2: The Foalsitter
Five years before present day.
One year after the Reformation.
Barely after dark on a cold snowy night, Night Light was lounging on a bench located in the manor garden. Azure Skies had taken to gardening winter flowers, but the mare was a novice at it, and her plants were not doing well, the fact that work and family demanded so much of her time wasn't helping either. Nevertheless, Night Light found enjoyment out of the pitiful amounts of color they brought. With Azure Skies busy at the observatory, it left the manor feeling a bit empty.
The light of the oil lamps danced across the steam from a cup of hot cocoa held aloft in the stallion’s magic. Between sips, he watched Stellar Drift playing with Pear Butter as the two were building a snowpony. Mostly Pear Butter, since the young filly couldn’t quite master collecting snow in her magic, but Stellar squealed with delight all the same. While the foalsitter was able to get away with a scarf and a snow hat, the poor filly was so bundled up in warm clothing she could scarcely move.
Night Light snickered at the sight of Stellar flopping over on her side and feebly wiggling her stumpy legs trying to right herself until Pear Butter came to the rescue. Upon draining the last of his cup, Night Light made to get up and join the fun, but the sound of buzzing wings made him turn back to the manor with a sly smile.
Twilight Sparkle was flying over with a second filly just as overdressed as Stellar Drift, this time in a purple outfit compared to Stellar’s navy blue. “Okay, daddy, Amber’s ready to play!” she announced with a giggle. The blue filly’s face and horn were barely visible under the layers of clothes, and she let out peals of laughter when snowflakes occasionally tickled her nose.
“I don’t see how she can, being crammed into that yak suit.” All the same, Night Light was more than happy to accept the little bug into his magic for a quick kiss before dropping her onto the powdery white. With a bit of magical assistance from her aunt and great uncle, Amber managed to chase down Stellar and the monster snowpony.
Night Light enjoyed watching the fillies, and looked to Twilight to offer a drink. But the dour look in his daughter’s eyes blunted his mirth. It didn’t take him long to notice her gaze was centered on Pear Butter. Letting out a patient sigh, Night Light warmed the pot of cocoa with a heating spell, poured two mugs, and offered one to Twilight. “Care to join me, Sweetie?”
Twilight dropped her frown and adopted a grateful smile. “I would love some, actually.” She accepted the drink and joined her father on the cold bench after sweeping some snow away for a spot to sit. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve missed your hot chocolate. My chefs can never quite get it right.”
With a twinkle in his eye, Night Light winked at her. “Family secret. Promised your granddaddy I’d only share it on my deathbed, and I don’t plan on going down any time soon.”
“Oh bah, you only say that to give me more excuses to come visit.”
Father and daughter shared a brief laugh before they lapsed into silence to watch the fillies. Unlike pony foals, Amber had developed quickly to be able to walk, fly, and eat solid food, but physical development noticeably slowed down below pony norms after that. As such, she had no problem keeping up with Stellar, hobbled as they both were under so much clothing.
Eventually though, Night Light took on a mildly disappointed tone of voice. “My dear, has the foalsitter insulted you in some way?”
Were it anyone else outside of the hive, Twilight would have dismissed the comment and changed topics, but there was no such filter between Twilight and her father. “Not directly, as far as I know. But I am more concerned with little Stellar.”
Night Light tried to remain calm and not let Twilight’s comments sour his mood. “Twily, I know you have your doubts about Pear Butter, but I have seen nothing that would suggest she is a danger to anypony in this household. She dotes on Stellar as if she were her own child.” He paused a moment to better study Twilight's pseudo-relaxed body language. “I trust you have not confronted Pear on this, you know how I feel about second chances.”
Twilight inwardly grimaced as Night Light moved to go straight into a fatherly lecture. “Daddy, please,” Twilight interrupted as gently as possible, causing the stallion to give her a mild stink eye, “PB is not my only concern with my little sister. To put it plainly, I have a strong feeling little Stellar is a changeling. A royal caste if I’m not mistaken.”
Whatever rant material Night Light had went up in smoke, leaving him with an open mouth and no words to say. He closed it and shifted his gaze between Twilight and the filly in question. “I suppose you would be an authority on the subject, but what makes you think that’s the case?”
Twilight took a sip of her cocoa to buy time to formulate her case and to watch both Stellar Drift and Pear Butter closely. “Have you ever noticed how Stellar tries to preemptively avoid ponies that don’t like children, but will rush to any that love kids, even if she’s never met them before?”
It didn’t take Night Light long to recall several such incidences. “Running towards strangers? I can admit to seeing that. The girl scares the dickens out of me every time she scampers out of sight when I bring her into town or to a social event. I'm often tempted to put a leashed on that girl.” Father and daughter shared a short-lived chuckle. “I only ever really find her in the hooves of somepony gushing about how cute she is. As for avoiding ponies that don’t like kids, I’d wager that’s - wait…” Night Light gave his eldest daughter a curious look. “Now that I mention it, I was introducing her to high society just last week with Cornell Slatterhorn. It was more out of courtesy I introduced her to him since he’s notorious for being borderline cruel to foals who go near him. Poor girl started crying when I brought her over to the colonel, so that at least gave me an excuse to make the introduction brief.”
Trusting her father to have properly protected her sister from such a person, Twilight opted to let that particular irritant well enough alone. “I suspected as much. My biggest theory is that Stellar Drift is empathically active.” Night Light looked at her with wide eyes. “So unless she’s the new Cadance, there’s only one species I know of that’s both pony shaped and has empathic abilities.”
The hairs on the back of Night Light’s neck stood up. “If you’re right, will you be taking her back with you?”
Twilight burst out laughing, almost forgetting to giggle behind a hoof. Then she roped her father into a tight hug to dispel the disturbed look on his face. “Oh daddy, of course not.” She ended the hug to look her baffled father in the eyes. “I’d be more than happy to teach you all you need to know about how nymph rearing is different from a normal pony.” Twilight’s eyes lit up with stars, and a stupid grin cleaved her muzzle. “In fact I prepared a whole list on the flight here. It’s actually not too diff—.”
“L-let’s not get carried away.” Night Light stood up and smoothed his mane. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, Twily, but why don’t we see if your suspicions are even correct before doing anything else?”
“A sound idea,” Twilight replied with a sly smirk towards Pear Butter. The royal bug called out to the foalsitter. “PB, could you be so kind as to gather the little ones in the parlor for some hot chocolate?”
The parlor was a warm and cozy affair with a lit fireplace and appealing décor. The fillies were able to shed their dense clothing and prance about the furniture and grand piano. It wasn't long before the fillies were drawn to the coffee table after sniffing warm chocolate in the air. Twilight was already there with a bag of marshmallows. After cramming as many marshmallows into their mouths as they could, the girls were soon following Twilight’s lead in adding the little edible puffy white pillows to the hot cocoa and blowing on them to cool the drinks off.
Pranceston stood sentinel by the entryway towards the main hall looking as stony as ever. While he rarely outwardly showed it, Twilight could sense a note of protective pride towards the children.
Night Light was sitting on the couch hanging the damp winter clothes by the fire and breaking open his own bag of marshmallows, eager to dine on gooey goodness. Twilight waited for Pear Butter to return with a fresh pot of cocoa, only to find Azure Skies enter at the same time.
“Sorry it took so long to get off work. You would not believe how strange Betelgeuse has been acting. I’d swear princess Luna was toying with us if she didn’t deny it so hard.”
“Welcome back, madam,” Pranceston said with a slight bow.
Night Light deftly slipped around Pear Butter to reach Azure and nuzzled her briefly, an act that she reciprocated in kind with a peaceful smile. “I wouldn’t worry; you know the royal sisters are notorious pranksters.”
Pulling away from the stallion, Azure heaved a tired sigh. “Don’t I know it.” Azure didn’t get far before a lump of giggling fur slammed into her legs. She followed the sound of childish laughter to find Stellar Drift clinging to her and calling up to her in broken Equish. “Why, hello there, sweetie pie. Were you a good girl today?” Stellar gave several clumsy nods. It only took Azure a moment to spot the line of chocolate covered fur on Stellar’s upper lip. The sight of the wiggly foal always brought a smile to the mare’s face. She took Stellar into her magic and set her down on her back before looking at the other two mares in the room. She nodded approvingly at Pear Butter then looked to the purple queen. “Twilight, I’m sorry, I completely forgot you were coming. How are you?”
Twilight got up and happily hugged the tired unicorn. “Well enough. I was actually waiting for you before checking to see if my little sister is a changeling.”
Azure drew her head back in confusion, but the sound of a pot rattling horribly drew everyone’s eyes to Pear Butter who was using a hoof to steady the rebellious pot. “S-sorry ‘bout that. What was it Ah heard about lil’ Stellar being a ‘Ling?”
“That is a bit out of left field,” Azure added in agreement. Azure turned back to look at Stellar Drift, only for the filly to giggle and squirm at the attention.
“We don’t know for sure…” Night Light started.
“...But I’m about to find out,” Twilight finished. She moved to the Azure’s side and made to grab Stellar. “If I may?”
“S-sure,” Azure sputtered, still in a bit of a shock at the declaration. After Twilight picked the child up, Azure found Night Light sitting in a nearby loveseat and parked herself next to him.
As for Twilight, she gave Stellar a sisterly nuzzle and sat her back down at the table and offered a warm cup of cocoa to distract the filly. So as to not distract the filly from her drink, Twilight scooted the couch back a bit so she could sit behind the child. Everyone watched with mixed feelings as Twilight started off with a deep magic scan for the telltale signs of disguise magic, but as expected, the chocolate guzzling filly magically appeared for all the world to be a normal pony. No surprises there or else I would have noticed something a long time ago.
Next she psionically sniffed around for any sign that Stellar was subconsciously searching for a hive mind to connect to, but again, her search came up empty. As much as I suspected. If I’m right about her being a changeling, and she’s been without a hive mind for all this time, I don’t think she would be quite the bubbly little ball of fun she is now.
“I think she’s actually connected with an existing hive mind,” Twilight announced while shooting Pear Butter a dangerous look. “I can’t tell whose until I break the connection.”
“Didn’t you say that was risky?” Night Light said, trying to keep himself from disturbing the filly who was still distracted by her tasty drink. Azure Skies was holding his hoof with a mix of worry and no small amount of anticipation for drama.
“If I used brute force like capturing a drone, then yes.” Twilight hummed aloud. “But I have a backup idea that should be perfectly safe… for her at least.”
As her father frowned in paternal worry, Twilight pulled an enormous amount of love out of herself and poised it on the tip of her horn. The pink glowing orb pulled the attention of Amber who cooed at it. “If a love infusion can bind an egg to me, then perhaps a massive amount could do the same here. If she’s a pony—which I highly doubt, mind you—then she won’t feel a thing.”
With a gentle flourish of her horn, Twilight sent the orb of love into Stellar. The little filly was so startled by the influx that she sputtered her cocoa all over the table and started coughing, much to the delight of Amber who giggled madly at the show. Pear, Azure and Night Light jumped to her aid, but it was Twilight who was first to gently pat Stellar on the back to help her cough and clear her lungs. The little filly would have started crying then and there had she not been buffeted by the siren song of Twilight’s hive mind. Even for a child as young as she, Stellar Drift was struck speechless by the loving song.
As for Twilight, her hunt for the source of Stellar’s original hive mind came up blank, as it was devoid of anything outside of a carrier signal. Drat. That’s that theory gone.
Off to the side, Pear Butter had quietly took a dry cloth off the teapot tray to clean up the spittle. Despite being slightly ill at ease on the outside, on the inside she was a nervous wreck.
<Welcome home, little one,> Twilight sang, breaking Stellar out of her paralysis. All the singing and voices now barraging the unaccustomed nymph terrorized the poor filly and she started wailing in abject fear, and she cradled her head trying to protect herself. The reaction caught Twilight completely off guard and she stumbled to act. She pulled the girl into a tight hug as her brain tried to fix the situation before her father could become angry at her for disturbing the poor child. After all, Stellar still looked like a pony and was now crying due to a spell Twilight had cast on her. Not a picture Twilight wanted to paint for herself.
Now that Stellar was one with the Link, Twilight could feel what Stellar felt, and could at last see how perfectly the young filly’s disguise had evaded her senses. Astounding. Oh, I wish I had the time to study this beautiful work of art. Now that she could see the patterns, it was trivial for Twilight to unwind the filly’s disguise, revealing her true changeling form for all to see. The act stopped Night Light from leaving the loveseat and pulling the child away from Twilight.
“Shh, now little one, you’re okay, it’s just the rest of your family.” Twilight was already being bombarded with questions about the new voice in the hive mind. Stellar’s royal entry into the Link left an impression that no drone could possibly confuse for anything else. Twilight was forced to leave a part of her brain power to explain the situation with the curious yet jubilant drones and her other sister, but left most of her attention on her pony family. Idiot, just turn the volume down! Chastising herself for the oversight, Twilight acted quickly to tourniquet the Link connection with Stellar Drift, keeping it just strong enough to remain. I’ll have to take it slow in introducing her to the full hive mind.
The response from Stellar was almost immediate. She stopped cradling her head, but the crying had only partially subsided. To make matters worse, the noisy sobbing made Amber start crying as well. The new source of tears made Twilight feel all that much worse for inflicting this terror upon her sister and now her niece. Pear Butter moved to go and comfort Amber, but Twilight stopped her dead in her tracks with both magic and a lethal glare. Unaware of the exchange, Azure Skies reached Amber and started comforting the little nymph.
Pear Butter shrank back from the queen’s ire. Twilight let go of Pear when Azure Skies claimed Amber. “Here, daddy, Azure, maybe you should take Stellar while I calm Amber down.”
Both Night Light and Azure were all too eager to accept, and soon both fillies floated to their respective caregivers. Stellar was held by Night Light while Azure hovered over her like a mother hen. He held her close while Azure Skies stroked her mane. “Shhh, now little one, it’s all over.”
During the time they had been agonizingly waiting for Twilight to surrender their daughter over to them, Night Light and Azure Skies had noticed everything about Stellar’s true form. While her coloration remained thankfully the same, her slitted eyes, crooked horn, obvious holes, insect wings, and large swaths of chitin removed any doubt as to what she was.
Amber proved easy enough to calm down after Twilight cast a sound dampening spell over Amber’s ears. As a result, Amber was content to snuggle her aunt, freeing up Twilight to take in Stellar’s true form. Twilight noted the chitin with disdain but not surprise. What briefly miffed her more than anything was that Stellar’s colors had not changed. Hmm. She doesn’t match any of the queens I know of, so I can’t tell who she came from, other than my bloodline at least. Fortunately, Night Light sat between Twilight and Azure Skies, allowing Twilight to shuffle over to sit side by side with her father so she could plant a sisterly kiss on the filly’s forehead.
The act drew Night Light’s attention towards Twilight. “This may cause a scandal in regards to the Harthworths, but as for me this changes nothing.” Night Light hugged the dark purple princess with as much might as he dared; a hug she eagerly returned.
“Agreed,” Azure declared with equal certainty. “It’s rather hard to live in this house without having a soft spot for furry bugs now isn’t it?” The attempt at humor lifted the mood a touch.
Night Light looked to Twilight with fatherly concern. “What happens now? I’m sure you need to do something before you let me keep her for good.”
Twilight’s answer was delayed as she sensed a strange fear coming from Pear Butter. There was the terror the foalsitter had towards Twilight, which was understandable, but what caught the queen off guard was that there was a good deal of maternal fear for the little filly. An overwhelming need to comfort Stellar Drift herself.
“Distracted by the Link again?” Azure Skies stated more than asked, pulling Twilight away from Pear Butter.
“S-sorry. But yes, I’d like to rebirth her to remove all this chitin. The public are fine with my bloodline, but adding somepony with chitin into the mix might be hard to swallow. Even more so when she eventually starts a hive. As for the amnesia, Stellar’s young enough that she doesn’t have enough memories to lose any.”
“Fair enough,” Night Light conceded with a touch of worry. “There’s no reason to give schoolhouse bullies more ammunition.” By now, Stellar had calmed down and was content to remain in Night Light’s embrace and bury her face in her father’s fur.
Not wanting to be left out, Azure gestured to Night Light so she could hold the filly. With a nod he surrendered her over. Stellar briefly complained, but quieted back down after being surrounded by warm fur and affection again.
Azure Skies frowned at the hard black shell coating much of Stellar’s skin. “It doesn’t help that hard shell is tough to hug through the poor dear.”
As Twilight and her father studied the young changeling, they noted chitin covered her entire neck and torso. In addition, more chitin blanketed her back from front to tail. The edges where fur and chitin met were jagged and ugly to the eye.
That was the part Night Light hated most, that something of his adopted daughter was abhorrent to look at, let alone touch. But he willfully pushed that revulsion aside for the sake of Stellar’s wellbeing. The act was made far easier since the filly’s face was devoid of chitin. Yet through it all, he inwardly approved of the sleepy reptilian eyes that now looked up at him with tears still staining her fur. “Shhh now, little bug.” He grinned at the new nickname, unoriginality be damned. “Mama’s got you.”
Night Light nuzzled Stellar’s neck, ignoring the hard uncomfortable chitin pressing against him. The shock and tears had worn out the little filly, and she drifted off to sleep. Between all the excitement, Amber was on the edge of sleep as well, and hung almost limp in Twilight's forelegs. “I suppose we’re going to need that list-of-care after all. Any big ones I should know right away before you take her to the hatchery?”
“Oh, don’t worry, daddy, nymphs don’t require much more than normal pony foals that the Link doesn’t provide. However,” Twilight’s gaze locked on Pear Butter. The mare noticed instantly and quaked on her hooves. “Like Amber, Stellar needs a steady diet of meat. Even more so than griffins at this age. Given how healthy she is, I get the feeling that particular need has been met for some time now.”
Except for Pear Butter, the other adults looked at Twilight with confusion. “Miss Twilight,” Pranceston huffed at the thought, “I assure you I have never seen the master nor the chef ever give the little miss anything of the sort. I suppose Miss Azure Skies might have, the deviant that she is.”
“Ugh, it was one time,” Azure bemoaned. “I didn’t want to be rude to Steel Claw. He put a lot of effort in trying to make tilapia palatable, and it was actually quite good. But no, I haven’t given Stellar any meat.”
Twilight let the statement hang in the air for a long moment before addressing the foalsitter. “So that only leaves, you, Pear Butter.”
Upon being called out in a dangerous tone from the most powerful non-alicorn she knew, Pear started sweating profusely and trembled a bit.
“Have you given my little sister any meat by chance?” Twilight asked pointedly. “I recommend not trying to lie in your current state.”
Pear Butter’s eyes started watering while her lip quivered in abject terror as all eyes sat squarely on her. She started backing away into a wall. Yet before Twilight could stand up to challenge her, Night Light grabbed her shoulder and kept her seated on the floor with Amber. “Twily, don’t.”
“But dad!” Twilight barked indignantly. “She’s obviously a spy! What if she attacks you one day?”
“My mother said much the same thing when your grandfather invited Pranceston into this house,” Night Light declared with cold iron. The statement silenced Twilight long enough for Night to levitate the fillies towards Pranceston who abandoned cleaning up the last of the spilled cocoa. “Could you take the fillies to bed? The four of us need to talk.”
“Of course, sir.” With a respectful nod, the family butler easily accepted the wiggling fillies on his back and departed.
Night Light took to his hooves and Azure Skies stood at his side. He waited until Pranceston closed the doors behind him before returning his gaze to his daughter and foalsitter. He could see by Pear Butter’s wobbling legs and flat ears that she was no less petrified of Twilight Sparkle than she had been a minute ago. “Can you honestly tell me Pear has ever acted like one of those other queens in any regard?”
Twilight kept a warning eye on the foalsitter, her mouth pressed in a line. “No. But that wouldn’t make a very good spy now would it, father?”
“I do not need eyes to know how much Pear completely loves Stellar,” Night retorted sternly. “So long as I live, you will not bully this mare, am I understood?”
“For what it’s worth,” Azure added a good deal more timidly. “I stand with your father on this. If Pear has been giving Stellar the meat she needs, then that hardly sounds like a dangerous pony to me.”
Twilight grumbled and scowled at the three of them, but focused on her father. Why does he have to be so darn stubborn! Not wanting to risk her relationship with her father, Twilight released a heavy sigh. “Alright, you win.”
“That’s my girl.” Night Light gave Twilight a short yet grateful hug.
Twilight returned the embrace before standing. “If it’s all the same, though, I’ll be cutting the sleepover short and taking Amber back with me.” She turned back to Pear Butter who was muffling sobs behind her hooves. I’m going to find out which queen is milking daddy’s forgiveness and ruin her. Nopony touches my family.
Twilight stormed across the room towards the door Pranceston left through. However she only made it halfway before Pear controlled her sobs long enough to shout with a quaking voice, “Wait, Y-yer highness, please.” Pear spent a few precious moments to collect herself enough to speak again. By then, Twilight had turned to face her with controlled fury behind her eyes. “Ah’ll spill. Ah can’t - Ah can’t stand livin’ this lie anymore. It ain’t right.”
As everyone watched, Pear Butter revealed her true form in a wash of flames. Her colors remained the same, but her gossamer wings, jagged changeling horn, and black chitin around her hooves left no doubt that she was clearly not the unicorn she claimed to be. She was certainly not the chitin-clad drone Twilight had been expecting, and Twilight found herself at a loss for words.
Both Azure and Night were equally stunned, but did not have the same indignant hostility that was rising within Twilight.
Knowing what question would be at the top of Twilight’s list, Pear gave the prime matriarch a pleading look. “Ah was sent here to watch over and guard Stellar Drift by… by Polybia.”
Night Light managed to recover from his shock first and stood up to stand side by side with his daughter. “Why would she do that?” he asked almost rhetorically.
Pear Butter couldn’t bring herself to answer. Every time she opened her mouth, the geas crushed the words in her throat.
Despite this, it didn’t take Twilight much of a leap to know why. “Because Stellar is Polybia’s daughter.”
Night Light had the same suspicions, and hearing it aloud only confirmed it. He took a long deep breath and steeled himself for an argument from Twilight. “This changes nothing. I don’t care who Stellar’s mother is; she’s still family as far as I’m concerned.”
“Of course she is,” Twilight cut in, insulted her father felt the need to convince her of that. Putting aside those hurt feelings, she directed her attention on Pear. “But tell me this, was Stellar’s egg laid before or after Polybia started dabbling in necromancy and feeding on demonic power?”
“A-after,” Pear replied with definite clarity. Seeing that she wasn’t going to be murdered on the spot, the foalsitter was able to recollect herself more. However she still sniffled from time to time. “Stopwatch told me Polybia had the wits to cleanse her egg first. She also said the egg was laid at least five years ago, and had been put in stasis since that bitch didn’t know the first thing about raising a foal proper like.”
Azure and both Sparkles had come to expect drones to revere their queen, so to hear Pear curse Polybia dumbstruck them both, Twilight couldn’t believe her ears.
“Ah can’t tell you how much Ah want to thank you for killing her.” Anger and sick satisfaction flooded Pear Butter at the sweet memory of Polybia’s death knell. So much so, her sobbing and tears momentary stopped flowing. “She did this ta me!” Pear waved a chitin bound hoof and buzzed her wings. “Stole me and my husband from our homes and turned us into this!”
“Truly?” Azure asked, barely able to believe it. “I heard the horror stories of what she did, but…”
“All of it and then some,” Pear answered back with a stern and pained look that was more than enough to convince the two ponies.
It doesn’t make sense for Polybia to make an intelligent drone, and if she's telling the truth, then that only leaves… “You’re a quasi.” Twilight wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but it was at least better than before.
“Aye,” Pear replied, her vindictive ire slipping away. “The only good thing—” Pear Butter had to work hard not to curse her queen’s name again, “that Polybia ever did fer me was make me Stellar’s guardian.” Upon mentioning the youngster, Pear’s voice lost all its edge and took on a pleading tone. "Please let me stay! It’s all Ah got anymore!"
“Well, of course you can.” Night Light cantered over and laid a reassuring and trusting hoof on Pear Butter’s shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Twily?” he asked with that fatherly iron that brooked no argument.
And yet argue she did. “Daddy, I can only agree to that if I know she’s not a risk to anypony.”
“If you want to think like your mother, then anypony is a potential risk,” Night Light rebuked sternly. His dark tone even made Azure grimace, but she stayed by his side all the same.
Twilight’s ears fell flat and a scowl of her own flashed across her face before she could control it. Twilight ground her teeth at the insult while she and Night Light stared each other down. “That’s a low blow, dad, and not at all what I was thinking, thank you very much.” Ignoring her father’s stubbornness, Twilight focused on Pear who was starting to cower behind Night Light. “Were you part of Polybia’s hive mind when she died?”
Pear looked to Night for some sort of protection, but since Twilight’s question was not a refusal, he did not offer much more than a nod. “N-no, but close to it Ah think. She cut loose ‘bout a week or so before the news hit the papers.”
“I see.” Twilight studied the quasi, making sure to not look threatening in the process. She was already skating on thin ice with her father. “How familiar are you with the concept of sleeper agents, spies, and geas spells?”
“Twily,” Night Light warned.
This time however, Pear averted her eyes, unwilling to look at her. “Intimately, Ah’m afraid.”
“I suspected as much,” Twilight replied with a sour face. “I doubt you’d even know if you were under a geas to attack anypony now would you?” Twilight expected no answer, and when Pear Butter didn’t reply, she continued with a more compassionate tone. “Tell you what, Pear Butter, I can have a Psykira look into freeing you of any geas or trigger word. I know of one who claims to be an expert in removing those.”
Azure Skies brightened at the compromise and gently tugged at Night Light. “That could work, honey.”
“You’d really do that fer me?” Pear Butter’s tears stopped for a that moment of hope. “Even after lying to you all this time?!”
Twilight huffed superiorly at her father. “I could have sussed the truth of the matter out of you on the day we met if daddy hadn’t put his hoof down, so that’s all on him.”
Night Light dismissed the accusation with a snort and hoof wave. “If I hadn’t, you’d have never given PB the chance to prove herself a wonderful foalsitter.” Night gave the quasi an appreciative nod. “And a fine pony to boot.”
“Hear, hear,” Azure called out with equal friendliness.
To be called a pony, even after showing her true form, lifted Pear’s spirits up to the point she shuddered in catharsis. Daring to hope she wasn’t hallucinating, Pear Butter wiped her eyes. “So Ah can really stay?”
“Of cour—” Night Light started only to be cut off by Twilight.
“On the condition that you abide by the rules of my hive,” she stated without question. “With a few clearly defined exceptions, no alliance changeling may use disguise magic with intent at long term deception. Keeping the good faith of the common pony is what keeps this alliance intact. I’m sorry, but as it stands, you must show your true form from here on out.”
Pear Butter glanced at Night Light who didn’t show any sign of disagreement. “It’s no different than what all my grandkids do. Fair’s fair.”
“Ah can do that, but…” Pear raised a hoof to her eyes. Even after a year, the black chitin was no less ugly in her eyes, an affront to whom she used to be. “Is there any way to get rid of this? Maybe make mah horn look like your kinds? Ah always thought they were beautiful.”
Twilight blushed a bit at the compliment. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard that one before.” She tried to steal a glance at a mirror, but none were to be found. “As for helping you…” Twilight cleared her throat as she mentally switched money-talk. “I have been experimenting with the idea of alchemical dipping as Rainbow likes to call it. The cost of localizing the changes without having it spread to the rest of the body is normally prohibitively expensive, and can really only go an inch deep…” Twilight caught herself before she started rambling and sighed heavily. “I can arrange it if you can tell me anything you know about any contingency plans Polybia might have had.”
Trying to mask her vindictive glee, Pear Butter nodded. “Ah’d have sang like a canary ‘bout her without the offer.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Pear sold out both Stopwatch and Paint Brush, giving Twilight every scrap of information on both of their whereabouts, domiciles, workplaces, habits, and hobbies. However, there was one bit she added at the end. “Ah know it may be a bit much ta ask, but could you try an’ take Paint Brush unharmed? Ah’m pretty darn sure he was either mah hubby, or at least fiancée. He’s really only loyal ta Polybia’s memory because he doesn’t remember much else. Ah’m sure one of them Psykira can fix that.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” was all Twilight would offer. “But I won’t promise what I can’t guarantee.”
Barely four hours later, a joint team of pony and changeling intelligence officers barged their way into Stopwatch’s bordello. Patrons and servers alike jumped in surprise and alarm. A random pony yelled at everyone to scatter, prompting a stampede for the exits. However, more officers waited outside, corralling everyone to stay inside at sword point.
As a changeling guided several team members upstairs to hunt down Stopwatch, one of the earth ponies peeled off to address the stunned civilians. “By royal edict, the pony known as Stopwatch is hereby accused of being an illegal non-alliance changeling and is under arrest. All civilians will submit to a screening agent for other possible infiltrators. Your compliance is appreciated.”
The trapdoor into Stopwatch’s abode slammed open with a blue changeling at the head. Her scattergun swept back and forth over the dark room. Only an open window offered any light, illuminating Stopwatch herself sitting on a stool. “I surrender.”
Stopwatch found herself being dragged to the Tower of Canterlot before being escorted into an interrogation room. Once the guards sat her down on the stool, a blinding harsh light shown down on her from above.
The guards left her to let Stopwatch stew in isolation. She looked around, but was unable to make anything out beyond the light. “So let’s see, uncomfortable stool, light from above, probably some interrogator watching me from the shadows… you ponies are really unimaginative when it comes to questioning a prisoner.”
A grunt of agreement sounded from beyond the light. “It’s all they’d allow me to have.” Stepping just inside the light came a blue changeling drone with his queen's eyes. “Were it up to me, I’d go full Dr. Caballeron on your tail.”
“There’s no need for the preferential treatment, your highness,” Stopwatch responded with measured forbearance. “I’ll sing whatever you want as long as I can get out of this alive.”
“Gah, no one ever lets me have any fun,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath. It took her a moment to realize she had said that through her puppet, and she quickly grunted to ignore the slip. “We’ll see after you answer my questions.
“Do you belong to Polybia?”
Asking a question you already know? “I did,” Stopwatch replied with a pang of sadness. “But it’s hard to belong to the dead.”
If there was one thing Rainbow could understand, it was a drone’s love for her queen. “Why are you intelligent? I thought we were the only ones to have smart drones.”
“It’s amazing what sort of mental gymnastics someone will do to both condemn something and yet still do it, all the while convincing themselves they aren’t doing it.”
Rainbow snorted with a smirk. “Yeah, that sounds like Polybia to a tee.”
“If - ah - if you must know,” Stopwatch began slowly, fearing Rainbow’s response. “I’m actually a partitioned section of Polybia’s mind, or at least I was until she died. Her last act was to make sure I could survive without her.”
“Partitioned? That’s a new one.” Rainbow Dash’s puppet glared at the chitin bound drone’s eyes, searching for the madness the real Polybia had possessed. “So... what? Are you the good half she threw away so she could stomach working with Grogar?”
“In a way?” Stopwatch shrugged. “I know I was created before she captured Grogar. I didn’t even know she had until Pear Butter told me. All I knew is that she wasn’t the same person by the time I heard from her last.” Stopwatch averted her eyes, thoughts lingering on how the queen she knew died long before the end of the war. When Rainbow Dash remained silent, allowing Stopwatch to volunteer information, the drone eventually did so. “Of course, I didn’t inherit most of my queen’s personality. I don’t think she could have handled being a drone.”
She looked back up to Rainbow Dash with a pained smile. “But if I’m all you got to work with diplomatically, then… truce?”
Rainbow scowled in disappointment. “Not much fight in you is there?”
“Heh,” Stopwatch let off with a self-deprecating half smile. “Aside from fleeing from the jungle, my life’s been mostly spent in that bordello. Passing on information from what I was able to tease out of my patrons. I’m not a warrior.”
“That can’t be all you were here for,” Rainbow Dash stated after thinking it over. “Why else would Pear Butter know about you?”
“I was Polybia’s only agent in Equestria, so Pear had no one else to use as her contact. She smuggled the princess into the city and I helped try to find a pony family to take her in. I’m sure Pear filled you in on anything else there is to know.”
There was no joy for Rainbow Dash in this. Some vain hope she would get a mindless ranting drone from an equally mad queen had sounded fun at first, but every emotion she was picking up from Stopwatch painted a depressing picture. <Hey Long Arm, are you sure this mare doesn’t have a single other arrestable warrant or charge leveled against her?>
<Nothing I’ve seen, but then again, we didn’t even know about her until now.>
Finding no easy answer there, Rainbow scrunched her muzzle in thought. “If I were to let you go, what assurance would I have that you won’t try anything?”
“As long as Stellar Drift’s happy, then so am I. You’ll never even know I exist.”
Rainbow tilted her puppet’s head to the side, listening to other council. “Tell you what. I don’t like leaving you out of sight, so you’ll be serving Phoenix’s Roost from here on out.” Stopwatch blanched at the unrefusable offer. “Go back to the bordello if you can get away with it, or somewhere else in Canterlot. There’s always crime in any city with non-changelings in the mix. You spy for us, and maybe I can arrange short visits when Stellar is older.”
For the first time in a very, very long time, Stopwatch was well and truly without words. She could only look at Rainbow’s puppet with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. So long was her stunned silence that Rainbow Dash got impatient. “Should I take that as a yes, or do I need to have you jailed or banished as a possible rogue element?”
Stopwatch scrambled over herself to grovel at Rainbow’s hooves and kiss them. “No. no. no. no, I’ll take it! Doubly so! I’ll be the best snitch ever! Anything that happens in Canterlot will go in your ear, I swear it!”
Rainbow Dash cringed and forcibly shook the slobber off her hoof and took a step back, much to the puppet’s gratitude. “I’ll stick with what goes through whatever stallion house you camp out in. I don’t need an overenthusiastic spy mucking up other operations.”
Stopwatch stepped away, fearful she caused offense. “Yes, my Queen,” she replied automatically without even realizing it until after it left her lips.
“I’m going to pass on that,” Rainbow rebuked not quite as harshly as she originally intended upon seeing the scared tension out of Stopwatch. “Chrysalis warned us that Polybia used Link bombs on a few of her rivals during the war, then add the fact that Pear Butter mentioned you went into what I’m assuming was a rebirthing cocoon to be a stand-in hive mind. Even if you weren’t originally a walking bomb, I can’t imagine that demon crazed loony would pass up one last chance to screw us over. So you can stay out of my hive mind as far as I’m concerned.”
Not willing to press her luck, Stopwatch nodded in hasty agreement. “As you wish, y-your highness.” It was only then that Rainbow’s objection actually registered. “You don’t think she actually turned me into a bomb do you?! I was supposed to be the princess’ guardian.”
“Yeah, a guardian that just so happened to let that princess land in Twilight’s lap,” Rainbow shot back with a smirk. A moment’s thought wiped that smirk off in a real hurry. “Now that I really think about it, how about you just leave town instead. Go find some doctor who’s willing to risk you exploding on him to see if you got a bomb sac in you or something. You come back with a doctor’s note and we’ll go from there.”
Stopwatch fell flatly on her rump, hugging herself while the mental picture of volatile chemical sac within her just waiting for the wrong twitch to blow. By the First Mother, she’d do it to! I knew it was weird to want so much garlic after my queen ordered me to prepare. “I think I know one or two who I have some dirt on.”
“Good, now if I don’t hear about some back alley exploding in the next few weeks, I’ll be expecting an intelligence report every month.” Satisfied, the puppet stepped away and banged on the metal door. After sharing a brief word with the guard, Rainbow gestured to the exit. “The guards will see you to the train station and you’ll get a ticket to anywhere free of charge. Now get outta here before I change my mind and have you quarantined in a bunker or something.”
Present day.
Pear Butter stood in front of a mirror in her room. The door was ajar with the sounds of children cackling mischievously coming from the hallway beyond. The gentle blue glow of her eyes and naturally heightened night vision made her forget to turn on the lamp at this late hour. She was brushing her wavy orange mane in the scant few minutes she could spare before the three fillies tried to break something, or worse, tried convincing Pranceston into letting them give him a makeover again.
The last time they did that, Pranceston had suffered the ignoble ordeal with the expected grace of a butler. He had been sure to give Pear extra duties the following week as punishment for letting the fillies torture him with mascara and hoof gloss. It might actually be worth letting it happen again so Ah can take pictures. A sudden crash and the distinct sound of breaking pottery made her cringe. The immediate silence followed by ‘ooohs’ heralded the need for her return. Too late. At least everything breakable in that room’s cheaper than a bar o’ soap.
With her hair more or less presentable again, minus the silly string that bedecked it a minute ago, she raced her way to the playroom across the hall. Pranceston was thankfully absent. Good, Ah might have time to convince the girls to clean up before he sees anything.
Upon all but bursting into the playroom, Pear Butter found Stellar Drift, Amber, and Flurry Heart all trying to put a broken flower vase back together again. The mess was right in the middle of a cardboard box recreation of the walls around Phoenix’s Roost with little pony and changeling dolls attending a ball in the middle. The broken vase had apparently been a stand-in for the castle. Flurry Heart had been levitating a piece, but dropped it upon seeing Pear’s entrance. Flurry Heart was easily taller than the two royal changelings. “It wasn’t my fault! Amber was trying to use the vase as a throne!”
“You said it could hold me!” Amber shot back with childish pouting.
“I told you your butt’s too fat for that,” Stellar stated while wiggling her rump in the air.
“Nuh uh! Your butt is ginorrrrrmous!” Amber shot back while waving her hooves as far wide as she could.
“Nuh uh,” Stellar bit back. “Your butt is so big aunty Tia and Lulu have to move it every day.”
“Girls,” Pear Butter called out with a caring yet admonishing voice. “What’s the first rule when you break something?”
Two tiny royal changelings and one alicorn hung their heads. “Clean up first, then point hooves.”
Pear nodded sagely. “Just remember to point the hoof at yourself if you’re at fault. The truth feels better than holding a lie. Now, let’s clean up before the stone pony gets here or he’ll hide the snaky cakes.”
“I heard that,” Pranceston stated with mild annoyance from the door.
Pear’s wings buzzed out of surprise and she turned around with a sheepish grin. She noted the stallion had even brought a broom and dustpan. Crud. “Sorry about the mess, sir, the girls and Ah will get it cleaned up lickety split, right girls?” she asked while levitating the cleaning tools over to them.
A choir of ‘yes ma’ams’ rang out from the fillies as they hurriedly resumed their task.
As Pear made as though to join them, Pranceston beckoned her over with a wave of a hoof. “I’m sure the girls can handle cleaning a broken vase out of the carpet long enough for me to share a word with you. Celestia knows they have the experience.”
With the butler as stoney as ever, Pear cringed and floated over to him and started whispering. “Ah’m sorry, sir, Ah’ll pay for the damages.”
The brown furred earth stallion lifted a solitary eyebrow. “You and I both know nothing in this room is worth more than the food stuck between your teeth."
Pear Butter blushed furiously out of embarrassment and started licking her teeth trying to find the offending food. A task which Pranceston was in no hurry to aid.
"Do not worry about the damages. In fact, much to my surprise, I come bearing gifts.” From a pocket, Pranceston produced four black tickets with gold letters. “The little misses and you have VIP tickets to the next big show at the Royal Orchestra Hall. Apparently there is new talent in town.”
As soon as the words ‘Royal Orchestra Hall’ left his lips, Flurry Heart gasped and bolted as fast as she could towards Pranceston, much to the ire of her changeling friends for abandoning their chore. The little alicorn rammed into Pranceston’s standing foreleg, nearly knocking it out from under him. “Oooooo! I wanna go! I neeeed to go! Pleeeeeease!!” Flurry was a pro at sad puppy dog eyes, and she leveraged every ounce of that now.
Pear Butter had claimed the tickets when Flurry rammed into the butler to allow him to use his other leg to stabilize himself. With a mischievous smile of her own, a toothless one to hide the alleged stuck food, Pear Butter separated one ticket from the pack and waved it in front of Flurry’s nose. “If you want to go, you better clean up and pick out a good dress.”
“Deal!” Flurry let go of Pranceston and jumped high enough to claim the ticket in her mouth. Pear let it go so Flurry could take the ticket into her hooves to look at it. She could barely read the fine print, but Flurry was familiar with the famous black and gold tickets and squealed with girlish delight. “I’m going to the concert!” she sang repeatedly while bouncing up and down.
“Not if you don’t help us ya featherbrain!” Amber called out grumpily.
More than happy to work for her prize, Flurry raced back over and tried to rush everyone else to stuff the broken shards into the pan. With the adults not directly intervening, the children started bickering over who should fetch the small wastebasket at the corner of the room.
Pranceston and Pear watched over them, mostly to enjoy the sight of children at play, but also to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves. “A concert, though,” Pear mused to no one in particular. “Ah don’t remember if Ah’ve ever been to one before.”
A hum of wistful approval escaped the stallion next to her. “The first one is always the most memorable.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
719 users online
768,760 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I sincerely hope to see Pear Butter reunite with Applejack and all them. Hopefully you'll include it in one of the flashbacks!
Well, that shoots down THAT plotline. I mean, it makes sense, and she's got the extra dronepower to do the legwork on suspicions; I was just expecting it to come out in dramatic fashion halfway through a parental screaming match and knock everyone on their arses.
8651823
Too cliché, Twilight would never stand for it. It could do with more SCIENCE, though.
This chapter was extremely cute. I hope no back alleys blew up, and that Pear may reunite with her children soon.
Soo, good. Will Pear ever get to see her family again? I cant wait to see if Paint Brush ever remembers who he was.
Now that was satisfying.
I wondered how reveling Pear Butter was going to go, I was not disappointed, well done well done indeed.
Though I must ask, Will she and the Apples ever realize there relation? Or is that not canon here?
Next time, the confrontation.
8652571
If I were to have a guess Applejack would likely meet them or at least see a picture at some point in time, it could also be that either of them remembers something that is a solid enough connection to Sweet Apple Acres to investigate a bit.
8653278
I have been wondering... When Grogar agreed to be reborn into a changeling queen, to get away from both being mortal, and more importantly, being an Incubus... He did realize that changelings of the Twilight and Dash bloodline have a strong... Connection to sex.
Kind of defeated the point of dumping all his Incubusness into ol’ Poly Pocket.
Ladies and gentlemen, the fearsome Grogar.
Seems someone needs a friendship refresher on bluntness.
Oh dear...
Well, that's one plot line that got resolved quickly. So quickly in fact that I have to ask Law, did you intend this result from the start? Or was this decided on when you started Mother?
Just curious from a creative standpoint.
8653919
The events in my chapters follow a progression in what i feel would be a natural result of the characters' most likely actions and effects of outside forces. For this chapter as an example: As was revealed, Twilight suspected Pear Butter was not quite right the day she met her, but due to the influence of her mother's fall and her father's stated feelings about second chances with no background check, she didn't want to act on that without hard evidence. So upon realizing, what Stellar was, she wanted to present that as evidence that Pear was likely a danger to her family. After all, having a servant of another queen with easy access to her pony family is asking for trouble.
As for Pear, I could have had her hold her tongue and keep hiding behind Night Light, but that would have felt OOC for me, even if that would have generated more juicy drama later on down the line.
as 8651823 pointed out, it probably would have made a more interesting scene to have PB's reveal right when Velvet and NL met after all these years or something, but I couldn't see Twilight waiting 6 years to try and out PB when she believes PB is a danger, she's too competent and emotionally involved for that, even if she's busy running a hive.
So to to put my answer in a more concise term, no, this was not the original plan.
The "plan" is to have a defined beginning and end of the overall narrative, and then seeing where the pieces big and small fall in between.
Now admittedly, this style of letting things happen organically instead of a rigid story structure has caused my stories to drag up the word count, which depending on who you ask is more of a pro than con. But I like to think it makes situations more in character and realistic... as realistic as steampunk technicolored horse bugs can be at least.
8654009
Oh I definitely agree that this style of writing does wonders for the narrative, and I think most of us can agree that we don't mind if the word count expands past the original intent. That just gives us more to look forward to and enjoy.
Thanks for the insights.
Hang on, in all the years applejack and twilight have known each other, never once did applejack say the name of her mother. I'm pretty sure if she did twilight would be all for reuniting them.
8652889
Hah! This is going to be even more of a family train wreak than I thought. Oh, snowball efect, how I love you. Better get ready, Queen Sparkle Butt. There's about to be a few extra thorns in your flank.
Nitpick time:
missing marks. Making that a bit confusing.
8653278
Well, yes and no. As changeling he will have the "standard" sexdrive for reproduction. The PR Hive just made it culturally acceptable to have more sex and on casual basis. There is still no absolute need for it.
As Incubus on the other hand the sex was practically forced into his being. No choice and no consent.
If I could offer any words of advice I would say a gentle reminder as to who these fillies are and who they are related to would be great. Its been awhile and there are alot of names and with jumping back in forth in time it makes things rather confusing.
The agonizing wait for another chapter begins now. Ah well. Anticipation heightens the enjoyment.
That burn.
Question, because I don't remember and don't exatly want to check all prequels... who is Amber? Reborned Grogar? Or daughter of Chryssi?
Ah
____________
Nice chapter.
8657099
Well since it's a blue egg, and in the last fic Grogar was reborn as a royal under Dashie. So Amber would be as you guessed Grogar reborn.
8654009
Quick question: Did Pair Butter swap hiveminds as well, or is she still linked to Stopwatch?
Observation: I noticed a lack of "Paint Brush" flashback. This implies two things to me. One, he slipped through the dragnet and will appear later, and two, there is now a better than average chance that he is not Bright Mac.
This was cute, but stopwatch was very quick to just obey Rainbow. Also where is Paint Brush? I thought he was in the bordello with Stopwatch.
8653278
Glad to see you made it to the end. I am rereading the entire Hive series now found your comments on the story entertaining seeing as how there is a comment on almost every chapter in the beginning of the series.
8665211
Eh, better late than never right?
8666819
Although change is also one of the best, its a close call between the 2. Only reason I prefer the Hive series is cause it's sooooo much more. Law is a really talented writer, wish he could do it full time so we could get more frequent updates 
I totally agree, this is the best changling fic for me where Twi is main character.
8666830
Change? Might I have a link?
8666843
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/284555/change Its also got a squeal that is almost finished.
8666844
Thanks! The description alone has me hooked but... I sadly won't be able to read it for a month or two. My internet is going down, and I am too broke to get more.
8666854
you can always just dl the story
After reading the whole series again I finally got it that Amber was once Grogar. I enjoyed rereading it tho.
Great chapter. Just a little disappointed that the outing of Pearbutter wasn't a bit more epic (more than one chapter) and involved a confrontation with Applejack and who she and Paintbrush use to be. 5 years and no one has looked into the quasis past pony lives. For that matter, what ever did happen to Paintbrush.
Yes another sequel!
Damnit man, I just ran out of Changeling story after a good week or so of reading them all
8736510
Wait so Twilight has known about Pear Butter for 5 years at this point? So has she reunited with Applejack and her family yet? I hope we still get to see that happen.
8678251
Indeed. So many questions still need to be answered. I expect either those events are yet to come, or more likely, we will get more flashbacks in future chapters. I also find it hard to believe that Twilight found out about Pear Butter and then didn't do anything to find out more about her for years or that the event was never mentioned to Applejack at all, even in passing conversation.
8755178
Applejack is JUST as bad as Twilight about talking about her family in certain cases. She doesn't know about the connection, but I think she suspects...that accent is kinda unique
Hi I did start reading your Storys a week ago
Rly Hope the next chapter is comming soon
Caballeron...where have i heard that name before...
oh, right, Daring Do's adversary!
FLASHBACKS THANK GOD
here come the flashbacks ...
Category 1:
leash
missing comma, two of them in a row
that it's tough to hug the poor dear through that hard shell
shone, also: missing comma
Category 2:
given that and incidence is defined as 'The occurance, rate, or frequency of a disease, crime, or other undesirable thing' I believe that's not the best word to use here, try 'occasions' instead
either 'Now that you mention it' or Now that I think about it
dense isn't exactly a word that's generally used to describe clothing, try 'thick' instead
I'd go with 'only slightly ill at ease' You might also wanna try replacing 'being' with 'appearing'
That takes care of this chapter ... on to the next and back to the present
Heh, the fillies are cute.
Oh, this one will be memorable for sure. Velvet will be there...
OK, so I reread the story, and...
Night Light is being a MORON here. There's a difference between delusion, and insane ramblings of Velvet and healthy SCEPTICISM of a pony that TIME AND TIME AGIN came into DIRECT conflict with changlings, alsmost DIED that one time, and lost MANY of HER CHILDREN in wars against the queens. She has right to suspect, given good factual reasons, and do WHATEVER she damn WANTS to PROTECT whomever she wants.
Honestly, Night was being merciful when dealing with Velvet, he KNEW something was wrong, but because it was a smaller part of his life - he had to give his wife benefit of the doubt. Now a supposedly changeling foal comes around, with a changeling foalsitter from Polibia who has been declared rouge, clearly gone mad and tried to kill everyone who crossed her. Using forbidden techincs, no less. And he wants to live in ignorance and die?
10763757
This
Many surprises are to be found in this chapter
This concert will be most memorable indeed...