Sunday dawns and partially through the morning finds the inhabitants of the Rhino household all gathered in front of the door to Golden Oaks library. Surprisingly enough, this group also includes the pets who, to quote Rhino, 'cuted their way into coming along'. The three changelings are in their usual disguises as the pets ride on the couple's back. Gel knocks to let Twilight know they are there.

The lavender unicorn answers the door while holding a fragrant cup of coffee in her magic. "Oh! Good morning." Her eyes glance over the group. "I take it these are your... friends that we spoke of?"

Gel nods. "Yes, they are. May we come in?" She notices the look on Flick's face and frowns, quirking an eyebrow at him.

He sheepishly smiles, shrugging a bit. When she turns away, he mutters to himself. "What? Bookish mares are cute..."

Twilight nods and leaves the door open for them as she steps back in the main room, sipping her coffee as she does so. The group enters, the five sets of eyes unfamiliar with the place are looking around curiously.

Turning to Twilight, the white mare levitates the pets off her back. She glances at her friends, nodding.

Seeing this, all three of them quickly change to their normal forms. Luster takes the staff off her back and holds it in a hoof, returning to looking at the shelves curiously, and, when she reaches the music section, starting to read a few.

Flick simply stares up at the sun painted on the ceiling. "...you ponies sure love your princesses, don't you?"

Twilight looks over at him curiously. "Does the same not apply for changelings and their queen?"

He shrugs. "We respect her. Love her? I suppose there are some that do."

"Hmm..." She doesn't say anything more on the subject as she starts to head down to the basement. "Let me go get the gems, I'll be right back."

The drone nods before glancing around. He turns to the unicorn still there, confused. "Hey, Doc, where did Gel go?"

Rhino looks around quickly. "She did come in with us, right?"

He nods, scratching his head. "I'm certain she did..."

In the next room, a baby dragon is putting books back on the shelves. A pair of eyes watch him from in front of a closed door for a few moments before lifting a few of the books up to him from the pile on the floor.

Spike reflexively reaches out with a claw and takes the books, sorting them before it occurs to them what happened. "Wait, who?" He goes to turn around.

He finds himself being embraced by a blue-gray form, a giggle in his ear. "So good to see you again, Spike! How's my favorite dragon?" She pulls away, smiling brightly at him.

He smiles as he recognizes the voice. "Hey Angel! Did you know there's a slight buzz," he turns around and his words slow down as he sees the changeling, "to... your words... today..."

She sheepishly smiles, rubbing the back of her neck. "...surprise?"

Spike looks at her for about a minute before muttering quietly. "And here I thought Twilight was delirious when she started going on about you being a changeling..."

She squirms in her spot in the air, her wings buzzing to fill the second of awkward silence. "...well...I am one...t-that doesn't change things between us, does it?"

He shakes his head quickly. "Well... no. It does raise one question though."

She blinks and tilts her head to one side, confused. "What question would that be?"

He smiles. "Can you turn into a dragon like me?"

She smiles and nods, landing on the ground and letting her cerulean flame envelop her form once more. As it disperses, a hint of yellow appears. She looks up at him with red eyes, her body slightly larger than his but maintaining a similar shape, if noticeably slimmer. She giggles, spinning so the light reflects off her gold and fire-red scales. "Does this work, Spike?" She stops and touches her mouth with a claw, her expression unreadable.

He chuckles as he looks at her. "Yeah, I just wanted to see what another dragon would look like at my age. Thanks... erm, Gel, right?"

She nods, tilting her head a bit. "I assume Twilight told you my name?" She frowns slightly, eyes crossing in an attempt to stare at her mouth. "...how do dragons deal with long tongues?"

He smiles as he reaches into a nearby basket, flicking a ruby out of it and snapping it out of the air with his tongue. "We learn to use them," he says around a mouthful of gem.

She laughs softly, walking over to him. "I see." She looks in the basket, curious. "...so you can actually eat these?"

"Yep!" He swallows what's in his mouth. "I get a small allowance of them when I help Rarity out at her digging fields."

She nods slowly, picking up a sapphire. "These are nice. A few flaws, but they could still fetch a high price." She brings it close, sniffing it. "I wonder how they taste to a dragon..."

"It's hard to describe..." He puts a claw to his chin before shrugging. "Why don't you find out?"

She blinks, staring at the gem in her grasp. "...I suppose a taste won't hurt..." She gives it a small lick, letting the taste rest on her tongue for a moment before shivering. "T-too sweet...I'm sorry, Spike..."

He shrugs again. "Meh, maybe you have to be raised on it. So what are you doing here?"

She brightens up. "Oh, we're helping my friends input their magic signatures as exceptions in Twilight's network." She smiles, hugging him gently. "I'm also here to see you...to let you know my true self...but Twilight took care of that, didn't she?"

He laughs as he hugs her back. "Yeah, but I didn't believe it until I saw you. When she's up late and I hear the information when she gunners it to me like a mad pony when I make the mistake of asking, I tend I have to take what she says with a grain of salt."

Gel giggles, nuzzling him. "I don't blame you." She looks at her claws, thinking a bit. "...I should change back before I check on them, though..." A thoughtful expression crosses her face. "...I wonder how Rhino would react to my current look..."

He chuckles more. "Why don't we go see?"

She smirks, letting go and heading over to the door. "That's a good idea..." She pushes the door open slightly, peeking into the room beyond.

Inside the main room, Flick is watching as Twilight fiddles with some gems and a small machine. On the other side of the room, a small pile of music books is sitting next to Luster who watches Rhino pace back and forth with a look on his face that keeps switching between forced calm and paranoid worry.

She nods to herself and enters the room, smiling warmly. "How is everything going?"

Luster looks up at her and raises an eyebrow questioningly. Her brother glances at her but doesn't really seem to notice her appearance.

Rhino notices the two looking and directs his glance to Gel as well, his brow furrowing in confusion. "I didn't realize Spike had a girlfriend..."

Gel, seeing the chance to play a joke on him, smiles sweetly and hugs Spike. "No, we're just good friends." She giggles, nuzzling the baby dragon's cheek.

Spike stands still with a confused look on his face, not knowing what to do. Rhino meanwhile, simply nods. "Well, good to know he isn't the only baby dragon in town."

She blinks, giving him a blank look. She shakes it off and shrugs, walking up to him, smiling playfully. "Though to be honest, I prefer my dates to be more...mature." She teasingly flutters her eyelashes at him.

He backs up a step, confusion on his face. "Umm, well, I'm flattered, really, but... I'm engaged... and apparently a magnet for other species..."

She giggles, winking at him. "I know that, Rhino." She rocks on her feet, humming softly as she idly wonders how long it'll take him to connect the dots.

He narrows his eyes at the female dragon. "...Gel? Is that you?"

"Bingo!" She grins, pulling her necklace out from behind her back. "I told you I could change into species besides ponies, remember?" She wags a claw at him in mock-scolding. "I'm surprised it took you that long, love!"

He winces slightly. "Could you maybe say that in your normal form? It's a bit odd having your words come out of a baby dragon..."

She huffs but smirks, nodding a bit. "Sure." She shifts back in a quick burst of flame. "To be fair, I was trying for a teenage dragon..." She sighs softly. "...but I don't know what those look like..."

Spike comments simply. "Taller, gangly, wings... jerks..."

She looks at him, her expression softening. "...oh..." She moves over and smiles at him. "I prefer my good friend Spike to a jerk, any day." She places a small kiss on his forehead.

He laughs nervously as he scrapes a foot on the ground while casting a worried glance in Rhino's direction. He relaxes a bit when the stallion simply nods. "Thanks!"

Gel nods, giggling softly. "I'm just saying what I feel is true." She turns to Rhino, glancing at Twilight a moment. "So, has everything gone well?"

Luster starts putting the books back where they belong, but the ear turned to them shows she's listening.

The unicorn nods. "Yep, I've been monitoring the towers and only two signatures were seen on your way here." She looks up and points at Flick and Luster. "You two, I assume. So this means the exception is working. I was just tweaking the system a little bit and now I've got room for a number of exceptions, and room to expand should the need arise." She sweeps her hoof over the purple and yellow gems on the table. "I figure matching them to your colors would make things easier to identify in a hurry. If you would just pick them up...."

The drone nods, quickly picking up the yellow gem. He stares at it a moment before turning to the librarian, confused. "What was I supposed to do, again?"

She waves a hoof. "Just levitate it or something, anything that touches it with your magic."

"Oh." He lifts the gem in his magic and puts it back on the table. "That was easy."

The indigo changeling finishes reshelving and hefts her staff over her back. She walks over and glances at the purple gem, wrapping it in a bright purple aura briefly. She looks to Twilight, as if asking whether that was it.

Twilight nods as she insert the gems into the box, two lights turning green above the slots she put them in. Afterwards, she looks curiously at the staff, tilting her head. "What kind of staff is that? I can't seems to sense any magic from around it..."

She appears to sigh, pointing at her throat and shaking her head.

Flick clears his throat. "Miss? My sis can't talk. She, ah...she's mute."

Twilight blinks before covering her mouth with a hoof. "Oh... oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!"

She waves a hoof at this, pulling her staff off her back with a hoof and presenting it to the unicorn.

"She said 'it's fine', and 'go ahead and take a look'." He shrugs a bit. "She's at peace with it. Should be, after nine years..."

Twilight tries to take the staff with her magic, only have it fizzle out. She looks at the staff in confusion as she takes it in her hooves. "Only one material I know of is able to diffuse magic so completely at touch..."

The drone rolls a hoof at this. "Please, do go on. Sis hasn't exactly let me know what that thing is made of, and I'd like to know what it is."

She goes on as she slowly draws a hoof along the metal. "Mythril... incredibly rare ore that expands greatly when smelted into metal. When cooled, it becomes impervious to all outside magical influence..." Her hooves trace the runes as Rhino takes a step closer and looks over them with a critical eye now that he knows the material. "And yet it looks like somepony enchanted it... using this gem as a power source... But how..."

Rhino tilts his head as he reads the runes along its length. "I didn't understand the intricacies before, but from what I can see..." he rotates the staff slightly to look at the bottom, "it appears to generate a magnetic field around the staff, but it prevents the field from actually touching the staff itself. Unless you wear wearing metal on your hoof, you would never be able to tell..."

There's a soft stamp on the wooden floor and they all turn to the nymph. She holds out a hoof, but slightly bent, as if asking for the staff but not demanding it back.

Meanwhile, a look of understanding crosses Flick's face. "So that's what she was doing for a year...trying to figure out a proper rune sequence to inscribe into that pole!"

Rhino head snaps over to Luster as Twilight gives the staff back. "You did all those yourself? From scratch? With no previous training?"

She starts to nod then pauses before shaking her head. She glances at a book on the table and taps it.

He nods. "Ok, not quite from scratch, you found an instruction manual."

She nods, smiling a bit. She takes the staff and slings it over her back. She turns to the bookcase once more, staring longingly at the books of sheet music.

The stallion notices this. "Those are probably for rent you know, you could always borrow them."

She snaps her attention to him, then looks to Twilight, a hopeful look in her eyes.

The mare smiles. "Well, they are books, and this is a library. Same rules as always: have a card, a bring them back when you're done."

Right as she finishes that sentence, the indigo nymph glomps her, hugging her excitedly.

Gel giggles, shaking her head. "If she's not careful, she might hurt her...don't you agree, S-" She turns to look to her left and stops mid-sentence. She glances around, confused. "...has anyone seen Spike?"

At that moment, Spike strolls back up from the basement with a recently used feather duster in his claws. He wipes some dust off his stomach as he looks over to the group and points a thumb over his shoulder. "Hey Twilight, I think your system is acting up. It's showing two blips out near the edge of town."

Gel pales, slowly turning to the mare in question. "...Twilight? I-is that possible?"

The mare shakes her head as she stands up. "No... sometimes the signatures linger... but..." she runs over to the basement and runs back out a moment later, "these are in a sector you guys never went near!"

The changelings tense up at this, but Gel snaps out of it first and rushes over. She stops inches from Twilight's face, anxiety clear on her own. "Where?"

Twilight points in a direction as Rhino walks over to his fiance. "Gel, who could it be? I mean, the strongest of you are here are defeated, right?"

"...not the strongest of us." Flick steps forward, actually appearing upset. "There's one more."

Rhino's eyes widen. "No... no, no she wouldn't... not herself... right?"

He sighs, shaking his head. "She lost four of her five finest. She's likely desperate, Doc."

Twilight looks between the others. "Wait... you don't mean..."

Gel shakily nods, her voice coming out as almost a whisper. "C-Chrysalis."

Spike asks the all-important question. "So... what are you gonna do?"

Flick sighs, shaking his head. "I dunno. What do you think, sis?" He turns and stops, staring at the empty space his sister used to be. He glances at the door, seeing her stand there in silhouette of the opening.

She looks back at them, an even expression on her face. She nods towards the direction Twilight indicated. We confront her. If necessary, we will fight her, but only as a last resort.

Gel blinks, tapping the side of her head a moment. "...w-wait, did you just...when did you do that?"

While you were worrying, your minds reached out instinctively. She smirks slightly. I simply reached back.

Rhino takes a step toward her. And you're going out... like that?

I don't see why not. She quirks an eyebrow at him. The longer we wait, the closer to the center of town they get. And, if we do get in a fight, Flick and I would have to switch back to help you and Gel. That's precious seconds.

But... A sigh echoes through their minds. Fine... how are the four of us going to get through town? He levitates the pets all down to the floor next to Spike.

Twilight walks around her desk. "I hope you aren't thinking about leaving me behind."

Rhino huffs. The five of us then...

Simple. She turns, marching out the door. We walk. The town has to find out about us sooner or later, right?

Rhino looks to Twilight. "How would we get across town with the least amount of panicked ponies?"

She thinks quickly. "Umm... full speed, you and I on either side of the changelings, that way they don't think we're captured on anything."

"We'd better hurry, then!" Gel rushes forward, hurrying out the door. "She's already heading down Mane Street!"

Flick quickly follows, gritting his teeth slightly and mentally cursing his sister for her stubbornness.

She proceeds to curse him back.

Twilight and Rhino looks at each other, each with matching expressions of both worry and determination. They rush after the changelings, Rhino listening to the changelings speak while Twilight is stuck out of the mental loop.

The odd group of five run through town and turn more than a few heads. Luckily their speed and formation server to only allow time for confusion rather than panic. They make a beeline for where Chrysalis was last sensed, and there they find a familiar couple of forms. One of a grey pegasus mare, and the other a brown earth pony stallion.

Gel slows to a stop in front of them, confused. "...that's strange..." She narrows her eyes slightly, staring at them for a few seconds. Rhino, what do you think? Did we miss them?

He doesn't respond immediately, instead turning to the mare next to him. "Twilight?"

She pulls out a small device and points it at the two ponies, pointing it away, then pointing it back at them. "It's them."

Gel goes silent for a moment, trembling softly. Concerned, Luster reaches out to her, but the other nymph steps away. She glares at the 'ponies', a fire in her eyes. "...get out of those disguises. Now."

The mare and stallion look at her. They look like they are about to protest, but a second later the mare starts to laugh with a voice that doesn't quite match. To the ever widening stares of the onlooking civilians, her form is engulfed in flame and grows in size until it reveals the form of the changeling queen. Next to her, Port also discards his disguise. The queen shakes her head. "And here I thought we'd be able to slip in unnoticed..."

"You. Thought. Wrong." She grits her teeth, eyes perpetually slits at this point. "Why couldn't you just leave us alone?"

Chrysalis lowers her head, her horn pointed at the nymph. "Because I can't let you leave."

"Seriously?" She snorts, shaking her head and her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Mind telling us why, your highness?"

"You should know well, why!" The changeling's wings flare aggressively as she takes a step forward. "But all that matters is that you are coming back, one way or another."

Gel laughs, closing her eyes. "You forget, you're outnumbered." She gestures to the ponies and changelings behind her. "Five against two. Do you really want to cause trouble?"

Twilight's horn lights up in its magenta aura, the radius of the glow showing the power behind it.

Rhino conjures his two crystal daggers and draws the Res runes along his entire body, like they are warrior's tattoos.

Flick's wings snap out as a small gust of wind flows outward. The wings flick through the air, making almost the sound of a sword slicing through the wind.

Luster pulls some metal from a nearby lamppost, quickly sculpting it into a helmet and bracers. She adds some to the end of her staff, forming a sharp, curved blade, much like a scythe.

Gel simply stands there, a blue phoenix of fire forming around her body. She stares up at the Queen through the air waving from the heat, dead serious. "Because you won't like the consequences."

As Port looks on calculatingly, the queen's smiles fades to a scowl as she sees the forces in front of her. The crowds of ponies watching from the relative safety between houses gasp as the monarch growls and straightens to a less offensive stance, knowing she would lose. This doesn't mean her eyes aren't still glaring daggers at the group.

"Good." Gel lets the flames die down for now. "I didn't want to hurt someone I respect." She glances at the drone behind Chrysalis. "And I know he's only following orders." Her eyes move back to the taller changeling. "So let's be sensible about this. Talk about it like I'm sure ponies would."

Chrysalis mutters vehemently. "Feh, as if ponies would know what we have to live like..."

"That's the problem!" She grits her teeth, turning away for a moment. "We need to-"

Chrysalis cuts her off. "Need to what?! Just because you managed to find the one-in-a-million pony to somehow have the ability to tolerate a changeling's presence, let alone care for one, does not make it a solution! There will always be far more that would cut off our heads and be done with us, if not simply starve us to death!"

"...one in a million?" Gel giggles, shaking her head. "That's a laugh." She smirks, gesturing around them at the town. "In addition to Rhino and Twilight, I've met four more ponies who are perfectly fine with me being a changeling. What do you have to say about that?"

"Lies!" Chrysalis rears and stomps her hooves into the ground. "Ponies hate us, both for what we are and what we do!"

Four mares step out of the crowd and move to the group of changelings and ponies standing against the queen. Mane, Manila, Silk, and Ditzy each look to their friends and nod.

The blue nymph stands tall in front of the queen, fearless. "I don't lie. You know that just as well as anyone I've met."

As Chrysalis seethes, a loud voice calls down from above. "It appears there are a few more changelings than we were informed of." Everypony looks up to see the dark form of the Princess of the Night who had spoken. She lands with a few flaps of her wings, her sister alighting besides her. Many ponies have the reflex to bow, but most don't give into it given that there are potential threats in their midst and the fact that they are not directly in front of the princesses. A few Royal Guards land next to the diarchs as more hover in the sky.

Twilight smiles as she sees her mentor. "Looks like they got my letters..."

Gel stares up at the alicorns in awe. "...the princesses...I can't believe it..."

The orange changeling beside Chrysalis frowns slightly, muttering to himself. "Any chance of getting our officers back just went down the drain. Pity."

Celestia sees how tense Chrysalis as and how restless her wings are. "There's no point in trying to flee, Chrysalis. As you can see, we have the skies covered, and this time, both of us are here. There will be no avoiding this."

The queen backs a step away from the sisters before whirling around and taking a step away from the assembled group of ponies.

Luster, quiet as she was, had snuck behind her and now stands in her way. She frowns in disappointment, shaking her head at her and making a circle in the air with a hoof. Turn around and face your betters. Or do you lack the honor for that simple an act?

The changeling queen hisses as her eyes dart around, trying to find a way out.

The blue changeling finally snaps out of her daze and bows to the taller ponies. "I-I'm sorry, Princesses. I-I accidentally led her here..." She scowls slightly at the matriarch. "...I want a simple life, but she won't let me leave the hive."

Chrysalis shifts her weight, her whole body tense as her eyes still dart around. "Can't let you leave..."

Celestia speaks. "It is new for us to be bowed to by a changeling, but you should not blame yourself. I had a feeling the changeling queen would find her way into the light again."

She blinks, looking up at her in a mix of surprise and confusion. "Really?"

Flick clears his throat, approaching the queen. "With all due respect, I think we should focus on something more important." He gestures to the taller changeling. "Why can't you let us leave? We aren't causing any harm living away from the hive."

Luster stamps the pommel of her scythe into the ground, still frowning. And do try to stay on subject. No avoiding the question.

Chrysalis backs away again, like a cornered animal. "It's too dangerous..."

"Dangerous?!" Gel growls, eyes narrowed angrily. "The only time it's been dangerous was when you tried to foalnap Rhino!"

The queens eyes narrow as well as she focuses on the nymph, all eyes watching. "It was necessary to get you to return!"

"I don't want to return!" She gestures to her stallion. "I want to live here, in peace, with my fiance!"

Luster facehooves. Say that a bit louder, why don't you? I don't think Cloudsdale heard, yet.

Rhino sweats a bit as whispers start among the crowd and even Luna raises her royal eyebrow.

However, all of them are silenced as Chrysalis snaps out. "It's either you or our entire species!"

Gel stares at her a second before smirking. "Finally got you to just say it. Now, care to expand on that thought?"

The queen straightens up. "You really think it's all that simple? Just find a life, leave, and live it? Well it's not! Think for one second! We changelings survive on love that we steal from ponies. If one changeling is captured, or even worse, goes rogue, and they give away our secrets, our techniques, anything... that's it! We're done! Wiped out in the span of a few generations! If they know us, they can find us, if they find us, we can't go about and gather love, if we don't get love, we die! Plain. And. Simple. That any single changeling would go for their own happiness above their entire species, is the height of selfishness!"

"...you think I'm being selfish?" She grits her teeth, the air around her heating up significantly. "I've been trying to help our kind be welcomed in Equestria. Rhino, Ditzy, Silk, Mane and Manila...they've been accepting of who I am." A small fire forms at the tip of her mane, but she pays it no heed. "We don't even have to steal love. Ponies can give it to us of their own free will, and we can love them back - be happy among them!"

Chrysalis scoffs. "And you really think that would work? We survive how things are now. It's far from perfect, but at least we are alive. Are you really willing to bet our entire species on a risk? On a plan that might work? Do you even have a plan? Or were you just hoping this would work out?"

"We can...we..." She trails off, unsure for the first time during this entire confrontation. She turns to Rhino, her eyes full of hope. Help?

Rhino swallows before stepping up next to her and facing Chrysalis. "We've already proven that she and the others won't come back with you, no matter what. It isn't pleasant to come to terms with it, but change is coming, you're old way won't work for much longer. Perhaps it's time to put your own thoughts toward a new way, instead of forcing others to come up with it."

Chrysalis thinks on his words and slowly deflates. "There never has been another way... this is the way we have lived before even I was born... this is how we survive... this is how we live..."

Rhino responds with a simple question. "Is it really living?"

The queen stays silent.

Gel nuzzles Rhino, smiling softly. Thank you, love...

At that sign of affection, Celestia smiles and speaks again. "And I think that, right there, is your solution, Chrysalis."

The queen looks to the Solar Princess with suspicion. "What do you mean?"

Luna answers. "Simply live. Make friends, spend time with family, find loved ones, surely changelings could live off that?"

Chrysalis looks downward begrudgingly. "Technically, I suppose it's possible, but nothing is ever so simple. Would you really just allow us to start inhabiting your towns?"

Celestia shakes her head. "Well, not exactly. You are right, it is a little more complicated and work will have to be put in on both sides. But I think, given time and a few examples, these things may come to pass."

The queen raises ay eyebrow. "What kind of examples?"

Luna looks at Chrysalis with a smirk whereas Celestia turns her smiling gaze to the three other changelings and, more specifically, Gel and Rhino.

The blue nymph blinks, pointing at herself in confusion. "...I-I don't quite know...what you mean, either, Princess..."

Flick raises a hoof. "If we're being asked to form relationships, can I still be with the mare I like?" He glances at the ponies behind him with a small smile, but it was so quick, no one could be quite sure of who he looked at.

The indigo changeling simply facehooves before lighting her horn up. The metal she borrowed quickly returns to its lamppost, sealing up the hole perfectly, almost as if it hadn't been touched.

The Princess of the Day looks around at what appears to be the whole of Ponyville watching them. She turns back to the centers of attention. "Let's see if we can take care of some things now, yes? Queen Chrysalis." The large changeling straightens up. "You and a portion of your subjects are responsible for an attack made on Equestria, that was at least partly done so that you would have a better source of food for your kind?"

The queen nods, not denying her actions. "Yes."

Luna continues, after looking at her sister and nodding. "Are you willing to turn yourself in and take responsibility and the repercussions thereof, so that your subjects may have the chance to better their lives?"

There is a slight hesitance, but she nods again with a bit of trepidation. "I am..."

Celestia nods. "Good, now, to accomplish many things at once. I believe the best course of action, is rehabilitation. You, will live among ponies, under supervision, and see for yourself, the opportunity that will be given to your subjects. You will be given the chance, to live and interact with others, as yourself."

Gel holds up a hoof. "P-pardon me, but...where would she even stay? B-because our house can't quite handle another guest." She nervously smiles, stepping a little closer to her stallion. I hope they don't hold that incident against me, too...

Rhino mutters so only Gel can hear. "Yeah... I'm not up for turning my home into a royally sanctioned changeling boarding house... and I'm pretty sure my landlord would have a fit."

She giggles and kisses his cheek. If you want, we can start building the plan next weekend. Does that sound good, love?

As the two talk in their minds, Flick turns to the princesses. "You think there's a pony who'd be willing to let her stay with them?" He glances out at the crowd but they quickly look away, not wanting to be volunteered.

Celestia smiles. "I think I have somepony in mind, one who would be ideal for teaching friendship, and who has a direct line to us so she can send progress reports."

Twilight's eyes widen. "But, Princess, I already have somepony in my house that... you know, I'm trying to find alternative lodgings for..." Her voice trails off as she looks next to her, at said pony.

The pink, fluffy pony only smiles, looking up at the changeling queen with eyes full of curiosity.

Gel stares blankly at this pony, confused. ...Rhino, isn't that...

Rhino's eyes narrow at the pony most describe as 'a walking ball of fluff'. Fluffle Puff...

The crowd suddenly lets out a gasp as the fluff ball shuffles over to the changeling queen and stares right into her eyes with an ever-widening smile.

Chrysalis looks at the pony warily as she looks back at the Princesses.

Celestia only smiles. "I think your first friend may be easier than you think."

"Oh joy..." The queen deflates but still siphons off a bit of the energy coming from the pink pony.

Twilight looks back to her mentor. "I'll do as you ask, Princess."

The solar pony nods. "I thought you might, my faithful student. Now, onto the changelings themselves..." She looks to the group again.

The three friends stand next to each other, looking up at the princesses. The blue-tinted one waves nervously at them, wrapping her tail around Rhino's for assurance. The goldenrod drone simply smiles, looking at them in interest and a little excitement. The indigo one keeps a neutral expression, watching them quietly.

Luna takes up speaking again. “Considering these changelings have ponies to vouch for them and their merit, we believe it to be only right that they are allowed to live as they have fought so hard for."

Celestia nods. "Of course, after we make it official and we start all the political aspects of this, other changelings will be given the choice as well. This will go smoother as long as Chrysalis behaves."

The three bow to them respectfully. Gel sighs softly in relief, turning to her stallion with tears in her eyes. "I-I get to stay...this is a dream come true..." She embraces him, crying in joy into his shoulder.

The other two watch this with a small smile on each of their faces. "Ain't that cute, sis?" She nods, appearing to giggle happily.

Rhino hugs Gel back, but makes sure to keep an eye on Chrysalis and the Princesses.

The queen is standing and facing the Princesses like a ruler facing an equal. "And what will happen to my hive while I am forced to stay here?"

The orange drone beside her clears his throat, catching their attention. "If it's all the same with you, my Queen, I could take care of the hive while you're...otherwise occupied."

She turns to him and smiles. "That... would actually take much off my mind Port... thank you."

He bows deeply to her, his horn touching the cobblestone beneath their hooves. "It is my pleasure, my Queen."

Luna's wings flap once. "Well then, I believe that is enough for one day." She turns to one of her royal guard. "Keep an eye on things for a few days just to make sure Chrysalis behaves." He salutes. "Good, I shall meet you back in Canterlot, sister." She takes off and half the royal guard follows her.

Port has a few last words with his queen before taking off himself, heading back home to tell them of what has transpired.

Celestia looks to the crowd around them. "I think you can all go back to your lives, my little ponies." She approaches the group, Fluffle Puff and Chrysalis following. She looks to Gel and the others. "Did you have anything to add before I see the newest resident of Ponyville to her home for the time being?"

Gel shakes her head, as does Flick. Luster thinks for a moment before nodding a bit. She points to the ponies still hiding between houses, giving the princesses a sad frown.

Celestia looks toward the citizens before leaning back down to the purple changeling. "I'm afraid I can't do much more, I can't order them to like you. But if they attempt to do anything more than what is legal, you are still protected by our laws. Will that work for now?"

She appears to consider this a moment before nodding, her expression back to neutral.

The alicorn turns to her student. "Alright, Twilight. Let's get your temporary housemate settled in, shall we?"

The group of four leave, meaning the changelings and Rhino are all who are left. The stallion looks to the rest of them. "I guess we should get the pets and head home then... I think we have a bit to celebrate." He hugs Gel to him.

She giggles, tenderly nuzzling his cheek. "...I say we do..."

Luster smirks slightly, turning back towards the library. How does apple bramble sound?

The others start following her as Rhino questions her. I assume you don't mean an apple thornbush?

She gives him a flat look over her shoulder. It's a crumble cake.

Oh... Sorry, had never heard one called that before. He hugs Gel closer to him still, glad to be able to hold her in public now. The nymph leans against him, smiling softly despite looking like she’s about to faint at any moment.

Then this will be a learning experience for you. She shakes her head, a small smile on her lips as the group heads off.