Honey Pie III: Revolution

by SPark

You Ask Me For a Contribution

I gently pulled my mind away from Bright's, even as hers began to relax into sleep. I felt better than I had before I'd checked in on her. I'd needed a peaceful moment like that after all the chaos of the rest of this terrible day.

Even better still, I could tell that Pinkie was almost here at last. I headed for the entrance tunnel to meet her. I could see a gleaming light from outside as I waited at the point that marked the change from natural tunnel to hive. The sun was still up outside, though it would set soon. The light from the tunnel dimmed as someone stepped in front of it. I ran forward, not able to wait a moment more, and met Pinkie running the other way. We hugged each other tightly. I could feel sadness and worry from her, but it was eased as we held each other close.

Eventually, however, I had to let go and turn my attention to her friends. They were smiling at us, happy to see us together. I saw Ladybird standing with them, apparently the only other Ponyville pony who'd been able to accompany them. I smiled back all the same. I was glad they'd come. "Come, I have rooms prepared for you. I'll show you to them." I led the way through the hive. I'd cleared the path again, anticipating Rarity's discomfort with being surrounded by "bugs." Interestingly, though, I tasted almost no revulsion or apprehension from her. Instead there was friendliness and a strong undercurrent of anticipation. She was eager about something. I resolved to ask her what at the soonest opportunity. Now, though, my attention was more on Pinkie Pie than on any of the others. I had missed her, strange as that was to say of someone who was always present in my mind.

I settled her friends, and Ladybird, in a series of rooms near the throne room. I'd done my best to furnish them comfortably for ponies, though I knew that the sleeping mats would not compare to pony-style beds. I'd provided extra pillows and blankets, which would hopefully suffice. Rarity, who I'd worried the most about, was towing a cart laden with things, including more bedding, and set about unpacking everything in her room without complaint. Several of the others had baggage as well, about half of which proved to actually belong to Rarity. I smiled at that. Some things never changed.

Finally they were all comfortable and I was able to retire to my room with Pinkie Pie. I flopped onto the bed, mentally waving off the hoof-maidens who peeked out of their small bedroom to see if I wanted them. Right now all I wanted was sleep and cuddling with Pinkie Pie, not necessarily in that order.

Pinkie climbed into the bed next to me and hugged me tightly. I tasted her emotions, very much like my own. We had both been thrown into chaos by today's events, and I felt guilty for putting her through so much. She shouldn't have to suffer because of me, yet our bond made it inevitable. I looked for something to say, some comfort to offer, some words to reassure her with.

Before I found them, her lips found mine. She kissed me gently. I love you, she said in my mind, where I knew she could not lie, and I felt it, tasted it from her. I drew it in despite my guilt. I needed it so desperately. Not because I was hungry, but because I needed her, needed to be reassured, needed to have something good and right and stable in my life right now.

I love you too, I said as I kissed her back. A trickle of fire ran down my spine, and another, different, need came to life in me. I kissed her harder, holding her tightly to me. She felt it, and responded by running her hooves down my back, stroking over my folded wings.

Her body was warm against mine. Her love was sweet and spicy on my tongue, and for a while, at least, I was able to lose myself in her. I put aside the rest of the world, even the hive, to be in a place where it was just Pinkie and I.

---

Later I lay spooned about Pinkie's smaller form, seeking sleep that would not come. I felt better than I had before Pinkie's arrival, but my thoughts were still restless. There were nine dead changelings now. Nine of my children—for even though it wasn't literally true, I couldn't help but think of them that way—that my choices had killed. My mind kept jumping from one might-have-been to another, seeking some way out of this trap I found myself in. I thought of Bright Steel and wondered if I would sleep easier were someone here to sing a lullaby. I smiled a bit at the thought of asking one of my hoof-maidens to come and sing for me. No doubt they would find that odd.

I did tell them they could come and join me in the bed if they chose. They did, changelings always preferred to sleep together rather than alone, and the drones found my physical presence to be extremely pleasant. They settled themselves around me, careful to not disturb Pinkie, and one of them started grooming my wings, attempting to help me relax.

I felt something tug at my attention, and flung my mind willingly away from my own cares to Manehattan, where Quicksilver was seeking enemy changelings. She had found one.

She was out on the dance floor of a trendy club. All around her, ponies danced and laughed and shouted to be heard over the ear-shatteringly loud music that filled the room.

They were all young and full of energy. The room brimmed with a thousand emotions, some negative, but many positive as well. Pleasure, enjoyment, friendship, a wisp or two of young love, and plenty of young lust, all hung in the air. It was an ideal feeding ground. Quicksilver, however, wasn't pulling in any emotions. She was putting out some. A tasty bit of bait for the pony—who wasn't a pony at all—that danced opposite her. The other was a unicorn, with an orange coat and a pink-and-yellow mane. Quicksilver was currently a mint green pegasus with a white mane and tail. She winked at the mare dancing opposite her flirtatiously, radiating playful enjoyment. Not as good as love, but well worth bothering to feed from.

Quicksilver was carefully cultivating three layers of thoughts. In the uppermost she was exactly what she seemed, a young pegasus from out of town, here to have a good time. Beneath that lay a kind of proto-changeling, a mind very like that of a grub, something without a personality, whose presence would be unnoticed when added to the hive mind. It could be developed into something more when she needed it.

Beneath that, of course, was her real mind, analyzing and planning and being entirely delighted at finally doing the task for which she'd been born. She almost could have radiated the necessary enjoyment without magic.

The changeling mare in unicorn's form finally took the bait, moving a little closer, brushing up against Quicksilver as she danced. Physical contact was all Quicksilver needed to insert her little unformed changeling's mind into the new hive. Everything from that hive came to her filtered through the grub-like mind, so she couldn't learn much right away. What she could tell, even without full access, was that this hive was big. Very big. Possibly half again the size of Sweetcake Hive.

It also seemed quite peaceful. Oddly so for a hive that ought to be on war footing of some kind or another. Quicksilver couldn't detect any unusual agitation in the strange hive. Yet earlier this very day some of their warriors almost had to have been involved in the attack at Canterlot. Quicksilver had paid close attention to every bit of information she could get about that, and it was blindingly obvious that the enemy had mostly failed. They'd targeted more than twenty long-term infiltrators and had gotten only three, plus one changeling they hadn't originally targeted. With such a failure on their hooves, why were they not concerned that their plans were going awry?

Quicksilver didn't show her puzzlement on her face, of course. The pegasus dancing was something very close to a complete personality, who really was having fun. She bumped her hip against the unicorn, who bumped back, grinding just a little against her with a broad wink.

She let her pony persona dance and flirt and enjoy herself while she concentrated on carefully nurturing the half-formed changeling mind. It went slowly, to suddenly develop a personality would be to draw the attention of the whole hive, including the queen. So it took the better part of an hour to develop it far enough to truly reach the Manehattan hive. But finally, as her pegasus personality broke away from the changeling to dance with somepony else instead, Quicksilver gained the access she needed.

She explored cautiously. Being too obviously curious would draw needless attention. A drone who'd lived her whole life in this hive wouldn't ask about certain things. The information had to be gathered without explicitly asking. Still, it didn't take long for her to learn what she'd come to find.

It was not what she had expected. This hive was not at war. The ordinary workers were barely aware that there was any kind of conflict at all. They all knew of Chrysalis' failed invasion, and most of them were vaguely uneasy at the idea of ponies knowing all about changelings, but that was as far as it went, among the ordinary drones. The warriors were a bit more aware. A few of them, in fact, were very much aware, as they were outside the hive, having participated in the attack this morning. That had been exciting, and the hive had been on alert at the time, but it didn't matter much to anyone here. Even the warriors doing it hadn't really cared that much about it.

Their queen, whose mind Quicksilver didn't dare to touch directly, had told them to go, so they had gone. Meanwhile the queen herself, at least judging from her actions and the attitudes of her drones, had only done so at the insistence of someone else.

Quicksilver could have danced with glee. The pegasus persona put an extra bounce in her step as she shook her flank. The alliance against Sweetcake hive was not the monolithic thing they had assumed it was. This was not a gathering of hives, all intent on bringing Sweetcake's hive down. This was a half-hearted and casual agreement to lend a few warrior drones to someone else's effort. I felt my own heart leap at the news. If the other hives felt similarly, then it was likely that the warriors who'd attacked at Canterlot represented the enemy's full forces. Still enough to outnumber my own warriors, but not enough to even remotely outnumber Celestia's.

There is hope, my queen. Far more hope than we had feared.

Yes there is. Thank you so much, Quicksilver.

We need to know more. Which hive is behind this? Whose idea is it? I'm sure that Floret, who is queen here, knows, but asking her directly might reveal too much, and trying to covertly gather information from a queen is difficult. I believe I will cross town and try again tomorrow. There is a second hive in Manehattan, perhaps they will know more.

Then go and find out. And thank you again.

I live for the welfare of the hive, said Quicksilver, with a little mental laugh. She mocked herself for saying it, yet I know it was nothing but the truth. She was risking her life by going into enemy hives like this. Even if this one had proved to be relatively safe, others might not be so peaceful.

As I puled my mind away from Quicksilver, I found some of the fear and tension that had kept me up was easing. I sighed and rested my head against a drone who was curled up next to me. Pinkie was still there, a warm presence against my stomach. With my head pillowed on the drone and the rest of them pressing close around me, I finally drifted off to sleep.

---

I woke with a sense of urgency. Something needed my attention.

My queen! I am very sorry to wake you, but I think you'd better see this.

I blinked, my vision double for a moment as I saw my dim bedroom chamber overlaid with a room full of early morning sunlight. I let my attention go to the second image, and found myself once again looking through Ambassador Wildcard's eyes. His ruined desk had been replaced with a larger, sturdier one. Spread out on it was a newspaper. There was a photo, a little blurry but easy enough to tell what was going on, of a changeling drone cowering at the feet of a guardspony.

"Changeling Chaos in Canterlot!" read the headline. My spirits sank. That didn't sound good.

It gets better. Or worse, maybe, said Wildcard. His eyes scanned down to the article beneath the picture.

Did somepony you know made sudden, frantic excuses at 11:03 yesterday morning before running off? Well, we hate to be the bearers of bad news here at The Canterlot Chronicle, but chances are that your special somepony, friend, or acquaintance was a changeling!

There was more, but I didn't bother to read it. That much was bad enough.

There were several reporters snooping around yesterday. I didn't tell them anything. Maybe I should have, since the rest of the article is full of wild speculation. There's another batch of them at the door now, being held off by the guard, and it's probably going to get worse as the day goes on.

Well, this is what you're ambassador for, I said, sending a wry sympathy to him. Time to earn your pay. I made a mental note to see about finding some way to actually pay him. The hive didn't use money, but those changelings that lived among ponies would find it useful, I knew. You should call a press conference and set things straight. Don't go into much detail about the war, but you can tell them the truth about the situation yesterday, and about Celestia's position. Reassure them that ponies are being kept out of it as much as possible. Let's try to avoid starting a panic.

Will do, he said with a nod.

I stayed with him as he trotted to the well-guarded door. Outside, a dozen more guards stood in a half-circle, blocking the path to the embassy door. Beyond them a handful of ponies, several obviously reporters with cameras, hovered expectantly.

Wildcard cleared his throat. "I'll be holding a press conference this afternoon, at two o'clock. I'll answer your questions about yesterday's events then. Thank you."

"Can you tell us where the replaced ponies are?" shouted a reporter.

Wildcard scowled. "I'll answer your questions at the press conference. Not now. If there are any reporters still here in five minutes, I'll have the guard escort you from the premises."

There was a muttering from the little crowd, but they slowly dispersed. When the reporters had gone, however, there were two ponies still standing there. "I'm not answering any questions," said Wildcard.

"The only question I have is where is Silver Song," said one of them, a unicorn mare who looked frazzled and afraid. "The real one, I mean. What did you do with her? Do you have her in one of those cocoons in there? She's my friend, I don't want her to be hurt."

Wildcard sighed. "Those ponies who were being replaced have already been returned, ma'am. We do not have any ponies here, only changelings."

"Silver Song didn't come back."

"That's because she was a changeling all along," said the other pony. She was a light purple earth pony, who seemed a bit familiar to me for some reason, and she sounded more than a little irritated. "Don't be any more dense than you have to be."

"Silver Song was a good pony, not a changeling!"

"Silver Song was a good enough changeling to make a good pony. So are you here to see her, or are you just going to continue being deluded?"

"I... I... She was a pony. She wasn't some kind of monster. She was my friend."

"She might still be you friend," said the earth pony softy. "Why don't you find out? That's..." she trailed off, swallowing and blinking sudden tears from her eyes before continuing. "That's what I'm here to find out." She turned to Wildcard, looking at him over the backs of the guardsponies. "I want to talk to High Peak. If... if he's still alive. I know some of them didn't make it. If he's there, and if he will see me, I want to talk to him, please."

Wildcard could taste her emotional turmoil. She was very conflicted, but she was also very sincere, and he tasted no hatred from her. "I'll let him know you're here," he said. He looked at the other mare. "And I will let Silver Song know too."

"Tell her it's Sunbeam," said the unicorn.

Wildcard nodded and relayed the information over the bond to the changelings within. Getting confused assent from both of them, he turned to the guardsponies. "They can come in."

They parted, letting the two mares into the embassy.

A pair of changeling drones stood in the front room of the embassy. To pony eyes they were perfectly identical. The mares both looked back and forth between them. Sunbeam spoke first. "Are you... uh, is one of you Silver Song?"

"Yes," said one drone, taking a hesitant step forward.

The purple mare's eyes went immediately to the other drone. "High Peak?" she said. Her voice was shaky, uncertain.

"Lilac. You... you didn't have to come." His voice was even more so. He was nearly paralyzed, seeing her there. When he'd realized that he'd been revealed, he'd thought it was over. Now he didn't know if he should hope that she still cared, or fear that she'd come to denounce him and leave him forever.

"Yes I did." She ran at him suddenly and hugged him. He stiffened in shock, then hugged her back, feeling her love flood into him. She held him tightly for a long time, not seeming to mind that he was a chitinous changeling and not a pony. Finally she stepped back and said, "I had to at least know if you were alive. The paper said several of the changelings had been killed. You don't know how glad I am to see you're still alive."

"I do know," he said softly.

She looked at him, a shiver of nervousness going through her. Then she gave him a tentative smile. "I guess you would. That's how you always knew just what I needed, wasn't it? You could taste it, or whatever it is changelings do."

"Yes."

"I... I guess I'm glad, really. I have to ask, though... It wasn't just an act, was it? It wasn't just... just... feeding? Was it?" Her smile had vanished, and tears were standing in her eyes again.

"No, never." His reply was instant. Then he hesitated and continued, "Well... at the very beginning, yes. But the more I knew you, the more I saw how wonderful you were, and how High Peak never appreciated what he had in you. I could have just fed from you that first time, when I came home, and then gone back to the hive. That's what I originally planned. Living long term in somepony else's life isn't something we normally do. But I couldn't give you up, or Cotton, or Butterscotch. It started as feeding, but I wouldn't have stayed for six years for that."

Lilac smiled, though it was still tearful. "I am so sorry I delayed you so long yesterday. I don't know how I would live with myself if you'd been killed. It would have been my fault."

"You didn't know any better. You couldn't have known."

"I wish I had. I wish you'd told me. As soon as I saw the story in the paper, I know. That sudden, weirdly urgent trip to some mountaineering conference last June, right before the changeling invasion. The way you were so different six years ago. I knew." She smiled at him, with tears in her eyes. "And I knew something else too. I knew that you have been a better husband to me than that jerk who fathered my foals and then spent every second he could away from us ever was! I love you, High Peak, or whatever your real name might be."

This time it was High Peak who moved forward and hugged her tightly. "I love you too, Lilac. I love you so much. I thought I'd lost you forever. I never want to be apart from you again."

"You won't be," said Lilac.

High Peak pulled back from the embrace, shaking his head. "Yes I will be, at least for a little while. I can't stay here in the open, it's too dangerous. I have to go back to the hive. I do promise I'll come back when this is over though."

"You won't be, because I'm coming with you."

"But... the kids..."

"Gran was already going to take them for two weeks so we could have that big anniversary trip next month. She can take them early. They're at her place right now already, and I mentioned the possibility to her before I came here."

"But we're at war. You might get hurt!"

"So might you. I'm not letting you go alone, and that's final."

"You don't know what it's like in the hive."

"I imagine it's full of changelings. They all survive there somehow, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Lilac... it'll be dark, and they don't have beds, and there's not much you could eat there but mushrooms. Are you sure?"

"I'm not leaving you."

High Peak looked over at Wildcard, as if pleading for him to intervene. Wildcard shook his head. "I won't tell her no if she wants to come. The love she has for you could spell the difference between survival and starvation, with how few infiltrators we have left."

"See? I can help. I'm coming, and that's that."

"Yes love," said High Peak with a little sigh.

"Oh, don't act like a martyr." Lilac smiled at him.

"I never act like a martyr."

"You always act like a martyr. But you know you love making me happy." Lilac suddenly blinked, as the familiar argument suddenly had all new meaning. Then she laughed. "And I guess my happiness is tasty, hmm?"

High Peak chuckled weakly. "Well... yes. It's quite delicious."

Sunbeam and the other changeling had stood and watched all this with fascination. As High Peak and Lilac turned to speak more softly to each other, Sunbeam said, "So I guess you're really Silver Song? You didn't replace her?"

"No. I created her when I first came here, so I could try to make friends."

"You did a pretty good job at it."

Silver Song smiled a little wryly. "Not really. The only good friend I've made so far is you."

"Well... I'm a good enough friend to go trying to hunt you down when I thought changelings had got you, so I still think that you did pretty good."

"Thank you."

"And maybe..." Sunbeam looked over at Lilac and High Peak. "Maybe I can do a little more. Maybe I can come with you back to your hive too."

"What? But... but what about university? You'll miss your classes!"

"You know I was only going 'cause mom wanted me to get a degree. I don't have any use for it, I'm not going to actually be an art teacher, I'm going to be an artist. Most of my classes don't teach me anything I hadn't already learned. You know I hate half of them, and the other half are fun but not challenging."

"But..."

"But me no buts." Sunbeam grinned, and Silver Song couldn't help but smile. "I'll bring my sketchpad and do a bunch of studies while I'm there. 'Life in the hive.' That's something new and different enough that I might finally get my break and get into a real gallery. So don't try to stop me!"

Silver Song shook her head. "I guess I won't. But I will say thank you. Thank you so much. When they said you were here, I was so afraid."

"Yeah, I almost was kind of an idiot about it. I'm glad Lilac was here to show me a little sense. But you're the same pony I always knew, that's pretty obvious to me now."

Amazing, I said softly to Wildcard. I never would have thought this could happen.

Ponies are something else, aren't they? Too bad that none of the reporters are likely to be this reasonable. He sighed.

I don't envy you that task. I do, however, thank you for this. Let any pony that wants to come to the hive. Hopefully there they won't be in any danger, and if enough come, then we don't need to worry about our reduced number of infiltrators. Even without the Royal Guard, ponies may save us after all.

---

Feeling lifted by hope, both for the hive's survival and for my long-term wish for friendship with ponies, I swept my attention through the hive, checking that all was well elsewhere. The main hive itself was. Drones were going about their business undisturbed. I made certain that some new construction, which would be needed with the extra population of infiltrators and ponies that would soon arrive, was going as planned, and dropped Wildcard a reminder to send as much pony-suitable food as possible with the eventual caravan that would carry the returning infiltrators and whatever pony friends and family came with them. The mushrooms that were the staple diet here would keep ponies alive, but I knew they were used to more varied fare. Changelings tended to vary our diets with meat, but I knew that most ponies would not appreciate being served that, not even if it were just fish or insects.

The hive's warriors were alert, keeping their guard stations at the entrances and near the nursery chambers. I had pulled down all the barrier magic keeping ponies out. I spent a moment to wonder if I could design a spell that would let changelings of my hive in, but keep others out. I would have to ask Twilight about it.

Seeing that all was as it should be with the hive itself, I sent my attention out further. The remaining infiltrators in the small towns around Canterlot were doing well. There had been no suspicious signs to point to enemy changelings. They were keeping their schedule of replacements alternating with trips back to the hive to share the energy they gathered.

I skipped out further still, finding Quicksilver in Manehattan. She was in a hotel room, sound asleep. Interestingly, even in sleep her mind was layered. I wondered if all three of them could dream. None of them were dreaming at the moment, so I left her and finally visited the furthest mind from the hive, Bright Steel.

The center of her world, at the moment, was cold. She was still wearing pegasus form, but even so, she was chilled to the bone. She and Shade were slogging their way along a narrow, winding road, knee-deep in snow. The sky above was clear, but all that meant was that the sun off the snow was nearly blinding.

They had left their cave not long after sunrise, and had managed to find their way to a road that would eventually lead them to their destination by land, but that route would take far more than the single day of flight they'd originally anticipated. It would be more like a week. Perhaps even longer, as they would have to forage for food, since they hadn't brought a week's worth of supplies. Bright's wing would probably be healed enough for her to fly before then, it had only been dislocated, but for the next few days, at least, the pair were definitely grounded.

Neither one was going to turn back, however. Bright Steel could taste Shade's determination, and her own was just as strong. His princess and her queen had given them their orders. They would persevere until their mission was accomplished.

Right now that meant trudging through the snow. Bright's hooves were numb. The rest of her wasn't doing much better. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be stuck out here in her natural form.

Still, at least the air was calm. There was no wind whatsoever. The forest was perfectly silent, all the animals gone south or asleep for the winter. There was nobody for miles and miles. Just an endless expanse of snow-covered evergreen trees, climbing the slopes of the mountains that towered around them.

In the silence, it was quite easy to hear the crunching of hooves in snow from behind them. Bright and Shade both paused and looked back. Around a corner came a familiar green crystal pony, wearing a parka and towing a large sled behind him. It was Peridot.

"Hello there!" he called out cheerfully. He trotted along the road, hardly seeming to notice the weight of the sled behind him. "Say, you're that bat-pony from the library! Have you been to the fort yet?"

Shade shook his head, still staring in surprise at Peridot. "No, we were grounded by the storm yesterday."

"That would explain why you're walking again. Where did the, uh... changeling? That's what you called her, yes? Where did the changeling with you go? And who is this fine-looking pegasus?"

"Oh. I am Bright Steel, the changeling." Bright felt a little bit odd about saying that. Even though she was not an infiltrator, and not used to hiding in pony form, it seemed unnatural to admit to being a changeling while disguised.

Peridot's eyes went wide. Then he gasped in delight. "You can shape-shift? Of course you can! Love Wardens were meant to be hidden, secret. What better way than to be shape-shifters? That's amazing! You have to tell me how you do it!"

"What are you doing out here anyway?" asked Shade.

"Oh, I was curious about Fort Winter. I've always sort of wanted to go, and I thought that if you found any secret entrances or such there, that it might make it easier for me to find them later. So I figured since you wouldn't bring me along, I'd just take a camping trip and go see for myself." He took another look at the half-frozen pair and added, "Maybe it's a good thing I did. You two want a ride?"

Shade hesitated, but Bright didn't. She was aching and cold and if this pony was offering to carry her on his sled she was not going to turn him down. "Yes, please. That would be good."

"Climb on then." Peridot gestured to the sled. Bright climbed into it without hesitation. Shade eyed it, then snorted and shook his head. "No thanks. I'll walk."

"Suit yourself." Periodot started forward at an easy trot, his hooves crunching through the snow. Bright smiled at Shade as she slid by him on the back of the sled. Shade muttered something under his breath and trotted after the other two.

Author's Note:

Lilac is one of my favorite OCs. Her and High Peak are way too much fun. They are also at least mildly inspired by Nyerguds' marvelous Flitter.

P.S. As always, if you'd like to get these chapters early, among other perks, consider supporting me on Patreon.

Comments

[Aziraphael]

Interesting developments, indeed. The press might not be openly on Sweetcake's side, but I think this could go a long way to getting public opinion on her side. And with the fractious nature of the alliance against her, if public opinion sways far enough, it might make some of the stronger hives turn their back on whoever is pulling the strings, since at least one of the major hives doesn't seem to really care about the attack to begin with.

Sweetcake's big advantage has always been that she can move and act publicly, which gives her a lot more cards up her sleeve than the other hives seem to realise. It'll be interesting to see how some of the less dedicated hives react when they see exactly how much power Sweetcake's position gives her, even while outnumbered, outmanned, and unprepared.

Of course, that's all assuming the other hives don't make a concerted effort to turn public opinion against her. That would be a big problem.

[Diamond Sparkle]

The agent was very wise not to enter the Queen's mind.

[Daralyn]

nicely done chapter.
Lilac and High Peak are great. This is kind of how I imagined integration of changelings into pony society... not eating pack of crayons and fall into a cotton candy machine.
Now dont misunderstood, episode with Thorax was decent - In Times They Are Changeling - I mean, but if this would be a anime or show for older audience, this would be much more natural than what they did in S 6 finale.
It was nice and sweet.

[Slavenger Karl]

Well, I wonder how will the meeting of the visiting ponies with Sweetcake go...

[Phoen1x]

It gets better. Or worse, maybe, said Wildcard.

"maybe," should be italicized.

Bright's wing would probably be healed enough for her to fly before then, it had only been dislocated, but for the next few

Either add an "as" before "it", or if you'd prefer to keep the wording, the commas could be replaced with dashes to indicate an aside.

"Climb on then." Peridot gestured to the sled. Bright climbed into it without hesitation. Shade eyed it, then snorted and shook his head. "No thanks. I'll walk."

Add a paragraph between the two speakers.

Good shit, man.

[tsaukpaetra]

Heh, knew he would catch up somehow. Too invested not to.
Well, all the more reason to dig in, if the stated position isn't faithfully held by all member hives...

[ChakatRedstripe]

Awesome chapter, I'm really liking all the characters