• Published 11th May 2017
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Friendship Bling and Changing Things - PinkFluffyAlex



During her brother's surprise wedding, Twilight meets a demon from her past that overturns the lives of everypony around her, and threatens to tear apart their friendships. Meanwhile, Twilight's enemies, old and new, close in as her spirit fails.

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2 - III - Queens In Four Suits

Part Two: Recollection
Chapter III - Queens In Four Suits

———<Neighagra Falls Hive>———

Shining Armor’s eyes snapped open with a coughing fit. He tried standing, but felt pain flare from his legs and sides. The captain collapsed backwards on the bed, allowing him to take a look around the room. The walls were covered in a white tile, with faintly glowing blue tiles edging the ceiling. A circular window allowed light to flood into the small room. The bed was harder than he was accustomed to, but not uncomfortable.

Shining attempted to stand again, but only managed to flop off the side of his bed, knocking over an I.V. stand with a bag of a strange blue liquid. Shining’s eyes held on the liquid for a moment before the door to the room slid upwards and out of sight. He chuckled in embarrassment when he saw his sister looking at him worriedly.

Twilight sighed. “Shining, stay in bed. You got injured pretty extensively in the attack. Here, let me help you.” Shining’s white coat was surrounded in Twilight’s magical glow as he was lifted back into bed.

“Twily what… what happened? Where’s Cadence, I saw two Queens and…” Shining quickly looked himself over and sighed in relief. “Thank Celestia, it was just a dream. I thought I had turned into a changeling, and there were some other changelings looking at me.” He chuckled.

Twilight laughed and shook her head. “Don’t worry, ponies can’t just turn into changelings. That’s just an old mares’ tale. An actual old mares’ tale, mind you. Not like Nightmare Moon, or Discord. Anyways, we need to talk. You might have noticed, we aren’t in Canterlot right now.”

Shining blinked and frowned. “Not in… where are we then, where’s Cadence. Is she okay? What about the Princesses!?”

Twilight held up a hoof. “They’re all recovering from their few injuries. You were hurt lots more than they were. It’s the day after the invasion. They, along with the other Bearers, are in Canterlot, likely looking for changelings.”

“Oh. What happened to me? Why aren’t we…” Shining’s head wobbled, before it collapsed backwards, and he fell asleep.

Twilight glanced at the I.V. stand, then righted it. The liquid glowed and emptied slightly, even as some of Shining’s burns ebbed away. “We aren’t in Canterlot because the Sisters want our hive dead.”

Twilight dropped her disguise and used her essentially-healed antenna to send a message to Spike. “I need you to go to Canterlot to send a message in person. Tell the Bearers that we’re safe and in the care of a friendly Queen. Tell them that Shining is steadily healing and will be healthy in a day or two. Use your dragon disguise, hopefully guards will recognize you as the assistant to the Princess’ student, not a changeling. And, if you see her, bring Satomi back, she’s part of our hive. Send a flare if anything goes wrong, and I’ll make my way there immediately.”

Twilight sent a supply of emotional energy as well, in order to supply the trip. An affirmative came back from Spike, to which Twilight nodded. “Fly safe, number one assistant.”

———<Canterlot Dungeons>———

“State your true name and occupation, and your disguise’s name and occupation.” Major Barking Gums, who was filling out for the injured Shining Armor, shuffled some papers, then looked up at the changeling before him.

It was merrily rocking side to side with a wide grin plastered on it’s face. It’s shell and wings looked like mother-of-pearl, and it’s eyes and glowing chest-gem-thingies were silvery. She stopped and hummed a quick tune in thought.

“My name is Elytra, but my friends call me Ely! I’m one of Amortentia’s Royals, with my brother Tympanal, or Tym. I didn’t actually disguise as anypony important. I didn’t even bother to come up with a disguise name! I was just here to check on some of my hive’s changelings, and then you foalnapped me~!” She sang her last few words and went back to her rocking motion, humming included this time.

The Major perked up. “A… Royal? We haven’t heard that word yet. What do you mean? Do you care for the Queen? Are you a Princess?”

“Mmmm. It’s more like a family of bears. Most changelings would be the babies in this analogy, whereas I would be the cub, and my Queen the momma bear. And you just took momma bear’s cub.” Ely leaned forwards as she said this, lowering her voice to a whisper.

Ely continued her rocking motion and spoke in a normal voice. “I’ve been broadcasting my location to the hive the entire time you’ve been in here with me. They’re going to get in here, take care of you, and walk out with me. It shouldn’t be that hard. I mean, look at what Chryssie did! She replaced a member of royalty and nopony noticed! Not even her fiancé! You ponies are silly. How can you even tell what other ponies are feeling? Do you just fire arrows in the dark and hope one of them is on target when you turn the lights on?”

A laugh sounded behind Major Barking Gums. He quickly turned around and found himself face-to-face with a changeling Queen. The first thing the Major noticed was the horn: long, tapering and thin at the base so that it resembled an arrowhead. It was just as sharp as well. Her iridescent, glass-like mane wrapped around the base of her horn, then rested across her muzzle, and connected back to behind her ear. The back of her mane hung down her side, giving a remarkable attempt at mimicking Princess Celestia’s own mane. Her eyes resembled large pearls, with black slits in the middle. Five oval pearls circled the base of her neck, giving the appearance of expensive jewelry.

Queen Amortentia spoke. Her voice was smooth, and had a musical cadence to it. “Excellent work, Ely. You followed your lessons perfectly. And I do believe ponies rely entirely on body language alone. Fascinating little creatures they are. Fragile, as well. A tunnel collapses on them and they pop like a bug! How have they lived for this long?”

The Major jumped back and lit his horn. “By order of the Equestrian Royalty, you are ordered to stand down, and submit yourself for arrest. You are known to be aiding and abetting a known criminal, and for counts of assault against the crown and country.” His horn flared for a moment. “I have called for more guards to come here and take you to the Canterlot Castle dungeons. Do not resist.”

Queen Amortentia chuckled and smiled, showing off her fangs. “Okay. I’ll play along.” She cleared her throat. “Oh no, not assault! I’m so sorry that I ever committed such a heinous crime, oh woe is me! A life of prison is not meant for one such as I! Officer, when did I do such a thing? Please tell me, so I may know the error of my ways!” She held one hoof to her chest and another in the air, outstretched. Her eyes were closed, but she cracked one open to look at the Major.

The Major stammered for a moment. “Well, you’re changelings! Your kind attacked us not two days ago!”

“Ah yes. I do seem to recall one of your Princesses attacking a hive 27 years ago… should I kill you, because she is a pony as well?” Amortentia’s horn lit up in a brilliant, multicolored flame. Her voice was lower and dripped of danger. “Because I am more than willing to do so.”

At that moment, two guards stepped into the room, looking between the two changelings and the Major. Barking Gums laughed and barked an order to the guards. “You two, arrest this monster!”

The guards nodded and stepped forwards. Then immediately placed a horn cuff and hoof cuffs on the Major. “What are you doing, you fools? Arrest that creature, not me! I will have you reported to Shining Armor the moment—“

A guard struck him across the muzzle and leaned towards him. “You do not refer to the Queen in that manner.” The guards looked to Amortentia and bowed. “My Queen, it is good to see you.”

“Likewise, children. Take this fellow to a bedroom and make sure he is comfortable. Good day, Major.” The Major stammered as the two guards revealed themselves as pearly changelings. They charged their horns in unison, then sank into the ground with a fire portal.

Ely looked to her Queen. “Amortentia, I am glad you came, but… how did you get here so fast? Were you in the area for something besides myself?”

Amortentia nodded. “Yes, Ely. I have wondrous news, indeed. Nepthysis’ hive had spotted the Queen of Whitetail Hive coming their way, and relayed the news to the other hives. Half an hour ago, they also reported that a Royal from Whitetail was making his way here. I wanted to speak to him.” The Queen broke the chains holding Ely to the table.

The Royal clapped her hooves together. “Oh, lovely day! I wonder where they’ve been all this time? Mmmm~, wonderful indeed~!”

Amortentia hummed a merry tune.

———<Hayseed Jungle>———

Chrysalis had been walking non-stop ever since she landed in the Everfree Forest. She had managed to make her way along the train tracks to Dodge City, where she drained a few ponies for emotions. She had carried on and into the Hayseed Jungle in order to take the hidden path to her hive: there were almost certainly changelings watching the main entrance.

The Queen hadn’t been able to get in contact with any other members of her hive, even though her antenna was fully healed. Her changelings were likely just out of range. Hopefully out of range.

Chrysalis knew the territory lines well: where to step, where to avoid. Any path too far south-east and she could end up in her territory, and that was the last thing any changeling with half a mind wanted to do. Essentially anything that went in there without permission never came out.

High Queen Metamorphia was a very territorial, old-fashioned Queen. Likely because she was the oldest Queen. Rumor had it that she was even older than the Princesses, but they’re all mostly unfounded. Point being: Metamorphia was a force of nature. If she damaged a hive, killed straying changelings, or kidnapped ponies, the others would all let it slide. Even stepping hoof into her territory could mean a death sentence.

So, naturally, when Chrysalis heard the High Queen’s deep, slow voice inside her head, she screamed. CHRYSALIS. The much younger Queen shrieked and flipped around to meet her ancestors’ maker. Metamorphia herself never actually came to any of the councils, because she was so large that traveling that far was inconvenient. She just used another Queen's Roy to represent her. Seeing her was rare and usually spelled out a changeling’s death sentence.

Metamorphia dwarfed Celestia in comparison. Her horn was actually a collection of jagged shards that all spiraled from her forehead, with glowing green pieces that trailed an ethereal mist. Her antenna had developed into a crown, and further still. It had become a large fan of bone that jutted out from behind her head, and gave her a truly alien appearance. Parts of the crest glowed in similar fashion to her horn. Her legs were thin, maybe even spindly, but the slightly-transparent chitin highlighted powerful muscles, and glowing vessels of pure emotional energy inside of her body. Her long, bladed tail waved to and fro, even brushing against Chrysalis’ side every so often, leaving shallow scratches. The High Queen’s shell completely covered her torso, and neck, in thick plates of green armor. Her entire body had various scars where emotions had failed to fully heal an injury.

The High Queen slowly opened her eyes, which looked like a pool of swirling green and gold liquids. Her pupils were shaped like diamonds, with additional points at the corners. A glassy membrane blinked over the eye, allowing Metamorphia to remain staring at Chrysalis. YOU ATTACKED CANTERLOT.

“I— well— yes, High Queen. I attacked Canterlot without meeting with the Summit of Queens.” Chrysalis bowed her head in shame and closed her eyes, not wanting to see Metamorphia’s terrible figure.

YOU REVEALED OUR SPECIES, NOW MORE THAN EVER. BEFORE THAT, YOU ATTACKED A FELLOW QUEEN BECAUSE HER DRONES STUMBLED INTO YOUR DESERTED, PATHETIC LAND YOU CALL HOME. Metamorphia leaned closer to Chrysalis, who gave a stuttering sob. The High Queen opened her mouth, showing dozens of rows of teeth that ran all the way down her throat. Chrysalis could have sat comfortably in that mouth, if not for the fact that it was a mouth that had no moral qualms about eating her.

“But… haven’t you… done… that?” Metamorphia let out a long, rumbling, stuttering growl that reminded Chrysalis of a tyrant king of reptiles. It chilled her to the bone, then chilled her soul. She felt like a grain of sand at the bottom of the world’s ocean.

YOU FORGET YOUR PLACE. I DO AS I PLEASE. I ANSWER TO NONE, YOU ANSWER TO THE OTHER QUEENS, AND MYSELF. ONE MORE MISTAKE FROM YOU AND I WILL REPLACE YOUR HIVE WITH ONE THAT IS MORE COMPETENT. DO NOT DISAPPOINT ME. Chrysalis collapsed to the ground, then nodded violently, and silently. When she looked back up, the High Queen was gone without a trace.

Chrysalis almost screamed again when her egregore became flooded with the panicking feelings of her worker changelings. Worry and panic, before she spoke to them all. “I am alright. It will be a while longer before I return to the hive. Stigma perished in the attack, Thorax is to lead while I am gone. Do not disappoint me.”

Chrysalis’ second of three Royals spoke to her. “Queen Chrysalis, is everything all right, besides the invasion? You disappeared completely for a short time there. The hive went into a panic, and Pharynx said I needed to think about a Queen’s name for myself. I don’t, right?”

“Not yet, Thorax. Everything is alright, I am unharmed. Go and do what I have asked of you.”

“Yes, Queen Chrysalis.”

———<Neighagra Falls Hive>———

Nepthysis facehoofed and leaned back in her throne. “Are you kidding me!? You still haven’t talked to him? Citlali, this has gone on long enough; twenty years is a long time for somepony to not know their species. You’ve gotta talk to him and break the bad news.”

Citlali was pacing franticly around the floor of the Throne Room, speaking quickly. “Yes, I know I have to, but… I’m scared. I’m scared that he won’t see things from our perspective, that he’ll still hate the changelings, which includes himself. I haven’t talked to any of them because I don’t want to lose them! I mean, once he knows what he is, what if he goes back to Canterlot, and they capture him, and they don’t believe him when he says he is Shining Armor!?”

“That isn’t going to happen, because you’ll be there with him. You’re the most diplomatic changeling I know; you convinced Sophicius, who’s hive feeds off of pride, to side with you when you tried to call them out on their own security flaws. If there is a Queen that can pull this off, it’s you. You are going to get in there and talk to your son, as his mother. Now go, before my changelings drag you in there themselves.”

Citlali smiled for a moment, then nodded her head. “Yeah, you’re right. I can do this. Going to talk to Vahan as Citlali, not Shining as Twilight. Thanks again for letting us be here, Nepthysis. We appreciate it.” Nepthysis nodded and Citlali turned and walked out, towards the room that Vahan was staying in.

Citlali paused in front of the door, pushed it upwards, and stepped in. The room was empty. She had just a moment of confusion before something hard struck her in the back of the head, sending her stumbling forwards. Citlali rubbed the spot that had been hit, then turned around to see Vahan, undisguised, running through the hive while looking for a way out.

The Queen facehoofed. “Oh, by the All-Mother's love, you have got to be kidding me.” She formed the spell for a fire portal and watched Vahan’s movements closely. Once Citlali found what she was looking for, she cast the spell and watched as the poor changeling dropped into the floor, and appeared at her side. She grabbed him with her magic and walked back into the guest room.

“Let go of me you monster! I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done to me and my country! I’ll kill you!” Vahan shouted and kicked at Citlali as she dragged him through the air. The Queen simply closed his mouth with her magic, then laid him on the bed.

“Alright, if you’ll stop throwing your tantrum, we can talk. Diplomatically. Queen to changeling.” Vahan attempted to get up after Citlali had said this, but she simply pushed him back down, pinning him with the bed sheet as she did so. “There, I’ve even tucked you in! Now, Shining, can we talk?”

The Captain of the Royal Guard stared at Citlali with burning eyes. “You’ve turned me into this… horror, you foalnapped my wife, and you attacked the city I love! Why would I ever want to speak to you?”

“Because we’ve done it thousands of times before. You would ask me about some trivial fact, I would give you an answer… to a hundred different questions. I was like a leaky faucet of information. You most likely assumed it was from the expanse of books I read, but it was all knowledge gained personally.” Citlali spoke calmly. Vahan stared at her warily.

“Remember when I described the anatomy of a hydra to you? Around a century before that, my hive dissected a hydra that had been intruding on our hive’s land. We got to see exactly how it worked. We learned many things that day. My favorite was ‘don’t cut off a hydra’s head and attempt to ride the stump.’”

Vahan shook his head. “You’re lying. That’s all you ever do! You lie, manipulate, and steal.”

Citlali shrugged. “No, I’m not. In fact, by acusing me of lying, you yourself have lied. You just don’t want to admit it. I honestly wish I had found a better way to resolve this than just dropping it on you, but here goes.” She cleared her throat and transformed into Twilight Sparkle. “Shining Armor, you are, and always have been a changeling named Vahan of the Whitetail Hive. Twilight Sparkle was a disguise created by your mother and Queen, named Citlali, in order to save her hive. There was a reason I never fussed as a foal, or why we were both dropped off on our doorstep with no traceable thaumprint.”

Vahan shook his head slowly. “No. No, that’s impossible. Cadence said she could sense changelings, and I always had… charged emotions, or whatever she called them. I haven’t always been a changeling.”

Citlali transformed back into herself and stepped towards him. “Yes, you have. I created a method that hides changelings from ponies with empathy like Cadence. Only reason it isn’t more widely used is because it’s resource extensive, and is difficult to maintain on a group larger than a couple dozen changelings. Now, if you could please just accept that you—”

Spike’s voice sounded in her head. It was frantic, shaky, and tinged with panic. “Citlali, hurry! Fluttershy and Pinkie have been discovered, there’s guards here!” The connection cut unexpectedly. Citlali cursed and prepared a portal to Spike’s location that he had broadcasted.

Vahan looked at her as she faced the wall. “What are you doing?”

“I just got a distress message from Spike, in Canterlot. Two of my changelings have been discovered by your guard. I’m creating a portal there now.” Citlali’s horn lit, enveloping the wall in a circle of flames, which she stepped into. Just before it closed, Vahan lept off of his bed, hung onto Citlali, and passed through the portal.

The spell collapsed on itself with a pop and a puff of smoke.

When Citlali came through the other side, she had her horn lit in a glowing blaze, ready to torch whoever threatened her children. When she looked around the room, she saw an undisguised Vesela, Yasu, and Satomi staring at her along with a disguised Spike, and the rest of the Bearers.

Spike waved casually. “Hey, Citlali, Vahan. Nice of you two to join the party!”

Citlali sputtered as her magic died. “Spike— you— the guards?”

Spike pointed to two guards lying in a corner. “Are right there, only slightly unconscious. Hit em’ with a sleep spell when I came in here.”

The Queen sighed and lowered her head. “So why did you send a message saying you had been discovered?”

“Because Pinkie and Fluttershy were in the middle of a conversation with those guards. And get this: those guards aren’t ponies! They’re changelings!” Spike held a grin on his face before he saw the look his Queen was giving him.

“You attacked before you tried to speak to them? How did you know they were a threat? What if these changelings are with an ally of ours, and we’ve just attacked them?” Citlali motioned to the guards, then looked back at Spike. “I’m not mad, in fact I’m proud of you for thinking quickly, but I do wish we could have handled this better. While we wait for them to wake, why don’t you tell me about your trip? I see you freed Satomi, which is excellent. It’s good to see you girls.”

Rarity shook her head. “Twilight. So it’s true, then? We’re all changelings? And you kept this secret from us for our entire lives?”

Citlali nodded. “Yes. Everypony in here is a changeling. I’ll explain myself once Spike tells his story, I want to hear it.”

Spike looked between them, dropped his disguise, to the slight surprise of Vahan, and began his story.

Author's Note:

This chapter and the next one take place simultaneously. This chapter is meant to set up two other plots that will be happening along with Citlali, and her hive's story. Each will follow one hive: Citlali's hive, Chrysalis' hive, and Amortentia's hive.

Stuff relating to HQ Metamorphia
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http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Omnifarious
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