Queen Cynecia sat in place, irritated almost beyond words, though she hid it exquisitely well. She kept her head high as she looked across the table at Discord lying along Celestia's back in a very friendly manner. The red Queen cleared her throat and decided to answer Alana's question. She turned her head and nodded lightly, "Yes, there are other hives, but we are not here to discuss them. We are here to discuss the future of Equestria and my hive." Her voice was frosty, "I wish for no more disturbances. This matter needs to be addressed immediately." She snorted once for emphasis and continued, "My hive has been self-sufficient for as long as any of us can remember. We do not need to come out of hiding," as she spoke, Twilight's ears began lowering, "However," and Twilight's ears sprang right back up, tilted forward in anticipation, "Since my daughter returned to us and told us of Changelings living openly among Ponies, many of our own Ponies have expressed an interest in coming back to the surface."

Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight all shared confused looks as Queen Cynecia continued, "This is a problem for us. We do not hold the Ponies against their will and if they wish to come back above ground we cannot stop them. Without them to aid us in growing food, we will surely starve and the love they give us makes us powerful protectors for them. We are one nation, within the hive. Changeling or Pony, it matters not. All are citizens, all do their part. Without half of our population, we will wither and die. For this reason, we are willing to... bargain for the purchase of land upon which we may live."

You could have heard a pin drop in the room. Discord turned over on Celestia's back, rubbing himself like a cat or a bear, or a cat-sized house-bear, "Ahh, you know," he began, holding up and admiring his talon hand, "I actually did not see this one coming. It just sort of popped up out of nowhere." A cartoonish sound echoed through the room and Discord stuffed both his 'hands' over his groin, "Speaking of things that just randomly 'come up'," he curled his body around and looked Celestia in the eye, "If you know what I mean?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Celestia took a page from Cadence's book. She brought her right forehoof up to her chest, and exhaled as she pushed it away. She then met Discord's eyes, "Later. This is far too important." Her voice was stern, but there was a playful twinkle in her eye.

Queen Cynecia's eyes narrowed and she angled her head downward angrily, "If you will not take this seriously, then we will leave. Last. Warning."

Luna spoke up quickly, "We understand this is not easy for any of you. Your hive has spent eons hidden away from the rest of the world. Even if we were to strike a bargain and you acquired the land you desire, your entire hive would be woefully out of touch with recent events."

Queen Cynecia tossed her head, "We are Changelings." she stated, "Changelings adapt. To adapt is simply a part of change and what do we do better than change? Adaptation to the modern world may not be immediate, but it should present no serious issue for us."

Celestia inclined her head to the side, "Even so, we would be remiss if we were to enable your hive to return to the upper world without any sort of preparation. The question of the land though, must be dealt with first. We have noticed your Changelings are rather thin," she leaned slightly over the table, "Are you already experiencing a food shortage, Queen Cynecia?"

The red Queen snorted in disdainful dismissal, "We have enough. Just because we do not allow ourselves to grow plump, does not mean we have a food problem. If anything, the reverse is true. Your Ponies seem thoroughly prepared to withstand cold weather."

Discord snorted, rolling around on Celestia's back with his hands clasped against his muzzle.

Queen Cynecia continued, "I believe I understand your coming question. You wish to know the number of civilians who need to be supported by crops and farmland. Correct?" Celestia nodded silently. The red Queen pursed her lips and blurted out, "Three million, seven-hundred and sixty-six thousand, four-hundred and twenty-one, as of the most recent census."

Cadence's jaw dropped open for a moment before she composed herself, "Well... there's no shortage of love, THAT'S for certain."

Queen Cynecia quirked her left eyebrow, "Are our numbers unusual?"

Luna answered her question, "Our own annual census shows Equestria's total population of Ponies to be slightly more than two million."

Cynecia looked puzzled, "I am surprised there are not more of you." She waved her right forehoof, "It matters not. Where would the land be located?"

"Woah, hold on there." Chris said suddenly, "There's a LOT more to be discussed before we even think about location."

Queen Cynecia looked to him, "Such as?"

"First, we would need to determine the amount of space necessary to feed so many, then cross-reference that amount of land with different areas which have the necessary quality of soil to produce the amounts of food your hive will require. After that, we can discuss the goods or services to be traded for the land as well as sovereignty rights and potential protectorate status." Chris rattled off.

Celestia spoke next, "A good start Christopher, if this were a normal matter." She turned and locked eyes with Queen Cynecia, "It can be made much more simple though. Where is your hive located? Razor Wit and the others who know of its location have not told us."

Queen Cynecia motioned to her daughter, "You know the layout of nations better than I do."

Princess Sineria replied simply, "Under the mountains, eight days walk to the East."

Twilight supplied a more simple answer, "The edge of the Gryphonvale mountain range? That area is supposed to be neutral." Sineria and Cynecia both looked confused so Twilight explained, "Gryphonvale and Equestria both have borders which do not completely match, all countries do. There is a wide swath of land, several dozen Leagues wide, which lays unclaimed by either nation. These areas may be claimed by small colonies if settlers are willing to live in such areas. There are a few settlements in the region but neither country claims taxes from them, nor do they demand allegiance from the citizens. The settlements are independent city/states, beholden to no nation. The Northern most portion is known as Mustangia, but the central and Southern portions are mostly unclaimed."

Cynecia's face creased with a grin, "Which means we do not need to purchase the land, merely claim it."

The red Queen began to stand when Twilight spoke up again, "Not exactly." Cynecia paused and shot the lavender Alicorn a stern look, which Twilight missed, "It depends on whether or not the land has already been claimed by an independent city/state." With a flare of her horn and a lavender flash of magic, Twilight conjured up a map. She unrolled it on the table and began looking at the edge of the mountains, where the free land was. Tracing her hoof along the edge of the mountains, she looked up, "Princess Sineria, could you please point out where the hive is located?"

The red Princess rose and buzzed into the air. She landed next to Twilight and peered at the map, "Hmm..." she pointed to one settlement with her left forehoof, "What is this one? I cannot make out the name."

Twilight looked closely at the indicated settlement, one of the largest ones in the region, "That's Free Run."

Sineria tapped the map, "That was the name of the settlement my guard and I first infiltrated." She traced her hoof due East, toward the mountains, "Here," she tapped a craggy spot on the map, "Under this deposit of limestone."

Twilight examined the map once more and sighed sadly, "That's within the claimed land of Free Run." She looked up at the Queen, "You're going to have to purchase the land from the city/state of Free Run."

Cynecia did not appear concerned, "Then we will approach them about it. We will make them a generous offer for it. They are not using it at the moment."

Artex took a moment to speak up, "What if they refuse?"

Queen Cynecia still did not look concerned, "Then we will make another offer. And another if that one fails. Barring all attempts at diplomacy, if they are completely unreasonable, we will go to war if we need to."

"STOP!" Darryl's voice roared loudly from the side of the room, "Queen Cynecia," he began slowly, "Don't take this the wrong way, but war would be a very, VERY bad idea, and you're talking about it way too casually."

"It is none of your concern..." she began.

"WRONG!" Darryl interrupted her, "It will be everybody's concern. If war breaks out, there will be civilian casualties caused by one side or the other, likely both. When that happens, the Gryphons will become involved and believe me when I say, you would lose. After the Gryphons stopped the war, the city/state and your hive would be out of options for barter or trade or any sort of friendly relations for a very long time. You would be surrounded by those who consider your hive to be warmongers, whether or not it's true." He clasped his hands together, "Please, do not even consider it. None of us want anything bad to happen to you or your hive."

"If they will not negotiate, Equestria or even Gryphonvale might be able to make the trade." Alana said quickly, "Queen Cynecia, Darryl is right. War would place your hive in a terrible position. If you were defending yourselves from an invader, then you would be in the right, but to bully a city-state that you surely outnumber at least a thousand to one? You would be seen in a very negative light."

Vaiawa took up where Alana left off, "War is not necessary. If you require the intervention of Equestria or Gryphonvale as a neutral party to ensure or enforce an agreement, then I'm sure they would be willing to render the aid. Please, I beg you, do not even consider war as an option."

Cynecia lifted her nose, "We are not adolescents, that we need to be led around by an adult. We will deal with our own affairs. If another party becomes involved, they will suffer the consequences." She rose to a standing position, "We are finished here." Her horn lit up and in a flash of crimson light, she, Princess Sineria, and every red Changeling in New Humansville vanished.

Vaiawa slammed her forehooves on the table, "Damnit!" She swore in American English, "That proud attitude of hers is only going to cause problems!"

Chris stood up from the table and opened a portal, through which snow and wind came, "I have a good grasp of the situation. I'm going to inform King Myrmidon." He stepped through the portal and it closed behind him.

Celestia looked nervous, "We cannot let this descend to open warfare."

Luna spoke up quickly, "Queen Cynecia might see any overt meddling with Free Run to be an insult to her. She is blinded by pride. If we are to intervene, it must be subtle." She slowly stood up, "There is nothing else we can do here, today."

Artex stood up and helped Razor and Vaiawa up as well, "Since this does not have to do with Humans, my authority here is negligible at best. I will pray for a peaceful resolution, but I can do no more."

Vaiawa nodded sadly, "I only represent the blue hive. I can try speaking with Queen Cynecia, but that is all I can do."

Alana pouted, "And she never even said anything about the other hives. We still don't know where they are."

Vaiawa trotted over and laid a consoling hoof over her fellow Queen, "At least we know they are out there." She turned her head and looked out the window, "We will find them eventually."

* * *

Morris Almond was having a field day. Tall Tale, the historian he met with in Trottingham, had been completely open with everything she had found. Morris had been quick to inform her that, "no, Humans did not make rock sacrifices to Olympus". That statement was only the first of many, many, many corrections to what she had been told by the Minotaurs. Morris had been an absolute font of information for Tall Tale. He told her of the ancient Greeks and their numerous societies. He successfully identified the mummified Human remains as likely being from ancient Athens. He also began translating the scrolls that Tall Tale had brought back with her. They were, as a set, incomplete though. At the moment, Morris was seated at Tall Tale's house, busily translating the ancient Greek into Velensovth. Tall Tale was looking over the man's shoulder as he continued writing.

Morris sighed as he laid his forehead against his right hand, "I've got everything here except the first few of these journals. They seem to start at what I would guess to be... maybe a month after he arrived." He looked up to Tall Tale, "By the way, did you find any other remains up there?"

Tall Tale shook her head, "No, none. I would have returned with them. Why do you ask?"

Morris raised his head and pointed to the ancient journal, "These logs keep mentioning other people who were with him." Morris pointed to one word, "This man, Onus, seems to have been the writer's best friend. I still don't have the name of the writer himself, but we may never know." He pointed to five other words, "These names here, some of them don't make much sense." He pointed at one, "This one, for example. The writer names this person, Aecetus. He is stated to be a 'misthophoros', which means mercenary. He was a mercenary of some sort, but that doesn't make any sense because the writer is a state soldier of Athens. What I want to know the most, is how they got up there. The writer doesn't mention that he realizes anything is different. It's like he doesn't realize he's on a different planet, which indicates they were in the mountains already. That makes even less sense because back then they often used the stars as guides. Soldiers from that time period would KNOW the constellations a LOT better than we do today." Morris sighed and laid his head back, "It's like the more we uncover, the more questions we have."

Tall Tale patted Morris on his shoulder, "You've been translating all day. Why don't you go back to your hotel and get some sleep. You can look at these again in the morning with fresh eyes."

Morris nodded and rose to his feet, "Thanks, Tall Tale."

Tall Tale shook her head, "It's me who should be thanking you. Without you, I would have been spreading lies about Humans all over the place." She lowered her head sadly, "I already did before your Emissary showed up."

Morris patted her on her shoulder, "What's done, is done. We're working on fixing that, right? That's all that matters now."

Tall Tale gave the man a small smile in reply, "Thanks Morris. I'll see you tomorrow morning, alright? Just walk in when you get here." Morris agreed and left her house.

Back in his hotel room, Morris lay on his bed still pondering about what the unnamed soldier of Athens had written, 'There have been no indications that he knew where he was, but how can that be? They oriented themselves by the stars, so he would have KNOWN he was in a new place. The logs mention clear weather and starry nights but not a single indication of him realizing he was somewhere new. It's like he just took it all in stride, like he was expecting... to... be...' Morris suddenly sat up in the bed. His eyes were huge. He stood up and began pacing as he spoke to himself, "Is that it?" He pondered out loud, "Did they come here on PURPOSE!? But if they did, why? What reason could he have had for coming here? From ancient myths, we have an understanding of certain mythical creatures, but why journey here intentionally? Were they looking for something... or someone?" The last thought bounced around in his head, "If they came here to find a specific person, who could it have been?" Morris wracked his brain until he was too tired to stand. He laid down and fell asleep, wondering why the ancient Humans had come.

Author's Notes:

And another chapter joins the fray. Ancient typos are tough little buggers to deal with.