The Preparation

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Admiral Arex. Yes I quite liked the sound of that.... Admiral Arex....
The sound of a thud as a small pile of papers were dropped down onto my desk snapped me back to reality.

"Senator here is the budget for the 3rd Battalion just as you ordered."

"Thank you Clayshus."

"Yes sir." He said as he exited the office. Well so much for my daydreaming, I thought. It's time to get back to work.
I had been put in charge of about one quarter of the budget for the Hive's invasive force in preparation to the Second Siege of Canterlot which would commence in just a few months time. The first invasion just a few years ago I had not been involved in in the least but I had just recently made a name for myself here after I led the charge to get the Hive's tax policy reformed. Because of how successful it was Queen Chrysalis saw fit to put me in charge of the finances while she focused on military strategy.

Believe me when I tell you that their is nothing glorious about being in charge of the Budget. I won't get my name put on a plaque, I won't get a statue, I won't even get any recognition for my hard work. It's a difficult and thankless job, but it's one that has to be done and done well because it can mean the difference between victory, and defeat. If there was one thing that Chrysalis knew about it was defeat. Sometimes I think she knows about it too well.

At the very least I took solace in the fact that she believed my abilities and attention to detail were impressive enough to be put in charge of so much, especially for a Senator as young as I was. Only 26 and already with more on my plate than any other Senators in the Hive. Sometimes I do amaze myself. Perhaps I won't need any thanking for this job. After all if the invasion is successful I've probably got enough influence and respect to guarantee myself job security for a very, very long time.

We will be successful too. We have to be. This place can't afford another failure, I should know, I've seen the numbers. I could really care less what happens to the ponies anyways, I mean, they would kill us (if the Hive was easy to get too) without a second thought. Having the entrance be way up in the Mountains to an almost entirely underground city is a pretty strategically sound idea. No idea what the cost would have been back in the day but I sure am glad Chrysalis saw fit to keep the Hive protected. Regardless all changelings can fly it is just pony armies that have a hard time getting here. Canterlot is another story. Canterlot is an easy place to get too but a hard place to take over. That is why this time we are going in heavy. Full armor, horns blazing kinda heavy.

A few hour later I had finished crunching the numbers and had jotted down some notes. I was now walking down the hallway on my way to see Senator Kytlus. The halls were beautiful in this area of the Hive. The soft green glow emanating from the ceiling as I worked my way down the north passage illuminated the beautiful paintings and gorgeous sculptures lining the path. I never did like those sculptures though. I mean sure they were lovely but they were also expensive, some of them even priceless and when we were in the middle of fighting a war luxury was not a necessity. With the budget so tight you would expect that the leadership was concerned with the common good and military upkeep, but no. Sometimes I felt like I was the only one that looked at the drones as equals. They had every right to live like we did because they are the ones out there risking their lives for us. Yet the upper class of the Hive saw it as necessary to keep itself in the lap of luxury at all times.

But they weren't the only ones, some changelings had abandoned the Hive altogether. These were the ones that really grinded my gears. The changeling that lived among ponies in Equestria. Some of them were spies sure but they were constantly defecting, and most changelings living there had simply given up on the Hive. It was almost sickening. I had always been raised to believe that selling out your own kind was one of the worst things that a Changeling could do. And if you took the time to go to some of the poorer areas of the city you would certainly agree that abandoning a dying race would be almost an unthinkable crime.

But no matter.I thought as I rounded the corner. I swiftly approached the Senator's door and walked inside.
"Arex! How lovely to see you! Please come in, tell me all about how things are looking with the Invasive Force! You know with all this work on your plate you musty be feeling pretty exhausted, have you been sleeping well?"
It was always a pleasure to talk with Kytlus. he was one of the most sincere and genuine politicians you would ever meet. Me and him had become good friends in the recent past.
"I've been feeling just fine thank you Kytlus. Now actually I am here because I need you signature and the signature of one other Senator to authorize this purchase of armor for the 3rd Battalion." He bent over and looked at the papers I had gently set on his desk.
"Oh why absolutely my friend! I expect I will see more of the same tomorrow when you go through the numbers for the 17th Battalion?" I nodded my head while he took a pen out of the cup on the corner of his desk and signed the papers.
"I believe that Mandarut is in his office right now but he may be leaving soon. If you hurry you can probably catch him and get his signature."
"Thank you, this is much appreciated" I said.
"No problem"
And with that Our brief exchange had come to a close and I was off on my next adventure down a few hallways once again in search of Senator Mandarut. Me and him were on good terms as well. We all had to be because we were all in this same party together. The Wing Party and the Horn Party were the two main political entities in the Hive. Although Queen Chrysalis abstained from affiliation with either, her daughter, and first in line to the throne were she to pass away (Heaven forbid that should happen) was Azandria. And she was the current head of the Wing Party. She had helped us secure many political victories and in no small way contributed to the reformation of the tax policy. Perhaps this was why most of us in the party could really care less if something happened to our glorious leader.

Finally I reached Mandarut's office.
"Hello Senator Arex." He was business as usual. Never had any time to play games. Come to think of it he never really had any time to smile or laugh either.
"Hello Senator. I am here seeking your signature on a very important document." I dropped the form onto his desk. He (much as I had expected) sat down and began to read through the entire thing. This changeling was going to take up my whole afternoon by the looks of it. Finally after reading silently for about five minutes and covering the first two pages of the document I decided I had to act or this would get out of hoof.
"Umm... excuse me Senator but I've actually been very busy lately and I will have to be going soon." He grunted in response.
There was a few seconds of an awkward pause and then finally he said, "Very well then, everything here looks in order," Do you think?"I suppose I have enough information to agree to applying my signature to this document."
Well at least that's over with.
A few minutes later I was back in my office. So warm and snug. I really did like my office. It had a comfortable padded chair, a window just behind the desk that looked out onto the streets just one floor below. The whole city was actually very well lit by magic but the lights all dimmed throughout when nighttime came. That was how you could tell what time it was living in an underground city. Also there were clocks but those were mostly used by the higher up changelings. Most drones were soldiers so they were simply told where to go and when to go there by whoever was in charge, and that's who usually got the clock. I never gave much thought as to how other Hive's around Equestria kept time but I knew that one of the more popular methods was building a giant pole in the center of the city holding the ceiling up and charging it with magic so that different parts of the Column glowed during different times of the day. The light would work it's way up and back down the pole.

While this was very interesting we here being ruled by Chrysalis had little interest in what other Hives did. Afterall they were nearly insignificant compared to us. There were about 8 Hives in Equestria and ours contained nearly 40% of all changelings on the continent. We may not be rich but at least we weren't small and weak like the other Hives.

I looked at the rest of the paperwork on my desk. Suddenly a revelation hit me that rocked my world to the very core..... I was a pencil pusher. I quietly giggled to myself, then sat down and started sorting through the workload I had left. I could tell it was gonna be a long day.

* * *

I arrived home very late that night. I looked around my house. Well... it wasn't really a house. All of the Senators had their own suites in the rear of the Palace. They were really more like condominiums. Some of the Chief Joint Staff stayed here too, such as my neighbor General Wysak. General... General Arex. I quite liked the sound of that.

I looked around my condo in disdain. It was so quiet. It was always quiet at this time of night but it was unsettling nonetheless. I didn't have any pets, I didn't have a girlfriend, and I certainly wasn't married. I'm not ashamed to admit that I got lonely sometimes. I turned on the lights and proceeded into the kitchen.

Ponies missed out on something that both changelings and Griffins got to enjoy regularly. Meat. I loved meat! especially Salmon and Pork! I opened up the fridge and looked inside to see what I had left. I'd better have a paige pick up some groceries for me. Luckily I still had some pork left, just a few strips of bacon. Dinner that night was quiet. I sat by myself at the dinner table that could seat four, and sat alone in a mostly still dark house that was so quiet you could hear the mice in the walls. That is if their were any mice. But there weren't. Their was nothing.

After a few sad minutes of thoroughly depressing thoughts I finished eating my bacon. I looked around at my surroundings. I can't complain.And I couldn't. I may be a bit lonely but I still live in total luxury whether it is comforting or not. I stared vacantly at the beautiful surrealist painting on my wall. It was of some distant beach it looked like. And on that beach was a small dying tree and a wooden desk. But that wasn't meant to be the centerpiece of the work. hanging off the branches of the tree and slowly sliding off of the desk were several clocks, and they all appeared to be melting. This had always been one of my favorite paintings. It spoke to me in a way that most art just couldn't. I found myself strangely attracted to it.

After dinner it was time for bed. Bedtime was one of the best parts of my day. It was the time when I could unwind from a long stressful day at work. I could choose to mull over the day or just drift of into a daydream. But right now a daydream simply would not do. I was in dire need of the real thing, as I had had a long and tiring day.

I slipped under the covers of my bed. It was a king sized mattress with a sinfully comfortable feather stuffed pad laying on top of it. I moaned slightly with relief and pleasure as I relaxed my muscles and went limp under the covers. This was the kind of bed that the drones could only dream about, the kind of bed that was reserved only for the elite in the Hive. Their were certainly some perks to being a Senator. The last thing I remember thinking about before I drifted off into unconsciousness the look Senator Mandarut's face when one of the paiges had spilled ketchup on the floor last Thursday. We never did see that drone again.

* * *

I awoke the following morning bursting with energy. Excellent! Today I can place the orders for the armor for the 17th Battalion. I was lucky enough to be granted an exceptionally large amount of money for the 17th Battalion so I had collected all the papers necessary a few days prior and all that was left to do now was simply casually stroll into work and collect two signatures. After that I had a few more small chores to take care of and I would be all done. Who knows... I might even get out of work early today!

As soon as I had entered my office I realized that was a false hope. Not because there was a large pile of paperwork on my desk (although there was) but instead because of the familiar envelope sitting on top of the large pile of paperwork. It had on it the Royal Family's Seal.
Oh lovely I'm being reprimanded.

I smirked and picked up the envelope. I guess I will have some extra work to do today.

Inside was a short hoofwritten letter simply stating that I was expected at Chrysalis Throne Room around 4:30. Not a big deal, I'll have all my work done by then and it's not as though this will be the first time that I have had a face to face conversation with the queen. In fact over the past two years I've seen her at least once a week. I shrugged and threw the letter aside. Then I opened my top drawer and pulled out the papers I would need signed.

A short while later I arrived in Kytlus' office.

"Why, hello again Arex!"

"Cut the crap Kytlus you know why I'm here." There was an uneasy silence in the office space for a few moments. All the while I just continued to stare intensely at him. I was focusing hard on keeping my concentration to a maximum and not showing a hint of emotion. Finally I cracked. My face broke into a huge grin and I couldn't help but burst out laughing! As I expected Kytlus did the same.

"Anyways, Kytlus, hows it going? I know I was quite brief yesterday but I've got a looser schedule today and a bit more free time on my hooves."

"I should have expected something like that from the infamous Arex! I've been doing great, but I must say for a changeling you really need to work on your acting skills, you couldn't even keep your composure for 30 seconds." He grinned.

"Yeah that's probably true. How's the wife and kid?"

"Arina is doing fine. She wants us to have a date night next Friday so I might just leave early that day."

"Yeah your lucky, you've got that kind of workload were you can just shovel everything off onto someone else."

"It's called delegating." He grinned again at me.

"So how about Satosha? she just turned six not too long ago didn't she?"

Now he looked genuinely excited. "Oh yeah! Me and Arina are looking into getting her enrolled here at the Royal Preschool."

That kind of bothered me. And maybe it shouldn't have, maybe that was my ultimate downfall, but it did. I couldn't help but feel like this kind of thing was irresponsible. I knew what these things costed and I also knew how much money we could save if we weren't building 'Royal Preschools' and considering the kind of abject poverty that the majority of the Hive lived in it just didn't seem ethical to me to be putting all of this into something that never really served the general public, but instead simply satisfied those of us who were better off. Still, like a good drone, I kept my mouth shut.

"That's fantastic news! I'm very glad to hear that you and your family are doing alright! Anyways, as I explained yesterday I have a few more papers here for you to sign."

He quickly offered his signature and then continued to talk about his little nymph and beautiful wife. My feeling of uneasiness quickly dissipated, Kytlus really was a pleasure to talk to. Yet part of me, still didn't feel right, hearing him talk about his family like that. Part of me deep, deep inside felt.... almost jealous.

After conversing for about twenty minutes or so I finally said my goodbyes and worked my way down to see Senator Aphmorous. We were members of opposing parties and our greetings were short but nonetheless warm. Our conversation was over soon after it began. After that the rest of the day consisted of simply going through and mostly just double checking that the weeks chores had been taken care of. I was sitting at my desk starting to drift off into a different world when I remembered the letter. I looked onto the desk and slid it over to me. I opened it up.

Dear Senator Arex,
Your presence is requested at 4:30pm in the Throne Room of Her Royal Majesty Queen Chrysalis. You are to receive then an assignment from Her Highness.

Okey dokey. Sounds like a plan. I looked at the clock on the wall... 3:45. I might as well start walking there right now and I'll just get there early.

I worked my way down the Halls of the Senate Building. The Palace was just right next door. I got outside and walked down the sidewalk and past the fountain towards the Royal Palace. When I got to the entrance two soldiers standing guard in front of the double doors parted to allow me passage.I respect their work ethic. If all of the Senators worked as hard as our drones do maybe the first Invasion would have been more successful.

I entered the Palace at 4:00 exactly. Half an hour to kill and not a weapon against boredom in sight. The entry room of the Palace was a magnificent room much like a Ballroom in appearance. There were large marble pillars holding up an ornately decorated ceiling. Lining the walls were tall oversized doors each leading to a different wing of the enormous Palace. At the far end of the room were two staircases wrapping around in a circular fashion against the walls of the room. Hanging in between the two staircases was a large chandelier. One of the Generals appeared from the door at the top of the right hoof side staircase and slowly paced down the steps. Upon reaching the bottom he walked briskly towards me, then past me and towards the exit. All the while I had stood still expecting a greeting of some time but he had never even made eye-contact with me. I didn't care though, I was too busy staring at his medals. He had a lot of medals, the covered his entire chest there were so many. I may not have known him but clearly he was a very highly ranking and highly respected military figure. I coveted what he had silently before willing myself to push it out of my mind.

"Why hello my friend Arex! It's so lovely of you to stop by, you should have told me you were coming!" I quickly snapped out of my daze and whipped around. I must have been standing stock still staring off into space for her to sneak up behind me like that. How embarrassing. There before me stood the Head of my party, first in line to the throne, and daughter of the Queen; Princess Azandria.

"Hello Princess! I'm so sorry that I didn't notice you there, I was deep in thought about important matters. I just received a letter from the Queen a few hours ago to appear before her throne at 4:30 this afternoon. Of course that's still not for another twenty-five minutes so.... How've you been?" I asked weakly.

"Absolutley fantastic! I've seen the budget you have been working on for the Battalions you were assigned, and I must say I am very impressed with how you've handled things. A Senator like you, especially one as young as you, doesn't come around very often. I think you have a big future ahead of you Senator Arex." That last part that she said made me feel good. But it was the part before that, that really caught my attention. It wasn't so much what she said but more the way she said it. When she talked about me being young it had a sort of different tone to it, I could have sworn it was almost flirtatious in a way. But that clearly must have been in my head.

"Why thank you very much Your Highness. I very much appreciate your enthusiasm and your compliments."

"Perhaps we could go to my office and talk some more." OK... NOW I was just straight up nervous. Is this happening... is this really happening?I thought to myself. But on the outside I was still cool as a cucumber.

"Very well, I don't see why not."

A minute later we were together in her office.

"So Arex how have you been since you took on the heavy workload?"

"Oh actually I've been... Well..... You could almost say I've actually been enjoying it. I know it might not sound plausible to you but I truly enjoy working with finances." She looked onward waiting for me to continue. "Actually Princess there is something that I have been a bit concerned about lately."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"Well you see Princess, I've been looking at the amount of money that we have been putting towards military expenses during this difficult time of war, and I've also seen the kind of spending that goes on here in the region of the Hive near the Palace. Well you see, um, Princess, um. Well I just can't help but feel like we aren't prioritizing our spending right. Take for instance the sculptures that line the hallways in the Senate building. I believe that their are around 72 or 73 of them in the entire building. Well do you realize that the average amount of money that each of those works of art cost us could have also been used to purchase 892 food rations? And that's just the art in the Senate building." What followed could only be described as one of the most tense and awkward silences that I have witnessed in my life. I waited. And I waited. And I waited. Finally...

"You're absolutely right." Now I was very confused. "But don't you dare say that to my mother! I have known for a very long time that we don't spend money like we should, and that is part of the reason why we haven't been doing so well as a Hive. The Senators and Royalty and Generals seem as though they are all more interested in what is good for them rather than what is good for the Hive. I have said this many times before to my mother but she wouldn't listen. That is why I got so Heavily involved with the Wing Party. They may not be perfect but their are more selfless changelings here than in most of the affluent regions of the Hive. But I must caution you Arex, please, Do NOT bring this up with my mother. As it is she likes you, I would try to keep it that way. You don't want to make yourself seem as expendable as a drone to her." When she had finished speaking I just sat in a stupor. I was extremely surprised that she had agreed with me so completely. I was certainly elated, but still surprised. "I'm very glad, at least, to see that I am not the only one who saw this problem. Having a Senator on my side will most likely be very helpful later on. But right now every changeling's mind will be occupied with the coming Second Invasion. There are more important things to focus on right now, and Military conquest is one of them. I'm very sorry that this doesn't feel right to you and it doesn't to me either, but now is not the time nor the place to address the issue." Once again she had stolen the words right out of my mouth.

"Well, I'm very glad that I have been able to find an ally on the dilemma. But I suppose, for now at least, I should get going."

"I agree. I look forward to talking to you again though. I think we should get together sometime soon. What do you think Senator Arex?"

"I think that is a splendid idea."

"Well then I look forward to seeing you again."

"And I as well." And with that I left the room. Somewhat taken with her intelligence, I found myself unable to fully re-establish my mental faculties. In other words, I had butterflies in my stomach.

* * *

"Senator Arex, it's so delightful to see you." By now I had regained my composure.

"And a pleasure to see you as always my Queen." I gave a slight bow, then returned to my standing position. I was in the front center of the throne room. On a small stage in front of me, raised maybe two feet off the ground sat the Throne. A large ebony wood seat decorated with many beautiful and intricate designs inlayed into the legs and arms of the artistic masterpiece. On the beautiful throne sat the beautiful Queen. I may have given her a hard time because of her policies in my head at least but in person she was actually a very powerful figure that dominated the room. Her presence could simply not be mistaken. And she was, even at her age, still very youthful.

"Guards could you please bring my guest a seat." One of the six changeling guards lining the walls of the throne room procured a small wooden foldout chair and placed it just before the throne. I reluctantly took the seat. Even after knowing her for two years now I still never quite got used to sitting so close to her. Especially facing each other.

"My Queen. I believe that the letter you sent me mentioned something about some kind of an assignment."

"Yes but I will get to that in a minute. For the time being I would like for you to tell me how everything has been going."

"Yes my Queen. The budget has been going well. I am on track and on schedule with all of the Battalions budgets and I have chosen the most efficient ways to get every cent worth out of all of the equipment purchased."

"That is excellent. I am very glad to hear it. I know that your keen attention to detail has helped you in no small way while preparing the Hive's finances, has it not?"

"That is correct Your Highness."

"Well Senator, I hate to overwork you, and as you know I do have an assignment for you. The good news is that it is not something you will have to do until after the Second Invasion."

"Thank you my Queen. Might I ask what it is that you need me doing?"

"After we have taken Canterlot I have decided that I want to have you directly flown in from the Hive to help the soldiers look for any survivors in Canterlot Castle." I couldn't believe this. I was being asked to do the work of a common drone? Not that I considered myself that much more important than the drones it wasn't that at all surely. But I couldn't help but be nervous at the prospect of coming into newly conquered territory and looking for unicorns that were probably hiding waiting to be found so that they could take out a few changelings with them. I wasn't stupid enough to not realize what a dangerous mission this would be.

"But my Queen... I am more specialized in noticing details in financial reports not looking for hiding unicorns. Besides doing something like this seems exceptionally dangerous, I do not mean to offend you my Queen but, would it not be a better idea to send in trained soldiers to look for survivors?"

"Perhaps you are right, and if you must refuse than I will allow you that. But I am confident that you would have better luck finding survivors than the trained soldiers would if you applied yourself to it. Besides it would be a great service to the Hive. Their is much honor in helping to contain a battle zone, and many of our Generals have medals for that very thing." At that my ears pricked up. I could suddenly barely hide my excitement.

"Well please my liege, lets not be so hasty. I was merely trying to add a helpful suggestion. I never said that I didn't want to do it. I only said that I would appreciate having some soldiers to accompany me, that's all. But of course I would never pass up the opportunity to be of service to my Hive!"

Queen Chrysalis visibly cheered up. "Well excellent, I thought that you would change your mind." She said happily. "Well that's that then. I will have you waiting just a few miles outside Canterlot when the invasion begins and you will be transported directly to the Castle after it is taken under our control."

That night I did not sleep well at all. I couldn't help but be nervous at the prospect of being flown into a battle zone. Even my comfortable feather-bed did not help.

* * *

The next few months went by relatively quickly. Almost everyone was eagerly (and nervously) anticipating the re-conquering of Canterlot. I was not allowed access to classified information such as the tactics that would be involved in the operation, but I already had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen based on the things that I had been told to purchase for the different battalions. I didn't feel bad about invading Canterlot, but unlike many changelings I wasn't dying for the opportunity either. Some Senators seemed like they had a personal vendetta against the city. None more so than Queen Chrysalis. But I continued to simply do my job as efficiently as possible. After all part of the reason why conditions were so bad in the Hive was because their simply was not enough love to go around.

There are three ways in which a Changeling can feed on love. The first one is to simply be around it. Spies do not need to catch and feed on ponies because the ambient love of their surroundings is usually more than enough to sustain them. The second way to do it is the 'old fashioned' way. Simply catch a pony, restrain them, and begin to suck the emotions directly out of them. The downside to this is that it seriously weakens them and they inevitably die. We can really feed on any emotions but by far the strongest is love. The third way, and the most rare is to have a pony direct their love towards a changeling.This is not very often done at all. Usually this happens to spies living amongst ponies, and this can also often be the reason that they defect in the first place, especially if the feeling is mutual. Drones are warned about this before they go to live with the ponies, it is very important to keep ones allegiance to the Hive. Most drones do, in fact almost 20% of drones live outside the Hive.

The reason why we let so many drones go is because it is their task to find love and bring it back to the Hive for other changelings to feed on. Otherwise we could never support the population. All changelings have the ability to soak up excessive amounts of emotion like sponges and then can give some of that to other changelings. I loved studying about how that worked in the University, One drone can hold nearly 70 times the amount of love he would need to survive a month and can transfer it all in just a few minutes. This is how the Hive can sustain itself, a drone is living amongst ponies, or even griffins, and just manages to slip away for a few hours once every month or two and can deliver far more love than it would take to feed 5 starving families of changelings. Even so when they can't make it to the Hive, or they decided to defect, or they simply haven't gotten enough love that month for some reason or another it makes the whole system quite shaky. It is not a stable system, it relies on the fact that drones that live and work with other races can change their schedules around and travel long distance to hidden locations without arousing suspicion. Lets just say that it's not a system I would design.

Chrysalis plan may not (to me at least) seem all that ethical, but at least I realized it was necessary. Her plan was to bring them here and construct a sort of 'pony farm'. A place where they would be stored and raised like cattle to be consumed at a later time. Even just the ambient energy that radiated off of them could be enough to help a lot of changelings get by.

Senators never needed to worry about starvation. Most of us were more concerned with what kind of blend tasted the best. Emotions could be infused with normal food. Different blends and emotions had different tastes, and usually the rare the emotion the more it cost. Of course money was also one thing that Senators usually didn't have to worry about not having enough of.

* * *

I was awoken at 3:30 am that morning and brought out of the Hive and to a chariot perched on a runway. I don't remember what anything looked like because I was still so tired that I was too dazed to observe my surroundings. All I remember looking back on it was the air being cold. And how it was cold. I could feel it in the holes in my chitin. I could feel the cold mountain air rushing past me and through me, through my body piercing me like an arrow to the heart. This was the first time that I had really felt the outside world, and know what it was like outside of the Hive. It wouldn't be the last.

Then I remember seeing the city. It took a few hours of the drones pulling my chariot going who knew how fast but I knew we had traveled a long way. And Canterlot was magnificent. A beautiful glimmering city constructed into the side of a mountain. and below a shimmering waterfall descending down and out of sight. The gold encrusted roofs and stunning architecture made the metropolis impossible to overlook. And covering the entire thing was a large pink transparent bubble. I didn't know a lot about what to expect to see just prior to an invasion but that shield I know all too well. It was going to be one of the main hurdles in the assault.

I wanted to go into the Generals quarters and get to see and hear everything about the siege as it was happening. But I was told that this wasn't allowed, even a Senator like me was not allowed in to the Generals meeting just prior to the attack, and I was supposed to stay in a tent once it began also. Once I was led to my small tent I was given a sleeping bag and a flower sandwich. Nothing infused with love, just a normal flower sandwich. None of the other Senators would ever put up with this. That's why I'm not like them. With nothing else left to do, I just did the obvious, I was still tired so I slept.

* * *

I awoke with a start. I knew it was time. The drone standing over me looked down.

"We have secured Canterlot Senator. Your mission will begin shortly."

I had waited two long years to hear those words. I had invested months of my waking hours and countless billions into hearing those words. I finally felt satisfied for the first time in a long time. I slowly got up out of my sleeping bag. I turned to him.

"Thank you drone."

"My name is Saersis sir. And I have a few things here for you." He pointed towards the corner of the tent where there sat two saddle bags and a helmet. The helmet was so that they would know who was in charge... I hoped. The saddlebags were given to me because I was allowed to take any valuables that I pleased while I was searching for survivors. I didn't plan on using them.

"I do have a question though... um... Saersis. Why can't we just try to feel the energy that the ponies will give off while they are hiding somewhere in the castle? Why do we actually need to go look for them?"

"Because sir, We have many prisoners held in Canterlot and all of the ponies ambient energy together in the city drowns out individual signals."

Well actually that makes sense. "Ah.... I see.... Well than I guess we'd better get going."

He led me out of the tent to another chariot, much like the first, where I boarded and the two changelings pulling the chariot took off. This time the ride was just a few minutes and we landed in the near center of Canterlot near the front entrance to the castle. If I thought the city looked magnificent from a distance, I was amazed at what it looked like now. Even through the smoke and disregarding the charred walls and blood spatter the architecture was simply breathtaking. Wait a minute.... blood spatter.... Snap out of it Arex you're in a battle zone! I jumped off of the chariot and it pulled away. I made my way up the steps to the front entrance of the castle and went inside. On the other side of the door were 7 changeling drones.

"Good morning Senator!" One of them called.

"Good morning drone. How long has it been since we declared victory? I was just brought in." I didn't want to admit that I had been sleeping while they were all fighting.

"About an hour and a half ago the rest of their fighting forces fled and we secured the city."

"Excellent, have we also captured their leaders?"

"Yes sir, we have Princess Celestia and Princess Luna restrained in the Dungeon. The Captain of the Royal Guard and Princess Cadenza are in the Ballroom now awaiting their execution."

"Execution?!? But i was under the impression that we were taking them as prisoners!"

"That was the plan at first sir but the order came from higher up. It was again The Captain that was projecting the shield over the city and since we know that the Princess is capable of doing the same the Queen has deemed them too dangerous to live."

"Alright, did she send that order all the way from the Hive?"

"No sir, she's here in Canterlot in the Ballroom right now. I believe that she will be overseeing their executions. Our task however is to go through out the rest of the castle and find the rest of the ponies that are most likely in hiding. So how would you like to go about this sir?"

Oh! that's right I have to make decisions. "Well I think that it will be best if we spread ourselves out a little bit. But to make sure nothing goes wrong we will search in pairs." They all looked and nodded in agreement. This military leadership thing is actually kind of fun. I thought.

We divided into pairs and I assigned each of the different pairs to a different floor of the castle. I went with a drone named Alakerk on floor three.

"So Alakerk," I asked, "how long have you been a soldier in the army?"

"7 years now sir." That was kinda impressive.

"So you were here for the first invasion of Canterlot as well?"

"Yes sir."

"So do you agree that it is necessary to kill the Princess and Captain?" Now he looked at me. He looked at me with a dead serious look in his eye.

"Yes sir. They are the most dangerous two ponies in all of Equestria to us. It was them that single-hoofedly eliminated the changeling army last time two years ago. Once we kill them we will really have security in Canterlot, but as long as they are alive then there is no chance that we are safe."

"Understood." Well I supposed that was fairly logical. Prisoners or not they were certainly a threat to our invasion and should probably be dealt with as quickly as possible.

After our little conversation we arrived at the third floor and looked down the first hall to see how many rooms their were. Their were a lot of doors. That probably meant a lot of rooms. We went through the first few rooms together expecting to find something but we turned up with nothing. Then the next few rooms we took with a little less caution. Finally we just plain got bored. After a little more small talk we decided that it would actually be quicker if we split up, and, seeing how little resistance we were running into, it didn't seem like a bad idea.

I started going through the rooms by myself. They were suites clearly. Nicely furnished living compartments. They might have been meant for visiting dignitaries or nobles to stay in while spending time in Canterlot. I imagined that if there were any unicorns hiding in here they would be such pansies that the sight of me in a helmet would just scare them into submission.

Finally I only had a few rooms left to go, I had already been up here searching for nearly two hours. I walked into the door of the suite. But this one was different than the others. It seemed a bit more.... upscale. It was difficult to say more because they were actually all very upscale. But this one was just somehow nicer. The bedposts had gold on them, the curtains had lovely flowers sewn into them, and the pillows. I walked over and touched one of the pillows on the bed. It was very plush and comfortable. This would be the kind of room that Princess Azandria would stay in. I looked over on the nightstand beside the bed. Their was a framed picture of two unicorns. No wait, one was pink and had wings. The other was blue with a purple shield cutie mark. This is Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadenza's suite. Now it all made sense. Too bad they would never get to return to it. They were probably already dead. I looked over in to the corner of the room. There was something else that stood out in this suite that made it different from the others. A crib. I walked over to the crib for some reason expecting it to be empty. But it wasn't. Laying inside the crib was a small foal. She must have been just over a year old. The filly had a light pink coat with purple hair and deep gold highlights. She had a small horn sticking out of her head and..... WINGS on her back. They were pink at the base but with purple tipped feathers towards the end of each wing. Luckily I hadn't woken her. She was sleeping and looked very serene. Although I hadn't ever seen a foal before I couldn't help but think that she was almost kind of cute.

One thing was for sure though. I hadn't been expecting to see this. Chrysalis hadn't told me that Shining Armor and Cadenza had an alicorn foal. In fact I bet that Chrysalis didn't even know that the baby existed! Why when she found out she would..... wait a minute....... she would...... If Chrysalis finds out that there is another alicorn in the castle she will want to kill her too! Especially if that alicorn is the offspring of Shining Armor and Princess Cadenza! I just sat and thought for a moment. Weighing the pros and cons of telling her in my head. Finally, I decided that it was a bad idea. I may be here invading Canterlot, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't protect an innocent life if I get the chance. Without a second thought I scooped her up with my magic and put her in my still-empty saddlebag. Not a moment too soon.

"Senator!..... Senator! I'm finished checking my rooms, I haven't found any survivors." I couldn't risk telling Alakerk either. He might tell Queen Chrysalis and then I'd be the one in trouble.

"Excellent. I just have a few more rooms to go. You can help me look through those and then we will be on our way."

I was very nervous finishing up the scan for survivors with Alakerk. I was very worried that the foal might start crying or move around in my bag, and then I would be caught. But luckily nothing happened.

Finally we finished on the third floor and returned to ground level to see the rest of the squad waiting for us. They had all come up empty-hoofed too. I said my goodbye's to the squad and went back outside to the chariot that was waiting for me. On the short ride back to the camp outside Canterlot I checked on the baby alicorn in my pack to see if it was still breathing. It was. It seemed to still be asleep as well. These things sure can sleep through a lot.

Once we arrived back at the camp I went straight to my tent. Tomorrow I would be going back to the Hive and I would have to figure out what to do with this thing before then. I pulled it out of the bag once again and laid it down at the feet end of my sleeping bag. It was finally awake and stared up at me with its big blue eyes. I looked back apprehensively. Now what am I going to do with you?

Oh well... I could think about that later tonight. For now wanted to go and converse with the Generals. Maybe now that the battle is over I can talk with them about the kinds of tactics they used. I don't want to be a bother but I had always wanted to be a part of the glory of battle. Perhaps this was my chance to live vicariously through them! I zipped the tent closed on the way out. Then I strolled away towards the Generals' Quarters.

* * *

By the time I got back it was late at night. I had almost completely forgotten about the foal in my tent. But not entirely. I did manage to remember to pick up some applesauce while I was out today. At least it would have something to eat today. The little alicorn had decided that it was a good idea to crawl into my sleeping bag and play mole for a little while. I gently reached in and pulled her out with my hoof. then I laid down next to the sleeping bag and set her on top of it. She laid down next to me without much fuss. I opened up the applesauce and got out the little spoon to go with it and scooped up some of the applesauce and brought it close to her mouth. She didn't open.

"Come on, aren't you hungry you haven't eaten all day?" I moved it a little closer but she pulled her head back and kept her mouth closed. I was starting to get frustrated now. Then I got a good idea. I reached over her with my hoof and tickled her in the side. She leaned against me and laughed out loud quickly pushing my holey foreleg away from her. I seized my opportunity while her mouth was open and stuck the spoon inside. She closed down on it and her face got this strange expression on it. Then she decided she liked the whatever-it-was and swallowed it. Good to know that foals like applesauce. After that the rest of me feeding her mostly just consisted of her warm soft body pressed up against mine and me spoon feeding her while she greedily gulped down applesauce like there was no tomorrow. Finally, it was time for bed. I guess I will have to figure out what to do with you tomorrow. That's OK. I guess I can just postpone my return for one more day. I gently lowered her back into the saddlebag, so that way if a drone came into my tent in the middle of the night they wouldn't see her. Then I climbed into my sleeping bag and shut my eyes.

* * *

I awoke to the sound of horns blasting in the distance. At the same time a changeling drone came bursting into my tent and yelled, "Senator! The city is under attack! We need to evacuate now!" I jumped out of bed and to my hooves. My heart was already pounding.

"What happened drone? How is the city under attack? Didn't we execute the Captain of the Royal Guard and Princess Cadenza!?!"

"Yes sir but it is the Equestrian military! They have begun retaliation and I have orders to evacuate the city."

"From Queen Chrysalis?"

"No sir."

"Well then from who?"

"General Izeykun sir."

"Well did Chrysalis approve of this?"

"No sir."

"Why not then?!?"

"She's dead sir."

The chariot ride back to the Hive was just as cold as it was the first time. This time I had a little spot of warmth on my side coming from the foal in my saddlebag, but it was of little comfort at the moment. My Queen had died. Wait a minute..... My Queen had died..... that means that..... AZANDRIA WAS THE NEW QUEEN! Suddenly my hopeless despair was replaced with an ecstatic happy glee coming from my very soul. The leader of MY party was now going to be MY Queen! How fantastic!

Once we arrived I headed straight to my suite in the Palace and dropped off my saddlebag. I opened it up so the little foal could roam around but I made sure all the doors were closed and locked so she couldn't get too far. Then I was off to the Senate building.

As I had expected all of the Senators were gathered there and they were all in a panic. They were yelling across rooms and throwing papers in the air. I continued onward into the main Senate chamber. This place was even more of a mess. Senators were running around in circles and swearing and cussing their mouths out. I looked around and tried to find Senator Kytlus to ask him what everyone was planning to do, but I didn't have time. All of a sudden from the back of the Chamber came a powerful voice.

"SILENCE!"

Every Senator turned and looked at the source of the power. There in the doorway stood Queen Azandria. She looked down towards the center of the chamber and began to descend the stairs towards the podium very slowly, talking all the while as Senators slowly returned to their seats and regained their wits.

"WHAT HAS HAPPENED TODAY HAS BEEN THE WORST MILITARY DEFEAT IN TWO YEARS. IT HAS COST US MANY TROOPS LIVES AND.....The life of my mother." She looked down as she said the last part. Finally she reached the podium.

"We must not let our defeat destroy our Hive. We must not let our ranks fall apart and our people lose hope. We must not make the same mistake again. Let me assure you all Senators, there will be no Third Invasion of Canterlot." At that another uproar burst out in the Senate chamber, but with a wave of her hoof the new Queen quickly silenced them.

"Let it be known here today that all aggressive military action against other nations, will no longer be tolerated as a part of the Hive's foreign policies. No longer will we invade or take nations by military means. Instead we will do what we were meant to do. We will exist with the ponies and spy on them, and if need be we will kidnap, assassinate, and steal from them. But direct military conflict is simply no longer an option."

A short while later I returned home, thoroughly exhausted but overall not dissatisfied with the new rule changes that our new Queen was about to impose. Before I had left Azandria had told me that she wanted to talk to me early in the morning tomorrow, but that was not what was on my mind. I'm glad to say that I was actually looking forward to the future. Their was really only one thing that I didn't have an answer for just yet.

I stepped in the door and looked around the room. Then I heard the clip-clop of her little hooves in the kitchen. I went in and picked her up off of the floor with my magic. I got some more applesauce out of the fridge and brought her into my bedroom. I crawled up into my big comfy bed and laid down under the covers. Then Iaid her down in the empty spot next to to me. As I fed her I began to talk.

"So... I guess your gonna be staying here for a little while now huh?" I asked. She didn't respond but she just laid down on her side and pressed her soft, warm back up against my chest. She continued chewing as she looked up at me with one of her big blue eyes in silence.

"Well then... I guess I'm gonna have to think of a name to call you huh? Considering you might be here for a while. How about a nice name, like Alexandria? Do you like that name little filly? Huh? Do you you like Alexandria? I'll tell you what, you can be Alexandria...... You can be my little Lexi."

Asking Azandria

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I awoke the next morning feeling better than usual. And I usually woke up feeling pretty refreshed after sleeping in that bed. But something was different this time. Something was strangely... better about how well I had slept. I guess it doesn't matter. I raised my head off the pillow and looked around the room.

It was early morning and the Hive was already bright. Beams of light were streaming in through the window above my head. I looked down at the strange alien creature laying in front of me. It was curled into a small fuzzy ball pressed against my chest where I had laid it the night before. I laid one hoof over top of her and gently stroked her back with my hoof. Her fur was softer than fleece and she was as warm as a heater. She had been curled up all night long and now was like a little ball of warmth. As I ran my hoof down her back she stirred causing her to shift position and turn to face me. A she did so she rolled over on her back exposing her stomach to me. It radiated heat up into my face. She looked at me again with her big blue eyes. As if she wanted to know what I had woken her for. Seeing her looking up at me somewhat relaxed me and I slouched back into my spot and closed my eyes again. About five minutes later once I had worked up the courage to once again raise my head I found that she too had gotten the idea (probably from me) to go back to sleep.

I slowly rose up and got out of the bed being careful not to disturb her. I made my way into the kitchen and got out some eggs. I started to get out a frying pan and some olive oil to go with it as well, then I remembered that Azandria had wanted to speak with me this morning. I guess I'll have to make Breakfast quick. I cooked myself up some eggs mixed with some positive emotions, always a good way to start a sure-to-be-good day! I got out the toast and sat down at the dinner table to begin eating. Seeing as this was my normal routine, I should have been ok with this, but instead I just felt like I was missing something (or someone). Unable to stop fidgeting in my chair, I went in to see if Alexandria had woken up yet.

To my dismay she had not, but that wasn't going to stop me. "Alexandria, wake up... it's breakfast time!" I said cheerfully. Her eyes cracked open, but just barely. I went over and scooped her out of her nest of blankets. I then carried her out into the kitchen. She was almost limp in my magical grip the entire way. Something told me that she might already be used to being carried with magic. What I had previously been surprised about is how she didn't react much to the presence of a Changeling seeing as she was an alicorn. Then again though she was probably only roughly a year old maybe a year and a half, and that meant that she most likely didn't know anything about them.

I pulled up a chair right next to mine and gently set her down on it. Now starting to sense the increase in activity she got a little more lively. After I set her down she reared up on her hind legs and placed her forelegs on the table. She was so short that she could barely get her head over the table and see on top of it. Her wings fluttered futilely.

"No no, you have to stay on the chair." I told her. "You can't come up onto the table, it's too high up here you could fall." She ignored me and attempted to use her front legs to pull herself up on the table but to no avail. "Oh fine." I lifted her up with my hooves into the center of the table. I watched her carefully as she walked around on the table ready to catch her with my magic at a moments notice. I continued to eat my eggs and toast watching her walk about as she explored. She looked all around the room as though looking out across the Grand Canyon. It occurred to me that she had been in this room before but had only seen it from the floor, this must look like a whole new world to her. Suddenly she stopped and stared. I traced her line of sight and at made a path straight to my plate of eggs.

"Eggs." I said. "Can you say eggs?" Come to think of it I had never heard her say anything in the two days I had known her. But then again I had only spent a few hours with her up until this point.

"Weg?" she said.

"Not quite but that's pretty close." I said smiling. She walked forward towards the plate. I slid it closer to me.

"No no no, you can't eat this. This is Changeling food. Alicorns can't eat Changeling food." She just stopped and looked at me. Just kind of staring ahead. Then she got this little sad look in her eyes, and she started to pout.

"Uh oh." I had to think for a second. "Oh! I get it! Your just hungry aren't you?" I levitated my plate of eggs over to the counter where she wouldn't get into them. Then I got up out of my seat and proceeded towards the fridge to get some more applesauce. No sooner had I left my seat than I heard her start to cry.

"WAHH! WWAAAAHHHH!"

"Alright calm down I'm hurrying!" I grabbed the applesauce out of the fridge and got a spoon from the drawer. Then I hurried over and sat down in front of her. I scooped up some applesauce and right while her mouth was open in the middle of her bawling I popped in a spoonful.

The noises quickly stopped. She chewed happily for a few moments before she swallowed and was ready for some more. I scooped up some more and fed it too her. Mental Note #1: Feed Alexandria before serving self breakfast.

After it was all gone she sat on her rump happily in the middle of the table and just looked around. Thankful that it was my turn I levitated my plate of eggs back over in front of me. They had started getting cold now but that was alright. I started eating until I caught her snapping glance at my breakfast once again.

"Didn't I already tell you that you can't have any? We are omnivores and you are herbivores. That means you can't eat my food Alexandria." She just continued to stare at me.

"Weg?"

Oh, I give up. I picked up her spoon and wiped the applesauce off of it with my hoof, then I used my fork to cut off a tiny piece of egg white from one of the eggs on my plate. I'm not sure how it will taste when infused with pony emotions but all I know is that being an herbivore she probably won't like it. At least now she'll stop begging for some though. I slowly and carefully lifted the spoonful of egg white i up towards her small snout. As soon as it approached she opened wide and snapped it up.

I waited for a second.... then two...... then three..... She had a little satisfied smile playing around her cheeks as she delightedly chewed. But nothing happened. She didn't spit it out, she didn't throw up, she didn't even look nor act the slightest bit sick. Must be some kind of Alicorn magic. I said to myself in a half-convinced half-confused kinda way. Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The rest of breakfast was for the most part uneventful, as I fed one or two more small pieces of egg to Alexandria and waited unsuccessfully for her to turn green. Looking back on it it was actually a really stupid thing to do. If she had gotten sick I still don't know where I was expecting I could take her or what I would be expected to do with her, but that's just how things play out sometimes. After breakfast I opened all the doors in the house to allow her room to run around, carefully made sure that the front door was locked (although living in the Palace their usually isn't all that much crime) and strolled off towards Azandria's office. That is at first I strolled off towards Azandria's office. Then I had to stop and think Am I supposed to go to her office or the Throne Room? I'm not exactly sure where to meet her.

Then I saw Senator Mandarut coming down the hall.

"Senator! I'm so glad to see you! Yesterday before we all left I was told to meet with the Queen today in the morning. Do you have any idea where that might be?"

"Well if it's the Queen that you are looking for then I suppose you might want to check the Throne Room Senator Arex. This does tend to be the place where Queens do tend to reside." Well that response seemed a little obtuse but nevermind. I suppose I can't blame him though. I doubt that many Senators are going to be in such a good mood as I am on a day like this. Especially considering what happened just yesterday.

"Thank you very much Senator." He didn't respond but just went on his merry way.

* * *

"It's good to see you Arex." Azandria looked a mess. She looked how you would expect a changeling to look when she had been up all night crying.

"Good morning Azandria. How are you feeling?" Stupid Question! That was a stupid question! She looked at me like she had just read my thoughts and agreed with them.

"I have not been doing well Arex. My mother just died yesterday and her funeral will be tomorrow."

"oohhhh.....uuhhhhhh..... I'm sorry to hear that." Well your just on a roll today aren't you hot shot?

"I want you to tell me what happened Arex."

"What?"

"You were there, I want you to tell me what happened. How she died. I want to know what happened to my mother."

"Oh, well, um, Your Highness, I'm sorry but I honestly just don't know."

"But you were there when the invasion happened and you where there when their forces overran us and retook the city. Surely you must have seen what happened?"

"I'm sorry Azandria but I did not stay in the city when it was overrun. I was in a small camp just outside the city hidden away. I only ever entered the city to search for pony survivors and take them into custody if I found any. I didn't though." I kinda didn't. Although I should probably bring this up after she calms down. It is important enough that she will be happier if I don't hesitate to tell her.

"I see." she sighed. "Senator.... I just don't think that I'm ready to take up the position of Queen." Excellent! Now is my opportunity to put her in a better mood.

"But of course your fit to be Queen Azandria! You are the smartest changeling I know. Your economic policy is sound, your foreign policy is, shall I say, a HUGE improvement over the old one, and not to mention you are an extremely likable and charismatic leader. You with your wisdom and intelligence will make an excellent queen. And if you don't mind my adding I personally think you may end up being better than the last one." She quickly shot a loathing glare at me, but it wavered after a few seconds and parted for a softer and gentler gaze.

"Thank you Arex. I really do appreciate your kind words. I think that I will need some comforting now that my mother is gone. I have just felt like I'm now in so far over my head. We are financially devastated after we sunk everything into that attack and regardless of our well defended position in the mountains I am also fearful of a retaliation against the Hive itself. I really want you to help me through this Arex." She said the last part with a little sigh at the end. I realized then that I actually cared about her. Not just for any political reasons, or because we had the same views but instead because I simply found myself worried for her. I found myself feeling very empathetic towards her, and not just because she lost her mother.

"I would be honored, my Queen, to serve you in any way that you may desire." I bowed deeply and respectfully. She turned towards me and gave me a small smile.

"Thank you Senator." I looked closely at her and noticed that her eyes were watery.

"Please don't cry Azandria." I said. She just laughed and wiped her eyes, then turned again and flashed a large smile at me.

"I'll be fine Arex." she stated simply. Then she shifted tone. "Now, I believe that we have some business to discuss."

"Very well then Your Highness, what do you seek my counsel for?" She looked towards me again.

"Arex, you know that you don't have to call me Your Highness don't you? It's really not necessary."

"I apologize my Queen. I won't address you in that way anymore."

"And you don't have to do that either. Please Arex we are friends you don't need to be so formal with me. I don't want you calling me 'my liege' or 'your majesty' either, is that understood?"

"Sounds good to me Azzy!" I said a little too casually. But she still smiled all the same.

"Lovely, now my first order of business will be to try to compensate for the financial loss that this military defeat has cost us. I think that the first thing we must do is send more drones into Equestria to steal some more valuables that can be sold in order to pay off some of the Hive's massive debts."

"That sounds like an excellent plan Azandria but unfortunately you are overlooking the fact that all of Equestria will be on high alert after our second attack on their Capital. What we should do instead is maraud the Griffin territories. They won't see it coming if all of a sudden their coffers are a lot more empty, whereas ponies all throughout Equus will be on high alert." I didn't feel very good about stealing from any other nations but if it was going to be done it might as well be done right. She seemed to mull this over in her mind for a moment even though I knew that it was clearly the right plan. Finally she nodded her head and said, "Yes perhaps that would be a better idea."

* * *

"And THAT Your Highness is how we can increase the value of our currency to 63% above what was thought to be the previous limit." She seemed to be so impressed with my idea that she didn't even notice that I had called her 'Your Highness'. She just sat in stunned silence staring at me from her throne.

"That's fantastic Senator Arex... I..... I don't know what to say."

"So are we going to implement this plan or are we not?" I asked.

"I believe that we most definitely will."

"Thank you very much Azandria. You know this is something that I have actually been thinking about for a very long time now."

"Clearly you have because it is very well thought out. Anyways though, there was one more thing that I wanted to talk about before you leave."

"And what is that Queen?"

"About how many prisoners did the Generals transport to the Hive after the first day of the attack?"

"I believe about 800 if I am not mistaken."

"Ok, I have sensed the presence of ponies near the Palace and I was wondering where most of the prisoners were being stored."

"Well I believe that they are being stored in the prison just one floor of the Hive below us and about 3 blocks away, down in that old prison that used to be our second dungeon."

"Well it might as well be a dungeon now that we are keeping prisoners of war in it."

"Yes, well. Um, Azandria can you tell me what exactly it was that you sensed?"

"Well it was last night coming back from the Senate chamber going to the Palace I felt a pony in the area, however I was not sure if we had moved the prisoners into their holding facility yet."'

"Well, um. You see Azandria their might actually be something to that." Suddenly she looked somewhat suspicious. This was something that I had wanted to avoid so badly but I knew that their was just no way that I could pull it off. If she had already sensed her than it wouldn't be long before others did too. And when that happened then I knew that I would need to have some defense or else exactly what I was trying to keep from happening would happen. The alicorn would be killed for sure. She couldn't help what she was, and she was not an enemy combatant or one of their political leaders, she was just an innocent defenseless nymph, why she probably couldn't even harm a fly! I tried not to think about what Alexandria might grow into and gulped as I plowed onward with my speech.

"Well, when I was searching the castle for survivors I didn't find any ponies. But I did find... um... something else."

"What?"

"In one of the rooms where it looked like some ponies had been staying there was this little thing in the corner, um, it was a crib." Azandria's eyes suddenly widened as she thought in horror about where I was taking this. I knew she already knew where this was going.

"You didn't." she said. But I still continued.

"So I went up to this crib and in it was this little nymph, or, um, foal, I should say. Anyways, I looked at it and I was pretty sure that it's parents weren't there and with all this chaos going on right now it was probably in a lot of danger, so, you know, like, I didn't want to just leave it there to die and it wasn't going to hurt anybody so I just figured that I would take it and bring it somewhere else, or, you know, take care of it until I could get it back to it's parents. Then the next day when I was gonna try to go and find them the city was overrun and we all had to leave,so, you know, I kinda brought it with me?" When I had finished talking Azandria's chitin had become visibly paler.

"So you mean to tell me, that you have a baby unicorn in your home?"

"No." I said plainly.

"No? What do you mean no? You just said that you do."

"I said that I have a baby pony in my home Azandria."

"Well than what kind of pony is it?"

"Alicorn."

The Hive Days (part 1)

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Study. Study was clearly an important thing. And with connections like mine it clearly was important enough to threaten National Security. But I had made a pretty strong defense for my case. It had been about one month now and I had been permitted to keep Alexandria in my home for purposes of studying alicorns. Everything that I found out about her, dietary habits, magical outbursts, typical behavior, even what were some of the words that she said, were to be reported at the end of every week to Queen Azandria.

Now that's what I call politics! Who would have thought that I would manage to convince the Queen of the Hive to allow me to shelter something that could easily be considered a mortal enemy of the state in the Palace itself?

I moaned with satisfaction as I rose up out of my bed. "Well, another day another dollar, aye Alexandria?" I said to the little pink lump on the bed next to me. She hadn't taken much to sleeping under the covers and I hadn't gotten her a crib yet. Part of me didn't want to because I knew that I enjoyed her sleeping next to me every night. Not to mention that changelings aren't very heavy and I didn't have a habit of tossing and turning at night.

It had already been just over a month since that fateful talk with Queen Azandria and ever since then things had been going absolutely fantastic. Sure once the other Senators had been informed I started getting some weird looks around the Senate Building, but that was something that I could live with, being seen as 'strange' by some of your peers was quite frankly a small price to pay for the happiness that I had gotten out of my new company. My home didn't seem so lonely anymore and I always had someone to talk to, even if most of the time their response was 'vroom vroom'.

She hadn't said much since I found her. I had recorded maybe 20 or 30 words but it certainly seemed like she was talking more often. Maybe it was because I talked to her. Most changelings didn't think of her as something with a mind of its own but rather as some kind of malicious entity that had taken up residence in my home. No matter how much I tried to persuade them otherwise most Senators just tried to avoid the subject when speaking with me.

The pink lump stirred and slowed lifted her heavy pink lids to look at me. I stood smiling in the doorway staring right back at her, my fangs fully revealed with my lips pulled back and the holes in my legs being slowly cooled by the gentle breeze drifting through the house through the open window above the bed.

"Qwuaka?" she said.

"That's right Alexandria it's Thursday and you know what that means!"

"Cooptu wegs?"

"Oh! Of course you can have some eggs. I'll get right on that, you just go back to sleep and I'll come get you when their done." On some level she must have understood what all that meant because she slowly lowered her head down on the pillow and closed her eyes again. As I made my way into the kitchen I started to think about those magical outbursts that I had heard so much about young unicorns having. I hadn't noticed a single thing like that with Alexandria, not once had she even thrown a tantrum. I knew it was probably only a matter of time until that happened but I was well prepared for it. I threw some eggs in a pan and started frying them up. Aside from developing a strange taste for eggs I had also introduced her to beef, pork, and chicken. She had flat out rejected the beef, but she did seem to get along with the pork and chicken. If I had to say which one she preferred I would have to go with the chicken, that seemed to be her preferred source of meat. I finished frying up the eggs and plopped them onto a plate and slid it onto the dinner table.

"Alright sleepyhead, time for breakfast." I said as I lifted her up out of bed with my magic and started carrying her out the door into the kitchen. She groaned and tensed up. She refused to open her eyes and fidgeted around in midair in defiance, clearly not yet wanting to face the world. I sighed and brought her over to me taking her in my right foreleg and holding her against my chest, using my left to continue to walk into the kitchen. She seemed satisfied with this and calmed down a bit. Then I gently placed her still curled up body on the table, where she liked to usually sit, right in the center of the table facing me. She smelled the eggs then and seemed to perk up a bit. I happily cut off a sizable portion of egg white and placed it on a spoon, then I reached it out to her and she took it in her mouth. Although she was only just now starting to get her teeth all the way in she seemed to be able to handle chewing soft things like egg whites. I had gone out and purchased large amounts of nymph food so that way I had something to feed her besides applesauce. From what I could tell her diet was very malleable, she seemed to be able to digest whatever food was on hoof, be it pony or changeling, for that I was thankful. What I was not thankful for was the night that I came home from asking Azandria's permission to keep Alexandria to find that I had forgotten the need for babies to wear diapers. As it turns out even alicorns don't self potty-train and apparently they don't do it in two days either. No need to fret however, I had learned from my mistakes and procured two large packages of diapers that very same night. Clearly taking care of a baby alicorn was going to be harder than I had expected.

She and I sat and ate our breakfast for a few minutes in mostly a laid back silence, botched by a bit of small talk here and there and the occasional gleeful exclamation of "wegs yummy!" Then when we had both had our fill I cleaned off the plates and threw them into the sink. Alexandria roamed around on the floor traveling wherever her legs could take her while I fixed myself a cup of nice hot coffee. Then came a knock on the front door.

"Huh. Well who could that possibly be?" I wondered aloud. I walked to the front and opened up the door.

"Good morning Arex!" said a brightly cheerful and pleasantly familiar face.

"Why Hello Senator Kytlus and to what occasion do I owe this pleasant surprise?" Alexandria seemed to have heard the ruckus and walked into the living room from the kitchen.

"Kickus?" she sputtered.

"Please sir, by all means come in!" I said with a grin on my face. "So again what seems to be the reason for the visit my friend?"

"Well Arex, The other Senators and I have been talking and they just wanted me to stop by and check up on you is all. We have been.... concerned with your behavior as of late and we just wanted to make sure that everything is all right." Some of my contentment faded after he said that.

"Well of course I'm alright. What could possibly lead the other Senators to believe that I'm not? I haven't been acting strangely lately have I?"

"Well no! And that's precisely what I said but actually what some of them have been worried about is your new.... guest." As though she knew that she had been mentioned Alexandria, who had remained stock still in the doorway until now happily trotted over to meet her new friend. Senator Kytlus, however, had other ideas. As soon as she approached him he swiftly backed away as though fearing physical contact with her.

"Oh dear! Please Arex get that thing away from me I don't want it to do something unpredictable."

"Relax Kytlus, this is Alexandria and I promise you she's as harmless as a fly. Go ahead stroke her mane, she won't hurt you and she likes it." He looked at me as though I had just recommended heroin to cure a headache.

"Stroke its mane? You have to groom this thing every day don't you Arex?" He paused for a second. "Great Scott that's it! Now I understand why you've taken it upon yourself to house this monstrosity, you need to put yourself under pressure don't you? That makes sense Arex! First you take on an enormous workload handling almost a quarter of the Military budget and then after the invasion is over you feel the need to continue to make yourself useful by taking the job that no one else would want didn't you? That's why you have been taking care of this thing, it's because you've been putting too much strain on yourself. Well fear not my friend, you don't have to work yourself to death any longer, I will speak directly with the Queen and we will get someone else to take up this horrifying job for you. You most certainly deserve better than this!"

"No, no, no. You have misunderstood Senator that's not it at all. I genuinely enjoy this job. I like having her around and I like grooming her and taking care of her. It's not that I am putting extra work on myself, in fact it's quite the opposite! Having her around me actually does wonders to RELIEVE stress. At the end of every day I really do feel better just knowing that I get to come home to her." He just stared at me for a moment. Seemingly unable to comprehend my logic.

"Are you sure that you've been feeling alright? It hasn't put you under a mind control spell has it?"

"Senator Kytlus we are changelings, it is very difficult for a fully grown alicorn to put US under a mind control spell let alone a baby. I am fairly certain that if it tried to attack me I could subdue it quite easily, however for as long as I have had it here it has remained quite docile." I suddenly realized that I had started referring to Alexandria as an 'it'. Suddenly furious at myself I made a new proposal. "Senator I think that I know what the problem is, none of the other Senators have met Alexandria and I'm sure that if they did they would love her. I promise you that she is not aggressive and most certainly not a threat to anyone in the building."

"Did you have to give that thing a name Arex? I mean really, that just doesn't seem right. It seems strange that you would equate it with a nymph or even a pet. Also I don't think that you are allowed to take that 'thing' into the Senate building."

"Oh really?" I said with a wry smirk. "Well I don't remember there being any rules about not bringing baby alicorns into the Senate building."

* * *

It was fair to say that we probably attracted a few strange looks on the short walk from the Palace to the Senate Building. When we got in I, Kytlus, and Alexandria all went into my office.

"Well here we are. This is where I spend my time everyday working, do you like it?"

"Arex I see you almost every day in here I already know all about your office."

"I wasn't talking to you Kytlus I was talking to Alexandria." He gave me an annoyed look. Meanwhile little Alexandria was busy moving about the office, first she smelled the leaves of the potted plant and tried to stick them in her mouth. After tearing off a small piece and delightedly swallowing it she crawled underneath my desk to continue to explore. I had already put a diaper on her before we left so I wasn't too worried. Mental Note: Get some leaves and flowers for her so she can have a normal pony diet.

"Arex that thing is destroying government property."

"Oh relax Senator, she's still just a little it hungry. Remember I did tell you that she is not a threat to anyone. She's an herbivore after all so we know she doesn't bite." At least I think she's an herbivore.

"Well lets just get her out of here before she destroys anything else. Didn't you want the others to meet her?"

"Why absolutely Kytlus what an excellent idea. I just needed to grab some papers I need signed by Senators Japhus, Maekit, and Skerex. Now that I have them," I grabbed the documents off of my desk, "we can be off to introduce our new friend to the rest of the family!"

"Shes not my friend I'm just going along to make sure that nothing bad happens."

We went down the hall a ways and turned right passing a paige who turned his head to stare at the small pink alicorn that was trailing along behind us.

"Arex, shouldn't you be carrying it?"

"No, it's fine, she's smart enough to know to follow me, I usually just carry her when she's too lazy to get out of bed. Or when she wants me to lift her up somewhere high. But overall I'm glad that she's finally getting out of the house, she's been cooped up in their for a month now and she really does need to do some exploring." We entered Senator Maekit's office.

Kytlus said, "Why good morning Senator Maekit, and how are we doing today!" Senator Maekit was a good friend of both of ours since he was also a high ranking member of the Wing party. Alexandria entered the room unnoticed and crawled forward to sit right in front of his desk, she was so short though that he didn't see her.

"Well good morning to the both of you. And how are you both doing on this fine day Senators?" Normally a changeling would be able to sense the presence of a pony right in front of them, however the ambient energy of hundreds of ponies just a few blocks away, and the fact that she was a baby (meaning that she gave off minimal energy) seemed to be enough that Senator Maekit was still oblivious. Alexandria didn't seem to care though as she then decided to crawl under his desk and started sniffing his legs. Kytlus saw this and decided to take appropriate action.

"UUmmmm...... Senator I wanted to tell you that we came here to have you sign these papers but theirwas also something else that Senator Arex here wanted to show you. I think that you should tell him about that now Arex!" Before I could open my mouth to say anything Maekit seemed to sense something under his desk and finally looked down.

"WHAT IS THAT!!!" He jumped out of his seat and backed up against the back wall.

"Please! Please Calm down Senator!" I said in a panic anticipating just how mad he might be when he finally calmed down. "This is what we wanted to show you Senator, this is Alexandria! I'm sure that you have heard that I have been taking care of a young alicorn for about the past month and I just wanted to go around the Senate building today and introduce her to the others so that everyone could be understanding of the situation and it would be free of speculation."

His eyes were still wide as he stared under his desk and his only reaction to my statement was "Yes I can see that it is and alicorn now." So I continued.

"Well Senator Maekit I just wanted to bring her here so that you could meet her, I thought that you might like to know what an alicorn looks like seeing as very few of us Senators here in the Hive have seen them and because this one is totally harmless this would be the perfect opportunity. I'm sure that if you would giver her a chance she would love to be your friend, just look at her." After saying that he seemed to regain himself.

"Yes, I do suppose that would be acceptable." He was no longer tensed up but he had not moved from his corner against the wall.

"Well go ahead then.... why don't you say hi to her?" I walked around the desk so I could see her sitting under there staring at the Senator in confusion.

"Why hello little Alexandria... how are you doing today?" She smiled back at him. Then she started walking towards him, but he didn't move away.

"Hewo...."

I gasped. "Did you hear that! That is the first time she has ever said hello! I think that she likes you Maekit! See I told you that the two of you would be friends." She had walked over to where he was standing now and he reached down and started stroking her mane.

"Why you are just a harmless little thing aren't you? And to think that I was scared of you. Well I can certainly see now why you take care of her Arex, she's charming!"

"Why thank you! I thought you might like her. She is pretty smart too, she's a very fast learner. I don't actually know how many times she's heard the word 'hello' but I'd say she must have picked up on it pretty fast." I was positively beaming now, things had gone much better than I had expected.

"Not to mention that having her around must be a money saver. I mean I may have a decent salary but a little thrift can still go a long way. Not to mention that using fresh ingredients really gives it a more natural taste wouldn't you agree Arex?" He was still smiling down at her and stroking her mane but I had become completely befuddled by his statement.

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you are talking about Senator."

"Oh? Does the Queen not let you with this alicorn?"

"Not let me what?"

"Feed off of her of course." I just stood stock still. I still couldn't even comprehend what was running through his mind. I had just heard him use the words and in quite blunt terms, but my brain simply refused to recognize what he was saying. Finally the meaning of the statement that he had just uttered grudgingly dawned on me. The first things that I felt were confusion mixed with rage. How could he think that I would feed on Alexandria? Has he completely lost his mind? Did I just misunderstand what he said or perhaps he misspoke? No, no he most certainly asked her if I have been feeding on Alexandria. The rage at he changeling that stood before me coiled up like a snake in the pit of my stomach. I looked and still saw him standing there stroking her mane, suddenly I didn't want him within a thousand miles of my little Alexandria. I didn't even want him on the same Hemisphere as her. Somehow I managed to calmly but quickly walk over to them and pull her away from him. He looked up at me in confusion.

"No Senator, I am afraid to say that one of the obligations of studying this young alicorn is to not feed on her emotions." I said in a surprisingly calm and collected way. Though on the inside I did not feel like it on the outside I was certain that I still appeared very logical and emotionless. The look on Senator Maekit's face however told me otherwise. Suddenly Senator Kytlus spoke up from the doorway that he had been covertly hiding in the entire time.

"Well now lets all calm down Senators. I believe that we have some documents here to have signed by the dear Senator Maekit. Senator, would you care to do the honors?" Maekit looked toward Kytlus, then walked calmly away from me and toward his desk to sign the papers that lay there.

* * *

"Do you want to go ahead and tell me what the buck all that was about?" Kytlus said as we walked down the hall away from Senator Maekit's office.

"All what?" I said knowing fully well what he was talking about.

"That little freakout session you had when he mentioned feeding off of that 'thing'!"

"oh....that..... Was it really that obvious?"

"Yes Arex. Yes, it was pretty dang obvious."

"oh...oops."

He sighed. "Arex, You seem to be getting a little more attached to that thing than necessary. This is why they sent me to your home this morning. This is exactly the kind of thing that we were afraid of. We were afraid that you have developed some kind of unhealthy fixation on some little nymph, that not only isn't just not yours! It's not even the same species! You have to stop this kind of thing Arex, that animal walking behind us right now is not a changeling. It's not as smart as a changeling nymph would be, it's not cute, it's not not going to be nice when it gets older, and THIS is not natural. What I'm trying to say Arex, is that it's not yours. It's just not your 'little Alexandria'."

"Kytlus, I am not under the impression that she is my nymph. I know what she is and that is an alicorn. She is not a changeling. But I can't just let her be used as food for us, she's an innocent creature and she deserves the right to life just as much as we do. All I'm saying is that we don't have the RIGHT to kill her. She never did anything bad to us."

"Woah Woah Woah! Wait a minute. What do you mean 'I can't just let her be used as food for us'? Did you even have to take care of her? I this something that you are doing for the good of the Hive right now, or is something that is happening because YOU want it to?"

"Oh give me a break! Like everything YOU have ever done was for the good of the Hive! Like YOU have never taken advantage of the system for your own personal benefit! In fact you've done it more than I have!"

"Arex how does this benefit you! Listen to yourself! It is true that you never used your influence like the rest of us did and we all respected you for that, but this will put your entire reputation into jeopardy. Just try to think logically for a second and come to terms with reality. That 'thing' is not helping you and it would be good of you to just dump it. It can only hurt you and you have already sacrificed much, much more than you needed to for that little alicorn. And if you think that it will ever be grateful than you are dead wrong because to that thing, you are what you are, and that is a changeling. Alicorns don't like changelings. They never have and they never will and when it gets older it will kill you as easily as you should be killing it right now." I just looked at him.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure of that? How do you know how she thinks? You can't speak for her. So I think that I will wait until she can speak for herself before I decide what to do with her. I'm not saying that I'm going to keep her for sure Ok Kytlus? All I'm saying is that I'm going to give it a little bit of time and we will see where this takes us. Is that all right with you?" He seemed to mull it over for a little while.

Finally, "Yeah sure. I guess that would be Ok. Just try not to get too attached to the thing. I guarantee that it can't feel the same way about you that you do about it. So don't get yourself into a mess alright buddy?"

"Don't worry. I won't."

"Now Senator, I do believe that we have two more signatures to collect and a few more introductions to give."

"I must agree my fine Senator!" I said cheerfully.

The rest of the morning went by mostly uneventfully with a few gasping changelings here and a few uncomfortable senators there but all in all it was probably the most fun that Alexandria had had in months judging by how much talking and smiling she did. After we made introductions to almost half of all the Senators in the building we went back to my office for me to do some paperwork. That she enjoyed significantly less but she still seemed to have pretty good time. All in all I would say it was a pretty good day. Yeah, It was a pretty good day.

The Hive Days (part 2)

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"Alexandria! Flower Sandwich!" She bolted out of the bedroom and hopped up onto a chair at the table. She had just gotten good at running recently and now she was doing it everywhere she went. But of course it was still up to me to lift her up onto the table to sit in her favorite spot. I reached out a hoof and wrapped it around her torso, hoisting her up into the air and onto the table.

"Fow Sandich!" She squealed.

"No Alexandria Flower Sandwich. Can you say Flower?"

"Fow?"

"Close, now try it again, repeat after me, F-L-O-W-E-R."

"Fow."

"Close enough." I said with a smirk as I slid the plate in front of her. Then I picked up my croissant and set it in front of my seat. I sat down while she chewed happily on her flower sandwich And began my small breakfast treat. No knock on the door this morning. Of that I was certain. Everything had actually been quite quiet on the 'front' for a long while now. After the first day I had brought her in with me to work a few more times. Maybe two or three but not too many and not at all this past month. I could tell that she missed going in to work with me though, she must not have liked being stuck in this place for hours while I was gone. I always left food out for her but I didn't like having to feed her like some kind of wild animal. At the same time if I brought her with me to work EVERY day than the other Senators would probably complain and I don't know what I would tell Azandria. At least I could rest assured that me and her were still on good terms. I had done an excellent job so far with the finances and economic recovery seemed to be right around the corner. It had only been four months since the attack but so far we had been able to cut our losses quite well.

"Wook?" I looked up at her, coming out of my otherworldly daze.

"Huh?"

"Wook?"

"Oh! You want to go to work with me?" She smiled which I took to mean yes. "I'm sorry honey but I can't today, you see I'm very busy and me and Senator Philius have to divide up the loot that a team of drones brought in just a few days ago from one of the Griffin kingdoms. He says that it should be put into the infrastructure of the Hive but I say that it needs to be used to pay off some of the drones that still have only gotten a few paychecks since the Second Invasion of Canterlot. Not that you would really understand what any of that really means though."

"Catot?"

"Yes Alexandria Canterlot. That's where you're from. That's where I found you; Canterlot. Did you know that?"

"Catot!" She squealed happily as she bent down and continued to gorge herself on flowers.

A few minutes later I was done eating and went through the normal morning routine. I had already changed her diapers just before breakfast and now I just had to slice up some vegetables and put them on a plate on the chair so she would have something to eat when she got hungry. That would tide her over until lunch when I would come home and cook her some meat with milk or bring her strawberries and blueberries (or sometimes feed her applesauce if I had a bad day). I still wasn't sure how she had come to enjoy meat so much but I didn't give it much thought anymore. She was chasing her tail in the other room while I sliced a carrot. After I was finished making her brunch I sat it on the table and walked into the other room with her.

"Watcha doin?" I asked.

"Taw." She said while continuing to run in circles.

I giggled. Then I asked, "What's taw?"

"Taw!" she insisted while furiously spinning around and around. I reached out and picked her up with my magic, to which she looked most dismayed. Then I sat down and drooped her down into my two front hooves, cradling her against my chest.

"I'm gonna go to work now Ok honey? I'll be back soon and you just be a good little filly until I get back home Ok?" She looked up at me with her sweet little blue eyes, but she didn't say a thing. I knew she understood, she was a quick learner. Even when I said nothing, she always had a way to understand what I meant. I gently lowered her to the floor and headed for the door. I opened it and, with my mind already off in another world, somehow forgot to lock it. Then I headed off to the office.

I got to work about two minutes early and stopped by the office to do some paperwork before my meeting. I had to write a note to Azandria and have it delivered sometime today so I might as well write it out right now. It was about the tax policy regarding drones currently living in Equestria and how much of their paychecks they should be mandated to give to the Hive. Seeing as they already gave the majority of the emotions that they collected to the Hive asking for too much of their paychecks might not make them very happy with the new administration. Not to mention that they already had to pay Equestrian taxes on top of what they made. Of course with our current economic state it was more than difficult to convince the Queen of this, but if I didn't than we risked alienating the working class changelings from their Hive. I had always tended to favor the lower classes over our own and usually so did Azandria but recently after taking up the title of Queen she had become a lot more like Chrysalis. Not in personality so much as policies. She was still very approachable but not so much agreeable. After I had made my case against the new tax policy I signed the letter and slid it into a drawer. Then I got up out of my desk, glanced at the clock, and made my way down the hall to my meeting with Senator Philius.

When I arrived in the room I saw him sitting at the meeting table along with a drone with some parchment and a quill, presumably there to write down everything that was said as it was said. Also sitting at the table were a few other Senators who would be helping to make the decision that would take place at the end of the meeting.

"Ah, Senator Arex, please have a seat good sir."

"It's good to see you Senator Philius."

"Likewise my brother, likewise." He smiled. His smile was a bit fake, and you could tell. He had always been a very outspoken member of the Horn party. Him and I really had no common ground and it was abundantly clear that we were anything but brothers. Still I put on a smile of my own and sat down next to him.

"So Senator we are here to discuss the appropriation of the money retrieved," (I used that word lightly), "from the Southern Griffin Kingdom."

"Indeed, or to be more specific we are here to discuss how and where the money will be put to use repairing the Hive's crumbling infrastructure."

"Senator by 'crumbling infrastructure' do you mean to say that you want to build a new park?" He did not seem phased by my blunt analysis of his spending plan.

"I am of the school of thought that the best way to to invest the money in question is to invest it in such a way as to give back to the community as a whole in the most efficient way possible. This being the case I believe that we should create something that all changelings living in the Hive can enjoy to the utmost. Your plan however is to pick and choose which changelings shall benefit from our new funding and which ones will get the shaft, is that not true Senator?"

"MY plan is to finally pay the drones that we sent out to fight and die for us instead of using the money for downright stupid and irresponsible frivolities such as building a park where none is needed. Just where DO you plan on building the park Senator?"

"WHERE I plan to build it is not what is important here."

"But if you want it built for the good of the community than does it not matter how accessible the recreational area is?"

"All that is important is that it gets built." He said confidently.

"Well Senator, I have seen the maps and the designs and it looks as though you want to have this waste constructed in your own neighborhood is that right?" This drew a few murmurs from the other Senators seated at the table. Still I pressed onward. "Well I for one will not stand idly by and watch such a disgusting negligence take place. We owe it to the soldiers who marched and fought for us to pay them what they have been promised. And if you can think of a better way to spend this money than to give it to those who deserve it than by all means tell me what that is." He seemed as though he couldn't fin his words for a moment, very different from the two-tongued changeling that had been sitting in front of me just a moment ago.

"Well, it is true that what you are talking about is a noble cause but a Senator as young as you could only be expected to think that way," What's that supposed to mean? "but meanwhile in the adult world we have a very real opportunity to do something good for the community as a whole, and I know that if you knew any better Senator than you would be just as eager for this opportunity as I am." He said with a smirk. He clearly seemed to think that he knew what was best, but the other Senators at the table clearly didn't agree. It appeared as though I had started to sway them, even members of his own party seemed to be shifting in their seats uncomfortably as though anticipating having to vote against one of their own members. But clearly Senator Philius had no intention of going down without a fight, and he had an ace in the hole that I definitely hadn't expected.

"So Senator Arex, lets stop being at each others throats for a moment and just cool down with a bit of pleasant conversation, how are things going with you hmm? Is everything alright with.... Alexandria?"

"Don't try to change the subject Philius we are here to discuss appropriation not family members." Suddenly his face lit up in a gleeful and sadistic grin.

"Family members! I hadn't realized you had adopted her? Well that's just lovely, I've had this porkchop sitting in the back of my fridge for a few months now that I've been growing very fond of, do you think that I should consider adoption?" That got a few laughs from the Senators seated around the table. I could feel the temperature of the room steadily rising, or maybe that was just me.

"Senator Philius I demand that you cease your ad hominem and return to the discussion at hoof!" That got some of the Senators to stop their laughing and start paying attention again. It's good to know that I can still work a room.

"I apologize Senator I didn't mean to offend you. I was just having a little bit of fun, after all, I know that no changeling could ever really adopt a pony. They are simply too stupid and disgusting of creatures. They really are the most vile scum aren't they? Especially alicorns, they are the worst of them all, are they not?" At first, a scorching rage started to build up inside me, burning my chitin and singeing away any hint of rationale or logic. I started to lose control and began having wild thoughts of jumping across the table and thrashing the changeling who had just said those things to me, but then I saw something that would most likely change my life forever. I saw something out of the corner of my eye that made my searing rage disappear and was replaced with a frozen paralysis. I deep, terrifying sense of horror and dread that overcame me like a tidal wave. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw through a window in the meeting room... a little pink dot, working its way across the sidewalk outside the Senate building.

I stopped.

I stared.

"Senator Arex," one of the other Senators at the table said," are you alright?"

"I have to go." And with that I jumped up from my seat and was out of the room. I quickly galloped down the hall, hoping that she was still their when I got outside. After rounding the first corner and getting away from the meeting room I burst into a sprint. HOW DID SHE GET OUT! HOW DID SHE GET OUT! If I don't hurry she could be kidnapped.... or she could even be injured or killed!

I reached the front door of the building and burst out of it quickly running down the stairs. When I reached the bottom, I looked around, but she was no where to be seen. I frantically started running down he sidewalk to the place where I had seen her walking, but she wasn't there anymore, it was like she had just disappeared. Then I looked over to my right and realized that there was a small crowd gathering just a few hundred feet away by another building. I thought that I might know why, so I quickly galloped over.

When I got to the crowd I heard all the changelings murmuring something about 'how did this thing get here' and 'what is it, is that an alicorn?'. I finally started to feel some relief. I slowed my pace and proceeded forward. These were not Senators, nor generals, nor really any high ranking members of the Hive. They were all just a bunch of drones, so I could also rest easy knowing that I wouldn't be getting into any trouble for this.

Suddenly some of them started to back away, looks of worry and shock on their faces. I couldn't yet see Alexandria but I couldn't figure out what would make them all start dispersing like this. Then several of them turned tail and ran. Others quickly followed suit. Their were probably about 12 of them there at first and maybe 5 or 6 started running away. That was when I saw what they were running from. Alexandria was cowering, pressed up against a wall by the crowd and looked as though she might have been crying. But I could hardly see what her eyes looked like because they were glowing. And her horn was glowing too. Suddenly she started rising up into the air. I froze in shock, I had never seen her do that before and I certainly wasn't expecting to see it now. As the glowing got brighter the rest of the drones started to turn to run, but it looked like it might have already been too late. Some kind of magical field began to engulf her as the light radiating off of her horn shot straight up into the air. Then it pulsed and shot out a huge magical burst of energy in every direction. The changelings that had been to late got hit with it and it sent them flying away, the rest that had seen what happened took to the air and started flying away screaming. The energy field continued to rapidly expand flinging the drones into the air, then it reached where I had been standing and it took me with it.

It had just dissipated as it it hit me but still flung me back about 20 feet where I landed on my back and skidded along the sidewalk. At first I was too dazed to process what had happened but then I regained control of my limbs and got to my feet. I looked over to see her still suspended in the air with a whirlwind of magical energy surrounding her. Their were no changelings in the area anymore as all of them had fled except two who were laying, apparently unconscious, on the ground a little ways away. Now that I was on my feet I dashed forward to the young alicorn.

"Alexandria! Alexandria!" I was yelling at her as I ran but she didn't seem to notice me.

"LEXI!" I yelled after I got a little closer. Then I saw her brightly lit eyes turn and lock onto me. For a second I was scared, I finally knew what it was about alicorns that scared the Generals. I finally saw for the first time just how intimidating they could really be, and it was the only time that I could honestly say Alexandria had ever scared me. But, being who she was, that didn't last long. I knew that she could never hurt me intentionally, so I yelled up to her again.

"Alexandria! It's OK honey! I'm here now, please come down!" The magical whirlwind almost immediately vanished and her horn quickly dropped to a dim glow, but her eyes remained brightly lit. Then she just dropped. It was lucky that I was standing right under her as she was about 15 feet in the air by now. I reached out my hooves and caught her as she fell straight down to me. As soon as she was safe in my grasp her eyes returned to their normal pretty shade of blue.

"I thought I told you to be a good little filly until I got back young lady!" I said while grinning down at the toddler in my arms. "And here you go getting into trouble. Well, well, well... It looks like the trouble maker just got caught huh?" She responded by wrapping her hooves around my neck and refusing to let go.

It was then that I became aware of just how much my wings hurt. I craned my neck back to take a look at them, they looked a bit more torn up then usual and were probably in need of some healing. But that would have to wait, my first obligation now was to take Alexandria back home. Luckily it was a short walk and I would be back at work in no time. The downside being that I would then have to explain what all of this was about. I was not looking forward to that. One thing at a time Arex. You've already saved Alexandria so just try to be thankful for that.

The whole walk back home Alexandria refused to take her arms off of my neck. She latched onto me like a vice and just wouldn't let go so I had to carry her the whole way there. I'm not complaining though.

* * *

I had been thinking a lot about school. Not for me but for Alexandria. At first I had thought that the expensive preschool that had been set up near the Palace for the Hive's more affluent residents was a ridiculous waste of our money, but the more I saw it from a parent's point of view the more sense it made to me. Not that I was a parent, I had still taken Kytlus' advice and not become too attached to Alexandria, but still who was I to not allow her to blossom to her full potential. And that was only going to happen if she attended a school, and a good first step in that direction would be to go to the Hive's Royal Preschool. But that was second on the list of things that I thought about sitting here at my desk.

The other thing that I had been concerned with was trying to figure out when Alexandria's birthday was. I was certain that whatever the date was she had probably already missed it and I really wanted to throw her some kind of birthday party. She deserved to have some kind of celebration and meet new friends, she had clearly been getting a little bit lonely.

Then I felt her brush against my leg down below the desk. I had made it a habit to start bringing her to work with me everyday. Ever since the little incident a few months ago I had decided it was best not to leave her on her own. As a result I brought her into work with me everyday now, though she usually didn't get to leave my office because it made the other Senators in the building uncomfortable. I suppose that I couldn't truly blame them, after all, she clearly could be dangerous if put into the right situation, but I didn't think it was anything to worry about. She already had met most of the senators many times and I tried to persuade them to let her leave my office with me to run errands, but so far they had only agreed that she could come out of my office once every other week. This was disappointing for me, but she always did enjoy herself on those days. Again... she didn't have enough friends.

Then their was a knock on the door.

"Come on in." I said. Senator Kytlus opened the door and proceeded towards my desk. Alexandria saw him come in and bounced over to him with a smile on her face.

"Kitus!" He smiled down at her.

"Hello Arex! How has your morning been going?"

"Oh... quite well.... I was just a bit lost in thought."

"Well I'm glad it's going well my friend. Listen, the others wanted me to inform you that tomorrow at noon in Meeting Room C will be the Wing Party's monthly conference, don't forget to show up on time right Arex?"

"Who do you think might want to come to the party?" He just stared at me in obvious confusion.

"No, no, no, Arex I think you might have misheard me. I said that the monthly conference is tomorrow. Their is no party."

"Don't worry Kytlus I heard you. I just was thinking about throwing a birthday party for Alexandria in a few days. I wanted to celebrate her birthday but I don't know when that is so I just figured that now is as good a time as any." A look of annoyance appeared on his face.

"Arex, please tell me that your kidding about this. Your kidding right?"

"Of course I'm not kidding. Everybody else gets to have a birthday why not her?"

"Where would you even have her birthday party?"

"Well at my house of course.... wait a minute.... THAT"S A GREAT IDEA! I should definitely take her out somewhere new for her birthday party! Somewhere she has never been before! Alexandria always loves new places don't you Alexandria?" She looked at me with her big blue eyes and blinked a few times. "Well then it's settled, I'll take her somewhere new. Hmmm..... where do you think it should be Kytlus?"

"Arex.... I'm not a part of this little hair-brained scheme of yours." He said with complete seriousness.

"Scheme? Come on lighten up Kytlus! It's a party! And of course you're invited so you might as well help plan where it should be."

"What if I don't want to go?"

"I won't take no for an option Senator.... besides, if you don't go you'll hurt Alexandria's feelings." He looked down at her after I said that.

"Fine. I'll go. But after you throw her this little.... birthday party.... Then you should think about planning a farewell party too. She can't stay here forever and sooner or later we WILL send her back to Equestria where she belongs."

"Ehh.... probably.... But while she's here I might as well try to have her enjoy her stay right?" In reality I had no intention of sending her back to Equestria anytime soon. I had already made up my mind about that months ago, but I wasn't going to involve that in this conversation.

"I guess so. But in case you don't remember you aren't supposed to take that thing out in public anymore." I had forgotten all about that.

"Ohh... right..... well nevermind. I guess that the party will have to be at my house afterall. Anyways, thank you for the notification of the meeting Kytlus, I will be sure to be their on time tomorrow." He smiled and nodded then went back out the door carefully shutting it behind him. Meanwhile I slowly drifted off into thought about party planning while Alexandria began spinning in circles once again chasing her tail. That seemed to be one of her favorite things to do these days.

* * *
Two days later I found myself walking down the halls of the Senate building with Alexandria in tow. We rounded a corner and proceeded into Senator Phasius' office.

"Hello Senator!"

"Hello Arex! How are you doing today, come with some documents to sign?"

"Even better Phasius, we have an invitation for you!" I said with a smile. He looked around confused for a second, before noticing Alexandria staring up at him from the floor with an expression of joy plastered on her face.

"Ohhh... I see.... is this for that birthday party I've heard you were planning?"

"But of course! Alexandria and I wanted to come here personally to deliver your invitation!" I slid the card onto his desk with an image of a smiling young changeling on it. I would have gotten one that was more fitting, but unfortunately the store hadn't been carrying alicorn birthday cards at the time as they had reluctantly informed me.

"Ahh... well then... I suppose I shall have to set aside some time on my schedule to attend its.... her birthday party."

"Well we are very excited that you will be able to make it. Now we are going to go deliver the rest of these invitations, say goodbye Alexandria!"

"Buh buh!"

And then it was off to Senator Japhus' office. He had already seen Alexandria several times so I knew that he would have already heard about the party. Still I had to wonder how it was that Phasius had heard about it, maybe Kytlus had told him?

"Good afternoon Senator Japhus, how are you doing?"

"Oh! Hello Arex, I just finished up some of these forms," he had been sitting reading a magazine when I walked in however, "what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Actually I wanted to give you an invitation!" To my surprise, he frowned when I mentioned the invitation.

"An invitation? What is it for?" He said now trying to fake his smile.

"Why it is for little Alexandria's first ever birthday party in the Hive! We really hope that you can come and it is a kids birthday party so you should bring your children too." Now he just looked plain uneasy.

"I'm sorry Arex, but I don't think that I will be able to attend, is it going to be tonight?"

"Yes it is, are you sure that you can't come?"

"Yes actually I'm going to be very busy tonight I have to..... uh..... clean. My wife has been planning this for several weeks and she has decided that our house is simply a mess so as soon as I get home she has a list of chores for me a MILE long! I won't have nearly any time to sleep let alone attend a party! I'm so very sorry that I won't be able to come, but I'll send a paige with a gift for her. Will that be alright?"

"Well... I suppose so. I mean if your busy than that is perfectly understandable, and thank you for being generous enough to send a gift Senator."

"Well absolutely, it's my pleasure."

No matter, I thought as we left the room, We still passed out plenty of other invitations and mostly to changelings that have kids. I'm sure that still enough guests will show up that Alexandria will have a chance to make plenty of new friends.

* * *
I stood by the door. The cake was in the kitchen, I had baked it about ten minutes ago and had expected the guests to arrive sooner but none had shown up yet. So I just continued to stand by the door. And waited.

With mounting impatience I walked over to the counter where I had a few extra invitations sitting, I opened one up to see what time it said inside for the guests to arrive at. The card said the party started at 5:30. I had invited nearly 20 changelings and told them all to bring their nymphs. I glanced at the clock on the wall. The clock said the time was 5:50. With mounting impatience I walked over to the door and continued to wait.

Just then their was a knock on the door! I eagerly unlocked it and opened it up to see the party guests on the other side.

"Hello Arex." said Senator Kytlus. Then he looked around the room. "Where are all the other party guests?"

"That's just what I was thinking." He frowned at me.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I might have mentioned that you were planning this party to some of the other Senators and.... I think maybe.... word got around." I sighed.

"That's Ok Kytlus. I don't blame you. It was all of them who clearly didn't want to show up. I mean I knew that some of them would probably lie about coming, but, I just didn't expect this. Thank you for being the only one to show up, but you don't have to stay, I won't keep you here if their isn't going to be a party."

"Again, Arex I'm really sorry for how this all turned out, I probably just shouldn't have said anything."

"No, no. It's fine, even if you said nothing I have a feeling that this would have probably happened anyways."

"Where is Alexandria?" Hearing her name she came running into the front room and stopped just short of Kytlus. He looked down at her and smiled. "Well happy birthday to you little one. I hope you have a good year ahead of you."

"Kitus!" she squealed in delight.

After he left I took her into the kitchen where her cake was. Then I sat her down in the center of the table where she liked to be, and watched as she started sniffing the frosting.

"No no Alexandria. Don't eat it yet, first we have to cut it." I picked up a large knife and sliced out a thin sliver of cake for Alexandria. She was still young so I didn't want to be feeding her too much unhealthy food. Then I put it on a plate and she pressed her little snout into it gobbling it up as she eagerly chowed down on her new snack. Then I cut off a significantly larger peice for myself and got out a fork to eat it with.

And that was Alexandria's first birthday in the Hive. Not too many guests and not too much excitement, but still, a part of me still enjoyed that day.

A few hours later a paige arrived with a small package. It was Alexandria's present. I opened it up for her to see what was inside. It was a hairbrush. Not what would normally be considered an exotic present among ponies no doubt but in the Hive, inhabited by changelings who didn't have any hair, this was quite a treat. Now I have something to groom her with! I thought. At least Senator Japhus came through on his word.

After a little bit more cake I stuck the rest in the fridge and we headed off to bed. Tomorrow was Saturday and I would get the day off of work. If I had been allowed to take her out in public than I would have planned something special, but at least we could spend the day together.

I curled up on my comfortable mattress and Alexandria snuggled in against my chest. At least today hadn't become a complete waste. I still had gotten her a hairbrush. I suppose I couldn't complain.

* * *

"Alright sir now just sign here and initial here and here." I was at the Royal Preschool near the Palace. I had decided to sign Alexandria up to receive an early education, and this place had quite a waiting list. As a result I knew that it would be a good idea to enroll her early. Even though she still wouldn't be eligible for the school for another two years by putting her on the list now when she was older she could start immediately. I knew this and took the necessary steps to secure a good future for my little Alexandria.

"Thank you very much, now when should I start my payments?"

"Your payments don't start until your daughter is actually in the school, so not for another, what did you say, about two years?"

"Oh! Yes two years is when she will be old enough to start going here. But I must correct you she isn't actually my daughter I'm her guardian."

"Oh, well that's fine sir, you don't need to be biologically related to enroll her here."

"Thank you for your help ma'am and here are the papers back. Do I have everything filled out correctly?"

"Yes sir, everything here is ready to go, I will bring this over to the manager at the end of the shift to be processed. Have a nice day sir!"

"Thanks you too!"

I walked down the sidewalk back toward the Senate building, with a new bounce in my step. It was nearly the end of the lunch break and Alexandria was still back in my office gnawing on a carrot. I would arrive back in just a few minutes a little hungry but with my errand taken care of.

I finally felt a little stability had entered my life concerning Alexandria. I no longer needed to worry about her being taken away back to Equestria, or about something worse happening to her. Now she would finally get what she deserved, a good education and a good future. Afterall she was technically royalty. What she really deserved was a throne. I felt a little tingle go down my spine at the thought of that. But at the same time I couldn't help but feel a little guilty about that. If she was still living in Canterlot in her rightful home, she would be a young princess. She was the daughter of a princess and the Captain of the Royal Guard afterall. If it wasn't for me she would still be there, and she would still have her birthright, and that was a throne. She would be put in charge of something important, and she had the right to be. It was me and my selfishness that had taken her away from all that.

That's not true at all. On second thought if it weren't for me she probably wouldn't be alive right now. I was at least glad that I had saved her from possible execution. But still she did have the right to a throne, it was in her blood and it was what she was born to do. I probably wouldn't ever be able to provide that for her but I certainly would put everything I had into giving her the best opportunities possible.

I walked into the front doors of the Senate building and started down the hallway to my office. When I entered I found Alexandria laying on her side in the middle of the floor apparently taking a nap. I went over to rub her on the head but realized by the smell that she was in need of a diaper change, so I scooped her up with my magic and carried her into the bathroom. That's the thing about the Senate building, very nice bathrooms. The other Senators knew that I changed hr diapers in there but it had also been done by a few of them once or twice. Admittedly I probably took advantage of the system a bit more than any of them did but so far I hadn't received too many complaints about it. There was never a mess left behind and usually no one was in there when it was happening so it didn't affect anyone all that much.

I walked in with Alexandria and set her down on the counter, then I put the clean diaper on the counter next to her. She was starting to get pretty old for this and soon I would have to buy her a little training potty but considering how busy I always was and how I got nervous whenever I left home without her i just hadn't gotten around to it yet. In fact most of the time these days I just had paiges pick up all of the groceries for me. I had changed her diaper many times before and it was very easy by now and a very quick process. I dropped the dirty diaper into the trash and started washing my hooves in the sink.

Then senator Mandarut walked in.

"Oh. Senator Arex. How do you do?" he huffed without making eye contact.

"Oh just fine fine Senator Mandarut thank you for asking. I've actually been in a very good mood for a little while, you see I just signed Alexandria up to go to preschool in a few years." He snorted in response.

"You want to send that thing to preschool do you? Hahaha,how endearing Senator. That's very admirable of you." He spoke in a somewhat condescending tone. "Meanwhile I have signed my nymph up for preschool as well. He will be starting in two years now, but of course he is signed up for the Royal Preschool. What shack will you be sending your.... alicorn to? Hmm?"

"Actually Alexandria will also be going to the Royal Preschool, and whats more, she'll be going there in about two years also! I guess that means that they will be in a class together huh?" A malicious smile started to play about my lips.

"WHAT!?! What do you mean in class together? My nymph will NOT be sharing a classroom with that MONSTER! This is outrageous, this is absolutely unacceptable! Why Queen Azandria will be hearing about this immediately!" And with that he stormed out of the room. I still don't know what he even came in for in the first place, but he clearly thought that this was too important to waste time with bodily functions.

After that I picked Azandria up off of the counter and set her down on the floor, then we walked back to my office together. Once we got back I gave her another carrot to keep her occupied while I got some paperwork done.

* * *

The next day was as peaceful as any, me walking down the sidewalk from the Palace to the Senate building, Alexandria following walking alongside me admiring the scenery as she always did on our casual little strolls to work. We passed by trees planted across the street and her head turned to watch them as we walked past. The Hive may be underground but the glow of the walls and ceiling still made it feel above ground and provided enough light to let trees and other plants grow down here, though not as many as on the surface. Then we walked up the wide stair set to the large doors that made up the main entrance to the Senate building. Then we walked down the halls away from the Senate Chamber and towards the offices in the back, where both me and Alexandria spent most of our days. As we strolled we both admired the lovely sculptures and paintings hanging from the walls of the upscale structure. There were not as many sculptures as there had been many months ago because Azandria had gotten rid of most of them to pay for the Hive's more important expenses. As I had originally thought she had so far made an excellent leader for the Hive. And in the recent months our party had grown much stronger in the seat of government. Perhaps that had something to do with Mandarut's behavior yesterday? I wondered. I turned and looked at Alexandria now walking behind me, she had her mouth hanging wide open as she followed behind me. She was always on the lookout for new changelings to meet, or new sights to see. I smiled at her innocence, she was so free and blissfully unaware of just how hard life could be. She was always in a good mood, and I had worked hard to keep her that way. Although she didn't have many friends I hadn't seen her frown more than a few times since she had escaped several months ago and had that magical outburst.

We rounded the corner expecting to see my unobstructed office door, but instead it was blocked by two changeling soldiers. What's going on here? I approached them to find out why they were there, but as soon as they saw us they began to approach me instead.

"Are you Senator Arex?"

"Yes, and just who might the two of you be?"

"We are here to take the alicorn you have been keeping into custody." My blood froze. I suddenly felt very nauseous.

"W-What do you mean take her into custody?"

"We have orders from the Queen to take the alicorn to the dungeon."

"WHAT! NO that can't be right the QUEEN was the one who said that I could KEEP her!"

"Well order has changed and we are here to escort it to the dungeon." Then they pushed past me and moved towards Alexandria. I attempted to shove them out of the way and defend her but when I did that one of them overpowered me and pinned me against a wall. Alexandria shrieked in fear when they attacked me and I couldn't hear what the other one was doing but then I saw a flash of green and a light thud as she hit the floor.

"ALEXANDRIA!" I screamed as I shoved the soldier off of me and tried to scramble over to her. But then there was a flash of green from behind me and a searing pain in my back legs. They gave out and I hit the floor. But I was already spun around now and i could see her unconscious figure being lifted up in a green magical aura by the other changeling soldier.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER YOU BASTARD!" The soldier still behind me put his hoof down on my back to stop me from trying to get up.

"Relax Senator, it's just a sleeping spell. It has to be properly restrained before being taken down to the dungeons to await its execution." My body got even colder after he said that. My back legs which were completely numb began to burn.

"I'LL KILL YOU BASTARDS!" And then it got really dark.

* * *

When I woke up a little while later I couldn't remember anything that had happened. I didn't know why I was passed out in the middle of the hall. I didn't know why my back legs were sore. I didn't know where Alexandria was. ALEXANDRIA! I was in a panic as I jumped to my hooves. I looked around frantically for Alexandria unaware that I was wasting time. I stopped to try to process the situation that I was in. I stopped and tried to remember how I had gotten here. Nothing came to mind. Then in a flsah all of the memories reappeared in my mind. OH BUCK ME!

My legs skittered across the floor as I turned the corner too fast and nearly toppled over. I was running full sprint to the throne room. As soon as I got outside I buzzed my wings and flew the rest of the way to the Palace from the front door of the Senate building. I landed right outside the front doors of the Palace 30 seconds later. Then I barged in nearly toppling over a general on my way to the back of the Palace. I didn't have time to apologize and rushed forward. Finally I reached the throne room and burst in. There was Queen Azandria sitting on her throne talking to some drone standing seemingly nervously in front of her.

"WHY DID YOU TAKE ALEXANDRIA!" I screamed. Every changeling in the room froze and turned to look at me. Then the Queen turned to the drone and said, "I think that we will have to pick this up at a later time." He turned and began to walk out of the room. Just before he reached the door Azandria asked, "Is there something I can help you with Senator?" In a calm sweet voice.

"WHY DID YOU TAKE ALEXANDRIA!" I repeated.

"Please come and sit down Arex. Please try to breath correctly also. Try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth." I steadied my breathing which I had not realized was a bit sporadic. I also felt the tears dripping down my face that I had not realized were there previously. I wiped them away with my hoof.

" Azandria where is Alexandria? I want her back right now!" I was trying my best to stay calm and I seemed to be holding up so far.

"Arex, I was told that you enrolled the alicorn at the Royal Preschool. Is that true?"

"Yes, but where is she?!?"

"Arex, you know that she is a threat to changelings and that having her near young nymphs would be a very bad idea. You did realize that didn't you?"

"Yes I'm sorry, where is she at right now though?"

"Arex.... She has to be put down. She is an enemy of the state and a danger to everyone around her. If we continue to let her live her then it will only lead to destruction. I'm sorry but she has to be killed, I want you to understand that." I fell down on my knees now, and I started crying like a little baby.

"Please your Highness no. P-Please don't kill her... she's just a baby.... she would never hurt anybody.... please don't kill her." She just looked down at me from her throne, with a firm expressionless face.

"This has to be done Arex. I am sorry but their is no other way. We have to put it down." I fell flat onto my stomach now and was balling.

"P-Please Y-Your Majesty. P-Please don't take her away from me. I just want to spend one more day with her. P-Please just let me see her for one more day. That's all I want j-just one more day. Please Y-Your Majesty, please let me be with her for just one more day." She seemed to shift uncomfortably in her throne. There was just the sound of silence and my muffled cries as I had my face pressed down into the ground laying flat on my stomach trying to stop crying. This continued for about 30 seconds.

"OK. I will let you have it back for one more day. But that is it. You can have it back for the rest of today, but tomorrow, it will be taken back down into the dungeons early in the morning and executed. Is that understood Senator Arex?" I couldn't answer right away as I was having difficulty breathing. My breath came out in short rapid pants inhaling and exhaling air as fast as I could in large gulps. I felt like pure ecstasy, All the weight of the world lifted off of me and I could already feel her soft fur caressing my chitin again.

"Y-Yes Your Majesty. Thank you! Thank you so much thank you! Thank you Your Majesty you don't know how much this means to me! Really just thank you! Thank you so much! Thank you!"

"Yes, yes, that's quite enough Senator Arex. Please calm down and listen carefully. I am going to have my guard personally escort you down to the dungeons where it is being held." She motioned to the guard standing on the right side of the throne. Then you can take her back to your home and spend the day with her. You can take tomorrow off too if you would like to. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes Your Majesty thank you!"

"Good. And you can stop calling me Your Majesty as well. I thought that I told you to always call me Azandria?"

Y-Yes Azandria thank you!" She seemed to look like she was getting a little bit annoyed now.

"Alright, now just follow him and he will take you to where it is being held."

The walk down the dungeon was quiet, the guard didn't say a word to me and I spent the whole walk just trying to catch my breath. Finally we got to her cell. Inside was Alexandria pacing around with tears streaming down her face. Her fur was ruffled as though she had been crying for several hours and she was stained with dirt all over her body. Her mane had fallen into disarray and her eyes were bloodshot. Her pace was quick as she walked back and forth from wall to wall.

Suddenly she saw the guard approaching and she began crying. She fell down in a heap in the dirt and started crying and buried her face in her hooves, which were already tear stained and dirt stained. The guard brought me right to the bars of the cell and I looked in to see her in her misery.

"Hey there little filly... did you miss me?" She looked up at me.

"DADDY!" She ran up to the bars and tried to press her little snout through it but it wouldn't fit. So instead she reared up and stuck both her front hooves through in an effort to try to reach out to me. I placed my hooves through the bars around her and closed them in on a hug around her little body. Then the guard stuck the key into the lock on the cell door and swung it open. She pulled out of the hug and darted around the now open door and leaped into my waiting hooves on the other side of the cell. I pulled her tight up against my body and squeezed her so tight I thought it might hurt her, but she didn't make a sound except continuing sobs into my chitin. Finally the embrace had to end, although she kept clinging to me, I pulled her off and set her down on the ground. It hurt me to do so but I had a tight schedule to run. She continued to quietly sob into my leg as I just stood their staring off into space. To the outside observer it might appear as though I was daydreaming again. But I more accurate word would have probably been 'plotting'.

As soon as we got home (or I carried her home) I ran into the bedroom and got out a suitcase in which I packed up all my family heirlooms. A few coins from a war long past, a trinket given to my great-great-grandmother. A hairbrush from a very special somepony's birthday party, and few other things of value. Then I set Alexandria on the bed.

"Listen to me young lady," I said staring her right in the eye," don't you go anywhere, don't you worry about where I'm going to be, and don't you dare make a fuss and have the neighbors come knocking. I'm not leaving you honey. I'm just going somewhere and I will be back in an hour or two Ok? Just try to stay calm Alexandria. Do you understand what I am saying? Stay Calm."

"Uh huh." She said.

"Good now you just stay right here and I will be right back." I locked the bedroom door and the front door on my way out.

I walked down the hall of the somewhat unfamiliar building with my saddlebags hanging from my sides. I hadn't been here since I had gotten Alexandria but I still remembered where everything was. This was the Treasury. This was where we both stored our money and all of the currencies of other nations which we had stolen. This came very much in handy when I drone needed some money for a role to play in another country. Let's say that they had to be a wealthy Canterlot noble. If we wanted them to play the part they had to have the dough to go with it. And considering how essentially worthless Equestrian money was to us it wasn't usually that difficulty to apply for it.

"Good Morning Senator! What brings you here?" Said the young female drone at the reception desk.

"I have a drone that will be infiltrating Canterlot. We are attempting to gather intelligence on how much of their GDP Equestria is spending on their anti-changeling investigation teams."

"Oh, well then right through that door Senator. How much do you need to take? You will need to file some papers before you can actually take any of the money from the vault and the papers need to get approved first too."

"The amount is classified and this has been categorized as a Class 5 Emergency. I will need to take the money immediately but it will be replace at exactly noon tomorrow do you understand?"

"Senator I'm sorry but I simply can't let you in their if you don't have the paperwork done."

"Well I'm sorry too but your going to have to listen to ME. I OUTRANK you and I am the one who is in charge here. NOT YOU. When I say that this is CLASS 5 that means the kind of CLASS 5 YOU don't get to know about. YOU are not the one who is in charge here and YOU are expendable. Now if YOU want to keep you job and not be convicted of treason than I would highly recommend you STAND DOWN DRONE!" She just looked shell shocked. Utterly speechless for a few moments before finally...

"O-Of course sir, I-I'm so sorry sir I had no idea! You can go right on in! Go ahead I will wait as long as you want to have the money delivered tomorrow! Take whatever is necessary right now no questions asked, and I'm so, so very sorry for being a nuisance sir!"

"That's more like it."

12,000 bits later I arrived back at my home and walked in the bedroom door to a now napping Alexandria. The money was heavy but I had gotten it all in the most valuable kind of bits they made, 50 bit pieces. That meant that I had around 240 bits in one pouch of my saddlebag. In the other I had placed the valuables and family heirlooms. Then I wrapped Alexandria in a blanket and squeezed her in with the valuables. She barely fit and was certainly not comfortable but I managed to get her to stay still.

I approached the cavernous Front Entrance of the Hive. There was a few soldiers standing guard as always and a row of booths that those coming in and out had to pass through. I walked up to the booths and talked to the changeling drone standing inside.

"What business are you conducting?"

"I am leaving the Hive, I have just been assigned a new position in Fillydelphia and I am on my way there to move into my new home."

"What is your number drone?"

I froze. Number? What number? I didn't know that I needed a number!"

"1337"

"Excuse me? Drone what are you trying to pull here?"

OH BUCK ME! Time to resort to drastic measures.

"Alright listen up here drone. My name is Senator Arex, I am going out to Canterlot on a top-secret mission. You are not to tell anybody about this. If you say anything to anyone concerning what I have told you it will result in you swift and immediate execution. Do you understand me drone?" He just looked at me in a sort of confused way.

"Listen man... I'm just here to make sure no ponies get in or out, that's all I'm here for. I would be able to sense if your a pony and your clearly not so I don't care what your going outside for. I don't want any trouble so just go."

I walked outside onto the large flat runway-like area just outside the mouth of the cave which contained the city. As I walked past the drone in the booth, he had a strange look on his face as my saddlebag went by. He might have sensed Alexandria, but that was not important now, I had already made it outside, and it was late winter. Late winter, on a mountain. I buzzed my wings trying to fly but I couldn't get off the ground with all the weight I was carrying.

So I started my downward journey through the snow and ice. I took Alexandria out of the cramped saddlebag finally because if I fell she would be crushed. I held her up wrapped in her blanket with my magic. She was so cold in the winter air that she curled up even tighter in the blanket and started shivering. I had no such luxury however as I descended the mountaintop.

It was about a half mile down the mountain. The whole thing was covered in snow and ice with a blistering wind. After the first few hundred feet my legs already burned and the holes in my body were already sore as the cold mountain wind swept through them. After a few hundred more feet I began to feel dizzy and once again nauseous. I was in physical pain now as I stumbled downhill barely holding on the the huddled mass of blankets in my magical grip.

I was now close to halfway down the massive hill. I was just happy that it was the middle of the day and the sun was shining so I could see where the buck I was going. Every fiber of my being was now telling me to turn around, or just more simply collapse on the ground. I didn't have the energy to keep going. But still I kept moving forward, as though some invisible force was pushing me, as though some higher power willed me to continue. I kept going through the cold and the snow, treading onward toward freedom, and toward safety for my little Alexandria. That's who all of this was for, Alexandria. I thought about her and what they would do to her if we got caught, and I got a second surge of energy. I kept going down the hill carrying all of this weight with me ignoring the burning and yet freezing sensations coming from my limbs.

I had made it all the way down the mountain. I was completely out of breath and absolutely exhausted. And I knew where I was headed, but it didn't help me to know. I knew that there was a small village just two more miles away from here. I knew that it had train tracks that ran through it and that meant that there was a train that ran through it too. I knew that if I could get tickets for that train and get far away from here then I would be safe. But I couldn't. I collapsed in a snow bank at the base of the mountain. I was gonna die here. That was it. I had lost feeling and movement in all my limbs and I could hardly breath, though the dry air had already torn apart the inside of my throat. The blanket bundle slipped from my grip and plopped down into the snow bank next to me, revealing Alexandria's face. I wanted to help her, but I couldn't. I just couldn't make it two more miles, or two more feet. She looked at me with those big blue eyes. Suddenly I started to feel my limbs again. Energy started to flow back into me, and it wasn't the kind of energy that I got from looking at her either. It was emotional energy. And I knew this kind of energy very well. It was love. I had eaten it infused with my food for many years now, but his was different. This kind of love I couldn't taste, but it was stronger, so much stronger. It was ten times stronger than the most potent love that I had eaten in all of my life, and it reinvigorated me faster and stronger than I had ever thought possible. This was the kind of love that could only be given willingly from a pony. And it was Alexandria. I watched as she moved around in apparent discomfort inside the blankets, before finally passing out. Perhaps it had drained her enough that she had fallen back asleep, I hoped it was that. I hoped that she was not hurt. But if I didn't get a move on then she would be killed, and that would be just as bad, if not worse.

* * *

I got to the small village about half an hour later. I was in disguise as a pony now and Alexandria was still wrapped in a blanket so they wouldn't be able to tell that she was an alicorn. I went up to the ticket booth.

"How long until the train gets here?" I asked.

"About an hour." That seemed pretty lucky considering it only came through this stop maybe once every other day.

"Where will be the first stop that it makes after it departs here?"

"It will be going from here to Canterlot." Oh! Canterlot. Well I certainly can't go there considering who I'm bringing and plus they are probably still looking for changelings there. It may have been almost a year now but it would just be too risky to go to canterlot.

"Where is the next stop after Canterlot?"

"Ponyville sir."

"I would like two tickets to Ponyville please. One for me, and one for my daughter."

The Ponyville Years (part 1)

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About 4 Years Later
UUGGHHH!!!! I thought as I looked down at the blank page before me. I just can't think of anything to write! I mean I know about writers block and everything but seriously I can't think of how to start this chapter! You know what... screw it... I'm gonna go eat something again. I've looked in the fridge a few times now but I'm sure that if I open it just one more time I will find something delicious to eat that I didn't notice the other six times I checked. I walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen. I opened up the fridge. To my unending surprise there was once again a significant lack of consumable goods. I decided to go and check on Lexi.

I walked into her small bedroom that was located right next to mine. We had been living here for four years now. It was a small wooden house with only 6 rooms in it. 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room, and an extra room in the back that was really more like a closet. In fact to be honest all of the rooms were kind of like closets. I peered in to see her slumbering away in her bed. Being satisfied that she would continue to sleep for a while I waltzed into the kitchen and got out a pen and some paper to leave her a note.

Lexi

I am going to town to get some groceries.

Be back in a few minutes with a candy bar for you.

Love, Daddy

Then I put the note on the table and went outside.

I looked up into the clear blue Ponyville sky. It was truly a beautiful place, the birds chirping in the trees, the squeak of wheels as ponies pulled carts along the dirt roads of the town, and the whoosh of the occasional blue and rainbow Pegasus flying by off to corral some clouds. I knew all about the Elements of Harmony but I had chosen to steer clear of them when I got here. Not that I could with Pinky Pie, but the others I still had only bumped into once or twice and that was still a bit too often for me. I still did remember the party she threw me and Lexi though, she had been wondering where we had come from and I had to make something up on the spot so I said we had come from Phillydelphia which seemed good enough for her at the time. Once my original nervousness subsided I actually found that I enjoyed the pink mare's company. She was certainly quirky and not the usual type that I hung out with having been a Senator. For a while I just thought that all ponies were like that but I soon found out that Pinky was a bit more odd than most of the others.

At the very least I could say that none of them suspected me. I was a very average looking unicorn with a light brown coat, dark brown mane and tail and green eyes. I made sure to have a very dull and bland appearance so as not to attract attention to myself. I was just a run of the mill average unicorn from Phillydelphia, and my special talent? Politics. How much more boring could I make myself? Just a normal low level bureaucrat. A pencil pushing paper-worker who lived on the north side of town and picked up apples from the stands every now and again. My Cutie mark was an old fashioned Balance Scale, the kind used to weigh objects that had since become a symbol for politics in popular culture. Nothing special to notice, nothing worth paying attention to, just a normal old unicorn. Lexi was a unicorn too. I used a spell to hide her wings so that she wouldn't be suspicious. I also had taught her the spell so that she could do it for herself when I wasn't around, which was good because she had just started school less than a month ago. Of course Alexandria was a changeling name so I could only call her Lexi from now on in public. That name would be more socially acceptable here unlike in the Hive where it was the other way around. But in private we both still knew that her real name was Alexandria. And sometimes that worried me, it worried me because I knew that even though she was finally growing up amongst her own kind, she still did not identify with them. In her mind, I knew she thought of herself as a changeling. Because she thought of me as her dad. And I'm a changeling. But I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I knew it would probably be healthier if she thought of herself as a pony, but I also knew that I kind of wanted her to think she was a changeling. I would always think of her as one.

"Good morning Aaron!" I was suddenly yanked out of my daydream by a familiar voice.

"Oh! Good morning Mrs. Cake! How have you been?" I was just passing by Sugarcube corner when she had come out.

"I'm doing just marvelous! We just finished perfecting a new recipe for our cupcakes, oh, with Pinky's help of course! Anyway, we have some very delicious Carrot Cupcakes now! You should come back in a few hours and we'll have some ready!" Oh yeah.... carrot cupcakes..... sounds just wonderful. Glad I quit that awful meat that I used to eat. I sure don't miss that stuff.

"Oh... I'm sorry I don't think that I can today, I was just going into town to get some apples and milk. I might come by tomorrow though and get some more of those Supreme Chocolate Brownies though. Those are really good!"

"Oh sure thing dear! Remember your always welcome at Sugarcube corner honey." She said with a smile then I continued on my way to get my groceries, when suddenly....

"Oh wait! Aaron I almost forgot to tell you, Twilight Sparkle wanted to talk to you today!" My blood nearly froze in my veins.

"She did? Why is that?"

"She said something about wanting to talk to you about buying some new books for her library." Now it all made sense. Since I had come to Ponyville I had gotten a job as the Mayors assistant. More specifically the assistant that was in charge of basically all of the budgeting for the entire town. I essentially ran the government of Ponyville while Mayor Mare just soaked up all the credit. But of course the last thing that I wanted to do was be put into the public spotlight so it was an arrangement that I was more than happy to put up with for the time being. At first ponies came up to the Mayor when they wanted government assistance or free money for one reason or another but she would just bring the issue up with me. Eventually I just told her and everypony else to bring their problems directly to me to save time and make it easier to work with them. It was a decision that I had almost immediately regretted.

"Yes, I'm sure I'll be able to find plenty of room in our monthly budget for Ms. Sparkle's library. You tell her that I will swing by later this afternoon alright Mrs.Cake?"

"Yup! Will do Aaron, thanks sugarpie!"

Finally I made my way down to the marketplace to pick up my much needed food substances.

* * *

I got home about a half an hour later to find Lexi wandering around the living room.

"Hey honey, whats up?" She jerked her head around to see me entering through the front door.

"Daddy! Your home!" she ran up to me and gave me a big hug. My heart melted a little bit for a second there.

"Didn't you see my note darling?"

"Yeah but I don't like it when I'm alone." She buried her face in my side. I chuckled softly and set my bags on the floor. Then I reached down and pulled out a small bar of chocolate.

"Look what I got you Lexi." She looked up and gasped, a gleeful smile spread across her face. Then her horn glowed as her magic enveloped the candy and she began peeling back the wrapper to get to the chocolate inside. I went into the living room and pulled out some paperwork I had to have done by tomorrow. Lexi came and sat next to me chewing her chocolate and watching me scratch away at the paper. She continued to do this for a few minutes until it was all gone, then she dropped the wrapper on the floor.

"Lexi, don't do that. Pick that up and put it in the trash like a good little filly." She picked it up and walked into the kitchen. Then she came back around the corner with it having been disposed of and sat back down in her seat next to me.

"Hey daddy?"

"What is it honey?" I answered without looking up from my paperwork.

"What am I?"

....... What am I. She had said it again. This wasn't the first time she had brought it up.

"What do you mean sugar?" I knew bucking well what she meant.

"I mean like what am I. I was born as an alicorn wasn't I?"

"Yes honey, thats very good you were."

"But then I became a changeling right?" I turned and looked her straight in the eyes.

"No honey, you were always a changeling."

"But that doesn't make any sense."

"You'll understand when your older sweety."

"So am I a unicorn now?" This time I had to laugh a little.

"Lexi let me tell you something right now, and then you'll never have to be confused about all this again. You can be.... Whatever you want to be. You are a changeling. You are an alicorn." I leaned in and kissed her forehead. "And you are royalty. I want you to understand one thing Lexi, one day your going to have a throne. I promise you that some day soon, your going to have a throne. And when you do, your going to be a wonderful leader. And you can be whatever you want to be." She smiled up at me with those big blue eyes.

* * *

I felt a little nervous. I knew that I shouldn't but I couldn't help feeling just a little bit nervous. I always did whenever I was talking to one of the Elements. But I knew why I was here, library books. And being a public library it was true that she was entitled to some money for the purchase of new literary material. I reached up a hoof and knocked on the door. It swung open to reveal a smiling alicorn who eagerly ushered me in to her home and offered me some tea. To which I politely declined.

"So Ms.Sparkle, I understand that you wanted me to come her to request some money to buy a few new books for your library." I said dryly. Whenever I was on official business I usually tried to maintain my composure and be as professional as possible.

"Oh there is no need to be so formal Aaron. I just wanted to have a nice friendly visit before we get down to the nitty gritty." It's like she read my mind...

"Well that may be Ms.Twilight but we are here to talk finances and to politicians that is a very serious thing." I still didn't want to be too friendly towards her. If I walked away from this with her not wanting to be around me anymore that would be just fine with me.

"But Aaron I am a Princess. I deal with politicians all day. Considering how close we live to one another can't we just have a nice friendly conversation?" Well she got me there.

"Alright Twilight, I suppose we can drop the formalities."

"Excellent, I know you've been here for a few years and we haven't seen much of each other. I talk to Mayor Mare all the time but you I think I've only held a conversation with for about 30 seconds at the most and that was what... maybe two years ago? It seems sad that we live so close and work in the same field yet we've never seen much of each other. From what I've heard about you from Mayor Mare you really have been pulling your weight around." She said with a smirk.

"Well yes that's true. I have been taking care of most of the finances for about a year now. I was actually hoping to get a raise soon so me and my daughter could move into a bigger house but don't tell her that yet. I'm going to bring that up with her in a few days."

"You have a daughter?"

"Yes, her name is Lexi. I'm surprised you haven't heard about her. She just started school about a month ago."

"So what is your wife's name Aaron?"

"Oh I don't have a wife."

"You don't.... so is Lexi adopted?" Think Arex.... think....

"No, unfortunately my wife.... she passed away several years ago. When Lexi was very young, so she doesn't really remember her."

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry for you Aaron. So you have been raising Lexi all by yourself since you came to Ponyville haven't you?"

"Yes I have, but don't feel bad for me, I have been enjoying my stay in this town. I actually really like it here."

"Well I'm just glad that you have enjoyed yourself staying here. Ponyville really is a very nice place to live. I first came here about nine years ago to help prepare for the Summer Sun Celebration and I ended up making friend just a few minutes after getting here. That's what made me decide to stay. I know that you must know who Pinky Pie is."

"How could I not! I still remember that party that she threw me and Lexi when we first got here. Of course you might not though, she does throw a new one about every day."

"You know I've been meaning to ask you, who paid for that party cannon of hers? did she buy that with her own bits or did she get some kind of grant for that thing or something because It doesn't seem to me like it would be all that cheap, and somepony has to pay for all these parties she's always throwing."

"Twilight I hate to break it to you but Pinky just doesn't seem like the kind of pony to be filling out paperwork." There was a long awkward silence at that point. Until we both burst out laughing.

"Aaron I'm glad we had this little discussion, now lets talk about the books I want to order ok?" she said after having finally caught her breath.

"Alright let's start with the genres. What kinds of books do you want to get?"

"Well, we need more information on how to cast defensive spells. Then we need to stock up on some books with more on rare herbs and plants known to grow in the Everfree, also there is something I wanted to get on teleportation splicing...."

* * *
The list took up four pages with three columns each but it still wasn't too terribly long. At least it wasn't the most outrageous thing that I had been asked to pay for. In fact the whole thing should probably be covered for less than 5,000 bits.

"And the last thing that I wanted was Magical Mystery Creatures of the Northern Griffin Territory. And I think that that should be just about it." She said with a smile. I finished jotting down the title of the book and looked back up at her.

"Well thank you Twilight and I will get these processed and an order placed in no time."

"Thank you very much too Aaron. It was very nice of you to come and see me on such short notice."

"Think nothing of it Twili."

"Twili?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I just have a habit of calling ponies by made up nicknames. I do it all the time with everypony I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, no. You didn't offend me it's just that.... I haven't been called that since my brother died." The room got a little colder.

"I'm sorry to hear that. How did he die?"

"He was murdered. By those awful changelings. It was five years ago when they invaded Canterlot for the second time. He and his wife Cadence and their daughter Skyla had been staying in Canterlot Castle at the time. When the changelings invaded... they brought Shining Armor and Cadance down out of their room and killed them. Their bodies were found after we took the city back." She had started crying now and her tears were already starting to run down her face. I could tell that it hurt her to talk about this. "They didn't find Skyla's body....." she looked up at me with those watery eyes, and I could see the sadness inside of her as she spoke about what had happened to her family. "We think they ate her." She began sobbing now. "The changelings ate my niece alive..." I put my hoof around her and pulled her into a hug, which luckily she accepted as she hugged me back. I desperately wanted to say something to her. I wanted to tell her that it was going to be Ok. I wanted to tell her not to cry and that things weren't as bad as they seemed. But I knew I couldn't.

"Twilight please don't cry. I know what it's like to lose somepony close to you." I lied.

"I know, but when I think about it. Even after all this time, it just still hurts so much. I don't know how they could do that. I don't know how they could eat an innocent foal." I decided right then that I wanted to spend a little more time with Twilight Sparkle. I decided that she should spend a little more time with Lexi too. I felt bad for her loss.

"Twilight?"

"What?" She said. Finally she pulled off of me.

"I know this might sound strange but I just think that we should hang out some more. You know, like friends. I want you to meet Lexi too. I think that you would like her." She smiled at me.

"Ok. I think that I would like that. I would like to meet Lexi too." She smiled again.

As I exited her home I shook the feeling that Twilight might have been acting a bit flirtatious with me earlier. But then again it wouldn't have been the first time that I had been given that false impression now would it have? The fact that she wanted to spend more time with me was most likely a common thing among unicorns who studied friendship. I began the slow journey home thinking to myself about how happy I was that I had made a new friend. I mean I made new friends every now and again, this was Ponyville afterall, but this friend was special. This friend was the Element of Magic. And this friend, I couldn't help but feel some kind of kinship with. Maybe it was because she was related to my daughter, and when it all came down to it, that was all that she needed to be for me to like her.

* * *

"Alright ready?"

"Yup!"

"3...2....1... GO!" I lurched forward in a burst of speed, Lexi trailing not far behind. We had decided that since it wasn't often that she or I got a chance to stretch our wings we went deep into Whitetail Woods and were going to have a little race. The rules were simple; first to get to the clearing a quarter mile away wins.

My wings buzzed furiously as I pressed forwards zooming through the air. I hadn't ever been much of an athlete but as I looked behind me I realized that a few seconds into the race I was already a great deal ahead of her. I feigned exhaustion and began to slow down just enough for her to reach me before speeding back up again.

"Hey no fair! I can barely fly, you've gotta slow down daddy!"

"Well if I slow down you aren't gonna have to fly very fast to catch me now are you?" I said with a smirk as I slipped under the outlying branches of a tree. I looked behind me to make sure that she made it through all right. She navigated the branches with relative ease. Although she wasn't very fast in the air at least she was agile. Then I began to serpentine in front of her.

"Daddy I can't pass when your doing that!"

"Well I guess you'll have to figure out a way around then huh?" I yelled back laughing. Suddenly a little pink dart shot out from under me and whizzed ahead at a surprisingly quick speed. I could see the finish line just a few hundred feet ahead and put the pedal to the metal. I hadn't realized that she could put on a spurt like that so fast, luckily I just passed her as we came into the clearing together. We both landed on the ground panting, she a little harder than I.

"Why didn't I win?" She said dissapointedly.

"Don't worry honey, you did really good for your first race. But you know you can't expect to win all the time don't you?"

"But I want to win all the time. Losing isn't any fun." She hung her head and faced the ground. I trotted over to her and put my hoof over her back.

"Lexi, winning is plenty of fun but if you win all the time in life you'll never learn anything from it."

"Well what did I learn from losing that?"

I smiled. "Well for one, you learned your old man is a pretty good flier huh?"

She giggled.

"What's so funny about that?"

"That reminded me of something one of my filly friends told me in school." Now I was a bit interested.

"Oh really? And just who are your new friends?" Her face lit up.

"Well first there's Pond Drop, she is really smart and she likes to garden. She knows a whole bunch of different types of flowers and what are the best ways to plant them and what kind of soil they like and how much you should water them and how long before they wilt and-"

"Who else are you friends with Lexi?" I said cutting her off.

"Then there's my other friend Lunar Blaze, she is smart too but she is also funny and she told a joke in class a few days ago but I forgot what it was. Lunar is a unicorn and Pond is an Earth Pony, I think that they are the two coolest ponies ever!"

"Well I'm glad that you have made some friends. It's always good to be able to get along with other ponies. Now do you think we should start heading home? We don't want some pony to see a changeling and an alicorn standing out in the middle of a field now do we?"

"Oh! Can't we do one more race daddy? Pleeeaaasseee! I promise will be really good if we can just do one more race today! I bet I'll win this time too!"

I had to think about it for a second.

"Well..... Alright. One more quick race and then we need to head back home. But this is the last one got it?"

"Yup!"

Half an hour and three races later we were on our way back home. The first two races I won but the last one she 'beat' me by just a hair. I'll never forget how excited she was after that. After we got back home a knock came on the door. I walked over to the door and answered it but when I opened up there didn't seem to be anypony there.

"Hello Lexi's dad." I looked down. Before me stood two two ponies, a small dark blue unicorn filly with a white-ish mane and a gold yellow Earth Pony with a dull pink mane.

"Is Lexi here? We wanted her to come and practice with us for the talent show."

Lexi (with her strange sixth sense) came bursting out of her room screaming "I'm right here girls!"

"Daddy can I please please go practice with them for the talent show?"

I looked down at her friends, then back at her.

"Where will you be practicing at?"

"We are gonna go to my house! It's actually just down the street from here and both my parents are home." the blue one said. I think her name was Lunar or Luna or something....

I looked back at Lexi and saw the look of pleading on her face. Finally I made my decision.

"Well, I certainly don't see why not!" She ran up and hugged my leg.

"Thank you daddy!" Then she booked it out the door with her friends.

"Don't forget to be home in two hours Lexi!" I called after her.

"I know!"

Two hours, I thought, Two hours.... Well that should probably give me plenty of time to go talk to Mayor Mare about that pay raise I've been thinking so much about.

I walked up to her office door and knocked. No response. I waited a minute, then knocked again. Then I walked out into the reception area to talk to her personal secretary.

"Linda, do you know where Mayor Mare is at right now?"

"Oh, yes Aaron.... umm.... she left to go bowling with a few of her friends."

Typical.

"Thank you Linda."

On my way to the bowling alley I couldn't help but be a tad annoyed with the way that the mayor conducted her business. If I'm the one doing all the work around here why don't I at least get a secretary? I mean I crunch the budget for an entire year and I still haven't even gotten a single 'thank you' I was under the impression that Equestria was civilized.... Well...... Maybe it's still more civilized than the Hive but based on the Mayor Mare conducts herself probably not by much. I can only imagine how corrupt Canterlot must be.

I came into the downtown bowling alley to find a laughing chatting group of stallions, and one lone mare among them. I boldly approached them as I put a long stride into every step I took.

"Mayor Mare I presume?" They all turned and looked at me.

"Oh, it's you Aaron... What do you want?"

"I came here because I wanted to talk to you. It's about a budget I've been paying some close attention to."

"That? Really? Just save it until tomorrow Aaron can't you see I am quite busy as it is?"

"I am afraid that this can't wait until tomorrow Mayor it is very important that I bring this monetary issue up with you post haste."

She turned to her male friends. "Would you please excuse me for just one second...." then she leaned in to one of them and whispered quietly but just loud enough so she couldn't know that I had heard, "you know how these underlings can be am I right Jet?" Then she trotted calmly over to me and we turned and walked together a little ways away from the main group.

"Now would you mind telling me what this is all about Aaron?" she said none too calmly.

Well... I guess I might as well take the direct approach.

"I want a raise." She just stood and stared at me in stunned silence. Then, slowly but surely, a smile of amusement spread across her face.

"This is some kind of a joke isn't it Aaron? This is funny to you isn't it?"

"No Mayor. I don't think that this is very funny at all actually. I genuinely believe that I deserve a raise for all the hours that I have been putting in at the office and all the work at home." I spoke very seriously, without a hint of sarcasm or amusement.

"Well I think that it was very rude of you to interrupt me in the middle of my game. So frankly I don't see why you deserve a raise at all."

"Well I think it was rude of you to go bowling when you were supposed to be in your office working." She stared at me with an open mouth gape as if I had just threatened her with a knife.

"Well.... Well.... That may very well be but that doesn't give you the right to come down here and interrupt me when I am in a business meeting."

"Mayor Mare I haven't received a pay raise in two years and one year ago is when I started the new workload. Since then the amount I have been doing has nearly doubled. I believe that I am past due for a pay raise by now don't you?"

"Well perhaps your past due for a pay cut. Have you thought of THAT Aaron?" I simply lifted one eyebrow at her.

"Well if your going to cut my pay than I'm afraid I will have no choice but to work somewhere else."

What followed can best be described as a mexican standoff of willpower. We each stared directly at the other, silently daring our opponent to blink.

Finally, "Fine. I will give you a pay raise. How about bringing your annual salary from 35,000 bits to 40,000? Does that sound fair?"

"I was thinking something more along the lines of 45,000 myself. Does that sound fair to YOU Mayor Mare?"

"It most certainly does not."

"Mayor I would like to ask why it is that I am not allowed to know how much you make."

"Because it's none of your business that's why."

"So.... just out of curiosity.... is it more or less than 45,000 per year?"

"...........Fine. 45,000 per year. If I raise it that far then will you finally drop this subject?"

"That seems like a perfectly reasonably amount to me Madam."

"Good. Now get out."

* * *

Twilight had been over a few times in the past few weeks. She had gotten along very well with Lexi. In fact, the two of them really hit it off quite quickly. That was why I was so quick to suggest that Twilight be her foalsitter. It was also partly because they were related and that made me feel better about the whole thing but I doubted that Twilight Sparkle would ever be an untrustworthy character. At first I had thought that she would decline quickly because of Royal duties or something like that but to my surprise she had been very excited to be Lexi's foalsitter. She had jumped at the opportunity so quickly I was surprised that she hadn't asked me to do it!

I needed a foalsitter for Lexi because I had to personally catch a train to Canterlot, to give Ponyville's Senator our Annual Budget Statement. Whereas this could just as easily be mailed it contained information that was only meant for Federal employees, so naturally it had to be hoof delivered. Whereas this was normally a tradition reserved for the Mayor in this case she simply had one of her underlings do the work for her. In this case it was me.

"It's quite a long trip so I will have to stay there over night. Thank you again Twilight, so much, for being able to watch Lexi while I'm gone!"

"Oh it's my pleasure Aaron. And besides, just how could I say no to that cute little face!" Lexi tilted her head and made a cute little smile.

"Well I'll be happy to pay you as much as need for your time, after all it is valuable."

"That won't be necessary Aaron, All of my expenses are paid for as it is and I really don't need any extra bits. I used to do the same thing for Applebloom, and Sweetiebell back when they were just little fillies, and I never charged then so I won't this time either."

"Are you sure? I mean it doesn't really feel right to-"

"I'm absolutely sure Aaron. Don't worry, everything will be totally taken care of until you get back, I promise."

"Well it's not you I'm worried about Twilight. Isn't that right Lexi?" I looked at her and she blushed back. "I just don't want anything... fluttering around... while I'm away. You understand don't you Lexi?"

"Yeah I know daddy I promise I'll be good too."

"Okay. Well with that being said I suppose I had better get going. Don't wanna miss the train, goodbye everypony!"

"Goodbye Aaron take care!"

"Bye Daddy!"

"Alright so," Twilight said as she spun to face her new foal, "I've got plenty of activities planned out for us to do! For starters we can play chutes and ladders, then when we're done with that we're going to bake cookies, then it's study time."

"But I don't have any homework."

"There's never a wrong time to study Lexi! Didn't your dad ever teach you that?" She shook her head.

"Can we play a party game like pin the tail on the pony?"

"Well I'd like to but it just isn't on the list, I'm sorry, maybe next time."

"Do we have to do everything by the list?"

"Well of course we have to do everything by the list. If we didn't what would be the point of the list?"

"Maybe we shouldn't have a list...."

"Don't be silly now Lexi, everypony uses lists for everything!"

"Are you sure it's not just you?" Twilight paused for a second.

"Alright, fair enough. So what do you want to do first then?"

"Did you say there was cookies?"

"Absolutely, I've got the cookie dough right over-"

"I WANT TO DO THAT FIRST!" Lexi screamed bounding into the air. Though Twilight had been looking away when it happened her disguise faltered for just a moment.

"Ok fine. But don't tell your dad that I let you eat cookies before dinner."

"I won't."

A few minutes later they stood in the kitchen laying out little blotches of cookie dough onto a flat metal pan. Lexi's cookies were big and globby, while Twilight's cookies were all very neat and circular with about the same size and precisely the same amount of chocolate chips on each cookie. After they were laid out onto the tray Twilight opened up the oven, lit a fire inside and slid the tray into it to cook.

"Hey Twilight, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"How did you become an alicorn?"

Twilight giggled. "You'd be surprised how often I get asked that. I became an alicorn about seven years ago after I completed a spell that was only half finished made by one of the greatest ponies ever to live. Starswirl the Bearded."

"Who is Starswirl the Bearded?"

"You don't know?"

"I guess we haven't gotten to that point in class yet." Lexi said matter-of-factly. Gotten to that point. Gotten to that point? Hmmm.... She has a surprisingly large vocabulary for a six year old unicorn.

"Lexi have I told you that you remind me of somepony?"

"Who?"

"Well, actually, you kind of remind me of myself. You seem very intelligent for your age, who knows, maybe one day you could be an alicorn too!"

"My daddy says that I can be whatever I want to be and that also includes being an alicorn." Twilight kneeled down next to Lexi.

"That's some good advice Lexi. You listen to your daddy, he's a very smart pony. And yes, if you really want to than one day you can be an alicorn." She smiled down at her, and the young filly smiled right back.

"Well then that's what I'm gonna be! I'm gonna be an alicorn princess just like you Twilight! I'm sure that that's what my daddy wants me to be so that's what I'm gonna be."

"Well, I think that that is an excellent goal. And if you work really hard in life, you can definitely accomplish it."

A few minutes later the cookies came out of the oven and Twilight poured herself and Lexi each a cup of milk.

"So is Lexi a family name?"

"Fmmphnfmlll!"

"Lexi don't talk with your mouth full, that's not polite."

She swallowed the rest of her cookies. "I said I don't know. Lexi isn't even my full name."

"Really? So what is your full name?"

"Ale- umm.... uuummmmmm........ aaaaahhhhhhhhh- Lightning! yeah, that's it! My full name is Lightning." Twilight looked down at her a bit suspiciously.

"Oh really? Are you sure that's your full name?"

"Yup! Super-duper-duper sure!" She nodded her head furiously. Finally Twilight resumed eating her cookies.

"Okay. So who are your friends at school?"

"Well where do I begin! First theres my friend Pond Drop! She's so smart she knows everything about all kinds of plants and flowers and stuff! Then theres-"

And this continued into the night, with the two alicorns chatting up a storm well past one of their bedtimes. Finally they hit the hay and went to sleep. Meanwhile I was already fast asleep in a comfy bed several miles away. Though I didn't think about it much before I went to sleep that night it was the first time in four years that I had slept more than one room away from Lexi. I woke up in the morning already feeling homesick. Not for the Hive. For my real home.

The Ponyville Years (part 2)

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Canterlot was very different from how I remembered it. What I remembered was a dark and gloomy city with streets in ruins, charred buildings, blood in the alleys, and ponies restrained being slowly fed on by drones. It was actually very depressing at the time. Coming here I expected that it would still have a very melancholy atmosphere, but I quickly found that I was wrong. The ponies in Canterlot all seemed very happy and contented in themselves and what they were doing. Walking around the streets I sensed a lot of positive energy beaming out of the unicorns that crossed my path.

The hunt for changelings now had almost ended, the guards had stopped performing searches at the train stop last year and the issue of finding changelings living in Canterlot was no longer talked about in the news. I remembered when I had first come to Ponyville 4 years ago the word 'changeling' had appeared at least 5 times on the front page of every newspaper. In Canterlot it was even worse, but clearly the ponies in Canterlot had sensed by now that another attack on their fair city was not likely to happen any time soon. They had regained their sense of security, and no more were ponie's residence invaded in the middle of the night for fear that they might be a changeling. I never would have returned to this city if I wasn't certain that I wouldn't be putting myself in danger.

I casually strolled down the streets looking in the windows of the shops as I walked. I had already delivered the report yesterday, and now I was just trying to kill a few hours before the train arrived to take me home. My feelings of homesickness had subsided, I no longer felt a deep unease in my gut. Now that I knew that the train that would take me home was on it's way here to get me right now, I felt much more calm and relaxed. As I walked I noticed that many of the shops were boutiques or clothing stores. Fashion was a big industry in Canterlot. One of the small shops however was a small cafe. Looking at their menu outside they sold different kinds of coffee and espresso and, strangely enough, tea. I went inside to take a look around.

The inside of the coffee shop smelled delicious and their were many ponies both by themselves and in small groups usually of 2 or 3 sitting at various booths and tables scattered around the shop. I walked up to the counter and ordered some espresso. Then I sat down to drink it by myself at the table just a few feet away. as I sat there drinking I thought to myself.

I really do miss a few things about the Hive. I mean it's ok being an assistant to the Mayor but I know that I really could do a lot better than this. I bet that if I ran for Senator I would fit right in in a place like this. I could be back on top again and helping run a nation just like old times. That really was the best job I ever had. It was still most certainly worth getting rid of to keep Lexi safe but still, I just wish I could still be a Senator. But I know I can't. Living in Canterlot would just be too dangerous, and Lexi already has made friends in Ponyville. I have to stay there. For her.

When I finished I got up and walked back out onto the street. The train would be arriving in just about twenty minutes. But the station was only five minutes away from here. Oh well. Might as well get there a little early. I started walking down the street towards the station when I bumped into a mean looking stallion. He was a little taller than me and had a dark yellow coat with a grey mane and tail.

"Watch where your going punk." He said before he stumbled off.

Well, at least most ponies seem to be pretty nice around here.

* * *

I smiled brightly as I walked towards my own front door. Then I reached up a hoof and wrapped sharply on the wood. I waited a second, then the door opened.

"Hello Aaron! How was your trip?" Twilight exclaimed. She seemed to be in a very happy mood.

"Well it was fantastic thank you for asking! How is Lexi? Did she behave herself while I was gone?"

"She was very well behaved of course. A perfect little angel really."

"Well that's good to hear. Where is she?"

"She's in her room right now. Why don't you come in and say hi? There is actually something that I wanted to talk to you about." Twilight said.

Thinking nothing of it I walked into the house and she swung the door closed behind me.

"Follow me. I think she might still be sleeping so we should go wake her up. We stayed up a little late last night."

"That's fine. Did you two talk at all or was she shy?"

"Oh we talked alright," Twilight said, "We talked quite a bit actually."

I reached in front of me and pulled the door open to her room. I looked onto the bed to see a little lump underneath the blankets.

"Lexi?" I called. "Lexi wake up!" The lump didn't move. I turned to Twilight. "How late did you two stay up last night?"

She smiled at me. "Pretty late. You know your daughter is actually pretty smart. I haven't met a unicorn that smart in a very long time."

I walked over to lightly shake the lump under the blankets to wake her up. I stopped in front of her bed and outstretched a hoof, then I placed it on the lump and gently rocked it back and forth and said, "Lexi.... wake up sleepyhead...."

She pulled the blankets off of her head and looked up at me. Her face was expressionless for a moment before she realized who was standing in front of her. Then she smiled and yelled, "DADDY!"

She jumped out of the blankets and into my hooves, then I picked her up and spun her around. Her back was still completely flat with not a feather in sight.

"Like I said before Aaron," Twilight continued, "Your daughter seems to be very bright. Maybe you should consider signing her up for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I haven't met a unicorn as smart as her in a very long time!"

I set Lexi down on the ground while I mulled the thought over in my head. Hmmm..... If I got Lexi into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns then she would probably be coming one step closer to getting a throne. After all that was the school that Twilight got into to get to where she is today. Not to mention that if we went to Canterlot maybe I could even run for Senator, then I would be able to pay the bills to live in Canterlot and I would have my dream job back!

"I think that's a really good idea Twilight! Maybe getting Lexi into the next level of her education would be a good thing. How old do you have to be to get in?"

"Well the cut-off age is eight. Once she is eight she can't get in anymore. So if I were you I would have her take an entrance exam as soon as possible. I really think that she could definitely pass it."

"Well than I think I will. What do you think Lexi? Do you want to go to a new school?"

She nodded her head no. "I don't want to have to leave my friends behind."

Twilight tried to reason with her. "Lexi I know that you really like your friends but believe me, not only can you make more but this is definitely the best course of options for you. If you can get into Celestia's School than you will be able to do really important things when you get older, and you'll even be able to meet Princess Celestia herself. I know it seems unsettling now Lexi but remember that if you do this you'll still have the whole rest of the year to spend with your friends."

Lexi seemed to consider Twilight's words before finally compromising. "Ok. I'll take the test, but I don't have to leave Ponyville for a whole year right?"

"That's right." Twilight said.

"Alright."

* * *
Over the next few weeks I thought about how I might go about running for Senator. I knew that there were a few requirements but I also knew that I very well passed them all. While I couldn't definitively prove that I was born in Equestria I could just forge the document, because those papers weren't usually checked for legitimacy anyways. Ah the splendor of the Equestrian legal system. But the first thing to do however would be to send a letter to Canterlot and set up a date to have Alexandria take the entrance exam. So that's what I had done.I had just finished writing the letter and was now on my way to send it when I (again) bumped into somepony going the opposite direction. He was a large Unicorn, with a short horn. He had a golden-brown coat, and deep blue eyes. His legs were very thick and he appeared to be reasonably muscular, which went well with his large stature. His cutie mark was of a blue badge. Only this wasn't any ordinary pony. He had something strange about them, some weird aura about his being.... or perhaps the lack of one. It was at this moment that I realized that I actually had not been in the vicinity of another changeling an several years, and that's exactly what I was looking at right now.

"Oh, sorry about that." I said weakly. Then I turned and prepared to walk away.

"You don't have to be sorry." The disguised changeling said. "Hi my name is Thunderhoof." He extended his hoof and smiled warmly at me.
I reluctantly stuck out my hoof and shook his. He seemed to sense my reluctance immediatley.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yes. I was just on my way to mail this letter actually-"

"Who's it too?" He interjected. Clearly this changeling had no intention of giving me my privacy.

"I don't think that matters!" I shot back a bit insistently.

"Alright, alright. Listen I'm sorry, I think we might have gotten off on the wrong hoof. It's just that I thought I was the only one in Ponyville so I was a little surprised to see somebody that I can relate too if you know what I mean."

I looked over one shoulder... then the other. The only ponies in the street with us were having a conversation by a fruit stand. "Are you crazy? Did you just say 'somebody?' Don't do that! Listen I am very busy and I'm sorry that we haven't met before but I have somewhere to be."

"Well then I guess I'll just come with you." He stated defensively. He seemed like he was starting to get a bit upset now.

"Alright fine." I said.

About twenty minutes later we had arrived back on the street where we had first crossed paths. I had found out that his name was Thunderhoof CLydestrong and he was employed with the local police force. The thought of having the police involved in my everyday business was enough to send shivers down my spine but it relaxed me at least a bit to know he was a changeling. Unfortunately he had been pressing me to tell him which Hive I was from. Explaining that I had run away from my Hive would be difficult. Explaining that it was Azandria's Hive would be much harder. Chrysalis had given that Hive quite a name in the changeling community, we were by no means popular after all the raiding and fighting we had done with the other Hive's in the past. While the other Hive's tried to live in peace with Equestria it was well known that we were the only ones that ever seeked to conquer it. If he found out that I was from that Hive I didn't know what he might do.

"Listen Thunderhoof, this was fun but I gotta go home now. My daughter is going to be coming home from school soon and-"

"You have a spouse! Good for you. A lot of the others at my Hive were always a little frightened of the prospect of marrying a pony becuase they might get caught. Oh! or is she also a changeling?"

"No no no I don't have a spouse. She died several years ago. She was a pony though."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I said. "Anyways I have to go home now."

"Where do you live?"

"Why do you think I would tell you that Thunderhoof?"

"Well why not? I mean you act like you don't trust me. I'm not the one who refused to say what Hive he's from. I'm not the one who has been acting antisocial. I'm not the one who hasn't said a word about themselves. If I didn't know any better Aaron, I'd say that your hiding something." He said. The look on his face was completely calm, not a hint of anger or suspicion. But being a changeling I couldn't tell what he was feeling.

"Listen Thunderhoof-"

"My name is Inspektius." He interrupted.

"Alright Inspektius. I don't have anything I'm hiding, and even if I did I don't see how that would be any of your business. So why don't you just leave me alone?"

"It is my business Aaron. It's my business to make sure that everypony around here is following the rules. It's my business to keep order in Ponyville."

"Inspektius correct me if i'm wrong but aren't YOU breaking the rules just by being here? I was under the impression that changelings aren't allowed in Equestria."

"What I do is none of your business Aaron. I am an officer of the law and should be treated as such. I am entitled to my own privacy but when I think that ponies are breaking the rules it is my RESPONSIBILTY to correct their mistakes. So I must ask you again. What Hive are you from?"

I thought for a long hard moment. I thought about which Hive would be the most likely given its geographic position and the most difficult for him to disprove.

"I'm from Queen Polistae's Hive."

He eyed me for a second. Then he seemed to back down. "Fair enough. I'll see you around Aaron."

Wow. I thought. That guy is an asshole.

* * *
Now with that finally being out of the way I only had to wait for a reply. It had been about two days since I mailed the letter and I was at home with Lexi when a knock came on the door. I expected that it would be Twilight. She had made it a habit of stopping by every now and again lately just to say hi. I always enjoyed her company and Lexi seemed to like having her around too. But when I opened the front door I was at first surprised and disappointed, then these emotions were quickly replaced with fear and panic.

"Good morning Aaron!" Inspektius said.

"Good morning officer. What seems to be the problem?"

"Oh please Aaron," he continued, "you don't have to be so formal with me. Just call me Inspektius. we're both changelings here aren't we?"

What is it with ponies and telling me to be less formal? I thought. "Alright well then if we are going to have a conversation you might as well come in." I gestured for him to proceed through the open door. If we were going to talk about who knows what and have him snooping around in my personal business than I might as well get it over with as quickly as possible. Besides there was no way that he could actually prove anything, so I obviously had nothing to fear.

"Aaron I have it from a good source that you are in fact not from Polistae's Hive." He said smugly while swinging the door shut behind him. "Luckily however the way I see it this can be resolved with the paying of a simple fine." He smiled maliciously at me.

"Inspektius you're going to have to do better than that. What source exactly gave you this information?"

"That doesn't matter. All that matters is that I know you are hiding something from me and you're going to have to pay for it if you don't want for there to be trouble Aaron."

Then Lexi walked in to the room. She looked quizzically at the stranger then smiled brightly and exclaimed, "Hi! Whats your name?"

Inspektius looked at me. "I suppose this is that daughter you were talking about?"

I suddenly felt a gut-wrenching fear in the pit of my stomach. I was no longer worried he might be here to badger me but terrified that he might bring Lexi into this. "Yes this is my daughter. She is a pony, and her mother isn't here so why don't you just go away now?" I stepped in front of Lexi shielding her from Inspektius' view.

"So you say she's a pony huh? Why would a changeling be raising a pony all by himself way out in the middle of nowhere?"

"I already explained the situation Inspektius now if you have no more business here than I suggest you leave or I will call the authorities."

He looked at me, with a sly little smirk playing about his lips. "I am the authorities." With no more warning than the bat of an eye he shot a spell right between my legs. It had a green aura about it but without judging by the distinct hue I knew exactly what it was for. Before I could react the spell flew between my legs and slammed into Lexi sending her tumbling several feet away. It was a changeling detecting spell. But there was no changeling there. Instead the small pink unicorn that had been conscious but a few seconds ago had been replaced with a tiny alicorn laying next to the wall on the other side of the room.

We both stood in shock. I was too stunned by the turn of events to process a thought and Inspektius was clearly too stunned at the fact that an alicorn had been revealed to be in the same room as him. Both of us looking at Lexi's limp form passed out on the ground, I began to feel like I might be dreaming. That feeling was ripped away from me when I heard the sound of Inspektius voice.

"Well, well, well. What an interesting situation we find ourselves in huh Aaron? I suppose it's going to take quite a hefty fine to cover the damage that this has caused. Wouldn't you agree my brother?"

Now I felt a new sensation. It was a burning searing rage the likes of which I had never felt before in my life. Not when I was raising Lexi in the Hive near other changelings, and not in the years that I had been hiding among ponies to raise her among her own kind. I had never felt a pressure like the one that was now building inside my chest, threatening to burst out of my rib cage. It was a horrifying and exhilarating sensation as I felt myself completely lose control.

My head whipped around faster than should have been possible and in an instant a flash of green light lit up the entire house. For at least one full second the blinding light would have easily been visible from space, and blocked out all outside sources of illumination. When it finally faded, there, on the ground, covered in blood, lay Inspektius. He appeared to be unconscious, and was missing a hoof. Right where the spell had hit him, it had severed his ankle from his hoof. The hoof in question laying just a few feet away. Looking back on it now it was actually probably pretty lucky that I had hit him in the leg, because if it had hit him in the chest I could have easily killed him.

I stood seething, in the middle of the room. Finally, when I had calmed down, I walked over to check if Lexi was ok. I leaned down and gently rocked her back and forth. "Lexi.... Lexiiiiii....... Wake up honey."

She stirred. Then she lifted her head. "Daddy? My head hurts."

"That's ok honey. I'll take care of that later I promise. Right now though I just want you to listen to me carefully. Get up. Do not look at what is behind me. Go to your room. And do not open your door, or look out into this room for any reason. Do you understand Lexi?"

She nodded in agreement, apparently understanding the urgency of the situation. after she waddled off into her room, still a little bit dizzy, I turned my attention to the next most important thing in the room. The Inspektius situation.

I walked over and levitated his hoof placing it against the stump where it should have been. Then I performed a healing spell. Twilight had helped me learn a few of these in the past few weeks. But I had never done any like this before. Still, I had been feeding off of the love in Ponyville for years now and I had an enormous amount of energy stored in me. Miraculously I was able to successfully reconnect the hoof to its proper leg. Then I moved on to the next phase of operations. A memory erasing spell. I was well aware that they were and are illegal. I didn't care. Being a changeling the memory erasing spell actually came quite naturally to me. Not that I had any practice at all ever using them before but it was actually a lot like a levitation spell, it was mostly just instinct. Something left over from the parasitic or predatory nature of changelings. Whatever the reason that it came so naturally and easily, I could sense that it had worked. The rest of the afternoon was mostly just cleaning up the floor and walls and covertly transporting a passed out changeling in a cart with blankets piled over him, to the nearest motel to stay the night in. And when he woke up the next morning I could rest assured that all would be well. And so ended the tale of Officer Inspektius, as far as he would ever concern me again.

Author's Notes:

Hey guys! My internet went down for a little while yesterday otherwise I would have put this out there then. Anyways, I had to change the tag from 'Everyone' to 'Teen' just for this scene. I had actually been planning it for a while now but I didn't think it would turn out the way it did. Maybe when you write scenes in your head involving physical conflict they don't seem so bad. But for the most part I don't think this really went overboard. Please leave some info in the comments below on how you think the story is progressing so far and what you thought of the new character. He was the second opponent Arex has had to face if you count Mandarut, but I wanted to use this new pony to personify a type of antagonist that is overbearing, intrusive, and hypocritical, (or had the classic Holier than Thou attitude) to add more depth to the story itself. And as always please don't forget to like and Favorite if you enjoyed the story! :)