//------------------------------// // Chapter 27 // Story: Refined Starlight in a Broken Vessel // by the-pieman //------------------------------// “I still don’t trust the changelings. You can call me racist but at the end of the day they’re still parasites, an infection.” I say, sticking to my guns as I grab the nymph and drop it back onto the table away from me. The thing is kinda cute, and cute is dangerous. “An infection that must be dealt with. You say I care too little, but I say you’re too trusting. I mean, look at Twilight! She ducks into her chair each time the changelings look at her! That’s a fear response! You don’t react with fear to something harmless!” Twilight whimpers, clearly not liking that I’m using her as my defense, especially when she’s in no position to protest. “Uh, yeah, but she also just stood up for them.” Dash says, waving it off. “I mean, geez, Chrysalis foalknapped her, too. Not any of the other changelings, Chrysalis.” she says. “Trauma aside my point still stands. I’m not gonna just outright trust them just because everyone else says to.” “Except you haven’t made any points, you’ve just kept chanting that all changelings are evil because one was!” Dash retorts, hotly. “And you certainly seem fast to blindly trust someone you just met, despite already admitting you were there for this wedding fiasco, which again, has yet to be explained to me in detail.” “Ugh, the bug queen tried to marry Twilight’s brother, and tried to stash Twilight in the mines under Canterlot when she found out. Shining and Cadence used a magic love bubble to get rid of her and her changelings.” Dash says, bringing many of the ponies around me to raise their hooves to object, before lowering them. “Well, she’s not wrong.” Pinkie says with a shrug. “And nothing else happened?” I ask, warily. Dash isn’t the most attentive so I have little reason to trust she covered all the bases. “Nobody was hurt or anything? At all?” Twilight thinks it over. “Well, Shiny was drained pretty hard by the Queen, but otherwise no.” “Even the assault on Canterlot itself just required a lot of cleaning and road repairs; there wasn’t any hospitalizations.” Celestia clarifies. “No matter their intentions, they didn’t cause any physical harm to anypony except Shining Armor, and that was caused by an individual.” “Uh, didn’t you-?” Pinkie starts, but then stops at Celestia’s raised eyebrow. “Nevermind, not important.” Since when does Pinkie have unimportant things to say? Okay, a lot but not during a serious debate. “No, no, let’s hear her out. This is an open forum, right?” Celestia sighs, but gestures for Pinkie to speak. “Uhm, well, Celestia got blasted by the Queen, but she also didn’t look like she was trying too hard to fight back. That meanie-bug certainly was, though.” I raise an eyebrow in Celestia’s direction. If she was hurt but also wasn’t trying... no wonder she left that part out. I cough. “More on that subject later. Right now, you say I’m attacking these changelings for no reason... but you also seem to be defending them for no reason. What have they done to earn your trust?” “If it was a matter of prosecuting the hive that attacked Canterlot, I would be letting them stand on their own defense or face charges appropriately. But as has been explained three times now, these changelings aren’t the same.” Celestia clears her throat, having just about slammed her hoof on the table right in front of me. “There is very little information on Changelings, mostly as a result of their nomadic tendencies, but something that is known is that changelings that are the same color are related, and ones that aren’t, aren’t.” I frown. “So because they have done nothing trustworthy just yet, we’re going to trust them blindly... I think I’m starting to understand how you let all these monsters roam around the Everfree right on the border of a populated area...” “Actually, it’s because they haven’t done anything untrustworthy yet. And the Everfree is untamable, short of destroying the entire forest, which is impossible for a massive variety of reasons.” Luna says. “So our main problem here is that we seem to work on entirely different scales of morality. If you ask me, trust is not deserved until it’s earned. And so far, at least the changelings in the forest have done nothing to bolster trust, much less these changelings who everyone here agrees they’ve never known until today, or a few days in Pinkie’s case... correct?” Pinkie nods, but starts to speak up. “But if you never trust anypony, how can you make friends?” “I had all the friends I needed until I was brought here, so that question is invalid. I don’t need new friends, I need my old ones, but they aren’t here.” The whole table goes quiet around me. Every pony and changeling is staring at me, the ponies with confusion and pity in their eyes, changelings with pity and fear. “Moving on from my personal life yet again...” I say, getting annoyed. “Even if we don’t outright kill this group of Changelings, I say we consider them guilty until proven innocent and placed under whatever form of house arrest you have until they-” “That is not your choice to make, Anthony. And that is not how Equestria’s laws work. They have done nothing illegal, and there are no good reasons to detain them. The only reason I’ve allowed them to be held here is because I feared you would act irrationally if I didn’t try to placate you in some way.” Celestia says, a biting tone that makes the ponies recoil a bit, except Luna, who seems to accept the comment’s tone as normal. “So now it’s my fault? I’m sorry, I’m trying to protect the public from potential attacks. And it’s my fault I’m doing it and you don’t like the way I do it? That’s your problem.” “You aren’t protecting anything, Anthony, you’re pursuing a vendetta against the innocent.” Celestia says. “What have these changelings done that warrants any kind of action against them, legal or otherwise? Have they harmed any of the guests they were catering for? Have they impersonated anypony against their will, or foalknapped anypony? Have they done anything that means you or I should be wary of them, other than have the misfortune of looking like someone that hurt you once?” “Everyone’s guilty of something. But that’s neither here nor there. Most definitely not here, apparently.” “Could you prove their guilt in a court of law?” Celestia asks with an arched brow. “No. Which is why I suggest a compromise.” “And what compromise have you decided is fair? That they be punished for not being what you want them to be-” “Well that’s the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” I snarl in reply. “I have yet to treat you or any other potential threat to my citizens as anything less than rational living beings in any case where they do not prove otherwise. “Discord.” I say, my tone cold and biting. “Is by near definition not a rational being, and is technically no more living than my sister or I.” “Well, fuck you then. If you’re not living how about I off you instead on the grounds that you’re a bitch?” Celestia narrows her eyes. “You will not throw threats towards my ponies like that again, Anthony.” her voice is cold. “I wasn’t threatening your ponies, I was threatening you. Fine then, you come up with a plan to deal with these changelings and the ones in the Everfree, and if they take over and infest Ponyville, it’s going to be your fault because I warned you.” Celestia blinks. “I forgot, you don’t know what Alicorns are made of.” she mutters, then sighs. “How about you think of ways to compensate these changelings for the pay they lost by their work being interrupted, and I send a delegation to the now known hive in the Everfree. Thank you, by the way, for telling us where it is.” “Uh, no, I’m going too. Because I’m not as stupid as you think I am. Knowing you, the way I do now, you’d just get rid of me the moment you don’t need me anymore.” “I could already do that, Anthony.” she says off-handedly, “but I meant telling me they’re in the Everfree. We haven’t been sure where Chrysalis’ forces landed, but now we know they ended up there, and that you killed their previous queen-” “You’re welcome, by the way.” “... A diplomatic delegation will be sent.” I narrow my eyes at Celestia. “And if your ‘delegation’ gets attacked and you end up sending them there to their deaths?” “And why would changelings, free of the tyrant as you mentioned, try to kill off their food source? The worst that happens is that a rescue operation must be mounted to recover them, and that’s assuming that the changelings involved are violent and incapable of rationally working out a solution.” “You really are stupid, aren’t you? Whatever.” I get up and leave the table. “My party’s over, no need to be here anymore. Go back to your job as a politician, something you are actually decent at, according to those you lord over.” Celestia sighs and shakes her head, before waving a hoof at me, as if dismissing me. I know I just said I’d leave, but that’s just rude. I reply with a middle finger behind me as I leave, and walk out the door, heading back to Ponyville. At the very least I gave her a reason to want to send me back home. Or kill me, but she clearly doesn’t have the guts to kill a damn fly. I’m sitting in my usual spot and looking over the Wunderland Bestiary, refreshing myself on information as well as studying facts I didn’t know. As a very helpful addition, it’s a pop-up book, so there’s a fairly well-detailed two-and-a-half-dimensional picture of each creature. The only one I’ve looked over so far that doesn’t have a full picture is one with nothing put the middle of the book, splashed in night black, with two shining eyes of gold, a fire pattern instead of pupils. It lists the creature as a Jabberwock. There’s plenty of nonsense poetry with it, which I assume is actually meaningful, but I can’t make sense of more than one part in five. The only part I do understand perfectly is the piece about it having a ‘frightful aversion to blades of the vorpal kind, so enchanted to seek the neck with a snicker-snack and split it so’. Yep, definitely Wonderland. One of the things it mentions is the Flamingo, and I see that it mentions they lose many of their powerful magical properties if not born in, on, or over Wunderlandian soil, leading to a large number of them being owned by nobles. That part, thankfully, is written by someone other than Blueish, so it’s completely clear. I wonder what kinds of things we’ll actually run into on our trip? I look up as a throat is cleared, and I see that Twilight is holding a scroll in her magical grip. She offers the scroll to me wordlessly. I’m feeling particularly lazy, and a bit in the mood for testing, so I summon some coal from my pouch and have the coal-hand grab the scroll for me and hold it open for me to read. “Uh... how’re you doing that?” she asks, eyeing the hand. “I’ve never seen such precise elemental control!” “Oh come on, you saw what I can do with coal! Actually, I feel stupid for not thinking of this before. Imagine all the movement I could have spared myself getting a new book.” Twilight sighs and shakes her head. “Anyways, that scroll has the plans. We’ll be heading out, probably tomorrow or the day after, to go to the hive. The cluster is going to stay here for another couple of days, apparently one of them is about to give birth, and can’t be moved until that’s over.” “You know, I’m surprised. You’ve learned all sorts of new things about changelings, and haven’t already rushed to add it to your notes. I think-” *crackle-POOF* Twilight has just vanished probably teleporting based on the look of existential self-horror she’d had right before then. Drat, I had something witty to say, too. Alright, let’s see what’s on the scroll. I take it from the coal hand and unsummon it back to my pouch before unfurling the scroll.                 Anthony - Tomorrow, an hour before noon, a detachment of guards will be sent to the hive, along with a small medical team. Assuming that you still wish to demonize the changelings, we have opted to inform you of this in case there is no contact from them within two days. If such an event occurs, you will be permitted to say, without repercussions, that you told us so, in pony, at the castle during full day or night court, your choice. If a rescue is required, we would be willing to give you compensation as a freelance rescue operative, and you will be paid and given commendation appropriately. Our thanks, [A messy, illegible pair of signatures splits the page]                 The Royal Pony Sisters P.S. Cadence asked me to mention to you, if I got the chance, that she has almost everything ready, and will be able to take you on your vacation in a couple weeks. She also requested me to mention that if you get too injured to come along, she will personally break all of your unbroken limbs. She really wants to go to Wunderland. Yup, that sounds like Cadence alright. I realize that I had passed up the opportunity to show the Lyre to Luna, but I suppose we’ll have another meeting or something once the changeling fiasco has been dealt with. Though I’m not trusting those changelings to be civil. I decide to go the day after tomorrow when the delegation gets back and, if I’m right, deal with the cleaning up of whatever’s left of the poor ponies she’s sending to do a job for someone who can defend themselves. Her blind trust of changelings pisses me off when she’s clearly not offering me the same chance. Racist bitch. When the day arrives I head down to the hive, finding it fairly easily and walking in. It’s not much different from before, a simple cave entrance that descends towards darkness while transitioning into a tough, glossy black material. Every few feet or so, a small bubble of glowing green material studs the surface of the tunnel, giving it a wan light. Sighing and imagining the delegation blindly walking down and getting enslaved, I spark up, not trusting the lights to stay on as I pass by, but they do. Eventually I get to the main chamber and see a sickly, thin-looking changeling sitting on a throne, quietly making what sounds almost like commands, minus anything resembling a backbone enforcing them. The other changelings int the room, however, do seem to be following the directions. At the entrance, there’s a pair of guards, who spot me and turn. Before I do anything further, they bow their heads to me, setting off a spark of anger. “Eyes straight, heads up. What kind of guards are you?” The guards bring their heads back up, not answering. “Damn right.” I mumble as I walk in, getting the attention of the few changelings around. “I’m here to... Idunno, clear you guys out or something if you ate the ponies who came by yesterday.” The queen on the throne shivers. “N-no, they l-left. A sup-p-p-ply drop-p is sch-cheduled t-today.” her voice is nearly a whisper, and she hangs her head low. Not in a bow, more like a dog that’s been hit too many times to look you in the eye anymore. “Well, how about you tell me what’s going on, what sort of deal did you make with them?” I admit, I’m listening for any sort of logic loophole I could use to do some damage if nothing else. “Because, you know, I’m not the kind of guy who just sits down and lets stuff happen when it concerns me.” “Uhm... I’m n-not ent-t-irely s-s-sure, act-t-uly. Th-they k-kinda sc-cared m-me.” she replies, a single tear sliding down her face. It hits me that she’s really staring at my clavicle, not my face. And that she’s shivering like it’s thirty below freezing in here, which is just about the opposite of the actual temperature. “And exactly who are you?” “I-I d-don’t have a n-name.” she whispers, gaze dropping to my knees. “M-mother never g-g-gave me one.” “Mother? You mean Chrysalis?” At the name, the changeling flinches and whimpers, as if expecting a blow. I sigh. I’m not getting anything out of this one. “Is there another Changeling I can talk to, someone who actually has a backbone?” I pause. “Metaphorically speaking, I know, exo-skeleton stuff and all.” “‘Msorry.” she says, quietly. “Idonwannadie” “Then get someone I can talk to. All I want is information...” I sigh, rolling my eyes. I hate dealing with shy people for this very reason. She nods, jerkily, and waves to someone off to the side, and a pony in a tux steps forward, before flashing green and burning away the disguise... revealing it’s a changeling in a tux instead. “I’m going to assume that nobody’s butler or whatever has been replaced and you were impersonating a pony for kicks?” I ask suspiciously. “Miss is less discomfited by ponies.” the butler explains, leading me towards a side room with no door, just a doorway. Inside is a makeshift kitchen, a few badly-burned... somethings in pots on the stove, which looks like it was ripped out of a house somewhere and installed without knowing how a wood-burning stove’s chimney is supposed to be setup. “I thought you guys ate love not... Whatever you’re cooking.” The butler loosens his tie and sits back in one of the chairs gesturing to the one across from him. “Yes, but fortunately, we can make do for a short period of time on regular food... the same way a pony can survive on just a sip of water a day for a few days.” he says. “Explains much.” I say, ignoring the seat and going over to one of the pots. “Shame none of your drones ever impersonated a baker or something, huh?” Sarcasm dripping from my voice. “Oh, many of us have skills such as baking. Cooking for other beings anything besides bread, though, is difficult without training, and I can’t cook for four hundred changelings with less than ten pounds of ingredients.” “Sucks to be you.” I say, finally taking the seat. “So from what I’m lead to believe... you guys are all innocent and all the shit you guys pulled was because of Chrysalis brainwashing the lot of you. Sorry, but that’s a bit much to swallow.” “Why? Have you never studied any magic?” the butler sounds genuinely curious. It’s probably not common knowledge I’m literally from out of this world. “No, considering my twelve years of school was spent telling me magic is all fake...” I eye the Changeling. “So what exactly am I supposed to believe that everyone else seems to accept blindly? That you’re a hive mind with no individuality... or that you were all totally on board with Chrysalis from day one and are lying, blaming her to get off scott free?” “What?” The butler asks, in confusion. “For one, why would you think we’re a hive mind? We’re ponies like any other, just with different magical abilities. For two, the evidence is very clear, and we’ve been checked over. We suffered as much or more than any pony while under the old queen’s rule. I don’t know what drove her to dark magic like that... but I, for one, am glad you saved my life from being one of forced servitude.” I raise an eyebrow. “If you don’t wanna be a bootlicker, what’s with the monkey suit?” I ask, referring to his tuxedo. “I said forced servitude. And it’s different than being a butler; working to keep somepony’s life organized, efficient, and running smoothly is what I chose to do, and what I want to do. Chrysalis used me as a coat rack.” “While that does sound like Chrysalis, I’m not totally sold here. Got any proof that it was all completely Chrysalis’ idea, and that out of several hundred of you, nobody had the mental will to resist the brainwashing? The odds really aren’t in favor of that outcome no matter how many times you roll the dice.” “Resist a queen? That’s difficult without factoring in magic, sir. Their scent makes them more... authoritative. Perhaps not in truth, but in appearance, at least to us. Still, that doesn’t protect them from other queens, and does not work on any changeling they aren’t related to by blood nearly at all.” “So you are a hive mind, with a queen controlling all your moves, affecting your decisions using pheromones. That’s how bees work. Sure they can kinda think for themselves but if a queen tells them to do something, they do it. Period.” “Mmm, but not how a changeling works. Authority is fine, but we have good reason and a bit of forewarning, we can fight back... but none of us did.” “Because...?” “Because she lied to us. She told us she was going to be putting in shields to keep out the pony dreamwalker princess’s searching.” “Why in the world would completely honest and innocent creatures have to hide from Luna? You aren’t helping your case much.” “So you’re saying you regularly let the rulers of another nation come into your mind and potentially tell you how to think? Not many Changelings are given a real education, sir. The old queen didn’t allow it, and many of the older changelings were killed as part of her ascension to queenhood.” The butler uses magic to pull a cup full of water to him, taking a swig before adding something green and glowing to it and taking another swig. “Last I was told, the Everfree forest wasn’t part of another nation. If you’re terrorists and you’re stupid enough to hide where those you terrorized can find you... you kinda deserve to be outed in my opinion.” “Terrorists? Ha! More like terrorized. Maybe you don’t understand this, but I’ll try to keep it simple for you. The uneducated have a hard time throwing off tyranny without involving mind magics. I want to see you have your free will taken from you, the very urge to fight back stripped from your brain, and still make good decisions. The old queen was a fool, a tyrant, and extremely unhinged. We should’ve never even made a hive; Changelings are better off as small clusters or families than in large numbers like this. Chrysalis saw herself as a conqueror. But she never thought about what that would mean in the long run. She would’ve starved us all to have a single, short-term victory.” The butler’s voice has become bitter as he downs the rest of the cup. I just shrug. “So you keep mentioning. But the problem is, you’re saying that you guys are all innocent because you were hypnotized-” “No, not hypnotized. This was no minor suggestion, nagging at our thoughts. She stripped us of our identities, of our selves. And I feel entirely justified in saying she would’ve stripped our souls out like she did to her daughters if she thought it would make us more obedient than puppets.” “What identities? You’re main defining feature is the ability to become other people, to use their identities... right?” “So do ponies whose talent is for acting.” he retorts. “Actors aren’t body-snatchers.” “And neither are we, usually! Before the old queen, it was considered taboo to change into someone who was alive and normally present; the only times we’d impersonate someone without their permission is if they died of natural causes while away, such as during a hunt, or an expedition.” the butler asserts. “Normally, we make a guise of a completely new pony, and just... blend into society. We find love where it’s offered, and don’t take more than is healthy. If we have to, we move on. If not, a cluster will settle in, and simply be a family common to the town we inhabit. A few towns have been settled this way.” “Yeah... and I have a problem with that. Mainly because you guys are... you know what, forget it. You’re just going to reply that all your previous, heinous acts were completely Chrysalis’ and that you guys are just hapless victims... right?” “Yes. Because I’m telling you the truth. The truth doesn’t change just because it doesn’t suit you. We’re not nobles, after all.” “No, you’re changelings. Why can’t you get love without changing? You can’t tell me it’s because the queen says so, she’s been squished a while ago.” “Because ponies are skittish and xenophobic. A few times, it has worked out, and the changeling who can be loved for who they are under the guise are much better off than one who has to live hidden, but in case you hadn’t noticed, the odd or new makes them panic, not feel compassion or care.” I’m getting tired of this. “So what’s your plan? What did you and the princess’ pawns agree to or whatever yesterday? Knowing Celestia, she’d try to be all ‘Oh everyone is welcome in my kingdom’ and try to give you guys some sort of leeway... before casting out the freaks.” “As far as she knows, she offered reasonable terms. She offered to let us into equestrian towns... but this hive is no longer allowed to do so in guises. We’re also not allowed into Canterlot, nor within six hundred hooflengths of any of the Elements of Harmony. Which is a shame; Miss Fluttershy’s compassion is strong enough just being nearby would feed us all for a short while, long enough to make it somewhere we won’t be universally hated... as much. Instead, the concessions we offered effectively amount to us waiting in here until we starve to death, or one of the new queen’s sisters kills her, takes the throne, and breaks the treaty, following in their mother’s hoofsteps and getting us all killed.” he sighs. “Either way, we all die, either slow or painfully.” “By me. Assuming I don’t before this event.” “I never pegged you for a murderer, but I suppose I’ve been wrong before.” he says. “Let’s see, oh yeah, I recall stepping on Chrysalis. That was... by pretty much every definition, murder in cold blood. Her being ‘evil’ was not my reasoning. She just pissed me off.” “By attempting to control your thoughts, yes?” At my nod, he waves it off. “Then it was self defense, and any court on the continent would agree. Mind magic is illegal or tightly controlled on all three continents.” “Sorry, but I don’t count that. Sure it was self defense, but it’s murder in self defense. But we’re just going to keep going in circles. You want my advice to get the ponies to like Changelings? Save their lives. Day one I’m a freak around Ponyville, nobody gives me the time of day, and all that shit. Then I save the town from being demon-bait and suddenly half the country wants to suck my dick.” “Oh, yes. And, uh, tell me, when was the last time you had four thousand years of rumors and myths about you stealing in and eating infants, or sucking the life out of ponies in front of their loved ones? Because Changelings have lived under that prejudice for a very long time. We came here to escape the Long Winter before pony kind did, because their hate was poisoning us. They drove us from our ancestral lands, and then drove us into hiding when they came here. Prejudice against the difference is not something new, and they’ve been practising it against each other for longer than that. On top of that, you’re an individual. No one changeling can save the day and get all changelings allowed into the light. It’s been tried before, and done by accident before, and the ponies just exonerate them as the exception that proves the rule. It has taken nearly six hundred years to get actual information on us into their archives, rather than just rumors and myths. Ponies used to believe we were made of gas of all things.” I just sit back, sigh, and reply with a succinct “Sucks to be you, then.” “Yes. So as I said, we get to die in a hole, while you get to feast on their adoration. Still, I understand you don’t want any other beings horning in on your food supply, but you don’t need to be violent about it.” He sighs and looks about ready to stand up. “I don’t eat love, I eat food. And besides, I don’t really care about what they think of me, heck, most of them call me a hero. It gets pretty annoying.” “Wait, so you don’t even- oh, you don’t know. You’re a star and you don’t even know.” he says, looking genuinely surprised... and there’s pity in his eyes. Why does everyone have to give me that pitying look? “Listen scuzz-for-brains, I don’t need anyone but the people I left behind. I figure that if I just keep being a douchebag, Celestia will finally get tired of me and finally start working on a way to send me back. Or kill me. At this point, I don’t really give a shit. So all this about being a star is completely stupid and doesn’t matter to me.” He shakes his head. “You don’t give a shit, you say, but you crusade on their behalf? You should learn to stop lying to yourself, it’ll hurt less in the long run.” he says. I’m not lying to myself, though. “And I’m certainly not ‘crusading’ for anyone. I blew up the demon because he was wrecking shit.” “But you don’t care about anything, remember?” the butler says, raising an eyebrow. “You consistently target threats to the ponies, and then say you don’t care about them or anything at all. Again, you should learn not to lie to yours-” He’s cut off by a flash of gold fire right in front of my face, and a scroll dropping to the table. I roll my eyes and take the scroll, opening it.         Dear Anthony, Thank you for your assistance so far, and the delegation has returned completely unharmed. As such, we are requesting a favor of you; while technically optional, it is not something we can entrust to another, as you have proven your ability to counterspell magic easily and more effectively than most battlemages. We need to you to act as a bodyguard for the new changeling queen, as our intel suggests that she will be removed from power in a coup by her siblings if not preserved, potentially ruining the treaty. In the process, it is entirely possible Ponyville would become collateral damage during their rampage, before countermeasures could stop the problem. Write your reply on the back of this scroll and roll it the other way, and it’ll return to me. Thank you, [illegible scribbles again]         Princess Celestia, diarch of the Sun. “Huh, looks like Celestia needs me yet again... this time I’m gonna be your new queen’s meatshield so her sibs don’t off her.” The butler raises an eyebrow. “Well, considering you consider yourself a hardened, murderous fiend, that should be easy for you.” “That’s a bit far yet, but close enough. Still, doesn’t this piss you off? That Celestia assumes that if the new queen gets killed, she’ll be replaced by a Chrysalis wannabe?” “Considering that’s exactly what I advised the delegation would happen, no. Because it is what will happen. The old queen’s eldest was the worst treated, and has turned out the mildest. The others seek only to emulate the mother they assume didn’t love them because of their eldest sibling.” “Alright... so if I do take the job, what would I do exactly? Roast the new queens sisters and leave? They are the only threat to her, right?” “That and starvation, disease, assassins of any sort... Celestia may have accidentally sealed her death by announcing our location to Canterlot.” “I’m not staying here and babysitting her. Heck, what do I call her?” “Her mother was fond of ‘hey you’ and ‘you little shit’, though those may not be to your liking.” “Nah, she looks messed up as it is. So who names her? Herself?” “Usually someone with power over her... Celestia could, but I doubt she even knows that. You could, seeing as how you deposed her mother and put her on the throne. Even if you don’t wish to rule over the hive, she still owes you a life debt.” “A lot of people do, these days.” I sigh. “Fine, so what? I just walk up, give ‘er a name, tell everyone to listen to her or I squish them?” “That would be an excellent start. You’ll also need to make sure none try anyways, and that none simply poison her and don’t take credit for it.” “So I’ll be an on-call bodyguard. Fine, works for me... might as well get this over with.” I get up and head out to the main chamber. I’d only been here and the kitchen... and Chrysalis’ bedroom. I don’t know how to get to the balcony. “So, uh, how do I get up there for an announcement?” The butler, who’d been following me shakes his head. “The balcony was blocked off. It was... structurally unsound, and mostly held in place by the queen’s magic. She wasted quite a bit of the love she stole on useless fripperies like that.” “Maybe that’s why she wanted me to be a king. She had a billion mindless pawns, but was too stupid to know what to do with them.” The butler shrugs. “Or she thought you had more to drain, or both. She’s not exactly around to explain, and she wasn’t one to monologue anything useful when she felt she was alone.” “She did what now?” “Oh yes. She had a tendency to monologue her plans whenever there wasn’t anypony in the room with her. She mostly ignored changelings, because she thought of us as mobile furniture, and there were a few occasions she’d break into songs about how she’d steal this pony’s love or crush that nation once she controlled Canterlot. That sort of thing. It always seemed so... gauche.” I roll my eyes at the absurdity. “I’d use the word ‘stupid’ personally. How vain can you get? Anyways, if there’s no balcony, how do I get everyone’s attention? Blow up a chamber and start yelling?” “You could go to the main audience chamber, where the new queen is. She can get the attention of everyling in the hive easily.” “Fair enough.” I say, shrugging. “Let’s get this over with.” I go back to where I met the new queen and just sort of look her over. She’s not just skinny, she also shivers presumably uncontrollably when she notices my gaze. She also has to stop and think for a few moments before she tries to speak. We stand in silence for a bit and I figure she’s not going to start a conversation. “So I guess we’ll cut right to the point, then...” She nods quickly, expression concerned. “So Celestia has decided to appoint me as your... ‘protector’...” I emphasize the word with my fingers. She looks up in interest, shivering slowing a bit. “Now, I admit I’m not a fan of racists, which makes me a bit of a hypocrite in this case, which I also hate, but I digress.... So I’m also not a fan of Celestia but I figure since I gave you the honor of being freed from Chryssi I might as well see this through... in a way.” She gives a hesitant smile. “Th-thank y-you!” she says, voice sounding a little hoa- rather raspy. “Yeah, you’re welcome. Anyways, I’m not gonna stick around and watch your back twenty-four seven, I have a life, so the deal is... well, you just call everyone in here and I’ll explain to the whole hive.” She nods, though the look of concern is back. She clears her throat, then makes a weird trilling noise, a bit like a cricket or cicada, and her throat visibly wobbles as she does. After a moment, she stops with a series of dry, hacking coughs. The fuck was that, some sort of subconscious call? And they say they aren’t a hive mind... Anyways, I head up towards the new queen and stand by her side as all the changelings in the hive start filing into the room. They aren’t walking robotically, but still eerily obedient and straight. Several of them are looking around in confusion, evidently not sure why they’re there, and some have spots of white paint on them, and one is wearing a goofy chef’s apron and hat. “Our s-s-savior w-want-t-ted to say s-someth-thing.” she says, and the changelings shift focus to me, with a few turned to each other instead. “Yeah, hi.” I say, raising a hand in a form of waving. About half the changelings also raise a hoof, but it’s not unanimous. “You all probably got the memo, but if you didn’t I’m the one who splatted Chrysalis so... yeah, you’re welcome-” the entire crowd cheers, a few ‘huzzah’s thrown in. “Uh, yeah, thanks. Anyway, Sunbutt decided to have me be a sort of bodyguard for your new queen, protecting her from the occasional assassin or death threat or whatever. I think that’s a load of bullshit, but I’ll agree... kinda. I won’t be around all the time, but your new queen... oh goddamnit.” I say rolling my eyes and coming up with a name for a new ruler that doesn’t sound too obvious or cheesy. “Renaissance. There, her new name is Renaissance to symbolize her rule being one of recovery rather than Chrysalis’ tyranny or whatever.” Renaissance... that was a bad name, too much of a mouthful, and all the changelings seem to be in shock. “I’m just gonna call you Ren for short.” Turning around, I see that she’s looking at me with tears going down her cheeks, looking very shocked indeed. Guess names really are a big deal around here. Oh well. “So Ren will be your new queen and I’ll be living in Ponyville and she can call me over for... whatever she wants I guess, whenever she needs a bodyguard. Just, Idunno, send a messenger over or something if she needs me. But if she doesn’t get treated with respect or if somebody tries to kill her or anything I’ll moosh you. Fair enough?” The changelings nod generally in unison, though many are out of sync or nodding at other rates. It’s not something I’d normally notice, but I guess I’ve been really looking for it since talking about them. “A’right, assuming nobody has any questions and everyone realizes that if Chryssi didn’t hold a candle to me you guys’ve got no chance of handling me in the event somebody tries to form a coup... I’m outta here. But I’ll be back if Ren wants me. Hail Queen Renaissance and all that.” The entire chamber echoes the call to ‘hail’, and the Queen just sniffles, smiling crookedly, still crying silently. Yeah, still not a hundred percent about changelings yet, but I suppose I should give them a chance...