, a replacement.” Stopwatch’s flat statement made Pear’s veins run cold with ice. Her rebellious self surged forward to speak her mind, but Paint Brush unwittingly cut her off. “So we’re switching foals? Seems easy enough,” he forced out with a neutral face. “Ah assume we have some way of giving the princess a long term disguise.” Pear was livid and stamped her hoof on the carpeted floor, but her geas concerning the princess’s well-being silenced her scathing tongue. Stopwatch saw the furious mare, but made no effort to ease her mind. “Actually no, the child was stillborn.” Pear wilted under the news and said nothing, leaving Stopwatch to continue uninterrupted. “The family is in mourning, and emotionally vulnerable. A client of mine told me several old family friends of theirs are expected to visit tomorrow so we have to act fast since I believe this family is the best candidate. I stacked the deck by bribing the weather captain to push the next rainstorm to coincide with the visit.” Stopwatch tapped the photo of the Harthworth manor’s front door. “Ponies are notoriously herd minded creatures, and bleeding hearts to boot. I’ll be leaving the disguised hatchling princess on the doorstep of their house during the friendly visit in the middle of the rainstorm.” Paint Brush let off a dark chuckle. “That’s pretty smart a’ ya. Between wanting ta’ take in a new foal, the very presence of the family friends adding some guilt to any thoughts of abandonment, and the cold, wet rainstorm to makin’ them even less likely to reject the foal. Hook line and sinker.” “That’s about the size of it,” Stopwatch concurred. Pear Butter sagged in her seat as guilt weighed down upon her as if the world was on her withers. “At least the family gets a loving daughter out of it.” “See?” Paint Brush added. “Everypony wins. So it’s just Pear and mah job to keep a loose eye on her from a distance then. Should be a cakewalk.” “Only if we do things right,” Stopwatch warned before looking at Paint Brush. “Now give me the items our queen gave you for the princess. I’ll need them for when the princess wakes up.” Aegis fumed at everything in general as she listened to the earth pony police chief give her an after-action report with Princess Celestia and several other ponies sitting around the same table. The group was in the original palace conference room where Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, and several other officials had discussed the changeling threat after the wedding all those years ago. While much of Celestia’s focus was on the police chief, the timeless mare couldn’t help but to see the dark irony in it all. Here we are, with Twilight’s first royal daughter discussing the threat of radicals acting against changelings rather than radical changelings acting against us. Yet another joke the universe shares with no one. As a show of unity and trust, Celestia had Aegis seated to her right while the police chief was at her left. “...Moving on to the preliminary findings,” Police Chief Hoofcuffs drolled on as she had been for the past hour. “This was an unexpected timing for all of us. If our prisoners’ comments during the arrests are to be believed, we interrupted a large meeting between several key crime families, two rogue mercenary companies, and three radical groups, including the P.C.E. Unfortunately we only caught minor soldiers and a couple of lieutenants. The real leaders of each group either evaded capture or weren’t present yet.” “I could have stopped at least two of them from getting away,” Aegis growled under her breath. “There were so many fleeing the building that the perimeter guards couldn’t catch all of them. Even with so many arrests, the proto-queen looked about as glum as a certain bald donkey. At least none of my siblings got taken out, but a few came close. Her thoughts momentarily shifted to Counterspell before she tossed them aside to focus on the present. Although it wasn’t meant to be heard, Celestia managed to catch the whole thing. “Very good chief. Continue your interrogations and keep me appraised of any news. Be they ponies or otherwise, we can not accept such a strong presence of the criminal element in the capital of all places.” “As you order, your highness.” Hoofcuffs nodded curtly before resuming her seat. Celestia turned to a earth mare who was scribbling furiously on a notepad. “Administer Field Runner, how is the public handling the raid?” The mare quickly nestled the pencil on her ear. “Mixed at the moment. Several reporters are getting eye witness accounts of ponies wishing the chaos would stop in the city, others are glad we’re taking such quick action, and a small minority is saying we’re only making things worse by such open violence on the streets of Canterlot.” A scrawny stallion with crooked glasses leaned forward for attention. Celestia quickly identified him as her primary speech writer. “I anticipated this development, your highness, and have several speeches outlined and being delivered to your personal study for your perusal as always.” “Excellent, thank you, Silver Tongue. If there is nothing else?” she looked around the assembled ponies and single changeling for any comments. When none were forthcoming she banged the table three times with a gavel. “Very well. Dismissed.” The various officials hastily gathered up their papers and shuffled or flew out of the exit, eager to get back to work, or go to the nearest bar and drown the coming night away. Unsure of what to do, Aegis began to rise to leave as well, but a brush from Celestia’s wing gave her pause. Aegis saw Celestia's desire to speak in private written on her face so she slumped back down. The ageless alicorn knew better than to patronize the brooding proto-queen. She had seen it all before in Twilight’s youth. “Aegis, your mother and I shared an open-door policy. If you ever need an ear outside of your hive-mind to speak to, please feel free.” Aegis sighed heavily and traced a circle on the table with her index finger. “Were you around before the Hearths’ Warming Event?” “Barely,” Celestia confirmed. “I was among the immigrants who left the old lands, barely old enough to remember the exodus. My sister and I became alicorns that same year though.” She levitated the condensation-covered pitcher of water and refilled Aegis’ empty cup. “It was a hard time for everypony.” Aegis gave a small nod of thanks, but didn’t touch the glass immediately. The setting sun cast the room into brilliant oranges and yellows that would have gotten a rise out of the pyromaniac any other day. “How long did it take before the three tribes stopped hating each other? How long did it take before ponies like the P.C.E. stopped existing?” Aegis gave Celestia a pleading look that made Celestia forget for a moment that she wasn’t speaking with Twilight. “How long am I going to have to attack and kill ponies before we can truly be united with the three tribes?” Celestia took a big risk and moved close enough to drape a caring wing over Aegis shoulder. It eased her heart that Aegis leaned into it slightly, but largely only accepted it’s presence. “It took centuries, Aegis. I’m sorry for that. The three tribes largely found cooperation a better alternative fairly quickly after Hearth’s Warming. As it was then, and as it is now, most modern ponies find the Alliance between us to be better than the alternative. But for groups like the P.C.E. to fade away? They never truly do. Even now there are small groups trying to promote one tribe or the other above all others.” “But those are the minority right?” Aegis asked hopefully. “Yes, they are quite impotent most of the time. So long as intelligent beings exist, there will be deviants that go against what is ultimately best for society. Although…” Celestia affixed Aegis with a soft smile. “I’d imagine it’s easier for you with the hive mind as a point of unity.” “Maybe not, Princess,” Aegis replied with a ghost of a smile. “But you have a more fascinating focus of unity that I still can’t fully wrap my head around.” Celestia arched an eyebrow at the unexpected comment. She knew of many facets of unity and harmony between ponies, but she wanted to hear Aegis’ point of view. “Which is?” “I don’t really know,” Aegis answered truthfully. “None of your subjects have a built-in compulsion to obey your will. There is no clear unifying voice to look to for in moments of doubt, no guiding song of the consensus for when the queen is too busy to respond.” She gave Celestia a studious look. “Personally I think the fact that a nation of individuals has grown as large as Equestria, let alone for it to prosper as much as it has, would be impossible without all this evidence to the contrary.” Taking on a tone of casual debate she used so often on Twilight Sparkle, Celestia took a few sips of her tea to give the impression she was thinking. “So you think it is dumb luck we ponies have stumbled onto a working system?” Aegis huffed dismissively and snatched one of the biscuits at the center of the table. The spread had been exhausted by the other officials over an hour ago. “I don’t know. All I do know is that for all your failings at keeping a tighter consensus, you have a leg up compared to us in at least one aspect.” Celestia reheated her tea with a touch of magic. She had dealt with Twilight enough to know when to strike at the point instead of dancing around it. “You mean my ponies are less affected by a poisonous consensus, and can resist it. Or if I ever became unstable or evil, my subjects could better resist me than drones to their queen.” The bitter memories of banishing her sister came to mind. “Rutting hell,” Aegis exclaimed while trying to rub away a headache. “You don’t pull any kicks do you?” “Not if the situation calls for it,” Celestia cooly replied. Aegis stared agape at her for several moments before recovering. She managed to claim a ghost of a smile. “That’s exactly it, yes. The drones of my kin may be sapient and strongly individualistic compared to other hives, but we are all ultimately influenced by the will of our queen-mother.” She gave Celestia a stern grimace to press her point. “It is for that reason I wanted to keep my drone-like loyalty to my mother hard-wired in my reborn self. It is also why I convinced them that the only royal children any of us should ever have are reborn drones because it is inconceivable to me that my queen-mothers would ever act against Equestria. And by extension, it is almost impossible for Blitz and I to do so as well.” The massive form of the cloudy ram towering over the Summit crawled in her mind. A place so sacred to every changeling being defiled and vandalized by the monster’s corrosive breath sent shivers down Aegis’ spine. “There’s nothing more frightening to think about than a hive mind divided by warring queens.” I can only imagine the damage Polybia could have caused if we were all joined in a single hive mind. Celestia frowned deeply at the information, vowing to herself to take it to heart. “I can only imagine, but that leaves you vulnerable. Even my sister, as kind and passionate as she is, succumbed to darkness. How would you react if Twilight or Blitz suffered a similar fate?” Aegis downed a few sips of water only to discover she was famished with a curtain of fatigue washing over her, making Aegis yawn loudly. Her sour mood deepened as she contemplated recent events. “You want my blunt opinion?” She searched Celestia’s passive face to gauge her reaction. “I honestly don’t know. I might be able to keep following the right path, or I could just as easily follow them down that dark future. All it takes is one queen, one Polybia, one Chrysalis to cause a whole hive to suddenly turn on everypony else. For my bloodline though, one queen could cast our entire nation into shadow.” Aegis hesitated at the mental image of a nightmare overtaking any of her fellow royals. The specter of Grogar possessing any of them froze her heart with fear. “I - I think I should lay down.” She got up, bowed respectfully towards Celestia. “Gotta go eat something first or I’ll never hear the end of it from Gear.” Celestia returned the sign of respect and climbed to her hooves as well. “And I must be ready to lower the sun. Sleep well, Proto-Queen Aegis.” “You too, Princess, and… thanks for the talk,” Aegis said before slipping through the door. At the moment, she wanted more than anything to lean against a wall and rub her head to try and ease the tension. Sadly the presence of so many castle staff and other officials forced her to trudge up to her quarters. Things were so much simpler in my drone days. I ate, fought, guarded, and did whatever I wanted to. She kept a neutral face as she passed by several ponies, and saw a serving cart. She swerved over and snatched a strawberry and cream hors d'oeuvre from the cart, and thanked the waitress. I never really paid much attention to all the crap momma and Auntie Rainbow put up with outside of combat before getting mother’s blessing. Maybe if I had, I would have thought twice before convincing mom to rebirth me. But there’s nothing for it now. I just hope I don’t ruin all the goodwill mother’s worked so damned hard to achieve. > 9: Not at All According to Plan > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash stood within one of the two medium sized dry-docks normally used for freighter construction. The yawning well-lit chamber was alight with activity as drones of all colors worked on the metal beast housed within. Sadly for Rainbow Dash, it was the mostly fangless tender vessel known as the P.R.N. Breadbasket that had only two light defensive guns on the ventral and dorsal sides. Like its sister ship the Cornucopia, it was painted with inverted colors of purple and blue trimmings on brass colored primary paint compared to the actual warships. The ship was several meters shorter than the Deception and thinner too. What set it apart from the Cornucopia, however, was the primary cargo bay that ran the entire center of the ship had both of its port and starboard doors pulled open with large docking booms extending outward making the ship look like a cross. Twilight studied the Breadbasket from not only her eyes, but that of the shipwrights putting the modifications through the tests for deployment. “You can’t help but to see the irony in this,” Twilight half teased her resolutely stoic sister. “Converting a tender vessel to a gunship carrier even after always saying the Longshot is a miserable warship?” She cast Rainbow a wry smirk. “What would Aegis say to this?” Rainbow arched an extremely sardonic eyebrow at Twilight while flicking her tail in anxiety. “She wouldn’t dare say a word. You know as well as I do that until the Deception can be repaired the gunships are our biggest weapons.” “Still don’t trust the bi-planes to get the job done?” Twilight asked with more seriousness than Rainbow expected. She had to take a moment to remember that Twilight really trusted her on such matters. Even if it should have been expected, it still helped Rainbow’s mood and pride. “No, I don’t. They’re fast, I’ll give them that, but there will always be a need for big guns.” “To beat back any big things Polybia or Grogar might throw at us?” Twilight said with more statement than question. “That, and it’s the perfect deterrent.” Rainbow gazed out to the west staring past the dry-dock’s walls. “I don’t think the chimp-cats would have backed down at the sight of a few gnats.” Thinking on it for a bit, Twilight eventually nodded. “I can see the logic in that. How soon will the Breadbasket be ready?” “Tonight actually,” Rainbow replied with a touch of pride. “The engineers have been pulling triple shifts, so we’ll be able to fly out at first light tomorrow.” “Good… good,” Twilight said at length while rubbing her chin. “The sooner we take care of Grogar and Polybia, the sooner we can fully focus on the P.C.E.” Both queens stood in silence for a few moments, simply to take comfort in each other and enjoy the ever present sounds of industry. Yet the moment didn’t last when Blitz pinged both of them. Rainbow was always happy to hear her royal daughter’s voice and wished she was there to physically hug her. she half growled at the recent sabotage of her favorite warship. Twilight added. Even through the hive mind, Twilight’s fatigue was painfully evident. Blitz replied with a note of good humor. Twilight’s ears perked up at the name of her friend and smiled. Twilight locked in on her son’s voice in the Link and slipped her consciousness on through. Rainbow Dash was about to leave it at that, but ended up shrugging. Meh, since Flare’s already there, I might as well see what this favor is. The dock crews got it handled. The two queens found themselves in Twilight’s old condo within Canterlot Castle. Much of the old architecture was the same as it had been for centuries; marble walls and floor, grand windows, the massive timewheel, and the sheer scale of books upon books. The early morning sun cast light on several recent additions, namingly Blitz’s worktable covered in minor gadgets that she tinkered with to distract herself from the P.C.E. issue, and a few clockwerks were scattered about, standing at attention or carrying various items for their creators. Sitting on a sofa in that awkward style that Twilight knew her for was the familiar mint green unicorn Lyra Heartstrings with her blue and pink maned earth pony friend (whose name escaped Twilight at the moment). The instant Lyra saw Rolled Scroll’s eyes change she ran over and hugged the puppeted drone. “Twilight! Ah, it’s been forever, you silly bug you, how’ve you been?!” Twilight took a moment to recover from the hug attack, but managed to return it before separating. Rainbow Dash snickered at the whole thing from Blue Flare’s position a few paces away in a chair. “About as well as can be expected given recent events.” Lyra’s beaming smile weakened a little. “But fine otherwise, what’s up?” “It’s always so weird hearing you speak with a stallion’s voice,” Lyra snickered, earning a mildly impatient half frown from her old friend. “Anyway, I know you’re busy these days, and I wouldn’t call you up like this for just a social visit.” Lyra faltered a bit as if her carefully planned sales pitch was useless. It didn’t help her that she only just realized Twilight had asked her a question. “Well, you know, my life’s about as normal as it gets for me.” “So not at all?” Twilight teased with a growing smile. “Ha! Don’t you know it!” They both giggled for a few moments, causing Lyra to fall into small talk. “I just finished up a concert tour from Fillidelphia and the like.” She turned to the earth mare. “You should have seen Bon Bon when she got so drunk she clambered onto the bar that night and danced with a shot glass in her-” Bon Bon shoved her way into the conversation, bumping Lyra enough to derail her story, and gave Twilight a friendly smile and nod. The two were more friendly acquaintances than actual friends, but that wasn’t a free pass for social embarrassment. “Good to meet you again, Queen Twilight Sparkle,” Bon Bon bowed and repeated the greeting to Rainbow Dash. “Likewise,” Rainbow added briefly. Twilight said much the same before returning her attention to Lyra. “I’d love to catch up, but as you guessed, I’ve been way too busy lately. What did you need?” Lyra rubbed her foreleg nervously, but made a valiant attempt to keep her expression positive. “I’ve seen Aegis and Blitz walking around on two legs for a few years and I was hoping you could do your changeling transformation stuff to give my hands back.” Both queen stared wide eyed at first Lyra, then each other, then back at Lyra. “What do you mean ‘give them back’?” Twilight asked with confusion written all over her. Lyra took a deep breath to steady herself for possible rejection. “You know that mirror you keep under lock and key in your castle? I’m originally from the world on the other side of that.” For the longest moment, Twilight stared at Lyra with a blank face only blinking once. “What?” Her head jerking back and her eyes shrank. “Wait, what?!” “I know you’ve at least been researching the mirror, if all that equipment around it is any indication,” Lyra added with a knowing tone, yet kept her face friendly. “I figured either you or one of your kids had to have found a way to go through at least once, am I right?” “Aahhh…” Twilight sweated a bit at the question. That was supposed to be classified! “This is what I get for giving you nearly free reign in my castle,” Twilight glowered. “Yes, I’ve been to Canterlot High and beyond several times now. But! I also saw that world’s version of you at the school, and that Lyra acted like she’d never met me before the first time.” “That’s because we switched places, like, a long time ago before we started at the School for Gifted Unicorn. You remember that time I asked you to help me relearn how to use magic after an accident? You even got Moondancer to help with that.” It took a few moments, but Twilight remembered the incident quite clearly. “Yeah, you just said you got zapped by some bad guy. It was like teaching a foal, a weird experience, since I was barely a filly myself.” Unlike her sister, Rainbow Dash was giving Bon Bon far more attention. The cream colored mare had none of the surprised expression Rainbow expected of her. So she’s here for support rather than truth dumping on everypony at once, eh? “So why did you and your clone switch worlds?” Lyra let off a nervous giggle and fumbled with her hooves as she sat down. “Well, it may seem silly to everypony, but it’s a common thing for girls that were my age back then to love unicorns and ponies in general. So when I stumbled my way into this world and became a unicorn, I was ecstatic. Long story short, I bump into this world’s Lyra and she had a thing for hands, so she went to my world.” “What about your friends and family?” Blitz asked with sudden worry about Lyra’s seeming abandonment. “You gave all that up?” “Not by choice,” Bon Bon jumped up in her friend’s defense. “She didn’t know about the thirty moons thing.” Lyra nodded sadly. “The two of us bounced in and out of the portal for those two days, she brought bits and a couple of magic trinkets to that world and I brought some of my father’s engineering books to show off tech I couldn’t carry with me. After the portal closed, I thought I was stuck here forever, so I took up my other self’s life, and I bet she did to mine.” Now I get what she meant by getting her hands back. “Well I set it so the portal can be activated at will,” Twilight announced with a reassuring smile. “I wish you had asked me sooner, I wouldn’t have kept you from going back home.” Lyra teased a lock of her hair for a bit. “I would like to see how my original family’s doing, but Equestria is my home now.” She smiled a Bon Bon. “Besides, I couldn’t leave my new friends and family.” What understanding Rainbow had gotten from her sister’s offer was now totally blown away. “If you want your hands back, but don’t want to go home, then what do you want?” She can’t possibly be asking for what I think she is. Here goes nothing, Lyra mused worriedly as she turned to face Blitz. “I want to be reborn into a biped like her.” The room went dead silent. Lyra tried to act like she wasn’t nervous while both queens were dumbstruck by the request. For her part, Blitz was caught between surprise and a touch of flattery. However the reality of it all put a damper on her mood. “Sorry to tell you, Lyra, but that would probably be a bad idea.” “I already thought it over for years since seeing you and Proto-Queen Aegis running around for the past couple of years. I-I’ll pay handsomely, of course, I know it’s expensive.” Lyra glanced at Bon Bon for support. Her confidence returned at her friend’s nod. “It’s not that simple,” Twilight explained as she tried to let her friend down easy. “The rebirth process can only create a changeling, it’d be impossible for you to remain a pony.” “I’ve already thought it over with both my parents and Bon Bon here,” Lyra countered with a stoic grimace. She still glanced at Bon Bon for support, and was thankful when her friend nodded. “Besides, I already went through one species change, I think I’ll do even better a second time.” It helped that my parents in both world are hippies. Twilight half-glared at Lyra’s attempt to be dismissive. “And what of the memory loss I told you about? Putting it all in memory crystals isn’t the same, and I’m not in the habit of having unplanned princesses.” Rainbow was snickering so loudly she got a chastising glare from her daughter and sister. Rainbow just rolled her eyes and let Lyra say her piece. “Y-yeah, that’s a problem, sure,” Lyra stumbled a bit after Rainbow’s outburst, but she had been working on this pitch for years. “But I know you’ve been working on that problem. You’ve fixed it at least a little right?” I don’t remember telling her that. Twilight’s glower soured, but ultimately she didn’t deny it. “A little. The research is embarrassingly frustrating. The brain is so enormously complex that the rumors from the Imperial thestrals kinda scares me as to what the royal family of the Moonlit Empire were doing to their test subjects. However…” Twilight briefly debated with herself on whether or not she should even say this next part. “I’ve managed to get it so a drone rebirth can still retain one year’s worth of memories.” More like stumble on it, she mused irritably. “Everything else is wiped clean.” Blitz remembered being part of that research team. “You can put everything else into memory crystals of course, but it’s just not the same.” “I know the risks,” Lyra pleaded towards Twilight. “Come on Twilight, you know me! You really think I’d ask for something like this without knowing what was involved?” She was inches from getting on her knees to beg, and Twilight saw that in Lyra’s misting eyes and slightly quivering lower lip. Even so, Twilight studied her old friend for a long minute of silence before sighing sadly. “Lyra, because it’s you, I’m going to try to ignore the fact that you hid this from me for so long.” The mint green mare’s ears wilted at that. “You aren’t the first person to come to us for rebirth or some form of body modification after Aegis revealed her current incarnation.” Twilight tried to say this next part as gently as possible with an expression to match. “But I’m going to have to tell you the same thing I’ve told everypony else: no.” Lyra forced herself to remain strong, hoping for some argument to come to mind. To buy time, she tried looking to Rainbow Dash who vigorously shook her head. “Uh uuuuhh, no way. I’m not fighting Twilight on this one.” To the surprise of the changelings and Lyra herself, Bon Bon stepped up towards Twilight. “Memory isn’t the only problem, you’re worried about political backlash aren’t you?” Lyra curled her lip in a sneer at no one in particular while Twilight nodded sagely. “Exactly. We just got attacked by the P.C.E. Rebirthing a pony is the worst thing we can do right now.” Rainbow gave a dismissive snort. “I can just see the headlines now of the Pony Inquirer: Changelings Advance Conspiracy to Convert Equestria.” She started rubbing her temples expecting a headache to pop up at just the thought of it. Lyra gave Twilight a stern glare of steel. “You’re not really going to let those punks dictate what you do, are you?” “It’s not a question of-” Twilight started but Lyra stomped her hoof for her to stop. “It is, Twilight! You can say you’re not negotiating with those terrorists all you like to the press, but everypony knows that you tiphoof around trying not to anger the P.C.E. Why do you think they’ve grown so bold lately? They’ve got you running scared of them!” Rainbow Dash was thrown into dark brooding by the scathing statement while Twilight tried to remain diplomatic. “Maybe we should be, Lyra,” Twilight added with a glint of steel in her tone. “They brought down my flagship in a single act! We need to be more careful now more than ever, and poking the beehive by rebirthing you would be like shooting ourselves in the hoof! And believe me, it would be front page news for somepony.” Bon Bon hugged Lyra trying to get her friend to calm down and try again later when Rainbow Dash jumped off the couch and marched over to properly join the conversation. “No. Actually, I think that’s the last thing we need to do!” Everyone, even Blitz was rendered confused. “I’m not one for politics, but I know battle. The P.C.E. is just like another army. What little we’ve gotten out of the interrogations have told me they’ve wised up since the monastery. They’ve built up, they’ve planned, they’ve recruited, they’ve done it all right under our noses. I say provoking them is exactly what we need to do, and rebirthing Lyra would be perfect for that.” Twilight gave her sister a bewildered head tilt. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. Are you saying we should do the exact opposite of what we’ve been doing for the past decade, a plan that Celestia herself said was the best plan!?” “Times change, sis,” Rainbow countered with a sidelong smirk. “Everypony who’s level headed enough to see we’ve got the best interests of the Alliance at heart is cool with us. The ones left are die hards who will never see the truth.” Lyra and Bon Bon felt the two queens were inadvertently pushing them out of the conversation as Twilight pressed a hoof against her sister’s chest. “They’d say it’s about rutting time we showed some backbone!” Rainbow rebuked by shoving the hoof off before begrudgingly switching to the hive mind. Twilight countered weakly. Rainbow snorted in distaste. Twilight felt like she was punched in the gut. Some part of her wanted to believe her hive’s actions over the years had at least put some inkling of doubt in even the worst members of the P.C.E. Rainbow stated firmly, making Twilight wilt. Rainbow gave Twilight a smirk somewhere between sarcastic and revulsion. Twilight admitted to herself that she hadn’t listened in on the prisoner questionings. Rainbow’s words struck a chord with what she really hoped wasn’t true about the P.C.E. mindset. “Just-just give me a moment, please, I need to think.” Twilight shuffled over to the couch, her eyes unseeing as she mulled over some additional information Rainbow shared with her covering the interrogations. Knowing how her sister could get, Rainbow Dash decided to leave her sister to her thoughts. As much as she loved the idea of provoking the most reviled of enemies, a position Rainbow originally assumed only Chrysalis would ever occupy, her honed military mind knew she had to plan carefully. That’s assuming Twilight does continue to try and do it all herself again. Rainbow stepped away from Twilight to speak with Lyra. The unicorn’s worried yet hopeful face belied the fear of rejection. “Yo, Lyra, let me just get this straight, for the record.” Lyra nodded quickly while Blitz intently watched on since she had been out of the loop during her queens’ argument. “You’re seriously hard core on getting hands and two legs back, knowing full well that there’s more to being a changeling than getting wings and wall walking right?” Seeing her chance, Lyra put on a brave face, only glancing at Bon Bon for a brief moment for her approval. “I am. I’ve talked with a whole bunch of your drones over the years. I know I’ll most likely have to be connected to the hive mind, and be rather dependent on it.” Rainbow Dash looked back at her sister who started half listening. “You will, yes. My sister and I have a reputation to maintain, and while you may be an old friend of Twilight’s, that doesn’t give you a free pass to start acting like a fool.” Lyra nodded, having already long since accepted that condition. “There’s the compulsive loyalty that goes with it, cause I guess there’s no chance of me being a queen is there?” Rainbow’s thoughts darkened, but kept her outward expression neutral. “Do you want to be a queen?” “Pah, Lyra’s already a drama queen,” Bon Bon joked in a poor attempt to lighten the room. While Rainbow let the corner of her lips turn up, it was Lyra’s exasperated ‘stop it’ face that made her cringe. “Well, I mean… I’ll be quiet now.” “Anyway,” Lyra started again, “no I don’t.” She couldn’t help but to sweat under Rainbow’s scrutiny, knowing full well the queen was probing her with her empathy. “I’m sure you two find it rewarding, but I really want to avoid having foals.. or nymphs in that case.” Good. If that’s what she wanted I’d give her the door, pissing off the P.C.E. or not. When Rainbow didn’t show any disapproval, Lyra felt her hopes rising. “And then there’s the compulsive loyalty every drone has,” she counted off out of a very old habit with her hooves. “But everypony knows you guys are in tight with the princesses, so it’s not like you’d ever betray Equestria. Well, everypony with half a brain knows that anyway,” she added with a short lived chuckle. “Plus there’s the love feeding, and where a female drone makes wax, and then-.” Lyra paused when Rainbow Dash gave a mildly bewildered look. She couldn’t help but to fume a little. “Hey, I did my homework here, I know what I’m asking for here.” “It’s true,” Bon Bon added in as she stepped up to be beside her long-time friend. “I made her wait and think on it for the past two years to make sure she wasn’t being impulsive.” Twilight cut her musings short after hearing Bon Bon. “Really?” She turned to Lyra. “Even with Rainbow’s idea sounding better the more I think about it, I was still going to say no. You always jumped at things and forgot about the details too easily, Lyra.” “Well not this time!” Lyra flared with surging hope. “I admit Bonny here,” she wrapped the earth mare into a squeezing side hug, “made me really do some research on it, but even with all the other stuff, I still want to go through with it.” Twilight mulled over the idea some more while meeting her sister’s gaze. A conversation passed between them that needed no words, not even the hive mind. It lasted barely a minute before Twilight eventually faced the thus far silent proto-queen. “Blitz, since Lyra is a musician, I think it would be best if she was reborn under you.” “So you’re really going along with this?” Blitz had to ask. Her eyes danced between her two queens before throwing her hands up in surrender. “Alright, sure, but you gotta be willing to work outside of music,” Blitz directed at Lyra in some hope that she could persuade the unicorn away from this plan of action. “You can do what you want in your free time, but we don’t operate like ponies. You’ll be free for about a year or so, but after that Aegis and I will be starting to build our hive. I won’t be able to spare anypony to take up a career in music until Tradewinds is on it’s hooves. Are you sure that’s what you want?” I half hoped I’d be allowed to keep living in Ponyville, or at least Phoenix's Roost where I could still focus on music… Lyra forced her ears to stay upright, refusing to let the changelings catch even a whiff of doubt. “If that’s what it takes to stay in this work and get my hands back, then I accept!” Sensing that one of the changelings might use some other means to dissuade her from her course, Lyra summoned a rolled letter, her trump card. “And before you say it, I already got signatures of endorsement from both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!” Everyone, even Bon Bon was startled by the revelation. “When did you do that!?” As Twilight unfurled the letter to read, with Rainbow Dash hovering over her shoulder, Lyra gave Bon Bon a smirked with half-lidded eyes. “Just a little extra insurance, you’re the one who gave me two years to think on it and build a case.” Bon Bon pulled in to hiss into Lyra’s ear. “And you never thought to tell me you were bothering the princesses about this!? Why didn’t they tell Twilight or Rainbow?” Lyra rebuffed her friend’s exasperated frown with a playful grin. “I asked them not to, and that I wanted the reveal to wait until your two-year waiting period was up.” Twilight said to Rainbow with an impressed tone. Rainbow Dash took the letter as the final straw needed to put her plan into motion. She looked to her daughter and Lyra. “Alright, we’ll do it, but,” she warned before Lyra could jump for joy, “are you willing to play this up to the media and likely become a target of the P.C.E?” Even with the warning, and Bon Bon’s surge of worry to the point where she huddled near her partner, Lyra didn’t wilt from her manic grin and swishing tail. “You’re going to use that to give them a good thrashing right? Payback for the Deception and all that.” “That’s right,” Twilight reluctantly confirmed even though the plan made her nearly sick with worry. Rainbow countered before giving Lyra a firm nod. It was a dark and stormy night, as planned. The Harthworth Estate’s normally cheery atmosphere of carefully manicured rose bushes and trees cut into various animal shapes was subdued by a brooding depression that Stopwatch and Pear Butter could feel even without their innate empathy. A small number of carriages were trotting around the long circular courtyard where servants waited with umbrellas to whisk their high society guests in and out of the rain. From their hiding place in one such carriage across the street, the two mares cradled the sleeping nymph who was being kept that way by a spell. “Even the lights of the front porch feel moody,” Pear mused aloud as she turned away from the scene after closing the carriage’s curtains. The downpour made it difficult to hear the coming and going of ponies thanks to the distinct noise the rain made on the roof. “Then we’ll give them the perfect gift to brighten their day,” Stopwatch replied mechanically. With her deeper connection to her queen, Stopwatch pulled the necessary information she needed to fulfill her goal. Taking the pendent Polybia had given the quasi, she formed a unicorn mare disguise with a deep red coat and black mane and tail. “You’re originally a pony, how does this look for the princess’ disguise?” Pear Butter cringed at the sight of it. “You’ve been spending more time among ponies than me, why can’t you make the guess?” “Because I only deal with adults,” Stopwatch snarked with a superior tone. “We have to make the child look appealing to increase our chances.” “Ah see…” Pear Butter gave the changeling a once over before shaking her head. “Ah don’t like it, but Ah’ve always been a fan of purplish blue fur on fillies. Just makes them so cute,” she mused aloud, giving herself an all too brief escape from her trapped reality. “You remember that much?” Stopwatch asked as she cycled through various shades of color until Pear waved for her to stop at a dark shade of purplish blue. “Well, not directly, no, but Ah remember seeing this one mare yesterday that had a fur color Ah’d die to have.” Stopwatch gave her a sour look, making Pear's ears wilt. “Well, if Ah had a foal, Ah’d love that color all the same.” ‘Hmfph, fair enough. Now, what about a mane?” “Ahh…” Pear started at Stopwatch, trying to think of a good combination. “Maybe navy blue? Solid color.” Stopwatch adapted her disguise to match and tweaked it until Pear Butter was satisfied. “There, that should do.” Pear Butter watched in fascination as Stopwatch held the pendent close to her chest with her horn glowing faintly. Her disguise seemed to liquefy and poured into the bright ruby within the pendent. Stopwatch’s chitin started to show through as the watery magic dripped off of her only to be soaked up to the very last drop by the now glowing ruby. She waited a minute or two for the glow to shift from the dark purplish-blue of the fur to the standard acidic green of typical changeling magic. “There, now it’s ready for her.” Stopwatch gently placed the golden chain around the nymph and pressed the jewel onto the base of the princess’ horn. Both jewel and horn glowed together before the liquid magic burst forth again to completely cover the child. “Alright then, with the queen’s modifications, not even the archmage or Twilight Sparkle herself could sense this disguise, let alone defeat it.” “What about a cutie mark?” Pear asked as she subconsciously rubbed her flanks. “How will she get one if she’s a changeling?” “Simple, the spell is designed to wait until early adolescence and takes what she subconsciously desires or is passionate about and pull a relevant image from her memory.” “But…” Pear Butter was crestfallen and looked at the poor nymph with pity. “It won’t be real.” Stopwatch stopped working the final steps on the permanent enchantment to give her quasi companion a flat, almost annoyed face. “No, but otherwise she’d, at best, live her pony life as a blank flank, or worst, be discovered and killed.” “Right…” Pear Butter decided to push the possible future out of her mind and refocused on the estate. By now, all of the guests had arrived and there were no guards or servants keeping watch outside. The only thing standing between them and the door was a large gold painted gate and the hammering rain that made detection unlikely. Pear Butter idly watched lightning crackle above, and took a simple pleasure in the sound of heavy rain. There was a strong whiff of natural scents about it that sang to an old memory that she desperately tried to bring to the surface. Any part of her old life was precious, and she knew that the more she remembered, the more independent her will became. Ah was able to bend the rules Po-Po- mah queen, try as she might, Pear was having difficulty thinking of Polybia as anyone other than her queen. She put down, Ah just need to break free enough to try and rescue Paint Brush from it next. “Keep watch,” Stopwatch announced just loud enough to startle Pear Butter. She wanted to pout at the drone, but Stopwatch had already wrapped the nymph up in cloth along with her pendent. The drone slipped outside after disguising herself as a pegasus stallion. Pear Butter watched on as Stopwatch crept forward and bounded over the gate with a few flaps. She raced over to the front door, and checked the windows to see how close any servants were to the front doors. Stopwatch waited under the dense downpour waiting for a passing servant to walk towards the next room. At that moment she canceled the sleep spell on the disguised nymph and gently laid her down on, of all things, a welcome mat. Enchanting her hoof, Stopwatch proceeded to bang on the door so loudly Pear could hear it over the rain. Cold and hungry, the princess started wailing and thrashing around as Stopwatch raced off to hide in a bush. It wasn’t long before the pegasus maid responded to the noise and opened the door. She stepped back in astonishment at the foal she found on the ground, and scanned the front courtyard for the parents, and upon seeing none, she scooped the princess up in a wing before sequestering her inside. Stopwatch waited almost half an hour for anyone inside to lose interest in watching from the windows to sneak her way back into the carriage. “There, now we wait to see if the child is kept or sent to an orphanage.” Pear Butter gave her superior a towel and watched the estate as she had been. “Let’s hope it works out. It’d be suspicious if we had to hypnotize a family to adopt her from the orphanage.” Stopwatch lifted the front seat up and withdrew a small basket with cucumber sandwiches. “True, but if it comes down to it, we need to find a home for her, one way or another.” She gave Pear Butter her half of the meal while falling into silence as she ate. There they waited. And waited. And waited some more. Eventually the rain briefly lessened enough so that the tolling bells announcing the late hour from deeper in the city could be heard. The road was barely visible, save for the spots of yellow light cast from the streetlamps. Their usually bright candles, dampened by the wind and rain, truly only served to illuminate themselves. Through it all, the guests at the Harthworth Estate had not left yet, and the window lights flickered in the distance. “Well no pony’s gone out to take the princess to the orphanage, or kicked her back onto the curb, so that’s a good sign, right?” Pear Butter looked to Stopwatch only to find her asleep on the seat. Pear slumped in her seat, more out of exhaustion and boredom than anything else. Pear wanted to rest too, but she felt the geas compelling her to stay awake, to make sure the princess was secure. Stupid spell. It’s strong enough to make me do stuff, but too weak to make me like it. She felt as if it was almost time for the bells to resound again when at long last, the front doors opened to let the first of the guests depart. Pear quickly sat upright and tried to identify what was going on, but her night vision was as poor as most ponies. So she jostled Stopwatch with a hoof, making the love collector awake with a jump-start. “The guests’re leav’n. I reckon the new mother will be hold’n the baby.” Stopwatch pulled herself up to watch. “That’s what Ah’d do if Ah were her.” “Most likely,” was all Stopwatch said in return. It didn’t take very long before a worried scowl crossed her face, making Pear fidget with concern. “What’s wrong?” She tried to peer out there, the streetlights were making her naturally poor night vision even worse. “Could be nothing…” “But…” Pear trailed off. “I see the new father at the door, but he looks more like he’s bowing and apologizing to the guests as they leave. The wife isn’t there.” “Maybe she’s asleep with the princess,” Pear offered hopefully. “Ah know for a fact that new mothers will sleep with the baby, bonding and all that.” “You would know?” Stopwatch inquired with a disbelieving tone. Pear Butter stopped trying to look out the window and slumped in her chair. “Ah don’t remember their names, but Ah know Ah had been a mother back before…” She scowled at her body, the act entirely missed by Stopwatch, “all this happened to me.” Stopwatch stopped paying her much attention as she continued her observations. It wasn’t long before her ears fell and her wings involuntarily buzzed. “Oh no.” Chills ran down Pear’s spine, even without the geas causing it. “What? What’s wrong?” She tried looking out at the departing nobility, but all she could make out were grey blobs. “One of the guests has the princess, First Mother curse them!” Stopwatch slammed a hoof on the carriage wall, growling all the while. “They didn’t accept her!” “H-how?!” Pear was floored by the news. “Did the disguise fail or something?” “Damned if I know.” Stopwatch put on a earth pony mare disguise and got ready to start pulling the carriage. “All I could see is the nymph was still covered in the blanket. We have to follow the purple stage coach. We can’t let them dump the princess off the side of a cliff or give her over to an orphanage.” “They wouldn’t actually do that would they?!” Pear called out as Stopwatch threw herself outside and tried to hitch herself up without being suspicious to the departing nobles. With the rain in the way, Pear was left without answers. Even if she’s a mind enslaving royal, that girl still deserves a chance ta’ be a better person than that bi- my queen. With nothing else she could do besides worry herself into a stupor, Pear moved to the front of the carriage to watch the princess-takers’ stage coach as Stopwatch followed after them at a distance. While Pear Butter was still quite unfamiliar with Canterlot’s layout, especially during a rainy night, even she could put some of her fears at ease when she noticed the nobles’ carriage was not headed for the sheer drop on the side of the city. Instead it was heading closer to the mountain. Seems like they’re headed deeper into the royal district. Her mind exploded with worst-case scenarios. What if they’re going to the palace to turn her over to the alicorns!? They must have discovered the princess isn’t a pony! Stopwatch seemed to come to a similar conclusion and the carriage started to speed up, only to fall back again when the nobles turned off the main street towards some of the more aristocratic manors. Even with her weaker empathy, Pear Butter felt confusion waft off of Stopwatch, which mirrored her own. After passing several houses, the nobles finally pulled up to one of the manors. Stopwatch made note of it and continued pulling the carriage until they could turn a corner before unhitching herself out of sight. Pear Butter stepped outside as the drone waved her towards the manor. “Come on, we need to see what’s going on.” Nodding, Pear joined Stopwatch in running through the thunderstorm. “Maybe the Harthworths were too distraught, and this family adopted her instead?” “I can count the number of ‘noble’ families who would do that on one hoof, and that included the Harthworths. The other families on my list would have needed some blackmail or hypnosis to take what they’d see as a street rat. That or too dangerous to the princess.” This time, there were two well armored guards posted just inside the closed gate. However, Stopwatch didn’t need to get up close to know who they were, and stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh come on! Why them? Why?!” She stomped on the slightly flooded street, splashing enough water to draw the attention of the guards, but she didn’t care anymore. “She’s going to disconnect me for sure when she finds out!” Pear Butter sheepishly waved at the distant guards and pulled her irate superior away from the brick walls to placate the guards. “What’s wrong? Is the family evil or anti-changeling or something?” Stopwatch slumped in defeat and let the quasi drag her back to the carriage in her magic. “I don’t know if this is better or worse than that, but it seems that the princess was just taken in by the Sparkle family.” > 10: Needs More Twilight Sparkle > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was one thing that Night Light had missed other than the smiling face of his former wife (before her descent into madness), it was the laughter of children. The Sparkle Manor’s dining room rang with the woefully missed cheer that had been absent for far too long. Night Light was perched on the edge of the long mahogany dining table with the bubbling little unicorn filly spouting baby babble and waving her hooves around trying to catch the spoonful of applesauce. The bright sunny morning was a very welcome change, even if the angle of the sun was causing a glare that stabbed into Night Light’s eyes. Yet it wasn’t enough to make him move as he focused entirely on the infant. “Here comes the airship, make way at the dock!” The filly opened as wide as she could as the small spoon came closer, right before Night Light was going to give her the food, she lunged forward and snapped it up. He was mildly startled, given that neither of his children would leap at food with such gusto. “My, you must have been hungrier than I thought.” The child only giggled and beamed brightly at the caring stallion. She tried to wiggle out of her highchair, something Night Light had kept from Twilight’s childhood, in an attempt to get at the rest of the bowl of applesauce. Clopping hooves upon the stone tile floor heralded the family butler’s arrival. “Might I suggest letting the little miss have the bowl, sir. She looks about ready to gnaw the spoon.” Night Light let off a happy chuckle that only Azure Skies could ever bring out of him lately. “Perhaps you’re right, Pranceston, she must have had it very rough to be so snappish towards food.” As suggested, Night Light brought the bowl over to her high chair. The little filly gave a long, almost childishly evil, cackle at the bowl that was as big as her head before dunking her muzzle into the sweet fruity mush. Pranceston’s unflappable flat expression was marred by a single raised eyebrow. “The young miss is a spirited little one, isn’t she?” Night Light’s fatherly instincts forged a glowing smile at how happy the filly was. “That she is.” “Have you selected a name for her yet? If you’re serious about the adoption, I shall need one for the paperwork.” Night Light’s answer was cut off by the approaching hoofsteps. Azure Skies looked like she had grabbed hold of a Tesla coil. Her hair was sticking up all over the place with sleepy bags still under her eyes. “Foooood.” Pranceston hummed in mild disapproval. “I shall see that the kitchen is alerted to your request.” He turned to Night Light. “Your morning paper, sir.” “Thank you, Pranceston,” Night Light replied before addressing the disheveled mare. “I heard you kept little Stellar Drift nearby while you worked last night.” Pranceston picked up on the name on his way out, and made a mental note of it. Azure slumped heavily in her chair and leaned against Night Light while humming affirmatively. Night gently wrapped a foreleg around her, pulling the sleepy mare in tight. “She didn’t fall asleep until-” *yawn* “well after midnight. Just glad I don’t have to go into the observatory today.” The middle aged mare nuzzled against Night Light while keeping one eye on the foal currently annihilating the applesauce, spilling it everywhere in the process. “I’m so proud of you, Nighty, for taking in Stellar like that. Ginger Slice’s behavior was horrendous.” Night Light sighed sadly at the memory of last night. He used his magic to pull some of the applesauce off the highchair and Stellar Drift’s coat and put it back in the bowl only for her to repeat the process. “You really didn’t meet Ginger at her best, Azure. On any other day she’s the kindest mare one can be, albeit with a mild arrogant streak, but… She gets paranoid when she drinks.” “Still though…” Azure glanced about to see none of the servants were in earshot, then leaned in conspiratorially. “Thinking changelings poisoned her unborn child and then tried to push Stellar on her as a replacement?” Night Light had to remind himself that Azure didn’t have an aristocratic upbringing, and had little reservation about speaking of such scandalous topics. Actually, scratch that, the noblemares are worse by far. I can only imagine the scandal they’ll bring up after this adoption becomes widely known. Even so, he wasn’t going to hold it against her, there were just some battles not worth fighting. “It does seem rather farfetched. While it is true that there are other queens out there, apart from Rainbow Dash and my daughter, that doesn’t mean they are the source of all our ills. Besides,” he added dismissively, trying to change the subject, “everypony scanned Stellar Drift with the latest disguise countermeasures posted by the Royal Guard. Cadance and Shining Armor proved to all that Stellar is just a normal little unicorn.” “I thought I felt my ears burning,” a gruff voice called out from the dining room’s open entrance. All eyes turned to Prince Shining Armor who had a small tray with a steaming coffee pitcher and a few cups. Azure Skies licked her lips at the tantalizing aroma of Neigher’s Coffee. Shining walked over slowly with a confident swagger. Stellar Drift looked up from her bowl, face completely covered in applesauce, and spouted happy baby babble while fidgeting in her restrictive chair, trying to get to Shining Armor. Night Light eased Azure back into her chair before getting up for a hug. “Good morning, my boy, how’s your better half? She’s usually up before you are.” he asked teasingly with a wink. Shining Armor had the biggest grin on his face, and wasn’t fazed in the slightest as he put the platter down and gave his father a massive hug. “She’s feeling a little under the weather at the moment,” he replied with a sudden down turn in his expression, though Night knew his son well enough that the frown was forced. “And is probably cursing my name at the moment.” Stellar Drift had not left Shining’s field of view, and the little filly was starting to rock the chair trying to free herself, shouting all the while. Brotherly instincts jumped to the forefront, allowing Shining to bypass his father’s confused grimace. Shining freed the excited filly from her chair with his magic and brought her over for a hug. “You making sure that applesauce knows who’s boss?” The filly peeled off a girlish squeal fumbling in the air until Shining gently placed the messy filly on his back. Years of watching over Twilight and the filly’s clingy nature made it easy for him to take the spreading mess of applesauce across his back with little more than an amused snort. Night Light wasn’t going to let his son’s last comment go by unanswered and flashed a disapproving frown. “I didn’t see Cadance drinking last night, so why is she sick?” “Let alone cursing your name?” Azure Skies added. “YOU!” Shining’s reply was cut short by Cadance leaning against the doorway. “I’ll get you for this!” Night Light and Azure Skies took an involuntary step back from the irate alicorn. The ill mare raced forward and grabbed her husband by the neck, nearly causing Stellar to lose her grip, and planted a massive kiss on him. “I can’t believe you made me wait so long!” Night Light was at a loss, but Azure Skies recognized the twinkle in Cadance’s eye. “Wait... are you? Really!?” Cadance let her husband go, if only to make sure Stellar didn’t fall off. “Yup, just tested myself this morning!” Cadance picked up Stellar Drift in her magic and spun in circles. “You’re going to have a niece or nephew!” Applesauce started flying everywhere as Stellar giggled madly at all the attention. Night Light originally thought the news of a pony grandson or granddaughter might have been deadened by the sheer number of changeling grandchildren. He silently thanked Celestia he wasn’t so jaded yet. With a deep belly laugh, he clapped Shining Armor on the back. “Congratulations to both of you! Don’t hesitate to ask for any advice, Celestia knows your sister never bothers to ask,” he added with a harmless grunt. Cadance imagined Stellar as her future foal and squashed the little unicorn in a big hug to which the child eagerly reciprocated. “Thanks, Nighty. Knowing him,” she said tilting her head at Shining, “we’ll need all the help we can get.” “Psh,” Shining huffed dismissively. “I’m an awesome big brother, and going to be an awesome father, just you wait. Besiiides, we’ve got a castle full of staff to help out, we’ll be fine.” “Passing the buck as usual I see,” Pranceston drolled from behind a food cart laden with breakfast dishes. He wheeled the cart over to the table with the ever present professional air about him. “It’s a wonder you ever made it into the Guard, let alone it’s captain.” Shining rolled his eyes as the butler turned to Cadance. “You have my congratulations, princess. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer mare.” “Thank you, Pranceston,” Cadance replied with a playful smirk directed at her husband. She grabbed a wet washcloth off the side of the cart with her magic and sat down to start liberating the apple sauce off of Stellar Drift. Azure Skies levitated a cup of coffee and a scone before sitting down next to Cadance and Stellar. Cadance had to fumble with the towel as Stellar kept trying to run away to play. “You mind if I help, princess? She can be a hoofful.” “Yes, thank you.” Cadance couldn’t help but to smile at how much the astronomer was trying to learn the ropes. She really must be more serious about Nighty than I thought. As for the stallions, Shining armor took a seat near his wife while gathering some food as his father did the same. Pranceston ducked under the food cart and rummaged around. Night Light pulled his eyes off of the giddy filly when his butler brought over a yellow trimmed piece of paper. “Sir, it seems the Canterlot Times has just sent out a breaking news insert for today’s paper, with a rather interesting article.” “Really? They usually don’t do that unless it’s something big.” Night Light latched onto the news insert while nibbling on some toast. Shining Armor scooted over to read over him. Night started reading aloud for the mares’ benefit. Even with the morning coffee only barely starting to jump start her brain, Azure was intrigued by such a rare thing as news that couldn’t wait for tomorrow’s paper. She listened in while finishing up Stellar’s grooming with Cadance. “Breaking news from Phoenix’s Roost. Pony volunteers to be reborn as a changeling, and her request is… accepted?” Night had to admit he was rather stunned by that. “I thought Twilight said she didn’t want to do rebirths,” Shining Armor commented in between sips of coffee and bites of a bagel. “I thought so too,” Night replied as he took a seat to keep reading. Both mares let Stellar Drift play around the room with Twilight’s old toys as they joined Night Light in reading the article. “Ever since the Equestrian Alliance was established, the stance of the two changeling queens has been to deny all requests for rebirth, citing personal reasons. However this newspaper has just received confirmation that this ‘closed door’ policy has changed. There is currently no statement regarding the reasons for this sudden change in policy which has reporters clamoring for answers. At present, both Proto-Queen Blitz and the pony volunteer, by the name of Lyra Heartstrings, will be holding a limited press conference tomorrow evening at Canterlot Castle. No official statement has been given by the princesses, except for the fact that they approved of Lyra Heartstring’s request before she ever approached the queens on the matter. No date as to when the rebirth process will begin has been given.” Azure Skies scratched her head trying to make sense of it all. “I was wondering when they were going to cave in and start doing that, odd timing though.” “Very odd,” Night agreed. He sighed while continuing to read silently. “I was planning on telling Twily about Stellar Drift but if this little stunt is what I think it is…” “Might be best to hold off for a while?” Shining Armor asked already suspecting the answer. “With both her and Rainbow Dash going off to confront that rogue queen, Stellar might be too distracting.” “That might be for the best,” Cadance concurred reluctantly. As much as the sisterly instinct told her otherwise, it was Cadance’s leadership experience that made her agree. “We’ll tell her after she returns. But this rebirth stunt seems rather dangerous doesn’t it?” “This has Rainbow Dash written all over it,” Shining Armor huffed as he downed the last of his coffee. “I better go tell the Guard to add more security around the house. Just in case they try to get to Twily through us.” “Better add some escorts to Rainbow’s parents as well,” Cadance suggested while trying to find out where Stellar Drift ran off to. A quiet filly is a destructive filly. At least until she’s old enough to read. “You don’t really think that’s necessary do you?” Azure Skies asked worriedly. She shrank a bit at the stern visage Shining wore. “I mean, they only dislike changelings right? They’ve never bothered us before, right?” Shining Armor painfully recalled that first day when Twilight returned to her pony family after her rebirth, and shook his head. “Maybe not, but they never attacked the Equestrian Navy before either. It pays to be prepared.” Arkmane Asylum was a cold metallic complex carved onto the side of an unnamed mountain far to the northeastern territory of Equestria. It clung to the snow swept mountainside like an iron blister. Howling wind blew ice crystals all along the walkway leading away from the open air train station. An aging grecian sphinx padded along with a thick furred jacket wrapped around him. An earth pony physician cantered along side him, ever wary of being swept off his hooves and cast down the side of the frozen mountain. He too wore a furry jacket covering every inch of him as he guided the sphinx to a metal door at the far end of the walk way. Against the strong wind, a whistle pierced the late evening sky as the train departed for warmer climes. The pair reached the sealed door that lacked any obvious means of opening it. The earth pony waved an unwieldy enchanted wand half the size of his foreleg over where the door handle would be. A loud hiss and heavy clank of screeching metal made the door seem to pop off its frame, allowing the pony to push the door open and admit himself and the sphinx tom inside before closing it behind them. They found themselves in a small receiving room that doubled as a security checkpoint with a one way mirror along one side.. With the warmer air of the facility being pumped into the receiving room, the earth stallion pulled his mask off and used his mouth to rummage in a front pocket. From there, he produce a large identity slate and held it up to the mirror for a few moments as the security guard within check it. “Not many places are so cold in the Federation, Doctor...” the sphinx announced idly. “Clear Mind,” the stallion answered through chattering teeth. The click of the interior door allowed the earth pony to return his slate to his pocket. “Don’t worry, Doctor Arvatus, it’s much warmer inside.” The rush of hot air confirmed this as both new arrivals shed their warm clothing, except for their white doctor’s coats. The hallway was quite short, but had many sliding panels that Arvatus assumed concealed security barriers. “I’m sure I could do a lot of good here, but I cannot leave my patients back in Phoenix’s Roost for very long. So many of them still require weekly or monthly sessions.” Clear Mind nodded sympathetically. “I fully understand. It’s difficult to leave good patients in the care of another, even if you know the other physician is competent.” The pair cleared the hallway, only to make a detour to a door on the left instead of going straight. Within, Arvatus found several wooden lockers and flickering lamp lights. Clear Mind turned the fuel up on a few of them so they could see. He guided Arvatus towards a locker on the far left side. “Here we have your identity slate, please don’t lose it, and a key to your new office; two oh eight in the C wing.” “Office?” Arvatus asked in surprise as he gathered the two items from the otherwise empty locker. “But I am only here for one patient, or do we hold therapy sessions in the office as well?” Clear Mind chuckled briefly. “It’s not recommended, doctor, the offices are for your privacy and paperwork. As gracious as our accommodations are around here, we don’t get as many physicians as we would like, so we have plenty of office space available.” “I see.” Arvatus placed his cold weather coat, hat, mask, and tail protector inside a locker while taking the key and identity slate. “How is the patient anyway? Has she been allowed to remain aware of world events?” “She is currently in her cell up in B wing. Patient 2409-B is a low flight risk so long as her magic is dampened. As for world events, we felt that allowing her access to her favorite newspaper would assist in alleviating her paranoia, so she’s probably reading that as we speak. As per Doctor Kevorkian’s original orders, we’ve allowed her access to uncensored news to keep her condition from deteriorating any further. However…” Arvatus adjusted his doctor’s coat to be more comfortable, but it didn’t take him long to realize Clear Mind was hesitant to continue. “Has the patient gotten worse?” “Yes and no.” Clear Mind shook his head as he spoke in a defeated tone. “2409-B has well… You’ll see in her file and in person.” An hour later, Arvatus stood before cell number 2409-B. The hallway had a frigid feel to it seemingly at odds with the warm air. The cold tile flooring wasn’t doing Arvatus any favors and the small barred windows to the outside were completely whited out with snow. Had the facility been a resort, Arvatus had no doubt it’d be a successful one. Clear Mind told me the individual rooms have a heat vent. I hope he wasn’t exaggerating. He gave the patient file one last review before placing it in the slot next to the door. At least the staff told the patient I was coming. Steeling himself with practiced resolve, Arvatus unlocked the door and pocketed the key before stepping inside. “Miss Twilight Velvet?” As the file had outlined, Velvet occupied a padded room that was completely covered in torn out newspaper clippings. Arvatus already knew each and every one of them were about Phoenix’s Roost and Twilight Sparkle in particular. Each one had a string held up by glue connected to the vast collection in a twisted mess that Arcatus was sure that not even Velvet could follow anymore. They let her have string? Either it’s easily breakable, or she must not be a flight or fight risk… I hope. Arvatus heaved a quiet sigh of relief that the rooms temperature was quite conformable, but the same could not be said for the mare hunched over her bed. Velvet was tearing out another article with a small brush coated with glue waiting near by. Velvet had not reacted to the door opening, and continued muttering just shy of being audible to the aging sphinx. However, she turned her head at the unfamiliar voice when Arvatus repeated his greeting. The act revealed her deeply suspicious half-crazed eyes and deep tear troughs below her eyes. Her mane was a ragged mess and her coat disheveled, but the absence of body odor convinced Arvatus that her physical state was not due to negligence by the staff. “Who are you supposed to be?” she croaked in a dry raspy voice as she eyed his white coat. “Another shrink telling me I’m twisted and sick, hmm, hmm? Not my fault none of you can see the evidence when it’s smacking you in the face.” Not wanting to let all the hot air out, and seeing she wasn’t overly hostile, Arvatus fully entered the room and closed the door behind him. “I am Doctor Arvatus, formerly of the Federation.” Arvatus remembered bittersweet tales involving Velvet Sparkle from some of the older drones back at the hive. This was not the proud aristocrat, nor was she the deranged criminal mastermind some of them had made her out to be. Still, she’s not the worst I’ve seen. “So, Doctor Arvatus, why don’t you just skip the charade for once and just tell me you’re really a changeling here to replace me? All this talk and sitting around is a waste of my time.” As if that were the end of it, Velvet returned to her newspaper clippings. “Please, Miss Velvet, I am simply here to help you through your situation,” Arvatus admitted freely. “However, it is my personal code that I only assist those willing to accept my help in regards to my… unique talents.” “Ha!” Velvet exclaimed without facing him. “Unique talents indeed. How can they be so unique if all you changelings are alike, hmm? Hypnosis, body snatching-” In a flash of violence that caught the old hunter off guard, Velvet burst from her bed and nearly impaled Arvatus’ chest with the point of her horn. “And dying!” The only thing that kept him alive was the blue shield that was wrapped around Velvet’s horn, stopping her in her tracks and canceling out any magic flow. “But I suppose you can’t even do that right.” It was only now that Arvatus saw a pair of blue glowing crystals on the ceiling undoubtedly responsible for why he wasn’t skewered on her horn at the moment. Scratch that, definitely a fight risk. She’s right on par with the average Federal when they find out I’m a psyker. Leveraging his decades of experience with the unstable, Arvatus stood his ground and spoke peacefully. I truly hope that string snaps easily. “Miss Velvet, if I was truly here to harm you, don’t you think it would have been easy with the restraints active?” Velvet pulled away from him which caused the barrier to dissipate. “I don’t know what your game is, changeling, but rest assured I will fight you and that imposter daughter to my dying breath!” Seeing that normal tactics were getting him nowhere fast, Arvatus switched gears to a technique he used often against anti-psyker zealots. He pulled out a small runestone, no bigger than his thumb and caused it to brighten with psionic energy. “What if I told you, I represent the P.C.E. and have come to extract you from this prison,” he lied smoothly through his teeth. “This stone will keep our talks private.” Velvet sized the doctor up and down. He’s big, too big for an average changeling disguise. Special breed maybe? Some news reports said sphinxes hate mind bullet throwers, and changelings are a whole race of them. “You’re a P.C.E. agent? Yessss….” She waggled her hoof out of barely contained glee. “That makes more sense. Why would a sphinx side with those changelings, you hate their kind, that’s what I’ve seen... “Wait! How do I know you’re truly with the P.C.E?” Velvet inquired with resurging suspicion. “That voice fritzer could have come from anywhere! If you’re not a changeling, then bring me lemon juice.” “Lemon juice?” Arvatus asked with carefully veiled confusion. “Yes! of course, lemon juice!” Velvet screeched angrily. “I’ve seen it with Clear Mind and that quack Doctor Kevorkian. They broke out in hives and swelling, just like all changelings must!” Velvet cackled at the memory, and fiddled with an empty cup that smelled of citrus. “The rest of the imposters always cower when I throw the juice at them, they fear it, they don’t let me have lemons anymore, mongrels. Bring me some of the pure stuff, not that swill from the cafeteria. I want to test to make sure it’s real lemons before you rub it on your face. You pass the test, and then I believe you!” “Very well.” Arvatus let the runestone go dark. “I will return shortly, Velvet Sparkle.” “You best! More time means more chances of discovery!” Fearing imagined eyes behind the walls, Velvet went back to continue covering them with news reports. Out in the hallway, Arvatus put as much distance between him and Velvet’s cell as quickly as possible. Insane sphinxes I understand, but lemon juice? Really? These ponies are a different breed to be sure. Either way, if I can just gain enough trust, hopefully I can peel away the logic fallacies in her mind, and let her see the truth with unclouded eyes. This is the least I can do for Queen Twilight Sparkle for all she’s done to save my kin. Lyra Heartstrings busted through her bedroom door and flopped on her bed with a tired laugh. Her bedroom in Ponyville was mostly in order with only a scant few items out of place. A few dresses here, a sock on the lampshade over there, and a music stand was toppled over by the bed. Lyra kicked her legs up in exaltation that her plan worked, causing heavy shadows to fall on the two others walking through the doorway. “Hands! Bon Bon, I finally get my hands back! Woo Hoo!” Bon Bon let off a dismissive huff at the expected eccentric behavior. Intel followed after her, taking in the room, it was always a new and exciting experience for Intel since she fully believed the owner’s personalities were reflected in their domiciles. Messy, but charming. Just like Lyra. I might have to get momma to start looking into expanded personal living space after things settle down around the jungle. I’d love to have a place this big. “I’m happy for you Lyra,” Bon Bon said, masking her pang of worry for her friend’s impending rebirth and memory loss. “But you’ve been repeating that ever since we left Canterlot.” “Hey,” Lyra half shouted at her friend while rolling over to her belly. “I know that tone. Don’t worry, Bonny, I won’t forget you after all this. A year’s worth of memory is all I need.” Intel turned away from a fresco painting of Ponyville to give the musician a disbelieving frown. “How do you figure that? It takes a lifetime of memories to make you who you are.” “Yeah, true,” Lyra conceded as she got up to canter over to her closet. “But nopony remembers every second of their lives right? All I gotta do is record all the important stuff, like our friendship, why I wanted to be reborn in the first place, my music lessons, and my life from beyond the mirror.” Intel had no real idea in what context a year’s worth of memories worked since she had never been reborn, and decided to not speak of it. “So why did you drag us back down to Ponyville anyway? The press conference is going to be held at Canterlot Castle.” “To start packing of course!” Lyra replied as if it was obvious. “There are two things I want to do here before we head back. First off, I need memorabilia to remember as much a equinely possible, ‘cause as they say, touch and smell are strongly linked to memory. Plus, the sooner I get ready, the sooner I can get those delicious hands.” Bon Bon looked at Intel and shared a shrug. “Fair enough. Just pick out what you think will help and I’ll box them up and ship them to PR for you.” “Good idea,” Intel nodded as she joined Lyra by the walk-in closet as the unicorn lit the room with a horn-light. The closet was almost a separate room in and of itself, an addition Lyra ‘had to have’ when she first moved into town. Now however, only the hanging dresses were in any semblance of order while the floor and shelves were crammed with boxes and loose junk. Thanks to her telekinesis, Lyra never had to actually walk very far in. “...We have to be on the evening train back to Canterlot if we want to be rested up for the conference.” While Intel liked to think she avoided her mother’s OCD, the sheer pigsty on the floor and shelves forced her to back away. Thankfully, a question bubbled up to distract her. “So what is the second thing that you needed to drag me down here for?” Totally oblivious to Intel’s repulsed reaction, Lyra started to pull out all kinds of odd and ends from her closet after pushing the dresses aside. The items were mostly loose memorabilia from her concert tours along with boxes of assorted junk. “The Lyra of this world suggested that we bring special stuff from each of our worlds and take them through the mirror. My father was a hippie, but he was always drawing, what I know now, were structural engineering blueprints. I figured that there would be some stuff in there that you technophiles could use.” While Intel’s focus was militaristic, she recognized the value. “Interesting. Even if we can’t use any of it, I know mother would love to study the architecture of another world.” Lyra already knew that, but was glad to hear confirmation. “Cool beans. The other big thing I’m looking for is my old photo album from my life in Canterlot. It’s got to be in here sooomewhere.” She scowled at the prospect of her prize being buried in the dense clutter. Bon Bon ducked under a flying pair of socks and a rubber duck as the unicorn haphazardly tossed the junk out of the closet. “I told you you should have cleaned this out years ago.” “I know, I know. I just never got around to it. It’d be my luck that the album and books are in the back where all the moving boxes are.” Intel caught most of the flying junk with her magic before they could knock over any lamps or other breakable things. “I can understand the books being in storage,” for ponies that don’t love them, “but if the album is so important to you, why didn’t you keep it somewhere more accessible?” Lyra stuck her head out of the closet and pointed at a thick book on top of her wooden dresser. “I have a different photo album of my life after moving to Ponyville. Please make sure to pack that for me, Bonny.” “Of course, Lyra.” Bon Bon took the album and placed it on the bed which she was treating as Lyra’s ‘take it with you’ pile. Yet before returning to the closet she hesitated and started looking through all the memories her friend captured on film. Pictures of Bon Bon’s confectionary store, photos of various friends, and some sneak pictures of Bon Bon herself that made her snicker. She’s such a scoundrel. I don’t care what it takes, I have to make sure she remembers as much as possible. The onslaught of flying clothing and junk from the closet went unabated for almost half an hour until Lyra finally pulled out a big unlabeled cardboard box. “Oh my gosh, Bonny, I think this came from Canterlot! See? It even has the little doodle of my cutie mark on the side.” She gasped excitedly. “This is it! I knew I brought the books with me!” She wasn’t sure? I wonder if momma knows who exactly we’re bringing into the family. Intel huffed from amongst a knee-high pile of clothing and refuse and extracted herself so she could witness the box opening. “You didn’t unpack everything?” “Duh, I’m a musician, not an engineer,” Lyra replied with harmless teasing. “What would I do with architecture drawings?” “Point taken.” Dust and stale air popped out of the box as Lyra opened it, making everyone go into a short-lived coughing fit. Lyra and Intel used their magic to blow the dust away. “No. Way! It’s my old backpack!” Lyra pulled out a bright green school bag that rattled with an attached keychain. Her mood and heart sunk as a strong moldy smell erupted from within. The backpack was in tatters with holes chewed through several parts of it. “Wha- what happened?!” Bon Bon examined the holes with untrained eyes. “Looks like a Munch Moth or something. Did you clean it out before packing?” “I thought I did… maybe.” Lyra’s eyes misted over as she gave it a hug and stroking it gently. “There there, I’ll get somepony to fix you up, I promise.” She gave it to Intel with care. “I think Rarity’s Carousel Floatique is in Trottingham right now, but I bet someone in PR can fix it right?” Bon Bon and Intel gave it some weird looks as Intel rotated it in her magic. “It looks bad, but I’m sure we can do something for it.” Lyra breathed a sigh of relief, much to Bon Bon’s amusement at her friend’s antics. Honestly, she can be so sentimental, but I love her for it. Lyra began sifting through notebooks, pencils, a trapperkeeper, and a few other items, all to locate the engineering drafting papers. However, she paused at the trapperkeeper for a moment after seeing the mirror world’s version of a unicorn printed on it. “Hey Bonny, check out how weird my old world’s unicorns were.” Bon Bon snickered at the absurdly long face, while Intel scoffed at the silliness of it. Not wanting to suffer boredom, Intel returned her attention to the bookbag once Bon Bon placed the trapperkeeper on the bed. Intel examined the whole bag, finding little of interest, except for the jingling keychain offering a glimpse into the mirror world’s culture. Most of the objects on the keyring were tiny cats, dolls who had long since lost most of their fake hair, plastic covered slips of paper with inspirational phrases Intel couldn’t read, and a single long metal object that starkly stood out among the rest. She was about to dismiss the bag and toss it on the bed, but the long metal object stuck out to her on how alien it looked compared to the rest of the keyring. It was the heaviest thing on the ring with a flat circle on one end that tapered off in what looked like a narrow brass cone. The wide cylinder part was pierced so the keyring could hold it. The strange item was longer than her hoof and she could see lettering on the flat circle. “Nooo!” Lyra cried as she pulled up ruined blue paper that flaked off from her magical grip. “It’s ruined! All my daddy’s drawings!” Bon Bon fanned her hoof over her nose. Well that explains the smell. “Sorry Lyra, I think the mold monster from two years ago must have had a few spores left.” “But - but - daddy loved those, I thought being in an out-of-the-way box like this would protect them from all the crazy that happens in this town!” Intel examined the bottom of the box’s exterior and saw a big discolored spot that was starting to spread onto the carpet. “Move out of the way, We have to kill the fungus now before that thing reforms.” The two ponies backed away as Intel took her powder horn and poured some black powder on the patch of mold. She weaved a hard shield shield dome over the mold and sparked the gunpowder, letting it burn through the mold and into the box. “Somepony get a few buckets of water. The last thing we need is a house fire.” “I’ll go get it,” Bon Bon announced as she rushed from the bedroom. Intel looked to Lyra who was crying as the flames licked at the bottom of the box. Her sympathies went out to her. “It looks like the mold only damaged the paper instead of infesting it, since it didn’t have much access to oxygen. We’ll need to call in a pest pony just to make sure nothing’s infesting the inner walls.” Lyra wiped her tears away, but more soon replaced them. “O - okay.” This is horrible! First daddy’s drawings are ruined and now I can’t pay for my hands. With the fungus destroyed, along with a big chunk of the carpet, Bon Bon returned with a water bucket. Lyra insisted that she put the fire out on her own while Bon Bon fetched some cleaning supplies. Intel eased up with the danger passed, and wanted to brighten the mood, if only with a minor distraction.. Lyra didn’t deserve this. She’s weird, but a good mare all the same. Intel searched the room for something to talk about as Bon Bon returned with cleaning items. The two ponies started cleaning together, sharing a few brief words as they got the ash off the ruined carpet. Eventually, Intel’s gaze returned to the backpack she had discarded at the foot of the bed. The long heavy cylinder thing returned to her attention. Intel brought the bag back over and pushed the object forward. “Hey Lyra, what is this thing?” The mare in question looked up from her work with a sunken face. “That thing? It was a gift from my Uncle Robert. He was an army snip…” Lyra trailed off as her irises shrank to pinpricks. “Holy cow,” she shrieked a cheer. “I can pay you guys after all!” “Didn’t momma already tell you, you didn’t have to pay fo-” was all Intel could get off before Lyra reclaimed the backpack and used her magic to pry the object off. “No way hozay!” Lyra’s energy returned in full force. “I said I was going to pay, and I am! ...Just not with daddy’s books like I thought.” Lyra pushed the sadness away for the moment and plastered a massive grin on her face. “This my future sibling is a bullet.” “A… bullet? This big thing?” Intel asked incredulously as she pulled it back to examine it with far more scrutiny. She rummaged around her utility harness and pulled out a small lead ball out of her ammunition pouch. “This is a bullet, I don’t know how something like that can be a bullet unless it’s fired out of a cannon or something.” Bon Bon was at a loss and kept her peace as Lyra took the cartridge back. “No no no, that’s not how they work.” She opened her mouth, but shut it again to think. Darn it, I was only nine when Uncle Robby was telling me about these things. How do they work again? “Okay, I think this part right here,” Lyra began as she pointed a hoof at the brass cone, “is the part that flies out and hits things. This big ol part here holds all the powder and stuff. And… I believe the weapon kinda pops the big brass part out of the gun all by itself after it fires.” Now Lyra had Intel’s undivided attention. “This thing holds both the bullet and the powder all in one ready to go package!? How does it fire though?” Try as she might, Lyra couldn’t remember and shrugged. “Sorry. I’m sure my uncle showed me at one point, but I can’t recall how. But you guys are smart, with that, I’m sure you can figure it out.” Intel studied the cartridge for a few more seconds before pocketing it. Gotta admire the mare’s willingness to adhere to her own sense of obligation and honor. “Yeah, I bet we could. On behalf of the queens, we consider this your payment in full.” The swath of jungle was burnt and charred. Scattered around Chrysalis were the broken bodies of changelings and numerous reanimated creatures of the jungle, both large and small. The stench of cooked meat and the nose tickling fallout of heavy spellfire permeated the air. The skies above were dry with grey clouds mixing with several columns of black smoke as vegetation fueled several fires. Even the very ground was blackened, but not all of it was ash. Necromantic energy had sapped the life out of the very soil for a whole mile. Even for the jungle, it would take decades to heal. Chrysalis herself bore such scars upon her muzzle and all along her torso, but a vindictive sneer creased her face all the same. A halting cough came from Polybia whom she held underhoof. A razor sharp blade, torn from the body of a drone, slowly sliced into Polybia’s neck. Chrysalis applied just enough pressure to start cutting through the chitin, but no where near enough to kill quickly. Polybia’s horn was snapped completely off and was oozing dark red blood. “You surprise me,” Polybia spat out with blood oozing from her mouth, “Chrysalis. I never thought you would take to the field in person. Especially when half your army died in the first hour.” “Adaptation,” Chrysalis sneered as she used her blade to lift Polybia’s head. “That is what we live by, is it not? You can not imagine how long I’ve wanted to hold your life in my hooves, Polybia. I’ve always hated your holier-than-thou façade.” A blood-flecked laughing cough shuddered through Polybia’s broken body. Much of her discoloration from necromantic use had faded. “You really think you’ve won?” Her one good eye tracked up to leer at Chrysalis. “The battle maybe, but hardly the war. I will return, and the dead will serve me once again.” Chrysalis didn’t show it, but she knew very little about necromancy, outside of what Polybia had shown through battle. “Perhaps I should just keep you here then, if you can return after death. You can’t return if you never die.” “You really think we’re talking right now because you’ve taken me alive?” Polybia spat with smug dripping from every word. “The only reason we’re speaking is because I was so sure you’d cower and hide until the technophiles came to save your worthless shell.” Chrysalis’ anger flared and she almost stabbed Polybia in the neck, but she checked her flash of rage. “I never needed anyone outside of my sisters, and I certainly don’t need Twilight Sparkle or her little airships to crush you! But if you can truly leave at any point...” Finding several charred branches and severed limbs, Chrysalis drew the diagram of the teleportation nullifier she engineered after watching Celestia’s version. “You can never suffer enough for what you did to my sister Yeelindrus, but let’s see what this does to give you a taste of justice.” The moment the diagram was complete, Chrysalis stabbed the makeshift chitin sword deep into Polybia’s chest. As Polybia’s soul was being torn away from her dying shell, the diagram flashed with Chrysalis’ green magic. The diagram barely detected the soul transfer and flared to life, trying to rip Polybia asunder. While Polybia’s soul easily slipped through the spell, it slowed her down just enough so that she felt every inch of her old body being shredded by the diagram trying to keep her trapped. The pain was so deep, so soul scarring that Polybia was writhing in agony for an hour after her new body reformed. Chrysalis watched as Polybia’s body was shredded to a bloody smear on the dead ground. “If you really do come back from that, I hope you felt every last bit.” I better burn the bodies too, just to be safe. She sent the order out to what remained of her forces, which was far too few for her liking. A puppeted drone flew over while Chrysalis used her magic to counteract some of the poison flowing in her veins. The queen could mitigate even necrotic poison for hours, but she too had her limits. Chrysalis prepared herself for a fight, but realized it was Kreesus’ drone. She made a show of dropped her building spell, but she could never truly lower her guard in the presence of the ‘traitor’. “I trust you’ve kept the salvageable drones alive.” “Of course.” Kreesus spat out a large glob of salve and presented it to Chrysalis. She might have snubbed the gift any other day, but the sheer number of small cuts slowly sapped her strength. With none of her drones being close enough to apply the salve for her, Chrysalis took the glob in her magic to apply it to herself before it dried. Though Kreesus kept her expression neutral, she took mild satisfaction in seeing Chrysalis having to use another hive’s salve. That’s what you get for ruining it for the sake of sticky resin. “Thanks to Fluffy, I’ll be able to reconstitute all the biomass that wasn’t tainted by necromancy into new drones.” Of course, that accounts for less than a tenth of the bodies. “You better make sure you return any drones of mine that you recover. We need every blade and horn should Polybia resist the grave again.” “And why would she fail to escape it this time, compared to the five other times we’ve killed her?” Kreesus said between dispensing more salve. Even though Kreesus’ salve was designed specifically for her own brood, it could at least stop the bleeding. Chrysalis looked off into the distance, hoping it was in the direction of Polybia’s hive, and flashed a cruel fang-filled sneer. “Before she escaped her broken body, I gave her a little parting gift. If we’re lucky, it’ll have killed her. If not, she wouldn’t dare enter the field of battle again.” “Were it so easy,” Kreesus grumbled distantly. “I have news that Twilight’s fleet has finally decided to move south on our position. Typically slow, just like her mother.” “Cold metal has always been slower than flesh,” Chrysalis replied absently. “They are like a lumbering giant. Slow to act, but powerful when active. I say we let her do the lion’s share of the fighting from here on. No need for us to bleed anymore while she’s still in top form, sans one warship.” “Agreed. If the so called Longshot is half as resilient as the Deception she can weather the brunt of Polybia’s forces. All the same, we better pin down Polybia’s hive location before Twilight arrives. Those airships are notoriously fuel hungry, and I doubt she can scavenge for coal.” “Wood burns just as well, does it not?” Chrysalis retorted with a dismissive snort. “Worst comes to worst, we can at least defend her supply lines. For now though, you search along the Tiamese River, and I’ll scout along the Behemoth’s Jaws Gorge. We’ll flush Polybia out eventually.” And when we do, I’ll personally send her wretched soul down Cerberus’ gullet. Let her come back from that. > 11: Wounded Mind > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Doctor Arvatus was no stranger to damaged minds. Convincing Twilight Velvet to allow him inside her mind after passing her lemon test was child’s play. However he only had real experience with the eddies and flows of sphinx minds, so Velvet provided a particular challenge that he tried to prepare himself for. Sadly, most of that consisted of chanting I think I can. I think I can. repeated to and from the cafeteria. At present, his consciousness swam through a torrent of images and voices crowding around him so densely it was nearly impossible to sort through all of them. “You have one of those things for a daughter?” chided an unfamiliar arrogant voice across Arvatus’ right ear. “Royalty or not, your family’s not welcome in my establishment.” “Well, one can hardly expect a changeling to speak the truth now can you?” scoffed a haughty stallion. “All they are capable of are lies. Makes me wonder how much of a saint the Element of Honesty could actually be to do business with the little devils.” “Did you year that one of Baltimare’s city councilmares revealed herself to be a changeling!” exclaimed another haughty voice. “As if you needed any more proof they know nothing but duplicity. I heard she shut down the ban on salve products. Typical self serving-” “They’re everywhere!” shouted a thready and frightened voice, cutting off the last one. “Mark my words, they’ll put us all into pods, just like the wedding!” A nonverbal tsk of disapproval brought his attention to the left where Arvatus saw a ghostly unicorn mare looking through him. “Don’t worry too much, Velvet, at least Shining Armor is still a proper heir to the family name.” “Well of course the princesses are going to justify Twilight’s ‘rebirth’. You really think they’d wage war against an enemy that are natural infiltrators who couldn't care less about dying?” “I fully understand your pain,” another voice called out softly to Arvatus’ left. As he waded deeper into Velvet’s mind, the voices were starting to be matched up with spectral images of their owners. This time it was a sympathetic looking stallion with a blue coat and mane, but his image was too fuzzy to glean anything else. “My Shimmer Skies was replaced by one of those things. I didn’t need the Guard to take care of that body snatcher. Even though the princesses have to play to diplomacy to avoid war, I know with all my heart that they are relying on the citizens of Equestria to act where they cannot.” He reached out a hoof as if to pick Arvatus up from a seated position. “I know of a group who could help you. They will denounce us, strip us of our possessions, and our freedom, but I know that they will secretly thank us.” The next part of the foggy memory surprised Arvatus since it was the first time he’d hear Velvet speaking back. “And what if we fail? If we can’t free Twilight from that living hell, I…” she shuddered, unable to continue from her grief. “We have to try,” the nameless stallion replied definitively. “Once she is free of Cadista’s influence and the slavery of her changeling instincts, I know for a fact that Twilight would vindicate our actions to the princesses. Once Cadista can no longer control her, the princesses will finally have a free hoof to deal with Cadista and the rest of those vile creatures as they deserve.” Arvatus tried to stabilize the memory so he could see the stallion more clearly, but the memory was snatched away, as if trying to hide itself. Cursing his loss, Arvatus created a momentary bubble of silence around his consciousness to think. It would be impossible to shift to each and every memory that caused Velvet to turn against Twilight. Besides, I’ve seen this sort of insanity before. The real Twilight Velvet is buried under so much noise and doubt that she can’t reach the surface anymore. If I can find her core and rid her of all this clouded vision, I just know she’ll give up the PCE. I have to go deeper. Even in his line of work, Arvatus rarely had to work with a mind that was burying itself so completely in its own hysteria and paranoia. Layers upon layers of memories tried to confuse his path to the point where even his experience was at its limits. I need to find the right threads. Something the core personality would cling to. It took several moments, but he had an idea as to what to look for. Lost in the maze of agonizing memories of changeling Twilight was a dream of a young purple filly in a classroom. Arvatus saw a Twilight as a filly jumping around Princess Celestia cheering for her newly acquired cutie mark. Yes, this should work. Mentally taking ahold of the memory, Arvatus located several threads connecting the memory to dozens of parts in Velvet’s mind. Only one of them caught his eye as it pulsed far more regularly. Just as I suspected. She’s clinging to the happiest parts of Twilight’s pony life. Following the brightest thread, Arvatus plunged into the increasingly dark and rage filled thoughts that were colored by depression, regret, and defeat. They rolled off of him like molasses, trying to muddle his mind the further he went. Even his vision of the mindscape was clouded with countless images and sounds. It pained him to continue. Every inch along the glowing tether was paid for in headaches both dull and stabbing. These ponies may not be psionic, but their innate magic makes mind walking against the mad or unwilling dangerous. In his real body, Arvatus felt something wet drip on his lip and a copper taste entered his mouth. She has such a powerful mind! I have to reach her soon, or I’ll be forced to retreat. I can’t deflect any of it until I see her core personality. The fear, sadness, and hate filled memories swirled around him like thick viscous tar yet were too rapid to see them as anything other than a mass of noise and color. The single thread was nearly lost in the maelstrom again and again as phantom memories and nightmares roared at him with abandon. Arvatus’ pounding headache intensified even further when he at last saw the tether ending in a recreation Twilight Sparkle as a unicorn. Unlike the memories, which were either flat images or spectral beings, this Twilight Sparkle looked solid and real. Twilight Velvet’s core manifested itself as her outer appearance as she embraced her unicorn daughter, unspoiled by changeling magic. Twilight Sparkle was hugging her back, both mares crying out of joy. “You freed me, momma. Spawning those horrid abominations and liking it was a living hell.” Velvet started petting her scared daughter’s mane with all the care a mother could have. “I know, honey, I know. Now that’s your free, the princesses can finally act to their true intentions.” Now that he could see the threads’ destination, Arvatus was at last able to form a psionic barrier around him and then extended it to envelope Velvet. He stepped back in shock when Twilight Sparkle’s doppelganger was not dispersed by the act. However, the act did draw the attention of both mares to the intruder. Velvet was the first to act by interposing herself between Arvatus and Twilight. “Doctor!? You lied to me! Only a psyker could reach me here, and all of them love that queen.” Twilight Sparkle cowered behind her mother’s protection whimpering in fear. “Please don’t let him take me. He’ll turn me back into a changeling, I just know it!” “I am not here to harm anyone. My name is Doctor Arvatus, and yes, I am a Psykira.” “I knew it!” Velvet growled, seeming to fall into her outer self’s paranoia. “You’re working for that insect that claims to be my daughter!” Arvatus saw several darker memories start to swirl into Velvet and used a mental spike to slash them away. Velvet shuddered from the act, but held her ground. “I admit I have found work in Queen Twilight’s hive, but I am here on my own volition. She does not know I’m here.” Some of Velvet’s thready tone shifted back to normal. “And why should I believe you? You’re probably here to kill me, or at least make sure I never leave this hell.” Arvatus studied the stormy mindscape around them. Velvet and the rest of them were floating in a void of blackness, yet they had no problem seeing one another. All in all, it was a grim sight that worried Arvatus greatly. “Miss Velvet, if I was here to kill you, I wouldn’t go through all the trouble of entering your mind. If I wanted you to remain in the asylum, I wouldn’t have to do anything at all.” “Lies! The P.C.E. will free me,” Velvet spat venomously. “If not by an agent, then when they free my daughter.” Understanding dawned on Arvatus like. The Twilight hiding behind her isn’t some delusion, it’s her vision of an ideal and unaltered Twilight Sparkle. “Perhaps they might,” Arvatus conceded to Velvet's mild surprise. “Tell me, Miss Velvet, just to clarify things, you do not see Queen Twilight as your daughter?” “She is a mockery!” Velvet held the unicorn daughter tightly as if she was afraid Arvatus would tear her to pieces. “My Twilight would never kowtow to them, let alone birth more of them!” Velvet spat as if the very words were toxic. “I see. Then I know what to do.” Drawing upon his vast experience and mental fortitude, Arvatus drenched Velvet’s mind with his power. The torrent of oily memories swirling around them thinned and dispersed, leaving them in a white space devoid of landmarks. Velvet cried out in pain and curled into a fetal position as Arvatus cleared the storm away. Twilight Sparkle’s phantom remained, trying to rouse Velvet from her catatonic state. When at last the white space was cleared of blackness, all that remained were various clear windows into more tame memories. Velvet rolled to upright herself and stared at the sphinx questioningly. “What - what did you do to me!?” Though he didn’t show it to her, Arvatus’ physical body was sweating profusely and his temple was throbbing heavily. “I shoved all the outside influences that people have had on you about changeling Twilight aside. Now, it is only you, and her. No friends, no enemies, and no family to get in the way.” “And what is that going to prove?” Velvet demanded heatedly. Arvatus shakily pointed at one such memory with Queen Twilight. “See for yourself.” With a swipe of his claw, he pulled the memory down for her. He didn’t know which memory it was, but ultimately he was betting that it didn’t matter. Velvet kept her phantom Twilight close, and kept one eye on Arvatus and the other on the memory. The memory was nearly a decade ago. Queen Twilight Sparkle was playing a game with ten of her nymphs in the library of Sparkle Manor. The fillies were easily the size of seven year olds, and were playing an old game Velvet never thought she’d ever see again: find the book. Twilight had all her nymphs lined up in front of her while the memory’s point of view remained hidden away near the door. “Alright, girls, clue number one: I have spells and mysteries. Clue two: I was written by somepony who doesn’t know a thing about magic.” Before she could list a third clue, three of the nymphs leapt up into the air, their tiny wings buzzing with a high pitch. “Oooo! I know where it is!” “Nu uh, I do!” “I’ll get the book first!” The other nymphs either chased after their kin or scrambled up to their mother for more clues. The real Velvet’s impatience and ire grew, but she stopped short of lashing out. The longer she watched the memory, the less revulsion she felt for the purple changelings. Twilight’s mannerisms, her posture, her loving tone of voice, even the way she doted on each nymph reminded Velvet of how she used to care for Twilight. Arvatus saw the confusion and misery well up on Velvet’s face along with the mindscape turning a murky brown. He picked another memory at random and flung it over to Velvet’s opposite side to make sure the two memories didn’t interfere with each other, inadvertently resulting in phantom Twilight yelping in surprise. Velvet turned around at the noise to find a memory of Queen Twilight bearing down on her with a fierce scowl. “How dare you keep asking me that! To go back to being a unicorn and abandon my children just to satisfy the status quo? Can’t you see how hypocritical that is, especially coming from you mother?!” “I - but-” Velvet’s automatic reply died on her lips. For the first time in her life, she didn’t see the changeling clinging onto her daughter’s soul, but her daughter fighting to keep her children. Renewed fury crossed her face and she swept a hoof across the queen, dispersing her. She refocused on Arvatus. “What trickery is this? You think you can so overtly toy with my mind and think I’ll magically see things your way?” Arvatus paused before bringing a third memory forward. Instead he closed the distance until he was face to face with Velvet. “The only trick I’ve done here is remove the noise.” “What noise? Don’t toy with me with cryptic words.” She got up in his face wanting to cast him out, but her mental focus wasn’t what it once was, and he firmly held on. “Your reality is all based on perspective, but people can change your perception on others. Here, now, there shall be no one from the P.C.E, no one from Queen Twilight’s friends, no anyone. Just you and those memories. Just like the ignorant bigots of my homeland, you have let others control you through their own mistrust and hatred.” A vile sneer plastered over Velvet’s muzzle. “So that’s the real game. You’re an outcast who found somepony willing to give you a roof over your head instead of killing you on sight? You’re no different than the changeling posing as my daughter.” Arvatus looked upon the hate filled mare with sympathetic pity. “You are just like how I used to be. You’re so used to hating her that you’re incapable of understanding and acceptance.” Velvet slapped him as hard as she could across the face. Though the attack caused pain, there was no blood in the mindscape. The phantom Twilight poked her head out from behind her mother and glared at him. “Momma’s nothing like you! She only wants to free my body so I can come back!” “Isn’t she?” Arvatus challenged calmly. With a paw, he reached into his chest and pulled out a small globule of himself and threw it at Velvet. The shocked mare tried to shield herself with a foreleg but instead of any pain, her world was completely replaced by an sun-lit alleyway. The mindscape was only visible from above and the two ends of the alleyway. Surrounding her were three sphinxes in the white and gold robes of the Order. She looked down at herself to find she was wearing the same attire. There was a cowering adolescent grecian tom looking at each of the monks with terror in his eyes. One of the jane monks spoke in a mechanical manner, as if she was reading him his rights. “You bear the mark of the Psykira, an enemy of the state and our very way of life. Do not resist and your entry into the Great Cycle may reward you with a better life.” “I’m not a Psykira!” the tom cried out. “Bertha Ultsis tattooed this damn mark on me against my will! I don’t even have psychic potential!” A second monk spoke up with a snarl. “You disrespect the Ultsis family by even uttering their name, profligate. You know full well we can’t test you for the cursed ability while under a city’s dampening field.” “W-what about those testing chambers you Order people have? You could take me there.” This time, the voice came from within Velvet although she easily identified it as a younger Arvatus. “Felsgrad doesn’t have an Order temple large enough to have one, and as my brother said, it’s too dangerous to take you outside the field.” With the memory being so personal, Velvet felt Arvatus’ sick satisfaction grow enormously as she raised a loaded crossbow and leveled it at the accused. “May the cycle restore you to a better life.” The psyker tried to fly away, but he never had a chance against crossbow bolts. One sank into his chest, another into his right wing, and a third hit his neck in rapid succession. The other monks stepped back and started chanting on the evils of the Psykira while Arvatus dropped his crossbow and stepped towards the crippled sphinx. Velvet tried to pull herself away from the memory, but the real Arvatus pushed all of his will into making her watch. Velvet couldn’t stop herself from leaning over the Psykira’s head and whisper with cold murder in Arvatus’ tone. “I hope disgraceful filth like you come back again and again as worms to be crushed under paw like the insects you are.” Shifting one paw into a hand, Arvatus and Velvet ripped the bolt out of the victim’s neck and started stabbing. Eyes, chest, neck, anywhere there was soft, yielding flesh. After ten stabs the tom was still. The memory vanished with Velvet shuddering at the violence of it. Phantom Twilight was painfully silent as Velvet finally tore herself away from the imposed memory. The monks and alleyway vanished, but the bloodied and broken body remained. “I was barely an initiate back then, long before I was tested for psionic potential. It took decades and my own awakening to see the monster I had become,” Arvatus said as he moved between Velvet and the corpse. “He was my first murder, but he certainly wasn’t the last Psykira, proven or otherwise, that I killed in the name of societal preservation.” He watched Velvet trying to shake off the horror of what she witnessed. “This will be the fate of Twilight Sparkle, and all of her children, if the P.C.E. should ever succeed. Is that truly what you want? To murder your own daughter in cold blood to ‘save’ her?” Velvet found her strength again and ran over to tackle him. He was surprised she actually could assault him, allowing Velvet to wrap her forelegs around his neck and shove her face into his. “You self-righteous foal. Awakening with new abilities is one thing, being forced to become a different species is another! The only thing I can do for my daughter now is to kill that Queen and free her soul to the peace of the Elysian Fields. That thing isn’t my daughter anymore!” she screamed with all the festering heartache of the past decade. “I beg to differ,” Arvatus countered harshly as he pointedly looked back at the corpse. Velvet glanced up to follow his gaze, only to find the bloodied corpse was now the dead remains of Queen Twilight laying on the monastery grounds near Canterlot. In that moment, she expected to feel elation, or at least relief at seeing what she had been wishing for so long. But that was not what happened. Stripped of the outside influences of the past twelve years, the only thing Velvet saw in that moment was her Twilight Sparkle lying there dead. Her horror was redoubled when the bloodied and broken crossbow bolt was now held aloft in her magic. Phantom Twilight’s voice sniffled from behind Velvet. “Why momma? Why did you kill me?” Velvet pushed herself away from Arvatus, and spun around to see phantom Twilight appeared just as she had when she first returned to Canterlot after her rebirth. “I’m sorry I’m not the same anymore, but I just wanted us to be a family again.” Velvet’s mindscape clouded over with startling rapidity. She dropped the crossbow bolt and wept into her hooves. Phantom Twilight remained nearby repeatedly asking what she had done to lose a mother’s love. It was more than Velvet could handle. The typhoon of emotions returned in full force, ripping at Arvatus with returned hostility. Before he could lose sight of Velvet, he expended the last of his mental strength in forming a protective shield around her, so her mind would not break again, and that the separation of outside influences on Velvet’s perception would hold out for at least a day. He snapped back into the physical world and collapsed to the floor next to Velvet’s bed. He gulped air as if he been drowning, his heart was pounding, and blood caked everything from the nose down, and dripped on the floor. Velvet was weeping into her pillow muttering too softly for Arvatas to hear what she was saying. After recovering his wits, Arvatus grabbed a washcloth from a large pocket in his coat and started cleaning himself up as best he could. That was more violent than I expected, but she had the reaction I was hoping for. Few people are naturally hateful, and from what I’ve heard, Velvet was not one of them. Noting the blood on the padded floor, Arvatus pressed his cloth tightly over his nose and stumbled for the exit. He fought against lightheadedness and a stabbing headache as he left the cell, only to find an orderly and Doctor Clear Mind waiting for him. Both ponies jumped to his aid with Clear Mind lifting Arvatus up from his front left side while the orderly gave him a replacement wet cloth for his nose. “Heavens, Doctor, you look like you went ten rounds with a minotaur cage fighter.” “I’ll take your word for it.” Arvatus nodded in thanks to the new cloth. “Sorry to trouble you son, but I left quite a trail to clean up.” “No worries, doc,” the peppy orderly said. “Can’t be any worse than what most spill around here.” The orderly ran off to gather the cleaning supplies while Clear Mind wanted to check on Velvet, yet Arvatus had to come first. “Did you make progress?” “I think so,” Arvatus replied nasally. What I’d give for a cold compress for my head right now. “I was right about her. The patient’s criminalistic paranoia stemmed from the company she kept, outside of the family. I have no doubt that over time, she had listened to enough anti-changeling fearmongering that she lashed out as she did. I’ve seen and experienced this countless times in my homeland.” “She certainly let herself go off the deep end after arriving here,” Clear Mind commented with a sad shake of his head. “What is it that you plan to do, should you cure her, if you don’t mind my asking?” Arvatus stopped and blankly stared at the opposite wall. The howling wind reflected his troubled thoughts after dredging up his own painful memory. “I want to give her a chance to atone. The same chance that was given to me a long time ago.” Today was the day. Lyra fidgeted nervously in a back room near the Canterlot Castle’s primary news reception chamber. It was early morning, barely half an hour past breakfast. Bon Bon was at her side gently rubbing her back while giving her friend brief nuzzles. A pair of filled memory crystals laid on the cushion with her, both filled with highlights involving Bon Bon. All four of the royal changelings were present, Twilight and Rainbow puppeting their respective diplomats. If it was just speaking to a crowd, Lyra would be in her element after all the concert tours she’d been on. Her only real source of fear was the threat of violence that was sure to erupt either during or right after the press conference. Lyra used her old meditative techniques to calm herself as she had done early in her music career. Aegis and Rainbow Dash quietly snorted in amusement every time Lyra would hum aloud. And here I thought Tree Hugger was the only one who did that, Rainbow mused. Rainbow stuck her head out of the large curtain separating them from the gathering reporters. Even though Canterlot was the cosmopolitan capital of Equestria, there were still only fourteen reporters awaiting them. Aegis started as she counted with her fingers.