High Moon Ch. 57:

The Consequences of Past Actions

Nova awoke with a painful groan. Every inch of her body felt like it had caved in on itself, some places worse than others. Not to mention the pain in her head, which felt as though someone had tried cracking it open with a large slab of limestone. She moved her arm over her head with great effort, trying to block out the early brightness from the light of the sun reflecting off the gray clouds into her window. Wait a minute… how am I inside? she thought to herself, groggily, and with difficulty.

‘Think Nova, think.’ Nova laid in the soft, warm bed for a moment as she did her best to remember the last few things she could before everything just went dark. Yet the only thing she could fully remember was leaving the castaway hive’s catacombs. But the bed alone was enough to tell her that she had made it somewhere. So where was she?

Nova’s nerves started to run high, causing the gem in her chest and forehead to change from a calm bluish color to a more bright and frantic orange; the most obvious manifestation of her changeling blood, the mood-stones gave any viewers a general idea of how she was feeling. Nova got up from the bed, opening her golden eyes to take in her surroundings as quickly as she could. ‘A bedroom. That’s a start. But where am I?’ she continued to question herself. Nova’s head whipped around the room as fast as the pain allowed her to. There wasn’t much in the room to actually note. A small table, a pair of chairs by the bed she was in, and a plain window to show the outside was all that the room contained.

As curiosity started to take hold of Nova’s mind, her gems again changed color, this time taking on an off-pink tone. Nova started to move when a sudden pain in her injuries stopped her and forced her to audibly hiss. “What the?” She moved the warm sheets off of her body to find that her chest and lower midsection were wrapped in the same white bandages that her arms and legs were. “What happened to me?”

Nova tried to remember again, only resulting in making her headache worse. The sudden pain caused her gems to darken once again to an orangish color. Her face cringed for a moment before she gave up on the seemingly impossible task of remembering the last day or so. “Princess Frost, I need to find her.”

“Well, you’ve just missed them,” a deep voice sounded from the doorway, causing Nova’s ears to twitch so fast in that direction that she was surprised they didn’t pop out of place. Nova eyed the tall, green-and-purple Salamander Drake standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his gray jacket. The moment she met his eyes, Nova raised an eyebrow at the odd mix of both empathy and warinessapathy the drake seemed to have for her.

“Frost and my sister got up half an hour ago to get you something to wear,” Spike said as he started to approach Nova. The moment he towards the bed, however, Nova began growling at him. She got up from the bed, stumbling, taking up a defensive stance facing him. Spike noticed that the gem in Nova’s chest had taken on an olive-green color, while her eyes seemed to hold a wide mixture of emotions. Fear, confusion, worry - Spike easily understood why she could feel all those things, however.

Taking the hint from Nova’s growls, Spike put up his hands slowly, though the growls still turned into snarling. “Whoa, whoa, no need for that. Especially not after I spent half a day healing ya up.” Not to mention how his sister and Frost would react if he hurt the hound.

“Quite. Princess Frost, where is she? I can smell her scent in this place, so where is she?” Nova questioned. She saw more faces show up behind the drake, outside the door, and her growling took on a deeper tone. She looked between the drake and the new faces, now growing worried and fearful that she’d been captured. The gem in her chest turned a pure black, her will now focused on getting away from the growing number of possible hostiles.

“Spike, what’s going on?” Cyclone asked from the doorway, looking between Spike and Nova with a growing worry in her eyes. Veil quickly stepped in front of Cyclone to push her back from the door, knowing that the hound might lash out because she felt cornered.

“Just stay back, girls,” Spike said, looking over his shoulder to his two mates, himself backing up to the doorway. “She’s still just hurt and scared, I can handle this.” Cyclone nodded her head as she did what Spike said and let Veil move her away from the room. The two moved back to the stairway where Spirit and Fang were waiting. She trusted Spike to know what he was doing.

“Okay, let’s try this again. Hi, my name is Spike Sui Dragul,” Spike started, “Like I just said, Frost and my sister left a half hour ago to get you some clothes to wear. They should be on their way back right now, Nova.”

“How do you know my name, Drake?” Nova sharply questioned, still holding her defensive stance. Spike took a quick peek down at Nova’s still-black gem, thinking that had something to do with her actions. When Nova caught Spike looking at her gem, she quickly used the bed cover behind her to hide it, a blush coming to her gray cheeks. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to look at someone’s mood-stone, Drake?”

“S-sorry.” His eyes darted back up to meet her angry ones. Spike didn’t know why, but the blush on Nova’s face brought a flush to his cheeks as well. “Listen, Frost told me that you guys are real close friends. I know you're hurt and confused, but you’re in a safe place here.”

Nova stared deeply into Spike’s green eyes, still trying to get a feel for the drake. She started to ease up a bit, her gem changing color to light-green as she let out a small sigh. “You’re telling the truth. Princess Frost willingly lives here then? She’s not being forced to say here, yes?”

“Of course, no one is forcing anyone to do anything here. Now, just stay calm, alright? Frost should be back soon,” Spike said, taking a slow step into the room. He stopped when he saw Nova flinch, and slowly eased himself back. ‘Geez, she makes me feel like I’m defusing a bomb.’ “Believe me, you’re in a safe place. We found you out while we were hunting. You were injured and had a fever, but you should be fine now.”

Nova took in slow, deep breath to relax herself. She thought to herself for a moment as she moved to sit back down on the bed. She couldn’t run if she wanted to, but thankfully, she didn’t have a reason to. Supposedly, yet. “Okay, I guess. But I have to speak with Princess Frost, now. And I would like to speak with her sooner rather than later. I’ve already wasted too much time as is.”

Spike sighed as he shook his head. This hound was turning out to be more stubborn than Quill. Which would, in fact, explain a lot to Spike, given her association with Frost. “Again, they should be-”

“Hey Spike!” Fang’s voice called out from the ground floor. “Your sister and Frost are back.”

“Okay Fang, tell them to hurry on up here,” Spike called back from the doorframe with a sigh of relief. Moments later, he made room for both Frost and Quill as they walked into Nova’s room.

Frost slowly walked over to the side of Nova’s bed, while the half-breed hound’s eyes widened from seeing Frost in the flesh for the first time in years. Her light-green gem darkened in color to an olive tone. The hound couldn’t think of what to say to the mare she looked so highly up to. Eventually, Frost sat down on Nova’s bed, not breaking eye contact with Nova’s golden orbs.

The hound jumped when Frost suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around her neck, but Nova soon gave into the warmth radiating from the scorpio mare. The two continued to quietly embrace each other after the three-year-long absence from the other’s company. Nova wrapped her arms around the mare’s waist, and began visibly shaking in Frost’s grip, prompting the mare to start whispering soothing words into Nova’s sensitive ears.

While her mate embraced her old friend in the affectionate hug, Quill tapped her hand against Spike’s chest before nodding her head to the door. Spike got the hint and left the room to reassure his mates that everything was fine, and to tell Wolf that the hound had woken.

Nova simply continued to softly sob against Frost’s neck, completely at a loss of what to say. Frost was in no rush to get information out of the hound, though. She too had missed the comfort that came with being near her friend, and she tried to keep her composure.

“Pr-Princess Frost...you don’t know h-how happy I am to finally see you again,” Nova finally sobbed, nuzzling her face into Frost’s body, breathing in Frost’s distinct aroma: frozen flowers, just how she remembered.

“And I am happy to see you too Nova, my dearest friend,” Frost said with eyes half-closed, looking down at Nova. She began running a hand down the long length of Nova’s hair, refamiliarizing herself with its rough texture. Nova’s tail soon started to wag back and forth when Frost remembered a part on the back of Nova’s head that she enjoyed having scratched. “And you should know this by now, I am no changeling princess. Not any longer.”

“Bu-but Princess Frost…”

“No buts, Nova. What happened, happened. I’ve come to accept this,” Frost said with a slightly bitter tone. She quickly averted her eyes away from Nova’s before letting out a small sigh. Nova’s tail dropped the bed as her gem turned a dark shade of orange, trying to catch Frost’s gaze, but was rejected for the moment. “Nova, I’m sorry for what happened. I know it must’ve been hard on you and the others to try and survive after I was removed.”

Nova lowered her head, meekly nodding. “I-it was…” she said with a small shiver, thinking back to the weeks of utter chaos and confusion that had broken out. Without a queen or princess, a hive would quickly fall apart into full anarchy. “That doesn’t matter right now, though,” Nova said, mostly to shake herself free of the horrifying memories of having to lose Frost. The gem on her chest quickly responded to her sudden change in mood, switching from orange to a soft blue color. “Pr- Lady Frost, it’s your sister, I come bearing a message from her.”

“From Chrysalis? Now what could she possibly want?” Quill questioned in a slight growl. She’d never forget the first invasion of Canterlot. Not after having to defend both Spike and herself from a few of the invading drones. And definitely not after what Chrysalis had done to Cadance and Shining Armor.

“Quill, please,” Frost began, cut off as Nova jumped in.

“Who are you to speak of Lady Chrysalis in such away?” Nova questioned, voice rising in anger at Quill, her gem flashing instantly to a defensive light-green. However, when Nova locked eyes with Quill, the anger and power that radiated from the dragoness forced her to back down, while her gem darkened to black once more. There was something in the dragoness’ eyes, a fire that seemed like it would consume anything that angered it. Nova unconsciously moved to try and put Frost between herself and the dragoness. “S-she did what she had too. It was for the betterment of the Swarm.”

“Yeah? Well she ruined one of the most important days of one of the few ponies I still respect,” Quill retorted, her anger growing when she saw Nova using Frost as a shield. She closed her eyes, taking in a calming breath before she started again. She looked at her mate, voice softening. “Frost, I’m sorry to say this but… Chrysalis did one of the most underhanded things I could ever possibly think of.”

“She did what she had to!” Nova shouted at Quill, despite the fear of being burned alive in the back of her mind. “You have no idea what it was-”

“Nova, enough,” Frost said sternly, taking hold of Nova’s shoulders. After a few moments of locking eyes with the abutiu, Nova’s gem changed from its dark black to a faint orange, the hound averting her eyes in shame. “You know as well as I do what my sister did that day was far out of line. She got what she deserved that day for her greed.”

Nova’s shoulders slumped a bit. She hated to say it, but what Frost, and even that dragoness - a Queen Dragoness from what she could smell from her - said were right. Chrysalis committed a crime that was far from redeemable. Yet Nova wanted to believe otherwise. Especially after the elder scorpio mare had come to her rescue.

“However… she is still my sister,” Frost continued, causing both Quill and Nova to do a double take at her words. “No matter how much she messes up, I can’t abandon her. Especially not now. This may be the chance I’ve been looking for from her.” Frost took a small pause, taking a slow breath in before looking back into Nova’s golden eyes. “Nova, first tell me what it is that my sister is asking for.”

“She wants to speak with you, Lady Frost,” Nova answered. She wrapped herself in her own arms for a moment as she knew Frost would like to know more than just Chrysalis’ intent. “S-she was badly hurt after the defeat. Chrysalis tried to save as many as she could, but…” Nova’s body shuddered for a moment before she continued. “From what I could gather from the drones, she used most of her magic to save what few she could. But there was something wrong with her, my Lady. She had been...injured.”

“Injured how, Nova?” Frost questioned. Truthfully, Frost wasn’t overly worried for Chrysalis, though there was a small amount of reflex worry for her sister.

Nova’s gem again darkened to a pitch black as she looked away from Frost, shaking again. “I-it’s her spirit… After her failure, the Fall, and her banishment, Lady Chrysalis was broken. She barely had enough will to make it to the castaway hive. She’s gotten a lot better, though, especially after she found a mate.”

“I see, and she wants to meet with me?” Frost asked, already knowing the answer. It was surprising that her sister had found a mate - that would definitely bear looking into. In response to her question, Nova meekly nodded her head, still not looking at either Frost or Quill. “Well, if that’s the case…”

“That would be for me to decide,” Wolf’s growly voice called out from the doorway. Frost and Nova turned to find that Wolf was walking into the room, brushing past Quill with his eyes locked onto Nova. She violently shook at the power behind Wolf’s eyes, fearing him as if he was a demon from Tartarus. “Now what’s this whole business about your sister, Frost?”

“Chrysalis, my sister, she wishes to see me for something,” Frost answered, placing a hand on top of Nova’s head to calm her. “Wolf, please, I need to see her. This may be my only chance to see her for a long time.”

Wolf closed his eyes with a small growl. He didn’t know much about Frost’s sister, or the sin she had apparently committed three years ago. And frankly, he didn’t care at this time. Not during the winter. Not while his mare was expecting in the early spring. “Fine.”

“Oh Wolf than-”

Frost wasn’t able to finish before Wolf suddenly snapped his eyes open. An unwavering look held firm in his murky, red-tinted green eyes. “Only on three conditions.” Wolf raised his hand up, holding three fingers aloft. “One, wherever you go, you come back with something worth the time you’ve taken away from the pack. Two, that hound has to make up for the kill she messed up yesterday.”

Nova’s eyes widened, and she tried to interrupt him. “But that was my fault! I didn’t-”

Nova was silenced when Frost snapped her gaze back to her, a disapproving look in her blue eyes. The firm look was followed by Wolf growling at the hound, forcing her to attempt to make herself smaller while muttering an apology under her breath. “Also, Frost, put that hound on a tighter leash if she’s going to be staying for much longer. Three, if I hear anything about that hound causing trouble…”

“I understand Wolf. I’ll keep watch over Nova, thank you,” Frost said, shivering from the intensity coming from the powerful alpha dog’s gaze. She knew he was on edge from Blaze being pregnant during the winter, and she didn’t want to give him a reason to be angry.

“Good,” Wolf nodded his head, turning to leave the room. “Can’t believe we lost the biggest kill in years for this,” he growled, just barely above a whisper, almost shoving Spike out of the way before he left. It was obvious that he, and the other dogs, were all still upset about Nova ruining their chance of feeding the pack for the remainder of the winter.

Though if Frost had to be honest, she was going to miss having Quill to herself all day. That was one thing about the winter she rather enjoyed, being able to spend the entire day with her mate. Once the door closed behind Wolf, Frost let out a small sigh as she began rubbing her temples. “Nova, you understand the situation you’re in right now, I hope?” Frost questioned in a low tone.

Nova opened her mouth to blurt out a response without much thought, but was stopped when Frost looked over her shoulder. The strong leer in her eyes held slight disappointment towards Nova, as she was no doubt upset with her. “Y-yes Lady Frost… I’m sorry to cause you this trouble.”

“No Nova,” Frost sighed, shaking her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “But Wolf is right. You owe this pack, and the last thing Wolf or the others need is a loose thread to worry about. Not during the winter, Nova. You’re being expected to pay your debt back to the pack, understand?”

“I understand... I-I’ll stay out of trouble.“

Frost looked over towards the saddened hound, the look in Nova’s normally bright golden eyes, and the blackness of her gem, forcing another sigh out of Frost. She moved her hand to place it on top of Nova’s head, rubbing it for a moment to pick up Nova’s spirits. “Don’t worry Nova, I know you will.” Frost leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the hound’s forehead. She didn’t notice the hounds gems turn a soft pink, instead rising from the bed and taking in a deep breath before she looked at the half-breed hound. “Nova, I want, no, need you to be on your best behavior. I have to prepare a few things before we make our journey. Until I return, you are to do everything my mate, Quill Dragul, tells you. Understand?”

“I understand Lady- Wait, mate? Her?” Nova asked, looking at the Queen Dragoness that accompanied Frost. Physically, Nova could see why Frost would choose Quill as a mate. Magically was the same story. The dragoness rivaled the mare’s power easily, though she knew dragons went through spurts and jumps in regards to their power. Though… “U-uh, my Lady, you haven’t done the mating ritual with her yet… have you?”

A small blush came to Frost’s face, though she quickly shook it off. “No, not officially that is. But there’ll be plenty of time for that later. Behave yourself, Nova,” Frost said before she teleported back to the temple to gather things for trip through the frozen Everfree to the hidden hive.

Nova slowly turned her head towards the dragoness, her gems turning an uneasy orange. She smiled weakly. “So… uh Courtess D-”

“Nova,” Quill cut the hound off, chuckling amusedly at the half-breed. She then tossed the clothes she had wrapped up in her tail at Nova. “Get those on before you catch another cold. And Quill, just call me Quill.”

Nodding her head, Nova started to put on the sleeveless purple jacket that was given to her. With a small huff, Nova started to pull on the long black pants, wincing slightly from the pain still in her injuries. Quill didn’t say anything as she walked towards Nova, sitting on the bed next to her to place her hand on the hound’s forehead.

“At least your fever went away. You sure that you can lead us back to this hive in your condition?” Quill asked. Nova simply sat on the bed blinking a couple of times, trying to figure out where the sudden compassion had came from. Quill moved the back of her hand against the gem on Nova’s forehead as she checked the hound’s temperature. “Nova? Can you take us back to the hive or not?”

“O-of course I-I can,” Nova answered, quickly jerking back when the dragoness brushed against her forehead gem. She zipped up the top part of the jacket to hide her gem, which was rapidly turning a dark shade of pink. ’What was that, all of a sudden?’ Nova thought to herself, somewhat flustered. “A-At this point, I’m just sore is all. I can handle myself.”

“Didn’t look that way yesterday,” Spike muttered under his breath, having appeared in the doorway while Quill had been talking to the hound. Nova’s sensitive ears easily picked up on what the drake said, glaring towards him with a small growl. Spike flinched back from the hound before steeling himself, and snorting out a shot of gray smoke. “Well, it’s the truth. Like it or not.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to be reminded of it, Drake,” Nova spat, her hands trembling slightly. She was just as afraid of directly confronting this drake as she was of the dragoness beside her, but this time she was determined to not show it.

Spike opened his mouth to retort but was stopped by Quill suddenly walking over to him, smacking the her hand against his chest. “Outside, now.” Without giving him a chance to reply, Quill turned towards the door to step outside. Spike followed, but only after giving Nova another glare. Once out the door, Spike closed it behind him, turning to his sister, waiting to see what she wanted.

“Spike, why are you being a jerk right now?” Quill asked bluntly, having noticed Spike’s sudden bad mood. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“You bet there is,” Spike said, though it came out as more of a growl. He closed his eyes to calm himself down, turning to the stair railing to take hold of it. “Quill, I want to go with you. I have to know why Chrysalis did the things she did.”

Quill shook her head, she knew that had something to do with it. She stepped behind Spike, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Spike, no. This isn’t a revenge thing. This is for Frost, not us. Besides, we need you here.”

“For what?” Spike sharply questioned, already angry that he couldn’t fight Quill’s reasoning. This wasn’t for them, and he knew that. But… how could he just forgive Chrysalis for what she had done?

“We promised Twi we’d be over some time this week to talk about the plan to deal with the unicorns. Or did you forget that?” Quill asked, taking her hand off of Spike’s shoulder to stand next to him. She leaned against his shoulder, wrapping her wing around him and putting her head on his shoulder in a rare moment of physical affection for her brother. “Listen, while I’m making sure this whole… ‘sister reunion’ thing works out, I need you to go see what’s going on. Okay man?”

Spike didn’t answer for a moment, merely looking down to the ground floor with a sigh leaving his lips. “Fine, fine, I’ll do it,” Spike said, leaning his own head down against his sister’s. “But I still want to know, Quill. I want to know what drove that mare that far.”

“Deal.” Quill pressed her side against her brother’s before pushing off him to look back at Nova’s door thoughtfully.

Frost returned with a bright blue flash at the base of the stairs, holding three winter coats in her arms. Spike pushed off of the railing to walk downstairs as Frost ascended them. “You guys be careful out there,” Spike said as he walked by her. In a softer tone, one he didn’t want reaching his sister, he added, “And Frost? Take care of her, please.”

“We will, thank you Spike,” Frost said, then, in an equally soft tone as the drake’s, added, “Of course. I always will.” Spike nodded and kept walking downstairs. Frost reached the top floor, addressing Quill. “Ready to go, love? The trip will be long on foot, likely several days. Especially in the snow.”

Quill remained quiet as she looked back towards Spike walking to the lounge room. “Yeah, let’s get going,” she eventually answered before moving over to Nova’s door, opening it for Frost to step through first. As Frost got Nova ready to lead them to Chrysalis, Quill thought about how Spike had to be feeling about the whole thing. She knew that it was hard for him to let go of what happened during the invasion, especially since they were so close to Shining Armor and Cadance.

Yet they couldn’t allow their anger to distract them right now. Not with the unicorn cultists lurking out there, somewhere.

The three soon made their way out of the mansion to follow Nova to the castaway hive. However, before they could start their trip, Isis suddenly appeared in a flash of black feathers. The sphinx was bundled up in robes borrowed from Lily and furred armbraces from Wolf. She approached the three, the golden bands around her hips and wrists jiggling slightly.

“Master told me that you were planning to part from the pack temporarily. On behalf of my masters and myself, I want to wish you a safe journey,” she said softly. Isis held out her hand, sparking her magic to conjure up three purple luminescent gemstones. “These will allow you all to return to High Moon swiftly, but you can only do it once. After that, they will need to be charged again,” Isis informed the trio as she levitated the gemstones over to Quill and the two half-breeds. “Do return safely. Mistress is already worrying gravely about you all, as is Master.”

“We will Isis, thanks,” Quill said, bowing her head in respect. Isis returned the bow before turning to walk back to the room she shared with her masters. “Come on guys, the sooner we do this, the sooner it’ll be over.”

“Lead the way Nova,” Frost said, waving for Nova to guide them. The hound said nothing as she started leading them back to the castaway hive. Quill and Frost followed behind on foot, both still wondering what had become of Chrysalis in the years after her failed invasion of Canterlot. As they left High Moon, the three all tightened their cloaks around themselves, trying to keep the heat in.

The weather was easy on the group today, not as bad as it had been for the past few days. Just cold. That was easy enough for the three to deal with. Quill would periodically make a small fire for them to warm up at during breaks they took, ensuring they all stay rested and warm. However, when the last few rays of the sun began going down, they were forced to bunker down inside the cave. It was one that Nova had camped out in during a small blizzard once, while she had been looking for signs of Frost.

While Frost was busy tending to the two small white rabbits they had managed to catch before nightfall, Quill was setting up the heated sleeping bags for them to rest on while they wait for dinner. Once finished, she sat down with a small huff, rubbing her head.

For the majority of the day, she had been mostly quiet, which wasn’t like her. Frost had tried to see what was wrong with Quill, but only got, “I’m fine, just thinking about stuff is all,” out of her. Frost had a feeling as to what it was, however. Quill had told Frost that she and Spike had been in Canterlot when the invasion happened. And Frost knew that both twins still held some foul thoughts against changelings, or more accurately, Chrysalis in particular.

‘They must be close to the rulers of the Crystal Empire. Maybe I can convince Chrysalis to apologize for what she did.’ Frost sighed as she moved away from the campfire, sitting next to Quill.

“Quill, tell me the truth, are you really alright?” Frost asked as she rested her head against Quill’s shoulder, closing her eyes. “And don’t tell me that you’re okay, because I know when you’re lying to me.”

A sigh came from Quill as she moved an arm around Frost’s body, pulling her closer. Frost quickly inched her body closer to Quill when she felt Quill’s low emotions grow more upset. “Frost, I’m just worried alright? Maybe a little anxious.”

Frost looked over to the Quill’s eyes, frowning from the sadness and anger she saw in the purple orbs. “Why, Quill? Chrysalis is my sister, and if what Nova said is true, she poses no threat.”

Quill shook her head slightly, closing her eyes with a small sigh. “That’s not what I mean. I know I said the invasion doesn’t bother me as much anymore, especially now, but I still want to know why she felt that was necessary. And so does Spike. I don’t think he would be able to handle the answer though, and honestly, I might not neither.”

“She did it because she had too.” The lovers’ eyes turned towards Nova, who had her back turned towards them. Frost had thought that she had fallen asleep, but apparently she was still wide awake, and listening to every single word. “I’m sure Frost told you about their mother, Queen Ambrosine. She’s dangerous. The only thing that’s stopping her from trying to take over Equestria is the simple fact that the other Swarm Queens would finally have a real reason to oppose her. If anything, they would band together and join the Sun Mare.”

“Nova is right, love,” Frost added in, placing her hand on Quill’s far shoulder to gently rub it. Her affection was returned as Quill slid her hand further down Frost’s body, stopping at her waist. “My mother could easily start a war this kingdom is not ready for. Her hive may be the largest, but it could be overpowered if the other mass-hives united.”

“So that’s what we’re going to try and do?” Quill asked. She knew that this was the plan, as they had gone over it a few times before. However, it seemed… unattainable, to say the least. “Is it every Swarm Queen, or could we just go with the more important ones?”

Frost shrugged her shoulders, turning her head to rest in the crook of Quill’s neck. “That depends how we want to go about overthrowing my mother. Lesser hives, the ones outside of my mother’s rule, would be easier to make deals with. But that’s harder to do because most other hives wish not to get in this affair. Our only hope is to find Swam Queens that would want my mother gone.”

“I take it there’s a few that would like that?” Quill chuckled.

“I can personally think of three important ones,” Frost answered. “One of which is the leader of the second largest hive in Equestria, but their Swarm Queen is a bit of a… what’s the proper word I’m looking for?”

“A bitch?” Nova answered in a straight tone.

Frost giggled a little at this, shaking her head. That was the actual word Frost was looking for, but she was going to chose a word less… truthfully blunt. “Yes, but I was going to say vain.” Nova turned her head with her mouth open to respond when Frost cut her off with, “And yes, the two are different.”

Nova shrugged her shoulders before turning her head back to the cave wall in front of her. “If you say so, Lady Frost. Is the rabbit done? I’m starving.”

“Yes Nova, I suppose they are,” Frost said. She sparked her horn to pull the larger rabbit over towards her and Quill to share while Nova turned around to grab the smaller one. She didn’t hesitate before using her sabers to rip apart the meat. Quill watched the hound for a moment, amused, thinking it was cute how Nova used her sabers. Oddly, she felt something warm come to life in her chest. She shook herself, confused as to what that was about, before turning back to the rabbit that Frost had.

Afterwards, Nova laid down to go to sleep with the largest bone she could get from the rabbit in her mouth, gnawing on it absently. Frost and Quill lay nestled together in a single sleeping bag, while Nova had one to herself.

Neither Quill nor Frost had spoken for a little while as they were still trying to figure out what might happen when they got to the castaway hive. Quill shuffled uneasily as she lay behind Frost, her arms wrapped around the mare. Frost raised one of Quill’s hands up to her lips and kissed the knuckles softly.

“Quill, my heart, talk to me. I know you’re as unsettled as you’ve ever been. What bothers you?” she whispered, wanting the younger dragoness to relax.

Quill sighed gently, purposefully breathing onto Frost’s neck. She smiled when she felt a shiver run through the mare. She squeezed her arm still around the mare’s waist before responding in a soft tone. “I just… Icy, the last time I saw your sister, she had taken out Celestia. Celestia. You know how powerful she is. I know your sister doesn’t have that power anymore, but…” Quill’s wings shuffled against the bag that the two were in.

Frost smiled as she nibbled on her lover’s finger, deciding to tease her a little. “Well, my Quill, I never thought that you’d be scared of -” Frost felt Quill stiffen behind her. She smiled against Quill’s knuckles.

“A-afraid?! Icy, I’m not -” Quill stopped when she heard giggling coming from the mare in her arms. Quill growled softly, “You little tease.” Quill licked Frost’s neck and bit it, one hand sliding to grasp the inside of Frost’s thigh.

A sharp gasp followed by a moan escaped the mare, her back arching against Quill’s chest, her wings wanting to spread, but having nowhere to go. “Q-Quill, please - not while Nova’s here, she’ll hear-”

Quill growled against Frost’s neck, before whispering, “Not if you use that spell, Icy.” Quill took her hand from Frost’s and brought it down to the mare’s chest, grasping one breast roughly while her other hand slid up to tease along the mare’s waistline. “C’mon, love, cast it… please…” Quill moved to nibble softly on the mare’s ear, moaning softly against her.

Frost stretched her body against her lover, stifling a moan as best she could as one arm reaching behind her to grasp Quill’s thigh. Squeezing it, she sparked her horn, trying hard to concentrate on the spell. Gathering her magic, she released it, hoping that it would work without a real wall to hold itself. Otherwise, things were likely to be very embarrassing with Nova in the morning - but as Quill sighed into her ear and slipped her fingers into Frost’s pants, the changeling hybrid found that she really didn’t care at the moment.

Early the next morning, the three rose from their sleeping bags, all eager to make their way to their destination. Quill, her normal morning self, moved sluggishly around, slowly cleaning their campsite. Frost and Nova, on the other hand, were more used to rising early while on outings such as this.

As the three made their way about the camp, Nova constantly tried to hide her gems and face from the other two. She’d heard the two whispering the night before, before she’d heard a soft moan from Lady Frost, and then their voices had fuzzed for a few minutes. Her latent changeling magic made itself known after that, and suddenly she could hear the two again. They’d been… intimate, not ten feet from her! She wasn’t sure if Lady Frost had forgotten how her changeling heritage let her negate some forms of magic, but she’d heard… all of it. It had been a long night.

For their part, Quill and Frost didn’t really notice the hound’s odd behavior. Quill was too busy still trying to wake up, and Frost hadn’t seen the hound in years - so maybe she was a little different in the mornings these days. Whatever her odd temperament was this morning, it never even occurred to Frost that the hound had heard her and Quill last night.

“And, here we are,” Nova said as she took a seat on a snowy ledge. The hound had mostly gotten over her sudden bout of both awkward and shyness around her two travelling companions. Quill and Frost quickly climbed to the crest of the hill to find themselves overlooking what could be called a small village. The homes were made out of stone and wood, all blanketed with the white alabaster of snow. Further off in the distance there seemed to be a cave, shimmering faintly with a waning orange light, while towers of smoke came from the holes scattering the top. Changelings of a wide variety were walking to and from the cave and the colony of homes down in the valley.

Quill’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of the small village. Granted that it seemed one-fourth the size of Ponyville from where she stood, but the sight was still impressive. Even the invasion of Canterlot had only had pure-blooded changelings. The sheer amount of half-blooded changelings in front of her, though… “Well, wasn’t expecting this,” she said before Nova started to lead them down a snow-covered path into the valley. “Figured that changelings preferred something a little less… homey.”

“Oh Quill, surely you didn’t think that all changelings lived in deep, damp caves?” Frost giggled, shaking her head at her love. She couldn’t take any offence at whatever misconceptions Quill had about changeling culture, since the race did their best to say out of the limelight of Equestria, now more than ever. “They’re just easier to make a hive out of, rather than build a whole town that would need active care. This does not even begin to show how large a hive can get.”

“Is that so?” Quill mused as she continued to look around the small village. There were few changelings out, it seemed, and for good reason. She looked up to the rolling gray clouds. “Great, a storm is heading this way.”

Nova and Frost stopped to look in the direction Quill was, seeing the large gathering of dark-gray clouds heading towards the village. They hurried their pace, not wanting to get caught in the storm even though they could use the gemstones to return to High Moon. As they continued to move through the streets, changelings, mostly the ones that were a hybrid of some kind, started to appear before them, all eyes on Frost.

Eventually, they were approached by a large scorpio stallion. His face was weathered and scratched with marks going from his cheek down to the underside of his jaw. One scar seemed to be one that he had just been able to pull away from, and live, with luck on his side. It ran from the bottom of his forehead across his left eye, stopping halfway down his cheek. His towering size made him larger than Wolf, but he was built lean like Spike. Quill quickly moved in front of Frost, throwing a protective wing in front her.

“Quill stop, he’s a friend,” Frost said, placing her hands on Quill’s shoulders to calm her down. After glaring at the scorpio stallion for another moment, Quill moved her wing back into her coat, stepping back to Frost’s side. “General Raghnall, it’s a pleasure to see you again. And on better terms, I hope?”

A collective silence came over the small village, all awaiting the reply of the former general of Chrysalis’ hive. Raghnall broke the silence with a small smile. “That it is Lady Frost, but I am no general any longer. Come, let’s get out of this cold, Chrysalis has been waiting for you,” Raghnall said before he started leading them to the cavern, stopping to add, “Oh, and good work Nova.”

“Yes, sir,” Nova said, returning Raghnall’s nod. The group quickly began making their way through the village.

A young filly approached Frost timidly. She had an older colt by her side, who was probably her brother. Once she was in front of Frost, she stopped, shyly holding up a small purple flower for the scorpio mare. Frost smiled as she kneeled down in front of the filly, bowing her head. After letting the filly place it in her hair, Frost hugged the two, earning a blush from the colt, and sent them on their way to find shelter from the storm.

Once they were finally in the cavern, Quill started to feel a lot warmer, as she could sense the heat coming from it. The group continued deeper into the cavern, waking many of changelings that nested inside. Frost recognized a few of the changelings as former Hive Princesses, and even a few Swarm Queens. What misfortune that fallen upon them, Frost didn’t know, nor did she want to find out.

Deeper in the cave, Raghnall lead them to a small wooden door fitted around a hole that had been carved out of the cave’s wall. He gave a small quick knock, which was answered instantly. “Come in.” Frost started at the familiar sound of her sister’s voice, making more distant memories resurface.

Raghnall twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open for the group to file in before him. The room was fairly sparse. If anything, it resembled a bedroom from High Moon. Simple furniture, like a nightstand, a wooden chest, and a bed. On said bed was Frost’s eldest sister, Chrysalis. Frost’s eyes widened as she saw her sister. It seemed that Chrysalis had finally found a sense of pride in her dragon heritage, as she was no longer trying to hide it behind a changeling disguise.

But that’s not why Frost’s eyes had widened. “Sister, it’s so… good to see you after so long,” Frost nervously began up, eyeing the pregnant belly Chrysalis was cradling in her arms. She closed her eyes to better compose herself, letting out a small sigh. “Dear sister, I-I don’t know what to say really.”

“Then how about you let me start first?” Chrysalis giggled, softly patting a spot on the bed next to her with a small smile. Frost hesitated for a moment before she gave in, walking over to the bed and taking a seat next to Chrysalis. Sitting down next to the mare was a jarring experience for Frost. Everything about Chrysalis had changed. The aura she gave off, her voice, the look in her eyes, even her mane was in better care now that she had it in a long ponytail behind her head.

Frost’s thoughts were flying mile a minute. Was this really her sister? Had the Fall really done something to her, mentally and spiritually? How was she pregnant and just who was the father of the foal?

“Frost… I want to start out by saying, I’m sorry,” Chrysalis said, turning her head away from her sister. She sighed a few moments after saying this, hoping Frost would had said something in response by now. “Everything I’ve done, the arguments, the petty fighting, crushing your dreams… and for my greedy attempts at proving you wrong.”

“Chrysalis, what do you mean by proving me wrong?” Frost asked, trying to catch her sister’s eyes. “You wanted our mother’s throne as much as I did… do, rather.”

Chrysalis scoffed unbelievingly. “I figured that was still your goal, sweet sister,” she said with a small shake of her head. “My greatest shame; the invasion of Canterlot. Sister, ask yourself this, do you really believe I had a plan after the invasion? The farthest I got with that was taking down Princess Celestia, and draining her former captain of all of his love. I didn’t account for the entire kingdom still being able to oppose me.”

“Sister…”

“No Frost, I didn’t. And honestly,” Chrysalis again sighed, this time with a laugh following it. “I was surprised I even got close enough to Captain Armor to get that far. But I did, surprisingly. I had taken Princess Cadance’s place for days, using every moment I could to drain that stallion of hers. You wouldn’t believe how much love that one stallion had for her. He was even willing to believe me over his own little sister, despite the fact that I wasn’t as kind as Cadence was as time went on.”

“Lemme guess,” Quill jumped in, folding her arms over her chest as she looked towards the mare. She’d had to throttle her anger hard to keep from interrupting when the mare had mentioned Cadance and Shining Armor. “You got too caught up trying to power yourself up that you forgot to actually finish your plans.”

Chrysalis shook her head with a small grimace on her face. “No, not necessarily, at least. I a ‘plan’ laid out. But my dragon greed made itself known to me in a very powerful way.” A chill went through Chrysalis’ spine. The feeling of letting her greed take over had been so pleasurable and gratifying at first, but that soon blinded her even further that she had been. “I let it get the better of me, and that was my first mistake, but not my biggest one. No… thinking that I could take over Equestria by myself was my biggest mistake. Even thinking that was a mistake to start with.”

“Then why did you do it, sister? Why act on your greed, knowing that it would bring you misfortune?”

She sighed while shaking her head. By now, Chrysalis had had much time to reflect on her actions and the reasons she had for them. “Like I said sister, to prove to you that changelings didn’t have to beg for someone’s love; to prove to you that we had the power to simply take what we wanted; to prove that we didn’t need the permission of others to get what we needed. I was gravely mistaken.”

Chrysalis began rubbing her pregnant belly once again, smiling. “I was so foolishly blinded by my own pride, sister. Of the many battles I’ve fought in, I have only lost twice. One time to you, and the other time to that diamond dog. I could take defeat from you Frost, I didn’t enjoy it, but I expected it nonetheless. However,” Chrysalis’ voice soon grew cold and hollow. “when I was defeated by that diamond dog and his younger brother's team I… I don’t know, something inside of me snapped.”

“Chrysalis, I should let you in on a secret about that diamond dog,” Quill again jumped in, feeling the need to tell the mare the truth about Obsidian. “He was a Fallen Saint before coming to the guard, and he had a Salamander Drake as a partner. He didn’t go into details, but his partner sacrificed himself so he could live, handing over his dragon’s soul in the process.”

“I see, I suppose that makes me feel better that he didn’t just roast me where I stood,” Chrysalis said dryly. “But that doesn’t matter. The ‘invasion’ was my biggest defeat, and the hardest pill I ever had to swallow. We were scattered to the four winds, I did everything I could to save as many of my drones as I could, yet I failed horribly. I only managed to save, ten, maybe twelve. The others… many of them didn’t survive the Fall.”

She closed her eyes, trying to fight back the memories of seeing so many of her drones perish that day. They had believed in her, and she had failed them. “Things were... unsettling in the days after. I tried to regain the power I lost, even going so far as to convince other Hive Princesses to join with me. I fully believed that if I had another chance, I could get back what I had lost. However, Mother’s Guard found me first.”

“That explains why there are Hive Princesses here, doesn’t it?” Frost asked while Raghnall approached the bed to sit on Chrysalis’ other side. He moved an arm around Chrysalis’ body. Frost supposed that answered who the father was.

Chrysalis took a moment to breathe, closing her eyes. “Mhmm,” she eventually answered after a few moments, slowly nodded her head. Chrysalis was still angry with herself for allowing her greed and ambitions to pull others down with her. “You only saw my banishment because Mother wanted to make an example out of me. Perhaps to show that not even her own offspring are safe from her rule.”

“Then sister, why haven’t you gone to see Aurora? Surely she would have been glad to take you in.”

“Because, dear sister,” Chrysalis laughed bitterly, “Do you really think our Auntie would be thrilled to see me after all the hurt I caused? I couldn’t began to make up for the sins I’d done that day, or any other sins for that matter. No, what I did requires more than just one small act. I mean, it isn’t like I can go to Captain Armor and just say, ‘I’m sorry for kidnapping your wife and taking her place to bleed you dry of everything you have.’ I would be dead before the second word left my lips.”

“But Chrysalis, surely you won’t just reside in the shadows?” Frost asked, knowing there has to be some part of Chrysalis that was the same. “Even you must have something planned, right?”

Chrysalis shook her head, laughing dryly at her sister. “No, I’m done scheming and planning Frost. The invasion showed me that I have no right to rule. I have no control over myself, and I have no real ideas to inspire others with.” Chrysalis paused, closing her eyes while shaking her head again. “You, on the other hand, sister, you know how to inspire others. You know exactly what you want and you know how to get it. Unlike myself, you have far more control over your dragon heritage. You have power that I could never achieve.”

“And what is that sister? I fail to see how I am any more fit to rule than you are, and right now…” Frost sighed, turning away from Chrysalis, biting her lip. Quill recognized the look on Frost’s face, one she always hated to see. She quickly moved to the bed to take the empty spot at Frost’s side, slowly wrapping an arm around Frost’s body.

Frost leaned into Quill’s embrace before taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “Right now, I just don’t see it anymore. The dream of taking down our mother, being crowned the Swarm Queen of Everfree, uniting the other mass hives of Equestria. I just don’t know where to start, to be honest.”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t talk like that. Frost we’ve been over this already,” Quill said, shaking Frost a little while working up the best smile she could. “We have a starting point, we just need to take it step by step.”

“And what might that be?” Chrysalis asked the dragoness, arching an eyebrow slightly.

This time, Frost had enough will to speak. “We were going to try and have the other Swarm Queens join us in our case. However…”

“Hm, I see,” Chrysalis nodded, knowing what Frost was thinking. She too had considered seeking the alliance of other Swarm Queens. But she had turned that idea down after some thought. As far fetched as it was, forming an alliance was the best, if not only, option against Frost’s mother. Such a thing left one exposed for betrayal if they were not careful about which hive they picked first. And without the help of a hive, the first step would have to be allying with a small and smart one.

“What of the Hagfish Queen?” Raghnall suggested, only able come up with that swarm to start with. “I have heard rumors of Queen Myxine growing tired of your mother’s attempts to expand further out from her territory than she needs. Myxine is also one of the smartest Swarm Queens. The only reason her swarm stays small is because she is content with where she is now. Though, if there’s anyone I would start with it would be her, on the Red Shore coast.”

Chrysalis nodded her head in agreement at Raghnall’s words, smiling a little. “And you already know how she dislikes our mother. Everytime the Queens had a meeting, our mother and Myxine would be the main ones to fight before everything fell apart. If there’s anyone to start with, it’s her.”

“Wait a minute, the Red Shore coast? That’s on the far east side of Equestria, near Baltimare Shore and Angels’ Islands,” Quill said as she quickly began crunching numbers in her head in terms of distance. “Yeah… that’s a trip right there. Heh, if we’re going out that far, we might as well pay Angels’ Islands a visit.”

Frost laughed softly at Quill, but nodded her head anyways. “If you really think it will be worth the trip Quill, then we will go. And thank you, sister,” Frost said while Quill discreetly pumped a fist.

“Well, I couldn’t just let you run in without any help. Oh and before I forget,” Chrysalis suddenly started, clasping her hands together as she just remembered something. “There is one other other Swarm Queen that I think you would be interested in. She came to me looking for an alliance one time, but I turned her down because she… she’s ‘special.’ Let’s just say that.”

Frost raised an eyebrow at Chrysalis as Raghnall sparked his horn in a pale-green light, conjuring up a bright orange card with the symbol of a broken heart encircled in a gear that was a darker shade of orange. Frost took the calling card from Raghnall’s magical grip, bringing it over so both she and Quill could see it for themselves.

“Who is it sister?” Frost asked. “I have never seen anything like it before. Quill, by any chance…”

“Nope... well, it looks a little familiar, I just can’t put my finger on it,” Quill answered, trying her best to remember if she’d ever seen anything like it before. She knew she had, she just couldn't think of where from. “So, who is it anyway? Must be someone important if she’s a Swarm Queen.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say important, more useful. Once you can get her to focus on something,” Chrysalis said with a small giggle. “Her name is Queen Patina, and she’s the leader of the Ferrugo Hive. They are heavily industrialized and Patina seems to be a pure genius when it comes to both mechanical and magical devices. She might be of use to you in some way. In fact, she handed me a book on such things. I tried to turn it away but she was so, so, so…”

“Insistent is the word I believe you are looking for, love,” Raghnall laughed as he pulled his blushing mare closer to him. “But yes, Queen Patina is a very intellectual mare. In terms of technology, her swarm outdoes any other. Yet, she’s not one you would call… tactical.”

“Never mind that, she still intrigues me. By any chance, would you still have this book sister?” Frost asked, remembering that they had to bring back something for the pack. She already knew she was going to ask Nova to stay, but bringing back something extra would not hurt.

“Mhmm,” Chrysalis answered with a nod. Raghnall again sparked his horn to conjure up a hardback dark-brown book. The symbol on said book was almost the same as the one on the calling card. The primary difference was that the book’s sample had a sun in the center of the gear and the color was a pale-golden color.

Quill snapped her fingers as she remembered where she had seen the symbol before. “Geartown Industries,” she said, gaining the attention of the room. Quill then reached for the book to hold it up with the calling card. “That’s where her hive is at, Geartown. That’s a stone’s throw from Detrot.”

“Detrot?” a collective question came from the three changelings in the room, causing Quill to give them a deadpan look.

“Detrot, Equestria’s biggest industrial city. Or was, until a few years ago, that is,” Quill shrugged her shoulders slightly as she sat the book down on the bed with the card on top. “This big company came in and bought out almost the entire city. It’s almost impossible for anyone to breathe without their permission. Everyone says they have total control of the place and they push out any other businesses to keep it like that.”

“Sounds like Mother,” the sisters said at the same time. They looked at one another in surprise, before they started to laugh together, something they hadn’t done since they were young fillies.

Once the laughter was over, Frost thought that it was time to stop stressing her sister’s body any further than it was. “Sister, Raghnall, thank you both. You two don’t know how much this means to me. So, when might you be expecting, sister? Not too soon I hope?”

“Oh she’s coming along, alright,” Chrysalis laughed, placing her hands back onto her stomach. She seemed to glow, with a small smile on her face. ’This look suits Chrysalis, in a way,’ Frost thought. Before her defeat, Chrysalis had a hardened exterior and a cold interior. Now, that interior had warmed up with the nursing warmth of childbirth and that exterior had shattered the day of the Fall. It was comforting for Frost to see Chrysalis like this, it gave her hope that even if things became too much there was a way out. “Four more long months, and I’ll be birthing my own little princess.”

“That’s wonderful, Chrysalis,” Frost said, returning a smile. “Any thoughts on names yet?”

Chrysalis bit her bottom lip with a small nod of her head, but didn’t answer the question verbally. That’s when Raghnall let out a deep chuckle as he wrapped his arm around mare, pulling her head down to his chest. “Oh yes we have. And there’s one name that Chrysalis insisted on. Isn’t that right, my love?”

“Mhmm,” Chrysalis eventually answered, still not looking at Frost and with a blush on her cheeks.

Frost waited a another moment to see if her sister was going to answer, but only got an embarrassed glance from her every now and again. “Well… what is it?” Frost eventually asked after getting a few more glances from her sister. “Come on sister, I’m sure it’s an excellent name.”

“Oh yes it is,” Raghnall snorted a laugh. “Come now love, either you tell Lady Frost, or I do.”

Chrysalis sighed in defeat. She took in a slow breath after she closed her eyes. “Snow Crystal,” Chrysalis breathed out, the blush on her face growing when Raghnall placed an affectionate kiss on the top of her head by her horn.

“Aw, Chryssie,” Frost said, flattered. ‘Snow Crystal’ had been Chrysalis’ special nickname for Frost when they had been fillies.

“Now I know what you’re thinking, but it just felt... right. I mean, I know you remember what you said to me the last time we saw each other,” Chrysalis said in mild defence with a small smile on her face.

Fost nodded her head as she remembered the last words she had spoke to her sister. “‘This defeat is not a loss, but a chance for you to gain so much more. You are now free sister, you have far more now than you could’ve hoped for,’” Frost sadly recited at the memory. She could still faintly remember the look of pure hate and despair from her sister. “I'm happy to see that you made use of this.”

“Well it certainly wasn’t easy!” Chrysalis giggled. She moved her head back to Raghnall’s chest, nestling against it with a small sigh. “For over a year, all I did was plan for revenge. Every waking hour I had was spent on planning some way to get revenge. Many here thought I had lost my mind with how much I muttered about getting back what I’d lost.”

Still smiling, Chrysalis shook her head at her own past actions, glad that Raghnall had stayed diligently by her side to pull her from the swirling vortex of darkness she’d found herself in. He was the only one of all her former drones to remain loyal to her. While others gave up on her, he had not. Raghnall remained; no matter how deranged Chrysalis had gotten, no matter how much she had wrongfully blamed him for her failure in Canterlot three years ago... he stayed, for he loved his Queen.

“No. It wasn’t easy at all. I have you and Raghnall to thank for changing. Raghnall, if it wasn’t for you staying by my side all these years, I may have never understood what Frost meant by me being set free.” Chrysalis said, moving her hand to take Raghnall’s.

Raghnall softly smiled from his lover’s praising words. “I did nothing but stay loyal to my one and only queen,” Raghnall faithfully said, returning a firm grip to Chrysalis’ hand.

“And I did nothing but speak my mind, sister. But now, I am wishing that I had treated you better; the way sisters are supposed to,” Frost replied, looking down.

Chrysalis leaned away from Raghnall’s shoulder, placing a hand on her sister’s leg to snap her out of her downward stare. “Frost. I am the one who should be saying that. I yelled and treated you as if you were a lesser creature than myself. I even went so far as to hide my dragon blood. Just so Mother would love me. A fool’s dream, wasn’t it?”

“Chrysalis, you’re not the only one that wanted Mother’s affection,” Frost admitted with a small sigh. “The only difference is that I realized sooner that she would never love us, but instead come to fear us. She’s afraid that one of us was going to rise up against her one day to take the throne.”

“I must say sister, I’m impressed. You’ve been stripped of your hive, home, and title, yet you’re still willing to go after our mother with virtually nothing.”

Frost locked eyes with Chrysalis, and the elder scorpio mare felt something she never thought she’d see from the younger one. Pride. “No sister, I am not without something. I have my wits and skills to assist me in my journey. Not to mention my own strong and devoted lover.”

“Yeah, you know it,” Quill said with a snort of gray smoke, squeezing Frost tightly against her side.

Both Raghnall and Chrysalis began laughing at the confident dragoness. “Yes, she seems like quite the… scrapper,” Raghnall said after his chuckling had ended. “Well, the best of luck to the both of you. You’re going to needed it regardless.”

Frost and Quill nodded their heads, knowing that it was nearing time to say goodbye. “Thank you General Raghnall, it is greatly appreciated.”

“Oh? Leaving so soon? It feels as though you’ve just got here, sister,” Chrysalis said, almost whining.

“Do not worry sister, I promise to stop by as much as we can,” Frost said as she and Quill got up from the bed. They both quickly reached into their pockets to pull out the return stones Isis had given them prior to their travel, only to be stopped by Chrysalis sighing.

“Actually sister… I do not believe you’ll be able to find us here for much longer.” Frost quickly turned to face Chrysalis, who had her hands resting on her pregnant stomach with a glowing smile on her face. She laid her head back on Raghnall’s chest, closing her eyes with a content sigh leaving her lips. “I want more for my foal, Frost. I, we, want a better life than this.”

Chrysalis waved her hand lazily around the poorly lit room. The walls were made of rough limestone carved out of the mountain they lived in. The only thing keep everyone from freezing was the chambers filled with fire, fueled by the trees of the surrounding area. Conditions in a castaway hive were normally like this, and it was entirely understandable that Chrysalis wanted a better place to give birth to her foal.

“Then where will you go sister? Surely you can’t go very far in your condition,” Frost said, unable to think of any other nearby hive or swarm that would take Chrysalis in. Especially not after the ruthless ambitions and goals she had as a Hive Princess, or after her failed invasion of Canterlot.

“We are going to try. The only thing that was stopping me from leaving already was this one thing.”

“What would that be?”

Instead of answering right away, Chrysalis took in a deep breath before she slowly got up from the bed with Raghnall’s help. She gave herself a moment to huff before walking over to Frost. Standing a head taller than Frost, Chrysalis looked down into the two icy-blue eyes of her younger sister.

Frost was going to question Chrysalis when the older mare suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around Frost’s neck. No words could begin to describe how Frost felt in that moment. She’d never known the warmth from Chrysalis’ otherwise cold personality, not since she was a filly. “Frost, dear sister… I-I want to say… I’m sorry for everything I’ve done. There hasn’t been a moment in the last three years where I haven’t wished I could take back everything I said to you. There’s no excuse for what I did to you other than I was scared and alone. I so desperately wanted love from Mother that I pushed you away, and I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Chrysalis.” Frost moved her arms around Chrysalis’ back to return the affection, sighing softly. “Sister, I understand why you did everything you did. And I do forgive you for it.” Reluctantly, Frost moved her hands up to Chrysalis’ shoulders to pull back from the tight hug, looking into Chrysalis’ teary eyes. “But have you forgiven yourself?”

“No I haven’t. Not yet,” Chrysalis said, shaking her head. She averted her eyes from Frost’s, taking the moment to wipe away the tears that were swelling up in them. “I will someday. However…”

“I know sister, I know,” Frost cut in, giving Chrysalis another long hug before she hesitantly released the mare. Raghnall discreetly came up behind Chrysalis, taking her by a welcomed surprise by wrapping his arms around her shoulders. “General, please take good care of them. My sister and her foal.”

“I’d gladly protect Chrysalis and our child anywhere she chose to go for us.”

Frost nodded her head to Raghnall. Then she remembered what she had been meaning to ask him. “Furthermore, General, I have a personal request. I’d like for Nova to be released into my service once more, if at all possible, and if she agrees.”

Raghnall let out a deep laugh before shaking his head. “Lady Frost, I have already told you, I am no longer a general. Besides, she is your scout, is she not? It is entirely her choice.”

Frost hesitated before she turned to Nova. The mare felt anxious, for some reason. She noted that the hound’s forehead gem had turned a bright blue, and Frost smiled at it, relaxing. Her question already answered by the hopeful color. “Nova, would you do me the honor of returning to my service, my dearest friend?”

Nova looked down at the ground for a moment, fighting the urge to yell in happiness. Eventually she looked back up, an eager smile on her face. “Lady Frost, I would never have left your side in the first place, if it had been up to me.”

Frost reached over and scratched behind the hound’s ear. As the hound’s grin grew, tail wagging, Frost said, “I’m happy to have you with me again, Nova.” Frost paused when she saw that Nova’s forehead gem had turned a solid indigo. There were a number of ways to interpret that color, and she wasn’t entirely sure which was the right one. Nova noticed that Frost had stopped, apparently noticing the color her gem had turned. She quickly stepped back, head flicking slightly to cover up the gemstone with her hair, blushing hotly.

Quill raised an eyebrow at the hound’s odd behavior, not really sure what the gem signified. Frost looked like she was about to say something, then decided against it. The mare turned to Quill, asking, “Ready to go, Quill?”

Quill wordlessly nodded her head while she was still busy with thinking what she was going to tell Spike regarding Chrysalis. He was going to be upset about it for sure. However, he might let go of his anger for the mare when he heard what Quill had to say.

“Then this is goodbye, sister,” Frost said after a brief moment of noticing the thoughtful look on Quill’s face.

Right before they could take out the gemstones Isis gave them, Raghnall stood up from the bed and held up his head, calling out to them. “Young lady Frost, wait a moment.”

“Yes General, what is it?”

Raghnall paused, glancing back to Chrysalis. Receiving a stern nod from the mare, the old general sighed before his horn sparked in a ghostly green light. Seconds later, a pale silver-blue lantern materialized in front of him. Quill and Nova raised an eyebrow at the lantern, their eyes being drawn to the reflective crystal ball held inside. Frost on the other hand knew what the lantern really was as her eyes went wide. “That… that can not be what I think it is.” She paused, swallowing hard as her eyes transfixed on the polished crystal. “Chrysalis that -”

“Your eyes are working right? Believe it sister, it’s what you think it is,” Chrysalis said with a short sigh. “If I can’t go after Mother any more, that doesn’t mean I can’t help you. Take it Frost, from what it looks like, you and I had the same idea with dealing with our Mother.”

Frost nodded her head and sparked her horn. Her icy-blue aura quickly consumed Ragnhall’s green, taking the ticket in her magical grip and levitating it towards her. She reached a hand out to the lantern, letting its weight fall into her palm. The chain rattled as it dangled from the top. She ran a thumb over the polished crystal, sighing. “Thank you sister, this helps out more than you know.”

“Oh trust me, I know. Farewell Frost.” With a wave goodbye from Chrysalis and her lover, each visitor took out their gemstone that would teleport them back to High Moon.

Each stone was placed in the hands of its user, pulsing faintly with an off-purple light. Just like Isis instructed, all three pushed a small bit of their magic into the gems, Frost having to use some of her own for Nova’s. The gems started to glow brighter. Slowly, the glow from the stones began to bleed off into the ground underneath Quill, Nova, and Frost’s feet, forming a mirror-like circle edged with an ethereal purple glow.

Looking down, Quill recognized that the wavy image below was some part of High Moon. “Going down,” she said just before she and the others began to sink through the image.

Author's Notes:

Nuff, hey guys. Just here to say that a new semester is starting up in a week. Thankfully, I only have four classes - even though three of them are basically math classes. But this shouldn't mean a slow down on the chapters as long as I can keep up a good work/upload schedule. So don't worry if chapters only upload once every two weeks - paying no attention the fact that that's the case with some of the chapter either way - but anyways, yeah, things might slow down but it's far to early to tell.

Thanks for the support you all! Till next time~

Edit: So... uh... yeah, I'm a doface sometimes But yeah, here's the correct chapter up for you guys, promise that won't happen any more!