//------------------------------//
// Something Expositional 
// Story: The Royal Audience: A Mole Cricket Story 
// by Bucking Nonsense 
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"I honestly had no idea that you were that cute when you were little."
As Shining Armor and the princesses burst out in laughter, Cricket blushed bright blue at Twilight Sparkle's comment.  He had to admit, changeling hatchlings were surprisingly cuddly looking, given what they grew up to look like: frightening, fanged, dark, and with a shell would be considered medium armor for most creatures.
Cricket chuckled a little bit himself, and said, "Well, I hope that you'll keep that a secret, your highness.  I do have something of a reputation to maintain in the swarm, and if it gets out that I was once that adorable, I'll never hear the end of it."
The laughter of the princesses redoubled, and it was several moments before they finally approached something regarding seriousness.  Luna, the first to regain her composure, raised her hoof, and said, "If none of you have any objections, I would like to go next."  Again, nopony seemed to have a problem with that.
"As with young Twilight, I myself have a few things I'd like to ask of you before I begin my official inquiry, if that is not a problem?"  
Cricket smiled, and said,  plainly, "Ask away, your highness."
The princess of the moon nodded, her expression now serious.  "Given how little is currently known about changelings in general, there are many things that we would like to ask you about, concerning your culture, your race's social hierarchy, and so forth.  However, there will, I think, be time for discussion about such things later, outside of this interview.  What I would like clarification on right now is this: From what young Twilight and my sister shared with me, you spent a great deal of your career at odds with the commander, Blattaria, did you not?"
Cricket nodded, his expression serious as well.  He volunteered, "Blattaria possessed very clear views about where commoners stood in the social structure, and those views mainly involved commoners being thrown, in waves, at anything and everything that got in his way on the battlefield.  That included city walls and forcefields, even when even a hatchling could have told him that it wouldn't work.  Insectoid wave tactics were about the only thing he really understood, and were it not for the fact that changelings are so durable, the hive would have been much, much smaller by the time that I was born.  Admittedly, the tactics sometimes worked, eventually, but that was only because the queen made certain that plenty of infiltrators were inserted into the target areas beforehoof, to help soften things up."
Luna nodded, then continued, "And this antagonistic relationship only intensified when it was discovered that the queen wished for you to succeed him.  Yet if your species' traditions in any way mirror our own, the Commander would select his own successor, rather than the queen, correct?"
Again, Cricket nodded, then said, "Yes, your highness.  That was normally the procedure.  However, the commander ended up complicating things, as he often did, due to how he was running, or perhaps failing to run, the military branch at that time.  He had, unintentionally, put himself into a precarious position: If he named one of his toadies as his successor, he was just barely smart enough to know that said toady would immediately turn on him in hopes of getting his position.  As long as none of his cronies held that title, they would do everything they could to keep him safe, for fear of losing their own cushy positions in the hive.  The queen tried to keep her muzzle out of the running of the military branch in those days:  Her position, and her authority, was still somewhat precarious, due to her youth.  Meanwhile, Blattaria held the rank of commander because he had a great many connections with the various aristos in the other branches of the hive, mainly due to a massive stockpile of love that he, as an aristo, had access to.  The queen had to deal with the infiltration branch and the recon branch on a regular basis, and those were all aristo, from bottom to top: if Blattaria lost his position, those branches, and especially their leaders, would lose out on the steady supply of hugs that Blat was feeding them.  The queen would experience a great deal of backlash from that, making her position ten times more difficult."
Twilight Sparkle raised an eyebrow, and asked, incredulous "What was that about hugs?"
Cricket sighed, then said, "Your highness, I did not come up with the name used for the standard unit of love that the hive uses.  I would not have chosen "Hug", if it had been me, but I will admit, I could not come up with a name that didn't sound at least a little silly.  One "Hug" can sustain a changeling for a day, as long as they don't burn it for a boost or use it for a spell.  The units for measurement in the hive, so you'll know, do mirror that used by your own metric system: one Kilohug is one thousand Hugs worth of love."
There was a great deal of smothered chuckling at that.  Celestia clapped her hooves, and then, with a chuckle she did not try to hide, admitted, "I admire your ability to be able to say all of that with a straight face, Commander."
Cricket smiled, then chuckled himself, saying, "Years of practice, your highness."
The changeling's expression turned serious again as he picked up where he left off: "Blattaria wanted somebuggy specific to succeed him, hoping to turn the military into a kind of dynasty, a kingdom within a kingdom, if you will.  However, he could only name a lieutenant as his official successor, due to both official regulations and long standing tradition.  Had Blattaria's son ever risen above squad leader, I'm certain that Blattaria would have chosen him, and that would have been that.  However, while Gromphadorhina was, admittedly, an able squad leader, he knew enough about his own limitations to know that, if he ever accepted one of the promotions his father kept offering him, he'd make a hash of things very quickly, and when he became commander, it would only get worse.  That was one apple who fell miles from the tree.  Like I said on the way here: there are only a few Aristo's that I respect.  Grom is one of them, and I was proud to call him one of my comrades."
"Interesting," Luna said, her face an unreadable mask as she considered what to ask next.  "So, the Queen named you as the successor, after you were promoted to lieutenant.  However..."  The princess furrowed her brow in consternation, before saying, "Bah, I admit, I am torn.  I would like to know what you did to receive such favor from your queen, and yet... I would also be interested in hearing how you made the rank of lieutenant as well, given that it sounds like the commander would never have granted that rank willingly..."
Cricket raised his hoof, interrupting the princess, then said with a large grin, "Well, in that case, you're fortunate, your highness, since the two stories are related.  If you ask for one, you should get to see the other as well.  And it does make for an interesting, and entertaining, story."
Princess Luna nodded, and said, with a grateful smile, "Thank you for sharing all of this information, commander, in spite of your concerns that such knowledge could be used to harm others of your kind."  Cricket nodded, smiling and acknowledging her gratitude.  The moon princess was rather stiff, in a way, but he couldn't help but like her.  At least she was trying to loosen up a little.  Luna's voice took on a more formal tone (and a surprisingly loud voice.  He'd later learn that this was something called The Royal Canterlot Voice.  Luna tended to only break it out for special occasions, although most princesses these days tried to avoid it if they could.   Cricket remembered thinking to himself at the time, that if she and Vespidae ever got into a shouting contest, there likely would have been an explosion, and possibly an earthquake) as she asked...
"This Is My Question: How Did You Earn The Queen's Favor?"
The gemstone on Cricket's forehead pulsed with magic, and a familiar tingle ran through the changeling's skull.  The window appeared in the air above the changeling's head...