A few of the media began chuckling after the CNN Reporter gave their outburst of enthusiasm. Agents then called for calm and order, and for 'everyone to get back to their seats'. Why did they always call themselves 'ones'; why not everyhuman? An Agent raised a hand to their ear, soon followed by other Agents in the room doing the same.
"Queen Blue Sun, there has been a development outside." An Agent reported, "Westboro Baptist Church is causing their usual fuss but a new group has arrived... armed with semi-automatic weapons and machetes. Contacts with the local police identify them as a collection of civilians that have individually voiced concerns about your presence in this hospital before. This conference will have to be cut short in order to ensure your safety."
"Could I speak with them?" I asked the Agent, catching them off guard as their head spun around with a look of absolute confusion.
"N-- uh... well, we can't technically order you to seek safety, but we can't guarantee your security if you confront them, Queen Blue Sun. I strongly advise against it. The local police and our security detail should be able to deal with the situation." The Agent replied nervously, seriously hoping that I wouldn't endanger myself.
"Maybe they just want to talk?" I suggested hopefully. The media in the room had become nervous as our conversation was being loudly broadcast to them via the microphone stand. A few were speaking with their 'camera men' about getting 'a good shot' for the situation outside.
"They haven't made any contact with us so far. They've only just arrived in vehicles and blocked the roadways outside. Again, I strongly urge that you seek shelter."
"The Humans that I have met have been nothing but helpful and kind to me so far; why should these new ones be any different?" I reasoned, moving away from the podium and still in my natural form. If anything were to happen, I wouldn't want to be struck in a fleshy body.
"Queen Blue Sun, is it true that you are going to confront the mob outside?" A reporter asked, a microphone close to my mouth.
"I just want to meet them, I'm not going to confront them." I explained, before being ambushed by another reporter.
"What methods are you going to employ to deal with the current threat?" Another microphone to my mouth. The group of media were beginning to block my path at this point with their questions.
"Words? Don't words usually work when you meet some'one'?" I replied, slightly annoyed that I had been forced to stop.
"Do you have criminals on your homeworld? If so, how do you deal with them?" One asked.
"We do not have criminals," I replied honestly to the surprise of the humans nearby. "Any changeling that looks out for themself above the good of the hive is... eh..." Uh oh. I couldn't really tell them they were reclaimed, could I? "We don't have criminals." I said with finality, hoping to avoid the question.
"Earlier you said that there were other species on your planet. How would you describe these other species? Do they have criminals? If so, how are they dealt with?" Another reporter asked in a barrage of questioning.
"Eh..." I stammered, as more and more questions started piling on. Excitement, fascination and a general rush of emotion were starting to overwhelm me from the close proximity as well as from being surrounded. Agents were shoving and pulling humans away from me as they tried to barrel past the crowd to protect me; Rough, Soft and Timid looking with worry from the podium.
"If you are a Queen, where are your people?"
"Why have you come to Earth?"
"Do you plan to harvest Earth for its natural resources?"
"What do you say to the allegations that your presence here is actually a ploy to distract the world from an invasion?"
Question after question, shoving and pushing from the media trying to get their microphone closest to my face. They were like a swarm of starving nymphs all trying to feast on love from a caretaker that had been late in arriving to the nursery. Their emotions were so powerful that I was beginning to become overwhelmed by the energy of this mob and the Agents were taking far too long to reach me. Any reporters that were pulled off would soon take up a position around me again, a circle of cameras, humans and microphones all pointed at me and awaiting what I would say next. I could feel a swelling inside of my chest again, a crack of pain from the emotional overload. I sincerely hoped that it didn't mean that I was going to go into a cocoon again, or that I was being injured from the excitement.
Regardless of what was happening, things were getting out of control fast. I had to act, and the only way I knew how to deal with the situation right now was... invasive. Hopefully they would back away from me if I simply lit my horn with magic?
"Enough!" I bellowed as loud as I could, the lights in the room flickering out as my magic flared to life and began scorching the ceiling above me. A blue-teal glow lit the room as the reporters backed away, more than one of them tripping over a steel folding chair. I stayed silent, looking at each of them as a massive wave of fear and dread crashed into me from all sides. I had to close my eyes to regain focus, as the emotions had caused me to sway on my hooves and my vision to blur. Why where their emotions so powerful? It would take all of Equestria to equal this much emotional energy, and this was a room of barely sixty!
"I... I need space." I said in a softer tone, my magic snuffing out. The lights came back on as my magic went away, and the Agents of the room quickly set about rushing the reporters away from me, along with their camera men. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself as Agent K and my... 'friends' arrived.
"Blue, are you okay?" Soft asked with great concern, their arms going around my neck in a hug. They were surprisingly warm against my chitin plated carapace.
"Those reporters practically jumped you the second you left that podium. What where you thinking; confronting a mob!? You could've gotten hurt!" Rough scolded.
"I think those reporters might have saved you from something even worse happening, actually." Timid pointed out. "What would you have done if that mob outside wanted to hurt you?"
That thought hadn't even crossed my mind... "Why would they? Every human I've seen has been nothing but kind, considerate and welcoming to me. Even the reporters didn't mind when I showed them my natural form. Yes, they were excited when I came down from the podium but... there was nothing malicious from them. They were simply curious."
"Queen Blue Sun, have you been harmed or injured?" Agent K asked formally.
"N-no Agent K, I'm fine." I replied, still somewhat shaken from the emotional overload. I looked to Soft whom was still clinging to my chest. "Soft..." I asked, "What is a friend?"
Soft looked at me in confusion. "What?" they blurted, "You don't know what a friend is?"
I shook my head carefully, so that my fangs wouldn't poke them. "No. Changelings do not have 'friends'."
Rough patted my side with the flat of their hand. "Hey, you've gone at least three of 'em now, whether you knew it or not." They said with a smile.
"Are you still going to talk with the mob outside?" Timid asked, nervous. "I really don't think it's a good idea."
Agent K stepped in as well to add to the conversation. "Confronting the mob outside is a terrible idea, Queen Blue Sun. Speaking with knowledge of humanity... there are some small portions of the population that refuse to follow the laws and morals that the rest of us have agreed upon. They in no way represent the vast majority of humanity, and I urge you to avoid them if at all possible."
My face scrunched up a bit at this in thought. I chose to think out loud. "Well, that may be true but... Earth is changing now, isn't it?"
"What do you mean, Blue?" Rough asked.
"Well, humans have only ever known about humans, yes? Now at least one changeling is on this Earth, so perhaps they've come to me specifically?" I reasoned, my own thoughts gaining hopeful momentum. "It doesn't make sense that a mob would show up suddenly, well armed from what I'm told, and just patiently wait outside of this hospital. They must want something, right?"
"Yeah, they probably want to use you as a punching bag." Rough grumbled, anger flaring towards the mob outside.
"If that is the worst they can come up with, then I'm not very concerned." I replied, nonplussed. "Agent K," I asked formally, "I would like to speak with whomever calls themself the leader of the mob outside."
Agent K's mouth scrunched up with indecision and worry. "I... can't do that, Queen Blue Sun. My orders strictly prevent me from placing you in harms way."
"I want to meet these humans outside, Agent K. I want to understand what has caused them to riot against their hive-- er, their... people. There must be a reason for this. Only the most desperate of ponies in Equestria would resort to crime, and in other places it is heavily punished. If nothing good can come from their being here and they aren't able to meet me, if that is the reason they came here, then what actions do you think they will take?" I asked with as much calm as I could muster. As I had continued to speak, the four humans in the room became more and more worried, anxious and upset with me.
"Nothing good." Agent K replied vaguely.
"Let me explain my reasoning for wanting to speak with them, Agent K." I asked softly. "These humans outside, these criminals as the media calls them... They weren't like that from birth, were they? Something must have happened to them for them to despise their hi-- er... I'm just going to call this country your hive. It's too far ingrained a behavior." I waved a hoof in dismissal, having gone on a tangent. "Anyway, the point I was trying to make... Oh, right; these humans outside, they might be like I was when I came to Earth. Alone, starving, looking for anything that might help them get out of their peril. When I arrived here I was beaten, injured and starving. I was separated from my hive and completely lost. Without Soft, Rough and eventually Timid offering their help to me, I would be long dead by now on the side of a road. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if these humans are alienated to your own hive so fully, then perhaps they're trying to turn to an alien for guidance?"
Agent K shook his head. "Blue, I'm going to be a hundred percent candid with you. You're being a damn fool right now. I am not letting you go out those doors to face a firing squad of deranged lunatics with fire-arms because you think they might want to 'chat'."
"Alright, alright," I conceded, causing Agent K to relax a bit. "What If I just spoke with their leader on neutral ground?"
"Queen Blue Sun, I cannot allow that under any situation. Your life is far too important to the entire planet for you to go meeting up with a bunch of scared people with weapons because you have a hunch." They affirmed sternly while crossing their arms.
A smirk spread on my face. "I thought you said you couldn't prevent me from doing anything, Agent K?"
Agent K's face paled as they looked to me with their sunglasses drooping a bit, revealing their eyes. "Blue... you're forcing my hand here. I cannot allow you to be harmed.
"Do your own Agents have weapons?" I asked, moving a bit closer. "Enough to cause a stalemate?"
Agent K blinked at me, shaking their head. "Blue, seriously. You're putting lives in danger."
"I can sense their emotions, Agent K. They won't be able to surprise me. You saw how I handled the reporters, and that was just a bluff. If I am going to become a part of your Earth, then I will need to make a positive impact, yes? If I can convince this mob to... Join my hive, for example, then that will be good, right?" I explained cautiously.
"You can't be serious..." Timid skeptically interrupted. "What do you think an angry mob is going to do once they're alone with you, sing kum-bai-ya?"
"I don't know that song." I replied. All four humans covered their face with their hands.
"Blue, we know humans way better than you do. All of us can say without a second thought that this is a terrible idea." Rough sternly warned.
"But you've all dealt with mobs as best as you were able to, without magic, without... a different option available. If I can have this mob join my hive, then that would present an option for any other humans that have no other choice, wouldn't it? If these humans exist separate from the main hive, struggling to survive, then why can't I adopt them into my own hive?" I asked the group.
"How are you gonna feed 'em, clothe 'em and take care of them in general?" Rough asked grumpily. "You can't just pick 'em off the street and make everything right in the world.
"I could... put them in a chrysalis?" I offered uncertainly, not really having thought of that. "I know, I know, its very strange but... if anything goes into a chrysalis its practically immortal until its removed. Nothing happens to a creature placed into a chrysalis aside from dreaming, unless a changeling is involved or the chrysalis is broken."
Their jaws were open. That wasn't a good sign.
"You want to what!?" Soft yelled.
"Stasis?" I confirmed meekly. My ears folded down from the confusion being hurled my way.
"What the hell good would putting them in a chrysalis do?" Rough asked heatedly. They then glanced at Soft. "Don't you even call me on that."
Soft folded their arms and instead chose to look at me questioningly.
"There has to be something I can do for them, right? I am a Queen now! I should be able to look after any of my hive, even if they're... not changelings." I was becoming desperate to find some way to convince my friends that this was a good idea, but time and again they were proving to me that it wasn't. "I just want to help in some way, after all that you've done for me..."
"Blue, you need to take care of yourself before you can help the whole world..." Soft replied with quiet confidence, hugging me again. "You can't do any good for anyone living out of our basement," They added with a chuckle.
"Wait. You've had an alien queen living in your basement?" Agent K asked with incredulity.
"More like my room but... we were handling it." Soft sassed with a smile.
Agent K adjusted their sunglasses and addressed me. "Queen Blue Sun, I have two questions if you don't mind my asking."
My ears perked in interest. "Go ahead, Agent K."
"Do you have a permanent place of residence, and do you still insist on meeting the mob outside?" They asked formally.
"Ah, no... and no. When I was being taken the hospital I had been exploring Titan One in order to..." I looked to Timid, Soft and Rough for their advice.
"A changeling Queen needs a hive, Agent K." Timid explained succinctly. "Got anyplace Blue could live?"
A thin smile spread across Agent K's face. "I have a place in mind." They replied with cryptic humor. "We're going to need a helicopter."