The Fractured Unity

by Time Reaper

The Councelor Queen

"Alright then" -, said Diamantis as the interview was done, - "now that the meeting in the Collective's Palace is over, it's time to go back to other important things."

All the ponies, turning changelings, looked at Diamantis expectangly.

"It's been a while since the last time I talked to all of you, I need to know how you have been doing, regarding your transformation."

All the ponies blushed at this, knowing where Diamantis was going with this.

"Is it really necessary?" - Asked Rainbow Dash. - "We just heard a big discussion between the queens and a following interview, I'm sure many of us have other things to do."

Diamantis looked around and saw how most of the ponies looked tired. Cherilee was packing her papers, Octavia looked like she needed to rest, Thunderlane was already moving to the door, Rarity was wearing something to cover her horn and mouth, Pinkie straight up disappeared; overall, nopony seemed eager to talk to Diamantis.

"Alright, fine, but we'll have to talk tomorrow then."

"What!?" - Asked Cherilee. - "No way, I have to work at school tomorrow and tell my students how they performed in their most recent test, while teaching them about history."

"I have to do a reharse" -. Said Octavia.

"Ah have to work at the farm."

"Tend the animals."

"Work on my dresses."

"Work on the weather."

"Wait, Rainbow, isn't tomorrow your free day?"

"SHUT IT THUNDERLANE!"

"Look!" - Shouted Diamantis with a tone of authority. - "I know it must be embarrassing to you, and very personal, but if I'm going to help you to adapt to changeling culture and to keep your life as Equestrian citizens, I need to know how you are doing with your transformation into a changeling and that won't happen if you don't tell me how are you doing."

All the ponies looked down, avoiding seeing Diamantis at her eyes while she just sighed and looked at Twilight.

"Twilight, could you please help me make a schedule to organize the days I have to see each of my new subjects."

Diamantis ignored the grumbles from some of the ponies who weren't fond of being future subjects to her. Twilight, meanwhile, had her eyes shine as she heard one of the words she loves the most.

"Sure, I can help you organize all of this" -, she then looked at the other ponies and added, - "but it would take me a few days to do so, is that alright to you?"

Diamantis sighed as she heard this, but she relented.

"Alright, sure, but we'll have to talk while we're working on this, and that is not an option."

Twilight cringed as she heard this, while her friends were giving her encouraging smiles, but she accepted.

At the next day, as Diamantis was on Twilight's library, using her foal disguise, Spike was feeling unease as he could fill an untold tension on the room, one formed by how Diamantis and Twilight were talking about what each future changeling did on their daily life to eschedule the best moments to properly talk.

"So basically Rainbow Dash rarely works?"

"Technically" -, explained Twilight, - "it's quite funny if you think about it, she works so fast on the weather that she has more free time than anypony."

"I suppose I would have to schedule her for whenever she has free time but I could talk to her more often than that" -. Analyzed Diamantis. - "But this is more of a convenience than anything else. I would still have to see for a proper time to talk to everypony else."

Twilight then blushed as she remembered the last time Diamantis tried to talk with the other ponies, which prompted her to ask.

"By the way, how do you plan to talk with us?" - Twilight nerviously asked. - "Last time wasn't so good."

"Really?" - Asked Diamantis with a lot of doubt. - "I don't think it was so bad, wasn't it?"

"You asked me if I was planning to live off from Spike's love towards me, while Spike was hearing."

Spike shuddered at the memory of the question, not really wanting to know what was Diamantis meaning when she asked that.

"I mean, it doesn't really matter what kind of love he has for you, what matters is that he loves you so you can feed from him" -. She then remembered something just as important. - "That reminds me, I have to teach you all how to collect love from other living beings in case your hunger for love starts to develop before I can buy you processed love sources."

Remembering how Chrysalis fed from Shining Armor, and how it affected him, Twilight shuddered at the idea of subjecting Spike to that kind of process.

"I think I will wait."

"Well, then, let's hope we have love supplies before your bodies start demanding it."

"And how long do you think it will take for that to happen?" - Asked a worried Twilight.

Diamantis gave it a thought before answering.

"Well, it's hard to say, since most ponies tend to be on a coccoon, where they are love fed constantly over the time needed for them to transform. But I calculate that as soon as you have access to changeling magic, it's the only moment where it would make sense to me."

"I think that makes sense" -, responded Twilight with some doubt, - "although it doesn't answer when will we really need to ingest love."

"Sorry, but it's the best I can give you... especially when you don't tell me about how your transformation has been developing."

Twilight flinched when she heard that, knowing very well what Diamantis meant by that.

"Your horn has been developing holes, they are unnoticeable for now, but I managed to see them when getting close enough to you yesterday."

Twilight remained silent.

"Does it scare you the idea of no longer being a pony?"

"..."

Nobody answered for a few moments, knowing how important this was, and how much he didn't want to be there, Spike decided to leave the best way he could imagine.

"Oh, look at the hour, I'll go see if Pinkie need some help to test her cupcakes."

And with Spike gone, Diamantis made her next question.

"You still haven't found a way to cope it with Spike, right?"

"..."

Diamantis didn't make another question, she just decided to wait until Twilight answered while she was reading all the schedules left to analyze. In the end, Twilight decided to answer.

"Yes."

Diamantis left Twilight's answer to sink for some moments before making her next question.

"You're afraid of doing to Spike what Queen Chrysalis did to your brother, right?"

"...Yes."

Diamantis sighed, kind of understanding where she was coming from.

"I don't blame you, force feeding tends to leave harsh side effects on the ponies who suffered from it."

"And..." - Twilight asked. - "Will I have to force feed love from others to live?"

Diamantis gave it some thought before answering.

"Well, thanks to our companies processing love into types of food, you aren't really forced to do that, but I have heard theories of ambient love and of possibilities of others sharing their love to us, but they have never been really tested out."

"Really?" - The idea of having something to test during her transformation process really changed Twilights mood, if slightly. - "Well, I suppose I have something to look forward to when the time comes."

---

"And how have you been trying to hide your transformation?"

"Well" -, Applejack answered, - "since Ah've only been growing a horn so far, it has been easy to keep it from mah family, but it still feels wrong, you know? Ah don't want to keep this from Applebloom, Big Mac and Granny."

"I see, and they have never asked or suspected about it?"

"Well, Ah think they noticed how Ah always keep mah hat on, but they never ask."

"And that pressures makes you want to come clean, right?"

"Yeah."

Diamantis took a few moments to think about what she was told by Applejack, it was true that there (probably) were no spies from Cerebelis in Ponyville yet, but she already screwed big by foalnapping and forcing the transformations, and she was yet to face any kind of punishment from it. She didn't want to allow Applejack, or any other pony for that matter, to break the secrecy law and potentially risk a harsher punishment, and that's not even talking about what would happen to Applejack, and her other subjects, for breaking the secrecy laws.

She didn't want them, or their relatives, to be caught by Cerebelis' forces. The rumors alone, about what happens to Logos' prisoners, are too terrifying to even consider taking the risk.

Applejack, meanwhile, was feeling each day more and more constricted for having to hide this to her family. It felt like lying, she wanted to tell them about what was happening to her and what would be her soon future, would her family hate her for hiding all of this? A part of her said no, but she also couldn't stop this huge feeling on her heart ordering her to tell the truth. At the same time, she knew what would happen to her, or her family, if she said anything about the changelings.

And knowing who was to blame, right in front of her, and that one guilty changeling of her current situation was going to be her new boss, didn't help at all.

Diamantis sighed and responded.

"I suppose I could send a letter to Queen Fortis about it, hopefully, she will let me know just how far we can go with the secrecy."

It took full 30 seconds to even comprehend what she heard.

"What?"

"Well" -, Diamantis responded, - "The Chamber of the High Queens did suspended a lot of laws, including the secrecy law, and I'm yet to be a queen oficially, so I'll send a letter to Queen Fortis asking about our situation and see if some of us here could tell some information about what is going on."

Applejack took some moments to think about the implications.

"But doesn't that mean...?"

"Yes, risking being dissapeared by Cerebelis, but I cannot bear the thought of seeing you, or Twilight, like that."

---

"B-but, that would put you in danger, right?"

Diamantis gave Fluttershy and her falling feathers a good look before answering.

"You've been receiving multiple letters from your family, right?"

"Y-yes..." - Responded Fluttershy with some hesitation. - "But I don't think it's worth the risk" -. She then shrunk as she thought about being disssapeared. - "I prefer to wait until the risk is gone."

Diamantis gave Fluttershy a small smile as she heard that.

"Well, thanks, but I think it would be safe to cover my bases. I'm certain Fortis will say no, but I prefer to ask her, just in case. In the meantime, I think this is something worth taking notes about."

"Hum... taking notes?"

"Yeah, I think taking notes will help to get a better understanding of what my subjects want and how to improve later."

---

"And let me guess, Twilight approved it?"

Diamantis looked at Rainbow Dash, wondering why she had that smirk on her face, and answering with honesty.

"Well, yes. Why?"

Rainbow Dash increased her smile.

"Oh nothing, it's just that it seems so fitting."

"Huh... ok." - Diamantis finished writing her notes before adding. - "Alright, now, something else I would like to ask, have you considered how your life will change once you become a changeling?"

Rainbow's smirk vanished as she thought about it.

"You want me to be part of your administration, right?"

Diamantis nodded and proceded.

"Yes, I want you to be in charge of the defense of the hive, that means you'll have to be careful of who is a danger for us and who isn't. You'll also have to prepare to protect this place from potential dangers."

Rainbow Dash looked at the ground of the library as she heard this.

"B-but, what about my training? I don't know much about defence, shouldn't I have some sort of training into that? Heck, I was planning to join the Wonderbolts, doesn't that count? Can't you postpone my position until then?"

Diamantis gave it a thought before answering.

"Well, I don't think the transformation would wait that long" -, she didn't miss Rainbow's flinch, but she preferred to act as she didn't see it, - "and you would have to learn to keep your transformation while training, if not for the secrecy laws, then for keeping the ponies from not feeling uncomfortable of being with a changeling. You think you could handle that?"

Rainbow Dash stood up, shaking some feathers and hair from herself.

"No problem, you'll see, I'll learn quickly to change my looks, the fastest learner, and then I'll show you how capable I am to keep my looks with my training on the Wonderbolts."

"I'll hold you to it then" -, responded a smirking Diamantis, - "I want to see what Equestria's air force is capable for defense, its Royal Guard already left a very bad impression."

"You'll see" -, responded an emboldened Rainbow Dash, - "I'll be the best defense manager in equestriand and changeling history."

"It's 'Secretary of Defense'."

"Buck no, I won't use such an uncool term as secretary."

Diamantis smiled as she heard Rainbow Dash talking.

---

"Well, glad to know you are so enthusiast about it."

"Darling, I always give my best, no matter what."

Diamantis gave Rarity a good look, she noticed how Rarity was doing her best to hide her growing fangs with a concealed smile, how she was hiding her darker spots with make up and her eyes were starting to turn blue.

"Hopefully, you'll have a good time with the illusion spells."

Rarity gave Diamantis an 'oh' as ideas for dresses came to her.

"Oh yes, ideas are already coming to my mind. From dresses that can make you look thinner, to dresses that can turn from yellow to blue."

Diamantis got a little kick out of it, it would be fun seeing ponies and changelings debating on the true color of said dress.

"Well, nice to see you're seeing the good side to this, have you talked about this with your friends?"

---

"Have I!?" - Responded Pinkie Pie with enthusiasm, her hair falling as she spoke, Rarity's make up hiding the hairless spots on her coat. - "I've been talking with Dashie about the pranks we'll be able to do."

Diamantis' back turned cold for the pair of monsters that could potentially be unleashed, but it was too late for that.

"That sounds... great, and I hope everything works out."

"Yeah, will you really write to Queen Fortis?"

"Yes, Pinkie, I promise you the same way I promised Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity..."

Pinkie stood there silent for a brief moment, wondered if she should ask her the Pinkie Promise, but that was for friends and right now she really didn't feel that close to Diamantis... but she could always give the first step, right?

"Do you Pinkie Promise?" - She asked as she started to look directly into Diamantis' yet to be, but close enough, cat-slit eyes.

"Pinkie Promise?"

"Yeah, it's the most important type of promise, if you break it, you'll your friendship foreveeeeeeeeerr....."

Diamantis gave it a thought as she wondered about the Pinkie Promise. On one hand, it sounded really dumb, but she also didn't want to be on bad terms with one of her future subjects.

"Sure... I Pinkie Pro-"

"Noooo, that's not how you do it, look, you have to say 'I Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly, Stick a Cupcake in my Eye'"

Diamantis felt a bit weired out, but she relented.

"Alright then, I Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly, Stick a Cupcake in my Eye. Is that good?"

Pinkie Pie gave a deep thought in less than a second before answering.

"Yeeperonie."

"Alright then" -, answered Diamantis, - "I hope this helps you, please, it you feel something is wrong or you need to talk about something important, you can come to me, alright?"

"Something important?" - Asked Pinkie. - "Like when I wonder if I should bake with chocolate or cocoa with sweetened milk? Or when I need to know if a kilogram of feathers is lighter than a kilogram of rocks? Wait a minute, they both weight the same, so why-"

"Pinkie" -, Said Diamantis before losing her patience, - "I mean things like how the process of an illusion spell is going, trust me, Twilight and I are working on it, or if you feel somepony is suspecting of you or if you are transforming faster into a changeling, ok?"

"Oki doki loki" -. Said Pinkie as she made a salute and left Diamantis alone in the Library.

This gave the future queen enough time to breath and relax.

"Alright, with Pinkie, we have 6, I now have to talk with another 24 while I have to make a planification of my first years of ruling, how I plan to budget everything, how my hive will work, trade relationships, diplomatic relationships, defense, how to present before the next queen, the buildings I'll have to make for 50 plus changeling subjects, searching for a mate to ensure a dinasty..." - She then looked at the clock and saw that she had to go see Cheerilee in a couple of minutes. - "Just another day" -. She then took a deep breath as she went out to see the professor, hopefully, she would feel nice after hearing that Twilight was starting to look for test subjects. - "Hopefully, it will get better in a few weeks."

Author's Note:

Well, I have to say, it took me a while to have the first part of this working, but hopefully I managed to give a good idea of the kind of problems the ponies were facing, how they feel about Diamantis and what is going on in Diamantis' head as she has to get everything ready for her new queenship in just a few months.

What do you think?

If you like this and you want to support me, you can do it through my Ko-Fi. Feel free to check it out.

Comments

[Prismfire Productions]

Twi is going to be her mate isn't she...

[Time Reaper]

10753956

I'll cut that theory right away, no, Twilight won't be Diamantis' mate.

Granted, I've been trying to think comedic skits of Diamantis trying to find a suitable male but, due to her age, they feel uncomfortable to just think about. As for WHO would be the definitive mate, still thinking about it, the story will be very long in itself, so I think I have plenty of time for that.

[Time Reaper]

11241578

They will be relevant in the future, so I´m mentioning them so you know about them,

[Dark reaper]

11241728

Don't forget to decipher the names of organizations!
For example, you can understand that the first word is changeling, and then?

[Time Reaper]

11242321

Secret for now, you'll see soon.

[Dark reaper]

A little joke

Expect in the next episodes!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THE DISCORD STATUE IS MISSING?!

-I am the King of Sombra, the lord of the Crystal Empire, how dare you stand in my way, you pathetic bug?!
-I am Queen Luxis! The changeling Queen of the Frozen North! And I will not let you take away the hope of my subjects again!

-AAAAAAaaaaaaaa!
-What happened my queen?!
-I had a nightmare.... about rainbow changelings
-Oh my God! What a terrifying nightmare!

Twilight has become.... A royal changeling? How?

What? Were changelings already living in Ponyville, in secret from other changelings?

Pinkie, stop walking on the ceiling

[Dark reaper]

By the way, how can the lack of love affect changelings?
In one story, for example, changelings, if they did not feed on love, began to lose their identity... IT'S CREEPY!

And how dangerous is it for changelings for you?