Author's Notes:

The Usual Disclaimer:

The following is a work of parody, and is protected as Fair Use under section 17 U.S. Code § 107 of US Copyright Law. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all affiliated characters are property of Hasbro Inc.

I own nothing. All characters, settings and other belong to their respective owners. This is purely a fan-work with no intent towards profit, slander or harm towards the characters, settings or other, or their respective owners. If the respective owners feel that this fan-work in any way, shape or form threatens or besmirches their property, please let me know so that it be can be removed asap.

Please support the show.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*deep breath*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

CHAPTER 76

“Welcome.” Celestia said in a voice, loud, clear and strong, as her horn blazed with power, her armor melting away and reforming into less intimidating accoutrements as the ancient Sister was so carefully, and lovingly, carried into her presence, several Ponies from the nearby settlement moving up to help the Sister forwards and to offer towels and water to the two burly mares who had brought the Sister to the depo.

On trembling, feeble legs, the ancient crone tottered forwards and would have fallen if not for Luna’s swiftness, the Lunar Princess quickly rushing to the Sister’s side and supporting her with wing and magic. “Please be at ease, Sister Comfrey. Do not stand on ceremony, now of all times.”

The ancient Sister’s jaw worked silently for a few moments, her cheeks still wet with tears of joy, as Luna slowly and carefully aided the crone towards Celestia, before Sister Comfrey nodded silently, leaning heavily against Luna’s side as the Sister was carefully conveyed to Celestia’s side and then wrapped in Celestia’s free wing.

“… Not worthy.” The Sister hiccupped softly, shaking under the Princess’s wing. “I am not worthy of such kindness, your Radiances.”

“No, all beings are worthy of kindness, Sister Comfrey.” Celestia said in a voice so gentle that Twilight had to think twice on if she’d actually heard it, but the way the Sisterhood Mare quivered and nodded … “Especially those who shoulder the heavy burden of looking after others, regardless of if it is as a leader of a community or simply tending to the sick and downtrodden. It is far too easy to forget your own limitations when trying to help others.”

“Please, good Sister, rest and take your time. Good Ponies, do we have anything for the Sister to drink?” At Luna’s request, nearly a dozen Ponies rushed off to find a tap or some other source of water, and the ever-solid Stoic Bulwark removed a small hip-flask from under his armor and offered it tentatively to Twilight by hoof.

“It’s just a tonic.” The overly large Earth Pony mumbled when Twilight took and then shook the flask, listened to the sloshing and gave him a pointed look. “Boiled water, some herbs to help with fatigue, that’s all that’s in there, I swear!”

Unscrewing the lid and taking a sniff herself, Luna eyeballed the Guard but nodded and offered the flask to the ancient Sister, who sipped so daintily that Twilight was reminded of the most fragile of the small songbirds that flocked so often around Fluttershy.

“Now, to what do we owe your visit, Sister Comfrey? A mare of your age should not be running around the countryside willy-nilly.” Princess Celestia’s tone was both friendly and calm, two things Twilight herself was most certainly not feeling right at that moment, and whatever reluctance the ancient crone might have possessed at being so close to her deity quickly evaporated, the Sister quick to point out the direction of the unmarked village the Ponies dwelled in and how well said Ponies were doing.

“We’ll have to get some Ponies out to zone the farms, Sister Comfrey, and make sure your community is connected to the basic necessities, such as a sewage system, power stations and the like. We need to make sure the little ones have access to the same level of schooling as foals across the rest of the country, and to make sure you all have access to good doctors for illness and physical well-being.” Celestia rattled off her terms like a happy housewife discussing renovations, and to Twilight’s chagrin, the Sister just ate it all up deliriously, babbling how happy she was, how honored they all were to have the Princesses focusing on them like this.

It pulled at her heart-strings. How had Twilight not noticed how skilled Celestia was at talking Ponies into doing what she wanted and making them think it was their own idea, or the best thing ever? Her tone, her posture, her expressions, all carefully cultivated to make you feel at peace around her, to feel calm, relaxed and amendable to her words.

We spent centuries pulling your Tribes back from the brink of mutual genocide. Luna had said. Surely that made sense, one caught more flies with honey than vinegar after all, but the thought that Celestia could just simply slip behind a mask that felt so heart-breakingly familiar to manipulate Ponies, even if it was for their own good in the long-term, caused Twilight pain that almost felt physical in its intensity.

And the Sisterhood, a cult that Celestia had admitted to Twilight, after the inevitable question from a starry-eyed foal to her immortal mentor and idol had finally been asked, was one of the more loathsome groups to ever skulk at the borders of Celestia’s authority. That Celestia, despite her Immortality, despite her power, despite her wisdom and grace and generosity, was no God and abhorred being worshipped as such. Twilight could understand, albeit reluctantly, that Celestia was playing a game to test the waters and see if this Sister Comfrey was a petty tyrant using religious beliefs to rule over this un-marked village, or if she was truly just a pious mare doing her best to live up to the ideals that the shysters who had made and ran the Sisterhood of Celestia falsely touted to gather power to themselves under the cover of religious freedom, but the ease at which her mentor manipulated those same lies for her own benefit did little to ease Twilight’s concern about the ‘truth’ that would be revealed to her.

It was with an awkward and sickening sense of awe that the Ascending Alicorn saw with clear eyes how easily Celestia just sat there in the middle of all the adoration and worship and let it slide right off of her like water off a duck’s back. Luna too, for that matter, seemed so much more confident and collected compared to her interactions during the Nightmare Night debacle, although where Celestia seemed to be more focused on Sister Comfrey and chatting the information right out of the pleasant old mare, Luna focused on the other Ponies who looked to the Sister for guidance, speaking to as many of them as she could, inquiring about their crops, their children, did they have any ailments, any nightmares that seemed odd or unusual, while all Twilight herself did was …

Just sit here, round-eyed and terrified of stepping out of line and screwing things up for the others. The purple Alicorn thought bitterly to herself. Not that her friends did much different, although at least Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity were making an attempt, Applejck discussing crops with a pair of farmers, while Pinkie and Rarity tag-teamed the foals and younger ponies, with Pinkie working her usual magic while Rarity used her magic to levitate the smaller foals or to ‘pretty up’ the fillies before they tottered over to Luna or Celestia to ask for a blessing.

Fluttershy, naturally enough, cowered from any form of attention, and Rainbow Dash, still being sloth-ified, was stuck clinging to the underside of Fluttershy’s neck and hiding her slowness from the world behind the safety of the other pegasus’s pink, flowing mane. The Elements at least stayed close to Twilight, Kindness still in a form that seemed to draw equal inspiration from both Fluttershy’s form and that of Fleur de Lis, while the Elements that remained in gemstone form had hidden themselves in Twilight’s mane, growing small tendrils to anchor themselves in the curl of Twilight’s mane and thus out of casual sight.

To be fair, Twilight, it’s better to do that exactly right now. There’s a lot of tension between yourself and Celestia, and you’re not skilled enough in social interactions to hide that fact like Celestia can. These ponies would be able to tell that something is off between you and the other Princesses, and that could be dangerous if this part of the Sisterhood is able to communicate quickly with the rest of the Cult. Honesty’s voice whispered in Twilight’s mind. Their entire system is built upon twisting the Hopebringer’s words to suit their own agenda, and there’s Sisterhood followers all across the world. The last thing you need is to have the Cult’s leaders trying to use your current issues with the Hopebringer to cultivate some sort of global antagonism towards you.

That does not do much to calm my nerves, you realize that, right? Twilight shot back, grimacing as her mind raced and conjured images of a Sisterhood-inspired revolution against her, against friendship, and the consequences that could have on the unstable arena of global politics.

Honesty is just being, well, honest, Pillar. I know this is aggravating, but shortly you’ll speak with our Mother, she’ll pry these two rebellious chunks of slate out of your mind and then you can sit down and have a good old fashioned row with Celestia. Loyalty’s voice, oddly british-sounding, filled her mind, along with a muted thump noise and a grunt of pain from Honesty. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Celestia said herself you’re going to hear everything before you return home, and given that that’s thousands of years worth of information, I believe she’s going to use a rather drastic measure to help you and your friends experience her side of the story.

Twilight found it harder to keep the scowl from her face as she tried to think of how Celestia could perform such a feat without simply giving Twilight an abridged version of history, and probably an edited one at that, as a gaggle of young colts and fillies, loosely supervised by a slightly older filly close to the Crusader’s age who kept looking at Twilight with large, awed eyes, closed in on her.

“O-oh, hello, how can I …” Twilight began, nervously smiling at all those innocent faces looking at her, before one of the youngest squeaked excitedly and barrelled into her, gripping onto Twilight’s forelimb and snuggling hard, and Twilight felt her anxiety and anger melt somewhat under the assault of unbridled affection. “Oh! Well hello there! It’s nice to meet you too!”

And apparently her change in mood was all the approval the other foals needed to charge her in turn, leaving Twilight laughing as she was smothered in small bodies, all hanging off her or cuddling into her, the rare few pegasi amongst the foals trying their best to get under her wings and necessitating Twilight getting down onto her belly so the desperate little dears could gain access, which also unfortunately meant the other foals could climb onto Twilight’s back and neck.

“Oooooh! Princess, I’m so sorry! Kids, get off the Princess, that’s so rude!” The older filly, bearing a washed-out green green coat with a two-toned grey mane and a stubby little horn, danced on the spot, her field spluttering as she awkwardly tried to levitate foals off of Twilight without much success, since as soon as one foal was removed, two more would rush in to attempt to smother Twilight, and the young caretaker’s panic played merry-hell with her ability to control her telekinetic field.

“I don’t mind, really. It’s not often I get to see foals, or play with them.” The newest Princess tried to assure the young Unicorn with mixed success, as a particularly rambunctious little filly grabbed a mouthful of Twilight’s mane and tried to tug on it to attract attention to herself, but only succeeded in pulling painfully on Twilight’s scalp. “Ow! Although I will admit the little ones are maybe a tiny bit overstimulated?”

“Ah don’t think it can be helped, Sugarcube. Ain’t many folks that get to meet the Princesses, all three of ‘em at once even, so the young ‘uns probably ain’t gonna settle down anytime soon.” Applejack pointed out, a slight smile on her face as she trotted over from where she’d been talking to some of the ‘local’ farmers. “That said, how’re y’all dealin’? Was worried ‘bout what was gonna happen when y’all got together, considerin’ …”

“It’s … not the best, Applejack, but if I have waited all this time without actually knowing what was going, I can wait a few more hours for Celestia to, well, pull back the veil. First, we deal with the Mother of Stones and help Rarity. Then, we get her to deal with the rebellious little stones. Then … we get our answers.”

“And get them we will. First, however, Celestia needs to speak to Sister Comfrey to fully understand why the Sisterhood built a village so close to Ponyville rather than just moving in directly.” Applejack, Twilight and the young unicorn caretaker all jumped slighty as Luna rejoined them, looking quite pleased with herself despite what appeared to be several bits of hay sticking out of her starry mane and tail. “That said, skooch over, Auntie Luna wants a cuddle with all these adorable little darlings.”

Twilight blinked slightly and did as asked, finding Luna nestling down on one side and Applejack on the other, the foals, colts and fillies squealing delightedly and clambering all over their two new ‘guests’ while their poor caregiver looked on the verge of fainting. A quick glance told the newest Princess that the reason for the sudden deluge of adorableness plaguing her had a lot to do with Rarity being monopolized by the mares of the Sisterhood Village who were asking for help with being tidied up before meeting Celestia in person, while Pinkie had … vanished.

“Uhm, at the risk of being rude, did anypony see where Pinkie ended up?” Twilight asked, wincing as a bold little Earth Pony filly climbed up her neck and began tapping a tiny hoof against the base of Twilight’s horn.

“… Nnnnope.” Applejack replied, a tinge of concern in her voice.

“I confess, I was not paying attention.” Luna replied a heartbeat later, her smile turning somewhat sickly as the three mares shared a concerned look.

“Well, it’s a small station, she can’t have gotten far … let’s just, uhm, just give her five minutes before we start panicking, okay?” The purple princess tried to sound confident, but the thought of Pinkie, rarely in-tune with what was going on during the more serious moments of their adventures, wandering around with the Sisterhood Cultists all around them and her Element no-longer looking over her shoulder filled Twilight’s belly with butterflies and her head with visions of well-meaning, confetti-covered doom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dappled Light groaned, rolling over and over on his bed with a pillow wrapped around his muzzle to contain his screams of dismay, and wished once again for Faust to provide that much-desired end to his suffering.

Scout, on the other hoof, just watched him with naked curiosity, one be-holed leg reaching for him awkwardly every time he rolled closer, then falling back to the floor limply when he rolled away.

My Queen, what should I do? Guard Dappled is very distressed at the knowledge of his Queen’s disapproval of his fantasies, and I am not well-versed in how to comfort those not within the Hive-Mind.

Only silence greeted Scout for several moments before, in a strangely subdued tone, the Queen asked What … fantasies were those? The taste of concern and dismay in her Queen’s thoughts did little to ease Scout’s own worries.

Quickly sifting through the memories of the short, confusing meeting with the High Guard Prime of the Ponies and the Healer-Pony who dealt specifically with the Ponies’ Queen-Caste, Scout did her best to assemble the picture for her own Queen. Something involving both of the current Queen-Castes in a ritual called ‘sis-cest’, I believe. High Guard Prime Dawn Ray seemed to approve, albeit in a manner that suggested a subversion of his Queen’s authority, while the Healer Prime seemed to be outraged. Whatever this ritual involves, apparently even mentioning it drove Queen Celestia into a rage towards both Guard Dappled and High Guard Prime Dawn Ray.

Scout had expected orders to further investigate, or to explore the division within the leadership of Hive Celestia.

She had not expected the Hive-Mind to rock with the hysterical laughter of her own Queen, along with half-seen images of the two Queens of Hive Celestia attempting to eat each other’s heads … or at least that’s what she could only assume the more vivid images were depicting.

Aaaahahahaha! No wonder our poor little Dappled is so distraught! A bold fetish, if unfortunately uncovered at precisely the wrong moment! Mirth, dark and cutting, flowed through the Hive-Mind, no doubt forcing smirks onto the faces of the many Changelings caught unprepared for such a powerful flow of emotion from their Queen before she pulled the emotion back lest it overflow further. Simply grab Dappled when he next rolls towards you and hold him gently, my little Scout. Stroke his mane a few times. He is feeling distressed and ashamed, so giving him the impression that you care will do wonders for calming him and furthering your mission.

Scout bit her bottom lip at that. It wasn’t that she was opposed to sharing physical contact with Guard Dappled, but he seemed … far too distressed for such things. Still, the Queen knew far more than she about a great many things, including Ponies, and as a Drone, it was Scout’s duty to obey. So when he rolled closer to her, this time Scout made certain to hold him in place, trying her best to smile like the Ponies did as a large, teary eye blinked up at her before she awkwardly pulled herself onto the bed with Dappled, the pillow between them, and awkwardly began stroking his mane with a holed leg.

“I do not hate you.” Scout informed the distressed stallion, trying to cuddle up against him with mixed results as her hoof continued to stroke his mane. “I do not like seeing you so upset. Is this not the way Ponies console one another?”

“Mmmpngh.” Dappled mumbled around his pillow, eyes wide, then nodded slightly, and Scout found herself relaxing somewhat.

I am doing this correctly then.

If you were trying to give off an awkwardly maternal impression rather than a sexual one. Hmmph. Still, not bad for your first effort, Scout. Try asking him to speak to you, try to establish an emotional rapport. Her Queen coached from the mental side-lines, and Scout found herself … wavering. Some part of her felt incredible embarrassment, not at holding Dappled so, but at being watched.

Her Queen made the mental equivalent of a ‘get on with it’ gesture, and Scout was suddenly aware of the taste of popcorn on someling’s tongue. Several somelings at that.

“It is alright. I am sure your Queen will forgive you. You have done so much work for her, served loyally, even helped bring peace between our Hives. Surely that must count for something?” Scout continued, trying to bring herself closer to Dappled, who, either in an effort to speak to her or in accordance with the strange code of conduct Ponies seemed to follow between their genders, which seemed to be a conflicting, confusing mess of come hither mixed with back off, shoved the pillow down between their bodies but in doing so exposed his neck, chest and face to her.

“I … don’t think this is something she’ll forgive. Or Princess Luna, for that matter.” Scout said in a thick voice, sniffling softly. “She’s personally offended, I have offended a Goddess and she’ll … she’s going to …!”

Scout winced as Dappled surged forwards and hugged her, sniffling miserably into her mane, his horn pressed against the junction of her head and neck, and Scout returned the embrace as best she could, feeling a twinge of pain deep in her chest at how the Guard trembled with his misery and fear.

“High Guard Prime Dawn Ray said he would intercede, did he not? Yes, you have disappointed your Queen, but surely you can prove yourself again?”

“I … guess? But this isn’t the sort of thing you just forget about! Even if I wanted a higher rank, to be a Royal Guard means a buttload more training, constantly being watched all the time and the worst thing?” Dappled whimpered, and Scout could taste the fear radiating off him, bitter and rank. “I’ve been told that I’ll either die in training or I will end up the first of the Twilight Guard. Protecting Twilight bloody Sparkle, the most dangerous Pony in all of Equestria, if not the world! She’s a Faust-damned disaster-magnet and the Princess wants me to be her meat-shield! I’ve been assigned to baby-sit the greatest menace Equestria has ever created as a reward!”

Hmmm, I think I grow more and more fond of this Dappled Light. Chrysalis murmured through the Hive-Mind, and Scout felt more of her Queen’s dark amusement threatening to flood through the surviving Changelings. He’s considerable more aware than the rest of the sheep Princess Celestia is so fond of, at least in this regard.

The Hive-Mind thrummed with questions about Sheep and why an Equine Hive would have Sheep Drones, and then the exasperation of the Queen as she tried to explain it was a ‘figure of speech’ involving the infamous reputation of Sheep to follow the strongest or loudest figure around, even if it would lead them to disaster.

Scout tried to filter it all out to simply enjoy the warmth of Dappled’s warm, furry chest against her own chitin, the way his breathing was slowly returning to normal as her stroking of his mane continued in a more confident manner, the way his hooves held her in turn now, rather than clutching desperately.

“You will be fine, Dappled. The Hive stands with you … I stand with you.” Scout whispered into Dappled’s ear, feeling a spark of enjoyment as she watched the sensitive, fluffy ear flick and twitch as her warm breath tickled the nerve-rich skin. “While High Guard Prime Dawn Ray trains you to become a ‘Royal’ Guard, I will help you with your talent, as much as I can.”

“The whu?” Dappled grunted in surprise, but did not pull away from Scout’s embrace.

Likewise, Scout, what the f~ Chrysalis began, a note of scolding in her voice, before something happened.

Scout shut the link.

She wasn’t sure why, or even how, she could do such a thing to her Queen. She’d never even dreamed of cutting off her Queen for any reason, either in the Hive-Mind or verbally, but something felt right about this one, bizarre act of defiance.

And then the link opened right back up and there was the Queen’s mind-glow looming over her … laughing hysterically.

Oh, right, love-drunk. And before anyling gets uppity, I forgive Scout, and if those of you who still need a reason to think well of your sister after she has received my personal clemency, go through the Hive-Mind’s records of novice infiltrators who attempt physical courtship as a means of feeding.

Feeling like she was being torn between an overwhelming sense of fear and that same, strange curiously suicidal boldness, Scout remained where she was as Dappled began to slow his breathing, his body growing more relaxed and his hold on her looser, sure signs that despite his panic, the Stallion was beginning to go to sleep in her hooves.

As the Queen’s mind-glow continued to loom over her, now protectively if Scout’s curiously divided mind has grasped, the Changeling was aware of the odd sensation of nearly the entire Hive diving into the Hive-Mind’s deepest recesses to uncover the relevant information … and many went flying back to their own forms, either squealing in shock or giving mental ‘voice’ to outrage, amusement or horror, while the few surviving Changelings from before the Invasion of Canterlot, who had remained ‘on duty’ while the younger generation pursued the reason for Scout’s small rebellion mentally huffed, chuckled or rolled their eyes at the shenanigans of their younger siblings. Thankfully, the Queen’s strange new brood were too young and ‘individual’ to be affected by the scattering of old memories and images, but Scout was able to pick up images of Infiltrators engaged in vigorous, potentially violently so, coitus with a variety of beings, often shutting the Hive-Mind out entirely in the process and losing themselves to weeks or months of total sublimination within their cover identities and the overwhelmingly positive emotions of their lovers.

I … my Queen, I will cut myself off from the Hive-Mind right now and …

Don’t even try, or I am going to have a devil of a time explaining to Queen Celestia why half my Hive is pursuing you through her city with cocoons in-hoof to capture you with. Chrysalis’s voice was filled with equal parts exasperation, amusement and a strangely personal sense of grief. I assume you merely studied the physical methods of courtship and procreation, and never bothered with the training that my Infiltrators undergo to handle directly receiving such a raw and potent infusion of Love directly to their own bodies, especially during a situation where they would be diverting their attention between maintaining their form, pleasing their lover and enjoying themselves immensely?

Scout felt her cheeks turn a bright shade of green and heat up considerably.

Oh-ho-hoh! So you did do some studying on that last part then?

Scout mentally squeaked and tried to hide, only for Chrysalis’s mind-glow to chase her down and glomp her, smothering her mind in affection.

And I’ll just bet you started to feed on Dappled Light’s affection and trust for you, with your little ovipositor all warmed up after all that studying … and you got love-drunk. It happens to the best of us, my little one, but in future, please make sure you seal off your link to the Hive-Mind properly. Drone or not, I should not be able to reopen the Link so easily. The Queen sent to her images of a smaller, younger version of Scout having her mane ruffled by the Queen’s own hoof and more impressions of affection and exasperation. Again, I don’t want the Hive-Mind distracted by your being impressed by this awkward young Stallion finding your g-spot over and over again. We already walk on treacherous ground as it is, having dozens of Changelings shouting “Yes! Yes! YES!” out of nowhere or attempting to copulate with the nearest sentient because you didn’t seal off your link properly could be disastrous.

I did not mean to fail, my Queen, I simply … the Hive-Mind’s memories did not really help me.

Child, I and the Infiltrators I spawned have seduced, fucked and pillow-talked our way across Equestria for nearly sixty years. How in My Name did those memories not help you?

Bec … because most of those memories involved merely feeding and moving on within a few days or weeks. A few Infiltrators were able to maintain their relationships for months or years before you forced them to abandon their Hosts when the Hive needed to move on to avoid detection. Scout explained, trembling as the idea of openly telling the Queen about her worries forced itself into her innermost mind and demanded to be expressed. I do not want to be separated from Dappled, I feel drawn to him. He is sweet, gentle and courageous in a small, simple way. And the Hive now exists in the open. The Hive’s memories are useful, but I do not wish to hide what I am from Dappled. I wish to be a Changeling … at his side.

Scout sagged as the Queen’s mind-glow shuddered and then leaned down on her, and she felt a moment of panic that the Queen was actively crushing her mind in punishment for overstepping the bounds of a Drone’s rights before the contact pushed impressions into Scout’s mind.

The Queen, dressed in white silks and platinum jewellery, standing next to Former Guard High Prime Shining Armor, both of them before Queen Celestia during the ceremony that had masked the Changelings’ invasion of Canterlot.

The Queen and Queens Celestia, Luna and Cadence sitting around a table, sharing drinks and loudly complaining about the follies of their Hives.

The Queen and Shining Armor, again, locked together in passion in a spacious, soft bed.

The Queen walking down the streets of Canterlot in her own chitin, talking pleasantly with the Junior Queen Twilight and the chaotic Drones the Junior Queen surrounded herself with, laden down with bags of purchased goods.

Shining Armor, holding the Queen’s latest, aberrant brood up and laughing as he nuzzled the younglings, before reaching a hoof out to his Queen, Chrysalis, with eyes shining with adoration and love.

And all of it overlaid with the impression of crippling loss and grief, so strongly that Scout felt tears began to leak from her own eyes.

It is a good dream. One I hope with all my heart that you may achieve. Chrysalis whispered to Scout through the Hive-Mind after what felt like an eternity, the young Changeling trying desperately to separate herself from the sensations and impressions the momentary contact between their mind-glows had given to her.

My Queen? Scout sent, lost and afraid at the sheer power of the impressions she had received, and more than a little concerned at how the Queen had turned from amused, if irritated, to suddenly silent and refusing to share even a hint of her emotions after her momentary lapse with Scout.

Hold onto him, my child. If it is your dream to love this Stallion and be loved in return, I, of all Changelings, have no right to tell you not to pursue this folly. Chrysalis’s mind-glow whispered to her, before retreating deep into the depths of the Hive-Mind, shutting the Hive entirely out of contact with her and leaving Scout feeling suddenly so very alone as the rest of the Changelings chattered and whispered to each other over their Queen’s strange behaviour.

As Dappled slowly fell asleep in her hooves, it occurred to Scout that none of the other Changelings had seen the Queen’s inner mind at that moment, only herself.

And so Scout gathered her courage and tried to relax herself to sleep along with Dappled, filled with the sudden knowledge that she was not the only Changeling that desperately hoped that ponykind could love and forgive their kind for their own, personal reasons.

She would spend a long time awake, guiltily aware that the very thing she enjoyed now was the feeling her Queen would give anything to feel from the Stallion who had married another, and loathed Chrysalis with all of his being.