Cadance couldn't complain about the snuggling changeling queen at her side. Under normal circumstances she would be up in legs about it, but this was partly her fault so she let Fast lean in against her.
Stick patted at her love-drunk mother. "I know that feeling, just relax and ride it out." It had cost Fast a little of her fierce reputation, but had helped everypony relax more.
"Stick mentioned you were in business, might I ask what you do?" Penny was leaving sleeping changelings to lie and turned her attention to Dray.
With a bemused glance at the changeling queen, laid low at her own hoof by another princess, Dray turned his full focus on Penny. "I have a small factory, we make toys."
Stick scoffed. "He makes toys, and manages three other businesses that all were losing bits until he turned them around."
"Really?" Penny was interested, despite herself.
"Well, I wouldn't put myself on a scale with Fancy Pants, but I have a few small operations I oversee, their owners are quite happy at their new-found efficiency." Dray was blushing and he knew it. He was too relaxed here, these ponies knew all the deep secrets he had, it was all he could do to try and keep the few he had left.
Penny looked quite impressed with this and Dray had to fight more of that blush. "We were in the Crystal Empire recently, there are more than a few businesses there that seem in a similar problem." It was a hint, a blunt one, but Penny wasn't anywhere near as smooth as her changeling mate at being subtle.
Dray looked a little shocked at this idea, looking to his wife. "Oh! Now don't you bring me into business, the only thing I want is a nice dress occasionally and a loving husband." Pretty was oversimplifying to the point of nearly outright lie, and both knew it.
"Pretty eyes, you own my heart, I couldn't move without bringing you with me, or losing the best part of me." The words placated his mare and Dray turned his gaze back to his potential daughter-in-law. "You clearly aren't stupid, so I wonder what game you play with those words?"
Penny grinned. "Merely that you wouldn't need to move. The train is getting better and better, I hear tell that they will be using a new locomotive soon that could make two trips a day."
The talk of her empire had Cadance's interest as well, leaving the now snoozing changeling queen to just snuggle. "Penny is right, I have talked to the engineers myself, their goal is to be able to travel to the Crystal Empire in the early morning, spend several hours there, then travel back in the evening."
Dray's eyes shot up. He knew full well that once running well, no business needed a business manager to be on site all the time. "You have a list of some businesses that could use such oversight?"
Penny had her bite and nodded. "I know of at least one, a mine that cuts the raw crystal from the ground. They are in the process of getting their own train linkup and will shortly have to worry about selling their produce all over Equestria." The stallion looked quite surprised but, at the same time, it was very clear his mind was working.
Food arrived then, the waitress bringing it out and setting each dish before it's owner. The waitress blinked in surprise. "Is… uh, does the princess still want her meal?"
"Just leave it for her." Stick cut in before anypony else could react. "We will try and wake her slowly."
The waitress looked relieved at not having to take a meal back. "Enjoy!"
There was silence at first, as ponies ate their exquisitely prepared meals. Tails flicked in delight and even Stick ate a fair bit of her meal before offering a bite to Penny. Fast finally roused from the stupor the blast of love had left her in and she looked delighted at having her meal waiting.
"Remind me not to dare you to do anything, ever again." Fast used her magic to manage utensils, eating her food daintily. "Or maybe not, I must admit I don't think I have ever felt this sated before."
Cadance and Shining were lost to her comments though, absorbed with each other, eating their food and sharing the odd morsel between them.
Fast looked to Penny instead. "You might think you have a free pass from me, here, but don't think you are completely off the hook. You plan to bond yourself with one of the smartest drones in my hive, and certainly the most autonomous. You are clever, loving and so far as I have seen have the most amazing quality of being willing to learn. Despite this, I need to ask you, why do you think you should be allowed to marry my daughter?"
There was a loud thump under the table and Fast jumped a little. Beside Penny, Stick was looking daggers at the princess. "Too much."
"Oh I was just trying to be as serious as the others." Fast flopped back a little. "It's not easy being a princess. Everypony seems to want me to be something I am not. Only ponies that don't are the drones. They just love me however I act." Fast Change sounded genuinely down about it and soon she had two hugs to contend with.
"Mom, it's not that I want you to be something you aren't, I love you just the way you are, however you are." Stick was smaller than the queen changeling, but she fit well against Fast.
On the newest princess' other side, Cadance was giving her a more 'friendly' and less 'cuddle' hug. "Oh you wouldn't believe how some of my citizens act. Between some wanting me to go to war with anything that even has the gall to offend them, others thinking that we should become some kind of commune, and yet more who think we should break ties with Equestria completely… you aren't alone, Princess Fast Change. Given that I had a harsh introduction to changelings, I am finding more and more that they are wonderful ponies."
The scene had Penny's heartstrings tugged in all the right ways and, without thinking, she channeled a little, thinking of her respect and love for the savior and mother of her mate. All three changelings at the table perked up, Hay too grinned and leaned a little into Penny.
"I just… you are right, everypony is different, I shouldn't try and be what they want of me, I should be me, Fast Change." Fast grinned and looked over to Penny. "I am sorry if the words hurt I-" her words cut off as she felt the love wash from the unicorn, tempting her to drink it so much.
"I see a mare who wants to protect her daughter so much that she will even go against her nature to do it. Don't apologize, Fast." Penny smiled, realizing just then how pony-like she had become. It was quite the feeling to know she had changed so much, one that Penny accepted positively, rather than how she would have if she were a human. Was even that part of becoming a pony?
Fast drank from the mare, she didn't need to feed, she didn't have to. She wanted to make sure that Penny knew she welcomed the gift. The energy from it was more palatable this time, than when she had first tried. She focused on not getting overwhelmed by the love directed at her. Still, Fast could only drink a little and left the other changelings at the table to drink more from it. "Lets just agree to be nice. I can't help it." Fast suddenly shook her head. "You taste delicious, that love is nearly overwhelming and intoxicating, you feel that for me?"
Penny nodded to her. "Of course. Without you my life would be only half complete, I wouldn't have Stick at my side and, worse, wouldn't have found Hay either. You gave yourself to your hive, you saved them from Chrysalis, but you also saved me." She reached a hoof out toward Fast, getting a little bump back from the changeling. "Thank you."
Hay looked happy as a clam with the bonding going on but looked over to Princess Cadance.
"You don't need to prove yourselves to me or Shining, I can see the love between you." Cadance had noticed the mare's worried look. "Both you and Stick have my blessing to wed."
"And mine." Dray gave a nod and looked from Stick to Penny. "Both of you are fine mares, with good heads on your shoulders."
Beside him Pretty nodded to that. "And they look gorgeous in those dresses. My daughter loves you both, and I see that reflected. You have my blessing."
Fast looked down at Stick, still pressed in against her in a hug. "My daughter is her own mistress, but I see a mare who is clever as can be with her magic and no slouch to look at. I see another who has a heart so big it could feed a whole hive. I see her loving mates and I consent to this too."
Penny felt a weight leave her, the mare suddenly hugged from each side by Stick and Hay. She couldn't stop herself from kissing each of the mares, a feeling of acceptance settling in. It might have been a formality, really, but there was something about having the approval of their 'parents' that strengthened the commitment. "Thank you, all of you. I will take the best of care of your fillies. Oh darn…" Penny started crying. The worst part was she couldn't stop and each time she looked at Stick or Hay it made her cry more and harder. Each of the two nuzzled away the tears on their side of her face.
Somepony blew their nose and all heads turned to Fast who was trying to fight tears of her own. "What? Can't the Changeling Princess get so happy she cries, too?"
They had a date, it was exactly a month and a half. Penny had to breathe deeply, a month and a half and she would get to tell the whole of Equestria how she feels about Hay and Stick.
"You would make Chrysalis drunk with how much love you are radiating." Stick nuzzled Penny's cheek. The three were walking back to the school, taking their time.
Penny kissed the mare back for the words. "I wouldn't want her anywhere near me. She doesn't seem like a nice pony…"
There was a glimmer of blackness, dark magic tingling in the night air before a human was plopped down in the road ahead of them.
"Whoa, what happened and… are you ponies?" The young woman, wearing a Rainbow Dash '20% cooler' shirt, was getting her feet under her. "Oh wow, you are! It asked where I wanted to be and I said-"
"Equestria." Penny finished for them. "What did you ask to bring?"
They blinked. "Oh, I said if I was in Canterlot, that it wouldn't matter."
Penny lifted her hoof and bopped herself on the head. The human gave a laugh.
"What are we going to do with her?" Stick gestured to the human who was not dressed for the evening, nor prepared in any way to deal with their new life.
"We should take her up to the palace, Luna will know what to do." Hay reached out a hoof to the suddenly surprised human. "I am Hay Cart, nice to meet you… uh…"
The human leaned down, trying to whisper without being overheard. "You know they are a changeling, right?" When Hay nodded the woman looked a little more confused, but she shrugged and stood straight again. "My name is Jenny, well, Genevieve, but everyone calls me Jen or Jenny."
Penny raised her hoof and offered a shake.
"Where are you all going, tonight?" Jenny looked around the city. "Doesn't seem like there is much to do during the night here."
"We just had dinner." Stick tried to ignore the faux pas. "We're on our way home now. We can take you to the night court, if you like, you really should announce yourself there."
"Night court? Oh, Luna?" Jenny seemed to bounce in a place a little.
Penny lifted a hoof to try and calm her down. "I should warn you. This world is not like the show. On that, they were just characters, living made-up stories. Here it is all very real. If you get overexcited, make a bad impression… well, Princess Luna is one of the leaders of Equestria."
Genevieve squinted a little at Penny. "You speaking from experience?"
Penny nodded. "I came here about the same way you did, American?" Jen nodded. "Okay, treat Princesses as you would a judge." This advice sobered the woman a bit and she nodded.
"Okay, I guess you never think, watching it, just how much power they have."
"Oh they have plenty of power, but they are kind and nice." Penny started moving, the way to the castle always easy, what with it towering over the rest of the city. "What you do for a crust?"
Jenny stepped along with them. "Artist, you can probably guess what I do." She held her arms away from her torso, showing off the shirt. "Wonder if I can keep doing that here?"
"Probably, you study art? Learn to make inks and things?" Jen nodded to Penny's question. "That will help a ton. There aren't any computers here, no internet, no telephones. Magic can take up some of the slack for the things we don't have, but you don't have the equipment to be able to use that."
"Wait, magic! Oh oh oh!" Jen seemed excited a moment but then slumped. "But I don't have a horn…"
A deep red glow surrounded the human's fingers, gripping them gently. "You have hands. You sort of get to pick one or the other." Penny waved her forehoof in the air. "You probably guessed, but I was a human, a sick one."
Jen was quiet a moment, looking at her glowing fingers be played with in the mare's magic. "Bad huh?" Penny nodded. "Well, I don't want to have to relearn all my tricks again. Hands will have to win out for now." She squeezed down on the magic, holding it like she were holding a hand.
Penny beamed, leading the way to the castle.