//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: Carriage 
// Story: Golden Ink 
// by Detsella Morningdew 
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There were two. Each were the size of a newborn foal.

It really made sense, but that didn't stop it from feeling so wonderful.

Dinky was now wearing her mother's saddlebags, each egg tucked in safely on each side of her.

Oddly enough, even though Elytra seemed a bit nervous around so many ponies, and the fact that they were taking all of them to an actual pony town, she seemed to relax measurably when Dinky handled the eggs.

Dinky did not feel at all qualified to do so.

Scootaloo was rather disappointed that they weren't able to explore the hive further, but Sweetie Belle pointed out that they needed to make sure the eggs were safe, and then Apple Bloom reminded all of them that the sun had gone down about half an hour ago, and that they still needed to fly home.

And that they still had school tomorrow.

It was... a little difficult to get them all out of the hive. Even though Elytra obviously knew how to fly, changeling wings weren't exactly built for carrying things heavier than the changeling in question, and while Ditzy was an absolute master at dropping things off right at the ground, she wasn't so great at the precise location. So while nobody got hurt, it took multiple trips per pony to get into the right hole in the roof.

So when they finally got out of the hive, all of them were exhausted.

And apparently, since Harmony hates changelings, that's when Dinky found out that a royal guard chariot was waiting for them. When she was accompanied by three tired children, her cheerfully smiling mother that she wasn't officially supposed to be related to, a changeling from the previous hive that was most certainly not someone Celestia knew about, and the constant thought that she really should have packed more items that would make more suitable padding. Her eyes kept flicking to any object that could even remotely get close enough to her saddlebags.

At least Twilight would have a decent reason to be there. And herself, Dinky supposed.

She vaguely noticed that while the guards' expressions seemed as stone-like as usual, she did sense something like vague surprise from them anyway. Maybe Twilight was right, and it was changeling related after all.

"Princess Golden Ink, your presence is requested in Canterlot on behalf of our Princess Celestia. While a prompt response is requested, and we have prepared immediate transportation, a necessary delay would not be construed as insulting."

Twilight immediately straightened, and glanced at Dinky meaningfully. "I think she's serious. I never get this kind of summons unless the Princess needs somepony else to know about it."

So it's a public thing, huh? Dinky thought to herself. I can't think of why, but I did want to ask her about that memory thing, and I have a funny feeling they're related. She looked at Elytra, and even now, her mind never left the precious cargo in her saddlebags. The problem is that I don't have a safe place yet.

A hive. She shivered. She never actually thought that she would ever actually need something like that.

Dinky straightened suddenly, doing her best to imitate, well, not quite 'rich pony manners,' but more 'Rarity manners.' The slightly more polite kind of the same air. "Thank you, sirs. I am not needed elsewhere, so I will accompany you now. Elytra here will accompany me, and Twilight may if she wishes."

Her mother nodded decisively, understanding immediately. All of them might need sleep, but if this was a very public outing, it was a lot easier to explain away her absence from school rather than the rest of the Crusaders. Ditzy herself would be required to bring them back to Ponyville.

Plus, there was the fact that she had no idea where Twilight needed to be in this whole situation, but she still needed to act as if she were in total control. And based on the fact that the guards were no longer afraid of the changeling that was very clearly old enough to have been in the invasion, it was working, at least for now.

It was actually Twilight that looked the most conflicted. While the Crusaders didn't look happy, per se, they were also exhausted, and even they understood that this was one argument that they should leave alone. And Elytra simply walked silently into the chariot.

Finally, Twilight sighed. "I probably should go back to Ponyville. I really want to know what's going on, but Celestia barely authorized this trip. I think she just wants you on this one. So, um." She waved awkwardly with a hoof. "See you later?"

As much as she had actually grown to be comfortable around the odd unicorn, she had watched Rarity enough to know that genuine hugs were for when they were just being themselves in Ponyville, not where potentially gossiping ponies were there. And besides, she didn't know the Royal Guard well enough to know if somepony actually important was there. So instead, she nodded, hoping that Twilight, growing up in Canterlot, would understand just as much as her mother did. "It was nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. I look forward to meeting again."

She really hoped she was doing this right. The Crusaders certainly looked confused. But Twilight seemed satisfied. (Okay, definitely a changeling sense this time.) And the guards didn't blink even a metaphorical eye, as if this was something they saw every day. So she got into the chariot without looking back. Physically. She barely even noticed the proper place for her hooves to step.

Hopefully Mom would explain it to her friends on the way home.





The chariot was definitely designed for overnight flights. It was covered, and was almost entirely covered in soft materials and pillows.

It was also most certainly meant for either royalty or nobility. Everything seemed to scream, "I am rich, notice me."

But she wasn't interested in that stuff right now. Elytra still hadn't said a word since takeoff, and while outwardly she was stoic, Dinky was chilled to feel the overwhelming panic that radiated off her.

"Elytra?" she asked hesitantly over the sound of rushing wind.

Her head whipped around suddenly, and she stared with fearful blue-green eyes at her new ruler. "Why did you bring me with you? I can't be seen by ponies, I can't! And I can't use a disguise, either, since those guards already saw me!"

Dinky winced. She should have known. She wasn't safe in Ponyville, not really, and Dinky knew that near Celestia was probably the safest place in the world for a friendly changeling, but Elytra didn't know that. She knew Dinky's story, but to her eyes, that might just mean she cared about her original subjects, no matter the species, not that changelings in general were okay.

"I... sorry, Elytra, but I didn't really have any good options. Most ponies in Ponyville would probably not be that dangerous for you, because they would guess the right thing for the wrong reasons, but a few ponies there know what Chrysalis told me, that 'all the changelings are gone,' and... well, they'd definitely think you were a threat. Thanks to some... stuff that Celestia did, most ponies don't actually know the end result of what happened at the wedding, other than that they won."

'They' won? That's an odd thought.

"And if you're worried about Princess Celestia herself, she was one of the first ponies to believe me that Chrysalis wasn't completely evil, and she was the one that got zapped by her in the first place."

Elytra blinked, the sudden confusion so strong that her fear seemed to disappear momentarily. "Wait, she actually beat Celestia? Not, like, dealt with her quietly or something? Or at least fail to deal with her quietly."

"Yeah. Something about Princess Cadence and Captain Armor's love being really, really strong or something." A sudden thought occurred to Dinky, and her eyes widened. "And she gave that energy to me?"

"And you wondered why I was so surprised. I can see that you have a lot of love, since you can't really hide it that well when you're this young, and certainly not this inexperienced, but until now I wasn't sure if it was from Chrysalis actually hoarding, or something else. It's... well, it's a bit of relief to find out that she got that in the invasion, frankly. Probably not that great for this 'Princess Cadence' or 'Captain Armor,' but it means that she did actually care about us more than just as a species." She turned to stare out the window. "But the love actually was enough to overpower Celestia? I guess she was slightly less of an idiot, since that probably means she could have handled the sun and moon, but still."

Dinky looked at her with concern. She must have noticed, despite not looking. "Don't worry. I'm not planning anything weird. Changelings work better in the shadows, not as conquerors. Even Chrysalis knew that her plan was not ideal. But it is definitely interesting to hear just how powerful love can be in the right hooves." She turned back to Dinky. "Right now, as much as it feels like my wings are being clipped and I'm being shoved in quicksand, you are both my queen-to-be and the best hope for the changeling race."

Dinky frowned, but moved herself closer to the older changeling, leaning slightly against her. Elytra seemed surprised, but managed a surprisingly gentle nuzzle to the top of her head that reminded her suddenly that this changeling dealt with a lot of young ones.

But she suddenly realized that she now had a significant dilemma on her hooves. When it was just her, it was easy to dismiss herself as just another kind of pony. Even when Celestia did the whammy that made everyone think she was some sort of important Princess, she already sorta knew what Princesses were supposed to act like. And still being a filly, she would still be able to act like a filly most of the time without any problems. Even the scary thought of having children later, and therefore subjects, was dulled by the thought that she could presumably raise them like normal. Like any of the more rare pony races, thestrals being a good example, since they often required different things than average ponies, but still were treated (mostly) like any other pony.

But the conversation with Elytra brought up something that she hadn't considered. 'Changelings work better in the shadows.' It was a pretty innocent statement, and it was easy to dismiss it as a cultural thing, since changelings always had to hide to get food. That was going to change, if everything went as well as Dinky was hoping. Celestia was very persuasive to the average pony. But it reminded her strongly of those thestrals. That was a pony race that was nocturnal, and had very good night vision. They ate meat, but they were also really good silent hunters as a result. Most of their magic was shadow related. And so most of those ponies went into Princess Luna's branch of the Guard, so they could use that magic for something. You couldn't just tell a pony not to use their magic, you had to give them something productive to do with it.

Changeling magic was almost entirely suited to, well, change. Deceive. Almost every implanted memory Dinky had of actual changeling spells were in the same vein, too, aside from a ridiculously hard teleportation spell that wasn't even instantaneous. And while she had a pretty good idea of a few benign uses for that magic, especially in something like a theater, not every changeling could become an actor.

And at the same time, the changeling relationship to ponies could not be based on deception.

Dinky winced as she realized that Celestia had set up that exact scenario.

She let herself fall onto one of the pillows. At the very least, it couldn't be based on thinking that they were somepony else. Even if they did nothing actually against the law, one slip-up would mean nopony would trust them again.

What she needed was a good long talk with Celestia. Which she was going to get. Tomorrow.

If only she were able to fall asleep.