Communications

"At last, we're through another stack of paperwork!"

Celestia had said that sentence with a bit too much enthusiasm, but it was very much the truth: she was not fond of paperwork or bureaucracy. Regardless, she understood the necessity of it at times, but that didn't mean that she didn't get a headache while dealing with it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it for the day.

"My apologies, your highness," came the voice of Celestia's assistant, Raven Inkwell, "but these documents were just sent for you. In short, they're more requests for restitution for damages sustained during the attack."

The solar princess let out a soft groan and brought her hoof to her head, the ache behind her horn growing a bit more at being told there was yet more paperwork.

"Sister, let us handle this round. Please?"

Celestia looked to her younger sister sitting at a desk across from her. Since her return, Luna had insisted that she be allowed to resume as many of her duties as she could. In the early days, it had just been simple public appearances, but with the return of her abilities, she had resumed all of her previous duties from before her imprisonment in the moon. Celestia gave a nod, and Luna's magic took the stack of papers from Raven.

"I would have thought that we had addressed all of the damages to the city by this point" Celestia remarked.

Luna gave a snort. "Tis true that many have suffered damages at the hooves of those monsters," she replied, "but there are those who would use the excuse to attempt a pilfering of the royal coffers."

Celestia gave a nod, but not after wincing at the use of the word "monsters". It was in reference to the attack that had taken place last month during the wedding of her adopted niece Cadance and the captain of the royal guard Shining Armor. Sometime before the wedding, Cadance had been abducted and replaced by a figure claiming to be the queen of the changelings, and swore to enslave the ponies of Canterlot, and later Equestria, to harvest the love ponies held in their hearts.

The solar princess then remembered with a twinge of regret her defeat at the hooves of that monster, and her body being encased in a cocoon, making her a prisoner of the queen and helpless to try and stop her. Fortunately, her personal student, Twilight Sparkle, was not fooled by the queen's deception, and had found and freed the real Cadance. Though captured later in an attempt to recover the elements of harmony from their storage vault, Twilight was able to free Cadance, who freed her husband and restored his magic so that they could repel the changeling invaders from the city. For that, the princess was truly grateful.

"Excuse me, your highnesses"

The voice caught the princess by surprise. Looking over to the door, she saw a stallion in royal guard armor carrying what appeared to be a film reel. "This film was just left at the front gate by a pony claiming to be from the dragon lands. He said we were to deliver this to you and then he just flew off. A group of guards pursued him, but we lost him very quickly after we began to give chase. There's concern that it may have been a changeling that got back into the city."

Celestia's stomach dropped upon hearing that the invaders may have returned and were plotting another attack. "Guard, I want you to inform your commander that I wish for the guards in the city to be put on high alert and a search began for the suspected changeling" she instructed the guard, who saluted and hoofed the film over to the princess, who took it in her magic. His duty fulfilled, he turned and galloped away.

Once he was gone, Celestia looked at the film. "Sister," she asked Luna, "do you believe there are any ponies that live in the dragon lands?"

Luna shook her head. "I do not think so" she admitted to her sister. "While the relations with dragons have improved greatly from the time before our banishment, I do not believe that it is at a level where ponies would be allowed to make homes there, even along the borders."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "There is also the claim that the pony delivering this was a changeling. Do you think that is possible."

"As much as we hate to admit it," Luna began, "We do believe it is possible. We should hope our guards will apprehend it soon."

Celestia gave a nod. Luna then regarded the film in her sister's magic. "Does it seem as though the film is sabotaged?" she asked.

Celestia examined the film in her magic. After a minute, she shook her head. "It does not appear to be sabotaged or set up as a tool for our assassination. Perhaps we would get more answers if we were to watch it?"

Luna gave a nod. "Perhaps the answers we seek are present on this film."

Celestia nodded in agreement as well, then turned to another servant standing in the room. "Please bring us a projector that will play this film."

Fifteen minutes later and a small film projector had been brought into the private office of the two princesses. Once set up, a servant started the film and then left the office until they were needed again. Celestia and Luna sat side by side on a large sofa that had been moved in front of a large white screen. While this was a common arrangement for the sister's occasional private movie nights, there was no popcorn or refreshments to be had.

As the film played through some lead stock, decorated with random numbers and technical phrases, the screen changed to a sight that shocked both princesses. Suddenly in the middle of the frame was a changeling, complete with shiny black chitin and sharp fangs. However, this one had much paler blue eyes than the invaders that had attacked the city a month ago.

Another difference that made the princesses giggle a bit upon later review was how the changeling had its snake-like tongue hanging from the side of its mouth in a way that a pony stallion might when he was repairing something he had a hard time seeing or reaching. After a few moments, in which the focus went in and out, the changeling stopped and turned to face somepony off camera.

"The recording equipment is ready, your highness" the changeling addressed the figure, presumably a changeling queen, and possibly the same one that invaded Canterlot.

"Thank you Diocles," came a much more masculine sounding voice, "you may return to your previous duties."

The changeling identified as Diocles gave a bow and then left the frame. With him out of the way of the camera, the two princesses were treated to a view of an ornate room, similar but yet different from the rooms of the royal palace. The walls were made from oak wood that had been stained a golden color, and were polished to shine as brightly as could be made possible. In the center of the screen was a large oak chair, carved and stained in a similar fashion to the walls, but was also adorned with cushions covered in plush red velvet.

Before anymore analysis of the room could be conducted, a figure stepped in front of the chair and took a seat. Though its body was covered in a red velvet cape that was bordered with white fur with black splotches, the neck and head had given away that the princesses were looking at a changeling, and going by the cat like eyes, which were a similar pale blue to the previous changeling, this was the leader of their hive. As this changeling sat down, they could then see a crown made of gold and encrusted with jewels adorning its head, with a face that suggested that the two were looking at a male instead of a female. The changeling on screen cleared its throat and then began speaking.

"To the esteemed rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia of the Sun and Luna of the moon, greetings and salutations. I am King Apidae, ruler of the dragon lands changeling hive. Yes, you have heard me correctly. I am a changeling."

The male's voice took both princesses by surprise. It was quite regal and refined. For a moment, the two had to question whether or not that was his genuine voice or if he was copying a pony he had met at some point in his life. Their thoughts were interrupted as he continued speaking.

"I would first like to begin by offering my apologies for what happened in your city a month ago. While we had no direct involvement in that attack, we were aware that it was going to happen, and we did try to give warning to allow you to prepare for it. Unfortunately, we didn't give an adequate warning to you and your city paid the price for that. For that mistake, I am truly sorry."

After he finishes the last sentence, he bows his head. He holds it there for a few moments before he lifts it back up and continues speaking.

"Now I come to the reason I contacted you initially. My kind have lived amongst ponies for nearly as long as Equestria has existed, and we have done so through practices that, while not completely innocent, were at the very least peaceful. Our kind requires consuming energy generated by emotions and held inside the body of other living creatures. To be more specific, we require the energy generated by love, and as such, we have found the ponies of Equestria to be a more than adequate source to fulfill this need."

"I can understand if this revelation makes you feel uncomfortable, but please don't brand us as monsters for that fact. You don't hunt down the manticores that roam the Everfree Forest just because they consume the flesh of other creatures to sustain their own bodies. No creature should be persecuted for doing the things they need to do to survive."

"That said, I can assure you that whatever the queen who attempted to invade your city said, her hive was not on the verge of starvation. In fact, I'm willing to guess that she purposefully starved her subjects so that they would have become so ravenous with hunger that they would be unable to think properly. If that is the case, then I must offer to you my assistance in the search and apprehension of this queen, as her actions are crimes not only against your own laws, but the laws that all changeling hives are bound to."

"I offer this assistance because I also wish to open up diplomatic channels with your nation. You see, I was intending to introduce myself to you a few years from now, but this recent hostile action has forced my hoof to move sooner than I would have liked. It is my desire to integrate our societies peacefully, so that my kind can acquire the sustenance they need, but also have an opportunity to experience lives where they can live their own identity, and not one they have to assume by copying another."

"Of course, we fully intend to bring something to the table for you and your subjects in return. I have prided myself on the subjects of my hive traveling the world and learning about all of the things in it. Some have returned to us as physicians, and others as engineers, as well as a few mages that actively look to resolve the mysteries of our kind, as we believe we were created through some form of magic. What I've been most proud of, however, have been my artisans. The changelings I've sent that have studied the arts have come back with talents I could never fathom our kind to have. For example, my crown."

The changeling king raises his holed hooves to his head and removes the crown resting there. He moves it down and sets it on a small table beside the chair. With the crown gone, the princesses see the long curved horn in the middle of his head, which is also accompanied by two smaller curved horns, one on each side of the larger one.

"This crown was made by one of my female subjects some years ago. Her name was Hera. I would have made her my queen, had she not fallen to illness." The king pauses and bows his head again, a small tear finding its way down his cheek. "Anyway, she crafted this for me as both a token of appreciation for being her king, and as a symbol of the love that she carried in her own heart for me."

"While we do feed on emotions, we also feel them for ourselves. As to why we can't simply share love amongst ourselves? That's a question that I unfortunately cannot answer, and simply because neither myself or any other changelings know of the answer."

"I show you this because, as royalty yourselves, you can appreciate the care and passion that went into producing this one piece, which I proudly wear everyday. As show of faith, I have also sent you a gift, which should arrive sometime after this film reaches you."

"I must implore you - If you do not wish to have this gift, then I seek its safe return. It was made a fairly long time ago, at the beginning of my reign as king. Thusly, it is something that I care a great deal about and do not wish to see damaged. If you accept it, then it should be something that I hope you will be proud to display in your castle."

"There is not much film left, so I shall relay the important information. If you do not wish to open these diplomatic channels that I request, then you need do nothing further. I only ask you not seek out my hive. Though we are peaceful, we are not incapable of defending ourselves, and will do so if we are threatened."

"If you are willing to grant my request, you need only post a sign at the border to the dragon lands naming the location where you wish to meet. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you may move to that location before sending this notice, as it would afford you time to establish an adequate defensive position. For my own personal security, I will be arriving in a pony disguise of my own crafting. He is a pegasus stallion with strong jaw, auburn eyes, chestnut mane and tail, sky blue fur, and the cutie mark is my insignia - a bee in a flame."

"I hope to see a positive response, as I'm putting the cultural future of my hive in your hooves. My gift should be arriving soon. There will be another film reel included with the gift, and I ask you to please watch that one as well. I thank you for your time, and wish you well in your efforts to detain the rogue queen."

With the completion of the king's monologue, the film ended. Celestia and Luna both looked away from the screen and to each other. Neither said anything for a few moments before Luna spoke up.

"Sister," she asks, "do you believe the words of this king?"

"I don't know," Celestia admits honestly, "but for one of them to choose to contact us in this way, I don't believe his actions are meant to be hostile."

"He could be intending a trap for us" Luna pointed out.

"It is possible," Celestia admits, "but to allow us to choose where we wish to hold a meeting, allow us the time to set up defensive measures, and telling us of what his appearance will be so that there are no surprises?"

"That last could most definitely be a farce" Luna warns. "He could show up looking completely different from how he described, or perhaps he doesn't show up at all and only sends an army so as to imprison us in those awful cocoons you described to me."

Celestia shuddered at the memory. Luna winced upon realizing what she had done.

"Forgive us, sister" she says with a regretful look. "We did not intend for thou to relive that horrible moment."

"It's okay" Celestia responds. "That day will hold bad memories for me, but also happy ones." She says the last part with a smile, recalling how happy her niece and the guard captain looked when they were finally announced as husband and wife.

Before further conversation could continue, a knocking on the office door got their attention. "Enter" Celestia calls out, and the doors open to reveal several guards and a stallion that neither princess could recall seeing before. Levitated in the magic of a guard's magic was an object wrapped in brown paper and twine.

"This 'pony' claimed he was here to deliver this package to the both of you. Considering what happened earlier, we detained this one immediately."

The princess nodded and took the package in her magic. Setting it on her desk, she stepped back a safe distance and used her magic to undo the twine and open the package.

Inside was a large folded piece of cloth, and resting atop it with wax paper beneath was a film reel. "Just as he said there would be" Celestia thought, and then turned to the stallion among the guards.

"I want you to remain here, stallion" she spoke. "Guards, leave us. We shall see to this pony ourselves."

The guards looked at each other with confusion, but they dared not disobey the princess. Sure, she probably wouldn't give a harsh punishment if they didn't listen, but they would have to live with the shame of breaking their oath to follow the princess's orders without question. The princesses had millennia of experience ruling, so who was any pony alive to question them?

The guards left the stallion in the room. Once the door was closed, Celestia spoke to the stallion again, but this time, she got right to the point.

"By the fact that you delivered the package as described in the previous film reel, I already know you're one of Apidae's changelings, so I ask you to remove that disguise."

The stallion looked rather shocked, and then quite nervous as well. "I-I'm not..." he trailed off but was stopped fully by Celestia's hoof.

"I wish to address you as what you truly are" she says more sternly.

The stallion was about to protest again, but he let out a breath of defeat. A wave of magic covered his body, and when it disappeared, a changeling similar to the one in the film was standing before the princesses. The changeling stood stock still, fully expecting to either be blasted into nothing but dust or sent to the dungeons to live out his soon to be short life.

"If you have fears that I seek retribution for the attack that occurred last month," Celestia began, "then you need not worry about that. If what was said on that film was true, then you are not at fault for what transpired that day."

The changeling looks up at the princess in disbelief. The one ruler that had every right to hate his kind, and she was not going to exact revenge upon him.

"Tell me, changeling," she continues, "what is your name? I do not wish to keep calling you changeling."

The changeling is quiet for several moments, but then finally answers. "I'm Aulus."

"Well, Aulus," she begins, "I can tell you're rather nervous, so I'll get to the heart of the matter. I am not going to hold you prisoner or allow my guards to cause you harm. They wouldn't normally, but emotions are running high since last month's attack by the rogue queen. You wouldn't happen to know of her name, by chance?"

The changeling looked reluctant to respond. "The king wishes to tell you himself, if you'll agree to meet him."

Celestia says nothing initially, but responds after several seconds. "Well, that's not important at this moment. To get back on topic, I am considering you a diplomat for your hive, so what I say to you here and now, I want sent back to your king. This conversation, and the message we received on the first film brought to us, shall be considered the first official channels between Equestria and the dragon lands changeling hive."

The changeling couldn't believe what he was hearing. To not be executed on sight AND now appointed as representative of his hive by the sun diarch of Equestria? Drones could only dream of such an honor being bestowed upon them.

"Now that the political matters have been addressed," Luna interrupts while holding the film reel, "I believe we have a film to watch. Aulus of the dragon lands hive, do you know how to properly load this film into a projector?"

Aulus looked dumbfounded at Luna. He had heard her name in legends as the mare in the moon, a jealous princess that attempted to usurp her sister's power, but was banished to the moon for a thousand years as punishment. When the mare in the moon disappeared from the celestial body, panic had spread over the hive, and continued for several days before one of the king's scouts brought back a newspaper detailing the events of the Summer Sun Celebration in the Equestrian town of Ponyville, and the six mares who not only purified the lunar princess of her evil jealousy, but also became the new bearers for the legendary elements of harmony.

Now, that same princess was standing before him, and was expecting an answer to her question. "O-Of course, y-your highness" he hastily replied as he took the film from her magic and began preparing the projector. Once he was finished, he looked to the two rulers expectantly.

"Very good" Celestia said to him. "Now, we please ask you find a seat before us, so as we may keep watch of you as we observe this next film."

"O-Okay" Aulus replied nervously. "Do you wish for me to start it?"

"If you would please."

Aulus then pressed the button marked "RUN" on the projector. After another section of lead in, the scene on the screen was from a different room than the last film, but just as ornate as that one. Decorated on the wall of the room was a large tapestry, running all the way from the ceiling to the floor. It depicted King Apidae standing upon a rock. The quality of the piece was indescribable. Nopony she knew could capture the level of detail that she was seeing here and now. This piece was truly the mark of a gifted crastspony.

Stepping into view was the changeling king, only his cape was gone and he now sported a red vest that appeared to be made from very soft silk. His legs now uncovered revealed the signature holes that had been so quickly associated with his kind. Turning to face the camera, he gestures to the tapestry with a hoof.

"This tapestry was done by a changeling named Aurelius at the time I was named successor to Queen Vespa. She is still living but chose to abdicate voluntarily due to her health. Changelings are not immortal, and our royalty only have expected lifespans of about two millennia at best. I myself am only about two hundred years old, so I will be with all of you for quite some time, barring extenuating circumstances such as an illness."

"Drones have lifespans similar to your ponies, so unfortunately Aurelius is no longer with us; he died from old age about fifty years ago. His son, Brutus, is alive and does similar work to his father, which is the crafting of tapestries such as this one."

"I am gifting this tapestry to you as a demonstration of the services that my kind can offer. Our artisans are all highly skilled, and can make many things that ponies would wish to have. Our potters can make beautifully decorated clay pots to hold flowers or dry goods. The blacksmiths of my hive can craft ornate cutlery from pure silver and gold. The textile makers can supply silk fabrics to be used in beautiful gowns and other articles of clothing, as you can clearly see from the vest I am currently wearing. Even this tapestry stands as testament to our skills, which I would very much like to show the world."

"I can understand if you hold negative feelings for my kind because of recent events, but I implore you not to damage the tapestry as some form of petty revenge. Simply return it by taking it the the Equestria and dragon lands border."

"There is an abandoned farm there, and before you grow suspicious, we did not abduct the farmer that lived there, nor did the rogue queen. It has been abandoned for several decades. In back of the small house is a grain box. Just place it inside, and I will have one of my subjects retrieve it."

"I hope that the two films I have sent you have left a good impression with you. I would like to discuss more with you, but I do not wish to divulge too much information. If the rogue queen were to intercept these messages, then it could possibly be used in another deception against you."

"That is why I ask you to respond in the manner I have suggested. Changelings from different hives will stay away from each other's hives; the defensive pheromones our soldiers secrete do that job well enough."

"Simply reply as I have asked, and I will meet with you where you so choose. If I do not hear a response from you by the end of the next month, I shall consider that a refusal, and I will not bother you again. I thank you for your consideration."

With the king's final remark, the film reel ran out. Celestia and Luna both sit there for several moments, both contemplating what was discussed on the film. Aulus looked at the two princesses nervously, wondering what they would elect to do with him once they realized he was still in the room.

Celestia rose and looked at Aulus. "Resume your disguise" she told the changeling. "I'm going to have the guard keep custody of you for the moment until we've made a decision on the other important matter at hoof."

Understanding what the princess meant, Aulus gave a nod before taking the appearance of the stallion again. Celestia opened the door and called for the guard to escort Aulus outside and keep him there until they called for him again.

Once again alone, the sisters looked at each other.

"Sister," Luna spoke, "do you think that this king can be trusted?"

Celestia has a somber expression. "I do not truly know," she answers, "but if his intentions are pure and he wishes for peaceful diplomatic channels, then I suppose a single meeting will cause no harm."

Luna nods. "I agree that one meeting would not do any harm. However, where should we hold this meeting?"

That question was one Celestia had a hard time deciding. There were many places in Equestria where she could hold this meeting, but the biggest problem was the changelings that belonged to this "rogue queen". If one of them saw the princesses were outside the castle and exposed, they could send up a signal to capture the two, and then send replacements to begin another infiltration of the capital, and ultimately the country.

At that thought, another crossed Celestia's mind, and one that made a fair bit of sense to her.

"Sister," she spoke to Luna, "why don't we host this king here in the castle?"

Luna went wide eyed at the suggestion. "Sister, what are you saying? Inviting a changeling here to the palace only a month after that horrible business on our niece's wedding day? If the nobles ever found out, who knows what they would do!"

Celestia gave a grim nod. The reactions of the nobles in the wake of the invasion had been highly negative. Most were calling for some form of retaliation, with a few even suggesting that the princess carry out an execution of the queen and any changelings found in the city after that day to serve as a warning to the rest of their kind that trying to take over their city would have the most severe of consequences.

"I agree," Celestia tells her sister, "but I also know that holding the meeting her in the castle is the best option. Despite the previous invasion attempt, our city still has the best defenses in the nation. We have the core of our guard here with us, from which we can personally vet a contingent to stand guard over us as we hold this meeting, and holding this meeting here give us an advantage over him in that, if his intentions are hostile, he will have to answer to not only two princesses and our guards, but the entire city as well. Hosting the meeting here is our best option if we wish to hold it at all."

"That is the other question we must address, sister" Luna responds. "If we wish to have this meeting."

Celestia gave a somber nod. They were talking as though they wished to hold this meeting, but did they really? All that they knew of changelings at the moment was the fact that a swarm, or possibly an entire hive save for their children and perhaps a few caretakers, had attacked their city in an attempt to overthrow their rule and enslave their subjects.

However, this king claimed amitous intentions, and a desire for peaceful diplomatic relations. He had extended to proverbial olive branch to them.

But to do so so soon after another of his kind had committed such a violent act against them?

"It is not an easy decision," Luna conceded, "but for the good of our subjects, it is one we should make as soon as possible."

Celestia thought about that fact as well; the good of her subjects. Since the invasion, the nobles had been calling for blood. The changelings had attacked their homes and hurt their families.

Even now, there were ponies of all ages laying in hospital beds, an apparent apathy across their faces and themselves in a comatose state. It was the result of changelings forcefully draining the love out of them, and seeing what would've happened to all of her subjects happening to even one of them was enough to sway her opinion.

"It is in the best interests of our subjects, both the subjects of King Apidae and our own, that we should hold this meeting and try to establish a peace."

"I agree," Luna finally concluded, "and I believe you are right in that we should host this meeting her in the castle. Do you agree?"

Celestia gave a nod. "Then we shall make it final" the solar princess said with conviction.

"Indeed we shall" replied Luna, who then moved to the door and opened it, calling for Aulus to come back inside. The changeling, still in his stallion disguise, came back into the room. He stood before the solar and lunar diarchs as they were scratching something down on paper. Once they were finished, they applied the royal seal and presented it to him.

"We know what it said about how to contact your king," Celestia told Aulus, "but we wish for the king to hear this news immediately. You will present this scroll to your king, and he will arrive at the appointed date we have agreed upon. He will be given the same treatment as any dignitary that we host, but if this attempt to meet us is a farce in order for us to lower our guard so he may attack, he will suffer greatly for it."

Aulus took the note and nodded.

"You will be taken to the front of the castle," Luna interjected, "and you will be free to travel back to your hive. If your compatriot is still here in the city, then we strongly suggest you collect them before leaving. The guard are still searching homes and ponies to identify changelings, and you will not want to be detained for that reason."

"Um," Aulus began sheepishly, "that was me. I was told to use multiple forms for security. In case the rogue queen had managed to get spies back into the city."

Celestia gave him a stern look. "Then for your sake," she said sternly, "I hope that you have been truthful with us. I would hate to have to revoke the trust I have placed in you when I appointed you a diplomat for your hive. The consequences would not be favorable for you."

Aulus gulped and gave a nod. The princesses gave a nod and then opened the door so they could call out to the guards. "He has proven to us beyond doubt that he isn't a changeling," she informed them, "so please escort him to the palace gates and resume your previous duties."

Aulus walked out the door and was met by a guard that agreed to take him to the main gate of the castle. Once he was out of sight, Luna gave Celestia a worried look. "Sister," she asks, "do you believe we have made the right decision?"

Celestia didn't answer for a moment, but when she did, she did not sound very sure of herself.

"I do not know, sister," Celestia replied honestly, "but the die is cast. Now we must wait to see what will come of our decision."

Preparations

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Nearly two weeks had passed since Princess Celestia and Princess Luna reached an agreement to host a meeting between themselves and King Apidae, a changeling king who ruled over a hive located somewhere in the dragon lands outside Equestria. To prepare for this event, the princesses ordered the palace be prepared to host foreign dignitaries, which meant everything cleaned from top to bottom and polished to high luster.

Additionally, the princesses were vetting ponies to determine who would be best suited interact one on one when this king arrived. In all, they had a group of fifty ponies spread out over all the areas in the castle's staff, from maids to guards and every job in between.

Currently, these fifty ponies were waiting in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, where they had been called to assemble. The various ponies were talking amongst themselves, coming up with various ideas as to why they had been called there. All anypony knew was that it had to be something rather important.

A few moments later, and a door on the side of the room opened. Through that door came Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The solar and lunar princesses strode across the room and up to the front of the crowd. They both had stern expressions on their faces, which told everypony watching them that it would be a very bad idea to interrupt them in this moment.

"Thank you all for coming here this evening" Celestia began. "I'm sure you're all wondering why you are here, but the answer to that question will be given once I have fully explained the situation."

Celestia paused to take a few breaths to calm herself down, then continued speaking.

"Now, I've heard various bits of speculation that you are here tonight in regards to something relating to the attack our city suffered only a month and a half ago. Well, that speculation is true, but only to an extent."

This brought some confused looks from the staff members, so Princess Luna elected to clarify. "Two weeks ago, a film reel was presented to us by an unknown pony. Upon watching this film, we were introduced to an individual named Apidae. According to this film reel, Apidae wishes to integrate with our kingdom, and promises to offer us assistance in capturing the changelings responsible for attacking our city."

A pony in the group raised their hoof, which Luna acknowledged by calling upon them. "Princess, exactly who is this Apidae?" the pony asks.

Celestia takes a breath before dropping the bombshell. "Apidae is a king, and more specifically, the king of a changeling hive in the dragon lands."

At the conclusion of the sentence, everypony in the throne room is voicing their displeasure to Celestia and Luna. The sisters look at each other before letting out a sigh and then slamming their hooves down loud enough to cause all talking to cease and every eye to be focused solely on them.

"We understand that all of you are rather concerned with this piece of information," Celestia continues, "but my sister and I can assure you that we are taking all necessary precautions to avoid a repeat of the attack from last month."

"Your highness," one of the ponies interrupted, "how can you be so sure that these efforts will be adequate? Our guards were practically useless against the changelings!"

Upon hearing this, Luna donned a scowl. Slamming her hoof down and using the RCV, she scolded the pony. "HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT YOUR PRINCESS AS SHE IS SPEAKING!"

Everypony in the room flinched and took a step back, fearful that the princess was one push away from returning to her Nightmare Moon persona. After a few moments, Luna calmed down. "As for your question, we have learned from our mistakes in the training of our guards and have learned from the attempt to invade our city and have trained all of our guards in methods to counter their spells, be it attempts to hypnotize us or mask themselves with their ability to disguise their appearance. While there is never any absolute guarantee, we feel as though the guards now are as prepared as they can possibly be."

Nearly everypony had an unsure look on their face, but none voiced their concern, mostly for fear of retribution from Princess Luna. Celestia took this as her cue to continue.

"Now, as I was saying, we have taken precautions to avoid a repeat of the attack last month. While the training of the guards is one very crucial step, it is far from the only one. For reasons of security, we won't be discussing what those are."

"Why can't we?" another pony asked.

"Because," Luna interjected with a much quieter but very stern tone, "on the off chance one of you is a spy sent to obtain information for another attack, we can't very well compromise our security by discussing such matters openly."

Nothing further was said. Celestia continued speaking.

"Moving on from security, we come to the main point of you all being here. As I said before, this changeling king has reached out to us with a desire to integrate into our kingdom in a peaceful way. He has requested a meeting with us to discuss the possibility of this happening, and we have agreed to host that meeting here in the castle."

A pony was about to interrupt her again, but a sharp look from Luna thoroughly dissuaded them from doing so.

"Since we are hosting this king," Celestia continued, "he will likely be staying here in the castle for at least one day. The reason you are all here is because you all will be working together to take care of any needs that they may require."

The voices raised up once again in an indiscernible cacophony, and once again, the princesses slammed their hooves down and returned order to the room.

"I am well aware of what that comment can mean," Celestia said, "but I assure you that we will not allow anypony here to come to harm. In fact, our instructions specifically said that we are to hold the meeting and discuss the matters at hoof first. At that time, we shall discuss any matters in regards to their... unique dietary requirements."

"That matter aside," Luna interjects, "this king is to be treated with the same respect that you all give to every other visiting dignitary, so we are to hear nothing negative said about your conduct during his visit. Is that to be understood?"

Nopony said anything, but one did raise their hoof. "What if this king says we were being disrespectful, but we weren't?"

Celestia was quick to respond. "Any disciplinary action to may result from such an accusation will only be administered when we can completely verify that such an incident did occur. As for in the moment, you may receive a verbal reprimand, but just take it with a grain of salt. You know we never use any serious forms of punishment without discussing the situation and determining that enact such punishments are justified."

Nopony could disagree with the princess's remarks; her rule has always been characterized as fair and just.

Celestia decided then to get to the true heart of the matter. She sent a signal by tapping her hoof three times. The side door that Celestia and her sister had come through a short while ago opened to reveal Raven Inkwell, who was carrying a writing desk in her magic. Walking in front of the princesses, she set the desk down and removed a stack of papers, some quills, and a few inkwells and set them onto the table. Once the setup was complete, Celestia addressed the ponies once more.

"Now, we come to the main reason of our calling all of you here. Since all of the information we have given you is not only of a rather sensitive nature, but could also cause quite a panic and create a situation that would allow the changelings to attempt another invasion, and quite possibly succeed this time. As such, we are asking all of you to sign these non-disclosure agreements. You made read over them, but in the interests of saving time, the agreement states that you will not share any of the information that you've been given here tonight until such a time as we allow you all to do so. If you break this agreement, then you shall immediately be terminated from your position here in the castle."

"What if we refuse to sign?" a mare in the group asks.

Celestia frowns. "In the interest of security, you will be kept in the castle until the matter has been concluded. You will be allowed to write to your loved ones, but your letters will be screened. They may also visit you, but you will be under guard supervision so that we can guarantee no information gets out. Again, this is to avoid a panic that can do a great deal of harm. You wouldn't want our city to fall because you shared some information that you weren't supposed to."

The ponies all looked at each other, clearly uncertain if they should agree to what the princess was saying.

"If this meeting should go well and we can come to agreement on how our two kingdoms can coexist with one another, then we shall have an announcement declaring the peace reached between our two kinds, and at that time will introduce the king to our subjects. Once that happens, you may all disclose whatever information you knew before that agreement was created."

After hearing Celestia make that promise, the ponies were a little less nervous about the document, and more than half appeared ready to sign. "If you are ready to agree to this, then step forward to sign your copy of the agreement."

A line formed shortly afterwards, and one by one, each pony made their mark on their paper. All in all, only two had not yet signed, but those two had not outright refused. This confused both Celestia and Luna.

"Is there some concern that we have yet to address?" Celestia asked the two ponies.

The two workers, a cleaning mare and stallion chef respectively, stepped forward. "I do not mean to sound ill of you," the mare replied, "but what if this changeling king refuses whatever offers you intend to present him?" The stallion nodded in agreement before adding "And what if this king is only doing this as a diversion for another group of changelings to attack elsewhere in the city while both you and your sister are occupied?"

Celestia and Luna looked to each other before nodding in agreement. Luna looked to both the stallion and mare and gave a reply on behalf of herself and Celestia. "If the king refuses any offer we make in regards to certain topics, then we shall at least negotiate for a peaceful existence where nopony is hurt. As for if this meeting is a diversion, then I can say that we have planned for such an outcome. As far as specifics go, that is a question I can't answer without compromising security. If my response is satisfactory, then I ask you both to please sign."

Looking to each other and nodding, the two ponies stepped forward and signed the documents. With all fifty documents signed, Raven placed them into an office folder and bowed to the princesses and left. Celestia and Luna, satisfied with the response from the staff, changed their more stern looks to that of a gentle gaze from a foal's mother. "I am happy that all of you have agreed. I intend to announce this decision as soon as I can get King Apidae to agree to a peaceful integration of our kinds."

"Your highness?" a pony in the back asks while raising a hoof. "I don't mean to overstep my bounds or speak critically of you, but while the changelings may want to coexist with us, there's gonna be ponies that won't want to coexist with them. How are you going to resolve that problem?"

Celestia and Luna both looked at each other with concerned looks. "It won't be a simple problem to fix," Celestia admitted, "but I feel confident that when I actually introduce King Apidae and the members of his hive, I will have also quelled the worst of the fears that the rest of Canterlot and Equestria as a whole and convince most ponies to give a small benefit of the doubt that could result in the beginnings of life long friendships for some ponies and changelings."

"I agree" Luna chimed in. "If and, hopefully when we have agreements in place, we'll be able to move forward and facilitate peaceful existence between our two species, and Equestria will stand to benefit as we turn an enemy into an ally."

"But... what if that doesn't happen?" the pony prods.

"If there are ponies that still cannot see the agreement moving forward as being both genuine and the right way forward for Equestria and this changeling hive," Luna replies, "then we shall simply have to find a way to resolve the matter to everypony's satisfaction."

This seemed to placate the pony asking questions, as he did not press the matter further.

"Now," Celestia continues, "does anypony else have a question they would like answered? Please, though, nothing along the lines of 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' or 'How do you know for sure about this or that?'. Neither my sister or I are interested in answering the exact same question over and over again with only the wording a little different."

The members of the staff looked at each other but all shook their heads. Celestia smiled. "Now, I would like to show you all something that was given to us by this king. It's an important item for him, and he has given to us as a token of good will, asking us not to mar it or anything of that nature. The king you will meet tomorrow is the same one featured on this tapestry."

Using her magic, Celestia unfurled the tapestry to show her subjects just who exactly they would be meeting. All the ponies looked on in awe as the image of King Apidae was shown to them for the first time. After it fully unfurled and revealed the king, there were mixed opinions amongst the group; some were blown away by the amount of detail and rich color used by the artist who crafted the piece, while others recoiled at the sight of another changeling ruler after only having seen one in pony a relatively short time ago.

"According to the king, this tapestry was made by one of the changelings that lived under him at the time of his coronation as king, or whatever term the changelings use for when a new king or queen takes over the throne from the previous one. It was made several decades ago and the changeling that made this has since passed on, so I ask you to treat this piece with the same respect that you all give our stained glass windows that honor the heroic deeds of ponies of the past. I plan to display this somewhere in the castle, but must confer with Luna as to where a suitable location would be."

"Now, the hour is late and my sister and I should retire so that we are well rested for tomorrow. If you would like, there is a projector that has the film that the king sent us so you can see and hear what this king looks like. If you do not wish to do so, then I recommend retiring for the evening as well. Good night, and may you all have as pleasant of dreams as possible."

Celestia and Luna turned and left the throne room. Walking down the hallway to their bed chambers, Celestia and Luna stay quiet for a time. Eventually, Luna broke the ice.

"Sister," she begins, "you seem rather nervous. Is something troubling you?"

Celestia cocks an eyebrow to her sister. "I think you are well aware of what's troubling me, sister."

Luna raises a hoof defensively. "I was simply attempting some humor to lighten the overall mood between us" she responded.

Celestia looks at her, then turns to look ahead while sighing rather audibly. "I know sister" Celestia replies. "I'm just concerned that this will all not turn out well."

Luna places a hoof on her sister's withers. "Remember what Starswirl told us in our youth - The future holds no consequences on the present, so do not worry about the things that don't affect you in the here and now. You can only prepare for them."

Celestia gives her sister a smile. "You're right, Luna" she tells her sister. "You go ahead and go to bed. I'm gonna find Raven and make sure those papers are filed correctly, and them I'm getting some sleep too."

Luna nods. "Do not keep yourself awake for too long sister" Luna responds with a smirk. "We wouldn't want you to fall asleep in your oatmeal bowl."

Celestia gives her sister a playful glare, which causes the lunar princess to giggle and trot on down the hallway. Once out of sight, Celestia slips back into her office.

Quite unexpectedly, Raven is sitting in an unused chair going over some paperwork.

"Isn't it getting a little late to get all of that done?" Celestia asks with a raised eyebrow.

Raven stops writing and looks up at the princess. "Just finishing a few things before going to bed. I trust you came looking for me to make sure the paperwork is done?"

Celestia nods. "They all signed the paperwork, so there's nothing we should be afraid of from a legal standpoint."

Celestia nods and breaths a sigh of relief. All she and her sister needed to do was wake up and be ready for the king to show tomorrow.

"That isn't why you wanted to see me though, is it?"

The question caught the princess off guard. She looked to see Raven looking at her thoughtfully.

"No, it's not" Celestia admitted to her assistant. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you could deduce that so easily."

Raven smiled. "I wouldn't be much of an assistant if I didn't have some idea of what my boss was thinking at any one moment."

Celestia gave a nod as she sat down at her desk. She takes a moment to compose what she has to say.

"Raven," she spoke to the mare, "what is your opinion on what is happening?"

"I'm sorry, your highness?" Raven replies in confusion.

"The matters at hoof with these new changelings. What is your opinion of the situation?"

Raven still looks confused, so Celestia explains further.

"My sister and I are charged with the safety and welfare of this nation. We are trusted to make all of the important decisions that affect the everyday lives of all of our subjects. With this in mind, I realize that I rarely ever seek out their opinion on a matter before making a decision. In this matter, however, I believe that I should seek an outside opinion that is reflective of those I govern. So, Raven, what is your opinion of this situation?"

Raven doesn't respond immediately. The mare thinks for a good minute or so before she responds.

"I don't know how things will turn out, or what the intentions or aspirations of this king are. What I do now is that my princesses are rather nervous and have done all they can to prepare. As far as opinion, I'm afraid I can't offer much to you on that. My opinion is whatever actions you decide to take will hopefully be for the good of Equestria."

Celestia gave a nod. "That wasn't quite the answer I was hoping to hear, so let me rephrase it. What do you hope will come of this meeting?"

Again, Raven takes the time to think before giving a response. "I would like for there to be peace" she answers. "I've seen what the events from last month have done to this city. Neighbors no longer say hello to each other; they give suspicious glares as they walk past. Foals hugging their mothers do so with apprehension. The mothers do the same. Some ponies have been afraid to go to the hospital, believing that changelings are hiding there and waiting to attack them at their most vulnerable."

"Of all the things though, the worst has been with the ponies that wish to find their special someponies. I have heard rumors that the changelings had intended to steal love from us, and I'm guessing the meaning of that was something different, but they still managed to succeed in doing just that. I have not seen ponies meeting and talking at the taverns I occasionally visit, nor the dance halls in the city. Everypony is on edge and is afraid that the next pony they meet could be a changeling in disguise, ready to suck the love out of them."

"If any good can come of these talks, I hope it is peace. Not just because peace would be wonderful to have, but because we need it. Besides attempting to steal our love, the changelings stole our peace of mind, and it's going to be a long time before we can get even a sliver of it back."

Celestia nods with a warm smile. "That's the kind of answer I was hoping to hear" she tells Raven, thanking her for her input. Raven gives a simple bow and leaves. With her assistant gone, Celestia elects to retire to her bedchambers for the night. Tomorrow, she and her sister would be having a meeting with the king of a changeling hive, and hopefully starting the processes needed for her kingdom to heal itself from the horrible incidents that occurred on that fateful day.

Introductions

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The staff of Canterlot Castle were working furiously to finish the last minute preparations in advance of the guest they were about to play host to. Tables were dusted, linens were changed, vases of flowers were either filled with water or had their flowers changed out for fresher ones, and every floor in every room was washed and polished to a mirror shine. A quick review by both Princess Celestia and Luna was given the veritable seal of approval. Now, all anypony had to do was wait for the guest to arrive.

In their message to King Apidae, they informed him that they would greet him in the palace garden. He was to come to the main gate and give a specific code phrase, and he would be escorted to the meeting place. As the preparations were complete, both Princess Celestia and Luna were sitting at a patio table in a small gazebo. A privacy curtain was drawn; it allowed enough light to be able to see well, but obscured to interior enough from the outside that anypony in passing wouldn't be able to see who was inside or what they looked like.

Celestia herself had a nervous expression on her face, which Luna quickly picked up on, as well as deduced the source of the anxiety that caused it. "You are fearful that this is all still a farce?" she asked, though knew the answer she would receive.

As expected, Celestia gave a small nod. "We've prepared for everything that we could possibly think of," she replied, "but will it be enough?"

Luna at first had her own uncertain look, but after taking a breath, adopted a more resolved one. "If our efforts are not sufficient and this is a prelude to another invasion, then we shall not go down without a fight!"

Celestia looked at her sister for a moment and then smiled. "You were always the more strong willed of the two of us" she commented. "I suppose that's why when responsibilities were split between us, I gave you charge of the military."

Luna could only laugh at that remark. "Forgive me sister," she responded, "but I do believe that I very strongly asked to be put in charge of the defenses of Equestria."

Celestia gave a nod, but then thought of something that she had never thought to ask before. "Luna," she began, "I never asked this before, but do you think we have ever dealt with changelings before the attack that happened a month ago?"

Luna sat for a minute thinking back to the time before her banishment, when she had ruled with her sister, and specifically to when she had been in charge of the royal guard and the military that was dispatched to deal with the more aggressive of nations that stood as enemies to both Equestria and the world.

"...perhaps" came Luna's reply.

Celestia frowns upon hearing the response. "When?"

"During the years of Discord" Luna replied. Taking another sip, she begins to tell her story.

"I recall during that time, when we were trying to find a spell or weapon to stop him, I received a letter calling upon us for aid. I answered the letter and traveled to the village where our help was needed. Once I arrived, I could tell things were not right. The villagers walked as though they were forced to work through the night, and when I spoke to them about the danger their mayor had requested help for, the looks I got were as if they did not care. It had befuddled me to no end. I searched for answers through the whole town and was about to give up, until I found a mare living in a cottage just away from the town."

"The mare was... strange, to say the least. As I was invited to her home, she made a great deal of fuss about me proving I was who I claimed to be, and only after consuming a rather foul mixture did she accept my claims as truth."

"This mare then began spinning wild tangents that made little sense to me. She spoke of monsters from the woods, a cave of sinister green light, and ponies who had been twisted by so evil a curse, it left their bodies incomplete and alien."

"She then gave me a warning: Never sleep without an anointment of peppermint oil. It would be the only way to ward off the 'monsters that steal your heart'."

"Naturally, I assumed she had went mad because of Discord's tyranny, and it made me redouble my efforts in finding what would turn out to be the elements of harmony. Of course, when we did find them and use them, I returned to the town to see if what had happened to the citizens was reversed, but I came back to a scene of horror."

Celestia looked at her sister with worry. "Horror?"

Luna nodded. "The town was gone. It had burned to the ground, and the citizens were nowhere to be found. I went to the home of the old mare, who I still found to be quite insane. All she had told me was that the villagers had been taken, and the 'wretched queen of the accursed' had set fire to the town, watching it burn while cackling the most evil laugh that could be heard."

Luna sipped her tea before concluding her story. "I thought nothing of her story at the time, but upon the revelations of this recent attack, I dare say we may have met this 'wretched queen of the accursed'."

Celestia grimaced as she thought of the war she and her sister fought against Discord, and what it had cost them in the long run. Her grimace changed to a frown as she realized this village likely paid for her failure to stop Discord in time.

Luna noticed her sister's reaction and offered a comforting hoof. "Apologies, sister. We did not mean to cause you to be pained by old wounds."

"It's okay, Lunaa" Celestia responds. "We did our best at that time. I just wish we could have done more."

"As do I" Luna concurs. "Had I known back then what I knew now, I would have found that cave and made those creatures pay for their horrible crime."

Celestia nodded in agreement with that statement. There was a silence between the sisters for some time afterwards. Luna elected to break it.

"Sister," Luna says to Celesita, "I noticed Raven come back into our study as I was leaving. Was there something wrong?"

"No" Celestia replies. "She was simply informing me that all of the preparations were complete, so all we needed to do this morning was to wake up and prepare ourselves for the meeting."

Luna gave a nod. "And that was all?"

Celestia looked to Luna for a second. The lunar princess had many gifts, and one of them was sussing out the truth. Taking a breath, Celestia filled in her younger sibling.

"I asked Raven for her opinion on the matters at hoof, and more specifically, what she hoped we could achieve here today."

Luna nodded, then pried a little further. "And what is it that Miss Inkwell hopes we can achieve?"

"She hopes that we can make peace," Celestia replies, "and that we can begin to bring back the peace of mind here in the city. There are many who were affected very negatively by the changelings, and not just the drained ponies in the hospital."

Luna again nodded, but this one was far more somber. "I see. If that is what she hopes for, then I think we should see to it that we are able to make these hopes a reality."

Celestia nodded with a smile. They often had differing opinions on different topics, as is typical among siblings, but she was happy that they could both agree on this.

Before anything else can be said further, a guard quickly approaches the gazebo and steps inside. Giving a bow and salute, he addresses both princesses. "Your highnesses," he says in an official tone, "the king and his entourage have arrived."

"Entourage?" Luna parrots in a startled tone.

"Yes, your highness" the guard confirms.

Celestia looks a bit surprised to hear the word entourage as well. "How many are in this entourage?" she asks the guard.

"Only four" he replies. "We've sent word to the other guards to keep their eyes open for any activity in the city."

"Very good, guard" she commends the stallion. "Do these four appear to be of any significant threat?"

"Not as far as we could tell" he answers. "One did have a set of saddle bags with them, but a magic scan and physical check of them revealed no items that were considered a security risk. They complied with our request to check them, so we saw no reason to hold those items."

Celestia nodded. "What were the nature of the items?"

"Articles of clothing, your highness."

Celestia nods in acknowledgment. Luna then asks her own question. "Are you certain this is the king?"

The stallion nods. "It is your highness" he confirms. "He has used the agreed upon code phrase and he matches the description you also provided."

Celestia and Luna both look to each other, a small amount of relief crossing their faces. So far, this king of changelings has honored his words.

"Thank you" Celestia tells the guard. "Please escort the king and his entourage here. Tell a member of the palace staff to bring four more chairs out here and set them up as well."

The soldier again bows and salutes, then exits the gazebo to carry out his task. As he left, Luna looked to her sister again. "The time has come" she remarked to her. "Now we get to meet this changeling king for ourselves."

Celestia nodded. "I hope things turn out well. We don't need any more paranoia about a potential infiltration of the city."

Luna nodded in agreement. "Things are already difficult as they currently stand. We would do well by ourselves not to allow things to get worse than they already are."

Celestia nodded and hummed in agreement with her sister's opinion. This meeting would be especially important. As they finished speaking, a servant had brought out the requested chairs and set them up. Now all the princesses could do was wait for the guards to bring the king and his entourage, which looked like it was arriving now.

The sisters looked out of the gazebo and saw a squad of guards approaching them. There were six guards total and they were set up in a hexagonal formation; an earth pony in lead, two pegasi and two thestrals on either side, and a unicorn bringing up the rear. Inside that formation were five ponies, or at least what appeared to be five ponies. Four of them were random types of ponies: an earth pony mare, pegasus mare, unicorn stallion, and a pegasus stallion. Leading the group was a pony that had the exact appearance as was described to Celestia by the changeling king in his film, right down to the cutie mark of a bee in a flame.

Celestia rose and spread her wings, a show of dominance that was matched by her sister. They fully intended for the meeting to be peaceful, but both still felt it was important to make clear that the two princesses were not to be underestimated and would stop at nothing to protect their city and their ponies, should the delegation's intentions prove to be sinister.

"Thank you, guards" she said to the sextet of armored ponies. "We shall handle things from here."

The lead guard looked nervous but gave a nod. The group of guard broke their formation and formed two lines of three and began to move back to their assigned post. As he moved into the formation, the disguised king gave a bow of his head and told the guard "Thank you" as he walked away. The guard gave a quick nod back and moved to join the formation with haste.

With the guards gone, it was only the group of disguised changelings and the two princesses in the gardens. Celestia moved from her previous spot and walked to the edge of the gazebo. The king took notice of this and made a gesture to his followers. All at once, the delegation bowed to Celestia and Luna, the latter falling in to her sister's left as they addressed the king and his entourage.

"Please rise," Celestia addressed them, "and find a seat if you would. My sister and I would both like to commence this meeting." The two sisters then retake their seats.

The king rose and gave a nod, then gestured to the other four, who nodded in response and moved into the gazebo, electing to sit around a chair that faced the two princesses directly. The king himself took this chair and faced the princesses.

"Princesses Celestia and Luna, I am so glad that I finally have the chance to meet the both of you face to face" the king said to the two sisters. "I only wish that our first official meeting were under better circumstances."

Celestia gave a nod to his remark. "I share that same sentiment as well. It would have been more preferable to have had this meeting before my subjects were given such a bad first impression of your kind."

The king frowns and bows his head. "Yes, that is something I cannot entirely blame your subjects for. For the capital of your nation to be attacked, and for you yourself to be taken as a prisoner, if but only for a brief amount of time, I would want retribution brought to the culprits as well."

"However, I do not think it would do us good to review those topics right now; we can discuss that topic a little later. For now, let us discuss the matter I have reached out to you for originally: establishing peaceful diplomatic relations between Equestria and my hive."

"Yes," Celestia agreed, "let us speak on the matter of establishing these peaceful diplomatic relations. To start, I would like for all of you to dispel your pony disguises. As with your messenger Aulus, I wish to address all of you in your true forms."

"I agree" Luna chimed in. "If we are to have these meetings, they should be face to undisguised face."

The king considers the words of both princesses and nods. He then turns to his entourage, quickly noticing their trepidation at the idea of intentionally revealing themselves to another creature. The king addressed them so as to exert some authority in a gentle manner.

"Now, now," he said to them, "we must demonstrate our willingness to cooperate and be peaceful, and if dropping our disguises is how we accomplish that, then so be it." Without any warning, the stallion before the princesses was wrapped in a turquoise wall of flames, which then disappeared to reveal the changeling king in all his glory.

His height was similar to the princesses, and he may have been just a bit taller. He had the hallmark hole-filled hooves that all changelings seemed to sport, and the gossamer wings resting about a plating on his back. Strange bands wrapped around his barrel, and were a darker color than his eyes. In addition, he had his mane cut short; it was in a similar style to the regulation mane cut of the royal guard.

After his disguise was dispelled, one of the other changelings approached him with a set of saddlebags. The king used his magic and produced two items from them that were familiar to the princesses. One was his ornate crown, which he settled onto his head, and the other was the cape that covered his body.

Having dawned his royal vestments, the king resumes his seat. Before he addresses the princesses again, he notices that his entourage has not yet acquiesced to the princesses's request.

"As I said," he spoke to his subjects again, "we must do as the princesses have asked and dispel our disguises."

The changelings looked at each other and nodded. Four flashes of magic, and four changeling drones sat where four ponies had been sitting. The king noted the princesses slight flinch upon seeing the changes, both his and his subjects. The drone who provided the king with his vestments resumed their seat.

"I apologize, but we have no actual control of the appearance of our magic" he told them. "All we can control is our appearance when we use it."

Celestia tried to relax as she responded. "It is okay. If we are to have a successful meeting, then we must accept that there are things about your kind that we may find... uncomfortable."

The king digested this and gave a nod. "Yes, there is likely a great deal about us that you might find, as you put it, uncomfortable. However, that doesn't mean that we cannot establish a peace between us."

"That is true," Celestia concedes, "but there is much to be done before we can see the fruits of both our labors. My subjects still carry mistrust of changelings as a whole. I fear that even with time, their opinions will always be sour in regards to your kind. Your willingness to dispel your disguises is a good first step with my sister and I in regards to establishing peace, but you will also need to sway the opinion of my subjects. I do not command them to agree with the things I decree; only that they respect them, and when applicable, obey them."

King Apidae nods. "My hive and your Equestria are very similar in that regard. Other queens and kings demand unquestioning loyalty from their drones, but I do not. I have found that solutions to problems are often found in minds that are not afraid of voicing their opinions, even if they are what the majority would consider to be 'unpopular'."

Luna looks at him quizzically. "You do not punish your drones for insubordination?"

King Apidae gives a small laugh. "Oh, make no mistake, I do expect them to obey when I give a command. What I meant was that if they should say something that I or another changeling of my hive were disagreeable to, then they would not face retribution for having voice their dissent. In fact, a great many of our laws have been proposed by the drones of our hive and not by myself and my advisers. My thought on the matter is that the laws will affect the day to day lives of the drones, so they should have say in the matters that affect them."

Celestia smiled upon hearing that. "What you speak of sounds like democracy" she comments.

"It is very much in that school of thought," the king admits, "but there are some affairs that I consider to be a bit too complicated for the average drone. After all, you don't ask for the opinion of the nobles and farmers when deciding how taxes shall affect them; they would always rule that other ponies should shoulder more burden than they themselves should and fail to see the consequences of such an action."

Celestia did have to concede on that point; the nobles would exempt themselves from taxes altogether if they could. Quickly, she realizes that the conversation has been derailed slightly.

"I agree with your opinions on governance, but I feel we must address the topic at hoof, which is proving your intentions to our citizens."

The king takes a sip from one of the tea cups before him. After setting it down, he looks the two princesses in the eyes with a serious look. "You are inquiring of my intentions to assist in capturing the rogue queen?"

Both Celestia and Luna nod. "Do you know of the name of this queen?" the night princess asks, deciding to participate in the conversation more actively.

The king frowned slightly but nodded. "Her name is Chrysalis" he told the princesses.

Celestia digested the information with restrained enthusiasm. Chrysalis. Her enemy now had a name, and hopefully soon, the enemy would be in chains and receive the punishment she so desperately deserved.

"May we know the names of the subjects you have brought along with you?" Luna asks, electing to change to a more lighthearted subject.

The king smiles. "Of course" he says as he points to the four drones and tells the princesses about them.

"This drone is Socrates. he is a philosopher and gifted statespony. Any matters that we have on diplomacy, we have approached him to advise us help resolve any problems. He actually earned several degrees right here in Canterlot under the guise of Honey Gold. Next to him is Dionices, who we have placed in charge of our medical needs, as well as any other wounded creature that ends up in our care. Over here to my left is Nero, my commander for the defense of the hive. He is a brilliant strategist and has helped to devise many ways to keep our hive safe from threat. Lastly is Andromeda, my personal assistant. She assists me with my day to day affairs, and also acts as a sounding board for any decisions I think of implementing."

Celestia and Luna looked over the drones seated before them on opposite sides of the king. Each of them wore a look that spoke of discomfort. It was pretty clear to both princesses that the quartet did not like the idea of being in front of ponies without disguises, sticking out like a sore hoof.

"Socrates, Dionices, Nero and Andromeda," she addressed the four changelings, "I welcome all of you to Equestria and hope your stay here will be comfortable. The palace staff has been made aware of your visit, and will accommodate all of you to the best of their abilities."

As soon as her greeting was finished, she turned to King Apidae and gave him a gentle, yet clearly displeased look. "Of course, we would have had proper arrangements ready for you in time had your king made us aware of your arrival."

"Yes, and our guard would not be scanning the city for further threats" Luna added under her breath.

Apidae blinked for a few seconds before he then smacked his face with his hoof. "I do apologize Princesses," he says to them. "I thought that I had mentioned my assistants in one of the previous two film reels that I had sent to you. That was a lapse on my part, and I certainly hope you will not hold it against me; surely you have made the mistake of overlooking a small detail in one of your previous affairs?"

"I have" Celeista admits. "However, given the nature of current affairs, this lapse could have had much more negative ramifications, had my sister and I chosen not to be as hospitable as we have been."

Apidae sipped at his tea as the sun princess spoke, but the message she had sent him was clear: she and her sister were not happy with him. His not mentioning his entourage joining him had caused Equestria's already stressed security to be even more on edge than before, and all because he forgot to tell the princesses about the guests he intended to bring with him. He silently hoped that this misstep would not be a stumbling block for future negotiations.

"I appreciate your understanding on the matter, and I do apologize for my forgetfulness. Please pass along my apologies to those guards who have been inconvenienced by the 'wild goose chase' I've unintentionally sent them on."

"I shall" Celestia agreed, and then took a sip of her own tea.

Luna speaks up as her sister drinks. "You called these drones your assistants. How do they assist you, besides the roles that you have mentioned?"

Apidae finishes his tea and places the cup down. "These four work in areas that involve many of my drones. Socrates is representative of all the scholars of my hive, be they scientists, alchemists, authors, artists or whatever intellectual interest my drones seek to study. Dionices represents my doctors and other medically inclined drones. Nero has the ear of my soldiers, as they have his, and Andromeda often speaks with the remaining drones that simply live to keep the hive working as it should."

"So, they have heard the opinions of all your people and they relay it to you as needed?"

"They do, and I also listen to their ideas and complaints as they share them, though there are only so many open slots in open court that I can accomodate. Admittedly, I have had to postpone my court for as long as these talks shall take place."

"Do you not have a regent?" Celestia asks.

"I do not" Apidae answers. "I appointed a regent once in the early years of my reign, but I made the mistake of trusting a usurper. He had the support of many of my soldiers at the time, and I had to personally deal with him to remove him from power."

Celestia and Luna both looked at him with concerned looks. "And when he was removed?" Celestia asked, leaving the question open ended.

"He was tried for treason and placed into prison, where he lived out the remainder of his life" Apidae answered. "I don't execute drones. A drone hasn't been put to death for some time in my hive."

"That is... good to hear" Celestia admits. "I was given the impression by Chrysalis that your kind were not so adverse to matters regarding severe punishment."

"I consider punishment of that nature necessary only when no other punishment is justifiable. In most cases, there is a suitable punishment."

"And those cases where there isn't?" Luna prods.

"In those matters, a jury presides over the process of selecting a punishment. The process is akin to a trial, though by the time this 'trial' is convened, the guilt of the accused it already confirmed, so the matter is specifically to decide what punishment the convicted is to receive."

"I must say that your hive is rather democratic despite your position as a ruling monarch."

"As I said, I value the opinion of my drones very much. I have no kingdom without them choosing to be my subjects."

Celestia smiles as she sees Apidae consider his drones with a smile, and sees those same drones smile back. It is not a forced smile that a dictator would command of underlings, but the sort a parent has with their children.

"You share a strong bond with your subjects" Celestia observes. "I do believe that we can work together to establish the peace that you seek to make with us. Sister, do you believe as I do?"

Luna considers her sister's question for a moment, but then nods. "I believe that through this conversation, King Apidae and his assistants have proven their desire to make peaceful relations to be true."

"Splendid!" Apidae announces, causing the two sisters to turn towards him in surprise. "Then let's not delay any longer! Let us commence in the talks to establish peace between our kingdoms!"

Celestia and Luna both look to each other and smile. "Yes, let us" they both say in agreement.

About the King and his Kingdom

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The meeting between Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the changeling king named Apidae had officially begun. There would be many topics discussed, but the princesses had one issue that they wanted to address first.

"King Apidae," Celestia addresses the changeling, "there are some things we would like to know."

"Of course" the king replies. "What is it you wish to know?"

Celestia and Luna look to each other before Luna offers the question.

"We know so very little about yourself and changelings as a whole. I believe we would both appreciate it if we could ask you some questions."

"Okay" the king responds. "What question would you like me to answer first?"

"Could you tell us about yourself and your hive?" Celestia asks him.

The king thinks to himself for a moment before he nods his head in agreement. "Of course, but may I please have another cup of this wonderful tea?"

Celestia nods and uses her magic to levitate the teapot over to the king's cup and pours him another drink. Once the cup is filled properly, the king takes a honey pot into his own magic and proceeds to add some to his tea before stirring it with a spoon and taking a drink.

"Thank you" he says to Celestia, who offers a nod. The king takes another sip and then places the cup down. Clearing his throat, he begins to tell the story of himself and how his hive came to be.

"In regards to your question about our hive, I can't tell you exactly how it began. This isn't because it's some secret I wish to keep from you. Rather, it's because we only started keeping documented records some two thousand years ago, and our hive has existed for far longer than that. I dare say we may have existed even before the time of the unification."

Celestia and Luna nodded in understanding. The time of unification was before even they ascended to their positions now. Even the ponies at the time only kept rudimentary records of events that transpired, and most of that was done by the unicorns, whose opinions at the time tainted the records with bias and presented scenarios that removed fault from themselves and projected it onto the pegasi and earth ponies.

"As for myself, I was born a couple of centuries ago. I had a relatively normal nymphhood compared to most changelings. I attended school to read and write, and I received training on how to infiltrate pony societies and how to manipulate emotions so as to improve my ability to harvest love to provide for the hive."

The comment made Celestia and Luna tense. King Apidae picked up on this and offered his apologies.

"I beg your pardon. It has become so normal and ingrained in our society that I tend to forget how it makes other creatures feel. It certainly wasn't something the dragons wanted to hear when we first had contact."

That statement caught Celestia's attention. "The dragons know of you?"

Apidae nods. "It happened a short time after I ascended to the throne. About a decade, I believe. There were some dragons that had heard of a 'glowing treasure in the mouth of a cave', which was actually one of the entrances to our hive."

"When they approached the entrance, my guards adopted forms similar to theirs and made an attempt to persuade them to leave. This failed, and the guards decided to try and incapacitate and capture the dragons. A fight quickly broke out between the guards and the dragons, and the dragons were quick to deal with the guards."

"I was told of how swiftly the dragons had beaten my guards and was ready to take on the dragons, but as I was told of how the battle transpired, I quickly realized that even I would have no chance against them. So, I elected to try a controversial tactic among changelings: I attempted to negotiate a peace."

"An attempt at peace?" Celestia responds. "You attempted to make peace with the dragons."

"I did" Apidae responds. "The dragons weren't out for a fight; my guard's actions prompted that. All they wanted was treasure for their hordes, so that's what I would offer them."

"Having had some considerable coffers from the infiltrations of my subjects over the years both before and during my reign, I made a deal with the dragons. If they allowed our hive to stay and did not attack it again, I would pay them a sum of the treasury to split among themselves. Needless to say, they were quick to agree."

"That event is what actually inspired the idea of a peaceful coexistence in the first place. If I could make peace with the dragons, why couldn't I do it with other creatures?"

"So, I mulled over the idea for some time, weighing pros and cons, and eventually concluded that it would be in the best interests of all my subjects. It was not going to be easy, but I knew with a careful enough plan, I could make it work."

"The first thing I needed was a way to gather more information about the various societies in Equestria and the world at large. I wanted the information collected in a fashion different from book learning; it's one thing to study things like etiquette or manners from a book, but another to understand the current affairs concerning the territory and influencing their mindsets in regards to things such as peace offerings. So, I needed my subjects that provided this information to be fully immersed in these societies as actual members of them and not just some temporary visitor under a false guise. So, from that point forward, I told my subjects that if there were interests that they had and wished to explore, they were free to do so."

"So you sent your subjects out into the world to live their own lives, and only asked them to report back on the current events of the world" Celestia summarized. Apidae nodded.

"And what did your subjects do with this new freedom that was granted them?" Luna asked with curiosity.

The king sips his tea before answering.

"It honestly took some time before any of my subjects were bold enough to take the metaphorical plunge. At the time, Queen Vespa, my predecessor, thought it was a fool's errand and that the drones would continue on infiltrating societies and stealing love to feed the hive. That all changed when Admirabilis returned from Equestria."

"He had been taught to read and write Equestrian so he could go on an infiltration mission. However, with my decision to allow my subjects to choose how they wanted to live their lives, he elected to visit the city of Manehattan. While there, he became so enamored with books and reading, he took a job as a librarian. Eventually, he liked the novels he was reading so much, he elected to write some of his own and get them published. I believe the name Sorrel King may mean something to you?"

Celestia and Luna both go wide eyed. "You mean to tell us that the author of the most influential horror works of the modern era was a changeling spy?" Celestia asks in disbelief.

"I wouldn't use the word 'spy'" King Apidae says with nervousness. "Admirabilis came here to Equestria to fulfill his desire to see a real city. While he did provide our hive with a great deal of information, none of it was the sort that you wouldn't want enemies learning about."

Celestia grimaced at that idea. Equestria did have a few state secrets, but they were state secrets for a reason. She would have to make mention to a guard later about getting the mages to improve the wards protecting the restricted areas of the palace.

"You said before in your film that you were raised with as normal a life as the average nymph in your hive" Luna points out. "Were you born as royalty or were you chosen to succeed the previous ruler?"

"I was chosen by the haze ritual" Apidae responds.

"You were hazed to become the king of your hive?" Luna says in confusion.

"No, nothing of that sort" Apidae replies. "When changeling royals pick a new leader, there's a... unorthodox procedure to do so."

"Unorthodox?" Celestia questions.

"Yes" the king confirms. "We call it the haze ritual. The ruler enters a chamber filled with incense. These incenses are made from plants known to have chemicals in them that cause hallucinations. The ruler stays in this chamber until they have a vision of who the next changeling to lead the hive is."

Both royal sisters look at each other with worry. "No offense to your culture," Luna begins, "but that seems rather inefficient. One would think an order of succession would be established."

"At one point in time, there was," the king admits, "but there came a time when the royal succession gave rise to a tyrannical queen who was quite insane. She had attempted to usurp Discord before you imprisoned him in stone."

"Interesting" Celestia muses. "So your hive's succession ended with this insane queen's rule?"

Apidae nods. "It is an extremely rare event that drones in a changeling hive deem their ruler to be ineffective to rule and oust them in favor of another. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the queen lost to Discord and vanished immediately after, so an ousting wasn't necessary."

The interested Celestia and Luna greatly. "Do your kind have any idea what happened to this queen?"

"No" the king answers. "It's presumed that, as a punishment for her actions, Discord cast her into his own chaotic realm where her mind would be repeatedly broken again and again. As long ago as that was, the queen would likely be extremely old or, more likely, would have perished some time ago."

Celestia and Luna shivered just a little bit at the thought of a creature existing in Discord's chaotic dimension. The group sipped at their tea in silence for a moment before the moon princess decided to ask the next question.

"You say that your subjects have been sent on 'infiltration missions'. Have any of these involved the foalnapping and imprisonment of our subjects?"

The question was pointed, but a fair one in the scheme of things. Apidae looked a fair bit guilty, but he didn't deflect the question.

"In the past, they did" he admits. "Often times, the 'strategy' was to replace a loved one after intense study so that nothing would be amiss. However, we learned over time that ponies that share a strong enough bond end up developing a 'sixth sense' that tells them that something is off about their loved one, even if everything they've shown them so far is exactly the same as it has always been. After some time, we decided that this was because they could detect our kind's parasitic nature."

"I can tell you in total honesty that my hive discarded that practice a long time ago."

"And when was this 'long time ago'?" Luna asks, a bit of an edge to her voice.

Apidae is hesitant, but does answer the question. "Shortly after I came to the decision to try a more peaceful means of existence, about 150 or so years ago."

Celestia and Luna both look rather perturbed by the admission. "So you are admitting to us that you have authorized the abduction of our citizens?"

The king looks down at the cup and saucer before him for a moment, before looking back at them. "It is not something I am proud of, and I am willing to provide whatever recompense you demand of me. I understand that I have wronged you and your subjects, and for that, I am sorry."

Celestia and Luna look at each other for a few moments before Celestia lets out a sigh. "You have approached us desiring peace and have been cooperative in our requests. Like you have said before, there are things about your kind that we will find 'uncomfortable' for some amount of time. In the interests of moving forward with this meeting, we will revisit this topic at a later time. Are we in agreement, sister?"

Luna nods. "Yes. We will decide later what appropriate compensation will be."

Apidae gives a somber nod. "Very well. Now, what else would you like to know?"

"Do you know of how changelings came to be?" Celestia asks.

The king thinks on this for a moment before answering. "Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how we came to be. In truth, no changeling knows. In fact, every changeling hive has a different myth as to the origin of our kind."

"Very interesting" Luna comments. "Would you mind sharing some of them?"

"I don't know all of them fully," the king admits, "but I know of a few."

"One hive tells of our origin as being born from a single queen. She was a very loving creature, exuding the emotion the same as any non-changeling creature can. One day, she met the love of her life, but the stallion that captured her heart chose to break it. She then sought revenge against him and turned to dark magic, suffering a horrible fate wherein she was transformed into what changelings have become today."

"Another suggests that we originated from some kind of dark magic experiment that was meant to fuse an insect with a pony, which is meant to explain our equine traits."

"The hive of Chrysalis suggests that we were born from a evil plant grown from a rotten acorn that fell into a cursed pool near a cemetery. According to the myth, your mage Starswirl the Bearded came across the lake and proceeded to affix a sign to the plant that warned ponies and other creatures not to come near the pool. The changelings are said to have crawled out from the cracks created by the nails that held up the sign."

Celestia and Luna both grimace at the mention of Chrysalis, but find the stories about the origins of changelings rather interesting.

"What about the legend of your own hive?" Celestia asks.

The king smiles as he finishes his tea. "One I know quite well. We call it 'The Lovers and The Witch'."

"A long time ago, there were two ponies. One was a unicorn mare and the other was a pegasus stallion."

"The couple loved each other dearly and married. After their wedding, a war broke out, and the pegasus volunteered to fight. He became a hero, and eventually was declared the rightful king of the land he and his mate lived in."

"The pegasus and unicorn were fair and just rulers, and their kingdom prospered into the greatest known at the time."

"One day, an old mare approached them. She was a witch, and sought to find a position with the king and queen so she could obtain incredible power and wealth for herself."

"The king and queen saw through her guise and did not appoint her to their court. The witch was outraged, and swore that she would have revenge. The king ordered her taken to the dungeons and held prisoner until he could decide how to deal with her."

"The imprisoned witch had decided that she would enact revenge. In her cell, she conjured a curse to place upon the king and queen. When she next saw them, she ignited her horn in a sickly green glow and cast her curse."

"Immediately, the love the couple had for each other and their subjects was gone, sucked out by the witch and used to fuel the dark magic she was weaving. Green fire surrounded the couple, and when it settled, they were forever transformed."

"Their new forms were based on their individual passions. The king studied insects as a hobby and had an extensive collection of different species from across the world. The queen was a gifted actress and capable of stepping into any role that you could think of."

"The new bodies had many insect-like traits, from gossamer wings, to compound eyes, to chitin-like skin. They also bore fangs in a reflection of their new predatory nature, and their magic would allow them to transform their bodies into any creature that they saw fit to transform into."

"When the curse was finished, it then left its mark. From the legs of the king and queen sprouted large holes, some so big that a foal could stick their own hoof the whole way through."

"The witch cackled maniacally and told the king and queen that they would be forever cursed, as would their progeny. They would be nothing but a parasite to ponies and would need to feed on the love inside the their subjects. Their actions would cause them to be cast out and shunned, and when that happened, they would have to find a new home, far away from ponies or any other creatures, yet close enough that they could prey upon them. With a flash of magic and a cackle of laughter, she vanished and left the king and queen to their fates."

Celestia and Luna looked quite shocked to learn of this story, with Luna in particular appearing rather mortified. "Does your legend not mention the names of this king and queen?"

The king shook his head. "No, it does not" he replied. "All that is known is that sometime shortly thereafter, the king and queen were consumed by the need to satisfy their hunger and began to feed upon their subjects. Their subjects, who had once showered them with love and adoration, shunned them and cast them out of their kingdom."

"They eventually found a place in a fertile valley to make the first changeling hive. From there, they had daughters and sons, and the first hives were born from those children, and all of them born with the ravenous hunger for love that plagues changeling kind to this day."

"A tragic story" Celestia laments. "If this is the true origin of the changelings, then perhaps our mages could perform the necessary research to help your kind overcome this curse."

"Perhaps," the king muses, "but as with all the legends surrounding our creation, we can't be certain which one is correct. I would hate to waste any effort your subjects could provide in that matter."

"Any effort put towards an actual solution to this problem would not be wasted" Luna counters.

"True," Apidae agrees, "but I would still hate all the effort to be for nothing."

Celestia and Luna both take sips from their tea. After refilling their cups, Luna decides to ask the next question.

"You said that the last queen before you retired due to her health" the lunar princess begins. "What can you tell us about her?"

Apidae takes a sip from his cup and sets it back down. "Ah yes, Queen Vespa. She was a strong queen. None in the hive dared to oppose her. For five hundred years she held her crown, but her body was not quite as strong as her will."

"It was about five or so years before I was named her successor that she began to exhibit some unusual symptoms. Very fatigued, sore joints, constant shortness of breath and tremors in the wing muscles; it looked like she was always preparing to take off and on a few occasions, she actually lifted off from the ground against her own will."

"Our medical drones at the time had no term for it, but described it as an inability to properly process magic in the body. It isn't life threatening, fortunately, but there's no real way to fix the problem. However, eliminating stressors is the best course of action, so after an episode where the queen nearly flew straight up into the sun, she called for the succession chamber to be prepared, and I was the one named during her session within it."

"What does your queen think of your plan for peace?" Celestia asks.

"Admittedly, she was against it initially; she thought similarly to how almost all changelings do in regards to other creatures. After I asked her to reflect on it, she eventually came around to the idea."

"I suppose I have the incident with the dragons to thank for that. Had it not happened and demonstrated the potential for a peaceful coexistence to work, she likely would have called for my usurpation."

"Would that be possible?" Luna asks.

"Most definitely" the king responds. "Remember how I said that the law of the hive is most often the will of the drones in the hive? Well, they choose who to follow and who not to. If she had went ahead and moved to have me ousted, she would only need the support of about sixty percent of all the drones to do so."

"What finally convinced her to come around to the idea of mutual coexistence?" Celestia asks.

"For the most part, a lot of contemplative thought" Apidae replies. "Once I had shown her some of the evidence that I had collected over the years, it was hard for her to deny that cooperation worked far better than trying to conquer or enslave. She may not have always had the warmest of feelings as a queen, but she was always a pragmatist. Once I got her past herself, it wasn't hard to convince her of most of my decision."

"Most of your decision?" Luna questions.

"As I said earlier," Apidae begins explaining, "there are laws that govern all changeling hives. One of those is called 'The Masquerade Protocol'. It basically means that whenever we interact with other species, our true identity must always be concealed. Secrecy is paramount to the actions of changeling hives. Actions that I don't believe I need to elaborate on."

The two sisters contemplate what they've been told. They have heard a great deal about the changeling's supposed origins, but only know a little about the actual king. This, combined with memories of watching the first film reel, leads Celestia to ask a more personal question.

"Please, tell us about Hera."

The king looks up from his cup of tea. "Of course" he responds as he sets his cup down. "She was a drone that I was infatuated with some years ago, as she was with me. We had a connection that few share, even among your subjects. It was a kinship unlike any other I've had before, and may never experience again."

"She was one of the first drones to study abroad, attending schooling for jewelry making under the guise of a mare named Silver Bracer. She quickly gained her degree and came back to the hive with a goal to educate other changelings that wanted to become jewelers. My crown was actually her final project, which she earned top marks on."

As the king tells the last part of the story, his hoof reaches up to rub the ornate crown atop his head. Both Celestia and Luna notice a smile upon his face. It's the same kind of warm, yet bittersweet smile ponies often have when thinking about loved ones that have passed on.

"If you don't mind our asking," Luna interjects, "what happened to Hera?"

The king removes his hoof from his crown and takes a breath. "Her profession involved working with some dangerous materials from time to time. After some time, I took notice to strange spots on her chitin, and after some prodding, she eventually agreed to be checked by our medical drones. When they finished, they greeted me with very somber news. Hera had anthrax."

Celestia and Luna both gasped. At one point in Equestria's history, anthrax was a very serious disease. Had it not been for the efforts of a medical pony named Yellow Silk, the disease would've harmed far more ponies than it already had.

"By the time she was diagnosed," Apidae continues, "it was already too late. Because of how little was known about the disease affecting our kind, Hera volunteered to be monitored. She believed that her death should not be for nothing, and spent the rest of her life in our medical sub hive."

"I visited her every day, and she was happy to see me, but it pained me to see her suffering as she did. I had the thought to take her as a queen and ascend her to royalty, but the doctors told me that the bacteria that cause anthrax could affect me just the same as it affected Hera, so I would not be doing anything that would actually save her."

"Though I didn't actually ascend her, I still consider Hera to be my queen, and I made it official only a day or so before her death. It was the last kind gesture I did for her, besides being beside her in her final moments."

At that last remark, Apidae bows his head. Celestia and Luna stay silent for a few moments out of respect. They may never have met Hera, but they could tell that she had a profound effect on the king.

"We're sorry to make you revisit such unpleasant memories" Celestia offers.

Apidae raises his head and waves a hoof at her. "It's quite alright" he responds. "I've shed more than enough tears for her, and she wouldn't want me moping around when I could be doing something positive."

"Did she know of your plans to seek out peace?" Luna asks.

"She did," Apidae answers, "and she agreed with them. Her time spent studying had shown her what we could become with cooperation. In fact, she had thought once about revealing herself to some classmates she shared a close bond with, but I talked her out of it. I may have been planning to seek out ponies to establish peace and reveal my kind to the world, but I certainly did not wish to see her punished for embracing my ideas before I was ready to act on them."

"Speaking of your ideas," Celestia interjects, "I must wonder what will happen should we move forward with this. From what I understand, there will be opposition from other changeling hives to your revealing of your kind and seeking out peace. What I would like to know, are there any other changeling hives that might agree with your viewpoint and agree to peace if we offer it?"

Apidae thinks for a moment before he gives an answer. "I can't see every single hive being on board with my decision to reveal ourselves to the world, at least initially. However, there is one that I am fairly certain will be at the very least open to the idea."

"And this would be?" Luna prods.

"The hive of Queen Carnation" Apidae answers. "I must ask you not to make me reveal her hive's location. Besides possibly putting ponies in danger-"

"Putting ponies in danger?!" Celestia says with alarm.

"If I tell you where her hive is and you seek her out, she may choose to take and hold hostages for fear of an attack" Apidea explains. "As I was saying, besides the danger she may inflict on your subjects, it is also against our laws to reveal the location of another hive to non-changelings, and since that law hasn't been broken previously, I do not intend on breaking that one yet."

"Then how would you propose approaching her without putting our subjects in harm's way?" Celestia asks.

"The best solution would be to address her by name in a newspaper" Apidae suggests. "It's likely to catch the eye of one of her infiltrators and will get back to her sooner instead of later. I wouldn't just recommend calling her out in some kind of announcement; she would likely think you are aware of her hive's location and, as I said before, would take steps to defend it."

Celestia gives what King Apidae has told her some thought and agrees. Her goal is to establish peace, not cause a panic or create a hostile situation. While she was unsure of his idea, she could definitely see his point about approaching the situation with a healthy amount of tact.

"What makes you certain this Queen Carnation would be the best chance at Equestria making peace with another hive?" Luna asks.

The king finishes his tea and places his cup back down. "Carnation shares a similar viewpoint to mine. She sees you all as more than just a way for us to sustain ourselves. To that end, as long as the hive is never revealed, she allows her changelings to interact with ponies however they deem fit to do so. Of course, she demands that her subjects remain loyal to her and answer her when called upon."

"What do you mean by 'answer her call'?" Celestia asks.

"If you are ordered to return to the hive, then you must return, no questions asked" Apidae responds.

"That is our biggest difference. I respect the drones of my hive enough to understand that they have crafted lives for themselves and that my calling upon them for something trivial creates an unnecessary burden on them. Queen Carnation believes, as the other hive leaders do, that drones serve the hive first and foremost."

"And if that service means abducting a pony in their life that they've developed feelings for?" Luna suggests rather pointedly.

"Then that drone would have to obey that order, as much as it would pain them. However, if only in more recent times that I chose to, Queen Carnation has discontinued with abducting ponies to farm love from as well."

"I have stated that I am open to the discussion of compensatory acts as a means of making amends for mistakes made in the past by my hive, but I advise caution if you decide to approach that subject with Queen Carnation, should you succeed in making contact with her. I should think that she would try and justify her actions as necessary for her subject's survival."

Celestia and Luna consider this and agree. The whole point of these conversations was to try and establish a peace between Equestria and an adversary. Making a demand for compensation with one that was unwilling would easily derail any future talks to broker that peace.

Before any further questions can be asked, the drone known as Dionices taps Apidae on his side. The king leans his head down and she whispers into his ear. Hearing what she has to say, Apidae nuzzles with her and smiles. "Yes, I do believe that will be very helpful in these matters."

The interaction piques the interest of the royal sisters. "May we be privy to your conversation?" Celestia asks.

King Apidae smiles and nods. "Yes, you may" he answers. "Dionices has just proposed an excellent idea in regards to our previous discussion of compensating your kingdom for the wrongs committed in the past."

Luna raises an eyebrow. "And what would this 'excellent idea' be?"

The king grasps the tea pot in his magic and pours himself another cup. "She has brought to my attention that fact that you have several ponies in a nearby hospital that were drained completely of love and have been left in a very weak and apathetic state" the king points out.

"How would you like it if we showed you exactly how to heal them?"

Author's Notes:

And so, the lore dump is complete

I elected to add a good bit to this story, so I'll point out some interesting bits.

The changeling legend of the broken hearted queen was taken from the story The Advent of Applejack by Mister Friendly.

I also make my first linking of two stories together as Queen Carnation in this story is the same Queen Carnation mentioned in my Earth Day story Planting

And, of course, Sorrel King is inspired by Stephen King.

As for the lore, it took me a bit to decide how I wanted to flesh everything out. The haze ritual is obviously a reference to the oracles in Greek history and legend. They would have young virginal women do a lot of hallucinogens and interpret their mind trips as being able to see the future.

I don't think that I'm going to make the next chapter quite as long, but I can promise we will start hearing more from the king's entourage in the future, starting with Dionices.

7/15/22 - I cleaned up some stuff that I saw was wrong while rereading and some mistakes pointed out by swarm chaser

Healing, as Compensation

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Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both looked at the changeling king before them in a fair bit of shock. According to what he had just told them, his kind knew of a way to undo the effects of love being drained from ponies.

"You mean to tell us that you know of a way to heal the damaged caused by this Chrysalis and her subjects?" Celestia questioned.

Apidae took a moment to consider before giving her his answer. "We do. It's not an easy process to perform. In truth, Dionices knows more about the matter than I do, so I believe she would be the best of us to ask about that matter."

Apidae then turns to the drone. "Dionices, would you please explain the process to the princesses?" he asks her.

"Of course, your highness" she replies before clearing her throat and going into an explanation about the process of healing a creature that has been totally drained of love by a changeling.

"When changelings feed, it's not so much we're consuming the actual emotions themselves, but rather the energy tied to them. That's why those who are fed upon feel weak afterwards, but recover after some amount of time. The time usually is dependent on how much they are drained."

"When too much of that energy is taken, it can cause more harmful effects than just fatigue, as you have all seen. One of these effects is the overtaxing on the natural regenerative ability of a pony's body."

"To that end, we have developed a process that allows us to help restore a sufficient amount of love energy in the afflicted pony to a point where the ability to regenerate their own energy is no longer overtaxed."

Celestia was skeptical of what she was being told. "Exactly how does this process work?"

"Well, it's a fairly complex procedure to explain," Dionices answers, "especially for a creature that doesn't understand the fundamentals behind how our species' magic works. To simplify it as best I can, the general idea of the process is to take a portion of love energy from one creature and transfer it to another."

Luna looks sternly at Dionices. "You mean to tell me you feed on one creature to then feed it back into another?"

"...Not exactly" Dionices answers nervously. "The process is... finicky at best. In truth, we don't use it often because of disciplined feeding practices developed over the last two centuries of our king's rule. We still have the process documented and medical changelings such as myself are trained in how to perform it."

"A major problem with the process is the fact that the donor has to have strong feelings for the affected. For example, if an adult male pony was completely drained, we would need their mate or one of their offspring, as those ponies would have the strongest feelings for the affected."

Celestia nodded in understanding. "You said that this process was complex and finicky, but you also seem to have confidence that our pony physicians can learn to perform this procedure."

"It will take time before one of your doctors or medical ponies would be able to perform this procedure," Dionices informs Celestia, "but in truth, they may actually be able to perform it better than a medical changeling could."

This causes Celestia to raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Dionices proceeds to explain. She asks for three paper cups and a pitcher of water, which one of the castle servants provides. She then proceeds to fill one cup to almost full and then pours enough water in the second cup to just cover the bottom.

"Think of these cups as ponies" Dionices begins. "The full one is a normal pony, full of love. The second cup with barely any water in it is a pony that was completely drained of their love by a changeling."

Dionices then takes the third cup and a fork that had been set out for use with a cake. She stabs the bottom of the cup with the fork several times until the bottom is full of holes. "This cup," she emphasizes, "is a medical changeling about to perform the procedure I am willing to show your ponies."

Dionices takes the full cup and begins pouring it into the cup full of holes. Naturally, water starts running out the bottom, but the holes are small enough that the cup does get a volume of liquid into it. The changeling then stops pouring from the full cup, leaving it about half full, and then quickly pours what liquid remains in the hole-filled cup into the nearly empty cup, filling it about a third of the way.

"The victim," she says while holding up the nearly empty cup, "has received a portion of love from a donor, and with their emotional energy reserves not so heavily taxed, their bodies can heal much more quickly."

"I appreciate the demonstration of the procedure, if not the mess you made with the water" Celestia tells Dionices, who looks away nervously at the last part. "One thing I don't quite understand is why you think it's possible for us to perfect this procedure you have. After all, you said yourself that we do not have an understanding of the fundamentals of changeling magic."

"Well, it has to do with the reason it's finicky" Dionices explains. "You'll notice that the water that went into the cup with holes was leaking out the bottom. That represents the medical changeling unintentionally absorbing some of the love that is taken from the donating pony."

Luna looks rather harshly at Dionices. "Am I correct in assuming that, in order for you to perform this procedure, you must feed on a pony close to the victim?"

"Yes and no" Dionices answers. "We need to draw that energy, but it's not taken for feeding. The process used to draw the love out is done in reverse, with the affected pony being the target of said spell."

"As for what happens with the lost love? It gets absorbed by the changeling that is performing the procedure, but as I explained before, that is not intentional."

"Not intentional?!" Luna says in disbelief. "You just said that you draw out that energy as though you are feeding but actually are not, then you say that you unintentionally absorb some of the love you drain out in the transfer?!"

Taking notice of the lunar princess's rising anger, King Apidae elects to step in. "I apologize for Dionices' not quite tactful explanation of the restoration process, but she is correct in the fact that the transfer of love energy from one individual through an intermediary creature before going into another results in a portion of the energy being absorbed by the intermediary creature."

"I believe I understand now" Celestia chimes in. "Your bodies are constantly in need of love energy, so your body is absorbing it and processing it as you draw it out, regardless of whether this 'draining' is with actual intent to feed or not. Is that correct?"

Apidae nods. "Yes, that is what I am getting at."

"Then the reason we can perfect the spell is because our bodies don't require us to feed on love energy. Theoretically, we could do this procedure without love lost in the transfer."

Again, Apidae nods in confirmation.

"One other thing I must ask" Celestia says before she takes a sip of tea. "Why do you require a subject that has strong feelings for the affected?"

"When the process was first performed a few times," the king explains, "it was quickly discovered that using any pony would risk them becoming nearly as drained as the pony being restored. The only instances where this didn't happen were in cases where the ponies shared some kind of strong, love-based bond, like a husband and wife for an example."

Hearing the proper explanation, Luna eases up some from her previous mood. "I must apologize for my accusation" she says the the gathered changelings. "Hearing the particulars of this procedure, it made me think of what has happened to those of our subjects who were put into that unfortunate state. Finding out the only way to help them was to have more of our subjects be subjected to the same thing that caused the harm to the original victims in the first place is a fair bit jarring."

"Understandable," Dionices begins speaking, "and I apologize for my less than satisfactory explanation. In the future, I'll try to word it in a way that is less offensive for your subjects."

"That notion is appreciated," Celestia replies, "but I fear there may not be a way to word it that does not cause negative feelings in our subjects. Nevertheless, we shall work on this together."

The king raises an eyebrow. "So am I to understand that you accept our offer to provide you this spell and training to use it as a form of compensation for wrongs carried out against your subjects in the past by my subjects, with some of those wrongs being carried out on my orders?"

Celestia nods. "There will be more demanded of your kind, I must admit, but this will be a good foundation for us to start structuring a proper peace treaty between our two species."

Apidae smiles. "Then it shall be so. The Dragonlands Hive will educate Equestrian physicians on the technique of restoring a victim of excessive love draining as an act of compensation for past wrongs the former has committed against the latter."

"Are we in agreement, sister?" Celestia asks Luna.

"We are" Luna responds, then turns to Apidae. "Equestria accepts the proposal of the Dragonlands Hive."

"Excellent!" Apidae proclaims as he finishes his tea and places the cup back onto the saucer. The king then lets his smile fall a bit as he elects to move onto the next order of business.

"Now then, I believe we also wanted to discuss another issue that I would like considered as an act of recompense: Capturing Queen Chrysalis."

The Hunt for the Changeling Queen

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Princess Celestia and Luna both sat with rapt attention. The discussion was steering towards one that their new nephew and captain of their royal guard would want to be privy to. The royal sisters looked at King Apidae expectantly.

"I can tell by body language alone that this is a topic you have a great deal of interest in," he says to them , "and to clarify now, I too wish to see her brought to justice for the horrible things she's done, but there is a request I must make of you before I can offer my assistance."

Celestia quirked a brow. "And what is this request that you wish to make?"

"When she is captured," he continues, "and the time comes for her and her hive to stand trial for their crimes, please do not punish the drones as harshly as her."

"And why should they not receive punishment?" Luna questions.

"I understand fully that the drones should not be considered without fault," the king concedes, "but you must understand that, as I've said before, the drones of other changeling hives don't have the level of freedom that I grant to my subjects. When they are given an order, it must be followed, regardless of their personal reservations."

"You mean, the changeling drones for this Queen Chrysalis wouldn't have attacked of their own free will?" Celestia asked him.

Apidae adopted a nervous smile. "I won't say they all wouldn't have," he admits, "but the odds are fairly good that the majority would've avoided the incident from a month ago if they could have. I guess the best way for me to say it is that you should listen to the testimony of the individual changeling before making a judgment on the matter."

Celestia and Luna digest this information and request. They have heard of many times in history where the right hoof ponies of tyrants were put on trial and claimed that they were forced to act in the horrible way they did. In fact, they had been witness to some of them.

The solar princess turns to face her sister with a wing raised to keep their conversation as private as possible. "What do you think, sister?" she asks.

"I don't expect that the changeling drones of Queen Chrysalis's hive would be too remorseful of their actions," Luna replies, "but I suppose that it would only be fair that they have the chance to speak their peace before we pass a final judgment on them."

Celestia nods her head, a wordless agreement with her sister's viewpoint. She lowers her wing and faces King Apidae.

"We shall honor the request you have made" Celestia informs him. "However, since it is pretty much a second nature for changelings to lie, perhaps you can recommend a way for us to discern whether what they tell us is truthful or not?"

Apidae thinks on this for a moment before another one of his drones offers a solution.

"With your permission, we could offer you the services of a drone to help you in that matter."

The changeling was the one named Socrates. His voice was rather baritone, but not comically so. Apidae looked at him for a moment and then had a small smile.

"Why yes, that would be the simplest solution" he decides. "Thank you for that suggestion Socrates."

"It is my pleasure, my king" the drone responds.

Celestia and Luna both look to each other with a little bit of nerves.

"I understand there is a need to build a certain amount of trust between our subjects," Celestia begins, "but I don't believe that my subjects will trust a changeling drone to be truthful in a situation where it is being asked to inform us that another changeling drone is lying."

"I agree with my sister" Luna chimes in. "While we all desire to establish peace, this offer of assistance in this regard could be viewed as a deception in order to make us drop our guard and be open for another nefarious act like what happened a month ago. We very much appreciate your suggestion in that matter, but I believe that we should attempt to devise another solution that will be equally as effective and also not fan the flames of fear in our subjects further than what they already have been."

Apidae and Socrates both look at the two sisters, then to each other, and then back to the two sisters. "You raise a valid point" the king concedes. "There is another method that we can suggest, but we don't often like to use it. In truth, it might be even more untrustworthy than allowing a drone to act as a detector of lies for you."

Celestia quirks an eyebrow. "And what would this other method be?"

The king seems apprehensive for a moment before Socrates decides to answer for him.

"A hypnosis spell," he tells the sisters, "but not just any old hypnosis spell. The one you would need to use would be almost, if not completely identical to the one that was used on your captain of the guard prior to his wedding to your Princess Cadance."

Upon hearing this, Celestia and Luna both grow quite nervous. Allowing the use of the same spell that was responsible for helping Queen Chrysalis dupe the pony they placed in charge of their whole royal guard would not be viewed favorably. Worse yet is the fact that everypony in Equestria now knows of the spell and the signs to look for to know if the pony they are talking to is under the influence of that spell. It's a situation that could cause even greater pandemonium than allowing a drone to tell them if another is lying.

"This has clearly become a rather... complicated matter" Celestia concludes. "Are there any methods you could show our ponies that would not be so quickly judged as nothing more than acts of deception?"

Socrates shakes his head rather somberly. "I'm afraid that we don't have any solution that won't cause possible ire in your subjects" he answers. "Those two options are the best that we can give you, and the offer of the drone serving you during the trial against the hive is the one most likely to be accepted."

"How would a drone serving under us be viewed as more acceptable than teaching us a spell?" Luna asks.

Socrates takes a sip of his tea before he answers. "Well, to begin with, your mages are going to want to go over the spell with a fine tooth comb to make sure we haven't done something to cause it to deliberately backfire. This alone is a process that will take a fair amount of time. Besides that, there's also the fact that the spell is the same one the queen used, and will likely be very vocally opposed by your ponies, and even more specifically, your guard captain."

Celestia and Luna both concede on these points. Their mages were the best unicorns that could be trained, with all of them having their special talents in the fields of arcane sciences. With that said, spell analysis was something that always took a fair bit of time. Ponies would want justice enacted as soon as possible, and wouldn't want to wait for a unicorn mage to tell them the spell was okay and safe to use.

Then there was another elephant in the room that they had been trying to avoid for some time: Captain Shining Armor. The unicorn was currently away on a honeymoon with Princess Cadance, but would be returning soon to resume his post. When he came back, they would have to inform him of this meeting, and make sure he didn't do anything rash, such as attempting to capture or kill any of King Apidae's subjects.

Apidae takes notice of their nerves. "Is there something troubling you?"

Celestia nods. "It has occurred to my sister and I that we have not informed our guard captain of this meeting. We will have to do so when he returns from his honeymoon. I can only think that his opinion on our decision regarding our meeting with you will be... decidedly negative."

"You mean you fear he will do something rash?" the king deduced.

Celestia gave a simple nod.

"Well, overcoming negative publicity will be a large obstacle for us to overcome," King Apidae declared, "and overcoming our worst critics will be the most significant challenge. That is why I have brought Socrates along with me today, as he has, like I stated earlier, earned several degrees here in Canterlot under the identity Honey Gold. One of those degrees was in political science."

"Yes, I remember those classes quite well" Socrates chimes in. "Professor Filibuster was quite dull to listen to, but he did relay the information in an easy to understand fashion. Had I had a different teacher, I may not have learned enough to pass that course."

Celestia blinked for a few seconds before she responded. "You were a student of Professor Filibuster?"

Socrates nodded. "One of his last before he retired. I hope it won't be too much trouble, but I would appreciate getting to meet with him before we left Canterlot. I do owe a great deal to him for inspiring a lot of the ideas that we've implemented in improving the function of our hive."

Celestia considers the request for a moment before nodding. "I think that that request is something we can grant. Of course, you'll need to look like Honey Gold and will also have to withhold the fact that, not only are you a changeling, but that you're here with your king as an adviser on a very important matter."

"Yes, I can respect those terms" Socrates agrees. "Now, I believe we have gotten a touch off topic. We were discussing how to bring Queen Chrysalis to justice, but veered off onto the tangent of how to deal with Captain Shining Armor's reaction to this meeting. As for the latter, I do believe the best solution for that would be to arrange for a meeting between all of us and Captain Shining Armor, as well as the royal guard placed in charge of the guard when the captain left for his honeymoon."

"Normally, I would agree," Luna chimes in, "but given what has happened to our guard captain at his wedding, an in person meeting may not be the best course of action. However, perhaps the captain would not be so opposed to the notion of written correspondence. That may be the avenue to take."

Both Socrates and Apidae consider Princess Luna's solution for a moment before agreeing. "That is a fair idea" the king responds. "However, I would like for you to present this to Captain Shining Armor when you believe it would be the best time to do so."

King Apidae then makes a gesture to the changeling named Andromeda. The changeling mare nods and goes into the king's saddlebags again, this time producing a film reel. The producing of the film reel causes the two sisters to jump nervously. The king looks at the film reel for a second and then smacks his face with a hoof.

"I do apologize again" he tells the two sisters. "The film reel was wrapped up in my vest in order to protect the film from harm. When I lifted it out earlier, I hadn't even noticed the weight in comparison to my garments."

Celestia and Luna continued to stare at the changeling king for a few more moments before they eventually calmed down. Once appropriately calmed down, Celestia gave King Apidae a very stern look. "Your highness," she begins, "I do not appreciate that things have been slipping your mind in regards to this meeting. As a ruler of an entire nation, I sympathize with the fact that we have so many things going on at any one time that we tend to overlook small details, or details we perceive as being small. However, you've come forward claiming a desire of peace when another member of your race has committed what amounts to an act of war, and while it is unfair to place any blame or develop some form of prejudiced viewpoint, the fact of the matter is that that attack is the only interaction our nation has had with your race, and it will continue to fuel that viewpoint until we have been shown enough examples that that attack upon our people was an exception to the rule and not the rule itself."

"So, I must ask you now, and please think very hard about your answer. Are there any more items you have that you intend to present to us in those saddlebags?"

King Apidae and the quartet of changeling drones sit on the other side of the table quietly. While his assistants nervously look at each other, the king rubs his head in embarrassment. Eventually, he answers the sun princess's question.

"There is nothing else in the saddlebags," he begins, "but we have some other items we wished to present to you once we had fully hashed out a formal peace agreement between our subjects."

"What other items?" Luna asks rather pointedly.

"Other miscellaneous gifts" the king answers. "Examples of work from our artisans, a few tomes from the earlier days of our hive, and some photographs from important moments in our history."

"Nothing of a military nature, I presume?" Luna continues. "No weapons or anything of that sort?"

The king shakes his head. "No, nothing of that sort. If I had anything such as that to give, I would have given you fair warning. I know that my lapses in judgment and memory have caused unnecessary tension, but I assure you there is no malicious intent behind them."

Celestia and Luna look to each other for a few more moments before they calm down again. "Very well," Celestia says to the king, "we accept what you are telling us now is the truth. However, if you have lied to us, or have another lapse in judgment, then we will not hesitate to act as though you have hostile intentions towards our subjects. We will not have a repeat of the incident from a month ago, even if I have to give my life to prevent it."

"And so shall I if it is deemed necessary" Luna adds.

The king looks to the two rulers in shock. The drones look between him and the two princesses with nervous looks, wondering if they will have to fight the two strongest ponies that currently live. Eventually, the king nods to the princesses.

"I must apologize to you for my conduct. It is not befitting of a king, and I must also ask that anything you feel you should do, do unto me and not my drones."

"Your highness" Andromeda says to her king.

"It is alright, Meda" he responds. "I have made the mistake, and I shall face the consequence for it."

Celestia and Luna look at each other again. Celestia lets out a breath and looks back at the king. "I apologize for my reaction, but I must insist that you try to remember everything to do with this meeting. While we confess to lapses in judgment of our own, we have done our best to ensure that they don't endanger our talks of peace."

A huff sounds from the only drone yet to speak: Nero. The changeling drone is the only one who bears a resemblance to the ones who attacked the city a month ago, but still is closer in color to King Apidae than the drones of Queen Chrysalis.

"Might we ask why our comments are unbelievable to you?" Luna asks rather pointedly.

Nero glares a bit at Luna before answering her question. "I often hear from drones about how peaceful Equestria is, but I know that ponies have not always been that way. The founding of Equestria and the strife between the three tribes, the reign of Discord, and not to mention your own hostile actions against your subjects."

Upon hearing that accusation, Luna became rather sheepish; being reminded of her past wrongdoings was still a rather sore subject for her. Celestia was about to say something in her sister's defense when King Apidae shot Nero a strong glare.

"THAT," he says with a sharp voice, "was entirely uncalled for Nero! You will apologize to the princess, NOW!"

Nero flinched under his king's gaze. He then looked back to Princess Luna and bowed his head.

"My apologies, your highness" he says to Luna. "I still have great difficulty in adapting to the new ways that my king wishes for us to follow. I ask that you would please forgive me."

Luna sits there and considers the changeling's words for a moment before speaking. "I shall forgive you," she replies, "but I must confess that being reminded of my actions from long ago still wound me greatly."

Nero doesn't move, nor make any noise. King Apidae takes advantage of the situation to try and set things back on track.

"I again apologize for everything that has transpired in the past few minutes, both in my mistakes and my subordinate's lapse in judgment. However, I would like to try and return us to more positive and constructive avenues of discussion."

"Yes" Celestia agrees. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Now, what is this film reel you wish to give our guard captain?"

King Apidae offers the film reel to the princesses, with Luna taking it in her own magic. "It is a plea for peace, and an effort at understanding between my hive and himself. Princess Cadance may also have an interest in watching this as well."

Luna examines the film in her magic before offering it to Celestia. After looking over it herself, the princess responds to the king. "This film may not accomplish your intended goals," she cautions, "but I will show it to him none the less."

"That is all I can ask" the king replies. "Now, I believe we were discussing ideas on how to capture Queen Chrysalis and bring her to justice?"

"We were" Luna confirms. "At current, we have squads of guards combing over every part of the southern half of Equestria in search of her hive."

"That won't do you any good" the king interrupts. "In changeling hives, the first order of business in regards to being discovered is security. If it's feasible to detain the ones who discovered the hive, then they are detained. If it's not, then the entire hive is moved."

"What exactly do you mean by 'detained' and 'the hive is moved'?" Luna asks rather sternly.

"In the first matter," the king begins, "the creature who discovered the hive is captured and brought before the ruler to have their fate decided. Usually, it was decided they would be added to the... food supply. However, there are occasions where it is considered more favorable for them to return, so they are given a memory potion that knocks them out and blanks their memories going back to a specific point."

"As for the moving of the hive? Well, that's quite literal. Every changeling packs up their belongings and all other important information and prepares to evacuate. Once every changeling is outside of the hive itself, the ruler casts a spell and the entire thing collapses on itself."

Celestria and Luna digest this information and what it could mean. "So what you're saying is..."

"Either your guards will be put into danger, or they are on what would amount to a wild goose chase. Granted, they might capture one of the drones, but it is highly doubtful that they would divulge any useful information."

"That is... unfortunate" Celestia responds after a moment. "At the moment, it is imperative that we find and bring Queen Chrysalis and her hive to justice. I fear that if she remains free, she will use her drones in a more effective manner and attempt another invasion."

The king nods. "That is very true, and unfortunately, also very likely. I was going to introduce Nero at this point, but he has saved me that trouble. I shall turn the topic of discussion over to him so he can provide you with the information about what our hive can offer to help aid you in her hive's capture."

Nero gives a nod to the king and then stands up. "My apologies, but if I may be provided a blackboard and some chalk?"

Celestia nods and ignites her horn. Almost immediately, a blackboard appears next the the changeling, along with a box of white chalk. Nero moves the board so that everyone sitting at the table can see it. Once he is satisfied with its placement, he then opens the box and removes a piece of chalk.

"Before the attempt to invade your city," Nero begins while writing numbers, "we had estimated Queen Chrysalis to have approximately five thousand total drones capable of combat. In the time since, we can only guess as to how many she has lost for one reason or another."

"We also know that she had approved an increase in breeding some time ago, and it is presumed that her hive nursery has almost as many nymphs in it as drones. That would make for a total population for her hive as somewhere between ten and twelve thousand."

Celestia and Luna blanch at the numbers. "There is quite an amount of gap between ten and twelve thousand" Luna points out.

"Unfortunately, that is the most accurate figure we can provide" Nero admits. "It is much harder to spy on other changelings that it is to spy on other creatures."

"With all of this information," Nero continues, now drawing a crude map, "we can surmise that Queen Chrysalis and her drones would have a difficult time moving their hive, and after the failure to invade your city, they will be looking to move it if they already haven't. In order for there to be an effective move, a new location has to be scouted so that drones can move quickly and begin setting up the new hive."

"As for where the hive would be located, there are several criteria that need to be filled before a location is selected. First, it needs to be close to a food source, but far enough away that no other creatures take notice of it. Second, it must be in a warm climate; we don't quite have the body heat regulating qualities of other species, even though we can survive for a time in the cold. Finally, there must also be enough ambient magic in the area to sustain the protective wards that would be placed onto the hive, so total deserts are out of the question."

"With all of that information in mind, I can deduce a few locations where Queen Chrysalis may have moved, or is planning to move her hive to."

Nero finishes drawing the map, which the princesses recognize as being parts of southern and western Equestria.

"I thought you said deserts were out of the question?" Celestia said in confusion.

"Arid deserts are not practicable" Nero clarifies. "A desert that still has enough water to sustain some life is feasible, though difficult."

Nero takes the chalk and marks three different spots on the map with an X. The princesses immediately recognize the locations as being near major cities.

One is outside Las Pegasus.

Another is outside Appleloosa.

The last is near Ponyville, and placed inside the Everfree Forest, quite close to the castle that the sisters once used as the capital of the whole nation.

Nero turns to face the princesses. "I'm sure you recognize the locations, so I won't point them out. I will say that, of the three, Ponyville and the Everfree Forest look like the best bet. The forest provides both an ample amount of ambient magic and a proximity to ponies to allow their use as an effective food source."

Celestia and Luna once again look uncomfortable about their subjects being referred to as food. Nero sees this and apologizes.

"Besides the two reasons I just listed, the Everfree also provides the hive with defenses that require no effort to be expended on their part. With the correct defensive wards, most immediate dangers could be kept away from the hive, meaning there would be less need for security patrols, which means more changelings available for scouting missions."

Celestia and Luna digest the information just given to them. Being the more military minded of the two sisters, Luna asks the first question.

"You are confident that this is the most likely place for Queen Chrysalis to move her hive?"

Nero nods. "For all the reasons I listed, I strongly believe that the Everfree Forest would be the most ideal location for Queen Chrysalis and her subjects."

"What of the other two locations?" Celestia asks.

"I'm sure you've noticed that the other two locations are just outside the city of Las Pegasus and the town of Appleloosa" Nero replies. "That would provide the hive with adequate food source, and the areas around those cities are less than hospitable, which would keep other creatures from wanting to wander too close to the area around the hive."

"While they are viable options, I still feel that Queen Chrysalis would move her hive to the Everfree Forest to take advantage of the ambient magic and natural defenses. In truth, I wouldn't be surprised if she used the Castle of the Two Sisters as a temporary hive while her drones complete construction of the new hive."

Celestia and Luna consider the information and agree. The information Nero provided them made sense. The Everfree was a wild place that few dared to venture into. For a race of creatures who rely so heavily on secrecy, it would be an ideal place for them to make a home.

That last thought raised a question in Princess Celestia's mind.

"If the Everfree Forest is such an ideal location for a hive, then why isn't there one there now?"

Nero takes the chalk and points to a familiar landmark near the forest: Ghastly Gorge.

"There was one, and it was right here."

Celestia and Luna both looked shocked to learn that information.

"What happened to it?" Luna asked.

"Discord" Nero answered. "The hive was destroyed by his magic."

Both sisters looked somberly at each other. The god of chaos was one of the most vile creatures to grace the surface of Equestria. For as much as they didn't care for the hostile acts of the changelings, they still didn't wish harm upon other creatures.

After a moment, another thought occurred to Celestia. "This wasn't the hive of the same queen your king spoke of earlier, is it?"

"It is not" Nero responds. "This hive was led by Queen Widow. She sacrificed herself so her son, King Redback, could establish a new hive elsewhere."

"Then she died a noble death, protecting her people" Luna observed.

"And she is a part of the songs sung by her people" King Apidae adds. "Now, Nero, if you would be so kind as to inform the princesses of your strategies for locating Queen Chrysalis and her rogue agents?"

"Of course, your higness" Nero replies before once again writing some things on the chalkboard. The first thing he writes is a simple word: reconnaissance.

"The biggest tool that will help us locate Queen Chrysalis is, quite obviously, our ability to alter our forms. With it, we can become something as inconspicuous as a bird or squirrel. We could even have sentries posted as flowers and rocks and nopony would be the wiser."

"Next to reconnaissance, tracking will be the next greatest asset. We have already ascertained the location of one of Queen Chrysalis's old hive sites, so once we gather some information from that area, we will begin deducing where her current hive is located, or at least where it was previously standing."

"Her old hive location?" Luna asks.

"Yes" Nero responds. "Though most obvious evidence of her hive has been erased by time, there are still some parts that remain. In truth, your ponies have probably come across a few old hive sites by accident. A civilization that left behind only strange underground tunnels and no other artifacts?"

Celestia went wide-eyed at that remark. She could recall at least three occasions within the last century where ponies from various universities across Equestria had encountered such a site. To have an answer as to what they truly were now was going to do a lot in regards to the fields of archaeology and anthropology.

"I've taken notice that none of your plans seem to directly involve us" Luna continues. "Are there any measures that you can suggest we take to make headway in our own endeavors?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot" Nero replies. "As good as your own ponies may become at tracking, there is simply one thing they cannot do at this point in time: suppress their emotions. Being as quiet and still as possible will aid them greatly, but at the end of the day, they'll be sussed out and either avoided or captured because they are creatures that emit emotional energy."

"However, if I were to advise you to calling off your efforts, it would tip off Chrysalis and she would either move her hive elsewhere, or accelerate the speed of her move to whatever location she has selected."

"Could that not be a benefit?" Celestia questioned. "If she were made to move faster than she would like, it could cause her to make a mistake and give either one of our sides an opportunity to capture her and her hive."

"That is true," Nero concedes, "but if she makes a mistake and gets backed into a corner, she will defend herself by any means necessary. Plus, as soon as she would realize that her efforts to relocate her hive were jeopardized, her first order of business would be to activate her anti-thaumic throne."

"Anti-thaumic?" Luna questions.

Nero nods in response. "Every changeling hive relies on defensive wards to protect itself from attack. The most common one is the anti-thaumic throne. As long as the throne itself stays intact, a creature that uses magic will be unable to use it if they get close enough to the throne."

"So if a creature were able to destroy the throne, it would negate that ward?" Celestia deduces.

"Yes," Nero confirms, "but the first order of business would for the hive as a whole will be finding a location to hide and protect the throne. Once they've done that, they'll go on the defensive and keep any creature that comes close from getting to the throne."

Celestia and Luna nodded in understanding. As much as they didn't like the idea of having to sit back and completely trust these changelings to locate Queen Chrysalis, they also had to concede that their efforts to locate her were fruitless, and that's after her guards had checked practically every square inch of Equestria and turned up nothing. Besides the fact that the changelings were so good at avoiding detection, the guards also had no idea what signs to look for that indicated a changeling presence. Their main tactic was literally to sneak around and hope to run into them; a very poor strategy, but also the only one they could really act on.

"We cannot assist in the search," Luna continues, "but what can we do once she's been located?"

Nero turns back to the chalk board and erases some of what he had written before. In its place, he draws a circle.

"Let's say that this circle would represent the location where Queen Chrysalis and her hive currently are. If we are lucky, we will still find them during their move, which is the time they would be most vulnerable."

"The best course of attack would be to cut off any escape routes. Ground troops should immediately move into a position to surround her and her forces, while anti-air measures should be taken."

"What anti-air measures would you suggest?" Celestia asked.

"At low-to-ground and low air altitudes, unicorns with stunning spells would be most effective, especially if they can cast them as an area of effect type of spell. This, of course, is dependent upon the throne remaining inactive."

"For higher altitudes, I would recommend pegasus combatants armed with stunning potions and stun powder bombs. I would normally recommend some type of artillery piece, but that would create a good deal of risk for you and your ponies."

"I can assure you that our soldiers are highly trained in effective use of artillery" Luna counters.

"I have no doubt of that," Nero continues, "but the bombardment would catch the attention of not just your ponies, but also any changeling hives that could be nearby. It would be similar to crushing a hornet outside of a hornet's nest. The workers will see you attacking changelings and report it to their ruler, and then the ruler will send out forces to either eliminate you or capture you as a new prey source."

Celestia and Luna both shudder at the terminology again, but Nero chooses to ignore it.

"You can mount an effective offensive against her hive," he assures the princesses, "but it's not something that can be thrown together at the last minute. That's why I am here: to offer you a sound battle strategy that can lead you to a victory and the capture of Queen Chrysalis."

"I agree that this is a sound battle strategy," Luna concedes, "but this is only for if Queen Chrysalis is still on the move. What plans do you have if she has already relocated her hive and set up her throne, or if she is still at the location of her old hive and has not yet made preparations to move?"

"Queen Chrysalis has most likely made the preparations to move and has already evacuated her hive" Nero responds. "It is possible that she has already found a suitable location for a hive and has set up her throne already, but it's not very likely. Aside from the fact that she hasn't had a realistically long enough time to do so, our scouts have not encountered any sign that indicates that a new hive has been established."

"Earlier you said that you could obtain information from an old changeling hive to deduce where the new one would be located" Celestia interjects. "Couldn't we all head to the last known location of her hive and go from there?"

Nero looks nervously at his king before Apidae clears his throat.

"As I have mentioned to you before," he begins, "Queen Chrysalis is wanted by all of the other changeling queens and kings for violating the laws set up between all changeling hives. As we speak, a cooperative delegation is being sent to last known location of her hive to either capture her there if she has not yet moved, or begin tracking her down if she has."

"Are you sure we cannot make an attempt at peaceful cooperation with these other hives?" Celestia asked. "We all have the same goal in mind of capturing Queen Chrysalis and bringing her to justice for her wrongdoings."

"I agree that the overall desire to see her punished for her wrongs is a shared viewpoint between Equestria and the changeling hives," Apidae concedes, "but the other queens and kings view changeling law as above pony law. They likely would choose not to cooperate with you. In fact, there are likely a few queens and kings who would see no problem with Queen Chrysalis's attack on Canterlot; their issue would be the fact that she chose to attack so openly. Plus, a cooperative effort that wouldn't result in Equestria being stabbed in the back is highly unlikely."

Celestia frowned at this observation. There were creatures out there that saw what Queen Chrysalis did as wrong, but only want her punished because she attacked her and her sister's subjects out in the open instead of using a stealthier method of attacking Canterlot.

"Moving on" Nero says in an effort to get the conversation back on topic. "If she has established a new hive and set up her throne, then you would have to resort to more conventional weapons to attack her hive."

"Such as?" Luna prods.

"Well, siege weapons, to put it bluntly" Nero replies. "Things such as trebuchets would be best; their range would allow their use by unicorns while outside the anti-thaumic field. If it were moved inside, an earth pony crew could take over if the device were properly set up."

"Catapults would also be a good option, but they would have to be smaller ones that would be most effective within the anti-thaumic field."

"What about something simpler?" Luna proposed. "Say, pegasi dropping large boulders from high altitude?"

Nero shook his head. "Another common enchantment would be durability. Catapults and trebuchets would have a higher rate of fire than pegasi flying high enough above the hive to avoid the anti-thaumic field to drop their payload. If it were advisable to use conventional weapons, I would suggest pegasi bombers to attack from above."

"Are you certain that there would be other changeling hives close by?" Celestia asked. "From what you've told us, it would sound like Queen Chrysalis would be keen to want to avoid either side of this matter."

"True," Nero conceded, "but she has to prioritize the needs of her subjects over things such as proximity to a hive that could be hostile towards her. Or at least she has to prioritize it now. More than likely, once she has established a hive, she will set up an aggressive perimeter in order to both defend the new hive and begin providing food for it."

A comment caught Princess Luna's attention. "What did you mean by 'she has to prioritize her subjects now?'"

King Apidae elects to respond. "There were a few drones from our hive in the city somewhat before the attack. They deduced rather quickly that the queen was there AND actively impersonating a member of Canterlot royalty. When they realized that, they understood that something major was about to happen and chose to leave the city. When my subjects contacted me with the news, I ordered one of them to provide you with some kind of warning."

"Yes," Celestia says in realization, "you did say that you tried to give us a warning."

"I did," King Apidae continues, "but a fat lot of good it did you specifically. Anyway, my subjects did manage to get close enough to the queen to deduce that her attack was not one in some desperate attempt to gain food for her subjects, but a power play meant to help her take over Equestria, and eventually all the other territories in Equus."

Celestia and Luna both felt their blood run cold at that observation. "If she had succeeded and taken over Equestria..."

"Then she would have enslaved the whole world" King Apidae finished. "Worse than that, she would have enough power to overthrow all of the other kings and queens, and would command every drone on this planet to do her bidding. You can see why her failure is a great relief not just to your subjects, but to my own and the ones of the other queens and kings."

There is silence for a few moments before Nero continues his presentation.

"I've pretty much given you all that I have for the moment. As for capturing the queen, the best course of action would be to incapacitate her with some form of electricity spell or a powerful knockout agent. I'd recommend..."

Nero pauses for a moment, then looks to his king. "Should I mention it to them?" he asks.

"You mean the contingency protocol?" Apidae responds, to which Nero nods. The king sits back and thinks for a moment, and then regards the princesses. After another moment, he nods. "You may. I believe we can trust them with this information."

"What information?" Celestia asks.

"Well," Nero continues, albeit hesitantly, "we can show you the recipe for a chemical agent that can be effectively used against changelings, based on pesticides your ponies have invented."

"The primary ingredient is a chemical from Chrysanthemum flowers called Pyrethrin. It's well known to cause paralysis in insects which leads to death, but a large quantity would be required to kill a changeling. Combining it with an aerosol delivery system would create a highly effective weapon against our kind."

Celestia and Luna both look to each other and nod. It was clear why Nero and King Apidae were not too enthusiastic about disclosing this information; they had effectively given the two sister a weapon to capture or completely eradicate their kind. It was also something they would need to take into consideration if the event that there would be a joint effort to capture Queen Chrysalis, as using the agent would affect King Apidae's subjects as well as Queen Chrysalis's.

"I thank you for divulging this information to us" Celestia says with a smile. "I understand your apprehension in disclosing it to us, but by doing so, you've shown the trust you have placed in us. It is only fair that we demonstrate that same level of trust to you."

"If you are willing, we are agreeable to working with changeling scouts in an effort to locate and capture Queen Chrysalis. While we will use the information you provided us to develop countermeasures against her hive, you have my solemn word that these weapons will only be used as a last resort in capturing Queen Chrysalis and her subjects. In the event that we would be required to use them, we will give you as best a warning as we can."

The king smiles and nods. "Then we are in agreement. As another act of compensation for wrongs committed by the dragon lands changeling hive against Equestria, we will provide the services of our military scouts to Equestria in a joint effort to locate and capture rogue queen Chrysalis and bring her to justice."

The king's smile falters as he adds one more detail.

"Before we can say the matter is concluded, there is one more thing I must address."

Celestia and Luna both pay close attention to the king as he prepares to speak again.

"Once we have captured her, it is very likely that the other changeling hives will learn of her capture, and will be spending every possible moment calculating a way to remove her from your custody so she can stand trial before the other kings and queens. If I might recommend, I believe that once she has been tried in your courts, an effort be made to turn her over to the changeling hives so she may stand trial there."

Both royal sisters look to each other with unease. "That will be difficult for us to do" Celestia answers.

"Yes, it shall be difficult" Luna concurs. "There are going to be ponies here in Canterlot that will be eagerly awaiting the verdict that Queen Chrysalis will be given the harshest possible sentence we can give her - banishment to Tartarus."

King Apidae nods somberly. "I understand. However, there will be attempts made as soon as the other hives learn of her capture. I do not mean to cause unease, but I would think that there are some changeling spies in your guard ranks."

That statement causes Celestia and Luna to, at first become rather surprised, then adopt a more aggressive demeanor, their wings splaying open. King Apidae raises his hoof.

"I do not believe they are there with malevolent intent" Apidae defends himself. "They are likely there to act as a set of eyes and ears. Despite their rather negative overall viewpoint of ponies, they are still curious about the important goings on in daily life. In fact, one of the queens is rather fond of the gossip columns in Manehattan."

While Princesses Celestia and Luna relax slightly, they still troubled to learn that there are likely spies in their midst. While they are not ignorant of the fact that Equestria has enemies, as confirmed by the wedding incident some time ago, they had not expected the changelings to plant spies among their ranks as quickly as they have.

"I am sorry for troubling you with that information" Apidae continues. "If you wish, I could have Nero single them out and advise them to return to their hives and inform their kings and queens that they have been compromised."

"Will these drones get into trouble if they return before they have completed whatever assignments they are on?" Celestia asks with curiosity.

"They shouldn't" Apidae replies. "More often than not, drones have their missions end early because their cover has been compromised. The ruler of the respective hive would simply assign them to another duty in the hive or mission outside of it."

"If it will not cause them trouble," Celestia responds, "then I would appreciate it if Nero would persuade them to leave."

King Apidae nods. "Very well. Nero, when we have concluded talks, I would like for you to stay behind with the princesses and help them single out any spies and persuade them to leave."

Apidae then turns back to the princesses. "I would appreciate it if Nero would be permitted to work without supervision. If the other spies thought that this confrontation were somehow motivated by ponies, it could prompt a negative reaction from them."

Celestia and Luna mull the matter over for a few moments before Celestia speaks again. "Might my sister and I be excused for a moment?"

The king nods. "Of course. Take what time you need."

"Thank you" Celestia says in response before both sisters raise a wing to have a private conversation.

"Sister," Luna starts off, "do you think this is a good idea? I understand that we are making an effort to demonstrate trust, but to allow a changeling to go among our guard without supervision? I do not think that is a great idea."

"Nor do I" Celestia agrees. "I do not think King Apidae is making a move to take advantage of our trust, but what he's asking of us is a bit more than I think we should allow. There needs to be some kind of a leash, so to speak."

"I agree" Luna responds. "Perhaps we can arrange for some kind of an escort? Something that doesn't look overly conspicuous?"

Celestia thinks on the idea for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Yes, an escort sounds like a good idea, and I believe I think I know how we can implement one."

"Oh?" Luna says in reaction.

"It occurs to me that we have not had a medical inspection recently" Celestia says simply, hoping her sister will understand.

The lunar princess is quick on the uptake and nods her agreement. "However," she adds, "I think we should ask Dionices to be the one to perform this task. She is the one with medical training, so her cover will be more feasible. The escort could stand outside the room where the 'examination' will take place."

Celestia nods. "You have read my mind, sister."

Luna smiles as she and Celestia both lower their wings.

"King Apidae," Celestia addresses the changeling, "I am afraid I cannot agree to allowing your advisor confront possible spies within the ranks of my guard without supervision. However, I have an idea that I feel is an adequate compromise."

The king looks disappointed at first, but then curious. "Please," he urges Celestia to continue, "let us hear this idea."

Celestia gives a nod to Luna. "Our soldiers have not had a medical inspection performed recently, and since one of your advisers has medical training, we suggest that Dionices be the one to carry out this task. It will allow us to have one of our guards nearby to act as an observer, yet gives her the latitude necessary to perform this task."

King Apidae considers this idea for a moment before nodding in agreement. "That is an adequate compromise. Nero, you will not be needed for this assignment. Dionices, you will work with whichever guard the princesses assign to you to help single out any spies from other hives and persuade them to leave."

Dionices nods. "Of course, your highness."

"Good" Apidae says in approval. "Now then, I believe we can make this completely official. The Dragon Lands Changeling Hive will assist Equestria in their efforts to find and capture Queen Chrysalis, as well as persuade any spies within the ranks of the royal guard to leave for their own hives."

"The proposal is accepted" Celestia announces.

"Very good" Apidae responds with clapped hooves. "Now then, if the matters of recompense are decided, I believe I would like to move on to the major reason I wished to meet with the two of you in the first place: peaceful existence between our subjects."

Author's Notes:

So we have an agreement on the search for Queen Chrysalis and how the Dragon Lands changelings will offer assistance. It was a little bit bumpy, but at least they have their goals and they way they intend to achieve them mapped out. The next chapter will get into how to help the changelings integrate into pony society, and also how to mitigate any kind of bigotry they may face (racist views among ponies are unavoidable, so something akin to laws that would prevent directly harming King Apidae's subjects would be the more practical goal).

Since this story will likely hit 1,000 reads after I post it, I would like to thank any and all readers now for helping it to achieve that mark. It makes me happy to know that so many people are reading my work.

EDIT 8/9/2022 - I fixed some spelling and grammar mistakes pointed out by swarm chaser.

To Get Ponies and Changelings to Get Along

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Princess Celestia and Luna looked at the changeling king after he announced which topic he wanted to address next. It was true that he voiced a desire for his subjects to peacefully integrate into pony society, but they also knew that what he desired would be difficult, especially so soon after the attempt to invade the city by another group of changelings.

"I suppose that is something that we should discuss" Celestia concedes.

King Apidae chuckles as he takes a sip of tea. Placing it back down he looks at her with a sad sort of smile.

"I know that what I wish to discuss is a topic that will be difficult," he admits, "but it is one that will be necessary for a future of peaceful coexistence. Please understand, my desire to discuss this is not just for my own hive, but for the other hives out there. If I can set the example and show that it is possible for our kinds to not only exist, but thrive together, it will bring about an end to a great deal of suffering."

"I understand your ultimate goal, King Apidae," Celestia replies, "but so soon after the attempt by this Queen Chrysalis to overthrow the rule of my sister and I, most of our subjects will not have a very strong desire to seek out a peaceful relation with changelings."

"That is why it is up to us to set a positive example" King Apidae responds.

"What kind of example are you referring to?" Luna asks, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

King Apidae took another sip of his tea. After he put it down, he looked at the princesses with a simple answer.

"A diplomat."

Both Celestia and Luna look confused. "A diplomat?" Celestia repeats to the king, who nods.

"The recent attack has given a very public and very negative image to changelings as a whole" he elaborates. "In order to counteract this, there is need of a representative of our kind to show that we are not out specifically to cause harm, and that the opinions and decisions of the world impact us just as greatly as they do the subjects of the rulers and elected leaders of the various countries that make up this world."

Celestia mulls over the idea before giving a nod. "A diplomat would be the best approach in this matter. However, we are still presented with the problem of our subjects not trusting changelings in general. For this to have the best possible chance at working, I believe that recognizing a diplomat from your hive would have to wait until after Queen Chrysalis has been captured."

Apidae gives a somber nod. "Yes, that would give this situation the best possible chance for success."

"Do you plan on reaching out to other kingdoms and territories?" Luna asks the king.

"Eventually" Apidae replies. "In truth, I was hoping that, after we establish peaceful relations here, we could make contact with the other kingdoms and territories and establish peace with them and having you all to vouch for us so that our offer has a greater legitimacy than it would otherwise."

"I see" Celestia says with a smile. "You're hoping for Equestria to something of a 'wing pony' for your hive?"

Apidae chuckles at the joke. "Not exactly," he responds, "but an advocate would most certainly not hurt."

Celestia smiles but it eventually fades as she moves the conversation along. "A diplomat will most certainly help with public image, but that will only go so far. For things to change in a more permanent fashion, your kind being visible on a regular basis will be the most critical part of your goal."

The king nods. "Yes, it will be. My subjects are spread all throughout this world, interacting and learning from the ponies, griffins, dragons and other creatures they meet. I fear the biggest obstacle currently will be the feelings of betrayal that will most probably be raised when we finally shed our public mask in the future."

Luna hums her agreement. "That is a valid point. Many of our subjects will learn that the ponies or other creatures they've been interacting with and making friends of have been the same kind that have carried out horrible atrocities against us since perhaps even before Equestria was founded."

"Sister!" Celestia scolds. "Tact!"

"It is alright" King Apidae responds while waving a hoof. "I wouldn't look at abductions of and subterfuge against my subjects in a positive light either. As I said before, it is something that we shall have to make amends for. I believe that instructing my subjects to offer apology and some form of recompense between them and the ponies they've misled will help with some of the negative reception that our being revealed is most likely going to bring. Of course, I believe that most of them will wish to apologize without my prompting them when the time comes."

Celestia gives a nod. "I am glad to hear that your subjects understand the gravity of this situation. They clearly have a very good leader to look up to."

Apidae smiles. "I don't know about the last part, but I definitely feel as though this action will benefit our subjects greatly moving forward. Right now, there are a few things I would like to establish for when the time comes."

Celestia and Luna both look at him questioningly. "Oh?" the solar princess responds.

"There are a few things that I want to happen when we finally announce our establishment of peace" he begins. "First, I would like a path to citizenship established for my subjects, both already living here in your kingdom and for those who wish to move here on a more permanent basis."

Celestia chews over what the king has said and gives a nod. "This is another thing that shall have to wait until after the queen is captured."

"As will pretty much all of the things that I am making a request of" the king says in agreement before listing off other things he wants for his subjects.

"Besides citizenship, I also want some form of safeguard for my subjects against harm, be it by royal decree or some other official process. The reveal will be met with a great deal of negativity, and I accept that that will happen. What I would like to see happen is that I don't have to plan any funerals for my subjects."

Both Celestia and Luna winced at that remark. The king was right that ponies were not going to take this news well. There would be reactions and quite possibly a few angry mobs.

"We shall draft something and make sure that it is something that we can all agree on" Celestia says in agreement.

King Apidae nods. "The last will be something that goes hoof and hoof with appointing an ambassador. I would like to construct an embassy in your city."

Celestia and Luna both look at each other and then back to the king. "That is something that will take time." Celestia tells him.

"The construction will have to be approved by our civil engineering ponies so that it is safe for everypony and creature to occupy it. Besides that, we will have to decide on a parcel of land to place it upon. Real estate in Canterlot is at a premium, and as such, commands a high price."

The king nods. "I am quite aware. That is why I wish to take advantage of an already existing structure that is both already established and within the building codes of your city, and is at a relatively fair price compared to other structures."

"What location is this?" Celestia asks, confused as to what the changeling is talking about.

After he takes yet another sip of tea, he looks at her and answers her question.

"The crystal caves under the city."

Celestia and Luna both flinch at the mention of the caves.

"I can understand that being a desirable choice," Celestia concedes, "but I must refuse that suggestion as being improper."

The king quirks an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Our niece was held prisoner in those caves when Queen Chrysalis attacked the city and her wedding."

Apidae looks uneasy. "Oh. Well then we will have to find another location. The caves were ideal because of the general desire of the hive to use natural structures over artificial ones."

Celestia and Luna both appear confused. "When we saw your films, you were in what looked like some rather ornate hallways decorated in very decorative wood."

The king nods. "I was. Those were the royal chambers. Each changeling king or queen styles their hive in a manner of their choosing. The wood was a gift from one of my subjects that found success in Zebrica as a wood worker The rest of the hive looks more like a cave."

"Fascinating" Celestia remarks as she sips her tea.

"I must ask how you know of the caves" Luna interjects.

King Apidae takes the final swallow of his tea before setting the cup down. "A few of my subjects were actually employed the last time those caves were mined for crystal."

"That would've been near the beginning of your reign" Celestia points out.

"True" Apidae concedes. "At the time, we practiced a simple strategy of finding places in society where we could work close with ponies and absorb ambient love being emitted from them so that we could have basic sustenance and a surplus to bring back and provide for others, including our young."

"So you've had your subjects assume identities and take jobs in various places to be around ponies to collect love from them?" Luna summarizes.

"Put simply" King Apidae acknowledges. "You could look at it as being similar to bees collecting nectar to make honey, only we're not pollinating flowers as we do so."

"Well, most of our subjects are concerned with the ways in which their 'nectar' is collected," Celestia points out, "or the fact that it's being collected at all."

"I understand their concern," King Apidae tells Celestia, "but any of the methods that my hive uses are ones which have been proven over many years to not only be effective for us, but also cause the least amount of disruption to those we feed from. If things are done correctly, then you never realize we're there."

"A statement like that is not going to bolster any kind of good will in our subjects" Luna points out.

"True, but the entire situation I had in mind for our introduction to your subjects was supposed to be a well thought out and planned affair. Recent events have transformed this into damage control now, and most of the planning is how to try and rebuild the already damaged reputation we now have."

Things go silent for a while before Celestia remembers something from the films the king had sent her and her sister.

"You said you pride yourself on the artisans of your kingdom, correct?"

Apidae nods. "Yes, I do. Their skill is as high as any pony or other creature, and the style they craft in is rather unique."

"Then I believe I have an idea that will help immensely" Celestia says with a smile.

Apidae's curiosity is piqued. "What do you have in mind?"

"An art exhibition" she answers. "We'll hold it here in the castle, and after I have gotten feedback from everypony, I will reveal all of the artisans who made the pieces."

The king looks a bit apprehensive. "I do like the idea of the work of my subjects being appreciated, but is revealing them in that way the best idea?"

"There are going to be risks," Celestia admits, "but the best way I can see getting public opinion to sway more in the favor of your subjects would be to have them associated with more positive things, such as fine art. I trust that you also have playwrights in addition to the more traditional physical art mediums?"

"Of course" the king responds. "I've already mentioned Sorrel King earlier, but there are other writers. I believe you're also familiar with the philosophical writings of Toad Stool?"

Again, Celestia and Luna's eyes widen at the utterance of a familiar name. "Toad Stool?!"

The king nods. "Indeed. He spent a great deal of time interacting with your subjects, as well as the subjects in other kingdoms."

"I wonder if we should discontinue asking topics such as this" Luna says. "I fear what other surprises we may uncover."

Apidae chuckles. "I can understand the surprise you had to learn that such influential figures within your own society weren't ponies at all, but it only goes to reinforce my point of wanting better relations between our subjects."

"Which is something that I want to bolster as well" Celestia responds. "My other idea with the art exhibition is to help your kind get some advocates."

"Advocates?" the king questions.

Celestia nods. "Yes. The ponies that will be able to attend this exhibit will most likely be members of our noble class and a few well known ponies from places such as Manehattan and Fillydelphia. Newspapers and gossip columns often report on things they say or do, so my idea is to have the exhibition so they can be seen interacting with all of you in a positive way."

"If my subjects can see that your subjects are ordinary creatures that have thoughts and feelings, then they'll be less apt to paint you as horrible monsters."

"Aside from that, I shall also make a royal decree."

"What kind of a decree?" the king asks.

"Any of your subjects who choose to live in Equestria will be allowed to apply for citizenship so that they may live here openly. Also, I will make it very unlawful for anypony to verbally or physically harass any of your subjects here in Equestria, be it they are applying to be citizens, already are citizens, or are simply tourists."

The king nods along with the princess's ideas. "Yes, that can help. However, there is also another way that my subjects and I can convince ponies that we're not out to cause them harm."

"And what would that be?" Luna asks, curious as to what his answer will be.

The king smiles as he produces a small pouch and dumps out its contents. About twenty or so golden Equestrian bits.

"Money" the king responds.

Celestia looks for a moment before laughing. "Of course" she says. "Ponies tend not to argue about things when they are receiving a financial benefit because of it."

"Too true" the king replies with a chuckle. "I believe that this will be a method that will help my kind most greatly. Having my subjects openly moving about and conducting fair and honest business will go a long way to repairing the damages done by Queen Chrysalis."

"That it will" Luna says. "However, my sister and I will still need to make a royal decree that your subjects are to be treated fairly. I can already see ponies posting signs in windows declaring that changelings aren't allowed to do business with them."

Celestia frowns upon hearing that. "Yes, that is something we will unfortunately have to do."

"I feel I must apologize for all this" King Apidae says. "I came here to create peace, not headaches."

Celestia waves a hoof and smiles. "Our subjects just being themselves causes us enough headaches sometimes. It's just something we as rulers have to grin and bear."

Apidae laughs. "A truer sentiment could never be worded."

He refills all the cups at the table and lifts his own. "To our subjects!" he toasts. Luna and Celestia nod as they raise their own cups and gently tapping them together before all three take a drink and place them back down.

"So," Apidae continues, "I will supply my subjects with a sum of money that is legal tender for your kingdom so that they may use it to either establish themselves financially or provide for their comfort while visiting, and you will enact a royal decree offering them protection?"

Celestia and Luna both look to each other and then the king. "Yes" Celestia responds. "We will grant legal protections to your subjects who choose to either visit or reside in our lands, and we will make efforts to ensure safe and positive integration into our society. The rest will unfortunately rest with our subjects."

"Unfortunately" Luna parrots, and then turns to her sister. "However, I do believe with the right kind of speech, we may be able to convince them to give the king's subjects a fair treatment."

Celestia looks at her sister for a moment. "Are you suggesting that we guilt our ponies into giving these changelings a chance to prove their intentions?"

Luna looks at her sister for a few seconds before smiling. "It worked when you wanted your former griffin consort to be accepted by the nobles."

Celestia looks at her sister for a few moments before she starts giggling, which then turns into a healthy stream of laughter. Soon, the lunar princess joins in, and both are laughing heartily at the old memory.

Apidae laughs as well. "I must say that I enjoy seeing the both of you smiling" he admits. "I could tell how tense both of you were at the beginning of this meeting, but now you've both finally managed to relax some and even share some laughs. I feel that we are all well on our way to finding the peace that we have all been seeking."

Celestia regards the king for a moment before she makes a call for one of the servants. After whispering a few things into the servant's ear, she sends them off and returns to the king and her sister.

"It is close to our normal lunchtime" she tells the king. "While I know that you do not need normal food as a form of sustenance, perhaps you and your advisers would like to join my sister and I and partake of some of our kingdom's fine cuisine?"

The king smiles at Celestia. "We may not need it to survive," he says, "and though I can't speak for them, I do enjoy trying new things. We would be honored to join you for lunch."

A Business Lunch, Part I

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The royal dining hall in Canterlot Castle was as opulent and baroque as the rest of the large palace. A long oak table sat at the center, and on it were place settings for several ponies. More specifically, two alicorns and five changelings. The changelings were currently in their disguises, with all parties agreeing that it would be wise for them to do so while they moved into the castle proper. Once they were seated at the table, Princess Celestia informed her guards that she was not to be disturbed by anypony for any reason outside of an emergency.

To reinforce this point, she locked and enchanted the door, giving one of the guards a seal that would release the enchantment and lock; he was the only one allowed to enter.

With the guard informed of their duties, Princess Celestia and Luna then used their magic to close the curtains to the great room and proceed to light several candelabras.

"We should be alone now" Princess Celestia told her guests. "You may dispel your disguises now."

All the changelings nodded as wispy green flames enveloped them and replaced their pony bodies with their natural insect-like ones.

King Apidae rolls his neck once his transformation is complete. "It's been quite some time since I've had to disguise my form" he tells the princesses. "I clearly need to practice it more."

"Do you not adopt a form when you leave your hive?" Luna asked him.

"Not always" King Apidae responds. "Most of the time I just go a mile or so out from the hive. It can get rather stuffy being stuck inside a palace all day. It's why you have your gardens, is it not?"

"Not entirely" Celestia answers. "While they do offer a great escape from the castle, if just for a few moments, they are mostly to showcase the native flora of our nation."

King Apidae nodded in understanding. Often times, the embassies, palaces, royal estates and other places where significant diplomatic work was conducted, there were displays of grand spectacle to showcase what one country had to offer another. For Canterlot Castle, the royal gardens were a reflection of Equestria as a whole, with all its plant life on display.

"Perhaps we should make our requests for lunch now" Luna suggested, adding to King Apidae, "We've requested a full menu, so even things we would normally reserve for griffin dignitaries are available for you to try."

King Apidae looks at the princess in surprise. "You mean to say that you have meat dishes available?"

"We do" Celestia confirms. "They are imported from Griffinstone by a member of our palace's culinary staff who are, in fact, griffins themselves. They make the selections for what we order and keep on hoof."

Apidae nods and smiles. "I much appreciate the gesture," he says to the princesses, "but I do not see the need to include such things for the menu today. I believe that I will try some of your finest vegetable lasagna for a lunch."

"If that is what you wish" Celestia replied as she nodded to a nearby servant, who quickly produced a tablet and wrote down the request.

"You may all order whatever you wish to order" the king tells his advisers. "If you wish to partake of the meat offerings of the ponies, then you may do so at your discretion."

One by one, the drones nod and give their orders. Socrates ordered a simple salad. Dionices had lasagna like the king chose to do. Nero dared to try a cut of steak with a few side dishes. Andromeda also had a salad, but chose to have small strips of chicken meat added to it. The princesses themselves opted for quiches; Celestia having one with carrots, onions, potatoes and celery, while Luna had one with peppers, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes.

With the orders for lunch given, the servant left quickly for the kitchens. King Apidae sat back with a frown.

"You've done a good job of vetting your staff," he tells the princesses, "but unfortunately, quite a few of them still have... reservations about us on account of the recent incident at the wedding of your adoptive niece."

Celestia frowns as well. "We've done the best we could" she tells him. "As both of us said out in the gazebo, there is a considerable ways to go before general acceptance of changelings as members of pony society can be reached."

King Apidae hums his agreement.

"How about we discuss something a little more lighthearted" Luna suggests, looking at the king with a smile. "I'm sure you have a few 'war stories', as it were."

Apidae could only laugh at Luna's forwardness. "Ha! I did not expect you to be so forward on that topic."

He calms himself down and looks back at Luna a bit more seriously.

"Yes, I do have a few 'war stories', as you so eloquently put it" he responds. "Perhaps we may engage in a bit of quid pro quo?"

Celestia and Luna both look at each other. Apidae puts a hoof to his face.

"Right, you wouldn't have heard that before" he realizes. "What I meant was that I'll tell one of my stories, and you each share one of your own."

Celestia smiles. Luna grins more evilly.

"Sister," she says to Celestia, "I dare say we make this more interesting."

Celestia looks at her sister with a mix of confusion and nervousness. "How do you mean?"

Luna's wicked grin grows bigger. "We pick the stories the other one tells."

Celestia gets more nervous and starts blushing a bit too furiously. Apidae, a natural born empath, picks up on it right away.

"Ha!" he laughs as he looks at Luna. "Princess Luna, it would seem you are capable of wickedness without the need of your Nightmare Moon guise."

King Apidae chuckles some more, but then he suddenly feels a wave of regret. Looking over, he sees Luna looking down at the table, a small blush on her muzzle.

The king frowns at his faux pas. "I must apologize" he tells Luna. "I had no idea that the wounds of that day were still so fresh to you."

Luna waves a hoof. "Nay, it is simply something we are still trying to move past. In reflection, I look upon my mistakes with embarrassment and regret. I know now that I was acting quite foalish when I became that horrible creature."

Celestia places a wing over her sister. "That's in the past, sister" she tells Luna. "You have returned to me and learned the error of your ways, and you have returned to me at a time when I believe Equestria needs another leader the most."

"Thank you sister," Luna responds, "but while you may have forgiven me for my past transgressions, I find it difficult to do so for myself."

"I know," Celestia tells her,"but please remember that there are ponies who care and want to help you. Don't be afraid to seek them out in your times of need."

Luna gives her sister a nod. "Yes, sister, I shall."

The two embrace in a hug for a few moments before separating. Their attention turns back to their guests, some of whom look rather contented.

"Is something wrong with your advisers?" Celestia asks King Apidae.

"Not exactly" King Apidae responds, a modicum of regret, and possibly fear in his voice. "You see, you were putting out so much love during the exchange with your sister, they couldn't help but absorb some of the excess."

Celestia and Luna look at each other for a few seconds before looking back at the king. "You are to say that they fed upon us?" Luna asks with a glare on her face.

"No... and yes" the king replies. "It was the love you felt for your sister, but it wasn't being taken directly from you."

"You see, all things radiate energy from their emotions into the environment. The environment also can have an affect on the emotions of other creatures as well. Because of that principle, the immediate area around you was saturated with love that you yourselves gave off, so my drones acted on instinct and absorbed some of that radiant love in the air."

The king then looks somberly at Celestia and Luna. "Forgive me" he asks of them. "I should have had better control of my subjects. If you wish to see them punished, I understand completely."

Celestia and Luna both look at each other for a few moments before Celestia addresses King Apidae. "If you would excuse us for a moment?"

"Of course" the king replies, understanding that their next conversation is meant to be private.

"Thank you" Celestia tells the changeling before gesturing for her sister to follow. The two get up and head for a door off to one side of the room. Celestia takes a moment to remind the guards of their orders before disappearing into the side room with her sister.

Celestia and Luna sit down across from one another in front of an ornate fireplace. There is no fire, as there is currently no need of one, but the hearth has several logs ready to burn when the need arises.

The fireplace is just one of several items decorating the small side room connected to the dining hall. In reality, it's one of several private study rooms in the castle, with bookshelves full of tomes, ranging in topic from economics to politics to history to simple fiction; pretty much whatever anypony would want to read.

The room is quiet with the exception of one item: the pendulum of a grandfather clock.

"Sister," Celestia begins their conversation, "do you really think we can move past the attack on our kingdom so soon?"

Luna thinks for a moment before giving her answer. "I believe that our subjects-"

"I don't mean our ponies" Celestia interrupts. Luna looks at her for a moment before Celestia continues with her point.

"You and I both didn't much appreciate what the king's advisers just did a moment ago. It was wrong to just do that without asking for permission to do so, but as I sit her and think about this situation as a whole and how we reacted just now, I come to realize something."

"This type of thing must be considered permissible amongst our subjects" Luna concludes. Celestia gives a nod.

Nothing is said for a few more moments. Luna eventually decides to break the silence.

"What was done was a mistake on their part. If they offer apology for it, then I believe that we can move past it. In the future, I think establishing some rules of etiquette on this matter would be prudent."

Celestia nods her agreement. "Yes, the advisers should have asked before doing what they did, but my question is, if they had asked, would we have permitted them?"

Luna thinks on this for a moment before giving her answer. "Perhaps after we heard the explanation given by King Apidae, though I can't honestly say for sure that either one of us would have given permission for certain."

Celestia nods and frowns. "This is a topic we must address, and this lunch seems to be the most appropriate time for which to do so."

Luna nods in agreement. "Then I suppose we should return to our guests?"

Celestia nods and the two rulers step out of the private study and back into the dining room.

As Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stepped away for their private discussion, King Apidae scolded his subjects.

"I cannot believe you four!" he quietly says to his subjects on either side of him. "You know how tedious this affair is and you allow yourselves to act on impulse?!"

"Your highness," Socrates says sheepishly, "perhaps this is a conversation best saved for later?"

"No!" Apidae snaps at the drone. "We are having it NOW!"

His declaration is followed by his hoof coming down hard on the table.

"We are having it now because the reason for us having it in the first place hasn't changed. If we are to make this peace today, then we must all realize one very simple fact: we are, by technicality, the aggressors in this situation."

"Sure, we did not attack the princesses or their subjects, but we are still a member of the race that did it. Our inability to adequately warn them and give them time to prepare a proper defense may as well be equal to us having been there to rain down like fire along side Chrysalis and her subjects."

"The reality of the situation is that, as the aggressors, we have to make the greater amount of concessions in these negotiations. We may not want to, but we must if we expect to make any headway."

"Your highness," Nero chimes in, "I understand your desire for peace with the ponies, but as far as concession are concerned, they may try to do something that would compromise our ability to defend ourselves. We could be the cat without claws."

"The princesses are reasonable" Apidae counters. "They know as well as I that they cannot ask us to give up our defenses and allow us to be vulnerable. Even with Chrysalis's actions, such a request would be highly improper. I cannot see them asking for a concession such as that."

"However, I do believe that there is something all of you should concede to both of their royal highnesses - an apology. I believe that all four of you should offer your own individual apologies to both of the princesses, and they should be formal and written."

The four drones all look at each other and nod. "As you command" Nero speaks for the group.

Before the king or the advisers can say anything else, the door to the study opens and both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna step out. Neither says a word as they retake their seats in front of the four advisers and their king.

Nothing is said for a moment, which King Apidae uses to broach the upcoming difficult conversation.

"I must apologize for my drones and their actions again" he tells the princesses. "In fact, I have given order that my advisers are to write each of you an apology for their actions."

"The gesture is appreciated," Celestia responds, "but is one I feel is unnecessary. In fact, their actions have brought up a topic of discussion that I believe we must address sooner rather than later."

King Apidae looks at the two rulers for a moment before nodding. "The feeding of my subjects from ponies" he deduces.

Luna nods. "It will not be readily accepted" she points out. "There will be ponies opposed to the idea quite vehemently, so much that they may choose to lash out if they even suspect it is happening."

"However," Celestia adds, "our subjects will also need to recognize that their love, exuded in this radiant fashion that you described to us, is a boon for your subjects and absolutely necessary for their survival. The key is will be to establish a strong positive relation between our subjects and yours, which will make the practice of feeding on the radiant emotions in the environment more acceptable over time."

"And how do you propose that this be accomplished?" King Apidae asks the two sisters.

"That is a matter that will take a fair bit of discussion" Celestia concedes. "Moreover, it may take a public demonstration to prove the efficacy and safety of the process."

The king raises his brow. "Are you suggesting that one of my subjects feed on the radiant emotions of a pony in full view of other ponies?"

"Do they not do as such now?" Luna asks.

"Technically speaking, they do" the king replies. "However, what you are proposing is something that could very well lead to one of my subjects being seriously harmed, if not killed, and that's not to mention that it will have a negative impact on yourselves. I can already imagine newspaper headlines accusing the two of you of throwing one of your subjects to the wolves as it were."

"There is no course of action for this matter that is a good solution," Celestia concedes, "and anything chosen here will have negative implications for all of us at this table, but our duty to all of our subjects, yours and ours, is to see that they are cared for and safe."

"You've approached us out of a desire for peace because you feel that is in the best interests for your subjects. Even if they do not feel the same way about their subjects as you, I have to imagine that they still want to see them safe at the very least."

The king frowns. "In a sense" he tells the two sisters. "They care about them in that they are able to perform their duties of gathering love to feed the hive. Beyond that, they don't have much desire or care to see them grow as individuals."

Celestia and Luna both frown. "That is... unfortunate" Celestia answers.

"Indeed," Luna concurs, "but if we are able to establish a peace with your hive, perhaps it may set an example that other hives may wish to follow."

The king looks somberly at the princesses as he responds. "As I have said before, the other hives will still want to follow the old beliefs and doctrines. I fear that things may get worse before there is actual improvement."

Celestia looks at him for a moment before her frown grows more. "If I am to make an educated guess, you're going to claim the possibility of another attempt to invade and take over Equestria?"

The king nods. "That is another motivation behind my seeking peace. My fear is that other hives may decide to make temporary alliances to take over your kingdom, and then divide the land into new territories for themselves."

"Worse yet, they may begin fighting amongst themselves and force the ponies they enslave to fight and die for them. If that were to happen, I doubt anypony or changeling would survive. The hate would be so strong that the windigoes would return with a vengeance and turn all of us to ice before any had a chance to rectify the situation."

"The fact of the matter is this: If one or more hives tried to invade Equestria, it would end badly for all of us."

Celestia and Luna look at King Apidae with uncertain looks.

"So, if I am to guess again, you are proposing we establish this peace as a means to bolster our defenses so that we will be prepared should another attack take place?"

King Apidae nods. "Establishing a peace and creating a formal alliance will give you a much better defense than you can imagine. Our presence alone should greatly dissuade an attack against your subjects, as attacking another hive without cause or provocation is seen as an act of war, and in such a situation, the instigator can be considered an enemy to other hives and would be open to attack from the others."

"And if other hives justify their attacks to one another?" Celestia prods.

"Then those hives are not to be interfered with by any other" the king responds.

"So you are telling us that allying with you would effectively be giving us a sort of living shield?" Luna deduces.

"In a way" King Apidae replies. "Other changeling hives can still choose to attack, but they must justify their actions before they act. However, since this would also involve attacking what other hives would consider prey, they would be less inclined to allow such an act of war to take place."

"The masquerade protocol you spoke of?" Celestia asks, to which King Apidae nods.

"Of course," King Apidae adds,"with recent events, the other hives may be less concerned with the masquerade than before, so it is in all honestly, still a gamble for the both of us."

Celestia and Luna nod as they consider this information. The possibility of a war against creatures that can change their appearance, who can drain the will to fight out of their best warriors and use it against them, and who would sooner see the ponies of Equestria become nothing more than slaves or cattle was something that created a great deal of dread in both princesses.

More still, to discover that their best chance lay in one of the same creatures that could bring this war, and one that sought them out to establish peace.

"This is... quite a bit to take in" Celestia admits.

"It is" Luna agrees.

King Apidae looks at them sympathetically. "I am sorry for bringing the mood down in the room, but I assure you I wouldn't be telling you this if it was not that severely important. Despite my reluctance on different matters, I have done my best to be forthcoming with information that is most pertinent to the situation at hoof."

Celestia waves her hoof at the apology.

"Your apology is unnecessary" she tells the king. "The situation as it stands is unpleasant, though your candidness, not matter how reluctant, is appreciated."

"I agree" Luna adds. "While these matters are, as my sister put it, unpleasant, it is necessary that we discuss them, and I also appreciate your being forthcoming about these matters."

"There is a great deal of mistrust that I and my subjects must overcome in order to achieve the peace we have sought here today" the king tells the princesses. "It is my hope that we can not only achieve it, but also bolster it, and turn it into something that stands the test of time."

"Then we must do our best to establish this peace in full" Celestia adds. "I think for the time being, we should put this idea on hold, as I do believe that I hear the palace staff bringing our lunch now."

Sure enough, the doors to the dining hall opened and two trolleys with trays of food were brought in. The ponies serving it brought it straight to the table and began placing the various dishes in front of the creatures whom ordered them, removing the cloches as they went.

The guards who opened the doors then closed them again, but before they could, the unthinkable happened.

"I DEMAND TO SEE MY AUNTIE!" a voice called out.

The guards who heard the voice rushed to close the door, but were suddenly thrown backward as the door were pushed open by a magic aura and a pony stepped through.

Specifically, a white unicorn stallion with blonde mane, blue eyes, and a compass rose for a cutie mark.

"AUNT CELESTIA, I DEMAND TO-"

The stallion, who had not bothered to look around upon entering the room, froze as he saw not one, but five changelings sitting at a dining room table with his two aunts.

The changelings all looked at him with both surprise and fear, knowing full well that this was not a pony Princess Celestia or Luna had intended for them to meet.

Princess Luna wore a furious scowl upon her face. Besides the fact that this unicorn was specifically told that he would not be able to see her or her sister today, he was also informed that he was to attend to some of his other affairs he was quite famous for neglecting.

Princess Celestia, already a white color, went even whiter as she saw her nephew come charging into the room, most likely to bother her with some business that could not only have waited, but also been attended to by another member of the palace staff.

Wishing to attempt to recover the situation, she cleared her throat.

"If I may, this is my nephew, Prince Blueblood. Nephew, these are Socrates, Nero, Dionices, Andromeda, and King Apidae. These five are changelings that have come to negotiate peaceful existence with Equestria."

Prince Blueblood has not moved from the spot where he paused, with one forehoof still lifted in the air. The changelings all sit stock still, waiting for some kind of reaction. Celestia also sits with bated breath.

Princess Luna lets out a breath before turning to a nearby servant.

"I request that you bring a bottle of wine from our cellar, and keep bringing them until my sister and I are swimming in it."

A Business Lunch, Part II (Replaced)

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The room was bathed in intense silence for several moments.

Standing in the doorway to the room was Prince Blueblood, a noble who had distant relations to all three alicorn princesses. His family, including himself, presided over a great many lucrative holdings in Equestria, and as such, were among the wealthiest families in the nation. He was dressed in a blue blazer jacket with a white shirt and red bow tie. His blonde mane and tail had been combed to an impeccable appearance, and his cutie mark of a compass rose was as pristine as the day the colt first received it.

That, of course, is where any positive attributes, if they could be called that, regarding the stallion ended.

"Auntie?!" Blueblood exclaimed in shock. "You are conspiring with our enemies?!"

Celestia, who had sat nervously in her seat, felt the formings of a headache above her muzzle. Many times in the past, she had endured the many self-centered whims of the young colt, choosing to do so because he was the closest thing she and Luna had to family outside of each other and their adoptive niece.

"Nephew," she began calmly,"these changelings are not our enemies. In fact, they-"

"Not our enemies?!" Blueblood interrupted. "How can you say such a thing, especially after what that horrid queen did to you?!"

Celestia's headache began to intensify. She noticed the frown that resided on Luna's face turn to a scowl, and was not far from evolving into a look of seething rage. In truth, it took great restraint not to have a similar look herself.

"I have not forgotten-"

Blueblood cut her off again, ignoring her response with the intention of driving home his point. "Perhaps during the assault against you, that queen has cast some memory disruption charms upon you? Is that why you so easily forget?"

Celestia's headache was now bordering on a migraine. She was biting her inner cheek now, hoping this tirade of his ended with only his criticism of herself. She feared what she would do if it would spill over to her sister and their guests.

Unfortunately, fate decided to make her fears a reality.

"Nephew," Luna cut in, "I do not-"

"And you Aunt Luna!" Blueblood pointed an accusatory hoof at her. "You already disappoint us by sleeping through the invasion, but you go even further by supporting Aunt Celestia's insane idea to make peace with our attackers?!"

Luna said nothing, but the scowl on her face suggested that she would possibly do something horrible to Blueblood in the next few moments, if Celestia didn't beat her to the quite possibly literal punch.

"Sir Blueblood," Apidae spoke up, "I believe-"

"Silence, you wretched filth from Tartarus!" Blueblood spat at him. "You're kind deserve no less than the horseshoes of our best soldiers! If my aunts were any kind of prin-"

Blueblood's insult to the king was cut short as a golden aura enveloped him and he was dragged harshly towards Princess Celestia. Recognizing the aura, he turned to address the alicorn holding him.

"Aunt Celestia, I demand-"

Whatever complaints were present in Blueblood's mind and mouth were cut off the moment he saw his aunt's expression.

The princess was, for lack of a better word, upset. Prince Blueblood, a stallion she made every effort to love as family, had barged into a private meeting he was not invited to, insulted their guests, insulted her sister, and insulted herself. His barging in, going from history, was likely for some useless drivel, such as wanting a new water fountain for his family's estate, or a mare refusing to lift her tail for him simply because he mentioned who he was and how much money and influence he possessed.

It was small wonder she, or some other pony, didn't turn him into a scorch mark on the wooden decorations of the room.

Maintaining as much composure as she could muster at that moment, she cast a second spell, and in a flash, the two were teleported to another room in the castle, one where the princess was sure that she would not be interrupted. Unfortunately, she was fairly certain that she could not avoid being overheard.

"Prince Blueblood," she began, making one last effort to calmly de-escalate the situation while she was still calm enough to do so, "The changelings and I were in a meeting meant to establish peace between our peoples, and are in no way affiliated with those who attacked Canterlot last month."

Her efforts, unfortunately, were for naught.

"Conspiring with our enemies?!" Blueblood exclaimed. "You have truly taken leave of your senses!"

With that final criticism of her choices, and with her frustrations having reached their zenith, Celestia scowled harder than she had in many years and raised her hoof, immediately slamming it down so hard that it caused severe damage to the floor where she stood.

Blueblood fell back straight onto his flank and looked up at his aunt in terror.

"PRINCE BLUEBLOOD!" Celestia shouted, her voice invoking the Royal Canterlot Voice, something she rarely used in modern times. The force of her voice caused a burst of wind that mussed her nephew's neatly kept mane.

"I WILL NOT HAVE YOU INSULT OUR GUESTS, AND I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO THROW INSULTS AT ME OR YOUR AUNT LUNA! YOU HAVE INTRUDED ON A PRIVATE MATTER BETWEEN A KINGDOM THAT WISHES TO BE OUR ALLIES, AND YOUR ACTIONS AND BIGOTRY MAY VERY WELL CAUSE THEM TO RECONSIDER THEIR POSITION AND GOALS HERE TODAY!"

Prince Blueblood was attempting to hide himself behind his hooves. Had he not used the bathroom before coming here to see his aunts, he would've likely peed himself.

Having gotten some of her frustrations out, Celestia brought a hoof to her chest and inhaled slowly, then pushed her hoof away as she exhaled in the same fashion. After repeating this another two times, she had calmed down considerably, though the look on her face told any that the temper her nephew invoked was still there.

"Now that I have your attention," she continued, "I wish to inform you of the matters at hoof. These changelings are not affiliated with the ones who attacked our city more than a month ago. They sought us out in an effort to find peace with us, and have even brought along examples of items that could be used to establish trade between our nations. In fact, we have made so much progress that there is a chance we could sign a proper peace accord by the end of today or possibly tomorrow."

"That said, you have interrupted this meeting, one which my sister and I intended to keep private until such a time as we felt it would be appropriate to disclose the nature of it to the rest of Equestria, and you have most likely done so because of some perceived slight you think a member of the castle staff has committed against you. If I am mistaken, you are welcome to correct me."

Blueblood said nothing, but his failure to meet his aunt's gaze told her all she needed to know.

Celestia sighed. "You are a prince, and a noble, Blueblood. You and your family are responsible for overseeing a significant portion of Equestria. When my sister and I make laws, you, your family and the other nobles are to help enforce them. You're even allowed to propose new legislation for my sister and I to consider, and moreover, can override laws my sister and I bring into being if they are viewed as unfair."

Blueblood continued looking away. "You can override our rejections," he pointed out quietly under his breath.

"And we only do that because, if we didn't, Equestria would be installing a new fountain or statue on the grounds of every noble pony in Equestria every week. My point, nephew, is that by being a noble, you should set the example for everypony to follow. Be the better stallion, as it were."

Blueblood looked at her, incensed. "But those other ponies are-"

Celestia's waning irritation was stoked again.

"Beneath you?" Celestia finished in a cold voice, her gaze once again adopting that fire it had only a few moments before.

Blueblood was trembling again, fearful of what the princess would say or do.

Celestia, who normally tried to speak kindly to her ponies and not let her temper grow too large, had reached her limit, decided then and there to give Blueblood the tongue lashing he most definitely deserved.

"The only ponies beneath you, nephew, are the scoundrels that stalk the dark alleyways, looking to prey upon innocents and hurt them in unspeakable ways! No, nephew, there are far more ponies above you than beneath you!"

Her nephew's look changed from incensed to deeply hurt. "Aunt Celestia, how can-"

"BECAUSE YOU HAVE FORCED MY HOOF!" she cut him off, the Royal Canterlot Voice returning. "YOU ACT IN SUCH DESPICABLE WAYS ALL THE TIME, AND IT IS HIGH TIME THAT YOU WERE CALLED OUT ON IT!"

Blueblood began to cower away, but Celestia advanced on him, intent on finishing what she had started.

"REMEMBER THE REQUEST FORM YOU SUBMITTED A LITTLE WHILE AGO FOR ALL THE MARES IN THE CASTLE TO WEAR UNIFORMS WITH SHORTER SKIRTS? ONES SO SHORT IT WOULD EXPOSE THEIR PRIVATE AREAS IF THEY DIDN'T WEAR UNDERGARMENTS?!"

"HOW ABOUT THE PETITION FOR THE CROWN TO SEIZE THE PROPERTY OF THE FAMILY OF A COLT THAT CALLED YOU A MEAN, OLD STALLION WHEN YOU SWATTED HIM AWAY FOR SIMPLY WANTING TO SAY HELLO?!"

"AND LET US NOT FORGET YOUR MISTREATMENT OF MISS RARITY, ONE OF THE BEARERS FOR THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AND A NATIONAL HERO, AT THE GALA!"

"DO YOU CARE TO RECALL THAT INCIDENT? THE ONE WHERE YOU FORCED HER RUIN AN ENSEMBLE SHE MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR HERSELF FOR THAT PARTY, AND EVEN MORE SPECIFICALLY, TO IMPRESS YOU AND CATCH YOUR EYE?!"

"HOW ABOUT WHEN YOU INSULTED HER FRIEND FOR GIVING YOU, WHAT WERE YOUR WORDS, COMMON CARNIVAL FAIRE?!"

"AND THEN THE FACT THAT YOU IGNORED HER EVERY ATTEMPT TO ENGAGE YOU IN CONVERSATION, BELIEVING THAT SHE ONLY WISHED TO FAWN OVER YOU AS MANY MARES IN THE PAST HAVE BEEN FOALISH ENOUGH TO DO?!"

Blueblood said nothing. He sat in his aunt's aura, face turned away and eyes beginning to wet with restrained tears. His tail had involuntarily tucked between his legs in a futile effort to protect his personal areas.

Celestia again calmed herself before addressing her nephew again, her voice much quieter, but still just as stern.

"Your actions have shown you are very much not the kind of pony I wish for my subjects to look up to. You repeatedly soil your own reputation, and continue to do so because you believe being a noble makes you immune to such things."

Celestia looked over at a nearby jewelry box and opened it. Reaching insde with her magic, she produced a golden band with a red ruby in the center. Casting an enchantment on it, she proceeded to slip the item over her nephew's horn. Once in place, she cast another enchantment on the entire room.

"I'm going to do now what your parents should've done to you a long time ago - put YOU in a time out!"

Celestia turned away from Blueblood, who looked at his aunt in complete shock.

"Your magic is nullified, and this room is soundproofed. The door is magically locked, and you will notice the lack of windows and fireplace. This will be your private prison for as long as I should see fit."

"I want you to think long and hard about all of the things you've done, and I also want you to think about how you can make amends. I would suggest starting with Miss Rarity, but I am under the impression that any type of making amends with her could result in the mare chasing after you with hat pins and sewing needles. Nevertheless, I want you to leave this room a much better stallion than when you entered it. I will return later."

With that, Celestia disappeared in a flash. Blueblood sat in place for a few moments before he got up and hastily moved furniture into a corner and hid behind it, shaking in fear of his aunt's return.

The princess reappeared outside the dining hall, where her sister was doing her best to keep King Apidae and his advisors entertained.

Unfortunately for Celestia, the entertainment was a story she would've much preferred not been retold.

"When we woke up the next day with two colts in each of our beds, we had sworn an oath to never touch agave liquor again!"

The changeling king let out a hearty laugh, with his advisors snickering along as well.

"I must say, if this is a common thing with the consumption of alcohol," the king comments, "then I should probably moderate myself to this one glass."

"Nay" Luna said in response. "Having a few glasses is normal and doesn't typically result in such debauchery. That night, my sister and I were in good spirits, and simply made the mistake of overindulging in some rather strong 'good spirits' and made foals of ourselves."

The princess chuckles at her alcohol joke, as does the changeling king. He takes a sip of the glass and then regards the liquid within. "This is a very fine vintage" he comments.

"It is" Luna agrees. "It comes from grapes that are grown in valleys just to the east of Applewood. The climate is very beneficial for their cultivation. This wine is about five years old and was aged for two years in casks made of very special wood imported from Zebrica."

The king nodded as he again took a sip. He was about to say something else when the group noticed Princess Celestia's return.

"Your highness," Apidae greeted as she walked through the door, "your sister was just sharing a rather entertaining story with us."

"Yes, and if it is the story that I am thinking of, it is one that my sister and I agreed never to speak of again."

"I wouldn't feel so embarrassed as you might. From what I understand, both from second-hoof accounts and my own personal experiences, agave liquor is very good at causing ponies and other creatures from acting in rather silly ways."

Having received confirmation, Celestia glared at Luna. "We agreed never to speak of that again," she said through clenched teeth.

Luna raised her muzzle in defiance. "Sister, you really should lighten up a bit. Surely the time you spent scolding our nephew helped to blow off some of your pent-up steam."

Celestia sighed. "I did not take pleasure in the scolding of our nephew, though I must admit that it is something that he has gone without for far too long."

Luna chuckled. "Of that, we are in agreement."

Celestia nodded, then turned to King Apidae with an apologetic look.

"I must apologize for my nephew's words earlier. Like many of the nobles, he views a great many creatures, including changelings, as beneath him."

"There is no need for you to apologize," Apidae responded. "What your nephew has said is not much different than what most of the ponies here in Canterlot are already thinking and speaking of amongst themselves."

"I still feel that I must offer apology. Most of those feelings are from ponies seeking retribution for the attack on the city."

Apidae nodded. "It is understandable, considering what transpired. It is why I wish to establish a lasting peace with Equestria."

"It is still a problem, and one which we would all like to nip in the bud as soon as possible."

"Sister," Luna chimed in, "I fear that a solution to that matter will not be simple, nor easy to implement."

"Yes, it won't be, but it is still something that needs to be done."

Celestia looks at King Apidae with conviction.

"I have thought on the matters of a peaceful introduction of our peoples to one another, and I now believe the best way to go about this matter is to assign the diplomat from your hive to an office here in the castle, and have an assigned guard detail to them to ensure their safety."

"A guard detail?!" Luna parrots in surprise. "Just how many ponies do you intend to assign to our new diplomat."

"A squad of eight should suffice. Two to guard approaches from both sides of the hallway, and four to secure the office and facilitate an evacuation as needed."

"Sister, couldn't we assign a corner office and reduce the numbers to a team of four?"

"None of the corner offices have easy escape routes, and I want routes to be available, regardless of the need. Faust forbid there be a fire and the diplomat not be able to escape."

Luna deadpanned at her sister. "I know for a fact that when you had this new castle built, you personally placed anti-fire wards on each structural support. I have even seen some of them with my own eyes."

"True sister, but our old castle in the Everfree had those same wards as well, but that did not prevent its destruction."

Luna's eye twitched at the mention of the former castle and its destruction. "Sister, I do not appreciate your mentioning of the old castle and its destruction."

Celestia, realizing her mistake, quickly backtracked. "My apologies sister. I have struck a nerve I intended not to strike. I was simply trying to make the point that, while we have those wards in place, they are, quite unfortunately, not fool-proof."

Luna relaxed some, but still appeared to be a bit annoyed by her sister's faux pas. "I understand that, sister, but my point still stands. A corner office would be more defensible, and we could add modifications to allow for an easier escape should there be need for one."

"I understand that as well, sister, but that will take time to make those modifications. We would need to review the blueprints of the palace, have an architect plan out the modifications, secure the funding from the treasury, hire contractors and vet them to ensure they do not speak of the modifications to the castle, purchase the necessary materials for construction, re-plan all routes of traffic through the palace as the work is done, and then make sure all castle staff are sworn to secrecy regarding the construction."

"It would be months before the work could be finished and the office ready, where we could simply place them in an office that would require a few more ponies to guard it and not require modifications."

Luna digested her sister's rebuttal and conceded. "Yes, that would be the more practical solution."

"It is, but let's not forget that there would be an embassy here in Canterlot sometime in the future, and the diplomat would likely split their time there and be guarded by their own kind, which would mean we would only need for security when it would be known that they plan to be in their ofice on a given day."

"Your proposal has merits, Luna, but it would be easier to implement this idea. Please don't take this as me just outright overruling your suggestion."

"I understand, sister. After hearing your explanation, the idea of placing the diplomat in a central office with established escape routes and being assigned a squad of eight guards for protection is the more appropriate choice."

Celestia considers her sister for a moment. "I know the look on your face well, sister. Please, tell me what bothers you with that plan?"

Luna takes a deep breath before speaking. "The solution is very sound, but I fear that it may invite trouble in the future. These eight guards will be working as closely with the changeling diplomat as we are with King Apidae and his advisors now. We will need to vet these guards thoroughly to ensure that they will defend the diplomat without fail."

"If I may," King Apidae interjected, "I believe the core issue at hoof here is that there is a prejudice that has been created by the events at the royal wedding a month or so ago."

Celestia shook her head. "I wish it were as simple as that, King Apidae. The prejudice may have been stoked by the actions of Queen Chrysalis and her subjects, but the bulk of it comes from our subject's natural distrust of things that are unfamiliar."

"A good example of that would be the thestrals that serve under my sister's guard."

Luna nodded as King Apidae turned towards her. "They are just as loyal and hard-working as the unicorn, pegasi and earth ponies that serve my sister and I, but because of their appearance, with slitted pupils, membranous wings and pointed fangs, they are mistrusted among their peers. Even now, with efforts to better integrate them into our guard and our society as a whole, there is still friction from those who would wish them to live elsewhere for simple want of not having to look at them on a regular basis."

Apidae deflates a bit upon hearing that. "I see. Well, the simplest solution for that would be to coerce interaction between both groups as much as possible."

"Coerce?" Celestia repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably not the best choice of words," Apidae admitted. "Encourage would be more appropriate."

"That it would," Luna agreed, "but as simple as that solution sounds, it can have rather negative consequences."

Apidae nodded. "Yes, that is true, but what I speak of is not forcing groups together. Rather, I speak of creating situations where it is of a benefit to work with and interact with the mistrusted group."

Celestia and Luna both nodded to that. Cooperation was the end goal, and encouraging that by creating situations where it was vital did help to expedite that process.

A silence followed their previous topic of discussion, before a thought occurred to Celestia.

"Nothing can be done about the introduction of changelings as a whole to Equestria and its citizens, but we can certainly dictate how you and your hive are introduced."

Celestia's comment catches King Apidae's attention. "I take it that you have an idea as to how we may approach that subject?"

The princess nodded. "Yes. You see, we have a new invention available to us. A means of mass communication called radio."

"Yes, I am aware of this. Voices carried over great distances by special waves of magical energy, or something like that."

"Believe it or not, it's actually something that was discovered by non-thaumic science."

Apidae raised a brow. "Really?"

"Yes, really. It involves special metals that can detect the energy from a source, usually called a transmitter. The transmission, or signal as most ponies call it, is picked up by a device called a receiver. The receiver converts the wave into audible sound and plays it out through a speaker."

"Interesting," Apidae responds as he rubs his chin with a hoof. "There are some science drones in my hive that do some basic experimentation; they wish to see if aspects of the hive affect the normal laws of physics and such. A device such as this would greatly interest them. I believe once we have established peace on a more permanent and widespread level, I would like to send a few of those drones to study this new technology."

Celestia smiled. "We would be more than happy to accommodate them, when the time is right."

"Back to my sister's point," Luna interjects, "I believe that she believes the best way to introduce you to our subjects is through a radio transmission."

"That won't be something horribly complex, will it?"

"Nay, it is as simple as speaking into a microphone, which you already do pretty well going by your two films. All of the more complicated bits will be set up beforehoof by ponies trained in how to use the equipment."

Apidae considers what Celestia and Luna both told him and smiles. "I think it is a good idea."

"Wonderful!" Celestia responds with hooves clapped together. "Once we have things better in hoof, we will introduce you to our subjects through a radio broadcast!"

The king smiles as he raises a wine glass. "Shall we toast to the hopefully better future?"

Celestia and Luna both smile as they raise their own glasses and tap them together against Apidae's own.

Concluding for the Day and a Visitor at Night

View Online

The lunch concluded with no further incidents. Princess Celestia and Luna excused themselves for a few moments while they went and checked on Prince Blueblood. After Luna gave her say on the prince's conduct, both sisters impressed upon the stallion the importance of the meeting between the changeling delegation and Equestria, and also why it was important to keep things confidential for the time being.

After the display by both of his aunts, Prince Blueblood acquiesced rather quickly.

Returning to the changeling delegation, Princess Celestia made an offer to retire to her personal study to have a greater deal of privacy than they had before. Once there, the group resumed their talks.

"I must apologize again for my nephew, King Apidae" Celestia begins. "I fear I, as well as his parents, have shown him far too much leniency during his upbringing."

The king waved off the notion with his hoof. "It's quite alright" he reassures Celestia. "I'm sure there's a few drones back in my hive that believe themselves to sit in a higher station than what they actually hold."

Luna quirks a brow at this. "That would suggest the threat of a coup in the future."

The king chuckles at Luna's remark. "To challenge the king would require an actual army, and I can say with great confidence that I would have a vastly larger army than any opponent that would foolishly think to challenge me."

"I must caution you against such overconfidence" Celestia chimes in. "I have seen many leaders in my life carry that particular sentiment at one moment, and then be deposed of the next."

"I appreciate your concerns," King Apidae responds, "but I hold that confidence because I follow the old adage of 'keeping friends close and one's enemies closer still'."

"You see, I hold no fear of a usurper because I do my best in my rule to give those I have authority over no reason to wish me not to sit upon my throne."

"And how do you accomplish this?" Luna asks with curiosity.

"Simple" the king responds with a smile. "I do not subject my subjects to rules and laws that I myself would not want imposed upon me."

Celestia smiles. "The golden rule, or at least a variation of it."

King Apidae nods, smiling at her understanding.

"I too try to follow that ideology," Celestia continues, "but I fear that, sometimes, one has to make concessions with wolves to protect their flock."

"You speak of the nobility, I presume?" the king infers.

Celestia gives him a nod.

"Well then," he says while producing a piece of parchment and quill from his assistant's saddlebags, "simply give me the names of these nobles, and they shall no longer trouble you."

Celestia and Luna both look at the king in shock, before his demeanor gives way to hearty laughter as the pen and quill go back to the saddlebags.

"Ha!" the king lets out as he grabs a nearby tissue to wipe his eyes. "You thought I was serious about such a thing?"

Celestia and Luna look at each other with unease, and then back at Apidae.

His smile falters slightly. "By the mother tree, you thought I was truly serious, didn't you?"

"I must admit," Celestia begins reluctantly, "I did think you were. However, I must point out that while there is some prejudice because of the incident at the wedding, it is also partly because visiting dignitaries from nations such as Griffinstone have made offers such as what you did, and some far more serious than you were."

The King loses his smile and adopts a worried frown. "Then I must apologize for my attempt at humor" he says to Celestia and Luna. "I would have said nothing had I known that it would be seen as being in such poor taste."

"Tis fine" Luna replies. "Situations such as that do not occur often, but when they do, we find it tends to strain the potential for future relations with other nations."

The king's frown deepens a little more. "I should hope that this has not set back our attempts at peaceful deliberation?" he asks, a small twinge of guilt in his voice.

Celestia and Luna then look at each other, then allow their facades to break as they begin smiling and giggling. King Apidae looks on in confusion, but then realizes what has happened.

"By the maker," he says while holding back a laugh, "you have managed to put one past me! I must commend you on the control you hold over yourselves."

The princesses were joined in laughter by the king, and after a few moments, the laughter died down as all parties then relaxed into a moment of comfortable silence.

"I must say," Celestia says to King Apidae, "I had no inclination of how this meeting would go, but after a few hiccups, I would say things have turned out well. Wouldn't you sister?"

Luna nods. "Things have gone much better than either of us had expected them to. We have learned a great deal about your hive and yourself, you have made a fair number of concessions and have offered us aid in a rather serious matter that is of great concern to our citizens."

Celestia then chimes back in. "Which is why I would like to conclude our discussion for the day in the most positive manner that I can think of."

Making a gesture to her sister to come closer, Celestia and Luna then have a private discussion. After a moment of listening to her sister, Luna looks her straight in the eyes and nods. Celestia nods back and then proceeds to ring a bell sitting on a nearby table. After a few moments, a guard pokes his head into the room. "Yes, your highness?"

"Would you please bring Ms. Inkwell here?" Celestia asks her guard.

"It will be my absolute pleasure" the guard responds as he leans back out and closes the door.

Celestia turns and faces the king again. "I am still very much in favor of the points that we have discussed and come to agreement on, as well as my sister. If there is nothing you wish to change or add, I would like to have them transcribed into an official document."

The king considers for a moment before responding. "I am happy with what we have discussed here today, though I thought that our discussions would take a bit longer than this."

Celestia nods. "I figured on a longer series of discussions as well," she admits, "but I would say we've reached agreement on a great many things. If there is something that should need be decided on in the future, then we shall add an amendment to this treaty."

The king raises one of his brows. "Treaty?"

Celestia and Luna both nod. "With the groundwork we have laid here today, both my sister and I would like to officially present to you and sign the Equestria-Dragonlands Changeling Hive Peace Treaty."

Before the king can offer a response, the door the guard had poked his head through opened and in walked a pony mare. She was grayish white with brown mane and tail both pulled up into a bun style, and had lighter brown eyes. She was also wearing a collar and what appeared to be a red ascot.

"This is my assistant, Raven Inkwell" Celestia introduced the new pony. "Among the many hats she wears in assisting me in my affairs, she is also a certified notary."

Celestia then turns to Raven. "Miss Inkwell, I wish to transcribe a peace agreement between the citizens of Equestria and the changelings of the Dragonlands Hive. Will you do this for me?"

Raven gives Celestia a bow. "I would be honored to perform such a task, your highness."

"Very good" Celestia says with a smile before turning back to the king.

"Now then, shall we get down to business?"

King Apidae looked at her for a moment before smiling.

"Yes, we shall."

Hours later, with a brief break so the two sisters could change the sun for the moon in the sky, the final draft of the peace treaty had been agreed upon. Raven had been given thanks and allowed to retire for the evening.

In truth, it was a rather late hour, with all parties showing exhaustion from the events of the day.

"As much as I am glad for the outcome," Luna says before yawning, "I do dread the process of drafting these agreements."

"As do I," Celestia concurs, "but it is of course necessary for us to accomplish this if we are to move our kingdom forward towards peace and prosperity."

"There is always a price for good leadership," King Apidae chimes in, "and often that price is a great deal of time being put towards it."

Celestia and Luna both nod agreeing with the sentiment.

A few yawns from his advisors causes the king and princesses to reach the same conclusion.

"Perhaps the signing of this treaty can wait until the morning?" the king offers. "We can say that we have agreed to peace in principle and make it official in the morning."

Both Celestia and Luna look at each other before nodding in agreement.

"You and your advisors may retire for the evening" Luna says to King Apidae. "Unfortunately, I still have some duties to attend to."

"As do I" Celestia adds. "We have pushed a great many things to other dates, but unfortunately, some things we could only postpone until we have finished for the day."

"Then I must apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you" King Apidae says with a bowed head.

"There is no need for apology" Celestia says with a waved hoof. "We are doing something meant to broker peace between our peoples. I only hope that we have succeeded in our endeavors."

"As do I" King Apidae says before letting out his own yawn. "I do believe I should retire before I fall asleep on my hooves."

"I shall have one of the servants escort you to your rooms for the night" Celestia tells the king as she rings a bell for a guard, telling him to bring a servant to escort the envoy. After a mutual exchange of bows, King Apidae and his advisors make their way to bed.

Now alone in the room, the two sisters reflect on the day they have just had together.

"Today was... eventful" Luna said to Celestia.

"It was" Celestia replied while nodding. "I did not expect us to make such headway in only one day."

Luna looks a bit uneasy. "You don't believe that they told us those things simply to placate us, do you?"

Celestia considers what her sister has asked her. "You mean to suggest that you believe they were trying to lull us into a false sense of security?"

Luna nods somberly.

"I honestly don't know," the solar princess replies, "but I do know that, if this truly is a farce, then we are as best prepared for it as we can be. We are guarded by the best our kingdom can provide, we have used the best enchantments and wards as back up to that protection, and in the event of those two things failing, then we have the fallback that we agreed to with Captain Shining Armor."

Luna nodded as her sister pointed out that last fact. Only a few days after the attempted invasion, Captain Shining Armor reviewed the security protocols and made suggestions on how to improve them. His newest idea was what he referred to as a "fall back point", which was a place the princesses would go if they found themselves in such a desperate situation that they would have no other choice but to escape. By doing so, the kingdom would still have leaders to help organize a resistance against any who would dare occupy them.

While Luna was for it, Celestia was initially opposed. However, Captain Shining Armor was able to convince her of the merits of the idea, especially when he pointed out the fact that she had been incapacitated and cocooned by the changeling queen, and Luna could've been captured as well.

"That said," Celestia continued, "I do believe the king's words and sentiments are genuine. I do no think he would have taken the time to sit with us if he wished to attack."

"Nor do I," Luna responds, "but I must admit that I still feel a bit ueasy about this."

"I understand" Celestia tells her sister. "I'll tell you what we'll do. Tomorrow morning, we'll invite the king and the advisors for breakfast and then sign the treaty afterwards. I'll see to it that we have our remaining guards put on alert and ready should something be amiss."

Luna mulls over the decision before nodding to her sister. "I agree. That is what we should do."

"Good" Celestia responds while smiling. "Now, let's finish our duties and get some rest."

King Apidae sat at a window in the room the princesses gave him and his advisors. The four changelings were currently resting in two of the three beds, paired up so that the much larger king could have his own place to sleep. The monarch himself was looking out over the city and countryside, thinking over the events of the day.

"I truly wish to make peace with them," he thinks to himself, "but I can still feel their trepidation about our kind. Even with this peace treaty, we still have a ways to go."

The king, who had been nursing a glass of red wine that had been left as a gift for his stay in the palace, set the glass down and opened the window. While the device only opened so far, it did allow a current of fresh air to flow into the room. He closed his eyes and breathed in the air and was reinvigorated, albeit for only a moment.

"Already selling us out to the prey?"

King Apidae's eyes shot open as he snaked his head out the open window. Looking around, he eventually found the source of the voice.

Attached to the wall of the palace was a single changeling drone. It wasn't one of his, or one of the rogue queen's. It had glowing eyes which looked like they were portals into another dimension.

The king steeled his resolve as he recognized whose drone this was.

"Hello, Carnation" he said to the drone. "To what do I owe the pleasure."

"You know damn well what!" the drone spat, its voice mimicking that of its queen.

"I would be cautious of raising your voice" the king warns. "I cannot vouch for you if your drone gets caught."

The drone says nothing as it moves closer to the king.

"You have caused a great deal of anxiety amongst the other queens and kings" Carnation says through her drone. "One questions not only why you are doing such a thing as what you are doing now, but for how long you have been planning such a thing."

"Do you want the truth of me?" Apidae asks, getting only silence as a response. "I will admit, I have been planning to make contact with the ponies and reveal my hive to them."

"So you admit to treason then?" Carnation says accusingly.

"I admit to seeking peace and nothing more!" the king defends himself. "If you speak of our laws, Chrysalis has already broken our most important one by revealing us!"

"And yet you admit to plotting to do the same as her" Carnation says with a glare.

King Apidae stands his ground. "My intentions here today have and always will be to establish peace. As for Chrysalis, she chose a gambit that she thought would pay off and leave her in charge of Equestria and the ponies, which I hope you realize would make her and her hive an immediate danger to all of the other hives, including your own."

Carnation's drone again glares. "What exactly do you mean?"

"You haven't figured it out?" the king asks almost incredulously. "The invasion of Canterlot had nothing to do with feeding her subjects. It was all about control!"

Carnation's drone stood there silently, so Apidae chose to elaborate.

"You know that Equestria has been a boon for our kind ever since the first kings and queens found it after unification. Since then, several hives have been established here and each has carved out a territory for themselves, with clear boundaries that have been respected by all."

"The territory around Canterlot is not under any hive's control, mostly because it is the home of the two princesses. However, just because it is avoided does not mean that the territory isn't technically available for a hive to take control of."

"Now, imagine how much love could be harvested in the capital of Equestria, where the princesses do their best to ensure their subjects live in total comfort, with that magnified by a new, and previously unknown princess, marrying a captain of the royal guard who was once little more than a commoner recruit. Aside from the announcement of a royal baby being born, I cannot imagine an event that would create such an outpouring of love. It would be a literal bounty for us."

The drone's eyes hardened. "Make your point, Apidae."

"My point is that that much love could be carefully metered out amongst many drones for who knows how long," Apidae replied tersely, "or it could supercharge an army capable of taking over another hive."

Carnation's drone showed no outward reaction. "You mean to tell me that you believe Chrysalis did what she did because she wants to wage war against other hives?"

The king's look softens a bit. "I believe she has done what she has done because she wants to control everything, including other hives."

There is a silence between the king and queen speaking through her drone for a few moments. Eventually, the queen breaks the silence.

"I would like to not believe what you have proposed to me," she says reluctantly, "but I know Chrysalis just as well as you do."

The drone's posture relaxes.

"Are you sure that what you're doing is a good idea?" the queen asks.

"I would not being doing this if I didn't" Apidae replies. "This is a decision that has been in the making for some time. In truth, I would've waited a bit longer to do this, but Chrysalis has forced my hoof."

"That said, I do believe this decision will be of great benefit, not only to changelings, but even the ponies we gain sustenance from."

There's another silence as the queen considers what Apidae has told her. However, the king decides to break this second one.

"Even if you don't agree with what I am doing," he says to her, "at least allow me to do this for my subjects. The ponies are unaware of the locations of other hives, save for Chrysalis's hive in the badlands, but you know that was discovered by them two weeks ago, and they haven't approached on account of the anti-thaumic throne. None of the other hives are in danger."

"We're well aware of that discovery" Carnation tells him. "We're also aware that they now know what to look for when it comes to locating a changeling hive. Her actions have put all of us at risk of discovery!"

"Which is all the more reason that we should reveal ourselves to them and cooperate" Apidae counters. "If we don't, even just basic survival for any of the hives will become that much more difficult. I believe that if we do this, we will not only survive, but flourish as well."

"And what proof have you of this?" Carnation asks the king.

"My drones" he tells her simply. "They only maintained a disguise so as they wouldn't be found out as changelings, and they have more love than they know what to do with. We have a surplus of love in our hive, and if need be, we are prepared to share it with the other hives."

Carnation balks at the king's claim. "You would willingly share with other hives?"

To make his point, King Apidae approached the drone and touched his horn to it. Immediately, the drone's eyes turned bright pink as a glow surrounded its body. After a few seconds, the king withdrew his horn and looked at the drone.

The mental connection to the queen was severed. The drone rubbed its horn with a shocked look on its face, not believing what had just happened. After a moment, it suddenly remembered itself as it looked up at the king.

"Apologies, your highness" the drone tells the king, its voice distinctly feminine.

"It is okay" Apidae tells the drone. "Please, allow me to speak through you to Queen Carnation again."

"Yes, your highness" the drone replies as she closes her eyes. "Just allow me to find her again."

The drone takes a few moments, but once again, it has the look in its eyes that tells the king he is once again talking to the queen.

"I..." the queen stutters before finding her voice. "I could feed on two ponies cities with a population of no less than one half million each and never get as much as what you gave in only those few seconds."

The drone's body looks at Apidae with something of a reverence. "You speak truly?" she asks the king. "This all came from peaceful cooperation with the ponies?"

Apidae nods. "I do, and it can be this way for all the hives, if they are willing to cooperate as I have."

Carnation doesn't say anything for some time. After about a minute passes, she finally speaks.

"I can make no promises of any other hives, but what you propose is something I will have to think about. I only offer you this warning: the other hives may choose to see you as a traitor and seek to attack you. I, myself, will not. I can speak to the other kings and queens of this meeting, but they will have a very difficult time believing what I have to tell them."

"I'm afraid our time is up. I do not wish to ruin my drone's cover."

"Before you go," Apidae says to Carnation before she severs the link, "please consider what I've said. You know that I would never willing lead any of the other hives astray, especially yours."

"I know" Carnation tells him. "I will consider this proposal, but I can make no promises on what my decision might be."

"That is all I ask" the king says before Carnation severs the link.

The drone blinks and looks at the king, giving him a bow. "I must return to my home" she tells him. "My source will get worried if I am gone too long and may come looking."

"You may go," Apidae tells the drone, "but please also consider what I have told your queen. You may serve to be a 'test run' for my proposal."

"I shall, your highness" the drone says before detaching from the walls and buzzing its wings in flight, heading back towards the main city.

Discussions at Breakfast and Signing the Treaty

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The following morning, Princess Celestia sat at the same table that she and the changeling delegation had sat around the day before. Servants were bringing various platters of food for all to enjoy, from eggs to bagels to hash brown potatoes to pancakes and waffles. There was even a cart with some sliced fruits and another with drinks ranging from coffee and tea to milk and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Coming in through open doors was Princess Luna, who let out a yawn and rubbed some sleep dust from her eyes. She took a seat near her sister as she used her magic to grab a cup of coffee and gather up a bowl of various fruits.

"I would ask if you slept well, sister," Celestia began, "but I believe we both know the answer to that question."

Luna snorted as she took in a mouthful of the fruit, then took a generous sip of her coffee.

"We still deal with nightmares from the wedding day," Luna replied a sad look on her face. After a few seconds, she turns to her sister with a smile. "Of course, I was granted a reprieve in the form of watching our nephew being chased by the two of us and a creature I believe was Miss Rarity brandishing a million or so hat pins."

Celestia blushed upon hearing her of her nephew's nightmare. "I surely didn't want to leave that kind of an impression upon him."

"He is most deserving of that, which is why I not only let the nightmare play out, but also conjured some popcorn to enjoy while I did."

Celestia scoffed at her sister, but also fought back some giggles. "Sister, that is horrible!"

"Perhaps, but at the very least, I think he will be out of our manes for a few weeks, if not more."

Celestia smiled a sad smile. True, she had wanted to punish the colt for his overinflated ego and very rude manner, but had no desire to make him fear Luna and herself.

"Surely you do not regret what we both did to our nephew?" Luna inquired.

Celestia thought on it for a moment, but then shook her head. "His behavior has been poor for as long as I can remember. Even as a foal, he acted in ways that were not becoming of his station, and I fear those behaviors have only worsened as he has grown into a stallion."

"Yes, I've heard of the proposal for the new maid uniforms. I believe that was a few months before I returned?"

"It was. When I saw the proposed new design, it took everything within me not to set it aflame right in front of him. I kept my composure enough to tell him that I would think on the matter, but as soon as he was gone, I retired to the lavatory and... cleaned myself with it."

Luna smirked. "I would think wiping with that would leave you much filthier than when you went in."

Celestia let out a hearty laugh at that. "Too true, sister! Too True!"

Both sisters laugh for a bit, but the laughter eventually dies down between them.

"Do you believe it was wise for us to host the changeling king here in the castle?" Luna then asks Celestia.

"I do" Celestia replies. "The castle has the best defenses from attack, magical or otherwise. We have the best trained of all our guards, and we have taken all countermeasures against potential attack or infiltration that we can."

Luna looks away. "Sometimes I doubt the effectiveness of those measures."

Celestia floats a piece of toast with blackberry jam over to her sister.

"I admit fault for what happened up to and during the wedding" Celestia tells her sister. "Had I been paying attention to Cadance and not the external threat, I would've seen the wolf in sheep's clothing that was hiding in plain sight. I can only thank harmony that Twilight was more observant that I was."

"I... also must offer a better apology for my doubting her when she raised concern about Cadance" Celestia adds with a saddened tone.

Luna takes her turn and levitates a piece of toast with raspberry jam over to Celestia.

"I believe the best way to thank her is to give her the opportunity to be at the forefront of knowledge here in Equestria" Luna says with a smile.

Celestia looks at her with confusion. "What do you mean sister?"

"Tia, are you so distracted by guilt that you do not see the opportunity for your pupil sitting right before you?" Luna asks as she uses her magic to summon a lump of clay that is then shaped into the general shape of a changeling.

"Twilight is like a changeling when it comes to knowledge" Luna continues. "She hungers for it always, and is never truly satisfied with what she knows. Always she seeks out new things to know, and now, we have a whole civilization that ponykind has never seen before, with customs and traditions that would otherwise be alien to us."

"If you wish to make amends with your student, I do believe the best way would be to include her in these affairs and allow her a chance to study them."

Celestia thinks over what Luna has told her and smiles. "You are right, sister. That would be the best apology and way of making amends with her. I fully intend to do so, but only after we have an actual peace established. As it stands at this moment, the agreement is still only in principal. We, meaning us and King Apidae, still need to sign it for it to be official."

"And sign it we shall" comes the voice of the changeling king, who has entered the dining hall with his entourage. He is dressed in the red vest and has a shine on his chitin.

"Good morning, King Apidae" Celestia greets the monarch. "I trust you slept well?"

Apidae nods and takes his seat. "Your guest beds are quite comfortable. Our sleep was quite restful."

The changeling king, who had been smiling, drops his smile to a more neutral expression.

"However, something happened last night that I believe you both should be aware of."

Celestia and Luna look at each other for a moment before looking back to King Apidae.

"What has happened?" Celestia asks the king.

King Apidae pours himself a cup of coffee, dropping in two sugar cubes and stirring it, and then takes a sip from the mug. After putting it down, he looks at the two princesses.

"Last evening, I was visited outside my quarters by a drone not of my hive. It was one of Queen Carnation's subjects."

Celestia and Luna both look alarmed.

"Are we to expect an attack?" Luna asks, already planning defensive strategies in her mind.

King Apidae shakes his head. "I do not believe so," he replies, "but I think it is best that I take my leave after we have concluded business here today. You see, the other hives are aware of my actions here today, and to put it plainly, they are not happy about it."

"Do you suspect that they may do something to you and your subjects?" Celestia asks King Apidae.

"I cannot rule that out as a possibility" King Apidae concedes. "As unhappy as the other hives are about the circumstances, taking some kind of major action would be very ill advised. I suspect, if anything, they will send more drones out to perform reconnaissance before making any kind of decision. I believe that, for the time being, my subjects are not in any immediate threat."

"But it is still possible?" Luna infers.

"Nothing is off the table," Apidae responds, "but anything like an all out war would be costly for many reasons. Even joint efforts are too costly. Besides the resources involved, troop movements would be obvious even to the average pony citizen of Equestria. They would never take a chance like that."

King Apidae then takes a sip of coffee and smirks. "Besides, I gave Carnation a figurative, and also rather literal, bit of food to chew on."

Celestia and Luna both look at each other with confusion. "What do you mean by that?" Luna asks.

Apidae takes another sip of coffee and answers her question.

"I gave Carnation a sample of the love my subjects have gathered under the new philosophy I have been pioneering. She was quite unsure how to feel about what I provided her."

"I'm sorry," Celestia says while raising her hoof, "but you said before you were visited by a drone, but then talk about this Queen Carnation as if she was there."

King Apidae chuckles. "I forgot to explain that part" he says and then drinks some more coffee. "King and Queens have the ability to take control of their drones. I personally don't like to do it because it intrudes on their autonomy. Queen Carnation has a bit less compunction in regards to that matter."

"When the monarch takes over the drone's body, they experience all of the things that the drone experiences in real time, even feeding. It was why she was able to experience everything that I had shown her."

"So your kind can take over drones at will?" Celestia summarizes. "Why didn't you contact us through Aulus before?"

"In matters such as these, I believe the personal touch is far more meaningful" Apidae replies, finishing off the last of the coffee in his cup.

"Yes, it does hold a greater meaning" Luna agrees as she finishes her own cup of coffee.

The three rulers sit in silence for a moment before Celestia elects to speak.

"King Apidae," she begins, "I would like to apologize for what happened involving my nephew yesterday. He was told explicitly that my sister and I were not to be disturbed, but he chose to ignore that and seek us out for what was more than likely a very trivial matter."

The king pours a second cup of coffee and prepares it to his liking before having a sip. Once finished, he sets the cup down and looks at Celestia.

"I appreciate your apology, but it is not necessary. I have seen many a pony like Prince Blueblood over the course of my life, and I am quite confident I will be unfortunate to meet many more before my life expires."

"We still feel it is owed to you," Luna chimes in. "Not only did he interrupt a private meeting, but he also said some insulting things that were quite uncalled for."

Apidae nods. "True, he did say some rather uncouth things, but with the ambiguity of the origins of my kind, we may very well be a product of something that came from Tartarus."

"That still doesn't excuse our nephew's behavior."

Apidae takes another sip of coffee before speaking again.

"I don't hold his actions against you. He has made his own opinions and chooses to act on them."

"We appreciate that you don't feel his actions are a reflection of us, but we do. He is very much a noble in the sense that he views the common pony as being beneath him, and he also has rather..."

"Vain tendencies?" Apidae offers.

"Yes, that would be the most polite way of saying it."

Apidae takes another sip of coffee before responding.

"Prince Blueblood has the potential to affect a great deal of change and improvement in Equestria. Instead, he squanders that potential on maintaining an impeccable appearance that is designed to win over hearts and minds without any actual effort, and reaping the benefits of such actions."

Apidae then chuckles dryly. "It's ironic that that is the modus operandi of most changelings, and he calls us filth."

Celestia and Luna both look at each other with unease.

"As we said," Celestia continues, "we apologize for his behavior and hope that it does not affect the outcome of this meeting."

Apidae laughs again, bit this one is warmer than the time prior. "I'm not going to let our talks be ruined by a stallion most mares should give a wider berth of than a skunk with its tail flagged."

At that, both sisters have to laugh. "That is something I am glad both of us can agree on," Celestia tells the king.

After the laughter dies down, there is a bit of silence as ponies and changelings enjoy their breakfast, the king's advisors quietly taking a bit of food and eating at their assigned places.

"I would like to revisit the ambassador situation," Apidae tells Celestia and Luna.

Celestia and Luna both look at each other in confusion before Celestia turns back to address him.

"I thought that we had established everything for that already?"

"We did, more or less" King Apidae responds. "What I meant was that I decided on which drone should fill that task."

"Oh?" Celestia says. "So soon?"

King Apidae nods. "In fact, I believe that you all are familiar with each other in some respect."

Both Celestia and Luna look to each other again in confusion.

"Are they one of your advisors?" Luna asks.

"No" Apidae replies. "I have chosen Aulus for this role."

Celestia and Luna both look surprised. The drone had been the first changeling to approach them in a peaceful manner, and now he shouldered the responsibility of helping to improve the relations between his people and Equestria.

"Is he up to the task?" Celestia asks Apidae.

"I believe him to be so" Apidae replies. "He has studied political science and is a trained infiltrator, which means he has education in the cultures of various nations and their customs. Aulus should perform his task well and with honor."

"Then we shall see to it that he is kept as safe as we can possibly make him" Luna tells Apidae.

"I trust that you will" Apidae responds while taking another sip of coffee.

"There is something else we would like to discuss" Celestia then interrupts.

"Oh?" Apidae responds.

Celestia takes a breath before speaking. "I have a pupil who lives in Ponyville currently. Her name is Twilight Sparkle. She studied under me personally since she was accepted into my school for gifted unicorns."

"She also happens to be the younger sister of my guard's captain, Shining Armor."

"Ah, yes" Apidae realizes. "She was the one who saw through the rogue queen's failed attempt to replace Princess Cadenza."

"Yes, that is her" Celestia confirms. "Well, I feel that I have alienated her a bit with my actions prior to the wedding, and I wished to make amends with her. With you having approached us about peaceful integration, I believe that you may be able to help me, as well as our combined efforts to establish peaceful coexistence."

Apidae thinks over what Celestia has told him.

"I believe I know what you wish to ask me" Apidae deduces. "You would like for your student to learn about our society from us either by interviewing Ambassador Aulus or visiting our hive along the border to the Dragon Lands?"

Celestia nods. "As I said, I believe this will be something she would be eager to be involved in. However, I also know that she was one of the ponies most hurt by the rogue queen's actions, so she may be a bit apprehensive, if not near totally opposed to the idea of the integration of our societies. I am not completely sure how she will react, but I would like for her to meet with you and your advisors before we announce what transpired yesterday, and what will hopefully continue to transpire today, to our subjects with our radio broadcast."

"I believe that would be wise," the king agrees, "but to my understanding of what drones have seen of her, she is a rather gifted magic user, if rather overly emotional at times. I fear what a first meeting without any prompting before hoof could result in."

Celestia nods. "Yes, I am aware of her tendency to be more... reactive to situations, and not necessarily take the time to think things through so that a more logical and less impulsive solution can be found."

"I believe you are referring to the Want It, Need It fiasco?" King Apidae says with a knowing smile.

Princess Celestia's cheeks redden as she chuckles nervously. "You, uh, know about that, do you?"

Apidae nods. "One of my subjects sent report of it to me, right before they avoided Ponyville for a solid month for fear of what might have happened should they have even a glance at the young unicorn's doll."

The blush on the princess's cheeks deepens. The king chuckles.

"Well," Luna interjects, "we would not allow such a situation to occur again, and to that end, we shall inform young Twilight Sparkle of the events that are to transpire here today and have her full understanding and agreement that she is not to cause harm to yourself or any of your subjects. In fact, the both of us shall chaperon this meeting and have shield spells at hoof should my sister's pupil decide to attack you before having made proper introductions."

"Yes, I believe that would be wise" Apidae agrees after taking another sip of coffee. "That also brings up another matter I wanted to discuss. You suggested yesterday that I be introduced over a radio broadcast. While this certainly would help in regards to assuring my personal safety as well as the personal safety of my subjects, I fear it may not have its intended effect."

Celestia lets out a sigh.

"Yes, there is no guarantee that our subjects will accept anything you say," Celestia concedes, "but that is why I plan to make this broadcast after we have captured the rogue queen Chrysalis."

Apidae looks a bit confused. "I apologize, but I was under the impression that our treaty was to be announced at the earliest convenience?"

"Technically speaking, it is" Celestia answers. "I believe it will have its best chance at accomplishing what we intend it to do once she is locked away in a dungeon or, and I say this as being the absolute last resort, cast into the aether."

The changeling king blanches a bit. "I was to understand that you and your sister no longer practiced capital punishment."

"We don't," Luna answers, "as tempting as it may be to reinstate it in this instance. No, we leave that outcome as a possibility for the simple fact that Queen Chrysalis may choose not to be taken alive and will fight to the death if absolutely necessary."

Apidae sighs with a small amount of relief. "I am glad to hear you intend to make the taking of her life the absolute last resort. No offense to either of you, but I have heard tales of your more violent acts during earlier years of your reign."

Celestia and Luna both look at each other uncomfortably. King Apidae frowns.

"My apologies" he addresses the two princesses. "I did not mean to bring up unpleasant memories."

"It is okay" Luna responds. "Our actions in the past are a result of many things combined. Young and inexperienced leadership, a lacking of patience, many parties vying for power and power enough to usurp our throne, and regrettably, some of the earliest seeds of strife between my sister and I."

Celestia nods. "Yes, our past actions are very much a result of the times and circumstances. We have strived to do better, even if we've hit some stumbling blocks along the way. It also didn't help that we had such different views back then on how Equestria should be ran."

"I remember this from reading history books from long ago" Apidae says as he points his hoof at both princesses. "Celestia wanted to promote the agriculture of the kingdom, and Luna wanted to bolster the military."

"Our motivations were a bit more nuanced than that," Luna responds, "but that is a rough summary. Celestia wanted to care for the people by improving things such as agriculture, and I wanted to ensure that the unification we helped establish would last by having a strong military to dissuade and stop any enemies that threatened to destroy what we helped create."

"You did eventually come to agreement and compromise" Apidae pointed out.

"We did" Celestia answers. "My sister and I drafted the basic policies and practices of our modern royal guard, and we agreed to the holding of royal courts to allow petitioners to come to us with proposals that could benefit the nation."

"Well, it's good to hear that you were able to come to a solution that served both of your goals in some capacity" Apidae tells the royal sisters.

"It is" Celestia says as she finishes her tea and places the cup back on the saucer. "Now, I think it's best we have some of this food before it gets too much colder."

King Apidae laughs as he grabs some food and places it onto his plate. "Yes, let us enjoy this most important meal of the day!"

After enjoying breakfast, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and King Apidae all stand around a podium, with several banners serving as a backdrop.

The first is white with golden accents and has a large sun printed on the center of it. Next to that is a navy blue with silver accents and a large crescent moon in the center. After that is a blue flag with two alicorns chasing each other around a sphere. The last is a black flag with a lime green symbol of a bee inside a flame.

Off to one side are the advisors of King Apidae, now joined by Aulus, who had been presented formally with the offer to be the ambassador for King Apidae's hive and graciously accepted the new responsibility.

Ms. Inkwell stood off to one side, examining a clock on a nearby wall.

Prior to this moment, Princess Celestia and Luna sat down with a photographer that worked in the castle for the two of them. They briefed this stallion on what his role was and made him sign the oath to keep what he saw and photographed today a secret, even amending the basic document to include the forfeiture of the film stock until the princesses had made a formal announcement of the treaty that they were about to sign.

The treaty itself sat on the podium, with several lines at the bottom and the names of everypony who would be required to sign, as well as some lines of a few ponies who would bear witness.

A door off to the side of the room opened and in walked the photographer. He was a unicorn, a beige color with a mane reminiscent of the mare known as Vinyl Scratch, except the mix of colors was brown instead of blue.

He levitated in two cameras. One camera was a normal still picture camera, while the other was a moving picture camera, a full reel of film stock loaded into the device. He also had a few lenses for each camera, though the moving picture one had an apparatus on the front to allow for the quick interchanging of lenses as needed.

"J-Just give me a m-moment, y-your highnesses" the photographer said in a shaky voice as he wrestled with the tripod of the moving picture camera.

"There is no rush," Princess Celestia said in her motherly sort of tone, "and there is no reason to be nervous. No creature here will attack you."

"I can attest to that very much" King Apidae added, causing the stallion to flinch a bit and the camera to nearly topple over. It avoided hitting the floor when a green aura surrounded it.

"Might I offer you some assistance?" Aulus asked the photographer, stepping forward just a bit.

The photographer flinched and backed up a bit. "I-It's okay" he told Aulus. "I have things w-well in hoof."

The changeling rolled his eyes, though it was imperceptible to the ponies in the room, as he proceeded to set up the camera, doing everything but aligning it for the shot it was required to take.

"Oh" the stallion says in surprise. "Th-Thank you."

"Not a problem" Aulus told him. "Haven't seen one of these new cameras before. Looks kinda cool."

"Th-They're really expensive" the stallion comments. "I-I could b-barely af-afford this one."

Aulus smiles as he steps back into place. Princess Celestia goes over to the stallion and looks him in the eyes with a soft smile.

"I meant what I said earlier" she tells the photographer. "King Apidae and his subjects are not here to cause us harm. In fact, they are here to help us prevent further harm. Do you trust me, my little pony?"

The photographer doesn't say anything for a moment. "I... I want to."

Celestia quirks her brow. "You want to?"

"I-I do," the stallion confirms, "b-but I'm afraid that they may have gotten to you."

Celestia realizes what he means and chuckles. "You're afraid that I'm under a mind control spell, right?"

The stallion doesn't say anything but nods.

"Let me ask you something" the princess says next. "If the changelings had mind controlled my sister and I, why would they go to all of this trouble of putting on a show in private that they intended to keep in privateand risk having one of the ponies here in the castle run off and sound the alarm for not only every pony in Canterlot, but for all of the ponies in Equestria."

"I..."

The stallion doesn't have an answer. "I don't know."

"Then the simplest answer is that they are genuine about this" Celestia concludes. "My sister and I ask you to trust us. We, meaning King Apidae, Princess Luna and I, have spent a good bit of time establishing this peace treaty, and even without it being formally signed at the moment, both King Apidae and his subjects intend to honor it."

"In fact, the king has put his hive at risk in order to do this thing he is here for today."

The photographer looks at Princess Celestia with surprise, and then past her to look at King Apidae.

"Your princess speaks the truth" the king tells the stallion. "My actions in revealing myself and my hive to your princesses breaks several laws maintained between all of the changeling hives. There is a chance that my subjects and home could face consequences for what I've done here today."

"In truth, I had intended to establish a peace further off into the future, but the attack during Princess Cadenza's wedding forced my hoof to act now and prevent an already unfavorable view of us to perpetuate further. You have nothing to fear of me or my subjects."

The stallion thinks over what he's been told, and eventually, he relaxes a bit.

"I suppose I can trust you if the princesses do" he finally admits.

"They are wise in a way only years of experience can make," Apidae affirms, "even if their emotions sometimes get the better of them."

The photographer finishes setting up his equipment, allowing Aulus to help with a few things, though the pony is still a bit nervous to be up close and personal. Once his equipment is set up completely, Raven begins the formal ceremony.

"Mares and stallions, we are here today to bear witness to the signing of the Equestria-Dragonlands Hive Peace Treaty. This endeavor is the result of amicable communication between the two nations, and with the treaty signed into law, will guarantee protection to both the ponies of Equestria and the changelings of the Dragonlands Hive."

Raven turns and faces the princesses. "Princess Celestia, will you step forward and sign the treaty?" she asks.

"I shall" Celestia responds in the affirmative, stepping up to the podium and taking one of the quills in an inkwell and signing on the line next to where her name is printed out on the parchment. She then replaces the quill and steps back.

"Princess Luna," Raven turns to the night princess, "will you step forward and sign the treaty?"

"I shall" Luna answers, stepping forward and repeating her sister's actions, signing next to her name on the treaty before putting the quill back and stepping away.

"King Apidae," Raven turns to the changeling ruler, "will you step forward and sign this treaty?"

"I shall" the king replies as he moves to the podium. However, rather than take a quill from the provided ink pot, the king removes a pen with a metal nib from his vest. Then, in a shocking move to the princesses, he pricks his frog with the pen, wincing slightly as he holds it there. Once he is satisfied that the pen has enough "ink" in it, he holds it above the paper and recites a pledge.

"I swear this oath, honor bound by the Mother Tree, that I shall uphold this treaty I sign here today to the best of my abilities. May great misfortune befall me should I fail in this endeavor."

With that, the king signs on the paper next to where his name is printed.

"That was... unexpected" Celestia remarks, clearly taken by surprise at the king's actions.

"What you have seen me do is swear a blood oath to the Mother Tree" Apidae explains. "It's one of our oldest traditions and the most serious pledge that changelings can make. I do this now to demonstrate once again how serious I am about the establishment of peace between our subjects."

The changeling advisors and Aulus all bow their heads to their king, an apparent show of respect for his actions.

Celestia smiles. "We have no doubt that you will do your best to uphold this treaty, and I also add that we will do everything in our power to uphold it as well. If there is any one thing I hate as much as attacks on my subjects, it is the loss of an ally."

"And since you are the first allies of my kingdom," King Apidae concurs, "I must say that I too would be greatly hurt to lose your trust"

Celestia smiles at the king's promise. Raven clears her throat and continues with the ceremony. "I shall now step forward and sign this treaty as a witness to the event."

The pony steps forward and takes a quill, signing her name on one of the three witness signature lines. Placing the quill back, Raven looks to the photographer.

"Sir, will you step forward and sign your name?" she asks him.

The photographer looks around nervously; he did not expect to be called to sign such an important document. As he looks around with uncertainty, his eyes meet Princess Celestia's own, and she gives him a smile and nod.

Without delay, the stallion agrees and signs his name: Wide Angle.

"Would a member of the changeling delegation please sign this treaty as a witness?" Raven asks the five advisors. The group discusses, and once finished, they face Raven.

"We nominate Andromeda to sign this treaty as a witness" Nero informs Raven.

"Andromeda, will you step forward and sign this treaty as a witness?" Raven asks the drone.

"I shall" Andromeda replies, and steps forward, repeating the same actions as her king, swearing a blood oath to support his efforts to carry out the terms of the treaty.

Raven takes the signed document and reviews it. Once she is satisfied, she turns and faces the photographer and cameras.

"With these signatures, the treaty between Equestria and the Dragonlands Changeling Hive is now official" she announces. "May peace and prosperity follow for both nations on this day."

"May peace and prosperity follow" Celestia, Luna, Apidae and all of the other ponies repeat.

Raven then takes the treaty and rolls it up into a scroll, then places a seat over top of said scroll. Using her magic, she duplicates the scroll, as well as replaces the seal with one that mimics the same "bee inside a flame" motif that King Apidae has chosen to use.

"Here is your copy of the treaty" Raven tells the king while giving him the document.

"Thank you, Ms. Inkwell" Apidae says as he takes the scroll and then hands it to Andromeda. "Please take care of that until we return to the hive" he instructs her.

"I will, your majesty" Andromeda replies as she slips the treaty into a set of saddlebags placed off to the side.

Princess Celestia and Luna both approach King Apidae. "We understand that you would like to return to your hive now that we have this treaty signed and official," Celestia begins, "but we were wondering if you could perhaps stay at least one more day to work on a few other things."

King Apidae deduces what they mean rather quickly. "You wish for me to meet with members of your royal guard and brief them on what we know of Queen Chrysalis and where she may be hiding."

"That is one part," Luna concedes, "but there are some other things. For instance, my sister intends to write a letter to her pupil to see if she can return here to Canterlot this evening or tomorrow morning. She will brief her on what has happened and introduce you to her so that she can be aware of how things are going to be moving forward."

"Yes," Celestia chimes in, "but there is something I must admit that I have overlooked. You see, young Twilight is one of the bearers for the artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony. There are five other mares that wield these elements, and Twilight is friends with all of them. If we tell her of you, she will ultimately tell all of her friends about her meeting you, and I fear that that could have a rather negative effect on our situation with the establishment of a peace treaty."

"So, instead of just Twilight Sparkle, I will be meeting with five other mares that share the burden of bearing these elements you speak of?" King Apidae summarizes.

"Yes, that is the long and short of it" Celestia responds a bit sheepishly.

King Apidae sighs. "These two days are the longest I've been from my hive" he tells the princesses. "Truly, I do not wish to be away any longer than necessary. I believe that it would be best to put off a meeting with these six mares until I can better accommodate it. I do not wish to show any disrespect, but with my absence from the hive, there is a bit of a vulnerability. While I train my soldiers to be the best they can be, I am still the most powerful changeling by leaps and bounds. Only a king and fight off another king or queen."

Celestia listens to what the king has to say and nods somberly. "Then I will not keep you any longer. But I do have one question for you."

"And I will be more than happy to answer" King Apidae responds.

"How will we contact you from now on?" Celestia asks. "I cannot just send a courier to your hive, especially since we have no concrete ideas of its exact location."

King Apidae chuckles. "If you wish to contact me, then you may do so through Aulus."

The king turns to the drone in question. "Do you have your scarabs, Aulus?"

Aulus nods. "Yes, your majesty" he replies as he reaches into a small pair of saddlebags on his back and fishes out four pieces of what appear to be obsidian, and all of them shaped like beetles.

"This is what we call the Scarab Relay" Apidae explains. "We can use this to communicate with the throne rooms of any hive in Equestria. Simply align them as Aulus is doing and they will immediately create a communication spell that allows you to see the pony or changeling on the other end, and they you."

"Remarkable" Luna says as she watches Aulus arrange the beetles. Once they are in place, the beetles open their elytras and project green beams at one another, which quickly form into a lattice that projects a circular portal-like viewing screen about two hoofs above them. Inside the viewing screen is a changeling drone that looks a bit surprised to see ponies in front of it.

"Your majesty?" the drone asks, a clearly feminine quality to it.

"Persephone," King Apidae addresses the drone. "We have succeeded in establishing a peace treaty with Equestria and will be returning soon. Please inform the hive."

Persephone bows her head. "That is wonderful news. I shall inform them immediately, your majesty."

Apidae smiles. "Also, I would like for you to meet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. These are the two current rulers of Equestria. I expect they'll be communicating with us quite a bit in the future, so I expect them to be greeted cordially at the least when they seek to communicate with us."

"They shall, your majesty" Persephone nods and faces the two sisters, bowing her head to them.

"I am Persephone," she introduces herself, "and I am the head of communications for the Dragonlands Hive Defense Force. My duties are to set up and coordinate communications for the entire hive, as well as preparing the communications equipment that is used by our reconnaissance teams. If you have any questions or if you should wish to speak to King Apidae, I will be more than happy to answer those questions or put you in touch with his majesty."

"Thank you, Persephone" Celestia tells the drone. "I am Princess Celestia, the solar princess of Equestria. This is my sister Princess Luna, the lunar princess of Equestria. Together, we rule over the citizens of Equestria and do all we can to make it a peaceful and prosperous nation."

"I am pleased to make your acquaintances, your highnesses" Persephone responds.

King Apidae clears his throat. "Both myself and the advisors will be returning soon. I wish for the hive to know and prepare. I will be giving a speech to inform them all of the specifics as to what has happened here these past few days, and what they can expect going forward."

"I shall do so, your majesty" Persephone says with a bow. "Do you wish us to prepare the throne room for this announcement or would you prefer elsewhere?"

"I believe the announcement hall will serve this purpose well enough. Have it cleaned and prepared for when the delegation and I return and have had a chance to clean up from the journey.

"As you wish, your highness" Persephone responds, continuing her bow.

King Apidae steps forward and presses down on one of the beetle stones, discontinuing the spell and causing the stones to close their elytras and go dormant again. Aulus then picks them up and places them in his saddlebags again.

"A rather interesting piece of technology" Luna comments.

"It is," King Apidae responds, "and I invite your subjects to examine and reverse engineer it to produce a working version for themselves. I imagine that they could produce something that is more efficient and compact than this, given enough time to experiment."

"Then I appreciate the sharing of this technology with us" Celestia tells King Apidae. "I should hope that we are able to share our technology with you in the future and have it be of a benefit to your people."

"There is no need," King Apidae responds, "but the gesture is appreciated."

The king then turns and faces his advisors. "We shall make leave during the night" he tells them. "We shall do it by carriage out of the city limits, and then transform into thestrals so that we may make the journey back as quickly and quietly as possible."

"Agreed, your highness" Nero says with a bow, the other advisors joining him.

"Since you shall be staying with us for a few hours more," Celestia chimes in, "perhaps you and your delegation will be interested in a brief tour of our city?"

"I think that would be a good idea" Luna adds. "I would love to show the king some of the best sights that Canterlot has to offer. What do you say to this King Apidae?"

The king smiles as he and his delegation are consumed in green fire, which fades quickly to reveal the same pony disguises that they arrived in.

"By all means, Princesses," the king responds, "lead the way."

Author's Notes:

The treaty is officially signed and the hive in the Dragonlands is officially on peaceful terms with Equestria.

After some criticism recently, some of it coming off as rather confrontational, I elected to take a look back at things and realized some mistakes that i had made.

First and foremost, since this story branches off and forms a new line of continuity that isn't really canon within the show, I failed to correctly mark this as Alternate Universe, which is what I should have done to begin with.

Second, I failed to give much backstory to Prince Blueblood in regards to the strong response that Celestia and Luna had to his presence in previous chapters. I included some of that in this chapter as a way of "correcting that", as well as Celestia and Luna apologizing to King Apidae for their behavior.

The overall idea I had with the Business lunch chapters was to demonstrate on both sides that they were not perfect and plenty capable of making mistakes and faux pas, with the changelings feeding on Celestia and Luna's feelings for one another and Celestia and Luna demonstrating their frustrations with Prince Blueblood.

While I still stand by the idea that I had, I will admit that I did not execute it very well. For those readers that had issue with that I do apologize.

While this story is not going on hiatus, I cannot say for certain when I will have a chapter ready to publish for this in the future. My focus will now shift to my second oldest story, Fitting In Is Hard To Do, and some upcoming chapters for that story. Without giving away any spoilers, I will be delving into a very heavy topic, and I want to take the time to give it the fair treatment that it deserves.

UPDATE 8/25/2023 - Updated for continuity in regards to the replacement of A Business Lunch, Part II

Time to Depart

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Princess Celestia, Luna, King Apidae and the remainder of the changeling delegation spent a good portion of time traveling about Canterlot. The changelings themselves were disguised as usual, but the princesses also changed their appearances, causing them to resemble a unicorn and pegasus respectively. Their use of disguise magic, as Apidae had referred to it when they performed it, impressed the ruler, causing him to critique their appearances, much to the sister's chagrin.

The day had been spent visiting various boutiques, from clothiers to jewelers, to artisans of varying crafts. A small collection of trinkets had been acquired by the sisters for the changeling delegation, and King Apidae promised that, should their be a visit by them to his hive in the future, the gesture would be returned in kind.

The outing between the ponies and changelings had concluded with a meal held at one of the princesses favorite spots in Canterlot - Donut Joe's. Each pony and changeling received a donut and a drink.

"I must say that these donuts are simply delightful!" King Apidae says between bites of his donut.

"I had a feeling that you would appreciate them," Celestia tells the king, sipping at her own cup of hot tea.

"Truly, this day has been wonderful, but I am afraid that my advisors and I will have to depart soon."

Celestia takes a look at the sky and realizes that the afternoon was waning, and not long from now, she would be lowering the sun and her sister would raise the moon. When that happened, the changelings would exit the castle in their disguises, head to the edge of the city, then change into a group of thestrals and fly off and back to their hive.

At that moment, she realizes that the king had nearly revealed his actual nature, and in an effort to maintain their secrecy, Celestia casts a small, nearly invisible dome over the group that would conceal their conversation from eavesdroppers.

"I wish you did not have to leave so soon," Celestia laments, "but I also understand you cannot leave your hive unattended for very long."

"I wish that I could stay for longer as well, but if I stay away for much longer, the other hives may make a move to seize my subjects from me."

"I thought that you had said they would observe you and your hive before making that sort of a decision?"

"Much with the other hives and feeding, changelings are creatures of opportunity. Need I remind you that I have the changeling who is effectively in command of my entire army here with me and not back at the hive?"

"If he was so important for defense, then why did you bring him with you instead of another changeling?" Luna asks.

"That was a decision made by Nero, and one where I trusted him to make a wise choice. As I understand it, he has an apprentice he has been training for some time, and he has needed a proper test of his abilities to see that he will be able to perform his duty when called upon, and maintaining the security of the hive and the integrity of its army while both Nero and I are absent is a perfect opportunity for him to be tested."

"If I may, your highness?" Nero asks, to which King Apidae nods his approval. "Voltaire has been my apprentice for nearly a decade. I have taught him all that I know in regards to combat and battle strategy, organization and logistics, and have tested him many times with table top war games not too dissimilar to the kind you use to train your own guard commanders. He is as well-honed a blade as I can make him, but you never know how good a knife is until the first time you cut with it."

Celestia nods to the general. She could speak from her own experience of training the commanders of her army during the early days of Equestria, when the relations between nations such as Griffinstone and the Dragonlands were much more volatile than they are today.

"As I have said, we will be departing soon," Apidae continued. "As we agreed earlier, Dionices will remain behind to assist in identifying infiltrators in the ranks of your guard and advising them to return to their hives. All I ask is that, once her task is complete, please have her return to us as soon as possible."

"We will ensure that she gets back to you as quickly as possible," Celestia assures the king, "but there are some things we would like to discuss with her. More specifically, we would like to learn of the way to heal the drained ponies so that we may be able to return them to their families."

Apidae frowns. "As I stated before, learning that process will take time. Even with your best mages, you wouldn't be attempting it for, at the very earliest, another month."

Celestia frowns herself. "There is no way to expedite this learning?"

Apidae shakes his head. "Even the medical drones that are taught this spell take a great deal of time to perform the spell properly, and your mages may take even longer."

"It may take them longer?" Luna parrots.

"The spell to restore the affected ponies is from the kind of magic taught to changelings. Your mages would be learning an entirely new school of magical thought in the process of learning this spell."

Luna nods. Celestia's eyes suddenly go wide as she realizes something.

"If our mages learn this new school of magical thought, then that would mean that we could develop countermeasures to your own spells."

"Which I hope is more than enough proof of my intentions for peace. After all, why would I give you the sword that you could slay me with at any moment?"

"Because you trust us not to slay you with it," Luna answers, a gentle smile on her muzzle.

"Precisely," Apidae responds as he finishes his drink.

Celestia and Luna both digest the information provided by the king, then look at each other as though to have a wordless conversation, then look back at the king.

"I assure you that we have no desire to use this information against you or your hive," Celestia tells him.

"And I assure you that, for the time being, the information will only be known to us," Luna adds.

King Apidae nods. "I trust you both with it. After all, we have worked together to draft a formal peace treaty, which is a step in the right direction as far as becoming allies is concerned."

His cup empty, the king sits it back down and the table and looks to both princesses with a serious expression.

"I would like to say now, to both of you, this: if you come under attack of another changeling hive, you need only call out my name, and my subjects will come to your aid, and those that can will call to me, and I shall answer that call with my army. In fact, if you come under threat from any kind of threat, we shall answer your call."

Celestia smiles and nods. "You have said as much before, but I thank you for that affirmation."

Apidae smiles and nods, then his expression turns sad.

"It is nearly time for us to depart. Shall we return to the castle now?"

Looking out the window, Celestia sees the sun is nearly to the point where it will require her assistance to take it below the horizon. "Yes, we should be going now," she agrees sadly.

The princesses and changeling delegation returned to the castle in time for Celestia and Luna to exchange their respective celestial bodies in the sky. Once the sun and moon were where they needed to be, the group gathered in the throne room.

King Apidae stood in his vestments and undisguised, his advisors beside him in their natural forms as well. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stood at the base of the dais that held their thrones. All parties were smiling, but there was sadness in them too.

"It is a shame that you must leave us so soon," Celestia said to the group, "but I also understand the reason why. But before you go, my sister and I would like to present you with some things as a token of goodwill from our nation to your hive."

Luna nods in agreement and then steps forward. Using her magic, she picks up a package wrapped in brown paper and twine.

"This is a framed copy of the Equestria-Dragonlands Changeling Hive Peace Treaty," she informs the king. "Please display it in your hive proudly."

"We shall, and thanks to both of you," he answers as he takes the treaty in his own magic, then gives it to Andromeda for safekeeping.

Celestia moves up to her sister and produces her own package, this one resembling a hat box.

"I have taken the liberty of commissioning you another crown," she tells him, "should you decide to make another your queen in the future."

King Apidae looks at Celestia in shock as she opens the box to reveal the crown resting inside. It is nearly as ornate as his own, but its smaller size would be a better fit for another changeling a bit smaller than himself.

Upon seeing the crown, the king smiles. "I'm sure whoever becomes the recipient of this will be quite pleased with it. I thank you kindly for this."

He takes the crown from her magic and again passes it to Andromeda for safekeeping. Once she has stowed it away safely, the king nods to her and she produces two wrapped bundles from her saddlebags.

"Your guards saw these earlier," the king begins, "but I'm hoping they kept the surprise I had asked them to. I wanted to see your genuine reactions to these."

Both Celestia and Luna look at each other with nervousness. The guards cooperating with a creature who, at the time of their meeting, was still considered an enemy of the nation? There would need to be talks, even if this surprise turned out to be fairly benign.

Andromeda presents the packages to the king, who then presents them to Celestia and Luna. "I have commissioned these from one of the hive's best clothiers. I asked them to use my size for reference in making them, so I hope they are not too ill-fitting on both of you."

Celestia and Luna accept the packages, calming themselves before undoing the twine on them and cautiously opening the flaps of paper concealing their contents.

Both sisters gasp upon seeing the gifts given to them.

Inside the packages are silk capes similar to the king's own, but lacking the elaborate fringe around the neck. Celestia's is a bright white, with cyan, magenta, green and light indigo pinstripes running across it. The fabric had a shine to it that seemed to catch the light and make it glow more intensely when it reflected back, almost as though it were glowing. At the base of the neck was a broach in the shape of Celestia cutie mark.

Princess Luna had a similar cape, but hers was a very dark blue that bordered on being black, and set into the fabric were pieces of white gemstone in varying sizes, each capturing the light and reflecting it, imitating the twinkling of stars in the night sky. Just as on Celestia's, a broach shaped like her own cutie mark sat at the bottom of the neck hole.

"These are... incredible," Celestia finally says after a few moments of admiring the garment.

"Indeed," Luna agrees. "The craftsmanship is among the best I've ever seen, possibly the absolute best ever."

Celestia looks a bit guiltily at the king. "These must've cost a small fortune to make."

Apidae chuckles. "Perhaps if they were making something like this in another country, but not my hive. The gemstones in Princess Luna's cape were mined from inside the hive, and the fabrics of both were produced by ourselves, carefully processed and dyed to have the vibrant colors that they do. Our best metal smith crafted the broaches that hold the two articles together, and their paint was crafted by the best artists my hive can offer. It will stand the test of time, with proper care, of course."

"And we shall take proper care of them," Celestia says with a smile. "We thank you for these."

The king nods to the princesses with a warm smile on his muzzle, but it quickly becomes sad.

"Unfortunately, our time is up. I need to return in order to ensure things in my hive continue to remain safe. I shall leave Dionices here with you to assist in the identification of any spies in your rank, as we previously agreed. She will also begin instructing you both in the magic necessary for the spellwork that'll help in healing the ponies affected by the attack last month."

"I will make contact with you again sometime in the following week. That is when I plan to send Aulus to you to begin his duties as my hive's ambassador. You needn't worry about his security; he will remain disguised until we have announced all of what we have done here these past two days to your nation and subjects. As for his feeding needs, we will supply him with what he needs, so you can rest easy knowing he won't be drawing it from your subjects."

Celestia and Luna were wearing sad smiles as well, but they quickly change to nervous looks upon hearing of the impending arrival of newly-appointed Ambassador Aulus.

"Is that wise?" Celestia asks. "Sending your ambassador so soon?"

"I plan for him to live here in Canterlot in his own residence for the time being," the king answers. "He'll have a cover story, and we'll provide him the necessary bits he'll require. His main duty will be to assist you on any matters involving interactions with other changelings you may encounter."

"That is good to hear, but it still feels a bit too soon. We won't have a place for him to conduct business for some time, and even then, there will be the matter of dealing with other ponies that will either, at best, want to have words with him, or at worst, attempt to commit an outright assault against him."

"Aulus is well aware of the danger that is posed by his position, and he accepts the risks involved. As for the possibility of being attacked, he is trained in how to defend himself, as well as how to deescalate a situation. I trust him to be able to handle whatever comes his way, and to carry out his duties efficiently and with honor."

Celestia wishes to counter his argument with an idea that will make him reconsider, but she can think of nothing.

"My sister and I will discuss the arrangements that will allow him to perform his duties here in the castle," Luna tells Apidae, "but it will be some time before he may have an office on castle grounds. We will do our best to accommodate him, but if you would please tell him to come find Dionices and have her bring him to us, it would be appreciated. There are some things we would like to discuss with him directly."

"I shall see to it," Apidae responds with a bow. When he rises again, he is smiling.

"I thank you, princesses, for helping to make the dream I have carried for so long finally come to fruition."

Celestia smiles in return, but hers is much sadder. "It is a grand dream, but it will be some time before it is fully realized."

"Our efforts are working to make it so, and with each moment we work together in cooperation, the closer it comes to being reality."

Apidae turns to his advisors and gives them a nod, which they return.

"And now, we must be going. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, my advisors and I thank you for your hospitality, your understanding, and your kindness. May the maker smile upon you always, and may you and your subjects prosper from here to eternity."

"May the maker smile on you as well," Celestia returns, "and may you and your subjects prosper from here to eternity."

The king smiles and nods, and with no further fanfare, he and the three of his entourage returning with him depart the throne room and castle.

End-of-Day Meeting

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Princess Celestia and Luna both stood and watched the King and his entourage as they left. Once the door had closed behind them, Celestia turned to the changeling the king left behind.

"Today has been most eventful for all of us," Celestia told Dionices, "but we still have a fair bit of business to attend to before we can all have a good night of rest."

Dionices nodded. "Yes, we do. I would think the best thing to start with would be to introduce me to whichever guards I'll need to work with to start the vetting process to find the spies in your ranks."

"Normally, I would agree, but I would first like to get to know you a little bit better. To my understanding, you studied medicine here in Equestria?"

Dionices nodded again. "Yes, I did. I have a doctorate in general practice, as well as a nearly-finished doctorate in thoracic surgery."

"Nearly finished?" Luna asked with a raised brow. "How much further do you need to go?"

"I have another semester of study, and then I would have to complete residency before I could become a full-fledged surgeon."

"Would your training be exclusive to pony medicine, or are there things you could apply to changelings as well?"

"I could technically do both, though I would have to adapt some techniques to apply them to changeling physiology."

"Well, we aren't going to go into technical details regarding your courses of study," Celestia interjected. "The largest concern of my sister and I is whether or not you will adhere to the medical oaths."

Dionices looked at Celestia like she had been told something rather offensive. "Your highness, after my pledge of loyalty to my kind, my medical oaths are the most important ones I have ever taken. I would never dare go against them."

"My apologies," Celestia conceded, looking a tad bit ashamed. "I did not mean to insinuate any kind of ill intent."

"If I may speak bluntly?" Dionices asked the princesses, who nodded their agreement. "The two of you are still acting as though I will attempt to cocoon the both of you and take your place so as to subvert the rule of your kingdom."

Luna made to protest, but Dionices raised her hoof.

"I don't even have to use any of my abilities to sense your emotions to tell that your faith in our honesty is very limited. Your attitude towards my king and my fellow advisors has spoken volumes as to your overall trust in our ability to keep our word."

Celestia and Luna both looked at each other and hung their heads.

"You are right," Celestia admitted. "Our faith in the word of your king has been tenuous at best, but we do wish for peace. It will just take us time to get over everything, and if our own trust is anything to go by, then our subjects will require even more time."

"Please forgive us," Luna chimed in. "We wish to do better, and we apologize for the poor display we have shown you."

Dionices considers the two princesses for a moment before she lets out a breath.

"I shouldn't be so harsh or accusing. There have been fowl-ups on both sides of the conversation, and we have a tentative peace treaty in place now, so I feel I must also apologize for the attitude that I displayed a moment ago. I suppose we all have areas in which we can improve."

Celestia and Luna both nodded in agreement on that sentiment.

"Now," Celestia said in an effort to turn the conversation in a more positive direction, "I believe we should first discuss the 'plan of attack' for evaluating our guards and finding the proverbial 'snakes in the grass'."

"Of course. First and foremost, I should be made aware of the ponies I shall be assisting, and vice versa."

"We will take care of that later. They are here at the castle, but are busy with other important duties related to their position, and ones I cannot simply pull them away from at the moment. My sister and I have an end-of-day briefing with them, and it will be at that time we will formally introduce you to them, and for the record, they were made aware of the king and your delegation being here today."

"Then I am glad that my introduction will not startle them too much."

"They may still be taken aback by your remaining behind to assist with the vetting of the royal guard. We will do our best to prevent it, but neither my sister or myself can guarantee there will be no friction between you and they during this process."

Dionices gives a somber nod. "Yes, I can understand that, but what I offer is genuine. I shall do my best to convince them of that. My only request is that the guards and medical personnel I'll be working with give me enough trust to demonstrate this fact."

"We will make it so," Celestia reassured Dionices. "Now, may we please hear what your plans are?"

"My plans are dependent on the response of your military advisors. I will need their cooperation as much as the ponies I will be working with directly."

Celestia didn't show it, but the postponement of the discussion was a tad irksome to her. Nonetheless, she opted to change the topic of conversation.

"Perhaps you can enlighten us to some of your own opinions on the medical training that you've received? We will be waiting for a little while until the advisors come for the end-of-day briefing."

"Very well," Dionices agreed, and the two princesses and changeling began a conversation on modern medical training.

The time between when the conversation between Dionices and the princess began to when the end-of-day meeting was to begin passed fairly quickly, with both Celestia and Luna learning a fair bit about the efforts of the changeling to learn and perfect all she could in relation to medicine. Even after a half-hour of conversation, the solar diarch had to concede that King Apidae had made a very wise decision in naming her one of his advisors.

Soon enough, a guard entered the throne room to inform the princesses that the meeting was set, taken a bit off guard that one of the changeling delegation had remained behind.

"Dionices will be remaining with us for a little while longer," Luna informed the guard. "My sister and I expect her to be treated with the exact same level of respect as any other delegate visiting on official business."

The guard bowed his head and agreed, then turned and left out the main doors.

"Dionices, I would like for you to remain outside the meeting room until I tell you to come in," Celestia told the changeling. "I would like to 'soften the blow' a bit before formally introducing you."

"Are you afraid of one of your subordinates doing something rash?" the changeling questioned.

"The matter of the failed invasion a month or so back is a bit of a hot-button issue with the royal guard, as it demonstrates a clear failure to properly defend the nation and capital. I fear one of them may elect to 'make an example of you'."

"I assure you, your highness, that if one of them were to try anything physical, I would be more than capable of handling it."

"I am sure that you can, but if we can avoid a confrontation such as that, it would be best. Would you please grant my request?"

Dionices bowed her head. "The king instructed me to follow your command as though it was coming straight from him. I will do as you ask of me."

"I thank you. It should only be for a few minutes. You may have a seat if you wish."

Dionices gave a brief 'thank you' before finding a spot on an empty love seat.

"Shall we, sister?" Luna asked as her magic formed around the door handle.

"Yes, let us," Celestia agreed as Luna pulled the door open and the two rulers entered the meeting room.

In the center was an oval table, and seated around it were six ponies with varying styles of armor.

One had a shield emblem with a sun in the center, with a triangle immediately below it.

Another had an identical shield, but a wing underneath, and a third had a leaf below an identical shield.

The three ponies respectively were a unicorn, pegasus and earth pony.

The other three had shields with a moon in the center. Their emblems were a teardrop, flame and star. Each one was a thestral pony, complete with slit pupils, fangs, tufted ears, and bat-like wings.

The ponies were a mix of four stallions and two mares, with a mare each in the sun and moon armor.

"Good evening, and thank you for making it on time to this meeting," Celestia began. "Now, before we begin our business for the day, my sister and I have some news to share with all of you."

"Would it have anything to do with the changeling waiting out in the hallway?"

The remark caused Celestia to go wide-eyed as she looked at the mare in the moon armor.

Said mare gave the princess a sheepish look. "I may have used the old 'glass-against-the-door trick'."

Celestia let out a sigh. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. After all, my sister has chosen you three for your prowess in spy-craft. I just hope you will use it against our enemies in the future."

"If we could return to the topic of the changeling that has apparently been left behind?" a stallion in sun armor asked with a bit of edge to his voice.

Celestia gave him a look before she conceded to his point.

"Very well. As Miss Night Glider has pointed out, there is a changeling out in the hallway that we would like you all to meet. She is a member of the delegation who was here for the past two days, and she was left to us by the changeling king to help us perform a duty that will be beneficial to the guard as a whole."

"And what duty is this?" the unicorn in sun armor asked.

Princess Luna stepped forward to contribute to the meeting. "We have been informed of infiltration of our guard ranks, even so soon after the attempted invasion of the city not so long ago."

The statement caused outcries among the group of guards, ranging from questions of how such a thing happened and accusations of incompetence levied at one another.

"Order!" Celestia called out, silencing the bickering. "I understand that this news is not something that you all wish to hear, but hear it we must! These changelings who have infiltrated the ranks of our guard have done so for a multitude of intentions. For some, they're simply gauging our response, and are using that to determine when it will be safest for their respective hives to resume their normal activities."

"For others, they could very well be probing our defenses to determine if they themselves can carry out an invasion as brazen as the one that occurred at my niece's wedding."

"And how exactly is this changeling going to help us?" the thestral with the teardrop symbol inquired.

"The changelings can sense one another, and it is in this way that she will be of assistance. Now, we would like to bring her in and introduce her now, so my sister and I ask all of you to keep your remarks and opinions to yourselves. Our meeting with King Apidae has been very fruitful, and we do not wish to have the work accomplished undone by the bigoted actions of a few, such as yourselves."

The group of guards all looked at each other with a mixture of expressions. Eventually, the sun guard with a wing answered for the group.

"We shall keep ourselves civil."

"Very good," Celestia said, then turned to Luna. "Would you be so kind as to invite in our newest changeling?"

"Of course, sister," Luna replied as she moved to the door and opened it with her magic.

"You may come in now," she called to the changeling, who looked over at her upon seeing the door coming open. Dionices proceeded to pop up in the air and flutter back down with her wings buzzing slightly, a small smirk on her muzzle as she was apparently dismounting the furniture like it was the edge of a cliff.

The action caused Luna to roll her eyes as she moved out of the way to allow the changeling in. Once she entered and was an equal distance between both princesses, she stopped and looked at the guards, who were all staring at her as she entered.

"Mares and stallions," Celestia addressed the group, "this is one of the advisors for King Apidae. Her name is Dionices, and she will be assisting us in the operation to find the infiltrators in our ranks and help us to remove them."

"What experience do you have with Equestria?" a guard suddenly asked.

"Please, questions are best saved for later," the sun princess interjected, but a sudden raising of a hoof caught her attention.

"Your highness," Dionices addressed the princess, "I believe it may be of more benefit to this meeting at the moment if I were to answer a question from each of these guardsponies."

Celestia thought on the suggestion for a moment, but her thoughts were interrupted by the same guard reiterating their question. "How much experience do you have with Equestria?"

Dionices looked at the guard addressing her, who turned out to be the moon guard with a star on their armor.

"I'm afraid that question is a little bit vague. Do you mean how many years have I spent in Equestria?"

"Yes, that's what I meant."

"Well, I've been in Equestria for more than two decades all told. A good portion of the time was actually spent right here in Canterlot."

"Why so much time in Canterlot?" the sun guard with a leaf asked.

"I was a student here at the main university. I majored in medicine."

"You came to study here in our schools?" The moon guard with flame said with surprise. "How far did you get in your studies?"

"I hold a doctorate in medicine, and am also qualified as a thoracic surgeon."

"Have you done surgeries on ponies before?" came the question of the sun guard with a triangle.

"Yes, I have. I performed an operation two years ago saved an older stallion's life. His main arteries were blocked, and I performed a bypass on them. From what I understand, he is doing well, with a wife that insists he cut down on his visits to Donut Joe's for a half-dozen donuts nearly every day."

"And that was all you did?" the last moon guard with a flame asked, his voice masking an accusatory tone.

Dionices picked up on this with little effort. "If you're implying that I did something that would harm that stallion later, then I will reiterate to you what I had told your princesses earlier: After my oath to serve my king, the most important ones to me are the oaths related to my doctorate. I would never violate something that I hold so dear, and in such a reckless way."

The last guard, the sun guard with a wing, asked the final, and perhaps most pointed question. "Have you fed from our subjects."

This was a loaded question, and one that clearly was meant to portray Dionices in a negative light. Before she could speak, Princess Celestia stepped in.

"I believe at this point it is an academic fact that changelings sustain themselves from the energy tied to the emotional states of sentient beings, with an affinity towards the more amorous feelings like love. To answer the question that that one implied, the practice is done in such a way as to not cause harm to the individual creature being fed from, and this practice is not something exclusive to Dionices; every changeling under King Apidae adheres to this practice."

The guard looked at Celestia with suspicion. "Your highness, how is it that you seem to know so much about this?"

Celestia wanted to simply say that she had been subjected to the practice before, and to no ill affects, but knew it would likely spark an outrage that could result in a lot of negative consequences.

"King Apidae gave us an explanation of how it works, and even demonstrated with one of the advisors as a volunteer."

"And we're to trust the word of a king we've never met?"

"There will be a meeting in due time. For now, he has his own affairs to attend to, as do my sister and I. If you wish for some insight, then I shall simply say that his actions for the past few months are actually in violation of laws that the changelings impose upon themselves."

The remark took the guard by surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, they do," Dionices interjected. "A law amongst the changelings specifically states that we are not to reveal our existence to ponies or other sentient creatures. The missives that the king sent to your princesses, which consisted of two film reels and a tapestry meant as a gift, violate that law. In truth, he had intended to send these missives at a later date, but because of the rogue queen's attempted invasion, he had to advance his time table to try and reduce and repair the damage that 'first impression' created."

"Yes, the rogue queen known as Chrysails, if I'm not mistaken?"

Again, the princess of the sun was less than amused with the gift of espionage the thestrals seemed so adept at using. "Yes, Queen Chrysalis, which brings me into another matter that I intended to discuss a bit later."

"King Apidae has agreed to a joint-effort to locate the changeling queen and bring her to justice for her actions."

The six once again brought their voices into a cacophony, with questions of how trustworthy the king was and if all of this wasn't some ploy to undermine the princesses and guard. Luna effectively brought the jabbering to an end with a loud "SILENCE!"

All at once, the voices quieted down, and the lunar princess found herself the focus of every pair of eyes in the room.

"We have worked hard these past two days to create a peace treaty with King Apidae, and in that time, we have accomplished many things. As said, we have received his cooperation in finding the queen and her hive and making sure that they pay for their crimes against us, but it does not stop there."

"At some point, Dionices and the other changelings will instruct our ponies on how to heal the damage caused by Chrysalis and her minions, and we shall return those who have been hurt so greatly to a much improved state, if not a full and outright recovery."

"Healing ponies?!" A guard asked, their tone of voice an obvious indication of their disbelief at the statement.

"Yes, healing ponies." Luna reiterated. "In addition to this, King Apidae has expressed a desire for cultural exchange, and both my sister and I share this desire as well."

Celestia stepped in before any of the guards could voice their displeasure. "The process will be long and arduous, and the citizens will not be as quick to embrace the idea of coexistence as we would like, but as a part of the peace agreement that we have made with the king, we will eventually be hosting an ambassador from King Apidae's changelings."

"That is all fine and well," the sun-triangle guard said, "but there is still a matter of trustworthiness that we need to see."

"I agree," the moon-flame guard chimed in. "These ideas on paper all sound good, but to have them acted out will require a great deal of cooperation. Now, it is true that you have written this treaty down, and I have no doubts that you and the king did indeed sign off on it, but honoring that treaty is something else altogether."

Celestia bowed her head and began speaking, but instead of hearing remorse, the guards were greeted by a tone of disappointment.

"I cannot believe that all of you have so little faith in my sister and myself. We spent a great deal of time discussing things with King Apidae and his advisors. That treaty was signed and approved by both parties, and it was signed with every intention of that deal being honored. Yet, here all of you sit, assuming my sister and I shared none of the concerns that you do now."

"If that is the case, then I must tell you this: my sister and I... do still feel uneasy about everything that has transpired."

The guards began to admonish the princess for what sounded to them like hypocrisy for calling them out on being untrusting of the changelings when she shared the same doubts, but a hoof raised quickly to silence them.

"Yes, I know. I sound like a hypocrite for telling you all that I still have qualms about this whole situation, but for the betterment of our kingdom and the peace of mind of our subjects, my sister and I are doing our best to give the necessary benefit of the doubt to allow the changelings we have made peace with to prove their intentions true and pure. I only ask you do this as well, even if you do not find it to your liking."

"We cannot hold these changelings responsible for the actions of another of their kind," Luna chimed in. "They have extended us this olive branch first, and it would behoove us to return it in kind."

The guards sat and thought over what the princesses have told them. Nothing was said for a few minutes. When the silence was broken, the question was for Dionices.

"You said that you can help us identify infiltrators in our ranks??" the sun-wing guard asked her.

Dionices nodded.

"Then I suppose we should begin by discussing that now."

The other guards, though initially hesitant, did come to agreement, nodding and voicing their approval.

"Very well," Dionices agreed, and from that point, the ponies and changeling discussed their plans for how to approach the changelings hiding in the royal guard.

Results of Evaluation

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Nineteen.

Nineteen changeling spies in Canterlot, and only one month after the invasion.

And the worst part of it all? One of them was from the hive of Queen Chrysalis.

Celestia and Luna looked out over the group of eighteen creatures in front of them, a frown upon their faces. As far as either could tell, none of them knew why they were there; only that the princesses had called upon them.

Dionices had given them the results a few hours ago, the changeling also offering advice on how to address them so that they left without incident. Unfortunately, she also warned them that by calling them out, they could be inviting a hostile hive to attack Equestria in the open in much the same manner as Queen Chrysalis and her hive did.

Despite the warning, the princesses elected to address the infiltrators anyway, hoping that being exposed would dissuade the various changeling hives from committing reprisals, as well as discourage any future attempts to place spies among the ranks of the guard.

Celestia took a breath as she stepped up to address the changelings before her.

"Good afternoon. I have called all of you here today because of information we have obtained during the physical examinations that were conducted earlier today. To start with, you all did pass with high marks, and are a shining example of what we are looking for in our guards."

"Unfortunately, you all are too good of a shining example. In fact, one might say you are all carbon copies of the gold standard."

The solar princess paused to see if any of them had picked up on what she was talking about, and going by all of the looks directed towards her, they all did.

"Since there is no question about what all I am talking about, I will get right to the heart of the matter. I know that none of you are the ones responsible for the attack last month at my niece's wedding. For that reason, I will not hold any kind of grudge against you. However, falsifying your identity to become a member of the royal guard is a criminal act, and as a gesture of good will, I will pardon all of you for committing this crime just this once, provided you all leave without incident and do not return."

"And what?" one of the false guards questioned. "You want us to just leave so you can tail one of us back to our homes? Reveal the locations of our hives?"

"We have no interest in causing acts of violence, so long as a peace can be maintained. We are granting you this clemency so that we can maintain the peace that exists now. If you leave, we will not follow but to the city limits. If you refuse and attempt to fight, then you will be treated as a hostile entity."

"What my sister speaks is truth," Luna cut in. "We wish to maintain a state of peace. I will not lie and say that we don't want to bring those responsible for the attack at the royal wedding to justice, but we will not provoke an unnecessary war to do so. If you wish for further clemency, then we ask that you share with us any and all knowledge you have of the hive that attacked us and its whereabouts."

“And why should we share that with you?” another asked.

“From what we can gather, all of your kind predicate their existence on remaining in hiding, relegating yourselves to being nothing more than old pony tales and boogeymares that scare foals into behaving properly. It would seem to us that your hives would want to punish those changelings for that transgression.”

"Why you want that hive punished and why we want it punished are two different things!" a changeling spat back at the princesses.

"But we both still wish for them to answer for the wrongs they've committed against us, even if the perceived crimes are wholly different from one another."

A different changeling glared. "We've been watching you ponies for some time now, and you've never developed any method of detecting us before. In fact, you've haven't even come close. What changed?"

"That is classified knowledge that shall remain classified until such a time as we are sure it is appropriate to disclose it," Luna answered, returning the glare. It remained silent for some time before one of the changelings let out a sigh of defeat.

"Well, I don't know quite how you did it, but you caught us, so, good game, I guess."

The changeling moved forward towards the princesses. "If you wish for me to leave, then I leave."

Celestia nodded. "I do not know if you serve a queen or a king, but tell them that we only do what we do to safeguard our citizens. If they wish to send emissaries, we are open to diplomatic discussion."

The changeling scoffed. "I'll pass on the message, but I doubt they will wish to do so."

"Then you may leave now."

The changeling made no gesture towards the princess, but left without further comment. After a moment, several other changelings decided to leave. After a minute or so, the room had cleared out.

"Well, that went better than we had expected," Luna said a few moments after the last had left.

"Admittedly, yes," Celestia reluctantly agreed, "but I wish it could have yielded results for us regarding finding Queen Chrysalis and her hive."

"They may not have had any information, or maybe they did withhold it intentionally, but that matters little now. Besides, we still have one of the attackers here in the castle.

Celestia perked up a bit upon being reminded of that. "Yes, we do. Let us collect ourselves before confronting this lone member of her hive."

"Yes, but let us also consult with Dionices; she may very well have some tips or advice on how to best interrogate this straggler we have snared today."

Celestia nodded to her sister. "Yes, I believe that is a good idea."

Sitting in an interrogation room in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle was an undisguised changeling. Their eyes were arctic blue and carapace a navy blue, and they were glaring at the one-way glass it knew concealed several ponies behind it.

On the other side of the glass, Princess Celestia, Luna, Dionices, and several of the guard commanders were looking in on the prisoner in the other room.

"Nopony told this changeling why it was being brought down here," one commander pointed out. "Why did it disspell its disguise?"

"Because you brought him to the interrogation rooms instead of a private room or office," Dionices pointed out. "It knows something is up."

"We couldn't risk it escaping!" another commander defended. "If we had used an office or private room, it could've figured out what was going on then and made an attempt to escape! We did this to ensure that this prisoner wouldn't get awayif it tried!"

"And in the process, quite possibly ruined any chance of getting any kind of meaningful information from them!"

"Enough!" Celestia spoke, silencing everypony in the room. "What is done is done, and there's no undoing it. We have to work with what has been given to us now."

Turning to Dionices, she asked the changeling, "Despite the current circumstances, is there any way still we can get some kind of useful intelligence from this changeling?"

Dionices frowned, but the let out a breath as she answered the princess. "There is, but... you ponies probably won't like it too much."

"We are all ears," Luna said in a prodding manner.

"The only thing I can think of is what some of the detective novels call the Good Cop, Bad Cop routine. Basically, one pony goes in and tries to act like they're on the prisoner's side, and the other pony... doesn't."

"Doesn't how?" a commander asks. "Threatens to send them to the dungeons without a second thought? Withhold food and water until they give something up?"

"Firstly, we don't require traditional food," Dionices pointed out,"and the changelings in many of the other hives are more or less in a state of perpetual starvation, so that second threat is pointless. Secondly, sitting in a prison cell for long periods of time is not really a punishment for a changeling. Most often, we'll go into a light hibernation in order to conserve energy."

"Then I take it to mean that the bad cop in this scenario acts out in unpleasant ways, such as committing acts of physical violence against the prisoner?" Celestia intoned, getting a nod from Dionices.

"Out of the question!" Luna refused. "Even before the time of my banishment, our laws forbade any type of action such as that against a prisoner, even one that could be considered guilty of war crimes."

"My apologies, but I don't think you're going to get any information from this changeling unless you are willing to do things not as gently as you're used to doing."

"Barring our laws," Celestia interjects, "there is also the matter of the changeling refusing out of loyalty to their queen. It is not an official rule, but many of our guards are instructed to do everything they can to protect our kingdom, even giving their lives when necessary. I can't imagine Queen Chrysalis, or even your king, expecting any different of those whom she leads."

"While I can attest that that is usually true, you may find this changeling... a little more pliable in that regard."

Celestia and Luna looked at Dionices in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"Think of it like this: you're a changeling serving under Queen Chrysalis, and she's promised you an end to the hunger you've suffered through your whole life, and just when it seems that dream is about to come true, you're blasted who knows how many miles in whichever direction, likely to fall to your doom but you somehow survive, and after finding a few of your other hivemates, learn that the reason you were shot out of Canterlot in the first place was because your queen chose that exact moment to be the worst infiltrator in history by not only not bothering to learn how to be the pony she was replacing, but also sending the one pony that could single her out to the place where you're keeping the pony you've replaced prisoner, thereby facilitating that pony's escape, and them when she had the opportunity to recapture both ponies, spent all of her time gloating over a victory she never actually had to begin with."

Dionices paused a moment to take a breath.

"Now, what would your opinion be of such a queen?"

Celestia and Luna think on it for only a moment.

"I wouldn't be too happy with her," Luna admitted first.

"Neither would I," Celestia then voiced her agreement.

"But there's no guarantee that we would meet with success that way," a commander pointed out. “They may choose to blame us for the failure of their queen, or simply be so indoctrinated to serving her that they would ignore the facts surrounding their defeat completely.”

Both princesses flinch upon hearing that.

"So it is a risky roll of the dice," Luna summarized.

"All I have to give you is that. I'm sorry I can't be of much more assistance."

"Couldn't you join us in the interrogation?"

"No. Once they see me, they'll realize what happened and redouble their escape efforts to get back to Queen Chrysalis and report that another hive is helping the ponies."

"They would?"

"Yes. They were distracted by the other ponies during the medical exam, but when if we all went in there together, they'd quickly deduce that I was a changeling and realize I ratted them out."

"Then why not try a different disguise?"

"That wouldn't work. The changeling in there would feel out your emotions, and once they got to me and didn't sense much from me, it would be glaringly obvious."

"So we must do this ourselves, and we must not hold back on being forceful? I do not like this."

"Nor do I, sister," Celestia agreed,"but what other option do we have?"

"It won't be so simple," Luna countered, stomping her hoof lightly. "We have no idea how long this changeling has been here, other than just one month. In that time, they've likely reviewed all applicable information relating to the guard, and in this instance, gone over everything relating to interrogation, including what we can and cannot do. If we went through with this, then that changeling, in spite of its status as a hostile entity to Equestria, and the rest of the world proper, could file suit against us for wrongful treatment of a war prisoner. Do you know what kinds of trouble that will cause us?"

"I am aware, sister; I helped to draft those very laws myself, and all applicable amendments to them as well. We would lose trade ties with many nations, longstanding peace treaties could be absolved, and we, along with many of our guards, could be tried for war crimes. The situation is not ideal in any capacity."

"So I must ask again: is there not another way?"

Celestia chewed on her lip as she thought over Luna's question. A part of her wished to think there really was some method that would get them out of this mess, but another that saw what Dionices was saying and how futile any tactic they used would be.

"Dionices, are you familiar with our laws regarding treatment of prisoners?" she asked the changeling.

"I am, but that is the choice you have before you: do nothing and be no closer to finding the changeling queen, or take the risk and possibly get a vital clue to her whereabouts."

Again, Celestia was left thinking. A guard, however, realized something.

"Your highnesses, only we, our cabinet of guards, and the changeling realize what is actually going on here, correct?"

Celestia looked at them, a bit of puzzlement on her face. "Yes. Nopony else is aware of what this guard actually is, and only thinks we wish to have a private discussion in a secure location."

"Then we do not have a changeling prisoner."

"What?"

"I suggest that we keep this changeling prisoner off of the books. Only everypony present here in this room will know of them."

Celestia blanched at the insinuation. "Are you to tell me that we cover up the capture of this changeling?"

"As I said, we do not have one in our custody."

"I fear that this guard may have the best idea, your highness," Dionices said in agreement. "Turning this into a... clandestine operation, might help you more than trying to do this by the book."

"I do not agree with this," Celestia stated adamantly, though not looking her sister of the changeling advisor in the eyes.

"Sister, our enemies do not play fair!” the guard pointed out. “Why should we be expected to do the same?"

"Because us having morals and upholding them is what sets us apart from them!"

"If I may?" Dionices interjected. "This drone was not here by its own choosing; the queen ordered it to be here, and if it was ordered to be in this specific place, then that means that she is gathering intelligence to commit another attack. Simply put, you have a spy here in your midst, and if you wish to get what information you want, then I must be the bearer of bad news and say that you stoop to their level and do it by any means necessary."

Celestia turns away, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "I do not wish to do it this way."

Luna, having heard the arguments, sighed in defeat. “Maybe there is no other way.”

“Luna?”

"From where we stand sister, we do not see another choice. If it will help ease your feelings, then we can offer an amnesty to this prisoner once we have captured Queen Chrysalis."

"What good will an amnesty do if the prisoner is uncooperative? Or worse yet, what if the prisoner has no information? Then our actions will have been for nothing!"

Neither Luna, Dionices, or any other pony present had a counter for that argument. The solar princes paced back and forth for a few moments, chewing over the idea. Ultimately, she also let out a defeated sigh.

"I will speak to the prisoner alone," Celestia then decided. Luna was quick to voice her disagreement.

"Sister, I-"

"You may interview this changeling once I have finished," were Celestia's final words as she entered the interrogation room.

Interrogation (Rated Teen for violence)

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WARNING: This chapter is rated TEEN for descriptions of violence. Reader discretion is advised.

The door closed behind Celestia. In front of her was a metal table, and seated at it was the changeling who was impersonating a royal guard. More specifically, it was one of the same kind of changelings that attacked her kingdom a little more than a month ago...

...and it was sneering at her.

"So, Princess Sunbutt graces my presence herself?" the changeling, a male by the sound of its nasally voice, says mockingly. "I figured you would've had your gilded lackeys come to confront me, so I can say with rare honesty that this is a surprise."

Celestia glared at the changeling as she approached the table.

"You will cease that unpleasantness this instant," she tells him coldly.

"You don't tell me what to-"

The changeling stopped talking as he saw fire ignite in the princesses's eyes, her mane's constant flowing having sped up and the colors adopting a hue closer to orange.

"My patience has been tried greatly today, changeling. Do not make yourself an easy target for my ire."

The changeling persisted.

"And what if I want to be an easy target?" he asked. "Surely, word of my capture has spread, and a rescue will be attempted at some point."

"And what if she does not?" the princess countered. "What if your queen has decided that you have betrayed her, and any rescue she sends is actually an execution squad meant to silence you before you give up any more information?"

The changeling scoffed. "Please, you mean to tell me you think that the queen would think I would betray her? We're taught not to give up anything, no matter what you do to us! So, by all means, do your worst."

The princess's fire died down, and she gave the changeling a smile.

"Very well. We will simply call out Queen Chrysalis and tell her that we have a prisoner and are willing to hear terms of an exchange."

Celestia turned, but not before seeing the changeling's face blanch.

"H-How do you know my queen's name?!"

She turned back with the smirk still on her face.

"You just told me, or at least that is what I will tell her if she contacts me."

There is silence for a few moments, and the changeling regained what little fortitude it could.

"She won't buy it! She'll be able to tell you're lying!"

"Not necessarily. You see, I have heard the name thrown around before, but you have confirmed that that is truly her name, so in a way, saying that you told me her name is true, in a sense."

"How could you have ever heard that name before?"

"Do you really think you're the only changeling we have in custody?"

The regained fortitude disappeared in an instant.

"Now, since it is very clear that you are in a disadvantageous position, perhaps you would be interested in hearing my offer to you?"

Again, the changeling sneered. "Unless it's your love on a silver plate, you can't give me anything!"

Celestia let out a breath before adopting a stern glare. "You're aware of the charges of impersonating a royal guard are you not?"

"Of course! Imprisonment of no less than five years with a maximum allowable of twenty, depending on any accessory crimes the accused is also charged with, barring extremely heinous crimes such as rape or murder."

"And in those last instances?"

"Lifetime imprisonment."

"I would imagine that any one of those lengths of time would be rather harmful to you."

"Not if I've had a big enough snack beforehoof."

"And whose to say you will get one?"

The changeling laughed. "I will because you ponies are too soft, always worried about treating your prisoners right. Back in the hive, creatures that commit slights against us all get the same punishment: cocooned and fed upon."

"So you confess to mistreatment of prisoners?"

"I'm a soldier, not a warden. I know what you're getting at, princess."

"Soldiers are more than capable of committing war crimes," Celestia pointed out. "In fact, many of them have done so under the direct orders of a superior, but they were punished as though the act were carried out of their own volition with no prompting from a leader."

"And what does this mean to me? I know you're not gonna put me on trial publicly! Too much risk for you!"

"Yes, the risk is too great. Not only could you escape, but any others from your hive may see you and either carry out a rescue operation, or decided you've squealed and execute you on the spot."

"And you don't want to risk losing your new little toy."

Celestia's gaze hardened. "You know, cooperation would benefit you far more than resistance right now."

"And me draining you to nothing would benefit me even more!"

Celestia's horn glowed, and the chair the changeling was sitting in morphed into a new shape. The changeling fell to the floor, but upon standing up and attempting to attack the princess, he triped and fell to the ground. Looking to see what tripped him, he saw the metal of the chair had been transfigured into a set of shackles, each one clamped through one of the holes in his hooves.

"I would think long and hard about what you will say when somepony next comes in here to speak with you," Celestia warned as she moved to the door. "You may find them to be far more unpleasant that I."

With that last remark, the princess made her exit.

"What in the name of Faust was that, sister?" Luna asked after her sister shut the door.

"A show of force," she answered, "or at least as good of one as I could make."

"Do you think that that will work?"

"It may, and it may not, but we won't know until we've given him some time to mull over what I told him."

Dionices stepped forward. "It was better than I expected, but it might not be enough. He could spend his time in there developing the magical fortitude to break those shackles, and if he does, well... he's gonna be starving worse than he was before you started questioning him."

"Then I shall question him next in a half hour," Luna stated to the group.

"Yes," Celestia agreed. "That was what I was originally thinking."

Luna looked at her sister in confusion. "May I be privy to this plan you seem to have concocted in the last several moments."

Celestia gave her sister a smile. "I think a special use of your abilities would benefit us greatly."

Luna continued looking confused for a moment, but then caught on and grinned widely.

"I get the feeling that this is going to be something that I'm glad I won't be the subject of," Dionices commented as she too understood what the princess was getting at.

The changeling prisoner was working on ideas to help him escape his predicament. The shackles in his legs were forged into solid, uniform rings, and the lengths of chain anchoring them to the floor were made the same way. Put simply, he wasn't prying the links open with something.

His next idea was a concentrated laser blast directed at a link, but the guards would see his horn glowing as he charged up the magic for such a spell and he'd be stopped before he could even begin. However, his persistent rumbling gut made him think that second idea wasn't the worst in the world.

Yeah, the changeling thought to himself, I'll make them think I'm casting a spell and have one come rushing in, and when they gets too close, I suck all the love out of them.

Before he can even begin to put his plan into motion, the door swung open wide, revealing a royal guard with a glare across his face, and his horn glowing.

"You're being transferred prisoner," the guard said loudly and coldly.

"Oh, goodie! I-"

The changeling never finished the sentence. The stallion shot a powerful stun spell across the room and knocked the changeling cold.

When the changeling next awoke, he found himself back at the hive, sitting in the throne room. Looking around, he saw no other changelings present. Only stone walls carved out over centuries, and small, bio-luminescent mushrooms that served as lighting.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our spy from Canterlot."

He quickly snapped his head around to see who was speaking to him, and emerging from an alcove was the queen herself, cat-like pupils looking at him in her usual, analytical way. Quickly, he jumped to his hooves and bowed.

"Your majesty."

"Save the pleasantries," she spat, making clear what her current mood was. "You are going to explain this to me, right now!"

Her hoof slammed down on the ground, and when she lifted it again, a scroll with a familiar golden seal was resting underneath it.

"Read it!" she commanded. Not wanting to cause further ire, he took the scroll and unfurled it.

"Aloud! I want the hive to hear this!"

The changeling looked up at her, and then noticed sets of blue eyes emerging from the dark spaces in the throne room behind her. Slowly, they moved exposing more eyes and revealing bodies of changelings as they moved in and surrounded the queen and the one apparently on trial.

"Read aloud! Now!"

Flinching, the changeling redirected his attention to the scroll and began speaking aloud.

"Dear Queen Chrysalis, this communication was directed to be sent to you by Princesses Celestia and Luna-"

"Enough!" she cut in as she then used her magic and held the changeling so tightly by his throat that he could barely breathe at all. "Would you care to explain to me exactly how those wretched ponies were able to ascertain my name?"

The changeling made to answer, but the grip on his throat prevented him.

"Oh, I know! Why don't we read further into the letter!"

She snatched up the loose scroll and brought it before her face.

"Dear Queen Chrysalis," she began, "this communication was directed to be sent to you by Princesses Celestia and Luna in the interest of conducting a prisoner exchange. We are willing to trade any changelings we have in our custody in exchange for whatever citizens of our kingdom you have in yours. Equestria understands your curiosity as to how we have come to know where to send this communication, since we have had no formal channels of any kind before the incident that occurred at the wedding between Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and guard captain and now prince consort Shining Armor. Fortunately for us, your subject was able and more than willing to provide us with all the necessary information with which to get in touch with you!"

Upon the last words being uttered, the scroll burst into green flames, and the ashes fell to the floor.

"Now, explain why you were so willing to help THEM!"

The grip on the changeling's neck ceased, and he found himself gasping for breath.

"I... have done... no such-"

A powerful blast sent the changeling skidding across the floor and into a wall. Groaning in pain from a cracked rib, he looked up to see his queen slowly sauntering over to him. His stomach went cold; there was only one time he'd ever seen that gaze, and it proceeded her feeding upon several ponies at once, and all of them to the point of being so drained, they were nothing but catatonic, unfeeling vegetables.

"You obviously did! That scroll was delivered here, by a PONY COURIER! Even worse, a pony courier we had to LET ESCAPE because we no longer have the amount of love to spare chase prey down! That is how bad our current predicament is!"

"N-No... I haven't-"

"STOP LYING YOU TRAITOR! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! GUARDS!"

Two armored changelings stepped forward immediately.

"Take this sorry excuse of a changeling and hold him in the prisoner's chambers. I will call for him once I have found an appropriate punishment for him."

"Yes, your majesty," both answered in unison, grabbing the changeling by a leg and dragging him as he kicked to get free.

"I haven't betrayed the hive!"

"I am done listening to your pleas."

Queen Chrysalis turned her back on the changeling as she buzzed her wings and moved to sit atop her throne.

The guards had unceremoniously tossed the injured changeling into a cell, which was nothing more than a space big enough to stand and move around a little, with a wall that had slits cut into it to resemble prison bars, and a section of wall that opened by special spell. Worst of all, though, were the quartz crystals embedded on the back wall, their special magic preventing the use of a changeling's own magic while residing in the cell.

For the moment, the changeling was alone, and he managed to sit up despite his injured rib.

"Way to go, Setae," he mumbled as he tried to get himself as comfortable as possible. "You have a simple assignment to spy on the royal guard and the princesses in Canterlot, and they not only sus you out, but somehow manage to get information to find the hive. The queen won't believe you, and now you're probably due for execution."

He paused in his speech as he realized something.

"Wait - why didn't she just kill me up in the throne room?"

"Because she wants to make you suffer before she puts you out of your misery."

Setae turned and looked in the direction of the voice. Across and a cell down from his own was another changeling, but this one looked more gaunt than usual.

"You look terrible," Setae told the new changeling. "How long have you been down here?"

"Since before the queen tried to take Canterlot."

"That was going on almost three months ago. Haven't you been provided any rations?"

"No, I haven't," the other changeling answered as they moved to be better seen between the bars. In addition to the gaunt appearance, several wounds decorated the changeling's face, many of which appeared to be rather fresh.

"They're not feeding you?" Setae asked in shock. "That's not right."

"No, it is. The queen ordered all non-essential love expendeture to cease immediately, and that means no rations for prisoners."

Setae went pale upon hearing this. "So you've slowly been starving to death down here for three months?!"

The other changeling nodded. "My body is cannibalizing itself in lieu of not receiving love. I don't know how much longer I can go, but I don't think the queen wants to find out anyway."

"What do you mean? Are you gonna be executed?"

"Yes, and in the worst way. She'll have as many other lings as possible surround me and feed on me simultaneously. With the last bits of love out of my body, I won't be able to support myself, and my death will be painful. The only mercy is that I will go quickly."

"What did you even do to deserve that?"

"I was found out."

"You were found out?"

"Yep. I was scouting out some of the area around Canterlot to get some intelligence before the attack during the wedding, especially regarding Princess Cadance, but she spotted me and it forced the queen's hoof, causing her to capture and detain the princess well before she was ready. I was sent back a prisoner, and with the failure of the operation, I was branded a traitor."

Setae blanched even further; this changeling's story was not much different from his own. Was he bound to suffer the same fate?

"What did you do to get stuck down here?" the other changeling asked.

"I was sent to spy on Canterlot in order to get intelligence for a future invasion."

"Sounds a bit familiar."

"Yeah, well, get ready for more deja vu; I was found out too."

"The two of us must have the worst luck in the whole hive."

Setae chuckled. "Yeah. Well, Princess Celestia interrogated me herself, and a bit later, I must've been recaptured, because the last thing I remember was getting blasted by a royal guard and waking up in the throne room here."

"That's about the same for me. I made to get away and was intercepted by another squad. I got dragged back here and tossed into a cell without a second thought."

There was a pause for a few seconds before Setae then asked. "What's your name?"

"Melanogaster, but I usually get called Mel."

"Well, guess we're in up to our necks for this one, huh, Mel?"

"Yeah, I guess we are. What's your name?"

"Setae."

"Ha! Like those couches ponies have."

"I guess."

The two say nothing for a while, thinking over their respective situations. An hour later, Mel asks Setae a question.

"Have you ever thought about why we do things the way we do?"

Setae, who had laid down on one side, gingerly stood up and walked over to look out the bars. "What do you mean?"

Mel stood up and approached the bars as well. "I mean, we feed on love, but we always attack villages and take prisoners to cocoon and feed off of. Haven't you ever thought 'Maybe we should try something else'?"

Setae blinked. "What are you talking about? How else are we supposed to get it?"

"I don't know. Not attacking other creatures?"

Setae gasped, then cursed himself as his rib acted up. "Are you insane?! That thought right there is treason!"

"And that means what to me?" Mel countered. "I'm being held here as a traitor anyway, and I'm on the verge of being executed, so what's the point of avoiding having those thoughts?"

Setae opened his mouth to speak, but stopped. If he was about to be killed, why worry about the repercussions?

"I don't know how long you've spent around ponies, but I've been doing infiltration since I was out of nymphhood. I've replaced fathers, sons, and on occasion, wives and daughters. One thing I've always noticed is that the strongest love is when they come together and feel it for one another. Whenever we go to get it, it's always pretending to love somepony to get them to fall for our disguise, and then we suck it out of them until there's nothing left and move on."

"I gotta be honest with you about something: that first kind of love is way stronger and way better than that second kind."

"Well, if that's really the case, why doesn't the queen tell us to gather love that way instead of how we do it now?" Setae countered.

"I don't know," Mel answered, "but the only thing I can come up with is that the queen is afraid of us getting too strong?"

Setae looked at Mel in a mix of shock and anger. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Think about it - each time we feed, we get stronger. Speaking purely in hypotheticals, a single changeling could feed on enough love to get strong enough to overthrow the queen."

"Do not speak such heresy to me!" Setae spat at Mel, the anger in his voice clear as day.

"I am only speaking in hypotheticals," Mel defended himself. "All I'm saying is that the potential for such a thing exists, even if no ling in the hive would dare to act on such a desire, but that's my point. We are so starved because the queen is afraid one of us will figure it out and get the courage to stand up to her."

"You're saying that she's starving us in order to stave off a hypothetical attempt at usurpation?"

"That's the general idea."

"Well then, you are nothing but a worthless traitor! Don't ever speak to me again!"

Setae turned away from the window and sat down, careful to avoid agitating his injured rib.

"As you wish, but I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the truth."

Setae ignored Mel as he laid down on his good side and drifted off to sleep.

A bucket of ice cold water dumped on his head brought Setae out of his slumber in a hurry.

"GAH!"

"The queen has demanded your presence, and we're not dragging you there like we dragged you here the last time!"

Setae looked up to see the two guards on either side of the now-open wall cavity. Rising to his hooves and grunting due to his cracked rib, he fell in line between the two and marched with them to the throne room.

Nothing was said as they went, but Setae took notice that Mel was not in his cell anymore. Perhaps the queen called him before she called me? he mused to himself.

A short trip through some winding tunnels ended in the large set of purple doors that marked the entrance to the throne room. The guards took up post on either side and opened them, with the one on Setae's left making a sharp gesture to go inside. Needing no further prodding, the changeling made his way inside.

The throne room's entrance continued down a vaulted corridor. Once past it, he looked around to see the throne room empty, save for the large black throne situated in the center.

"Welcome, traitor."

Setae heard the voice of the queen coming from all directions, and looked around to identify where specifically it originated from.

"Oh? A bit confused as to where I am? Well then, let me make it EASY FOR YOU!"

The loud shout made Setae flinch. A bright flash directly in front and around him showed the quickly morphing form of Queen Chrysalis. In a stunning display of changeling abilities, she morphed herself into a large, concave mural of the throne room, which had shielded more than a thousand or so changelings crammed into the space, all looking at him and hissing.

"So that was the game then, was it?" she asked in an accusatory tone. "You gained outside information and wanted to make sure you got back to your mastermind in order to share the intelligence and plot against the hive?"

"No, your highness!" Setae pleaded. "I've done nothing of the sort."

A sudden, massive pressure snapped the cracked rib in his side, causing Setae to scream in pain and wheeze as his breaths became labored.

"Keep denying it all you want! You won't be living too much longer anyways."

Setae looked up to see the changeling crowd surrounding him and hissing, ready for the queen to give the command to drain him and end his existence.

"I want the throne room clear!" the queen suddenly barked out. "I have something I want to say to these prisoners that is for their ears only. You all will be readmitted once I have finished."

The throne room emptied out as each changeling moved to wait outside. With only the queen and Setae remaining, the changeling monarch resumed her speech.

"I must hoof it to you, Melanogaster. Despite how much I absolutely despise you, putting the puzzle pieces together was child's play for you, wasn't it?"

Setae looked around the room, but did not see Mel anywhere.

"Do you require assistance, Setae?" The queen asked, her tone now mocking. "Well then, here's a hint: look up."

Following the instruction, Setae looked up to see Mel wrapped in a cocoon, his mind in the half asleep, half awake state that prey was always in when cocooned.

"He makes for a nice decoration, doesn't he? Well, as much as I would like to leave him up there, I have punishments to dole out."

A blast of green magic from her horn causes the cocoon to burst open, Mel falling from the ceiling to the floor and avoiding the cracking of his skull on the stone by his front hooves cushioning his fall, though at the cost of either a broken or disjointed leg.

Mel suddenly awoke and screamed as the pain registered in his mind.

"Shut up, traitor!" Queen Chrysalis spat at him. "You deserve far worse. In fact, you will get far worse in just a moment."

Her attention turned back to Setae.

"I don't take kindly to traitors, as you can see. Of course, neither did you, or at least, up until you became one."

"Your highness!" Setae pleaded. "I am not a traitor. I don't know how the ponies got that information, but it was not through me!"

"Please," Chrysalis scoffed. "You were in their custody, and while in their custody, we received that communication. There are no other changelings from our hive held prisoner there, and no other hive knows of our location. Who else could have told them but you?"

Setae didn't have an answer, as badly as he wanted one.

The queen called forth her magic and blocked off the entrance to the throne room, preventing any other changelings from entering.

"Besides, that is not the only way you have betrayed the hive."

"M-My queen?"

"There can be only one to lead the hive, and there can be no usurpation. You know of my greatest secret, and for that, you must be eliminated."

"W-What?!"

Chrysalis chuckled. "Exactly what I mean. I must rule, and there must be none who oppose me."

Setae's stomach dropped. With that admission, the queen confirmed what Mel had told him. She didn't want any changelings to compete against her for a claim to the throne, so she did whatever to prevent it, including executing any changeling that threatened it.

"So it's true," he finally answered, a defeated tone in his voice. "You starve our hive to prevent any changeling from getting strong enough to oppose you."

The queen cackled maniacally. "That is only a part of it. With all of you so starved for love, you all practically turn against one another for whatever scraps you can get, which keeps all of you at each other's throats. Hard to organize a resistance if you can't trust the one right beside you, isn't it?"

It all made sense when he thought about it. With no ability to trust any other changeling, resisting the queen was essentially suicide, and with the starvation feeding into that, it ensured that it would practically stay that way.

"Why? I can't think of any changeling that wants to disobey and challenge you."

"And you never will. Whenever I find a potential threat, I eliminate it, much like I will do with this sorry excuse of a traitor here."

"And then me."

"HA! No, you will be made an example of. I think draining you to near death and stringing you up in Canterlot Square with a message telling the ponies to kill future prisoners will both eliminate future attempts to contact us and discourage any future failures."

Setae's jaw dropped. Being drained and left to the mercy of the ponies? He'd starve to death for sure!

"Please!" he pleaded. "I won't tell a soul!"

"Of course you won't, because the dead don't speak!"

The queen's horn ignited, and a field of green magic enveloped Mel, raising him up in front of the queen.

"Now, watch what happens to your compatriot as he finds out what punishment traitors truly deserve!"

The queen's mouth opened wide and a stream of pink energy practically exploded out of Mel, the changeling groaning as the energy and love left his body and found its way to Chrysalis's maw.

"...Setae," Mel forced out, weakening by the second, "ru...run!"

Setae would've taken the advice, but the queen cut off the only way out of the throne room. He was forced to watch what he had seen happen to countless ponies and other various races that the changelings had labeled prey...

...and he would be next.

Heart pounding a mile a minute and stomach now demanding the immediate evacuation of all its contents, Setae was forced to plant his flank in an effort to avoid succumbing to a panic attack.

Mel, however, was in as bad of sorts as a changeling can get, and getting worse by the second. Soon enough, he curled up into the ball as absolutely debilitating hunger pains wracked his body, his mouth forcing out air in inaudible screams, his eyes occasionally focusing on Setae as he silently pleaded for his suffering to end.

Then, his body went slack, his eyes unfocused and glazed over, and his lungs let out a breath for the very last time.

Melanogaster was dead, drained of every last possible reserve of love in his body.

The pink stream finally cut off and the queen released the spell, Mel's lifeless body falling to the floor like and flailing like a rag doll. She walked over to the corpse and sneered at it.

"They say the last sense to go before the brain is too damaged to function anymore is hearing, so just know that your little attempt at a coup has failed miserably."

Igniting her horn, the queen shot a stream of fire at the body, incinerating it into ash. Once Melanogaster was completely no more, Chrysalis turned her attention back to Setae.

"Now you see what happens to those who betray the hive, and in a week, you'll meet with the same fate."

Setae said nothing. The queen moved the stones and called for two guards to take him back to his cell. As they walked, the two armored changelings threw snide comments at the prisoner, proclaiming the superiority of the changeling race and the absolute rule of the queen. Only when he was back in his cell did he make any kind of reaction.

The normally stoic changeling fell to the floor and did the most un-changelinglike thing he'd ever done: he broke down into tears.

Melanogaster, a changeling whose only crime was speculating more than he should have, was now dead, and in a week, Setae would be joining him. He would have little to nothing left by that point; a consequence of the queen not allowing him any love rations whatsoever. When that time came, his only hope would be that he didn't suffer for as long as Melanogaster did.

Trying to fight back the weeping, he ultimately failed and openly sobbed, just trying to keep the sound from being heard by the guards that may or may not be nearby.

"Go ahead traitor. Not like you could embarrass yourself any worse than you already have."

At that point, Setae didn't even bother hiding it anymore. He cried until he had no more energy and fell asleep.

When Setae next awoke, he found himself in a different cell. Examining the features, he realized that he was in a pony cell, which meant that what he just experienced was all a dream.

"If that was a dream, why did I dream of the queen doing that?" he mused to himself.

"Because that is what you fear she will do to you," a voice answered him.

Jumping and turning to face the voice, Setae found none other than the princess of the night herself watching from behind a set of bars.

"Hmph, what would you know about fear?" the changeling asked, a snide tone in his voice.

"Quite a bit, seeing as it is one of my royal duties to assist those under my rule with their nightmares."

"Oh, so scary! Another pony didn't want to be a pony's friend! They didn't get the blue ribbon in the baking contest!"

"They didn't escape the pack of timberwolves and were torn limb from limb," Princess Luna cut in, her eyes narrowing and the faintest hint of slits forming in them.

Setae stopped talking and looked at her. "Seriously?"

"Parents abandoning young foals, unrequited loves from crushes, being brutally murdered by one they thought was their best friend. I have seen all of it, and I have seen the brutality of your queen as she killed Melanogaster and incinerated his body."

The changeling looked shocked for a moment, but then glared. "Of course, you found a way into my dreams. That leads me to question now whether it was really a nightmare or a dream built by your own machinations."

Luna glared back. "Even if it were of my own creation, it can only be constructed of the actual fears that you yourself feel, so from what I gleaned, you are quite afraid of your queen."

"I fear no creature!" Setae spat back, adding a hiss to punctuate the point further.

Luna, rather than be frightened by such a display, stood up tall and ignited her horn, forcing Setae against the wall with the same force as Celestia had earlier in the interview room.

"And I do not fear you! Your kind may be able to change into more intimidating forms, but I have mastered the dark. As the young foals would say, the boogeymare checks her closet for me."

Setae chuckled. "I strongly doubt that."

Luna narrowed her eyes and allowed her horn to extinguish. When she did, two things happened:

Setae was released from the pressure of the princess's hold, and the room went completely dark.

Looking around, Setae saw nothing. Even the outline of objects mere inches from him were concealed by darkness.

"If you think this will scare me, then you are quite wrong."

A sudden hiss in his ear caused him to turn, but smack his face into something hard and metal. Recoiling, he rubbed at his face with a hoof, but stopped as he felt pain erupt from the area he touched.

"You cursed wench!" he cried out. "I just broke my muzzle!"

"Are you sure?" came Princess Luna's reply. "Perhaps you'd like to feel it again?"

"As if I needed another-"

Setae was cut off as what felt like a foam ball collided with his face.

"You stupid-"

His muzzle no longer felt any pain.

"What the?"

"I can make you experience a great many things, changeling, but I am limited only to your experiences and feelings. After all, it is your mind that is actually creating your nightmares. All I do is provide the right amount of influence."

"So you admit it?!" Setae said accusingly. "You made that nightmare for me!"

"Only your mind can create nightmares, and everything in them is a result of your fears and dreads. I only brought those fears to the surface, and nothing more."

"As if I should believe you!"

Without warning, a golden rope shot forth and bound between the changeling's legs, tying him up and preventing him from moving.

"What is this?"

"That," Luna answered, "is a special lasso from the Element of Honesty. My sister gave it a very special enchantment: anyone who is bound by that lasso is also bound to tell only the truth as they know it. If you attempt to lie, it will become increasingly more painful until you relent and tell the truth. So, with that in mind, please tell me: do you fear your queen?"

Setae went to spit a lie, but a sudden, and incredibly horrible pain traveled through his legs and into his chest, practically robbing him of oxygen.

"Now that you know that that item is legitimate, let me ask you again - Do you fear your queen?"

Again, Setae attempted to lie, and again, was given an excruciating level of pain, decidedly worse than the last.

"It is impossible for the lasso to take your life, but it is entirely possible that I will continue asking this question until you pass out from pain, which I will then allow you to recover from and return later to continue asking this question. I will not give up until I have an answer."

"F-Fu-AAAH!!"

The pain was the worst yet, and this time, it seemed to linger for longer. Once it abated, Setae was left panting. Another dose of that, and he'd pass out.

"You are no hero, changeling! You accomplish nothing by hiding information from us, and will only hurt yourself further by continuing this! Answer my question! Do you fear your queen?!"

Setae was gripped with the worst pain of all, the sensation radiating through his whole body, and putting him on the verge of vomiting. This time, however, the pain seemed to hold, not abating after a full minute. The changeling actually lost the ability to communicate for several moments before relief came in the rope's spell relenting.

"It's pointless to resist. Sooner or later, you will want relief from that pain, and when you do, it will come spilling from you without a moment's hesitation. So, I ask you one last time, do you fear your queen?"

Setae looked at the alicorn, finally able to make out her form in the darkness; whether she wanted him to see her or not, he didn't know. He thought of a reply, but then he suddenly felt the intense pain ratchet up even worse, as though knives dipped in hot pepper sauce were being jammed into his body over and over again.

That was his threshold. He couldn't take anymore.

"Y-Yes..."

The pain subsided immediately. Not even the lingering after-touch in his nerves remained.

"Why do you fear your queen?"

Setae sat up, but did not dare to look Princess Luna in the eyes. "She has enough power to destroy every last one of us if she wished."

"And yet you place your trust in her, to act in accordance with the wishes and wills of your kind?"

"Y-Ye-"

Again, the intense pain plagued his body.

"N-No!"

"And why don't you?"

Setae was conflicted with himself. On one hoof, he didn't want to betray anything about the hive or his queen, but on the other, he had endured a whole life under the rule of Queen Chrysalis, and was made to endure all of the pain and hardships that entailed, but there was another fact that weighed heaviest on Setae:

Younglings.

Before being made to be an infiltrator, he cared for larva and nymphs in the nursery hive. He fed them, taught them, and in rare instances, nursed them back to health when they became ill. As much as he was warned not to develop attachments, he couldn't help but develop a general overall feelings for the young of the hive, and it created within him a sense of duty to do whatever he could to keep them safe.

Pretty soon, he realized that the changeling young in the nursery hive were going to know the worst hardship of all: starvation. When love rations would become so low, the queen would need to do something about it. Already, she ordered that changelings were not allowed to mate until further notice. Even worse, she ordered several of the expectant mothers to abort their young, only promising that when a solution to the hunger was found, they would be allowed to try again.

Worst of all, however, was the order he had heard the queen give just before he was to leave the hive: destroy all unhatched egg clutches and dispose of the larvae.

It shouldn't have, but it made his stomach turn. All those lives, snuffed out because of a lack of love. They'd never get to grow up and have lives because of a food shortage.

On one hoof, it was probably a mercy to never know of suffering like that and end up dying that way, but on the other, it just felt all kinds of wrong.

"The queen put a stop to breeding."

"You don't trust your queen because she won't let you breed?"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" Setae snapped, glaring at Luna with the vitriol of a thousand changelings behind his eyes. "You ponies and all your love, and yet you hoard it for yourselves! You care nothing for those who don't look anything like you and don't even offer aid unless it suits your kind to do so!"

Luna took the lasso and bound it tightly around Setae's muzzle, preventing the changeling from speaking.

"You listen to this and listen good! All fault of what is or has happened among your kind falls solely on your queen! We never received any kind of plea for aid, and not once have either of our races engaged in any kind of formal dialogue! And as far as our dealings with non-pony races? It is a tad bit difficult to establish peaceful relations when some like the griffins will try to rob our emissaries, or the yaks who perceive any cultural misunderstanding as a deliberate slight against them!"

Setae made an attempt to rebut Luna's remarks, but could only mumble with his muzzle tied shut.

"Now, if you are quite done with your slandering of our rule, perhaps we can get back to my original line of questioning?"

The rope binding the changeling's muzzle slack, allowing him to speak.

"You really think our queen would negotiate with prey?"

The rope found its way back around his muzzle, only bound even tighter.

"You are no predator!" Luna spat back. "Your kind are parasites! Were you to be removed from the existence of Equestria, it would have no negative impact on anypony or anycreature!"

Again, Setae tried to mumble out a coherent response, but failed to do so. Luna moved closer, glaring until the slit-like pupils she once had as Nightmare Moon briefly appeared for a moment.

"However, if your kind were to be the sole race left on Equestria, you would slowly die off from the lack of love from other creatures! You can only feed on one kind of thing, so if you lose that, then you have nothing! A predator would be able to adapt, so how can you call yourself one if you can't even do that?!"

Setae had been struggling, but stopped as he heard Princess Luna's argument.

How could his race survive if there was no more love?

The rope slacked again, allowing him to once again speak.

"Fine. Call us parasites if you wish. That doesn't change the fact that we need to feed off of you to survive, and none of you give us food willingly."

"Perhaps if there was a way that didn't cause us harm, then we would. Alas, there isn't, and there's another point for your kind being nothing more than parasites."

Setae gave no response, not bothering to face Princess Luna or dignify her arguments. For her part, the princess dropped that tangent of discussion and moved back to asking the questions she wanted answered.

"Why were you imitating a guard?"

Setae went to spit a lie at her, but the intense pain of the rope once again returned.

"I didn't impersonate a guard!"

"HA!" Luna scoffed. "You can't seriously tell me you wanted to be a guard for real!"

"As if I wanted to protect your sister's rather sizable flanks."

The rope lashed hard across his face, causing Setae to yelp from the pain.

"Would you care to comment on my sister's posterior again?"

"...No."

"Then keep those comments to yourself," Luna warned as she drew the rope tighter.

"Why were you acting as a guard?"

"I wanted some kind of intelligence to take back to the queen."

"So you know where she is?"

"No, but there's changelings that do, and there's also a series or relays to ensure you ponies don't catch on and find her."

Luna glared. "And did you find anything?"

"Nothing that wasn't already useful to us before the invasion at the wedding."

"I don't know if that's something that should be concerning or a relief."

"All I did find out is you hosted some kind of dignitary, but I wasn't assigned to that patrol; the commanders assigned me to watch the main gate of the city."

“And you made no attempt to sneak away to observe this meeting?”

“I was assigned night patrols; you're expected to sleep during the day, and you're watched by more than one guard. If I had tried to sneak away, they'd have caught on to me, and if I made an attempt to fight, I would've been overwhelmed. Too much risk for an uncertain reward.”

Luna stared at him for several moments, but elected to change topics.

"In your watch, did you let any changelings in?"

"No. There were none to let in."

"And do you know of any in the city?"

"I never ran into any, but I'm sure they're here."

"And what about other hives?"

Setae glared. "If you think I'm going to sell out other hives-"

"While you have this lasso on, I could force you to give up whatever I want you to, but I would prefer to do things differently."

Setae chuckled. "You ponies. All you want to do is the whole friendship thing. Don't you understand that not every creature wants to be your friend?"

"Why do you think we have guards across our whole kingdom?"

"Show pieces to get you riled up?"

Another whip of the lasso hit his muzzle, causing another stab of pain.

"You'd do best not to stoke my ire further. Those guards have been trained by the best, and the best were trained by those before them, all the way up to the first that my sister and I personally trained so many moons ago."

"They didn't look so hot on the wedding day."

SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!

The lasso kept striking until Setae cried out in pain, only stopping when blood started to seep out of the marks on his muzzle.

Luna leaned in with a glare, the lasso held in her magic in front of Setae's face.

"Would thou wish to comment further on the actions of my sister and I?"

Setae returned the glare, but said nothing further.

"That is what I thought."

Luna's horn lit up again and cast a spell at the changeling, putting him to sleep again.

Setae sat at the interrogation table, lightly snoring as he slumbered. Luna, who had sat across from him the entire time since he'd been hit by the sleep spell, stood up and left the room.

"Have you found out anything, sister?"

Celestia moved up to her sister, eager to learn what she may have learned.

"He does not know exactly where his queen is, but there is apparently a network of changelings that lead back to her. Trying to infiltrate this network ourselves would be extraordinarily difficult at best. I don't think that's an avenue that would benefit us to pursue."

"On a more positive note, he is unaware of Dionices, and mostly unaware of the meeting we had with King Apidae."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Mostly?"

"He's aware that we hosted a dignitary, but not who that dignitary was."

"Are you sure that he is unaware of all that transpired?"

"I am fairly certain, sister."

Celestia looked at her sister for a few moments, but then let out a breath, looking at her with a smile.

"Very well, sister. We trust that you have succeeded in our endeavor."

A clearing of a throat brought the attention of both princesses to Dionices.

"I don't mean to cast doubt, but you are certain that he is unaware?"

"I am fairly certain," Luna replied. "He described being assigned to perimeter duty for the duration of the meeting, and those guards have a secondary barracks they use away from the castle, so he has not likely infiltrated our meeting."

Dionices bowed her head. "My apologies. I am simply being cautious."

"We know. For now, from what I could deduce, the situation is in hoof at the moment."

"That is good to hear," Dionices answered, the tension visibly disappearing from her body. "I suggest the prisoner be moved before he regains consciousness and have him placed in a cell forthwith."

"We will do as such. What other things should we do now that we have unveiled our impostors?"

"I can help with improving security in regards to the vetting process for new guards, but right now, I think I should meet with a contingent of doctors so that we may jump-start the process of healing the affected ponies so they may return to their families."

Celestia smiled and nodded. "Yes, that would be much appreciated."

Author's Notes:

I had a little bit of a hard time with writing this. Ultimately, this chapter comes with a teen rating, as parts of it do show a bit of violence and brief mentions of injury.

As way of fun facts, the two changelings from Queen Chrysalis's hive featured in this chapter follow the tradition of her changelings and have insect-related names. Setae is the name for the hairlike structures found on different insects, and Melanogaster is half of Drosophila Melanogaster, the scientific name for the common fruit fly.

Princess Luna's abilities shown in this chapter allow her to influence dreams utilizing the many different aspects of a pony's, or in this instance, changeling's mind. Usually, it's something more positive, like a favorite memory, to dispel a nightmare, but this time, she used fears that Setae had to create a dream that would make the changeling a little more pliable.

And yes, she was using the Lasso of Truth, but as way of another fun fact, it was a construct that again allowed her to exercise her power of influencing the unconscious mind of a dreamer, calling upon memories of pain and fear to drive Setae to want to tell the truth.

A Meeting With A Changeling King

by origami

Communications

Preparations

Introductions

About the King and his Kingdom

Healing, as Compensation

The Hunt for the Changeling Queen

To Get Ponies and Changelings to Get Along

A Business Lunch, Part I

A Business Lunch, Part II (Replaced)

Concluding for the Day and a Visitor at Night

Discussions at Breakfast and Signing the Treaty

Time to Depart

End-of-Day Meeting

Results of Evaluation

Interrogation (Rated Teen for violence)