Both Twilight and Starlight had several questions.
Questions about what they were seeing, what—and who—they were going to see, and just what kind of training and study warranted such a mind boggling feat of magic.
They very badly wanted to ask Aeon all of these questions and more, but were also smart enough to learn the first time that Aeon didn't particularly take well to being bombarded with questions. So they waited in the hopes that the mysteriously powerful mare would explain herself.
And explain she did.
"I realize you both have a lot of questions... most of them I'm not going to answer."
Or not.
The two fillies grimaced but didn't speak out for fear of verbal retribution. They were quickly beginning to realize just what Burning Comet had meant when he said the mare could be difficult. Still, their ears perked up as the cobalt mare spoke again.
"What I will tell you—or rather warn you about," Aeon continued, "is that while these creatures and I have gained a mutual understanding and respect for each other, neither of you have had that luxury."
Her expression turned grave.
"I'm sure this goes without saying, but don't get on their bad side," her eyes narrowed slightly, "they can be real tyrants when they're crossed, and they won't hesitate to take their wrath out on a couple of mouthy foals, got it?"
The two nodded and swallowed nervously.
"Good," Aeon replied with a bright smile and a satisfied nod of her own, "we're just meeting them all for now, and I'll be with you both, so you don't need to worry too much about it right now, just remember to do what they tell you once the time comes and you should both be fine."
That at least, eased their worries a bit—though it spiked back up slightly as they watched Aeon make her way over to one of the shining doorways. She kept talking even as she moved towards the doorway.
"The first teacher you're going to meet is a... close personal friend of mine," Aeon said with a small, nearly imperceptible, smirk, "getting her to cooperate was a bit of a challenge. She doesn't really like to reveal the... ah... tricks of her trade to those not of her brood, but when I told her about the two of you, she was willing to make an exception."
"...Did she say brood?" Starlight whispered to Twilight, "I didn't mishear that did I?"
"No, she said brood," Twilight whispered back anxiously, "I don't have a good feeling about this, Starlight."
"Enough complaining," Aeon interjected, motioning for the two to come forward, "I don't have all day to do this, and it's been ages since I've seen Chryssie."
Twilight and Starlight glanced at each other, then back to Aeon with raised eyebrows.
"Chryssie?"
"MOVE IT... NOW."
Needing no further prompting, the two fillies scrambled forwards and practically galloped through the doorway.
The first thing that caught the fillies attention as they emerged from the doorway, was the severe lack of light around them. The second thing they noticed was how moist and humid their new surroundings were.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked, taking a curious step forward before scrunching up her nose, "and what's that smell?"
"I... think we're in some kind of cave," Starlight replied, looking around warily, "but I don't know what that smell is either."
At a second glance, Twilight could see that they were indeed in some kind of dark cave. Glowing green fungi that dotted the walls gave them just enough light to see the stone walls and the uneven ground beneath them.
The walls themselves were slick with some kind of substance the fillies didn't dare touch, and the path ahead was straightforward—at least, what little of it they could see. Aside from the steady drip of something further in, it was completely silent.
The two fillies, almost without realizing it, huddled a little closer together as they scanned the caves.
"Hey... Starlight?"
"Yeah?"
"...W-Where's Aeon?"
The two looked at each other with wide fearful eyes before snapping their gazes back towards where they had come from. The only thing they saw behind them was more darkness.
The doorway had vanished, and Aeon was nowhere to be seen.
"A-Are you kidding me?!" Starlight cried, stomping a hoof in anger even as her voice shook with fear, "she... she just left us here?! She said she was gonna—"
"S-Starlight?"
The urgency in Twilight's tone caught Starlight's attention and made her heart rise up into her throat. Her ear twitched at the sudden sound of several clicks and chirps.
She didn't want to turn around and face whatever it was Twilight had seen.
She really didn't.
"Starlight!"
She turned.
A scream ripped its way out of her throat and she stumbled back as far away from the angrily glowing blue eyes as she could. Twilight tried to do the same—quickly backpedaling away from the countless eyes shining in the darkened path ahead—but yelped as she bumped into something.
Something hard and unyielding.
"So this is what Aeon's given me to work with? Frankly I'm rather disappointed."
The two terrified fillies froze not daring to look back at what had just spoken.
"LOOK AT ME, YOU COWARDS!"
Their eyes immediately snapped towards the angry voice. Standing tall above them both, barely visible in the darkness, was the tallest mare either of them had ever seen save for the Princess herself—though she was much thinner, to almost an absurd degree.
Twilight wasn't even sure 'mare' was the right word. While there were some obvious equine features, most everything else just screamed 'insect' to the fillies. Her skin was jet black and chitinous with her entire midsection being covered by a green carapace, and holes covered her lower legs, murky green mane and tail, and insect-like wings.
Her horn was long and jagged, her teeth and jade eyes were sharp and predatory, and her gaze as she looked down at them was one of immense distaste. As frightened as she was though, Twilight couldn't help but feel like she had seen this creature somewhere before...
The strange creature snorted and shook her head.
"While your fear is palatable, it's not something I'm in the mood for at the moment," without preamble, she step forwards and past the two fillies, making them yelp and scatter to the side, "come, we have much to discuss and I have other things I must prepare for."
They watched as the creature trotted further into the darkness, taking note of the lack of shining blue eyes. Twilight furrowed her brow in confusion and looked over to Starlight, who looked back and shook her head, just as confused.
Once it was clear the creature wasn't going to hurt them, their fear lessened considerably—that is, until an eerie layered voice spoke from right behind them.
"The Queen does not like to be kept waiting, foals, so I suggest you move quickly."
The girls yelped and whipped around to face two smaller insect winged creatures that were just as dark and chitinous as the larger creature—the Queen apparently. Their filmy blue eyes gave nothing away as they shoved the two fillies forward.
"Keep going," the other creature commanded, "fall too far behind and the Queen will not be pleased."
"Alright, alright, I'm going," Starlight growled, her annoyance at being pushed around temporarily overtaking her unease, "you don't have to get pushy..."
And so, Twilight and Starlight followed the Queen down the dark path, making sure to keep an eye on the two smaller creatures trotting just behind them. After what felt like half an hour of trotting in silence, the Queen finally spoke.
"So... Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer is it?" she began without turning around or breaking stride, "you two must be quite the pair if a pony like Aeon chose to take you under her wing—figuratively speaking of course," she cast them a side glance from over her shoulder, a small smirk plastered on her short muzzle, "you should be honored to be able to learn under her... and myself for that matter."
She turned back around and was silent for another moment before speaking up again.
"I don't take well to strangers invading my hive," she continued casually, "normally I would've ambushed you, captured you, strung you up in pods to be drained of all your precious resources until you were nothing but mere husks," she turned back to the fillies with a toothy grin, "after making you more... compliant of course."
She let out a small amused chuckle at the looks of horror on the fillies faces.
"But instead, I'm going to teach you two the meaning of subtlety, subterfuge, and most importantly, working together as a single cohesive unit to take down your enemies and to seize whatever your heart desires."
As the Queen spoke, the two fillies noticed that the area around them seemed to be getting brighter, though not by much. What was far more noticeable however, was the fact that the relatively small cave had given way to a larger hallway.
It was clear that the hall itself was not naturally designed. The walls were smooth and the ceiling formed a perfect arch. The walls of the hall weren't made of the same stone they had seen in the cave, but instead looked like it was made of some kind of dark green material similar in texture to slightly hardened resin, though not quite as hard as amber.
The hallway was short, and the two fillies, the Queen, and the other two creatures taking up the rear soon found themselves standing in front of what Twilight and Starlight could only guess was a large circular door.
It didn't look like any door they had ever seen before. It had no handle or opening they could see, and it had no features either. It looked for all the world like a dark green wall embedded into the other dark green walls surrounding it.
That is, until the Queen stepped forward.
She moved as though she was ready to hit the wall, but then to the fillies surprise, the wall gave way, pulling itself apart with a squelch and disappearing into the walls around it.
The two stood there in wide eyed shock for only a moment before they were once again shoved forward by the two creatures behind them. They both stumbled into the room and Starlight immediately went to give the two a piece of her mind, but was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.
She turned to see Twilight staring ahead of her with undisguised awe. She followed the lavender filly's gaze and her own mouth dropped open at what she saw. It wasn't just a room the two had entered, it was far far more than that.
It was practically an entire underground kingdom.
The two fillies stood atop a ledge overlooking a tall castle surrounded on all sides by several oddly shaped buildings that looked as though they were made of the same material as the walls of the hallway they had just come through.
Every single building looked as though it had grown right out of the ground and had been sculpted into their current shapes—the castle included.
The castle looked nothing like the one Twilight had grown used to seeing in Canterlot. She was too far away to tell what color it actually was, but the castle was dark, had many spires, and cast somewhat of an imposing shadow over the rest of the town.
There was a clear ceiling above them that seemed to give off a bright glow that bathed the many buildings below in a soft jade light. Many more of the smaller creatures could be seen flying in and out of countless holes dotting the walls and ceiling of the massive cavern—holes that no doubt led to different parts of the hive.
"Rare is it for ponies not trussed up as tasty morsels to witness the majesty that is my Queendom in all it's glory."
The girls broke their gazes away from the sight to look back at the Queen, who had stepped up beside them and was now staring down at the city with no small amount of pride.
"I built this—all of this from nothing," she continued somewhat wistfully, "it took centuries of grueling work, hardship, and the many lives of my own children to get to where we are now, but it was all worth it in the end."
She raised a hole ridden hoof and gestured to the sight before them.
"My only desire now is to see my Queendom grow and prosper," she exclaimed, a look of conviction shining in her slitted eyes, "to that end, I will do whatever it takes to make it happen."
"Um..."
Chrysalis shot the lavender filly who had just spoken an annoyed look. Twilight winced, but continued on nonetheless.
"You... you said children?" she asked, casting a glance back at the two silent creatures standing as still as statues behind them, "and Aeon mentioned something about a 'brood'. So... does that make you..."
She trailed off expectantly, and the Queen chuckled before giving the filly another smirk.
"Indeed, Twilight Sparkle," she answered, "all of the creatures you see here are my children, and I their Mother," she fully turned to face Twilight and Starlight as she spoke, somehow standing much taller than she had before, "you stand before the HIve Mother and Queen of the entire changeling race..."
She flashed the fillies a vicious grin, causing the two to take an involuntary step back and shiver slightly.
"I am Chrysalis, your new mentor and, while you both reside within my domain, your reigning Queen."