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// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Truth Behind a Miracle 
// by blackrosedarkness 
//------------------------------//

It was early morning when Celestia's sun peeked up over the horizon and began to shine through the windows of a tiny cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville. A young filly began to yawn as she woke up to start her day. She lazily crawled out of bed and walked over to her bedroom mirror, her green magic flared as she brushed out her violet and blue mane before heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Yep, today was shaping up to be a completely normal day for the changeling filly known as Loving Miracle.

Loving Miracle's mother, well adoptive mother, but mother all the same called up to her daughter, "Miracle! Breakfast is ready!"

The yellow pegasus known as Fluttershy turned back to the stove as she piled a plate high with pancakes before setting them on the table. Loving Miracle appeared at the table, now with her preferred appearance of a magenta earth pony with lavender irises. Miracle smiled as she shoved a forkful of fluffy, syrup-drenched pancakes into her mouth. The filly continued to devour her breakfast until nothing remained but sticky crumbs. Miracle excused herself from the table and placed her plate in the sink, "Thanks for breakfast, Mom! I'm going to see Bon Bon!"

Fluttershy smiled and wrapped Loving Miracle in a hug before sending her on her way, "Okay sweetie, have fun!"

Loving Miracle smiled and walked out the door. For just over two weeks now, she had been meeting with Bon Bon. The kind earth pony, who was also secretly a changeling, had taught her about changelings, everything from culture to magic. The two had become good friends as a result, and Loving Miracle looked forward to her visits with the local candy maker. Getting free candy helped, too. The filly walked up to the front door of Bon Bon's house and knocked on the door. She waited a moment before a mint colored unicorn opened the door. Loving Miracle smiled, "Hi, Lyra! Is Bon Bon here?"

Lyra chuckled at the adorable filly, "She sure is. I'll go get her, come on in."

Lyra Heartstrings was Bon Bon's roommate and best friend. She was also one of the few ponies who knew that she was a changeling. Twilight had said before that Miracle shouldn't have to worry about telling other ponies, but Miracle wanted to keep her secret for just a little longer. Loving Miracle sat down on the sofa and waited for Bon Bon to appear, she looked at her reflection in the polished coffee table. A small puff of green flame and Miracle's mane became a neon green with stripes of gold, another puff and her mane was back to normal. She had been working on changing small things in her appearance to better hone her magic, and so far it was working. There was the odd occasion when something went wrong, one time she had accidentally turned her mane and coat neon yellow before her mane disappeared entirely, luckily Bon Bon was able to fix it, that would have been hard to explain to the foals at school...

A moment later, the cream-coated, candy-maned pony known as Bon Bon emerged from the hallway. She looked across the room and spotted the filly on the couch, changing the colors in her mane, which was now a pastel pink with stripes of dark red. Bon Bon laughed, "Having fun, Miracle?"

Loving Miracle jumped at the sudden interruption, losing her concentration as her mane went back to its violet and blue appearance. She looked over at the new pony in the room and smiled, "Bon Bon!"

Loving Miracle hopped off the couch and ran to greet her friend, "What are we going to do today, Bon Bon? More magic? Maybe flying? I've been practicing! I promise I won't break your lamp again!"

Bon Bon laughed, "Not today, Miracle. I was thinking I could give you a lesson on hive structure and how a hive operates."

Loving Miracle's enthusiasm dropped, if she wanted a lecture, she could have just gone to see Twilight. Bon Bon picked up on Miracle's disappointment in today's lesson and smiled, "Which I thought we could discuss while making fruit drops."

Loving Miracle's enthusiasm returned tenfold as she beamed and hopped around Bon Bon, "Yay! I love making fruit drops! They're my favorite!"

Bon Bon chuckled, "I know. I know. Now let's get into the kitchen."

Loving Miracle grabbed a stool to reach the counter top and began to watch Bon Bon work. The candy mare pulled out a saucepan and set it on the stove. She turned to the filly next to her, "Miracle, can you get the fruit from the other counter and we can begin the lesson?"

Loving Miracle smiled, "Okay."

The filly turned around as little pink horn sprouted from her head. She stared at the bowl of berries as it was surrounded in a green aura and slowly began to float towards the filly. Loving Miracle clapped her hooves, overjoyed at her success. She quickly caught the bowl in her hooves as her magic sputtered out. While the finer points of disguise came to the filly easily, other things like levitation were proving to be a bit more difficult for her to grasp. And while the bowl only moved a couple feet, it was still a grand success in the filly's eyes. She smiled up at Bon Bon, "I did it! I moved it with my magic!"

Bon Bon nodded, "Very good, Miracle. Now mash those berries up into a sort of juicy mush, okay?"

Loving Miracle nodded and began to squish the berries while Bon Bon tended to the sugar mixture, the candy mare was proud of the little filly. She had come so far in her lessons taking to magic like a natural, her flying could use work, but little Miracle was making great progress. The time quickly passed while the two friends made little fruity candies together, laughing and talking while getting covered in berry juice.

Later, as the little e balls of candy cooled, Bon Bon sat down to deliver the day's lesson. She motioned for Loving Miracle to sit next to her. "Now, if you begin to feel, ah... bothered, by the lesson. Just let me know. Okay?"

Loving Miracle nodded as she began to eat the leftover berries, "Okay, Bon Bon. But why would I get upset?"

Bon Bon just sighed and began to speak, "The hive is a very important part of changeling society. It's how changelings tell groups apart, how the know where to go and what needs to be done. It's also how they know who the queen is and where she is. It is very important to make sure the queen is safe at all times because she is the center of the hivemind, the hivemind being what keeps a hive connected. Every changeling that is born into the hive is born connected. Now, it is a common misconception that changelings are mindless drones following a tyrannical queen. Every changeling has free will, the queen can send a command through the hivemind, but it is always a choice to follow said orders or not."

Loving Miracle listened to every word, as boring as lectures were, she was learning more about her species than she would ever learn at school.

Bon Bon continued, "Now, there are changelings who prefer to be independent and not be a part of a hive and live on their own, like me. For them, it is as simple as disconnecting themselves from the collective hivemind and being on their way. Now, the rest of the hive will be able to tell that someone has left, but other than that the collective is unaffected. There can be damaging effects to the hivemind, if something is to happen like the queen is killed without an heir present to take over control of the hivemind. If no heir is present when the queen dies or severs herself from her hive, the hivemind can disappear entirely, leaving connected changelings feeling lost and disorganized sending the remnants of the hive into disarray and eventually leading to the hive's demise."

Loving Miracle gasped, "How terrible! What else can go wrong?"

Bon Bon looked around nervously, "Uh.... Oh! I bet the candy has cooled down! Do you want some?"

Miracle shook her head, "No, I want to hear the rest!"

Bon Bon looked back at the filly, "Are you sure? I bet your mom misses you, maybe we need to cut the lesson short so you can see her?"

Miracle pouted, "But I want to know! What else can happen! You can't just stop mid-topic! I'm a foal, I'm curious now!"

Bon Bon rubbed the back of her head, "Oh, it's nothing."

Loving Miracle looked up at Bon Bon, puppy-eyes in effect, "Bon Booooooonnnnn! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

Bon Bon sighed in defeat, "Fine. But I warned you. Another problem that can occur is when severing a changeling's connection to the hivemind. If the changeling is forcefully cut from the collective against their will, or if the changeling making the cut isn't careful, there can be some devastating effects on the changeling."

Loving Miracle inched closer to the disguised changeling, "What kind of effects?"

Bon Bon paused, reluctant to continue. Loving Miracle was slowly putting pieces together, but she needed to hear Bon Bon say it.

The candy mare sighed, "Forcing a changeling to be cut from the hive or cutting the link improperly can cause many problems. Including a long lasting depression, a sense of abandonment, fatigue and emptiness, death, and yes, severe memory loss. These problems are why when a changeling wants to leave the hive, the procedure is carefully monitored with the participant given full knowledge of said procedure. The effects of a bad sever can be reversed, but only when caught in time. When I left, the queen observed the procedure and I made sure that one of my closest friends performed the spell."

Loving Miracle sat on the sofa next to Bon Bon. So, her missing memory, she hadn't really been thinking about her missing memories for a while now, she didn't think they mattered anymore now that she had a new life in Ponyville. But if she didn't care, then why did she keep getting lessons from Bon Bon? No, she just wanted to see her friend, but if that's what she wanted then they could just do friend things like go to the park, not discuss changeling history. She just wanted to learn about her species and find out... who she was. Was that the reason she continued the lessons? I guess it made sense, everyone wants to know where they came from, right? Was she subconsciously trying to find her past?

Bon Bon hugged the little filly who was still lost in thought, "Oh, sweetie. I didn't want to tell you, but I had my suspicions. I mean, you showed up nearly dead at Fluttershy's with no memory.... I'm sorry, dear."

Loving Miracle spoke quietly, "It's okay. I don't really care anyway, I mean, I have a great life here. I don't need to find my past life. Right? I haven't even thought about my memories being missing, but.... Never mind." 

Loving Miracle returned Bon Bon's hug, "Thanks for teaching me, Bon Bon! And for letting me help make candy! I had fun today, can I take some candy home? Please?"

Bon Bon laughed, the tension gone, "Of course, just make sure you share with your mom, okay?"

Loving Miracle smiled, "Okay! I promise!"

Loving Miracle filled a bag with the berry flavored candies before heading home, "Thanks Bon Bon! See you tomorrow!"

Bon Bon waved as the filly walked out the door, "Goodbye, Miracle!"

Bon Bon watched the door close as she slumped back on the couch, "That poor filly. Forced out of her hivemind by someone with no clue of how the hivemind works... I can't think of a fate more cruel."

Loving Miracle walked home, bag of candies in her mouth with a smile on her face. In her head though, jumbled thoughts bounced around, what did happen to her memories? Did someone force her out? Did someone mess the spell up? Why was she sent out of the hive? Was it her idea? Loving Miracle pushed her thoughts aside as she pushed open the door to the cottage, "Mommy! I'm home!"

Loving Miracle set the candy on the table before moving into the living room, "Mommy? Mommy! Where are you?"

Loving Miracle looked on in horror, a broken vase on the floor, furniture turned upside down, and a distressed Angel bunny pulling Miracle through the wreckage toward an even worse sight. Lying on the floor, covered in blood and barely breathing, was Fluttershy.