Change: The New Kingdom

by tom117z

8 - Expedition

Today was the day.

Queen Twilight Sparkle was stood outside Canterlot, watching as her drones ran a few checks on the last couple of carriages about to make the flight to Vanhoover. The morning was still cool and early, the birds living around Mount Canterhorn making their first chirps of a new day, much to Fluttershy’s inevitable delight.

Most had already departed, of course. Those Equestrians not already aboard the HMS Clover the Clever in Vanhoover had departed via helicopter with Captain Valiant but an hour ago. Her changelings were not far behind, carrying all Twilight would need for her research as well as other odds and ends the hive was bringing along. All that was left was for the Queen and her Captain of the Guard to depart with their entourage, after which Avia herself would be returning to the hive to take over as regent for the time being.

So too would Twilight’s friends be returning to their lives in Ponyville, and the rest of her family to their own seat of power in the Crystal Empire. As excited as she was for such a long-overdue scholarly exercise, the parting of ways between them and her was coming a bit too soon for her tastes.

Still, it had to happen. Long gone were their adventuring days, and the hive needed its Queen giving her undivided attention in its endeavour.

“That’s the last of everything” Façade informed his wife. “Anytime you want we can be on our way to Vanhoover, though I wouldn’t wait too long. I think we’re all eager to set off.”

“Then I suppose ya’ll should be moving,” Applejack commented, trotting up alongside the Changeling Queen. “Don’t feel right for ya to wait around on our account.”

“I’m sure she can spare a few moments for farewells,” Rarity added. “We absolutely must see you off properly. Especially on a task of such importance.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “If you say so, I’m just jealous she’ll be kicking Wendigo flank without us.”

“I doubt that,” Twilight replied with a chuckle. “If any Wendigos did not follow ponies to Equestria, thus avoiding being wiped out by the Fires of Friendship, chances are that they moved on a long time ago.”

“Come on, Twi. When have we ever been that lucky?”

“We do run into a lot of ancient bad things!” Pinkie chirped unhelpfully.

“Oh dear, you don’t think it’ll be that dangerous, do you?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“I wouldn’t worry, Mum is waaay scarier than anything the West can throw at her,” Avia pointed out.

Twilight raised a metaphorical eyebrow. “Scary, huh?”

“Well, I know you’re not really scary, but they don’t know that!”

“I don’t know…” Façade inferred. “Sometimes she can channel her mother pretty well.”

“Not helping,” Twilight deadpanned as the others giggled at her expense.

“Well, either way, you clearly have everything in hoof,” Princess Cadance said as she took a step forward. “All I ask is that you stop off at the Crystal Empire when all is said and done. It’s been too long.”

“Hey, any chance to admire my statue,” the voice of Spike sounded above them, the enormous dragon latched onto the mountainside above.

Twilight gave him a smirk. “Yes, any chance to admire the statue that, by this point, counts as a baby photo.”

“It is cute to imagine Uncle Spike so tiny and adorable,” Flurry Heart interjected.

“Please, Spikey-Wikey is still cute and adorable. Have you seen the collection of bow ties I made the dear for special occasions? They make him look quite handsome,” Rarity added in.

Spike, for many conflicting reasons, became a giant tomato.

“Alright, leave the guy alone,” Shining interrupted despite his own amusement. “Come on, Twily. Spike might be adorable, but you’ve still got a continent to explore.”

“Hey!”

“You brought it on yourself, Spike.”

The dragon gave an indignant puff of steam, but he otherwise didn’t press the issue further.

Twilight tittered behind a hoof, but she otherwise conceded her brother’s point. “Alright, yes. I suppose that’s enough fun for the time being. Are you all going to be alright?”

“Are you?” her brother shot back at her.

The Queen sighed, almost going to itch the scar on her chest before catching herself and resisting the act. “I… Yes, I think so. I’ll have plenty to distract me, though it is hard to not think about… Mum and Dad. But yeah, I will be okay, Shining.”

“Just remember that your brother is just a scroll away,” he reminded her, placing an empathetic hoof on her shoulder. The affection and brotherly love radiating from him was very comforting for the empath. “You might be the Queen, but I’m still the older sibling.”

“Doesn’t mean you are any less able to contact me, don’t forget,” she gently reminded him. “But I know, Shiny. Thank you.”

Shining Armor gave his younger adoptive sibling a small smile, leaving the matter at that.

“And you girls, have a safe trip home, alright?” Twilight next spoke to her friends.

“Shucks, Twi. You don’t need to worry none about us,” Applejack denied.

“Just have lots and lots of fun for us, okay!” Pinkie Pie stated, Fluttershy glancing at the mare and nodding along supportively.

“I will,” the Changeling Queen assured, finally turning to the last of those she needed to speak with. Avia, on her part, stood a short distance away with her Ponyville friends flanking her. She seemed… apprehensive, something Twilight didn’t need to be sensitive towards emotions to figure out. “And you, Avia. I expect a call the moment you find yourself somewhere that Carduus cannot help with.”

“Come on, I’ll be fine,” Avia tried to brush her mother off, but her subsequent chuckle was strained. “I’m just running the hive, what could go wrong?”

“Dude, never ask that. Ever,” Awesome Blitz deadpanned. “You’re just asking for it.”

“Oh, so that’s where we went wrong for all those years?” Sapphire enquired.

Apple Surprise scoffed. “Then it’s definitely your fault, Blitz.”

“Is not!”

“Girls!” Avia interrupted. “Knock it off!”

Façade laughed. “I suppose she could always take them on as her ‘royal advisors’.”

Avia took a step back. “What? No!”

“Hey, great idea!” Awesome Blitz supported. “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Royal Advisors! I don’t think we ever did that one.”

“Not happening.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we know the first thing about that,” Apple agreed.

“It’s not like we can just leave our lives in Ponyville,” Sapphire noted.

Apple Surprise then gave a hum of agreement. “Ma would have my hide if I up and left the farm.”

“Darn tootin’ I would!” Applejack shouted irritably from nearby.

The pegasus shrugged. “Eh, fine. Guess Avia will just have to manage without us.”

“I can manage!” the Princess protested. “Come on, guys. It has to happen sometime…”

Twilight shook her head, her eyes nevertheless twinkling with pride as she stepped forward and embraced her daughter in a warm hug. The encounter lasted several precious moments, but soon they had to break apart.

“I know you will do a wonderful job,” Twilight assured Avia. “As much as I worry, you are more than capable. You’re smart, level-headed and have the hive’s support. And mine.”

Avia glanced away, grateful but slightly embarrassed. “Thanks, Mum. I appreciate it.”

“Okay then. Now…” Twilight reluctantly stepped away from them all, turning to face her husband. “Shall we go?”

“Now would be a perfect time.”

“I’ll meet you there!” Spike called out, giving a nod and smile to the others before starting to beat his massive wings and kick off from the mountainside.

As the dragon circled a few times before getting his bearings and heading towards Vanhoover, the changelings all started to get into position for their own foray into the skies. Façade opened up the door into their own carriage, the Queen turning towards her gathered friends and family one last time.

“I’ll see you all when I get back, plenty of stories to tell. Give Celestia my love, I know she would have liked to see us off if royal life wasn’t so busy.”

“Don’t worry,” Cadance replied confidently. “We will. Have a safe trip.”

Twilight gave them all a smile, then turning her back and stepping up and into the carriage. Façade followed her in, shutting the door behind them and pinging the drones to begin their ascent.

And so the changelings made their departure from Canterlot, watched by those below and the alicorns in the castle in passing out of one of its many windows. For all the pain suffered recently, all the uncertainty, it could now be laid to one side. The prospect of rediscovering a lost land was at the front of all their minds, the idea now feeling quite real, leaving them all eager to be underway.

Whatever awaited, it would soon be known.

---

Vanhoover

The docks on Vanhoover were quite busy on a regular day, but on this one, it was especially so. Many ponies grew curious and looked onwards at the influx of changelings both armoured and not, alongside more than a few of their Equestrian Royal Guard counterparts assisting the crew of the HMS Clover the Clever prepare for departure.

This had been something of a sight for the past few days, supplies being brought en masse onto the great metal vessel. But now more than ever was the dock upon which their ship was moored a hub of activity, and it became a particularly curious sight when one last convoy of carriages descended down from the sky, pulled by the changeling guards up front. It was out from these carriages that a Changeling Queen emerged, recognisable as Twilight Sparkle, before she quickly moved up from the dock and onto the deck of the Clover.

Oh, and there was also the gigantic purple dragon circling overhead. Yes, it was fair to say there was a lot of gossip throughout the city because of it.

Twilight herself mused as such as she stood by the railings at the bow of the ship, looking into the cityscape with a thoughtful expression. They were departing soon, so she also took the moment to get a good long look at Equestria before she left it for Celestia knows how long. She’d never even travelled in a ship like the Clover the Clever before, so that was sure to be an interesting experience.

“This just in, Twiggles the Bookbug is seasick!”

“I was wondering if the visit in the war room was all we’d be seeing of you, Discord,” Twilight said calmly, though inwardly bemused, turning around to see Discord lounging in mid-air wearing a sailor’s outfit. “Did you come to see us off?”

“I suppose you could say that,” he replied, floating back down onto the deck. “Off on another adventure, daring as always, with such a capacity for… interesting times.”

“You mean ‘chaos’.”

“Your words, not mine!” he smugly defended. “But it’s nothing you cannot handle in your usual merry little way; I’d just spoil the show if I tagged along. I doubt I would be welcome.”

“You haven’t annoyed whatever is over there, have you?” she asked knowingly.

“Actually, I have done so such thing!” he retorted. “Just mere looking from afar, I’ve never touched the ponies’ old house. No, poking is your job this time around. But really, how this will go is so predictable.”

“We’re heading into a place that we have no idea about beyond your irritatingly cryptic comments, and you’re saying it’s ‘predictable’?”

“It’s a weekly thing, you go in do a friendship and then return in time for tea,” he commented. “Aside from the times where you blew up Ponyville and then Canterlot after that, but those were special occasions.”

“Which you missed.”

“I rebuilt you a library, my sins are paid for.”

“Uh-huh…”

Discord rolled his eyes. “Now don’t be coy, that’s my job! Point is, I have every confidence that you can solve any issues without my help, and the outcome will likely be better for it. When it comes to friendship and being all diplomatic, Twilight…”

There was a flash, and suddenly Twilight found herself right at the frontmost part of the boat. She was looking over the ocean while standing on her hind legs, forehooves stretched out wide with Discord holding her in that position from behind the Queen.

“You’re the Queen of the World!”

“Discord!”

A purple flash of a teleportation spell and then Twilight was safely back on all four hooves behind the Lord of Chaos, the trickster himself chuckling joyfully as he turned to regard the changeling.

Still, Twilight latched onto his wording

“So, I’m going to have to be ‘diplomatic’, then?” she enquired. “Is there a civilisation over there? Did someone move in after the ponies left?”

“Oh dear, I do believe I’ve said too much as it is,” Discord dismissed. “I’ll leave you guessing. But I will be around, count on that. I do find your shenanigans to be of interest, especially when they’re intercontinental!”

“I don’t do ‘shenanigans’.”

“Oh, but you do, Twilight. You really do,” he responded with a grin. “See you soon, your Majesty.”

Discord took that moment to depart, laughing all the while in a way that Twilight knew enough to make her bristle. Whatever he was predicting, she couldn’t help but get the mental image of him sitting in the ethereal plane, lounging on a huge sofa while holding a tub of popcorn.

At least the trip wasn’t going to be boring.

“Worried?” a voice from behind her asked, the Queen turning to see her husband. “I saw your guest; he have much to say?”

“Only what is typical for him,” she answered as he joined her back by the railing overlooking the city. “I hope I’ve brought enough parchment.”

“You’re kidding, right?” he deadpanned. “It’s filled up half the hold.”

She blushed. “You know I like to be thorough…”

“That you do,” Façade confirmed, shuffling up closer to his other half. “So, are you worried?”

Twilight hummed in thought, glancing up at the city’s few skyscrapers. Diplomatic, Discord’s exact wording… She could do that. Diplomacy was, at its core, forging a friendship between two separate entities. And she knew friendship very well. She was the Element of Magic, after all, even to that very day. All the lessons she’d learned with her friends before and after her revelation, the problems they’d encountered and solved together both far-reaching and small scale.

She’d forged a relationship between the changeling hives and Equestria. She’d mediated between the latter and the griffons, dragons, as well as many others. When they needed someone to conduct talks for a matter of interest to both changeling and pony kinds, they came to her. When the changelings wanted something from the world, they came to her. Even during a time where her faith in friendship had diminished, it was friendship that broke the Empress’ hold over her and ended her dominion.

She might not always get it right, but yes, she knew how to be diplomatic. And for her flaws, that’s what the ones at her side were for. Whatever it was Discord was challenging her to, she was more than ready to accept.

“Only a little,” she finally responded after her thoughts. “But I have you, Spike, and all the others. Whatever the case, we face it together.”

“That’s the spirit, your Majesty,” Valiant Snow remarked as he entered the scene. “The Captain also wishes me to convey his greetings and wishes to see you at your earliest convenience. You should also be aware that we will be leaving port soon.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Twilight thanked. “I’ll go right away.”

“You’d better make sure your people are all aboard,” Valiant then said to his changeling counterpart. “I’ll do the same with my ponies. These sailors won’t wait while a stray hits up the seaside bar.”

“Already done,” he replied, a twitch of his head indicating his ping over the hive mind.

“Oh, now that is cheating.”

Façade laughed, shaking his head. “I’ll help you gather yours and find any who missed the memo.”

“I would hope the Royal Guard could keep an eye on the time,” Twilight dryly remarked.

“Never hurts to check,” the pegasus said. “If you don’t mind me commandeering your husband for a while.”

“I’ll try not to dwell on the obviously unintended innuendo there,” Façade joked.

“I… would rather you didn’t. Yes.”

“You can take him,” Twilight said with a small smile. “You might want to make it snappy; I don’t want to keep the West waiting.”

The two Captains gave the Queen a nod, trotting off to do just that. As they departed, the changeling gave another glance at the city before then turning her head to stare out into the depths of the ocean.

Whatever was out there, she was ready for it.

And then she too turned to head inside the ship, and soon enough she had met with the Captain, and both Valiant and Façade had corralled any stragglers onto the vessel. And with Spike marking the start, giving his great wings a beat and shooting off ahead, the ship would be freed from its moorings and drift out into the sea. Engines engaging, the Clover the Clever and the expedition team aboard her were soon making good time across the waves towards the Undiscovered West.

Comments

[Nova_Wings]

And we are underway, now to wait and see what the first obstacle will be

[PrincessTwilightSparkle1]

And they're off!

[JMP]

Discord's comments have me curious as to what they'll find over there.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Okay, the official mission has begun. The scenes with Twilight saying goodbye to everyone again and teasing Spike were funny in this. So was Discord’s brief appearance.

“I rebuilt you a library, my sins are paid for.”

Says the guy who was absent for two whole wars.

[CrustyKing]

So it begins. Can't wait for more chapters!

[DavisSentoV5]

The more things change, the more Discord still loves causing chaos and headaches for Twilight