Cadence stands, giving her wings a quick fluff then tensing her muscles in a restrained stretch, raising a hoof to block a subsequent yawn, "Shining Armor and I will leave that to you, Aunt Celestia. We are both very tired from our journey here, as well as from dealing with that crazed apothecary, and I fear we would not be able to give the best first impression to any changeling queens we may happen to encounter."

She steps away from the table and moves towards the door, pausing to glance back at her husband, "Shining? Are you coming?"

Shining Armor jumps to his hooves, letting out a yawn of his own, "Right, sorry Cadey, I just zoned out a little bit. Good night, everypony."

The remaining princesses watch the royal couple take their leave, Celestia sighing once the room's heavy door swings shut, "Even though it's not particularly surprising, it is still disappointing. I had held out some hope that she would at least have been willing to give Queen Amaranth a chance."

"Indeed," Luna agrees. "We can understand that she does not like changelings, but we also do not understand what she hopes to accomplish by not joining us tonight to meet only Queen Amaranth. She must know that she will have to be present when the full negotiations between all of Equestria's queens eventually begins. If her idea of a solution truly is to simply avoid them, however… "

"Then that represents a very serious problem for us," Celestia finishes. "Semi-autonomous or not, what remains of the Crystal Empire is now part of Equestria, and holds claim to a fairly significant amount of land, even if it is in the Frozen North."

"Not to mention the Crystal Heart, which they will undoubtedly want access to," Luna adds. "Admittedly, there probably are already changelings taking up residence in the Crystal Empire for that very reason, but we can't afford for Cadence to begin trying to cut them off regardless."

Celestia chuckles wearily, "It would have been nice if the changeling side had remained our only cause for concern."

"Truer words have rarely been spoken," Luna laughs. "That said, perhaps it would be best for you to also get some sleep. Then at least we can somewhat believably state that it is a diurnal versus nocturnal issue, rather than trying to come up with some excuse as for why they are not with us. After all, given their history, we cannot think of anything else Queen Amaranth would read into only Cadence and Shining Armor not being present, no matter what we tell her."

"I believe you are correct, unfortunately," Celestia acknowledges. "Though it would have been much more beneficial for the both of us to be present to speak with Queen Amaranth."

"It would have been ideal for all five of us to be present," Luna states flatly.

"Yes, it would have been, and it is something we should discuss further tomorrow evening, assuming nothing else comes up in the meantime," Celestia replies, standing and turning towards the door. "But for now, stay safe, Luna."

She glances to her former student, "You as well, Twilight, and you are of course welcome to join us tomorrow."

"O-Oh," Twilight stammers. "I'll uh, definitely be there."

"So… " Twilight says, looking to Luna once Celestia leaves, "I guess it's just going to be us delivering these letters to Fluttershy's mom?"

"We will be delivering them to Queen Amaranth, yes," Luna corrects. "Addressing important figures whom you are not very familiar with by their titles, even in private, is a good habit to get into, so that you do not accidentally refer them incorrectly in person. Our sister has also informed us that Fluttershy's other parent is in fact a female pegasus, therefore you do need to be more specific than merely saying 'Fluttershy's mom' regardless."

Twilight blinks, "Huh. Well, that's another question to add to the list, I suppose."

"Additionally," Luna continues, "we will not be traveling to her by hoof or by wing. Rather, we will be traveling via a set of shorter teleportations, which will allow us to arrive much more quickly and discretely."

Twilight frowns, "Why do we need to be discrete? Nopony else knows that Photo Finish is a changeling, and there's nothing particularly unusual about a couple of princesses going to visit Canterlot's best photographer."

"Nopony knows yet," Luna explains, a ghost of a smile flickering across her muzzle, "but somepony will likely find out at some point, and there will be enough complexities going on once any negotiations start without them questioning what we were doing entering a changeling queen's home on our own tonight. Such a visit could easily be used in an attempt to sow public distrust, depending on who is doing the asking, and I can guarantee that here in Canterlot especially there will be many who take offense to us not immediately evicting all changelings whom we know of – queen or not – up to and including some in the nobility."

"Mm… " Twilight murmurs, her frown deepening. "I guess that makes sense. I'd like to say I think you're wrong about that, and that everything will work out in the end, but after what happened with the Royal Guard… "

Luna shrugs, "The behavior of the Royal Guard was particularly galling, but it is the way divisive issues like this usually go. There will not be any way for us to make everypony happy with whatever ultimately ends up happening, especially since there will have to be compromises involved on things nopony really wants to compromise on, so the best thing we can do right now is tread carefully."

Twilight sighs, glancing up at the chandelier hanging from the room's ceiling, "Alright. I don't know where Photo Finish lives though, so I'll need you to teleport me as well."

"Of course," Luna says, her horn glowing. "Let us be off, then."

The brilliant blue light of Luna's magic consumes Twilight's vision, an instant later the two of them reappearing side by side in the air several hundred feet above Canterlot Castle. Twilight's eyes widen, a panoramic view opening up before her – a few thin tendrils of cloud passing over the moon to cast slow moving blobs of deeper shadow onto the moonlit city and mountainside below, the constant presence of pegasi over Canterlot during the daytime now mostly replaced by darker colored thestrals flitting through the night. Her expansive view of the city is abruptly cut off just as gravity takes notice of their existence however, Luna's magic again obscuring her vision for a moment before they appear in front of a modest cloud home floating above a small mansion whose grounds extend right up to the side of the mountain, the house anchored to the mansion's roof by a pair of cables. Luna's third teleportation brings them to the mansion's front door, her fourth completing their journey to leave the two princesses standing in the mansion's foyer.

The construction of the hall matches that of Canterlot Castle, the style of its walls, ceiling, and even the color and pattern of the stone making up the floor a near perfect copy. A few seconds later, a unicorn butler enters into view and strides towards them, his pale white coat, wispy mane, and many wrinkles belying the precision and confidence with which he moves.

Stopping a few feet away, the butler bows deeply, his expression remaining carefully blank, "Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, it is an honor to be in your presence. If you will allow me a moment, I will inform Queen Amaranth of your arrival. She has been expecting you."

"Please do," Luna replies without missing a beat, no hint of emotion escaping from behind her neutral facade.

The butler bows again and turns on his heel, an earth pony maid carrying a pair of large pillows on her back entering the room immediately after he leaves.

"Your highnesses, is there anything else I can bring you?" the maid asks while placing the pillows in front of them, "Tea, fruit, cake-"

Luna raises a hoof, cutting her off, "This will be fine, thank you."

The maid bows, her head nearly touching the floor, "As you wish, Princess Luna."

Luna's magic surrounds their pillows as soon as the maid leaves the room, only stepping onto her own pillow once the spell completes.

Looking to her right, she gestures for Twilight to sit as well, "It is safe."

Luna's words interrupt Twilight's rapt examination of the completely ordinary hall, the younger alicorn blinking before stepping onto the other pillow, "Oh, uh, right."

A minute passes in silence as Twilight's gaze continues to dart around the foyer, no other pony to be seen nor any noise made aside from their own breathing.

"Were you expecting to find something?" Luna asks once Twilight sighs and finally lowers her hindquarters to the soft cushion provided for her.

Twilight shrugs, "I don't know… sort of? I guess I was kind of expecting that it wouldn't look quite so much like every other noble's mansion, given that it's inhabited by a changeling queen. Like there would be some sort of slight-but-important difference that I would be able to see now that I know to look for it. But it looks almost exactly like Canterlot Castle, and therefore like almost every other mansion in Canterlot. The cloud home is a notable difference, but there's another explanation for why that's there."

"We have been here a couple of times before, but it is almost too ordinary, now that you mention it," Luna observes, glancing around the foyer as well.

"But what does 'too ordinary' mean?" Twilight asks, wrinkling her muzzle in distaste, "If I'm expecting something abnormal, then even just regular ordinary could seem too ordinary only because of my own biases."

Luna chuckles, "Perhaps you were really expecting something different not due to her being a changeling, but because of the eccentricities of Photo Finish's normal behavior?"

"I guess that could be it too," Twilight giggles. "It's just… plain, I guess. There aren't any plants or art or statues or even any of her own photos on display."

"Queen Amaranth prefers it this way," the butler answers from several steps to their right.

Luna and Twilight both start at his words, the butler bowing but otherwise remaining impassive, "My apologies, I did not mean to startle you."

Twilight takes a deep breath, her heart still pounding in her chest, "No, it's fine, we should have been paying more attention. What did you mean that she prefers it this way though?"

"She finds it inspirational," the butler states, casting his eyes over the hall. "'A blank canvas is the one with the most possibilities', to quote her. I do not pretend to understand what she sees in it, but I believe the quality of her work speaks for itself."

Luna relaxes, leaning back a fraction of an inch to look past Twilight's obstructing horn, "We see. And since you have returned, we assume Queen Amaranth is ready to meet with us?"

The butler dips his head, "She is, if there are no other questions I can help answer."

Luna stands, Twilight following her lead, "We appreciate your assistance, however we would much prefer to speak to Queen Amaranth as soon as possible."

The butler dips his head again, "In that case, please follow me."

"Queen Amaranth."

Amaranth looks up, she and Fluttershy each sitting on a faintly luminous mat of dense green gel – strands of Fluttershy's limp, membranous mane held in her magic, "Yes?"

The butler lowers his head, the old unicorn standing in an arched doorway completely devoid of decoration, as if someone had one day decided to do nothing more than carve out a section of the wall, "Princesses Luna and Twilight are waiting in the hallway behind me and are ready to speak with you."

"Very well," Amaranth replies, dropping Fluttershy's mane and shifting to face the doorway. "Send them in."

The butler backs out of the doorway and out of sight, Luna and Twilight entering a moment later – Luna meeting and holding Amaranth's gaze as soon as she steps into the room, though she continues moving until she stands only a few steps away from the queen and her daughter. Fluttershy and Twilight meanwhile trade smiles, both then turning their attention to the taller of the ponies opposite them. The earth pony maid canters in after several seconds, hastily placing Luna's and Twilight's pillows just behind them before leaving the room as well.

"While I do not wish to diminish my appreciation for both of you being here," Amaranth says once Luna and Twilight sit, "I feel it would be imprudent of me not to ask. Will Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, and Prince Shining Armor be joining us?"

Luna shakes her head, "They will not. Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor were exhausted due to their journey from the Crystal Empire after dealing with an issue that arose there, and my sister likewise had a particularly long and tiring day dealing with various problems that arose. As such, they were not able to make it here tonight. However I am pleased to say that Princess Twilight has joined me in staying awake during the night ever since the vamponies were discovered in Ponyville, and so was able to accompany us."

Lifting a wing, Luna levitates the letters into the air between herself and Amaranth, "As I am sure you are able to guess, these are the letters we have agreed upon, and would ask that you distribute them to the other changeling queens within Equestria."

Amaranth takes the letters in her magic, a faint frown creasing the chitin of her forehead, "There are only six?"

Luna nods, "Yes. Two of them we have already sent ahead to the two other changelings who were found in Ponyville, so they can deliver them to their queens directly. These six are then for yourself as well as the other queens, since it seemed safe to assume that we need not create a copy for Queen Chrysalis."

"A very safe assumption indeed," Amaranth replies, clicking her tongue. "Would I also be equally safe in assuming that these letters are backed by all of Equestria's royalty?"

"You would," Luna answers, "as long as you do not mean to include Prince Blueblood with that statement."

Amaranth lets out a sharp exhalation through her nose, though her voice remains steady, "Very well. In that case, thank you for bringing these letters to me. I hope we can continue to build upon our current degree of cooperation as the future unfolds, for all our subjects' benefit."

"As do we," Luna replies, smiling. "And while we are glad to have been able to meet and speak with you in this form, I am not able to stay for much longer, as I still have our regular duties to attend to."

Amaranth allows herself a small smile as well, "Yet I also get the feeling there is something you would like to ask me."

Luna blinks, her mouth opening for a split second before words come out, "You are able to sense that?"

Amaranth's smile grows, the changeling queen shifting on her cushion of gel, "You did a much better job of hiding it than most, but I still got the slight impression that there was something in particular which occurred to you when you walked in."

"We see," Luna states, regaining her composure. "In that case, I suppose I may as well ask. What is the significance of the color of a changeling's shell, mane, and tail? We have seen that the two other changelings in Ponyville each have a different color, as does your daughter, yet you and Fluttershy have the same color. It was also mentioned when we spoke with them in Ponyville that color can be used to differentiate between changelings of different hives, but is this always the case? Particularly since, as your daughter and a princess, it sounds as though Fluttershy would one day lead her own hive."

"In my daughter's case, there is a process she will eventually go through which will result in her becoming a fully fledged queen. At that point her colors will change," Amaranth answers. "Otherwise, it can as long as we are untransformed. However… "

Fire engulfs Amaranth three times in quick succession, her shell, mane, and tail changing to orange the first time followed by the same purple as Twilight's coat the second, her mane turning red the third time while her shell returns to its original gold and her tail becomes as black as her chitin, "Our colors can be altered in any way we wish."

"You are able to change into other changelings?" Luna queries.

"Correct," Amaranth confirms.

"Additionally… " Luna says, pausing to weigh her words, "since we are asking questions, there is another topic that we are quite curious about. What is the relationship between the changeling hivelink and our dreamscape, and why have we almost never encountered a changeling in the dream realm?"

Amaranth frowns, "The workings of our hivelink are not something I am comfortable discussing at this time. That said… what do you mean 'almost never'?"

"During the recent events in Ponyville, one of the other changelings was attacked by a nightmare," Luna explains. "It was able to somehow reach her and pull her into its own corner of the dreamscape, and from there we were able to reach them both. However, as soon as the nightmare focused on me, she disappeared completely, and I have not been able to reach her again nor have I since been able to figure out how the nightmare was able to bring her into the dream realm in the first place."

Amaranth stares at Luna, several seconds passing in silence, "…and this nightmare, it is… ?"

Luna smiles, "Destroyed, utterly and completely."

Amaranth closes her eyes and sighs, her entire body relaxing, "That is good."

"Indeed," Luna agrees. "It was easily one of the more vile nightmare creatures we have encountered, especially since our return. But, as I said earlier, I have my regular duties that I must attend to, and in recent nights I have already not spent as much time as we usually do patrolling the dream realm."

Amaranth nods, "I understand; there are preparations I must make in order to deliver these letters as well."

Amaranth and Luna stand, Fluttershy and Twilight following their lead.

Luna lowers her head a fraction of an inch, "In that case, we will take our leave, and I hope for our next meeting to also be this amicable."

Amaranth mirrors Luna's motion, "Likewise."

Fluttershy pokes at her gel cushion with a hoof, her eyes darting from Twilight to Luna to the floor as an incomprehensible murmur escapes her lips. A green blush spreads across her cheeks and she takes a tiny step backwards, her tube-like ears pinning to her skull.

Twilight sends Fluttershy a small smile, attempting to direct some encouragement towards her flustered friend as well, "Sorry, Fluttershy, what was that? You spoke so quietly I couldn't hear anything you said."

Fluttershy swallows, after a moment opening her mouth to try again, "I-I was just wondering, since I don't… I don't have any duties or-or anything I need to do right now, would you, maybe, want to hang out? With me? I-If you wanted to, I mean, and I could maybe… s-show you around a bit?"

Twilight's ears prick, a grin lighting up her face, "I would love to! I don't think I have anything I need to do right now either, and I still have so many questions-"

Luna's wing shoots out, blocking Twilight from view, "Please give us a moment."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Amaranth replies, turning to Fluttershy.

Luna's wing sweeps Twilight backwards as the elder alicorn turns to face away from the pair of changelings, Amaranth and Fluttershy likewise turning their backs to her and Luna, "Luna – hey – what's going on?"

Luna leans closer, her voice low, "Twilight, we understand that Fluttershy is one of your best friends, but we would also like to remind you of what you promised your brother not half an hour ago."

Twilight frowns, her brow furrowing, "I promised that I would keep an eye out, not that I would start refusing contact with any of my friends. And we have my changeling revealing spell, so it's not as if they'd actually be able to get away with replacing me."

"That is an abomination of spell you developed on the fly nearly two years ago by haphazardly combining nearly a dozen anti-illusion and counter-transformation spells," Luna points out. "Which they could very well have found a way to counter by now, and even if it did work, by that point you would have already been captured at least a few hours ago."

"Fluttershy is a princess of this hive," Twilight retorts, "so short of Queen Amaranth ordering her changelings to do something, I don't have anything to worry about. And also, it seems to me that refusing an invitation from the queen's daughter would look especially bad, diplomatically speaking."

"Unlikely, since it is quite obvious that Queen Amaranth has similar concerns," Luna counters. "And even if that were true, we are not willing to risk your safety over appearances."

Twilight glares at Luna, "Princess Fluttershy has also offered to 'show me around', which will be an excellent time for me, and therefore us, to learn more about them. The less we know about them, the harder it's going to be to convince anypony else to trust them, which will make future negotiations much more difficult." She glances at the floor, her outrage faltering, "A-And, I mean, for Cadence and Shining Armor especially, too, you know? Cadence didn't want to trust them at all, so maybe if it goes well, I'll be able to learn something she can verify herself, and it'll convince her to give them a chance. Or to give Fluttershy a chance, at least."

You did yourself just recently talk about Cadence being a problem, Selena comments.

But are you sure Twilight will be safe here? Luna asks, her eyes drifting down to focus on her nose as her conversation shifts inwards, As much as we are willing to give Amaranth the benefit of the doubt in order to ease the diplomatic process as well as based on what we can reasonably infer as true from what we already know, we do still barely know Amaranth herself or the rest of her hive at all.

Real trust has to start somewhere, Selena replies, and what better place than between two ponies who are already friends? Besides, we can at least be fairly confident that changelings are not automatons who mindlessly obey their queen, so I do definitely believe that Fluttershy wouldn't allow Twilight to come to harm even if Amaranth were plotting something nefarious.

Luna hesitates, then lets out a long sigh, "Very well."

Twilight's ears perk up, a fresh grin spreading across her muzzle.

Luna raises a hoof, "Just remember – friends or not, you are still a Princess of Equestria, and every single thing you do here will reflect on us all."

Twilight's leg muscles clench, only barely managing to keep herself from hopping in place, "I won't let you down, Luna."

Luna nods, turning back to the changelings while Twilight walks a few steps past her. At this, Amaranth and Fluttershy move apart as well, Fluttershy taking a step towards Twilight.

"I will be leaving Princess Twilight here with you, if there are no issues with that," Luna states.

Amaranth shakes her head, "There are none; we are happy for her to be here. I, however, will not be present for her visit, as I will need to leave for a few days to make sure all of these letters are delivered properly – one of them in particular." She moves towards the door Luna and Twilight had entered through, "That said, I can at the very least accompany you to the door, Princess Luna, so that we may have a few additional minutes to converse."

Luna steps aside, allowing Amaranth to walk between her and Twilight, "All opportunities for us to speak to one another are more than welcome."

Amaranth waits for Luna once she exits the room, the two of them continuing on side by side.

Fluttershy meanwhile walks the rest of the way over to Twilight, a broad smile flashing across her muzzle when their eyes meet, though she quickly lowers her gaze and raises a hoof to her mouth to hide one of her small fangs, "Um… how are you doing, Twilight?"

"I'm doing fine," Twilight replies. "Had a bit of a rough start to the night, but everything's fine now."

She glances after Amaranth and Luna, her left foreleg rising to rest against her right, "So… uh… is your mom, I mean, Queen Amaranth, actually okay with me being here?"

Fluttershy nods, "She is. She just wanted to know what I had in mind and wanted to make sure I understood that even though we're friends, we are also still royalty for Equestria and a changeling hive."

Twilight lets out a short laugh, rubbing the back of her neck and glancing at the floor, "Yeah, Luna had some similar concerns."

An empty silence flows into the mostly barren room, filling the void in their conversation.

"Sorry," Fluttershy mumbles, shifting into her pegasus form in a puff of green fire.

Twilight's eyes widen and she shakes her head vigorously, "No, Fluttershy, you don't need to do that."

Fluttershy looks away, her ears drooping, "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"It doesn't matter if I'm not completely comfortable," Twilight states resolutely, lightly stomping a hoof on the stone floor. "You're my friend, and I want you to be comfortable looking like yourself when I'm around. Yes, I am still adjusting to the the fact that you're not a pegasus, and that will probably take some more time given that I only found out about a week ago, but that's something I need to get used to – fangs, chitin, and all."

"I… " Fluttershy takes a deep breath and returns to her changeling form in another burst of magical fire, smiling wide enough to bare her fangs, "Thanks, Twilight, really. I don't know what I'd do without friends like you and the rest of the girls." Her smile wavers, "Though… I-I do probably need to talk to Applejack about me being a changeling."

Twilight's brows knit, "What do you mean?"

Fluttershy glances at the doorway behind Twilight, her hoof tapping at the floor, "Well, Rarity mostly stopped caring once she, uh, realized I was royalty, but also once she came to terms with this being the real me; Rainbow Dash was fine with it once she accepted I really was the same pony she had known since flight school, and only my appearance was different, not anything else about me; and I don't think Pinkie was ever bothered by any of it in the first place. For Applejack though, I've just noticed… well, sensed, I guess, that she's really not comfortable around me anymore. At all. N-Not hate, I mean, or even really dislike! Just… I think I make her nervous now. M-Maybe even a little grossed out. And t-there's a little bit of anger mixed in there too… "

"I can understand that," Twilight replies, sighing. "Applejack is as stubborn as they come, about as traditional as they come, and the Element of Honesty." Her lips twitch in a small smile, "Honestly, I was surprised that she seemed to be taking it as well as she was, but I guess it's a lot harder to hide that sort of thing from somepony with an empathic sense."

"Y-Yeah," Fluttershy agrees. "I'm mostly just a little scared she's going to think that I've been lying to her for years."

Twilight coughs, clearing her throat, "Well… you kind of have been. Nitpicking aside, lying by omission is a thing."

Fluttershy wilts.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it like that, but… I think we both can guess how Applejack sees it," Twilight says, sighing again. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Fluttershy shakes her head, "No, this is something I need to do myself. I just need to work up the courage to actually do it."

Twilight places a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder, "Just remember, she is still your friend. And if she's angry because she feels like you've been lying to her, then the best thing you can do is explain why you didn't tell her and be honest with her now. Because no matter what, I don't think she wants to lose you as a friend either."

Fluttershy dips her head, a fresh smile spreading across her muzzle, "Thanks, Twilight."

Twilight smiles as well, after a few moments lowering her hoof and once more looking in the direction their elders had left, "And, I don't mean to change the subject, but-"

Fluttershy giggles, "I did say I'd show you around, didn't I?"

Twilight bobs her head rapidly, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Alright then… " Fluttershy says, "Um, follow me."