Hive Diplomacy

by Kinni

Entertainment and Fourth Discussion

Cadance went back to her room almost like it was a dream. Her thoughts were in too much disarray for her to remember much about when she was walking there. But by the time the princess was in her room, she managed to recover enough to actively try to understand what was going on with her feelings.

And she quickly managed to recognize the source of all those jumbled up feelings inside herself. It was Queen Chrysalis. Cadance also understood that this was not something that had developed suddenly, but something that that had been growing unnoticed ever since the first time she saw the Changeling Queen. Or perhaps even earlier, when she dreamed about meeting the Changelings and their Queen.

In fact, the latter seemed more plausible, but it wouldn't have been any more than a simple interest, except their interactions after they actually met had caused those feelings to grow, as the Princess of Bonds understood more and more about the Queen of the Changelings and was attracted to what she had found. And those feelings ended up crossing the barrier into true and genuine affection and love after the events of the previous day served as a catalyst.

Many would misunderstand things or try to deny their feelings, but Cadance was the Alicorn of Bonds, she could no more do any of that than Princess Celestia could put out the sun. But the main question then became, what should she do about those feelings?

She had already robotically grabbed the dinner delivered to her door, and was eating without being able to feel the taste. While she ate, she recognized that as the most important question. At first, she tried to feel if the state of her heart would interfere in the promise she had made the day before, about helping the Changelings.

She was happy to see that her resolution still had just as much strength as before, if not more. It made sense, since Chrysalis loved the Changelings, so helping them would make her happy.

In that case, she already knew one of the things she would do about it, simply continue with her efforts at diplomacy, because her feelings didn't change her mission. With this, Cadance managed to recover most of her equilibrium, since she had remembered her mission, and its importance.

But that still left how she would deal with Chrysalis herself. The Princess could tell she loved the Queen of the Changelings, but she was somewhat confused about how to express that love. What did she actually want from Chrysalis was still something unclear, except for the fact she didn't want to be apart from her in some sense.

Cadance then realized she was thinking about things from the wrong angle. She didn't need to plan about how she would deal with Chrysalis, she could just follow her heart and hope for the best. After all, love was not something you could decide and manage entirely on your own, it needed to experience and communicate with the other, otherwise there was no point. The Princess would act and react based on her feelings when she could interact with Chrysalis.

Everything decided, Cadance's heart settles and she recovered full control of her faculties. Since it was still too early to go to bed, she went to finish the first puzzle book and start the second, doing a lot more puzzles than she had been able to in the previous days. Eventually, she went to sleep.

The next morning, Cadance woke up with a frown. Her dream had been pleasant, since she had managed to talk with Chrysalis about her feelings in it. It was annoying to be put back in square one. Still, she didn't let it bother her too much, and did her usual morning routine until Light Keeper came to take her to today's spot on the schedule.

He seemed significantly happier than any other time she had seen him. The princess didn't need to ask why that was the case, considering just what was happening that day. Still, it was nice to see him like that.

"This is amazing. Mask will even reprise the most popular performance of the troupe. I'm sure you'll like it." He said with a broad smile.

"The High Chief of Entertainment?" Cadance deduced.

"Yes. She gained her position by being very good at writing, scripting and everything similar. And she is also very prollific. This earned her the title Factory of Stories." It seemed like there was an inside joke she wasn't getting.

"Hm... Now I'm interested in reading something by her. What do you reccomend?" She asked.

This led to a big monologue about the merits of some of her diverse stories. Cadance made a few notes about things she was interested in, but soon they reached a place that was very different from any other in the hive.

It was an enormous space. It was an order of magnitude larger than anywhere else she had went to before. The only comparison she could make was with the central portion of Manehattan. There were numberless small merchants peddling their wares, small performers doing their acts and small buildings of varied forms, many of them seeming to be temporary. All those things were spread all over where Cadance could see.

And there were Changelings, a ridiculous amount of Changelings. So many Changelings she could believe that every single Changeling in the world were all under that same ceiling, sharing that same space.

"Welcome to the Central Square. The heart of the hive." Light announced, in a flamboyant manner perhaps more befitting of Aqua.

And they walked around, with Cadance looking everywhere to try and capture every single interesting detail she could. But there was no way she could see everything, even if she spent the entire day only trying to do it. But perhaps the most interesting thing she saw was many of the guests walking around casually like they did that everyday. It was quite possible that some of them did.

Still, they had a planned destination, and it didn't take all that long for them to reach a small stage where a female Changeling with a sack on her back was directing other Changelings in setting up curtains.

"Oh hey, it's the heroine of the moment." Said Mask, upon spotting Cadance. She then walked towards her.

"Heroine? I guess you can consider it that way." Cadance admitted "Bye Light." She said, upon noticing that Light Keeper was sneaking away again.

"Bye." He said, and then left.

Cadance turned back to mask, and received a small black sphere sculpted to be similar to an insect from inside the sack "Thank you." She said automatically.

"That's from one of our newest sculptors." Mask said proudly "Let's walk around and see what fun we can find."

That was exactly what Cadance wanted to do, so she followed the Changeling chief and they walked aimlessly through the square. The Princess could tell, because Mask was looking around side to side, in search of cool stuff.

First, they stopped to watch three Changeling brothers doing a mix of acrobatics and juggling. Mask advised them about various things they could do to make the performance more elaborate, like but objects to serve as obstacles to work around. She gave them a small red pin from inside her sack. Later, they saw a Changeling nymph (only a bit older than the kindergarten ones) doing a sort of acrobatic dance performance that was full of spins. Mask advised her to keep her attention on the audience, and make her movements in a way their best view was pointed towards them. She also gave the nymph a golden top from the sack. Then they saw a Changeling mare who was reciting poetry, who Mask advised on how to vocalize more effectively so that her words could be understood more easily, and gave a small decorated paper scroll.

And that went on, with Mask having advice for every single performer they met, not matter their specialties. Cadance was amazed at Mask's abilities, but even more amazed at the fact that she never seemed condescending or disapproving of their attempts. Eventually, she started talking about her work.

"This is pretty much a hobby for me. My real job is mostly managing the flow of resources that can be used by the performers. And also the distribution of works like books and paintings, where it is something solid that the artist can create. Apart from that I just lead the Troupe, the most talented group of artists and performers in the swarm. I decide who to invite and what the group will perform, as well as when." Mask was very casual about things "My job is important to keep everyone happy, and that is pretty much the only thing that really matters in my opinion."

"That's a nice way of putting things." Cadance said.

Afterward, the Changeling took Cadance to see the highly anticipated show, which was held in an open theather with an immense number of seats. And even that number was not enough, as other Changelings were hanging seats on the ceiling, creating a tridimensional seating arena, just to give a place for every single Changeling (and others) who wanted to see the performance.

And the Princess didn't have to wait overly long for the show to start. Soon, the whole swarm was silent, the stage was set and the first actor walked on stage.

Mask hadn't said anything about what kind of show it actually was, or what it was about, and Cadance soon understood why. She would have difficulty in describing what she was seeing and hearing in an eloquent manner. It was a play, because it told a story, but some parts had dialogue, some parts had singing and some parts were absolutely silent. It was a display of acrobatic skill, both in the small, precise movements and in the large, sweeping aerial dances. The best she could describe it would be as a mix of styles.

And the story wasn't any easier to explain. The temporal order was anacronic, seeming to be unconcerned with a simple progression. In fact, the story seemed to be told in a thematic fashion, going through moments of action, then moments of sadness, then moments of comedy, and on and on... And the itself wasn't that easy to follow, because it seemingly was trying to give the viewer the true essence of Changeling history and culture. And yet, she could only understand it because she had already learned a lot about who the Changelings were.

It didn't help that every Changeling played at least five different characters, with very little to distinguish them, specially given there were characters whose simillarities were intentionally highlighted.

Still, at the end of it all, Cadance wasn't the least bit hesitant to join in the ridiculously loud cheer that filled the stands. The clapping lasted for a long time, and it was absolutely deserved.

The Princess waited until the Changeling High Chief came back to take her to Chrysalis.

"You know. That was my masterpiece, but I've been thinking of creating something even better." Mask said.

"That was really good, so I would be interested in seeing what else you can come up with." Cadance spoke seriously.

"I'm planning on making something simple yet meaningful. I actually got some inspiration from your visit." Mask smiled at her.

"Oh... That... I don't know how to respond to that." Cadance said truthfully.

"Just try to make sure this story would have a happy ending." The Changeling said.

Cadance blinked, then nodded.

This time, the place she was taken to was actually the same place where the chrysalised Changelings had been kept. And Chrysalis was already hard at work, putting a big number of Changelings in stasis. The Princess waited until Chrysalis was free.

"I have good news for you." The Queen said with a smile.

"Oh? What kind?" Cadance said, already smiling herself.

'Your little miracle has made the Swarm very happy." Chrysalis said, with a nod "You've seen how they've been celebrating all day."

"Right." Said Cadance, that had seemed to be the case.

"And this has been the final nail necessary for us to agree to give your plan a try." Chrysalis said, broadening her smile a bit.

Cadance went through a quick sucession of emotions upon hearing this. First she was elated with the prospect that her mission would be a success. Then, she felt sadness, at the prospect of having to leave. Then, her mood recovered upon thinking of Chrysalis openly visiting Equestria to talk more about diplomatic issues. In the end, Cadance kept her smile, even if her eyes contained a hint of wistfullness.

"This is certainly good news." She said.

Chrysalis would have answered, but another Changeling marked for stasis came into the room, and she went to create a chrysalis for him as well.

When she came back, Cadance could tell that something was wrong, and immediately guessed what it had to be.

"How are you holding up?" She asked, with concern.

Chrysalis looked at her for a moment in surprise, before starting to talk with a hitch in her voice.

"It was so good to see all of them awake just for today... But now I have to make them go to sleep again." Cadance could see that her eyes were watering.

"Do you know why rationing love is necessary?" Chrysalis asked, but didn't wait for an answer "It's all my fault. When I became Queen, I decided that the Changelings should grow and expand, and this would lead us to even more love, which would allow further expansion." She stopped for a moment "But instead, all that did was create a shortage of love that could only be dealt with like this. And it never ends, it just gets worse." Chrysalis seemed to be almost to the point of tears.

Cadance didn't think. She reacted. She followed her heart. Before she could even tell what she was doing, the princess was hugging the Queen.

That seemed to be too much, Chrysalis started crying and repeating "I'm sorry", while Cadance was saying "It's okay, we can deal with this." before being reduced to simply trying to confort the crying Changeling beside her.

Comments

[Phaoray]

Another good chapter. I am enjoying the history and culture you are presenting for the changeling hive. I do think it a little odd for Cadance to be in love after meeting someone a few times in less than a week, but, meh, I'll go with it.

[Razzy]

Figures changeling theatre would be, all, very changing.

Ship it like FedEx!

Poor Chryssie... I really hope it all goes well.