The two Changelings managed to untangle themselves, but were at a loss to understand what the mares and monster pig were saying, "What should we do?" The first one asked, "They've seen us!"

The second Changeling took a calming breath, "We hope things work out and be cooperative. Don't give them a reason to be angry."

Oriana and Rose both stared at the Changelings with curious expressions. Rose pursed her lips, "I'll lead the way. Suey, you bring up the rear. If they try anything violent, you have permission to break a leg or wing if you need to, but don't kill them. We'll keep them here at the house. I doubt they could do anything with Razor and especially Vaiawa around. Oriana, go see if you can bring the Captain and the Mayor. We need to find out the stories behind these two."

Oriana nodded and dashed off toward town, churning up a rooster tail in her wake. Rose turned and motioned toward the house with her head, then turned and began walking that direction. The two Changelings did not follow her at first, but a bump to the rump from a certain Great Pig quickly remedied that problem. They followed Rose into the house and Suey used her left hind leg to close the door.

Razor called out from the kitchen, "Are you girls done already? That was fast."

"We have guests." Rose stated bluntly, "The kinds of guests who feel it's necessary to spy on us from the woods. Suey was kind enough to capture them. I'm not sure, but they may not be able to speak Velensovth. They aren't a type we've ever seen either, must be a different form for a specific job. Their eyes and wings are red instead of blue."

Razor Wit trotted into the foyer with a puzzled expression. She looked the Changelings up and down then turned her head, "Vaiawa! There's two Changeling here I think you need to see."

The sound of buzzing wings ceased immediately and in their place were the slow, measured steps of a curious Queen. Vaiawa made her way down the stairs, "Did they give any names?"

"No... look." Razor pointed.

Vaiawa turned the corner and froze. Her eyes were huge. She blinked slowly and stepped closer to the new Changelings. Her eyes narrowed as she studied them. They were well fed, if dirty. Their skin was glossy, which spoke of a diet high in fat and protein. She hoped they had not eaten anything sapient.

The two Changelings looked equally confused for an entirely different reason, "Th-there's a Queen... HERE?" The first one asked.

The second Changeling widened her stance, "These Ponies... they're her jailers." She locked eyes with Vaiawa, "You saw how the Ponies treated her. She was doing labor. They called her by yelling at her. None of us or our Ponies would be so disrespectful to Queen Cynecia."

Vaiawa could not believe her eyes, "They... they're from a different hive." She whispered, "We all thought the other hives were all dead."

Rose and Razor both perked their ears in interest, "A different hive?" Razor asked.

Vaiawa swallowed, "I can't believe it. They're healthy too, well fed. They've been..."

She was cut off as Artex stumbled into the foyer, "H-hey! We have guests!" He exclaimed, still dopey from the pain medication, "Well come on! Bring them into the living room!" He waggled his finger at Razor Wit, "It's impolite to make guests wait in the foyer." He turned and stumbled through the kitchen.

Suey grunted passively and nudged the backsides of the two Changelings. Rose, Razor, and Vaiawa all followed Artex. As they walked, the two Changelings spoke quietly with one another, "What IS that creature? It's obviously intelligent..." the first Changeling said.

"It may be the master of the house. I say 'master' because it sounded male. Did you notice how he spoke and gestured in the direction we're going? I think he commanded them to bring us." The second Changeling said, "What kind of creature is powerful enough to command a Queen? We need to be careful. The mares were working outside while he was in here where it's nice and warm. He's obviously in charge."

"Are these mares and the Queen his slaves?" The first Changeling asked.

The second one shook her head, "I doubt it. There are no chains on them and no marks of ownership. He must be powerful enough to command authority without needing any show of force. Make sure you don't make him angry. Not all rulers are as benevolent as our Queen. Some rulers abuse their power and until we know more, it's best to be careful."

Artex casually flopped down into his overstuffed chair and swung his legs over the left arm, "Ahh, good to relax once in a while." He looked over the two Changelings as they entered the living room, "Would you two like something to drink?"

The pair looked at him curiously. Vaiawa sighed lightly, "They don't seem to speak Velensovth, Artex."

Artex frowned, "Well we should at least introduce ourselves." He held his right hand against his chest and slowly spoke, "Artex Rias." He patted his chest and repeated his name, "Artex Rias." Then pointed to the two Changelings.

The second Changeling's eyes widened in compression. She sat down and placed her right forehoof against her chest, "Principem Sineria."

Artex blinked owlishly then suddenly burst into laughter, "WOW!" He laughed, "Good one Razor!"

Razor Wit's eyebrows rose, "I did nothing."

Artex waved off her statement, "Oh come on! Like they could POSSIBLY know Latin? You told them what to say because you know I knew a tiny bit! That's GREAT!" He continued laughing, slapping his leg.

Sineria huffed indignantly, "And now he's laughing?" She groused, "I was trying to be polite."

The first Changeling looked deeply concerned, "Was that wise, revealing who you are? He could capture you and hold you until he gets what he wants. He could demand money or worse!"

Sineria grumbled to herself, "Well you might as well introduce yourself too. Besides, I don't think he understood what I said. He probably wouldn't be laughing like that if he understood who and what I am."

Artex managed to get his laughter under control, "Did you get Morris to help you with this? He's the only one I know of who knows Latin. I only know the tiniest bit..."

Razor Wit turned to Rose, "You know who Morris is, right?" She saw Rose nod and continued, "Bring him here, quickly please." Rose turned and darted off toward the front door.

She skidded to a halt and pushed the door open just as Oriana reached up to open it from the outside. Rose blinked, "Oh hey, Ori. Artex thinks the Changelings are speaking Latin. I'm heading out to get Morris. Artex mentioned he speaks their language. Go on in. They're in the living room. I'll be back soon." She ran past the Zebra mare and the two Humans who were following behind her.

Oriana motioned for Captain Joyner and Mayor DeLaCrus to follow her. She closed the door behind them and led them into the living room, "I brought the Captain and the Mayor." She announced to the room.

The two Changelings' eyes widened as they saw the Captain wearing his armor and helmet. His pistol and the other items of his trade seemed not to be worthy of their notice, but his armor had their rapt attention.

Vaiawa and Razor Wit nodded politely to the two Humans while Artex threw out his arms widely, "Mike! Good to see you, man!" He sprung out of his chair, ran up, and gave his friend a bear hug.

Mike grimaced behind his helmet, "Dan, have you been hitting the bottle?" He asked bluntly.

Artex released his friend and flopped back down in his chair, "Naaaaaw. Got my teeth kicked in. Totally my own fault, but I got some greeeaaat pain killers out of it. The girls say it makes me dopey, but I feel perfectly fine." He said, gesticulating wildly.

Mike unclasped his helmet and pulled it off his head, "You're out of it. Just sit there and relax while we sort this out."

Mayor DeLaCrus knelt down in her skirt and peered at the two Changelings, "They don't look like the others in town." She turned her head and addressed Vaiawa, "Alana said that Changelings from your hive all have blue markings, is that correct?" Vaiawa nodded and the Mayor continued, "She said she did not know what other colors any other surviving hives might have since in ancient times, all Changelings were all black..."

"And that is as much as we know." Vaiawa finished for her, "We did not anticipate another hive surviving, much less making contact." She grew a calm smile, "I'm so glad we weren't the only survivors."

"So am I." Mayor DeLaCrus said, "These past two years have really been something, for Changelings. You've found a new home out in the open, there is more than one Queen, and you have peace with other nations."

Vaiawa smirked, "Those are the broad points, only. There are thousands of other things that have happened, but I can admit that many of those would only be significant to Changelings. Rifin for example, is a absolutely phenomenal development. Before now, any time a Changeling took on the Battle Body, it was a death sentence. Or our new diet. For the longest tiem, most of us only ate mushrooms and other fungi. Sharing our history, Changelings being loved by other species for being themselves, and finding allies among a whole new species, I could go on but you get the idea. So much has changed so quickly... the history books will surely have some grand name for these occurrences, but for those of us living through them, it's merely a wonderful change."

Sineria watched the conversation, trying her hardest to glean some meaning to the words by watching the expressions and movements of the Queen and the obviously female biped, 'The biped looks concerned but content... perhaps slightly happy.' She turned her attention to Vaiawa, 'The Queen looks very happy, but I cannot figure out why.' Her thoughts were interrupted when the tan Unicorn levitated a tray of tea and small cakes in front of she and her companion.

Her companion lit up her horn, but Sineria slapped the glowing tip, disrupting her companion's magic, "Are you insane, Bremma? There might be poisons or sedatives in there!"

Bremma rubbed her smarting horn ruefully, "I was going to test it before you had any. I AM your bodyguard. Besides, you just basically told them which of us is in charge."

Sineria raised her eyes and looked around. Sure enough, every one of the Ponies and bipeds were looking right at her, "Crud."

* * *

Morris ran after Rose as quickly as he could, buffing and puffing after the extremely athletic mare, "Writing would work better!" He said between breaths, "We never SPOKE Latin, we just wrote and translated it!" He panted again, drawing a deep breath, "I mean, I know the theory of how to speak it and we," he gasped for breath again, "We still use some Latin words today," he let out his breath and gasped again, "But nobody's fluent anymore." He managed to skid to a halt behind Rose as she slowed to a stop outside her house, "Besides, it probably only SOUNDS like Latin..." he lowered his head and leaned his elbows on his knees, "I... I doubt it's actual Latin... I mean... there's no... reason for it. There's been... no contact... with these Changelings... before so... how... could they have... learned it?"

Rose was not even slightly winded by the run. She had moved with a sense of urgency and Morris had heard it when she arrived at his forge. The diligent man had been in the middle of crafting a complicated brass door lock when she had arrived. He had been willing and openly helpful, but when she said the new Changelings spoke Latin, to say he looked surprised would have been an understatement. Shocked and disbelieving would have been more accurate. Nevertheless, he had offered to help in any way that he could. She waited for him to catch his breath before she opened the front door.

Morris closed the door behind himself as Rose called out, "We're back."

Morris could hear Artex' voice from further into the house, "Rosey! Come on in here you muscle-mass of hot mare!" Rose pinched her lips together and blew air between them making a squeaking sound.

She blushed heavily and motioned to Morris, "Follow me." She led him through the kitchen and into the living room, "There they are. Go work your magic."

Mayor DeLaCrus and Captain Joyner stepped back while everybody else fell silent, watching the scene expectantly. Morris calmly sat down on the floor and licked his lips, before saying something unintelligible. The two red Changelings exchanged a confused glance and Morris tried again. Sineria cocked her head to the side and said something back in the form of a question. Morris replied hesitantly and she shook her head in exasperation. His words sounded a tiny bit like an archaic form of their language, but she could only barely understand him.

Feeling frustrated, Morris spoke to the room, "Does anybody have a piece of paper and a pencil?"

Razor Wit levitated the requested implements over to him. He took the paper and pencil and began writing quickly. Finishing a few words, he held it up to the red Changelings. Sineria blinked and peered closely at the paper. It read, 'Can you read this?' In a very, very old version of their language. She lit up her horn and wrote her reply, 'Yes.'

* * *

(Three hours later...)

"... so they weren't sent out to make contact, just to see how the world had changed. They caught wind of the possibility of Changelings living openly and decided to investigate. They were going to infiltrate the town to see if it was true, but Suey caught them and you know the rest." Morris finished.

Vaiawa was so happy she was nearly crying, 'A whole other hive, hidden for hundreds of years, isolated from the outside world! We aren't alone!' One question burned within her mind and she was compelled to ask, "How many Changelings are there in their hive?"

Morris wrote the question down and showed the paper to Sineria. The Changeling Princess thought over her answer but had trouble deciding if honesty was best in the situation. She and Bremma were effectively captives, 'I'm certain that they would stop us if we tried to leave right now and I'm not ready to be completely honest right now in case they have plans to act against us.' She wrote down her false answer and slid the almost full paper back to Morris.

Morris read her answer out loud, "A few more than four hundred."

Vaiawa felt the harsh sting of urgency, "So few..." her countenance fell as she spoke, "So few of them are left." She looked to Mayor DeLaCrus, "We have to help them! Offer them food, shelter, protection anything they want! We HAVE to make sure they survive!"

The normally stoic, borderline taciturn Changeling Queen's desperation was a shock to everybody. Mayor DeLaCrus crossed her arms thoughtfully, "We can't make any hasty decisions right now, Vaiawa." She said quietly, "Right now we don't know much about them. For all we know, this Princess might not even be a Princess. Think of it this way, if you were dealing with a group of unknown affiliation with unknown motivation, would you be honest with them right away?" She gestured to the two red Changelings, "They're surrounded by unknowns: us. Right now we only have their word, no proof. We know they're from a different hive, but as for everything else they've told us... it could have all been lies. We can't trust them any more than they can trust us."

"Have them meet Celestia and Luna." Mike said quietly, drawing the attention of everybody in the room. He continued, "We send them a message and tell them what we know, then have these two go meet them, either here or in Canterlot. We can ask them to be subtle but place a tracking spell on them..."

"Don't bother," Razor suddenly spoke up, "After we sipped some of the tea and ate a few of the rolls, they did the same. The rolls were an old favorite trick of mine: Foal's Rolls. Once eaten, the magic embedded in the salt and sugar crystals that the rolls are made from enters the body and allows you to track them over long distance. I know the tracking spell and I can teach it to almost any Unicorn. We can trace them back to their hive and find out how much of what they told us was truth. We could also use our presence there to leave them food and whatnot, in case they really do need it. I learned how to make them after I returned to Canterlot once you all were settled. Give me a day to bake some and I can have over a hundred Foal's Rolls for them. We give them provisions and include the Foal's Rolls. Once they're back home, they might very well distribute the remaining Rolls to the rest of the hive and we could be certain of where they are."

Mike arched his eyebrows, "Wait a second... THAT'S how you followed us when we were on our way here! I remember Chris telling me that he managed to get you to give him some rolls when we were on the move." He smirked and clapped slowly, "Well played."

Razor Wit smiled at the praise as Vaiawa spoke up again, "While it's a good idea, how do we make them stay for a full day? I suppose I could take them on a tour of town and introduce them to Alana, but I couldn't be out all day." She pursed her lips, "Morris, could you please tell them that I want to take them on a tour of town? Also, tell them we'll be giving them supplies for their return trip as a gesture of good will. Mention that we would like to speak with their Queen if she is willing." She turned to the rest of the group, "Razor, get going on the Rolls. We'll have some with dinner so they'll be more used to them. We'll house them here for the night and send them off tomorrow. We can track them from a distance and see where their hive is. Hopefully they'll tell their Queen, but even if there is no meeting with them, we can still make sure the area around their hive is secure and safe. Obviously we still have to tell the Princesses..."

"You're making an awful lot of decisions for everybody, Vaiawa." Mayor DeLaCrus said in a warning tone, "I can agree with most of it, but the Princesses need a chance to meet these two. If they do decide to make contact with us again, the Princesses don't need to be blindsided by the event. New Humansville may be independent from Equestria, but we're still within the borders. That means that the red Changelings, who are not citizens, had to trespass through Equestrian soil to get here. I'm sure the Princesses won't do anything bad to them for it, but if we hid something like this, somebody might get the wrong idea about why we didn't tell them. Besides, I doubt they'll stay a secret for long if you're planning on showing them around New Humansville."

"That is true. There are many in town with a link to the Princesses. Princess Luna may be here today, you never know. Alright, I'll give them a tour if Morris is willing to come along to act as translator."

Morris shrugged, "No problem, just be sure to be patient. Writing down everything will take some time."

"And don't think they're going anywhere in town without several of my officers to keep an eye on everything." Mike said plainly. He did not need to specify exactly what he meant. Everybody understood the double reasoning. The officers would be there to watch the two red Changelings and make sure they did not get into any trouble as well as ensuring the citizens of New Humansville did not frighten or overwhelm the two. "Wait here and I'll be back with several of my officers." He paused and tilted his head slightly in thought, "Hey Morris, ask them if they want Changelings to escort them through town while you fill them in on what we plan."

* * *

Less than two hours later, and with an escort of six Changeling C.W.G. officers in their armor, Vaiawa led the Sineria and Bremma into New Humansville while Morris had to stop everybody frequently to write down information and answer questions. The frequent questions and answers made the tour move very slowly. As they walked, the two Changelings looked about in wonder and amazement, "I can't believe this place!" Bremma suddenly pointed, "Look! Foals! Changeling foals right out in the open! Are they crazy!?"

The Sineria was beginning to put pieces together, "Have we seen even one Dragon since we came out of the hive?" She asked.

Bremma clammed up, giving the matter some thought, "Maybe the Ponies killed all the Dragons? Our legends do say that the Alicorns were powerful. Maybe they got revenge for us?"

Sineria shook her head, "If that were the case, then there would have been no reason for that Queen to attack the Alicorns' lair. Obviously we don't have all the facts here."

Bremma snickered and nudged her comrade, "I bet you wish you had taken the language from that Pony's mind now, huh?"

"I never thought I would say this, but... maybe you're right..." she trailed off as a colossal shadow passed overhead. The two Changelings looked skyward as Rifin landed in the street not far from them. Vaiawa and the officers knew why he was there. He regularly brought Amber Eyes to the playground next to the school. There was no school today but the playground was already filled with playing Changeling foals.

They stopped dead in their tracks and stared with open mouths as the behemoth tilted his body and a filly slid off his back, giggling. Vaiawa and the officers all stopped walking when the two red Changelings did. They all watched the reactions to Rifin closely.

Bremma raised her right forehoof, "W-w-what is... THAT!?"

Sineria took a tentative step forward, "What a... marvelous form!" She suddenly sprung into the air and shot forward like a lightning bolt. She closed the distance between her and Rifin in a matter of seconds, ignoring the shouts of protest from her escorts. She dropped to the ground and began examining Rifin, "This form... must be used for battle." Rifin watched as she circled one of his tree trunk legs, poking at his hardened skin, "Thicker and more resilient skin..." she trotted underneath him, "Hmm... male too... wow! Look at the size of those testicles! That makes sense, heightened testosterone means increased aggression." She trotted out from underneath Rifin and buzzed up in front of his face. She sniffed his breath, "Luteinizing hormone, and a LOT of it!" She wrinkled her nose and sniffed again, "I know that trace smell... what is it..." her eyes suddenly lit up, "Oxytocin!" She landed on the ground, "This is a perfect form for protection! The Oxytocin helps the new form's mind to bond easily with things which emit scents similar to the scents of any species of young and all Changelings emit a nearly identical scent to help us smoothly blend in with any crowd because it helps bond us to mares and be protected by the herd instinct."

She took a few steps back and grinned brilliantly up at Rifin, "What a majestic creature..." she was cut off as she realized Vaiawa and the officers were scowling at her. She lowered her head and smiled sheepishly. She crept back to her comrade.

Rifin tilted his massive head to the side, "They're red." His eyes suddenly grew wide. He looked at Vaiawa, "They'red!"

Vaiawa nodded, "They're from a different hive. Please don't make a scene, Rifin."

The colossus clamped his lips shut and nodded mutely. He laid down on the ground and turned his head to watch Amber Eyes playing with the numerous Changeling foals in the small playground next to the school where her Mother worked on school days.

A Changeling buzzed down from the sky and landed in front of Vaiawa. The Changeling bowed in front of the Queen, though it was more out of habit than anything else. Vaiawa sighed and rolled her eyes, "Oh get up, silly. I don't want anybody bowing to me."

The Changeling raised her head and tittered, "Sorry Vaiawa. It's a habit. I wanted to tell you that Alana had her foals. Twin boys."

Vaiawa blinked, taken aback, "When did she go into labor?"

The Changeling replied, "Early yesterday evening. She had some trouble but Dr. Jewel was there so she's fine. He's really, really worried about the foals though."

"Human infants are called babies." Vaiawa corrected, then her expression became concerned, "Why would he be worried?"

"The fo-uh babies don't look like normal Humans. I don't know what they look like yet, but I know Dr. Jewel is worried about them. Half of us in town have been in the waiting room since Alana went into labor. She asked us to find you and tell you she wants to see you. She's worried about the... babies too."

"Is Alana still in her human form or is she back to her normal self now? More importantly, is she calm?" Vaiawa asked.

The messenger Changeling lifted herself into the air and hovered at Vaiawa's head height, "She's back to her Queen form. She says she wants to nurse her, er babies in that form. She's calm right now. She wanted to show you her babies."

Vaiawa gave the matter some thought before replying, "Go back and tell her that I'm on my way. Also tell her that I'm bringing guests she needs to meet."

Author's Notes:

As always, let me know about any typos you spot. Enjoy and thanks for the support, everybody.