Twilight bounces next to Fluttershy as they walk down the sparsely decorated hallway, enough of a spring in her step to let her see clear over Fluttershy's head, "So, my first question is – is everypony else here a changeling? Or are there a mix of changelings and non-changelings working here, and the non-changelings just don't know they're working with changelings for a changeling queen? Oh! Also, is this like an outpost for your hive?" She pauses, giving Fluttershy a suspicious look, "This isn't your actual hive, is it? Because if it is, then your hive is in Canterlot, which represents kind of a big problem."

"The main hive isn't in Canterlot, though I'm definitely not allowed to say where it is," Fluttershy answers. "I suppose you could consider this as being a second home, of sorts, rather than an 'outpost' or anything like that. As for everypony else here, aside from my pony mom who's a pegasus, the only other non-changeling is the butler who led you and Princess Luna to us, and he does know that everypony else is a changeling and that he works for a changeling queen."

Twilight freezes mid-hop, stumbling when she lands, "Hold on, what? He knows he's working for changelings, and he hasn't told anypony about it?"

Fluttershy nods, "Mhm. He eventually figured it out on his own, and then my changeling mom figured out that he knew, but he had kept our secret and was perfectly happy to continue keeping it as long as we didn't mean any harm to Equestria. He was a 'consummate professional' about it, to quote my mother. He also takes quite a bit of pride in knowing that he's the sole pony working here who's not part of the hive."

"But what about the invasion?" Twilight inquires, her eyes narrowing, "Why didn't he say anything after that?"

"During the invasion, a bunch of Chrysalis' changelings attacked our house, and he saw us – I mean, changelings from our hives – fighting each other," Fluttershy replies, avoiding Twilight's gaze. "So he knew we weren't involved in the invasion, and agreed to stay quiet about us afterwards."

Twilight blinks a couple times, then sighs, "Alright, uh… I guess, how long has he known?"

Fluttershy shrugs, "I don't know, to be honest. He somehow managed to impress my changeling mom enough for her to overlook that he wasn't a member of her hive, but she's never told me how. I do know it happened a long time before I hatched though – he's been with us for over 40 years now."

"And, a little bit tangential, but since you said 'before I hatched', I assume that means changelings do hatch from eggs, rather than being birthed live like other ponies?" Twilight queries.

"It does," Fluttershy confirms, a faint blush tinting her cheeks.

Twilight taps her chin absently as they pass the doorway to another room, her attention momentarily drawn to the curtains blocking every single window, "Fascinating… also, I'm assuming that since you weren't affected by Cadence and Shining Armor's love blast, noling else from your hive was either, since at the very least somepony would have noticed the holes left behind if all the other ponies working in Photo Finish's house got flung out of Canterlot."

"That's correct… " Fluttershy replies hesitantly, "but… I can't tell you anything about why."

Twilight frowns.

"Not because I don't want to tell you," Fluttershy adds quickly, "but that involves a lot of stuff related to Queen Chrysalis and the things she did leading up to the invasion, and I'm really really not supposed to talk about any of that with anypony outside the hive yet."

"Mmm… " Twilight grumbles, glancing at the wall beside her before taking a deep breath, "Alright, well, let's change the topic a little then. The butler mentioned to Luna and I that the reason everything is so spartan is because Queen Amaranth finds it inspiring. Do you know what he meant by that?"

Fluttershy visibly relaxes, her ears perking slightly, "I do. For her, it's easier to imagine what she needs to do to make-"

Photo Finish appears in a burst of green flame, "Da magicks!"

"-if she doesn't have to start by imagining away whatever else is already there," Fluttershy continues, another small column of fire consuming her to return her to her changeling form. "Usually every few weeks or so when she's here, she gets inspired, and the whole house gets redecorated multiple times in just a couple days, during which everyling gets involved in taking different forms to help with her photo shoots. 'Photo Finish' is really just a persona she gets into so she can fit into the artistic-nobility scene more easily, and so ponies are less likely to question her if she does something they think is strange, but she does really enjoy photography too. That part isn't made up."

Twilight raises an eyebrow, "And I'm guessing one of the things the Photo Finish persona helps explain is why all of the windows in all of the rooms we've passed so far have been blocked by really thick, overlapping curtains with what would appear to be bottom weighted, metallic trim?"

Fluttershy giggles, "Of course. It's definitely not because there's anything suspicious going on, and especially not so everyling can walk around without needing a disguise when there aren't any guests."

She takes Photo Finish's form once more, "My work requires my undivided attention, and I absolutely will not allow the world see my greatest masterpieces before I, Photo Finish, am ready to reveal them!"

Twilight exhales sharply through her nose, "Fair enough."

Fluttershy changes back, glancing at Twilight, "Um, do you mind if I ask you a question too?"

Twilight shakes her head, "Not at all. Ask away."

"Okay," Fluttershy says, taking a deep breath. "I was just wondering, since Princess Luna said you had 'joined her in staying awake during the night', are you planning on being nocturnal from now on?"

"You know, I'm really not sure," Twilight replies, letting out a sigh. "I've always had a habit of staying up late reading, or researching especially, but going all the way like this has just seemed… right, somehow. I still love the daytime and the sun and I want to be awake at least for part of it so I can spend time with the rest of you girls, but the night also seems serene and beautiful in a way I hadn't noticed before."

Fluttershy nods, "So you're saying you'd be awake during the 'twilight hours', mostly?"

Twilight groans, massaging the bridge of her nose while pointedly ignoring her broadly grinning friend, "Yes, Fluttershy, I suppose you could say that. Anyways… one thing I'm particularly curious about is the spell Queen Chrysalis used to transport me to the caves beneath Canterlot. I didn't get a good look at it then for obvious reasons, but it seemed to be some sort of flame portal magic. Do you know anything about that spell? I've tried a few times to replicate it, but without more data I have almost nothing to go off of and have gotten nowhere with it other than burning off chunks of my mane."

Fluttershy hesitates, "I… do… but… well, changeling magic is another thing I can't answer any questions about yet."

Twilight's ears droop, "I see."

"Sorry," Fluttershy apologizes, looking away from her friend to instead stare at the floor passing beneath her hooves.

Twilight shakes her head, "No, it's okay. I mean, it is irritating that there are topics you can't tell me anything about yet, and not being able to learn about changeling magic is especially disappointing, but I can at least understand why you wouldn't be able to answer every single question I have." She chuckles, "I think I'm more disappointed in myself for not considering the possibility that I'd need something to write with than anything. Usually Spike is around and he would've thought to bring some supplies along, even if staying here later than Luna wasn't the original plan, so I'd still be able to take notes on the questions you can answer."

Fluttershy glances at Twilight, brushing a stray tendril of her mane back behind an ear, "Well, that isn't a question, but if you want something to write on then I can definitely help with that."

Trotting ahead, Fluttershy pushes open one of the doors on their right, Twilight following her inside. A moderately sized storage room greets them, the room packed to bursting with furniture along with a multitude of both cardboard and wooden boxes of varying sizes, all meticulously stacked and organized into aisles just barely wide enough to walk into.

Clearing her throat, Fluttershy lets out a loud, trilling chirp. A few seconds later, a pair of undisguised changelings step out of the aisles – both with the same golden shell as Fluttershy and Queen Amaranth, though one also has a similarly colored mane and tail while the other instead has a black, stubby tail as well as a thin black fin running from the back of their head down their neck in place of a mane.

Both freeze mid-step as soon as they notice Twilight, the closer of the two looking to Fluttershy and releasing a series of chirps and chitters.

Fluttershy clears her throat again and smiles, "No, it's fine. I'm showing Princess Twilight around a bit, which Queen Amaranth already knows about."

The two changelings glance at Twilight once more, the finned changeling clearing their throat as well, "I see. In that case, what do you need us to do, princess?"

"Princess Twilight would like something to write on," Fluttershy states. "I need you to bring us a ball-point pen, some paper, and a clipboard."

The changelings bow, speaking in unison, "At once, princess."

"Huh," Twilight comments, watching the changelings scurry back into the tightly packed aisles.

"Hm?" Fluttershy asks.

"Nothing," Twilight replies. "I guess to go along with your same voice coming from your changeling form, it's also kind of weird to see other ponies bowing to you and you ordering them to do something like that."

Fluttershy shrugs, "All of us are part of my mother's hive, and I am a princess here."

Twilight nods, "Yeah, I know. It's still a bit strange seeing you being assertive in that way though. That aside, the changeling with the fin, are they… ?"

"He is male," Fluttershy confirms. "Also yes, that's what the fin means."

"…And, as far as me being more assertive here, there is a bit more to it than that," Fluttershy adds after a moment's pause, the pace of her words picking up as she speaks. "Everyling here is connected through the hivelink, so they're familiar, even if we've never met. But any other pony or changeling is foreign, in a way. An unknown. I-I don't think I could walk up to anypony outside the hive and start trying to order them around."

"So there's an innate line drawn between those who are part of a particular hive, and those who aren't?" Twilight asks.

"Definitely," Fluttershy agrees, her eyes widening as soon as the word leaves her mouth. "N-Not that I think any less of you or anypony else because of that! I-It's just that-"

"It's a lot easier to trust and relate to somepony you share a empathic connection with," Twilight finishes.

Fluttershy nods, "Yeah. Especially when I was younger, I used to have a really hard time even just talking to anypony outside the hive. That was actually why my parents enrolled me in the Cloudsdale flight school, which was where my pony mom had gone to school when she was a filly, so I'd have to get used to interacting with other ponies."

"And that's where you met Rainbow Dash," Twilight supplies.

Fluttershy smiles, "Mhm. For the most part the rest of the class either ignored me or pushed me around, but Rainbow Dash was really nice and helped me get past the worst of my fears, even though she probably never realized it."

"Princess Twilight."

Twilight's whole body twitches, her hooves leaving the floor entirely for a split second as she hops a fraction of an inch towards Fluttershy. Looking towards the source of the voice, she sees the two other changelings watching her patiently – the female levitating a small stack of paper while the male holds a clipboard and pen in his magic.

Twilight breathes in deeply, taking control of the floating writing supplies after exhaling, "Thank you."

Both changelings turn to Fluttershy, the closer of the two speaking, "Is there anything else we can do for you, princess?"

Fluttershy shakes her head, "No, that was all I needed. Please continue with what you were doing before."

The changelings bow once more, wordlessly disappearing into the aisles of furniture and boxes.

Turning on her heel and taking a step towards the door, Fluttershy looks towards her friend, "Twilight?"

The sound of a pen madly scribbling on paper answers her, Twilight already nearing the bottom of the first sheet, "Just… give me… a minute… don't want to forget anything… "

Twilight points her newly acquired pen at Fluttershy, "Also, what were those sort of chittering, trilling noises you and the other changelings made before you started talking in Equestrian?"

Fluttershy blinks, "Oh, right, um, we can't actually speak Equestrian without changing our vocal cords, so that was our language. In Equestrian we call it Vespid."

"And from the sound of it, I assume other ponies can't speak Vespid?" Twilight queries, her rapid writing resuming.

"Mhm," Fluttershy confirms, "and for more reasons that just the sounds you have to be able to make. Tone, and certain meanings, are difficult or impossible to get across entirely verbally, so 'speaking' Vespid also involves the hivelink when talking to other changelings in the same hive and our empathic sense when talking to outside changelings."

Twilight's pen pauses, though only long enough for her the flip over her current sheet, "Which I assume additionally means that non-changelings aren't capable of understanding Vespid either."

Fluttershy nods, "Yeah. You could probably learn a lot of it, but there would always be pieces you'd be missing."

After another minute, Twilight relaxes and raises her pen, the entire back of the first page now filled to the brim with words along with the front half of the second sheet, "Alright, I think that's everything."

Fluttershy bobs her head once, "In that case, let's keep going – we're almost there."

Twilight's brow knits, "Almost – actually, where are we going?"

Fluttershy giggles, walking out of the room, "You'll see~"

"I'm also curious," Twilight says as they enter a much larger, and otherwise completely empty, room, "when you were describing emotions after you revealed yourself to me, you always related them to flavors and foods, like 'spicy' or 'hazelnuts'. So, do emotions actually share tastes with physical food? Or were you just describing it to me in a way I'd be able to more easily understand? And, if they do share tastes, what does love taste like to you? Chocolate?"

"Yes they do, and no, not at all," Fluttershy replies, her gaze drifting as they walk towards the room's far wall. "It's… true love is… way better, like… like… I don't even know how to describe it. Like… eating a cloud, made of the most perfect cotton candy ever spun, that lifts you up to float among the sun and stars."

Twilight cocks an eyebrow, "Uhm, Fluttershy, you're drooling."

Said changeling princess quickly wipes the trail of saliva from her chin, her cheeks burning bright green as a look of abject horror flashes across her face. Whirling towards the doorway they had just entered through, she raises a foreleg, "Ohmygosh! Look over there!"

Twilight's heart races and she likewise spins around, her gaze following Fluttershy's outstretched hoof to land on the completely empty and uninteresting doorway they had just walked through.

She blinks, then facehoofs, rolling her eyes as she turns back to Fluttershy, "Haha, very funny, Flutter-"

An even emptier room than a few seconds ago greets her, no other pony seemingly present besides herself, "-shy?"

Turning around more slowly, Twilight scans the room, eventually coming full circle to face the wall she and Fluttershy had been walking towards – a black, holey hoof poking out to wave at her.

Twilight stiffens, Wait, what?

Fluttershy's head passes through the wall as well, a mischievous grin plastered across her face, "Over here, Twilight."

Twilight snickers, trotting over to stand in front of Fluttershy, "You know that's one of the oldest tricks in the book, right?"

"But it still worked, didn't it?" Fluttershy replies, giggling. "Anyway, come on."

As soon as Fluttershy withdraws her head and hoof, Twilight walks forward. The false wall remains as solid as it appears however, her face instead impacting its flat surface – said wall as hard and cool to the touch as actual stone.

Twilight staggers backwards a step, a green aura enveloping her before she can take another and levitating her through the section of wall along with her writing supplies.

"I am so sorry!" Fluttershy exclaims, gently lowering Twilight to the floor in front of her, "I-I completely forgot – t-there's a uh, the barrier, it's-"

"Selectively permeable?" Twilight asks, gently rubbing her nose, "And I'm guessing it only allows changeling magic through?"

Fluttershy nods, her ears lowered and a fresh blush on her face, "Y-Yeah. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Twilight replies. She glances at her surroundings, the two of them standing in an alcove large enough for half a dozen ponies to move about easily, the walls, floor, and ceiling constructed from a sleek material as black as Fluttershy's chitin. Above her, a green orb hangs from the ceiling like a droplet of water about to fall, its light more than enough to see by though not nearly as bright as the rest of the house.

She taps the floor with a hoof, "What is all this anyways? It's not stone, I don't think."

Fluttershy shakes her head, "Oh, no, it's-"

Without warning, one of Twilight's forelegs slips out from under her, her other legs rapidly losing traction as well under the sudden shift in weight.

Twilight gives Fluttershy a flat look from her new spot on the floor, her legs splayed, "Slippery?"

Fluttershy frowns, dragging a hoof across the floor's surface, "Um. Not… really? Though… that does explain why my pony mom always wore boots whenever she came down here."

Twilight groans, carefully getting back to her hooves, "Well, this is going to be interesting. So what's this stuff called?"

"It's called clod," Fluttershy answers. "It's sort of our version of cement, and it's… not our only building material, but we use it pretty much everywhere."

Twilight looks behind Fluttershy, a tunnel not quite tall enough to accommodate her horn but wide enough for three ponies to comfortably walk side-by-side sloping steeply downward and out of sight, the passageway dimly lit by smaller green blobs embedded at random in its walls and ceiling, "That's… going to be a problem, seeing as non-changelings apparently can't grip it very well."

"I could, uh… levitate you again," Fluttershy offers, glancing at the tunnel. "If that's okay with you, that is. I don't think there's enough room for you to fly."

Twilight sighs, "Yeah, it's fine. It's definitely better than sliding down."

Fluttershy's horn glows, a green aura again enveloping Twilight to lift her off the ground.

Twilight chuckles, pulling her legs up against her barrel, "You know, if anypony had told me that one day – er, night – you'd be using your own magic to levitate me down a tunnel constructed by changelings, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have believed them."

Fluttershy walks forward into the tunnel, Twilight floating beside her, "Yeah, me neither."