10 - Travel Dispute
The night was a long one for Princess Twilight Sparkle, though it did give her an opportunity to flex the muscles in her brain that made up the hive centre. An impromptu continuation of her earlier interrupted lesson, she decided. Plus, she could arrange the coming trip back into Equestria while likewise being able to keep an eye on Rainbow dash and read at the same time.
How had she ever managed without the hive mind before? She loved multitasking!
The pegasus in question, fortunately, seemed utterly dead to the world. Though her snoring was typical of the Rainbow Dash she was more familiar with, the pony here was all but spread out across the bad with limbs flailed, and she was also occasionally twitched in a rather cute manner.
Though Twilight decided not to think about anything being remotely cute about Rainbow Dash, considering what she suspected and all but knew. That was a can of worms she was still not entirely sure about how to approach. Likewise, she was utterly stunned and terrified by the absurdity of the concept.
Multiverses. Are. Weird.
Still, ‘interesting’ emotional responses aside, the quiet did give Twilight all the time she needed to think and make her plans. Her drones were more than happy to carry out her commands the moment she issued them, and her mother had been forty percent less nosy and intrusive during the exercise. Improvement!
It’s the little things that are important in life.
Still, there were little adjustments she had to make. She had to make sure everything was airtight and foolproof, less cobbled together like her earlier efforts to help her. Cobbled together had led to a lack of consideration as to her mother’s initial meeting with the pegasus, after all.
She had to be logical and efficient. Perfection was required. It was just lucky that she had many hours before Celestia was due to raise the-
“Good morning!”
“MORNING!?”
Spike gave the Princess of the Badlands Hive and odd look as she jumped up, looking predictably unhinged as her eye twitched and a bit of her mane panged out of place.
“Er, yes? That thing that happens when the sun rises,” he deadpanned. “You lost track of time again, didn’t you?”
She gave a manic laugh. “Noooo, why would I lose track of time? It’s not like I have so many things to do and oh Celestia how did I lose track of time this badly!?”
“Stop. Screaming,” Rainbow’s groggy voice came from the bed, muffled by the pillows of the bed.
“I shall not stop screaming! There is PLENTY to scream about!”
“I’m sleeping, you dodo.”
“And you thought this wasn’t Twilight Sparkle?” Spike asked in amusement. “No other changeling could get Twilighting this perfect. It’s an art.”
Rainbow, with a defeated grumble, pulled her face up from the blankets with an almost audible pop. There was a small line of drool running down her jaw, one she did not seem to be aware of as her eyes glued onto the changeling in the room.
When Twilight went to open her mouth again, Rainbow lifted her hoof and narrowed her eyes in the ‘silence’ gesture that she had used before. If it weren’t for the drool and groggy eyes, it might have worked, too.
Alas, Twilight just kept going.
“Why are you not more entirely alarmed by this!?” Twilight asked the both of them. “I still have so many drones to micromanage for perfection. The exact timing of our departure and arrival to the convenience of all involved, filling the gaps in any guard rotations I’m disrupting, ensuring-”
“And you haven’t done all that already?” Spike asked doubtfully.
“Well, no, I have. But only a few dozen times! I need to get everything just right so that mother-”
Spike rolled his eyes. “One, this is overkill. Seriously. Two, you can literally do any leftover bits during the ride over. Three, seriously?”
“I am very serious, Spike.”
“How much better could you possibly get the timing that you haven’t done already?”
“I’m thinking another point-three to-”
“Uh, forget I asked,” Spike said, stopping a lecture before it could fully mature into the horrible prolonged beast it was. “Come on, I’ll whip you up some breakfast. Just relax, it’s going to be fine. You’ll see!”
Twilight bit her lip for a few moments, but then gave a huff of defeat. “Oh, fine. I suppose the drones have had enough of my directions for one night anyway.”
“Yes. Because I can’t imagine how a Princess adjusting her plans every few minutes could get annoying.”
“Oh hush, you,” she remarked, bopping him on the nose with a hoof. “You’ve made your point. I can talk the details with Rainbow there when she feels inclined to get her flank out of my bed.”
“I’m right here, y’know,” the pegasus in question deadpanned under her breath.
Twilight ignored her. “Still, thanks, Spike.”
“It’s why I’m here!” he said with a salute. “Good thing I’m around to stop you from freaking out so much, huh?”
Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. “I’m sure I could manage. Probably. Still, breakfast sounds good. Especially coffee, definitely feeling the lack of sleep.”
“Yeah, that ain’t helping the freakouts either,” he snarked. “Either of those things. But I’m on the case!”
He saluted again, turning around and marching towards the door.
“Oof!”
Right into the still-active ward on the door, the drake smacking into the magical barrier like a wet sack of tomatoes against an immovable object.
“Oh, right. Still can’t exit,” Twilight noted apologetically. “Uh, let me get that.”
“I wvoud apwciate it,” his muffled reply came, face still pressed against the barrier.
Vwoop.
Spike fell forward with a brief yell, but fortunately, he managed to catch himself this time around. He dusted himself off, adjusting his head fins and ensuring he hadn’t permanently squashed his facial features.
“You saw nothing.”
“Of course,” Twilight said with a giggle as the young dragon finally managed to depart.
“I saw everything,” Rainbow Dash called after him, the mare smirking in amusement at the scene.
Judging by the barely audible grumbles, he heard her.
The Hive was enormous. That much had been pretty apparent for a while now. But as Rainbow allowed herself to be guided through the halls by Twilight, the changeling rambling at her about its history or something, she gained a whole new appreciation for the sheer scale of this subterranean city.
No wonder she had gotten lost in it so easily.
Shortly after Spike had made his delightful exit, Rainbow had spent a short time tidying herself up before following Twilight out of her room and out into the halls of the hive proper. She had been hoping that they would just head straight for the exit so this trip to Ponyville could get underway, but the changeling princess had insisted that they make a few pit stops so she could provide historical lectures.
It was a snore. The only place that had really been interesting to Rainbow in the slightest had to be the atrium, if only because it had been neat to look at and gave her a chance, however brief, to stretch her wings and fly around a bit. Alas, their time there had been aggravatingly short-lived, and Twilight had dragged Rainbow along to their next destination on this consentless grand tour.
If nothing else, though, listening to ‘Twilight’ dive into a subject like this and blather on and on was… oddly comforting. It reminded Rainbow of better times. Before Discord, before Chrysalis, before the Amnesia…
Maybe that was the idea.
Mercifully, the tour eventually came to an end. They were just passing by a large residential corridor when Twilight suddenly stopped, her ears perking up and her head tilting to one side. A few seconds later, she nodded and turned back to Rainbow with a sheepish smile. “Ah, mother just contacted me over the hive mind. It’s time for us to go.”
“Bout time,” Rainbow rolled her eyes impatiently, falling into step behind the changeling princess as they changed course. “Not to rail on your ‘history lessons’, but I kinda just want to get home.
“Right. Well, it shouldn’t be too long a flight. A good few hours.”
“Uh-huh.”
A small smile of reminiscence briefly graced the Princess’ features. “You know… you were the one to teach me how to use these,” she said, buzzing her wings briefly.
Rainbow nodded slowly, her eyes lowering somewhat. “Yeah, makes sense. Still gotta teach my Twilight how to use hers reliably. She could barely make it down from a cloud at tree canopy height without banging her nose against the dirt.”
“Dirt, huh? For me, it was a rose bush.”
“Neat.”
They wound through the halls, occasionally passing by patrolling guards or civilian drones, all of whom would give her cautious glances while bowing to Twilight. It was still more than a little unsettling, being around so many of them without them attacking her. Her spine was still tingling with anxiety at every pair of glowing blue eyes she saw staring back at her.
Eventually, they ascended a staircase leading up, before coming to a large open chamber, at the end of which was a contrastingly small tunnel. At the end of the said tunnel, Rainbow saw a light.
A couple of guards stood watch by the tunnel, bowing at Twilight as she approached before taking up position behind the group as they passed through. Rainbow glanced back at them distrustfully but otherwise did not react.
Soon enough, they reached the light at the end of the tunnel, and Rainbow felt a wave of relief on feeling the unmistakable feeling of fresh-ish air washing over her face in a gentle breeze. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a relaxed sigh, her eyes squinting against the light of dawn as she, at long last, set hoof outside the hive.
The terrain she was met with was less than thrilling. It was just jagged red rock and sand as far as the eye could see, marked with the occasional dead tree. There wasn’t even a cloud in the sky, disappointingly, but that didn’t do much to sour Rainbow’s mood. She was just glad to be outside again.
What did spoil her mood, however, was the sight of a certain tall changeling standing by the carriage that was awaiting them some ways ahead. Spike stood in front of her, reading something off from a checklist, holding her attention.
“Done. Done. Ongoing…” She looked up, her gaze becoming somewhat displeased with the sight of the pegasus accompanying her daughter. “Ah. There is the source of the day’s annoyances. I trust you can keep yourself in check this time.”
“If you can shut up for once, maybe,” came the snapped response.
“Don’t presume to insult me in my own hive, cretin!”
“Mother!” Twilight chided in alarm. “The version of you that she knows is a bit of a tyrant, so please try to be understanding!”
“Whatever this other Changeling Queen has done, she is not I,” Chrysalis rebuked. “This pegasus would be wise to learn this. Especially if we are to solve this predicament in good time.”
“If you’re any different from the one I know,” Rainbow growled, her eyes narrowing. “Then you wouldn’t be insulting me with every other sentence. You want me to respect you in any way? Earn it!”
“Earn? Why you little-” A sour look from her daughter made any following insult catch in her throat. “Hmph. I do not need your respect, not from one who has struck my child.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “You know about that!?”
A short distance away, Carduus shrunk down a little, Spike wandering over to join him with a similarly uneasy look on his face.
“She asked,” the changeling drone said regretfully over the hive mind. “You know how perceptive she can be…”
Twilight sighed. “Not your fault. Thanks for trying, at least.”
“Can you really blame me?” Rainbow pressed on in her argument with Chrysalis, her wings ruffling at her sides in frustration. “As far as I could see, I had just woken up in a completely unfamiliar cave with one of the creatures I just got done being at war with looming over me with the voice of my best friend, who, I might add, just got murdered by a changeling only a few weeks prior! I had plenty of reasons to be scared for not just my life, but the lives of my friends and family!”
“Yet you did it, despite supposedly being her friend. My presence notwithstanding,” she retorted. “I do not know how things are where you come from. Neither do I care to, that business is not my own.”
Rainbow snarled. “And there’s the problem. You’re not even trying to see things from my point of view!”
“She’s right,” Twilight said to her mother. “You need to calm down, mother.”
Rainbow grinned. “See-”
“And you!” She then turned on Rainbow. “Also try to see things her way as well! After what those ponies I told you about tried to do, are you so surprised she’s so hostile after what happened earlier?”
Rainbow paused, glancing up at Chrysalis with a frown. She hesitated for a second before taking a deep breath to calm down. “Protective, maybe. I’m protective of my family, too,” she said after a moment, easing off her voice. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to start throwing insults and aggressive remarks at every single creature that wanders by that I happen to dislike. It never gets anything done; trust me, I tried.”
She pointed her hoof at Chrysalis, her expression slowly softening, although it was still considerably cold and guarded. “Look, I get it. Twilight told me about the whole thing with the assassin. She almost died, you don’t wanna let that happen again. But you’re only gonna make enemies by acting like this. Luna knows you’ve just about made one out of me already. So just… cool it, would ya?”
For a moment, Chrysalis fangs clenched together as if the point landed on deaf ears. But then, slowly but steadily, her features started to relax. She let out a slow breath in a manner that was oddly reminiscent of the routine Princess Cadance taught Twilight.
“I… apologize if I let my anger get the better of my judgment. It has been known to happen,” she admitted. “But understand that I cannot trust you as of now. Equestria may be our allies here, its rulers even might be considered my friends, but you are an unknown. The safety of my child is everything to me, so I will accompany you until I know that you are at least half the pony Twilight believes our Rainbow Dash to be.”
Rainbow briefly stiffened, her mind locking up. Chrysalis was coming with them? Her first instinct was to throw up a retort or refusal, but a quick glance towards the still stern face of Twilight made the words lodge themselves somewhere in her throat. After a moment, she let out a sigh and nodded. “Fine, fine. I can live with that. Just don’t give me a reason to lash out, and I won’t.”
“I can say much the same, Rainbow Dash,” Chrysalis stated. “Prove to me you can be trusted, and you will earn my respect. Perhaps. And who knows? We might even learn to like each other.”
Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, I don’t see that happening,” she said, albeit with a small amount of amusement in her voice. She lifted up her scarred hoof to show the queen. “Different or not, I can’t forget how many bad things I associate that face and voice with.”
Chrysalis chuckled. “Alas, I concur. After all, if you are half the pony Twilight thinks our Rainbow Dash is, you’ll probably crash into our personal library and I’ll need to organize the entire thing again!”
Rainbow pointed said scarred hoof at Chrysalis. “And you can stop that train of thought right there,” she said lightly, a small amount of warning in her voice.
Twilight had the strangest humongous grin on her face. “See! Friendship!”
“Shush!” Chrysalis and Rainbow said simultaneously in mild exasperation from the interruption, both then glancing at each other before giving their own huffs of irritation.
“We’re doomed,” Spike deadpanned.
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I can’t help but imagine if Dash had been transported to the Winds of Change universe instead and how bad of a time she would have had with that
Twilight's doing a great job mediating between Rainbow and Chrysalis. Rainbow's stubborn, but she'll see reason eventually.
It’s nice to see Princess Rainbow Dash and this version’s Chrysalis getting somewhat along.
Is Rainbow Dash going to bring back the term “Twilighting” to her world?
doomybelle start singing the Doom song
Doom doom doom
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!
Well, thanks to Twilight Chrysalis and Rainbow are kinda starting to get along. It is clear they still have a long way to go though, and for the moment are only tolerating each other.
nice work
Dooooom
More than it already is? Nah. This is still probably better than two Twlights, don't you think so? Wait until Rainbow meet Rainbow.
AWW! THEY ALREADY LIKE EACH OTHER!
10032124
What happens there?
10032816
Short version: After invasion fails Chrysalis surrenders and seeks asylum from other Changeling Queens who were trying to kill her and her hive. She, at her request, spends every night with Twilight answering any questions she has about Changelings in general, and the two grow closer as a result and Twilight learns a few interesting magic tricks by studying Changelings.
But, the reason I was saying Dash here would have a bad time is because in Winds of Change, is because both Dash and Chrysalis there end up in love with Twilight and decide to not force her to chose between one of them.
10032394
Close but wrong its from another story called, How hard could it be?
Oh, bonding... The cringe, I feel it...
10033088
... Either you're a madman or a genius for finding the one crossover I've yet to see.
10032827
That's... a different 'Winds of Change' than I thought you were talking about. The one I know is a story where Dash is a changeling.
- MLP: FiM
- Adventure
- Drama
- Sad
Rainbow Dash is a changeling. Who knew?10033721
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/202780/winds-of-change
This is the one I’m talking about. Upon looking it up, apparently there is more than a few “Winds of Change” it is a popular title.
10033336
Genius-madman would be better for advertising going by credit rules where the first part contributes more than the second part.
this is looking to be a vary fun friendship.
10033721
10033737
I know both pretty well, Both good stories. ^^
"I saw everything."
True; actual, lasting respect does have to be earned, and demanding it - especially when you haven't done anything to deserve it, or worse, done the exact opposite - doesn't exactly work.
No-one "respects" a tyrant; everyone fears them, and obedience is caused by not wanting to be cruelly punished if not killed. However, as history's shown, eventually the fear will run out and the tyrant will be overthrown. However, if the leader is charismatic and seems to put his peoples' wants first, seems to care for them, then people will actually respect said leader and willingly comply with orders and requests.
You can "respect" a tyrant's power, but not the tyrant themselves.
10062520
she did a homer simpson why you little