//------------------------------// // Lesson Four: Know your Boundaries // Story: Intermediate Lessons // by dungeonguy88 //------------------------------// It was terrible. It was unexpected. It was loud. It was pink. And, perhaps worst of all...it was coming around the corner. Here Probos had been, just going about his duties, some of the many tasks that went to keeping a changeling hive livable. In this particular instance, he had been one of the many changelings tasked with moving rock and dirt from the newly expanded tunnels. Not exactly highly skilled work, but necessary. And taking on such tasks made a good impression upon the builders and diggers there, perhaps encouraging them to take him under their wings. To teach him the finer points of their work. A nice safe role in the hive that was, nonetheless, appreciated by every changeling. Which sounded great to the young changeling. And if it panned out, it would have been a more than worthwhile investment of his time, he had thought. Probos didn't really understand why more changelings couldn't get that excited about the prospect of, literally, working on the hive that they called home. Shaping things with your own hooves, creating the ever so delicate contours that separated one tunnel from another, and leaving your own mark upon the hive, for every changeling to see. Having to lug around some boulders for a while, seemed like a small price to pay, really. Until now. Word had spread, over the last few days, throughout the hive about some sort of diplomatic envoy that the Queen was bringing to the hive. Made up of ponies. And sure, ponies weren't the scariest of creatures in the wider world, according to those changelings that often went out there, but they still weren't changelings. And there were lots of them. And they were squishy. And eye-burningly colorful. And a pony in the hive completely went against over a thousand years of secrecy and paranoia. There had been many assurances by Queen Chrysalis herself that this envoy would stay under her supervision the whole time, and that she would keep a handle on the situation. Along with assurances that this was all necessary, young Probos, like most changelings, trusted in the judgment of his Queen. Of course, he didn't think he would have actually run into one of the ponies. He had just seen several of his fellow changelings fly or shuffle past him quickly down the tunnels, all in a rush to make their way down various sidepaths. He had only barely been able to stop one of his fellow changelings long enough to get an explanation. One of the ponies was loose in the hive, running amok and presumably performing all manner of terrible...things, and every changeling was making themselves scarce. Suddenly left alone, the young changeling glanced back down the tunnel, suddenly very worried about what could be lurking further down the cavernous tunnels. He could only hesitate a moment before realizing it was too late, as the sound of hooves and...cheerful humming?...could be heard just around the corner. Catching only a brief glimpse of bright pink, before attempting to bolt after his fellow changelings, he soon found himself tumbling to the floor. The poor changeling had only a moment to remember going out of the way to make extra sure that the straps harnessing him to the heavily loaded sled were secure and tight. Out of time, and increasingly anxious, he did what most changelings did when feeling threatened and attempted to conceal himself. He wasn't doing a very good job, by changeling standards, having just crouched as low to the ground as he could and then covering his multi-faceted eyes with his hooves. A moment later his body flared with green light, as the changeling made an attempt at improving his odds of going unnoticed. Now, instead of a changeling, lashed to a sled, sitting in the middle of the tunnel, there was a changeling shaped rock, lashed to a sled, sitting in the middle of the tunnel. Again, not an impressive showing, by changeling standards. After about a minute of steadfastly screwing his eyes shut, in the hopes of going unnoticed, the young changeling eventually started to wonder if perhaps the colorful invader had passed him by. The humming had stopped, as had the sound of it's hooves along the tunnel floors. Taking a calming breath, getting his brief overreaction in order, he decided it might be time to check and see if perhaps the pony had gone on it's way. Probos slowly opened one eye, steadily taking in the tunnels once more. “Hi!” Pinkie Pie enthusiastically greeted, mere inches away from the changeling's own face. Probos immediately went back to closing his eyes and pretending to be a rock. After several more minutes of, more or less, silence and a notable lack of anything terrible happening, Probos eventually began to consider the possibility of opening his eyes again, to see if the pony was still there. It hadn't really worked out so well the last time, by his estimation. Though on the other hoof, Probos couldn't sense anything terrible happening to himself; perhaps his disguise had worked? Lots of changelings tricked ponies all the time, so they couldn't be that bright. And he was still expected back at the tunnel expansion, to carry off the next load of rocks. Was he going to let some pony paralyze him with fear? Keeping him from doing his duty?...yes. But not indefinitely. He had rocks to move! A swarm to serve! A life to live! He would not let himself be trapped here forever! Probos slowly inched one of his eyelids opened. The pink pony was still there. Though this time she wasn't shouting greetings at the changeling's face. No, she, Probos was fairly sure it was a she, seemed to be crouched down with her hooves covering her eyes. Much like the young changeling had been doing the whole time. She was just sitting as still as possible on the ground, like she was pretending to be a rock herself. A pink fuzzy rock. After another minute of watching this strange tableau, Probos was starting to think that this wasn't some sort of trick. He soon opened his other eye, before slowly bringing himself upright once more, sitting on his haunches. Still keeping one eye on the pony, he steadily undid the knots holding him to his sled; just in case he suddenly needed to flee in terror. But nothing had happened so far. With his anxiety steadily ebbing away, Probos began scrutinizing the pink pony, finally able to take in the sight of a real live pony. It looked like...a pony. Many of the changelings that went out into the world for the various necessities that kept the hive going, had shown off their shapeshifting skills for their fellow changelings, giving them a glimpse of the various folks outside the hive. This pony looked basically similar to the disguised forms of some of the infiltrators and love-gatherers. Looking at her, she felt different in some sort of intangible way that Probos couldn't pin down. Which was again in line with what those changelings that ventured outside had conveyed. Even disguised a changeling could just sort of feel the difference between ponies and changelings. Though, they never said anything about ponies spontaneously dropping to the ground and...hibernating? He briefly considered hiding once more, but it just didn't seem terribly justified right then. Now starting to become more curious than afraid, the young changeling started leaning over for a closer look. Probos understood that ponies came in all sort of colors, and wore their manes in all kinds of ways. One didn't see many manes among changelings. Such things were usually only seen on the highest of changelings, the Queens and occasionally as just a rare random quirk of birth for regular changelings. So this pink pony's curly locks served as a source of no small amount of fascination for Probos. It looked like a rather bouncy pile of bright pink moss, not unlike those cultivated further down the tunnels, but for the coloring, of course. None of the pony-forms assumed by the other changelings had manes or tails like this. It was almost hypnotic, following the individual hairs of the pony's mane as they curled and twisted around one another... Glancing down both ends of the tunnel, Probos brought his gaze back to the odd pony before coming to a decision. Quietly edging closer to the mare, he watched carefully for any reactions from the pony, before reaching his hole-filled hoof forward. Slowly waving it in-front of the pony's face, before pulling it back, he concluded that the pony was...he didn't really know what she was doing, but she seemed docile. Apparently satisfied that there wasn't a great danger in what he was about to do, Probos decided to give into temptation and reach a hoof towards the pony's mane. He had kind of expected the pony to suddenly leap up and...do something. But nothing seemed to happen, when his hoof met her mane. It was rather soft. “Does that mean I win?” Pinkie Pie cheerfully asked. He froze for a moment, hoof still caressing her mane, before suddenly stumbling away in a rush. At some point after Probos had started...fondling the ponies mane, she had moved her hooves and popped open her eyes, and fixed them upon the changeling. Freaking out a bit, over both the pony's sudden animation and the fact that she had caught him doing something...weird, Probos could only utter “W-what?” “Well, it was my first time playing that one. Did I get it right? I was just kind of guessing at the rules.” Pinkie Pie cheerfully explained. “...rules?” Probos haltingly asked. “Uh-huh! I figure I haven't got much time to learn as many changeling games as possible for the party. Oh, oh! Did you wanna come? Did ya? I've been trying to invite as many changelings as possible, and you're the first one I've found! So are you coming?” Pinkie Pie again began crowding the changelings personal space, causing him to lean away, as she made her inquiries known. Probos stood there with Pinkie Pie looking straight into his eyes, entirely uncertain as to his proper course. He had only barely followed along with what the pink pony had been saying. And even then he didn't know what the proper answer was to her questions. He hadn't even been aware there was a party; the changelings had the occasional celebration, but not now, as far as he knew. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to mind the changeling's hesitation as she continued waiting, as still as a statue, as the changeling did the same thing. Eventually, Probos decided that he was the one that was supposed to break this impromptu waiting game. “...there's a party?” “Yep!” Pinkie Pie happily agreed. “...what for?” Probos asked slowly. “Well...” With that question Pinkie Pie backed away from the changeling once more, this time raising a hoof to her chin as she considered the question “At first, I just needed a way to meet as many changelings as I could, at once. Cause it's been taking, like, forever getting to know everypony here. But then I was all like, 'But, Pinkie Pie, you can't just go throwing parties just to meet everypony. That's not the right way to throw a party! It's gotta be for something, ya know?” At this point she began moving from side-to-side as if she was playing the roles of two different Pinkie Pies discussing the issue with one another. “If you're gonna throw a party, missy, you better be celebrating something, or making somepony smile, or making new friends! And I was like, 'Oh, I make a good point' but I didn't know what we could be celebrating. And I was all 'Uh-duh, we'll celebrate all the new changelings friends we're making'. Then I think there was a third Pinkie Pie that was like 'Oh, oh, we can't forget Chryssie. She's all super-gloomy and grumpy, so we should totally throw the party for her too' so it can be a party celebrating how we're all gonna be friends to make Chrysalis smile!” Pinkie Pie finally finished with a grin. Probos just blinked a couple of times, completely unable to follow the strange little skit that Pinkie Pie had just acted out in front of him. He was steadily becoming less afraid and more baffled, by this strange being. “So, are ya gonna come to the party? I promise it'll be super-fun!” Pinkie Pie again leaned in as she asked the question. “You're...throwing a party to make friends with the Queen?” Probos asked, trying to sort out Pinkie's little spiel. “I'm throwing a party to make friends with everypony!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “...me too?” The changeling asked skeptically. “Uh-huh!” Pinkie nodded. “But...who are you?” Probos asked. “Oh, I totally forgot!” Pinkie Pie playfully bonked herself on the head with her hoof, as she realized her oversight. A moment later she extended out a hoof to the changeling “I'm Pinkie Pie, your brand new, super-best friend ever!” Probos looked down at the hoof for a moment, a bit surprised by the gesture. It seemed to be no different from a typical changeling hoof-bump. After a moment, he reached out and bumped hooves with the pink pony “I'm Probos...so, we're friends now?” “Well, yeah! We're-” Pinkie Pie excitedly began. “There it is!” Before being interrupted by the two changeling guards stamping their way down the tunnel. Looking over Probos shoulder, Pinkie Pie smiled before clapping her two front hooves together excitedly “Oh, Yay! I knew this would be the perfect way to meet every changeling! At this rate I'll probably know everypony before the end of the month!” The shared frowns between the two bulkier changelings only deepened as they approached, with one moving on one side of Pinkie and the other pushing Probos back before taking up on the pony's other side. For Probos part, he seemed rather indignant about being shoved back like that, but didn't raise a word against it. Sparing only a glance for the younger changeling, the guard-changelings both focused their attention back upon the cheerfully oblivious Pinkie Pie. They almost seemed a bit put out that she seemed not at all intimidated. “So, what are your names? Me and Probos just became friends, but I think I'm going to need a lot more help for this party. I mean, I don't think I ever had a party that had thousands of ponies coming. And it's gonna be the bash of century, if Pinkie Pie has anything to say about it.” The pink pony proudly proclaimed. One of the changelings cleared his throat, when it became clear that nothing was being conveyed with their hostile body language. The one that had pushed Probos away decided to just spell things out at that point, in as gruff a manner as possible “Pony! For your trespasses you are being taken into our custody until such a time as our glorious Queen can take you under her supervision. Until then you are to stay here...away from our Queen's subjects.” Pinkie merely furrowed her brow at this for a moment, before waving her hoof “I don't think we're going to have enough room for everypony here. And how is everypony supposed to enjoy the party if they have to stay away?” Pinkie Pie leaned in towards the changeling guards “You guys must be really new to this whole partying thing. Luckily, you have Pinkie Pie here to show you the way.” This time all three changelings present frowned. The two guards for apparently being ignored by their captive and Probos for concern for what the two guard changelings might do if annoyed. Probos wasn't exactly sure how he felt about this strange pony, but she hadn't really done anything bad, and it was well known around the hive that the guard-changelings tended to take their jobs very seriously. While Queen Chrysalis, and simple good sense, insisted on their presence in the hive, they didn't get much opportunity to put their talents to use. Historically, the only time the guard-changelings got to do anything was when things were going catastrophically bad anyway. Apart from the ill-fated invasion on Canterlot, they rarely got to do anything more important than run off the very occasional wild animal. If every changeling was doing their jobs properly, guards mostly just stood around looking like they were doing nothing. Which, incidentally, led to their generally hostile attitudes. Being under-appreciated could do that. So it didn't really surprise Probos, when the guards came across as a bit snappish “We do not need to be shown anything, pony. There is no party happening, and you should count yourself lucky that our Queen has decided against seeing you thrown into cell. So cease your prattling, and let us be done with this.” With a nod from his fellow guard-changeling, the changeling that had spoken quickly turned back down the tunnel, prepared to go report their success to Queen Chrysalis. “Wow, I had no idea the situation was so serious.” Pinkie Pie observed, leaving the guard-changeling rather satisfied that he had gotten the pony to settle down. He stopped in his tracks, at what Pinkie Pie said next. “I'm going to have to throw a really, really, amazing party to turn all these frowns upside down!” Probos wasn't entirely shocked by this. Though he did wonder if perhaps this particular pony happened to be crazy. Turning around sharply the same guard-changeling began to snarl out “Are you-” “I bet Chryssie will be so happy when she sees how quickly we've all become friends!” “What?” All three changelings managed to ask at the same time. The first guard-changeling stomped over before looking Pinkie in the eye “Do you mean to say that you believe this will make our Queen...happy?” “Uh-huh!” Probos leaned in this time “Isn't she already happy though?” “I don't think so. I mean, she seems to like Princess Celestia and Twilight and stuff. But I think she's really bummed out. She even said, on the trip over, that she didn't even want to have fun!” Pinkie explained. “Bummed out?” Probos asked, not familiar with the expression. “Yeah, I guess it's cause she thinks she's doomed any chance at ponies and changelings living side-by-side in peace, or something.” Pinkie Pie off-hoofedly supplied “It's kinda like how Twilight gets when she thinks she's messed something up, ya know?” As Probos and the first guard-changeling tried to process this, the guard-changeling that had held his tongue till now spoke up “And you want to make our Queen smile?” “Why wouldn't I want to make her smile?” Pinkie asked “Everypony could use a smile!” “But...aren't you a pony?” Probos asked. Pinkie Pie looked over herself before giving a nod “I think so.” “Then why?” Pinkie again brought a hoof to her chin as she considered the question. After a moment “What? Well, obviously it- When somepony smiles-...Huh, I guess it is kind of hard to explain...Well, no problem. I know the perfect way to make everything clear now! And it was so obvious too...” This got the three changelings attention as they all leaned in for her answer. “We need...a musical number!” “So what do you guys do for fun around here?” The two changeling scouts glanced back towards Rainbow Dash, as she posed her question, both a bit surprised that the pegasus was still following the duo. Both pausing in mid-air, Alate and Cryptic did that weird thing again, where they seemed to have whole conversations with one another without saying anything aloud, before facing Rainbow Dash again. “What do you mean?” The one on the left, Alate, asked. “Fun? Cool stuff that you do when you aren't sleeping or working and junk?” Rainbow Dash asked again. Both changelings just scrutinized the hovering pony, as if they were having trouble figuring out something about the pegasus. “Seriously?...do I gotta go grab Pinkie Pie, and have her explain what fun is to you guys?” Rainbow Dash asked with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief. This time it was the changeling hovering on the right, Cryptic, that responded, frowning at the questions asked “We know what fun is...” “...but, this isn't exactly the time to go around having fun, if you ask me.” Alate finished for her sister. “Huh? Why not? Did the Queen of Mean decide to ban having a good time in the last few minutes? Sounds like her, actually...” Rainbow Dash asked, netting sour looks from the two changelings, as they realized the disparagement being directed towards their Queen. Picking up on their annoyance, Rainbow Dash just shrugged “What? She's kind of a jerk.” Both changelings again shared glances with one another, before Alate testily responded “Our Great Queen-” “She's not that great...” Rainbow Dash audibly muttered. “...Our Great Queen, has not banned fun. We just have jobs to do.” Alate finished, after the little interruption. Before Rainbow Dash could say anything at that, Cryptic flew in front of her, pointing a hole-filled hoof in the brash pegasus' face “And don't you as well? Aren't you supposed to be one of the special envoys from the Pony Princesses? Don't you have your own work you need to be doing, instead of insulting our Queen Chrysalis?” “Envoy?” Rainbow Dash asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion “What the heck's an envoy anyway?” Both of the scouts blinked in surprise at this development, before Alate chose to fly up “Uhm, you're not an envoy?” Rainbow Dash pushed Cryptic's hoof away, as she answered with her own frown “I just said, I don't know what an envoy even is! How could I be one, if I don't even know what an envoy does?” Now sporting her own look of confusion, Cryptic floated back a bit before asking “If you're not some sort of an envoy, why did your Princess bring you then?” “The only reason I came, was to make sure none of you changelings tried anything funny with two of my best friends. And to keep an eye on that Queen that you guys seem to love so much. Not to do any of this envoying stuff you keep going on about.” Rainbow Dash explained, pointing her own hoof back at the two changelings, as she did so. “You thought we would try something funny? What, like, attack them?” Alate asked with a bit of incredulity. “We wouldn't do anything like that.” Cryptic firmly denied. “Oh, no? What about those two jerks, that were sent after Pinkie, huh?” Rainbow Dash accused. “Duh, those two were being jerks.” Alate easily countered. Frowning at that response, Rainbow Dash continued “OK, then. What's up with your Oh-So Great Queen's poor attitude?” “Your attitude isn't exactly perfect, either.” Cryptic reminded. Rainbow Dash fell quiet for a couple of moments, before raising an eyebrow as she brought up her next piece of evidence “Alright then...if you guys are so great, why'd you go and try to invade us?” Both of the changelings hesitated a bit on this one. “Well...we weren't really...there or anything...” Alate tried to start. “So? A bunch of your buddies were happy to go trashing up Canterlot, messing with Twilight, and scaring everypony in the city.” Rainbow Dash quickly cut the changeling off, not letting her slide out of the question. Both changelings looked a bit sheepish, as they again exchanged looks with one another, before Cryptic tried to take over “Well...we do need to gather love and that's-” “Seriously? So, what? Everything else was just your Queen's idea of having a good time then?” The pegasus asked again, clearly skeptical and a bit annoyed with the excuse. “...we're sure Queen Chrysalis had her reasons.” Cryptic finished, as evenly as possible. At this Rainbow Dash, snorted as she rolled her eyes. After an awkward silence between the three, Alate rubbed the chitin along the back of her head before speaking “Right...so, what exactly do you do then?” “Huh?” Rainbow Dash was clearly thrown by the sudden change in topic. “Well, like you said, you clearly aren't an envoy. So, what exactly do you do?” Alate clarified. “Wait...are we just gonna ignore everything we just talked about? To talk about our jobs?” Rainbow Dash asked in bewilderment. “We're not ignoring it.” Cryptic answered. “But weren't we talking about jobs in the first place?” Alate asked. “Well, yeah. But is that really important right now?” Rainbow Dash asked right back. “Jobs are important.” Cryptic responded surely. “So, what's yours?” Alate asked again. Rainbow Dash's mouth opened and closed a few times, as she tried to process this, before giving up. Eventually shrugging, she just tried answering “I'm the...weather captain of Ponyville?” “...are you asking us?” Cryptic asked, after a short pause. “No! I'm the weather captain, alright? I take care of the weather around my home.” Both changelings nodded at Rainbow Dash's answer, apparently satisfied. “Hm. Well, that sounds like an important job, if you live on the surface.” Alate observed. “Tch, not really.” Rainbow Dash countered. Seeing the two changelings tilt their heads at this, RD realized they were hoping for an explanation “I mean, it's not like there aren't a bunch of other pegasi out there that can't do it.” “So, you aren't very good at what you do?” Cryptic asked. “Are you kidding?! I'm the best at what I do!” Rainbow Dash confidently asserted “That's why I don't want to be stuck just moving clouds around all day, ya know? Really, it's just a gig to pay the bills till I join the Wonderbolts, that's all.” Both Alate and Cryptic seemed to consider this for a few moments. “Those are the ones with the silly uniforms, right?” Alate asked of Cryptic. “That sounds right.” Cryptic answered off-hoofedly, before turning to Rainbow Dash “Anyway, why do you want to join these Wonderbolts? I've never really been clear on what exactly they do.” “Why? Why wouldn't I want to be a part of the best flying team in Equestria?! Being the best is what they do!” Rainbow Dash asserted. As an afterthought she pointed a hoof towards Alate “And I don't know what Wonderbolts you're thinking of, but the Wonderbolt uniforms are made of awesome. Just like yours truly.” “...but what do they do, that's more important than being this 'weather captain'?” Cryptic asked again. “...OK, I don't think you're really getting the picture here. All you really need to know, is that I belong with the Wonderbolts. I mean, it's been my dream since I was little. You guys have dreams right?” Rainbow Dash asked of the two curious changelings. “But...you said you were the best at what you do.” Cryptic again pointed out “Wouldn't that mean you do the most good where you already are?” “Well, yeah, I guess. But it's not like there aren't other ponies that can't do the job. And it's like I said, I've been training since I was just a filly for this, alright?” Noticing that Cryptic still didn't seem able to really get what Rainbow Dash was trying to say, she decided to just give up explaining “Just forget it. I guess you guys don't even know what a Wonderbolt is. No point trying to explain, I guess, if you have no clue who I'm even talking about.” Alate rolled her eyes at this, though the expression was lost on the pegasus, what with the lack of a discernible pupil in the changeling's eyes. “We know who they are, alright? Our great, great-...” “...-great grandfather-” Cryptic easily supplied for her sister. “-was one.” Alate finished relatively smoothly “And his old uniform looked pretty goofy to me.” “...Whoa, whoa, whoa! There's no way! No changelings were ever part of the Wonderbolts!” Rainbow Dash denied while waving that claim away with her hooves. “And who would know that?” Cryptic calmly asked. “I would, that's who! I mean, I know just about every Wonderbolt there ever was! Some of them personally!” Rainbow Dash countered. “So you know the names of every Wonderbolt?” Alate asked confidently, picking up on what Cryptic was getting at. “Uh-duh. There's Fleetfoot, Soarin', Spitfire, Fire Streak, Silver Lining, Rockette, Surprise, Skydart, Firefly, Fairy Flight, Zipper-” “-Glimmer Wing?” Alate and Cryptic named off simultaneously. “Yeah! There's Glimmer Wing, and-...No way.” It took a moment for Rainbow Dash to get what the twins were implying, but when she got it, it hit her like a brick. “Yeah.” Alate smugly said, upon seeing the look of realization on the pony's face. “B-but he was a pony! A pegasus!” Rainbow Dash tried to explain. “Changeling.” Both Alate and Cryptic chimed, disagreeing with the claim that Glimmer Wing was a pegasus, and explaining how such a thing was possible, at the same time. Rainbow Dash just hovered in mid-air for a couple of seconds, before suddenly pointing a hoof towards the two changelings “Wait, didn't you just say that you thought the Wonderbolts were useless? Why would a changeling try to join the Wonderbolts anyway, if you guys think they're so useless?” She asked confidently, sure she had found a hole in their logic. “Because, for whatever reason, you ponies adore the Wonderbolts.” Cryptic answered easily. “And Grandpa Glimmer Wing somehow got the idea to gather love from all the ponies that were fans of the Wonderbolts, by infiltrating them.” Alate then elaborated. Rainbow Dash slowly lowered her hoof, as she heard this, fairly obvious, explanation “Oh, well...I guess that kind of makes sense then.” “Indeed.” Cryptic agreed. “Right...so, were a lot of famous ponies really changelings, or something?” Rainbow Dash asked. The two changelings simply shrugged. “Grandpa Glimmer Wing's the only one I know of.” Alate answered, with Cryptic nodding in agreement. “Huh.” Rainbow Dash grunted as she took that information in “So, if Glimmer Wing was really your grandpa, I'm guessing you two must be pretty solid flyers too, right?” Both changelings considered this for a moment. “It's kind of hard to say.” Cryptic supplied. “Why do you want to know?” Alate asked. “Well...I think I just thought of a way we could have a bit of fun around here.” Rainbow Dash finished with a grin. Thus far, Twilight's visit to the Changeling Hive had proven to be quite fascinating and intriguing. Which was why it was such a shame that Chyrsalis' poor mood was making it so difficult to satisfy the alicorn mare's curiosity. After sending those two guards to seek out Pinkie Pie, Chrysalis had set off at a brisk pace through the tunnels of the changeling hive. And while this did have the fortunate side-effect of allowing Twilight to witness a good deal more of the hive in short order, Chrysalis wasn't really putting much effort into explaining what the ponies in the party were seeing. Granted, Prince Blueblood didn't seem to mind overly much, perhaps owing to his previous visit, but Twilight was having to strike a balance between trying to keep up with the Changeling Queen's longer strides, while trying to get in a question or two. According to Chrysalis, the small party had passed by canals, a forum, farms, training grounds, sleeping areas, storage spaces and more during their tour, and Twilight had thus far not gotten anymore than that on any particular subject. If changelings didn't eat, what exactly were the changelings farming? What were they training for? Did the changelings need to move a lot of water around? What exactly were the sleeping arrangements for the changelings? The list of unanswered questions was starting to run a bit long, in Twilight's mind. On the bright side, the young princess was getting to see more and more of the actual changelings, now that she was further into the main complex. Although, the changelings didn't seem quite as enthused about this, as she was. Many of the changelings seemed to pause in whatever activities they were pursuing to stare at the ponies accompanying their Queen, while others made no attempts to hide their attempts at making themselves scarce. It seemed that while normally a busy place, the hive would come to a screeching halt whenever Twilight found herself entering a new chamber. Indeed, only a hoof-full of the changelings, that passed the group by, seemed entirely calm about the ponies' presence. Presumably, those changelings were counted among the groups that ventured beyond the hive regularly. And while Twilight wasn't finding out overly much about the areas they were passing through, she was starting to spot the differences between individual changelings. It was certainly subtle, but individual changelings sported some fine differences in the shape of their...carapaces?...and their physique. So far the easiest method of telling one from another, had been for Twilight to glance at their hole-filled legs and hooves; each changeling seemed to have hole arrangements distinct to them. Though she still didn't know what to make of the changelings that clearly stood out from the others, like the two guard-changelings, with their greater bulk and more intimidating appearances. It was definitely a small minority, but some of the changelings looked as different from their fellow changelings as Unicorns, Earth ponies, and Pegasi did from one another. There's another question for the list. “These are the doors to my throne room. Mostly, it's just ceremonial...” Came Chrysalis' terse explanation, as they passed a set of wooden double doors. “Wait.” Came Twilight's own terse response. Both Blueblood and Chrysalis drew to a sudden stop, at the princess' call for a halt, both turning towards Twilight questioningly. “I...just would like to know-” Twilight began. “Where's the loud one?” Chrysalis abruptly cut-off Twilight, as the changeling Queen looked behind the two other ponies in the group, prompting Blueblood to do the same. Twilight quickly frowned at this, thinking Chrysalis was being difficult still, on account of Pinkie Pie's antics “Okay, first of all, I know that you know Pinkie's name, and I think it's getting a bit petty for you to keep pretending otherwise. And second, I-” “The loud blue one, Princess Twilight.” Chrysalis clarified, with her own expression of displeasure. “What?” Twilight asked, before noticing that Blueblood was gesturing behind her, prompting her to finally look to the back of the group. She had kind of assumed that Rainbow Dash had simply been bored, but now that she thought about it the pegasus' absence should have been obvious. She had never known Rainbow Dash to sit quietly, bored or not. “Well?” Chrysalis asked once more. Twilight took a few moments to consider this, before turning back to the Changeling Queen, and calmly saying “I don't know.” “You don't know?” Chrysalis asked, with just a touch of incredulity. “I'm guessing Rainbow Dash must have gotten bored and wandered off, at some point.” Twilight continued. At this, Chrysalis took several steps to the side, before raising a hoof to the bridge between her eyes for several moments. Without looking towards Twilight, Chrysalis voiced her own thoughts “Why?” “Well-” Twilight attempted to speak. “Why? Why did I think this would be a good idea?” Chrysalis seemingly asked herself, before abruptly lowering her hoof to send a glare towards Twilight “And in what world, did you think it would be a good idea to bring those two?!” “Wha- I didn't! You're the one that picked Pinkie and Rainbow Dash! And when I tried to say anything, you just ignored me. In fact, you haven't paid attention to single thing I've said this whole trip.” Twilight countered, her own irritation finally getting the better of her as she met Queen Chrysalis' glare with one of her own. “Those little fools are-” Chrysalis snapped out. Before the argument could spiral out from there, Blueblood loudly cleared his throat, getting the attention of the Princess and the Changeling. Glancing between the two, before settling his gaze towards Chrysalis “Unless there are any objections, I'll go seek out the Lady Rainbow Dash?” After a few moments of silence from the two, Blueblood started making his way back the way they had come from. Twilight was pretty sure she heard some muttering about “foalsitting” before the Prince moved beyond sight. Twilight glanced towards Chrysalis once more, noting that she still seemed a bit annoyed, but more in control than a few moments ago. Twilight took a moment to sigh, as she let some of her own aggravation with this day go, during this somewhat uncomfortable moment. “You had questions?” Chrysalis abruptly asked, once again appearing controlled and imperious. “What? Oh...” Twilight responded, blinking in surprise at the sudden question from the changeling, before taking a moment to re-order her thoughts. “Well?” Chrysalis calmly inquired again. “Uhm, yes. That is to say, there were some questions I wanted to ask about...everything.” Twilight continued, still a bit thrown by the change in Chrysalis' demeanor. Chrysalis simply raised an eyebrow, prompting Twilight to continue. “I-...was wondering about some of your changelings. Like those two guards?” Twilight eventually broached the first question that her mind had decided to settle upon. Gaining a bit of momentum now, seeing that Chrysalis didn't seem to be taking issue with the subject “So, as we were passing through your hive, I was trying to...distinguish between everypo-...changeling. And, while it's a bit challenging, I think I was getting better at telling your changelings apart. But, I also noticed that a few of them appeared very different from the others...I was hoping you could explain that for me?” “...is that it?” Chrysalis asked, after Twilight finished her own rambling question. Standing up a bit straighter now, and meeting Chrysalis gaze firmly, Twilight nodded “Yes. That's my question.” After several moments of apparent thought on Chrysalis' part, she nodded before trying to explain “I suppose that would seem odd to you. Those differences, that you noticed, are a result of a special process. One that I usually perform on the behalf of those changelings that show exceptional ability in their particular fields. Put simply, I made those changes to them so that they could better pursue their duties.” “A process? How do you go about...changing them, exactly?” Twilight asked. “The specifics are hard to describe to those that are not changelings, but essentially with large infusions of 'love', above and beyond what a changeling would normally need to consume, certain changes can be prompted to occur.” raising her hoof to her chest as she continued, Chrysalis continued with a touch of pride “Selecting certain exceptional changelings for this process and then executing it, is one of the services I provide my subjects as Queen.” “I see...so you're saying that under the right conditions a changeling can undergo permanent alterations to their bodies, just like they can create short-term transformations?” Twilight asked, the idea tumbling through her head, as she began to theorize about the mechanisms and implications of such a thing. “That pretty much sums it up, yes.” Chrysalis agreed. “Is the process safe?” Twilight asked, as another question came to mind. “There are...things, that can go wrong in the process. Which is precisely why it usually falls to me to handle it. It takes far less effort for one such as myself to do it, with it being safer for both parties.” Chrysalis answered carefully. “It usually falls to you? Can it be done by other changelings too? And what exactly could go wrong?” Twilight found more questions arising for every answer she got on this subject. Chrysalis was growing a bit annoyed by the many questions, concerning what, to Chrysalis, was a fairly run-of-the-mill part of being a changeling. Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, before continuing “The process can be completed by my subjects under their own power, yes. Though, again, without a Queen's reserves of energy or control, some unexpected developments might occur. Now, unless you would like me to draw out some in-depth diagrams, I'd like to get this-” Whatever Chrysalis was about to say was cut-off as the Changeling Queen and Alicorn Princess were both buffeted by the overpressure caused by a certain high-speed pony flying past the two in the tight tunnels. After a moment of shaking her thoughts back in to order, Chrysalis snapped out the most pressing question “What was that?!” Twilight herself was a bit stunned herself, but managed to catch sight of a fading rainbow trail further down the tunnels “Was that...Rainbow Dash?” “Why-” Chrysalis, nearly ready to cut into a series of very agitated questions on the topic was cut-off, as another slightly slower flyer passed directly over her head, causing her to reflexively duck. “That was definitely a changeling.” Twilight observed, having gotten a better glimpse of the speeding object, supplying the answer to the next expected question. Another couple of moments later, a third speeding object came into sight. Though unlike the first two, this one came to an abrupt stop as it came upon the confused royalty, resolving itself into the familiar shape of a changeling. It turned out to be one of the two scout-changelings from before, either Alate or Cryptic. “Your Grace!” The changeling quickly moved to salute, as she realized just who she was hovering in front of; her disheveled and increasingly agitated Queen. “Cryptic! By the pit of Tartarus, what is going on?” Chrysalis sharply demanded, causing Cryptic to visibly shrink back, before settling to the tunnel floor. “...high-speed patrol?” Cryptic hesitantly offered. The changeling quickly sank to the floor in submission, as Chrysalis furious expression seemed to double in potency right there. Twilight was certain that Chrysalis was about to launch into a tirade, then and there. She probably would have, were her attention, along with Twilight's and Cryptic not suddenly drawn down the tunnel, as a scraping sound suddenly drew to a halt. It was one of the guard-changelings from earlier. Lashed to some sort of sled, that was loaded down with all manner of colorful fabrics. Perhaps operating on some sort of deeply-seated survival instinct, the guard-changeling had frozen at the sight of his Queen. It took everypony present a couple of moments to process this, which might have created an intriguing scene if any other ponies or changelings had taken that exact moment to wander up. Fortunately none did. “What are those?” Chrysalis asked of her guard-changeling, with a surprisingly controlled voice, that left Twilight's hairs standing on end. After a long pause, on the part of the guard-changeling, he blinked before evenly answering “Assorted colorful fabrics, to be used for party decorations, Your Grace.” “...Why do you need party decorations?” Chrysalis asked, again in a chillingly calm tone. “The Pinkie Pie has made a...very compelling case, on why a party might be...necessary.” The guard-changeling supplied, his own calm starting to slip and crack. “What?” Chrysalis asked sharply. “There was...some singing.” The guard-changeling slowly admitted. Chrysalis took in a deep breath, before leaning in closer to her subject “You found the pink one?” “Yes, Your Grace.” The guard-changeling quickly affirmed. “You will take me to where you found her. Now.” Chrysalis ordered. “...The Pinkie Pie is not exactly...where we originally found her.” The guard explained. “Oh?” “Yes. You see, Your Grace, around the 2nd chorus of the song some of your very loyal subjects joined in and we couldn't really fit anymore changelings into a single side-tunnel, so obviously...we had to...move...” The guard-changeling's explanation slowly trailed off into silence. “...It was a very catchy song, Your Grace.” The Changeling Queen closed her eyes for several seconds, before taking in a deep breath and letting it out. Turning towards Cryptic, who had been all too happy no longer being the focus of her Queen's ire, Chrysalis gestured down the hall that Rainbow Dash and, presumably, Alate had flown down “You are going to locate that pegasus and your sister, and you will bring them to me.” Cryptic, with a speed that startled Twilight, immediately took to the air, saluted, then darted down the hall even faster than before, without uttering so much as a word. Turning back towards the guard-changeling “And you are going to lead me to the pink one, as quickly as you can.” After a short pause on the part of the guard-changeling “...should I bring the decorations?” “NOOWWW!!!” Chrysalis suddenly roared, giving a fair approximation of the Royal Canterlot Voice. The terrified guard-changeling quickly took to the air, seemingly oblivious to the heavy sled weighing him down, and began quickly flying back down the tunnel. A moment later Chrysalis took to the air herself and began following her subject. Leaving Twilight alone in the tunnel. After a moment's hesitation, Twilight quickly began galloping after the Changeling Queen, suddenly very worried what she might do now “Chrysalis! Wait!” Of course, Twilight soon ran into a problem with this course. Intentionally or not, the design of the changeling tunnels made it very easy to get lost. Particularly if one did not know where one was going in the first place. And worse yet, she couldn't even hope to listen for the sounds of an enraged Changeling Queen, to find her way, on account of the same sound-dampening quality of the walls that Twilight had found so fascinating earlier. Within a few minutes, Twilight found herself drawing to a halt, somewhat winded and very lost. “Well...this is going just great.” Twilight commented to herself, as she took in several deep breaths. Before the young alicorn could lament her problems any further, or plan any means of solving said problems, a sound grabbed her attention just down the hall. Casting her gaze forward, her eyes rested upon a pair of wooden double doors set into the side of the tunnel wall. The sound that had gotten her attention, the steady creak of one of those doors inching open. Deep within the halls of a mysterious and secretive race, lost deep in a dark world that she had little understanding of, a mysterious door was opening of it's own accord just as Twilight neared it. 'Well, that's not ominous at all.' Twilight's thoughts snarked back to the young princess.