"W-what would you like to know?" Mane stuttered. This had been the first time in a while that he'd come into contact with a changeling from another hive, as evidenced by the blue glow of his horn. The last time had been the week he spent in Appleoosa before finding out that it was under Hive Red's control. Luckily, they had let him off with a warning and given him time to prepare and leave.
The unicorn squinted at him for a few moments in silence. "What was Chrysalis' plan with Canterlot?"
Mane gulped. "Our hive's strength was dwindling. It's difficult to harvest love without spending ti--"
"I don't care about what your blasted hive did!" Stage growled. "I want to know why she and your hive thought it would be a good idea to expose our kind to the world as villains!" He sat down and rubbed his head with his forehoof. "Do you have any idea how hard you all made it for the rest of us? Nearly all of our short-term harvesters have had to abandon their posts in fear of being caught."
Mane suspected that the other hives were suffering, but not of this magnitude. "Mother, she...," he gulped, "she noticed how bad off we were. We would always hear her complaining about how the other hives were so well off, about how they didn't care that she and her children were suffering. I'll be the first to admit that she doesn't think before she acts, but she was trying to help us."
"How?! How is invading the bucking pony capital 'helping you'?!"
"Princess Cadence. After all, she's the princess of love, isn't she?" Mane sighed. "Her plan was just to keep Cadence locked away in the Crystal Caves while she fed off of her innate power. During that time, she would replace her to make sure that nopony suspected a thing. But it's as they say: no plan survives contact with the enemy."
"Meaning the wedding?" Stage suggested.
"Yes. When she initially starting feeding off of Cadence, she lost some control. One of the maids overheard her discussing the back-up plan with some of us and alerted the princesses. Luckily, she didn't know who was talking, so they were only told that there was to be an attack on the city. That's where the barrier came in."
Stage sighed deeply and rubbed his hooves against his temples. "So, your amazing plan was working fine until Chrysalis bucked it up?"
Mane scratched his hooves together. "Not... exactly. Cadence's husband, Captain Shining Armor, began to notice that his wife was acting differently. Mother had no time to study Cadence and her mannerisms. At first, Shining thought it was wedding jitters. She was afraid that he was about to find her out, so she..."
Stage signalled with his hoof to continue. "She..?"
Mane shivered. "She... performed a mind alteration spell to wipe away his suspicions."
"SHE DID WHAT?!" Stage roared. "Doesn't she know that she risked making him braindead?! If his blood was on your hooves, we'd all be dead!"
"And we told her that!" Mane yelled back. "We told her to call the whole thing off, that she was going too far! But she just answered us back by feeding us even more and more of Cadence's love. There was so much of it..."
"Wait--"
"We didn't notice until it was too late. We knew Cadence's reserve was large, but we didn't know how large. With how long Mother had spent draining her, it seemed like it was always renewing itself. An infinite source of love..."
"She became drunk on it. And then she spread it to all of you."
Mane nodded. "I don't remember much of what happened during the wedding, just the few days before it. Most of us were so filled with the stuff that we just wanted more and more of it. It didn't help that Mother was under the same spell as all of us. She just kept giving and giving and giving--"
"I understand." Stage interrupted. The two sat in silence, Mane staring at the floor and Stage looking the disguised changeling over. He looked deep in thought and seemed to be recalling their conversation. "Do you know why I'm here? How I found you?"
Mane looked up in surprise. "Well... I can guess that you're a scout of Hive Blue. Maybe an information gatherer?" Stage nodded before Mane continued. "And unless you found me by pure dumb luck, Mother would've had to have told someling."
Stage nodded again. "As part of her exile, Chrysalis was required to share her links with the other Queens so that they could keep an eye on the rest of your hive."
"Wait, if that's the case, how come I can't hear a hivemind? If I'm connected to one of the Queens, shouldn't I be able to at least hear something?"
"A link given to a Queen is more easily controlled than one that's born to her. Chrysalis' imprint is still present on all of you, so the Queens can easily distinguish yours from the rest of her hive. It seems that the Queen who is holding your link custody doesn't want you mingling with her children."
Mane cringed. "That's... understandable."
They sat in another bout of silence before a knock on Mane's front door interrupted them.
Stage stood up and faced the bedroom door. "It appears that my spell has fallen and our time is up. I must be getting back."
"Wait." Mane lifted a hoof to stop him. "What's... what's going on out there? With Princess Celestia I mean. All I've heard is rumours of witch hunts."
"She's very obviously pissed off at what happened. Not only was her niece attacked, but her city was invaded and she was overpowered in front of her subjects. Nopony really knows what she's up to." The two made their way to the front door before pausing at it, Stage passively staring at Mane. "If we're lucky, Celestia will be willing to listen. The changelings wouldn't survive a war with Equestria and her allies." At that point, Stage opened the door to see Blue standing there.
"Was wonderin' when you two would come out. The party's just 'bout windin' down."
"We were just reminiscing about the old days." Stage replied before leaving the house. "If you both will excuse me, I have to be off. I'm expected back home in a few days. Oh, and Mane?" Stage turned his head back.
"Yes, Stage?"
"Don't worry about your family. I'm sure they'll be fine." With that, Stage trotted off.