A week had passed since the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Life for the average pony mostly returned to normal as Canterlot’s citizens repaired the damage left behind by Chrysalis and her swarm. While Ponyville had witnessed more crazy events than the capital in recent history, Canterlot demonstrated to its rulers that resiliency did not lie with Ponyville's citizens alone.
That provided Celestia just one more reason to protect her subjects. At present, the solar diarch was presiding over a newly formed committee to determine what should be done about the changeling threat.
Celestia found herself in a well-used conference room with an oval wooden table surrounded by fifteen seats. The princess sat in the center of the oval’s north side, with Twilight Sparkle sitting to her right. Various advisors from both the civilian and military sectors joined them to discuss changes to their foreign policy.
As the groups muttered amongst themselves, the lavender unicorn tapped her mentor. “Shouldn’t we wait for my brother to return from his honeymoon? He is the Captain of the Guard, after all,” she whispered.
Celestia fully understood her protégé’s concerns. “Normally, I would agree. However, he was directly manipulated by Chrysalis, and while I know Shining would do his best to stay objective in this matter, I fear he would take a less… diplomatic route.” She let a small smile show through. “Besides, he and his wife need time to recover from the ordeal, and I can't think of anypony better suited to the task than Cadance.”
After mulling it over, Twilight had to agree. “I just don’t see how he’ll be able to relax though. The changelings practically declared war on us.”
Celestia's smile disappeared. “Sadly, I agree. Nevertheless, we drove them from our lands and soundly defeated them. I’m hoping that will allow us to broker peace between us before this escalates into a full blown war.”
One of the mares on the other side of the table loudly cleared her throat. “Princess Celestia, could we start with what we know about changelings in general?”
“A prudent course of action,” agreed the diarch, before turning to the lavender mare at her side.
Twilight was rather comfortable in a committee setting. Her tutelage under the white alicorn taught her much in the ways of politics and how to speak the language. “I’m afraid our knowledge is quite lacking. We have only sporadic texts about changelings, and most of them are mythological, not historical. Everything we know is from firsthoof experience during the invasion. They appear to be insects and most likely have a rigid caste system, but that is merely conjecture.” Twilight suppressed a sigh of defeat. “Other than the fact that they derive power from love and can assume any form they wish, we have no concrete knowledge. Perhaps they can only assume the shape of other ponies - we just don't know.”
As Twilight ended her speech, one of the army captains spoke up. “Then the way I see it, we have two primary objectives. Find out everything we can about them, and prepare ourselves for armed conflict, should it come to that.”
The other military personnel and several civilians murmured in agreement. Celestia was against the second action. Our allies will see a military buildup as a sign of aggression and might do the same. The griffins and minotaurs get antsy when they have a large army at their command and no one to fight against. Since I’ve never heard of a changeling invasion before, I doubt they would stand hoof to hoof against another army in the field.
Before she could voice such concerns, rapid knocking on the heavy oak doors echoed through the chamber, and a frightened earth mare poked her head in. Celestia identified her as Bound Scroll, her chief secretary. The alicorn was troubled to see the mare in such a state. “Princess, we have a diplomat urgently wishing to speak with you.”
Celestia arched a curious eyebrow. “I thought I decreed that all audiences were canceled for the day. If it’s anything truly urgent, they will have to bring it up with my sister during the night court.”
“With all due respect, Princess. I don’t think you want to wait for this one. She claims to be a diplomat for a changeling queen by the name of Cadista.”
The news was met with stunned silence. Celestia, who had dealt with a thousand years of harrowing experiences, was the first to speak. “Where is this… diplomat?”
“She’s waiting just outside.”
An army captain balked at the declaration. “You let a potential enemy agent this far into the palace?”
The earth pony rubbed her left foreleg nervously. “Well, that’s just it. She’s been in the palace for over two years now as Ambassador Gloss. She just walked up to my desk, said she needed to speak on behalf of her queen, and then dropped her disguise right in front of me.”
I remember her, thought Celestia, Two years ago, she requested open borders between our nations to begin trade relations. Her bewilderment deepened. Now that I think about it, Gloss plays almost no role in our politics. She attends open parliament and public court sessions, but only acts to maintain the simple trade agreement between us and her kingdom.
The alicorn addressed Bound Scroll, “I would never turn away an attempt at diplomacy. Send her in.”
“At once, your majesty.”
A few tense moments later, an unusual being entered the chamber with the dignity and poise Celestia had come to expect from the enigmatic Gloss, telling her that she was not an imposter. Or a very skilled one. Her appearance took the room by surprise.
Gloss looked like a normal unicorn with several differences. She had a grey coat of fur and a vivid orange mane, like a normal pony. The most striking were the holes in her extremities - the largest were only the size of a bit.
Her horn was smooth ivory, with no spiral, and curved slightly up, ending in a sharp point. Her eyes had pupils, but they were almost completely hidden by a soft azure glow behind them. The ambassador had the trademark insectoid wings of a changeling, along with a pair of fairly intimidating fangs.
Celestia silenced the quiet murmuring that had filled the room with a rap of her hoof. “Ambassador Gloss,” she began slowly. “I must say you surprise me. You are no doubt aware of the invasion we suffered last week. So, why would you reveal yourself and endanger our treaty? You know that I cannot allow it to stand because it was made under a false pretense.”
Gloss spoke with the eloquence of a Canterlot noble, which further hid any nuances the room full of advisors might use to glean information about her race. “If I may, your majesty, the treaty we share was not written with malicious intent and my—people have made no actions against you. With only a scant few minor exceptions, everypony under Queen Cadista’s rule who has visited your lands has abided by your laws to the letter. Surely you cannot blame us for the actions of another.”
“And how are we supposed to know that?” one of the civilian advisors barked. “For all we know this Queen Cadista is just one of Chrysalis’ aliases.”
Gloss recognized the stallion as the minister of Public Safety. “Tell me, Kickback, who warned you of the invasion in the first place?”
The minister couldn’t answer, but Celestia could. “You did, and you requested no recompense after the fact. Why?”
Gloss inclined her head in thanks for her actions being remembered. “It is as I said - I represent Queen Cadista. My—people have been in armed conflict with Chrysalis’ nation for some time now. My queen required that I warn you of the attack.”
Twilight Sparkle was not yet convinced. “We only knew there was a threat against the capital. Couldn't you have told us more?”
“You must understand,” Gloss replied evenly. “It is not our way to reveal our true nature. If I had told you who you were up against, Chrysalis would have sent harsher reprisals against us. I have been authorized to tell you that my—people were in no shape to deepen Chrysalis’ ire.”
Both Twilight and Celestia caught onto the ambassador’s brief hesitation every time she said ‘people’. It was a quirk that Gloss had always possessed. The alicorn cast her pupil a knowing glance before returning her gaze to the ambassador. “You were hoping the warning would have been enough to force Chrysalis to abort the invasion, weren’t you?”
The room hung on the diplomat’s answer. “You are as perceptive as ever, your majesty,” she said with a nod of respect. “We had hoped that upon hearing of the warning she would back down and not reveal our kind to the world at large. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass.
“Her bid for power has endangered us all, and threatened to mark every changeling as enemies of the state. Chrysalis singlehoofedly destroyed our best and oldest defense. My queen has always harbored great respect for Equestria. She knew it would only be a matter of time before you learned how to counter our disguises and purge us from your realm. She does not blame you for that course of action - she would do the same in your place. In time, you would teach these methods to your allies and we would be cut off from our best source of love. As a result, my Queen has decided to break away from tradition, just as Chrysalis did. We, however, wish to extend the olive branch, rather than cross swords.”
Twilight whispered to the princess. “If this offer is legitimate, then we should take this opportunity. If we open relations with one changeling nation, we could eventually do so with all of them.”
Celestia took it as sound advice and addressed the ambassador. “Before we conduct any negotiations, I must speak with Queen Cadista directly. You may tell her a sign of good will would be the return of any abducted ponies you’ve taken.”
Gloss tilted her head to the side, and her eyes became distant, as if she was hearing someone speak to her. Eventually, her attention returned to the diarch. “While we would like to do what you ask, we cannot, since we never took anypony hostage, your majesty. We have no ponies to return, because we never replaced, nor foalnapped, any of your citizens."
Celestia wanted to believe her, but trust towards the changeling came slowly to the alicorn. “Pray that you speak the truth, ambassador. I will contact you by the end of the day as to when I can host your Queen’s arrival.”
Gloss bowed her head. “Thank you, Princess Celestia. I hope our two nations can continue to coexist peacefully.” After a nod from Celestia, Gloss left the chamber.
“We must consider this new development before we can reach a decision on how we handle future relations with her kind,” Celestia addressed the committee. “To that end, I call for a twenty-four hour recess.”
The gathered advisors agreed, and after the diarch rapped the table three times, they departed. Twilight, however, remained in her seat until the council left. “Princess, do you really think Cadista wants real peace between us?”
The alicorn recalled everything she knew about Gloss and the treaty Equestria had written with her. “I get the feeling that Cadista is a minor power in her part of the world. Immigrants from her lands are extremely few, but I don’t know if they stay in Equestria. Her kingdom has only two main exports: a gel-like healing agent that accelerates the recovery time of skin injuries, and advanced machinery. They’re the ones who sell us parts for our train engines that we can’t manufacture on our own. As far as I know, the only imports they take are steel and coal. Both their imports and exports are in small quantities, however, as the imports they ask per month could barely keep Manehattan afloat for the same length of time.”
Twilight assumed any actual trade was done within Equestrian borders while the changeling merchants returned alone back to their lands. Perhaps they are simply more self-sufficient. Her ears perked up at the thought of delving into a new culture. “We still know next to nothing about changelings, and if Gloss’ appearance tells us anything, it’s that they are far more diverse than what Chrysalis’ group would have us believe. I’d like to go to their lands and study how they live.”
The solar diarch gave a lopsided grin. “I commend your will to put aside your misgivings about changelings in light of the invasion, but they are a secretive people by their own volition. I doubt they will want anyone poking their noses too deeply into their society for some time.” Her tone shifted to that of a warning. “Plus, their lands lie to the distant south beyond the Cresnox Jungle. It’s a dangerous place for travelers of any kind.”
Twilight was not so easily dissuaded. “Well, the changelings manage to do it every time they come in to trade. I’m sure you can convince Cadista to let me tag along as a temporary liaison to gather cultural information for a more permanent ambassador later on.”
The white alicorn was intrigued. While half of Twilight’s tutelage during her time in Canterlot was in magic, the other half had been in politics. “That is an excellent suggestion, and I’m sure Cadista will agree as a show of good faith. Nevertheless, I still want to take my measure of their queen before I can let you go. If I sense any deception in her, I will send someone else in your place.” Twilight considered this a sound condition. “And if Cadista appears trustworthy enough to avoid harming you, then I also want an army detail to escort you. Five soldiers should be small enough to avoid threatening Cadista.”
Twilight grinned widely and nuzzled her teacher. “Thank you, Princess. I only hope I can build a bridge between our two peoples.”
The solar diarch returned the affection in a motherly manner. Even though Twilight was a young adult, the alicorn couldn’t help but to see the lavender mare as a surrogate daughter. It always went unsaid between them, but both knew how the other felt. “If anypony can get it started, it’ll be you.”