Chapter 18: Surprise
The walk to the Solstice Hall was short, and Sky arrived hardly a minute after leaving Subtle and Nictis. To his surprise, Glitterbug was not in the room with them. Instead, she was in the hall, sitting back against a wall, her papers and books laid out around her. She looked up from her journal as he approached, and paused in her writing to give a half-smile that lacked any happiness behind it.
“How come you’re out here?” Sky asked as he stepped up, halting just past the spread of books. “I’d think you’d be in there studying Chrysalis, still.”
“She threw me out,” Glitterbug replied with a sigh before rubbing her shoulder. “And I mean, literally threw me out. Well, more of a toss. She tossed me out of the room. Literally.”
Sky raised an eyebrow at that. “Seriously? I’m surprised Twilight let her do that.”
“I heard Princess Twilight yelling something at her before the doors shut. I don’t think she was very happy with it, either.”
Sky frowned, looking to the doors and the matched pair of pony and changeling guards standing impassively beside them. “Why did she throw you out, anyway?”
Glitterbug shrugged, turning her attention back to her journal. “I don’t know. It was going about as well as ever. You know, I ask a question, she growls and mutters and gives some bitter, sarcastic reply, repeat. I think she just doesn’t like me.”
Sky gave a short chuckle. “I don’t think she likes anyone.”
“I guess so,” she said. “Though at least she was tolerating me, before that. Got a good amount of information on the physiology and behavior of changeling queens and princesses. I just wish she would have answered me when I asked about changeling reproductive habits, instead of throwing me out. My studies are very incomplete on the subject.”
Sky tried his best to suppress his amusement with a hoof over his face, but the snickering rather ruined the attempt.
“Oh, what?” Glitterbug said with a hint of indignation. “I approached the subject with tact. It was a detached, scientific inquiry. It’s not as if I asked for a demonstration.”
The snicker turned into a snorted laugh, while Glitterbug frowned and glared at him. So did the nearby changeling guard, for that matter.
“Okay, okay,” Sky finally managed, setting his hoof down, though he was still grinning. “I was going to head in. You can come too. Chrysalis doesn’t have the authority to tell anyone where they can or can’t go in Celestia’s castle.”
“I’d like to give it a try,” she said, glancing over to the door and the glaring changeling beside it. “I’d just rather not get thrown again. Or tossed, for that matter.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Sky said with a chuckle. “If Twilight yelled at her for doing it once, I don’t think she’ll tolerate Chrysalis doing it a second time.”
Glitterbug quickly gathered up her books and papers as she stood. She sighed as she did so, but Sky saw a bit of a grin returning.
Sky led the way, ignoring the glaring changeling guard. As they entered, he was surprised to see Chrysalis and Twilight both looking rather relaxed, while behind them, Spike sat with scroll and quill, scribbling away. The changeling queen was kicked back, taking a long sip from a large glass.
Lowering the glass, she looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking as if she were holding a casual conversation. “The most important would probably be Chara. She is in charge of overseeing my military.” She turned a cruel grin to Twilight, who appeared completely unfazed by it. “She has a special loathing for ponies that I find so delightful. It’s why I left her in charge of my hive while I was away. I knew she’d be ruthless in repaying you ponies for any treachery you might attempt. I’m sure she’ll be displeased with the idea of peace, but I expect she’ll appreciate what we gain from it.”
Sky caught Twilight’s eye, raising an eyebrow questioningly at Chrysalis’s cheerful tone. Twilight replied with a hint of a smile and shrug before returning her attention to the queen.
“Princess Indress will be the one most directly involved in all this. She organizes my workers. She’s a very practical sort, always focused on her duties. She’s never cared about politics or scheming, or really anything outside her work. Remind you of somepony?”
Twilight replied with a surprisingly calm smile. “Once upon a time, perhaps.”
“Uh-huh,” Chrysalis said, her smile disappearing when Twilight didn’t rise to her bait. “Anyway, she’ll be quite happy just seeing these predictions. She’s always been pestering me for more workers; this should please her. Hmm, though I may have to speak with Princess Cocoon about stepping up breeding.”
Twilight blinked. “Wait, seriously?” She gave Chrysalis a critical eye. “Princess Cocoon?”
“You try coming up with unique names for a few thousand spawn,” Chrysalis replied with a scowl. “I wasn’t feeling particularly creative that day, not that she’s ever complained of it.”
Sky made his way to the array of cushions set along one of the walls, and made himself comfortable beside Rainbow Dash. She, in turn, snorted and smacked her lips a couple times before snoring some more.
“Come to think of it,” Chrysalis continued, “she might be getting a bit of a promotion, so to speak. If these agreements bring as much improvement to my hive as you think they will, I’ll need to make some more princesses just for breeding purposes.”
“You make it sound so charming,” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes.
Chrysalis grinned and started to say something to Twilight, but cut herself off as Glitterbug set her books on the table. The pony gave the queen a cautious smile. “Well, since we seem to be talking about changeling breeding habits anyway--”
“No,” Chrysalis said with a groan, and was about to say something more--most likely something unpleasant and acidic, Sky thought--when Dash gave a particularly good snore and brought the conversation to a halt.
Sky reached out, nudging her lightly in the side. She responded with a muttering groan, rolling onto her side as if to protect the spot he’d touched. Finally, she nuzzled into the cushion before going still again, her snoring replaced with quiet, murmured breaths.
When he saw Twilight’s questioning look, he smiled and quietly replied, “Lots of post-flight naps.”
She smiled and nodded before turning back to Chrysalis. “Okay, I think we’ve let ourselves be distracted long enough. We still need to work out a lot of these details. I’m sure you’re concerned with how you’ll feed your growing hive, so perhaps we should start with finding an arrangement that gets your subjects the love they need to live, without harming Equestria’s subjects. I’ve had a few proposals worked out, and I think you’ll find these acceptable…”
Sky settled back as the princess and queen resumed their talks. It might not be the most interesting way to pass the time, but there was something nice in seeing progress being made.
Nictis took a long, deep breath, the cool wind softly washing over him, teasing at his ears and frill. He leaned forward, forelegs crossed atop the overlook wall, to look down into the valley far, far below. He took a short sip from the raspberry smoothie he had gotten from Sunflower’s Cafe. It was a bit of nostalgia; the same drink, the same view, and at least some of the same company. He would have felt guilty about trying to use that nostalgia as leverage, if it hadn’t been Spark who had guided him there.
Beside him, Spark did the same, though his hooves gripped the edge tightly in comparison to Nictis’s relaxed posture. He eyed the drop for a few seconds before inching back a bit, until his eyes were barely peeking over the edge. “Is it weird that I’m fine with heights when I’m flying, but this is kind of unnerving?”
“Nah,” Nictis said. “The mind is pretty bad about being logical with stuff like that. Having the perception of control makes things a lot easier to handle.”
Spark nodded thoughtfully, eyes slowly tracking along the river far below before eventually turning to Nictis. “I guess you know that stuff from your, um… Infiltrator training?”
Nictis’s ears immediately drooped. “Oh… yeah. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Spark quietly replied. “I mean, we can’t just pretend it’s not there.”
“Yeah,” Nictis agreed, though his expression sank further at it. “It just kind of makes things awkward.”
“Ehh.” Spark shrugged half-heartedly. “Kinda, I suppose, but… well, not really. It’s be a lot more awkward if we tried to avoid it, right?”
Nictis considered that for a moment before giving a single, soft chuckle, a smile slowly returning to his face. “Have I mentioned recently that I like how smart you are?”
That earned a short chuckle from Spark. “Besides, look on the bright side, right? I bet you’ve got a lot of stories you weren’t able to share before.”
“I actually shared a good number of them,” Nictis said. “I just had to change a few of the little details. But, yeah… I guess there’s still a lot I never told.”
Spark nodded. “I’d like to hear about it, some time.”
Nictis smiled, looking to Spark. “I’d be glad to, whenever you want. And… thank you, for giving me a second chance.”
Spark returned the smile. “Of course.”
With a soft sigh, Nictis returned to looking out over the valley below. “...All those times I said you were a better pony than me, they were all true. I really should have known to trust in you instead of running away.”
Spark’s smile faltered. “Nictis, you don’t have to apologize for that.”
There was a faint mix of nervousness and sadness coming from Spark, growing by the moment as he looked away. Nictis tried offering a faint smile. “But I want to. I shouldn’t have left you alone to deal with that. It wasn’t fair.”
“I told you to go.”
Nictis froze, staring back at Spark, whose ears had folded back. “That’s not…”
He went silent again when Spark turned back to him. “If I had told you to stay, would you?”
Silence was his only answer; Nictis tried to reply, but every time he started to find words, they died on his tongue.
Spark gave a weak smile. “You would have, wouldn’t you?”
Slowly, reluctantly, Nictis nodded, but a weight grew in his stomach. “...Are you giving me another chance because you feel guilty?”
“No,” Spark replied. “There was a period where I blamed myself for what happened, but I got over that.” The feelings of turmoil were quickly fading, replaced by a soft glow of affection. “No, I’m giving us a second chance because I think you deserve it, and the more I get to know you, the more I like you.”
Spark scooted closer, leaning gently into Nictis’s side. “So how about we just say mistakes were made, and move on from there?”
Nictis looked over to Spark’s smiling face. It took only a moment before he was smiling as well, and he leaned in to rest his head gently beside Spark’s. “You really are a good pony, Spark.”
“You too,” Spark softly murmured, nuzzling gently. “Or… you know what I mean.”
Nictis just chuckled.
“Well, looks like you two love-bugs are doing well!”
Spark jumped slightly, ears pinning back and cheeks flushing as he looked over to Trip. The changeling was walking casually atop the overlook wall with a carefree grin, his own drink floating alongside him.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Spark quickly replied, blushing further, though he leaned into Nictis’s side once more.
“Never mind him,” Skiris said, showing a hint of a smirk. He walked alongside Trip, taking the much more mundane option of walking on the street. “He gets a bit silly when he’s had too much sugar.”
“That wasn’t even silly,” Trip protested. He quickly took a sip of his drink before declaring, “This is silly!” and falling off the wall.
Spark jerked in surprise as the changeling dropped out of sight, but a moment later Trip looped back up and landed atop the wall again. He grinned. “See?”
Nictis, however, noticed the grin looked somewhat forced, and his eyes shifted to the other changeling’s cup as Trip took another sip. “And I see you even managed to save some of your drink.”
“Yep,” Trip replied, hopping down from the wall. “...I didn’t really think that one through all the way.”
“Hence, silly,” Skiris dryly noted before floating his own cup over. “You want some of mine?”
That earned a happy chirp of thanks as Trip slipped in alongside him, giving a quick, affectionate nuzzle, before snatching the straw in his mouth and taking a long draw.
“Hey!” Skiris objected, any outrage muffled under his laugh. “I said some, not all!”
Trip relented, skipping a few steps away. “All is some,” he retorted with a chuckle, and turned to Nictis. “Isn’t that right, oh expert of all things words?”
Nictis gave a dry chuckle, rolling his eyes. “Technically, he is correct.”
“See?” Trip replied, turning back to Skiris, only to be met with the sound of a straw slurping in an emptied cup.
Skiris just grinned around the straw.
“Oh, that’s no fair!” Trip laughed.
Nictis could feel Spark chuckling silently beside him, and he smiled as well.
“You can always ask Cara if he’ll share,” Skiris said. “He’s hardly touched his.”
Nictis looked the other way, where the two quieter members of the group waited. Cara was sitting on his haunches, not noticing the attention as he remained focused on the chunk of dried wax he’d been carrying around. Every now and then his horn would light a bit brighter as he burned away a bit of it. The result was a misshapen lump of wax in the rough shape of a very fat X.
At least it kept him distracted from all the ponies around him. He was much more calm than his last outing into the city.
Just past Cara stood Bigs, who had quietly insisted on coming along, but had said almost nothing the whole time. Nictis still wasn’t sure what to think of it. He wasn’t feeling any hostility or suspicion, but Bigs was still there, keeping a wary eye on things.
“Eh, I’m good,” Trip said with a shrug, and downed the scant remains of his own drink. “So, what’s the plan now? Back to the castle before it rains?”
Nictis looked up, where scattered teams of pegasi were pushing around a few light clouds. “The showers aren’t scheduled until after sunset,” he said, leaning over to give Spark a gentle nuzzle. It just felt like the right thing to do, for some reason. Spark even leaned into it, though Nictis thought he might be blushing a little more.
“Still,” he said, “I suppose I should go check in and see if anything’s come up.”
“Let’s go, then!” Trip called out, hopping over the pair with a buzz of his wings. Landing on the opposite side, he grinned. “You said you were going to show us that flying machine of yours, right?”
“Sure!” Spark replied, and they all started to make their way back to the castle.
Skiris took a minor detour to nudge Cara and break him from his concentration before he got left behind.
Walking along the winding, busy streets of Canterlot, Nictis noted that there was one rather nice benefit of changelings being on everypony’s mind, lately. Few ponies made any note of the small group of changelings walking down the street. It was becoming normal. Sure, there were a few glances and feelings of concern or suspicion, even the rare sensation of anger or fear, but they were much less frequent than they had been.
Either that, or the difference in his mood was altering his perception, but he didn’t particularly care at the moment.
As they approached the castle, the soft clinking of their escorts’ armor drew closer. The guards had been content to trail from a reasonable distance and stay out of the way, but now they were closing ranks, and two of the four moved ahead to lead the way. Any questions Nictis had as to the reason behind the change in behavior became rapidly apparent as the gate came into view; a small crowd was gathered to the side, their attention focused on a makeshift stage and its occupant, Rabble Rouser.
Nictis suppressed a sigh, though he noted that the crowd was much smaller than the last one the stallion had attracted.
They were almost to the gate itself when Rabble Rouser noticed them. “Like that one!” he called out, the eyes of the crowd following his pointing hoof. “A professional liar and rampant thief, one who has nearly killed multiple ponies and subjected an orphan to years of abuse.”
Nictis put on a mask of calm, refusing to show any reaction. It was difficult, the heat of anger threatening to send a tremble down his limbs, but he held. He had the training and experience for it.
Spark, however, did not. He raised his head to angrily shout past Nictis. “Hey! You shut up!”
Nictis had to turn away from Rabble Rouser to hide his smirk. Sure, it might not be the most constructive comment to add, but it was immensely satisfying. Still, he quietly murmured, “Spark, don’t bother with him.”
“See?” Rabble Rouser called out to the crowd. “Even after years of abuse, he’s still tricked that poor colt into thinking he cares. How can we trust something like that?”
His rhetoric was getting more extreme, Nictis noted. Judging from the number of ponies murmuring in discontent and even walking away from the gathering, the crowd had noticed too.
Spark had lowered his head again, speaking to Nictis in the same quiet volume he had used. “Shouldn’t we say something? I mean, aren’t you supposed to be trained for all that talky stuff?”
“Yeah,” Nictis said, giving a small, uneven smile. “I was trained to treat conversations like a battle, and in any battle, you have to recognize when not to fight.”
Rabble Rouser continued to speak, but the view of him was abruptly blocked out by a white coat. It wasn’t one of the guards, however. Bigs had stepped up between him and Rabble Rouser. The pony walked along beside them, his eyes fixed forward.
“Still seems like we should say something,” Spark grumbled.
“The first rule of any battle,” Nictis replied, “is to never fight on someone else’s terms.”
They finally passed through the gate and out of sight of the crowd, while Spark looked at him in consideration. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. I guess you know what you’re talking about.” He looked ahead again, though a moment later he blinked and quickly added, “I hope that didn’t sound bad. I didn’t mean it that way.”
Nictis chuckled faintly, and offered a smile. “It’s okay.”
Soon it was time to part ways once again. “I’m going to go check in with the princesses,” Nictis said, stopping to face Spark. “I might be busy for a while, but hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with you soon.”
“I’ll probably be out at that Guard landing,” Spark said with a grin. “They want to see Songbird, so we’ll probably be there for a while.”
“Hopefully I’ll see you there,” Nictis said. “Just don’t wait too long for me. I don’t know how long this will take.”
“Okay,” Spark replied. His ears flicked backwards, and he shuffled his hooves. Then he quickly leaned in and placed a kiss on Nictis’s nose. “See you later!”
Spark turned and retreated with the small following of changelings, his cheeks burning red.
Nictis remained standing there as Spark left, a soft smile on his face as he watched the pony go. It was so nice to see Spark happy, but he couldn’t help worrying a bit. Spark wasn’t a very outgoing pony, but he was putting in quite the effort. Is he trying to compensate for feelings of guilt? Nictis pondered. Or is he playing it up to try to convince himself? Is he trying to make up for lost time, or clinging on out of a fear of loss? Or… am I just worrying too much again?
He kept mulling over those thoughts, well after his smile had faded. He didn’t like the worry, but he couldn’t entirely help it where Spark was concerned.
It also helped to distract him from the white stallion who still stood silently beside him.
Eventually that silence was broken by a sigh, and Bigs turned his head. “Nictis.” When he turned to face the pony, Bigs took a slow breath and spoke again. “Just… don’t mess this up.”
Nictis slowly nodded, and Bigs turned away, walking after Spark.
After a few steps, Nictis called out. “Bigs.”
The stallion halted, looking back over his shoulder.
“Thank you,” Nictis said. “For looking after him.”
Big Shot considered him for a moment before nodding, and continued on his way.
With a sigh, Nictis turned as well, heading off in search of Miss Tea.
Negotiations had, evidently, been fruitful. Nictis shifted atop his cushion, mentally insisting that it was due to being uncomfortable rather than impatient. As glad as he was that negotiations were going well, Princess Twilight Sparkle seemed almost ecstatic about it, and had wasted no effort to share every bit of that good news with all of them. He could sympathize with her a bit, as it was her first major, soon-to-be-successful treaty with a (debatably) major power, though he’d sympathize a bit more if it hadn’t taken almost two hours to recap.
Beside and behind him, he heard Rainbow Dash quietly murmur to Sky, “This is the short version?” Sky’s snickering quickly followed her words.
Nictis found it odd to be slightly envious of Spike at the moment. The young dragon had made excellent use of the fact that he’d been present for all of the negotiations to excuse himself from the recap. He’d disappeared for a quick bite to eat, and had yet to return.
“...And the final concern was over Equestrian influence over the hive’s industry,” Twilight continued. “She was rather hostile to the idea of us having so much control, even though it’s inevitable in the near-term; we’ll be building most of it, after all, and training her workers will take time. Still, we were able to come to a suitable arrangement for education, with a special arrangement for Princess Indress--her economic manager, so to speak--to study economics and industry here in Equestria. That way, our presence can be steadily stepped back as they’re able to take more responsibility.”
Subtle was nodding along as she had through most of it, though she stopped and smiled at that point. “Let me get this straight,” she said, and Nictis thought she looked particularly mischievous at that moment. “You got Chrysalis to agree to send one of the hive’s most influential princesses abroad to study, where she’ll be immersed in foreign culture, likely for years.”
Twilight blinked a couple times at her assessment. “I didn’t exactly phrase it that way, but… yeah, I guess I did.”
Chuckling, Subtle nodded again. “Well, this keeps getting better! Anything else?”
“Well, we still need to work out the last food issues,” Twilight said. “I got her to accept releasing the prisoners she’s holding, so long as we can guarantee her subjects will remain fed through their absence. We laid a bit of preliminary work on that, discussing the possibility of some sort of extraterritorial presence. Kind of like an embassy, but as a home for love-gatherers to coexist openly. We haven’t discussed many of the fine details of how that would work, or the laws that would apply to her gatherers. I’ve given preliminary approval to the basic concept, but I really need to talk with Princess Celestia about it before I can commit to anything more.” She paused, looking around the room. “Speaking of which, where is she?”
“Celestia and Luna do have a government to run,” Subtle teased. “They’re probably in the throne room. Although given the time, they may have moved to the dining room for a bite to eat before sunset.”
“Ah,” Twilight said, and nodded, a smile forming. “That’s sounding pretty good, right about now.”
“Well then, I’ll be brief about our own activities,” Subtle replied, and Nictis felt a great deal of satisfaction in her grin, as if she had read his own mind on how drawn-out the meeting had been.
She had just turned to reach for the stack of documents they had acquired earlier in the day when she froze, a faint, momentary buzz sounding through the chamber. Her gaze had turned to the small wooden frame sitting beside her, holding the three magic signalling crystals. As Nictis looked at it, the crystal in the middle lit with a green glow, emitting a faint buzz as it vibrated in its frame.
Subtle set her hoof down on the table, frowning. “Well that’s concerning.”
Twilight’s ears shot up. “What? What’s concerning?”
“I gave that crystal’s counterpart to the guards watching over Chrysalis’s chambers,” Subtle replied, “and told them to activate it if there was a ‘problem.’”
Nictis really didn’t like the emphasis on that last word.
“What kind of problem?” Twilight demanded.
Subtle looked up for a moment to think. “I believe my exact words were, ‘in case of fire, angry queens, or full-scale changeling invasion’.” She looked over to Twilight with a wry smile. “We should probably alert the Guard.”
“We’ll go check it out!” Rainbow called out as she and Sky both leapt into the air.
“Wait!” Twilight shouted, and they both halted in mid-air. She had stood, her wings spread, but she remained on the ground. “Gather around me!” she called out, her horn glowing bright before turning to Subtle. “Miss Tea, alert the Guard! I’m going to investigate the problem myself!”
Nictis quickly stepped up to Twilight’s side as Dash and Sky landed opposite her. He caught Subtle’s quick nod before the mare turned away, but he didn’t see what happened next. He was interrupted as Twilight’s horn flared brightly, the sensation of powerful magic tore through him, and--
For a single instant, the universe ceased to exist.
Reality reasserted itself like a buck to the chest. Nictis staggered in a daze, dropping to a knee for a moment before pushing himself up. He’d expected the teleportation--Twilight was well known for that rare ability--but he hadn’t expected it to be so abrupt. It was nothing like a fire-portal. He was there, and then he was here, and he couldn’t quite account for the nothingness between the two.
Blinking away his dazzled vision, and suppressing the faint bout of nausea as his body reoriented itself, he shakily turned to look around and ascertain where, precisely, “here” was. He recognized the hallway almost immediately; Princess Twilight had ripped them out of space and time to plunge them back just outside Chrysalis’s chambers. The guards were still there, but Nictis immediately noted unusual details of their presence. They, changeling and pony alike, stood shoulder to shoulder, staring in past the blown-open doors to the carnage beyond.
Inside, the air was clouded with colorful debris. Streamers practically dripped from every surface. Changelings staggered in a daze as they tried to make sense of the chaos that had been unleashed among them. One particularly unlucky changeling was being supported by a pair of his companions, receiving firm pats on the back as he coughed up copious quantities of confetti. The instrument of his misfortune, a stubby blue cannon, lay abandoned just beyond the doors.
And amidst the dazed and confused changelings pronked a particular pink earth pony, followed by a similarly colored unicorn and a series of overladen serving carts. Loud and upbeat music played over the scene.
There was a soft sputter from Twilight as she wound up for the inevitable shout. “Pinkie!”
“Heya Twi!” Pinkie shouted and waved mid-hop. She was rising into the air again to continue when the back doors of the room slammed open to reveal a furious Chrysalis.
“Will you keep it… down… out...” Her shouting trailed off into a moment of shocked silence. Nictis could see her expression flash through surprised, to confused, and finally all the way to cold fury. She glared at the bouncing pink pony, who grinned and waved as she plonked colorful party hats on everyling she passed, at Cotton Candy, who was busy cheerfully distributing slices of cake and cups of punch to confused changelings, and finally at the purple princess gawking at the spectacle from the doorway.
Twilight noticed her gaze as well, and quickly waved her hooves. “I had nothing to do with this!”
“Yeppers!” Pinkie called out as she bounced closer to Chrysalis. “It was my idea! Well, Cotton here helped, she’s a great cook, but the idea was all mine!”
Cotton gave a quick smile and nod toward the queen before making her way to the still-coughing changeling with a large cup of punch. The changeling’s companions glared at her, but he grabbed the cup, downing it in one go before giving a couple more coughs.
Chrysalis turned her glare back to Pinkie Pie, snarling. “What do you think you’re doing in here? Get--”
She jerked her head back as Pinkie bounced up nose-to-nose with her. “It’s called a party!” Pinkie declared, grinning enthusiastically. “I know you don’t have them back in your hive, and that’s kind of sad, so I wanted to throw you a party because maybe you and your kids wouldn’t be all grumpy-pants all the time if you had a bit of fun! And hey, we’re all supposed to be friends soon, and this is the kind of thing friends do!”
“I am not your friend!” Chrysalis spat back, but her snarling expression turned to one of shock as Pinkie abruptly slipped up next to the queen, standing on her hind legs as she draped a foreleg around Chrysalis’s neck, acting for all the world as if they were best buds.
“I know, I know,” Pinkie said, sounding momentarily sincere. “We’re still working on that part.” Then she swept her other hoof around the room, giggling. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t throw you the best party I can! Come on, Chrissy, time to have some fun!”
‘Chrissy’ bristled, rage overcoming the shock of having her personal space so thoroughly invaded. “Get off of me!” she snapped, and had started to lift a hoof when the pink pony bounced away. “And we are not here for fun!”
Pinkie giggled, bouncing in front of her once again. “Don’t be a silly filly!” she replied. “That’s my job! And everyone deserves fun! But you’ve all been gloomy and grumpy the whole time you’ve been here. You needed some cheering up, and that’s exactly what I’m best at!”
She stood on her hind legs, with her forelegs spread. She beamed proudly at Chrysalis, who glared back, quite un-cheered.
Twilight quietly sighed, muttered to herself, and pushed her way past the gawking guards. Nictis, Sky, and Rainbow Dash followed close on her heels. The changelings were starting to shake off their shock and react; some had set aside the offered treats and removed their party hats, others sat very still as they waited to see exactly how the confrontation would unfold, and some surreptitiously snuck bites of cake and gulps of punch when their queen’s attention was diverted from them.
Chrysalis’s horn lit up, ready to unleash her magic on the pink pest. “Get! Out! We do not need ‘cheering up,’ and we won’t have you in here playing whatever ridiculous tricks you’re trying to pull!”
Pinkie dropped back to all fours, though she smiled with surprising warmth at the queen. “No tricks, Chrissy. I know you were all meany-pants last time you were here, but I don’t hold that against you. Nopony’s ever thrown a party for you, and I know that would make me all grumpy. I know how dull life can be without any fun. So I thought I could throw you a party, so you could have something to be happy about! I mean, we’re all supposed to be friends, now, so what better way of showing it?”
“Let me put this in a way your delusional little pea-brain can understand,” Chrysalis growled. “You ponies might be useful to us, but we are not friends. We do not need friends.”
“Wellll, you kinda do,” Pinkie replied. “I mean, you all live on love and friendship, and parties are the best way of sharing those!” Then she reached back, yanking one of the serving carts over in front of Chrysalis. “Plus, we made you a cake!”
Said cake towered higher than a pony stood, multi-tiered and covered in chocolate frosting, with frosting flowers of teal on the lower tiers and bright green on the top.
Chrysalis’s magic winked out in surprise as she stared at the sudden intrusion into their conversation. She stared at it, as if baffled by the entire scene.
After a few moments of stunned silence, Pinkie pushed the cart just enough to the side to look back at Chrysalis. “I didn’t know if you’d like chocolate, so I also made a whole bunch of other cakes, too. You want a slice?”
Chrysalis continued to stare, blinking a couple times, before noticing that Twilight had made her way up to them. “What is this?” the queen hissed.
“This is Pinkie Pie,” Twilight sighed.
The snarl that started to take hold on Chrysalis’s face was halted as Pinkie thrust a plate with an excessively large slice of cake between them. “And this is my Super-Chocolatey Triple-Chocolate Chocolate Cake! Try some!”
Again, Chrysalis drew her head back, leveling a contemptuous sneer. “Get that away from me.”
“Oh, okay!” Pinkie set the plate back on the serving cart, then gestured a hoof toward the others. “I’ve got plenty of other cakes if you’ve got a favorite flavor. There’s a nice lemon cake with vanilla frosting, and a really tasty chocolate almond cake, and a big carrot cake, and we’ll have even more once the others get here with the rest of the goods!”
Chrysalis went still; she and Twilight spoke at the exact same moment. “Others?”
“Hoowee!”
They all looked past Pinkie’s grinning face--with Chrysalis and Twilight exchanging an awkward glance before promptly ignoring the other--to look to the doorway. Applejack stood there with an eyebrow raised and a chain of serving-carts hitched behind her. “Uh, you sure you got the right room there, Pinkie?”
“Yupperoonie!” Pinkie called back, bouncing into the air as she called back. “Bring it all in, we’ve got a lot of no-partying to make up for!”
“Alright then,” Applejack replied dubiously before pulling the line of carts. “’Scuse me,” she said to the gathered guards as she made her way by them. They still looked completely lost, and simply stepped aside. Elytron was looking to his queen with a desperate expression, gesturing to the ponies and shrugging as if completely lost on what to do. She didn’t seem to notice.
Spike was sitting on the last cart as it pulled in, and he hopped off to walk over to Twilight. “Wow, Pinkie sure went all-out for this one!”
“Sure did,” Applejack agreed as she pulled up and stopped, kicking her harness free. “Oh, howdy Twi, Dash. Didn’t expect to see y’all here, too.”
“Enough!” Chrysalis bellowed, drawing all attention back to the furious queen. “I’m willing to tolerate peace with you ponies, but I will not waste my time with such foalish and pointless pursuits! I am not some child to be won over by your deranged antics. Now take these carts and get out!”
“Aww,” Pinkie said, with one of the most expressive pouts Nictis had ever witnessed. “But don’t you want your kids to have fun?”
“I could care less!” Chrysalis snapped back.
Twilight muttered something, and Chrysalis’s ear twitched. At first, Nictis thought it had been in response to Twilight’s mutter, but instead he saw her gaze snap up to the crowd of changelings in the room. Several more were setting aside the cups and plates they’d been given. A few looked rather dejected, even wincing away when the queen looked their way.
He also saw an opportunity.
Stepping up to her side, he turned so his back was to the rest of the room to shield his words. He spoke quietly, making an attempt at discretion despite their difference in height. “Queen Chrysalis.”
She immediately turned her glare upon him, and he almost winced back at the fury behind the gaze. Unlike before, she made no attempt to hide her feelings of rage and contempt. Despite the unspoken threat her emotions conveyed, he continued. “I understand much of your motivation in coming to these peace talks is the number of your subjects who have fled to Equestria, seeking a better life. The hive is about to experience the greatest growth in power that it has ever seen. Putting even a tiny fraction of that into improving your subjects’ lives would eliminate the entire reason to leave.”
Chrysalis gave a short growl, though it died quickly as she looked back over the gathered changelings. Most looked to the floor or bowed their heads; few met her gaze.
Nictis gave one more push. “Think of how much ponies look up to Celestia.” Chrysalis bared her teeth at the name. “Think of how much love you could have if they looked to you like that, too.”
Her snarl disappeared, though she continued to slowly sweep her hard gaze across the room. Eventually her gaze wavered, and finally she rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she grumbled, turning away. “You can have your pathetic little party. Just keep it quiet.”
She hadn’t even managed a whole step toward her bedroom before Pinkie bounced up beside her. “Silly Chrissy, you--”
“Stop calling me that!”
Pinkie giggled at the snarling reaction. “Aww, okay, but it makes such a good nickname!”
Chrysalis grunted and turned away again, but Pinkie wasn’t done yet. “What I mean to say is that you can’t go, Queenie. You’re the guest of honor!”
“I don’t care,” Chrysalis grumbled, continuing on.
“But aren’t you going to stay for your gifts?”
Chrysalis halted, her expression stony. A long moment of silence passed before she let out an almost-inaudible sigh. “Dare I even ask?”
“Oh, oh, dare!” Pinkie said, bouncing. “Dares are fun!”
The next sigh was much more audible. “Fine.” Chrysalis turned her head to look back at the bouncing pink mare. “What do you mean, ‘gifts?’”
Pinkie’s bouncing stopped as she stepped up next to Chrysalis. “Oh, wow, you really are a party newbie, huh?” Chrysalis’s lips curled back, ready to snap something at her, but Pinkie quickly continued on. “This party is for you, silly! Of course you get presents! It can be hard finding good gifts for someone you don’t know, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. We all put our heads together and pitched in to get you some gifts to show you that you’re welcome. I really hope you like them!”
Chrysalis glanced over to Twilight, and Nictis couldn’t decide if the look was one of anger or--as strange as the thought was--a silent plea for help. Even more strangely, he could sympathize with her. He still remembered his first Pinkie Party.
Twilight didn’t seem to know how to take the look, either. She simply gave a lopsided smile and shrugged. With that, Chrysalis groaned. “Let’s get this idiocy over with.”
“Yes!” Pinkie shouted, pumping a hoof in the air before spinning around and calling out, “Alright everyone, the party is back on!”
“Woohoo!” called out Cotton Candy, Spike, and absolutely nobody else.
Some of the changelings did retrieve their treats, however.
As Pinkie herded a grumbling Chrysalis over to a heap of cushions, Twilight turned to Applejack and Spike. “Okay, Pinkie planning a surprise party makes sense, but you two?”
Spike held up his claws. “Hey, I had nothing to do with it! I just went to the kitchen for a snack, and she and that Cotton mare were bundling things up. She invited me to come along, and hey, you can’t just say ‘no’ to a Pinkie Party!”
Twilight frowned at his response, then looked to Applejack. “And you?”
“Heck, Twi,” Applejack said with a shrug. “Ah’ve been feeling a bit like a fifth wheel ‘round here. Canterlot’s nice and all, but there ain’t been much for me to do. So when Pinkie came up to me, askin’ me to help out with a little shindig she was plannin’, I lept at the opportunity. Ah just never did find out who it was for ‘till I got here…”
“Oh,” Twilight said, her expression softening immediately. “Sorry. I hadn’t realized you were feeling so…”
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Applejack replied, smiling. “Never been much of a city filly, after all. It’s just good to find something to help out with, yah know?”
Twilight smiled as well, though her reply was cut off by Chrysalis’s voice.
“Absolutely not!”
They all looked back to see Pinkie retrieving a dented party hat and pleading with the queen. “C’mon, it’s a party hat! This is a party! You don’t want to be a party-pooper, do you?”
Chrysalis glared flatly at her. “Yes.”
“Pinkie!” Twilight called out, a giggle starting to enter her voice before she quickly covered her mouth with a hoof.
The mare in question hopped and spun to face her. “Yeah, Twi?”
Twilight lowered her hoof, and though a smile teased at the corners of her mouth, she spoke much more evenly. “Seeing as this is Chrysalis’s first party, maybe you should go a little easy on her, instead of just diving in head-first.”
There was a long pause as Pinkie looked up thoughtfully, humming and tapping a hoof on her chin. Finally, she nodded. “You might be right, Twilight. Okay, we can save party hats for your next party--” Chrysalis rolled her eyes “--and get right to the cake and gifts!”
Then she bounded off again, stopping to give a few encouraging words to some of the changelings along her way to a serving cart bearing a surprising number of gift boxes. Twilight watched her go, giving another soft giggle.
“I see you’re enjoying yourself,” Chrysalis dryly noted as she shifted to make herself more comfortable atop her makeshift throne of cushions. “And to think, ponies say I’m sadistic when I laugh at the misfortune of others.”
“Sorry,” Twilight said, though the remark didn’t wipe away her smile. “I just find this all rather familiar.” An uneasy moment of silence passed before she added, “If it’s any consolation, I think you’re handling your first Pinkie Party better than I did.”
“How wonderful,” Chrysalis replied with a roll of her eyes. “Yet another way you’ve fallen short.”
Twilight’s smile vanished. She didn’t look offended, or at least, not much, but she did go quiet. She opened her mouth to reply, but then changed her mind, shook her head, and walked off.
Nictis sighed. Still, he could count this as some degree of progress.
“Well, this has to be the strangest Pinkie Party I’ve been to,” Rainbow Dash said, and Nictis glanced back to see her hovering beside Sky and smirking. “I’m going to go grab us some cake.”
As she flew over to gather up some treats, Nictis stepped up to Sky. “Well,” he said, lingering on that word for a few seconds. “...Pinkie is insane, but I think this might actually work.”
“Yeah,” Sky said, chuckling. “Dash is right, though, this may be the strangest party ever.” His grin kept growing bigger and bigger as he looked over to Nictis. “Kind of makes me wonder how it could possibly get any more strange.”
Nictis winced. “Don’t say stuff like that.”
An instant later, he heard Trip’s voice. “Uh, are we at the right room?”
Nictis reached out and thumped Sky firmly on the shoulder. Sky flopped back on a cushion, legs in the air as he laughed. “Ahaha! I knew it! I knew it!”
Leaving the laughing changeling behind, Nictis lifted into the air, arcing over the row of serving carts, couches, and gathered changelings, to reach the door. Sure enough, the entire group had come. Trip and Skiris were skeptically gazing in through the doorway, while Cara stood very still behind them, and behind him, Spark and Bigs looked on in confusion.
Trip’s expression had brightened up the moment he saw Nictis. “Hey! I guess we’re in the right place after all!”
“I guess,” Nictis cautiously replied. He desperately wanted to know why they were here--in particular, why Spark was here--but it seemed rude to ask that so bluntly. “I wasn’t expecting any of this. How did you end up here?”
His answer came in the form of a small piece of paper floated over in Skiris’s magic. “Pinkie left an invitation on our door with directions to a party. Didn’t realize who else would be here.”
“This is great, though,” Trip said, with quite a bit more enthusiasm than the other changeling. “Does this mean we’re all on the same side, now?”
Nictis glanced to his side, where Elytron sat. The changeling soldier appeared to have resigned himself to defeat and was simply sitting there, a hoof resting over his face. “...Kind of?”
Elytron jerked back as a slice of cake was thrust in front of him. “And some for you guys, too,” Cotton said, grinning around at the guards as she passed out more cake and punch. “Come on in, the party’s just getting started! Hi, Sparks!”
Uncertain mumbles ranged back and forth among the guards, until about half the ponies and changelings shrugged, accepted the offered treats, and stepped inside.
“Look at the size of that cake!” Trip said in an awestruck voice, and took to the air. Skiris sighed and followed after him, producing a soft chirp of alarm from Cara before he, too, followed.
The pounding of hooves caught Nictis’s attention, and he looked down the hall to see a dozen Royal Guard members rushing down the hallway toward him. Somewhere behind him he heard Twilight utter a remark, and with a flash of light she teleported out to inform the alarmed guards of the situation.
Nictis shook his head and sighed, then turned to Spark. “Hey there.”
“Hey,” Spark quietly replied, staring into the room. “So, um… this is…” His eyes finally landed on Chrysalis, who was at that moment giving a disdainful frown at the bow-laden yellow box Pinkie held before her. “...Weird.”
“Yeah, quite a bit,” Nictis agreed. Even Bigs grunted in agreement.
Spark skeptically looked around the room. Cotton had finished passing around snacks, and was going around to various changelings, happily encouraging them to enjoy the party. It was meeting with fairly limited success.
“So… should we go in?”
Nictis looked back to Spark. “If you want to.”
Spark hesitated, eyes roaming some more, but they inevitably returned to Chrysalis. After a couple seconds, he smiled. “Yeah. If nothing else, we can at least show her that she’s wrong about you and me.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” Nictis said with a chuckle, “But we don’t have to do that if you’d be more comfortable leaving.”
Spark considered it, biting his lip for a moment before finally shaking his head and smiling again. “Nah. I’ll stay. I shouldn’t just run away because it’s a little awkward.”
The instant after he said it, Spark went rigid, ears pinning back, and a panicked sensation flooded Nictis’s senses. “W-wait! That sounds horrible! I-I didn’t mean--”
He was silenced by the soft touch of Nictis’s hoof on his shoulder and a soft, if slightly amused, smile. “It’s okay, Spark.” When the emotions didn’t immediately fade, he continued. “Don’t worry about accidentally offending me. One of the advantages of being a changeling is that it’s hard to take a comment the wrong way when you can feel the emotion behind it.”
The panic vanished as Spark blinked, and after a second he smiled again. “Oh. Yeah, I guess that would make things a lot easier, huh?”
“It can,” Nictis said with a chuckle. “It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty useful at times.”
Spark nodded, looking back to the room yet again. Cotton had, apparently, found a couple of the more outgoing changelings to engage with. That, or they were hoping to get a bit of a meal out of the interaction. Rainbow Dash was chatting with a couple soldiers, who looked slightly skeptical of the situation, but were actually talking with her. Trip was trying to do the same, though the normally energetic changeling was rather more awkward in addressing his former hive-mates. Cara, meanwhile, had taken up an inconspicuous spot against the wall, though he had at least found a slice of cake and a party hat.
Even Glitterbug showed up, looking positively giddy, though she remained far more focused on writing notes than cake and games.
It seemed the icy mood in the room was slowly starting to thaw.
Spark drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Well, I guess we should get in there.” He chuckled nervously. “I mean, I’ve already been to one awkward party this week, and it turned out pretty good. How bad could this be?”
Nictis winced, but chuckled as well. “I’d really rather not find out.”
With a final chuckle, they stepped inside to join in the party.
“A party?”
The soft morning light filtered past the scattered clouds and in through the windows of the royal dining room as the large group of ponies gathered around the expansive table. The room was crowded once again, with four princesses, half a dozen ponies, a similar number of changelings, and one young dragon. Nictis only picked lightly at the spread; though he had slept far better than after the last party, he was still pretty full.
Celestia gave her sister a questioning look as Luna continued to sip from her cup. Finally, the younger princess lowered her cup, giving a hint of a smile. “Indeed.”
“A surprise party?” Celestia clarified. “And she tolerated this?”
“I believe that’s an excellent choice of words to describe her reaction, as I understand it.”
Celestia continued to stare in silence for a moment. Then she gave a soft snicker, and finally chuckled. “I wish I could have seen that. Who would have thought?” She turned a sly smile toward Pinkie Pie. “I hope next time I might warrant an invitation?”
Luna raised her cup again to hide her growing smile. “You did have to sleep, sister. Do not feel too envious; I did not receive an invitation, either.”
“Sorry, princesses!” Pinkie said around a mouthful of muffin. “The room was packed full already. It barely had room for everyone.” She swallowed and leaned over, raising a hoof to shield her mouth as she stage-whispered, “Plus, I don’t think Chrissy likes you!”
“Pinkie!” Twilight objected. “Chrysalis doesn’t like anypony.” Judging by the snort of amusement from Cadance, she agreed.
Celestia merely laughed, however. “Well, if there is ever a next time, perhaps she’ll tolerate my presence, as well.” She shook her head slowly, smiling brightly. “I’m still surprised you managed to pull that off. How in the world did you get her to go along with it?”
Twilight snorted softly, though at least she was smiling. “Pinkie can be very stubborn when it comes to parties.”
“Aw, she just took a bit of convincing,” Pinkie said. “And a bit of cake. And lots of gifts. She acted all grumpy, but I could tell she kiiind of liked it.”
The skeptical looks from the others who had attended the party said otherwise.
“What? She did!” Pinkie insisted. “Sure, she wasn’t all super excited or anything, but she was softening up! I caught her starting to smile a couple times.”
Nictis sighed softly. “There’s a difference between smirking and smiling, Pinkie.”
“Well, she still had plenty of treats, and she hung on to a few of the gifts we gave her. She was even nice enough to give some of her own gifts to her subjects!”
“You mean the gifts that she tossed aside because they were ‘beneath her?’” Nictis asked, but Pinkie just waved a hoof dismissively.
“Aw, she was just playing that whole ‘proud queen’ thing she does. She still hung onto the ones she liked.”
“I am curious,” Cadance said, “what kinds of gifts did she hang on to?”
“Let’s see,” Pinkie said, thinking for a moment. “The first was this necklace with a big crystal in it. I was going to get something like an emerald, because changelings seem to all like green a lot for some reason, but then I saw this crystal one that reminded me a lot of the Crystal Heart, and I thought, hey, that’s perfect! The Crystal Heart is all about love and stuff, so maybe she’d like that.”
Shining Armor shook his head, sighing. “You know, we’ve found changelings checking out the Crystal Heart twice, now.”
“See?” Pinkie said, pointing to him. “I knew she’d like it! And she did!”
Cadance was looking at her skeptically. “You bought the queen of the changelings jewelry?”
“Well, yeah,” Pinkie replied. “She’s a queen, and what high-status mare doesn’t like getting a fancy necklace?”
Rarity sighed, but couldn’t help nodding along in agreement. Most of the other ponies just rolled their eyes.
“She also liked the stuffed dolls of the princesses--”
Twilight’s head drew back. “What?”
“I was a little unsure of that one,” Pinkie said, and shrugged. “I thought she might take it the wrong way, but I guess it worked out because she kept them. I was kind of worried she was going to damage the one of Cadance, though. She was holding it way too tight.”
The real Cadance sighed. “Of course she was.”
“And I thought she liked the Canterlot snowglobe at first, but she tossed it aside. It’s too bad it broke, it was really pretty.”
Twilight shook her head before looking to Celestia. “It was one of those ones that has the dome modeled after the shield bubble. Purple-tinted glass and all.”
There was a soft groan from Shining Armor, who rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “And she broke it. Of course she did.”
Pinkie looked thoughtful once again. “Hmm, she did seem amused when it broke,” she said, which elicited another quiet groan. “But anyway, she can’t have hated the party. I got her to agree to more!”
That drew remarks of surprise from everyone gathered. “Is that so?” Celestia asked, her voice full of amusement despite the skeptically raised eyebrow.
“Yeppers! When the party was winding down, I asked her when I could come to the hive and throw a big bash there, and she told me she’d get back to me about it! How cool is that?”
Twilight shook her head, barely suppressing a chuckle. “Pinkie, that’s basically a polite way of saying ‘no’.”
“Exactly!” Pinkie gave a smug smile. “She was polite! She didn’t even sneer when she said it!”
Twilight stopped, merely blinking in response.
“I think I’m getting through to her. Nopony can resist a Pinkie Party, and now, no changeling can! And I will make sure nobody has to live without parties ever again!” She placed a hoof over her heart as she declared, “I will not rest until I’ve brought the magic and joy of parties to every changeling in the hive!”
A resounding silence met her declaration. Skeptical and concerned glances were exchanged, while Pinkie continued to look on with a look of determination. The silence was eventually broken when Cadance leaned over to Shining Armor, softly murmuring, “Is it bad if I feel just a little bit sorry for Chrysalis right now?”
Shining snickered softly, a reaction that quickly spread around the table as it grew to soft chuckles and laughs.
“This has certainly been the brightest morning this past week has seen,” Celestia finally said, and gently nudged Twilight with her wing. “Though if the castle ends up hosting another surprise party for a visiting head of state, I hope you’ll inform your fellow princesses,” she teased, and flashed a sly smile. “I’m not entirely above crashing the occasional party, if it’s for a good cause.”
Twilight blushed furiously. “I’m sorry! I just got so caught up in what was going on and making sure things didn’t turn into a disaster.”
Celestia giggled softly at the younger princess’s reaction. “It must have been one heck of a party.”
“That’s… one way of putting it,” Twilight admitted, chuckling a little.
Celestia let that linger for a moment before speaking again. “In a slight change of topic, I understand the negotiations are going well?”
“Oh, yes!” Twilight said, her ears springing up as her embarrassment was forgotten. “Sorry, I was going to talk to you about it last night, but then all the craziness happened, and you were already asleep by the time it was all over. Sorry.”
“Nothing to worry about,” Celestia reassured her. “Let us enjoy our meal, and you can tell me all about your progress.”
Soon the group fell into smaller conversations as ponies and changelings turned to their meals.
Those conversations did not last long; they were interrupted hardly a minute later as the doors were thrown open, and a Royal Guard pegasus trotted in. He was breathing hard, his wings hung at his side, and he quickly tore off his helmet before bowing deeply. “Your Highnesses!”
Every ear stood alert at the urgency in his voice. The royal sisters both stood, their wings held loosely. Celestia spoke for them both. “Please, speak.”
The guard stood, holding his helmet. “I bring grave news from the city, Your Highnesses.” His gaze shifted uneasily, taking a moment to meet her gaze.
“There has been a murder.”