Pinkie had a general long-term idea how she should deal with situation of her subjects.
It was rather simple; start negotiations with Equestria and learn lings how to live between ponies.
Of course, there were few questions which needed to be answered first.
How should she approach the Princesses? Alone, with Chrysalis or maybe with a small escort? If and when she should uncover her real self to her friends and Ponyvillians? What will happen about her current life? Could she go back to living as a simple baker in Ponyville or would she be needed back home?
She wished she could return to her life, she loved Equestria, and she was quite often needed here too. All this harmony stuff depended on her and her friends.
She knew she should focus on short-term problems, like organizing food for local camp. She should figure out some method to feed other camps too. Long range transfer was ruled out option by Chrysalis; she stated that too much Love would be lost in transit at such range and it would probably leave a visible magic trace. Short range was impossible due to royal guards actively searching for lings.
At least some treatment to wounded was arranged.
Chrysalis hadn’t brought too many skilled medics with her and even if there were any in the camp, they couldn't do a thing without supplies. Fluttershy, even if she wasn't skilled in ling anatomy, was willing to help and had basic supplies. It wasn't near enough, but it was start. Pinkie was now wondering should introduce lings to Fluttershy and vice versa. Poor dear, she will probably die from fear in this dark, cramped dungeons, to not even mention her fear of changelings. There was a way to avoid it but it was dangerous and harmful for wounded; it was to transport them to Fluttershy’s cottage after sunset. Still, it was interchanging one risk with another. What if someone spot them or their state worsen because of trip? Pinkie had to take it all into account.
She decided to spend her break from work to walk around Ponyville and sense some strong emotion sources. One of the strongest sources were Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn't so surprising; Apple Clan really loved their farm and it was radiating from fruits of their labor. Their apples were an option worth considering but Pinkie knew she couldn't just waltz there and bought all of their apples.
It wasn't that she didn't have enough money. She knew she had enough bits to buy at least few carts of apples as she almost never used money Cakes gave her. It wasn't so surprising after taking into account that she didn't had to buy any food for herself, to rent room (Cakes gave her room; they treated her as a daughter) or to use any medicine. All her money was going straight to bank, and she was very rarely taking withdrawals. After few years it should be small fortune but it will arise suspicions about her and it was something she wanted to avoid.
She decided she should investigate if there is a way to use that money without her name attached to it.
Other good source was Carousel Boutique. Rarity loved her creations, ponies who bought from her dresses loved them too and almost everypony appreciated Rarity's hoofwork. Unfortunately there was a one tricky question: how to eat Love to a dress? Or Love that was already in a dress? Eating them like apples or any Love-filled treat would be silly and wouldn't work. Pinkie had idea but she needed a consultation with Twilight for that. Unfortunately, such questions could make her friend suspicious. "Hiya Twilight! I was wondering if a smart pony like you could create a gem able to absorb emotions around them! Oh, why I'm asking? Oops...". Basically, Pinkie was trying to recreate Love gems. Love gems existed on Swarm territory and were good sources of love but now all of them were empty of stored emotions and mines were extracted. Maybe there was a method to recreate them but how to gather such information without arousing suspicions? History books stated that ling of past were able to do such artifacts, unfortunately this knowledge was lost in fires of war.
Another source could be Zecora as she could brew love potions. For ponies it was a will-breaking mind-fogging potion, for lings - a tasty liquid meal. Unfortunately, Zecora was convinced that a love potion is foul, evil and anypony with sound mind won't even think about using it. "Hey Z, I have over one hundred hungry mouths to feed, could you make me some love potions?" Pinkie cursed that she didn't learned characteristic traits of decorations of zebra tribes, she could use that knowledge to decide if Zecora was from one of zebras which still traded with The Swarm. If not, then Zecora will be extra threat, as she can know special ways to spot changelings.
Other than that Pinkie couldn't think of any other fast sources without introducing other lings to Ponyville. It would make her job easier but most of them had sightliest idea of living as a pony. It made it an another risky solution and most of avabile lings weren't able to carry enough food to make a big difference; there was not enough Gatherers. She could of course install more lings in Ponyville but introducing almost half of hundred new ponies to Ponyville in such short time... If it wasn't something to raise questions, then she could blew her cover in middle of Ponyville with specially crafted number for such occasion.
There was one ling who could make a huge difference: Chrysalis. Chrysalis, being Queen, had a higher Love capacity than even Gatherers. She could put it in good use but only if her condition and attitude toward ponies improved first.
Pinkie wasn't entirely sure what talents Chrysalis possessed to raise interest and positive feelings toward her.
Well, she was bookworm as youngling. She used to read all history books, all legends, all plays she could get. To some extent she was like Twilight but when Twilight was into knowledge, Chrysalis was into stories of past. She loved to place her dreams in times of former glory of The Swarm when war was something distant, famine was unthinkable, and all lings worked as one. Fortunately Chrysalis wasn't reading only books written by changelings. She liked zebra's legends and fables, old stories of ponies, and even to some extent a griffin mythology. She loved to relate what she was reading and she even used used magic to cast some illusions to show how she imagined some scenes from a story. Sometimes she was even telling half of it by illusions, and changes into characters from the book.
It sounded like a good talent for unicorn. There was still problem with decent backstory and demandor, or it could end like Trixie. Great And Powerful, Alone And Arrogant, Bragging And Wandering. Pinkie felt bad for her. Trixie didn't know how much she is missing. What's use of being Great And Powerful, if you don't have friends?
It was something to talk about with Chrysalis. Pinkie was considering when she could catch Chrysalis when she suddenly realized that she was connected into mind-link.
She didn't used it for years so she wasn't sure how to create connection. For everyling else it was natural. They grew up with it. It was like breathing, and everyone knew how to breath. Thinking how to do it wouldn't make it possible. Idea struck Pinkie. Think, behave like you were talking to other pony but not with mouth, just like they could hear thoughts inside your head. No more complications.
"Chrys?" She thought about her, wishing to make connection.
"Yes, Morpha? That's you? Your signal is very weak." Chrysalis took connection. It was weird feeling, like part of your mind was extending somewhere, to make a some kind of bridge between two minds. Pinkie could sense her sister as she was in front of her. Not like that she saw Chrysalis with her eyes or with some kind of illusion. It was much better. She could feel how her older sister was feeling, not like in talking face to face when she could only guess how Chrysalis was feeling, basing on her body language or tone of voice. It was like having projection of inner self. Pinkie somehow felt that with other changeling there would be more boundaries between two minds, less insight in mind of other, a less transmit of emotions.
They were sisters so such open connection was to be excepted. Their mother said them they should have as less secrets and lies between them as possible. She said then:
"Look at the moon and the sun my dears. Both of them traverse through sky, encircling our world, chasing each other, dancing. Thanks to the sun we have day, light and life. Thanks to the moon we have time to sleep, restore strength, dream, and some believe that the moon is somehow connected to water. Have you ever imagined what would happen if the moon clashed with the sun, if their dance broke? All harmony of the day and the night would be destroyed, and every being of this world would suffer. Chrysalis, Metamorphosis. You are like the moon and the sun to this lands. You need to rule as one, as sisters and you can't let anything broke it. Can you promise me that?" How it ended everyling knew.
"Yes, it's me. I was out of practice as you know." She laughed a bit.
"I know..." Chrysalis acknowledged in small voice and shame.
"Listen, Chrys, do you still remember stories you read? I mean, when you was reading through every book in Central Library like some crazy bookworm."
"Many of them. Why are you asking?"
"And do you still remember how to cast this super-cool illusions what you used to show scenes?"
"Maybe... I wasn't practicing it in years, you know..." Chrysalis answered with doubt. "My question still stands: why are you asking?"
"Weeell, I found way to use you for helping our subjects." Pinkie let a slightest bit of mischief enter her voice.
"Oh, how? Telling them fables?" Changeling Queen used sarcasm, but it was only half-hearted. Deep inside she was a bit of curious.
"Close, but you mistook who." Slyly answered Pinkie.
"No, you don't want me to..." Chrysalis was reluctant.
"Yes, I do. You kind of promised me that."
"But... I'll screw it."
"Nah, if you only let your Auntie Pinkie take care of it."
Chrysalis silenced, shocked by Pinkie's nonsense.
"Sis, I'm at least a two years older than you. And I'm your sister, remember?"
"Duh, I know! You were always so older sister." Pinkie laughed for a while. She heard a small chuckle on Chrysalis side and felt small positive feedback.
"Listen Chrys. Your lings need food and I need your help." She continued seriously. "I can gather great amounts of food for them, but I have limits too. If you join me, we could at least double this limit."
"I know, but..." Pinkie felt fear from older sister.
"Listen, I know you are scared. I'll be by your side, okay? I'll help you. But I need your help. Our lings need us." Pinkie wondered if Celestia and Luna had similar talks in past. She felt weird talking this way, like it was out of her league but some part of her mind was arguing it was right.
Silence was her only answer. Pinkie considered if Chrysalis broke connection.
"Sis... I'll do it. For our kind. And... If something goes awry, that was your idea."
"Yeah, like when we were younglings." Pinkie answered with smile in her voice.
"It was good times..."
"It was..."
Both sister felt nostalgic, reminding how much fun they had together, into how many adventures they fell...
"Ugh, I don't want to read it. It's boring!"
"I know, right? I would rather read anything else, even our mom books, than... this."
"Uh-huh... Everything is better than this, Chrys."
"Hey, Morphie, I have idea!"
"Yeah? We will displace it again? I have a few ideas..."
"We are not 'borrowing' catapult!"
"It's good idea! And it's belongs to our mother so it's ours too!"
"No! We will run from palace!"
"I don't know..."
"We will raid library and bakery on the way."
"I'm in!"
"Operation Raid-Run is a go then!"
"Girls... I'm not sure what I should feel, so I'm just going to ask: Why?"
"...governess lesson was boring."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but... You sneaked out of room, found good enough explanation for guards to let you leave your chambers, took few books from library and used knowledge from book to disguise yourself as other lings then you raided a palace bakery where you got into fight with kitchen staff, in which you were outnumbered 2 to 5, somehow managed to pull out from bakery to only get chased by guards and then you launched yourselves from catapult to escape chase and escape palace, only because you were bored?"
"Well... yes?"
"..."
"MOM, are you alright...?!"
"I facehoofed too hard..."
--
"How I miss her..." Chrysalis broke silence with sad statement.
"Me too..."
Silence yet again guested between sisters. It lived, fueling their nostalgic feeling by drowning them into memories, at least until Chrysalis spoke.
"Okay, is there anything more you want me to say?"
"Yes, I probably found some kind of medic to help lings."
"Who? One of your friends?"
"Fluttershy. Another Element Of Harmony."
"This coward one?" Older Queen asked with uncertainty.
"She's not a coward. She talked down a angry dragon once. And there was situation with cockatrice when she was turning to stone, but still she won."
"You are kidding, do tell you are." Said Chrysalis with disbelief.
"No. She's typical with-back-against-wall-I-m-going-berserk." Pinkie honestly confirmed.
"Okay... But I'm not sure how our subjects will react to this." Replied older sister with tone of voice suggesting that she doesn't know how to react to this.
"I know, I know. And I don't know how to met her with wounded."
"She's afraid of us?"
"Kind of. She's afraid of almost everything, even sometimes her shadow. We could send wounded to her place, It is out of borders of Ponyville."
"It is dangerous."
"I know, but do you have better ideas?"
"Could you, I don't know, convince her?"
"I don't want force her. She's my friend."
"Does she know what you really are?" Chrysalis suddenly remembered what wasn't fitting in it.
"Yes. She didn't run, she didn't scream. Weeell, she panicked a bit when I smiled..."
"I understand... If she won't turn you up, It will be a miracle." Sighed Chrysalis.
"She won't. I trust her. She's my friend."
"Well, if you say so. Maybe she's really you friend. We'll see. I have news from other camps and our captured. I wasn't able to get much, connection broke every few seconds... anyway, here you are. Other camps somehow cope with situation, and when I say they cope, that means they are rather successful in minimizing losses. Only around twenty lings died in last few days from hunger and wounds. I know it sounds bleak but I have better news." Chrysalis added when she felt Pinkie sadness. It should lift her up a bit. "Our captured will start talking, as you ordered. Fortunately, it seems that some of our subjects were talking with ponies even before you order. I don't feel fine with that they broke orders, but it seems you were right, as you predicted, most of ponies started to understand that we don't have hivemind and we are not simple bugs. According to words of one prisoners in Canterlot, Princess Luna is thinking about stating that every captured ling is prisoner of war and by that they should be provided with health care and food. I still don't believe that, but maybe you are right..."
"It's great news! Tell them to keep talking. About everything they want. We have to look for them like similar beings. It's our only chance to win their hearts before you and me start talking with them.." If Princess Luna admits that captured lings have rights like normal prisoner it would simplify many problems, especially feeding so much lings. She could order the lings in worst condition to found ponies and surrender to them.
It was giving some hopes. If they win a mind of one Princess, negotiating with second will be easier.
"I'll pass it to them. We'll see what future brings."
"Okay, Chrys, I need to go back to work. I'm not skilled enough to talk with you and customers at same time."
"I get it. Then... We'll meet tonight?" Chrysalis asked hopefully.
"Yes, and I'll try to talk with Fluttershy about bringing her tonight."
"Good. Bye, dear sister."
"Bye."
Pinkie walked back into Sugarcube Corner. Break was over and customers were already awaiting. It seemed that it will be a hard day as customers were already impatient and she had to bake sold treats to restock shop, then clean kitchen after baking...
Yet, it couldn't take a big grin from her face. It was only one reason for that.
Future was looking brighter now than yesterday.