Since their birth, the Great Dragon Spike told tales about his brave mother, Twilight Sparkle, stolen from the young dragon by a tragic time spell accident 160 years ago. But now she's back! Her hive of changeling grandkids can't wait to meet her!
Since their birth, the Great Dragon Spike told tales about his brave mother, Twilight Sparkle, stolen from the young dragon by a tragic time spell accident 160 years ago. But now she's back! Her hive of changeling grandkids can't wait to meet her!
The great dragon's voice boomed. "And though he had betrayed her, though he was the Lord of Chaos who had destroyed so much..."
He looked out to the stars with a wistful smile. "She still demanded that that monster let him go... For that was Twilight Sparkle. She always cared for her friends. Even those that had fallen low."
We in the audience nodded, munching on popcorn and eagerly awaiting the end.
"Discord was shocked. Even I, the Great Dragon Spike had flinched in the face of the mighty Tirek, but not her."
"The Lord of Chaos was shocked. Though part of him had already known of Twilight's warmth, he could not conceive of the depths of Twilight Sparkle's Friendship... Of her love."
"As she was weakened, broken along with all of her friends... He reached out to the amulet that monster had given him to mock him."
Our father's voice grew quieter. "And he gave it to her."
The entire hive went silent.
He stared out. Not at us, but at the stars and the city skyline. "Though Lady Fluttershy the Kind did much to open Discord's heart Twilight was the one that truly reached him." There was something dark in his eyes.
It was hard to get a feel for Dad's emotions. He was a several stories tall Great Dragon after all...
But I knew that feeling. Grief.
After he finished the story we all started to file out of the room. Matron Chell was in charge of us kids today, so I took the opportunity to tug at her dress.
The older changeling smiled when she felt me at her side. "Yes Xax, what is it?"
I bit my lip. "Um... Matron? Could I have a minute before bed? I kind of want to ask Dad something."
Matron nodded. "Of course. My husband loves to talk to his children. Just don't stay up too late though alright? You have school tonight."
I smiled. "Thank you!"
Dad was already curling up to sleep. I flew over to his eye (it was as big as me) and cleared my throat. "Dad?"
His eye opened. "Yes Grett?"
I giggled. "It's Xax Dad!"
He chuckled, giving me a playful puff of hot air. "So it is. Oh it's nice to see how many of you there are these days... Tell me, what can I do for you?"
I looked down. "I um... I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"
I gulped. "For Miss Sparkle Sir... I... I don't think I've said that. You really loved her didn't you?"
His expression fell. "Yes... I did."
I sat down next to him. "She was your Matron right? Sometimes it's hard to imagine you had one of those."
He nodded. "She was that... And so much more. You're her grandchildren I suppose." He snorted. "Heh... Grandchildren of Princess Twilight Sparkle... Don't let it go to your head, but don't forget it."
He still sounded sad. "It was a time spell right? Did you ever try to get her back?"
He gave a morose snort. "I tried too much. There was an acorn and..."
He shook his head. "That's a story for when you're older."
I blinked. "It has sex?"
His eye widened. "What?! Celestia no! She was my mother! Just... Ewww..."
I grimaced. Thinking back it was a really dumb question.
"Suffice it to say there's a reason I started studying magic... There was nothing to do though. She was lost to time..." He shook his head.
We were quiet for a moment. Just staring out at the city of ponyville below... We had a great view of the apple building.
"Do you think... Do you think she would have liked us?" I asked. "I mean I know there was that whole thing with Queen Chrysalis and stuff, but-"
He nuzzled my head. At his size it was nearly impossible to do, but he managed it somehow. It was gentle, warm.
"Twilight Sparkle might have taken some time to adjust... But she would have been madly in love with all of you. That's just the kind of pony she was."
And... Then chided myself for over reacting. Someone had logged into Matron Chell's email and played a prank, that was all. A pretty ugly prank, but nothing I would put past the scum known as internet trolls.
I grumbled morosely, eyeing the wad of unmentionable disgustingness that was sitting on my plate. I had somehow managed to hit the other half of my toast perfectly. Ha ha Mr prankster, congratulations, you ruined breakfast...
Xax leaned over the counter, looking more than a bit concerned. "Oh dear, Jal is there something wrong with the toast?"
I shook my head, I loved my brother Xax, but he could be such a drama king sometimes. "Nothing at all, could you make me some new toast? I have to go track down a hacker with a sick sense of humor."
Xax just blinked at me, puzzled.
My phone buzzed at me. Derrick? Why would he be texting? Frankly I was always surprised to be on the receiving end of attention from the Element of Kindness, but he was surprisingly chatty and well... kind.
Okay, maybe that wasn't super surprising.
He had really pretty feathers too. I'd actually tried turning into a griffon hen to impress him once and had to be politely informed that he was into dudes... I wasn't as fond of cross gender transformations as some, but I was still considering turning into a cock for him (a male Griffon, get your mind out of the gutter!).
I opened his message... And right on my screen was an image of a terrified looking purple alicorn, curled up with princess Celestia.
I swear if it was biologically possible my chiton would have gone white.
Xax leaned over. "Um... Jal? Are you okay? Is something-?"
I grabbed his shoulders. "Code Blue! Get everyone to the cave!"
#
The impossibly beautiful earth pony stallion looked pissed. "Seriously Jal? Code Blue? We have three photo shoots to get through today!"
I snarled at him. "And I wouldn't have called it if it wasn't important! Now drop the mask! This is important."
Trex sighed and reverted to his standard form, then climbed up to the auditorium with the others.
I turned to the two gorgeous unicorn mares behind me. "Alright, you two, drop the disguises, we've got hive business."
The beautiful unicorns blushed. "Um... Actually we're not actually changelings... We were here for couple's counseling."
Really? Dang! I gave them a quick sniff. "Don't worry, you still love each other, it's just going to take some work. Thank you for using Love Bug Counseling Services. Now vamoose! We've got a hive emergency to deal with."
One of the unicorns looked like they wanted to ask for a refund, but was dragged away by her spouse who clearly didn't want to make a scene... Which would likely lead to an argument about both of them being overbearing, but I'm sure they could sort themselves out. If not, more cash for us!
...
Okay I felt a little fecal thinking like that, but seriously! We had an emergency.
I turned to the hive, thanks to the miracle of mass texting I'd managed to secure all of them... Well except for Frank, who was doubtless off somewhere in a pile of floozies being a disgrace, but I was satisfied with over a hundred bodies to address.
"Thank you all for coming." I began. "I gathered you all here because we have an old family member to greet. Please see your phones."
I sent out the picture and there was an uproar of voices asking questions all at once. Fortunately I came prepared.
An industrial airhorn wasn't quite as loud as Dad's voice, but it did the trick. I pulled out my earplugs and continued. "To answer the immediate questions, apparently the time spell thought to have killed Twilight Sparkle plunked her down here. She is indeed the Twilight Sparkle we've heard about and yes, she is very likely to come live with us."
"WOOOT!" Shouted Zax.
I facehoofed. "Thank you Zax... Yes this is exciting news and we're going to need that energy in the days to come. It's important to remember, Twilight Sparkle may be a legendary princess, but from her perspective she's a pony who just lost her family..."
The room grew silent. There wasn't anyone here who could imagine a worse fate than that.
"That's why it's up to us!" I shouted. "She may have lost her old family, but we know damn well she still has one and it's right here!"
I turned on the crowd, channeling as many great generals as I could think of. "Remember! We aren't just some lame hive of back woods bumpkins! We're Hive Chell of Ponyville! Guardians of the Dragon and Those Who Fly at Twilight! There is no hive that holds greater love and by the sky and the earth we will show it to her!"
I cried out. "Are you ready!"
The crowd cheered in response.
I smirked. "Then be glad you're lead by a historian. We have a welcome to plan!"
#
Far be it from me to question Jal's education, but maybe Pinkie Pie wasn't the best historical source to draw on for greetings.
I was still in my party hat as I swept up. I'd caught a glimpse of Grand Matron Twilight before she'd locked herself in the front bathroom, but it was mostly just a frightened purple blur.
I thought back to when I was just a little kid, talking with Dad about his mother. Just how long was getting to know her going to take. The story of her battle with Queen Chrysalis was a popular one. Everyone loved seeing a mind slaver who stole magic and sanity from her children get her due.
But that was the only real time Twilight Sparkle had interacted with changelings.
I know what Dad said, but... Was that still how she saw us? A slave army doing the bidding of some monster?
I sighed, scraping the last of the streamers into a bin. Grell fluttered up to me. "Dude, y'alright? I didn't think it went that badly. We talked her out and everyone's getting set up for dinner!"
"We're not doing the party games then?" I asked. They had been part of the plans.
Grell scratched at the back of her head. "Yeah... I think she's a bit partied out. Plus Pinkie already threw Grand Matron one when she first showed up. I think we're just going to stuff her full of delicious food and chill for a bit.."
I smiled. Food! That was something I could actually help with. "Did we get that local Krollok nectar?"
She smirked. "Don't worry bro, we've got you covered."
That said, we wandered off into the kitchen where Grell helped me pile up some drinks on a tray. I smiled at her. "You don't have to help you know. Working maintenance is basically why I get a stipend."
Grell shrugged. "Eh, don't sweat it. Besides, if DJ 8UGG33 doesn't get herself a gig pretty soon I'll be hanging out with my best bro doing dishes all the time."
I chuckled, making sure the tray was balanced. "You'll do fine. At least you have marketable skills."
She rolled her eyes. "Cue my standard response about you being too hard on yourself. Now come on bro, we've got hungry family to serve."
#
Fortunately by story time everyone had relaxed a bit. There had been an awkward moment at dinner where Twilight had asked us if we had a Queen and we all internally shuddered, but it got defused pretty quickly. I guess she didn't know much about hives, but she wasn't nearly as prejudiced as I'd feared.
Story time was amazing. Twilight had stood right up to Dad and told us all about how much he'd been embellishing all these years. They were throwing playful barbs at each other the entire time and I had to re-load the popcorn machine after it got extended past normal time.
Finally, as the night wore thin, Matron Chell asked me to go prep the Rarity Suite. I left just as Twilight discussed the chaos of meeting an alternate version of herself.
The Rarity Suite was a bit of an odd place for a changeling hive. It was the little pony style apartment where Dad's first wife had lived. Lady Rarity had apparently built it when Spike had grown too large for normal lodgings, some time in his forties.
I'd never met Lady Rarity of course, she had died of old age long before Dad met my matron, but it was hard to walk around in her chambers without learning a bit about her.
It had dress forms in the corner, a dresser with a little jewelery box on top of it, a walk in closet (which held piles upon piles of the dresses she'd designed, all gorgeous, if thoroughly... moth balled, lord they were dangerous to handle) and space for fabric and a sewing machine. There was also a quaint little kitchen, where I stored a few kinds of tea, and an absolutely luxurious bathroom.
We cleaned the apartment out every month or so. Sometimes we would bat around the idea of renting it out or re-purposing the space, but while Dad listened to such proposals quite seriously he always looked like he was being kicked in the gut, so Rarity's room it stayed.
He'd loved her dearly, that much was clear. If the picture window looking down on his cave was any indication she'd loved him just as much right back.
After dusting for a bit, vacuuming, and changing the bedding I was just putting a couple of little chocolate mints on her pillow when I heard a chuckle. "You really know how to treat guests."
I turned around, and got a good look at my Grand Matron for the first time. She looked young, really young. If it wasn't for the time skip I might have been older than her. But... she had this look to her, like she was wise beyond her years and had won that wisdom the hard way.
But there was fear in her... And pain, lots of pain.
In that very moment I wanted nothing more than to hug her tight and tell her that I'd never let anything bad happen to her. To ask her a million questions and just... Be there for her.
But the meaning of her words sunk in. "You're... You're not staying?"
She froze. I saw a million expressions dart over her face. Then it hit me, her old house was a museum... Officially she didn't have a home right now.
Lacking any better ideas, I held out my little bowl of chocolates. "I... Think you could really use one of these."
She smiled and gulped one down, letting the mint sink into her tastebuds. I wasn't the best empath, but I could feel her calming down, just a little. "I guess Pinkie Pie hangs around a lot here, huh?"
I nodded. "Yeah, she's one of Chell's best friends. She's great at story time." I scratched the back of my head. "Look, I'm just a failed hospitality worker, I don't know much about time travel or old Equestria or anything like that, but... You've got to know that to us you're family."
I looked down at the slumbering dragon. He had a little smile on his face as he dozed. "And it's not just Dad either. Pinkie Pie and Applejack talk about you all the time. You're like that cool grandma that we really wished we could meet before she..."
I shook my head. "I'm messing this all up. The point is, we want you here, and we know we don't know you personally yet, but... you're family and we want to."
She stared at me. Then her eyes brightened and she did the absolute last thing I expected. She pulled me into a hug. "How the heck did you fail at hospitality? You're amazing at it."
I blushed. "I'm not so good with schedules."
She grinned. "I am going to teach you sooo many organization techniques." She probably would have sat me down for a lesson right then, but a yawn cut her off. "... Tomorrow. Honestly right now I really need to hit the hay."
I could definitely understand that. I nodded. "Okay, just press that button over there if you need anything." I pointed to the intercom. "It's a line to the hive security desk and there's always someone down there... Well, usually more than one person. It's right next to the kitchen so all the night owls tend to hang out there."
She nodded back, smiling. "Thank you."
I shot her a salute. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then! Breakfast's at 8:00!"
That said, I buzzed out the window down into the hive.
I smiled. She may have a long way to go, but I sensed in a little bit our new family member would fit right in.
It was amazing how fast you got used to waking up in a giant changeling cuddle pile.
I had somehow ended up snuggling with Xax in front of me and Pinkie spooning from behind. I considered my situation.
The hive's main bedroom had plenty of clocks on its walls, so it was easy for me to tell that I'd woken up early. Even Xax was asleep and he was usually the changeling who took care of the place.
I looked down the row. Apparently the people who worked days had come back because there were a good sixty changelings scattered about, on the joined mattresses. Trying to extract myself would cause quite the domino affect so I'd need to carefully...
It was at this point I realized that I could teleport. And extracted myself instantly, replacing myself with one of the handy stuffed animals to keep the bed consistent.
I looked down at my grandchildren (and Pinkie Pie who was there for some reason) with a smile and let myself out into the hive proper.
The hive's construction was fascinating, with chitin walls dug into the stone. The place looked so different it was hard to believe it was the place we'd scaled to remove a dragon so long ago...
So, so long ago...
I shook myself, focusing on the task at hand. This world was going to take a lot of getting used to, but if I broke down every time I thought of my old life I wouldn't get anywhere.
Still, my friends...
Fortunately, all of that emotional angst got shelved by a certain biological urge.
I desperately needed to find a bathroom, but I didn't see anypony (anyling?) who could point it out.
The pressure was building. I needed to think fast. Breathe Twilight!
Logically, A lot of changelings would want to use the bathroom to brush their teeth and such before their day. That meant the bathroom had to be close by. There were three doors in the hallway just next to the bedroom. One had a list of weekly meetings for subgroups in the hive (apparently yoga and zebra martial arts were quite popular), a second door had a lock on it (clearly a private room or a janitor's closet) and the third had no lock and the faint hum of a fan in the background.
Satisfied with my deductive reasoning, I swung the third door wide open.
I was greeted by a changeling sitting on one of several toilets. She waved at me. "Hi Grand Matron!"
I slammed the door shut, blushing furiously. "OhmygoshI'msosorryI'mleaving!"
"What?" Came a voice from behind the door. "No! Don't leave. Come hang out! There's like nothing on early morning TV."
I glared at the door. "I'm not 'hanging out' while you're using the- Wait, you have a television in the bathroom?"
"Yeah, it's not a great one, but it helps pass the time, even if certain hive mates I could mention tend to hog the remote."
I felt my legs getting weak, and stumbled against a wall to support myself. "Wait, you're telling me, that not only is using the toilet considered a communal activity, but you pass around an undoubtedly disease ridden remote while you're doing your business?!"
"That's what the hoof sanitizer is for! And it's not like we can't just use... Hang on a second." There was a flushing sound followed by the sound of a sink. My grandchild, a traditional black changeling with green eyes, stepped out. "Look, I-"
I rushed past her, got to the bathroom and practically leaped on the first toilet I saw (of which there were six, none of which were in stalls).
Intercultural exchanges were important, but so were the demands of the equine excretory system.
My grandchild promptly walked in after me with a concerned look on her face.. "Grand Matron, are you-"
"GET OUT!!!" I shouted.
She held up her hooves, "Okay! Okay! Sheesh..."
That said, she finally left and I finally got to relax and take care of business.
After realizing this was going to be a more extended sitting, I spotted the infamous remote and used my magic to flick on the device... Which considering that all changelings had access to magic made it seem considerably less weird...
I shook myself. That still didn't make barging in on me right! I turned my attention to the TV. I had seen them in the human world before, and they were often entertaining, even enrapturing with their ability to put on live plays right in front of your eyes.
But... As I flicked through the channels all I found were weather reports and some long winded earth pony talking about beet gardening.
I turned it off. The room grew quiet. Really quiet. All I could hear was the hum of the fan...
#
A few minutes later, I found myself sitting behind the grand child I'd shouted at. She hadn't actually been that hard to find, she and the two security guards were the only creatures awake at this hour.
"H-hey..." I said, somewhat awkwardly.
She turned her head from the rec room TV. "Yes Grand Matron?" She asked. Her voice was stiff, formal.
I winced. "I'm... I just wanted to say I'm sorry about earlier. You were just trying to be nice and I guess there's still a lot about living in a hive I don't understand."
She let out a breath, "It's okay... I screwed up, you'd only ever used the bathrooms in the front before and those are pony style. Dad even told us there would be some stuff like this so I really shouldn't have expected you to-"
I held up a hoof. "It's okay... I'm sorry, what's your name?"
"It's Grell." she said.
I nodded. "Right, Grell...I'm in your house, not the other way around. I should learn what the rules are, as fast as I can."
She smiled, faintly. "I guess I get a really neat story for how I met my grandma one on one the first time, eh?"
I chuckled. "Let's try to avoid bringing that one up at the next reunion okay?"
My little, buggy grandchild nodded. "My lips are sealed... So, want to make fun of morning TV with me."
I smiled. "Sure!" I plopped myself next to her on the couch. She was watching that same show about the beets.
I groaned. "Seriously, why would you use a miracle of modern technology to talk about beets?"
Grell shrugged. "Earth ponies like their beets."
I frowned. "That's racist."
She raised an eyebrow. "Coming from the mare who freaks out at the sight of changeling customs...?"
I gulped. "Fair enough."
We watched the show in silence for a bit.
"It's yours too you know?" Grell said finally.
I blinked. "What?"
"Your house." She said. "It's your house too grandma."
Spike shrugged, turning a page in his book (which was absolutely not built for his size). "I just want you to take the hive out for movie night. The new Power Ponies movie is out and they wanted to check it out."
I tilted my head. "Um... Spike, most of the hive is filled with grown changelings, can't they just go to the movies themselves?"
Spike looked away. "Um... Of course, It's a bit of a tradition though. You know, the whole hive gets together, buys a pile of tickets and takes in a show... It's a bonding experience."
I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Spike, I can get the tradition part, but your hive is one of the most tight nit little community I've seen."
The dragon looked nervous for some reason. "Um... I mean-"
I put a hoof to my chin. "Plus it leaves you out! You know, you're too big to visit a conventional theater, but if the whole hive wanted to see something and you made a deal with the local theaters, all you'd need is a few white sheets for a screen and-"
"CELESTIA DANG IT TWILIGHT I NEED YOU TO TAKE THE KIDS OUT SO I CAN GET SOME!!!"
His voice literally pushed me back a few steps... But it was nowhere near as scary as what he'd just said. "W-what?" Several changelings were poking their heads out of nooks around his cave, looking concerned... Although I could have sworn one of them was snickering.
Spike blushed. "Um... Sorry I try not to turn up the volume like that. It's just... Well I'm really big and when Chell does her shape-shifting thing she gets big too so when we-"
I threw up my hooves. "I get it! You can stop. I'll take the hive out."
Spike looked down. "Uh... Great... Thanks..."
#
Don't get me wrong, it only took a day for me to realize that my grandma was awesome and I loved her a bunch, but she had a tendency to get really carried away...
Grandma gestured to her org chart. "Okay, so Jal you'll be in charge of Group A. Grell, you'll be in charge of group B and Xax has group C. The goal is a simple head count. Make sure everyone leaves and everyone comes back. I've reserved a room at the nearby Hayton Hotel in case anyone gets scared or needs to leave for some reason."
Grell Smirked. "But Grandma, why can't they just come back to the hive? I'm sure-"
"You are old enough to know that that is a terrible idea..." The purple alicorn blinked. "Unless it's not... Is this like the bathroom thing? Are intimate activities totally out in the open or something?"
You can't blush through chitin, but we sure tried. "Um... No. Didn't you see the locked door by the bedroom? There's a whole corridor past it with private rooms for... Ya know."
Thank Celestia Grandma was there to blush for us. "Great, so... Is there anything else I should worry about?"
Jal was on her in an instant. "Have you made check lists of everyone in each group for the team leaders?"
"Yes."
"Double checked our reservations with the theater?"
"Yes."
"Posted the 'Be Wary of Rock Slide' signs?"
"It still frightens me that we need those, but yes."
Jal nodded sat back. Still looking unsatisfied.
"Jal, is something wrong?" the alicorn asked.
She grunted. "I'm Hive President, something's always wrong." She sighed. "You're doing great though. Sorry I'm a bit snippy I guess I just need a cookie or something... Meet you all at five okay?"
That said, she hopped out of her seat and left the conference room. Grandmother looked more than a little worried.
Grell was less subtle. "Yeesh, what bug crawled up her butt?"
I winced, and turned to my grandmother. "Try not to take Jal too seriously okay? She's just a bit miffed because organizing the movie trip is usually her job."
Grandma tilted her head. "Really? Then why would Spike give it to-" Her eyes widened. "Oh no... It's a test."
Grell raised an eyebrow. "A what now?"
Grandma turned on her. "A test! Spike is my new magic teacher now and he's giving me a test to see if I can still handle major responsibilities... He's like some kind of giant, scaly, Princess Celestia!" She started breathing heavily.
After shaking off the image of Dad as an alicorn princess, I tried to calm down my ancient relative. "I seriously doubt that's a thing. He's probably just trying to establish you as a potential authority figure for the hive."
She twitched. "How is that less stressful?"
"Uh..." Okay, that had sounded a lot better in my head.
Grell slid over and put a hoof around Grandma's shoulder. "Chill out Purple Smart, it's movie night, not a sixteen concert tour. All ya gotta do is bring everyone to the movie theater, watch some stuff about super heroes and make sure the kids don't get too hyped up on candy, easy peasy!"
Grandmother smiled at Grell... Then did this weird thing where she held out her hoof and took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay... You're right. Things are gonna work out just fine!"
#
Of course, six hours later I was twitching uncontrollably with half my mane singed off in the theater manager's office.
My three team leaders were looking hang dog and Jal had a black eye. Hib, one of the hive's small children, was cradling his bleeding ear and sitting next to two very guilty little accomplices. Meanwhile an earth pony mare was curled up into a ball in the corner muttering about evil popcorn.
I cleared my, very sore throat. "Umm... I can explain?"
The manager, a middle aged unicorn stallion with an impressive mustache, sighed. "Well... I suppose we're all stuck in the theater until that mob dies down." He narrowed his eyes. "What exactly happened here?"
Everyone started speaking all at once and the theater manager held up his hoof. "Why don't we start with you?" He pointed to Hib.
The bleeding changeling nymph winced. "Well... You see we saw this poster for 'Naked Executioners II' and..."
