Chapter Seven - Changelings Actually Eat Orphans
"Ah, what a lovely day!" declared Nightmare Moon, trotting happily down the Appleloosa street. Wood-slatted buildings lined the dusty street, marching past as they made their way through the city center. A general store, a saloon, the town hall, several other generic Old West buildings—Appleloosa had it all.
"It's actually almost completely overcast," pointed out Shining Armor.
"Yes, exactly," Nightmare purred smoothly, with a sneer back towards Celestia. Who completely ignored her, preferring to focus on her conversation with Ka-klack.
"I don't mean to pry, or seem like I'm trying to sneak confidential information out of you…" she said, with an uncomfortable gesture, "but… how did you manage to build a hive under Appleloosa without anyone noticing? I mean, even with the mine tunnels already there…"
"The mines aren't exactly under the town," replied the changeling. "We actually had to build quite a long series of connecting tunnels to reach it. And the mines themselves aren't really there anymore, either. We collapsed most of the tunnels to give us open space to work with. What's left is just there to serve as escape exits in the event that… um, that you… attack us."
"Ah. Out of curiosity—"
"The things Queen Chrysalis would do to me if I told you our contingency plans, even if she is marrying your sister, would make anything you can imagine pale in comparison."
"Yes, I suppose that's true." Celestia walked in silence for a moment, then glanced over at Ka-klack. "What is she like? Queen Chrysalis, I mean."
"Mean, cruel, spiteful." Ka-klack shrugged. "Just your typical Queen, really."
"You know, you're not instilling a sense of confidence in me as far as your Queen's marriage to my sister is concerned," said Celestia dryly.
"Well, she has a soft side. It's just under a lot of hardness. Like, a lot. But never doubt that she loves your sister with everything she has. I've felt it through the hivemind, and… well, it's actually scarier than her anger. And I may have overstated her... 'evilness', if you will, a bit. As long as you do exactly what she wants, she's perfectly fine. She just always needs to be in control. I mean, she is a Queen, after all."
They reached the end of the street, and Celestia stopped in front of a building, letting out a snort. "She's also apparently completely depraved," she said, practically glaring at the sign that hung overhead, and the read it out loud. "'The Pink Princess's Plot'."
Ka-klack was staring at her in puzzlement, and she rolled her eyes at the changeling. "I mean, I know you need love and all, but building the entrance to the hive under a brothel? I expected… I don't know, more class out of Chrysalis, I guess."
"Um… I didn't say this was the entrance," said Ka-klack slowly, then gestured with her head. "It's over here."
"But…" Celestia stared as the pony-disguised changeling trotted away, and her face turned red. "I just assumed… w-when you said it was at the end of the street…"
"Yes, over at this end." Ka-klack walked across the street and around the corner to a building that stood facing the open desert.
"'Welcoming Hooves'?" read Shining Armor as they took in the front of this building. It was well maintained, despite its exposure to the elements, and the brightly painted shutters and cheery awning gave it a pleasantly homey feel.
"That's right." Ka-klack trotted up to the door, then paused, her hoof on the handle.
"Listen," she said, shuffling her hooves nervously and avoiding eye contact. "The ponies in here are… important, to me. To us. So just be on your best behavior, okay? Please."
"Is she embarrassed by us?" hissed Nightmare Moon indignantly, looking over at the others.
"Well, after what you two did earlier... " said Shining Armor.
"Oh please, we didn't do anything embarrassing," sniffed Celestia dismissively, not seeing the look Shining Armor gave her with half-lowered eyelids. Then she gasped. "Wait… what if the changelings are the ones running the sex trains?! And Ka-klack thinks we might spoil the whole thing by drawing attention to it?!"
"Celestia, just…" Shining Armor put a hoof to his head and groaned. "No more, please."
They climbed up onto the small porch, following behind Ka-klack as she walked into a small room decorated with paintings and filled with various pieces of mix-matched seats. Much like the exterior of the building, this room was worn, but in a comfortable way. It wasn't rundown, it had just been lived in, apparently quite a bit. The changeling glanced back at the them, then cleared her throat.
"Guess who's back?" she called out cheerfully.
"Lavender Blossom!"
Immediately, a herd of foals swarmed her, pouring in from the doorway on the other side of the room. They were of every race, earth, pegasi and unicorn, their coats forming a rainbow of colors, and they ranged in age from barely able to walk to nearly teenage. A full grown pony or two followed them in, smiling at the sight and giving knowing looks to the three standing in the entrance.
"Well, it's nice to see you all again too," giggled Ka-klack, doing her best to hug, ruffle the manes of, and otherwise greet every single little filly and colt.
Celestia, Nightmare Moon, and Shining Armor watched the display with open mouths.
"Are… the changelings running an orphanage?" whispered Shining Armor finally.
"I think so," Celestia managed to say after a moment, sounding like she'd been hit on the head. "I can't decide if I think that's sick, or an absolutely brilliant way to work the changelings into our society."
Meanwhile, the fillies and foals had turned to a more immediate concern: presents, and their current whereabouts.
"A present?" wondered Ka-klack, proving her acting skills by pretending to be a pony that was an absolutely horrible actor. "Why, I haven't the foggiest idea what any of you are talking about!"
"You always bring us back a present!" declared one little pegasi.
"Yup, everytime you leave, you have a present for us when you return!" declared a unicorn with glasses.
"Why, that's right!" Ka-klack exclaimed, one wing reaching back into her saddlebags. "And I believe the pony who gets one this time is… Boulder Smash!"
She brought out a brightly colored box, smiling widely as she passed it over to the beaming colt.
"Is it really…" he trailed off, speaking in hushed tones.
"That's right," nodded Ka-klack. "The deluxe Princess Celestia action figure, with battle armor and kung-fu kick."
He looked at it, tears welling up in his eyes, and then, to the surprise of the three watching ponies, he pushed the box aside to run over and embrace Ka-klack. "Thank you!" he said happily, and if the changeling hugged him back with a bit more enthusiasm than a pony might have, well, the ponies watching the scene would have still had a hard time saying it was wrong.
"Now, remember the rule, everypony," Ka-klack called out as she released the colt and he rushed off, box in tow. "Boulder Smash gets the present for the rest of the day, and then it's fair game for everypony after that!"
"I'm next, right Ms. Blossom?" asked a shy little unicorn.
"That's right, Ink Pot!" answered Ka-klack.
"I thought so!" beamed the filly. "Look, I made a list to keep track of who's been getting what…"
The two continued to talk, Shining Armor watching with a small smile on his face, but Nightmare Moon trotted off after the colt who had gotten the present. Eyes narrowed, Celestia followed behind quietly.
The colt was sitting in the middle of a room full of battered but much loved toys, carefully opening his new action figure and laying out the accessories piece by piece.
"So," said Nightmare Moon suddenly, nearly making the colt jump. "You like Princess Celestia, do you?"
"Of course," said the colt, nervous and puzzled. "I mean, she's the Princess, right? She raises the sun and brings the days we all enjoy so much. I can't think of anypony who doesn't like the Princess."
"Oh, you'd be surprised," hissed Nightmare quietly. "Sure would be a shame if anything happened to that new toy of yours, wouldn't it?"
"Definitely," agreed Boulder enthusiastically, as Celestia tensed up to defend his gift from whatever horrible intentions Nightmare had. "That would mean there wouldn't be anyone for Nightmare Moon to fight!"
He trotted over and opened a toy box, coming back with a similar action figure held in one hoof, and Celestia heard the sharp intake of Nightmare's breath.
It was a Nightmare Moon action figure, and if the rest of the toys in the room were 'battered but much loved', this one had seen enough love to fuel a dozen more changeling hives. The moon on the toy's chestpiece was nearly imperceptible, the paint long ago having worn off. Her horn was bent, one hoofcuff was missing, and its tail seemed to have lost half its hairs. And to top it all off its left wing seemed only partially attached and swung idly as Boulder carried the figure over to the new one.
Despite all that, he held it with a reverence usually reserved for holy objects, and he beamed happily as he set it down next to the Princess Celestia figure.
"That's… why you wanted the Celestia action figure?" asked Nightmare Moon, her voice full of wonder. "Just so you could have someone for Nightmare Moon to do battle with?"
"Of course!" said Boulder happily, picking up one toy in each hoof. "Nightmare Moon wants to bring eternal night so she can be worshipped by everypony. But Princess Celestia wants to make it daytime all the time, so everypony will pay attention to only her!"
He stopped, blushing. "I-I know that's not exactly how things were, but…"
"Actually, you're pretty much dead on," said Nightmare with a giggle, as Celestia puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "But is Nightmare Moon going to win any of those fights? Is eternal night really something you wish to have upon this land?"
"Well, she'll win some of the fights, and Celestia will win some too. But of course I don't want eternal night. Nopony does." He missed the spark of anger in Nightmare's eyes as he turned to the playroom's window. "The daytime is beautiful, and with all the light we can play outside, and go swimming when the sun makes things warm, and the sunlight helps farmers grow all the crops we need to eat.
"But the nighttime is beautiful too, with the stars and the moon shining in the sky. We might sleep through most of it, but that's only because it's so restful. It lets everypony relax after a hard day of work, and if it wasn't so peaceful and dark we couldn't do that.
"So of course I don't want eternal night," concluded the colt. "We need the day and the night, equally. That's what Nightmare Moon taught us. And only a crazy pony would really want it to be nighttime forever."
"Oh," said Nightmare softly, head down, staring at the playroom's rug with unseeing eyes.
"But Nightmare Moon will win most of the time," continued Boulder, holding that figure up higher with one hoof. "Because she's so much cooler than Celestia."
Nightmare's raised her head, blinking in surprise, and then she grinned and ruffled the small pony's mane with one hoof. "Damn straight, kid," she said with a chuckle.
"MOONY!" shrieked Celestia indignantly, making them both jump.
"Does 'Lavender Blossom' really bring a present for the foals every time?" asked Shining Armor quietly, as he and Ka-klack waited for the other attendants to gently clear out the group of orphans still surrounding her.
"She travels quite often," replied Ka-klack. "The gifts make them question when she's going to be back, not where she's been. Giving gifts is an extremely efficient way of extracting a lot of love, as well."
There were a number of ways Shining Armor could have reacted: anger, disgust, indignation. Instead, he simply raised one eyebrow, a skeptical look on his face, and Ka-klack blushed.
"Lavender Blossom… might also travel more than she really needs to, sometimes," she admitted, head down. "We just like seeing them happy. Which is good for the hive, because the happier they are the more love we get!"
"No need to explain yourself to me," said Shining Armor with a smile, as the other two finally returned.
"Ow! Ow owowow! S-stop it! Let me go!"
Nightmare Moon was whining and dragging her hooves, but she had no choice except to follow Celestia, seeing as how the pegasus had one of her ears clutched firmly in a wing.
"Sorry about that," said Celestia disdainfully, a last flick of her wing forcing Nightmare to scurry forward into the room. "But I caught Nigh—Moony using inappropriate language around one of the foals."
"Hmm." Ka-klack glanced at Nightmare Moon, who just rolled her eyes. "Well, I'd better not hear any of them repeating whatever words they might have heard. I don't think you want to see what happens when the orphanage's caretakers see a threat to their little ones."
Nightmare just snorted, still refusing any eye contact. After glaring at her for a moment longer, Ka-klack beckoned them all to follow. She lead them through a series of rooms, into an office that was dominated by a large bookcase on the back wall, and then carefully locked the door behind them. After taking a moment to ensure they were truly alone, Ka-klack dropped her disguise, and with a brief glow of his horn the bookcase swung back from the wall.
Behind it was a spiral staircase leading downwards, and they followed Ka-klack as he descended the stairs. They wound around and around, heading deeper and deeper into the earth, until finally they reached a tunnel that led away into a green-tinged darkness.
"Here we are," said Ka-klack with a wave of his hole-ridden hoof, as Celestia walked up beside him. "This is our main entrance to the hive. Well, the main entrance for individuals. Obviously we can't justify a couple of dozen ponies walking into our orphanage and then not coming out."
"You're not worried about any of the fillies in the orphanage getting in here?" asked Celestia curiously.
"Oh, no. The bookcase can only be operated by changeling magic. Even you wouldn't be able to move it with pony magic. And aside from that, we have various other defenses, including forcefields that don't work on changelings but keep ponies out—"
He stopped talking at a thump and muffled groan from behind him. Celestia stood, pressed up against nothing, the glare on her smooshed face directed squarely at Ka-klack.
"Ah-ha. Um. Sorry about that." Ka-klack's horn lit up, causing a barely noticeable gemstone on the wall to glow, and Celestia stumbled forward. "It kind of, um, slipped my mind until I said it."
"Hahaha!" Nightmare Moon fell to her haunches, holding herself as she laughed. "I'm going to start calling you 'Princess Pancake' from now on!"
Celestia's glare turned to her as Shining Armor walked past. And just as Nightmare Moon, hardly able to see as she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, walked up to where the forcefield was, Celestia shot her own beam of magic at the gem Ka-klack had used. Which caused Nightmare to walk directly into the forcefield as well.
"Ooooops, sorry about that," sang Celestia, turning the forcefield back off after taking a moment to enjoy Nightmare's flattened, furious face. "Maybe I'll start calling you "Nightmare Pancake' now."
"You insolent little—"
Nightmare's horn started glowing, and was immediately matched by a glow from the surrounding walls. Runes lit up around her, and then more runes further down the tunnel from those, and then more, a solid gridwork of magical runes that stretched into the distance, all connected by lines of power and thrumming with such unreleased devastation that they almost seemed eager. So bright was the glow of their magic that it even overpowered the light from Nightmare Moon's horn.
"Okay," said Ka-klack softly, voice calm as he held up one hoof. "Let's all just… relax, yes? And let's definitely not do something like, say, casting any kind of offensive spell, yes? Not even something that might look like an offensive spell. A spell that would lightly tap somepony on the shoulder might even be too much, understand?"
Face screwed up in anger, the Nightmare started to respond. A second glance around at the runes seemed to change her mind, however, and she carefully powered her horn down.
"Thank you," Ka-klack said, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow as the runes faded away once more.
"I was tempted to attack anyway," Nightmare said, voice defiant. "It would have been worth it to make Celestia pay. I'm sure whatever spells you insects managed to enchant this corridor with would have been nothing to me."
"Those were defensive runes cast by Queen Chrysalis herself," replied Ka-klack fiercely. "Using a full season's worth of the hive's surplus love. 'Catastrophic' would describe a tenth of them being activated. 'Unimaginably devastating' would apply to what would have happened if a pony as powerful as you had been detected using offensive magic in this tunnel. As in, 'things used to be able to live in this tunnel, before reality inside it was ripped apart'."
Nightmare Moon looked sufficiently cowed for a moment, then shrugged it off as usual and tried to act like she didn't care. Celestia, however, marched up next to Ka-klack as they continued on, her face severe.
"That's the kind of defenses you have built into your hive?" she growled at him. "What happened to memory wiping spells?"
"In the event of a real attack, these would be manually detonated," he replied meekly. "But they're still on defense mode right now, which was meant to guard against, well, a surprise attack. By alicorns, specifically. I believe the thought was that if you were in the hive and attacking us directly, the hive was already lost. In which case… it would be better if we made sure you went with it."
"You have some rather upsetting ideas of what constitutes home defenses," Celestia said after a moment, deciding to settle on snark as a reaction to these revelations. "And while I can understand the need to defend your kingdom… well, I actually find the fact that all your defenses are targeted at ponies to be kind of insulting!"
"We did build this hive under a pony city, in a pony kingdom," shrugged Ka-klack. "Considering the debacle at the wedding, along with the fact that you've been our main prey for the last several decades, it made sense that we tailor our defenses to keep out all ponies."
After a moment of silence he continued, his head tilting to one side as his voice increased in pitch. "But that will be changing soon, at least slightly. After all, we can't have such a magnificent and beautiful pony as my dearest Luna being kept out of her own kingdom."
Celestia glanced over at him, as he blinked a few times and shook his head. "Was that…"
"Queen Chrysalis," confirmed Ka-klack, nodding. "We're in the hive. She's going to be keeping a close eye on you now. Well, eyes. You can expect her to be watching you from every changeling you see. And especially the ones you don't see."
Celestia started to point out how creepy that sounded, then, in the name of diplomatic relations and familial harmony, decided to let the subject drop.
Instead, she said, "So… your cover here is an orphanage, that you staff entirely with changelings? How did that come about?"
"Well, we need to eat." Ka-klack gave a shrug as they walked along. "Raiding villages on the outskirts of your kingdom is fine—um, sorry—but it's not a terribly consistent source of love. A few bad raids and we could be in a lot of trouble. And we couldn't put together a more major attack since we were building up our strength for… um, friendship?
"A-anyway, we came up with this as a constant source of love, to ensure we'd always have at least some on hoof. The Queen was actually against it at first. She said any plan that didn't involve kidnapping ponies was beneath us. But we need love, so eventually she let us try it. Of course, she won't admit how well it's worked out, but the fact that we moved the hive here is enough of an admission."
Celestia glanced over at the changeling. "You aren't too… kind to the orphans are you? I-I mean, not that that would be bad, I have no issue at all with you making orphans happy and raising them well, it's just… they're children, and impressionable, and, well, if they really do love you, then they could… well, you could… the way you could raise them..."
Celestia couldn't quite manage to get the words she wanted to say out in a way that wouldn't sound insulting to Ka-klack, which she wanted to avoid both because he was fast becoming a friend and because they were heading into a hive full of other changelings who would know exactly what she had said. After a few moments of her stammering, though, Ka-klack looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.
"You're worried that we're building some sort of fifth column?" he asked quietly. "That we're going to raise these foals to be on our side, to see us as their true family, and turn them against you?"
"Well… yes, that is the gist of what I was just thinking," she admitted with a wince, and Ka-klack shrugged.
"It wouldn't work. At least, not very well. The whole point of what we do is that we do it in disguise. We couldn't take the chance of letting the orphans know we were changelings, just in case they let something leak. Maybe that will change now, though. And, obviously, we couldn't just come out and say 'hey, guess what, we were changelings all along!' after a few years. Our habit of replacing your loved ones is too well known for that to be believed, even if it is the truth.
"Although…" Ka-klack mused, pausing in his stride for a second to rub his chin with one hoof, "What we could do is raise the orphans to see changelings as their benefactors. As… well, friends. We could train them in all the skills they would need to be captains of industry, high placed government workers, important members of the media, and then use our skills and disguises to see that they obtain these positions. Of course, we'd need a lot more orphans for this to work... but those are easy enough to make. Accidents do happen, after all. And then once the top of Equestrian society is filled with ponies sympathetic to the changeling cause, ponies who recognize our natural place as their overlords, ponies who can easily get in close to certain Princesses who, trusting in these ponies before them, will let their guard down—"
"Chrysalis," said Celestia severely, "I was talking with Ka-klack. I don't mind you listening in, but please don't interrupt our conversation. And need I remind you, again, that you are soon to be one of those Princesses who rules Equestria?"
"Oh. Right. Old habits." Ka-klacksalis rolled his/her eyes. "Though we really should discuss you and Twilight abdicating after this little mess is cleaned up. Five Princesses are a little much, don't you think?"
He/she fluttered his/her eyes at Celestia, who just glared back. Then the changeling shook his head, and was just Ka-klack again.
"Oh, I can't wait for all this to be over," he muttered off to the side, then straightened up. "In any case… we do treat them well. Extremely well, in fact. It helps that we don't have to pay our workers, since they're literally working for their meals. So that gives us quite a bit more budget to work with."
"That's… good to hear, I suppose," said Celestia hesitantly. "But I hope you don't mind if I send some inspectors out here just to make sure conditions are… proper, for the children."
"Well, you could do that, if you want," said Ka-klack, smirking. "Or… you could just review the annual reports you get on orphanages for all of Equestria. Say, the last five years worth or so."
"Orphanage quality on the whole has been on the rise," recited Celestia, pulling the data from her memory. "Child happiness, health and education have shown a marked increase over the last several quarters, and while it is too early to predict long-term trends, current evidence shows greater success post-adoption—"
Celestia suddenly stopped, mouth dropping open. "That's you?! You affected the national averages with one orphanage?!"
"We never said this was our only orphanage," Ka-klack replied smugly. "We currently own or have controlling interests in almost twenty-five percent of the orphanages in Equestria, with another ten percent or so having at least one changeling as a staff member. Any orphanage we're affiliated with sees an increase in how happy the children are, since we get 'paid' more the more the orphans love us."
Celestia didn't say anything for a long moment. On the face of it, the entire idea was absurd. Changelings, the enemies of Equestria, monsters who feed on love, taking care of children?
On the other hoof, the children in this orphanage had been genuinely glad to see Ka-klack, even if the 'him' they were glad to see wasn't really him (and was also a her). And he hadn't been lying when he'd said there had been a noticeable increase in the quality of the orphanages across Equestria. If that was due to the changelings…
Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all. Giving love to get love was, well, how love works. Luna might have actually had a point when she compared the changelings attitude towards ponies to Applejack and her apple trees. Applejack was well known for the care and love she showed to her trees; maybe it wasn't so bad if the changelings acted the same way towards ponies.
In the end, ponies and changelings needed love. Did it matter if the changelings needed it as food?
She glanced back towards Shining Armor, considering asking his opinion, but then she caught sight of him. He appeared to actually be trying to hold a conversation with Nightmare Moon. She seemed to only be responding in short sentences, but she was still participating.
So that was it, then. Celestia's mouth hardened into a thin, flat line. Even her guard captain couldn't be completely trusted not to fall in with the enemy. Well, that was unexpected, but she supposed it wasn't his fault. He'd only known the stories of Nightmare, not what she was really like. And in the end, it didn't matter. Celestia had led her kingdom by herself for a thousand years; there was no reason she couldn't work alone on this problem.
And the answer was that, for now, the changelings didn't matter. The status quo was fine the way it was; she'd have time to sort everything out after this was all over. Once Twilight, her sister, and all the others were free, she could finally get back to what mattered—ruling over Equestria, ensuring everything went the way it was supposed to.
"I'm… not too happy about this," she said finally, turning back to Ka-klack. "You are, technically, an enemy kingdom raising some of our children. But… you seem to be doing a good job. We'll have to start a review process after this, maybe set some regulations for how you run these orphanages—maybe we can even see about having you expand into other areas, such as school teachers. I will say, though, that it seems as though we may have found the changeling's niche in Equestria. You seem particularly skilled at handling foals."
"Well, I mean, maybe," said Ka-klack, a smile on his face as he turned away in embarrassment. "We always tend to replace adult ponies, so I suppose it's only natural children would have grown on us. They do tend to be where most of our love comes from when we raid a village."
"Aaaaannd now you've ruined my epiphany. Good work."
Ka-klack started to respond, but the green glow at the end of the tunnel caught his attention.
"Ah! We're here!" he said, and trotted quickly ahead. He stopped at the mouth of the tunnel, nearly disappearing into the green glow. For a moment he just stood there, looking back at the ponies who had followed him, then moved aside, letting them step out into the hive proper.
Multiple levels spread out below them in the enormous chamber, tiers of progressively smaller rings connected by ramps at various intervals, all of which led down to a central plaza. From it rose a titanic stalagmite studded with smaller spikes, reaching nearly to the ceiling of the cavernous space. From where they stood, they could see a set of massive doors built into its side, shaped like the wings of a scarab. More tunnels, counterparts to the one they had entered from, led off from various points around the different levels of the cavern.
While the cavern had obviously been carved out of the living rock, that wasn't apparent at first glance. What seemed to be an organic substance of some kind coated everything in sight, starting from just inside the tunnels. It was hard, gray and dappled with specks and bands of various shades. Shallow divots of various sizes were scattered throughout its surface, from about the size of a bit to larger than a pony's head. Green slime dripped from the walls and ceilings in seemingly random places, and were matched by equally green orbs affixed to equally random spots on the walls and ceilings. Some appeared to be eggs, others disturbingly close to the cocoon Celestia had been imprisoned inside during the wedding—these, thankfully, were empty—and others were just clusters of spheres that served no immediately apparent purpose. Everything green, though, shone with an emerald light. It bathed the chamber, the glittering green glow making the sight both eerily alien and beautiful at the same time.
And changelings were everywhere. Clinging to the ceiling, tending to the various orbs, flitting about from one level to another, or just standing on guard in front of the central pillar. Groups moved purposefully from one tunnel to another, moving in sync with a sameness of gait that was disconcerting. The changelings that seemed to be performing more individual tasks, though, stopped what they were doing as the ponies entered the chamber. They turned as one to face these… well, hopefully they were viewed as guests. Some even peeked out from around the stalactite to get a better view. After a moment, they went back to what they had been doing, though a few seemed to be murmuring to one another, and many of them continued to watch the ponies with curiosity plain on their faces.
"Welcome to the hive," Ka-klack said softly.
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I like the subversion of Celestia's expectations that "changelings run a brothel." It's been done loads of times (and even done well a few times) but the change is nice.
Heh, nice bait and switch with the brothel.
Chryssie, your evil overlord is showing. :3c
'I'm mean, even with the' - while technically true, should be 'I mean'
'Ka-klack glance at Nightmare Moon' - glanced
'at the gemKa-klack had used.' - gem Ka-klack
'head tilting to one side as his voice increasing in pitch' - increased
Tia seems to be getting into persecution complex levels when it comes to Moony.
Can they get love from animals as well, or does it have to be sentient creatures?
Also, in another story, Crysalis turned into the most adorable little kitten ever to be seen in ponylands.
I imagine Fluttershy alone could have fed half a hive by herself . . So lonely elderly ponies? PETS!
Also trained to do some house keeping and keeping an eye out for them, call for medical help etc.
Technically would a brothel even work? Love and lust aren’t really the same though, depending how your define it.
9233704
Thanks for the correction, I apologise for not having gone through this chapter
Sorry, Deus!
I love the dynamics of this, as usual. Also, those defense runes are really overkill, but there's something to be said for that.
9236774
I mean, if you want to blame someone, blame me for writing these chapters months ago, then Sunday night before they're supposed to post going "OH GOD OH GOD IS IT READY TO GO?"
I want this. This is likely the greatest toy I have ever heard of.
Very interesting
wait hold on there's a brothel across the street from the orphanage?!
I'm not an urban planner but that seems uh. unwise
Chrysalis has a lot of... rage and love, doesn't she?
...
I'M THE SON OF RAGE AND LOVE