"This is our new hive?" Flick looked up at the castle—up and up and up. "The hive in The Badlands isn't quite so…" she fished for a word, "nice." Before she said anything else, she started walking towards the spinning Crystal Heart.

"Hold on!" Cadance's first reaction was to fly between the Heart and Flick Wing. "We are going to need to put up a fence or something. The Heart will sap your love away, faster if you get close." She looked around the partly-drunk changelings. "Tasty as it looks, it will harm you or even kill you if you approach further."

It was a double-sting for Shining. He had felt the power of the Heart as a pony, its majesty and awe, but as a changeling he knew it would be a very sudden end if he touched it now. Watching Cadance herd Flick away from the turning artifact filled his heart with warmth. "When can we expect Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

"They are probably already on the train here." Cadance reached a wing out to cover Flick's back, and felt the changeling practically slump against her; each and every one of them sparked a mothering instinct in her that hadn't even been drawn out fully. She thought to her own body, and the new life growing inside. "Once we are inside and have our little ones settled, we should probably send somepony to greet them."

"We won't wait ourselves?" The moment Shining said it, he knew why.

"Of course not. They are visiting us, Shiny. They do everything around our schedule." Cadance couldn't help but give a laugh. "Princess Celestia probably thought this would be another chance to see how we are progressing, but I wonder if she thought how much control it gives us?"

"She would, Cady. She has been playing this game a lot longer, you know." Shining had to snap a salute in return to two Royal Crystal Guards. "Good day, gentlecolts, not feeling timid today, I hope?"

"Sire, the day is simply daisies."

Shining and the guards relaxed a fraction as the code-words were exchanged. "It is good to be back. We have a lot of new citizens looking for a home." He made a gesture to all the changelings. "I will have them use the staff entrance, and they will be taught the common codes."

The doors were opened, letting Cadance and Shining walk side by side up the stairs and into their own castle. "You can change back now, Shiny." Cadance drew her wing back from Flick, revealing a slightly dazed changeling.

"My queens!" Careful lifted his head from the little desk he preferred to work from in the throne room. "Things went well, I see?" He smiled at all the drones gathered behind Shining and Cadance.

"C-C-Careful Steps?" Flick stumbled forward on her hooves. "What… when did you come here? Queen Chrysalis said you were dead!" She stared at Careful in undisguised shock.

Shining relaxed, called his magic and undid his disguise. "Careful was the first to join us. He…" Shining trailed off at the slight tone-shift in her voice, but nopony would cut in on her mid-sentence. "He is the pony I trust most, beside my immediate family." She smiled at Careful.

Careful bowed deeply to his Queen. "You honor me, Your Majesty." He grinned as he stood up straight. "Did you get all of them?" He looked among the changelings, recognizing some of them from the hive—mostly just the ones he had done training with.

"Every single one in Canterlot. Oh, there is one more following… at least we hope he is following. Apparently thinks himself the 'life of the party.' " Cadance could still remember the catchy song the unicorn had sung to her intended. "He has matters to tie up in Canterlot."

"Wonderful." Careful gestured to the stairs leading from the throne room. "Up here for now, there are enough rooms for all of you." He turned his focus on two of the drones in particular. "Straight, Dropped. Wonderful to finally have you on our side."

"You!" Dropped Ball stomped forward, his expression dire. "You are the reason all these changelings were sent to Canterlot! You were the reason we were sent to Canterlot!" Panting hard, Dropped stared at Careful, trying to get a read on how he was taking the furious accusation.

"Of course." Careful glanced to his queens, then back to Dropped. "The first was an accident, or maybe something Sneaky cooked up. I walked in here a half-starved drone and was shown a new way, a better way. The second one was baiting. We wanted Chrysalis to send more drones. Just two or three changelings here? Not enough by half for two queens growing in power."

Shining couldn't help gulping at the "growing in power" bit, but worse still were some implications that popped up from Cadance's earlier questions. She looked to Cadance and only saw reassurance and love—love she could feel. "What do you think Chrysalis will do next? How many drones does she have?" She hadn't meant the question for Careful, but the drone's head snapped to her anyway.

"The hive hosts nearly twelve-hundred changelings normally." As Careful delivered the words, he watched as Shining's slit eyes narrowed down to vertical lines. "Give or take. When we invaded Canterlot, the hive itself was stripped to nearly a quarter that number. Nearly all of them made it back, but there are a few unaccounted for."

Cadance recovered from her shock first. "How are they all fed? How are we going to feed them all?" She turned to look at Shining. "Love, how are—"

Rubbing her black hole-filled hoof gently down Cadance's jaw, Shining smiled. "We will work it out. As for how she is feeding them, that is a good question." She turned to look at Careful.

"Ponies as food are a luxury. The hive is underfed, and has been for a long time. The Canterlot invasion was more than just for Chrysalis' fun. It was a matter of survival for the hive." Careful bowed deeply to Shining. "There are animals, mostly ones that are easy to keep happy. Goats are the largest part of it, but they herd cows and sheep as well."

"You didn't have to try to run the hive when that stupid invasion happened." Flick found her voice, and was surprised at the vehemence in it. "I didn't have enough drones to look after our fields; an unhappy cow won't feed a single 'ling." She took a breath and was about to continue, when she realized both her new queens, one a "real" changeling queen, were looking right at her. Preservation instincts kicked in, and Flick Wing dropped to her belly.

Shining looked to Cadance, who shrugged at her in reply. Huffing a little, Shining Armor lay down on the ground in front of Flick. "You still argued for us to save Chrysalis, even after she inspires this kind of reaction?"

Flick lifted her snout from the floor and opened her eyes, and then she froze. A changeling queen, one she could feel was burning with power, was lying down in front of her. "Sh-Sh-She is still my mommy."

"She is, but she needs to learn how to be a pony before she can be a queen." Shining was still getting used to just how much mass she had now, she was actually larger than her wife, and on par with Princess Celestia; to say Shining was dwarfing Flick was a gross understatement. "You have experience with managing farms, but is it something you enjoy?"

The concept was foreign to Flick. "Enjoy? I…" She froze and tilted her head to the side, as if contemplating Shining's offer. "I was good at it, it… it made me popular with the others… I think I enjoyed it more than infiltrating."

"We have a lot of land around the city that is protected by the Heart, and we now have more mouths to feed. Do you think you could start farms and organize ponies into helping you?" Shining smiled at Flick.

"Why would ponies help me?" Flick blurted the question before she even realized she was still talking to a queen. "Uh, Your Majesty…" Tacking the honorific on the end was always a good idea with her mother, and she hoped it wouldn't offend Shining.

"Because they will want food, and we will pay them. Of course, if some other changelings help, that might make things a little easier, and it would be great for morale." Solutions slotted into place in Shining's head. Sure she didn't know how to farm, or how much it was going to cost, but it was another food source and would grow the city. "Will you do it for us?"

"It… It would be an honor, Your Majesty!" Flick shot to her hooves, excitement burning through her. She looked from Shining to Cadance, seeing two smiling faces. "I will need ten assistants." she turned to the other new recruits, her eyes fell on three changelings she recognized from the farms back in The Badlands. "Craft, Sloppy, Grate…" She looked between the rest.

"Volunteers would be best." Cadance leaned against Shining after her mate stood back up. "Would you three rather be doing something else?" As Cadance had learned, looking into a changeling's eyes was always the best way to make them act honestly. Two stood proud and shook their heads, but Grate lowered his head. "Sorry Flick, you still need eight. In the Crystal Empire, ponies only do the work they are best at and enjoy."

Grate Hole looked up at his Queen and was shocked. He looked around for help with what to do or say, but none was forthcoming. "T-Thank you, Your Majesty!" The moment he said it he knew it was just the right thing, he could literally taste his Queen's happiness.

Flick was starting to get the hang of what her queens wanted, and working off intuition—which hadn't gotten her squished yet—she gave a little chirp to get all the drones' attention. "I need eight volunteers who want to work on a farm and carry things. Simple work, but work our queens need us to do." She had to take a step back. "Just eight!"

Jade hadn't been needed after the Prince and Princess led away the new changelings. She watched Slick leading them beside Bright Flash, and wanted to hide. He was everything she liked in a stallion, when he was disguised: big, bold, and devoted to her. "He lied to me." The fact was damning in her own mind, and she was thankful when the group had marched away towards the castle.

"Well, it was his job to lie." Gleaming Shine walked up beside Jade Wings. "Nimbus was asking about you, I told her about the special duty." She planted her spear on the platform and half leaned on it.

"Don't you start trying to put us together as well." Jade huffed, and pondered taking flight. "And Nimbus isn't much better." She discarded the idea of flying off; no doubt Nimbus would be looking for her anyway. "I just—"

" 'A year and a day,' is what Misty Dew told him. To give you space for a year and a day and then pursue you again." Giving her spear an impressive twirl, Gleaming started going through the impressive show-routine she had been working on.

"I… I did tell him to straighten up, to be a good stallion and I would think about it." Jade watched the unicorn's spear twirl through complicated turns, at speeds far faster than her magic could do on its own.

The spear was launched up, still spinning, and then caught again in Gleaming's magic. "So what's the problem? Did he say he was sorry?" Jade nodded to her. "Did he show that he is dedicated to not lying to you again?" This time the nod resulted in Jade half hanging her head.

"Why are you doing that?" Jade struggled to change the topic to something less likely to make her think about changelings.

"Commander Gilt has come up with ideas. She wants some of us to be able to put on a show, twirling spears, feats of magic, that kind of thing. If you want my opinion, she spent too much time talking to Trixie." Gleaming spun the spear even faster, glad that the station was deserted of any passengers.

"That showoff? What in Equestria could we do with that kind of nonsense?" Jade was glad of the distraction, because she was sure if she talked about Slick some more her resolve would crack.

"Flashy military displays." Gleaming spun the spear from one side of her body to the other, the heavy weapon singing through the air now. "But mainly as a distraction. It works well, too." Turning to look right at Jade Wings, Gleaming stopped the spear and slammed the butt of it down against the platform. "Distracted you from really thinking about Slick Dive, didn't it?" She winked.

"Damn you." Jade spread her wings. "Damn, damn, damn!" Leaping up into the air, even in her armor, Jade launched herself skywards.

Author's Notes:

Fluttershy: Are you afraid that there are changelings in Ponyville right now? Will you try to befriend them?

"Oh... oh my, yes." Fluttershy looked to the sides—hoping somepony would come and save her from having to answer. "Um, but there are some nice changelings, and I really want to meet those..." the mare instantly became more animated, talking confidently, "... and ask them everything I need to know to take care of them in case they get sick. I wonder if they could drink corn soup when they have a cold? I wonder if they even get colds!" As she exclaimed, Fluttershy suddenly realized how loud she was, and practically folded in on herself. "Um... I need to go... now..."

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

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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