It was not a good time for Gilt, in one moment she was overwhelmed in a way she couldn't stop and was forcibly ripped from the welcoming sensation of her hive. "Whahv you dun?" She shook her head, recovering from the blast of love. She looked around, realizing there were three alicorns gathered around her and, to her shock, she wasn't disguised. It was a sobering realization. "Go ahead, stomp me…"

Celestia's eyes went wide. "I do not stomp ponies, even if they have lost their way." She looked first to her sister, Luna looking quite angry indeed. Then she glanced to her other side. Cadance looked triumphant, and Shining…

Shining Armor stepped forward, turning his back to the drone. "Princess Luna, please don't do anything, she was only following orders."

Gilt blinked, her brain futzing out on her. Did he just stand up for me, against the Dread Princess of the Night? There was a barb ready to go on her tongue, but the strange behavior scattered it, forcing her to swallow the words, unsaid.

"Why would you defend her?" Luna stomped a hoof. "Were any changelings defending our guard when they attacked?" There was still some fire in her voice, an echo of monster she had been freed from. Recognition of this suddenly made the Princess of the Night lose all her anger. We are better than that, Twilight taught me so. It was a comfort, her first new friend after her return was like a security blanket in her head.

"Come on, Shiny, we have a drone to talk to." Cadance stepped closer to her husband. "Do you wish to carry her, or shall I?"

"I can walk." Gilt looked to the couple standing so close. They both nodded to her and she carefully got to her hooves. "Go ahead, chain me up." Hanging her head low, Gilt awaited her fate. She was a little surprised when instead of binding her, the white unicorn and pink alicorn just started walking. Being a little left behind, she trotted to catch up with them. "We were told not to get caught because we would get stomped and squished."

"Do you feel like we would stomp and squish you?" Shining moved a little to the side, giving Gilt room, and implied command, to move up between him and Cadance.

"I can't get a proper reading from either of you, you taste… happy!" Gilt looked to the armored unicorn, then to the Princess. "So if you aren't going to squish me, what are you going to do?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Gilt?" Bright, disguised in her stallion form, was waiting for the royal couple at the door to their suite.

"Bright? What are you… Traitor!" Gilt leaped forward, a sudden burst of green energy wrapping around the leading edge of her body as she began an attack against Bright Flash. Moving on the defense, Bright braced for the attack, but looked to her queens.

Sparks of green and pink flew up as Gilt's blast-charge crashed into Shining Armor's legendary shield. No single changeling could break his magic barrier at his wedding, and Gilt certainly couldn't now. Shining got a big smile from Bright.

"Stop it, she is no more a traitor than you are, now." Cadance opened the bedroom door and plucked Gilt up in her own magic. "And you are irritating your Queens."

"My… queens?" Gilt Wings was still a little dazed after how perfectly her charge had been stopped. She squirmed and wriggled in the blue magic, until it put her down on a couch inside the suite.

"If they haven't bonked you with their love yet, it might be high time they did." Bright waited for Shining to enter and closed the door. "I trust I am not interrupting, My Queens?"

"Not at all, Bright." Cadance settled herself on a couch opposite Gilt, her husband choosing the floor just in front of her; with his armor on, the upholsterers would be grateful for the small mercy. "Why don't you start, Gilt was it?"

"She can tell you anyway, so yeah, Gilt Wings." Gilt gave a glare toward the other changeling, who had since dropped her disguise. "And it all started with an egg." She was being facetious, baiting them into demanding exact times.

"Oh, this could be important, right Shiny?" Cadance lowered a hoof down to gently rub her husband's ears.

"Uh, well…" Shining coughed. "It might be."

The acceptance of her telling her whole life story surprised Gilt so much she found herself continuing. "Queen Chrysalis selected my batch of eggs to have more than the usual love to be fed, she wanted us extra good with magic. Fat lot of good being better with magic is, when you don't have enough love to even heat water."

"That reminds me." Cadance cut in on the conversation. "Are you both well fed? Need a top-off?"

Gilt's snout dropped open, staring at the alicorn, but Bright shook her head. "I… had a date with Misty last night, doing quite well, thank you, My Queen." It was as the other changeling described her state, that Gilt realized she was… full. The hunger that literally ate at a changeling their whole life was just… not in her. "Someling just worked something out."

"I really need to work on reading female changeling faces more, I guess now I get more practice." Cadance smiled, her keen eyes trying to get a handle on the subject.

"So, yeah, we got fed extra, the other drones got less, we got dumped on pretty much all the time." Gilt looked toward the floor, the memories of her fillyhood almost overwhelming her. "So I studied, I worked at everything I could do. My Queen took notice.

"She praised herself more than she did you, Gilt." Bright looked at her hivemate. "You probably thought it was you she was congratulating, but she only cares about herself."

The words stung, worse so because they rang true. Except for the last bit. "No, she cares for something else… somepony else." Gilt looked to Shining Armor. "She sent her best team here to find out all about you."

"How is Droppy liking all the stuff I left him?" Bright's grin was wide. "Last I saw him he was drooling on half."

"And cursing your name whenever he thinks noling is watching. That was all a setup?" Gilt got a cautious nod from Cadance. "For what it is worth, that was really horrible. How much actual information is in all the junk?"

"Enough that if he finds it, Bright will be trusted implicitly." Shining couldn't resist cutting in on the conversation, something in him was fascinated by the twists his life had taken. "Now we have a problem, you see. We intended to secure one of your group for misinformation, but now you are going to need to be explained in a way that doesn't result in your not-so-friend pulling everything up and fading."

"Gilt could die." Bright smiled to her Queens, when she saw confusion she shook her head. "I don't mean literally. A letter could be sent, from Princess Celestia to you, notifying you, as Guard Captain, that she discovered a changeling in the ranks of the guard and gave them a good stomping."

"What are you going to do with me then?" Gilt was scared, really scared—when ponies seemed inclined to fake your death, things were probably about to go against you.

"This." Cadance leaned down from the couch and nuzzled Shining Armor, rubbing her cheek against the stallion's. One of her eyes was trained on Gilt Wings, she saw the smile force its way onto the 'lings face, watched as Gilt's body visibly relaxed. "You with us still, Bright?"

"A… a little distracted." Bright struggled to stay on her own couch, the world seemed inclined to make her want to roll around on her back and just squirm in bliss. It was a hard fight not to.

"What about you, Gilt?" Shining's attention was on their new friend. He watched as she blinked away the daze slowly, then she gave a great sigh and nodded. "As Cady demonstrated, what we want to do with you is make sure you are fed, safe, and can live a full and happy life. The only requirement we impose is that you treat everypony and everyling as you wish to be treated."

"What?" Gilt's head was a little fuzzy, but what she was being told just didn't make sense. "I don't understand?"

"We are going to take you back to the Crystal Empire, it is your new home." Cadance had to fight her urge to lean down and snuggle Shining again. He said it so well.

"But I was spying on you, I was working for My Queen to…" Gilt looked at Shining, her eyes suddenly widening. "It is working, isn't it?" She shot to her hooves, a little wobbly thanks to all the love she had drunk, but she pointed one at him. "That is why you are wearing all that!"

Shining used his magic, unfastening the helmet and lifting it clear of his head. Without the horn-guard on the stallion's twisted black changeling horn was in clear view.

"That… that is… a…" Gilt couldn't say it, she was stumbling all over her words.

Bright helped her hivemate. "A queen's horn. Shining Armor is going to be our Queen in more than just title." So simply put, the words drew Shining's gaze to the changeling. "It is true, My Queen."

"I know, it… it is still hard to think about, but I can't ignore it. Have either of you seen this happen before?" Shining's voice had the slightest hint of a whine in it.

Gilt reacted in a way she never had before. She sat up straight, looked at the pony that was turning into a changeling, and reached for him. Scared, worried, intrigued, interested, love… so much love… She suddenly wanted to tell him that she had, that she knew everything that was going on. Why is some of that love aimed at me?

"This is the only time I have heard of it, My Queen." Bright hung her head, feeling like she had failed her hive. "I wish I could tell you more, please believe me."

A touch of gentle magic brushed Bright's jaw, tilting her head back up. "We do, Bright." Cadance smiled at Bright, trying to reassure the changeling that it was okay. "But it is interesting that you mention you are particularly well-versed with changeling magic, Gilt." Neither drone put the facts together. "Shining needs lessons, you see?"

Surprise after surprise came, or so it seemed to Gilt. "You want me to teach a queen magic?"

"Just me." Shining blushed a little, it had been a long time since he had been taught magic. "Careful said I-" He realized his mistake as soon as he saw the surprise on Gilt's face. "Careful Steps was the first changeling to come to us. He seems to think that once my unicorn magic reserves are spent, the changeling magic will take over."

"From anyling else, I would refute it or question it." Gilt's world was turned all kinds of around. "But from Careful Steps, I would take his word as fact. So what do you need to learn?"

"If you are going to do it, Shiny, now would be the time, if you are going to expend your magic." Cadance leaned down, resting her snout against his forehead. They both knew she had set her chin against the heart-shaped notch.

Shining tilted his head up, looking at his wife. "You won't leave me alone, will you?" He got a kiss for asking such a thing. "How did I get this lucky?"

"Easy, you looked cute, actually minded your manners and had the best plot in-" Cadance started to explain but got interrupted by a kiss.

"Wait, I'm not ready…" Gilt was washed under by the love, as was Bright. "Blargle…"

"Careful said he got used to it, but I saw him trying to get on the train earlier. What did you two do to him last night?" Bright was struggling against the love, fighting her body's instinct to just drink and drink.

"Okay, Cady." Shining took a deep breath and made a little shield, a tiny one, hovering in the middle of the room. He had learned the trick in training and, by starting with a tiny ball and growing it out into a force bubble, it ensured there was not a single thing within it, not even magic itself. It took a lot of power and his special talent to even try such a thing.

"I don't get it, he held a huge shield for days against-" Bright was interrupted by Gilt.

"There is nothing in it, Bright. Nothing at all. That shield is holding back… everything." Gilt's eyes were wide, amazed at the power that tiny ball of force must be using. He is a powerful queen. She blinked, wondering where the thought had come from. Is he really my queen now?

The bang of the ball collapsing echoed through the room, followed shortly by Shining gasping and shaking in his armor. Both changelings focused on him, got up and closed the distance toward Shining Armor.

"My Queen, you need to feed!" Bright looked between Shining and Cadance. "Kiss him again."

Cadance didn't need the prompting. She leaned down and nuzzled that special spot on her Shiny's horn, then kissed his forehead. She felt it, that odd tremble in her magic when someling was feeding on it, but this was a great drain, not a small one. "Shiny!"

Shining Armor felt an ocean break over him, he rolled in the waves and some part of him reached out to them, drew them in. "Cady." The word, all he could say as love poured into his body. He fed and fed, his reserves felt limitless, but even his hunger couldn't match the Princess of Love's element.

"He is out?" Cadance climbed off the couch, nuzzling her husband's smiling face. "Out like a light, is he…"

"It was too much for him. From starving to overflowing…" Gilt looked at the princess, her own love reserves catching a little of what got past her Queen's hunger. Then it hit her, the bond wasn't just to Shining Armor. "M-M-My Queen?" She blinked at Cadance, got a smile and nod from her.

"Welcome to the hive." Bright wobbled and fell over, her ability to withstand the pulses of love in the room having been pushed too far. She squirmed, she rolled, she giggled like a little filly.

Author's Notes:

"I don't even get what this is? Am I meant to tell them my whole life too?" Gilt wandered out onto the stage, to find glaring lights and a card. " 'Was it good for you, too?' " She blinks. "Of course it wasn't good, it was amazing and terrible. My hive was stripped away from me, I couldn't feel all those others for the first time in my life!" Gilt threw the card away and stormed off the stage.

---

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and I they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, I They will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! I They will pick one question per chapter.

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