Once more the alicorn wandered the realm of dreams, this time stopping nearly as soon as he entered. Right beside him were two dream-orbs, one entwined with the other. The first was Zelus, the large dream of a powerful entity that he had spent enough time around to recognize almost instantly. The second, it barely even registered as a dream. It was a weak and pitiable shadow, but even then it had the tinges of a possible nightmare. Fear was big, so was pain. Looking at the interactions between the two dreams, he realized Zelus was attempting to access the mare through her dreams. It was a strange thing, but he'd seen Pandinus do the same on several occasions, even seeing a few drones making their way into his own dreams by their connection to the queen. The dreamer was still resisting the contact though.
'She likely doesn't even know she's been taken from Twilight,' he thought sadly. 'Even then, it would likely just feel like she was passed from one slaver to another.'
Entering the stronger dream, he trotted up alongside the concentrating queen, the mare looking at the curled up unicorn before her. The blue mare was blurry, attempting to retreat from the queen's dream into her own mind, but the larger queen was slowly winning the battle. Zelus was no array attempting to brute-force her way into the mare's mind. She was a changeling queen, a powerful spell-caster and master of connections such as the link. It was likely only a matter of time before the queen managed to pull the mare from her carefully built defenses, but the question was what would it do to her?
"Zelus, are you sure she can take that kind of pushing?" he asked the queen, drawing a squeak of surprise and a small jump from the queen.
The blue mare instantly faded from the dream, retreating into her own mind once more. Seeing her progress reduced to nothing, the changeling snarled in frustration, glaring at the intruder.
"I almost had her! I could taste her emotions so clearly, could start to feel her thoughts and you ruined it! Why?!"
Cimmerian shook his head. "Zelus, she's spent how long with no control? Let her rest, we're in no hurry to pull her out of her shell." The queen shuddered at the phrasing, causing the alicorn to wince as he realized what he'd suggested.
"That's not what I meant and you know it. She's walled herself off from what was happening to protect herself. Yes you could overpower her, but so did her previous owner. By letting her come to you, you inspire loyalty. She's not going to be afraid you'll steal her body from her. Let her sleep in, let her eat good food, let her sit in a warm bath. Things that you enjoy, let her participate. Let the sensations; the tastes, smells, touches, let all of that draw her out of her shell."
He sighed heavily, sidling up to the pouting mare and pulling her into a wing-hug.
"We don't even know what that would do to her, Zel. She's not a natural changeling. Forcing her like that may damage her mind in some way. Besides, you liked how Din treated you didn't you? How she didn't force you to join with her, or how you were allowed to recover at your own pace."
"This is different! She's already connected to my hive, remember? Besides, you asked me to do this."
The mare once more fixed him with a glare, certain of her position. "She's my drone, I should be able to pull the information I need from her. She's withholding information from her queen."
The stallion used his wings to tug her closer while shifting slightly, pulling her into a shoulder-check. "Her situation is not different. Her body is not her own at the moment. Your goal should be to return it to her. I asked you to take a drone and you did. The pony attached to it is not yours though. Sapphire is scared right now. Forcing her like that will only strengthen that fear. Worse, it could cause her to break altogether, thinking that she's failed to keep her mind safe. If that happens, the mare inside that body could die, alongside any information she may have for us.
"This is your new job, Zelus. I want you to watch her, to listen for any attempts she may make to take back her body. If she tries moving a bit, let her. If she tries using magic, make sure she's not trying to hurt anyone. If she's not, let her. If she tries putting some distance between the two of you, allow her to. Just tell her the truth. If she runs too far you can't help her. We want her to come to us willingly, so we need to be diplomatic about this."
Once more the queen's glare slowly morphed into a pout. She laid down on the floor of her dream-hive, puffing out an exasperated breath.
"Why do ponies have to be complicated?"
Cimmerian chuckled at her question before answering, "Because if we weren't life would be simple, and simple is boring. Besides, do you think Din gets all that love just by asking? She went through a lot, and in the process she earned the loyalty of her hive, the loyalty of many of the Temple residents, and my love. If she didn't do so well, her position would have been much weaker and Lestidae and yourself could have easily taken the hive from her."
"...this is going to be painful isn't it?"
The alicorn gave her a fanged grin.
"Maybe not physically, but it will be difficult. Heck, it may be physically dangerous for you was well. Pandinus nearly killed herself due to a misunderstanding of one of my requests. Don't just learn from her though, learn how your personality works with those around you. You'll have better luck that way. It's not just conforming to what others want, it's learning how to interact with those around you in a natural way. Do that, and you'll never have to worry about tapping into the hive's stores again."
The queen's ears drooped as he finished his explanation.
"Fuck."
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Pandinus stared at the mound for a few moments, not certain how she should feel. Inside the raised lip four newly hatched drones stared out at her, awaiting orders despite the fact they'd only just hatched. It was how true drones were. From birth they would follow any order of their queen. There were many things they simply didn't have the strength for, certainly, but it didn't mean they were useless. The problem was they weren't her drones.
'That's not true, they are your drones, just not yours by blood,' she corrected herself. The drones were a batch left by Zelus in her care, the first the queen had produced in several years. They were likely not her first set of true drones, but that didn't make Din feel any better. It was like she had taken something from the other queen. It was supposed to be her connecting with them; it was supposed to be Zelus giving them their first orders, not Pandinus. Zelus, the queen who laid their eggs was supposed to connect them to the link, not her. Their birth-mother was supposed to be the mare to feed them, to mind them, to enjoy these moments of new nymphs joining the link, even if they were true drones.
She touched each of the newly hatched drones, pulling them into the link and setting them up with plenty of emotion to grow. By the time Zelus returned, they would likely be half-grown, if not fully matured. She turned back to the door, already knowing who was approaching thanks to her connection to the guards outside. The door swung open, causing the mare to jump even as Pandinus called for Gleam to enter.
"Sorry Pandinus, there was just some... I thought you weren't, you're still kind of swollen so how..." the mare stuttered for a few moments, looking from the queen to the nymphs.
"They're Zelus' first clutch here at the Temple," the changeling explained. "It's easier this way, as she started developing them the moment she was feeding properly again. This way she won't have to worry about laying for another two weeks or so at the least. Depending on the conditions, it may be longer. I don't think the cold is treating her well.
"I promised her I'd watch them, told her I'd guard them like my own and so here I am. It's strange though. I feel like I'm stealing this from her, yet at the same time I feel as though they are mine as surely as they are hers. It's not normal for me, for my species. I remember mother treating the drones of other hives with such disdain, saying they were lesser creatures for being of another hive. Yet here I am, watching over the nymphs of another queen and I can't imagine treating them any different from my own."
"Well, it likely has something to do with your current hive," Gleam offered. "Think about it. Your current hive is mostly a collection of changelings looking for a home, with only a few true drones actually being your own foals, right? So you've already adapted to not worrying about their origin. If they had the option, I think a few of them would even have to think long and hard if they wished to return to their original hives, since they have it so good here."
Din frowned in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well even if their hives were somehow restored would they be able to just walk away, going back to the lives they had before?" the mare asked the large changeling. "They have friends here, they work publicly, they can socialize with other species. I don't think I'd be able to give that up. Not when I knew there was such a better way to live."
The unicorn approached the hatchlings, smiling kindly at the strange, soft creatures.
"Think about it, would you normally have allowed a pony this close to your nest? Instead of seeing each other as enemies or resources though, we help each other. Mirage and Miss Goodhooves watch over most of the foals, and there are only seven of their races to be watched. The rest in the nursery are gnolls and griffons. We have a good thing here, and I think everyone knows it."
Gleam giggled lightly, pulling a few papers out of her saddlebags. "Alas while we have a good thing, it has its downsides. When you're done here I will need you to help me with some paperwork. Just because Cimmerian is away doesn't mean we all get a vacation."
The changeling groaned, slapping a fetlock over her muzzle. "Food, shelter, safety, but damn if I don't wonder if the paperwork is worth it all sometimes."
Gleam's smile became slightly more devious. "You know we could get Cimmerian to use the armor to do paperwork, right? We could make him do it even as he sleeps."
The shape shifter shook her head.
"I feed off of him. I want him to be happy, Gleam. Making him do paperwork at all hours is the fastest way to starve. Besides, it's not just feeding and work stallions are good for, right?"
The unicorn blushed at the queen's waggling eyebrows for a moment before gathering her own courage.
"I'd like to use mine for more, but he's being stubborn. I think it's a stallion thing."
Rising and walking to the door, Pandinus motioned for the mare to follow her. "Maybe I can give you some tips on grabbing his attention. Sometimes you can't be subtle, after all."
"Right," the mare said with a roll of her eyes. "Because I'm going to be taking relationship advice from a mare who didn't know what dating was. Don't think I don't remember your goal when you first started chasing his tail, Miss 'I just want super-foals.' If anything, I should talk to Thrisha. You had better luck after you received lessons from her."
Stopping in the doorway, the unicorn developed a wicked smile. Sensing the emotional shift, Din turned back to her, and nearly jumped at the out of place expression on the mare.
"He mentioned being able to feel things while in the armor, does he feel sensations from his body while in the armor?"
Pandinus stopped shot, a look of confusion passing over her face.
"I, I don't know. I suppose he could..."
"Then what would happen," the mare managed between giggles. "If you were to say, brush against his real wings when he was elsewhere? Mentally I mean, in the armor. He doesn't move his true body much when he does that, right?"
The queen stared at Gleam for a few moments, processing what was being suggested before her own muzzle started to match the unicorns.
"Oh, I like that. I like that very much. First I'd need a way to keep him from just returning to it though, or maybe have him use the armor to train with Zelus. Oh I love it!" Din shouted, snatching the unicorn up off the ground in a hug. She hugged the mare fiercely, giggling for a bit before calming down.
"Tell you what, I'll talk to Luna if I can catch her, we'll see about pestering Weaver in his dreams as well. No stallion is safe with Luna and Pandinus on the case!"
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It was fairly early the next day in the Silver City when Cimmerian rose from his bed. It was a nice bed, and likely would have been considered huge if not for the fact that he himself was so large. That, and the two other bodies currently occupying the bed. With a yawn, he stretched his wings and turned to the still sleeping forms of the queen and the recovered mare. Both were still sleeping, the queen curled around the mare protectively with a blanket covering the both of them.
'More like Zelus has found a new source of body heat.'
Taking his time to get ready, including a shower with wonderfully hot water, the stallion wandered back into the bedroom. Using the damp towel, Cimmerian snapped it in his magic, striking Zelus in the rear and causing the queen to yelp and jump out of the bed. Or at least she tried to. With a strangled yelp of surprise, the queen, her blanket, and Sapphire all tumbled off the bed.
The alicorn laughed even as he pulled all three off the ground with his aura, the Sapphire still not moving as she'd yet to receive any input from the queen. Zelus was a different matter entirely. She flailed about even as he was righting her, and the moment she managed to get free of her blanket she prepared to retaliate. She stopped short though, seeing him grinning at her. Not a moment later the door flew open, two of his guards rushing in, the thestral actually carrying her blade in her mouth.
"I'm fine, guys," he told them. "Just waking up my other guard. You're not doing a very good job, Zelus."
The mare looked around for a few moments, piecing together her situation before her ears sagged.
"Sorry, I'm just, I mean I-"
"It's fine, I don't expect you to know how to instantly become a bodyguard overnight, but I think you should ask them for tips," the stallion said, walking over to the drone. "I want you to clean yourself up, and take her in with you. Just because you have chitin instead of fur doesn't mean you don't get funky after a week on an airship. After that we'll head for breakfast."
Turning to the guards, his smile dropped slightly. "Thanks for responding anyway, I appreciate the vigilance. Tell your partners to clean up and get something to eat. I'll be heading out into town after breakfast, and I expect them to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in about two hours at the latest."
"Uh, I don't think Shining Crescent's tail can be made bushy, sir. In fact I don't think any of our tails are capable of that. I mean, I might be able to puff the end, but..." the griffon responded.
"It's an expression, relax. I just want them up and ready in about an hour or so," Cimmerian explained. Settling on the bed while he waited for Zelus and Sapphire, he cast himself into the dream realm. He may be starting his day, but he wanted to check on a few things back at the Temple in the meantime.
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Nearly an hour later, and much poking at his insensate form by a bored queen, the alicorn found himself eating a wonderful breakfast with his host.
"You'll want to head to Runic's Ruminations for the enchanted clothes, Lord Cimmerian," Silver Light told him between bites. " Runic knows enchantments better than anypony in town, and I'm certain he'd be happy to help you. It shouldn't take more than a few hours for him to put it all together either."
"I'll definitely check it out, Silver. I'm curious how everyone's going to-" the statement was cut off as the alicorn's fork launched from the table and embedded itself into the ceiling, much to the confusion of all parties. Looking to the utensil with a frown, the stallion focused for a moment before silently swearing to himself.
"It's starting."
"I'm sorry, what's starting?" The councilor asked uneasily. "Is there something I can do to help? I'd be happy to help in any way."
Cimmerian shook his head, "It's not something you can help with. Luna and Celestia explained to me that a boost in followers, in beings that believe in you, worship you, or love you can cause an alicorn's strength to increase. I should have expected this honestly, I mean I walked through a town of thestrals last night and a good portion of them were bowing the entire time. I just need to compensate for the power increase."
Looking back to the queen, he chastised her once more.
"Make sure Sapphire actually eats something, Zel. It may help wake her up a bit."
Zelus nodded and turned to the drone, issuing the order before turning back to her own meal. The food didn't do anything for her, but she'd begun to enjoy the taste. The queen nearly jumped into the air the second a syrup covered pancake entered the mares mouth though. The queen's horn lit up, only to be struck by the stallion's floating spoon.
"Don't scare her, Zelus. Remember, slow and steady. She reacted to it, right? She opened up a little?"
At the changeling's frantic nod, he smiled and continued, "Good, but if you try to grab her now, she'll probably retreat and be harder to draw out. We need to see if she'll come to us, remember? Wait for her, when she tries moving, let me know. Otherwise, continue keeping her nearby. Don't let her use any powerful spells for now, but don't stop her from trying to take back her body. We want to talk to her, and the more patience we have, the faster this will likely go."
Finishing his meal, he turned back to the councilor. "Thank you for the meal, Councilor Silver. If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to entertain them after I get Zelus' problem taken care of. I may wander your city for a bit as well."
Grudgingly, the changeling tossed the rest of her syrup-soaked pancakes into her mouth, followed by Sapphire doing the so as the queen had ordered. Stopping just shy of the door, the stallion turned to the queen, whispering a question into her ear. When she nodded, he chuckled, before whispering something else. Something that caused the mare's ears to flatten as she turned back to the living quarters, the blue mare following behind.
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"Don't be like that, Zelly." Cimmerian chided the pouting queen, giving her a slight shove as they walked to the market. "She's your responsibility now, and that means you have to take care of her, even the stupid pony things she has to do."
"It was gross," the queen whined. "Why couldn't she be more like a changeling?"
"At least you had Shining to help you, right? I saw you catch her on the way," At her noncommittal grunt he shook his head with a laugh. Some things just weren't meant to be. It seemed Zelus would continue to whine until he found something for her to murderize. Seeing his destination, the stallion picked up the pace, swinging open the door with a merry jingle.
"Welcome to Runic Ruminations, I'll be with you shortly," a male voice called from the back. Cimmerian wandered into the shop, fascinated by the various widgets and whatsits lining the walls. Self-heating mug for coffee, self-cooling bowls for ice-cream, towels that repelled dirt and grime, allowing them to go longer without being washed. Finally he came to a set of minotaur toys, runes cared all over the figurines and several runed weapons set out in front of them. Looking closely, he noticed the weapons could be set in the figurines grip, allowing them to hold them. Doing so, the runes activated, both figurines bowing to each other before attacking with the weapons. After several moments of vicious combat, the one with the bastard sword delivered a powerful swing, knocking the other's weapon away. As the loser deactivated, the winner danced a victory jig, before he too dropped his weapon, deactivating.
"Please don't mess with the battle-golems, they can be easily-"
Cimmerian turned to the stallion, his own eyes approaching the size of the stallions. Standing before him was not a unicorn, but a strange combination of unicorn and thestral. Blinking away the shock, he turned to face the strange pony.
The alicorn gave a respectful bow, "Sorry, I meant no disrespect. I've been directed to your shop by Silver Light. My guard, Zelus, is having difficulty adapting to the cold. I need something that she can wear that will not become loose in combat that will keep her warm."
Turning to the mentioned bodyguard the stallion went from wide eyed, to wide eyed and gaping.
"T-that's a queen!" he shouted, rushing over to Zelus and her drone. "How did you manage to get her to follow commands? I don't see any arrays, and you don't carry anything. Do you have the control crystal in your saddlebags? Could I see it?"
The stallion stopped, his face going pale as he noticed the mare bearing arrays etched into her cheek. "What, what the hell is this? This is completely against any and all laws of magic. You don't do this to a sapient being!"
Zelus scowled at the pony, towering over him with a glare that, once he noticed it, caused him to scuttle backwards.
"So it's a crime when it's done to a pony, but a changeling is fair game? I'm going to-"
"Zelus, that's enough." Cimmerian said, interposing himself between the two. Looking down on the stallion, however, he was far from kind. "I'm going to hope that your words were based on ignorance. That you truly were not aware that changelings are sapient. Is this the case?"
The stallion gave a terrified rattling of his head, nodding up and down so fast the alicorn saw a blur. "In that case I'll forgive this insult. Do it again, and not only will I take my business elsewhere, I'll destroy you. No one fucks with my family, and as a hive sister to my wife, Zelus is family. Am I understood?"
"P-perfectly, Mister alicorn, sir." Runic sputtered out.
"Good, and to be clear, Sapphire is not our work. That's the work of Queen Twilight. We merely appropriated the connection, allowing Zelus to control her instead of those damn arrays the queen uses." Breathing deeply, and letting closing his eyes, he let his irritation slide away. "Now, we're here for an item that will allow Zelus to function better in cold weather. She's susceptible to the cold, and I'd like something to nullify that. Preferably something that can be used in combat's a bit durable. If you don't have anything, I'll take the arrays to a smith, and get something made."
"No, no sir, I think I have something I can use, and that kind of enchantment is used really often this time of year. All I need to do is apply the enchantment. Give me about ten minutes and I'll have it done."
With that the unicorn disappeared into the back room again, nearly running through the door. Zelus was still fuming at the stallion, but Cimmerian was allowing his focus to once more roam to store. Looking outside, the stallion noted a mare putting up a strange green thing up on a nearby light post. Looking at it for a moment, the stallion was silent, something about the decoration calling to him in its familiarity, but he was unable to place it. With a final flourish, the mare flitted to the top of the post and attached a red bow, darting off to help a friend with the decorations.
Staring at the wreathed light post, the stallion collapsed onto his flanks, his eyes watering as he was reminded once more of home. Of all that he'd lost.
Zelus scowled after the pony, watching the pest scurry back into his work area. The nerve! And Cimmerian just forgave him? Okay, so it seemed the pony was legitimately surprised she was sapient, but that didn't mean he could-
Zelus flinched, an intense burst of an odd blend of emotions pouring from the stallion beside her as he stared out the window. Following his eyes, she saw the ponies decorating for one of their upcoming holidays. She hissed, her aura flaring as she watched for the pony who put it up. She'd smash the pony for causing him to hurt.
Before she could storm out the door to hunt down the hapless mare, she was caught in the alicorn's aura, the stallion pulling her into a hug, blasting her with a flood of confusing emotions; anger, sorrow, loss, love, happiness, and hope. She didn't understand; what could make him feel so many different things at once? Her ear twitched, noting a light humming as his emotions stabilized, the humming slowly growing in volume before he began to sing.
"...may your days be merry and bright... and may all your Christmases be white...we're going to pick up a pine tree while we're out here. I need it. If we have to, I'll take a seed. I'm sure there's spells to make them grow faster," he softly told her, leaning into her. For her part the queen just sat there, once more absolutely lost at the actions of ponies. They made no sense to her. Still, if the blooming well of happiness that was beginning to radiate from Cimmerian required a tree to continue, she'd find the time to rip one out of the ground. That's what Din said, at least. Keep the ponies happy and they'll keep you fed. Zelus was fairly certain the other queen was dumbing it down for her though. There seemed to be a bit more to it than that. Nothing was ever simple with ponies.
She cast one more glare at Sapphire, the source of several of her most recent problems. Things were never that simple.