About an hour later. Shade had brought his friend to the nearest food chamber and helped him regain his strength by feeding. Thunder is still fairly weak, but is on his way to recovery.

"Hey...Shade..." Thunder started in a quiet voice, it was all he could muster at this point in time.

"Yeah?" Shade simply replied as he looked back at Thunder behind him. He was going slowly so Thunder could keep up.

"Thanks for everything. I'm not sure what would have happened if you didn't help me out today, but thanks."

Shade smiled and stopped as he turned around to his best friend. Thunder almost bumped into him, but managed to stop right before doing so.
"Hey, no problem at all. That's what friends are there for. Besides, It was Chrysalis who came to the conclusion that you were starving, not me. I'm not sure if I would have found out in time myself. You should thank her, not me."

Thunder looked away from Shade. "Ugh...I don't know...something ain't right with her. I've just got the feeling she's...I don't know, lying. Tricking me, or us, or everyone."

Shade laughed at Thunder's distrust. "I'm sure that's just because of the whole 'she transformed me into a changeling' thing. She's really not that bad, pal."

Thunder now looked at Shade with a very serious look. "Are you saying that this whole thing isn't even a big deal? Do you even have any idea what she did to me and what this means to me? Have you been sleeping during our latest disputes??" Thunder yelled at Shade. Both of them didn't think Thunder even had the strength to shout like that at the moment, yet it seems they were both proven wrong.

"W-what? No! I know this is tough for you! Trust me, I do! I really do!" Shade said, trying to step closer to Thunder. Thunder, however, stepped back from him.

"Do you? Do you really? I doubt that. You know what? Maybe I'm right. Maybe this is all just a big faint, a trick, a plan. You may just be trying to brainwash me with your whole changeling stuff. But guess what? I'm not falling for it!" With that, Thunder turned around, walking into the opposite direction of the tunnel which would lead towards the throne room once again.

Shade was shocked, he tried calling for his friend one last time. "Thunder, please! You're wrong and I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! Please! Come back!" Shade's words fell on deaf ears tough as Thunder kept on walking into the darkness, away from him. Shade was disappointed. Not in Thunder, but in himself. He shouldn't have said something like that, Thunder clearly wasn't ready for a 'joke' like that. Shade had overestimated how well Thunder had settled down into the changeling society and now...he was alone. All alone. Unfortunatly, this wasn't the first time for Shade to lose someone he held dear. This time however, it was not too late. He could still make up for his mistakes. "Not again...not this time..." Shade said to himself. "I'll do anything to prevent this." Shade stopped as he remembered what had happened in his past. The memories stung like someone had stabbed him in his throat. "anything..."

As Thunder, still weakened, aimlessly roams around in the tunnels, he starts rethinking the choice he had just made. Was he just overreacting?`No...definitly not, not when talking about being transformed into a changeling. It's hard to overreact when talking about something as bad as that. Perhaps though...Shade was right. Maybe the changelings and Chrysalis really are good. Chrysalis did help him. Maybe she did so to trick him into believing she is good though. Changelings are tricksters, and their Queen would be the biggest one of them.

His though process was cut short as he heard voices at the end of the tunnel. Attracting attention was the last thing he wanted to do at this very moment so he tried sneaking up to the exit without making too much noise. As he came closer, he realized there were at least 3 voices speaking.
Then, as he looked out of the exit and into the room, he knew exactly who was speaking and where he was. The Throne room. Inside the room were Queen Chrysalis, her advisor and 3 other changelings. Chrysalis was sitting on her throne, her advisor flying right next to her while the 3 others stood on the ground. One of them had a very impressive, big armor, while the other two had slightly thinner, less special armor. Thunder could only assume that those 3 must be in some kind of military or guard and that the one with the big armor must be their chief.

"For the last time, General: We will not, I repeat not, hurt the princesses." Chrysalis expressed in a serious and commanding voice.

The General didn't seem to be aggreeing with her though. "This is ridiculous, my Queen. The princesses have already tried attacking several of our guards as they brought them water and food. In addition to that, the pure factor that we are keeping the princesses in the dungeons as captives has created big unrest in the Hive's population. The drones think that-" The General was cut off by a very angry Queen.

"SILENCE!" Chrysalis shouted, making everyone shut up immediatly. Only the buzzing of the advisor's wings could be heard as she was hovering next to the Queen. "I am more than aware of the situation within my own Hive, general. However, you must have all forgotten that the Elements of Harmony and Prince Shining Armor are still out there, looking for their princesses. If we really did hurt the princesses, they would attack us as soon as they found us. And I must remind you, General, that the Elements of Harmony alone defeated Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek and many more evildoers."

"...including you, my Queen." The General replied with a slight sense of humour.

The Queen eyes narrowed at his rather unfitting comment. "Yes...indeed. You see, we are to not underestimate their power again if we truly want to succeed this time. What you and your pity military staff are suggesting would be suicide."

"But...why didn't we just capture ALL of Equestria's royals? It seems rather hindering to not capture the Elements of Harmony aswell." The General replied.

The Queen chuckled at the General's question. "Because, if we did capture all royals, somepony from Equestri's military staff would take charge. This would mean that the entire Equestrian military is devoted to kill us at any price. The only reason we are still alive is because of the princesses. With them as captives and the elements of Harmony and husband of princess Cadance in charge, the Equestrians will never be starting an invasion or attack of any sorts if the lives of their princesses matter to them."

The General was stunned, he had never thought of such possibilities. "Truly, you are right, my Queen."

"That is why you are a General and I'm the Queen, dear. You may know how to lead an army, but I know just how furious the Equestrians are. An open attack would be a massacre. To succeed we must fully depend on deception and infiltration. The Equestrian's spirits are strong and determined, but that won't help them if they don't know who to fight or where the enemy is."

The General bowed before the Queen, the two soldiers next to him did the same. "We are truly grateful to have you as our Leader, my Queen. I will let the others know right away, this will surely stop most of the unrest."

The Queen nodded affirmatively. "Very well, Go ahead." With her command, the General and his bodyguard lifted off the ground and entered one of the countless tunnels in the throne room.

Meanwhile, during all of this, Thunder couldn't trust his ears. He had heard everything, every last bit. He couldn't believe it. He was right! He was actually right! She was evil! Thunder knew he couldn't trust her or any of the changelings. Then suddenly...it hit him. He couldn't trust the changelings...which meant...he couldn't trust Shade either. Shade...lied to him. All this time. He lied from start to finish. First he betrays him in Canterlot, now...in the Changeling Hive. Thunder was unsure if Changelings really had a heart but if they did, Thunder's was surely broken by now.
His best friend betrayed him all this time, the princesses, including his loved one, have been captured and now the Changelings are using the ponies' friendliness as an advantage. He couldn't let this happen! But then again...what could he do? He was all alone, in the midst of the changeling hive with noone to help or guide him. He had to do something...for now though, it seemed the best plan would be to escape from the throne room. The last thing he wanted to happen was for Chrysalis or any changelings to find him here.

And so Thunder turned around and ran off, away from the Throne room. After about a minute though, he bumped into something. As it turns out, it wasn't 'something' though, It was someone.

"Thunder...I...I'm terribly sorry..."