//------------------------------// // Confrontations // Story: The Melody of the Heart // by Star Origin //------------------------------// The Melody of the Heart Chapter Seven: Confrontations Written by Star Origin All four princesses looked at the changeling queen after her sudden outburst at Prince Shining Armor. Luna was glaring daggers at Occento, and so did Celestia. The other two princesses glanced at her with watchful gazes. Crescere eyed at his queen with surprise, and Melody was already stepping away from her, her actions significantly diminished due to her lame leg. Occento realized her mistake right there and then and blinked a few times before directing her gaze at the four princesses again. Sighing heavily, she looked at them with a sense of shame. Her heritage was not something that she wanted to acknowledge despite it always chasing after her. With a soft fidgeting of her legs and a few stammers at the lunar princess’ demand for explanation, she took a long breath and opened her mouth. “I suppose I owe you an explanation, don’t I?” Occento said, staring right into Luna’s eyes. “You do, and you had better explain yourself quickly lest you want to see yourself in our dungeons, changeling,” Luna scowled, her very words sharper than the sharpest of blades. "It's better if I were to show you, instead," Occento replied while shying her eyes from the lunar princess. Flames began to eat away at the changeling, but unlike most transformations, the flames that surrounded Occento were slowly eating at her form all the while creeping down her form. Her orange mane burned into a teal shade while her neck and back seemed to become more prominent, more defined than her previous form. Her barrel and legs were oddly smaller and slender than her previous form, her purple iris pulsing to green. Her braided mane spread outward and expanded in a straight mane that fell against her back and the side of her neck all the while her tail did the same thing. "Peace... I meant no offense by doing this," she told the princesses, noticing the dynamic expression in Shining Armor's eyes and the defensive stances both Twilight Sparkle and Cadence adopted. "This is merely the form I was born with." "You look just like..." Celestia began, although she was cut short by Occento raising her hoof and shaking her head, a pained in her expression. "Don't... I'm not her." Even to an extent, the changeling seemed to harbor regret and pain over the comparison, her eyes flashing to the ground before the hints of tears appeared in her eyes. "You're crying?" Cadence inquired, taken aback by the unusual show of weakness from the changeling queen. "Why?" All three changelings present felt the desire to understand that came from Cadence, a shiver shooting through their spines, echoing through the rest of their bodies. "The divide that opposed myself and my sister against each other was born out of a pony, at the time where we thought your kind was just food and our enemies. My late mother, Queen Lilith, entertained the idea of sending her daughters to essentially infiltrate pony society. And so we did, and I failed at my task. "Not only did I fail at my task, but I also wronged the most important tenet of changeling culture: I fell in love with a pony. When I was discovered and accused, my love was executed by my mother and I was banished from the hive." By the time she was done, the changeling queen was almost gathered in a small ball on the floor, weeping at the memories rushing back in. Her eyes were slightly red, tears soaking the floor. She stomped the ground several times, each time she slammed her hoof stronger than the last slam. "It wasn't fair!" she cried out, her view narrowing down to a single tunnel as she kept on pounding the floor with her hoof. Silence greeted the changeling queen when her sobs were left unanswered. Looking back up to see four princesses looking at her doubtfully and cautiously. She hissed her gaze hardening into a glare. Looking at each princess, Occento replied with a blank expression before she spoke, “Seriously? How am I supposed to feed here if I don’t stir up some emotions?” “You can spare us the false emotions, changeling. We’re not dumb enough to fall for that,” Luna replied harshly, returning the changeling’s glare and holding her own quite easily. A soft snicker was heard throughout the throne room, all eyes falling on Cadence. The alicorn of love glanced at the ground, fiddling her hooves together, and said, “Y-yeah. We’re not going to fall from that… at all.” Luna shot a glance at her niece, rolled her eyes, sighed, shifting her attention to Occento as soon as she was done with whatever she was doing about Cadence. She turned to Celestia and gave her a scowl. “Did you know of this, sister?” Celestia shook her head and was about to answer, but Occento took a step forward, garnering everyone’s attention at once. “No, I was careful not to mention Chrysalis to anyone outside of the changeling hives.” “Oh yes, keep us in the dark about a dangerous changeling trying to take over Canterlot. I’m sure that is a brilliant idea! This information could have helped us anticipate it!” Luna growled at Occento following her answer, not in the least satisfied with the response she got from the changeling. She expelled steam from her nostrils, calming herself at the gestures her elder sister made to her from the side. Tension rose and Occento’s eyes glowed green while she took several steps forward, eliciting a reaction from Shining Armor, the guards positioned at the doors and the two diarchs. She hissed louder, kicking the ground with her hooves. “Ha! As if you were in a better situation than I. Your very own sister hid your existence as a myth and legend, leaving it to her one and only apprentice at the time to unravel the dark mystery that she had left her, with a significant chance of Nightmare Moon taking over. I’m glad we’ve established that I’m just as horrible as Celestia now,” Occento rebuked, glaring at both elder princesses fiercely, still finding it in herself the ability to sit down on her haunches. “That’s enough!” Celestia’s voice boomed throughout the throne room, shaking the ceiling and the walls around so much it left Crescere and Melody to clutch hooves against the splayed ears. “Did I strike a chord here? Well, at least, I can claim my sister’s actions were justified, unlike a certain someone sitting here right now.” Luna was about to lose her patience. Her left eye constantly twitched, leaving the mare to let that anger grow and grow within her head and heart, festering until it was too much to handle for just a single pony. “Justified? How were Chrysalis’ actions justified?” the lunar princess queried, tilting her head with the same glare aimed at Occento. “She and her hive were starving for almost a century after I banished them from Serenus Melodia following my rise to power. Try going on without eating for a century. You’ll learn that sometimes, the means justify the end!” Celestia craned her neck a bit, eyes glowering on Occento, her very presence enough to almost suffocate Melody and Crescere, both finding her boiling anger rising in the air. Rising from her seat, she marched down the stairs, quickly pressing her snout against Occento and scoffing at her. She lifted a hoof and pressed it against her chest, glaring still. “Well, then, why don’t you explain to us why Chrysalis was expelled from your hive in the first place?” “As you wish, Your Highness,” Occento answered with an enormous amount of venom. She ignited her horn and before the entirety of the ponies in the room, a transparent room formed itself, molded from her magic. Three changelings were present at the time and they all appeared to be royal changelings too. ---- “My daughter… you disappoint me,” a changeling queen declared sternly, glancing at the collapsed and crying form of her eldest daughter. She scoffed and turned her back moments later. “No matter. Traitors will be dealt with accordingly. Princess Husk, you are hereby banished from my hive. Begone from my sight.” “Sister… what have you done?” The other changeling spoke, the voice matching Chrysalis’, as she regarded the fallen princess with concern and scorn. “I am not going anywhere,” Husk replied, eyes glowing green. Her lover’s body was quickly engulfed in green flames, eating away at his form until not even bones were left. His ashes scattered in the wind, tears glistening in the young royal’s eyes. “Moth… no, I suppose I shouldn’t call you that anymore. Queen Lilith, as it is my right as a changeling royal, I challenge you for the hive’s leadership in a battle to the death. Winner takes all!” Appalled, the queen turned around, shooting a glare at her daughter, as her eyes glowed green and sparks twitched all around her. The air around the queen wavered and shook, an immeasurable barrier of power cutting through the air and pushing Chrysalis away from her, covering the younger royal in gashes. The Queen did not care. Consumed in never-ending rage, she advanced toward her daughter, glowering at her. ---- Crescere walked up to his queen and looked up at her with growing concern. Lifting a leg in an attempt to prod it slightly against her own, he lacked the resolve to see it through and instead put his leg back on the floor, hanging his head for a moment as he thought of the events that had transpired that day. His own memories surfaced and he winced, closing his eyes. Lifting his head back up, he would see that his queen did not follow the footsteps of her mother. Lifting his leg again, he pressed his hoof on Occento’s leg and she slightly jumped at the touch, turning her head to the side and shooting a glare at the drone. Sensing his growing fear gnaw at her being, she softened her expression and lowered her gaze. “My Queen, you do not have to do this…” he murmured. His pained voice was proof of their harsh past. Occento shook her head, spreading her lips into a toothy grin before she returned her attention to the princesses before her. Hardening her gaze to confront them, staring at Celestia in particular, she resumed her story. ---- Princess Husk stood firm in the arena, gulping only once when she glared back at her mother. The changeling queen snorted and immediately summoned her barrier to her side, winds already sending the ground swirling around her form. Igniting her horn a bit more, the green aura was similar to fire against her head. “Husk, I hope you realize the folly of your actions… Defying your mother and queen is what only a fool would do.” “Then brand me a fool if you must! You’ve taken something from me that will never come back, Lilith. I will end your reign of ignorance and terror today!” Husk bellowed, gritting her teeth and blowing steam out of her nostrils. “You will end nothing, Husk. You shall die with an illusion implanted in your head.” Husk’s left eye twitched for a moment and she let out a scream of rage, eyes welling up with tears before she immediately covered her form in green flames. The flames molded her shape and she emerged from it changed. No longer a changeling, the princess had shifted her form into a timberwolf’s. A primal roar left her and she charged without a moment’s hesitation. “What would you know about real love? You’ve only ever been absorbed by yourself. Chrysalis and I never received your care or attention! It was always about you and I will put an end to this parade, you witch!” The princess-turned-timberwolf attacked her mother only to be brushed off by that barrier, chunks of wood sent flying all over. The flames once again covered Husk’s body to reveal the princess’ body sprawled on the ground, pieces of chitin missing in some places after the collision with her mother’s barrier. “Do you now see the extent of your folly? You are not yet ready to take the throne. You’ll never be as long as you remain this sentimental, Husk. Sentimentality will be your undoing, my dear. Loving a pony is a crime befitting death, yet I am sparing you; you should be grateful I am this merciful with you,” Lilith sneered, looking down at her disabled daughter, condescendence reflected in her eyes. Husk’s eyes glowed a bright green and she slowly got up, her wounds slowly healing and disappearing into naught but pristine chitin on her body. Summoning an array of magical blades to her side, the princess hurled them at her mother, but each of them was deflected from the shield around Queen Lilith. Summoning more and more of them, the smaller changeling kept hurling sword after sword to no avail. None of them even reached close to harming Lilith. “Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!” Husk hissed, her magic drawing forth even more of those magical weapons. “You shut the hell up right now, you witch! I’ll not hear another wretched word from you! A mother should always be by her children’s side, supporting them and encouraging them! You avoided us and encouraged fratricide to see who would eventually lead the hive. I cared for Chrysalis and you still took her from me! You corrupted her and bent her mind to your will! I’ll kill you!” “Try all you want, Husk. Nothing gets through my ultimate defense,” Lilith replied arrogantly, her head held high, glancing at her daughter with disdain and hate. Without any warning, the queen lit her horn again and threw a magic blast at Husk, hurling her across the entire arena and into a wall, creating a small crater on impact. Husk gasped and coughed copious amounts of blood after she fell to the ground, letting out a loud cry when she barely managed to stand up, only for her legs to fail on her. Her eyes were heavy and her breathing loud and raspy. She felt every bone in her body hurting. Every fractured bone sent a cacophony of pain through her spine, pinning her to the ground. Then she saw it. His face. Her memories flashed in front of her, of the time she had spent with her beloved before he was taken from her. Tears glistened in her eyes again, rolling down her chitin and occasionally splashing in some of her wounds, causing her to wince and yelp in pain. Was she dying? Was this how she died? At the hooves of her mother? Of that murderer? No! She stared right up ahead and found her mother slowly advancing towards her. Stomping the ground with her left foreleg, she let a long puff of steam run out of her nostrils. Snarling at Lilith, she focused on her magic, gathering a small barrier against her own body. “Oh, you’re still alive? I would have expected that to kill you. Good. I’ll be able to have some more fun with your broken body,” Lilith cackled as she charged her horn again. Then she blinked. Husk took a step forward. Then another, and another. Step by step, the young princess growled each time. Her wounds slowly regenerated, but each step was still very much painful. Lilith stopped in her tracks when she noticed that much, eyes wide open at the spectacle right in front of us. One of her strongest blasts had not killed her own daughter and she was somehow recovering from it? “You seem surprised, Lilith,” she began, huffing and panting with each step, eventually coming into a slow gallop. “What? You’ve never seen anyone survive this before? Don’t tell me I’m your first survivor or I’ll have to start believing you have a soft side too.” Lilith recoiled from the taunt and glared at her daughter, gritting her teeth in the process. Easing her facial expression, she took her facade of neutrality once more right before backing up when Husk charged at her again and a grin grew on Lilith’s muzzle, opening her mouth, “This little trick again? Haven’t you learned already that my ultimate defense cannot be p-” No time given to finish her gloating, the queen barely escaped her daughter’s horn from impaling her neck. Gasping at the sudden attack from Husk, Lilith roared and prepared another blast to finish the princess. A primal cry of pain echoed through the arena when Lilith’s horn rolled on the ground, what remained of it forming a stub against her forehead. Instantly, the barrier went down and both looked at the sword that had severed Lilith’s horn. A weapon composed only of green energy hovered over both of them. Magic seemed to pour out of that stub, causing the queen to collapse on the ground, weakened and vanquished. She looked up to Husk to see the icy glare that even iced Lilith’s blood. Weakly opening her mouth, she stammered, “H-how?” “How? Very simple. Those swords I hurled at you? They were meant to measure the density and intensity of your barrier and to analyze its composition. Your arrogance was always your greatest enemy, Mother,” she explained slowly and calmly, a calmness that disturbed even Lilith. “Sadly, you never bothered to think your ultimate defense could be rendered useless by itself. I only had to summon a barrier with the same force as yours to render both barriers useless. You were a good opponent, I will admit, but you are too old now. The newer generation must shine through, and you need to fall first, Lilith. “Sad it is that for all these years, it was not an heir that you created, but a monster among changelings. How unfortunate must it be to fall to their own children,” she continued, her voice devolving into a spiral of apathy, even to the point of scoffing at her mother, “though I believe thanks are due. Had you not murdered my beloved, I would have never rebelled, and you would have never found yourself in this position. Fall, Mother. This silence is mine.” The vision began fading to black, the scene unfolding ceasing to exist at a particularly fast pace. Sounds escaped from the projection, but not before a single strident scream echoed into the arena. “Murderer!” ---- All four princesses looked at Occento with either looks of terror or with unfazed glares while Melody began to back away from her guardian, much to the queen’s chagrin, despite her inability to show it. Crescere heard the soft whimpers behind him, his head turning almost immediately to find the source. He hurried to her side with the utmost silence he could conjure without disturbing the exchange the princesses were having with his queen. He found Melody trying to back away from him too, and that hurt him. She shook her head at his silent advance, whimpering with each step she took on her lame leg before she bumped into the wall behind her. Tears glistening in her eyes, the filly reared herself on her hindlegs, letting out a pained cry. All heads turned to her. She felt each and every single one of the gazes sink into her brain, her soul, heck even her heart and she felt her tiny world starting to crumble around her in an instant. Before the princesses and the single changeling queen was a whimpering and sobbing mass of fur otherwise known as Melody, tears streaking down her cheeks and on the floor, through the holes in her legs and directly on her fur. Crescere slid his hooves around her and pulled her close to his chest. He raised a hoof and slid it down her soft mane. The filly tried to protest, but to no avail. The grown changeling was not going anywhere. “Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered, his hoof still stroking her mane slowly and carefully. “It’s going to be just fine. Queen Occento changed in all those years.” Amidst the princesses, Luna was the first to eject her seat, spreading her wings and alighting between Occento and Crescere as he still embraced Melody. “Allow me to doubt that for a moment,” she interjected, “because what I see right now is a changeling willing to do anything to get what she wants, even to the point of slaying her own mother. How can we know for sure that this little one here, Melody Swiftsong, hasn’t been tainted with this false ideology?” Occento gasped and turned around in a flash, igniting her horn in a blind rage before she realized that both elder princesses were ready to reply to her offense in kind. She relented, but her glare never diminished, not even once, in front of the adversity before her. Finally putting her thoughts together, she stomped the ground and shifted her gaze to face Luna’s, exclaiming, “You dare accuse me of tainting a filly out of her childhood? And why would I do that exactly? What ulterior motive do I have in this? What have I to gain by doing what you think I have done?” The two kept glaring at each other until Celestia stepped in between them and separated them with her magic. “While you bring valid points, Queen Occento,” Celestia began, and Occento noticed her voice wasn’t as venomous as before, “it still remains that there were alternatives to changing young Melody into a hybrid.” Occento glanced at Celestia and arched an eyebrow at the elder monarch. “Perhaps so, but with the circumstances I was placed in, I did not have much time to consider the alternatives. The manticore’s poison had almost reached her heart when I converted her,” explained the bitter queen. “A transfusion would have taken too much time to remedy her state, and she needed to antibodies at that moment or death would have claimed her. “You want to paint me a villain?” Occento snapped. “Fine, but what I did that day, two centuries ago, I did in the name of the hive and in the name of my first and last love. When you’re done seeing the world in black and white, maybe we’ll be able to talk some more, Princesses.” Leering at both the elder princesses, Occento snorted and turned around, igniting her horn instantly, and pushing the doors to the throne room open, bursting out of said room in a boiling fit of anger. Crescere sighed at the reaction and pressed Melody further against his chest. She felt her whimpering at his touch, but he could not for the life of him leave her be in this particular situation. Lifting his head to face the frowning looks of the four princesses, he sighed once more and hung his head a few moments later, opening his mouth only for silence to exit. It took a great deal of courage on his part to actually muster up the words, and the confidence to address the princesses. Closing his mouth, leaving only the fangs slide against the chitin of his maw, he opened it again with another sigh and said, “I am sorry that you had to see that. We are forbidden from talking about the Old Ways, especially for those that were alive when she took power. You may listen to my words, or ignore them, but you should know that Queen Occento has changed. She yearns for change, but she doesn’t know a better way to quell those that trouble her and disturb the peace she worked so hard to guarantee us. “Her mother, the late Queen Lilith, was a ruthless queen. She, like many of the Queens still present at the council, believe that they should be the guiding hoof of their hives and that they are the supreme authority in all matters. Most of those queens also lay eggs up to this day. Occento rendered herself unable to do so. Mutilating her body to the point she can’t even bear her own children, let alone the hive’s eggs. And so, when she did announce it, she entrusted it to us to populate the hive and to make it our own society, to do with it everything we can imagine. “Should any of you visit Serenus Melodia, I can almost say without a doubt that you would be impressed with the way we transformed the hive. Striking an economic deal with Equestria allowed us to do more than you think. And with how many changelings actually left the hive to settle as wandering merchants, only visiting to either buy goods from the hive or to sell wares they found on their travel, we’ve never seen the hive in a better shape.” All the princesses listened intently to the words spoken by the Equestrian changeling, nodding at some of his words and smiling at some others, Celestia was rather impressed by his explanation. She had since then sat down on her haunches, as had Luna, and simply listened. “You seem to be familiar enough with your Queen to know her to this level. Did you perhaps have a high position to know her that well? Her confident, perhaps?” Luna questioned, her brow adorned with a frown, her glance hardening slightly. Crescere hung his head again and seemed to blush almost. That alone surprised both princesses and seemed to make Luna grin in silent victory, but before she could proclaim her good guess, the changeling shook his head and replied, “Close, but no. I am not her confident, nor was I ever that close to her in that way. I… um… I-I was her firstborn before she mutilated herself. I came from the union between a changeling queen and a pony. I was also disowned when I reached my maturity. Not out of malicious or cruel intent. She explained it to me when I decided to leave the hive. She did it specifically because she wished to spare me any possible fate comparable to hers, and for that, I am eternally grateful to her.” “That still doesn’t explain why she acts like a surrogate mother to Melody. If anything, with this new revelation, I would have expected her to distance herself from this young one,” Celestia commented, a hoof raised to stroke her chin. “I am afraid I do not know the answer to that, Princess,” Crescere replied weakly, his eyes recoiling from the gazes pointed at him. Princess Celestia was the first to rise and she gave the changeling a solemn bow of her head, along with sharing a smile to the peeking Melody that had shied away from the changeling’s chest. Her eyes opened wide, she looked in fear and curiosity mixed straight into Celestia’s warm gaze. She broke away from the embrace given by Crescere and she skidded past him and between the princesses, almost as if she meant to decide which side she wanted to be on. Cadence approached the filly silently, though failed to come in unannounced when the filly turned her head to notice her. The Princess of Love stopped herself in front of Melody and Crescere, lowering herself to her knees to look at Melody’s eyes. “Do you know who I am?” she asked gently, smiling all the while as to not scare the filly any more than what had already been done. Melody could only muster the strength to nod at the princess, her form cowering her presence. Her simple presence, this close, made her feel like it would require her no effort to crush her as if she were a bug, but she sensed no ill feelings from the princess. “Good. Then I’ll move onto the next subject,” she said, smiling and turning her attention at Crescere, who simply shied away from her gaze. “Rising Chorus, was it?” Once she received an uncertain and hesitating nod from the changeling, her smile swept through her lips with ease. “Queen Occento sent words when she learned of your situation and asked me to look into a few legal documents. I’m happy to announce that the adoption papers should be ready by next week.” Melody’s ears perked up and she swung her head to the side almost instantly, letting out a huge gasp when she heard about the adoption papers. Her parents were coming to get her someday, right? There was no need for her to be adopted by anyone for the time being. What would her parents think? True, her parents never were exactly present for most of her life, but her brother had told her that they were extremely busy ponies. “I don’t want to be adopted,” she complained, stomping her hooves on the floor. “Mom and Dad are gonna come for me soon! They must be worried sick by now!” Crescere fidgeted in his place at that statement and he closed his eyes, clearing his mind momentarily, thinking of ways to announce the news, though they are old, to the filly. He was beaten to it when he saw Cadence inch closer to the changeling hybrid and pushed her against her neck, placing a hoof around the filly. “Melody, the queen also gave me important information about you concerning your parents. I don’t know how to tell you this, but your parents…” she swallowed a hard lump in her throat, taking a long breath. “They’re dead, Melody. They died when you were still a foal. Melody, I-I’m so sorry about that!” The filly froze, her head slowly arching back to face Cadence, eyes widened from the shock. Tears welling up in her eyes, the filly slowly shook her head while sobs shook her. She trembled like a leaf and she strove to break free from Cadence’s hold. Closing her eyes and thrashing within that embrace, Melody whined, “N-no! They’re n-not! S-Star just said that they were too busy to visit as often as they’d like! My brother would never lie!” The princess’ ears pinned against her skull when that bellow came, losing her weak grasp on the filly. Melody rushed to the door and with strength unbefitting of someone her size, pushed one of the doors open almost effortlessly. Crescere got up in moments and sprinted after her, his mind already anticipating where she was going. ---- “Occento! Occento! I wanna go with you!” Melody called from way behind the queen. Occento waltzed through the halls of the palace, admiring the architecture and design on her way out when she heard the voice and glanced back, sighing at the sight of the crying filly and the drone following behind her, a few dozen or so feet behind. “Melody, you need to go back there. You are in their care now. Besides, I cannot bring you back to the hive as it is.” Despite the appearances, Occento was legitimately surprised to see that Melody had been able to sprint, let alone put that much weight for that amount of time on her lame leg. Had something happened to her that put her into such a frenzy? She was now concerned for the hybrid, kneeling down to nudge Melody’s muzzle when she was close by. Occento really wanted to bring Melody along with her, but circumstances had made it so she was unable to do so. Finding herself torn between trying to comfort her and telling her off, the queen sighed once more, glancing at the panting Crescere behind. At the same time, she ignited her horn, encasing Melody’s form with her magic and focusing it on her leg. She was again very surprised. Where there once was muscle tear damage felt like it had simply healed like any injuries, even though she had been told it was permanent. When inspecting closer, she felt an unknown magic source swirling around her leg. It could have been any of the princesses other than Princess Celestia, and even then, she doubted any of them could heal permanent damage, but somehow it had She took a long breath and then she sensed it. The unique flavor of love embracing Melody’s form, empowering her body. So that’s it. The damage had not been repaired. She had fed upon one of the princesses, possibly Cadence at that, and had used the love as a substitute for adrenaline. It was impossible to fathom. Melody had never been taught how to do that before, so her body must have received sufficient physical or psychological shock to fall back on relying on instincts alone. The queen’s mind was running in full motion, trying to grasp and understand what had transpired. “N-no! I don’t want to! They said that my parents were dead and that you had told them about it!” she shot back, crying like a baby at this point. Occento shot Crescere a glance and he nodded. “I’m so sorry, Melody…” Occento began, lifting the filly’s chin with a hoof. “But I told them the truth. You were orphaned at a very young age. That’s why your brother worked so hard in making you happy.” “W-what?” she asked, confused, widened eyes staring up into Occento’s purple eyes. “What do you mean?” “Melody, you need to understand that your brother was both your best friend, as well as your confident, and your warden. He loved you so much, I cannot deny that. But he loved you to a point he could not even bear to see you sad, to see you hurt. His love weakened his resolve. He never wanted you to know about the incident about your parents, so he kept their deaths a lie. If it meant lying to you to never see you cry, he would do it again, I’m sure, if he could. "Your brother was a fantastic pony, but he was too soft. He was trying so hard to protect you that he only focused on the ‘now and then’ of things before thinking of the long term consequences. No matter his efforts, you would have found out sooner or later, Melody…” By now, Melody was just weeping before Occento, her cries echoing in the air. Silence from the two changelings left her the only voice in the hall. The changeling queen ignited her horn further and encased Melody in her green aura once more, slightly wincing when she felt her head softly thump on the ground. Crescere rushed to her side, but he was halted by Occento shaking her head. She levitated Melody and slowly lifted her to his back, depositing her there carefully and smoothly, smiling weakly. She shot a final glance at the two and turned around, taking a few steps forward. “Take good care of her, Crescere. Take care of her as if she were your own,” Occento commanded in the softest voice possible, leaving Crescere to wonder if it was really a command or a request. He frowned and tilted his head barely and then said, “I will, Occento. I’ll see to it she gets the love she deserves!” Occento kept walking away from them and turned her head to the side to shot another glance at Crescere, nodding only once, a tear running down her chitin. “One last thing, child. So long as she lives under your roof, you are hereby banished from the hive. You are relieved from any attachments you might have had with the hive. Your duties as a father are more important. Don’t be like me, okay?” He felt something wet run across his cheek, raising a hoof to quell the damp sensation to find out it was a tear. He was crying. He would have never thought he’d cry over something like this before, but he was. He nodded back and smiled brightly, fangs showing and all. “I won’t.” He paused, a lump forming in his throat, his voice wavering and quaking with emotions. “Thanks… mom.”