//------------------------------// // Got 99 Problems, Today Is 59 Of Them // Story: Creating A Hive // by Authora97 //------------------------------// So we’d gathered in Canterlot, much to nopony’s surprise, for the Summer Sun Celebration. More specifically we were in a Royal Garden space. For a flying lesson. Twilight and Cookie were up in the air besides Rainbow Dash. I was watching below, Thorax and Killjoy at my sides. The rest of the Mane 6 were sitting to Killjoy’s left, ready to cheer for Twilight. Killjoy and I were eating popcorn. “You gotta really flap ‘em hard.” Dash advised the two fliers. Cookie flapped her wings- sticking her tongue out from her beak to show her effort. She looked exactly like a hummingbird that forgot to have color. Twilight was like a chicken who gained flight, while also constantly forgetting how to fly. As she ‘flapped really hard’, Twilight fell in a cartwheel. She crashed on a branch. A bird’s nest fell on her head. “Uh, maybe not quite that hard.” Dash advised. Killjoy laughed. I chuckled, having a hoofful of popcorn. “Ugh.” Twilight lofted the best off her head. “Raspberry, why aren’t you learning?” “Because Cookie needed to learn more.” I excused. “Despite looking exactly like a griffon, she wasn’t always. She’s a cat, Twilight, notoriously bad fliers.” “Yeah. That’s why they eat birds. They’re jealous of their awesome wings.” Killjoy remarked. “They eat fish.” Twilight deadpanned. “And are fish not but the birds of the ocean?” Killjoy countered. I snorted, covering up my laugh as a cough when Twilight glared at me. “Mama!?!” Cookie yelled from the sky. She was cartwheeling now- dropping towards the pond.  She still hated water, she was a cat at heart. The popcorn was tossed Thorax’s way. He caught it with magic. I leapt into the sky. Flying in Cookie’s path, I caught her mid-Barrel roll. With her safe I came back down to the ground with a dramatic landing. Twilight gawked. I smirked, putting Cookie down on her paws. “Isn’t she great?” Thorax sighed dreamily. Killjoy rolled her eyes. Killjoy yelped when Pinkie Pie popped out of the popcorn, holding a sign that said ‘10’. I bowed, using my wings to stand me up so I bowed like a human would. Pinkie and Thorax applauded. “Honey, can we please get on with the flight lesson?” I requested. Thorax’s face went red. An achievement, considering he was all green. Twilight and Cookie tried again. Twilight was clapping her wings, but not getting enough traction to stay in the air. Cookie dropped onto Thorax’s back, after barely three seconds in air. “Whoa! Oof!” Twilight yelped as she hit the dirt. Pinkie held up a ‘4’. Killjoy held up a sign with a ‘2’ on it. “Lookin’ good up there, Princess Twilight.” Applejack encouraged. She walked to her friends side, helping Twilight to her feet. “Applejack, you know you don’t have to call me that.” Twilight reminded. “Why do you protest so?” Rarity asked, walking over towards Twilight. “You’ve already given up wearing your crown all the time. The least you can do is embrace your new title.” “Hey I do that too.” I reminded her. Rarity rolled her eyes, waving a hoof my direction. “Yes well that makes sense with you, Raspberry. Your crown is more suited on a human’s head than your alicorn one.” “What about me?” Killjoy challenged. “Well you’re more of a Lady anywa-” I remarked. “Excuse me?” Killjoy snapped. “I am not-” “Yeah but like, a dom type Lady.” “...I like Lady Darcy.” Killjoy mused. She smirked at Thorax. “What does that make him?” “Prince Consort.” I answered immediately. “Prince- uh what?” “Well when I’m Queen you can’t have a higher title than me, or else people will think you’re in charge. So you’re Prince Consort. Or Prince, but I like the sound of consort.” I explained. Thorax grinned at me. I grinned back. He kissed my forehead. “Lilac and Cookie are princesses though, and we don’t address them by their titles.” Killjoy pointed out to Rarity. The fashionista’s eyes twitched. “None of you want to use your titles, regardless!” “Why do you think we came here?” I questioned, leaning back in my viewing seat. “I thought it was time to embrace our Equestrian titles. It’s been nearly a decade since I was given it. This is only fair.” Twilight sighed. “Oh right. We were focusing on Twilight’s problem.” I recalled. Thorax elbowed me with his foreleg. “Ow! What was rude about that?” He gave me a look. “My bad, Sparkle of Twilight.” “It’s alright. I suppose I needed a moment to consider what Rarity is asking.” Twilight replied. “If other ponies want to address me that way, I suppose it’s fine, but... not my friends. It just doesn’t feel right.” She explained. “And neither does all this flying business.” She looked back at her wings. “I like flying!” Cookie shouted, swirling around mid air above Thorax’s head. I glanced at him. “You got-” Thorax nodded. He already had his wings stretched out, ready to leap up whenever it looked like Cookie was going to fall. It was his turn to be the good parent. “The Summer Sun Celebration is only two days away, and I’m never gonna be ready to perform my part.” Twilight bemoaned. “You’re lucky, Raspberry, that all you have to do is stand there!” “Since I’m a foreign leader, so I can’t take place in foreign...this.” I waved my hoof towards the many ponies around the place to decorate for the upcoming festivities. “So I get to stand on the sidelines, all while looking pretty.” “Thorax don’t even say it.” Killjoy warned him. The changeling pouted. “But she is-” “I said shut up!” Killjoy scolded. She turned to the ponies. “All day! All day they do stupid couple sh-!” My hoof smacked the back of her head. “Oops. My hoof slipped.” Killjoy glared at me. “Girls.” Thorax reminded. “Today is about Twilight.” “Learning to fly.” I added. “Right. Go Twilight! Woohoo!” “Okay now you just sound patronizing.” Twilight complained. She ran her hoof over her face. “I’ll never be able to do this!” “Not if you spend all your time down here, you won’t!” Dash cheered. “Now get up there and show everypony the big finish!” The rest of Twilight and I’s friends cheered. Killjoy waved her hoof in a circle. Thorax applauded his hooves. Twilight went up into the sky. Cookie flapped her wings, barely hovering higher than Thorax’s head. “Woo-hoo!” Twilight cheered, starting to get confident. Which is really when it all fell apart. She began loop-de-looping as she hurtled towards the ground. “Whaaaa! Oof! Oof!” She crashed into the dirt. The remainder of the Mane 6 and Thorax ran over to her, concerned. Killjoy stayed in her chair, giving off an air of ‘not-giving-a-fuck’. I flew up to Cookie, grabbing the griffon before she could crash herself. “Wow! That was a big finish!” Pinkie cheered. Twilight groaned, pushing her face into the dirt. Cookie climbed on my back as I approached the new pit. I tapped on Twilight’s shoulder. “There, there, Twilight. There, there.” She groaned louder. ==CAH== Lilac hadn’t noticed we arrived at the stain glass window. She had wanted to see that straight away- not even leaving to watch the flying lesson. In fact, her exact words were “why would I  watch Cookie crash into the ground, instead of this? I can watch her crash at home whenever.” Which- while mean, almost out of character-was very funny. She was sketching a new drawing, by the look of it. Thorax and I were watching over her shoulders, making a motion to tell everypony to stay quiet while we had fun. She went to pick up a colored pencil. Thorax lifted it in his magic to her. I took away The one in her claw. “Thanks Mom, thanks Dad.” We waited a moment. She understood what she’d just said. Pausing in her drawing, she turned her head. She jumped forward at seeing at us close, yelping in fright. Killjoy chuckled darkly from the small crowd of ponies. Cookie snickered from Killjoy’s back. “Mom! Dad!” Lilac yelped. She held her sketchbook to her chest. “That wasn’t nice!” “Sorry, Lilac.” Thorax apologized, with a straight faced that proved changelings were good actors when they gave a damn. “But it was funny.” “Super funny. How was the art?” I asked, standing closer to Thorax. He put his wing over my back, trying to be cute (and succeeding). Lilac’s cheeks went blue. “It was good.” She stepped away from the stain glass window, looking up at it the same way a fangirl would while silently chanting ‘don’t be drawn in. don’t be drawn in. be cool, be cool, be cool.’ “They did a beautiful job.” “You look amazing, darlings.” Rarity praise, walking up to the window. Twilight came up as well, stopping at my right side. “They’ve really captured your regality.” They did, actually. While the window was there to mostly showcase Twilight, it had parts of myself thrown in. At the bottom of the stain glass, was a small version of myself reading a book exactly as my cutiemark depicted. I was surrounded by a book with Twilight’s cutiemark, and Starswirl the Bearded’s book. There was a crown on my head- the exact same silver with blue sapphires as my proper crown. “I suppose.” Twilight mumbled. “Oh, don’t be so modest.” Rarity waved a hoof. “It’s everypony’s dream to someday wear a crown and have their coronation ceremony preserved in stained glass for all to see.” “I don’t know if it’s everypony’s dream.” Dash countered. “Most of my dreams are about frosting!” Pinkie added, licking her maw. “Ohohohoho...” “My dreams involve death.” Killjoy commented. The exact way Freddy Krueger would. “We’d better get going. We don’t want to miss our train.” Fluttershy reminded the others. “Fluttershy’s right. Don’t know about y’all, but I’ve still got bushels to do to get ready.” Applejack stated. “The official celebration may be here in Canterlot, but hoo-wee, has the Mayor put us in charge of one heck of a party back home.” She looked back at Twilight, who was pouting. “Aw, don’t look like that, sugarcube. You get to be right there with the other Princesses when Celestia raises the sun.” Applejack encouraged. “And Raspberry won’t let nothing happen to y’all.” “Right...” I winked at Applejack. “Absolutely nothing. I got you.” Thorax whacked my foreleg with his wing tip. “Don’t forget, Queen Thorne is going to be there too.” “How can I forget?” I asked, curling up to his side. “You kept saying it on the train over. ‘Oh, I can’t wait to see Queen Thorne again. Oh do you think she remembers me? Oh boy oh wow.’” “I do not sound like that.” Thorax argued, though Cookie and Lilac were giggling. “And I’m honored. Really, I am. It’s just that the Summer Sun Celebration is what first brought us all together.” Twilight explained. “Every year, we’d always spent it together. It just doesn’t feel right not getting to spend such a special day with my Ponyville friends.” “It doesn’t feel right to us either, darling.” Rarity assured. “If the Mayor wasn’t so desperate for our assistance, we’d most certainly stay here in Canterlot. And of course we do understand that your royal duties must come first.” Lilac, Cookie, and Killjoy groaned. Cookie actually fell onto the ground, she was groaning so loud. “Stop it.” I instructed. Killjoy answered back by using her wing to flip me off. “Wow. Real mature.” “The Summer Sun Celebration may have brought us together, but it’s something much bigger that’ll always keep us connected.” Applejack walked Twilight over to the window of them all stopping Nightmare Moon. “Exhibit A: The six of us are united by the Elements of Harmony. No amount of royal duties is gonna change that. Right, everypony?” Rarity, Dash, Fluttershy, and Thorax nodded their heads. Killjoy hummed. Lilac and Cookie cheered like Crusaders. “Right, Pinkie Pie and Raspberry?” “Creamy, creamy frosting...” She giggled dreamily. “I would never leave you hanging.” I reminded. Fluttershy walked up to Pinkie, souping away the drool with a rag. “You should take that as a yes.” She suggested. ==CAH== The train whistle blew. “We’re gonna write you and give you so many details, it’ll be like you’re in Ponyville with us! Right, girls?” Pinkie prompted. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Everypony chorused. Lilac sniffled, brushing her cheek with her claw. I ruffled her head scales. “And you will be with us right after the Celebration.” Rarity held up a day planner, along with some fabric rolls and a seamstress ruler. “We already have appointments on the books to discuss the royal upgrades to your loft and home decors.” Twilight and I winced. We’d been hoping to avoid that for another...thousand years. I’d just adjusted my house so that five creatures could live there. How was I supposed to sort out adding ‘royal upgrades’? The train whistle blew once more. “All aboard for Ponyville!” The conductor yelled. The Mane 6 and Spike pulled in for a group hug. My sister pushed me along to join. Thorax joined once I did. When the hug-thankfully- ended they boarded the train. The train went off, with the mares waving at us as they moved. “Twilight. You’re emoting again.” Killjoy complained. Twilight sighed. “I can’t help it, Killjoy. They’ve only been gone a minute, and I already feel like I’m missing something.” A guard came up. He held out a note on his hoof. “For Princess Twilight.” He explained. Spike picked it up, unfurling the letter to read it. “‘Dear Twilight, you aren’t missing anything. Your friend, Pinkie Pie.’” “That’s me!” Pinkie called out. “But I am. I just know it.” Twilight remarked. “Did I get a letter?!” Cookie asked, hopping over my shoulder. I grabbed her in my magic. “Nope.” Lowering her on Thorax’s back, Cookie pouted at being taken away from her fun. “Just Twilight.” “No fair!” “Too bad, Cookie.” The griffon whined louder. I sighed. “Sorry Twilight. I think I need to take her to our room. It’s been an exciting day, ya know?” “Yeah...yeah I guess it has been.” Twilight didn’t fool any of us with that smile of her’s. “You did a good job with your flying earlier, Cookie. I was very impressed.” The griffon paused in her whining. She gave Twilight a big pair of ice blue kitty-cat eyes. “You mean it?” Twilight nodded. Cookie gasped. She started jumping on Thorax’s back. “Did you hear, Dad?! Did you hear?!” “I heard, Cookie.” Thorax replied, putting as much joy in his voice as Cookie did. Rolling my eyes fondly, I began ushering my family back in the direction of the palace. “See you later, Twilight. Oh and just in case I don’t see you before-” “What is it?!” Twilight asked, whirling around to me. She grabbed my shoulders. “What happens?!” My magic grabbed her hooves, pushing them back to the floor. “Nothing that bad, jeez. Just pay attention to your dreams tonight. That’s it. And keep a cool head tomorrow. If you don’t freak out, neither will they. Got that? Remember our breathing?” I prompted. Twilight completed the breathing exercise Cadence had taught us. “...yes.” “Good.” I trotted off after my family. “See you later, Sparkle of Twilight! Bye Spike!” The dragon waved me goodbye, beaming in excitement for the upcoming event. ==CAH== “Queen Thorne!” I cheered, sheepish. “Hehe...what are you doing in our room?” The changeling queen only continued to stare at me with this chilled regality. The only difference between it and Chrysalis was that Thorne’s coloring was more red, with faint pinks and oranges instead of green and black carapace. When she upgraded, she got it good. Another difference was that her expression softened at the sight of Thorax. Chrysalis would have sooner killed Thorax on sight. The smiling was well earned, though. Cookie had fallen asleep on the walk back from the trains station. She was half hanging onto Thorax’s back, his wings curled around her protectively. She was drooling on his neck, yeah, and it was the cutest thing I’d seen my husband do. Lilac was on my back, sketching more things in her notebook. Killjoy was flying overhead. “I merely missed by hive-brother.” Queen Thorne stated. “Thorax. How are you?” “Uh...great.” Thorax replied with a nervous wince. He turned to me. “I’m putting Cookie to bed.” I nodded in agreement. “Lilac?” I whispered to her. The dragon’s head tilted slightly. “Can you go to your room for a bit?” My daughter hopped off my back, walking over to the small side room where Thorax was taking Cookie. The room Celestia had set aside for us was more like a suite than one room itself. It came with two side rooms, and one more living room like area. Killjoy was sleeping on the couch. There was a small dining table, where I guess you were suppose to have tea or something. Thorne was standing beside that. Killjoy dropped down on the couch, lounging back against it. I sat in the chair opposite Thorne, my mind rushing with things to fill the time while Thorax was out of the room. “So...the Hive is okay?” “Yes. The Hive prospers under the new system.” Thorne explained in a matter-of-fact voice. “There is a small matter that I must discuss with my hive-brother and yourself.” “I kinda figured- wait me too? I thought you wanted just him.” I admitted. The Queen didn’t as much as blink. “No. This requires the both of you.” “Oh! Alright then.” So I sat back in the chair, waiting for Thorax. “You can change your form to something more comfortable.” Queen Thorne suggested. “No it’s fine-” “Morgue you got that reality bracelet still?” Killjoy prompted from the couch. “I’d like to be human please!” Rolling my eyes, I raised my foreleg. The reality bracelet faded into color, after being hidden from sight. It glowed yellow. My sister and I did as well. Our Equestrian forms shifted into human beings. I dressed myself in a nice looking T-shirt and jeans. Darcy got her preferred crop top with black jeans. My curly hair was pulled into a ponytail by my head, while Darcy’s was left lying around her head. “Ah.” Darcy sighed as she relaxed deeper into the couch. “It’s been forever since I had proper hands!” “It was a week ago.” I remarked under my breath. “Fuck off, dick.” Darcy countered. She reached for her saddlebags, pulling out a pair of headphones. “Enjoy Royal people talk. I’m going to tune you out with real music.” “You mean anything not from here?” “You get me, sis.” Darcy plopped the headphones over her ears, pulling out her phone so she could tune us out right and proper. Queen Thorne watched this with a small fond smile. Thorax walked out from the girls’ room. He trotted up to my side, head tilted. “When did you-” “After you walked in there.” I answered. Thorax nodded. He leaned forehead to kiss my forehead-we were nearly the same height in our natural forms. Thorax turned to the Changeling Queen. “So...hello, Queen Thorne.” “Just Thorne is well.” Thorne replied. “Oh. Ah. Well, Thorne...what brings you by?” Thorax asked. He grimaced for a quick second. My hand reached over, touching his shoulder. Thorax appreciated it, scooting closer to me. “Thorax, how are you handling yourself in Equestria?” Thorne asked. “How do the ponies treat you?” “Good!” Thorax answered without hesitation. “And not just Princess Twilight and her friends. They all are nice! Starry wouldn’t let me just hide in the house, so she got me into running all the errands.” “How else were they going to get used to you?” I questioned, just like I had a week before when we argued about it. “Now go get our muffins.” Thorax chuckled. Thorne regarded us with complete stoic focus. It was kinda weird. I leaned forward, so that my arms rested on the table. “Queen Thorne. What do you need?” I prompted. “Thorax seems to have acclimatized himself to Equestria and your family rather well.” Thorne remarked. “He’s had six years to do it-” “Eight.” Thorax corrected. “-so I guess he did a- what?” “It’s been eight years.” “No, it’s been six.” “Star you went to Middle Earth for a year.” Thorax reminded. “And I stayed for a lot longer than you in that...uh...Whoniverse. Remember?” “...you did. He’s right.” I hummed in acknowledgment. “He’s had eight years to get used to this family. He did a good job as far as I’m concerned.” “...it’s only been a few weeks-” “When I travel back to my world, time goes a bit wonky.” I excused to Thorne. “Sometimes it faster there, sometimes it’s faster here. We never known until we come back.” Thorax shrugged, a ‘whatcha gonna do?’ way he’d perfected over the years. Thorne took in this information with the same stoic expression. “I see.” “But he still adjusted quick.” I added. “But, we did date for three months-” “Two.” Thorax corrected again, now grinning smug. “Bitch shut up.” I whispered, mock offended. Thorax chuckled at me. “So Thorne. I’m going to ask again. What do you need?” “I have spoken at a length with the Princesses.” Thorne began. “We have agreed that Changelings will participate in your Equestrian Games. A sign of goodwill between our creatures- with certain stipulations added, of course, so to avoid cheating.” Thorax and I sat back in surprise. “Wow.” “That’s...big.” “Yes.” Thorne answered. For a moment, her stoic exterior broke into something more exposed. “I will be honest with you, Queen Morgan, I worry for my Changelings. Thorax has adjusted well, that is true, but he was already so  pony-like as he grew. The others...how long can they take to change?” So after a small pause to absorb the information, Thorax and I looked to each other. Darcy always described what we did ‘that annoying married couple thing-besides all the cute annoying things married couples do’. In a series of looks and aborted words, we had a full conversation. It took a minute of complex gestures for us both to settle on a decision. “I’ll help.” Thorax volunteered. He gave me a quick side glare. As the original idea had been me helping, but Thorax thought that was too much on my plate. Thorne brightened back to stoic. “How?” “We gather as many Changelings that want the help-” I began. “Someplace big, but not here because that freaks out the ponies no matter how nice we are now-” Thorax carried on. “-or Ponyville, because that town is going to be too crazy the next few months with Twilight and I’s promotions.” I cautioned. “Maybe Manehattan.” Thorax suggested. “Or we can ask Mia and Shining to let us use the Crystal Empire-” “Or both, a second one will be good in case others change their minds after the first.” Thorax pointed out. “Ah! Smart. Anyway, we have a quick course to help Changelings adjust into Equestria.” “Social etiquette, culture clashes, the works.” Thorax listed. “I’ve had years to see them all.” Thorne stared at us, dark red eyes wider than before. “...how did you do that? Without speaking- I only just brought this up!” “My wife is a genius.” Thorax praised. He put a wing around my back, pulling me flush against his side. “My husband is a quick study.” I praised right back. “He had a great teacher.” “Now you and I both know-” He kissed my nose. I giggled at the feeling of his bright green carapace against my face. It tickled, okay?! “Alright.” Back to business mode. “You can speak with the Princesses about this idea, and the suggested cities.” “Just send us a letter when they confirm anything.” Thorax suggested. “Starry’ll probably be sending you letters anyway, about the ideas she’s having about all of it. She’s a workaholic.” “Bee!” I hissed in a low voice. Thorne smiles- bright and without the stoicness. Honestly it made her actually look related to my husband. “Thank you, Queen Morgan. Once again I find myself in your debt.” “It’s Princess, technically.” I corrected. “And don’t call it a debt until we see how it goes. This could all blow up in our faces.” Thorax smacked my arm with the wing curled on my side. “Hey!” “It’ll be great, Queen Thorne.” Thorax assured her. “We promise.” The Changeling Queen stepped out of her seat. “Your customs are odd, Quee-err, Princess Morgan, however I will concede them to you. Anyway I will speak soon with the Princesses of Equestria for their opinions. There is a bright future on the horizons for our three peoples.” With that, we said our good nights to the Queen. As soon as she was gone, Thorax kissed my cheek. “I love you.” He told me. “I know.” I replied, smiling. In retaliation, I kissed his nose. “You’re getting repetitive, you know that?” Thorax chuckled. He began walking towards our side room. “I can get worse. I have two years experience on you.” He ran away, like a coward. “You bastard!” I laughed before chasing after him. ==CAH== That night, I dreamed. Nothing too exciting, just a table with two chairs around it. “Hello Luna.” The Night Alicorn closed the door softly. “Good evening, Morgan.” She took the other seat. “I take it everything is well?” “As well as it can be, for now.” “Thorne told me about the plans for the Changelings.” Luna hummed. “Yes. My sister and I thought it as a good idea. After speaking with Cadence and Shining Armor, we are even more sure. She agrees that having them participate in the Games while hosted in the Crystal Empire-a city led by the two ponies who have the most right to hate Changelings-would make great strides for Queen Thorne’s people.” “It will. Has she spoke with you lately?” I asked, sipping the dream-tea. “Yes.” Luna lifted her teacup. “Your idea has merit.” “Of course it does. Thorax and I made it.” I endorsed, smiling proudly with Thorax on the mind. “...has is truly been six years for you?” Luna asked, idly, like the answer wouldn’t mean much. “Yes.” I answered. She made no response, sipping at her tea. “Hey. What’s with the face?” “I am unsure-” “You’ve got a sad face. Like you’re confused about something to do with those six years.” I pointed out. “It is only...that is quite a gap between your visits here.” Luna remarked. “Well it’s like the Earth saying. ‘Better late than never.’” I countered. My hand reached out for her hoof, holding it for assurance. “I’m not going away, you lot are stuck with my ilk for a long time.” Luna smiled. Her smile shifted. “Oh right.” I sipped the tea. “The plunderseeds.” “The WHAT?!” “Don’t worry. Well get you and Celly back before the Summer Sun Celebration.” I promised. “I would get Twilight. Fast.” ==CAH== The dream ended. I shot up in bed, yelling at being pushed out of my own dream. Thorax jumped up too. “Huh? Wha-?” He shook his head to get the sleep out. “Ugh. What happened?” I didn’t answer. Climbing out of bed, I walked to the window. “Babe come back to bed. It’s...late o’clock.” “Tell that to the sky, honey.” Thorax got out of bed. He walked up to my side, staring out the window. “...you know what this is right?” I nodded. “You would know too if you watched Season 4 with us. But no. You wanted to play laser tag.” “It’s weird to watch this on the TV!” Thorax argued. “You did it fine with Star Wars!” “That’s because it wasn’t my land!” There was a knock on the front door. Thorax went first. I had to take off the illusion of my human form. At the door were two guards. “Your Highness, you must come with us.” One guard suggested. “Of course.” As I walked to the door, I gave Thorax a kiss on the cheek. “Watch the kids.” Thorax nodded. ==CAH== The guards brought me to the throne room. One of them ran off, to find Twilight I reasoned. Before long she was escorted into the throne room with Spike. The doors slammed behind them. “It’s Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.” A guard informed Twilight. “They’re gone!” The other revealed. Twilight and Spike gasped. “But I don’t understand! Where are they?” Twilight asked. “‘Gone’ implies they aren’t in the castle anymore.” I pointed out. Twilight glared my direction. “Which...is true. They aren’t inside the castle.” “We don’t know, Princess Twilight. It seems that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have simply... vanished.” The first guard answered Twilight. “Vanished?!” Spike yelped before fainting. “This is why we have come to you.” The first guard stated. The two guards bowed to Twilight. “We await your command.” The second guard swore.   “My command?!” Twilight repeated. “We’re officers of the Royal Guard. We take our orders from royalty.” The second guard clarified. “With Princess Luna and Princess Celestia gone, and Princess Cadance overseeing the Crystal Empire now, Princess Raspberry a foreign dignitary and Queen Thorne as well, that means we take our orders from you.” Spike-who has just stood back up-fainted again. The guards stood back up on their hooves. “Princess Twilight, there’s no time to waste. We need to know what you want us to do.” The second guard prompted. Twilight glanced at me. I gestured with my wing to remind her to breathe. She braced herself, letting her wings stand up at attention. “I want you to continue the search for Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. We have to find them before ponies start to panic. Princess Raspberry is very knowledgeable on these situations. If she says they aren’t in the castle, then they are not. There must be some clue left behind that can tell us what’s happened to them. If you find something, anything, let me know immediately.” The guards nodded, running off. Twilight let herself relax. “Way to take charge, Twilight.” Spike encouraged. Twilight smiled bashfully. She turned to me. “Morgan. Is there anything you can tell me?” “This is all...a misunderstanding. Albeit, a delayed one that should’ve been fixed ages ago, but a misunderstanding nonetheless.” I explained. Twilight and Spike blinked in confusion. The doors slammed open. “Your highness! News from Ponyville!” The guard yelled. “The Everfree Forest appears to be... well... invading!” Twilight gasped in horror. ==CAH== Twilight was running towards the train station, the Element of Magic flying behind her. I was chasing her. Spike was running behind. “Where are we going?!” Spike called out to Twilight. “Where do you think?!” I called back. “The Everfree Forest is... ‘invading’.” Twilight dropped her crown on her head. “Whatever is going on, I’m sure we’re going to need our friends and the Elements of Harmony to stop it! I just hope we haven’t missed the train-” “Twilight?” Spike prompted. “There is another way for us to get to Ponyville, remember?” “There is?” I whacked her in the head with my wing. Spike was grabbed in my magic before he could hit us. “Ow! What was that-” “You can fly!” Spike reminded as I dropped him on Twilight’s back. “Oh.” Twilight blinked. “Right!” She stretched her wings. I jumped up into the sky, flying towards Ponyville. “Whoa!” Twilight wavered as she began her flight. ==CAH== “Watch out!” I yelled. Twilight ducked to avoid the spiky cloud. “What was that?” “Everfree Forest cloud.” I replied. “It’s that, giant black vines, and magic is being disrupted. Or at least Rarity’s is. In the episode you’re worked alright. It could just be extended exposure to the vines.” Spike gagged on another twist. He pulled out a seatbelt, clicking it to lock. “I’m starting to wish... we’d taken the train!” “Almost there!” Twilight encouraged. “Come on, Spike, we need to get the Elements of Harmony and find the others!” She kept flying at that fast speed. I slowed down, flying over to her front door. I swung the door open. “Hit the deck!” The mares all dropped down. Twilight teleported in. She barrel rolled on the ground, landing in a pile of books. “Oh, thank goodness!” Rarity cheered. “Oh, I hope you know we wouldn’t normally go through your books without permission-” Fluttershy explained. Twilight almost answered, but Spike ran in. He kissed the ground, laughing in relief. “Sweet ground! Sweet, sweet, wonderful ground!” “Okay, I get it! I need to work on my flying!” “And you’re speed, landing, taking off-” “I said I got it!” “I dunno if you’ve noticed, but the Everfree Forest is just a teeny-tiny bit out of control.” Pinkie pointed out. “Rarity duck.” I suggested as Pinkie’s tail twitched Rarity jumped down just before the branch could hit her head. “Oh dear! Thank you, Morgan.” “No prob.” Applejack went over to the window where the plant had come in from. “Guess it turned out y’all were missin’ something here in Ponyville after all.” She slammed the window shut, cutting the vine in half. “But perhaps you already know what’s causing all of this calamity. Has Princess Celestia sent you both to dispel it posthaste?” Rarity asked. “The Princesses are both missing.” The mares gasped. “Hold it, hold it. Look at me. I’m not freaking out, or saying you need to rush. They are both fine. Okay? Calm down.” The mares took their deep breaths, calming down instead of having more panicked screams. “Now I know where they are, but you’re still going to need the Elements of Harmony.” I instructed. “I had a hunch.” Twilight agreed. She lifted up the Elements to their respective owner. “Oh, yeah, just like old times.” Dash cheered. “A-boo-yah!” Pinkie Hollander, giving Twilight a hoof-bump. “I told ya we’d always be connected by the Elements.” Applejack reminded as she got her Element.  “Now we just gotta figure out who to aim these bad boys at so we can get Celestia and Luna back and keep the rest of Equestria from becoming plant food! Morgan, feel like sharing?” “Twilight’s got it. I’ll let her work it out.” “Hmm..” “I haven’t found squat in any of the books I’ve been looking through!” Pinkie complained. She continued doodling in the coloring book. “Oopsies! Missed a spot!” “Half day, half night... strange weather patterns... out of control plants. I think I’m starting to get a pretty good idea of who we’re up against.” She turned to me. “Morgan. Just answer me. Is this Discord?” “Of course it’s Discord. Who else could it be? I’m insulted on his behalf.” ==CAH== The mares all summoned Discord, using a spell in tandem with the Elements. The draconequus appeared in his shower. I covered my eyes with my foreleg. “Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap-ooh!” He hummed. At realizing we could see him, he turned off the water. “Now, Twilight, you know Princess Celestia said that you were to give me a heads up before you summon me with that little spell she gave you.” He poked me on the horn. “Hello Morgan. How are those little ones and that new boytoy of yours?” Discord asked, conversationally. “Great, great, they’re great.” I replied, easily. “How’re you?” “Well I was I was in the middle of a particularly invigorating shower. Did you not notice?” “Kinda blind right now.” “And why’s that?” “I can’t watch another person shower without Bee. He’d be so disappointed.” I explained. “E-nough!” Twilight shouted. There was the sounds of Discord’s claw snapping. I moved my hoof away. “Now Discord. Morgan explained to me that’s it all a-” She grimaced. “-a misunderstanding-” “What?! No way! He did this on purpose!” Dash snapped. “No. It really is a misunderstanding.” I repeated, glaring at Dash. “Why-” Discord chuckled as a vine wrapped around me. In a flash it changed into Discord himself. “-whatever are you talking about?” “Don’t you play dumb with us, Discord!” Applejack snapped. “We know you’re the one behind all of this!” “Don’t get me wrong.” Discord vanished from around me. Instead he started taking pictures of Ponyville, dressed up like a tourist. “I absolutely love what you’ve done with the place, but I couldn’t possibly take responsibility.” He appeared next to me. He dragged Fluttershy down, putting an arm over each of our shoulders. “I’m reformed, don’t you remember?” “Yeah, right! This has got your cloven hoofprints all over it!” Dash argued. “I don’t buy it that it’s a ‘misunderstanding!’ He did it!” “I’ll have you know that I have only one cloven hoof.” Discord countered. Said hoof bounced up his body so that it was in Dash’s face. “Such accusations. And here I thought we were friends, who believed each other when they told the truth.” He lifted me up off the ground, showing me off like Simba in Lion King. On instinct, I kicked his stomach. He dropped. “Ouch!” I glared at him. “Right. No ‘surprise touching’.” He rolled his eyes. I shuddered off the ugh feeling that came from that. “It’s not Discord’s fault. It’s a misunderstanding. Once he gets it, I’m sure you’ll all see why it’s an accident.” “Exactly! I’m innocent. Would I lie to you?” Discord asked, blinking with wide innocent eyes. “Yes!” “Um, maybe?” “Well would Morgan?” Discord challenge, pushing me forward to the group. I was glaring with all the disappointment a relative of Darcy Anderson could muster. Everypony winced. “Apparently.” I answered, disappointed in them for not believing me. I thought that we’d gotten over all of the anger towards my secrets...I thought telling them all the truths I could about today would make it easier and this could be avoided. Besides...with what’s coming...I want Discord to not have any doubts on who’s side he should be on. “Well then, it seems we’ve reached an impasse.” Discord began when none of the mares argued in my favor. “I’m telling the truth, but you think I’m lying. What do friends like us do in a situation like this, Princess Twilight? Congrats, by the way, on the promotion. You totally deserve it.” “I say we blast him back-!” Dash yelled. I slammed my hoof on the ground. “Enough.” Dash’s mouth shut with an audible clap. The other five flinched back. “I can’t decide if I’m furious, insulted, or disappointed.” I scolded in a level tone. “For now, I’ll settle on disappointed. You girls better shut up before I change my mind.” “Morgan-” Twilight tried. “No Twilight. That’s not fair. This is not fair. I told you girls the truth to avoid this exact situation. The Princesses are okay. This is not Discord’s direct doing. I am telling the truth. I would lie, yes, but not in an emergency situation like this. Now I’m feeling insulted. I thought you girls trusted me.” Now that hurt, hurt them real bad. Good. I’m gonna be bitter over this whole thing now. For ages. Damn it, that’s disappointing. “So. If you girls are willing to give me an inch of trust, let’s go see Zecora. She has something we need, so that we can begin to fix all of this.” I instructed, keeping my tone steady. “Unless you don’t trust that either?” “It’s not that we don’t trust ya Morgan-” Applejack began. “It’s that you think I’m lying, because I’ve lied in the past. That means you don’t trust me to tell the truth. It’s simple logic, Applejack.” I argued. “Okay. It’s disappointed again.” Aiming my forehoof, I pointed in Zecora’s direction. “Zecora!” Twilight gasped. She and the others rushed to help the overloaded zebra. Discord wrapped around my shoulders. ‘The latest in diffunctional scarves.’ “You seem tightly wound today, Morgan.” He pointed out. He tightened around my shoulders as if to prove it. I pushed his head away. “There’s a lot on my mind.” “There’s always a lot on your mind.” Discord countered. He unwound himself in a flash. “Never seen you get up on a soapbox like that before.” “My friend had just been insulted. When else should I climb on a soapbox?” I challenged. “...well aren’t you a regular knight in shining armor.” Discord remarked. There was a flash. “I better be Shining Armor.” Another flash went off. “You’re terrifying.” Discord remarked. I grinned at him. With that out of the way, I walked over to the others. Zecora was reaching into her cart. She pulled out the chalice for the potion. “I do not dare to use it myself, the results would be tragic. It only responds to Alicorn magic. Princess Twilight, you can turn the potion from purple to white. After a sip, you may see why the sky is day and night.” Twilight strained to hit the potion with a purple/green blast of magic. The potion changed color to a milky white. “Oooh!” Pinkie cheered. I lifted the bottle in my magic. While Twilight watched I took a sip. The taste was awful but I went with it. Then I moved it over to Twilight’s reach. She gulped down some of the potion. She swallowed nervously, putting away the bottle. “Doesn’t seem-” My vision whited out. ==CAH== I grimaced as the world around me changed. “Where am I?” Twilight’s voice came from behind. “Morgan!” My focus was on the dias for the Royal Pony Sisters. It was obvious that’s what this was. “Not... another step!” Luna yelled from the dias. She walked out into sight. I stared, taking a seat down. “Princess Luna!” Twilight walked up. Putting my elbow down on my leg, I watched everything happen with a bored expression. “I don’t understand. Morgan...what is this place? Why did Luna and Celestia come here?” I didn’t answer. “Morgan?” “Oh sorry, I thought I was a no-good liar.” I replied. Twilight winced. “Did you really expect me to sit idly by while they all basked in your precious light?” Luna snapped. “Precious light?” Twilight repeated. I rolled my eyes. “There can only be one princess in Equestria! And that princess... will be me!” Luna slammed her hooves down. Twilight ducked to avoid debris. I watched, bored out of my mind. Luna pushed herself into the air. The moon moved in front of the sun, turning the sky into night. As soon as that happened, Luna was covered in a sickly blue ball of light. When it unfurled she was Nightmare Moon. “Oh Luna...” I sighed in sympathy, overshadow by her manic laughter.