//------------------------------// // New Queen // Story: A new guiding Star // by Amethyst Sparkle //------------------------------// Ever since Twilight awoke, 324 had stayed by her side one way or another. Either disguised, or out looking for love and connected through the hive-mind. Which on a side-note was still the best thing that happened to the Infiltrator. Twilight’s hivemind was vastly different from his mother’s. It was organized, all memories arranged in shelves that was accessible to him. Like a public library, for a better analogy. Twilight’s song was very soft and comforting, magical and motherly, despite her young age. Perhaps it was because of her care for the dragon Spike, as he had learned from the hive-mind of course, or maybe it was the nature of the Element of Magic to nurture any and all magic users, he didn’t know, but was thankful for. It gave him a certain drive that he had never known before, making him want to do his best despite her never ordering it. Free-will. Desire to be the best for his new Queen. He couldn’t wait to see what the changelings of his hive will think of this, but he was sure they’ll all love it. Back to the original topic, 324 was always at his Queen’s side, feeding themselves love when needed and slowly teaching her the ways of the hive. She learned fast in just the few weeks since they met, and to his delight, already starting to make changes to some ridiculous rules that the previous Queens instated. Her face was quite expressive, he’d have to fix that but will enjoy this for the meantime, showing disgust or utter confusion as he listed the laws that sounded like they came from a nymph. “ Noling is allowed to ever step outside the hive without permission…” “ I can understand it’s for safety but sometimes the best can come from the curious ones… as long as they don’t hurt themselves. Freedom is one thing but endangerment is another.” “ All consorts are to stay only in the Queen’s bedchambers…” “ That is absurd. And ew…. don’t they need to take a bath? Or anything else other than… you know? (blush and shudders)” “ Any bad remark or insult will be punished by death...” “ Is Chrysalis that self-conscious? Did she even know what Freedom of Speech meant?” “ No kazoos allowed in the hive…” “ I’m not even gonna question that.” This is what they continued on for all the time they’ve spent together. 324 filling Twilight with everything he knew. The only thing that kept baffling him was that Twilight would ask his opinion on something, and after he gave that ( after the initial shock of course ) she would actually follow it! He was just a normal Infiltrator, and a Queen was taking his advice. While that might be just some old hive mindset, he was grateful nonetheless. He said this once before, and he was going to say it again: He liked this Queen. -------- “ Hey 3- er, Spark, how much love would an entire changeling hive need to survive?” Twilight asked after an hour of reading through 324’s memories in the hivemind when he was out. Now, with him as Spark Light, she wanted to hear it from him and not from his memories. That critical of an information could fluctuate easily, and with how the hive looked like in his most recent thoughts, she knew it would take a lot. She just needed to know exactly how much. 324 looked startled at the question. “ With all due respect M- Twilight, you don’t have a hive yet. You should worry about this later and focus on recovering.” Twilight stood up straight in her bed and looked at him in the eyes. Her new draconic eyes that only added ferocity to the already nerve-wracking stare, mind you. “ I’d rather be ready than panicking when we do cross that bridge, Spark. Plus,” She gave him a sly grin. “ Based on all your teachings and my new instincts, I’ve already stored love enough for about 30 or so changelings.” 324 went silent. He looked at her, surprised. Twilight relished watching his face contort as he tried to convey something. His mouth moved, but no sound came out. His eyes were flickering from changeling to pony due to utter shock. Finally, after a minute, he said, “ Keep doing that, My Queen, or your subjects would either have themselves on high alert around the clock for your surprises or not trust you at all.” Twilight giggled, the melodic sound rushing into the infiltrator’s heightened sense of hearing. 324 smiled with her as he recovered from the admittedly pleasant surprise. “ But seriously? Where’d you get all the love from? You never leave this room.” Twilight winked at him playfully. “ I never leave, but ponies come in here you know. Old friends, new friends, all overflowing with love for me. Since I’m just laying here doing nothing, I figured there’d be other more important uses for the excess love, so I stored it instead of using it.” So that’s why she hasn’t been laying yet, and why she’s still not in full health…. 324 frowned, thinking about this more. “Okay… I’m happy that you thought of your subjects’ wellbeing and future, but how about healing yourself quicker? Then you’ll be out of that bed and be able to do more progress!” Twilight put her hoof on his, smiling still. “ Being fully healed doesn’t mean I get out just like that, Spark. You know the Princesses would trap me here until they turned me back to normal, and Shining Armor would most definitely be more of a pain in the flank than he already is.” Right. The Equestrian rulers would trap his Queen here for cure and further study… They’d use her as a test subject of sorts to figure more about changelings. That would be disastrous! The ponies still think of them as enemies, and if they knew how changelings work it’d be harder for the other hives and themselves to find food. Twilight blinked as 324’s eyes widened in alarm. He subconsciously squeezed her hoof. “ And they’d also use you as a test subject! They’d know more about changelings!” The Queen tilted her head. “ But isn’t that a good thing? They won’t be afraid of something they know so much about, right?” “ That’s just it! It’d be harder for the other hives that had nothing to do with Chrysalis to hunt for food with ponies aware of what we can do. We’ll go extinct in no time…” 324 ended with a somber tone. That opened Twilight’s eyes at the possible ramifications that came with ponies knowing more than they should. They were still considered enemies, the wedding incident was still fresh in memory even after a month. And with Twilight still a fresh Queen with only one drone, not enough to proove that some hives are different from Chrysalis’, it would be the end of the changelings. She can’t let that happen. She won’t let that happen. Twilight looked at 324, who immediately met her eyes after he sensed it. “ We have to do something. We can’t let your- our, kind die out with ponies thinking of us as enemies. We can’t let Chrysalis’s reputation dictate ours.” 324 sat up slowly. “ What do you have in mind, My Queen?” Twilight smiled determinedly. “ Before, I thought that my being a Queen would be just that; being a Queen. Rescue the mistreated changelings from Chrysalis’s hive, help them start a new life under my guidance.” She started. 324 felt his heart leap. She said guidance, not rule. “ But now I realized that maybe my being a Queen was destiny. Maybe my future hive will be the one to bring changelings and ponies together again… And I have a feeling I’m right.” Twilight looked at the listening infiltrator. “ What do you say, 324? Am I right?” She smirked. Infiltrator 324 was at a loss for words. He never thought that Twilight being a Queen could have a deeper purpose other than giving the hive a much better leader and future. But now, with what Twilight had said, he realized she was right. On the practical side, a pony-changeling Alliance could bring benefit to both sides. Changelings could walk the streets in broad daylight and feed on freely given emotions, and Ponies would learn better ways of communication, building, and military training. A lot of good could come if that were to happen. And maybe more, but none of that would happen if they didn’t start now. Infiltrator 324 grinned and took hold of Twilight’s hoof like they were hoof-wrestling. “ A Queen is always right, especially if it’s you, My Queen.” Twilight shared his enthusiasm. “ Then we better get started.” --------- Shining Armor frowned as he watched Spark Light trot out of Twilight’s room with a smile too wide for his liking. The stallion had been visiting his sister since that first day, and would only leave if somepony else wanted to share Twilight’s company. Otherwise he’d be there until visitation hours were over. If that wasn’t a red flag, then he didn’t know what is. He looked at his sister through the window. He inwardly shivered as everyday her changeling state seemed to get more permanent. And worst of all she didn’t complain even once. She wasn’t disgusted, wasn’t baffled, didn’t have a care in the world! Every time he would attempt to visit her too, she’d hiss and show her fangs. Same goes for their parents. For Princess Luna she’d be herself, albeit avoiding family-talk. For her friends she’d be slightly wary. For Cadence she would act as if everything was normal, like she wasn’t a changeling. For Princess Celestia, it would be like talking to a business associate, and he could tell it broke their ruler’s heart. Shining then noticed something very weird. He had been looking at his sister for a few seconds ad only noticed it now; her eyes were open, but she was staring into space. As he watched her face contorted through a couple of emotions; seriousness, mischief, worry. It was like she was talking wit somebody, only nobody was there and her mouth was shut. His ears pricked when he heard a snort somewhere in the hall. It was Spark Light, walking casually, and despite his back facing the Captain, his body language screamed he was chipper and smug. He can’t help but feel there’s a deeper meaning here. He looked back at Twilight, who had a surprised look on her face. Then, still staring into space, rolled her eyes, and her hoof raised high enough from the bed to roll a full circle on her wrist. The hoof gesture of ‘ Go ahead ‘. But why would she do that? Why is she like that? “ Captain.” He jumped a feet high into the air at the voice. He then swirled around, horn lighting, but stopping short when it was none other than Princess Celestia. The alicorn had an amused smile on her face. “ Spying on your sister again?” The Captain looked back at the hallway, frowning when Spark Light was nowhere to be seen, then to Twilight who was looking back at him with a neutral face, then finally back to the Princess. He chuckled nervously. “ I can’t help but be protective, your Highness.” The alicorn of the sun nodded in understanding. “ I know, because I too am doing the same, albeit in my own way. The doctors are doing the best they can to figure out Twilight’s predicament. I know they’ll be close to the cure soon.” “ That’s good to hear, Princess, but a month has gone by. I can’t help but think that whatever spell that’s causing this is taking hold in the more….permanent sense.” He cringed at the thought. Princess Celestia frowned at that. “ Why would you think that?” Shining Armor sighed. “ It’s just that, every time I look at her, her changeling state seems more prominent. Her shell is becoming much more deeper in color, that crown thing on her head is much more prominent, her wings are even dried enough to send a few gusts of wind to your face! I feel that whatever this is, is probably almost done, and that’s what I fear.” “ You fear that whatever this is could not be reversed if we don’t do something sooner?” “ Yes! I… I don’t want Twily having to deal with such a curse.” Shining confirmed. Princess Celestia went silent, before humming in thought. “ Why don’t we ask how Twilight is feeling, hmm Shining Armor? Maybe it would ease your mind, remind you it is still very much your sister in changeling skin.” The princess gestured for the shocked stallion to follow her, before opening the door. --------- Twilight, having heard the entire conversation thanks to her new changeling ears, could barely keep her anger in check. As soon as the Princess came through the door, she sat up, gaining their stares. “ Hello Princess Celestia, Captain Shining Armor.” She said coldly. “ Twily…” Shining tried, already feeling the guilt come back after Twilight said his entire name. She never said that unless she was serious. He looked at the expression on her face. It was wary, hurt, angry, and downright chilling. The way her mouth twitched as if she wanted to bare her fangs. The way her horn sparked in agitation. She looked very, very, changeling like. It wasn’t helping matters. “ Twilight….” Princess Celestia started. “… we came here for a visit.” Twilight then looked at the both of them, before settling down to Shining Armor with much more ferocity. A few adjustments to her stare and it would be the perfect predator’s gaze. “ I heard you.” Was all she said. And yet those three words terrified the Captain. She had heard his reason on saying what he had said in blind anger. She had heard his mistrust. And he broke her heart once again. Princess Celestia meanwhile was trying and failing to keep her emotions in check. Her motherly love for her student was to much to bear, demanding that she throw formality out of the window and take the changeling in her arms, ask forgiveness and cry the guilt away. Twilight saw right past through the stoic mask and sensed all the love from Celestia. Her body immediately absorbed all of it, but it was apparently too much that it caused something to happen. She blinked, her stomach suddenly feeling weird. It was a really foreign feeling, but she kept to what was happening in front of her. She could ask 324 anytime, after all. “ Are you sure you’re not just checking up on me to make sure I’m not planning to overthrow the Princess, Captain? Because the way you sounded it’s like you think I’m a monster.” “ NO! TWILY NO! I WOULD NEVER THINK THAT!” Shining defended. He gained courage to to take a few more steps towards Twilight, only stopping when her wings flared open in defense. “ I’m worried for you! Who wouldn’t be? Your loved one turned into one of those heartless monsters!” He tried a smile. Twilight replied with a scowl. “ That’s not what I heard. What I heard was a stallion who couldn’t look beyond physical appearance. I’m still Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic.” “ Of course, Twilight. You are right.” Celestia said, trying to prevent the sensed fight. “ Then why are you so on edge? If you believed that you’d never be worried of when a cure will come! You’d still love me as WHO I am, not WHAT I am!” The Queen retaliated, looking at the stallion with the anger of a betrayed pony. “ I DO love you, Twilight!” Shining declared, stomping his hoof. Even if Twilight wasn’t a changeling, who can sense his love was for her but not the her right now, she would still see through the facade. His eyes were into space but directed at her. His body language leaned away from her. His tail swishing nervously. “No, you don’t.” She snarled. Shining was taken aback. “ YES I-” But his attempt to reinforce his claim was stopped by a wing. Sensing another increase in motherly love, which made her stomach feel even weirder, Twilight looked at Celestia. A tear had left a stain unnoticed. “ Twilight, I came here with Shining Armor to apologize for the past events, which we should have done earlier. I… I didn’t trust your claim about the Queen. But pointing out that you didn’t have enough evidence to justify my mistake is unacceptable. I should have at least thought that why would my student, who has saved our country and world so many times, and who I have known and practically raised claim that? You never lied to me, and even if you do I always find out, or you make it painfully obvious so it could not be interpreted as a lie and rather a way of saying ‘ I know what I’m doing, I’ll explain later ‘.” She paused for a small laugh. “ It was my fault that the Queen even managed to stay undetected for that long. I should have noticed the changes in my niece’s behaviour, and the invasion wouldn’t have happened.” She took a deep breath, and Twilight was practically drowning in motherly love, her own emotions, and the weird sensations of her abdomen. “ I am sorry, my dear student.” Everything went quiet as the alicorn awaited the Queen’s decree. It felt like eternity, waiting for someone’s forgiveness. But again, even without being a changeling and sensing all that genuine love, Twilight could never stay mad at the only other mother figure in her life. “ I’m sorry too, princess.” The Lavender Queen flew out of her covers and tackled the alicorn with a hug, ignoring the feeling in her midsection, and lost herself in Celestia’s stream of love. The alicorn meanwhile hugged back, letting a few tears escape as she sobbed quietly at the joy of being forgiven. Meanwhile Shining Armor, immediately forgotten, felt his heart ripped to pieces. How come his sister, his own flesh and blood, forgave somepony else first before him, her own brother. I mean, he hadn’t apologized yet, but still. Family before others, wasn’t that the rule? As he watched, he noticed Twilight’s horn was slightly glowing lavender. It was very subtle, practically invisible if he hadn’t been staring at it, but it was there. Was she… was she feeding? He froze. Twilight, even if turned into a changeling, wouldn’t know how to feed. They knew practically nothing about changelings, for Celestia’s sake! It could be an instinct, something she couldn’t control, but he had seen the changelings feed before. If they wanted to, their horns would always glow. Her horn was glowing. Twilight wouldn’t know. There were no books about it. They had been feeding her pony food. She didn’t feed on anyone before until Celestia. His Twily wouldn’t know. She wouldn’t know. She wouldn’t know. “ PRINCESS! GET OFF HER YOU MONSTER!” Shining Armor lit up his horn, making it crackle with magical energy. Startled by the loud shout, the two separated, and Twilight sent a baffled look at her brother. The Captain mistook it as fear. “ YEAH! YOU THINK YOU’RE SO SMART? WHERE’S TWILIGHT?!” The confused unicorn frowned and looked at her mentor, who was equally flabbergasted. “ What on Equus are you talking about, Shiny?!” Twilight asked, temporarily forgetting their feud. “ DON’T PLAY DUMB WITH ME! YOU’RE FEEDING OFF OF THE PRINCESS!” “ What!?” Both the Queen and Princess said at the same time. They looked at each other, Twilight frowning deeply and Celestia a bit wary after the statement. They looked back at the fuming stallion, gazes asking for an explanation, only Twilight’s was irritating Shining more. “ TWILIGHT WOULDN’T KNOW HOW TO FEED, NO ONE TAUGHT HER OR KNEW HOW. NOW, MONSTER, WHERE IS MY SISTER!?” By this point Twilight knew she should run, because there was no talking a fuming Shining Armor down. How he knew she was feeding, she didn’t know. Shining now thought a changeling replaced her, probably fueled by his paranoia. She would have to come back later and privately explain to her Mentor the truth. She never told anyone else about 324 for fear of reactions like this, and she was coping with the changes herself too. And plus the ponies she would normally tell first were being prideful and hadn’t made peace with her yet. Who knows what they would have thought if she revealed all that the infiltrator had said. They’d probably think she was brainwashed, or quarantine her or chain her up. Looking at her mentor with the expression ‘ I’ll come back ‘, she prepared a teleporting spell. Or at least tried to, since the weird feeling in her abdomen suddenly skyrocketed. She gave a pained shout, alarming Celestia and confusing Shining Armor, before crumpling to the ground in a heap. She felt weird all over, and her stomach felt like it was going to explode. As she became numb to her surroundings, she began to think what could have caused this. She listed her symptoms. Maybe it was a changeling sickness. Abdominal pain. Possibly Contractions by how weird it felt. A heavy feeling deep in her stomach, like something was inside. Her- Dear God, her eyes widened. She was about to lay eggs. She didn’t have time to properly freak out or find a safe place to do it or slap 324 for not telling her too. It was happening too fast, and it was happening in front of two ponies on the very last of her list to show. What would Shining think about this? He would probably think of something outlandish, disgusting, and something that’ll blame the changelings. Celestia might have a few questions and tease her when it was over but that was more desirable than the ramifications of Shining’s reaction. “ What is happening?!” Celestia asked nobody, visibly torn at helping and staying away. She had a feeling at what it was, but if she was right then she had to stay away. Shining Armor meanwhile was having none of this, after recovering from the randomness, and angrily growled. “ THAT WONT WORK ON ME, MONSTER!” He charged his horn and prepared for a blast. Time slowed down as a lot of things happened at once. The room wall suddenly exploded in a green light as a familiar stallion grabbed Twilight and teleported away with a pained grunt. Celestia conjuring a shield spell just as Shining Armor released his blast. The spell ricocheting off the more powerful shield and hitting the machine monitoring Twilight. The machine exploded, sending Shining Armor against the opposite wall. Silence reigned as dust settled. ------------------ Somewhere down the Crystal Caves, a flash of light pierced the darkness. Spark Light immediately dropped his transformation as he turned to his laying Queen. He had arrived right on time, thank God. He knew he was right to be in a hurry when he sensed the first egg form. Shining Armor, whatever had gotten to him was about to hurt not only his sister and her future children, but his Queen and now new nymphs. She was still struggling, this was her first laying after all, so he gently moved her into a space in the Crystals where she could have some privacy. Twilight looked at him with tired eyes, but mischief was clear behind the tears of pain. “ Expect a slap.” Was all she said with a grin as she tuned him out. He chuckled before walking far enough to not be considered rude but close enough to be able to protect her. Not only was she a friend, or his Queen. She was about to be a mother of a hive. Their future. “ I already expected a thorough beating, Twily.” -------------- After what seemed like an eternity, Twilight was finally done. She was in pain and very wet and sticky, but a smile was on her face as she looked at the fruit of her labor; 6 beautiful, healthy purple eggs. They glowed a soft pink, and Twilight sensed immense love wafting out of them. That must be where that gathered love went. She slowly stood up and got a closer look at her brood. Her eyes widened. Their shells weren’t smooth, there was something carved on them. A sword with a six-pointed star on the hilt. The staff and the snake with a six-pointed star on the top. The two theater masks with the star peeking from behind them. Two six-pointed stars with one bigger and one smaller. A plant growing on the star. And finally a shield with two swords crossed on it’s surface behind a star. “ Beautiful, aren’t they?” Twilight, a bit startled, looked behind her to see the owner of the voice. 324 had his blue eyes trained on her eggs, but his expression was that of awe. “ 324….” The infiltrator obeyed the unspoken command and went closer, eyes widening as well as he saw the carvings. 324 looked at Twilight with surprise. “ Are they cutiemarks?” He asked. Twilight looked back at the brood for a final check before nodding, albeit a bit unsure. “ I-I think so… I’m still reeling from this new development, 324, but yes, I think they’re cutiemarks… Do your hive’s eggs have those?” She glanced at the still awestruck infiltrator. He shook his head. “ No. We all have smooth, glossy shells. Not like this.” Then he noticed the eggs were glowing. He gave a startled chuckle. “ And certainly not already infused with love.” Twilight’s ears perked up at that. “ What do you mean?” The infiltrator started to lift a hoof to touch the nearest egg, before asking for permission with his eyes. Twilight nodded, so he touched the one with the staff and snake before he continued. “ Normal changeling eggs are laid without that pinkish glow. But we already know you’re an exception, seeing as your eggs already have cutiemarks and you being of pony origin. To hatch them, we’d have to infuse them with gathered love. Remember what I said before we met?” He inquired. “ …You were talking about how the eggs in the hive are probably dead when Chrysalis ordered the love they required to be served for her.” “ Exactly. If they aren’t infused with love the minute they were laid, they had 30 minutes before they shrivel up. But,” He quickly added after seeing Twilight’s face contort to worry, “ Yours are already infused with love, my Queen. And given how fast they formed-” CRACK “... They’re probably ready to hatch with how much love you gathered.” He finished as both their heads turned to the sound. The egg he was touching had a crack on it’s surface, shooting fear into the infiltrator before calming down after seeing more cracks form. Twilight gave a yelp of surprise as the other eggs followed their example. She looked at the infiltrator. “ Ready to hatch?” He gulped. “ Hatching, I’m afraid.” They fell silent as the first egg toppled over, chipping a piece from it’s shell. They could see a bit of purple hair - surprising 324 again - and two draconic purple eyes peeking from the egg. The eyes were trained onto the Queen, and the being inside gave a chirp. It wrestled it’s way to the world for a few more seconds before finally breaking out of the shell. The changeling nymph was beyond anything they’ve expected. It was about the size of a one month foal, same color scheme as Twilight. It didn’t have any wings or a horn, but it had the same colored hair as Twilight, albeit a male version of hers. Intelligence shone through his eyes, as he looked up at his mother. Infiltrator 324 noticed the carving on his shell was proudly shown on both his flanks. “ He’s a medic!” He whispered as he realized what the symbol had stood for. Twilight widened her eyes at that as she also surveyed the others, who had hatched completely right after this one. Carrying the symbol for theater was a female version of the first nymph, except she had a curved horn. The one with the shield was a male with a horn as well. The one with the sword was also a male but he had purple, feathered pegasi wings. The one with two stars had a horn but was a female. And finally the one with the plant was like the first nymph, but was a female. “ It’s like they’re the changeling version of the three pony tribes… and you’re the alicorn version!” 324 concluded with a wide smile. Twilight nodded, he seemed to be right, and looked at all the nymphs- her, nymphs, and felt a smile grow on her face. 324 felt love waft out of the Queen, and he chuckled. He had never been near any Queen on their first clutch, but rumors had said it fills them with pride and motherly affection. Looking at the smiling new Queen, he guessed those were true. “ What are you going to name them? Because I’m sure as the sun rising in the east that you aren’t going to use numbers.” He asked as Twilight sat on her belly and allowed the nymphs to hug and crawl all over her. She laughed, and her smile turned to a grin at his question. She looked at her nymphs one by one and named them as she did. “ Bandaid, Mariposa, Kalasag, Espada, Star, and Gaia.” 324 copied her grin, as he knew what some of the names meant and it fit perfectly to each nymph. “ You have a Medic, Infiltrator, Praetor, Soldier, Mage and Farmer on your first clutch. Congratulations, my Queen.”