Emerald eyes glared at me for a long moment before the insectoid owner finally spoke up, her voice somewhere just north of liquid helium. “Sir.”
“Evening, Skitter,” I said carefully, shifting my wings slightly. I had let the illusion over my wings drop as we were in Luna's and my rooms. Everyone with access already knew. “What did I do?”
“You sent Amber away,” she said with a frown. “Page, she was with you for a reason.”
I frowned right back at her as I put the box with my Chakram in a bigger trunk along with my other things I was going to bring.
“Skitter, I figured the safety of the world was worth slightly higher risk for me. I was with the Elements and Princess Twilight. I was fine.”
“You were not fine! You got hit!”
“…Okay, sure. But not seriously. Wasn’t even hurt, not really,” I admitted. “Honestly… And the message needed to be delivered. What if something had happened and it was worse than I originally thought? What if Princess Celestia had had her special talent stolen?”
Skitter stared at me for a long moment before she sighed. “…Fine.”
“Amber didn’t get into trouble, did she?”
“No, it was a legitimate order. The safety of the hive supersedes yours,” Skitter admitted, her wings buzzing for a second in annoyance. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“I didn’t like getting smacked down either so I guess we are even then,” I commented and walked up, wrapping my wing around the changeling, leaning against her larger side.
It’s funny really, they were softer than they looked. Their ‘shell’ had quite a lot of spring in it.
“And what is this I heard about the griffons?” she asked, as she turned her head. “You are leaving?”
I shook my head. “No. No way to catch up with the airship, not over open water.”
“Amber and Leaf will be waiting for you tomorrow then,” she said with a nod.
Pulling back, I frowned at the slightly taller changeling. “Two? Seriously?”
“You seem to need it! That way, one can be sent for a threat against the hive and the second can stay and keep you safe.”
“I… No, Skitter. One, okay. Two? You can’t have half your hive following me around!” I exclaimed, spreading my wings. “Chrysalis can’t order you around anymore, you don’t need to keep protecting me anymore.”
“No. But I want to.”
“Skitter… I can’t have two changelings following me around, we are in Canterlot, I don’t need one guard, yet alone two!”
She glared at me before she nodded. “…Very well. Amber and one of the ponies.”
“Skitter…”
“One of the warriors. The guards. Sunset Shimmer will be too busy protecting herself when she is around to be able to protect you if you get in danger,” she said and shook her head. “So it has to be an actual guard. One sworn to protect you.”
“Skitter, that’s really no….” I trailed off when I saw her expression. It was the one that told me I had already lost and there was really no use arguing anymore. Nothing I said could possibly change her mind.
I shook my head and sighed. “…Fine,” I finally said. “I’ll ask the Night Guard for a volunteer.”
“Thank you.”
“How have you been then?” I asked as I returned to my unpacking, scowling at the new formal suit Rarity made for me. I was thankful and all, but… suit. Not really my thing.
Skitter smiled and settled down, jumping onto one of the chairs, lying down with her front legs hooked over the armrest. Why they were called that here, I had no idea.
“Good. But very busy,” she admitted and her wings buzzed for a second. “Princess Celestia keeps me… very busy. Her lessons are thorough and very, very…”
“Boring?” I suggested with a smile.
She frowned. “Experienced.”
Oh, I had to remember that one next time I talked to Celestia. “Well… thousands of years of ruling.”
Skitter nodded. “I know. It’s just… so much I need to learn and I keep feeling like I will never be able to learn everything I need.”
“You will be able to handle it,” I said with a smile. “You are already good at handling your mini-hive. Just do what you think is right.”
“…But what if the right thing turns out to be the wrong thing?”
I shook my head. “You never know that. All you or anyone can do is their best, use their best judgement. But I do know you, Skitter. You will make the right call… and if you make a mistake, you will learn from it.”
Skitter frowned to herself. “… I hope so, sir.”
Walking over to her, I poked her with my wing, focusing on love to give her a burst of it. “I know you will. And you can always ask someone with experience. You are not alone in this.”
Skitter smiled slightly and leaned against my side.
Yay, Skitter gets some much needed screen time
GO TO BED
I swear though, the chapters are so small, it's not even a meal, more like handing us a cracker and saying "Enjoy"
Not even a saltine, just a plain cracker...
Hey, Skitter came to visit. He really does have a lot of ponies that care for him around him now though. He's really done well in networking.
7982694 Nah, it's like those fancy little bites at classy catered events. They tasted great, but they are really small and you can only take one, maybe two every time the tray comes round or you go to the table, but play your timing right and you get a full meal
SKITTER!!!. Yay!!!
Also Chakram!!! Double yay!!
Night guard huh?
I'd say Cloud or Swift Spear.
7982685 don't you mean....PAGE TIME?!
... I'll...Just see my way out...
7982749 You do that. Bad Eliseo, bad!
7982770 I'm sorry... I think I'm just a little...
Drunk on sleep!
Get it, get it, cause your...Name...
I'm just...Gonna go now...
To sleep, hopefully, for the sake of everyone's sanity...
7982794
7982794 Twice... Twice in a row... BAD PWNY! BAD...!
7982814 MUST...RESIST...MUST...cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder506/51025506.jpg
...TO...MAKE...THIRD...PUNN...!!!
7982845 No! Bad reader. Bad *gets spritz bottle
7982910 *shot goes off in the distance* oh...you don't have to worry about him any more...He was about to go too far
...so I killed him...
7982926 It's a synth!
7982749 i lol'd
7982926 *watches from on high as several hundred people descend on him because I won't finish my stories
7982958 *looks at the swarm unflinching* "well, I guess you could say I'm going to suffer a cruel fate...
A cruel and...twisted fa-
*BOOM!*"
"And stay dead, you sunofabich!!! now excuse me while I go dig his grave before he has a chance to come back to life... Anybody has a brick I can shove him his mouth just in case?"
7983000 *Offers Brick Flagg...* here, fill it good
7983021 thanks. this dumbass is easy to kill, but hard to keep dead...
7982688 NEVER!!!
7982741 I bet 5 mustaches on Cloud!
Finally Skitter indeed! Her overprotective attitude really suits her now, even as a queen in progress!
7982694 At least his update speed is great.
Just imagine if he took months to publish a new chapter...
Nice chapter, good work.
Skitter! I miss Skitter...we need more changeling scenes in general. Hmmm...maybe you can have Queen Skitter and her mini hive do a publicity tour around Equestria to improve pony-changeling relations? That can open up some story arc for them and give us some new locations to work with.
EDIT: Also an excuse for Skitter to drag Blank Page around with her...he is the changeling ambassador more or less lol
Secret to studying things quickly? Shadow Clones!
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
*POOF* x100
"Fun?"
"Fun!"
"Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun!...."
orig04.deviantart.net/fc9d/f/2017/059/f/4/war_mage_shimmer_by_sipioc-db0ok9g.jpg
War Mage Shimmer!
So awesome!
7986521 Your pic isn't working, something about an error
orig04.deviantart.net/fc9d/f/2017/059/f/4/war_mage_shimmer_by_sipioc-db0ok9g.jpg 7986693 now?
7986717 Nope, I even tried to see in a new tab, here's what I got
ERROR
The request could not be satisfied.
CloudFront is currently experiencing problems with requesting objects from Amazon S3.
7986765 weird. I can see it, on both of them.
I think it would be awesome if page got the alicorn amulet to boost his magic. He could not be corrupted by it because his mind is human and resist to dark magic, or he could just be worthy of it so the amulet does not corrupt him. Plus, how could he succumb to the darkness when he has Luna's beautiful moon to guide him back to the light.
7986766 Came back to check again, it works now, whatever that was the problem is fixed.
And it looks nice, Sunset in uniform, the war mage outfit kinda gives off a "State Alchemist" vibe.
7987372
But the question is WHY would he need to use the Alicorn amulet??? If anything, Page would just complain to Celestia (again) about the lack of security over dangerous items/enemies...and then lock that necklace up where NO PONY will get to it!
wait wasn't his chakram destroyed by tirek?!
7985598
Rainbow Dash: "How's this getup supposed to work, again? "
Page *finishing snapping the skyskies to his hooves and donning a pair of goggles with his magic*: "The airship's thata way and they have four-day head start on us. We should catch them in about an hour."
Rainbow Dash: "Well, sure--if I can maintain my Rainbowboom for that long...but..."
Page *biting down on RD's tail, snaps whip*: "HEEYAH, MULE! GITTEEUP!!"
Rainbow Dash: "YEEEOOOUUUCCCCCCCCHHHHHH! "
*KAAATTHHUUUM!*
Luna: "PAGE!!?? How did--?? "
Rainbow Dash: "whimper "
7987418
Why don’t they just take the big bad stuff and throw it to the moon or sun?
Plz ship...
*2000 years later (1000 is overrated)
Yaaay!
9248140
reminds me of a story where Luna sent Sombra and Chrysalis to the moon, and maybe Tirek too!
9509972
Name, Please..or link
9155031
New one
...Is it just me, or does Page seem to be turning into QUITE the ladies man...?
Clever Cuddlebug Princess ♡
10522527
I think that it's more that he's just too nice for his own good. And I can't fault the character for it, either. Though I suppose you're right, in a sense - but I wouldn't say that he's going for that angle on purpose.
The fact that he's apparently quite easy on the eyes does seem to help, for starters. Quite brave (and/or foolish) as well - that has to appeal. And let's not forget the skewed sex ratio in this world, and the fact that ponies are more open about themselves in general. In short: it's not surprising that he seems to be drawing mares left, right and centre.
But in the end, I think it's more that this world is tilted towards females being in positions of power and import - so it's only natural that those are the interactions he's having the most (and thus - getting fairly good at).
For talking back to Skitter?
Page shall get three guards