There will come times in your life where you will want to run. You may feel as though the whole world is against you. My beloved daughter, in those times you will be faced with a difficult choice. You can run away, as a queen your life is the greatest priority, or you may choose to take the chance and fight it through. Sometimes we have no choice but to do so, but it is never an easy choice... I have but one piece of advice for you in these times: do not make your choice on fear alone, but rather for the good of yourself and your hive's future.
Do that and I will always be proud.
SE 1015
Moonlight stood in front of the wall-mounted mirror, adjusting her unicorn-disguised mane. She then, on doing so, huffed and shifted back to her original form. This repeated for another five times before she let out a frustrated scream. Why, just why couldn't she decide whether she wanted to go as herself or in her disguise. They all knew she was a changeling, even the guards who had been kind to her before knew now! It wasn't like disguising herself would make anything better, but she still had the irrational desire to hide her identity. It didn't help that over the last few days spent on this opulent train she had come to know just how hated her kind were. Even with the all-encompassing power of Twilight's emotions, it couldn't keep her from the physical sensation of the emotions of the guards, their distrust was goopy to the point of distraction, and the distrust served to make the nonexistent hairs of her coat rise in response.
She shook her head, letting the disguise dissolve one last time. Enough, Moonlight. A steadying breath and she looked herself in the eye, blowing a bit of her mane to the side, before lifting, shakily, a brush to it. You've spent enough time hiding. If you don't step out now, when are you? There's only three days left on the train, and you have to get where you can at least walk around with them. With her changeling magic, less reliable due to her lack of practice using it for more than making a light, she brushed the errant strands of her mane back into place.
One more critical look over herself, and she hoofed it to the door. She raised one hoof to knock, before thinking better of it and opening the door herself. Her ear flicked, she recognized the two guards on the other side, and then strode out with confidence feigned more than felt. Her wings shuddered in preparation to rise, but she forced them to stay in place, and greeted them, "Sleetshine, Star Struck, thank you for standing guard." The two barely acknowledged her, though a bit of surprise did ring through. She walked across the path to the next car, making her way down, greeting the guards as she went, and holding in a whimper as each met her with hostility in their hearts. She knew it would hurt, of course, but not quite so much. Even back then, she hadn't been the one hated, it had just been a dark ambivalence towards her. This was like having a dozen blades pointed at you, wherever you were or however you moved. Still, it was almost breakfast, for the ponies, and she was going to try to make friends this time. Or, at least, make things not so painful.
Standing in front of the breakfast car, she raised a hoof, lowered it, and once more began warring with herself. Or, would have at least, but instead she whipped her tail to one side and opened the door, noting that this car had a lower level of rocking, and soundproofing, as the door closing led the room to sound almost entirely silent, the rocking of the train little more than a tiny hint of sound on the end of a pony's ears. In return, however, she could hear the sounds of the girls, or rather, two of them, talking.
"...and then we'll all be the best of friends, and she won't have to hide and we can all have a happy ever after! Wouldn't that be great?" Oh, thank goodness that Moonlight had only come in at the end of the Pink- of Pinkie Pie's ramble. She couldn't quite hear how the second responded, but that didn't matter, "Of course it's that easy!" As Pinkie basically spelled out what she said anyway. "Come on, Fluttershy, you know as well as I do that Dashie is just being a meany pants, she'll come- oh, come on in already!"
Moonlight flinched, before stepping into the room. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eaves-" She never got to finish her sentence, as the bundle of joy that was Pinkie Pie swept her up into a hug, nearly cracking her caraprice, and set her down between the two ponies.
"Come on in, eat! Oh, do you need love? How do you feed off of love? What's it taste like? Oh, can you tell me what my emotions taste like? What's it like being a baby changeling?" Fluttershy said something, still too quietly for Moonlight to hear, though Pinkie Gasped. With a capital G. "Oh my gosh, you're right Fluttershy, I am crowding her!" Once more Moonlight was engulfed in a hug, "I just wanted to make her feel welcome..."
"T-thank you." Moonlight's own voice was quiet, she was busy being surprised by the sincerity behind that statement to give more than a whisper. Someone, anyone, actually didn't hate her for being a changeling, praise to the Moon! She coughed, darting her eyes around in search for a conversation topic, only to blink. Oh, right. She had been asked a question. They were somewhere in that giant torrent of words. With a mental rewind, Moonlight managed to pick out one question... "Uhm, to answer your earlier question," She blinked, as Pinkie was suddenly wearing glasses with a pencil and notebook in hoof and mouth respectively, "I'm 11, almost 12. I think it's the same as any pony childhood? Not counting having to hide what I am. S-sorry for not being very interesting..."
"But, uhm," That... was not Pinkie. "That is, if you don't mind me saying," Oh, it was getting louder. Moonlight turned her attention to the pony to her right, Fluttershy, "You don't look like an 11 year old pony. You, uhm, look like a large baby." Moonlight blinked. Fluttershy blinked. This continued for a few seconds. "S-sorry."
"Ah, no. I'm... just surprised you aren't scared of me anymore." She felt Pinkie vibrating in preparation for something improbable, but continued, "Uhm, I don't know why I never changed beyond getting a bit bigger. Sorry, I... uhm, I can try to send a letter with the answer when I learn why?"
"You would? I would just love to learn all about the various creatures in the Changeling homeland! They must be-" Moonlight was slightly bemused by the surge of enthusiasm, and was about to make the promise to begin letter sharing, only to stop on feeling the same pins-on-needles of distrust aimed her way, her ears pinned down as she focused on the door on the other side, through which Applejack entered.
"U-uhm... g-good morning?" Applejack stared at her, causing the Changeling Princess to curl in on herself, before the earth pony slowly walked to an empty chair and sat down. This was more what she had expected, but... but she couldn't run. If she ran now, who knows how things would go during the Conclave? She inwardly shook her head, no. Not now. One more try... "D-did you sleep well?"
"Eyup," Applejack replied. That... was that. She couldn't think of how to continue the conversation, but she didn't want to give up.
"Uhm... I wonder what's for breakfast?"
"Why're you askin' me? Ah don't know."
"R-right." She... was just going to be quiet now. Now staring at the table, she almost... or rather, couldn't miss the entrance of the next person. This one had a... sickening mix of negative and positive emotions, including a mix of disgust and curiosity that would have been fascinating if it didn't make her sick to her stomach. She knew this one, at least. It was Rarity. She was the only one that was simultaneously willing to give Moonlight a chance and disgusted by her physical appearance. "Good morning, Miss Rarity."
"Yes, good morning Princess Moonlight." Right behind her Twilight and Rainbow entered, followed by Princess Luna and King Thorax in short order. Moonlight, feeling raw from the mix of emotions aimed towards her, let Pinkie and the others take over the greetings, only nodding or waving a hoof half-heartedly. After about five minutes of people coming in, finally Luna joined them, looking entirely tired. Moonlight, despite having been raised thestral, had the advantage of Changeling physiology, with relative ease she could change her sleep schedule.
Luna could not.
Luna, Princess of the Night, Regent of the Moon, and Ruler of the (soon to be defunct) Lunar Empire, had baggy eyes, a messy mane, and a bathrobe and slippers on. She was drinking heavily from a large mug of coffee, and even the stars within her mane appeared to be sluggish. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the clearly exhausted Diarch, no one quite sure what to say to her. Finally, after taking her seat at the end of the table, she looked up to see everyone looking at her. "What?"