Beatrix may not have entered her new room in the best state but she quickly recovered when a changeling guard on the other side had sensed her discomfort and had a maid gathered quickly to remove the half-digested breakfast from the floor.
Through the whole event Beatrix could do nothing but stare in bewilderment at the creatures before her, she had not asked for help, yet the chitin-clad creatures had known she needed it. Even stranger, the maid had not been there with the guard, but had seemingly appeared from nowhere when she was needed without anything being said between the guard or Beatrix herself. Beatrix however, doubted that the maid had just been making her usual rounds, as Twilight had just explained she lived a nocturnal lifestyle, so it stood to reason her castle staff also followed that lifestyle.
Beatrix was broken from her thoughts however when the guard that had checked on her still did not speak and made to go back to their post while closing the door behind them. “Wait, The Great and Powerful Trixie has questions for you!" The guard stopped, tilted their head, and made a questioning chirping sound, likely unsure what to do in this situation. Finally after several minutes of the guard just staring at Beatrix, the armored creature came inside the room, closed the door behind them, and sat attentively in front of Beatrix. When it became clear Beatrix would have to speak first again, she did. “How did you and the maid know Trixie needed help, she did not think she had been that loud?” Again the changeling just stared at Beatrix, though now, with them so close Beatrix could see that the eyes were not focused on her, instead seeming to stare through her and into the wall behind.
Finally, the changeling's eyes seemed to focus on her again and in a flash of green fire that caused Beatrix to flinch and cover her eyes, she was looking at a copy of herself. Before Beatrix could get her bearings and ask what was now a much more pressing question the creature before her spoke in a perfect imitation of her voice. “We changelings are acutely aware of most of the emotions of living creatures around us, as such I detected your distress when you teleported in. As for the maid, I called upon them using the hivemind when I saw there was a need for them.”
“Trixie now has more questions than when we started this conversation… Give her a moment to sort her thoughts.” After getting over her shock of the perfect copy of herself sitting in front of her, Beatrix finally brought herself to speak again. “Alright, why did you transform into Trixie to tell her that?”
“Most changelings are unable to speak Equestrian in our base form, since our vocal cords are not developed to do so.” The changeling Beatrix spoke almost robotically. It was very strange to hear her own voice so devoid of emotion, so Beatrix quickly asked another question.
“Trixie wishes to know what this hivemind is you mentioned, and how you used it to call a maid here.” Again, the eyes of the changeling unfocussed, and now Beatrix was sure that was because they were listening to the hivemind, maybe even asking what to reveal to Beatrix.
This time, after only a few seconds, the changeling spoke again. “The hivemind is the main source of communication between changelings and others the queen has allowed in, though, it’s generally very strange to outsiders, since communication within the hivemind is done by sending images along with associated feelings instead of words.” The changeling continued on, somehow sensing Beatrix’s next question. “The changelings also have a spoken language, though we do not usually write, so we have no alphabet of our own. The chirp you heard from me earlier were part of our spoken language, very few non-changelings have learned to understand it. Twilight Sparkle is the only non-changeling to have learned to speak it.” Beatrix opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off by the changeling. “Twilight Sparkle has also insisted that you get some rest, she will answer any more questions she is willing to reveal later tonight when she picks you up for her lesson.
With that the changeling dropped their disguise and disappeared out the door before Beatrix had even recovered from the flash of light caused by the transformation. Beatrix huffed lightly in annoyance before glancing around to get a view of her new room, and was suddenly very lucky she had a jaw bone preventing her chin from hitting the ground. The bed itself seemed to be larger than the tiny living space she had been given in the orphanage, and the rest of the room seemed to take up about half the space the whole orphanage had taken up. Lining the walls were dressers and bookshelves, and the floor itself was dominated by a plush carpet that seemed to soak all the tension Beatrix felt right through her hooves. Finally, looking up at the ceiling Beatrix found something she did not understand, the ceiling was mostly black but dotted throughout were spots of white. Connecting the white dots in some places were thin lines of the same shade seemingly without rhyme or reason, like a connect the dots puzzle without numbers to tell you an order to go in.
Giving up on understanding the abnormality of the ceiling Beatrix finally hopped on the bed to get some rest like her new mentor had suggested. Unfortunately her bed seemed to have other plans as she seemed to sink right into it and become trapped within its warm plushy softness… Giving up on escaping the trap that had been laid in her room Beatrix simply closed her eyes hoping she would get to sleep easier than she normally did. Luckily for her, she had woken up far earlier than normal for her, add that to the mental exhaustion of all she had learned that day, and she fell asleep faster than she could ever remember.
Within the dream realm
“Ah, sorry my dear Twilight, but it seems thy new guest has finally found her way into my domain, and I would like to take my own look at the filly that has captured thy attention.”
Twilight looked on at Luna longingly, not really wanting to let her leave, but understanding she had to. “Alright my love, just remember to not reveal your identity yet, as I do not fully trust her so soon after finding her. Also, please come back soon, there is still much to discuss and I so rarely get to see thee with how busy we have both become in preparation for thy return.”
Luna gave Twilight a peck on the lips, and then vanished in a flash of moonlight, quickly finding her way to Beatrix’s dream world. Inside nothing was really taking place yet since the filly had just recently fallen asleep. This allowed Luna to quickly take control of dream and place herself in front of a slightly startled Beatrix who Luna smiled warmly at as she sat down. “Hello Trixie, I am Twilight Sparkle’s dream construct she sent to check on you while you are within the realm of dreams, how are you?”
Again, Beatrix was taken off guard, unsure if she was even expected to know how to respond to such a statement. “Umm, Trixie supposes she is alright, I didn’t think my new mentor would continue to bombard me with new information even in my sleep…” Luna laughed lightly at the reaction, having somewhat expected it from the now overwhelmed filly, and relaxed even more by lying down and leaning her head on a forehoof to keep eye contact with the filly.
“Ah, but I’m not here to, as you say, bombard you with information. No, Twilight will be doing enough of that on her own, even if she does try to answer your questions, she’ll inevitably leave you with more. I’m here to collect information from you, since Twilight was rather tight-lipped on why she brought back an 8-year old filly so soon instead of the years-long journey she expected to take to find the perfect pony.”
Beatrix again seemed taken aback by the information, but decided to answer as honestly as she could. “Honestly, Trixie isn’t really sure why Twilight decided to take me, but when I revealed my real name to her, she seemed to get lost in thought for a couple seconds, and I haven’t really seen her get like that since.”
“Oh? And what is your name Trixie? Twilight just said you went by the stage persona The Great and Powerful Trixie, surely that wasn’t what piqued her interest?”
Beatrix shook her head. “Trixie doesn’t think so, though Twilight did seem confused when Trixie called herself that while Trixie chased after her to find out why she saved Trixie. Twilight only got surprised when Trixie told her Trixie’s real name was Beatrix Lulamoon.”
Luna was also taken aback by the information, though she hid it better than Twilight had. “Truly? A Lulamoon in this day and age? Are you sure that’s your name?”
Again Beatrix had to shake her head, though this time she hesitated before answering. “Trixie isn’t actually sure… Trixie has been an orphan as long as she can remember, the matron of the orphanage always called me by that name though, so she either named me herself, or got that name from whoever left me there…”
“Ah, I am sorry Trixie, I had not meant to bring up such memories, I was just surprised to hear the Lulamoon name spoken after not hearing it for so long. Though, I’m sure if that’s what caused Twilight to give you a chance, she likely confirmed your bloodline for herself somehow.”
“Wait, Trixie doesn’t get it, why would her last name being Lulamoon be important?”
“Umm… If Twilight did not already explain its significance, then I am afraid I have already said too much. Thank you for the enlightening conversation Trixie, and have pleasant dreams, goodnight!” Then in much the same fashion as she had left Twilight earlier Luna vanished a flash of moonlight, allowing Trixie’s unconscious mind to do what it was meant to, and start the dreaming process.