Imperial Forclousure

by The Sound of Loneliness

Family Day

"I will not hear of it!" Nightmare Moon asserted. "You must see your own daughters, my Shadow!"

"Mistress, it will be easier if I don't..." Shadow meekly protested. The idea of coming face-to-face with her own drones, especially after this much time, was making her anxious beyond belief.

"I said, no! My Shadow, I understand that you are afraid of what they could say to you, or even what you might learn about them after so many years. But it is wrong for a mother to be kept from foals. I will not stand for keeping you away from them more than is necessary." Shadow visibly shrank but dared not to contradict her Mistress directly. Mistress still gave her a sympathetic look before shifting her attention to Rarity.
"Have her meet them alone and let no one interfere. Celestia and I will spend most of the day inspecting what Cadance has offered us. You will have plenty of time."

"Of course," Rarity bowed her head lightly. "They should both be at home. Tibia works from home and Grossa is freshly out of work."

"Then I suggest you hurry before any one of them steps out," Nightmare Moon concluded.

"Let's go, dear," Rarity nudged Shadow in her shoulder. Shadow gave her Mistress a final pleading look, but Nightmare Moon stared her back. "Don't worry, darling. You have wonderful, sweet girls," Rarity tried to soothe her. It helped a little. Shadow loved her drones, of course she did. That is exactly why she was so anxious.
Rarity half-dragged her outside the palace and across the square to a stubby house, but that's how they had to go, as her mind was in a haze of memories the whole way. The house looked quaint, she supposed. Tibia must have picked up housecare as well.
"Well, go on, Darling, knock," Rarity nudged her towards the house. Shadow uneasily made a few steps and looked back at Rarity. Rarity radiantly smiled back at her. Shadow looked at the pavement in front of her, it was cobble; just like it used to be in the Palace quarter in Canterlot. Steeling herself, Shadow walked the rest of the way to the door. It was an oddly plain door. A simple, smooth door you could find in a bathroom. It had a recent layer of paint to it, blue. Slowly, Shadow lifted her leg to knock, she noticed herself trembling. She shook her head and made her hoof finally connect with the door. For the moment, nothing happened, no steps, no voices. Shadow wanted to knock again, but then the door silently opened. She was greeted with a petite changeling in a green sweater, whom she recognized as Tibia, her daughter. Her mouth fell slightly open as if she was trying to process who she was looking at.

"M-mom?" Tibia finally asked.

"Hello... Tibia," Shadow greeted her daughter.

"Mom!" Tibia lunged forward, embracing her. Shadow didn't resist her daughter's affection. Tibia eventually let her go and looked back over her shoulder, "Grossa, come! Mother is here!"

"You live in a nice home..." Shadow noted aloud. It did sound awkward, but staying there quiet was worse.

"Oh? Ah, this... I got it from an old couple when they moved closer to their children." Shadow nodded contently. She was glad for Tibia; ponies didn't like changelings, usually enough to turn off their money. "Oh! Rarity!" Tibia was now looking past her.

"Hello to you too, Darling!" Rarity trotted closer, wearing her usual smile.

Shadow wasn't looking; she stared past Tibia. Grossa, her much bulkier daughter, stood on the stairs, staring back at her. They stared at each other for a moment longer, but Grossa submissively lowered her eyes just before her stare could be considered a challenge.

"Welcome, mother," she said flatly.

Shadow always felt that Grossa, out of all her daughters, understood her the most. Despite their physical difference, the two of them were alike the most. That is why Shadow knew that there could be no reconciliation now; she knew she wouldn't have forgiven in place of her daughter.

Tibia released her by then and Grossa slowly made her way down and came close to Shadow. Not a single thing changed in the daughter's expression since she stopped talking. Grossa eventually came to stand before her mother and then she tensed, and deliberately slowly embraced Shadow, and much less forcefully than her sister did. Shadow endured it before Grossa pulled back.

"Will you grace us by coming to our home, mother?" Grossa asked formally, almost sarcastically. Shadow sighed and said nothing while moving past Grossa. Her daughters walked inside behind her. Rarity also came in, although she was treated as if she wasn't there.

No one spoke for a long while. Shadow explored her daughters' house in almost complete silence. She didn't say it, but she had mixed feelings about it. The house was clean and orderly, but no one who ever saw inside could believe that ponies lived here. Changeling's mind was prone to obsessions. The fact which their upbringing relied upon. The perfect order and cleanliness were already enough to bewilder ponies, yet what gave it away entirely is that the house was devoid of color. The rooms were painted with clean shades of white and gray. Those were easy to clean.

"I am sorry, mom," Tibia said behind her. "I didn't know you'd be coming today. If I had, I would've washed the floors one more time."

"Is this all your work, Tibia?" Shadow began to slowly walk towards the door her other daughter left through.

"Mostly, yes. Grossa is rarely at home," Tibia looked down on the floor, hiding her eyes. "She doesn't have a stable job."

Shadow slowly blinked,
"Thank you for sparing your sister of having to tell me this. Do ponies treat you fairly?"

"They do, mother. At least they don't restrict us in any way. Grossa prefers it this way."

"Do you work?"

"Yes, mother. I am an architect at a bureau."

Shadow stood quietly, contemplating. Grossa concerned her. She was glad for her darling daughters to have something she never could, but Grossa struggled with precisely that. Shadow even knew why.

"Mother? Did I displease you?" Tibia asked with the same worried voice she always did. It was so-so long the last time Shadow heard her. Shadow briefly glanced at Rarity, who was trying her best to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"No, Tibia. You did well. You did very, very well," Shadow thought that she should say more, but she didn't know how. "Let's go find your sister now."

Tibia silently went for the door, opening it for Shadow. It was the kitchen. Grossa was spreading red tablecloth on a round, wooden table. Tibia probably wasn't the one buying the day they got the cloth. Shadow spotted Rarity hesitating before coming in. Shadow found this endearing of her. Rarity could never resist finding out everyone's secrets, but she still was reluctant to stick her nose into Shadow's affairs. She still did not take the hints, though.

"Rarity," Shadow turned to the unicorn in the door. "Could you please stand outside for a moment?" Rarity looked at Shadow as if she just gotten slapped across her muzzle. Shadow simply made Rarity back out, and then she closed the door. She would, of course, still eavesdrop, but at least she wouldn't be in the room. When she turned back, she was met with her daughters' prying eyes.

They had another chair ready for her. It was a wooden, minimalist chair like the ones they had back in the army.
"Well, mother," Grossa began as soon as Shadow settled down, "are you staying for long?" Tibia immediately shot her sister a cautious glance, but the bulky drone didn't seem to mind, or notice.

"My mistress has business here," Shadow honestly answered.

"Lady Rarity told us," Grossa said without emotion, clearly having expected a different answer. "I considered volunteering, but that now seems redundant with you already being here."

"Mom, what Grossa wants to say is that we missed you," Tibia said flatly. "We thought that you would finally be back with us, but then you disappeared again."

"That was unfortunate, yes," Grossa agreed. Her daughters then silently stared at her.

Shadow took a deep breath. She knew, exactly, what her daughters expected her to say, and it filled her with dread. How could one say to her own daughters that she had something more important than them?

"I had a duty to my mistress. I had to be away." Grossa sharply looked away in disappointment.

"That's what you said," Grossa reminded. "That's what you said before you went on your mission too."

Shadow took a step back to reconsider, for Grossa was right. That's what she said more than once before, and it was an unsatisfying non-answer as ever. Shadow sank in her chair, she wanted to, but she had nothing else to say.

"Mother, would you sit?" Grossa pointed at the third, still unoccupied chair.

Slowly, with even clicks of her legs on the floor, Shadow hesitantly approached her seat. It was no landmine. She slowly sat down.

"Mother, forgive me for rushing, but is there a specific reason for you to come for us?" the larger one of her daughters has run out of patience.

"Grossa!" Tibia glared.

"My Mistress ordered me to," Shadow answered simply and truthfully. Both of her daughters stared at Shadow blankly.

"I suppose I should have expected that," Grossa sighed. "But then, she is our Mistress too. I've heard she prefers 'Empress'. Tell us, Mother, perhaps we should join her?"

"No!" Shadow shot up. "No," she said more deliberately.

"No?" Grossa reiterated.

"Grossa, I think it's enough for now. Give mom a little space, will you?" Tibia came to halt the conversation before it could proceed any further.
Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. Tibia knew how to help. Shadow would rather not speak on this to her daughters, never.

The awkward silence hung in the air. Shadow's mind naturally wandered back to her Mistress. Why did she have to subject Shadow to this suffering... It would've been so much easier if she didn't have to see them again. Grossa wanted to hear something specific. Tibia did as well, even though she hid it. They wanted to hear why did she leave them behind, twice at that. There was an answer. An answer deeply disappointing to them; an answer, that made Shadow wallow in shame every time she had thought of this moment. They were wonderful daughters and they made Shadow truly proud with how they turned out... they didn't deserve to hear these words.

"Why did she tell you to come?" A fair question. Shadow could only look down, avoiding her daughter's eyes. "You obviously didn't want to," Grossa continued. "What did she want you to say?" Shadow knew but refused to believe it. Mistress couldn't be so cruel to her; she must have had something else in mind. Grossa stared at her fruitlessly for a while longer, not a single muscle moved under her shell's plates, but her patience was already thin. Grossa sharply stood up and went straight for the closed door. The burly drone yanked the door open, almost making Rarity fall headfirst in the opening. Grossa was visibly surprised at her shamelessly eavesdropping, but it was over as soon as Rarity's cheeks showed the first color.
"Where is she?" Grossa asked, her tone tired and showing no desire for arguing.

"W-who?" Rarity breathlessly asked.

"You know who. Tell me."

"L-lady is unavailable at the moment..."

"She'll make time for us, trust me. If my mother won't say why she came, then I would have to ask Mistress and you are going to help me."

Comments

[Appleody]

This does make me wonder why Shadow wouldn't want her family to join her mistress.
It's also nice to see Rarity still up to her old sneaky tricks.
Great chapter as always. :)

[Carbon]

11141006
Really, why Shadow doesnt return to her children after NM dead?

[The Sound of Loneliness]

11141006
You still having this question bewilders me. I believed I made it abundantly clear exactly why she wouldn't. Well, to begin Shadow is NMM's retainer. She doesn't do it because it's a good life but because of her dedication to NMM. The very reason why she joined NMM is so that other changelings, and her own daughters, wouldn't have to follow Chrysalis. And to doom, indeed many of them went because of a petty grudge. NMM isn't a peaceful leader either, in fact, she is a militarist. It is not even her philosophy, it is her worldview. She sees the world broadly in only three categories. It's allies, enemies and people who can be used. Her belief is that war is eternal and essential, she laments the fact but sees no other way to resolve many of the world's problems. People die in service to her. Noble cause or not, her soldiers always fight for her first and for everything else later, she knows it, Shadow knows it and nearly all her serve her understand this at least on a subconscious level. Shadow merely wants for her daughters to have a better life than she had, as natural a desire as any parent would have.

[Appleody]

11141048
That is true, but don't the changelings need Shadow to prevent the end of their race? I was under the impression she was meant to be the next Queen. If the bugs went along with her they may be able to eventually recover.
Nightmare has also expressed no desire to continue ruling meaning Shadow's children likely would end up only in Shadow's service once the current disaster is over.
11141046
I suppose it probably would be better for them if she left Nightmare's service instead. Sadly due to her loyalty to the spirit, that probably won't happen unless Nightmare ordered it herself.

[The Sound of Loneliness]

11141065
Changelings are like bees. Being a queen is not a status, it is a biological purpose. Like bees, changelings have male and female drones but they are incapable of having more male drones without their queen.