As the cave became brighter, Pulmonus slowly woke up. Not as quickly as she used to, not as quickly as she had trained herself to, but for some reason she just wasn't concerned at the moment. She felt...lethargic. The hive was quiet, as if-
Pulmonus' eyes snapped open, taking in her surroundings. It felt like a cave, but from the way a wall was moving and the trickle of concern, it was more likely to be a living being.
'The alicorn, the one that was working with that strange queen.'
Peaking out from her cave, she found it to be a combination of blanket and wing, the wall of her cave being the dark-haired stallion's side. With the cold that was seeping into the room even now, the heat radiating from the body she was beside had caused her to instinctively press against him, an odd experience even for one of her age.
'This is why I chose a tropical location for my hive,' she thought darkly. 'It's too bucking cold in some places.'
She had heard of such bonds in the past, of creatures forming bonds with changelings but to do so in such a short time? There was also a hint of something else below the surface. Love, in an intensity she'd never been so close to. Maybe she could-
"I wouldn't if I were you."
Pulmonus jumped, looking up to see the armored queen peering over the stallion's back at her.
"I intercepted love intended for Din and it hurt," Zelus explained with a sad smile. "I still want it of course but for a while I became...I got a little crazy. I couldn't think straight; I just wanted a little more love. Cadance said I was experiencing symptoms ponies usually associate with addiction. I have some processed emotions if you want them and you're welcome to what he offers, but don't touch that love."
"He is the source of your hive's love?"
The larger queen giggled, nuzzling the males neck as he slept.
"Not exclusively anymore. There are a few ponies that have accepted drones into their herds, even a griffon that became quite close to one of the hive's drones after the attack. It turns out they bond strongly with those who fight beside them and the tom, well let's just say the drone has been dropping off a bit of extra honey."
Pulmonus nodded, though she felt a bit of irritation.
"Part of me likes the idea of so much emotion being available, but part of me has worked too long to keep changelings in the shadows to truly want this. How many generations of sired drones have you raised, how many queens?"
"One clutch," the larger queen giggled. "Excluding Pandinus' mutant offspring with this male, which are developing as pony hatchlings do for some reason, they are the first sired drones of our hive. All the others are from the scattered hives. We also have a proto queen that was given to the Alicorn of Love as a form of torture. Amare and Cadance are both doing well, last I spoke to them. That hatchling will grow up being better fed than any of us ever were, and I find myself surprisingly okay with that."
"Zelus? Is Cimmerian awake?"
Pulmonus scowled, recognizing the voice but not quite being able to place it. Craning her neck over the wing, her eyes bulged as she spotted the source of the voice.
"Oh, you're awake. I thought Zelus was speaking to Cimmerian, I apologize if I'm interrupting," Celestia said with a courteous bow.
The older queen shook her head.
"Even the Dawn Bringer. I suppose I shouldn't feel so bad if even you have been brought low by this latest incident."
Celestia circled around to the other side of the bed, allowing her to speak directly to the weakened queen.
"I'm sorry, but I've not been made aware of your name. I'd heard that Zelus had managed to recover one of the queens, would that be you?"
"I am," Pulmonus answered with a smirk as she took in Celestia's diminished stature. "I remember you. You caused me quite a bit of trouble in the past. You may remember me though, Dawn Bringer. Though many have taken the title of Flesh Shaper, only one has been called the Flesh Sculptor."
Celestia's eyes widened.
"That queen? I thought you died...I think it was five hundred and thirty years ago by now. There was a large battle, two other queens were confirmed dead at each other's hooves with a third being caught in a large explosion. I thought that was the last of powerful changelings in Equestria."
"Rumor's of my death were greatly exaggerated, of course. As I'd planned. Those two were getting aggressive, not just to other queens but to all races. I had hoped to quietly remove both of them from power by having them kill each other off or at least weaken themselves enough to destroy them myself, but they became dangerous. Before I was able to react-"
"-They'd started an open battle on the surface over a pony village, Safe Passage," Celestia interrupted. "The townsponies were scattered, we found them fleeing the battle while we were...oh, you clever little bug."
"I do try. I'd heard your sister has recovered from her madness. No that's not right, the youngling here told me it is a similar creature to what has infected your pupil. Is she well?"
"Luna distracted the Nightmare while we fled. She is currently in Canterlot, I believe. Under the hoof of the Nightmare. As far as I can tell, she is one of a dwindling number that the Nightmare still has any control over. Even then, I don't know if that's literal or merely that Luna is in her possession."
Celestia smiled softly as her thoughts turned to her sister.
"She was recovering, or so I believe. I will be speaking to her at length this time. Last time we dismissed this, trying to put it behind us. Even if we wished to, I do not believe Cimmerian would allow it."
Pulmonus snorted.
"You're his elder. What power does he have over you?"
"For one, he's the only alicorn that's at full strength," the white alicorn said with a chuckle. "He also helped my niece and former student. I believe that alone would give me reason to at least entertain his silly delusions of self-importance."
The smaller queen rolled her eyes and moved off the bed, shivering slightly as she left the warmth of her makeshift cave. A clatter behind her made her jump and when she turned, she saw a strange runed bangle on the floor behind her.
"Take it," Zelus said, yawning widely. "I'm happy using Cimmerian as a heater for now. Just know that I'm going to need it when we leave. I'm certain that between the two of you, you can find an alternate solution for keeping warm."
Hesitantly latching the bangle over her foreleg and adjusting it to fit her properly, Pulmonus smiled brightly as the chill in the air disappeared.
"Oh that is a clever little widget. I should get one."
"I'm certain we can find an alternative in time. Come, It's been a long time since I've been able to enjoy a conversation with another mare who's older than the stones around us," Celestia jabbed, walking to the door.
The smaller queen gave a faint smile as she slowly followed the Dawn Bringer.
"Very well then. Let's talk, youngling."
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The dark alicorn dragged himself along the streets of Hightalon, following a griffon to meet up with Herrick. The other Talon commanders were apparently on their way as well, as was the griffon queen. If everything worked out as he'd hoped though, they'd be clear of the city well ahead of the griffon forces and on their way to Freeside by then. And hopefully Celestia and Pulmonus had found an alternative to using Zelus' bracer, because he was sick of tripping over the mare's hooves.
"It's not that bad," she giggled, her wings buzzing and tickling his own as they walked down the stone paths.
"Zelus, I've tripped over your hooves several times already. And in spite of your efforts, no, you can't get any closer to me."
"Well you won't let me carry you so this is the best I can do until I get that bracer back," she snarked, using her magic to pull his wing more tightly over her back. "If I don't do this I'll have to maintain a full burn of emotions and at this temperature that gets costly."
Grunting, both in acknowledgement of the problem and in irritation, Cimmerian followed the griffin into Hightalon's castle. The long halls were chilly compared to the Temple but Zelus was no longer trying to melt into his side. She still wasn't giving him back his wing, though. They followed their guide through several turns before coming into what looked like the war room, Herrick talking to Twilight and his sergeants about something. Seeing the pair walk in the door though, the griffin gestured to a seat.
"Good morning, a bit too cold for the changelings?" Herrick asked, earning a growl from Zelus as she proceeded to tuck herself into the alicorn's side once more.
"There's a reason we never had too much trouble with changelings up here, as well as why the Nightmare had to strike before winter settled in. Without a good source of heat or insulation it's not very comfortable up here for most races."
"I had to enchant a scarf Rarity made for me," Twilight said, adjusting the aforementioned article. "If you don't get the bracer back from Pulmonus I'd be happy to enchant something for you. It won't last as long as the enchantment on your bracer but it will keep you warm for a few days."
The alicorn pulled Zelus into his shoulder, causing her irritated grumbling to devolve into comfortable purrs.
"We'll talk about that afterwards. Are we clear to head to Freeside, Herrick?"
"I'll have the first wave of troops moving out in a bit to reclaim a few outposts, you can move with them if you'd like. I've got plenty of griffons that would be more than happy to deliver the news to their friends in that town, you could leave tomorrow morning at the latest. I'd either leave around noon or wait until tomorrow. There's a bunker that you can sleep in to keep out of the cold on the way and by leaving around noon you avoid the coldest parts of the day up here."
"I'm convinced," Zelus muttered, pressing even closer to Cimmerian's side.
Chuckling at the queen's discomfort in the cold weather, the griffon gestured to another griffon in the room.
"There's another outpost that was taken by the Nightmare's forces on the way that I have a few teams of griffons working on taking back. After the queens do their thing to see if the ponies here are either trustworthy or have any information that would be useful, I'd like you to stop there as well. There was at least one unicorn and three earth ponies there according to the last reports.
"Also, while the pegasi have been a lot more likely to escape from the changeling arrays, we have run into a few half-mad pegasi while running patrols. They aren't under the control of the arrays, but they're just as likely to attack you as a pony controlled by the arrays due to their paranoia."
Cimmerian winced.
"Is there any way to stop them before they hurt themselves or more likely, someone else?"
"Not that I've found. We don't have the troops to run down these ponies and with the weather as finicky as it is, pegasi have the advantage. I'm not going to use the few pegasus under my command to hunt down a few mad ponies, not when they're as likely to attack us as any enemy. Not only that but I've seen what a scared Pegasus can do. I'm not risking my troops, not just yet."
"I'll try to get going by lunch then. The sooner we reach those queens the faster this is over. I don't know what's going to happen with the minotaurs, but their secondary to the nightmare."
"If it's possible I'd actually suggest letting the minotaurs reach Canterlot first. They'll break the drone waves, and since you have a few flying spell casters you could damage the path going up to the city. Break a large enough section of the road and they'll need to either build a bridge or cross one or two at a time.
"I wish I had more for you, but the talons are going to be taking back our lands. If we focus too much on retaking Canterlot, we'll never secure our own lands."
"That's a load of shit," Cimmerian growled. "Who's going to attack? The dragons, who've never banded together long enough to even form a city, much less an army? Maybe the diamond dogs, who avoid this mountain range due to the low mineral count? With so few gems in these mountains they can't support themselves here, right? Maybe the changelings who, oh wait, they're all either allied with us or in Canterlot."
"The minotaurs are the only threat right now and they'd rather take a single mountain in a plain than try to take a mountain range from a ton of flying soldiers."
Taking a breath to calm himself, the alicorn sighed.
"Even if you say your doing it to avoid getting too chummy with Equestria, we're talking about the source of all these issues. Canterlot is the nexus, the source of the-"
"Were mercenaries, not soldiers!" Herrick shot back. "Were supposed to be in this for money. The fact that we're taking back the griffon kingdom, do you have any idea what that means to me and my brothers? It means that somewhere along the way the griffons were weak. We folded to a foreign power and were defeated by these, these husks!
"My forefathers wouldn't even look at me if they knew what had happened during my lifetime. It's an insult to everything our culture is supposed to be about. Fierce, unbound, strong.
Herrick slammed a claw on the table in frustration, shaking his head.
"Here I am though, working with an alicorn to depose another, or at least something that looks like an alicorn. Hightalon was taken, most of the griffon lands were taken, the queen...I haven't heard anything from her recently, only the princess. With how things have gone, she'd have to step down anyway. The shame of losing Hightalon would drive her, if not her family, from power. There will likely be some power-struggles between the clans, though nothing bloody so soon after a war. Things are just a mess..."
"You've also retaken Hightalon with a mercenary group, you're working to return griffon lands to the griffons, and you're helping to remove a threat to not just griffon lands but to the planet. I'm sorry for snapping at you, but this is a bad time for all of us. I was studying to be a guard. Not even a soldier in the military, a police officer, one who only patrolled his own country's streets," Cimmerian said, taking a calming breath. "We're all out of our element, Herrick. It's possible things will never return to how they were, but the faster we can normalize things, the faster the healing can begin. Once everything's safe and taken care of, I'm going to go hide in my room for about a month. Maybe more depending on how this goes."
"It's not just you and your soldiers that are uncomfortable," Zelus said as the two males took a moment to calm themselves. "Changelings will be known to every race after this. Many will think of those things the Nightmare used against them. It is unfair, but between Chrysalis and the Nightmare, that's twice that changelings have struck out at some of them. While Cadance knows us now, how do you think the Crystal ponies will react if she tries to return to her thrown with Amare attached to her side?
"There will be much fear and confusion in the coming days, or so Celestia has predicted. All we can do is to do what we can. Creatures will always demand more of us, but it is at that point that you ask them why they did not step forward."
"Some won't accept that line," the alicorn said with a wan smile. "People will want a scape goat after this, someone they can attach the blame to. Saying some alien brain parasite took control of Twilight Sparkle won't calm them, they'll turn to the nearest physical, palpable threat they can find. Griffons may target changelings and ponies, ponies will target changelings, dragons will hate alicorns, this mess could take years to clean up.
"Take care of your griffons and your princess, Herrick. I'll do my best to see this ended soon."
"I suppose that's all we can really ask," the old tom muttered, nodding. "I'll have that team ready in about an hour. After that, the two of you just need to keep going south-east and you'll reach Freeside. Best of luck to you."
"And you." Cimmerian offered as he stood up. It was time to get his bodyguards bracer back. She was guarding him a little too closely at the moment.
<-(0)->
"-think it was on fire with how quickly they dropped that tradition. Needless to say I was grateful for that one. A fertility goddess I am not and I did not appreciate the hundreds of ponies offering themselves to me in order to satisfy my ,ahem, desires."
Cimmerian and Zelus found the older mares going on about the olden times, likely times none other than golems and dragons remembered. Pulmonus was nodding along, giggling at memories he could only guess at before responding with a memory of her own.
"Didn't some turn to sacrifice? I seem to remember a few did that, most notably...Sunnyvale?"
The white alicorn winced at the name, her smile falling.
"That is a town I'd sooner forget about. And one of the few times I was thankful for a cultist visiting my castle. They were attempting to spread their influence as well. Foal sacrifices, to me! When I say I love foals, that doesn't mean I want them offered to me in barbaric rituals."
"You too?" Cimmerian asked. "They were dead certain I would want to eat kids when they set me loose, even had a few at the ready."
"They kidnapped foals?" Celestia asked in shock before her expression deadened. "Oh, yes I think I remember you mentioning that."
"They were cultists looking to bring about an apocalypse-level battle between alicorn's in the hopes we'd off each other. Besides, the kids have been well cared for since then. I think one of them had a father in the Equestrian Royal Guard, but we have to find out if he survived this situation."
Cimmerian's mood fell as he remembered the guards from the ship that he'd destroyed for the Temple's safety.
"I really hope he wasn't on one of those ships."
"There's no use worrying about it now, colt," the small queen at Celestia's side said with a hardened tone. "Best to make certain the hatchlings are safe before burning energy to find a parent that may or may not be there. You'd only harm yourself if you go looking and find the worst."
"And what would a changeling queen know of my emotions? Both queens I've spoken with have been fairly uneducated in emotional interactions."
"Well what do you expect when you're surrounded by little fillies?" The queen chuckled, looking over Zelus with a weighted gaze. "The mare beside you didn't have a hive while this youngster tells me your, mate was it? Pandinus molted into a full queen under your care. Both are young, like yourself. It's why you work well with them, I think. None of you have lived for even a generation. Your hearts have not been hardened, your minds still fresh, still mortal in your case."
"Don't look at me that way, colt" the queen cackled. "You have a distinct flare to your emotions, the taste of a mortal. The rush to complete your tasks, the desire to see your hatchlings grow, the desire to defend your mate and even the mare who's supposed to defend you, to defend others in general. You taste more like a griffon than an alicorn, but even then you're different."
"Each species has a distinct flavor, a distinct pattern of emotions that a queen can learn to use to identify them. I've sampled every race, even a few who are no longer present among us, stars guide those foolish birds, the Duodons," she trailed off, placing a hoof on her barrel. "None of them tasted like you, however. What were you?"
Celestia stomped her hooves in irritation.
"I was certain you were bragging."
"Bragging is well and good, Celestia, but sometimes a mare really is as good as she says."
At the confused expressions, Pulmonus explained.
"The Sun bet I couldn't guess your race. In spite of the hundreds of possibilities it brings up, guessing alien means a victory for me. You taste like no creature I've encountered in all my years, though you do seem a strange combination of thestral and griffon at first glance. The echo in your emotions doesn't help either."
"Echo?" the dark alicorn asked before brightening in realization. "Oh, like another set! Yea, the Nightmare left me with a mess of Luna's memories. They're sealed, though."
"You...how are you sane?" The queen muttered in shock.
"We never said he was," Zelus giggled, bursting into laughter a second later as the stallion glared at her. Unfazed, the armored mare sat on her haunches and wrapped her forelegs around his neck.
"How did I survive without this? Din, was right, ponies taste amazing when you tease them!"
The queen beside Celestia shook her head.
"No, I am actually concerned. Mind-spells are quite dangerous, especially on an unknown species. How did you end up with them?"
"As far as I can tell the first Nightmare, the one responsible for Nightmare Moon, used a spell to leave an imprint of Luna's memories while taking a stamp of my own," Cimmerian explained, concern ebbing into his voice. "I asked to have them removed actually, but they have saved my life and I haven't really had time to have them sorted properly. Is there a problem?"
"A mare's memories at that. Perhaps that is why you can distinguish between them. Have you fallen into them before? The memories, I mean."
He nodded.
"Once. I still can't remember what happened during that blackout, just waking up and wondering where my sister was."
"I've had memories imprinted on me before, Pulmonus. He's had them longer, but I didn't use half the safeguards he has," Celestia said as the changeling queen moved in front of the dark alicorn.
"You were likely already immortal, correct? And they were only a few memories from a pony. This is different and the fact that I have to tell you that is quite insulting. You are comparing placing a few drops of water in a lake to dropping half an ocean into one. I'm surprised he's not had more episodes," Pulmonus lectured, taking his muzzle in her hooves. "Think of your seal, hatchling. There, I see it. Now, is there anything else you can tell me about your situation?"
"I spent a long time in Luna's armor," Cimmerian said, looking at the small changeling in worry as she continued to look through him. "I managed to work out most of the knots in the memories before the cultists let me lose. Then I worked out a seal from the memories of magic, stopped me from referring to myself as the wrong gender for the most part. After I had Luna's help I haven't really had a break like the gnoll raid."
"The Everfree," Zelus offered, causing his eyes to widen. "He became emotionally distraught at the site of the castle even though he'd never been there and put on Luna's armor, though where he found it is impossible to guess."
"And your mental discipline from your old species?" The queen asked.
"Uh, if you're talking mental dives, none. I mean, I never really had access to magic before this world, so-"
Pulmonus' gaze focused on him before going to Celestia.
"He had no prior mental training. Did you at least warn him of the mental stress and damage that could arise from such things?"
As Cimmerian felt his heart skip a beat, the small queen looked to him in surprise before turning back to Celestia.
"He is a mortal in mind! Are you telling me you didn't give the colt a proper lecture on mind-magics?"
"We've been a little preoccupied, Pulmonus," Celestia defended.
"I was also asking for information I could use to defend the Temple," the stallion added. "It just wasn't a priority."
"Of course it wouldn't be a priority," Pulmonus said with a sneer. "Mares take care of their foals first, even to their detriment."
Stepping back from the wide-eyed stallion, she rounded on Celestia, ripping into her viciously.
"Every time. Every time I look into your activities you set ponies up for horrific damage. Your student almost killed herself and her friends several times, you're sister returned to you and you put her in the same position that drove her mad a thousand years before. This stallion ends up with a mind that looks to be half Mist Mountain cheese and half fruit salad and you not only let him use magic but you don't even have the common courtesy to tell him the dangers?"
The changeling looked back to him, taking a calming breath.
"It's nothing on you, colt. Knowing you had no formal education in magic, I can see why this would be missed. You said you made a seal for the memories using the memories, correct? Do you use them often?"
"Not as often anymore, but...what do you mean about there being dangers?"
"When a mind is damaged it seeks to repair itself. It can go about it several ways, but for the most part the mind will always try to put priority to those memories that most fit both your personality and your body. So what do you think happens when your body no longer fits your memories but those of Luna's?"
"What a mess. I can already see a few problems in there. Your mind is not some clean library like most immortals, it's a web. Just like griffons, diamond dogs, minotaurs and even most earth and Pegasus ponies."
"Memories like that are not something you can simply skip, especially if you use them," Pulmonus explained. "Considering you even used them to create the separation-"
"And to walk," Cimmerian added, slumping slightly. "I was bipedal. And I'm pretty sure using my wings for balance wasn't trial and error. I didn't have too much trouble with them until I tried flying."
"Because the muscle memory was for the wrong form," the old mare hazarded a guess. "It would allow for some basics, but I would assume you were still clumsy. Yes, this could be a problem in your future. Luna should be able to help, though. Mind magic and illusions were one of the things she was good at. If not, I suppose I could lend a hoof. I do not like owing others, colt, and have not let a single creature leave this world while I owed them. I actually pride myself on that."
"I'd also like to take a look at the drone you put the alicorn in, dear," Pulmonus said to Zelus. "I understand that it is a rush job, but if it turns into something more long-term, her current form could cause problems. The mind will attempt to settle and a drone just isn't capable of holding the kind of mind and magic-channeling that filly is capable of. It could prove a challenge, working out a form that would contain her essence properly."
"Is there anything you didn't tell her, Celestia?" Cimmerian asked, looking to the white mare in irritation.
The smaller alicorn giggled nervously at the attention.
"I was- it was the first time I really talked to anypony who was even half my age aside from my sister. I may have gotten a bit excited."
"Oh it's not like I'm going to go around draining ponies dry or attempting to take your mate's hive when I recover," Pulmonus said, waving away the concern. When the stallion continued to stare a hole in her head she gave him a fang-filled smirk. "Oh, I like you. Cautiously optimistic with a bit of emphasis on cautious. I think we'll get along well, colt."
<-(0)->
Cimmerian met with the griffons that were to be taking the outpost just after lunch, a team of seven griffons and three pegasus ponies. Being more magically inclined, the Pegasus ponies were sought by the Talons for missions that had weather that would ground a griffon. The three Pegasi would be leading the way, cutting through any weather traps left behind by fleeing guards and making sure he griffons reached their destination without burning out their wings on he way. The only issue he was running into was the lack of a certain drone.
Twilight was nowhere to be found in spite of a message being passed along that they would be leaving for Freeside after lunch. After searching for nearly five minutes and even pulling a few griffons to help in the search and the dark alicorn was getting ready to pull out his mane.
"Cimmerian, she's in the jail!"
The alicorn thundered down the path, worry spurring him onward. The jail was where the queen's had been. Considering the younger mare's current state and the fact she was directly involved in the subjugation of the queens he wasn't certain it was the safest place for her to be.
Carefully trotting down the stairs as quickly as he dared with Zelus buzzing down the stairs behind him, he found Twilight in tears before the remaining gore of the queens, Pulmonus standing before her and touching the drone's horn with her own.
"Zelus, can we break them up without-"
the question wasn't even out of his mouth before the armored queen was pulling the drone away, holding her protectively while Cimmerian stared down the queen.
"I'm waiting for your explanation."
Pulmonus stared at him for a second, as if weighing her options. Finally she shrugged.
"I wished to know the truth. I wanted to know how the situation progressed from her eyes. That was my body over there, and while I've been nearly killed several times and even had to rebuild myself in the past, changelings have never been in this situation before. I wanted to know if your reasons for allowing her to live were true. I didn't live this long trusting blindly, colt."
"And you had to do this in the room that had served as your prison?" he asked, watching for the slightest flicker of her magic.
The queen actually smirked.
"An emotionally rattled pony is much more willing to submit to such a request."
Cimmerian continued to stare down the queen, waiting for anything else before shaking his head. It was dirty, but after being nearly killed by the actions of the pony Zelus was holding, he couldn't dismiss her anger.
"Did you tamper with her head? Aside from the emotional manipulation."
"No, just looked over her experiences for the last few decades. A bit of a tale, actually. I wasn't certain if I should have believed in this Nightmare creature you keep blaming but I could actually see its effects on her, heard its words to her. They are remarkably devious, but only when it comes to the target it seems. They seem almost incapable of planning for anything else and leave that to their host."
Pulmonus nodded, adjusting a small bangle on her left foreleg, a golden glow of magic keeping her warm.
"I was enjoying my vacation when she did this. I still have almost three decades if I remember correctly. I intend to use that time and I wont count my recovery. Perhaps a bit of a tour of the world is in order. I've heard there's a lovely fountain near Zarris these days, one that any changeling would be a fool not to see. May even be able to visit some places without a cover or disguise with the way things are going."
"I'll be returning soon, Pulmonus, as soon as I can manage in fact," Cimmerian growled. "If I hear of you doing anything even remotely-"
"I already said I owed you, colt. Until I pay back your little rescue, you and your mate's hive is safe from my plans," the diminutive mare dismissed with a wave of her hoof. "Even then, I have to say it would be nice to have a trade agreement with another queen who is content. They're very rare, you know. Queen's that are more interested in other things than subjugating ponies and other queens. I grew out of it about seven hundred years ago, but sadly my fellow queens tend to off each other before they even come close to my age."
"How old are you, anyway?" he asked.
"I could have sworn there was an old unicorn warning about asking a mare's age, but it doesn't matter because I don't remember. I've been around longer than Equestria, though. That's for certain," the shape shifter answered with a shrug.
"Is that because of your ability to," he circled his hoof, looking for the word "rebuild yourself, or are queens just able to live that long?"
"Well it is partly becau-" she cut herself off, her eyes widening and a smile blooming on her face. "Oh that's adorable! You fear for your mate, that she will not live as long as you!"
Cimmerian bristled but Pulmonus raised her forelegs in a placating gesture.
"As long as a queen is well-fed she should be fine dear. In fact, if she has the time and looks into it, she may be able to become a flesh shaper like myself. A queen that's starved for love and constantly under attack can survive for almost ten years on nothing but scraps, and that's experience speaking. I went through that when I first left my mother's hive and tried starting my own hive in a bad location. So ten years worst case and your dear Pandinus is living in much better conditions. I don't see why she wouldn't outlive even Celestia, so long as you do."
Cimmerian nodded.
"Thanks, Pulmonus. As long as you keep civil, I wouldn't mind you visiting the Temple. Start harassing Din or the people there, though-"
"Oh you are just too cute, colt," the queen giggled. "I promise to be good. I'm curious to see what this will mean to changelings in the long run anyway. Perhaps I'll finally be able to open a coffee shop or something like that? It would be interesting being able to do something like that without a cover name. I've been a queen, a mother, a warrior, a mage, an assassin, an alchemist, even a whorse but I've never owned my own business..."
Leaving the ancient queen to day dream, Cimmerian gestured for Zelus to lead the way. After only a slight additional delay of finding the griffons that they would be leaving with and finding their packs, they took flight for Freeside.
"Only a little longer, Twilight," Cimmerian called to the drone who was currently latched onto the back of the armored queen's neck. "A little longer and we can focus on making sure everyone's okay. Then? We find a way to make sure these damn things never reach this world again."
The drone nodded back at him, a flash of determination filling her eyes. She would still need to be watched, but for now there shouldn't be any threat of self-harm. The mare would be facing enough hardship as it was.