A Long Life

by pertelote345

Twilight's New Home

Chell

Hib, Nib, and Pib, three of the youngest members of the hive were clamoring for attention at Twilight's feet.

"Did you and Dad really fight a hydra together?"

"Was Dad really shorter than you?"

"Did Dad really ride you into battle to save Lady Rarity?"

The princess chuckled. "Yes, yes, and... Kind of..." she said.

She had actually taken to our being surrounded by curious foals quite well. Spike had never mentioned her being a kindergarten teacher, but she certainly had the talent for it.

Mind you, the adults weren't much better. Xax was asking if she wanted to try another kind of nectar every five minutes and Jal had a notebook out. I knew the girl was a historian, but I would have to talk to her about proper etiquette around guests.

She turned to me. "Actually, Chell, would you mind if I asked you a question?"

I blinked. "Of course Twilight. Zil, could you pass me the mushrooms? And perhaps a bit of the creamed spinach?"

Zill passed me a bit more food and Twilight continued. "Do... Do you have a queen?"

The table went silent. I could feel the tension rise at the mere utterance of the 'q' word. "Eh.... No, We don't have one of those. I serve as this hive's matron, but we do not have a queen."

Twilight gulped. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to offend. I've just never been in a hive before. I don't know the rules."

Nib hugged her leg. "It's okay you didn't know any better. It's like when I asked that fat lady when her baby was coming."

A nervous laugh filled the dining room, cutting down on some of the tension.

Twilight giggled. "Okay... So how is your hive organized?"

Jal tilted her glasses. "Well, we're not big enough to require a huge pile of bureaucracy, but we have a little constitution. Basically every year we elect a President and a small number of comity members for certain tasks, like what we want to do for cash, how we want to deal with maintenance, that sort of thing."

Twilight turned to me. "So... You got elected matron?"

I shook my head. "No, that's my biological role. I laid the eggs for most of the changelings here, and provide the hive with pheromonal support. Not every hive needs a matron, but..." I shrugged. "We're useful for making large numbers of children and providing the pheromones necessary to help changelings calm down and focus in a crisis. We can also unify the hive's magical strength if necessary for defense or construction."

Twilight nodded. "Okay."

There were a few more questions passed back and forth, but she seemed to close in after that.

She answered questions politely, if somewhat mechanically, until the end of the meal, making sure her eyes never left me for more than an instant.

#

Chell

"Chell, there's something I need to ask you." Twilight said, as we climbed the stairs.

I sighed. Honestly, I was getting a bit tired of this. "You want to know if I'm biologically a queen?"

She looked away. "Well... I mean..."

I turned on her. "Yes." I threw up my hooves. "Fine, you caught me. You are right, I'm dangerous. If I wanted to, I could take those children and drain them dry of magic, I could steal the entire hive away and form some tea pot kingdom in the badlands. I could do an enormous, horrifying pile of terrible things." I glared at her. "But you know what? You can too."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"Twilight let's cut the crap." I said, all the stress from the previous day just pouring out of me at once. "You are an alicorn level spell caster. You've used your power to build things, but you could easily use them to destroy. You could light hospitals on fire, you could throw enough mind magic around to make a small army of slaves. You could even pin Applejack down with your magic and smother the old mare in her sleep. You have the capacity to be an absolute monster."

I let out a breath. "But nothing's forcing you to walk that path. And there's nothing forcing me to do that either. I know you look at me and my family like that nightmare Chrysalis and her brainwashed army, but we are not her. I'm not hanging out with Spike and the Elements because I want to exploit them, I'm with them because I love them, just as I love my family. As people, not slaves."

I snarled. "And I know you're going to threaten me or tell me how I'm just waiting for the power to go to my head or something like that, but so long as you're doing that let me make this absolutely clear." I got right up in her face. "I love my family, and my friends, and my husband and if you do anything to hurt them I will find a way to make you pay."

I let out a breath... I felt a little woozy. I'd been holding that in for days... It occurred to me that I should have it out into a pillow instead of my Mother in Law's face.

I was about to try some sort of salvaging apology when the absolute last thing I'd expected happened.

She hugged me. And I felt all of her worry melt away.

Spike looked down the stairwell with a smirk. "C'mon, you two. If you don't hurry you'll miss story time!"

Twilight blinked. "Story time?"

#

Twilight

Spike had only a few rooms in the caverns over Chell's hive...

But they were absolutely massive.

What's more, while the floors were mostly empty aside to give the now massive dragon space to move, the walls were covered with... Gosh, it looked like anything he could find. There were paintings of him with Rarity, with Chell, with all of the other changelings, with an old earth pony mare I couldn't identify, and those were just the portraits.

There were drawings, sculptures in little alcoves, a huge number of bookshelves carved into the cavern walls... And by one wall, a little dug out pile of couches with seating for at least a hundred. I found myself packed between a pile of eager changeling children and even a few adult changelings who were clearly more there to watch than to act as chaperones.

It almost felt like I was in a theater. There was even popcorn being passed around.

Spike stood before us, in all his glory looking just like he had on the apple building, but with an interesting addition. He was wearing spectacles.

For a moment I was worried that he'd lost his eyesight in all the time I'd been gone, but I noticed the curve and swiftly realized they weren't corrective lenses, they were magnifying glasses.

He clutched a comparatively diminutive book in his claw and turned the page with a level of precision that would have made a surgeon envious.

He turned to the crowd. "Well folks, what would you like to hear tonight?"

"Could you read more Daring Do?" One changeling asked.

"What about a mystery novel!?" Another asked.

"No! A romance!"

"No! History, tell us about the time you got sucked into a comic book!"

"Or what about the time you went to the human world and turned into a ferocious battle wolf!"

I blinked. "Wait, what? He didn't turn into a battle wolf! He was just a dog!"

Spike's hearing was apparently quite good. He flushed. It looked odd on someone fifty times my size. "Uh... Twilight?"

I put my hooves on my hips. "Spike, have you been embellishing our adventures together?"

The room fell silent. At first I thought I'd stepped over the line again, but I noticed that the changelings in the audience weren't staring at me... They were looking at Spike, confused.

The dragon scratched at the back of his neck. "Look, Twilight..." He looked back and forth sheepishly.

"Spiiike?" I said, in a very disappointed tone.

The dragon winced. "Okay, so I may have fudged just a few details, but only for dramatic effect."

I raised an eyebrow. "Dramatic effect huh?"

"What's your version of the story Grand Matron?" One of the little changelings asked.

Chell had a grin on her face. "You know I think I'd like to hear that too."

I put a hoof to my chin. "You know what? Make room Spike! I'm coming on stage."

There was a roar of applause as I landed on the shocked dragon's shoulder.

He rolled his eyes. "You know if we're doing this, I'm going to tell them about all the times you fell on your butt after going bipedal."

I gave his neck a big hug. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

#

Twilight

Story time was fun, if a bit exhausting, and by the time we'd gotten to the part where we beat the Dazzlings I was dead tired. We all decided to retire for the evening and Spike lifted me up to a little apartment carved into the top of the cave wall (It had an elevator and even stairs, but Spike's claw ride was faster).

The apartment oozed Rarity. It had dress forms in the corner, a little jewelery box, a walk in closet, and space for fabric and a sewing machine. There was also a quaint little kitchen and an absolutely luxurious bathroom.

Perhaps the most Rarity thing in the room though, was a massive window looking down on the now slumbering Spike. I could just see her looking down on her beloved as she drifted off to sleep...

I also got the sense that the room hadn't been used in a long time, but it was clear that the Changelings had fixed it up in preparation for me. The one who served the drinks at dinner (I think his name was Xax?) was still there, putting chocolates on the pillows.

I chuckled. "You really know how to treat guests."

To my surprise, he winced. "You're... You're not staying?" He asked.

I froze. To be honest with all the crazy stuff that had happened I hadn't even thought about living arrangements. I mean, my old house was a museum now so...

Right then it hit me. I was homeless. Again. I had lost two houses right in a row.

Xax looked concerned and held out a little bowl of chocolates. "I... Think you could really use one of these."

I blinked. I'd never expected to end up taking candy from a changeling, but this world kept throwing me curve balls. I took a chocolate and bit into it. It had one of those nice mint fillings that always balance out the dryness.

I smiled. That had made me feel a little better. "I guess Pinkie Pie hangs around a lot here, huh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she's one of Chell's best friends. She's great at story time." He scratched the back of his head. "Look, I'm just a failed hospitality worker, I don't know much about time travel or old Equestria or anything like that, but... You've got to know that to us your family."

He looked down at the slumbering dragon. "And it's not just Dad either. Pinkie Pie and Applejack talk about you all the time. You're like that cool grandma that we really wished we could meet before she..."

He shook his head. "I'm messing this all up. The point is, we want you here and we know we don't know you personally yet, but you're family and we want to."

I stared at him... Then pulled him into a hug. He was only the second changeling I'd hugged in my life, but at this point I doubted he'd be the last. "How the heck did you fail at hospitality? You're amazing at it."

He blushed. "I'm not so good with schedules."

I grinned. "I am going to teach you sooo many organization techniques." I yawned. "... Tomorrow. Honestly right now I really need to hit the hay."

He nodded. "Okay, just press that button over there if you need anything." He pointed to a little box that reminded me of the intercoms at Canterlot High. "It's a line to the hive security desk and there's always someone down there... Well, usually more than one person. It's right next to the kitchen so all the night owls tend to hang out there."

I nodded. "Thank you."

He gave me a salute. "I'll see you tomorrow morning then! Breakfast's at 8:00!"

That said, he buzzed out the window down into the hive.

I smiled, falling back into the massive bed. I took a moment to reflect on my circumstances. I was sleeping on top of a colossal fire breathing dragon who was in turn on top of a hive of over a hundred changelings...

But somehow, for the first time since I'd came to this crazy world, I felt safe.

Comments

[pertelote345]

6522424

Applejack is out of usable ponymon!

Applejack blacked out.

[Dimensional Librarian]

I smiled, falling back into the massive bed. I took a moment to reflect on my circumstances. I was sleeping on top of a colossal fire breathing dragon who was in turn on top of a hive of over a hundred changelings...
But somehow, for the first time since I'd came to this crazy world, I felt safe.

No wonder you feel safe. Its becasue you know if anything shows up with ill intent you have both the dragon and the hive which will all fight to the death to keep you from getting a paper cut.