//------------------------------//
// 1: ROAD TRIP! 
// Story: Changelings in Silver Sunlight 
// by Nameless Narrator 
//------------------------------//

Open plains covered in a blanket of snow spread as far as eyes can see, namely the two eyes belonging to a robed equine with a long trail of tracks leading from the figure to the distant forests to the south. The weather here up north is almost pleasant today, at least compared to its usual blizzard-y goodness which the traveller is used to. Hole, sometimes you can still see grass under the snow, which is practically sunburns territory for most locals. As it turns out, taking the long trek to the Everhoof range in summer for once was a smart idea.

A gust of wind blows the hood off of the equine’s head, revealing a black, chitinous carapace of a changeling. The changeling isn’t bothered, opting to look around with a chuckle instead covering her head again.

“Summer trip still doesn’t mean a seaside vacation, I guess. Maybe I should have taken the Crystal Empire tunnel...”

The changeling’s casual stride through the vast whiteness towards the distant mountain range doesn’t slow down in the slightest. A keen observer would note that the changeling can’t be a common one, unless her form is an actual disguise even now. First, she’s got a mane, a feature common changelings can’t grow naturally, a grey one streaked with pink. Second, her eyes aren’t the full insectile teal, rather a shifting pattern meant to distract anyone she desires to.  And third, her carapace is decorated with lighter stripes resembling zebra’s. In fact, her whole shape is more akin to a full-bodied zebra rather than a lithe changeling. A full-bodied zebra from adult clop movies, to be accurate. Despite that, she’s carrying a big, military-grade backpack filled to the brim, and isn’t short of breath even though the nearest civilized settlement is over a full day’s trip away.

In short, her rough surroundings don’t take anything away from the changeling’s obvious confidence and power.

Her ear twitches.

“Heh, gotcha!” she smirks triumphantly, and kicks a cloud of snow in a seemingly random direction behind herself. The snow lands on something previous invisible, and reveals a vastly tinier equine stalking her, this one about half the size of a common changeling drone, suddenly busy wiping the white blanket off of its face, “You know you can’t hide from me, Eleven,” she sticks her tongue out at the little changeling who beams back with a mouth of full-sized, sharp teeth.

“Stalked-”

“-you-”

“-since-”

“-the-”

“-forest-”

“-miss-”

“-Gem.”

One sentence, seven different mouths from different angles.

Green sparks run through eleven equine shapes in varying distances away from Gem, all waving and returning from blending seamlessly with the scenery of white and faint green into clean, black changeling forms. Gem pats the head of the closest one, and all eleven faces light up with pure joy. They wither a little when Gem shakes her hoof afterwards.

“Forgetting to sync your mouths again?” she raises an eyebrow.

“Was focusing on not being seen too much, miss Gem,” the body of Eleven in front of Gem pulls off a whole sentence from one mouth with some concentration.

“I could sense you in the forest immediately. Does dad know I’m coming?”

Eleven shakes his head.

“Doesn’t know. Expects from your letter. You never take the tunnel. Wanted to catch you to show new entrance. Been out here for three days. There are wild minotaurs and animals. Fun!”

“New entrance to Brauheim? Lead the way then,” Gem nods at the speaking Eleven, “How did dad persuade the dwarves to finally build one?”

“No dwarves. New drones. Boss teaches proper digging. New hive.”

Gem’s sudden burst of laughter makes Eleven tilt his heads as he leads Gem in a slightly adjusted direction rather than straight north towards the Everhoof range and the minotaur city of Rift. 

“Did mom finally lock dad in a cellar and didn’t let him out until she was full with a new clutch of changelings?”

“How do you know?” Eleven’s eyes go wide.

“Call it an educated guess,” Gem snickers. From the corner of her eye, she notices one of Eleven’s bodies get closer and closer. A quick peek from out of all changeling eyes around her, Gem notices that while the Eleven in front of her is leading the way, the others are gathering around her in an attempt to be out of sight, “No hug pile!” she says firmly, much to the dismay of Eleven whose bodies back off into a protective formation around her, “I’ve got something important for dad in the backpack, and I don’t want to risk it getting wet. The bag is made from the same stuff the Royal Guards use for swamp missions, but I don’t want to test my luck. I’ll give you a proper hug when we’re out of the snow.”

“Okay,” Eleven brightens up a bit. The small procession consisting of two changelings and twelve bodies proceeds to trudge through the snow with only the occasional exchange of words as Gem recalls something Canterlot-related that Eleven might find interesting. Hole, has it really been over six months since her last visit?

Nearly three hours later, a flash of light in the sky makes Gem look up, and grit her teeth. She reflexively grips one of many corked vials on a set of belts criss-crossing her chest under her robe. Eleven backs off as well, all bodies scattering around, and taking their usual chameleon-like chitin transformations.

Soon, the flash turns out to be an object hurtling towards the ground at meteoric speed, apparently screaming-

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!”

-all the time.

A certain specific hive link lights up in Gem’s mind, making her ease up and smirk.

What are you doing here, miss One- I mean, Comfort?

“YYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” the screaming ends with a loud *thud!* which scatters snow and dirt in a tiny mushroom cloud, strangely enough tipped with pink smoke. Gem and Eleven pick up the pace, and in few minutes close the distance to a small crater with a dizzy, yellow-maned changeling mare sitting in its center and blinking.

This changeling could pass for the ideal model, with her soft features and slender yet fit body shape marred only by a half-open mouth filled with possibly many dozens of needle-thin and sharp teeth which would send a shiver up any usual outer-space horror’s spine, if those fishy tentacled fucks had any.

“Aheough...” Comfort tries to speak, then frowns and spits out a chunk of dirt, “Owww...” she adds by the way of explanation, “You really need to find a better way to summon me, Gem.”

“I wasn’t trying to summon you at all, Comfort.”

“And therein lies the problem!” grumbles Comfort, the ex-number One of Gem’s hive, “I don’t know why it is so stupidly difficult to teleport divine creatures using magic, but it is. I really wasn’t expecting that trying to move around the world on my own as a succubus would be such pain in the ass. Can’t you just, I don’t know, have some canvas with a portable demon summoning circle on you and call me every other evening or so?”

“Would that work, actually?” Gem helps Comfort dust herself off, and Eleven resumes leading the way. Of course, not before two Elevens jump on Comfort’s back and sit down, observing the area like two automatic turrets on an Imperial dreadnought. Comfort just sights as she realizes that from her former glory of the hive’s best of the best, she’s been relegated to a taxi.

“Wouldn’t hurt to try. Anything is better than trying to teleport. Wish I had someone to ask about this, really.”

“What about Scream?” Gem tilts her head. The alicorn of Lust, and the… owner, manager, or however it works with the succubi should know.

“I think she’s… gone. Her place is deserted, and I haven’t seen her since we got her the Silversmith blueprints. I’ve been busy with the summonings and everything. Time sure flies when you’re a demon. Literally. I’m pretty sure that sometimes when I get summoned, it’s retroactive.”

“Umm, what?”

“I mean that I probably had weird, demonic, tentacle sex with someone yesterday and I’ll get the summons in two weeks of my time. Kinda hard to schedule stuff like that.”

“Can’t you, I don’t know, refuse a summoning?” Gem instantly finds a hole in Comfort’s explanation, “Every succubus summoning ritual can’t be successful, right? I’ve read some books from the Canterlot castle library’s secret section.”

“Then you PROBABLY KNOW MORE THAN I DO!” snaps Comfort without any real anger aimed at Gem, rather with a lot of annoyance at her situation, “Wait, how did you get to the castle library? Isn’t that place guarded?”

“Diplomatic envoy privileges,” Gem smirks.

“What do you mean? Whose diplomatic envoy? Boss’?” Comfort’s scrutinizing stare proves too much for her ex-pupil.

“Fiiiine, hypnotic eyes privileges. Happy?” Gem admits defeat.

“Now thaaat’s the changeling way,” Comfort ruffles Gem’s mane.

“Still, the diplomatic part could be true soon.”

“Hmmm?”

Gem taps her backpack.

“I’ve got something for dad. Top secret, straight from Canterlot. He’ll either love it, or be scared witless. I assume a bit of both.”

“Tell me,” says Comfort.

“Nope. It’s a surprise.”

“Tell me!” repeats Comfort, poking Gem in the side.

“I said no. You just have to wait.”

“BY THE POWER OF AZALGABOTH, MY AUTHORITY AS YOUR TEACHER, AND BY MY PROMISE TO BE AS ANNOYING AS I CAN BE IF YOU DON’T TELL ME, I ORDER YOU TO TELL ME RIGHT NOW!” Comfort’s voice booms through the snowy plains, making the Eleven’s on her back cover their ears.

“As much as I owe to you teaching me, still no.” Gem doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest, “And who is Azalgaboth?”

“Fuck do I know?” Comfort huffs, “Fine, I’ll wait. Stupid… everyone gets powerful… then no one listens to their elders… total anarchy… Chrysalis would never put up with this...” she keeps grumbling, “Can’t even bite anyone… would have to explain...”

“If it helps, I promise you’ll like it,” Gem gives Comfort a friendly smile, “It’ll be a chance for you to parade yourself around, and mess with the heads of… mostly everyone really, in moderation.”

“Oooh! Are we going somewhere, or is someone visiting?”

“Yep.”

“Yep to which one?”

“Just yep.”

Comfort narrows her eyes, but her further questions are interrupted by the Elevens on her back shifting around and jumping off.

“We’re here,” says Eleven, and all his bodies rush towards a pile of boulders next to a pond sticking out of the scenery like a sore hoof. The faint cloud of steam around isn’t helping the inconspicuous aspect of the place. A quick examination by both Comfort and Gem doesn’t reveal anything unusual about the rock formation, and they both look at Eleven who points at the water, “Hoof.”

Comfort pokes the water surface, and raises an eyebrow.

“A hot spring?” she asks. 

Gem immediately lowers her hoof in there as well. Two days of walking through the snow did leave a mark even on someone used to taking this trip in much worse weather.

“Ohhhh...” Gem steps into the shallow pond with all fours, knowing she’s going to regret it when she walks out again, but the overall chill melting from her legs up is worth it, “Wait...” she consults her internal map, “We’re right above Brauheim, aren’t we? This is heated by the same vents as the underground spa, right?”

Eleven nods.

“Right above the main plaza. Come,” he shoves his hoof into the water, fumbles around, and a moment later what looked like a solid block of stone moves away, revealing-

“A slide?” Comfort peeks into the smooth tunnel headed down.

“Mhm,” Eleven jumps in, body after body until only one remains, with ten echoes of fading ‘wheeeee!’ behind.

“Three came up with this, didn’t he?” Gem walks up, shaking the steaming water off of her hooves.

“Improved the design. Much more fun. Faster too,” Eleven nods at Comfort still glaring at the dark tunnel.

“I’m going to choke someone for this, and not in the fun way,” Comfort facehoofs, sighs, and jumps in, “Which idiot made this a corkscreeeewwwww…?” her voice fades into the distance, or depth to be more accurate.

“I hesitate to ask, but how do you get up if it’s all smooth enough to slide all the way down?” Gem looks into the blackness herself.

“Another button. Makes stairs,” explains Eleven, “Teach miss Comfort not to call me weird alien abomination...” he adds, grumbling, “Want stairs?”

“You know what?” Gem pats Eleven’s head, “Going blind into a pitch black corkscrew slide? I guess you gotta try everything once in your life. Is it safe for me?” she shows Eleven the glass vials under her robe.

Eleven nods.

“Very soft down. Dwarf airy jello thing. Not wet, not wet. Backpack safe,” he adds when he Gem pouts.

“Very well,” with a shrug, Gem jumps into the tunnel.

Huh, this is much more fun than walking all the way to Rift.

“Wheeeeeeeeeee!” half a minute of slowing down and speeding up later, she lands in something white, warm, and dry which absorbs her impact like the softest cloud. It’s somewhat difficult to gain some grip on anything, but the blob seems to be sloping down, and eventually she flops out on a less soft mattress where Comfort is sitting with an unamused expression, forelegs crossed on her chest.

The final Eleven flops out of the padding short way away from Gem, and with a practiced roll joins the rest of his bodies. Gem pats her chest, and finds all her equipment in one piece.

Then she greets the two dwarven guards armed with heavy flamethrowers raised halfway up.

“Hello, guys. Mind lowering the toasters, please?”

“Gem, Comfort. Friends of boss,” Eleven walks up to the guards who nod and salute.

The square room they landed in is fairly small, barely ten pony lengths on the side, and most of it is filled with the gel padding. It’s well-lit, though, and the square door leading out is made from heavy, riveted metal similar to the design of dwarven floodgates. There are nine round buttons next to the door, and one of the guards pushes them in a long sequence. The door hisses and clicks open.

“New technology? Neat,” Gem whistles.

“Yes, miss,” the guard nods, “A lot of things based on the ruined dark priest enclave got out of testing this year. Electronic locks are one of the designs released for general use.”

As Gem walks out, Comfort stares the two guards up and down, and taps on one’s foreleg-attached flamethrower.

“Those wouldn’t work anyway.”

Outside, Gem’s eyes go wide as she finally sees where the group are. She had no idea her guess was this accurate, especially when this place wasn’t here during her last visit.

The gargantuan cavern hosting Brauheim castle plaza as well as the castle itself spreads out under them as they stand on a long staircase with security railing on one side winding along the side of the cavern down into the city.

“I’m not walking,” says Comfort, spreading her wings. Gem joins her, much to the disappointment of wingless Elevens, “Does boss know we’re here?”

“I sure do. Welcome home, Gem. Welcome home, Comfort. I wasn’t expecting both of you,” I say, “Eleven, you’re free to do what you want. Thank you for finding them.”

“Sure thing, boss!” says Eleven. It’s much easier for him to talk via the hive mind.

With that, Elevens smile, and start running down the long stairs while Gem and Comfort fly directly towards the underground castle.


***


“Go go go LEFT!” yells a female changeling, this one without any specific features other than very fit physique proving her to be a warrior. Her order is punctuated by blasts coming from the rifle in her forelegs sending rubber projectiles down a long shooting range.

She’s yelling at a smaller female changeling, one with short, red hair with a braid swinging behind her with her every sharp, jerky movement to the side as she tries to avoid the projectiles aimed at her while switching lanes according to the shooting changeling’s commands.

Five switches to a sniper rifle lying on the table next to her, which Two uses to close another chunk of distance between them before having to duck again. Five blinks, noticing that Two’s gotten closer than she expected, and switches her weapon back to the assault rifle.

The next barrage of projectiles hits Two straight on… and they pass through. Five blinks, and when she opens her eyelids again, Two is rushing forward with all her might.

“Nice mental interference,” yells Five, grabbing two pistols, one with each clawed foreleg, “Right, right!”

Two’s dash turns into her trying to switch two lanes to her left while watching herself from Five’s eyes in attempt to predict where the warrior would be shooting next. Ducking under the expected shot, her prediction fails to match Five’s reflexes, and three rubber bullets hit a different leg each, tripping Two up completely.

Five gives Two time to get up by picking up the assault rifle much slower than she would do otherwise-

-and then rams the butt of the rifle into the empty air above the stone counter separating the shooters from the long lanes.

Suddenly appearing Two drops like a rock behind the counter, clutching her muzzle.

“Nice try, but I know you’re much faster and durable. You wouldn’t stay down for so long, and you would have made it to me in the time I gave you by switching to the assault rifle. The illusion you tried to put inside my head was too far away from the truth to believe.”

“Ah, damn...” Two jumps over the short wall out of the shooting range itself, this time without Five doing anything to stop her.

“You could be a great shot-” Five starts, and is immediately stopped by Two’s hoof on her mouth.

“Nope, I’m with my mother on this one. I want to use my own strength to protect the hive, not rely on devices which might fail. No offense, Five. You chose firearms to be your way of defending the hive, and Six is helping you maintain those, and I will focus on infiltrator skills and brawling.”

“I respect your choice, you know that,” Five softly swats Two’s hoof away from her muzzle, “But I believe that the most effective way to serve the hive is the right way and so far our training has proven me right. You’re not One, Two. She’s a changeling able to fuel her physical attributes to monstrous levels, you can’t. There’s no shame in augmenting your chances with some firepower.”

“I’m augmenting my chances with infiltrator skills, which she doesn’t have. If it’s not enough, I’m not good enough. Simple as that,” Two grabs two combat horseshoes from the equipment table, and smacks her hooves together, “Close combat now, or another target practice?”

“As usual. Close combat, than physical exercises,” Five hops into the lanes of the firing range to gain space. In the area for the shooters, the two fighters wouldn’t be able to maneuver well enough, “Mind if I say something first, Two?”

“What’s with the hesitation, Five? Normally, you’re honest like a stab in the eye.”

Five takes a deep breath.

“You will never be as good as your mother, no matter what you do,” she stares into Two’s eyes whose ears slowly splay back.

“Not by training with you, but when I’m able to fight you then I’ll start training with her and eventually-”

“You do know that I train with her, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“You will never be able to fight her on remotely even grounds, no matter what you do. You’re trying to imitate something that is as close to pure antithesis of you as something can be. That’s why you’re failing even against me, and I’m a non-factor compared to her. I know that being able to punch the queen’s face off is your motivation deep down, no matter what you say, but it will never happen like this.”

“What do you know…?” Two growls, now baring her fangs at calm Five.

“I know that you’re an infiltrator with immense potential and secondary brawler talents who is trying to be a brawler first with added infiltrator skills to boost her close combat fighting in order to try to outclass someone who is raw force of melee disintegration.”

Two punches Five who dodges to the side, and swings upwards to catch Two’s chin. Two, however, flickers and appears behind Five, only to-

-catch a double hind leg buck to her chest. Two’s forced backflip lands her with her back on the ground. Five steps by Two’s side, her head hung low.

“We’ve been doing this for nearly two years. You’ve improved immensely, which I admire, so don’t take it personally when I say that this isn’t the best way for you to serve your hive.”

“I will train harder,” Two jumps back on all fours, “I will run myself ragged to grow my storage of love, to be more efficient, faster, stronger, better-”

“And you will still fail. You will outclass me, you might outclass miss Gem, you will outclass Seven with his divine knowledge, but you will never outclass Comfort or the queen.”

“WHY?!”

“Because you aren’t a murderer like them.”

That makes Two freeze, and her jaw drop.

“What? I would kill for the hive.”

“We all would. We all would fight to the death, but unlike for them,  slaughter wouldn’t be our first choice. For the queen and Comfort that is. None of us butchered our way through the ranks of the old hive, always sleeping with one eye open in case someone significantly better and more fed would try to eat us. Queen’s desperate strength and ruthlessness are beyond anything we can imagine. If you ever want to fight her just to prove yourself, she will tear you apart without hesitation. You have never faced existential threats to her life which she’s done from the day she was born.”

Two turns away.

“I refuse to believe all this is pointless. All this training, the pain, the growth.”

“It isn’t,” Five nuzzles Two’s nose, “You’re fit, you’re intelligent, you’re powerful. You’re just trying to get up a mountain by filling a rubber ducky with farts and hoping that when you light up the exhaust the fire will send you all the way up. I’m simply suggesting you use proper climbing gear.”

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” Two taps the top of Five’s head.

“Well, Two, I’m just a dumb warrior. You’re supposed to be the smart one here,” she smiles, “Which, I believe, is the point I’ve been trying to make all along.”

Two sighs, shakes her head, and starts walking towards the wall separating shooter area from the lanes.

“What does it make me if I need you to beat this into my head, huh?”

“Where do you think you’re going?” asks Five, completely ruining the warm moment.

“Well, since this is pointless, I was about to find something that would help me-”

“I didn’t say our training was pointless, quite the opposite, actually,” Five steps between Two and the way to the exit, “Now, you will either get your lazy ass moving and drop and give me fifty, or fight me for the right to leave. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re and infiltrator crossed with a warrior or a warrior with the side of an infiltrator, because either way I’ve got a part of you to punch until it gets better.”
 
Two smirks, smashing her combat horseshoes together so hard it sends sparks flying around this time.

“Oh it is ON!”


***


“Still nothing?”

The question comes from a bulky changeling drone wearing an ill-fitting helmet and a long beard so fake anyone can see the wires holding it in its place, and with pink runes around his fetlocks and chest. He’s pointing at the Brauheim castle on the opposite side of the grand cavern hosting the main plaza of the dwarven city. From down here, it’s an amazing sight no matter how many times he’s seen it before, like a beautifully lit multi-layered cake cut in half and set against a wall. With guards, long bridge over a deep chasm ending in a magma stream, and tens of places or slots through which the defenders could fire anything with a barrel in a pinch. Alright, it’s a cake a bit on the militaristic side, so what? It’s still a glorious sight.

Three licks his lips. Maybe he could go get a cake later…

The question is clearly aimed at the many times larger queen-type changeling on whose back he’s sitting with enough spare space for a whole group of other drones, and who only sighs.

“I already told you many times, little beard. I can’t remember anything, at least not anything important. It’s the dwarven castle. We live there. I know I’ve been there a long time ago, but that’s all. I have no idea what I did there, it’s just… familiar,” the huge changeling’s long, azure mane sways as she shakes her head, her eyes of the same color narrowed and exhausted.

“You know that you look a lot younger than when Two found you?” 

“WHAT?!” the pitch of Cryo’s voice goes so far up it hits its head on the ceiling, which still doesn’t mean much due to her normal tone these days being smooth, low rumbling of a jazz singer. 

“Heh,” Three chuckles, “Have you ever heard about shock therapy?”

“Ahhh… shocking and raping,” Cryo smiles, “And pillaging too! Back when we used to fight everyone in the world. Fun centuries. Wait, I- I- I remember something. A- a- a beard. Damn it!” Cryo facehoofs so hard the crack rattles the windows of nearby buildings. Apparently, the impact that would break a house wall doesn’t faze her, “Why is that the only thing I can think of when my mind wanders?!”

“Awww, don’t worry,” Three climbs on top of Cryo’s head, grabbing her jagged horn to keep himself steady, “You might remember something important and you might not. You’re one of us, and that’s all that matters.”

“What? When did I get ear mufflers?” Cryo raises her voice, and Three shifts his hind legs away from the ancient queen’s ears.

“My bad.”

“Ooof, I thought my body started shutting down,” Cryo breathes out, “I’m old, you know? That can happen out of nowhere.”

“Come on,” Three pats her head, “Bad mom is over a town- trousers- thous- and years old, one and three zeroes, and she’s still spry and smart. Remember how she sent the infiltrator to spy on us and you sat on him on accident?”

“Ah yes, the one who groaned ‘Pull me out or just spread the cheeks a bit more and I’ll die happy’?”

“Yeah, like Ten, only he likes princess Celery.”

Cryo smirks.

“Maybe this old bag of chitin still has something left in it,” she resumes slowly walking towards the castle with a bit more spring in her step and a sway of her hips which certainly isn’t lost on many blushing dwarves walking around, the tallest of them reaching barely to Cry’s armored underbelly, “Aside from this epic beard I’ve got. Aw holes… again!”

“My repeated scans don’t indicate any presence of a beard, nor the ability of untransformed changelings to grow one,” says the up until now quiet third member of the small group, a mechanical metal equine of size very similar to Cryo, “I have to assume there must be a deeply important, beard-related, memory buried somewhere in Cryo’s psyche. And if I may offer an opinion, if I still had a biological body the size of this mechanical one and libido, I’d be on that booty like a diamond-tipped power drill.”

“Thanks, Grand-General Obvious,” Cryo furrows her brows, flattered, weirded out, and deeply in thought at the same time, “A grey beard, scary rocks, three swords, and a hole… empty, infinite hole...” she drifts off as her eyes go wider.

The three stand there in silence, or about as much silence as there can be in the middle of a bustling city of dwarves whose favorite passtime is blacksmiting.

“Cryo.exe has stopped working,” comments Stompy.

“I almost had it...” Cryo breathes out quietly, “Something crucial… and it’s all just gone again. Wait, what did I say?” she turns her head in confusion.

“Grey beard, scary rocks, three swords, and a hole,” says Three, “Sounds like a neat title for a book. Or like a set-up for a joke. A grey beard, scary rock, and a sword walk into a hole- wait no, that sounds dumb now that I think about it.”

“Exactly this,” Stompy plays a recording of Cryo thinking aloud and trailing off.

“No, I’ve got nothing...” Cryo frowns after few seconds of further thought, “Nothing but the grey beard. Everything is connected, I just don’t know how or why… or what with.” 

“Aww, it probably doesn’t matter,” Three hugs her head from the top, “If you can’t recall old memories, you can just make new ones. You’ve got a hive, a home, everything a growing changeling needs.”

Cryo raises an eyebrow, examining her comparatively oversized hoof, comparatively to everything around other than Stompy.

“I’m not sure if I want to grow anymore. I’m already scratching the ceilings of some streets with my horn.”

“Airborne anomaly detected,” Stompy announces, looking up, “It looks like Comfort and Gem headed towards the castle.”

“Yayyy!” Three exclaims, “Let’s go greet them.”


***


I blink away sweat. Why am I sweating? How am I sweating? Chitin doesn’t have sweat glands.

“This is so horribly inefficient!” I complain as I focus love into my horn, and send another beam of green light against the rough wall of the cavern, which disintegrates the solid rock and slowly carves out a semblance of a tunnel mouth.

“We’ve been over this,” Seven, sitting nearby and gasping for breath, rolls his eyes.

“I know, I just want to complain!” I punch the wall, and cleave out a chunk with one hundredth of expended energy in comparison to the beam, “That’s like One screaming when she does push-ups. She isn’t really using the sound waves to help push herself upwards. Or like whenever you grumble that physical labor isn’t meant for infiltrators.”

“Break over?” Seven stands back up, swaying slightly.

“Break over,” I nod, and focus.

Seven’s hooves glow green, and he uses a flow of instructions from my hive link in order to start digging the bottom part of the tunnel ahead while I send another drilling beam from my horn.

You see, I needed to improve my ability to gather and focus energy outside of myself while Seven had huge holes in working with his body, but the best knowledge of using magic out of everyone I know. So, we had this idea to use each other’s experience to practice, which is why I’m currently digging a tunnel using concentrated beam of love instead of my hooves which would be hundred times faster, and why he’s doing the exact opposite. Focusing on one thing is great, but the best way to avoid plateaus is by getting out of one’s comfort zone, as Gem always says. I’d have given up months ago if it wasn’t so obviously working…

My eyes roll backwards, and when I blink a short moment later I find myself lying on the ground with Seven giving his cracked hooves a sad stare.

“I think my leg will break off if I go for another round,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, same goes for my horn,” I admit through the onset of a splitting headache, “Why do we do this to ourselves again?”

“To improve your focus, energy efficiency, and capacity,” Seven stands up and hisses when a twinge of pain that even I can feel rushes through his forelegs, “And to show Five that I’M NOT A SPINDLY NERD WHO GETS MUSCLE CRAMPS BY EVEN THINKING ABOUT MANUAL LABOR! And to look better without a transformation because you won’t let me use one to gather love and you still want me to do it without magic for no hole-damn reason,” he frowns.

“Oh shush,” I smirk, “You’re scaring the drones.”

This is where we get to the elephant in the room, or the thirteen drones, two infiltrators, and five warriors around in the cavern. Eight- I mean One has been badgering me about finally making a real hive for ourselves, which is something I agreed with. Don’t get me wrong, the dwarf castle is nice, but there’s just something about the good, old, black walls, green, bioluminescent crystals around, and all the fun of a proper hive. Of course, I would be a pretty bad ex-drone if I didn’t have my own ideas about improving on the age-old design of ‘if drones die while digging, we use their ground up chitin as wallpaper and keep going’ coupled with ‘if you can walk through without slipping and stabbing yourself on the nearest stalagmite, the tunnel is finished’. That part was okay with me, and that’s why the drones are smoothing out the cavern walls, and why the main connecting tunnel is a smooth square instead of the classic changeling rough hole. Also why the crystals made of green goo are on the walls in even intervals, and those aren’t only bioluminescent but also with added electric lights the batteries of which work off of the chemical reaction caused by us emanating love and refueling the goo crystals. Six and Seven have been hard at work along with the dwarven engineers interested in trying something new. Dwarves were actually trying to help with the digging a lot, an unhealthy lot in few cases. I’m all for opinions, but backseat digging? Big nope.

Fine… I will explain the new changelings. The idea of a proper hive under Brauheim was grand, as I admitted, but One insisted on me not being the one to dig the whole thing with Six and Three, but rather on us being in charge of someone else doing most of the work like a changeling ruler should. In short, we were good on love, so it was proper to make few more of us. I stopped it at twenty. We don’t want the Chrysalis situation to repeat.

I swear, she just loves being stuffed with so many eggs at once that she can barely wobble.

Oh right, and since she’s now rank One, she said she wanted to learn to be in charge more and do other things than punching whatever I point at, which is why we installed a target dummy made of bedrock into the council room after her first practice negotiation with Steelback and Granite in which she basically sold all of Brauheim’s steel stocks by accident. Not all of us are good at math, but we’re trying.
 
And I think that sums it up the best - we’re trying. Trying to get better at what we know, trying new things, simply trying to understand more than the little piece of the world we’ve seen until today. There are bumps on the way, but we’re together, and we have friends who help us when we need it. Now that is something I’m proud of, something which would be unthinkable in Chrysalis’ hive. Last time Gem visited, she said things were getting better for changelings under Chrysalis as well, but it’s hard to turn centuries of mistrust and fear around, I understand that. Progress takes time, and even for us it’s been barely two years since we took our place among the dwarves.

Now, a changeling from Chrysalis’ hive would ask why I have both warriors and infiltrators digging tunnels alongside drones. It’s not about lack of resources or time pressure, but about experience. The ‘higher’ classes of changelings need to know how difficult the work that drones do is, even though it’s quite often straightforward, and by hole they did learn fast when they didn’t recognize a spreading crack which would have caused a collapse of the tunnel they were in if left ungooped. In the same way, drones as well as infiltrators do physical and coordination exercises led by warriors, and infiltrators lead excursions between ponies for drones and warriors. Of course, they all have their natural strengths and weaknesses, but well-rounded experience could help them figure out a way to improve others would miss.   

However, all philosophy and self-reflection questions are pushed aside when two hive links light up in my head, two I’ve been feeling way too rarely these days.

“Everyone, Gem and Comfy will be in Brauheim within an hour. Who wants to hear new stories from the surface?” I ask, and almost all work stops instantly, with few drones taking a second to process the information. Twenty pairs of eyes plus Seven look at me, “Anything that needs finishing so that some tunnel doesn’t drop on our heads later?” 

The changelings shake their heads. Alright, they aren’t too much on the individualistic side yet, but they’re doing their best.

“Let’s go then.”


***



“And this is the average monthly production of steel ingots without reserves for ritualistic purposes, city security, and planned projects. The number we can pretty much safely trade off. The question is, do we want to do so under current surface circumstances?” asks a heavily built, grey dwarf pony with dim, orange beard wearing a dark violet jacket reinforced with steel scales.

“I… umm… there’s no security risk to selling this off, right? So yes, I would trade it for...” a much bigger, wine-red maned, muscular, and nervous to her long teeth, changeling ruffles the stack of papers lying on a smooth round table in front of her until she finds a document she’s looking for, “For this! The price minotaurs are offering for the leather hides is great for us, and you dwarves use those to make linings for plate armors.”

“Are you sure?” asks a chocolate-brown minotaur standing next to One on the opposite side from Granite, smirk growing on his face. 

“You will not faze me anymore, Steelback! I’m immune to your mind tricks,” One glares up at him, “Yes, that’s my final word.”

Granite sighs.

“Did you read the offer right?” he asks.

“Come on! What did I miss this time?” One frowns at each of her teachers in succession.

Granite taps his hoof against the document One was so sure about a second ago.

“The minotaur offer is untreated leather. If you went with that trade deal, you would have given up non-perishable materials for perishable ones. Leather needs to be treated with chemicals so that it lasts, so we would have to do that ourselves, which means using our resources and our horsepower.”

One takes a long breath in, then out, and then says:

“Give me a second, will you?” 

She stands up from the table, walks over to the bust of a pony made of bedrock screwed to a smooth pedestal in the corner of a room. Despite bedrock being the strongest building material the dwarves know and shaping it being exceedingly difficult, the pony bust looks rather battered.

Another breath in, then-

“FUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!”

With a roar that makes the other two cover their ears, One uppercuts the bust so hard it rips off along with the screws from the marble pedestal and buries itself itself in the ceiling. 
 
She looks up, and sighs. At least the guards didn’t barge in this time, which can also mean they are getting used to her screwing up and needing a stress outlet. The original punching bag filled with ground granite(the material, not the dwarf) didn’t last even three sessions, 

“Can’t I really just threaten them to stop splitting words or I’ll unscrew the heads of their whole diplomatic team, really?” a hint of desperation enters One’s voice.

At this point, both Granite and Steelback are used to this, and know they don’t have to tread lightly around One, or the queen as some changelings and most dwarves call her.

“The treaties aren’t just for you, queen,” Granite sorts the documents on the table which One messed up during their session again, “You won’t be making the purchases and trades, someone else will. Maybe someone who has never even met you. Someone who will have only the copies of the signed documents to go on. And even if you found out after the first shipment that you didn’t get what you wanted then what?”

“Facepunch?” One returns to a familiar territory.

“Whom?” Steelback asks, knowing where this is going.

“The responsible party?” One keeps going, “That way no one will screw this up again next time?”

“But you signed the deals,” Granite presses on, “They would have just done what you ordered them to.”

“But they wouldn’t have done what I wanted them to!”

Before either Granite or Steelback can say anything else, One raises her hoof and hangs her head low which ends any further chance of argument.

“Tell me, honestly, both of you,” she says, “Should I just stick to obeying orders and punching monsters in the face? I want your honest opinion, no diplomatic bullshit. Boss has infiltrators who will learn all this stuff in tenth of the time it took me to figure out one deal and mess even that one up.”

They’ve been here before. For Steelback and Granite, negotiating and trading is second nature by now. However, they are both intelligent enough to know what led to this point in their lives. Steelback speaks up first:

“Queen, One… I spent most of my life hunting wolves for pelts and spearing predators threatening my clan. When Dark Prophet united the clans and forced us into founding Rift, he brought teachers from the south. We didn’t know anything about industry or the value of what lies under these mountains. The teachers, average, good, or even bad returned home with gold we learned to mine first because we couldn’t tell the difference between them. We had our wisdom, our instincts for truth, and Dark Prophet. Dark Prophet whom I’ve learned that you brought us, queen. It took time for us to learn, and it will take you time. You might never be some silver-tongued orator, but you have values which count for just as much under the right circumstance - honesty, straightforwardness, and fairness. No one wants to make a deal with a liar more than once, and a trading partner who isn’t overly greedy is a blessing for both sides. In short, no, I don’t want you to stop learning. Yes, you have a long road ahead, and I’m one hundred percent certain that when your changelings eventually start producing something in the hive you’re building and want to trade, Granite here will take you to the cleaners with the first treaty, but he won’t ruin you. After all, you can’t do more business with someone you’ve destroyed, and you can’t do all the mining and crafting yourselves.”

“Wise words,” Granite nods, “Queen, I suggest you start taking at least one interested changeling with you on these sessions. Diplomats don’t do all their work alone, even Steelback discusses the draft offers back home before every step, and you know I go over those with the rest of the council.”
 
“That’s just so much to remember… how much of everything we’ve got, how much we can spare, what’s going on around that can change the numbers,” One slumps into her chair, “I feel stupid just imagining it. When I’ve got the papers in front of me it’s even worse.”

“Then let me ask you this, queen,” Granite looks One in the eyes, “Do you want to tell the king that you quit? This was all your idea.”

“That was before I knew how bad I would be at it! I’ve never been this useless at anything.”

“And what did you really do before coming to Brauheim?” Granite smirks, knowing the answer.

“I punched whom whoever was in charge pointed me at...” admits One.

“You can’t punch the whole world,” the corners Steelback’s mouth curl up.

“Try me!” One give the air the good old one-two punch and joins the two in a quick laugh, her mood a tiny bit better now.

The door clicks open, and only now One realizes that she’s been feeling new links for a while, but was too busy with the practice diplomacy session to notice. She almost jumps, and rushes towards the entrance.

“Gem, Comfort!” she pulls the two entering changelings into a bear hug, then gives both a kiss. On the lips, of course. We are no prudes. A creepy gesture anywhere else, but among changelings, sharing love like that counts for a lot. Every Eleven, not wanting to be left out, hugs the nearest changeling bit they can find, “Welcome back!”

“You really need to get out more,” Comfort licks One’s nose, “The look you gave me was the same you can see on old, lonely mares who just got their twenty-first cat.”

“Hey, I was out on the surface last-” One stops, “Oh holes...”

“Well, that’s something I can help with,“ Gem walks to the council table, “Nice to see you again, mister Granite, mister Steelback,” she nods to them, “Is dad around?”

“Welcome back, miss Gem. The king is down in the hive,” Granite starts packing the old trade reports One has been practicing with.

“We’ll be there in few minutes,” I answer through the hive mind, “Seven and everyone else are eager to hear what’s new on the surface. Unless it’s some horrible war. It isn’t some horrible war, is it?” I add.

“It isn’t, as far as I know. Though it will be a new territory for all of us in a sense,” she doesn’t exactly explain anything.

“We can give you privacy if you want,” offers Granite, but Steelback’s hand on his neck makes him look up at the minotaur.

“I think I know what this is about,” he says, “Warlord Darkhorn was getting everything ready in Rift for his absence as well.”

Gem smiles and nods at him.

“What absence?” asks One, “Is he stepping down or something? Do I have to learn the history and habits of a new minotaur leader to gain a diplomatic advantage?” she facehoofs, “Please, someone kill me.”

“I’ll get right on it,” Comfort laughs like a true villain, “And then the rank of One will be rightfully mine again, mwahahahahahaaaa!”

“Come on, you enjoy being a succubus too much to just sit around here,” Gem comments, unpacking some heavily sealed and secured square case and putting it on the table.

“But those don’t have a ranking system!” pouts Comfort, “How can I slap someone in the face with my rank when I don’t have any? Huh, HUH?”

“You’ll figure something out,” mumbles Gem, now focusing on unlocking the case crafted to likely withstand being thrown into a volcano. We can try that down here, actually. We’ve got magma out of the… everywhere, really, “Ah, hah!” she finally levitates a scroll, and breaks a wax seal with a… symbol of the sun?

Uhhh…

Now slightly on edge, I enter the room as the two guards outside salute me, Seven, and the twenty fresh members of our hive. Distant stomping shows that Cryo and Three are almost here as well, and a quick scan shows everyone else is already inside the castle too.

“Heya, dad!” Gem waves at me, “Hi, everyone!”

Few drones blush and look away, one brave warrior waves back at Gem, and the others mutter variously loud ‘Hello, miss’. I’m not bothered, changelings naturally sense power difference, and their inborn instinct is to be very suspicious of their superiors. We’ve managed to put them at ease with everyone they see regularly, but Gem, Comfort, and occasionally Ten still make them shy and nervous.

“So what’s this all about?” I ask. Can’t look on edge in front of the newbies, “Or do we wait for everyone first?” 

“They’re listening in already anyway,” Comfort taps her temple, and looks at Gem, “Get on with it, since you’ve been so mysterious all the way here.”

“Ahem!” Gem clears her throat and unrolls the scroll, “To your Majesty, recognized as the king of the northern changeling hive. Princesses Celestia and Luna hereby cordially invite you and any representatives of your kingdom or faction to the regular diplomatic summit of world leaders in Canterlot. ”

Me? Canterlot? Without disguise? As one of the world leaders? Equal to Darkhorn, Luna, Celestia, the griffon head KFC… or Chrysalis?

Oh holes, oh holes, oh holes, oh holes...

Why is everything spinni-

*Thud!*

“Wait, all that secrecy was just for that boring thing? Ugh...” Comfort rolls her eyes, “I thought it would be something fun.” 

I groan, currently being grabbed by One’s hooves in an attempt to get me up. Okay, the many tiny hooves of Eleven trying to help mostly just tickle.

“What do you mean?” asks Gem, her voice currently coming from above me. 

“You’re forgetting I was on the first one after Chrysalis accepted the peace treaty,” Comfort shrugs, “and at the time everyone from griffons to zebras, as well as even the public opinion of ponies wanted us dead. The best opportunity for some action, and all the two weeks amounted to was a ton of toothless bickering about borders, resource trade, and migration. Boooriiiing!”

Alright, I can survive boring, right? We don’t have anything to trade, really, so maybe they’ll all just be ‘Hey, another group of changelings up north away from everywhere. Next point on the agenda?’.

I sit up, and breathe out.

“Granite, can I ask you a favor?”

“I’m not coming with you, boss,” the dwarf preempts my question, “In fact, I have something to ask of you.”

“Okay, let’s prioritize here,” I manage to stand up on my still slightly shaky fours, “First - yes, we’re going. We’ll figure out who is coming later. I suppose I can’t bring everyone, right?”

“Actually,” Comfort tilts her head, counting, “Considering the retinues all the rulers brought last time, thirty changelings would be on the sizable side, but nothing unusual. Griffons usually bring whole kitchens and caravans with meat. That’s hard to get in Equestria.”

“Still, it would be unnecessary and maybe even unwise,” Steelback butts in, “It gives the impression that you’re a pompous ass who needs to thirty nannies to take care of them. I think I know you well enough by now to realize that you want this to be more a learning tourist trip for the newbies than anything else, but others wouldn’t, and the first impression can be crucial.”

“So, if I have to leave the new chitin here-”

“Then you’ll need bodyguards, experienced infiltrators, and someone to keep an eye on things down here,” Five enters the room followed by Two, Cryo, Three, Six, and Seven.

“Exactly, but we’ll leave that for part three,” I nod, “Part two, what did you want from me, Granite? The favor thing.”

The dwarf scratches his head. It’s unusual to see him genuinely nervous.

“We… I mean dwarves… have never held any interest in the dealings of the upper world, and secrecy is one tradition I would like to keep. We trade only with the minotaurs, and even then we use dead drops or few trusted contacts. I realize that you are still our king as well as the ruler of your hive, so I can’t ask you anything without the council approval first, but I wouldn’t want this to be our political confrontation. I have to ask you to keep the secret of our existence to yourself, and leave any unique dwarf-made items and technology here. The obvious subjects are the queen’s sword, our ancestors’ helmet, Stompy, or miss Five’s firearms, but I don’t know everything you’re using in your daily life here. I am aware that you’ve had those with you on your occasional trips to the Crystal Empire, but on this ‘ leader summit’ you will be under heavy scrutiny from everyone.”

“No biggie!” Three hops off of Cryo’s back, and puts both his helmet and the fake beard on the council table, “Here, I’m Three the dwarf, but up there I will be… hmmm… tell me when we’re leaving!” he shoots out of the room.

I shrug. At least someone will be prepared for the summit, though I’m not sure how.

“Hey, considering that the crazy griffon guard found us even here while looking for this,” One pats the Sword of the First Emperor sheathed next to her chair, “Promenading myself near the real current Emperor with it doesn’t seem like a smart plan. Oh yes, and I’m coming with you, so no getting clever ideas about leaving me in charge here.”

“Yeah, same here,” Comfort waves her hoof dismissively, “Because there’s no guarantee I won’t be summoned in the next few minutes, unable to return for however long.”

“Alright, Granite, we’ll leave any specific things or technology here,” I promise.

“But muh gunz...” whines Five.

“Will still be in your hooves, because you’re staying here,” I look straight at her.

“What? Why? I was just kidding!” she leans backwards as if struck, “I can protect you even without those, boss.”

I raise my hoof, and she shuts up instantly.

“Which brings us to point three. You will stay here, because I need someone to keep an eye on the hive and who knows a lot about inner workings of both Brauheim and the hive. You, Six, and Seven will stay as one drone, one warrior, and one infiltrator. Together, you should be able to deal with any unusual situation, and you were in this position before after all when One was in charge of the split city.”

“I didn’t do much of the actual politics and ruling, true,” One shrugs, “Seven is a great choice for this, I agree, and Six is the most social guy out of all of us. Plus, this way they’ll be able to properly oversee the construction of the hive.”

“Granite, they will be attending council meetings like I do,” I order.

“I will inform everyone, boss,” he nods, “If it helps, I doubt there will be anything relevant going on in the next… did you say two weeks?” he looks at Gem who nods, “Treaties are done, expansion projects are running, and we haven’t had a serious public concern in months.”

“We won’t fail you, boss,” Five salutes, though I can still sense that she’s disappointed by my decision. 

I make sure the next thing I say through the hive link isn’t heard by anyone.

“Five, if I knew there was someone better suited for this than you, I would tell them to do it, but there isn’t. If I left only Seven, he’d lock himself in the library and starve on accident, and while Six knows the most out of all of you, he doesn’t have your authority. I won’t need any additional protection with One, Two, Gem, and possibly Comfort there. I’ll need infiltrators with a lot of skill, not muscle. Fighting someone would only make things worse, I have no doubts about that. Now gather yourself, temp-queen Five. You’ve got a hive to run.”

“I will do my best, boss,” she answers.

“She won’t,” adds One, only for me to hear. I can’t lock her out of my head anymore, so if she isn’t distracted, she’s basically me. One mind in two bodies and so on, “She will make everyone do their best.”

“Alrighty then, point four. Who’s coming? I won’t force anyone, but I see it like this: One, obviously, Gem and Comfort. Two, I want you around, you’ve got a lot to see and learn. In case Comfort disappears, I’ll need more infiltrators by my side anyway. Three- oh right, he’s gone. Well, he’s already getting ready, so knows he’s coming too. And Eleven… hmmm...”

I face eleven pairs of puppy eyes, if a begging puppy was trained in a mountain monastery led by the puppiest of puppies for fifty years, achieved grandmastery, and then set out on the world. It’s mind-shattering, almost like a staring contest against Three, but what Eleven lacks in quality he wins in quantity.

“Fine, you’re coming too,” I admit defeat and find myself weighed down by bracelets made of live changelings.

Chrysalis and other rulers will eat me alive if I don’t have the willpower to tell eve Eleven no.  

I sigh. Ever since Chrysalis found us here two years ago, it’s been eating me inside. I didn’t tell her off, I didn’t say to her face she should shut up in my territory, the home I fought and risked lives of everyone for. I even had a panic attack just thinking about the responsibility of meeting world leaders. I can’t even bring myself to think other world leaders. I’m a king on the surface, but no matter how hard I try to keep it under wraps, I’m a drone deep down, and drones are scared of everyone for good reason.

“No, they aren’t anymore,” One interrupts my train of thought currently hurtling towards a broken bridge, “Not down here, and even those still under Chrysalis a lot less than before. Both are because of what you went through. They will never know what you did. Hole, if Scream’s story about gods is to be believed, EVERYONE is better off and maybe even alive because of you. We faced horrors I doubt more than few can imagine, and you’re still here, still doubting yourself. Though I would have prefered if you had punched Chrysalis in the face with her own ripped off ovipositor, yes.”

She’s right. I may be nervous like I always am, but there is a history of fighting behind me, behind all of us. We will deal with this. It might not end up perfect, but we will deal with this, and it won’t fail horribly. Still, I don’t intend to punch mom- Chrysalis in the face.

“Oh!” I stomp my hoof, “And I want Cryo to come too.”

“Are you crazy?!”
“Hahahahahahahahaha!”
“Ohhh yesss!”
“Interesting, but why?”
“BEARD?!”

You can take a wild guess who said what.

“My reasoning behind it is that Brauheim clearly isn’t working to jog her memory anymore. You tried showing her sights and smells which she could recall, but it failed, but there’s something I remember from the old rulers, something even Cryo knows that happened, and, quite honestly, Canterlot is an amazing sight from the outside, although the last time Cryo was there was to invade it and failed horribly.”

“So, let me get this straight,” the corner of Comfort’s mouth curls up, “You want to jog old Incredibly Senile Hulky’s memory by triggering a PTSD on a level which almost no other living being can even imagine?”

“When you say it like that, it does sound like a bad idea-”

“No, nonono! Just pleeeeeease, if I get called away and am not there to see it on my own, have someone with a camera on standby.”

Okay, Comfort loves it, which is all I need to know this is a HORRIBLE idea!

“Gee, I’ll just knock her out cold if she goes nuts,” One rolls her eyes, “Cryo is coming. Chrysalis missed her when she was here, and I want to see her froth that one of her traitorous generals is still alive.”

“She’s not the only one,” Comfort smirks again, and I just know I’m going to have to zip her mouth shut at some point today, “I heard rumors, and by that I mean that I scoured the minds of Chryssie’s changelings, that someone by the name Shadowstep came back too-”

*CRUNCH!*

Cryo’s eye is twitching, and her foreleg is buried in a fresh crack on the wall.

“...you don’t know when to stop, do you...?” I hiss, advancing at Comfort who looks from side to side for support.

“Uhh, hey, boss, you okay?” she back off, “You’re leaving burning hoofprints again.”

“What’s your endgame with this, Comfort, huh?” I shove her with my hoof, “Why are you just winding Cryo up? To see her blow up? Do you WANT to sabotage this trip for fun?”

“Come on, you’re over-”

“DO YOU?!” I scream at her, and she gasps as her backside hits the wall, “Where do you think this leads? You get a second of fun while we all show ourselves in bad light and Cryo-”

“I will control myself if Chrysalis or Shadowstep happen to be around,” Cryo’s strained but measured voice interrupts me, “You aren’t my idea of a ruler, but times have changed, and I admit it’s for the better. Whatever you were trying to achieve by mentioning that filthy amethyst fanatic failed, if your -what does Two call it?- trolling ever even had any reasoning behind it, succubus.”

Internally, I count to ten, breathe in, and breathe out before turning away from Comfort.

“Cryo is right, you know?” I say, “Scream did the same thing for fun, we were all just a way for her to pass time, but even she had a goal which was for the good of everyone. What you were doing was just trying to hurt someone for your amusement. I don’t care if you’re an immortal demon now or whatever. If you only want to pass time by toying with others without any regard for them… I know you’re better than that. Zero doubt in my mind about that.”

“I...” Comfort faces everyone’s angry glares and my less piercing but no less angry buttcrack, “I’m kinda regretting I can’t just unsummon myself right now. I can set myself on fire, if it helps. It doesn’t hurt me, but it’s a neat light show if we switch off the lamps.”

“Come on, Comfort, what’s the real problem?”

“Eternity is terrifying, boss...” her link closes, and I realize that she knows that I know that I have nothing relevant to say to something like that. For hole’s sake, I’m less than eight years old while she’s over four hundred.

I come to an executive decision.

“Okay, we’ve got better things to do than group lynching,” I say, “And I still don’t know the most important thing. When is the summit, Gem?”

“It starts in four days,” she rolls the scroll back up, “I was expecting to arrive tomorrow. If we don’t rush, we should be in the Crystal Empire tomorrow evening, take the overnight express to Canterlot, report to the castle to sign all the necessary paperwork, and still have a day to see the city before the summit starts.”

“By the way, are you going to Canterlot too, Steelback?” I ask the minotaur who shakes his head.

“Darkhorn has more knowledgeable minotaurs for this position. I’m a specialist on dwarven affairs, as much as a non-dwarf can be,” he chuckles, exchanging glances with Granite.

“Then it’s settled. Say goodbyes to everyone you want to, and we’ll meet at the fountain in the castle plaza in two hours.”

Everyone leaves, even Steelback and Granite, and I’m left alone in the council room, trying to stop my brain from imagining the worst possible scenarios starting with the one that this is all a trap and there will be paladins waiting for us at the train platform.

To my surprise, before long the door to the silent council room opens once again. A mossy green face rimmed with long, brown-mane belonging to Black Soil appears, followed by the rest of the chubby mare responsible for communication between the council and social services. Other than Granite and Iron Rose, she’s spent the most time with me, always stopping for a quick chat. During her last visit, Comfort said Black Soil wanted the changeling D really bad. I didn’t act on it, but I did allow Black Soil to get a little more physical and huggy from time to time. One seemed to be alright with that as much as I am okay with her stuffing Battlecry. And yes, I’m using that expression literally.

“Your Majesty? I heard you were leaving,” she approaches me, and climbs on the council table to be able to be face to face, “And a little bug told me you were extremely nervous about it.”

“Before this, all I did was fight or tell someone else what to do and believed they would do it well, because I believed they could do what I needed them to. Now… what I do could threaten everyone, and not even just my changelings, but also Chrysalis’ hive. I’m under no illusion that ponies and others will see the difference between our hives. Or even you! Someone looking for us might send spies into Brauheim like Chrysalis did, and your city could be revealed. Don’t worry, we caught that changeling and sent him home after a delicate mind rinse.”

She sits down in front of me and spreads her legs, showing her swollen, cushiony teats. 

“Look, I-”

“Shhh,” she grabs my head, and slowly pulls it to her belly where she lets me rest like on a pillow, stroking my mane, “You know that the queen is doubtlessly getting one last quickie with Battlecry, right?”

“Mhm,” I mumble into her soft, hot flesh, “I’m not one for that, even though I can sense the lust practically steaming from you.”

“Then just rest and relax,” she presses me tighter against herself, “Though my reputation as a top-tier MILF just got a proper smackdown. I’ll get you one day while I’m still hot, though.”

“You know what? When I come back, I’ll talk it over with One,” I mumble.

“Do you think I’d be doing this if I hadn’t talked to her already? I don’t intend to become a new decoration inside your hive,” she chuckles, “Yet.”

We sit there in the rather charged silence, but she doesn’t try anything. In fact, I am the one who wraps his forelegs around her backside to stop sliding down her lower belly.

“I noticed most of your changeling mares are either slender or muscular, yet I can’t shake off the feeling that you like my type a little more. Not fat, but squishy in the right places,” she wraps her hind legs under my forelegs.

“It’s just how we are. Warriors are strong, untransformed infiltrators don’t need much mass, and drones are more bulky for the digging. When we transform, we do change into something others would like most of the time.”

“Do you ask the queen to grow some more cushion sometimes?”

“I don’t,” my eyes are completely closed now, “She tries new shapes often, but it doesn’t matter to me. She’s herself, she’s strong, dominant, and rough, and no amount of plush, different equipment, or more alien transformation will change how much I love her. I admit that strong yet round is a shape I like to look at the most.”

“Imagining someone like that right now?”

“Mhm.”

“Who is it? The queen?”

“Mhm, with some changes. A little softer belly and bigger breasts.”

“Like mine?”

“Mhm.”

“Feeling better now, your Majesty?”

I breathe out slowly.

“Yes, I am. Thank you.”

“Any time. I wasn’t sure if it would work on you, but I guess even you buggies like breasts despite laying eggs. Or maybe it’s just my warmth and soft voice.”

“We used to be ponies a long, long time ago.”

“He he, there you have it. We can stay like this as long as you want, although you know I could go for a lot more.”

“I’ve got time before we have to go.”

“Then rest, relax, think of me, my warmth, my softness, the lust you can feel, everything that makes you comfortable. Don’t worry about the future now, there will be enough of that later, I bet.”

Aaand I’m out like a light. Someone will wake me up in time, I know.


***


Not too far away, and not too much later, Two and Topaz enter Crumble’s house, much to the surprise and pleasure of the mare.

“Hi, mom!” Two hugs Crumble.

“Come in, come in!” she ushers them inside, “I wasn’t expecting you tonight, but I wasn’t planning on going out anyway. I’ll fix something up for dinner.”

“Hello, umm, well, mom...” Topaz scratches his head, looking everywhere but at the dwarf mare.

“Now now, we went over this last time. You’ve been dating my daughter long enough to call me mom,” Crumble pats Topaz’s back.

“Well yeah, but… you’re ten years older than I am, that’s the weird part. Fifteen tops. I should call you sister more like,” Topaz looks away when Crumble gives him an over the shoulder glare.

“No, you really shouldn’t do that if you want to keep dating Two, because otherwise I would have to get technical as well and call you a pedophile, because she’s two years old, you know?”

“But that’s exactly what I’m getting at,” Topaz keeps driving his train of thought straight into a tunnel which is only a painted picture on the side of a thick wall, “She’s a changeling. Two years is absolutely fine for them, but we’re dwarves. We live for two centuries, so ten-year difference means squat.”

“Now listen to me, ‘sonny’,” Crumble disappears into the kitchen, but her voice is loud and clear, “I’m Two’s mom, and I know that changelings don’t have a concept of marriage and stuff, but I know the king and the queen personally, and they sure do get the partnership that can last a lifetime, so as long as you and Two are together, I’m ‘mom’ for you, got it?”

“Yes, mom...” Topaz capitulates, much to Two’s muffled chuckling.

“And don’t think I don’t hear that, young lady!” Crumble adds, which fails completely as Two starts openly laughing.

She pushes a hoof against Topaz’s chest, and says just loud enough so that Crumble would hear her:

“Wanna go to the bedroom and make me call you ‘daddy’ one last time before I have to leave?”

In the kitchen, Crumble starts choking and they hear a pan drop on the floor, followed by loud cursing.

Two winks at Topaz, whispering:

“I’ve got your back, Toppy,” in a normal volume, she adds, ”Let’s sit down and have a nice, family dinner.”

“Hey, I’m fine with everything as long as you don’t make me a real daddy anytime soon. I’m not ready,” Topaz pulls out a chair for Two at the living room table.

“Did I hear grandfoals?!” Crumble’s head peeks out of the kitchen, eyes practically sparkling. Topaz blushes instantly.

“Nope,” Two shakes her head, “Dad said he had enough trouble managing the twenty new changelings already.”

“Weeelllll,” Crumble mused thoughtfully, “A little bug told me you can choose whether the foal will be a pony or a changeling, so… wink wink, you know?”
  
“Those are some biological oddities I haven’t really explored yet, so I can’t do that,” Two shoots the idea down, “Besides, I’ve got my hooves full with trying to help Cryo remember, pushing my limits with Five, and escorting Three and Six as we explore more and more of the underground. The tunnel network here is insane.”

“Supposedly, the ancestors did have bases all over, or under, the world,” Topaz shrugs, “So the tunnels could spread everywhere, really. Too bad you haven’t found any other base yet. It would be nice to know more of our history.”

Two stays quiet on this one. The dwarven council decided that spreading the truth that dwarves are ancestors of Silversmith prisoners who were sentenced to life for not uploading their minds into combat machines for the great war against the Twisted wouldn’t be the best idea, so right now only the changelings and few select dwarves know.

“What’s important is right now,” she decides to say in the end, “and-”

“And right now it’s dinner time!” Crumble walks up with two plates and a bottle on a tray fastened to her neck with a strap, and puts the meals on the table for herself and Topaz, and the bottle for Two who opens it and takes a sip.

“Dinner and ammo at the same time,” Two smacks her lips, “I love this city. Flame spider venom whiskey… twenty years old, give or take?”

“Nah, just twelve,” Crumble shakes her head, “but I got it from a friend who knows her moonshine, none of that mass produced stuff, that’s why it tastes so good.”

Two pours a glass of the alcohol for Topaz and Crumble, and soon, the family conversation gets flowing.


***


The sauna of Brauheim central spa is empty, which puts a relieved smile on the face of the entering mare who tosses a towel on a rack by the door, and lies down on the hot wood. Not that she was ashamed of her body or anything. In fact, she looked absolutely stunning, being likely the perfect blend of muscles and padding a non-changeling could achieve. Coupled with her small stature, it was no wonder that the queen called Battlecry her pocket flesh-

Battlecry shakes her head. She’s been out of her armor for not even ten minutes and her head’s already in the gutter. Granted, she was busy these days, having to personally oversee and prepare training regimen all five new changeling warriors with various weapons, distinct physical exercises specific to changelings, and study their biology with the queen. Granted, the last part was very hooves-on experience, and exceedingly pleasant.

Speak of the devil, One enters the sauna, walking straight towards Battlecry and plopping her perfect plot by the dwarf’s head.

“Your Majesty, what can I do for you?” asks Battlecry lazily. There can be only one reason why One is here, and Battlecry is happy to oblige her with some ‘feeding’ despite her exhaustion.

Eleven tiny changelings dash into the sauna right behind One, and look at each other while they acclimate to the heat. The last three jump on each other’s backs to make a pyramid in order to comfortably reach the handle and close the door behind them.

Okay, maybe there can be more reasons. One wouldn’t want to have hot, sweaty, feeding session around Eleven. Battlecry was adamant about their affair being only between them… or the king, of course, but he has never joined. 

Oh well, maybe one day. Not that One wasn’t more than a satisfying partner.

“Nothing, really,” One leans over Battlecry lying on her back, and licks her nose, “We’ll be leaving for some royal summit in Equestria in few hours, and Eleven is coming too. I thought it would be a good idea to say bye to his mom, hmm?”

Battlecry chuckles as two Elevens jump on the bench and lie down on her foreleg each. Others follow until she finds herself under a hugging and nuzzling pile of chitin.

“He’s been learning his moves from Three, hasn’t he?” she chuckles, “I swear, that guy can hug a broken leg away.”

“I know you’re joking about that,” One snorts, “but I’ve seen some shit you wouldn’t believe.”

They sit there in silence for a while.

“So… how long will you be gone for?”

“Two weeks plus the trip.”

“Oh damn,” Battlecry sighs, “Not gonna lie, I’m gonna feel pretty lonely at home.”

“You’ll still be busy. Five, Six, and Seven are staying to keep an eye on the hundreds. And if you want some fun, Five’s open to anything, really. ”

“It just wouldn’t be the same,” Battlecry frees her foreleg from under Elevens, and reaches behind her to wrap it around One’s plot, “Oh well, absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they say.”

“Not sure if the heart is the part of you that would miss me the most,” One teasingly licks the underside of Battlecry’s free hoof.

“True,” the mare admits, “but I really do like you for more than… well… what you do to me. Not gonna point out the specific details in front of Eleven,” she sighs, “I’m so happy the king doesn’t mind us being like this.”

“Right now, he’s sleeping while drooling on Black Soil’s tits, so he’s not in a position to complain even if he was the type to do so,” One smirks, “I really need to tell him he should just stuff her properly when we get back. She’s got a rocking body. Not like you, but tempting in a completely different way. He could squeeze a lot of love and lust out of her.”

“Black Soil… ohhh, the hippy mare from the council? Lucky guy. I said it before and I’ll say it again, the way you changelings view relationships is weird, and I’m happy about that.”

“Hey, for most of our history, monogamy would be a suicide,” One shrugs, “We take resources where we can get them. Things are different right now, but who knows how long this will last? Boss has the right idea in not making too many more changelings, although we needed some.”

“You know that if you dig deep inside me, you’ll always find something,” Battlecry’s hoof wrapped around One squeezes the soft booty chitin.

“Hmm, weren’t you the one who didn’t want to talk about that too explicitly in front of Eleven?” 

“Well, maybe we can send foals outside to play and-” Battlecry sighs when she opens her eyes and sees that most of the Elevens on her are asleep, their soft breath tickling various occupied parts of her, “Oh nevermind.”

“Let’s just stay like this for a while,” One inches closer to the dwarf.

“I love you, my queen.”

“Trust me, I know,” One smiles, and takes one Eleven into her lap who blinks, yawns, and falls asleep again, “And Eleven knows too.”


***


With everyone’s last-minute business sorted, energy reserves replenished, and final orders received, we group up by the fountain in the center of the castle plaza. Dwarves are rushing around as the night life of Brauheim is starting.

Hold up, what’s that?

Three looks as if someone dropped him head-first into a cotton candy machine, and is riding a spider that’s on fire. Did someone mix something illegal into the love I absorbed from Black Soil? 

“I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!” Cryo reverts into the panic mode.

“Agreed. Number one, why are you riding an adult flame spider and not being eaten?” Two asks as soon as Three stops in front of us, “No, scratch that. Why isn’t it trying to eat anyone here?”

“That’s Clicky,” Three pats the spider’s head, and it clicks its mandibles in response, “I met him near a steam geyser when Six and I helped the dwarves uncover the cave-in that damaged the power plant. I’ve been feeding him the blank eggs miss One’s been stuffing miss Battlecry with. Those, and the protein mushrooms the dwarves grow. He likes them a lot, and he doesn’t even try to bite us or dwarves anymore. Eleven feeds him from time to time and he’s not missing any bodies, see?”

“You can’t take him with you,” One immediately moves onto the next subject.

“Don’t worry, miss One. I just want to take him out for a walk, and he’ll go back into the caves on his own.”

Hello, headache, my old friend.

“Number two, why is there a pink zebro on your head?” Gem asks after she recovers from her original jaw drop.

“Dwarves are all dim and dark, so I wanted something that would clearly signal that I’m not a dwarf, and I don’t even know anything like that,” he answers with clear conviction of a job well done, “Just like mister Granite wanted.”

You know, on some level it makes perfect sense. If you don’t think about it too much…

...so I don’t.

“Everyone will be staring at us...” mumbles Gem, leaning to my ear as we start heading towards the tunnel to the Crystal Empire castle.

“Let them,” I mutter back, “I’ll take a laughing diplomat over sad Three any day.”

“If you put it like that...” Gem sighs, “But please, keep him away from the delegation from Zebrica. I’ve already lived through one zebra invasion already, and I’d like to keep what getting striped means now.”

“Which is?” I ask.

“Much more fun,” Gem coughs and looks away.

I shrug. We might insult someone on accident, but if we act with good intentions and no ill will, this will end up being alright. No paladins, no torches and pitchforks, no furious alicorns.

And that’s that I need to keep repeating to myself over and over otherwise I’ll suffer another panic attack even before we reach the Crystal Empire.

Thankfully, the sky doesn’t drop on us during the day long trip through the tunnel. Or the ceiling. Does that expression apply if we’re underground? Anyway, we mostly walk in silence, with the only one mumbling being Gem. Something about ogres, oubliettes, levels, and monster placement. When I examined the new bulk of information growing inside the hive mind, I understood precisely nothing. A fake map? Why? 

I find this absolutely fascinating, and as we finally enter the direct tunnel to the Crystal Empire, and wince as Three releases his flame spider which I refuse to call by a name because those are horrible pony-and-changeling-eating monsters, I watch Gem’s work grow. Thankfully, the amount of information she’s saving in the hive mind is so miniscule that her doing that doesn’t have any visible drain on our love resources. Sometimes she moves a dot representing a monster, sometimes she switches it with a different one, but mostly she’s just adding new rooms, starting the map as two-dimensional but quickly expanding into cellars, small towers, and even sketches of what has to be the inside and outside of certain important features.

By the end of the day’s trip, I notice we’ve lost Three. We must already be under the Crystal Empire, and as far as I know, there aren’t any pathways branching off of this tunnel, so he can’t have wandered off.

“Hey, where are you, Three?” I quickly check his position on the real mental map of the underground. He’s not far back, and a quick look out of his eyes reveals that he’s staring at a wall, nose scrunched.

“This wall is weird, boss,” he replies.

“How come?”

“It’s drafty, but there are no holes anywhere, and… I don’t know how to explain it. Can you feel what I can feel, boss?”

“See, feel, everything other than read your mind. Unless you want me to do that.”

“Nah, this is okay. You’ll understand this, boss, the others wouldn’t,” he taps on the suspicious wall. Again, again, and again in various places, “It’s a wall, but it doesn’t feel like a wall.”

I see. I’m the only one able to fully understand what Three’s drone senses are screaming at him.

Not completely. It looks like a solid rock wall, it feels to the touch like a solid rock wall, but the tremors and the sound of Three’s knocking… is as if those were okay going one way, but simply disappeared going the other way. Id there was anything like a one-way wall, it would probably feel like this.

On the other hole, we don’t have time to stop and dig, and much less a permission.

“Well noticed, Three. I suppose that since we’re under the Crystal Empire, there might some sort of a cellar behind that wall, with maybe some magical ventilation or something. Seven would be able to figure this out, but he’s too far for me to contact. Anyway, we’ve got a train to catch, so let’s not waste time here. If it’s still weird when we get back, we can have a better look at it.”

“Okay, boss. I’ll be with you in a second,” he glares at the wall, daring it to reveal its secrets, but nothing happens. Maybe he could try doing the lip wibble and asking nicely. I mean, it worked for him almost against everything until now.

No, let’s not tell him that. If he somehow is able to warp reality purely by being nice, I’d prefer using it when it counts. Maybe for wishing away the guards and paladins who will surround us instantly when we arrive in Canterlot. Or maybe even before. Maybe this tunnel is guarded already. And maybe…

Breathe in, breathe out.

Three, galloping with his hoofsteps echoing through the tunnel, catches up with us, and hops on my back. The warm ball of love emanating from him at all times washes away my fresh panic attack.

Accompanied by the slow chatter of Comfort recalling her accidental summoning by some weird guy during a show in Las Pegasus, we finally reach the long, winding staircase leading to the crystal castle, and when the secret door opens-

I freeze.

No, it’s not paladins.

It’s Seven and everyone fanned out in a wide circle around the door, drones, warriors, and infiltrators waving at us as we push out of the narrow doorway. Two warriors are holding a banner reading:


“HEV A NYS TRIP END GOOD LAG BOS!!!”


Six notices me tilt my head as I read the crudely drawn letters covered partly by grimy hoofprints, some green goo, and with uneven spaces between them.

“We let them try to work the spelling out on their own. They did their best. They decided that three exclamation marks were important to show how much they mean it,” he says, smirking.

“Hnnnglbgh...” Seven collapses on the floor, out like a light. Five immediately loads him on his back.

“It was his idea. He wanted to surprise you by teleporting everyone ahead to give you a proper send off. He didn’t listen to me when I told him he could have a send off in the castle and then teleport you to the end of the tunnel,” Five explains, “Guess he just wanted to show off his magic.”

“Come here,” I pull immediately embarrassed Five into a hug, and everyone starts hugging everyone, much to the surprise of two harassed-looking armed crystal pony guards in the back.

Those two earn Comfort’s attention who saunters over to them, and proceeds with semi-consentual hugging. Their objections that they are on duty and that we’re technically invading the seat of rulership of another country doesn’t help them in the slightest, and in the end they find themselves with their helmet askew, trying to rub off gold kiss marks all over their faces. Good luck with that.

When even Cryo releases the four changelings she’s currently holding in her embrace, and everyone seems to finally be comfortable with a job well done, I clear my throat.

“Thank you for the send off, guys. We’ll do our best to make sure you can go outside safely not only in Brauheim. The peace treaty Chrysalis signed is one thing, but we’ll show them we weren’t their enemies in the first place. You make sure there still is a home ready and waiting for us when we return.”

They all salute, and I can feel the pride from all their links, more links than I’ve ever thought I would feel around me since I left the Badlands. When the salute is over, Five with unconscious Seven opens the secret doorway to leave, and-

The two crystal guards slide onto the floor, their breathing slowing down. My own eyelids droop, and I yawn. We must have been more exhausted from the trip and the surprise than I thought.

“Have y-aaah...” I yawn again, and switch to speaking through the hive mind.

“You didn’t need to knock the guards out yet, Comfort.” 

“I didn’t do anything. Why do all of you suddenly look as if you didn’t sleep for a week?” she asks, “Why are the hundreds dropping like bowling pins?”

Wait what? All of us?

In the real world, Three is already snoring on my back. All the new hive members numbered hundred and above are already out like a light. Two is rubbing her eyes. Gem scowls, grabs one potion I obviously can’t identify and downs it. It doesn’t look as if it did anything, and she says:

“This is magic. My energy drink didn’t do anything, and that thing can make a passed out dragon start dancing. Gimme a second,” she downs a different potion, and perks up instantly, “Yep, the potion of magic resistance worked.”

“Got more of those?” in the blackness of the hive mind, we’re all okay, but our bodies out there are inching towards deep sleep with every passed second, “Oh gods, ow, why, who what?” I feel sudden shaking and stinging, and open my real eyes wide as I notice Comfort slapping me and shaking me by the neck, “I get it, I get it, that’s working, that’s working,” aaaand I yawn again instantly when she tops. 


-“One, you’re awake, that’s an order!”-


Her eyes shoot open, and One stands at attention instantly, the effect of the spell completely insufficient against my mental order.

“I WAS A QUEEN AND I KICKED A TON OF ASS, KICKED A TON OF ASS, KICKED A TON OF ASS!” Cryo starts screaming from full lungs what I recognize to be a variation of Three’s digging song. And when she starts screaming, everyone clutches their ears, “I WAS A QUEEN AND I KICKED A TON OF ASS, KICKY KICKY ASS, KICKING ASS! BEARD!”

Now that works like a charm, and everyone’s groaning in pain, but fully aware. For about five seconds...

“Yep, that’s a suspended animation enchantment,” I hear Seven’s voice in my head, “And for hole’s sake, stop the damn screaming! I was happily passed out until this happened.”

Short moment later, Seven slides off of dizzy Five’s back, and whistles.

“Huh, localized inside the castle, apparently. Give me a second,” a quick peek into his mind reveals knowledge pouring into his head from nowhere, a mark left on him by the encounter with the Vigil’s master, “Aaaand done!”

With a flash of his horn, the heavy pressure forcing me down on the floor and to curl up and sleep fades completely.

“Did you dispel it?” asks One immediately. 

“No,” Seven shakes his head, “I don’t know the origin, but I’m working on it. It’s a blanket spell, so it’s not overly powerful and I made proper protection for us based on our hive mind connection. As long as someone stays awake, we’ll all stay awake, and because Comfort and One seem to be immune already, we’ll be okay.”

“Well done,” I nod my head, “That’s genuinely impressive.”

“Sometimes I surprise myself,” Seven smirks, “Now let me focus and figure out where the spell is coming from.”

Eleven appears in front of me, all bodies jumping up and down as they change back from crystalline structure practically invisible here in the castle back into their black chitinous glory.

“All-”

“-crystal-”

”-ponies-”

“-are-”

“-sleeping-”

“-Boss!”

I’m getting so paranoid that I don’t bother pointing out that he’s not concentrating on talking again. This isn’t a random magic accident, it can’t be.

“Got it! Now let’s be quiet, everyone, and haul ass!” orders Seven. Everyone looks at me, and he sighs, “Leading the dummies when you’re gone will be a pain in the ass, I can already see it.”

“Listen to Seven and move. Hive mind communication only,” I order.

We rush through the silent castle, staircase after staircase, following Seven whose horn is glowing green all the time. Thankfully, most of us are experienced with combat, silent movement, relocating like a unit, and the hundreds are linked up to us and absorbing all the knowledge they can.

From the many windows along each hallway I notice that we must be almost on top of the castle when Seven stops and points at a door with two sleeping crystal guards by its sides, another pair of many we’ve seen throughout the castle.

“Inside,” says Seven.

“One, do the honors,” I point at the door. 

In complete silence, green fire rushes through One’s body, and I can feel the strength inside her building up. She walks up to the double door, and-

“Diplomacy, my love. Diplomacy.”

-simply opens it.

However, the instant she spots an equine figure standing over an emperor-size bed, completely covered from head to hoof by dark green robe, her enhanced hind legs propel her forward in a jump which makes her into a hard, chitinous projectile that hits the figure straight in the back so hard it-

-shatters?

The sleep spell ends. Dry, grey bones scatter all over the room from One’s impact, and she herself, entangled in the robe, hits the far wall with a deafening thud. Something resembling a dark shadow jumps out of the robe, and disappears through the closed window.

The two figures whom I know as princess Cadance and her husband Shining Armor wake up covered in bleached bones to the commotion of around forty changelings surrounding their bed.

Things get screamy.

“GUARDS!” Shining Armor call out on instinct while jumping off of the bed with the blanket still wrapped around him, and landing on a group of now terrified drones and Eleven, “GUAAAAAR-mmmmphf!” his quick roll turns him into an emperor-changeling burrito.

Cadance, now blanket-less, crosses her legs with an ‘eep!’.

“CHRYSALIS, IT’S CHRYSALIS AGAIN! SHE’LL EGG ME AGAIN! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” 

Shining Armor has managed to somehow free his mouth, I see.

The crystal guards previously sleeping outside barge into the already crowded bedroom, and realize they can’t move their long spears whatsoever. No one is stopping them, there just isn’t any space. In the back, Comfort, grinning like a pedophile on a playground, slams the door shut.

“THEY’RE EVERYWHERE! THEY’RE SWARMING EVERYWHERE! THEY’RE IN MY BEARD! STOP EATING MY HIVE, YOU GOO MONSTERS!” the clutter apparently triggers Cryo’s PTSD. If she starts flailing around, this won’t end well.

Strangely enough, the only empty part of the room is the royal bed, on which sits only completely paralyzed Cadance.

Two pushes through and hugs Cryo’s foreleg. I feel her push through her hive link with Cryo and forcibly stop the ancient queen.

Everyone uncovers their ears, leaving us only with the noises of Shining Armor and few changelings thrashing around in one blanket wrap.

“MY ASS CAN’T TAKE IT AGAIN! I DON’T CARE HOW GOOD IT FELT, I DON’T WANT TO BE AN EGG SACK ANYMORE! GUARDS, HELP, I’M BEING VIOLATED!” 

“Don’t you dare move,” Comfort pokes the two guards who couldn’t help even if they tried, “This is gold. Anyone got a camera here?”

Three jump up to Cadance who twitches, and hugs her side. Everything eventually stops, and the bedroom goes completely silent.

What do I say not to start a total war immediately?

To my surprise, it’s Cadance who takes charge by grabbing smiling Three whose head tilts backwards a little due to the weight of his new manestyle. 

“Hey, you’re the little guy who stole the Crystal Heart, aren’t you?” she asks carefully.

“Mhm,” he nods, “Hello, miss not-bad-mom. Do you like my new mane? Miss Gem think it’s over the top and that the zebras on the summit will be mad, but I learned to make it taste like cotton candy. Want some? I can grow more no problem,” he rubs his head, and boops stunned Cadance with a pink-covered hoof, leaving the sweet blob on her nose.

She licks it on reflex, and raises an eyebrow.

“Not bad,” she puts him down on the bed, clears her throat, and looks around, “So, who’s going to explain what’s going on here?’”

Everyone looks at me.

“Umm, can someone help release prince Shining Armor first?” I ask, which the nearest few one of whom thankfully is Five interpret as an order, and she slowly unrolls the blanket. Two Elevens, one drone, and Shining Armor shuffle back on all fours, and said drone crawls immediately under the bed from where six more heads are watching the situation. Shining Armor joins his wife on the bed.

Oh wow, they’re not scared of the unicorn, they’re all scared that I’ll be mad at them for not getting out of the way and freaking Shining Armor out. Well, Eleven just likes crawl spaces, that too.

“Good, now get out from under the bed,” I say slowly, “Well, what happened was… well… we entered the castle through a secret underground passage, and everyone started falling asleep suddenly. Seven there,” I nod at him, “Discovered that a sleeping spell was cast on the castle, and we tracked the source to here. When we got inside, there was a...”

“A skeleton in a robe,”  One throws the robe on the bed, and nods to the various bones visible around, “I jumped at it and it shattered, which made the spell end. You as well as the guards woke up a moment later. If you want to know why there’s almost forty of us here, few of whom are still hiding under your bed, Eleven, then you’ve got your priorities wrong with all due respect.”

“Alright, first things first,” Shining Armor speaks out firmly, “This is our bedroom. Everyone out!”

“You heard the prince,” I say as most of my changelings don’t really care for orders from anyone but myself, “And everyone who’s not coming to the summit goes home now. Thank you for the send off. We’ll make sure to bring back something nice for you from pony land.”

Shortly after we clear out the place, Shining Armor joins the guards outside, and leads them away.

“We’ll inspect the guards inside the castle,” he says, “Cadance will be with you in a minute.”

The leave, and the pink alicorn princess joins us.

“We really didn’t want to be a bother, princess,” I say, giving her a courteous bow, “We just wanted to sneak through the castle on our way to catch the express train to Canterlot for the royal summit.” 

“Ohhh right!” Cadance smacks her forehead, leading the way, “I completely forgot we invited you as well. You’re early, though.”

“I wanted us to have a chance to see Canterlot before the summit,” explains Gem, “Last time the boss was there… things weren’t going well.”

“Don’t worry too much, Gem,” Cadance pats her back, “Ponies are used to changelings these days, though when a second changeling faction appears, it’s bound to make some nobles worried. However, if you’re careful around griffons, you’ll be okay, your Majesty,” she gives me a friendly smile. Considering we’ve met only twice before, once in the Castle of Two Sisters when she was unconscious, and then after we returned the Crystal Heart, she’s a very friendly pony, and I can’t sense any ill intent from her. Just princess of Love things, I guess. Or princess of food, as Three calls her sometimes.

“I’m more worried about what happened here tonight,” I admit with a sigh, “Although I was expecting a lot more trouble for sneaking into your castle and all that. Can we really go just like that?”

Cadance chuckles.

“Queen Chrysalis visits me often, and she assured me the last thing your hive wanted was to cause trouble. Besides, Gem here always visits the castle when she’s on the way to Rift, and there have never been trouble with you, which is a lot more than I can say for… anypony else, really. Though I still don’t know where exactly that secret tunnel of yours is, but this castle is full of secrets left behind by king Sombra we’re still uncovering randomly even now. Believe or not, a direct tunnel to your hive is the least dangerous thing in here. And maybe things will go so well at the summit that you won’t need to hide anymore, and some of us might come and visit. I know my aunts don’t harbor any ill will towards you for the events in the Castle of Two Sisters.”

“I told her the reason why we didn’t want the tunnel to be explored, even if they discovered it, was that we have really heavy security in our hive due to our bad experiences with paladins, and that visitors might be seriously hurt. Can’t have some random expedition reveal the truth about dwarves,” Gem quickly explains.

“Good thinking.”

“Hopefully so,” I say out loud, ”To be honest, it would be fun to start a new escape hive game like we had in Las Pegasus, but here in the Crystal Empire.”

“Oh? I didn’t hear about that?” Cadance gives me curious glance. However, we’ve finally reached the main gate of the castle now guarded from both sides, which the crystal ponies open when the princess nods, “We’ll have time to talk about it during the summit. Who knows? Maybe somepony else might be interested in that kind of business in their city as well. It’s an idea that might help others get to know you.”

“I’ll think about it,” I say as we leave the castle while Cadance stays in, “But I’ll be happy enough with not having soldiers sent after us. Larva flops, larva flops.”

“Foal steps,” Gem translates immediately.

“I see,” Cadance nods, “See you in Canterlot then,” she waves, and the guards close the castle gate again.

After a brief stop by the Crystal Heart to refresh, we head straight to the train station, drawing the Crystal Empire map from Gem’s head. 

I’ve never seen it before. It’s very simple, actually - a large roof held by pillars, with three sets of train tracks underneath and a platform by each. Like everything in the city, all buildings and platforms are made from crystals of various opacity, and there are various stands scattered around, all closed at this time of night. Fortunately, the overnight express Gem planned to take is standing by the nearest platform, apparently about half full, judging by the lit up coupes.

“I’ll go sort out the tickets,” Gem rushes off.

Oh… money…

Surface money…

Money none of us have.

I’m not a smart king, am I?

“It’ll be okay, love,” One feels my sudden distress, ”We’re a hive. We’re one entity. If one fails, others succeed. Gem has the experience we need.”

The changeling in question returns with a stack of papers which she presents to a sleepy crystal unicorn at one of the steps leading into the train. He seems a little on edge when approached by a large group of changelings at night. Can’t blame him, really.

“Hey, what’s that?” he points at Three’s head as he’s getting on.

“I’m luggage,” he dabs the pony’s mouth with his mane, and hops on board.

“Mmmm...” the unicorn doesn’t bother us anymore, “Tasty.”

Gem leads us to an empty coupe into which we somehow fits, mostly thanks to Eleven immediately using Cryo as a stepladder to crawl into the overhead luggage space while the huge mare nas no qualms with being a leg rest. 

All in all… that didn’t go half as bad as I thought.

“Now, we’ve got about twenty minutes before we leave, and then some eleven hours’ trip to Canterlot.” Gem smiles and pulls out a small pouch which she empties on the window table, revealing a set of various dice. Next, our attention gets drawn to the map she’s been preparing inside our hive mind the whole trip. Most of it, however, is obscured by black fog, as we can clearly see, 

“Only one question remains…” she breathes out, “Who wants to play some Ogres and Oubliettes, and save the town of Darkmire from a horrible curse?”