As I walked towards the castle, I paused to have a better look at Canterlot Castle; on my last visit things had been very different. On the last visit here I had made my way into the mountain city through subterfuge with the intent of conquering the mountain city for me and the Hive. I had very nearly succeeded in this goal only to be stopped at the very end by one Pony.
Despite failing that goal, I now found myself back in the mountain city and things had certainly changed since that day over two years ago, yesterday had been a momentous occasion where I learned that the Hive had been granted the rights to live freely in Equestria. In a way my goal had been fulfilled although not as I had expected. What did succeed was that the Hive had been granted a secure place to live but also with growing numbers of opportunities for co-existence with Ponies. As well our rights to live in Equestria along with the circumstances of our departure from the Collective also granted us Equestrian citizenship.
That was why I was here today, to publicly accept Equestrian citizenship from the Princesses of the Triarchy who would in turn formally welcome me and the Hive into Equestria. It was to present to the public the results of yesterday’s events. Suddenly I felt a gentle nudge at my side and it broke my attention from the marble castle to see Twilight standing next to me. Twilight Sparkle, the Pony that nearly destroyed the Hive through her actions had also been the one to lead the fight to give the Hive and myself a new home. When this all started a month ago I only held respect for Twilight and nothing more than that. But overtime I had found that my respect towards Twilight had grown and despite my fears about the insanity of Ponyville and its inhabitants, I was glad that the Hive had found a home where food was not in short supply.
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Walking with Chrysalis back to Canterlot Castle for a press conference seems almost surreal; never would I have thought that she would return to Equestria after what had happened last time. I think this even though I do know that stranger things have happened, Discord’s reformation still baffles me at times. We were both making our ways to Canterlot Castle from the train station, in the end we had decided that a sky chariot would be overboard and would draw the press in like they were a wake of vultures. So going by train along with a simple disguise would allow us to make our way through Canterlot with minimal interruptions.
Walking towards the castle gates I noticed that Chrysalis was no longer beside me. I turned to see that she had stopped to look at the castle and in a way it made sense given the circumstances of her last visit here. While I knew how powerful friendship could be but even that never could have prepared me for a visit from Chrysalis. Even now it’s still a sight at times to see Changelings so open in Ponyville. Well fairly open, I knew that there were still some holdouts against them. Even yesterday that was made clear by how adamant some Ponies were against allowing Changelings to settle in Equestria as citizens. I sighed at this thought, I knew it would be a long time before the two species were no longer near possible hostility, I knew it would be a long time before the hatred and distrust would fade.
I walked over to dark unicorn standing in front of Canterlot Castle and nudged her gently. She took the hint and followed me inside the castle. The future for Changelings in Equestria was still fraught with complications and things would take time before it got better. I was glad however that Chrysalis and her Hive had been granted lands near Ponyville to settle. It would be nice to have more chances to learn about and to meet Changelings in general but also to hopefully spend some more time with Chrysalis who I had found to be good company over this past month.