A Different Perspective

by Goldfur

Chapter 13: Truth Hurts

“What’s wrong, Free? Why don’t you want to go to the green Hive?” Twilight asked with a puzzled frown.

“Why should I? I’ve heard about the hive-mind and how the queens control their drones that way. There’s no way I want to get into some queen’s clutches. I’m my own hive, and that’s the way it’s going to stay!”

Iridia approached Free and said, “You seem to have some misconceptions about the hive-mind, Free Agent.”

“Oh yeah? I just fought beak and claw with the Blue Changelings under Chrysalis’ control. Are you going to tell me that they aren’t slaves to her will?”

“Chrysalis is an aberration that has not happened before in our recorded history. The true purpose of the hive-mind is to give us unity, communication, and knowledge. The hive-mind coordinates our efforts, and gives us a sense of family. It enables the nymphs to learn the changeling language within days of birth, and it’s a repository of knowledge that we can share.”

Twilight’s ears perked up at that last bit, but Free ignored her reaction.

“Well, I’m not part of your family, and I have no intention of ever being part. So thanks, but no thanks.”

Iridia started to look a little irritated. “Free Agent, I assure you that we have no such intentions. My mother has been following your exploits with interest, and she believes that she may be able to shed light on the mysteries of your childhood. Aren’t you the least bit curious about that?”

“Not enough to want to step into a changeling hive. Where have you been getting all this stuff on me anyway?”

Scribe stepped up a little hesitantly. “That would be my fault, sir.”

Free glared at him. “You’re supposed to be Luna’s personal assistant – are you actually a spy?”

“Sir, by Princess Luna’s authority and Queen Dianthia’s appointment, I am the official liaison between the Equestrian court and the Green Hive. I report on all matters that may be relevant to Her Majesty, and coordinate with Her Highness, Princess Luna, where necessary. There is no spying, as you put it; I merely facilitate the discreet exchange of information.”

“Right – like a spy. Okay, here’s a bit of information for you – I don’t care! Apparently neither did whoever birthed me because I was abandoned as little more than a nymph. You know what I am? I’m the product of my true parents – the griffons who took me in and raised me. That’s what I care about.”

“That is a powerful argument,” Iridia admitted, “but it leaves enormous questions unanswered. How did you end up in your parents’ care? We don’t adopt out our young. How did you survive the recent changeling attack? No mere harvester should have been able to do so. How did you heal your soul brother, Long Path? The manner in which you did so was extraordinary. There is so much for you to learn about yourself that you have never had the chance to find out, and we might be able help you discover it.”

Free shook his head. “You still don’t get it. I know what I need to know already. Anything I was really curious about, I asked one of the changelings in the community long ago. I need nothing more from you.”

“Then what about how it might affect those close to you? Your brother? Or maybe your special somepony?”

That shook Free. How could he deal with the unknown if it caused Path or Twilight problems? He looked towards Twilight questioningly.

Twilight took the cue and said, “Free, knowledge is a powerful thing, and yes, we would be better off if we knew more about your past. With it, we are always stronger and better, but I believe you already realize this. I think that it’s your feelings about this situation that are the real problem. You want nothing to do with the hives because you have nurtured a feeling of abandonment since you learned that you are a changeling, and not a true griffon. You will never be able to let that go until you learn the truth about your past, and if Dianthia can help you do this, then I urge you to trust her and go.”

“Twi – what if I don’t like what I learn?” Free asked with the most timid voice she had ever heard from the changeling griffon.

“I’ll be with you, Free. We can face it together if you wish.”

Iridia said, “My mother only invited Free Agent…”

She was cut short by Free. “Then I won’t go,” he said with finality.

“…but considering the circumstances, I will authorize Princess Twilight Sparkle to accompany you,” Iridia continued as if that had been her intention all along.

“Path too – I’m sure that he’d love to learn some stuff about you lot while you’re interrogating me,” Free said. “And of course Roseclaw has to come with her mate.”

Iridia opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off by Free again.

“They’re my House and my Herd. You might even say that they’re my Hive. We are a team, and we stick together. If you really want me to come, then it’s all or nothing.”

Iridia stared at Free for a long moment, before she surprisingly smiled. “Mother warned me that I might get an unusual response from you, and I had to be prepared to be flexible. I wonder if she understands what she’s letting herself in for? Very well, all four of you may visit our hive. Be prepared to leave in about three hours.”

“Why three hours?” Free asked.

“Because otherwise we might miss the train, of course!” Iridia replied with a sly smile.

# # #

While Twilight had visited the Red Hive in the past, she looked forward with considerable excitement to getting to see the biggest hive in Equestria. Like the rest of her comrades though, she was puzzled as to why they were on an ordinary train on the main line to Manehattan.

The five of them had boarded the regular morning train to the big city, prompting the alicorn to say, “Surely the Green Hive isn’t hidden beneath Manehattan?”

Iridia shook her head and replied, “We will be getting off the train well before then.”

“Why couldn’t some Royal Guards take us in a pegasus carriage there then?” Path asked. “Or just me at least – the rest of you have wings.”

Iridia shook her head. “Despite being a huge hive, its location has remained a well-guarded secret for millennia, only known to a few outsiders even now. It has remained so because we are careful not to draw attention to ourselves. An alicorn accompanied by two griffons carried by Royal Guards is hardly discreet. No, we will be just normal passengers taking a normal train trip to a normal destination. That’s why I asked you to wear a cape for the journey, Princess Twilight. You blend in better if ponies think you’re just a unicorn, unless they recognize you of course.”

Twilight grimaced. “You’d be amazed at how seldom I get recognized outside of Canterlot or Ponyville. Still, it’s usually better for me that way. Celestia and Luna can have the high profile jobs. As Princess of Friendship, I work better on a more informal level.”

Thus it was the five of them travelling in a large private compartment. That was hardly unusual for nobles and important businessponies to do on that route, so they were basically ignored, and it left them free to enjoy the ride in peace. Twilight wanted to ask Iridia a lot of questions about the hive, but the changeling deflected all attempts to start a conversation on that subject.

“The queen will answer any questions that you may have. My task is just to bring you to the hive. If my mother wishes for me to do more, she will let me know when we’re there.”

So Twilight had to bide her time which she spent reflecting on the morning’s events – her mother in particular. When they had left the audience chamber, they had immediately sought out breakfast… and some headache tablets. Hangovers don’t go away quickly by themselves! Neither did her mother. Twilight had felt some regret for having used the Royal Canterlot Voice on her earlier, and she had decided to try to make amends.

“Mom, I’m sorry for shouting at you before,” Twilight began.

Velvet immediately jumped on that statement. “So you’re beginning to see that I’m right and that changeling…”

Velvet was cut off as Twilight placed her hoof over her mother’s mouth.

“Stop it! Stop right there. That’s the kind of thing that you always do – I give an inch and you take a mile. That’s why I tried my best to impress on you that I’m serious. I’m not changing my mind about this relationship, and even if it turns out to be a mistake, it’s my mistake to make.” She looked at Free and continued, “But so far, I have never been happier, and I won’t let you spoil this for me.”

“Cadance likes me,” Free offered.

Velvet scowled. “Princess Cadance is not Twilight’s mother, nor yours for that matter.”

“You’re rejecting the opinion of the Alicorn of Love?” Free asked ingenuously.

Velvet had had no answer for that.

Twilight checked on Free, and he was morosely gazing out the window, staring unseeingly at the scenery. “Cheer up, Free – we aren’t going to our executions.”

Free grimaced in a half-smile. “Feels like it though. I’m doing this more for your and Path’s benefit, y’know.”

“At least you know I’ll be there to support you, whatever happens.”

Free put one arm about Twilight’s shoulders and said, “Thanks, hon. That means a lot to me.” Then he grinned and added, “So now I’m your fiancé, am I?”

Twilight blushed. “I only said that to show Mom that I’m serious about our relationship.”

“It’s okay, Sparkles – I knew you were just yanking her chain. It sounded nice though.”

Twilight snuggled up to him and they enjoyed a mostly silent companionship up until they pulled up at a major train stop.

“Neighagra Junction! Change here for Neighagra Falls, Foal Mountain Ski Resort, and Hollow Shades!” came the voice of the conductor who repeated it as he made his way through the carriages.

“This is where we change trains,” Iridia announced as she started heading for the door.

Everyone picked up their baggage and followed her out onto the platform. Another train was already waiting on the other side of the platform, and they boarded that immediately. They waited for about six minutes before it departed.

When they started pulling into the Foal Mountain station, Path asked, “Is the hive hidden in the mountains here?”

“No. We’ll be riding the train all the way to its terminus at Hollow Shades,” Iridia replied.

The train line entered a dense forest after Foal Mountain, and it wound its way around rolling hills and over deep gullies for over an hour, leaving the passengers completely disorientated, but at least enjoying the view. Then the forest abruptly thinned out to reveal farmlands and eventually a moderately sized township.

As they pulled into the town’s station, the conductor announced, “Hollow Shades – end of the line! All passengers disembark here. This train departs for Neighagra Junction again in half an hour. Hollow Shades! All passengers must disembark.”

The group picked up their baggage once more and followed their guide out of the station and into the township. As they looked around, they saw a typical township, with a standard population of mixed pony species a little skewed towards the earth pony types. Shops and homes were of a very old style, but beautifully maintained, and landscaping enhanced every street and house garden. The community seemed to be peaceful and polite, reminding Twilight of a more mature version of Ponyville, and she wondered how they would feel if they knew that a changeling hive was apparently located nearby. All in all though, it seemed quite a pleasant place to live.

Free leaned towards Twilight and murmured, “Twi, about half the ponies here are changelings.”

That startled Twilight. “What?! Are you sure?”

“There are too many of them for me to distinguish more accurately, but yeah, about half.”

“But that would mean that we’re right on top of the hive! How can there be so many changelings here without the ponies knowing about them?”

Iridia apparently overheard Twilight as the alicorn’s voice rose in excitement. “Simple – they do know. The citizens of Hollow Shades and the Green Hive have been living in harmony for millennia, to our mutual benefit. We have escaped attention despite our size because we are part of the community. Our harvesters and foragers can come and go without looking conspicuous, and many of them live permanently with the ponies. In fact, the typical family unit here consists of one stallion, one or two mares, and a changeling. I think you might have to start a whole new chapter in your book just to look at those relationships.”

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. “All this practically under our noses! It’s quite an exemplary achievement and the rest of Equestria could do well to emulate it.”

“Yes, we’ve been observing how changeling acceptance has been growing in Canterlot and other places. We have yet to decide whether it’s a good thing that so many changelings are out in the open, but we tend to be optimistic so far. The only sticky part is the continuing efforts on the part of Chrysalis to tear it all down again.”

“So you continue to remain hidden,” Twilight concluded. “Fair enough. The hive is below the town, I gather? How do we get there?”

“In a sense, the town is part of the hive, so you’re already there. However, the main part, and the queen’s court are well below ground, and we’re heading for the main entrance right now.”

The group made its way to the center of the township, with Iridia occasionally greeting, or being greeted by, some of the citizens. The griffons were given some curious looks, but the normally discreet nature of the inhabitants meant that they were not bothered by any of them. The biggest building yet turned out to be the town’s community center, incorporating the town hall, council offices, and apparently the entrance to the hive. Iridia led them through the building which, unsurprisingly, looked like any other major town’s offices. Its very ordinariness made it a perfect cover. At the end of the hallway were the mayor’s office, and the council chambers. Two security guards – a unicorn and an earth pony - were stationed there, again a completely normal sight, but apparently not so normal in duty. Iridia stopped to address the unicorn.

“These four are guests of the queen.”

The unicorn looked them over and nodded. “Have them sign into the guest book, Princess.”

They did so, and were allowed to proceed.

“The unicorn is a changeling, in case you wondered,” Free murmured to the others. “The earth pony is genuine though.”

Iridia led them to one of the larger chambers and let them in. She closed the door behind them and crossed the room to the podium there. She touched something on the lectern and the back wall slid open to reveal a large tunnel.

“This is the main entrance to the hive. As you can see, it’s large enough to allow a high volume of traffic if necessary, but on average only a few dozen come and go each day. There are other smaller access tunnels that connect to strategic places, and a couple of huge emergency tunnels that have no opening normally because the last couple of meters of rock and soil have been left in place. It would take the burrowing drones mere moments to open them in an emergency though. Come in and be welcome.”

They all entered the tunnel, and the wall slid back into place, closing off the end of the passage once more. The tunnel was well lit though, and the walls were smooth and ornate. Twilight paused to examine one more closely.

“What kind of rock is this?” Twilight asked.

“It’s nephrite,” Iridia answered.

“So all these walls are essentially types of jade? No wonder it looks so pretty.”

“We’re rather proud of it. Nephrite is very common around here, and the hive has utilized it extensively.”

The passageway continued downwards for a while before it started branching off. Iridia kept them in the main hall though, and like the main street of the town above, it eventually led them to a huge cavern which was apparently the center of the hive. From there, the changeling princess took them towards a pair of large gates flanked by two soldier changelings. As she approached, the changelings came to attention and saluted.

“Welcome back, Princess. Her Majesty is expecting you. Go right in,” one told her.

“Expecting us?” Path queried.

Iridia smiled reassuringly. “The hive-mind is useful for that kind of thing. My mother has been aware of our coming since we arrived in Hollow Shades.”

The soldiers opened the doors, and Iridia led them inside. The room beyond was large, but not exceptionally so. It looked to be some sort of audience chamber with a throne at the far end flanked by desks at which changelings sat, apparently working. It was the changeling who occupied the throne though who commanded the most attention.

Queen Dianthia stood up, and they could see that she was at least as large as Princess Celestia. The shiny grey chitin of her carapace contrasted strongly with the bright green band around her barrel and the darker green of her lengthy mane and tail. She had a double set of long, insect-like wings, a jagged horn, and wickedly sharp, long fangs. Despite all this though, she still managed to exude an air of friendliness and pleasure at seeing them.

Path’s eyes widened in surprise – she seemed kind of familiar. Before he could think it through though, the changeling queen spoke up.

“Welcome, Princess Sparkle! And welcome to you also, Free Agent, Long Path, and Roseclaw. Thank you for coming.”

“Many thanks for allowing us to visit, Queen Dianthia. I haven’t seen you since the last Council of the Queens at Canterlot, and I’m sure we will have much to discuss.”

Path stepped forward then and started uttering chittering noises, accompanied by clicks and hums. He seemed to say several sentences before stopping. Twilight and Roseclaw listened with slack-jawed astonishment.

Dianthia made a short chittering reply before returning to Equish. “Thank you for the compliments, Long Path, and may I commend you on the excellent command of our language that you have. I gather that Free Agent taught it to you? Is it your special talent?”

“Yes to both, Your Majesty. I started learning it straight after the invasion of Canterlot by Chrysalis, and got my cutie mark when I mastered it.”

“Impressive. Sometimes I’ve wished that we possessed special talents of our own to discover. I see that it’s not quite a hopeless dream though.” She looked pointedly at Free’s cutie mark. “And it’s that and so much more that has led to this moment. Thank you for coming, Free Agent. I hope that we can get to the bottom of the mystery of your past.”

Free frowned. “Just so you know, Queenie, I only came because Twilight and Path wanted me to. Personally I don’t much care what you want.”

Dianthia cocked an eyebrow at him. “No curiosity at all about yourself? I find that hard to believe. We all want to know what we truly are.”

“Like I told them, I know what I am, and I’m happy with that. But I told them I’d do it, so here I am. Why’re you so curious anyway? You aren’t going to tell me that you’re my mother, are you?”

Dianthia chuckled. “No, I’m not going to do that, but if my suspicions are correct, you might say that you’re on the right track. My reasons are simple – you are an anomaly in the changeling community, and it has aroused both my curiosity and concern.”

“Concern? Why?”

“Let’s just learn a little more about you before I go into that. You may be able to answer that question for yourself. For starters, could you tell me about your griffon parents?”

“How much do you need to know?”

“Just the general details from the time that they left Griffonia. If I need more specifics, I’ll ask.”

“Well, I suppose you know already that they left Griffonia because Dad was a low-caste artist and Mom was a high-caste warrior, and the rules of society wouldn’t let them be mated. They heard legends of the Kingdom of Griffonstone though, and decided to migrate there and start a new life. If you know your history though, you’d know that they found that Griffonstone society had collapsed and the kingdom had degenerated. My parents decided that they would not stay there, so they moved on, intending to head for the Smokey Mountains Eyrie, the only griffon city in Equestria. However, before they got there, Mom got herself a good paying job as a security guard for a caravan of travelling merchants, and they lucked onto a nice cottage outside of the eyrie where Dad could stay and work on his art. Mom and Dad had a good life there, but the one thing that they never achieved was having children. After consultation with some medical experts, it was determined that due to injuries that Mom had received early in her warrior career, she was now infertile. Dad loved Mom though, and he stuck by her.”

Free paused as he recalled their story. They had had a true love, and gone through much to be a family, only to be dealt this blow. It was both inspiring and tragic to his mind. He sighed and continued.

“One day, Dad was taking a walk in the forest as he often did as a respite between his art, and he came across this strange creature apparently abandoned, and he decided to take it back home as a pet. Mom said that she thought it was a rather bizarre creature, but she was willing to indulge Dad. Imagine their surprise when, a couple of days later, it changed into a griffon chick. This was long before the invasion of Canterlot, so nobody knew of changelings back then. When the changeling stayed a griffon for weeks, they decided to raise it as their own child. Mom was quite clucky over it, in fact, and they loved him to bits. Just the thing for a growing changeling! When I got old enough, they decided that they wanted me to have a good education, so they moved to Canterlot where Mom took a job in the City Guard. They decided on Canterlot rather than the eyrie because of my unusual nature, and they thought that the more mixed population and variety of lifestyles might cover up any anomalies I might exhibit. And that was how things stood with me until I learned that I was a changeling, and my parents confessed that they had adopted me.”

Free looked at Dianthia and said, “So, is that enough for you?”

The queen nodded. “It fills in some very significant details, and firms up my theories. To confirm them though, I would like you to assume your natural form.”

“You’re looking at it, Queenie.”

“I mean your changeling form.”

“I know what you mean, but you don’t understand what I mean. I’ve been a griffon for the greatest part of my entire life, and I haven’t become a natural changeling since Dad and Mom took me in, with the one exception of when I got blasted by Shiny and Cadance’s love spell that ended the invasion. I even managed to retain my form after the beating I got during the attack on the Crystal Empire. As far as I’m concerned, this is my natural form.”

Dianthia looked sympathetic. “I understand, and it’s very good that you have a strong sense of self-identity. However, in this case I really do need to see your base form.”

“No,” said with finality.

“May I ask why not?”

“Look, I might take advantage of my shape-changing ability and I might have to consume love for sustenance, but as far as I’m concerned, I want nothing else to do with my origin. I’ve only ever bothered learning as much as I have about changelings because of how it affected my life. I even only know changeling language because it was already instilled in me before I was found.”

“And yet you volunteered to help your friend, Long Path, in his experiment with the Crystal Heart.”

Free glared at the queen, and then reluctantly replied, “Yeah, but I would do anything for my soul brother.”

“I see. You will help Long Path learn about changelings in general, but not you in particular. Would it help if I were to tell you that if what I believe is true, your very existence could drastically change changeling affairs?”

“Oh, you have to be kidding! You’re just trying to get me to change.”

Twilight decided to intervene just then. “No, Free, I think she might have a point. I’ve noticed several anomalies about you compared to other changelings. For me, it’s a matter of curiosity, but if Queen Dianthia thinks that there might be more to it than that, I believe you should indulge her.”

Free gave Twilight a pained expression. “Twi, ask me to become a unicorn, a thestral, or even a dragon – anything but a changeling!”

Twilight came over to hug and nuzzle him. “I think that I understand. You feel vulnerable because of your abandonment as a child, and you want nothing to do with that. However, I think you need to come to terms with those feelings and accept who you are. To do that, you need to understand completely as possible where you came from and what you are. So I am asking you to do this, not just for me, but for yourself.”

Free stood there in silence for a long while, his eyes downcast and his emotions in turmoil. Eventually he sighed and said, “Just because you asked, Twilight.”

Twilight stepped back, and Free’s form burned with green magic fire. When it passed, a much taller changeling stood uncertainly in his place, and Twilight gasped in surprise.

“You… you’re a queen!” the alicorn said with amazement.

“I am?” Free said with shocked surprise.

Free’s form indeed resembled that of a younger changeling queen, with a long mane rather than a crest, slitted eyes rather than the blankly glowing eyes of a drone, a long and jagged horn, and longer and more graceful wings. There was absolutely no doubt that he was not the harvester that he had long assumed he was.

Twilight turned to Path and asked, “You told me that you saw his natural form that one time – why didn’t you tell me he was a queen?”

“I’ve never seen a queen until we came here!” Path protested. “I knew he was a lot different from the other changelings that had invaded Canterlot, which is why I believed him readily when he told me that he wasn’t one of the Blue Changelings, but I had no idea that he was a queen.”

“Okay, that’s understandable I suppose.” She looked at Free again. “Why can’t I tell what hive he’s from though?”

Dianthia responded, “That had been puzzling every changeling who has ever met him. His coloration does not match anything I’ve ever seen before, and I know of a couple of hives outside of Equestria.”

Free was indeed very different. His carapace was shiny chrome lacking in any of the identifying color of the hives. His mane, tail, and wings were all a washed-out blue shade, but his eyes were green.

“There is one answer which is what I have suspected all along, and now have confirmation. Free Agent is a mutant child. Such are not uncommon among nymphs bred to be queens, but they almost always die soon after they change into young drones. That also accounts for why he was left to die, although not why he was abandoned where he could be found by his father.”

“You let mutant children die without trying to heal them?” Twilight asked.

“Not always. It depends on how badly they are affected. Some live a full life, although they are usually useless to the hive. Most, however, are burdens that are simply allowed to run out of love to sustain them. They go to sleep and never wake up; it’s a painless and merciful death.”

“Can I change back now?” Free whined.

“If you wish,” Dianthia replied.

Free resumed his griffon form and shuddered. “That was creepy and unpleasant. So why did you have to ask about my parents first if that’s what you wanted to find out?”

“Because of how new queens are born,” Dianthia replied. She looked to Twilight. “Princess Sparkle – I am aware of the research that you have been doing into our species, but there remain large gaps in your knowledge, in this case it’s how new queens are bred. Tell me – how would you say we would go about this?”

Twilight considered the question for a long moment before replying. “I know that changeling queens can produce several types of egg that will hatch into different kinds of nymphs which mature into various types of changelings. Of these, only one type is fertile – the breeders. I can only presume that queens mate with a breeder to produce the appropriate egg.”

“That is a possibility, but not a good one. Think for a moment – all the breeders are the queen’s children, so what problem do you see?”

“Massive inbreeding,” Twilight responded.

“Solutions?” Dianthia prompted.

“Mating with a breeder from another hive seems to be the obvious answer.”

“Correct, and yet it very rarely ever happens. While we co-exist harmoniously with the other hives, no hive wants a member of another in their hive, or a crossbreed queen. So what is our alternative?”

Twilight looked very puzzled. “That only leaves breeding with another species, but I know for a fact that you aren’t inter-fertile with other species, and you would require a compatibility spell to produce a child. However, I researched that for a changeling friend of mine, and I don’t believe such a spell exists.”

Queen Dianthia gave Twilight a benevolent and slightly condescending smile. “Twilight Sparkle, I am a compatibility spell.”

Twilight’s mouth dropped open in a silent ‘oh’ before she face-hoofed. “Of course! Wait! Are you saying that Free is a product of a breeding attempt with a griffon?”

“I am saying exactly that. One of the giveaways was the part where he spontaneously changed into a griffon chick. You may not be aware of this, but our drones cannot transform until they mature, and even then they start with just imitating others. They need to learn how to make unique identities. The same is not true of queens though. They are capable of taking on the form of their sire’s species, hence why Free became a griffon chick. My own daughter was sired by a pegasus.”

Iridia nodded and added, “That’s why this is my preferred alter ego – it just feels comfortable.”

“Have you ever met your sire?” Path asked curiously.

“I have because he’s one of Hollow Shades’ citizens. He was very honored to have the privilege of siring the next queen.”

Dianthia added, “Not all hives have this advantage though, and most new queens never know their sire. However, it’s usually a male that has been identified as being worthy in various ways, as well as being conveniently available for breeding. That is another reason why I asked about Free’s parents. Free – you said that they lived outside of the eyrie, and your mother travelled for her work. My theory is that your father was identified as being a suitable sire, and frequently available. All it would take is for the queen to come to his home, perhaps pretending to be his wife returning earlier than expected, and them making love. She would get fertilized, and he would get a big surprise when his real wife turned up later not knowing anything about their supposed lovemaking.”

“It all fits together, but it leaves just one question,” Twilight said.

“Which queen raped my father?” Free asked sourly.

Dianthia looked at Free sympathetically. “I can’t answer that with certainty, but I do have a very strong contender. There used to be a hive located between the Smokey Mountains and Griffonstone.”

“Which?” Free asked, although in his heart he had already guessed.

“Blue. I believe your mother was Queen Chrysalis.”

“That bitch is not my mother!” Free screamed before he slumped his shoulders and repeated, “She’s not my mother. She might have given birth to me, but she was never my mother. Zephyr Silverfeather is my mother. Don’t ever give Chrysalis that honor.”

Path came over to give Free a heartfelt hug. “Free, I don’t care who gave birth to you. You are my best friend and my brother.”

Twilight watched them, wanting to give the same reassurance, but suddenly she had her doubts. Her special somepony was not only a changeling queen, but also the child of one of her worst enemies? An enemy who had mind-controlled her brother? What else about him didn’t she know?

While Twilight continued to agonize over those questions, Roseclaw went over to Free and laid a reassuring wing over him. “It’s not all bad news. I haven’t known for long that you’re a changeling, but since then you’ve kept telling me that you’re just as much a griffon. Well, here’s your proof – your sire was a griffon, so your claim is completely true.”

Free looked a little startled, and then his grin half-returned. “Yeah! Told you!” His expression turned serious once more. “Dad and I are going to have a long talk about this though.”

Path asked Dianthia, “What else made you suspect that Free was a queen?”

“There were many other pointers, such as him surviving the changeling attack. Obviously he has more power available to him as a queen, and better recuperative ability. He also was able to come closer to the Crystal Heart than he should have been able to and survive. His ability to heal Long Path’s emotional sickness without making contact through his fangs is also an advanced ability of queens alone. Actually, Long Path’s sudden extreme emotional collapse was probably due to the absence of Free who normally unconsciously mitigated negative emotions, also an advanced ability.”

“Hey!” Free exclaimed, “That explains why he was so bloody calm during the invasion of Canterlot – I was doing all the panicking for both of us!”

“That sounds correct. However, one of the earliest and most telling indications was Free’s sex-drive. Have you ever wondered why he is so sexually active?”

“We thought that it was because he was exposed to so many sexually stimulated fillies during puberty.”

“That could have served as a catalyst, and started him a bit sooner than normal, but it’s not the real reason. You may not realize this, but we queens are constantly driven to breed. Every changeling in this hive is either a child, grandchild, or great grandchild of mine. However, to rule effectively, we cannot be constantly pregnant, so we produce breeder types to take the majority of the burden. The urge to breed does not go away though, and we need to exercise self-restraint. That has not been true of Free Agent.”

The discussion caught Twilight’s interest and distracted her from her doubts for the moment. “Something puzzles me about that – if queens are capable of breeding with other species, why has Free never sired a child? We thought he was infertile like other drones. Or does it just work in one direction – fertilizing the queen?”

“A valid question, but one lacking in background knowledge. While it is true that we can breed with any species, it is a very delicate balance between our changeling nature and that of the sexual partner. Therefore we must exactly match their species. For example, it is not enough that I took the form of any type of pony when I wanted a daughter. I had to become a pegasus to match Iridia’s sire. If he had been a unicorn, then I would have become one also. Did Free Agent ever do that?”

Free answered, “Not likely! The fillies took advantage of me to cool their fires precisely because they believed a griffon couldn’t get them pregnant, and that’s something that I’ve used to my advantage since then. While I’ve taken on pony form on occasions for sex, I rarely matched the type – it’s often more fun for them to mate outside of their own type when having a fling, but even then I didn’t do it with mares in heat simply because they didn’t want to get pregnant, and they didn’t know that I wasn’t really a stallion who could knock them up.”

“That makes sense,” Twilight said, nodding thoughtfully. “Dianthia, you mentioned a delicate balance – is that the reason why so many queen nymphs are mutants?”

“That is correct.”

“And if Chrysalis is Free’s mo… umm… dam, then she might have believed that Free was an unviable mutant, which is why he was abandoned. It all makes sense. It also means that if he’s her child, then that leaves a potential power struggle for the hive, which is why you wanted to resolve this question.”

“Precisely.”

“You’re dreaming,” Free said emphatically. “I have exactly zero interest in her hive. No, wait, I take that back. The only thing that I want for that hive is to have it wiped out completely.”

Path looked shocked. “That would mean destroying an entire sub-species. What about our goal of peace and cooperation through mutual understanding?”

Free looked at Path sadly. “Path – you’re going to have to accept that sometimes you’re not going to succeed. While Chrysalis lives, that ain’t going to happen, and if she dies, there goes the hive.”

“I don’t believe in a no-win situation, Free.”

“Equestria would be rid of a curse, and that’s a win in my book.”

Dianthia stepped in. “The Blue Changeling hive was once like the rest of the hives; it can be so again.”

“Good luck with that,” Free said with finality.

Path recognized that the subject was closed for now, and he decided to change the subject. “If we have finished dealing with the mystery of Free’s nature for now, can we explore some other avenues of interest? I would very much appreciate being able to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about changelings and their hives.”

“I suppose that’s only fair,” Dianthia conceded. “Iridia, would you please escort our guest around the hive and answer their questions? I have other matters to attend to now.”

“Of course, mother.”

“One personal question first, if I may be so bold?” Path asked.

“Ask. I don’t promise to answer though.”

“Do queens ever fall in love with their mates?”

Dianthia looked startled for a moment before she smiled. “Queens rarely have time for a relationship. However, there was a reason that I chose Sunbeam as Iridia’s sire. Does that answer your question sufficiently?”

“It does, thank you, Your Majesty.”

“If you would follow me, I will show you around,” Iridia said as she moved towards the entrance.

The group followed her, and she led them out and down one of several tunnels that led from the cavern. There was more of the jade-bearing rock for a while before it eventually gave way to normal rock. It was all smoothly polished though, and looked almost as attractive. The tunnel branched out and connected with various chambers, and the further they went, the more drone activity there was. They eventually came to another cavern, although smaller than the first, and filled with various materials and tools. There Iridia paused.

“We are now in the midst of the construction and maintenance nest. From here, we coordinate the construction of new segments of the hive, plan new rooms and tunnels, and maintain the existing structure. The drones that you meet here will mostly be of the kind responsible for those jobs. For example…”

The drones, while exhibiting mild curiosity, had not stopped or bothered with the group until then. However, one suddenly diverted from its course and came over to the group.

“Introduce yourself,” Iridia directed it in Equish, and followed it up with the chittering of changeling language.

The drone chittered in response.

“What did it say?” Roseclaw asked.

Path replied, “It said ‘I am Klikbik, and I am a tunneler’.”

The drone abruptly left, only to have another join them immediately and the process repeated.

“That one is Ruksak and he says he’s a support structure builder,” Path interpreted.

“You have a very good grasp of changeling language,” Iridia commented. “My mother was most pleased by your greeting, Long Path.”

“Changeling language was the first that I learned to discover my special talent for languages,” Path explained.

“What did you say to her?” Twilight asked.

“I said, ‘The House of Path thanks you for the gracious invitation to your Hive. Other than your inquiry about Free Agent which brought us here, I was wondering if a cultural exchange would be possible?’ Queen Dianthia replied, ‘I believe we can come to an arrangement once the main topic has been addressed.’ And here we are!”

“How come those drones came over without asking?” Free queried.

“The hive-mind, of course. I told you that it facilitated communications. I just focused on a drone and requested that it join us. Of course it was with my authority as a princess, but it was still a request and not a compulsion, as you seem to fear. Let’s move on to the next section.”

A journey through a tunnel brought them into a series of chambers that were filled with the smell of decaying wood and leaves.

“We grow mushrooms here. They’re an excellent source of protein, and we produce enough to sell the surplus in the markets both locally in Hollow Shades and shipped to towns like Manehatten. The job of the drones here is solely to farm mushrooms of various kinds.”

Iridia brought them to a huge kitchen next. “This is the preparation area for all the nourishment that the hive requires. Our foragers have it a lot easier than the rest of the hives because they can actively work with the farmers of Hollow Shades instead of discreet collection of wild plants, nuts, and fish. This cooperation has been a major factor in our being the largest hive in Equestria.”

The next stop was apparently a furniture workshop, then sanitation works, a cloth-making facility, and a nursery.

Iridia opened a door onto a chamber, but said, “Please just look inside this room from the doorway.”

They all looked and saw rack after rack filled with large eggs with shells of various shades. There were only a couple of drones in attendance, and they frowned in concern at the visitors.

“These are the next generation of drones. The temperature in here is strictly controlled for maximum viability, so I can’t have this door open too long.”

She led them further down the passage and took them into another room. This time it was filled with cribs in which were changeling nymphs. They all looked virtually identical down to their soft white skin, but a closer look revealed subtle hues that matched those of the eggs. Unlike the previous room, this one had a lot attendants looking after the needs of the baby changelings. Some of the attending drones were feeding a greenish gel to the nymphs, while others seemed to be doing little more than just cradling the nymphs.

Path pointed one out and asked, “Does that nymph require special care?”

Iridia smiled. “No, it is learning. The attendants don’t just feed and care for the nymphs, but they’re also their teachers. They are using the hive-mind to teach them our language and other things to prepare them for their lives as drones.”

“That is looking to be an extremely useful tool,” Path commented.

“Useful and reassuring: a changeling is never completely alone as part of the hive-mind.”

“Do you do all your learning that way?”

“Oh, no. There’s a limit to how far that can go. Drones need to be trained in the details of their jobs, and the more complex the job, the more schooling they need, not unlike for ponies. The emotion harvesters take the longest to train because they have the most to learn, but they are also one of the most essential workers for the hives as they supply us with the emo-gel that has the concentrated love that gives us energy.”

“So you have a library?” Twilight asked eagerly.

“Yes, although I suspect that you would be disappointed with it. It mostly contains reference materials for teaching the drones their skills.”

“But what about your history? Surely you have volumes on that subject, considering how large and old your hive is?” Path asked.

“We certainly do have a long and proud history, but it is something that we all share through the hive-mind. If you like, we are the library. All our records are part of the gestalt that is our collective memory.”

“It’s an Akashic Record!” Twilight realized.

“I have not heard of that term,” Iridia replied.

“It’s defined as a compendium of thoughts, events, and emotions believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the astral plane. Up until now though, I haven’t heard of any real examples. Your hive-mind seems to match it quite well.”

“I agree, but it makes no difference because you can’t put it into a book on a library shelf.”

Twilight looked downhearted at that news. “No, I suppose not.”

“Is there no way for a non-changeling to access that knowledge?” Path asked.

“Well… yes, but you probably would not like it.”

“How?” both Path and Twilight chorused eagerly.

“I would need to connect you to the hive-mind, but I’m unsure of the effect that would have on you, not to mention the means by which it would have to be done.”

“And that would be…?” Path prompted, undeterred.

“I believe you have witnessed how a changeling can rapidly drain a victim’s emotions?”

“Yes, I have. You don’t mean that you have to put the bite on me?”

“I mean exactly that. I would have to make a solid contact with your chi and bind it with the hive-mind, but because you are not a changeling, I cannot predict the effect it might have on you.”

“Has no pony ever done this before?” Twilight asked.

“Not in our hive anyway. If a pony wanted information, he just asked.”

“But this way I would have access to all the knowledge at will?” Path asked eagerly.

“That should be the case, yes. Are you truly that eager to learn our history that you would risk the unknown to find out?”

“Yes! That is the very core of my arguments that peace and understanding between all species can best be achieved by learning everything that you can about them and understanding their perspective. Could you do that for me?”

Iridia looked uncertain. “I can, but I’m not sure that I should. I will think about it.”

“I hope you'll be careful if you try that out,” Roseclaw said with some concern.

Path gave her a nuzzle and said, “Fortune favors the bold, dear.”

Roseclaw sighed and nodded. “You are a dauntless warrior, I know.” She changed the subject to take her mind off her concerns. “Is that green stuff that the attendants are feeding the nymphs the emo-gel that you mentioned?”

“Yes, it is. They also are fed regular food to grow their bodies.”

“I find it fascinating that you can take emotions and store them as a physical object. How do you do that?”

“To us, love and other emotions are just a form of energy that can be stored. The gel is a matrix for that energy. Think of it like a battery.”

“What would happen if I ate it, or a pony? Is it harmful to us?”

Iridia’s lips curled in amusement. “No, it is physically harmless, but you would receive no energy benefit from it like us. You probably should not bother trying it. Speaking of eating though, this would be about dinner time for you all, and I’m feeling a bit hungry also. Would you be interested in having a meal?”

There was a general consensus that food would be good at this time, and so Iridia led them back towards the kitchens, but diverted to a huge hall nearby. It was filled with tables at which dozens of changelings were seated, eating. At the rear of the hall was a counter where more changelings were lined up, apparently being served.

Iridia explained, “This is our main meals hall. There are no set meal times here, and food is served 24 hours. While it is possible to get some variation in what is served, especially if you’re royalty,” she added with a wink, “everyling is normally served the same thing – a balanced meal of some sort of protein, vegetables, fruit and perhaps some treat. If you care to join me in the queue, we can all get a good meal.”

They all joined the changelings in line, and patiently waited for their turn to be served. Meanwhile they ignored the stares of the curious drones, but were never bothered by them, perhaps warned off via the hive-mind. The servers looked a bit uncertain when it came to their group, but then they shrugged and handed them a tray each laden with small portion of appetizing food. Twilight was relieved to see that the protein in question was mushrooms this time. She did not want to have to look ungrateful by rejecting any meat. One additional thing that surprised her was the inclusion of a small cup of what had to be emo-gel. It made sense that it would be served along with the rest of the food. They got their minimal food requirements and energy requirements all at one sitting.

Iridia said, “I know that the food portions are a bit small for ponies or griffons, but it’s okay to go back for a second helping. As I said, this is just a standard meal for the drones. Queens and breeders need more also.”

While mass-produced, the meals were nevertheless interesting and tasty, and they all finished their first course and went back for seconds. Twilight felt replete after that, but she eyed the cup of emo-gel speculatively. She had noticed that Free tried it out too, and he’d had a look of pleased surprise on his face. “She did say it was physically harmless, so let’s see what it tastes like,” she murmured.

She picked up the cup and drank the contents. It had a faintly honey-like taste, but the texture of jello, and it slid down her throat quite easily. “Well, that was a bit of an anticlimax,” she decided before she looked up and noticed Free looking at her in surprise.

“What? I just wanted to try it out. It wasn’t bad. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I liked it.” She picked up the cup from her other serving and tipped that into her muzzle also.

Free squawked in alarm, bringing the situation to the attention of the others.

“You didn’t, did you?” Path asked, half in amusement and half in concern.

“Yes, I did, and I love it!” Twilight declared as a slow, goofy grin spread over her face. “In fact, I loved the whole meal! I love this meal hall, and I love these changelings!” She started nuzzling Free enthusiastically. “I love you too!”

“That’s odd, I don’t taste it coming from you,” Free replied.

Iridia said, “That’s because pure love is metabolized directly, and not wastefully radiated out like it normally does with ponies. You won’t taste any of it.”

Twilight rambled on. “I love your feathers – they’re so soft… and feathery. And I love your fur – it’s so wonderfully brown. I love your bright red tail… ooh, I love how it twitches!”

“Is this going to go on much longer?” Free asked.

“Yes, and seeing as she had two cups, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“I thought that you said that it was harmless?” Path asked.

“I said it was physically harmless; it won’t hurt her a bit. I never said that there wouldn’t be any effects though. She’s going to be loopy for a quite a while,” she added with a grin.

Meanwhile Twilight had shifted her attention to Roseclaw. “I love griffons. I love big griffons like you! I love your bright purple plumage!” She snuggled up to the startled griffoness who looked at her a bit leerily.

“Help, please?” Roseclaw uncertainly.

Path tried to disengage Twilight from the discomfited griffon hen, only to have the alicorn’s attention turn on him instead.

“Ooh, I love big, strong earth ponies! I love sexy stallions like you! I love big, strong, handsome, clever, sexy stallions.” By now, Twilight’s physical affections were getting more blatant and enthusiastic.

Path was glad that Twilight had not yet started using her magic, and could still hold back the ardent mare. “Is there some place we can take Twilight so that she can get over this without causing a big scene?”

“I’ll take you to the dormitories and find a spare room,” Iridia said, getting up from the table and heading to the door.

Path heaved Twilight onto his back and carried her away, uncomfortably aware of how she immediately started nuzzling and licking his flank.

“I love your cutie mark! It tastes like words!” she declared before going back to licking.

Path was not amused by hearing Free chuckling at the sight, but was relieved that it had at least drawn his friend out of his funk. The journey to the dormitories though seemed to last forever.

They put Twilight on the bed after struggling to detach her from Path. She protested that she loved riding him and wanted to stay, but Free craftily drew her attention to the mattress and said, “Look, Twi – isn’t this the best mattress? I think I love it.”

Twilight’s attention was immediately focused on the mattress, and she leaped upon it and started fondling it. “Ooh, I love its feel! I love how warm and comfy it is! This must be the best mattress in Equestria!”

“Are we just going to leave her here like this?” Roseclaw asked.

“I’ll stay with her,” Free said. “It’s not as if I particularly wanted to see the hive in the first place.”

“Can you give us any idea when she’ll snap out of this?” Path asked.

“Normally ponies that have tried the emo-gel only have one cup. She’s had two, so I’m not sure. A few hours at least,” Iridia replied uncertainly.

“We’ll come back in a few hours then and see how she’s doing.”

Free asked, “What if she comes out of it sooner?”

“You can re-join with us,” Iridia replied. “Just find a drone and say my name. I’ll leave a prompt in the hive-mind for it to guide you to me.”

“Have fun, guys,” Free said, and turned his attention back to Twilight who seemed to be trying to make out with the mattress. “Hoo boy, this is going to be a long few hours.”

Twilight’s attention soon wandered to the other objects in the room, and how she loved them so much, but eventually she focused back on Free. “I love you, you silly, sneaky, funny, cheeky, griffling! I love your songs, and I love your art, and I love your kisses, and I love kissing you!” She proceeded to do exactly that, multiple times, and with great enthusiasm. Then she stopped, turned around, and lifted her tail. “And I love making love with you, you big studly cock!”

“Whoa! Not so fast, Twi! I love you, hon, but you’re not thinking straight – or is that feeling straight? Lower that tail and come over here and kiss me some more.”

To Free’s great relief, Twilight squealed in delight and did so, saying ‘Love you!’ between each kiss. He had no intention of taking advantage of her in this state, but he felt he could justify the kissing – maybe a bit of cuddling also to kill the time.

# # #

The tour of the hive continued with Path and Roseclaw, covering every aspect of how it functioned, and which parts were enhanced by their alliance with the citizens of Hollow Shades. However, after it was completed, Path revisited the idea of trying to connect to the hive-mind.

He argued, “As much as this visit has enhanced my viewpoint of changelings and their society, there can’t be any comparison to the in-depth knowledge that could be available to me in the hive-mind. I need to give this a try.”

Iridia sighed in defeat. “Okay, we’ll give this a try. Let’s find some place for you to be comfortable while you’re immersed in the hive-mind.”

She led them to a section that they had not visited before, and the room that she showed them into was luxuriously appointed in comparison to the rest of the hive.

“These are my own quarters,” Iridia explained. “Make yourself comfortable on the sofa, Long Path, and we’ll begin.”

Path climbed onto the sofa and settled down. Roseclaw sat at the end, still worried about what they were about to do, but supporting her mate’s choice.

Iridia smiled at her reassuringly. “I realize that what I am about to do will look a little dangerous to you, but I assure you that I will not harm Long Path, nor will I drain any of his love. I will only seek to connect to his chi so that I can attempt to join him with the hive-mind. The way to do so will be for me to bite him, preferably on the neck and close to his spine. Our fangs are adapted to make this connection, and it’s the only way that I can do so.”

“I understand,” Roseclaw replied.

“Me too,” Path said. “So bite me already,” he added with grin.

Iridia smiled in return before transforming into her natural form. “This will sting a little at first.” She leaned over, carefully selecting her site, and then sunk her fangs into his neck.

Path jerked a little at the minor pain of entry of the fangs. At first there was nothing more, but then as if there was a large crowd rapidly approaching from the distance, he began to hear voices – lots of voices. Suddenly his consciousness expanded, and he became aware of much, much more. He could feel the presence of the thousands of changelings in the hive – some near, some further away, and even some in the township above. There was a soft hum of connection between the entirety, and yet he could still pick up individual strands of connections. He could identify Iridia’s strand, and it pulsed in recognition of his own. His mind swept further, recognizing links to breeders, tunnelers, harvesters, farmers, nurses, teachers, and then he found Queen Dianthia’s. There was a spike of surprise before he moved on, diving deeper now, looking for knowledge. First he found the common stuff – what tasks needed to be done and how to do them, where to go, and when. Deeper yet, and he found the years of learning that some drones had put in to be able to do their tasks on top of the common knowledge. It was not far enough yet though.

Path continued to dive deeper and deeper until he could start reading the history of the hive. He saw the reaction to Chrysalis’ invasion of Canterlot. Deeper yet, and he saw the decades of peaceful cooperation with the citizens of Hollow Shades. He saw the rise to power of Queen Dianthia after the death of her mother. Then he realized that he had jumped back many centuries to the beginning of this hive and the fateful meeting of a young changeling queen with a unicorn stallion whom she had chosen to be a mate, and instead fell in love with, starting the alliance between changeling and ponies, and establishing the town of Hollow Shades. He took it all in, and went in search for more.

# # #

Dianthia looked at the pony on her daughter’s sofa and shook her head. “This was not wise. He has a strong mind, but he is not adapted to the hive-mind as we are. I felt his touch, and he was seeking unrestrained and indiscriminately. He might get lost.”

“I’m sorry, mother. He was so insistent though, and I thought it would be a valuable experience and worth the risk.”

“I understand, daughter, but some things are better learned the slow way. Meanwhile, I wonder what we can best do to guide him back?”

Roseclaw scowled. “Are you saying that Path’s mind is trapped in your hive-mind?”

“Not trapped,” Dianthia reassured her. “However, in this state, he’s unaware of the passage of time, how deeply he’s going, and how to retrace his route.”

“That says to me that he’s as good as trapped!” Roseclaw snapped back. “Can’t you just break the link?”

“No, he would still be in the hive-mind, but unable to return. He needs a guide. Someone must go deep into the hive-mind and bring him back first.”

“Then let me do it. I love him, and I want my mate back!”

“No, you would get lost also. If anything, your mind is even more vulnerable than his. If Long Path cannot make his own way back, then there’s only one person that we can send after him. Someone who knows him intimately enough to find him in the depths of the hive-mind and entice him back.”

“Free!” Roseclaw exclaimed.

“Correct. Unfortunately, Free Agent loathes the idea of being connected to the hive-mind. We had best hope that it doesn’t come down to that.”

# # #

Twilight’s exuberant loving of all the things in the room, not the least being Free, had worn her out, and the griffon was relieved when she slipped into slumber after a few hours. He was pretty worn out from trying to keep her under control. He’d had to fend off two more attempts to bang him, each harder than the previous. He studied the sleeping alicorn, wondering how he had been so lucky to win her heart. She had certainly stolen his. Once he would have banged her without hesitation, but now that was so much less important than the relationship he was building with her. He chuckled in wry amusement at the realization that he could at least claim to be a prince for his princess now. At least there was something positive coming out of this disaster. No, two things – he couldn’t wait to talk to Dad, knowing now that he was truly his father’s son.

The opening door drew his attention away from Twilight, and he saw Iridia enter the room, along with a drone.

“Be quiet,” Free said softly. “Twi’s fallen asleep, and I don’t want to wake her.”

Iridia nodded, and kept her voice down as she replied, “We have a problem, and we need you now. This drone will look after Princess Sparkle for you.”

“Where are Path and Rose?”

“Long Path is the problem. Roseclaw is with him.”

Free hastily got to his feet. “What’s happened to Path?”

“I’ll explain along the way.”

Several minutes later, Free stood beside the sofa with his best friend upon it. Path looked as if he was merely asleep, but Roseclaw’s distress was a clear indication otherwise. “So, what am I supposed to do to snap him out of this? Shake his shoulder and say, ‘Wakey, wakey!’?”

“You need to enter the hive-mind and call him back…”

“What?! After I get through telling you what I think of your hive-mind, you want me to do that?”

Iridia tried to maintain a sense of calm in the face of Free’s ire. “Yes, I do. Believe me, if we thought that we could do it any other way, we would do it.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you can’t find him in your own hive-mind?”

“Find him? Yes. Get him back? No. Right now he is focused so much on his mission, he is pretty much ignoring us. You, on the other hoof, have a stronger bond to him, and can do what we can’t.”

“What is this mission you talk of?”

“We don’t know, but it is taking him deeper and further into past memories every moment that we speak. The further he goes, the harder it will be to retrieve him.”

“So I have to decide now, or not at all?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Free sneered at Iridia. “Lady, you’re pathetic if you think my fears will stop me from saving my friend. Now get me in there!”

Free laid down in front of the sofa, and the startled changeling princess hastened to comply with his demand.

Despite his fears, Free was a little surprised at how familiar the sensation of the hive-mind was. Perhaps it was a long-buried memory of when he was still a nymph in the Blue Hive? He put aside the speculation – he was there for an important reason, and time was of the essence. He sought out Path’s tenuous link to his body, and then started to follow it. Again, the ease at which he did it surprised him, but then again he was a changeling queen. That was one reason why they thought he could do this. He tried to not let himself be distracted by the memories that flashed past him, but he could not help but notice some of them. An image of a very young Celestia with a pink mane alongside a filly Luna startled him, but he forged onwards. He saw flashes of wars with griffons and dragons, never-ending winter, and alicorns preceding the current rulers. A particularly strong though ancient memory of the changeling immigration to the land which one day would be named Equestria distracted him for mere moments as he finally realised where Path was headed.

‘He’s looking for the origin of the race! That could be so deep though that even I won’t be able to get to him.’

Free redoubled his efforts to trace the ever more tenuous link.

Long Path was more excited than he had ever been in his life. He was learning more in the short time that he had been in the hive-mind than he had in his entire life. Every step was a new revelation, and he longed to spend more time examining it. However, he was determined to achieve his main goal, and learn the secret of the beginnings of the changeling race. If their hive-mind was true, then every significant memory since its inception would be preserved in there somewhere, and he was going to find it!

After a lengthy period, he seemed to find a focal point at last. A figure – perhaps a progenitor? It was very fuzzy and hard to pin down at first, but now that he had something to latch onto, he began pulling it into focus. He recognized the lanky, tall shape of a changeling queen, a green aura about it – maybe the first Green Changeling? He got closer, and details started to resolve – the mane, the delicate wings, the long jagged horn, the holey limbs, the… cutie mark? “Free? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to get you out, buddy.”

“What? But why? I’ve only been in the hive-mind for a few minutes or so, and I’ve already learned so much!”

Free’s soul-form moved close to Path. “Beloved brother, you had been in the hive-mind for hours before I came in after you. It’s probably been hours more since. If you don’t come back with me now, you might never be able to come back at all.”

Path was stunned. “Hours? Truly?”

“Do you really think I would have come in here after you if it wasn’t necessary?”

Celestia herself could not have managed that feat, which finally convinced him of Free’s sincerity, and he regretfully abandoned his mission. It was only then that he realized that he had no idea how to return. “Free, how do we get back?” he asked with genuine fear creeping into his voice.

Free smiled reassuringly. “Hold my hoof, brother, and I will take us home.”

Path held up his hoof, and Free linked it with his. There was a sensation like a rubber band snapping, and the memories that Path had so laboriously dived through before, all flashed past in an instant.

Path sat up in the sofa with a gasp, his heart hammering in his chest. He looked about wildly for an instant before being abruptly smothered by a joyous griffoness.

Free opened his eyes, but he could still see the links that bound him and Free to the hive-mind. With a growl of anger, he snapped them, and he surged to his feet and glared at Iridia. “Don’t ever do that again!” he snarled. He then turned back to Path, and joined Roseclaw in hugging the earth pony.

Iridia was shaken, both by the mishap and the righteous anger of the griffon changeling. She left the threesome to themselves for the time being, and sought out her mother to tell her the outcome.

Dianthia consoled her daughter. “I am 257 years of age, and there are two things that I know to be incontrovertible truths – we always continue to make mistakes, no matter how long we live, and we continue to learn from them or fail. One day you will take over this hive, and the lessons that you have learned today will help make you a better queen. Meanwhile though, do as Free Agent says, and don’t try that again.”

“Yes, Mother.” She paused and then added, “But we all learned a lot today, didn’t we?”

Dianthia nodded. “Whether they realize it or not, both Free Agent’s and Long Path’s memories are now a permanent part of the hive-mind. We are the stronger for having our new friends as part of us.”

# # #

Path finally managed to get unburied from the griffon pile and took a deep breath. He grinned at them and said, “Kwa der esposio! Ker aben moor yan aegi hy ejarro. Bene pur gaddy mo unt fador.”

Free stared at the earth pony before replying, “Huh?”

“What’s he babbling about?” Roseclaw asked.

Path frowned in puzzlement. “Beeno hargen ka trubla?”

Roseclaw looked at Free. “Are you sure you brought the right pony back?”

“Sounds like it might be some ancient language.” Free raised his right leg, made a fist of his claws, and then rapped Path sharply on the head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Just a bit of percussive maintenance. Don’t ever scare us like that again, you idiot.”

“Sorry guys. I thought it was a good idea at the time. At least I didn’t come back empty-hoofed. I have enough material to write a huge treatise. I’m going to love waving that in the face of the Dean of Canterlot University.”

“Not now, you’re not,” Roseclaw said firmly. “I’ve had my fill of this hive – let’s head out.”

“Two problems with that,” Free replied. “First – Twilight needs to recover her wits again, and I’m not going to wake her up to find out if she’s okay yet. Secondly, it’s the middle of the night outside. I think we’re going to have to find ourselves beds and take off in the morning.”

“Good points,” Path agreed.

“I’ll head back to join Twi. Let’s say I meet up with you at the meals hall for breakfast if nothing else happens.”

“Okay. We’ll wait for Iridia to come back and ask her to find us a room.”

“Pleasant dreams. Please don’t wake up speaking tongues again,” Free said as he walked out the door.

“Huh?” Path replied.

“Never mind, love – I don’t care if you’re incomprehensible,” Roseclaw said as she snuggled him.

“Would somepony tell me what’s going on?” Path asked plaintively.

# # #

It was early… really early… and nobody from House Path was awake yet bar one. Path carefully disengaged himself from Roseclaw and slowly crept out of the room. Now that he had all of his faculties back, he had to own up to his folly. He arrived at the royal chambers just as Dianthia and Iridia were getting ready for breakfast. He chittered to the guard and waited until he was allowed in.

“Long Path – I was not expecting you to be up so early, especially after what happened yesterday,” the queen stated as she looked him over.

Path cleared his throat in preparation for communicating with them in their own language in an effort to show as much respect as possible. He bowed deeply, his muzzle mere inches from the floor as he chittered, “I am here to apologize for my transgression, especially to Iridia. I pressured her to let me have access to the hive-mind. It was a part of changeling culture that has never been discussed in any known text from any known culture that tempted me, but in my lust for knowledge I did not listen to her valid reasons for denying me. It was my own hubris that put me in danger, worried everyone, and could have potentially damaged the hive mind. I beg your forgiveness for this, and I will endeavor to compensate you for my transgressions.”

Dianthia looked to her daughter. “What say you on this?” she asked formally.

Iridia replied, “He is correct in that he did pressure me, but I am not without fault in this matter, so I forgive him.”

Dianthia nodded and turned back to Path. “Your apology is accepted, Long Path, but I will expect two things of you as penance. First, in return for all the knowledge that you have gleaned from the hive-mind, you will be expected to add to it as fair compensation. You will return to this hive on a reasonably regular basis, and you will be guided into the hive-mind in strictly controlled circumstances to share with us everything that you have learned of other cultures through the efforts of the House of Path.”

“That seems fair and reasonable, Your Majesty.”

“Second, I will assign a Harvester to be member of your House. He will work for you, but report to me when necessary, in the same manner as Scribe does for Princess Luna.”

Path hesitated. “He would be expected to fulfill the same requirements as any other House warrior-student.”

“Of course. I will select an appropriate drone. Are these conditions acceptable?”

“They are, Your Majesty. Thank you for accepting my apology. Based on what I have learned here, I will be working on an updated version of Twilight’s original presentation on changelings that I will submit to you for your approval before showing it to the public. Right now though, I need to get back to Roseclaw.”

“Very well, we will talk more later.”

Path bowed deeply one more time before he left the throne room.

Iridia said to her mother, “I think that was a triple win for us.”

The hive queen smiled. “It was, but more importantly it was a mutually beneficial win.”

# # #

Twilight awoke to a headache and complete disorientation. If it was not for Free sleeping on the mat nearby, she might have started panicking. Then memories started slipping back and she recalled consuming the emo-gel, and then… oh, sweet Celestia! She was never going to live this down.

Twilight suffered through the recollection of all the things that she did under the influence of the concentrated love essence. Right now though, she felt strangely empty of any feeling of caring – perhaps a reaction to the overdose? One thing was for sure – it was way too easy to manipulate a pony’s emotions this way. She looked at Free again, thinking of all the times she had said she loved him and smothered him with kisses. Free Agent, the changeling child of Chrysalis, the lying and scheming power-hungry queen. How could she have been so blindly trusting? How had she not been suspicious of how quickly she had fallen for him? Her brother had warned her, and despite his firsthand experience, she had ignored him. She was such a fool!

Free stirred at that moment, and half-opened an eye to see her staring at him. He lifted his head from the mat and said, “Oh good, you’re awake. How are you feeling? Not going to smother me with kisses again, are you?”

“Not likely!” Twilight snapped.

Free blinked in surprise at the wave of negative emotions that came his way, but decided it was a consequence of withdrawal from the effects of the emo-gel. “Okay. Path and Rose are supposed to be meeting up with us for breakfast in the meals hall, and then we’ll head on home.”

With no other real options, Twilight decided to go along with him. As it turned out though, neither of their friends was there. “I thought you said that Path and Roseclaw would be here? Were you just trying to get me here to have some more of the emo-gel?”

Free gave her a puzzled look before replying, “I said we’d meet them here. It just seems that we’re here first. And no, I don’t want you touching that stuff again.”

‘A likely story,’ Twilight thought. ‘Lying, scheming queen. Is anything you tell me not a deception? Why didn’t I listen to Mom? I made a right fool of myself in front of her with my grandiose statements.’

Twilight did not notice how the heads of the dining changelings in the hall were turning to look at her with discomfort and confusion.

Free headed to the queue to get some food. Twilight reluctantly followed, her empty belly making itself known with loud gurgling noises. When she got her tray, Twilight immediately levitated the cup of emo-gel off it before heading to the table where she sat on the opposite side of the table from Free.

For a long time, they ate in silence until Free could take it no more. “Okay, what’s bugging you so much?”

Twilight put down the apple that she had half eaten and glared at Free. “What’s bugging me is that it’s taken until now for me to see through your schemes, and how you’ve been manipulating me from the start.”

“What?! What the hay are you talking about, Twi? I’ve always been open and honest with you.”

“Oh, sure – a changeling queen just happens to want me, an alicorn, as his mate. Could you possibly be more obvious? If your mother can’t get power one way, her child can get it for her in another.”

Free slammed his fists on the table. “I said don’t call her my mother! I’ve never met that bitch, and she certainly has no say in what I do.”

“You could have fooled me; in fact you did for a while with your slick words and singing and painting. You even had the gall to tell me to my face once that you wanted to bang all the alicorns in Equestria.”

“Yeah, I wanted to do that, up until I found something better. I’ve done nothing but try to make you happy, because it makes me happy also.”

“Yes, you changelings are masters of manipulating emotions, aren’t you? Well, I’m done being lied to and manipulated.”

“What lies? I’ve never lied to you. Hell, I even told you I was a changeling the first day we met, and I never did that for anypony before.”

“You probably realized that I would figure it out quickly, and telling me up front would gain my confidence.”

Free looked at her incredulously. “Really? Are you going to rationalize every single thing we ever did together?”

“You mean every single thing that you did to manipulate my feelings for you?”

“I did nothing that any stallion wouldn’t do for their very special somepony!”

“Are you trying to tell me that you never used your changeling powers on me?” Twilight sneered.

“Of course I used my abilities! I used them to taste what you liked the most, and did that more. I used them to taste what you didn’t like so much, and skipped that in future. I used them to change form so that we could enjoy some other things together. I especially used them so that I could have lips to kiss you with, but I have never used them to manipulate you!”

“So you say. What about Long Path?”

“Huh? What about him?”

“You’ve been manipulating him all your life and feeding on his love. You even said it yourself how Path was so calm during the invasion of Canterlot because of you – you manipulate ponies all the time.”

Free stared at her, realizing that anything he said would be twisted around. His heart felt as if it was breaking, and all he could think to say was, “I love you, Sparkles.”

“Ha! I can’t believe anything you say, and I don’t love you,” Twilight said, turning her face away from him.

Free was shattered, and his tears started flowing. “Goodbye then, Twi.” He turned to leave, but paused and said, “Pie Fight.”

Twilight frowned and asked, “What do you mean by that?” However, he just shook his head and left the hall.

After a long moment, Twilight realized that at least half the changelings in the room were staring at her. “Oh, mind your own business!” she snarled. She lit up her horn and teleported out of the hall.

# # #

Path and Roseclaw encountered the grieving griffon on their way to the meals hall. He had collapsed only meters from the entrance, lacking the will to go on, and he simply wept. He could not understand the change in Twilight, and the flood of emotions that had been coming from her had been an incomprehensible mess. How could things have gone so wrong?

“Free! What’s wrong, buddy?” Path asked with much concern for his soul brother.

“Twilight’s left me, Path. She accused me of lying and manipulating her.”

“What? That’s crazy!” Path protested.

“Perhaps it’s a withdrawal symptom from the effects of the emo-gel?” suggested Roseclaw.

Free said, “Maybe, but she went to a lot of effort to tear down any arguments that I put up. That seems a lot more than being depressed after being high on love.”

“Whatever the case, we’re not letting this stand,” Path declared. “Where is she? We’re clearing this up right now!”

“I left her back at the meals hall.”

“Let’s go then.”

Bolstered by the positive feelings from Path, and even some from Roseclaw, Free found the strength to get up and follow them. However, the alicorn had long gone by then.

# # #

The threesome collected their belongings before visiting the throne room, where they were introduced to a rather androgynous changeling in the shape of a pegasus by the name of Proper Place. He or she had a light green coat, with blond mane and tail, and a cutie mark depicting three green claws.

“What do those talons represent?” Roseclaw asked.

“My fighting talent,” Proper Place replied, producing fighting claws on his hooves seemingly out of thin air and striking a fighting pose.

Path blinked in surprise before he grinned. “You transformed to produce the claws, didn’t you?”

The changeling grinned back. “Yes, and they’re green to conceal the flash of transformation magic that produced them.”

“That’s excellent. We’ll see if you can surprise Warfist with that. And what about your non-fighting ability?”

“Economics. I had been considering teaching it in Manehattan before Queen Dianthia assigned me to you.”

“Economics and claw-fighting seem an odd mixture.”

“Even changelings have hobbies,” Proper Place replied with a grin.

“You’re going to fit in well, I can already tell. Welcome to the House of Path.”

Path and Roseclaw then expressed their thanks to Dianthia for her time and help, but Free could not bring himself to do the same after all the pain that the visit had caused him.

Iridia left her mother’s side to come over to Free, and laid a sympathetic hoof on his shoulder. “I regret that I did not anticipate Twilight Sparkle’s impulsive action and warned her, as well as Path and Roseclaw. I would like to reassure you that she should recover her normal mood soon, but the double-dose has already had unforeseen consequences. Don’t give up hope yet though.”

Free regarded her mournfully. “You weren’t there. While she was accusing me, I could not taste even a trace of love, nor even any caring at all. Can you tell me with certainty that this will change?”

Iridia hesitated, and then shook her head.

“I thought not.” Free turned around and started walking out of the throne room, saying, “Thanks for nothing, Queenie. Don’t call me again.”

The others bade the queen and princess a more polite farewell, and then they caught up with Free. They took the next train back to Canterlot, hoping to find Twilight there, but Celestia informed them that she had come and gone already.

“She seemed strangely upset, but refused to talk about it. She said something about Free Agent being a queen, the child of Chrysalis, and shouldn’t be trusted. Is that true?”

Free was sullenly quiet, so Path answered, “Yes, he’s a queen. Yes, we think the most likely changeling to have given birth to him is Chrysalis. No, we still trust him unconditionally.”

“Fascinating! I look forward to the detailed report on the matter. Anyway, about the only other thing that she said was that she would be heading for the Crystal Empire after taking care of some business in Ponyville.”

“She probably intends to seek some comfort from Shining Armor and Cadance,” Path guessed.

“I would say the same. I suggest that you see my sister though. I believe Twilight intended to have some words with her also.”

Luna seemed to have been waiting for them. “What did you do to tick off Twilight Sparkle so much?” was the first thing that she said as soon as she saw them.

“We’re trying to figure that out,” Path replied, “but poor Free bore the brunt of it. We were hoping you might know more.”

“She only stopped by to tell me that she was dropping her sponsorship of you, but I believe that your work is far too important, so I will be continuing to support you. Otherwise, she was far from communicative. She only left one message for you, and Free Agent in particular.”

“What was it?” Free asked hopefully.

“Don’t follow me.”

Free sagged dejectedly.

Path sighed and hugged Free. “Sorry to hear that. I suppose that there’s no point in hanging around here now. Rose and I have to get back to Griffonia and continue our work without Twilight. Any idea how we’re going to get there now?”

Luna smiled. “The Skylark is still available for your use. As I said, we consider your work to be of great importance, and the airship is ours to command too.”

Path smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Princess. Can we leave first thing in the morning?”

“I will inform the crew,” Luna assured them.

“Thank you.” Path hesitated for a moment, and then added, “There’s one other thing that we had been discussing before going to the Green Hive. We would be honored if you would accept membership in the House of Path. I realize that as a ruler of a nation, it might be construed as a step down to a small noble House, but we…”

Luna held up one hoof to halt him. “Say no more, Lord Path. I would be honored to accept. I can add it to my titles. Lady Luna has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” she said with a wink.

Path grinned. “Thanks again, Your Highness.” He turned to Free and said, “There – Luna is your House Sister now. Does that make you feel a little better?”

Free snorted with unexpected amusement despite his depression, and he nodded.

“Coming with us, Free?” Path asked.

“There’s nothing here for me, Path. My place is with you, my brother.”

# # #

Free had mixed feelings as he watched Canterlot recede into the haze of distance. Ahead of him lay the potential for great things as a member of the House of Path, but behind him he was leaving a broken heart. He could only find one person to ultimately blame though.

“Chrysalis, if we ever meet, I will kill you!” Free Agent swore before turning to join with his friends.

# # ## # # # # # # # # # # #

Author's Note:

Phew! You don't know how much I was aching to do the big reveal. Thirteen chapters! Of course I did provide lots of clues throughout the chapters, but this one brought all the pieces together with a couple of new key elements. So, how many of you figured out that Free is a queen? What does it mean for the future? And what about Twilight's outrageous behavior? Oops! You're going to have to wait to find that out... unless you think you can figure it out first. I might have a couple more surprises for you yet though.

Art by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf - http://www.furaffinity.net/user/foxenawolf

Comments

[Snow123]

That fallout from the revelations... that was pretty sudden.

Abrupt even.

Twilight Sparkle went Bitch.

And this, like any time things escalate, sums it all:

[Llyander]

Good chapter, except....

"Iridia said to her mother, “I think that was a win-win-win situation for us.”
The hive queen smiled. “It was, but more importantly it was a mutually beneficial win."

Isn't that the definition of a win-win situation? One that's mutually beneficial? Otherwise it wouldn't be a win for both sides, would it?

[Archivist Nightwatch]

You better have one hell of an excuse for twilight flipping or I am so out.

[djthomp]

Well, at least Twilight tried to apologize to her mother, that's the best I could have hoped for.

Free put one arm about Twilight’s shoulders and said, “Thanks, hon. That means a lot to me.” Then he grinned and added, “So now I’m your fiancé, am I?”
Twilight blushed. “I only said that to show Mom that I’m serious about our relationship.”

So they aren't actually engaged? Much better, that's pretty solidly what was making me rebel so strongly against what was happening.

Hollow Shades world-building! I'm a big fan of that town, just the name alone invokes so many possibilities.

It hadn't really occurred to me before, but Free's past reminds me a fair bit of how the classic fairy changeling child stories go, with the extra detail of his parents being fully aware of his nature and not losing a child of their own to a swap.

Twilight stepped back, and Free’s form burned with green magic fire. When it passed, a much taller changeling stood uncertainly in his place, and Twilight gasped in surprise.
“You… you’re a queen!” the alicorn said with amazement.

This is why everyone—including you—needed to know, Free!

Queen Dianthia gave Twilight a benevolent and slightly condescending smile. “Twilight Sparkle, I am a compatibility spell.”

That's a useful power-set. So unlike drones, queens are universally cross-fertile? Hope you were using protection, Twilight!

“Blue. I believe your mother was Queen Chrysalis.”

Dun, dun, dun! Makes me wonder if this gives an opportunity to overthrow Chrysalis and install Free as the blue queen instead. The blue hive is a problem that needs to be solved, and this is starting to look like the perfect setup for it. The other side of this is that on account of the battle at the Crystal Empire, Chrysalis may now know about Free. Even if he wants nothing to do with the blue hive, the blue hive may be coming for him anyway.

Yeah, figures that Path's journey into the hive mind wouldn't work out flawlessly.

The first green changeling had a cutie mark? Interesting.

Not sure how to react to the break up. On one hand, yay, their relationship had developed way too fast (for my liking, at least), but on the other, I really don't believe that Free was consciously influencing Twilight, which means the core of why she is pissed off is based on some unfair premises. Guess we'll see how it actually develops from here out.

[Nectarina]

Poor Free

[Father Figure]

When Twilight goes all psycho... Sad face.

[djthomp]

6039720 I think her reaction is pretty understandable. Is consent obtained while under mind control really consent? We know Free didn't do so intentionally, but with the recent revelations she has got to be panicking about whether or not she's a rape victim. The blue hive and Chrysalis in particular has a history of not asking nicely.

[PoisonClaw]

“Why couldn’t we some Royal Guards take us in a pegasus carriage there then?”

This should be either "Why couldn't some Royal Guards" or "Why couldn't we have some Royal Guards"

There was more of jade-bearing rock for a while before it eventually gave way to normal rock.

Take out the the "of" here.

“Equestria would be rid of curse, and that’s a win in my book.”

"rid of a curse"

It’s an Akashic Record!” Twilight realized.

Missing a quotation mark.

What the hell Twilight!?!? This sure as hell better be a side effect of the emo-gel, other I call total bull that Twilight would act like that.

[Seether00]

okay who was that purple alicorn and what have you done with Twilight?

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

interesting twist but two major problems I see.

One: Free was with them during that entire discussion and never raised a fuss?

and Two: Twilight is way too OOC in the end.

[AdmiralPopeyesBeard]

What?

and she decided to try to make amends.
“Mom, I’m sorry for shouting at you before,” Twilight began.

But this?

Thus it was the five of them travelling in a large private compartment.

Where did her mom come from? Says it was only the five of them, all of House Path plus the changeling.

[Traveling Soul]

You are Evil, realy Evil!!
Pure Free Agent.
I realy hope you make things rigth again.

[Cloverleaf]

The two cups of emo-gel caused to completely burn out her positive emotion there. So we have a rational mind, anger strengthened by memories of the invasion, and new sudden revelations. All this culminating in Twi's 'logic sense' piecing together the puzzle. But it's not right, the pieces are shoved together haphazardly.

[BackgroundNoise]

6039844
She's burnt out on positive emotions right now, she's probably going to be treating everyone like shit until she gets better. Cue tearful apology when that finally does happen. Free Agent is smart, he probably realizes this, but it still hurts terribly. If anything, this is Iridia's fault for not specifying how dangerous metabolizing pure love can be to ponies, emotionally, if not physically.

6039893
The man was traumatized, yes, he's going to be a little racist until he works through it. Imagine being in the middle of a terrorist attack, now, imagine that instead of just an innocent bystander, that you and your loved ones were directly victimized by the attack. It's not healthy, but it is part of the healing process.

6040053
Only it's not pure logic, it's logic supplemented by negative emotions and nothing else. If it was just logic she never would have gotten upset in the first place. Right now Twilight's stuck in a negative feedback loop where she rationalizes everything as the worst possible thing it can be.

[tvo770]

6039806 I would agree if this wasn't Twilight who has studied changelings for several years written a book about the subject is the godmother to several changeling pony hybrids by a blue changeling said blue changeling also been one of her friends and someone she trusts not to mention because of the book she is very aware of the differences of changeling vs. pony culture.

[AdmiralPopeyesBeard]

6039640

"win-win-win" The extra "win" meaning its extra beneficial to the changelings.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040139 Exactly this is way to OOC for her. and even the emo gel should be enough of an excuse for this. SHe's close friends with Whirling Cogs, who actually was part of the attack. Sorry the whole breakup thing isn't really needed and it is hurting the story. THis is the first real critizism i have for the series.

[tvo770]

6040220 All I could think of that whole scene.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040244 the shocking thing is Goldfur is usually a better writer then this. Honest here Goldfur. I really think you need to rethink this part of the story. It really off kilters the story and not in a good way.

[tvo770]

6040261 It just really clashes with the writing style Goldfur has had for not just this fic but the universe thus far.

[Stormwatch]

My devilish guess: the overdose from the love jello completely fried her brain's loving bits, so now she is physically, irreversibly incapable of experiencing love of any kind for anyone. Her existence becomes a continuous stream of bitterness until she gets desperate enough to commit suicide.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040276 exactly and i don't think that's a good thing here. I don't fully know what he has planned after this. Only one theory. But as is the break up is not needed. She knew this before the gel and it wasn't a problem and I doubt the emo gel would do that much after it wore off. YOu have enough conflict with Free learning the truth and how Shining and Velvet will react to the news.

and having read his work before MLP this jsut doesn't feel like him. to sudden a move.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Oh and Goldie, i did figure out that he could have been a royal changeling a while ago. But didn't expect the Chrssy angle on it.

[BronyofMeddlers]

Poor Free...Stupid Twilight! Your hatred against Chrysalis ruined a good relationship!

[tvo770]

6040295 No one let her near wearing cogs until the withdrawal wears off.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040349 personally i rather that that section of the chapter gone.

[tvo770]

6040368 or make the side effects the equivalent of being an angry drunk Twilight: fuck ...you free agent i don't need you .. iiI Don't need anypony hic you changlinge things are the same yoou saay that youl love ssome poony b..ut it all lise.

[Dharkstaar]

6040295 I think you're reading too much into it. For one, in the audience chamber with Queen Dianthia, Twilight DID start to have doubts about her association and subsequent relationship with Free before the emo-gel incident. Here is the point that she starts to doubt him.

Path came over to give Free a heartfelt hug. “Free, I don’t care who gave birth to you. You are my best friend and my brother.”

Twilight watched them, wanting to give the same reassurance, but suddenly she had her doubts. Her special somepony was not only a changeling queen, but also the child of one of her worst enemies? An enemy who had mind-controlled her brother? What else about him didn’t she know?

As for Goldfur's writing, give him a chance for crying out loud. He obviously has a solution to it all if he decided to add this. As for Twilight's flip out, you must not remember the episode with the "want it, need it" spell. Twilight goes into some amazingly, awesome flip outs where she loses all rationality and logic. In other words, she's not firing on all cylinders right now and the emo-gel just complicated things.

And point number 2, she went to the Crystal Empire where the Alicorn of Love rules. I highly doubt that if Candance sensed that there was any manipulation by Free, she wouldn't have stepped in. She had just as much trama thanks to Chrysalis as Shining did. She'll set Twilight back on the straight and narrow again. Just have to be patient to see what's next and have faith in Goldfur.

[tvo770]

6040393 Except she's friends with whirling cogs someone she knows is a kid of chrysalis and even though she know she still the godmother of his foals and visit them regularly.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040393 As I said before I know his work even before MLP. and note the want it need it happened after she tried everything else. it was a slow descent into chaos. Here it's way to sudden with very little build up. And again I point to Cogs, a blue changeling who was actually part of the attack and she didn't remotely treat him like this. And the gel is too much of a Dues Ex to be fully responsible for this.

The reason I'm harsh is because I know Goldfur is better than this. No he may very well justify this later but many of us readers have issue here. Some on here complained that the romance of Free and Twilight was too fast but this takes the cake. No to mention the fact that Free was surprisingly quiet during the hive mind debate. HE was there for the start of it. The end of the chapter just doesn't feel right and I'm not the only who feels that.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040390 that would be more believable. This part of the chapter is like using a peice from one puzzle to put in another. It just doesn't feel right.

[tvo770]

6040436 yeah there's only one substance in the world that can make someone rage like that

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040490 No I thought that was a certain vampire series

[tvo770]

6040513
Yeah but that's not a substance that vampire sparkly thing a concept made by Satan completely different.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

6040529 point

[tvo770]

Twilight eat a Snickers

[Dharkstaar]

6040436 As do I. I've read all his chakat stories and then some from him as well. I know his writing style. This seems just like his style to evoke emotions like the ones you are displaying now. I have a feeling he is laughing in glee at your reactions. He probably WANTED these reactions. In any case, bitching about the chapter is not going to change it. It is his story to do with as he so pleases. The only way he would possibly even consider changing his story is if enough of his readers hated it; and quite frankly, the only ones I see bitching about this chapter are you and tvo770.

[RainCrasher]

6040285 That... is indescribably dark. Damn.

[RainCrasher]

Did not see that coming about Free Agent being a queen so to speak. As for Twilight, she could be going through withdrawn from the love gel. Or its temporarily scrambled with her brain chemistry, And seeing as the main thing on her mind was about Him possibly being Chrysalis's offspring, the imbalance is amplifying her rage and such. It was sad, but I hope they work it out..

[tvo770]

6040600 hate would be too strong of a word for me at least I mean it's hard for me to feel any real emotion about it cuz it come so far out of left field and I know it's going to be smooth out next chapter anyways so there's no real impact.

[Snow123]

6040600 I'm with tvo on this one. Not hate... just... apathy. Really, if things like this sudden turn happen, why continue reading at all?

It just seems so much like forcing Free to have some upcoming direct battle with Chrysalis.

And if it gets ironed out and solved with the next chapter or two, then there's even LESS point to the break-up.

[tvo770]

6040682 This just feels like Goldfur wanting a cliffhanger.

[Dharkstaar]

6040682
6040647

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" or so the saying goes. With Twilight in the Crystal Empire with Candance, she will come to realize her mistake. As for Free fighting Chrysalis, that's been hinted at for the last few chapters now. Especially ever since the attempted invasion of the Crystal Empire.

This also creates needed conflict within the group as a whole. For too long now, outside of Path's emotional issue, they have been too comfortable around each other. There was NO conflict. This added that conflict. Even the best of friends fight from time to time and no relationship is without its problems. As another commented below, the relationship between Free and Twilight was too fast too sudden and without any conflict. It was, in every sense, a perfect relationship. Which does NOT exist. I don't care if this IS Equestria we're talking about here. Nothing is ever perfect. NOTHING!

You can say all you want about it, but I will stand by the author and say that this was needed in the flow of the story. It will make their relationship that much better in the long run. For once, an author deigns to show that a relationship is never perfect unlike so many of the other stories on this site that show male/female getting together with their significant other and all is perfect in the world. WRONG!!! That does not happen. Again I say, let the author write his story. He and ONLY he can determine how it will play out. If he wants them to be in a relationship, okay; if not, then so be it!

[tvo770]

6040742 I agree that the group needs conflict and that Twilight and free relationship has been going to smoothly but the way it was done made it feel very emotionless as it was only brought about from a withdrawal Twilight doesn't actually mean any of the things she saying and because that there's no real conflict free doesn't have to prove that he's not what Twilight says he is he's cuz he's already proven it in Twilight will realize that as soon as she cools down so it doesn't really add anything to the relationship it would have been better if free has slowly started to lose himself and get upset over the loss of the friends he made at the crystal Empire at queen chrysalis his hands and that rage slowly warp him into something he's not that would cause of far more interesting issue for the group instead of one which will be smooth over in a chapter.

[Dharkstaar]

6040832

How do you know Free won't get twisted into something he's not anyway? All we know is that Free vowed to kill Chrysalis and that he is emotionally unstable right now because of what happened between him and Twilight. This break in their relationship could have unintended consequences that we just don't know about yet and we won't until Goldfur decides to put it into the story.

This could very well be a plot point for the story. Taking it in a different direction than what we have been going since the beginning. We won't know the author's intentions until he decides to put it in the story or tells us.

So for now, how about we agree to disagree and wait to see what Goldfur does next?

[tvo770]

6040883 It's just different views on writing techniques but sure.

[Da Fennec]

Truthfully one of my least favorite chapters of this story. All stories need some conflict else its rather boring.

[Xenon]

with this chapter, you need to add a Dark tag. those changelings are doing some seriously evil stuff to the poor heroes.

[Coranth]

Damn it, Twiley...