“Thank you.” He read.

That was it. That was all that was on the note from Luna. There was no fancy greeting, formal tone or elaborate message. Just a simply 'thank you' and nothing else.

But why?

Was it for the plans he recovered? Maybe. But she already knew she was getting them. Maybe it was for the egg he gave her. She had to have known he stole it, though. So, why thank him for giving her the reward of a crime, when she has no way of knowing who he stole it from?

Probably doesn't matter. He thought. If it does, I guess I’ll figure it out later.

He put the ribbon with the broken seal in the rift, then burned the letter. He then stuck his head out of the the gap in the hedges, and ensured there was not another pair of guards walking by.

Kestral, with his thieving clothing back on, walked down the side of the path, making sure to stay next to the hedge at all times. The soft moonlight filled the garden, and every once in a while, he would spot a pair of guards walking about, or a single soldier take flight or land. The garden seemed rather peaceful, though, with the quiet chirping of crickets and whistling of the soft wing.

He reached another gap, and peeked around the corner, looking for anything that might fit the description of what he was told. All he saw was what looked like a cloud with two waterfalls on either side. There wasn't anywhere else to go from that section, so he continued down the main path.

He kept going, until he heard hushed voices, followed by a moan. His interest piqued, he burst for the next opening in the hedges to figure out what the sound was. He looked around the corner to see two pegasai, one facing backwards on a wooden bench, the other just behind, making forceful motions with their bodies. One lustful moan escaped the mare's lips, proving to Kestral just what he was witnessing.

“Oh god.” He said to himself. He teleported across the gap, and yelled out to them. “Hey! Get a fucking room! No one needs to see that!” He wished he had a pebble or two to throw at them for the public indecency...

“You can join if you want!” The male pegasus called back.

NOPE!

He booked it down the path, not caring to look back. After the small run, he slowed his pace. The cobblestone path was widening into a large crossroad, so he stopped at the nearest gap in the hedge. A look at the intersection let him see a wide water fountain, surrounded by stone benches of a similar style, and a statue on top.

The statue looked like a surgeon head gone mad and tried to create some new creature by chopping off the body parts of other animals. Its long body, with its gaping mouth, wide eyes, and defensive posture, seemed to emulate fear, or at least a quick panic. The whole body's style, though, didn't match up. It was as if the design of it was... chaotic.

Discord. He thought.

Near the statue, however, was a group of five. He blinked a couple of times to make sure it was really there, and the group failed to disappear before him. There were two royal guards, and three changelings. Two of the changelings looked normal, except that they had green, plated armor, and were at either side of the much taller changeling, who almost looked like it had a crown on it.

Wait... that must be the queen that's visiting. While trying to keep himself as concealed as possible, he watched her observe the statue that he came out to observe. Shouldn't she be in a meeting or something? Her horn lit up slightly, though he didn't see anything else happen. What's she doing?

Her head turned his direction, so he pulled his own back, hiding behind the tall foliage. He heard the clopping of hooves coming his direction. His heart quickened a little as they got closer and closer, and he caught his breath to ensure it was not too loud. Once it was close enough to him to hear them breathing, he began to panic some. There was no another exit, and any attempt to hop over the edge might result in being seen. Who knows, maybe some deus ex machina would save him?

“You can come out, human. I promise I won't bite!” A fluid, female voice asked.

Shit. Gig's up, I guess. How did she know I was there? I don't think she spotted me... I'll bet it was some kind of spell.

He slowly walked out from behind the edge, trying to seem as neutral as possible, and expecting to be met with spears or swords nonetheless. Once he made it into full view of the five figures, he found to only be mostly correct. To be more precise, it was two spears, a sword, and two claws that were pointed at him, although all but the claws were shaking from the trembling hooves that were holding them.

If I’m lucky, no one knows I’m a criminal yet. At least then I could talk them down from pointing their knives at me.

Chrysalis beat him to the punch, however, and gazed on the two changelings and two ponies. “Oh, put your weapons down. He's friendly.” The two changelings complied, but the ponies seemed to be less willing to do as she said. She looked at them with a bit of condescension on her features. “Need I remind you that this human has yet to preform a hostile act, and as such, would be unfit to receive hostilities by the guard? Or, perhaps, it should be said that arrest without reasoning is a felony?”

At that, the two ponies begrudgingly went back to a more neutral position, but not before giving Kestral a watchful glare.

He got closer, and maybe a bit too close based on the shift in stance of the armored changelings. He stood high, looking Chrysalis in the eyes. “Ma'am.” He said forcefully. He took notice of the guards squinting at him.

“Ah.” She said. “You must be this 'Kestral' I keep hearing about.” He gave a curt nod. “Very well.” She looked to the guards around her. “You four stay here. I wish to speak to the human in privacy.”

“We were ordered you to accompany you at all ti-”

“Oh piss off. We'll be at the statue, not Las Pegasus. We're only twenty feet away.” She motioned to Kestral. “Come.”

He followed her, leaving the four to stand there with some sort of frustration on each guard's mind. As close as he was, he was able to get a much better look at her. Like other changelings, she had holes filling her horn and legs, although she was much taller than the others, similar to Luna and, presumably, Celestia. She had green bands on her belly. Past the bands, though, her body became quite slender, almost to the point that he questioned her state of health. As they reached the statue, she turned to him, and he noticed the straight, green hair, emerald cat eyes, and protruding fangs.

He must have stared a little too long, though, as she mentioned it.

“See something you like?” She asked. “Don't be shy, I know many that have such longing eyes.”

“Hmm.” He said, brushing it off. “Just observing, is all.”

She gave a coy smile, and turned back to the statue. He did the same, quickly checking for a plaque, or something to identify it. He couldn't find one immediately, so he decided to ask about it. “Friend of yours?”

“Hmm?” She turned to him. “This one? No. I was never around when he roamed the world free. A blessing, I suppose.”

“Really?” He asked. “What did he do to get a bad reputation?”

She smirked. “You really don't know?” She asked. “Well, for starters, he turned the whole world on its head. When he was around, you didn't know if you'd get out of the chaos. He made homes fly on thin air, made clouds out of food and beverages. He'd twist people into different species or races, make them turn on their friends. Lots of things.” She turned to face him entirely. “It's like the world just stopped making sense.”

Sister, you have no fucking clue.

“In spite of that,” she continued, “I couldn't call him evil. Everything he did seemed...innocent.” She thought for a moment. “Okay, maybe not innocent... more like childish. He was childish. No respect for anyone unless they could match him in his games. But honestly, he was never 'evil'. He had never killed anyone, as far as I know. And there was no permanent damage once his rule was ended.”

“I see.” Kestral said. He looked behind himself to see the fours guards still standing there, although they all drilled holes in his head. “Can they hear us?” He asked.

“No.” She said. “At least not the ponies. And the changelings can only hear if I let them. But I want this conversation to stay between us.” She eyed him, though not with the suspicion he expected. “And for your sake, I hope you do the same.”

He appreciated that she was keeping it private, but why? What gain did she have to keep it all secret? Wouldn't it be safer for her troops to know more about him? Granted, he did at least see why she didn't want to be associated with him. The political setback would be quite large, if she were to be seen with a human. It wouldn't help once the whole 'thief and killer' thing caught up to him.

Come to think of it, those two guards already saw me with her. So once they catch on, it's already too late to prevent the backlash. All she can do after that is damage control. Which, I suppose, is much easier if only she knows what was said between us. Clever.... or I’m over-analyzing it. Either way, I guess.

He looked to her again. “Yeah, I can keep a secret.”

“Very well.” She said. Chrysalis stuck her head rather close, almost like she was trying to hear him better. “Tell me. How did you connect to my hive?”

“I'm...not sure, actually.” He admitted.

“I'm sure you don't.” She said in a sly voice. “Are you sure it didn't have anything to do with you hijacking the telepathic connection from one of my former lieutenants?”

“Uhhh...” What? What does she-... wait! She's the eyes I saw when I killed that armored one back in Ponyville! Holy shit! “Well, honestly, I had no idea what I was doing would... cause that.” He said carefully. I better confirm it. “Are you the one that asked for my name?”

“Yes.” She said, studying him fully with her eyes. “And in case I didn't mention earlier, I am Queen Chrysalis of the changeling race.”

“Ah.” He said. “I read about your arrival in the papers. I hope you're doing well on your first day here.”

“Hmm.” She snorted. “All considering, I should be glad it didn't go worse. But let's not dwell on that.” She gave another smile. “I want to know more about you connecting to my hive. What was it that you did that let you see into the hive mind?”

Kestral stayed silent for a moment. I probably shouldn't tell her that I broke off a changeling's horn and absorbed his magic by accident. Come to think of it, why would it do that anyway? I'm not sure how magic works, but I’m almost positive it isn't supposed to do that. At least it explained the voices...and the colors, and any other hallucinations I had at that moment. He thought. Actually. That's the same time I got that mark on my arm. Maybe I connected using a spell?

Okay. Let me try. He focused on seeing the auras, trying to recreate what happened in Ponyville.

“Oh my.” Chrysalis said. “Your eyes are glowing.” She looked right into them.

He looked at her, and instead of the whole green overlay he was expecting, he saw neon green...lines... highlighted over her body. They were smaller around the outside, and grew larger as they traced inwards until they met at a center, in her chest. Huh. So I can see all of your major arteries. Great. He looked back to the guards, but only saw two of them with the same green highlight. Correction, it works on all changelings. After a few seconds, the green glows faded from his sight.

“How are you doing it?” She asked.

“You tell me.” He turned back to face her. “I've never done magic before in my life.”

She rolled her eyes, and her horn glowed green. “Okay. Then do it again.”

He did, and watched as her veins came back to ethereal life. “You said my eyes were glowing?”

“Yes.” She said. “Very faint, but I could see it. A tinge of jade, I might add.” She paused a moment. “Almost as faint as that.” She added.

“As what?” He asked.

“Oh, now that's a nifty little trick.” She said.

“What is?”

“Well.” She took a deep breath. “You're not connecting to a hive at all.” He just cocked his head to the side and waited. Instead of continuing, she raised an eyebrow and asked. “Are you sure you don't know what you're doing?”

“Quite. Now can you tell me what's happening or not?”

“Impatient, aren't you?” She gave him a progressively more sultry look, leaning in a bit closer to his chest. “I have ways of teaching patience.”

He raised an eyebrow at what was, in his mind, a terrible attempt to get a rise out of him. He silently pressed a hand against her nose, forcing her head back until he felt comfortable again. “I'm just curious. If you don't want to tell me, I can find someone who will.”

“Oh. I can tell you, but I want a little bit of love in return~” She said in a manner that hinted in intimacy.

“Uuuuhhhmmmmm. No.” He replied. “Sorry, but I’m not losing my virginity to an insect.”

She feigned a gasp. “I had no interest in such activities!” She leaned in, batting her eyes. “Unless you did.”

“No.” he pushed again. Jeez. This conversation started off so great. Now she's fawning over me like a horny schoolgirl.

“Okay.” She admitted. “How about a passionate kiss?”

Okay, why the hell is she-... oh right. Changelings eat love. Duh. This is basically her asking me to give her a sandwich... well... I guess it would be worth it if I could know everything about how that spell works. “If you tell me all about that magic I was doing... how about a kiss on the cheek, and a hug?”

Her eyes lit up a little, most certainly filled with hope of having a full stomach after their meeting. “A kiss on the cheek, a hug, and I’ll give you oral?”

“No.” He deadpanned.

“But it's technically not-”

“No.”

“Surely you want some kind of release-”

“No.”

“Just some fondl-”

“No.” He said again.

“Cuddles?” She asked, pouting.

“Don't have the place nor time.”

“Kiss on the cheek, a hug...nuzzle me...” Kestral eyed her carefully. “...and... you stroke my mane?” She asked, looking up into his eyes, pleading for him to accept it.

He peered into her eyes, weighing his options in his head. After a moment, he made his choice. “Okay.” He leaned his head down next to hers, and pressed his lips just behind the corner of her mouth. He held it for a few seconds, then backed off. He looked, and for a moment, he spotted chrysalis simply looking stunned.

“You humans taste so much sweeter than ponies.” She mumbled.

“Huh?” Kestral asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing! Just hug me!”

He shrugged, then wrapped his arms around her, bringing her close. He began sifting through her hair with his fingers slowly, and rubbed his nose against hers in a tender manner.

All of which was quite difficult to perform, even considering he didn't want to do it in the first place. But soon enough, he was able to get Chrysalis focused again.

“So what about that magic?” He asked.

“Hmm?” She asked, lost in some kind of euphoria. “Oh, right. Yes, it seems that when you used it a moment ago, you weren't connecting to any hive. You just sent out a tiny, little, ping, and it came back to you. Genius, really.”

What? Are you telling me I could have seen through changeling disguises since a day ago? Hell, my job just got a lot easier, I think. “Can anyone see it?” He asked.

“You mean if my children can detect it? Hardly. I don't believe there are any changelings adept in magic enough to use that spell of mine. If there are, they are either a prince or a queen.”

“...children...?” He saw her take a breath to speak, but he cut her off. “Nevermind. I'll ask you another day. But what about me connecting to the hive?” He asked.

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“How would I go about doing it, since I did it before?”

“Well.” She started. “Just recreate the circumstances from before.”

“Yeah... I'd rather not.”

Against Kestral's will, Chrysalis moved her mouth onto his, sweeping her tongue across his mouth only once, before separating again. “Kestral, my dear. I am quite aware of the events that have happened in Ponyville. But here's the thing.” She lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper. “I need you... want you to trust me. Trust in my that I know what I’m doing, and I know what you're doing.” She pulled off from the affectionate gestures and look him in the eyes. “I know what's at stake. It was my fault that this was started.”

She adopted a much more sincere manner, far different from the sultry and playful looks she gave not minutes before.“But I need to trust you back.” She admitted. “Please. I ask that you know when to stop. I need to know that once the bad ones are gone, you won't try to find more.”

What brought on this demeanor? What happened to the horny queen that he was speaking to? What did he say to trigger such a quick change?

He gave a nod, one filled with confidence and certainty. “I promise.” He said. She opened her mouth to say something, but a high-pitched scream filled the distant air.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

He looked up towards the castle, and spotted the large walkway that was host to several winged guards landing. Uh oh. That's my queue. He turned back to Chrysalis. “I need to go.” He whispered. He turned to walk away, but she caught his attention again.

“If you find out how to get in the hive again, tell me.” She said. “And Kestral?”

He looked at her. “Yeah?” He asked, uncertain what she wanted.

“Please.” She said, like it was difficult to get the words out. “They're still my children, even if they are traitors...just, make it quick for them?”

He paused in thought, then gave one last nod to her, before walking off towards the front entrance. As he got out of sight, his mind began mulling over the words.

...children...

She had said that word twice. Were all of them her children? Did she really, truly care for them all like a mother? If so, it must have taken guts to only ask a killer to make it quick, instead of giving them another chance. Or, she didn't care, but if she didn't she would not have asked to make it quick, or maybe even associate with them in the first place.

He wasn't sure, but one thing was almost certain in his mind.

One day, that hug was going to be a little more sincere.

Celestia stood tall in the moonlit balcony. Her hair flowed in the nonexistent wind, and her jewelery glistened from both the moon and the torches she neared. At either side of her was a batpony in lunar armor, both of which were sneezing up a storm. Eventually they improved the effects of whatever was in the air by only breathing through their mouths.

The other two guards, which were also batponies, were next to the rail. The female was a blubbering mess, curled up in fetal position, and leaning up against her male counterpart. He turned his head for a second after hearing a moan come from her room, but focused back on the mare.

Celestia walked up to the two, and the male gave a salute, but the female was too unfocused on her surroundings to care.

“Your majesty!” He said.

“At ease.” She replied, then gestured to the female. “What happened?” She asked, her voice giving nothing less that absolute authority.

“She witnessed the... activity... that's happening in your chambers, your majesty. It's just bringing back bad memories for her.” He said, uncertain in his voice.

“What activity?” She asked. Celestia stared at the cloth that separated the inside of her room from the outside.

“I, uh....well, sexual activity, your majesty.”

Celestia didn't say anything. She trotted over to the cloth, and moved it aside, entering her room.

The scene before her was a mess. A few dozen pegasai, and even a dozen or so changelings were scattered around the room, doing things that ranged from somewhat lewd to downright ridiculous. Several mares were grouped around a stallion on her bed, and around the room there was groups of two or three in various positions, just spreading the 'love' that they all had pent up inside them. Not ten feet away from her was two changelings with bright red collars, both on their own end of a mare who desperately tried to keep up with their pace.

Her eye twitched at the blatant disrespect for personal space. She cleared her throat, and spoke only softly enough to not be considered yelling. “What are you all doing in my quarters?!”

Every single being in the room froze, and looked towards Celestia. Slow realization began to filled some of their eyes, and they began getting into more appropriate positions. Namely, not riding phallic parts, or having their phallic parts ridden.

Celestia stepped aside and pointed to the entryway behind her. The room was completely silent, so she didn't have to raise the volume of her voice quite as high. “You all have twenty seconds to get out of my room, before I start charging with trespassing.”

Nearly all of the 'party-goers' bolted for the exit, hoping to be spared the wrath of she who raises the sun. Only a few lagged behind, but they got out at a brisk trot at least, leaving the room empty.

“I am going to have a very intense meeting with Chrysalis tomorrow.” She said to herself. After thinking the whole thing over, her thoughts lingered on a few details.

...hmm...were those changelings wearing collars....?

…

...

...that gives me an idea...