The day was almost over for the students of the School of Friendship.
Silverstream was listening with great interest to what the teacher in front had to tell about the changeling race, which, unfortunately, wasn't all that much it seemed.
The hippogriff looked over repeatedly at her changeling friend during the lecture.
Ocellus was sitting right next to her, nervously sliding around her seat, trying to avert the questioning gazes.
Silverstream found it adorable, and she had to smirk every time she looked over at the little bug.
"...so there is not much known of how their hive-mind works and what they use it for," Twilight Sparkle concluded. "I hope you will share some of its secrets with us, so we might learn more about it, Ocellus. I'm sure it's a great way to stay in touch with your friends back home!"
Everypony was now looking at the only changeling in the school, who appeared to be shrinking in her seat, slowly but steadily, almost as if she was trying to disappear.
"Sure..." Ocellus said quietly, visibly feeling uncomfortable about the attention given by her classmates during the lecture.
Silverstream put up her talons to her cheeks, squishing them slightly. "That's so friggin cool, Ocellus! You have to tell me more about the secrets of the hive-thingy after class! Please, please, please!"
Big puppy-eyes followed.
One could feel the excitement of the hippogriff accumulate in the air. The other students just shook their heads silently because of the constant exaggeration that was displayed throughout the day for even the smallest of things.
That hippogriff just had too much energy but they were all used to her eccentric personality by now. She wasn't as bad as Pinkie, at least.
Twilight continued with another lecture on a different topic. Silverstream wasn't listening anymore and focused her whole attention on her friend instead.
Ocellus blushed and had to look away from her friend after she noticed the side glances.
She could sense a strong feeling coming from the side. It was meant for her specifically. It wasn't love per se... but it was still quite potent.
The bug's eyes fluttered for a moment, an almost inaudible buzz of her wings following.
Ocellus looked back at her friend, who seemed to vibrate a bit from her excitement, still with a questioning expression on her face.
The changeling thought about the inquiry for a moment and then slowly leaned over to Silverstream.
"I can show you instead, if you're truly interested," Ocellus whispered with a crimson hue on her face.
"Show me? What, how?!" Silverstream asked loudly, flying up from her chair and above her desk.
Ocellus looked up at her in disbelief before facehoofing herself.
Everypony looked at them. Silence filled the room.
A slightly annoyed teacher clarified, "While it pleasures me greatly, that you are interested in further studies, I must ask you to not disturb the class. It would be lovely to have a day without detention for once, don't you think, Silverstream?"
"Sure thing, Twilight!" Silverstream exclaimed. "We're going to do it after class, can't wait!" Silverstream smiled brightly at her bug friend, who only deadpanned at her in response.
Silverstream was walking along the long haul of the student dorms.
It was already late, and most students were asleep, as could be heard undoubtedly from the snoring the closed doors were trying to hold back.
It was apparent in which room her yak friend Yona was in. The door seemed to tremble on its hinges in a constant rhythm.
The yak's pony roommate surely was an unfortunate soul.
The room in question came into view; it was around a corner. She had been here multiple times for homework and to look at Ocellus' answers, since she seemed to be a friendship expert and clearly one of Twilight's favorites.
The hippogriff had always wondered why Ocellus had her own room. It was located quite some distance away from the rest of the other dorms.
Everyone else had to share with at least one to three other students.
According to Ocellus, King Thorax had made a special inquiry for her to be kept separately during the night, since the effects of changelings and other creatures sleeping close weren't fully known yet. Dreams carry strong emotions, after all.
Starlight Glimmer, the school counselor, who was also responsible for the allocation of the dorms, had been against it at first, as she didn't want to play favors to any students. However, eventually, she was persuaded by the argument of safety.
Silverstream knew that there was nothing to fear. Ocellus had come to their dorm before and had also stayed overnight with them on multiple occasions. There had never been a problem with her dreams or something.
The door opened without her knocking. "You have been standing there for a while now." Big cyan eyes looked at her and Ocellus made a gesture to follow her inside. "Come on in and sit down."
Her room was small but cozy. A bed for one, a small window, and one table with two chairs in the middle.
Moonlight shone through from outside giving the room a bit of light to orientate.
Silverstream sat down on the chair close to the window, like she always did, and looked at her friend expectantly, who sat down in front of her. "So... do you have like a secret manual on this or something?"
Silverstream looked around the room, expecting to find a book of some sort, but it was all tidied up nicely. It didn't look like the changeling had prepared anything, which was unusual for her.
Ocellus stared at her for a while before she asked, "Do you trust me?"
The hippogriff was perplexed by the question. "Trust you? Of course, I do! We are friends, are we not?" She had to suppress a snicker with a talon held up to her mouth.
There was a pause before Ocellus said, "What I want to show you is not without risk." Ocellus leaned slightly over the table to her friend. "I want to bring you into the hive-mind itself. Our mind."
Silverstream's eyes went wide. "You can connect a non-changeling to your mind? That's... AWESOME!"
"SHHH!" Ocellus sprung up with her front hooves still on the table, startled by the sudden rise in volume. "Don't wake the others, I don't want the others to know about this yet."
"But you're telling me?" Silverstream asked, visibly happy by the revelation of her friend.
The changeling took a moment to indulge in the feelings directed at her before she spoke again. "I trust you, Silverstream. And..." Ocellus blushed and looked down at the table.
"Aaannd... what?" Silverstream asked, head tilted to the side.
Ocellus looked up at her friend again. "This... this is quite a personal thing for me. You'd be the first non-changeling to enter my mind. But I know others have done this before, so I know it works."
"Wait... so I'm like some sort of experiment to you?" Bewilderment could clearly be seen in the hippogriff's face.
Ocellus couldn't help but make a scrunchy face in response to that interpretation. "You seemed to be the most open-minded here, so I thought you'd be a good fit. But I absolutely understand if you don-."
She was cut short.
"Yes! Do it, do it, connect me!" Silverstream exclaimed excitedly, having trouble keeping the volume of her voice down as she grasped the hooves across the table.
The changeling held the talons tight and took a deep breath before saying, "I'll be with you all the way. Tell me immediately should you feel unwell or want this to stop, okay?"
Silverstream nodded, her wings slightly extended. "What do I need to do?"
"Hold my hooves, and look me into the eyes. You will feel my mind trying to enter yours, let it happen."
'Let it happen'
Silverstream gulped, still holding her friend's hooves. A shiver went through her body.
Ocellus could feel her and frownend. "Second thoughts? We can do this another time if you want to think about it first. No need to rush it."
The hippogriff held the hooves of her friend even tighter now. "Connect me." She had made up her mind.
They both looked each other deep in the eyes.
A slight blush formed on Ocellus' cheeks before her horn and eyes started to slowly illuminate in an eerie green color.
Silverstream could feel Ocellus' mind as she looked into the abyss of her beautiful lit eyes. She was asking to enter, for consent.
She let Ocellus in, her pupils now also adopting the color of the changeling's casted magic.
For a moment Silverstream's mind was blank; she felt and thought nothing.
Then it hit her as if someone had slapped her across the face.
Like a shower that switched between ice cold and boiling hot, her mind was penetrated by the emotions and thoughts of creatures who were strangers to her.
Silverstream started to panic, trembling and wings fully extended; she tried to stand up but was held back by someone holding her down.
"Shhh, it's okay! It's fine!" whispered Ocellus next to her, having Silverstream in a hug to comfort her.
Silverstream could barely see her surroundings in the room but she felt the hoof of her friend in her grasp, and held it tightly while she was staring in front of her, trying to make sense of what she felt. "This... this feels amazing, Ocellus," she whispered, still trembling heavily from the impact.
Ocellus gently stroked her friend's mane to calm her and gave further comfort by laying her head close to hers.
"Are... they doing what I think they're doing?" Silverstream asked, knowing the answer already.
"Don't act like you aren't in our minds." Ocellus snickered and indulged in her friend's potent feelings. "We can't stay for long, it would be rude to stay and leech off their contribution without giving back."
"What do you mean?" Silverstream asked, still holding the hoof of her friend while looking up at her with her green eyes. "Contribution?"
Ocellus sighted. "At this hour it's common to share your sensations... I usually... you know... since I don't have a partner."
It took a moment for her to follow what was implied.
"Wait... is that why you have your own room?" Silverstream asked unbelievingly. "Because you MASTURBATE quid pro quo?" Silverstream laughed out loud, feeling completely at ease with the situation now.
Silence filled the hive-mind.
It seemed as if all thoughts were on them for a moment there. It felt quite similar to the classroom earlier today somehow.
Silverstream could feel the embarrassment she had brought upon her friend. "Oh, sorry, forgot about the same mind-thingy."
The red in the changeling's face was fighting over dominance with the green in her eyes. "Okay, I think we should leave now," said a very embarrassed little bug.
"I think," Silverstream started while looking into her friend's eyes, "we should stay a little longer and contribute. I'm here for the full experience, after all, am I not?"
Ocellus looked at her friend and answered, "You can't possibly mea-"
But she was interrupted.
"We share the same thoughts, remember?" Silverstream smirked, holding her friend tight and giving her a little kiss with her beak on the neck."
Ocellus hesitated for a moment before she smiled and kissed her back on the forehead while stroking the mane of her friend again. "Alright, let us contribute, together."
They had the full attention of the hive-mind for the rest of that night, and the friendship bond between changelings and hippogriffs grew ten times, some say.
Silverstream also developed a crippling addiction, but that's a story to be told another time.