Raindrop stared at Remedy for a long moment, mouth parted. “You’re... a... changeling?”
“Yes,” Remedy stated, nodding once. She stared into raindrop’s eyes, and let her own switch again, becoming green and slit-pupiled in the way that Raindrop had seen her own eyes do.
“I... wow,” Raindrop breathed. “And you’re... the bearer of an element.”
“You think you were surprised?” Remedy asked, shaking her head. “But it is immaterial. I need you to stop Sentinel from doing anything... crazy, when he finds out.”
“You’ve kept it a secret up until now,” Raindrop said, staring at the nurse in disbelief.
Remedy nodded at that. “Indeed. But that is mainly because nopony has been looking for changelings. I don’t exactly have much of a past. If one were to dig into my past far enough, they’d find gaping holes.”
Raindrop nodded once, continuing to stare at Remedy. “I just... you’re a changeling.”
“I believe we established this fact,” Remedy said, pursing her lips impatiently.
“And you’re a bitch... and you give me relationship advice... ugh. That’s like a dragon trying to teach manners!”
Remedy’s eyes narrowed and she gave a low growl .”What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“You’re a changeling!” Raindrop stated, waving a hoof for emphasis. “Your mode of operation is that you twist ponies’ emotions to get love from them. What do you know about relationships?”
Remedy’s eyes narrowed, and she scowled at the pegasus for a long moment. “I seem to recall that I saw what wrong with your relationships.”
“Dumb luck?” Raindrop offered, raising a brow.
Remedy snorted once. “I’m not even your species and I know more about relationships than you,” the nurse snickered.
Then it was Raindrop’s turn to scowl. “Whatever. I bet you’re not even a real nurse.”
“Of course not,” Remedy scoffed, wrinkling her nose.
“Then why did you pretend to be one?” Raindrop asked, exasperated.
Remedy looked down at her hooves at that, frowning slightly. “Well... I’m not sure if I’m comfortable talking about that.”
Raindrop gave Remedy a blank stare. “So you want my help, and yet you won’t tell me what I want to know?”
The nurse huffed once. “Fine. Chitin sent me into the general population of ponies to monitor changelings effects. I was the best at hiding myself, and probably still am. I was to find a position where I would know if ponies were killed by changelings; either from their magic, or by prolonged exposure to their emotional draining.”
“So you were damage control?” Raindrop queried.
Remedy gave a half-nod. “Kind of, I suppose. But mainly, I was there to make sure no changelings went rogue. Once the link was broken we were free entities. The hive mind is... strange. Pervasive. It’s like having a voice constantly governing your actions... and once it was down, it changed us. Normal tendencies that would be kept in check; violence, ego, arrogance, all of those traits that were suppressed by the hive mind could come to the surface.”
“And if you found a changeling that had become violent?” Raindrop asked curiously.
“I actually did find one. He was injured in a fight after putting three ponies in intensive care,” Remedy said with a soft sigh and a shake of her head. “I... accidentally administered three times the lethal limit of morphine to him. Misread the bottle, you know?”
Raindrop took a step backwards, staring at the nurse. “You killed him?”
“Indeed,” Remedy said, her ears drooping. “It was... difficult.”
“You’re the Element of Kindness!” Raindrop protested, her eyes wide.
“And what was more kind?!” Remedy hissed, stamping a hoof, anger quickly surging to the surface. “That I let him live and harm more ponies?! You think it was easy to do? You think that that was a choice I took lightly?”
Raindrop just shook her head. “So... you just kill any changelings that go rogue?”
“They are a threat. To us, and to ponies,” Remedy said, her eyes hard. “Without the hive mind to govern their actions... we really can’t take the risk. A civil war amongst the changelings would destroy us.”
“That’s just... brutal,” Raindrop said, shaking her head. “What if a changeling went rogue and decided to be normal? To try and live like a pony?”
Remedy laughed at that. “That is what I am, Raindrop.”
“You’re rogue?” Raindrop asked, blinking once.
“Indeed. I am a rogue changeling,” Remedy said with a half-shrug.
“So if Chitin found you... she’d kill you?” Raindrop asked, aghast.
“I find it unlikely. I have no violent tendencies. I am no threat to ponies,” Remedy stated, before she frowned slightly. “I’d rather not find out first-hoof, though.”
“But then... how... how are you the bearer of kindness?” Raindrop asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
“I have no. Idea.” Remedy shook her head for a moment, mincing her forehooves back and forth. “I mean... I kinda like helping other ponies. Even if I’m a bitch about it. But I’m not very kind.”
“I can confirm the bitch part,” Raindrop said with a nod and a sly grin.
“Not helping,” Remedy stated, snorting. “But it’s happened, and here we are. I need you to promise me that you’ll protect me if Sentinel does anything... stupid.”
“I can’t promise you that,” Raindrop said with a shake of her head. “I can promise that I’ll try...”
“That’ll have to be good enough,” Remedy said with a deep frown.
“So, how is it that Chitin didn’t find you?” Raindrop asked suddenly.
Remedy canted her head to the side. “How do you mean?”
“Well, she sent you into the pony populace to monitor us... she must have known you were a nurse. Not particularly hard to track you down after that,” Raindrop stated.
Remedy gave a nod at that. “Indeed. At first, I was a doctor,” the nurse said with a sly grin. “Doctor Splint, an elderly trauma doctor who was getting on in years and beginning to forget some essential parts of his job. Needed refreshers. Once I went rogue, I kinda just became a nurse... I liked helping the hurt ponies.”
Raindrop perked her ears at that, frowning deeply. “Then... uhm...”
“Yes?” Remedy asked.
Raindrop leaned closer, and then whispered, “How do you know which gender you are? If you can be both?”
Remedy chuckled at that. “Gender identification is not so cut-and-dried with changelings as it is with ponies,” the nurse admitted with a wry smile. “I am female though. It is the gender I identify most with.”
“That is so... strange,” Raindrop stated, staring at the nurse.
“For you, perhaps. A changeling merely chooses their gender upon reaching the correct age... while under the influence of the hive mind, many of us never choose a gender to which to stick to. It’s only since the hive mind was broken that I decided I was female.”
“‘Decided I was female’,” Raindrop repeated, shaking her head slowly. “So changelings can hide from the hive mind?”
“Yes, that is going rogue. Breaking from the hive mind. Most don’t drum up the willpower to do so... but since the hive mind was broken, there are likely many more rogue changelings now,” Remedy stated with a deep frown. “I felt Chitin try to re-establish the hive mind earlier... I blocked it out.”
“Why would Chitin do that?” Raindrop asked, bewildered.
“Chitin turned herself in... so perhaps she re-established the link to try and tell all changelings to turn themselves in?” Remedy offered helplessly.
“Would that even work?” Raindrop asked, perking an ear.
Remedy went quiet for a moment. “Back when the hive mind was always active yes, yes it would have worked. But now?” she trailed off, frowning deeply. “I... the changelings will have their own minds now. Their own goals. They’ll be able to decide for themselves if they want to come in or not.”
“Changelings are weird,” Raindrop stated with a shake of her head.
“Ponies are weird!” Remedy countered.
“They are,” Raindrop admitted, giving a faint, amused snort. “And I’m half-n-half, I’ve got the best of both worlds.”
“It does explain why you’re so fucked up,” Remedy stated.
“Well thanks for the emotional support, Mrs. Element of Kindness,” Raindrop said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
“Tough love, Raindrop, tough love,” Remedy said with a slight smile. The nurse trailed off for a moment, and then sobered. “Thank you, Raindrop... for not, you know... running away or something.”
“I’m part changeling,” Raindrop said with a helpless shrug. “I’m desensitized to changelings I guess.”
“Still,” Remedy stated, “I’d expect the others to take it less... calmly.”
“I disagree,” Firebrand said, as she ambled over to the pair.
Chitin looked up as a key scraped in the lock, and her cell door slid open.
“You requested to see me?” Celestia asked, as she stepped into the cell. The door was closed behind them, the lock clicking.
Chitin rose to her hooves, nodding once. “We have a problem, Celestia.”
“We have two hundred and thirty seven problems, in fact,” Celestia corrected tartly.
Chitin scowled at that, her eyes narrowing. “We have more of a problem than that, Celestia. A large group of changelings did not reintegrate into the hive mind. I can’t find them. They’ve all gone rogue.”
“How many?” Celestia asked flatly.
The dark queen splayed her ears back, and lowered her head. “I estimate fifty.”