//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16: New Perspectives 
// Story: The Half of It 
// by Shapeshift 
//------------------------------//

The following day, the half-ling and I woke up early to go to a Guard recruit graduation ceremony, though it was far from ordinary.

This was the very first time a changeling was going to graduate into an official Guard! It wasn’t as interesting as seeing Twilight’s ceremony, but it was still a significant point in history.

That being said, we arrived early to get a decent seat which turned out to be at the third row from the front. Once we sat down I started my detection spell to see the ratio of changelings to ponies, which was a little higher than I expected. 

I also noticed the half-ling taking in the scenery of the castle’s white and gold, though he was perplexed about something. I was sure of what it was, and once the ceremony began his confusion was more focused. Then when the changeling Guard, Chirrup, came into view near the end of the line, it was clear that his confusion was about why that changeling joined their ranks.

As for me, it felt fantastic to see the ceremony. Celestia stood up in the royal box, which was in the center of the crowd, and came to the very front of it. She then started the usual speech she always had for the event.

“The Royal Guard has a long tradition. From the very founding of Equestria, there have been those who have dedicated themselves to the protection of others. Individuals who sought out danger not for their own glory, but for the good of those around them. They came in all shapes and sizes, from great warriors of incredible skill, to common ponies, determined to do what they could.

“But despite their courage, they were still just individuals. In Equestria’s darkest times, they faced impossible challenges. It was in these times that these heroic individuals were brought together to form the first Guard. Before, they had shown courage in the face of danger and a selfless drive to help others. In those dark and trying times, they demonstrated the greatest truth of our kingdom: that we are all greater when we stand together.

“While the Guard has changed names over the many centuries, that truth has held. Many generations have passed through the ranks of the Guard over that time, all carrying on the same spirit as those founding heroes, and all carrying on the grand tradition of those who preceded them.

“It is the very first of those traditions that bring us here today, for it is one that began the very moment the first Guard was formed: the oath that marks the transition from determined citizen to member of the Guard.”

Despite it being the same speech, it felt different, and not just to me but many others. Though for me, it wasn’t just because Chirrup was there. It was also because of my situation with Blitz. It reminded me of his own additional vow he made with the oath.

Yet, as Celestia was presenting the recruits their emblems and Luna was following to give her own words of congratulations, I felt a sort of nostalgia rising in me. It was when they finally reached Chirrup, that the feeling was at it’s peak and I found out what it was.

It confused me at first. It felt exactly the same as my desire to date again, but I  soon realized something. The variety of past occurrences that strongly evoked it were too broad for it to be just a desire to date again. I wanted something more broad, something that Chirrup now had.

I wanted to be accepted by my community, have a sense of belonging that I lost during the changeling invasion. But there was only one thing stopping me. My fear of what others ponies thought of me. I had to get over it, or bite the sour apple, to take the chance and reveal myself.

But for now, I had to stay hidden.

~~~~~~

After the ceremony ended we started walking back home, and after a few minutes Dew suddenly asked, “Why would a changeling join the Royal Guard?”

I gave no indication of surprise at that as I said, “For most of them, it's probably because in the hive they either were such, or wanted to be one but they weren't designated as such. So when those changelings decide to live in Equestria, they seriously consider trying to join the Guard.”

“That’s obvious," Dew said, in a deadpan manner. “What specifically attracts them to that job?”

I gave a thoughtful hum and went silent for a minute or two, until I thought of something. “Changelings that know the Royal Guard, know that their loyalty towards Equestria is at least decent and, often times, admirable by changeling standards.”

Dew followed up with, “I’ve seen some examples of their loyalty, but I never thought much of it until now. What other reasons are there?”

I wasn’t sure if I could explain the next one with sufficient wording, but none the less I tried. “It's a... comfortable familiarity in a vastly different culture. The guard provides structure and order in the lives of their members, like most changelings get in the hive.”

“Maybe," Dew said. “But why join when so many ponies object to it?”

This one was obvious to me, as I effortlessly explained with, “The changelings and the Guard want to prove that changelings can be an effective and just as loyal Guard as any other pony.”

“They’re just beating their heads against the wall with that kind of thinking," Dew claimed.

“Then go find a noble and you’ll find that they’re at least tolerating them, no matter the profession," I countered. “The nobles usually have a mindset of arrogance that sometimes destroys their public relations, though it's fairly regular and predictable. Many think of themselves as a high horse, but they still have to bend to the populace’s standards like everybody else. So with that in mind,  and with the way things are going, the rest of Equestria should soon have little in the way of bad feelings about changeling Guards, meaning the nobles will have to get used to it and follow suit.”

The way that I talked about the nobles seemed to have helped in convincing him, and  he acknowledged it with a reluctant, “I guess so," then thought on it.

A few minutes later, I had an idea.

“I want you to come with me to Ponyville the next time I go," I stated, with a small warm smile. “To show you how everything can be in just a few years.”

Dew rolled his eyes and said, “I don’t think I’d have anything better to do, whenever that will be.”

So with that answer, we continued on the rest of the way home in silence and once I got home I took a long nap. By late morning I finished up the rest of Cordial’s order and went off to deliver it.

Once I arrived at Cordial’s office door I noticed he was anxious, though in two different ways. He seemed to be waiting for somebody that could help him and was anticipating something going horribly wrong. So I peeked in through the door’s window to see him, and he motioned for me to come in.

So I entered and showed him my saddlebags, saying, “I just here to drop off the potions.”

“Alright. I’ll have something for you after you put them in the stock room.”

Leaving at that, I put the potions where he told me and came back into the office. Cordial then stopped working. After he closed and locked all the blinds, windows, and doors, he sat down behind his desk and said, “The gray market’s been a bit suspicious of Fleur De Lis recently.”

“What makes them think that they should be?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She’s been acting a little off recently," Cordial said. “Our changelings with exceptional infiltrator skills that have encountered her have noticed small things that don't quite fit her personality. Though most think that she's just having trouble with something recently.”

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “How do you have infiltrators involved in that market?”

Cordial leaned back in his chair. “The smart ones left the hive once Ponyville became well known for Sky, but the ones that got involved in the market weren’t quite ready to reveal themselves or accept all the… questionable laws. We have very little of them but you seem to be our best, which is why I’m asking you to do this.”

“So you want me to figure out if she’s been replaced and if she may be a threat?" I asked.

“Yes, and make sure that the real Fleur is okay.”

I put on a determined face and said, “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Cordial took that as his cue to set all the blinds, windows, and doors back to normal and I took that as my cue to leave.

What? You thought I was going to stop infiltrating completely? I had a personal reason in finding that changeling, but when I was trying to help ponies it stopped me from turning the infiltrators over to the Guard like I should have done from the start. At this point I couldn’t do that, but I could still save Blitz if the princesses couldn’t get him back. I had the skills and biology to do it, and nobody was going to stop me from finding a way, dispels or not.

With that being said, I was still improving my spell arsenal. The detection spell’s recognition library had more of the frequently used infiltration spells added, and I had the most complicated modification to the metamorphic shape-shifting spell complete. 

The spell constantly changes it’s self without the need to recast due to a redundant parallel setup for each section. This setup has 3 parallel parts per section that are always active. The second part is both a backup for if a dispel causes any disruption in it’s functions, and for keeping the spell going when it replaces a part of it’s self. The third is for the extremely rare case of both happening at once. Though the downside of this is it’s energy consumption. I couldn’t use it all day every day, let alone for several hours daily.

As for my next move, I decided to infiltrate the castle again in the same way as before, waiting at the Solstice Hall doors as a fly. Fortunately, the princesses were having a meeting and Chrysalis was invited, seeing as she opened the doors and entered.

Taking the opportunity to enter myself, I immediately noticed that many of them in the room were emitting disapproval at Chrysalis. Looking around, I noticed that everyone, even Celestia and Luna, were giving Chrysalis various glares of disapproval. Celestia specifically had her wings spread out and, judging by her emotions, it was likely for the same reason a cat’s fur stands on end before fighting.

Surprise surprise. The general consensus of today's gathering for Chrysalis is the one feeling I always have about her.

“Oh, what now?" was the first thing Chrysalis said, as I sat down on a high up wall plant where I could see both Celestia and Chrysalis’s faces.

Celestia spoke to her first with a sternness in her usual motherly tone. “Once again, your changelings have attacked my subjects. Here you say you finally want peace, but out there your agents still work against Equestria. Explain this.”

Chrysalis became more angry at this than she already was in general, and the showing of her carnivorous teeth reenforced that. After taking stock of everyone’s glares for a few seconds, she turned her attention to Celestia again. With a moderately predatory gait Chrysalis slowly came towards her, narrowing eyes filled with hostility and hate.

“And how, precisely, do you expect me to explain something I know nothing about?”

Celestia’s response was to narrow her eyes, though her’s still showed irritation and disappointment. “We are not fools. We were not so naive as to assume the few Infiltrators you called in were all you had under your command in Canterlot. We knew you had more out there. What’s more, we know you have been in contact with them.”

Was that spell I saw yesterday telepathy? Was the Guard tracking it?

“We have captured some of your Infiltrators. We don’t know how you’ve been getting messages in and out of the castle, but it’s undeniable that you have. So you will explain exactly why changelings under your direct command have carried out yet another attack on my subjects.”

Sounds like both may be true.

All the while, Chrysalis’ glare only became more intense. Nictis, on the other hoof, was bothered yet also emitting feelings of approval for something Celestia said. However, he didn’t outwardly show either.

And if Nictis' reaction is any indication, both of my suspicions are highly likely.

With a tone as hostel as her stare, Chrysalis responded with, “If that’s what happened, I would like to know myself,” Chrysalis spat back. “Yes, of course I kept some Infiltrators out of your grasp. I wasn’t going to hand over all of them when I was still uncertain of this whole ‘negotiation’ nonsense, but having them attack your precious little ponies would be counterproductive. I ordered them to avoid any form of violence except in the most desperate of times, so unless you’re complaining of my subjects defending themselves against yours, they acted against my explicit orders.”

“So again you claim to be unable to control your own Infiltrators," Celestia concluded.

Her methods of installing respect and obedience in her subjects are obviously worse than questionable. At least Celestia’s trying to get all the hive infiltrators out of the public.

Chrysalis’s anger spiked, though all she did was bring attention to the changelings in the room with a sudden hoof gesture and simply said, “Equestria seems to have that effect on my subjects.”

I couldn’t make out exactly what part of her face Celestia was looking at. Though it looked like it was her eyes when Celestia changed to a tone that might have been a tad less stern. “That should tell you something.”

That the princesses don't command respect, they request it by first giving it to their subjects. And those changelings aren't your subjects if they don't want to be. I wouldn't blame them if they don't.

Chrysalis just became more angry, made a dismissive snort, then looked away from the others and me. She then looked at Luna for some reason, but only for a second or two before turning back to Celestia and speaking again with a more calm tone. “What do you want, Celestia?”

I sensed feelings of gladness and possibly a tiny bit less disappointment from Celestia to Chrysalis, which I immediately understood. Chrysalis finally wanted to get to the point as much as Celestia did.

“You’ve said several times that you desire peace, but all the lies you have told have made your words meaningless. Instead, you will have to show it through your actions, and you will start by bringing in every single one of the changelings you have hidden in Canterlot.”

A snarl was Chrysalis’s response, though she wiped away the look with haste and said nothing. That is, for a few seconds. “Very well. It’s not as if they’d make much difference, anyway. Will that satisfy you?”

You’re lying, Chrysalis. About what, I don’t know, but I can feel your smugness about something having to do with all princesses present in the room.

With significantly less irritation, Celestia said, “If you follow through, and bring in every one of your changelings here in Canterlot, it will be a start.”

As Chrysalis turned away and started towards the door, I flew to it’s frame while noticing a smug smile on her face along with the typical expression found on the nobles.

She then stopped to say, “Well, I can’t promise all of them. There are probably still a few Infiltrators operating independently in Canterlot, and there is no way of directly contacting them.”

After Celestia’s more stern response than before of, “Then you will put in the effort to find them," Luna added a more stern “Because if we should uncover them ourselves, it will look as if you were lying yet again. I would hope we need not illustrate the consequences of such an event.”

Sounds like me finding them is now the lesser problem for her. But I'm still going to keep on the lookout for any cocoons.

Chrysalis craned her neck to look at the younger alicorn for a second and told the sisters, “Very well. If you want me to track them down, you’ll need to permit a few more of my changelings out to act as messengers. I think four should be able to manage, unless you could be persuaded to allow more out.”

“Four. And they will all have a full Royal Guard escort," Celestia explicitly stated.

So Chrysalis confirmed with, “Whatever makes you feel better," while rolling her eyes. Judging from her emotions towards the two sisters, I thought that she’d add ‘mothter’ to the end of that.

Instead she continued with, “Now then, if that’s out of the way, I assume it’s time for more of your ‘talks’?”

Celestia felt that she could finally calm her wings, but not sit down quite yet. She might have had to carefully choose how to say her next words.

“There is little point in continuing negotiations until we have resolved this matter, one way or the other. You may return to your chambers. The Guards outside will receive the messengers you select and see them escorted into the city. Once you have recalled all of your agents, we can discuss what comes next.”

Seeing what Chrysalis did next, Nictis thought that her word smithing in that instance was highly admirable, as did I.

“Fine,” Chrysalis said, with a hint of malice. ”But I’d rather not waste the rest of the evening just because you don’t feel like talking. I want to speak with these Infiltrators you’ve captured.”

After Celestia took a moment to think over her request, she told her, “I think we can do that. You may speak with them, individually, but not alone. They will be returned to the hive at a later date, but for now they are prisoners, and somepony will have to accompany you.”

“I believe Nictis would be ideal," Celestia said, as she motioned to him.

Even before Nictis cringed at that I felt bad for him. I knew somebody who I thought was comparable to her and I wanted to only spend as little time as I could with him.

Chrysalis shifted her attention to Nictis, though not soon enough to see his reaction. Loathing the idea, Chrysalis looked back to Celestia. “I’m also still waiting to speak with Chirrup.”

Celestia shook her head. “The graduation ceremony only recently finished. He will be notified of your request this evening, and I am sure you will receive your reply shortly after that.”

She knew Chrysalis’s very personality it’s self was a drain on anybody unfortunate enough to cross paths with her, so I was not surprised at the response in the least.

Emitting disdain towards Celestia, Chrysalis replied with, “Oh, of course. I have to do everything immediately, or else, but go ahead and take your time with anything I ask for.”

Celestia sighed.

“Are you really trying to play the victim in all this?”

Giving Cadance her attention and contempt, Chrysalis responded with, “Oh, you must be enjoying this. Is that why you came here, for some pathetic sense of vengeance? Were you hoping to see me humiliated, now that you’ve got all the better princesses backing you up?”

“Chrysalis," Celestia scolded as she unfolded her wings again.

Yet Cadance motioned an okay at Celestia with, “No. It’s fine.”

Candance then rose to face Chrysalis with a tightness in her jaw, and though she was nowhere near as tall as Chrysalis, she stood in front of her with a smile that I found to be satisfyingly smug. Shinning Armor’s feelings weren’t needed for me to tell that he’d jump over her and pounce Chrysalis at the first sign of a physical fight.

So with a tone that indicated annoyance, Cadance was the one who was the closest to telling Chrysalis off. “I have no desire to see you humiliated. The only thing I want is to make sure you don’t hurt anypony else, ever again. I see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna giving you every opportunity to become something better, and then I see you spitting in their faces. You don’t even appreciate how lenient they’ve been. As far as I can see, Equestria would be better off with you removed from power.” She then waved a hoof to the Equestrian changelings in the room. “And for that matter, so would your hive.”

Chrysalis exasperatingly snorted and told her, “The only reason I’m even considering this peace is for the sake of the hive.”

Cadance was on the bits and she wasn’t about to let a simple shallow retort prove her wrong. So with aggressive confidence, she narrowed her eyes and gave a retort of her own. “Only because of what it gets you. You’re losing control, aren’t you? Your subjects are fleeing from your hive to take their chances with a nation you’ve told them is their enemy. Your grip over them is failing. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To keep more of your power from slipping through your hooves?”

They prefer to live a life where there's such a thing as free time, being fed right, and respect that goes both ways. But that's far from the entire list.

Chrysalis’a contempt grew at her response and she retorted with a growling tone. “I am here for the good of the hive. The traitors who fled for their own selfish desires only weaken it, and they will be dealt with in time.”

Cadance repeated, “Dealt with?" while slowly becoming more frustrated at her attitude. “Listen to yourself! Your species lives off love, but you’re full of nothing but hatred. It’s no wonder that they’ve been leaving you when you can’t show them what they need so much.”

“We consume love, little princess," Chrysalis said in a demeaning but still angry tone. “We don’t roll around in it like you ponies. I’ve kept the hive fed, despite the hardships we’ve endured.”

“Yes, you’ve kept them fed. Barely. And that’s it. There’s more to being a good ruler than doing the bare minimum for your subjects. They’ve gotten a glimpse of how much better things could be. You could be a responsible ruler, helping your subjects to prosper. Instead, you’re content to be nothing but a petty tyrant.” Further frustrated and almost to the point of anger, she narrowed her eyes and spread her wings. “As far as I’m concerned, Equestria should do everything it can to keep you from power. If you’re so determined to be nothing but a monster, then that’s how you should be treated.”

And my large respect for Cadance grows further.

Surprisingly, Chrysalis didn’t even try to deny it. “A monster?" she mockingly asked in amusement, which was followed by giggling. “That’s what changelings are, little princess. I would have thought you of all ponies would have understood that.”

Changelings don't have to be monsters.

Surprisingly, Cadance didn’t get any more irritated at Chrysalis’s statement, though she did make an accusation. “You’re the only one acting like a monster here,” she said as she brought attention to the Equestrian changelings with the same motion of her hoof as before. “You could do to learn from their example.”

This only amused Chrysalis further and, as she leaned in with a predatory smile that caused all other princesses and many ponies in the room to be at alert, she asked, “And which one would you be referring to? The one who abused orphan foals for years? Or do you mean the one who uncovered Canterlot’s weaknesses, planned out how to dismantle the Royal Guard, and helped to find the best time and place to replace a certain soon-to-be-wed Princess?”

Both irrelevant. That was before they even tried.

Sky and Cadance’s muscles tensed up in fear, while she took a quick look at the other changelings then went back to Chrysalis. A stressful, silent moment occurred before Cadance said, “At least they’re trying,” in a moderate volume.

And succeeding. But you don't know or even understand that, do you Chrysalis? Because you never tried.

Once again, Chrysalis laughed, louder than before, as she turned in my general direction and rolled her eyes. “I’m here, talking peace, aren’t I?”

Because if you don't, you would inevitably have nothing to rule, and it scares you.

As Cadance went though many expressions, I could sense her’s and Nictis’s belief of the statement being irrelevant due to her own actions. So after several seconds, Cadance retorted with a forewarning tone. “But you don’t want peace, do you? You just want what it gets you, and as soon as you have that, you’ll just go back to your old ways.”

A hum and smugness was Chrysalis’s reaction, and it showed as she craned her neck to look behind her. “But that’s not so different from them, is it?” Here she moved her head to fix her gaze on the other changelings. “‘Sky’ just needs to remember who he really is to turn his back on all this ridiculous sentimentality. Nictis doesn’t even need that much.”

Upon hearing this, Nictis’s anger and fear at Chrysalis moderately rose. Then rose a bit more when she pointedly fixed her gaze on him. Despite the large but short spike of surprise, he didn’t externally react much.

Talking directly to him, she said, “Oh, yes. I see those little glares you give me. I can feel all that anger and hatred in you. I know what’s in there. It would take such a tiny push to get you to abandon this act and show them what a real monster is.”

And if you were the one to do it, you'd be the one to blame the most because you'd know it would happen. But don't worry about doing the same to me. In time I can put enough of my hatred of you behind me, for peace, you monster.

I wasn’t sure if Nictis could hold back his anger at this point. He seemed to have small tremors going through his legs, his jaw may have clenched down extra hard, and I could swear there was a hint of anger when he spoke.

“If you really think that’s true, then you should probably stop pushing me.”

Chrysalis simply gave him a smug grin, then turned to Cadance. “See?”

Giving the queen a glare devoid of all amusement and joy, Cadance took a defiant pose. “I see more than you do, Chrysalis. You can’t even see the difference, can you? Sure, they may be capable of doing horrible things. Many ponies are, too. The difference is that they’re seeking a way to live without hurting others, while you enjoy it.”

To nobody’s surprise, Chrysalis just lightly laughed as she said, “I’ve always thought it was important to enjoy what you do.”

Suddenly, Luna cut into the exchange with a steak knife of a voice. “Then you had best find something new to enjoy, Chrysalis, for those days are at an end.”

The queen replied with, “Oh, relax. I’m perfectly willing to give this whole peace thing a chance. If it ends up being better for my hive, then you’ll have no problems from me.” Though her emotions in their entirety were indicating the opposite, and the devious grin she gave didn’t help either.

Luna moved her head into an authoritarian pose as she said, “We had best not. I need not remind you that we have alternatives.”

At this, her mood did a complete one-eighty and she gave Luna a dangerous look. “Not that it seems to stop you.”

“That’s enough for now,” Celestia finally said. “Chrysalis?” The big bug turned her head, giving the white alicorn’s calm yet commanding look a glare. “You may return to your chambers. A messenger will be sent for you when it’s time for those meetings you requested.”

Giving a snide snort, Chrysalis responded with, “Don’t take too long about it,” and started towards the door.

Though Luna stopped her. “Chrysalis," she said with a smile. Though I sensed that Luna wasn’t smiling to be nice, but about getting the opportunity to punish her if it arose. “We are allowing the interviews you requested as a favor to you, one we are under no obligation to fulfill. You should show some gratitude that we are allowing it.”

And that, despite everything, I've decided to not get officially involved in these affairs.

I knew Chrysalis sensed some of the same things I did, seeing as she gave a look of contempt and a snarling, “Thank you," to Luna. She then continued to the door and with significant carelessness she threw them open. Though the doorstops did their job and kept them undamaged while Chrysalis left and I flew through, the Guards closing the door behind us.

The meeting didn’t have much info that was all that useful to me, especially with getting Blitz back or figuring out if Fleur was replaced. So I flew out of the castle and into a cloud to change into a throwaway pegasus mare disguise, then went to the market to find events that the real Fleur might attend. While there, I thought on why any changeling in the right mind would want to replace her.

Fleur was a pony that attracted a lot of attention. It would be much harder to keep up the charade, as at least one pony would notice something off. The most likely pony being Fancy Pants. But I questioned what would be such a valuable asset so as to cause an infiltrator to break one of the big rules.

Her influence alone couldn’t be enough. Act said before that they were the closest to each other that couples could be, so something about that had to be another factor. Perhaps the infiltrator was trying to gain what Chrysalis did at the royal wedding. Or was he trying to find some kind of deep answer in a relationship that only one like theirs could provide?

Whatever it could be, I hoped that it wasn’t going to end in catastrophe. 

While at the market I found a few events that Fleur would go to, then left for the castle. Once there I asked a Guard, “Excuse me, but do you know what public events in the castle are coming up?”

“Yes, mam,” the mare answered. “There’s going to be a formal party in the garden. It’s open to the public, but you’ll need to buy a pass.”

“Anything else?”

The mare tapped her chin in thought, the said, “No, mam. The castle space for events isn’t rented out often, unless it’s for a fund raising event. That gives a significant discount… Or it makes it free. I can’t quite remember how that works.”

“So where do I buy the pass?" I asked as I turned my head to look around a bit.

“It’s in the main hall.”

“Alright. Thanks!" I said, then left.

I knew that all the main hall entrances had a checkpoint, so I wasn’t about to give them a chance to reveal me. After swapping to my best disguise spell in a mostly empty jewelry store, I went back to the castle and approached the checkpoint, which had a short line. Before it was my turn, a guard asked the usual questions about any spells on me, which I all answered no to. Once it was my turn, I passed without a hitch and followed the signs to the event counter, bought the ticket, then left through another checkpoint to go home.

Though before I arrived, I realized that Act might have known some events that Fleur was going to attend, so I switched paths to his house. Once there, I knocked on the door and he opened, asking, “You need help with something?" with a slightly tired look.

“I need to come in and discuss something,” I said.

So Act let me in and we went upstairs to his office, where he closed the blinds on the only window in the room. I took that as my cue to shed my disguise while Act did the same.

“So what do you need?" Act asked.

“All the public events that Fleur De Lis is going to in the next few days.”

Act raised a brow in confusion. “Why would you need to know that?”

“Fleur may have been replaced by an infiltrator and the underground changeling market could get in trouble from that.”

Act sighed. “Well, my job’s been taking up a lot of my time recently so I don’t know what she’s going to be attending. What events do you know about?”

“For today, there’s going to be the grand opening of an Everfree exhibit and a charity auction with all proceeds going towards restoring a few public playgrounds. For tomorrow, a formal night party in the castle garden. Oh, and four days from now there’s going to be a cider tasting.”

Act thought on this for a minute, tapping his chin. “I think she’s most likely to attend the charity auction, then the night party. As for the cider tasting and Everfree exhibit, I’m not sure which one she’s more likely to be at, but they’re definitely the last two.”

“Alright. I think that’s all I needed," I said, as I put my disguise back on and started leaving.

“Wait!" Act suddenly exclaimed.

I turned around with a questioning look.

“I’ve got an invite to a flying yacht party that’s tonight. Fleur would probably be there," Act explained.

This only confused me and I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but you can’t just change the name on the invite, right?”

“Maybe. I’m not going anyways, so it’s worth a try," Act said, as he pulled out said invite. Taking out a fountain pen, he crossed out his name and asked “What’s your disguises name going to be?”

I only took a few seconds before saying, “Diamond Sparkle, stallion.”

After he put the name down adjacent to his, he signed it and hoofed it to me. “The host is a little lenient on this kind of thing, so hopefully this will suffice.”

As I took it I said, “Thanks. This should help a lot.”

“I hope it does,” Act said with a suddenly serious face. “Fancy Pants is practically a friend and he loves Fleur more than anything in Equestria. I’m not going to let some other changeling do Celestia-knows-what to her, so I’m trusting you to make sure that she’s safe.”

All I could say was, “I’ll do my best," and I turned around to leave.

Upon doing so, Act said, “Good luck!”

Once I returned home, I went to do my usual lab work until somebody knocked on the door. This prompted me to start my detection spell, which indicated that it was an undisguised changeling. My sixth sense told me that he was angry yet just as concerned for me. An odd combination. Not too surprisingly, his silhouette in the spell looked like it was Modus, but as I went to the front door, I prepared for the changeling to attack.

Upon opening the door, it at least looked like him. 

“Shape, I need to hear what happened to you during the Canterlot invasion.”

He didn’t look angry, he just looked and sounded determined if anything. 

I gave him a confused look and asked, “Why?" while my spell picked up another undisguised changeling.

Modus looked around in thought for a second. “I need to know how you feel while you tell me about what happened in more detail.”

At that moment I was tired, but I knew that this was far too important to tell him to come back later. “I guess. We can do this at the dinning table.”

So after I let him in, we both sat at opposite sides of the table. Then someone else knocked on the door, so I got up and opened it to see Hammy.

Like Modus, he still wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about me. “You… I, uh, feel like I need to know what happened to you during the changeling invasion.”

“Yeah, I was just about to do that with Modus,” I nervously said, before coming back to the table with him.

As Hammy sat down, Modus neutrally asked, “Here for his Canterlot invasion story?”

Hammy was going to respond, but I told him, “Yeah, he’s here for that …so I guess I’ll start from the beginning.”

Now that I had two listening I was more nervous, but I took a deep breath and started. “I was working in the lab when I started hearing the changelings dive bombing the city, so I took a look outside. It all seemed like a nightmare to me. I saw them as… a hideous combination of bug properties that I hated, especially chitin, with the remaining being equine. They were chasing, capturing, and feeding off ponies… and many looked like they were having fun doing it …so that’s pretty much where my memory cuts out for a while.”

Neither of the two’s feelings changed all that much, but I continued, trying to look at anything but the others.

“The next thing I remember was waking up. The lab room and several things in it were damaged, so I got up to start cleaning, yet I noticed that one of my legs had a large hole in it. I, uh… started to panic a bit and took a closer look. I noticed another hole, then shifted attention to my other legs to see that they had holes as well, and that my cutie mark was gone.”

At this, Hammy got up, came over to sit next to me, and reached around my shoulders to give a comforting squeeze before telling the story became hard. I blushed a bit at that. Modus was still hard to read, though he seemed to be thinking on how I felt while telling the story.

“By then I was freaking out. I went right to the bathroom mirror and noticed that I had what looked like bat pony eyes. The next change I saw was my horn. It was chitinous and curved. Both of these reminded me of the changelings I saw from before my memory gap. By then I… started having a panic attack.”

By then, Modus started to feel a bit guilty, possibly because he felt like he could have figured this out and emotionally supported me. But he knew he couldn’t at that point, so he let Hammy do it as I let out a single tear.

“I started worrying. I didn’t want to become a changeling or anything in between. I thought of other scenarios, but I began to get an odd sensation in my hooves and a light-headedness. I… Before I could calm myself, I became tired and unsteady, then vomited into the sink. After that, there was a blackness that started in my peripheral vision, so I tried to get to bed… but I lost all sight and passed out.”

I tried to not tear up any further, but I was losing that battle and it was obvious by then. “When I woke up, Frost was poking my face because I was late for feeding him. I-I did that, though the entire time I tried to not look at my legs. I was still pretty worried… and my mind felt exceedingly strange. I was hopping that the transformation was only temporary, so after I fed him I went through my books to find any spells that could have caused it. I knew it might have been my own potion, b-but I didn’t want to believe that.”

“Even though I went through everything I had, I found nothing, so I went to bed and completely c-covered myself in the sheets and tried to go to sleep. I hoped that by the time I woke up I would be a pony again… but something else happened.”

“I didn’t know how long I was trying to sleep for, but a sudden but brief, bright light appeared and I felt a large surge of pain everywhere that went away just as fast. I jolted up and saw that I was still a half-ling, so I tried to remember if there was ever a way to fix it… b-but I couldn’t and I doubted there was an easy fix if there even was one.”

Modus felt a bit more guilty at this, seeing as he could have helped me with fixing it, but he still remained silent. As for me, I was starting to feel better due to the worst of the story being over.

“I remembered seeing that the changelings could transform, w-which gave me the hope that it was an innate ability they had and that I could then do. I also thought that I might have still had my special talent, despite the loss of my cutie mark, which gave me the inclination to figure out how to use their ability. This took some time, but once I did, I was briefly surrounded by green flame… and a pain just like before that came and went just as fast.”

Despite remembering that pain, I was starting to smile. “After taking a second to recover from the pain again, I immediately looked at my legs and noticed that nothing changed. I was disappointed, but I was determined to find out what was going wrong with it, so I only cast it to study and fix it for the time being. I also soon realized that my mind feeling extra strange was due to gaining your sixth sense. At the time I described it as feeling others emotions… and that’s pretty much everything.”

With my story over, Modus told me, “That’s all I needed. I’ll see you at the bar at the usual time," then took a deep breath and left a bit quickly.

He wasn’t any easier to read as he left. In fact, even with my differently attuned sixth sense, his emotions were in a bit of a more chaotic and inconclusive state than when he arrived, so I didn’t know for sure what to make of his visit.

“Shape?” Hammy said, breaking me away from my thoughts. “I didn’t know you felt that way about chitin… and how horrific you first felt about that change.”

I smiled a bit more as I faced him. “I never would've gained the changeling shape-shifting ability, nor would I have created advanced spells for counter-infiltration, nor would I have ever had the nerve to use it to save ponies from being abducted by the hive if the accident never happened.”

Frowning, Hammy told me, “I wish I found you sooner, then you wouldn’t have had to go through this.”

I just smiled even more as I said, “I still regret nothing.”

“I know, but how does that make any sense?” Hammy asked, finally letting go of me and giving me a look like I was starting to go insane.

I had a standard response for this for a while. “Regret isn't an emotion worth holding on to because it helps keep you from moving on. Though I still feel like guilt is important, because it helps keep me from becoming a monster.”

Hammy was still confused, so I explained further. “Regret is to wish that you never did something because it resulted in an outcome that doesn't agree with your moral standards. Guilt is different in that it doesn't include the feeling of wishing to change the past, so it doesn't keep you from letting go of the past as much as regret does. It also still drives you to learn lessons from past mistakes.”

“I think I’m beginning to see what you mean," Hammy slowly responded.

“The philosophical side of Modus rubbed off onto me in his class," I told him, while the half-ling in his disguise passed through my view and into the kitchen. “Hammy, you remember Dew, right?”

“Yeah… and that she’s a changeling,” he responded.

Him knowing wasn’t much of a surprise to me, so I continued without skipping a beat. “Yeah, well not quite. He’s a half-ling like me, but he’s not quite used to pony society. Can you do public social things with him?”

Hammy pursed his lips in thought for a few seconds. “How accustomed is he?”

Rubbing the back of my mane, I told him, “He’s relatively normal… for a pony that lives on a rock farm," though the last part sounded more like a question.

“And you’ve been using that as your excuse?" Hammy asked with amusement and a raised brow.

A bit embarrassed but still smiling a bit, I said, “Yeah. I’d like you to get him more used to the public and show him what pony society has to offer.”

“I think I can do that,” he said. “I’ll start right now! Where is he?”

“Kitchen,” I told him, and he went right to it.

I stayed put for a minute or two, wondering what Hammy was going to plan, until he came out with the half-ling. Or rather, dragged the half-ling out by the tail, who was crossing his forelegs and wearing a pout on his face while he told Hammy “You’re not going to be able to drag me there.”

Noticing me, the half-ling asked, “Why do I have to date him?”

This momentarily confused Hammy while I sighed and told the other, “It’s not a date. I just want you to get used to ponies and their way of life so I don’t have to keep telling everybody that you lived on a rock farm most of your life.”

He responded in a deadpan tone. “A rock farm keeps sounding better every time you mention it.”

Hammy stifled a laugh, and I facehoofed as I told him, “Look, it’s not the same as a hive and they won’t let you live with them if you constantly refuse to do things that the hive finds ridiculous.”

A simple, flat, “Fine," was all he said, which prompted Hammy to start talking about what they could do as they left the home. So with that taken care of, I started towards my room to grab a book.

Until just a few seconds later, when I snickered from unmistakably hearing Hammy yell, “You don’t know what lingerie is?!”

~~~~~~

The first event I went to as the Diamond Sparkle persona was the charity auction, which started late in the evening. There was no problem getting in, but I really didn’t want to end up bidding with money I didn’t have. So before arriving, I thought of something clever and asked Act if there was anything he wanted from the auction. Unfortunately, he had no interest in anything there, so I had to be a little careful with bidding.

Infiltrators and assassins would usually have to rely a lot on body language clues to know who’s likely to place a bid, though once the fake pony places a bid, it attracts the attention of other ponies that want that item. It’s then that the fake pony can get a better measure of how confident the bidders are with their strategy. Assassins normally refrain from making the first bid on any item, but make what looks like an attempt every once in a while when an item is interesting to many ponies. After all, they’re not there to spend money.

So with that being said, I was able to avoid buying anything, yet Fleur wasn’t there while Fancy Pants was. I didn’t talk with him, but I did hear that he was also there to bid for Fleur, and from what I noticed he was a very reasonable pony. One that I could respect far more than most nobles.

As for the opening of the Everfree exhibit, it was just as simple to get in. I wasn’t able to find Fleur at first, but I was actually interested in much of the exhibit so I explored it. As I was going around to read about and look at many different fauna and flora, I kept an eye out for her. Unfortunately, neither her or Fancy Pants came to the event before one would likely leave for the flying yacht party, so that’s where I headed next.

Upon arriving at the entrance to the yacht, I presented my invitation. The pony examined it, told me to wait while he left with the invitation for a few minutes, then came back. He said that I was allowed to enter, but that I was going to have an escort and if I caused any trouble I was going to be immediately teleported out. Seeing as getting teleported without warning can be very disorientating, I didn’t want that. Let alone getting teleported into a solid object by accident because of quick and imprecise casting, among other things.

After my escort arrived, I boarded the yacht and asked him what activities there were. He was able to list most if not all of them on the spot, including the ones that were scheduled. I then asked if Fleur or Fancy Pants received an invite. He responded with a simple yes, but that he wouldn’t know if either showed up and that there was a list for that.

I asked if he could look it up, so we ended up going to what looked like a small break room. Going over to a manila folder, he opened it and searched through to find that there wasn’t a list of attendees. Due to that, we had to go to somebody to address the issue, though the pony told us that it wasn’t a big enough deal, seeing as we already took off.

Not having the easy way of knowing, I started wandering around to the events on board. There was only about three or four activities going on at once, but many were exceptionally interesting to either participate in or watch. Yet, despite that, I had a potential infiltrator to find so I thought up excuses to switch activities several times, though many said excuses included searching for either of the couple. This raised my escort’s curiosity and he eventually asked why I wanted to find the two so badly, so I told him that there was some interesting business info that I only wanted to tell them.

I had searched as much of the place as fast as I could while appearing reasonably unsuspecting, and at one point there was one pony that looked like Fleur, but after a few seconds I realized that it was a trick of the light. It was also noteworthy to say that her husband wasn’t there either. In total, I probably spent about two hours trying to find her while keeping my masquerade up. 

Unfortunately, I had to come to the conclusion that she wasn’t there.

Wanting to leave as soon as possible, but not wanting to initially come across as only being there because the couple were invited, I decided to sneak away. I did this by going to the one place that my escort would wait for me outside so I could discretely change forms. 

The bathroom.

Once no one else was in there, I swiftly changed into a dragonfly and once someone came in, I flew through the doorway and left the yacht. Once I got to solid ground, I changed into a pegasus and flew back to Canterlot. Once at a cave, I changed back to my usual form, then went home to just take the rest of the night off for once and read a book.

~~~~~~

The next day I spent most of my time before noon doing lab work, then took another shot at getting useful info from the hive negotiations. Even though Twilight was discussing details with Chrysalis that time, it was only about how Twilight figured the hive could improve under Equestrian assistance and technology.

Not anything useful, though it was interesting how Chrysalis seriously started thinking that the negotiations would be worth it.

After coming back home from that, Hammy came over to grab the half-ling and drag him off for more public activities. As for me, I did some house cleaning then went back to the lab work. Later in the afternoon I was trotting back home from the market when I noticed the sound of something flying close to Canterlot. It definitely wasn’t an airship, at least in the traditional sense, and it looked as though it was made of metal, but it wasn’t a chariot.

The only thing I knew of that fit the description was something I’ve heard about from Modus. Moreover, the owner of said thing was visiting Canterlot at the time, so it made sense to try and get a better look at it.

After finding a good spot, I changed into a pegasus, hid my purchases, then flew my way towards the unidentified flying object. By the time I got a reasonably closer look, other pegasi were following and taking looks at it as well, so I was able to examine it for longer than I thought I could without much attention.

Spark Wheel’s flying machine was an amazing invention. Modus has told me that even though it was loud, it’s agility and speed was amazing. He was definitely right about it being loud, and it’s speed, seeing as it was surpassing even the fastest chariot pullers. If he was piloting the thing from his home village it had to have a decent flight time as well.

Though as much as I wanted to get a close look at it, he was heading towards the castle so I flew back to where I hid my things and went home with them.

I did the usual things until about seven at night, then freshened up and put on a suit. Leaving the house, I went to Cordial’s store to change my disguise and swap the spell it’s self, then to the castle. Once there, I went though the first checkpoint, then went to the garden entrance where I presented my ticket and passed through the party’s checkpoint.

Starting my detection spell, I wandered around looking as though I was taking stock of what there was to do. It was as much as you’d expect from a formal garden party. Some nice classical music, ponies dancing, snack tables to linger at with others, exotic plants to look at and animals to watch. It was nice, but I had a noble to find.

After searching the entire party, I couldn’t find Fleur or Fancy Pants, but I kept in mind that they could arrive later. So I stayed to mingle while keeping an eye out for either and, after some time, my spell picked up a disguised changeling.

Looking in the direction of the green silhouette, I noticed that it had the general shape of Fleur. Naturally, this worried me. I couldn’t do much being a few dozen meters away with several ponies between me and the changeling, so I got closer to more easily make out the changeling’s emotions and get a line of sight.

It was indeed Fleur, and with Fancy Pants no less.

I reined in control of my worry as best I could and thought on how to deal with this. I knew the classical approach to getting a mare alone, but I wasn’t sure how to go about capturing the fake Fleur because somebody would notice the slightly alarming noise I’d likely make. Though I realized something about the fake Fleur when I had the chance to examine her emotions.

His true feelings towards ponies that he knows aren't changelings seem surprisingly docile for an infiltrator. Not much fear or hate, so why is he using Fleur's image? Judging by her curiosity and determination as well, it seems that he's far more likely to be here for information. I don't think he's going to be a threat to ponies in any way...

But you know what? I need some advice and there's an infiltrator that has it. He's probably understanding enough of both his own culture and the pony's to have a unique view of their relations. If nothing else, he probably has a new unique view of the world that I could use in some way.

I had to rethink my approach a bit. I didn’t want the changeling getting too alarmed or leaving, which meant that once I had the changeling in private, I’d have to initially be vague enough to confuse the changeling's persona, yet descriptive enough for his real self to actually have a good idea of what I meant. Then I could eventually get more detailed.

So I continued to follow the fake pony until she was no longer with Fancy Pants, at which point I decided to approach her with, “How are you liking the party, Fleur De Lis?”

Fake Fleur gave me a smile. “Everything is splendid so far. The music is lovely and the garden is as vibrant as usual. Are you finding the party enjoyable as well mister...?”

“Diamond Sparkle,” I finished. “And yes, the party has been a fantastic time so far.”

She had a slightly thoughtful look to her before she asked “Your accent. Did you move to another city from Trottingham early on?”

“Well, I left with my parents when I was three. I don’t remember anything, but I still have the accent due to my parents.”

“I grew up in Canterlot, though I have visited Trottingham. The palace is beautiful, though they say to not touch the Guards.”

“Yes, I know what what kind of things happen to those that do.” Giving a slightly worried look, I said, “They usually get taken away and come back in absolute terror. They take their job very seriously.”

“I have no doubt about that, though I prefer to move on to other topics.”

“As you wish, miss Fluer,” I graciously said. “Though, if I may ask, would you be willing to give a stallion a married mare’s advice?”

She joyfully responded with, “I would be happy to.”

“Well, if I may be so bold, it is a more private matter,” I slowly said.

“Oh…," Here, she considered whether or not to continue the topic. “I am very flattered that you would ask such a thing! …I suppose I can move this conversation to a more private area.”

Smiling, I said, “Thank you. I have just the spot.”

I started trotting off, and she followed as we made our way to a small storage closet. She was a bit reluctant, but went in with me anyways. Once I closed the door and turned on the light, I dropped the accent and put on a more neutral face. “So, I’ve had a recent change, and I’d like your opinion on whether or not I should reveal it to the public any time soon.”

My sudden shift in topic and accent worried her, and as such, she asked, “I thought this was about your marefriend. And why has your accent has changed?”

“We’re in a castle with Guards everywhere, so I assure you that you’re safe,” I calmly said, then switched to my interrogation voice. “That is, as long as you give me advice, promise to not to hurt any Equestrian citizens, and assure the safety of the real Fleur De Lis, infiltrator.”

This elicited a bit of irritation on the infiltrator’s face as she dropped her accent and demeanor as well. “What advice do you want?" she begrudgingly asked.

Putting on a serious face, I told her “I need a different angle to look at my problem from. A master infiltrator would be perfect for it.”

As she slightly narrowed her eyes at me, she said, “Asking your enemies for advice?”  then closed her eyes and sighed. All her irritation seemed to leave, though I was sure that she still was.

“I would prefer to make this quick,” she said, after opening her eyes again. “There are at least a few changelings that decided that they won't give away their real form. It’s not because they're afraid, but because, despite using a disguise, they've been acting like their true selves and had their disguise for so long that they feel like their disguise is who they actually are. So they feel perfectly happy keeping it a secret for only their closest, and maybe, honorary family.”

“I think I understand that," I said. “But I feel like I'd be living too much of a lie to do that kind of thing, despite my reluctance to tell everyone about my change.”

“Then how do you feel that your situation is different enough?”

I thought on that for several seconds as I tapped my chin. “Pony society prefers everypony to be open about who and what they are.”

“While Chrysalis prefers to have everyling do what benefits the hive,” the infiltrator said. “Which would mean few secrets can be kept to themselves individually.”

“Well, despite what I just said, pony society also prefers to give everypony privacy, which creates a moral dilemma. Though it’s not the dilemma that’s bothering me, rather, trying to find the best time and place to show my change.”

“Then perhaps something else may help. At the hive, waiting for the right time means waiting until it can best benefit the hive, otherwise it's considered selfish. I also know that in pony society, it's only considered selfish if it's done with questionable reasons and it hurts somepony.”

“I haven’t considered that part of the hive’s culture, yet I always try to help friends,” I said, as I rubbed my chin in thought. “I could be opening opportunities for myself as well as them.”

Frowning a bit, the infiltrator said, “I can’t help you much more, unless you tell me more. Other than the hive, what’s stopping you?”

“I’ve mostly put myself in this situation,” I told her. “I’ve messed with your hive’s infiltrators along the way to finding out what happened to me. I already know what it’s like to be different as well.”

“What kind of closure are you after?”

I reconsidered this. Before, I wanted revenge, then later an apology, even if it was forced. But now I wanted something else. 

“I want to know who did it.”

“But I have heard from the other infiltrators that you may already know.”

I smirked a bit. “I do know.”

“Then what more do you want?” she said, as I couldn’t help but slowly get to a full-on smirk.

“I want to thank him.”

The infiltrator raised an eyebrow at that. “I don’t follow.”

“Well, I think I know exactly what to do now.” My smirk disappeared and a moderately hard look took it’s place. “Though you still need to tell me where Fleur is. If she’s alright, you can keep searching for whatever it is you want, as long as it’s not the changeling underground market.”

Here, she gave an amused snort. “The hive started that market before my time, then after the invasion, it split off from us. I have no reason to rediscover or eliminate them. As for Fleur, you have my word that she’s safe, and if you don’t believe me, I’ll give you her location.”

“I want the location.”

“You’re smarter than you look. Though it’s no surprise to me,” she praised, as she found a clipboard hanging on the wall and wrote the address. As she hoofed it to me, she said, “It’s been an interesting conversation.”

I smiled as I took the paper and said, “I agree.”

“Though, how did you even see through an infiltrator princess's ruse?”

I went wide eyed with surprise. “I… just bested the infiltrator princess?”

“Yes, a moderate achievement for an infiltrator, though a major one for any pony or run-of-the-mill changeling. But again, how?”

I shook myself from my shock. “That will be a secret until the day it’s needed.”

“You are one strange and mysterious creature,” Chittri said. “That worries me.”

Taking that as my cue to leave, I opened the door, looked back to her with a smirk, said, “You don’t know the half of it," winked at her, and left.

Though I was expecting her to follow me, she never did. At least, as far as I could tell. For all I knew she was watching me from far away with something like binoculars.

So as I trotted up to the house on Clover Lane, I noticed how plain it was. Not the general kind of plain, but plain for Canterlot. Typical, if you will. The second thing I noticed was my detection spell’s notification of a chrysalis that was too low to be anywhere but the basement.

If it weren’t for that spell, I wouldn’t have just tried cantering in and going right to the basement. Yet as I stared down the basement stairs, I became more and more worried about what I’d see on the other side of the door. So I just started down the stairs as I imagined things such as the owners being held hostage, or worse. 

Though once I was half way down, I realized that it was ridiculous. If it was anything unwanted and unexpected, it would be a trap utilizing no magic. So once I was at the door, I changed to a dense chitin build and entered.

Yet no traps went off. 

I took a good look around and the only thing of note to me was exactly what I was looking for. Examining the cocoon, I found that it did contain Fleur, and as I looked her over with the aid of some magic, she seemed to be okay.

As much as I felt I had to release her, Chittri promised to keep her safe and I promised to not speak of it to anyone. So it was hard to just leave her there, even knowing the implications of Chittri’s investigation and her feelings towards ponies.

But Fleur De Lis was and will be safe, and that was all I really needed to know.