It didn't take long for the preparations for the trip to Copper Road Keep to come to an end. Eventually it was time to go, and Max was once more standing outside the gate as the Knights and an alicorn prepared for the trip. This time though, Crystal was double-checking his packs and even moving things to his hip-pouches as she dropped extra stuff to the ground.

"It's for food. Your biggest enemy on these trips is weight. It will be uncomfortable but keeping yourself to honey will limit your weight by quite a bit. The fact that Luna will be with you means you will have a good source and won't need to worry so much about storing it but you should at least keep enough for a few days. A single jar of love is plenty. No, the blade is worthless over there. Keep it here."

Max boggled as the mare added some resin to his shoulder plate and hardened it in place, slipping the weapon into the new pouch and making certain it settled properly.

"I'll show you how to make these pouches later. Properly securing your equipment is important and this shouldn't get in the way. If it does you can easily remove it. Now if you find yourself under attack, pull it out like this and let go here. That will launch the blade into your opponent. Oh my goodness, why didn't I do this last night. I'll speak with you tonight about some of my training experience. You might be able to use it. Your size will throw some things off but since it's mostly going to be against ponies..."

The stallion smirked as the smaller shape shifter continued on for a while, making plans to train him in this weapon or that skill. He could sense Seven as well as the older sub queen watched from a nearby balcony. She was currently being seen to by a drone and two pony nurses, a very uncomfortable situation but the ponies' experience with Crystal and Flick had apparently been pleasant enough that they were willing to give this other mare a chance.

'Better than I'd hoped.'

'You be good, Seven. I don't want to find the Keep burning when we get back.'

'This is a stone structure, it does not burn.'

'You say that now, but you know as well as I do that stranger things have happened.'

'That and there's plenty of flammable items inside the Keep,' Crystal added. 'I'm sorry, I started rambling and-'

'And I'm fairly certain those were combat-queen only techniques you're speaking of sharing with him,' Seven quipped.

'Of course I'm going to share them with him. The greater the chance he has to come back the safer my hive is. If you think I'm going to let some stupid rule Mother enforced to keep us weak stop me from keeping my flock alive you're mad.'

'Well don't expect any infiltration techniques from me,' Seven grumped.

Max grinned.
'Oh, you'll break my heart, Seven.'

'That's-'

'Finish it, Seven,' Crystal ordered, a grin sprouting on her own muzzle.

'T-hat's not all I'll break-oh God don't-'

'Peace, Seven. Relax. We're not like Mother. There is a limit to what I'll tolerate but I won't just flay you for crossing it. And a snippy remark like that is nowhere near the line. It's banter, which can be fun even for the insulted party.'

'I don't know, Crystal. I think I need to invent a flushing toilet for that insult. I want to know what happens to a mane when you give a mare a swirly.'

Max's grin only grew as he felt the queens dig for the things he mentioned, Seven going quiet even as Crystal burst into audible laughter.

'That's disgusting,' the elder mare finally muttered.

"Are you ready, Maximus?" Celestia asked, shoving Luna as the smaller mare giggled excitedly beside her.

"I am, or at least I hope so. I can't seem to find my toothbrush but I'm sure I can stop at some Speedway on the road. Maybe some soda as well. I'll bring you, Crystal, and Seven souvenirs, okay?"

The white alicorn smiled brightly.

"Tis' more than Luna has promised me, so I guess it will have to do. Watch her for me, won't you? Keep her out of trouble, and do your best to avoid the same."

"I'll do my best, Tia, 'cuz that's the best I can do," he answered.

Luna pulled Crystal into a deep kiss before brushing a hoof along her beta mare's cheek.

"Be good for Tia and take care of Seven. We'll keep in touch each night. And if you're good, Max and I will see to your reward when we return."

Seven made a sound of disgust.

'What are you, some pet to be promised treats for good behavior?'

'Woof,' Max and Crystal responded simultaneously before laughing aloud.

'Don't be such a downer,' Max jeered before turning to Crystal. 'I expect that mare to be capable of banter and jokes when I get back.'

'I don't know. I am powerful, Max, but even I cannot work miracles,' Crystal replied, causing both of them to start laughing again.

"If you two are done making jokes only the two of you can hear we're about ready to move out," Luna said, using a burst of telekinesis to bop both shape shifters on the nose. "Come along, Maximus. You're walking with me. I want to speak to you about anything you may know of trade. Starswirl didn't have much on the topic and you tout its importance continuously."

Max nodded, pausing only long enough to look back and flip Crystal's tail as he walked away.

'We're going to shave that when we get back. Otherwise it might get in our way.'

The sub queen made a strangled noise somewhere between a squeal and a cheer before rushing off, her smile nearly splitting her face. He received an odd look from Celestia but ignored it, choosing instead to lean in to answer Luna's questioning glance.

"I told her we're going to shave her tail when we get back, so it doesn't get in our way."

"That's horrible," the blue alicorn said as she shoved him with a wing. It still brought a smile to her face though, as well as a slight tint of lust to her emotions. "We need to focus though. Why do you wish to make this contact so quickly?"

Max straightened up as he focused on his task, all business for the moment.

"Right, so there are several reasons we need to make contact with another settlement. First of all I need to know if there have been any currencies adopted in the last few years. Sometimes things like that can crop up without you noticing. The second reason is actually a bit of a two-fer. A large Keep that's well established and properly managed will have a market, something we don't have yet but will likely be able to add once the walls are completed. It's also a gathering place of individuals both looking for jobs or just resting and chatting. In other words it's a good place to find workers and information. I mean, there's a reason a lot of games use taverns as starting points for a ton of quests. It's where people congregate. A market is the next most popular place. Heck, you were asking about finding an actual smith? This will be a great chance. We talk to the blacksmith and find out if he has either some apprentices that are ready to start on their own or can direct us to another metalworker looking to move out of the city."

"You believe we shall find all of this?" Luna asked with a sudden burst of excitement.

"It's not a guarantee but we could. I'd be surprised if we didn't at least see a forge in or near the town that I can check my own work against," Max added, watching the wall that was currently under construction as the group passed it. Ponies of all tribes and even a changeling or two were hard at work moving the stone into place. Now that the cavern was filled in the wall was the only thing the quarry was supplying, though whether or not there was enough stone was debatable. There were other hills they could tear apart though. The countryside was relatively unmolested, leaving little chance of stumbling into a pre-existing mine. With the completion of the wall they could look into starting th next project...whatever it would be.

"Should probably also look at what Lady Road has. May remind me of something or give us some ideas."

"What, you do not know everything we shall need? Oh, I have been deceived! My stallion has sold himself under false pretenses! Whatever shall I do? Perhaps have him, yes! I shall gift him to Tia. Just chain him up in her room, to do with as she pleases."

Max winced.

"I may end up bruised pretty badly, and not in the fun way. In all seriousness though, knowing what you don't know, or knowing the limits of your knowledge, is sometimes even more important than what you do know. You remember how I was talking about advisors, right? Redstreak is your agricultural advisor, Shimmering is your military advisor, though I don't know if he has any knowledge of troop movements and military strategies, I'm general knowledge as well as your...I think the word was sensachel?"

"What's that?" Luna asked.

"I believe the word is seneschal, sir." A nearby knight corrected.

"Thanks. I'll tell you if I think you're forgetting something or taking something too far. Some don't realize this but there's a reason the Overlord list advocated having a small uh, foal as an advisor. Kids are pretty straight forward. They won't dance around the topic or try to be nice about it a lot of the time, they'll just tell you how they see things. Sometimes it helps to have a blunt opinion, even if it can be irritating. I'm a bit more thorough, I also go out and see what we need for myself. If I find something that seems dangerous or needs to be addressed immediately I'll let you know."

"Like the cavern..."

"Not just the cavern but the lack of a well, lack of a wall, lack of a smithy, all of these things should have been brought to your attention. Instead the two of you were blocked off from the process. By disconnecting you from the actual happenings of your home, those nobles were able to rule as they saw fit while the two of you would take the blame for any issues that cropped up. When the keep fell to disrepair and poor management, or in the case of the cavern just plain fell, who do you think would be responsible? Certainly not the simple nobles, not with a pair of princesses ruling the town. It was a free ride with no responsibilities."

Luna's face twisted as he spoke, her emotions shifting to confusion.

"I'm afraid I don't follow your logic, what-"

"You and Tia didn't have advisors, you had a court of nobles that you were delegating to. This is fine normally, but if something isn't getting done, who checks on the advisors? The nobles of course. It's one of the most frustrating bits of most government and business investigations I would hear about back home. Government's done something wrong? Oh, don't worry, they have the authority to investigate themselves. UN peackeppers facing criminal charges in countries they're supposed to help? They'll take care of it.

"Tell me, Luna. If someone was able to investigate their own actions and able to either dismiss or outright cover up their mistakes, do you think they'd do it? Especially when the alternative is political suicide and losing their position?"

"I...They would likely attempt to dismiss it, or sabotage any investigation."

"Exactly. Just remember to watch your step. Your decisions will impact the lives of more and more people as the keep and the surrounding town grows. It gets easy to distance yourself from them and in some cases you will have to do just that. Don't forget to check on things every now and again."

"I don't remember who said it but I remember someone saying not to listen to the complaints but to what people are complaining about. If they're whining that they don't have better food or that they're clothes are dirty, it means they have food and clothes. If they're saying they don't have food, then you have a problem. People complain, it's normal. It's what they complain about that you need to focus on."

"I can't exactly go around asking about these sorts of things," the alicorn grumbled. "Admitting the lack of such knowledge could be perceived as weakness."

"But I have no issue looking like an idiot as long as my friends know the truth, so I'll gladly ask the questions for you. Crystal is more than happy to do the same for you. And you tell me who's dumb enough to call her weak? I bet she'd put them through a wall."

One of the Knights began snickering and Max looked to them, quirking an eyebrow.

"Go on, Twister. Tell the princess what you think would happen if someone had either a bad case of stupid or was brave enough to call Crystal out like that."

"She'd meet them in the sparring ring within five minutes of the insult, sir," the Pegasus mare giggled, keeping her eyes forward.

"Is that what happened?" The stallion next to her asked, earning a nod in answer.

"Wait, this actually happened?" Max asked.

"It did. The mare was upset when she saw Princess Luna teaching Crystal basic weapon techniques and wondered aloud how the princess could accept such a weak mare into her flock. Some of us thought Princess Luna would chew her out, but Crystal stopped her and invited the mare into the sparring ring."

The stallion next to Twister, a knight Max couldn't recall the name of, nodded before taking over the narration.

"That queen then proceeded to take the unicorn apart. Even when she reached for her magic, Crystal managed to keep the knight in the dirt. Mare's been in the infirmary for a few days now nursing bruised ribs and a fractured horn."

Max winced, noticing a wave of smug reaching him over the Link.

'Did you have to fracture her horn?' He asked.

'The match had been called and she was casting a spell at my back. There's a reason Luna didn't say anything. That mare had it coming.'

The shape shifter nodded.

'Alright. Long as you're not being a bully.'

"How have the dogs been treating you guys?"

"Dogs?" Luna asked. "Oh, the diamond dogs. I'd nearly forgot. We've not heard much from them aside a request or two for aerial scouting or paper. They're settling in a cave system several leagues away. They said it would give both of our homes room to grow without crowding. I don't see the importance just yet but Crystal thanked them regardless. We send a Pegasus to find out if they require anything and the one shipment we sent of paper and food came back with various metals and gems in payment. That was what you meant by trade, correct? Trading our surpluses for things we could use. The gems and metals aren't as useful, but unlike the food they have no expiration date."

Calling to Crystal for the actual locations of both his destination and the den, Max nodded happily.

"That's spectacular, actually. I'll ask Crystal to send someone to the dogs and make sure they're okay with it but if any of the merchants from Copper Road Keep want to trade with them they'll be passing us by."

"And this is good...why?" the alicorn asked him.

"Well, we'd be a supply stop, an extra trading hub along the way. If we play or cards right, we'll make a neat profit. The merchants have to go by us to reach their destination or the dogs could come to us for trading instead. I'm not suggesting a toll just yet, not when we don't even know if there's been a currency chosen. That's kind of asinine at this level. For now we're just another stop, and we want the business. We want bartering and trading in the town, we want to see more people passing through. More than that though, a lot of people passing through means we can open a hotel, or as they were in the olden days, a tavern."

"Which you said is where people gathered. We would have our own with enough traffic."

"I don't know for certain, but I think many of them actually started working with just the locals as a place to gather, drink and chat. We don't need the traffic for a tavern but it helps. In fact I think it may be a good idea to make sure we have a bit of infrastructure before we get too far along. A guard barracks outside of the keep, one relatively near the main gate. A large storage area would be nice, maybe make an extension to the keep on the backside, weld some of that stone into it. I also want a smaller forge and smithy inside the Keep and our main forge inside the wall. Some of that metal will be valuable. If it's easy to steal, people will try to steal it."

A quick scowl fell over the mare's face, likely as she recalled the nobles who were found attempting to steal from the Keep as they fled.

"I would have dismissed that before. With ponies that were supposed to be paragons of virtue and good breeding robbing my home however..."

"It's fine, Luna. Sometimes disasters bring out the best in people. They can also bring out the worst though. Just need to keep your eyes peeled and pay attention."

The alicorn nodded, blowing a frustrated breath out her nose.

"I saw Crystal teaching you a simple blade trick, we shall have plenty of time, so why not use it? I want my stallion capable of defending himself, and we've been distracted."

Wielding a blade in her magic, the mare grinned brightly at the prospect of teaching him in turn.

"While anyone can swing a piece of metal, it takes practice and knowledge to wield a weapon. A blade is as versatile as the mind using it. Defensive blocks, parties, thrusts, slashes, feints, in some cases even using it as a brace, driving it into the ground to give yourself a hoof-hold. Many bladesponies would be angered by such an abuse of the blade but most who have endured actual combat understand that when one's life is on the line, tis better to damage the blade than endure the damage yourself."

Max nodded, the two falling into a comfortable pace as the day continued on. The day wound up being relatively uneventful, which was more than Celestia was able to say unfortunately.

The white alicorn sighed as she finished lowering the sun. It was still a bit difficult without Luna being present but she would swear it was becoming easier every day. Especially with a few days like this spread between the normal cooperative exchanges.

'A muscle that is getting exercised. Like any magic-users abilities, my own grow with use. Perhaps someday I'll be able to do this without getting up at dawn.'

"I don't see why not. She's not paying attention and she's currently still tired from her spellcasting. We could take her."

Celestia's eyes widened in surprise and she turned around, finding a very surprised Seven and a face-hoofing Crystal.

"You were speaking aloud again. And I told you that to attempt such a thing was stupid. She's raising the sun. Neither of us can generate that kind of power on our own nor are we able to harvest enough energy to do so."

"We don't need the sun," the smaller changeling scoffed, bringing a slight twitch to the alicorn's left eye.

Crystal gave an exasperated sigh, gesturing to her fellow queen with a hoof.

"Do you see what I have to deal with now that Max is gone? She's been like this the entire time. I don't want to tell her to stop because it would be a hive order, and I think most of her inability to control what she says is due to the mental damage."

"I hate when she says that," Seven muttered, rolling her eyes. "I am a sub queen, I think I'd notice something like damage to my memories."

"Or that you are speaking your thoughts aloud?" Celestia asked, causing the smaller mare to jump. While it was simple to dismiss Crystal hearing her due to the link, Celestia being able to hear her was not something Seven had considered.

"There was damage done to you, Seven. Even with my lack of knowledge of your species I've seen the issues. The fact that Maximus spent almost two weeks working to allow you any form of self-awareness, foregoing everything else to focus on you, is proof enough to me.

"You trust a creature based on falsehoods. We are changelings, we-"

"I trust a stallion who did the same thing he did for you to help me. I trust that stallion with things I haven't been able to speak with Luna about yet and he has not broken that trust. He has yet to do anything to harm myself or Luna and at this point even if he did I'd be more curious as to why he did so than angry about such a betrayal."

Seven shifted nervously at Celestia's words, her eyes tracking to Crystal then to the alicorn.

"Crystal, could you leave us for a moment?" Celestia asked at length. Perhaps she could help. Max had mentioned that Crystal trusted her. Maybe Seven would find an unlinked creature would be easier to trust than the mare holding her leash?

Crystal nodded, turning to leave but not before looking to her charge with a glare.

"Harm her and I'll disconnect you immediately, mental damage or not."

The two mares were left to themselves, the silence hanging over them being almost palpable. After what felt like an eternity, Celestia walked over to her bed and relaxed in the sheets, motioning they still wide-eyed queen to sit on a chair she pulled closer.

Seven did so nervously, likely expecting some sort of retaliation, but the white alicorn just smiled at her.
"Alright Seven, I'm going to tell you a little story."

That night the flock met in the dream-hive, which in spite of the current distance of a day's journey was still strong as ever. To make them more comfortable, Max had even increased the size of the bed as well as the general size of the apartment, then made sure the drones were all comfortable. It didn't look like it but it seemed they actually preferred the cramped conditions. Whether that was because it was what they were used to or because they felt safer like that he couldn't be certain.

Crystal couldn't help but giggle as she told Max and Luna of seven's misadventures during their absence. The fact the smaller queen was currently hiding under the bow much larger bed the flock was using in the dream hive made the situation even funnier.

"-she started plotting out a sneak attack on Celestia but was speaking aloud. Right behind her!"

Luna burst into laughter at the idea, a small changeling queen speaking openly of an attempt to usurp the throne while they were gone just too ridiculous to comprehend.

Max didn't take the reveal too well, however. Reaching under the bed he nabbed the injured queen's tail and pulled her out from under the bed, drawing a yelp of pain and surprise.

"I don't care if they find it funny," Max said, gesturing to the other mares with a thumb. "I don't want to hear you talking about this kind of thing while you're linked with me. Afterwards you're free to do as you please, even if it's something stupid and suicidal like that. While you're here with us you respect our rules though, got it? And we don't attack our friends, family, or allies. Right now, Seven, you and I are allies. Understand?"

Seven, currently hanging upside down by her tail with her front hooves scrabbling at the floor, nodded in understanding. The moment Max released her tail she darted back under the bad, hissing in anger and irritation at the embarrassment he'd subjected her to.

Crystal rolled her eyes and continued her story.

"Well, after that Celestia asked to speak to her alone. Told her about the situation here in detail while drawing analogies between Seven and herself. I didn't understand a lot of them, but Celestia seems to think she's tolerable. After that we had lunch, answered to a few petitions to the crown, and retired early. If ever I have to make my own way, I'm making my hive near a hot spring. I don't think I could live without a hot bath."

"Sadly, the road does not allow us such wonderful things," Luna lamented. "We shall likely take a long bath upon our return, however."

As the group settled in, Luna leaned in and gave Crystal a strong hug.

"Give that to Tia for me when you wake up."

Max shifted a little before reaching under the bed once again and pulled Seven out by her tail. Before the changeling queen could do more than squeak in surprise he pulled her into the pile, allowing Crystal and Luna to surround her. A grin formed on his face as the queen tried squirming free, only to give up at the iron grip the flock had her in.

As the group settled in to their new positions, The half-changeling male relaxed. He'd probably have trouble sleeping alone at this point, as even in his dreams his family was present. It wasn't a bad thing though. In dreams or in the waking world, none of them were alone. Not anymore.