Prologue

If there was a city of glass and brick in Equestria, it was Manehattan. The city of two and a half million stretched across the eastern coast of Equestria, harboring ponies of all walks of life from the rich and famous to those who shied away from the public eye. Nestled between two blocks of skyscrapers was the city library, a city of books to mirror the metropolis outside.

It was here that a Grecian sphinx stepped into the reception hall. He gazed about the marble and granite chamber with accustomed eyes. His eyes fell upon the receptionist at her desk, who was occupied directing a patron. With his cat-like paws being uncomfortably silent compared to the ever-present clip clop of hooves, he glided his way behind the patron to patiently wait his turn. The receptionist gave him a worried look, feeling her distant prey instinct upon seeing such a predator. Once she finished her conversation with the patron, and sending him to the exit, the receptionist gave a thin yet courteous smile to the sphinx. “Can I help you, mister…”

The sphinx took the brown flat cap off his head, and bowed with it. With a thumb, he pulled a lock of dyed blue hair out of the way to reveal the tattoo of the open eye of a Psykira to her. The mare relaxed a bit, and gave a shallow curtsy in return before taking her seat. “My apologies for arriving at this late hour, but I must speak with an employee of yours.” From a pocket in his brown leather coat, he produced two pictures, one with a pony’s face, the other with a cutie mark. Alongside the pictures he also withdrew a scroll bearing the mark of Celestia and a crest of the Royal Guard. “I am on crown business.”

The receptionist gasped behind a hoof at the sight of the crest. “My word. I had no idea you sphinxes were allowed in the Guard.” Her face turned beet red. “Sorry, that was rude of me. Let me take a look.”

With a casual snort, he pocketed the scroll and handed over the pictures. “Think nothing of it. It still feels strange to me as well. To be given such trust from the state is a novelty that has yet to fade.”

The receptionist cleared her throat. “So I hear.” It didn’t take her long to identify the pony in the photos. “Ah yes, I know her. She usually brings me tea when she comes on shift. You’ll find her in the archives, second level section B.” The mare pulled out a thick rolodex and started flipping through it to mark the visit. “She’s not under investigation or arrest is she?”

“I should hope not,” the sphinx replied with hushed concern. “She’s an old friend.”

Deeper still into the archive section of the library, Twilight Velvet was alone with stacks of books and documents. Bags clung to her eyes, and her mane was collected yet frazzled with more grey in it now than purple. Documents and books alike flew into shelves or carts with practiced ease. A magic-driven quill scribbled on floating parchment, recording every filing and indexing.

Tired eyes moved from box to book and back again as the older middle aged mare trudged dutifully along. Her mechanical-like reshelving came to an abrupt halt upon seeing the imposing yet noticeably aged sphinx standing at the top of the spiral stairwell. Her eyes narrowed briefly, searching for the employee badge that should have adorned his chest or hat. Upon finding no sign of one, she stood a little taller in a stony and warning manner. “The archives are closed to visitors and patrons at this hour. I must ask you to leave.”

With a wrinkled old grin, the sphinx shuffled forward and stepped fully into the light. “My word, Twilight Velvet, has it really been so long that you’ve forgotten me?” he asked with faux emotional pain.

Velvet gasped and nearly dropped the inked quill. “Doctor Arvatus? Is that really you?”

Arvatus bowed with his cap and gave her a warm friendly smile. “It is. I see you’ve aged well.”

Velvet dropped her quill in the ink well and walked over to give him as strong of a hug as she could. “Oh, I wish I could say the same about you, Doctor.” Velvet pulled away to get a better look at the old psychiatrist. His eyes were sunken and bloodshot, a ghastly pallor was visible under his fur, and the gums of his teeth and lips were black. “You look absolutely dreadful.”

A hollow aching laugh escaped Arvatus as he hid his eyes behind his hat. “Not one to pull your punches. I always liked that blunt honesty about you.”

Even as sick as he looked, Arvatus was able to walk over to the stool Velvet had been using. Velvet was quick to pull it away from the desk to make it easier for him. With a quick word of thanks, he sat without any noticeable weakness. “I see you have made yourself at home in Book City.”

The attempt at humor did next to nothing to diminish her concern. Velvet fished out a teapot and starting using a spell to heat it up. “It’s been kind to me. Thanks to Gleaming Light becoming the face of the PCE, I’ve been more or less forgotten now that the group has disbanded. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that.”

Emotion threatened to spill over, but Velvet bore it with measured grace and tactfully wiped away a solitary tear. “I hope you like jasmine tea. I’m afraid all I have is sugar to mix with it.”

“I would love a cup, thank you.”

As Velvet turned to the tray to dole out the drinks, Arvatus brooded silently while rapping his fingers on the brim of his hat. The tea was ready in short order, giving him a welcome distraction. “Smells wonderful.”

“I only wish I could have made it myself instead of using store bought,” Velvet bemoaned ruefully as she took a few sips, and waited for Arvatus to do the same before continuing. “I used to have a small tea garden behind the manor.” Velvet looked up at the simple chandelier. “A pot of jasmine tea used to be Twily’s favorite part of the day. Little Shining never did care for tea; he was too much like his father and loved coffee.” She pressed her eyes closed as an emotional warble of pain escaped her lips.

“Even after all this time, she remains in your thoughts?” Arvatus asked behind his cup. Velvet sat on the floor, brooding silently. “I understand how difficult it can be to face something such as this.” Arvatus rubbed his cup as memories of his own came forth. “I can’t tell you how many speeches I heard from other Psykira back on the homeland, trying to keep us going just one more day. They worked for a time, but rarely more than a few hours.” He paused and glanced up from his tea. Velvet was hanging her head low with shame washing over Arvatus’ senses. “You should go talk with her.”

“I can’t do that,” Velvet said after a long moment of contemplation. “I don’t have the right.”

Arvatus arched an eyebrow, but held his peace for a few sips. “Last I heard, there was no restraining order between you two.”

“There is no need for something so vulgar.” Velvet slowly traced a hoof around the bottom of her cup, and stared blankly at the steaming liquid. “I disowned her the instant I attempted to take her life. And I am of no mind to disrupt her now. Twily has her life now, and I have mine.” Feeling the need to shore up her emotional walls, Velvet paused to take a long relaxing sip. “I still like to hear about her in the news though.”

Both of them allowed the conversation to fall away. Eventually, Velvet broke it when she offered to refill the sphinx’s cup. “But I’m not your patient anymore, Doctor. I get the chance to ask about your life now.”

A brittle chuckle escaped his cracked lips. With a nod of thanks, he sipped his refreshed drink. “Fair is fair, I believe the saying goes. I retired. I haven’t practiced medicine for months now. I’ve taken up exploring the land that welcomed me with open hooves. Walking in the open without fear…” He paused to suppress a hiss as pain lanced through his chest. “To those who have lacked it, freedom is more valuable than gold.”

Velvet gave him a worried grimace. “Be truthful with me, Arvatus. You retired because of your illness.” She paused, waiting in vain for him to fess up. “I may not be too informed on sphinxes, but surely you don’t age that miserably.”

Arvatus’ face wrinkled like he had taken a punch to the gut. “Ohh, going right for the artery, aren’t you?” When Velvet’s concern only deepened on her face, Arvatus slumped. He placed his half drained cup on the desk. “Very well. It is true, my illness is not natural. That freedom I spoke of…” Dark memories of other sphinxes assailing him crossed his mind. “There were some who took advantage of my new carelessness. Some enemies of the old world tracked me down and poisoned me with a blade.” Velvet gasped behind both hooves. “I was given an antidote, but the damage was done.” Arvatus gazed upon his hands, taking in each dry crack in his skin. “The poison only affects those of us who practice psychic power. I’ll be bedridden in a month or so, faster the more I use my power, but I plan to die with grace before that.”

Velvet approached him, and draped a caring foreleg on his arm. “Can nothing be done at all? I still have some money stashed from my PCE days.”

Arvatus smiled gratefully. It was a look that reminded Velvet of that wise being that had brought her back from madness; a kind and protective expression that had stuck with her for all these years.

“Save your money. Your daughter already spared no expense. She never directly suggested rebirth was the only salvation, but I knew she was desperate to help me. In the end, she gave me open credit so I could continue my tour of the Alliance.”

“I had no idea you and she were so close.” Velvet averted her gaze. “I wish I had her ability to pick better friends.”

“I have a confession to make, Ms. Velvet. I told her of the aid I gave you in the asylum.”

Velvet pulled back, an upward twinge on her lips. “I suspected you had. Otherwise I imagine Twily would have been watching me like a hawk for all these years… assuming she’d even let me walk free instead of into a prison.”

“…Ms. Velvet, I must be as honest with you, as you have with me. Ever since you walked out of Arkmane Asylum, I considered your healing as my greatest accomplishment, if not the very reason I was born.”

She gave him a sad look. “Come now, doctor, I’ll - I’ll admit I was a trying patient, but surely you have had better accomplishments besides me. The exodus from your homeland must have been worse.”

“Perhaps,” Arvatus conceded with a brief snort of amusement. He allowed Velvet’s nerves to calm a bit as he took a long drag of his tea. Upon finishing, he gently swirled the remaining liquid for a few moments longer. “My father used to say to me: great deeds are not always the most difficult, but those with the largest influence on history.” Arvatus tried to give her a compassionate look without seeming too ill. “Both you and Twilight Sparkle still bear the wounds of your… separation. It would bring me such peace to see you reconcile with her.”

Velvet squeezed her eyes shut, but couldn’t stop several tears from betraying her. “I came here because I’m a coward. I couldn’t go through with meeting her again. From what I hear, Twilight’s been doing just fine with forgetting me. Why shouldn’t I just let her live without ever having to think of me and my actions again.”

“I know it would be so terribly hard for both of you, Ms. Velvet, but can you truly say it is possible to forget one’s parents? Your daughter still thinks of you in her private moments. She confessed as much to me on the rare occasion when conversation deemed it permissible. In passing, a slip of the tongue, but very real.

“Time heals all wounds, Ms. Velvet; it is up to you to change just how much time is needed. If there is one thing your lands and people have above my homeland, it is your ability to forgive. Is not Princess Luna a prime example of that?” Arvatus said nothing further, interpreting Velvet’s silence as taking time to think.

In a flash of movement, Velvet downed a full cup of hot tea in one go, gritting her teeth from the painful heat. “I am not a sister to the one pony able to pardon all crimes.”

“Pardoning and forgiving are two very different things, Velvet.” Arvatus met her red-rimmed eyes. “Your daughter’s satisfaction would be enough to stay even Rainbow Dash’s ire.”

The conversation dropped into silence. The grey and purple mare’s breathing was labored with barely reined in emotion. Time dragged on long enough for steam to stop rising from the teapot, and still Velvet was lost in thought. Eventually though, Velvet opened her eyes to give him a determined glare. “I can’t do this for myself, but if it helps Twily, then I will suffer whatever slings and arrows she or her brood throw at me.”

A slow exhale of relief flooded the old tom. “I thank you, Velvet. Either success or failure would put me at ease for the long sleep. Now, I feel I must make a second confession.” Velvet eyed him curiously as Arvatus reached into his suit and pulled out a scroll bearing the golden crest of Celestia. “I cannot understate how important I feel your attempt at reconciliation is for both you and your daughter. So in the event you declined, I requested Celestia to make it an official summons to the Solar Court.”

Velvet jumped to her hooves, knocking her tea cup away and spilling it all over the marble floor. “What?! W-why did—” Her initial question died as she could already guess. “You want this to happen that badly?”

Arvatus’ back creaked disconcertedly as he climbed to his paws. “I do. Ms. Velvet, it is my belief that we mortals have such short lives because the emotional stress of a longer one can be too much for many to bear.” Velvet’s ire dipped a little into a smoldering scowl. “Even the best of us can go on for only so long. For beings like the queens and princesses, they don’t get the luxury of a fresh start. They must bear their scars for an age or longer.”

He approached Velvet and placed a reassuring paw on her shoulder. “You love your daughter again, do you not?”

More tears threatened to break free. Velvet hung her head, her mane spilling over her face. “I should never have stopped.”

“Then if not for yourself, do this for her. One less scar for her to bear.” Arvatus presented the scroll to her once again, beckoning her to take it.

Memories flashed in Velvet’s mind of times with Twilight Sparkle; memories of Twilight’s childhood and tutelage under Celestia, but more hauntingly, her own slow fall from concerned mother to a mockery of her old self. “I’ll leave on the first train tomorrow.”

1: By Royal Commandment

Early the next day, two individuals were passing a guard checkpoint between the Commons and Palace District of Canterlot. The courtyard was as busy as ever with teams of ponies going to and fro. There was a scattering of other species in the mix, the largest minority being free-trader changelings, but even they were dwarfed by the ponies’ numbers. The bright morning sun was framed by a few clouds giving the hot summer day some much needed shade. At the heart of the plaza was a tall and proud gold statue of three ponies in old style armor whose names escaped all but the royal sisters.

Lyra Heartstrings and her lifelong friend, Bon Bon, smiled and gave thanks to the soldiers as they left the checkpoint. Both mares returned their citizen badges, one of Equestria and one of Tradewinds, the new changeling hive shared by Queens Aegis and Blitzkrieg, to their saddlebag and satchels respectively. Lyra twirled the court-summons scroll in her fingers before socketing it in a scroll clasp.

While the cream colored earth mare had changed little over the years, save for gaining a bit of weight thanks to her confectionery business, the same could not be said of her tall friend. Ever since Lyra awoke from her rebirth, she stepped out on two legs and never looked back. The seafoam-green changeling’s eyes held a blue glow, barely perceivable in the morning sun. She wore an assortment of fanny packs. As with all her new kin, she had small holes in her limbs, and her horn had become smooth with a slight backward curve that ended in a sharp point.

Their original conversation picked back up once they were clear of the checkpoint with Bon Bon taking the lead. “Can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve been to the palace.”

Lyra craned her neck to see the tops of the marble spires. “Doesn’t look any different. Some things never change now do they?”

Bon Bon eyed a passing patrol and their firearms with a scowl. “Too bad some things do.”

The change in Bon Bon’s voice and emotional aura brought Lyra’s attention first to her friend, and then to the patrol’s weapons. The pale green changeling unconsciously tapped her holstered pistol. “Are you ever going to get over firearms? With so many things going on right now, the queens want all of us to wear one.”

“It’s not that,” Bon Bon chided right back. “There was a majesty about swords and spears. I mean look,” she waved a hoof at a golden statue of Celestia commemorating some old battle where the alicorn held a sword aloft. “Back when sparring was an art, not just a race to win.”

Lyra shrugged and picked up the pace a bit. Bon Bon easily kept up with her as they passed into the great hall. Ponies both common and noble were crammed together. With the day court in full session, there was almost nowhere left to stand or fly. While the gold plated soldiers stood vigilant over the various passages that led deeper into the castle, none bothered to give the crowd any sort of organization. Unicorn and earth ponies alike were so jam-packed that no amount of perfume could hide the waft of sweat and body odor made worse by the summer heat.

Lyra didn’t mind the smell, as changeling odor was worse in some ways, but her nose twinged all the same at the disorganized throng. Her gossamer wings buzzed irritably. “Come on, let’s find a guard since I got an official summons.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Bon Bon waved a hoof in front of her nose. “The sooner the better.”

It didn’t take much effort to spot one, but squeezing their way through to reach one was another chore entirely. Bon Bon had the wisdom to direct them to one of the guards along the side exits where the crowd was thinnest. It was thankfully a short walk, and Lyra offered the guard her scroll upon reaching him.

“Heyya guy, can I break in line since I got an official summons?”

The uniform white unicorn eyed Lyra and Bon Bon carefully while unrolling the scroll. “…Everything seems to check out.” He returned the scroll and turned to his partner on the other side of the exit. “These two have a priority audience with the Princess. Cover for me. You going to be fine solo?”

Lyra sensed an irate emotional aura coming from the partner, but his outer appearance remained as stony as ever. “I think I can handle it. Just make it brief.”

Within short order, Lyra and Bon Bon were ushered through one of side passages and into the main throne room, the door of which was cleverly disguised as one of the stained glass windows. Princess Celestia sat on her throne, listening to a petition from a collection of five earth ponies. Lyra and Bon Bon’s intrusion drew a brief glance from Celestia—one just long enough for her to recognize the changeling and her friend. Celestia gave a curt nod to the guard who bowed and departed, leaving the pair to stand near a pillar. Lyra chose to pass the time by leaning against it while they waited.

By the time the Princess returned her attention to the supplicants, they had brought up a large whiteboard with a drawing of the southeastern seaboard and a collection of boats around an island far off shore. From her time in helping construct Aegis and Blitz’s hive, Lyra might have paid attention, but there was a strange tint to the emotions in the room. The brightest came from Celestia herself. The alicorn possessed the same warm composure as was common for her. Lyra sifted around the earth ponies’ aura, only finding the expected nervousness of rejection and hope of success.

Not them… Somepony in here is super antsy, but where? She looked to the guards and found bits of pride and boredom. Not them. The scent of restlessness mocked her, but all she could glean was that it came from a single source. Gah, there’re too many ponies in here for me to get a good lock. Maybe when this group leaves I can find it.

It was then that Bon Bon nudged her and whispered. “Hey, wake up. I think we’re going to be called soon.” Lyra closed her empathy to focus on Celestia.

“I must admit I have been worried for a long time as to what happened to the hippogriffs. You may have your expedition. See the royal financier about funding in three days’ time.”

The petitioners sang Celestia’s praises and quickly packed up to leave before she might change her mind. The Princess kept a cheery face and waved them farewell. It was only after the earth ponies moved away from the throne that Lyra spied an oddly familiar mare on the opposite side of the room, the source of all the anxiety, fear and depression. The grey and faded purple mane teased Lyra with the mare’s identity, and all it took her was a brief query to the hive mind to know who it was.

Velvet. Lyra scowled harshly with clenched teeth. Her wings buzzed angrily, and she pushed off the pillar a bit. “What is she doing here?” she hissed under her breath.

Bon Bon may not have had access to the hive mind, but she remembered the news of Velvet’s trial and crimes. It was not something she could easily forget. “Wasn’t she in an asylum or something?”

“Got released a few years back,” Lyra growled as she clenched her fists. “She should have stayed there.”

“Lyra Heartstrings,” Celestia called out warmly from her throne. “Thank you for answering my summons.”

Lyra did her best to throw her anger aside to give the Princess the respectful smile she deserved and bounced over to stand before her and bow. “Pleasure’s all mine, your majesty. Not that I’d ever say no.”

“Oh?” Celestia asked impishly as she idly watched Bon Bon join her friend and bow much lower than Lyra had. “You may be half tempted after hearing what I am about to ask of you.” She flicked her eyes in Velvet’s direction. “You may step forward Ms. Twilight Velvet.”

Lyra inwardly bristled at the full name. She doesn’t have the right to bear Queen Twilight’s name, even in half.

The sullen yet resolute mare obeyed and quickly made her way to stand on the opposite side of the red carpet from Lyra. Velvet tried to ignore the spiteful glare Lyra was giving her and focus instead on Celestia. “I am at your service, Princess.” Lyra snorted disdainfully, but otherwise kept her mouth shut.

“It has been six years since Psykira Arvatus attested to your return to sanity and willingness to repent.” Celestia granted her a thin smile. “Something few beings are capable of after falling so far, less so without purification from ancient magic. And yet thus far you are not acting the part.” Celestia shifted to a gentle frown as Velvet started to shiver a bit. “Unless I am mistaken, you have spent all these years locked away in a library. I expected you would naturally need time to compose yourself and catch up on recent events, but sadly it took a visit from Arvatus to finally stir you into action. Do you have any reason for this that I am unaware of?”

Lyra fully expected Velvet to go on a defensive rant. Here come the excuses.

Yet all Velvet did was hang her head and mutter just loudly enough to be heard, “None. I’m sorry, Princess.”

Silence ruled for several moments. Celestia had the barest thoughtful frown as she studied the bowing mare before her. “Ms. Velvet, you remind me much of your daughter’s protégé, a pony if you can believe it. A mare by the name of Starlight Glimmer.” That got a surprised look out of Lyra and Bon Bon, and a confused one out of Twilight Velvet. “Like Starlight, you both have committed serious crimes that would normally require stone imprisonment or worse. Admittedly, your actions were far less... how shall I put this … apocalyptic.”

Velvet gulped at the description. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of any Starlight Glimmer, let alone anypony else with world ending plots.”

“I’m sure either she or Twilight Sparkle can elaborate on the matter further should they desire. But the matter that concerns you here and now is that unlike Starlight, you have yet to make any attempts at reconciliation. That must begin today.”

“Yes, your highness.” Velvet tried to keep her tone determined and humble, yet she could not hide her shakiness.

“Excellent. Now, as for you, Miss Lyra Heartstrings,” Celestia’s posture and outward expression brightened considerably. “I want you to escort Twilight Velvet and make sure Velvet does not come to harm.” Celestia didn’t need to be an empath to see the sheer indignation in the changeling’s tense shoulders and barely hidden scowl, but she chose to ignore it. “I trust the queens will keep your kin from doing anything rash, but there might be other parties out there who would.”

Lyra anxiously scratched the back of her neck. “Not that I’d question your wisdom, your highness, but why me? I’m a musician, not a soldier.”

“Granted. However I have two reasons for your selection. First, as for the matter of security, it is my understanding that Queen Aegis has made it a point to have all drones of Tradewinds trained to use firearms.” Celestia’s eyes drifted to the pistol still strapped to Lyra’s thigh. “I have made it an imperative that the public views these weapons as little more than deterrents than anything else. After all, a horn is capable of much worse if used for dark ends. That alone should be enough protection.

“As for the second, and more personal reason,” Celestia gave Lyra a thoughtful look, her critical gaze taking in the hybrid’s features. “To the best of my knowledge, you’re the only pony to date who willingly became a changeling without any… extenuating circumstances. That is why I want you to be the one to escort Twilight Velvet.”

“I don’t mean to presume, Princess,” Lyra countered as politely as she could while sounding irritated. “But why not just leave Velvet in whatever hole she was hiding in if she wasn’t screwing around? Why would the Queen want to reopen old wounds?” Lyra ignored the hitched gasp from across the carpet.

Celestia, on the other hoof, took on an admonishing tone. “Because I would assume a changeling would understand a mother’s importance.” Celestia put a touch of magic in her voice to make it reverberate in Lyra’s ears. “Am I correct in that assessment?”

Lyra bowed in submission along with a frown and drooping ears. “Yes, your highness. Unless my Queen commands otherwise, I’ll do as you ask.”

“You would not be here if Blitz was unaware of this matter.” Celestia eased up on the gentle intimidation for a warmer demeanor. “Now,” Celestia waved Velvet over so both she and the changeling stood a little closer together. “This is not a problem that can be aided with deadlines and schedules. Nevertheless, I want to see actual progress. I will leave the details to you.”

At last, Celestia turned towards the cream colored earth mare. “Miss Bon Bon, from what I hear, Lyra and you are practically joined at the hip.”

Bon Bon tittered a bit before releasing a sigh. She gave Lyra a sidelong grin. “Not so much these days. Lyra’s music career takes her away from Ponyville and my shop all too often.”

“Life always finds a way to change on us,” Celestia replied with no less remembrance of things past. “Given how important I feel this task is, the crown will compensate you for any lost business you incur should you wish to aid your friend.”

Bon Bon blushed and tried to dig into the floor with a hoof. “I appreciate the offer, your highness, but I have a family back home that I can’t leave for that long.” She gave Velvet a courteous, if studious look. “I get the feeling this might take a while.”

“If that is your wish, far be it from me to stop you,” Celestia clapped her hooves together in a gesture to end things. “I expect to hear good things in the future.” She directed a more focused stare at Velvet, making sure to hold the other mare’s eyes. “I’ve kept my eye on you, Twilight Velvet. I have no doubt you are remorseful.” The mare in question wilted only slightly. “Things can get better for you, but you must convince yourself of that before it can happen.”

Once the audience with Celestia was over, Bon Bon directed the three of them to the hotel she had reserved before learning about the summons. The walk there was more or less uneventful as far as Velvet was concerned. With all of her time being away from the public eye, few ponies gave her more than cursory glances, and none spoke to her outside of polite greetings. She was just a vaguely familiar face with no name.

The hotel room itself at first glance was barely classy enough to be on Music Row. As with most of Canterlot, the room was mostly white marble with luxurious furniture. Upon closer inspection, however, the furniture was a little worse for wear. There were small holes along the side, and the coverings were close to being threadbare. The marble had large cracks revealing the stone was only half an inch deep, with wood making the bulk of the floor. At the end of the day, however, it was ritzier than Velvet had expected, or even experienced in far too long.

Yet she was hesitant to do more than stand by the door and watch as the bipedal changeling petted and kissed her lyre. “I’m sorry I had to leave you here all alone, but momma’s back.”

For a moment, Velvet felt she was back in the asylum. Not wanting to dwell on that unpleasant sensation, Velvet looked to Bon Bon, who was scrounging around the mini fridge to grab some lunch.

That left Velvet feeling more or less out of place since no one had told her what she was allowed to do. So she resolved to discreetly sit in the nearby armchair and watch Lyra tune her instrument.

Her silent vigil was eventually broken by two things. First, the delightful smell of salad dressing, and the second was the occasional plucking of strings. The plucking alone would have only warranted mild attention, since no actual song was being played. However, it was the sound of the notes themselves that was bizarre yet exotically enticing. She watched Lyra play, only to realize the changeling was not using magic or hooves to play, but those curious fingers. It was akin to hearing a whole new instrument for the first time. Velvet was so enraptured by just the tuning plucks that she almost didn’t notice Bon Bon had brought three salads over.

“Where are my manners? Let me help you.” With a bit of her magic, Velvet relieved Bon Bon’s back of the salads and placed the bowls on the table.

Feeling like her lyre was in good shape, Lyra carefully placed it back in its case before joining the rest of them at the small round table. She glared at Velvet while telekinetically applying her salad dressing. The lime green mare exuded enough malice to make Velvet do everything in her power to keep from looking at her. Sitting outside of the silent battle, Bon Bon noisily clattered her fork. “So, Velvet, I know you’re feeling emotionally raw with all this, so I won’t pry on the hows and whys. But I’d like to get to know you a little better before we try to set any plans.”

“I can tell you all about her,” Lyra grumbled as she stuffed her fork. “The Link has allll kinds of dirt on who you are.”

Velvet’s fork dropped and clattered on her plate. Her thoughts were racing enough already without Lyra’s anger stoking the flames. The most prominent thing that kept running through her mind was what she felt the last time she saw Twilight Sparkle at the trial. Hate. Raw, unbridled hatred for the monster that had claimed her daughter’s mind, body and soul. Framing it all was Arvatus’ efforts in breaking her out of that madness. “...I’m sure it does,” she said at length, barely above a whisper. She pushed her chair back and spoke with forced calm. “I need to freshen up, please excuse me.”

Bon Bon watched the shaken mare retreat to the bathroom before turning around and smacking Lyra in the back of the head. “What is wrong with you?” Bon Bon whisper-shouted. “You’re supposed to be helping her, not doing your best sour donkey impersonation!”

Lyra rubbed the sore spot that was sure to become a welt. “Hey, the Queen and Princess just said I had a job to do; it doesn’t mean I have to like it, or her for that matter.”

“And what kind of job do you think this is exactly?” Bon Bon rebuked. “Velvet needs support if this is going to happen the way the Princess wants, and you’re making it harder than it has to be.”

Lyra grumbled and fiddled with her fork. “You don’t know what it was like to feel what that—” Lyra caught herself from saying the barb that was on her tongue. “That pony did to Queen Twilight.”

Bon Bon leaned back in her cushion and leveled a disbelieving eye. “And you do? Last I checked, you were still a pony when all that business happened.” A heavy silence hung over the table, broken only by muffled noises coming from the bathroom, noises Bon Bon could only assume was sobbing, but couldn’t be sure.

“...I saw the memory of Velvet’s betrayal.” Lyra shoveled some food in her mouth while Bon Bon’s ears went flat.

“You did?”

“Yeah, and it’s not like reading a book or hearing about it in the news. I saw it all from Twilight’s eyes. I saw every little verbal knife twist that that—” Lyra bit her tongue again, “—that pony said and did. Everything. So you’ll forgive me if I can’t be all spring daisies and cinnamon.”

“Did Blitz see that memory too?” Bon Bon asked after thinking for a few seconds. “Like you did?”

“Yes,” Lyra huffed before shoving more salad in her maw. “It’s the only way I could have since I’m not directly connected to Twilight.”

“So if Blitz is willing to give this venture a try, shouldn’t you too?”

“Bah! That’s why she’s queen material and I’m not.”

“Do I need to find another drone and tell them to get Blitz on your keister about being a sour tart? Because at this point I doubt you’d relay it for me.”

At that, Lyra pushed her plate away and rubbed her face with a groan. “You know what, answer me this, and I’ll try to keep my mouth shut.” Lyra jabbed a finger at Bon Bon. “Forget what the royals want for a second. Do you think she’s worth the effort after everything she did?”

The pregnant pause dropped the room into a long silence. In the stillness, Bon Bon couldn’t hear a sound from the bathroom. “If she were my mother… I guess I’d wait and see if she proved sincere. You have to give her that chance.”

Lyra mulled over the argument, scratching the base of her neck. Her scratching got faster and harder into a fevered pitched. For a moment, Bon Bon was worried she’d have to stop her before she cut herself. Before she did though, Lyra stopped and crossed her arms in a pout. “Fine. I’ll be good, but only so long as she doesn’t tick me off. That, and I still have a concert to practice for.”

“Thank you, Lyra. When Velvet comes back, I’ll take her around town and give you some space.”

As if on cue, Velvet chose that time to emerge from the bathroom. The old mare looked no worse for wear, but couldn’t hide her reddened eyes. “My apologies for running out like that. I just needed to clear my head.”

Bon Bon gave Lyra a warning glare before becoming more friendly. “Perfectly understandable under the circumstances. Lyra has to practice, so would you like to go for a walk?”

Velvet glanced at Lyra who was making it a point to avoid looking at her. “Yes, I could really use some air.”

Leaving Lyra to cast a soundproofing spell behind them, Bon Bon led Velvet Sparkle out to the lobby. The ground floor was a decent affair, and lunch was still being served at a buffet. But the hour was a bit late for lunch so only a few patrons were left. Most of them were visiting ponies or other species who could afford it. Bon Bon made to leave out the front lobby only for Velvet to turn away and start walking along the pathway that ringed the ground floor. Bon Bon picked up the pace a bit to catch up with her.

A few questions lingered on her lips, but Bon Bon decided to keep her peace. This allowed Velvet to be the first to speak as they rounded the corner leading to the indoor pool. “That friend of yours… is she originally from Canterlot?”

“Yes and no,” Bon Bon answered with a sheepish grin. “But I don’t think I’m allowed to say more than that.”

Velvet nodded in acceptance. “I remember a filly by that name and color from Twilight’s tenure in magic kindergarten. I don’t wish to pry if you can’t answer, but why did she become a changeling?”

“If you knew her, it wouldn’t be much of a mystery.” Bon Bon rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but snicker at a memory. “Lyra’s always had this fanatical fascination with hands. So much so that she modeled her method of telekinesis after the things. So when Queens Aegis and Blitz showed up with hands, Lyra went bonkers trying to join them.”

A faint ghostly smile crossed Velvet’s features. Bon Bon waited for some sort of reply, but outside of a nod, none was forthcoming. The two mares did a lap around the lobby before Bon Bon broke the silence. “Did you not want to go out and about?”

“I don’t think I should.” Velvet gave a forlorn sigh. “You heard the Princess. Lyra is my protection, and the last thing I want is somepony attacking me and getting her in trouble. I’ve made enough enemies already without adding to the list.”

“You don’t think anypony would actually do that right here in Canterlot do you?”

“Do you know all of my crimes, Miss Bon Bon?” There was an air of resignation and mild acceptance in her tone. Velvet stopped walking to give the younger mare a sad look; the calm way a person spoke on their deathbed.

“I read the papers.”

“Then you should know that I foalnapped both my daughter and Rainbow Dash from within the castle itself.” Bon Bon went wide eyed at her, and almost stopped walking out of shock. “I doubt the princesses would have included that little nugget of a security breach.”

“...No, they didn’t.” Bon Bon tried to sound supportive, but she couldn’t stop the slight accusation in her voice.

Satisfied her point had been made, Velvet returned to her stroll. She spoke up only when Bon Bon recovered and ran up to join her again. “I will not lie and say Lyra’s words do not hurt, but they are wholly justified.” Velvet gave Bon Bon a fatigued look, only to be met with a sympathetic one. “Please don’t forget that.”

“I will on two conditions,” Bon Bon replied with steel, catching Velvet a little off balance. “First, you cut out the pity party when Twilight forgives you.”

“I—” Velvet started before her gaze fell to the floor. “I don’t know if I can keep that promise.”

Using a bit of harsh friendship she used with Lyra, Bon Bon jabbed a hoof at Velvet’s chest, jarring the mare out of her funk for a few moments. “Well, tough, because you need to. My second condition is that you need to come to Lyra’s concert tomorrow night.”

Velvet gave a blank blink. “I suspected I would have to regardless seeing how I am shackled to her.”

“Not exactly how I would describe the arrangement, but I’ll take it,” Bon Bon said with a modicum of good cheer. “Trust me. Once you hear Lyra play, you’ll feel worlds better, I guarantee it.”

Halfway across Upper Canterlot, Azure Skies was leaving the Canterlot Observatory and made to put her employee badge in her saddlebag when she spotted Night Light waiting for her on the steps. The blue stallion had aged well, with a single streak of grey in his mane and a greying muzzle. Night Light bounced up from his sitting position to make a flourishing bow. “There’s my lovely lady, how are you this fine day?”

“Oh, bless your heart. Have you been waiting since noon? I told Blue Bar not to be late in covering for me.” She made her way down the steps, allowing Night Light to theatrically lift her hoof and kiss it.

“Think nothing of it, my dear, because I have some good news.”

“Oh? You finally got that promotion to director?” she asked with excitement bubbling over her hunger pangs.

“That’s still in the works,” he dismissed with a hoof wave. “But I have something a little better.” From within his mane he pulled out a collection of black tickets with gold letters. “Twily sent us six tickets to see Lyra Heartstrings’ performance at the Royal Orchestra Hall.”

Azure’s face twisted into confusion. “Isn’t she the girl who became a changeling willingly? I didn’t know she was a musician.” Using her magic, she plucked a ticket away from the pack to inspect the writing.

Night Light folded the remaining tickets and returned them to his mane. He waved her forward to the street so they could walk to their favorite bistro. “I asked Twily that very same thing. Apparently she was very small time before her rebirth, and has been practicing in secret since then. Twily said she took extra lessons from her homeland and that her music is quite exotic. Which is a little odd since I thought Equestria was her homeland but I think she was using that spy talk Twily uses on me. She can be quite the goofy filly.”

“In that case this sounds like it will be all over the gossip rags and there’s no way I’m missing that.” Azure did a mental count. “Six tickets, the two of us, the girls, plus one… I thought we agreed to never take those three together out in public after the Cheese Incident.”

“That’s why I’m thinking on making Pear Butter our plus one. She’s the only one who can wrangle the fillies, and I think she’s more than earned a concert, don’t you think?”

Azure Skies laughed lightheartedly at memories of the children’s antics. “Ah yes, and then some.”

“Oh come now,” he joked, “the little ones could always be so much worse behaved than they are.”

Author's Notes:

Can the green salty bug horse find the strength to not slap her charge? Will the pudgy candy mare contain her friend? Will the other one find the will to join the new changeling dating service? Will Night Light and Azure Skies be able to control the three stooges?! You just might actually find some of these out, next time, on the Hive!!!

2: The Foalsitter

Five years before present day.
One year after the Reformation.

Barely after dark on a cold snowy night, Night Light was lounging on a bench located in the manor garden. Azure Skies had taken to gardening winter flowers, but the mare was a novice at it, and her plants were not doing well, the fact that work and family demanded so much of her time wasn't helping either. Nevertheless, Night Light found enjoyment out of the pitiful amounts of color they brought. With Azure Skies busy at the observatory, it left the manor feeling a bit empty.

The light of the oil lamps danced across the steam from a cup of hot cocoa held aloft in the stallion’s magic. Between sips, he watched Stellar Drift playing with Pear Butter as the two were building a snowpony. Mostly Pear Butter, since the young filly couldn’t quite master collecting snow in her magic, but Stellar squealed with delight all the same. While the foalsitter was able to get away with a scarf and a snow hat, the poor filly was so bundled up in warm clothing she could scarcely move.

Night Light snickered at the sight of Stellar flopping over on her side and feebly wiggling her stumpy legs trying to right herself until Pear Butter came to the rescue. Upon draining the last of his cup, Night Light made to get up and join the fun, but the sound of buzzing wings made him turn back to the manor with a sly smile.

Twilight Sparkle was flying over with a second filly just as overdressed as Stellar Drift, this time in a purple outfit compared to Stellar’s navy blue. “Okay, daddy, Amber’s ready to play!” she announced with a giggle. The blue filly’s face and horn were barely visible under the layers of clothes, and she let out peals of laughter when snowflakes occasionally tickled her nose.

“I don’t see how she can, being crammed into that yak suit.” All the same, Night Light was more than happy to accept the little bug into his magic for a quick kiss before dropping her onto the powdery white. With a bit of magical assistance from her aunt and great uncle, Amber managed to chase down Stellar and the monster snowpony.

Night Light enjoyed watching the fillies, and looked to Twilight to offer a drink. But the dour look in his daughter’s eyes blunted his mirth. It didn’t take him long to notice her gaze was centered on Pear Butter. Letting out a patient sigh, Night Light warmed the pot of cocoa with a heating spell, poured two mugs, and offered one to Twilight. “Care to join me, Sweetie?”

Twilight dropped her frown and adopted a grateful smile. “I would love some, actually.” She accepted the drink and joined her father on the cold bench after sweeping some snow away for a spot to sit. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve missed your hot chocolate. My chefs can never quite get it right.”

With a twinkle in his eye, Night Light winked at her. “Family secret. Promised your granddaddy I’d only share it on my deathbed, and I don’t plan on going down any time soon.”

“Oh bah, you only say that to give me more excuses to come visit.”

Father and daughter shared a brief laugh before they lapsed into silence to watch the fillies. Unlike pony foals, Amber had developed quickly to be able to walk, fly, and eat solid food, but physical development noticeably slowed down below pony norms after that. As such, she had no problem keeping up with Stellar, hobbled as they both were under so much clothing.

Eventually though, Night Light took on a mildly disappointed tone of voice. “My dear, has the foalsitter insulted you in some way?”

Were it anyone else outside of the hive, Twilight would have dismissed the comment and changed topics, but there was no such filter between Twilight and her father. “Not directly, as far as I know. But I am more concerned with little Stellar.”

Night Light tried to remain calm and not let Twilight’s comments sour his mood. “Twily, I know you have your doubts about Pear Butter, but I have seen nothing that would suggest she is a danger to anypony in this household. She dotes on Stellar as if she were her own child.” He paused a moment to better study Twilight's pseudo-relaxed body language. “I trust you have not confronted Pear on this, you know how I feel about second chances.”

Twilight inwardly grimaced as Night Light moved to go straight into a fatherly lecture. “Daddy, please,” Twilight interrupted as gently as possible, causing the stallion to give her a mild stink eye, “PB is not my only concern with my little sister. To put it plainly, I have a strong feeling little Stellar is a changeling. A royal caste if I’m not mistaken.”

Whatever rant material Night Light had went up in smoke, leaving him with an open mouth and no words to say. He closed it and shifted his gaze between Twilight and the filly in question. “I suppose you would be an authority on the subject, but what makes you think that’s the case?”

Twilight took a sip of her cocoa to buy time to formulate her case and to watch both Stellar Drift and Pear Butter closely. “Have you ever noticed how Stellar tries to preemptively avoid ponies that don’t like children, but will rush to any that love kids, even if she’s never met them before?”

It didn’t take Night Light long to recall several such incidences. “Running towards strangers? I can admit to seeing that. The girl scares the dickens out of me every time she scampers out of sight when I bring her into town or to a social event. I'm often tempted to put a leashed on that girl.” Father and daughter shared a short-lived chuckle. “I only ever really find her in the hooves of somepony gushing about how cute she is. As for avoiding ponies that don’t like kids, I’d wager that’s - wait…” Night Light gave his eldest daughter a curious look. “Now that I mention it, I was introducing her to high society just last week with Cornell Slatterhorn. It was more out of courtesy I introduced her to him since he’s notorious for being borderline cruel to foals who go near him. Poor girl started crying when I brought her over to the colonel, so that at least gave me an excuse to make the introduction brief.”

Trusting her father to have properly protected her sister from such a person, Twilight opted to let that particular irritant well enough alone. “I suspected as much. My biggest theory is that Stellar Drift is empathically active.” Night Light looked at her with wide eyes. “So unless she’s the new Cadance, there’s only one species I know of that’s both pony shaped and has empathic abilities.”

The hairs on the back of Night Light’s neck stood up. “If you’re right, will you be taking her back with you?”

Twilight burst out laughing, almost forgetting to giggle behind a hoof. Then she roped her father into a tight hug to dispel the disturbed look on his face. “Oh daddy, of course not.” She ended the hug to look her baffled father in the eyes. “I’d be more than happy to teach you all you need to know about how nymph rearing is different from a normal pony.” Twilight’s eyes lit up with stars, and a stupid grin cleaved her muzzle. “In fact I prepared a whole list on the flight here. It’s actually not too diff—.”

“L-let’s not get carried away.” Night Light stood up and smoothed his mane. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, Twily, but why don’t we see if your suspicions are even correct before doing anything else?”

“A sound idea,” Twilight replied with a sly smirk towards Pear Butter. The royal bug called out to the foalsitter. “PB, could you be so kind as to gather the little ones in the parlor for some hot chocolate?”

The parlor was a warm and cozy affair with a lit fireplace and appealing décor. The fillies were able to shed their dense clothing and prance about the furniture and grand piano. It wasn't long before the fillies were drawn to the coffee table after sniffing warm chocolate in the air. Twilight was already there with a bag of marshmallows. After cramming as many marshmallows into their mouths as they could, the girls were soon following Twilight’s lead in adding the little edible puffy white pillows to the hot cocoa and blowing on them to cool the drinks off.

Pranceston stood sentinel by the entryway towards the main hall looking as stony as ever. While he rarely outwardly showed it, Twilight could sense a note of protective pride towards the children.

Night Light was sitting on the couch hanging the damp winter clothes by the fire and breaking open his own bag of marshmallows, eager to dine on gooey goodness. Twilight waited for Pear Butter to return with a fresh pot of cocoa, only to find Azure Skies enter at the same time.

“Sorry it took so long to get off work. You would not believe how strange Betelgeuse has been acting. I’d swear princess Luna was toying with us if she didn’t deny it so hard.”

“Welcome back, madam,” Pranceston said with a slight bow.

Night Light deftly slipped around Pear Butter to reach Azure and nuzzled her briefly, an act that she reciprocated in kind with a peaceful smile. “I wouldn’t worry; you know the royal sisters are notorious pranksters.”

Pulling away from the stallion, Azure heaved a tired sigh. “Don’t I know it.” Azure didn’t get far before a lump of giggling fur slammed into her legs. She followed the sound of childish laughter to find Stellar Drift clinging to her and calling up to her in broken Equish. “Why, hello there, sweetie pie. Were you a good girl today?” Stellar gave several clumsy nods. It only took Azure a moment to spot the line of chocolate covered fur on Stellar’s upper lip. The sight of the wiggly foal always brought a smile to the mare’s face. She took Stellar into her magic and set her down on her back before looking at the other two mares in the room. She nodded approvingly at Pear Butter then looked to the purple queen. “Twilight, I’m sorry, I completely forgot you were coming. How are you?”

Twilight got up and happily hugged the tired unicorn. “Well enough. I was actually waiting for you before checking to see if my little sister is a changeling.”

Azure drew her head back in confusion, but the sound of a pot rattling horribly drew everyone’s eyes to Pear Butter who was using a hoof to steady the rebellious pot. “S-sorry ‘bout that. What was it Ah heard about lil’ Stellar being a ‘Ling?”

“That is a bit out of left field,” Azure added in agreement. Azure turned back to look at Stellar Drift, only for the filly to giggle and squirm at the attention.

“We don’t know for sure…” Night Light started.

“...But I’m about to find out,” Twilight finished. She moved to the Azure’s side and made to grab Stellar. “If I may?”

“S-sure,” Azure sputtered, still in a bit of a shock at the declaration. After Twilight picked the child up, Azure found Night Light sitting in a nearby loveseat and parked herself next to him.

As for Twilight, she gave Stellar a sisterly nuzzle and sat her back down at the table and offered a warm cup of cocoa to distract the filly. So as to not distract the filly from her drink, Twilight scooted the couch back a bit so she could sit behind the child. Everyone watched with mixed feelings as Twilight started off with a deep magic scan for the telltale signs of disguise magic, but as expected, the chocolate guzzling filly magically appeared for all the world to be a normal pony. No surprises there or else I would have noticed something a long time ago.

Next she psionically sniffed around for any sign that Stellar was subconsciously searching for a hive mind to connect to, but again, her search came up empty. As much as I suspected. If I’m right about her being a changeling, and she’s been without a hive mind for all this time, I don’t think she would be quite the bubbly little ball of fun she is now.

“I think she’s actually connected with an existing hive mind,” Twilight announced while shooting Pear Butter a dangerous look. “I can’t tell whose until I break the connection.”

“Didn’t you say that was risky?” Night Light said, trying to keep himself from disturbing the filly who was still distracted by her tasty drink. Azure Skies was holding his hoof with a mix of worry and no small amount of anticipation for drama.

“If I used brute force like capturing a drone, then yes.” Twilight hummed aloud. “But I have a backup idea that should be perfectly safe… for her at least.”

As her father frowned in paternal worry, Twilight pulled an enormous amount of love out of herself and poised it on the tip of her horn. The pink glowing orb pulled the attention of Amber who cooed at it. “If a love infusion can bind an egg to me, then perhaps a massive amount could do the same here. If she’s a pony—which I highly doubt, mind you—then she won’t feel a thing.”

With a gentle flourish of her horn, Twilight sent the orb of love into Stellar. The little filly was so startled by the influx that she sputtered her cocoa all over the table and started coughing, much to the delight of Amber who giggled madly at the show. Pear, Azure and Night Light jumped to her aid, but it was Twilight who was first to gently pat Stellar on the back to help her cough and clear her lungs. The little filly would have started crying then and there had she not been buffeted by the siren song of Twilight’s hive mind. Even for a child as young as she, Stellar Drift was struck speechless by the loving song.

As for Twilight, her hunt for the source of Stellar’s original hive mind came up blank, as it was devoid of anything outside of a carrier signal. Drat. That’s that theory gone.

Off to the side, Pear Butter had quietly took a dry cloth off the teapot tray to clean up the spittle. Despite being slightly ill at ease on the outside, on the inside she was a nervous wreck.

<Welcome home, little one,> Twilight sang, breaking Stellar out of her paralysis. All the singing and voices now barraging the unaccustomed nymph terrorized the poor filly and she started wailing in abject fear, and she cradled her head trying to protect herself. The reaction caught Twilight completely off guard and she stumbled to act. She pulled the girl into a tight hug as her brain tried to fix the situation before her father could become angry at her for disturbing the poor child. After all, Stellar still looked like a pony and was now crying due to a spell Twilight had cast on her. Not a picture Twilight wanted to paint for herself.

Now that Stellar was one with the Link, Twilight could feel what Stellar felt, and could at last see how perfectly the young filly’s disguise had evaded her senses. Astounding. Oh, I wish I had the time to study this beautiful work of art. Now that she could see the patterns, it was trivial for Twilight to unwind the filly’s disguise, revealing her true changeling form for all to see. The act stopped Night Light from leaving the loveseat and pulling the child away from Twilight.

“Shh, now little one, you’re okay, it’s just the rest of your family.” Twilight was already being bombarded with questions about the new voice in the hive mind. Stellar’s royal entry into the Link left an impression that no drone could possibly confuse for anything else. Twilight was forced to leave a part of her brain power to explain the situation with the curious yet jubilant drones and her other sister, but left most of her attention on her pony family. Idiot, just turn the volume down! Chastising herself for the oversight, Twilight acted quickly to tourniquet the Link connection with Stellar Drift, keeping it just strong enough to remain. I’ll have to take it slow in introducing her to the full hive mind.

The response from Stellar was almost immediate. She stopped cradling her head, but the crying had only partially subsided. To make matters worse, the noisy sobbing made Amber start crying as well. The new source of tears made Twilight feel all that much worse for inflicting this terror upon her sister and now her niece. Pear Butter moved to go and comfort Amber, but Twilight stopped her dead in her tracks with both magic and a lethal glare. Unaware of the exchange, Azure Skies reached Amber and started comforting the little nymph.

Pear Butter shrank back from the queen’s ire. Twilight let go of Pear when Azure Skies claimed Amber. “Here, daddy, Azure, maybe you should take Stellar while I calm Amber down.”

Both Night Light and Azure were all too eager to accept, and soon both fillies floated to their respective caregivers. Stellar was held by Night Light while Azure hovered over her like a mother hen. He held her close while Azure Skies stroked her mane. “Shhh, now little one, it’s all over.”

During the time they had been agonizingly waiting for Twilight to surrender their daughter over to them, Night Light and Azure Skies had noticed everything about Stellar’s true form. While her coloration remained thankfully the same, her slitted eyes, crooked horn, obvious holes, insect wings, and large swaths of chitin removed any doubt as to what she was.

Amber proved easy enough to calm down after Twilight cast a sound dampening spell over Amber’s ears. As a result, Amber was content to snuggle her aunt, freeing up Twilight to take in Stellar’s true form. Twilight noted the chitin with disdain but not surprise. What briefly miffed her more than anything was that Stellar’s colors had not changed. Hmm. She doesn’t match any of the queens I know of, so I can’t tell who she came from, other than my bloodline at least. Fortunately, Night Light sat between Twilight and Azure Skies, allowing Twilight to shuffle over to sit side by side with her father so she could plant a sisterly kiss on the filly’s forehead.

The act drew Night Light’s attention towards Twilight. “This may cause a scandal in regards to the Harthworths, but as for me this changes nothing.” Night Light hugged the dark purple princess with as much might as he dared; a hug she eagerly returned.

“Agreed,” Azure declared with equal certainty. “It’s rather hard to live in this house without having a soft spot for furry bugs now isn’t it?” The attempt at humor lifted the mood a touch.

Night Light looked to Twilight with fatherly concern. “What happens now? I’m sure you need to do something before you let me keep her for good.”

Twilight’s answer was delayed as she sensed a strange fear coming from Pear Butter. There was the terror the foalsitter had towards Twilight, which was understandable, but what caught the queen off guard was that there was a good deal of maternal fear for the little filly. An overwhelming need to comfort Stellar Drift herself.

“Distracted by the Link again?” Azure Skies stated more than asked, pulling Twilight away from Pear Butter.

“S-sorry. But yes, I’d like to rebirth her to remove all this chitin. The public are fine with my bloodline, but adding somepony with chitin into the mix might be hard to swallow. Even more so when she eventually starts a hive. As for the amnesia, Stellar’s young enough that she doesn’t have enough memories to lose any.”

“Fair enough,” Night Light conceded with a touch of worry. “There’s no reason to give schoolhouse bullies more ammunition.” By now, Stellar had calmed down and was content to remain in Night Light’s embrace and bury her face in her father’s fur.

Not wanting to be left out, Azure gestured to Night Light so she could hold the filly. With a nod he surrendered her over. Stellar briefly complained, but quieted back down after being surrounded by warm fur and affection again.

Azure Skies frowned at the hard black shell coating much of Stellar’s skin. “It doesn’t help that hard shell is tough to hug through the poor dear.”

As Twilight and her father studied the young changeling, they noted chitin covered her entire neck and torso. In addition, more chitin blanketed her back from front to tail. The edges where fur and chitin met were jagged and ugly to the eye.

That was the part Night Light hated most, that something of his adopted daughter was abhorrent to look at, let alone touch. But he willfully pushed that revulsion aside for the sake of Stellar’s wellbeing. The act was made far easier since the filly’s face was devoid of chitin. Yet through it all, he inwardly approved of the sleepy reptilian eyes that now looked up at him with tears still staining her fur. “Shhh now, little bug.” He grinned at the new nickname, unoriginality be damned. “Mama’s got you.”

Night Light nuzzled Stellar’s neck, ignoring the hard uncomfortable chitin pressing against him. The shock and tears had worn out the little filly, and she drifted off to sleep. Between all the excitement, Amber was on the edge of sleep as well, and hung almost limp in Twilight's forelegs. “I suppose we’re going to need that list-of-care after all. Any big ones I should know right away before you take her to the hatchery?”

“Oh, don’t worry, daddy, nymphs don’t require much more than normal pony foals that the Link doesn’t provide. However,” Twilight’s gaze locked on Pear Butter. The mare noticed instantly and quaked on her hooves. “Like Amber, Stellar needs a steady diet of meat. Even more so than griffins at this age. Given how healthy she is, I get the feeling that particular need has been met for some time now.”

Except for Pear Butter, the other adults looked at Twilight with confusion. “Miss Twilight,” Pranceston huffed at the thought, “I assure you I have never seen the master nor the chef ever give the little miss anything of the sort. I suppose Miss Azure Skies might have, the deviant that she is.”

“Ugh, it was one time,” Azure bemoaned. “I didn’t want to be rude to Steel Claw. He put a lot of effort in trying to make tilapia palatable, and it was actually quite good. But no, I haven’t given Stellar any meat.”

Twilight let the statement hang in the air for a long moment before addressing the foalsitter. “So that only leaves, you, Pear Butter.”

Upon being called out in a dangerous tone from the most powerful non-alicorn she knew, Pear started sweating profusely and trembled a bit.

“Have you given my little sister any meat by chance?” Twilight asked pointedly. “I recommend not trying to lie in your current state.”

Pear Butter’s eyes started watering while her lip quivered in abject terror as all eyes sat squarely on her. She started backing away into a wall. Yet before Twilight could stand up to challenge her, Night Light grabbed her shoulder and kept her seated on the floor with Amber. “Twily, don’t.”

“But dad!” Twilight barked indignantly. “She’s obviously a spy! What if she attacks you one day?”

“My mother said much the same thing when your grandfather invited Pranceston into this house,” Night Light declared with cold iron. The statement silenced Twilight long enough for Night to levitate the fillies towards Pranceston who abandoned cleaning up the last of the spilled cocoa. “Could you take the fillies to bed? The four of us need to talk.”

“Of course, sir.” With a respectful nod, the family butler easily accepted the wiggling fillies on his back and departed.

Night Light took to his hooves and Azure Skies stood at his side. He waited until Pranceston closed the doors behind him before returning his gaze to his daughter and foalsitter. He could see by Pear Butter’s wobbling legs and flat ears that she was no less petrified of Twilight Sparkle than she had been a minute ago. “Can you honestly tell me Pear has ever acted like one of those other queens in any regard?”

Twilight kept a warning eye on the foalsitter, her mouth pressed in a line. “No. But that wouldn’t make a very good spy now would it, father?”

“I do not need eyes to know how much Pear completely loves Stellar,” Night retorted sternly. “So long as I live, you will not bully this mare, am I understood?”

“For what it’s worth,” Azure added a good deal more timidly. “I stand with your father on this. If Pear has been giving Stellar the meat she needs, then that hardly sounds like a dangerous pony to me.”

Twilight grumbled and scowled at the three of them, but focused on her father. Why does he have to be so darn stubborn! Not wanting to risk her relationship with her father, Twilight released a heavy sigh. “Alright, you win.”

“That’s my girl.” Night Light gave Twilight a short yet grateful hug.

Twilight returned the embrace before standing. “If it’s all the same, though, I’ll be cutting the sleepover short and taking Amber back with me.” She turned back to Pear Butter who was muffling sobs behind her hooves. I’m going to find out which queen is milking daddy’s forgiveness and ruin her. Nopony touches my family.

Twilight stormed across the room towards the door Pranceston left through. However she only made it halfway before Pear controlled her sobs long enough to shout with a quaking voice, “Wait, Y-yer highness, please.” Pear spent a few precious moments to collect herself enough to speak again. By then, Twilight had turned to face her with controlled fury behind her eyes. “Ah’ll spill. Ah can’t - Ah can’t stand livin’ this lie anymore. It ain’t right.”

As everyone watched, Pear Butter revealed her true form in a wash of flames. Her colors remained the same, but her gossamer wings, jagged changeling horn, and black chitin around her hooves left no doubt that she was clearly not the unicorn she claimed to be. She was certainly not the chitin-clad drone Twilight had been expecting, and Twilight found herself at a loss for words.

Both Azure and Night were equally stunned, but did not have the same indignant hostility that was rising within Twilight.

Knowing what question would be at the top of Twilight’s list, Pear gave the prime matriarch a pleading look. “Ah was sent here to watch over and guard Stellar Drift by… by Polybia.”

Night Light managed to recover from his shock first and stood up to stand side by side with his daughter. “Why would she do that?” he asked almost rhetorically.

Pear Butter couldn’t bring herself to answer. Every time she opened her mouth, the geas crushed the words in her throat.

Despite this, it didn’t take Twilight much of a leap to know why. “Because Stellar is Polybia’s daughter.”

Night Light had the same suspicions, and hearing it aloud only confirmed it. He took a long deep breath and steeled himself for an argument from Twilight. “This changes nothing. I don’t care who Stellar’s mother is; she’s still family as far as I’m concerned.”

“Of course she is,” Twilight cut in, insulted her father felt the need to convince her of that. Putting aside those hurt feelings, she directed her attention on Pear. “But tell me this, was Stellar’s egg laid before or after Polybia started dabbling in necromancy and feeding on demonic power?”

“A-after,” Pear replied with definite clarity. Seeing that she wasn’t going to be murdered on the spot, the foalsitter was able to recollect herself more. However she still sniffled from time to time. “Stopwatch told me Polybia had the wits to cleanse her egg first. She also said the egg was laid at least five years ago, and had been put in stasis since that bitch didn’t know the first thing about raising a foal proper like.”

Azure and both Sparkles had come to expect drones to revere their queen, so to hear Pear curse Polybia dumbstruck them both, Twilight couldn’t believe her ears.

“Ah can’t tell you how much Ah want to thank you for killing her.” Anger and sick satisfaction flooded Pear Butter at the sweet memory of Polybia’s death knell. So much so, her sobbing and tears momentary stopped flowing. “She did this ta me!” Pear waved a chitin bound hoof and buzzed her wings. “Stole me and my husband from our homes and turned us into this!”

“Truly?” Azure asked, barely able to believe it. “I heard the horror stories of what she did, but…”

“All of it and then some,” Pear answered back with a stern and pained look that was more than enough to convince the two ponies.

It doesn’t make sense for Polybia to make an intelligent drone, and if she's telling the truth, then that only leaves… “You’re a quasi.” Twilight wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but it was at least better than before.

“Aye,” Pear replied, her vindictive ire slipping away. “The only good thing—” Pear Butter had to work hard not to curse her queen’s name again, “that Polybia ever did fer me was make me Stellar’s guardian.” Upon mentioning the youngster, Pear’s voice lost all its edge and took on a pleading tone. "Please let me stay! It’s all Ah got anymore!"

“Well, of course you can.” Night Light cantered over and laid a reassuring and trusting hoof on Pear Butter’s shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Twily?” he asked with that fatherly iron that brooked no argument.

And yet argue she did. “Daddy, I can only agree to that if I know she’s not a risk to anypony.”

“If you want to think like your mother, then anypony is a potential risk,” Night Light rebuked sternly. His dark tone even made Azure grimace, but she stayed by his side all the same.

Twilight’s ears fell flat and a scowl of her own flashed across her face before she could control it. Twilight ground her teeth at the insult while she and Night Light stared each other down. “That’s a low blow, dad, and not at all what I was thinking, thank you very much.” Ignoring her father’s stubbornness, Twilight focused on Pear who was starting to cower behind Night Light. “Were you part of Polybia’s hive mind when she died?”

Pear looked to Night for some sort of protection, but since Twilight’s question was not a refusal, he did not offer much more than a nod. “N-no, but close to it Ah think. She cut loose ‘bout a week or so before the news hit the papers.”

“I see.” Twilight studied the quasi, making sure to not look threatening in the process. She was already skating on thin ice with her father. “How familiar are you with the concept of sleeper agents, spies, and geas spells?”

“Twily,” Night Light warned.

This time however, Pear averted her eyes, unwilling to look at her. “Intimately, Ah’m afraid.”

“I suspected as much,” Twilight replied with a sour face. “I doubt you’d even know if you were under a geas to attack anypony now would you?” Twilight expected no answer, and when Pear Butter didn’t reply, she continued with a more compassionate tone. “Tell you what, Pear Butter, I can have a Psykira look into freeing you of any geas or trigger word. I know of one who claims to be an expert in removing those.”

Azure Skies brightened at the compromise and gently tugged at Night Light. “That could work, honey.”

“You’d really do that fer me?” Pear Butter’s tears stopped for a that moment of hope. “Even after lying to you all this time?!”

Twilight huffed superiorly at her father. “I could have sussed the truth of the matter out of you on the day we met if daddy hadn’t put his hoof down, so that’s all on him.”

Night Light dismissed the accusation with a snort and hoof wave. “If I hadn’t, you’d have never given PB the chance to prove herself a wonderful foalsitter.” Night gave the quasi an appreciative nod. “And a fine pony to boot.”

“Hear, hear,” Azure called out with equal friendliness.

To be called a pony, even after showing her true form, lifted Pear’s spirits up to the point she shuddered in catharsis. Daring to hope she wasn’t hallucinating, Pear Butter wiped her eyes. “So Ah can really stay?”

“Of cour—” Night Light started only to be cut off by Twilight.

“On the condition that you abide by the rules of my hive,” she stated without question. “With a few clearly defined exceptions, no alliance changeling may use disguise magic with intent at long term deception. Keeping the good faith of the common pony is what keeps this alliance intact. I’m sorry, but as it stands, you must show your true form from here on out.”

Pear Butter glanced at Night Light who didn’t show any sign of disagreement. “It’s no different than what all my grandkids do. Fair’s fair.”

“Ah can do that, but…” Pear raised a hoof to her eyes. Even after a year, the black chitin was no less ugly in her eyes, an affront to whom she used to be. “Is there any way to get rid of this? Maybe make mah horn look like your kinds? Ah always thought they were beautiful.”

Twilight blushed a bit at the compliment. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard that one before.” She tried to steal a glance at a mirror, but none were to be found. “As for helping you…” Twilight cleared her throat as she mentally switched money-talk. “I have been experimenting with the idea of alchemical dipping as Rainbow likes to call it. The cost of localizing the changes without having it spread to the rest of the body is normally prohibitively expensive, and can really only go an inch deep…” Twilight caught herself before she started rambling and sighed heavily. “I can arrange it if you can tell me anything you know about any contingency plans Polybia might have had.”

Trying to mask her vindictive glee, Pear Butter nodded. “Ah’d have sang like a canary ‘bout her without the offer.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Pear sold out both Stopwatch and Paint Brush, giving Twilight every scrap of information on both of their whereabouts, domiciles, workplaces, habits, and hobbies. However, there was one bit she added at the end. “Ah know it may be a bit much ta ask, but could you try an’ take Paint Brush unharmed? Ah’m pretty darn sure he was either mah hubby, or at least fiancée. He’s really only loyal ta Polybia’s memory because he doesn’t remember much else. Ah’m sure one of them Psykira can fix that.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” was all Twilight would offer. “But I won’t promise what I can’t guarantee.”

Barely four hours later, a joint team of pony and changeling intelligence officers barged their way into Stopwatch’s bordello. Patrons and servers alike jumped in surprise and alarm. A random pony yelled at everyone to scatter, prompting a stampede for the exits. However, more officers waited outside, corralling everyone to stay inside at sword point.

As a changeling guided several team members upstairs to hunt down Stopwatch, one of the earth ponies peeled off to address the stunned civilians. “By royal edict, the pony known as Stopwatch is hereby accused of being an illegal non-alliance changeling and is under arrest. All civilians will submit to a screening agent for other possible infiltrators. Your compliance is appreciated.”

The trapdoor into Stopwatch’s abode slammed open with a blue changeling at the head. Her scattergun swept back and forth over the dark room. Only an open window offered any light, illuminating Stopwatch herself sitting on a stool. “I surrender.”

Stopwatch found herself being dragged to the Tower of Canterlot before being escorted into an interrogation room. Once the guards sat her down on the stool, a blinding harsh light shown down on her from above.

The guards left her to let Stopwatch stew in isolation. She looked around, but was unable to make anything out beyond the light. “So let’s see, uncomfortable stool, light from above, probably some interrogator watching me from the shadows… you ponies are really unimaginative when it comes to questioning a prisoner.”

A grunt of agreement sounded from beyond the light. “It’s all they’d allow me to have.” Stepping just inside the light came a blue changeling drone with his queen's eyes. “Were it up to me, I’d go full Dr. Caballeron on your tail.”

“There’s no need for the preferential treatment, your highness,” Stopwatch responded with measured forbearance. “I’ll sing whatever you want as long as I can get out of this alive.”

“Gah, no one ever lets me have any fun,” Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath. It took her a moment to realize she had said that through her puppet, and she quickly grunted to ignore the slip. “We’ll see after you answer my questions.

“Do you belong to Polybia?”

Asking a question you already know? “I did,” Stopwatch replied with a pang of sadness. “But it’s hard to belong to the dead.”

If there was one thing Rainbow could understand, it was a drone’s love for her queen. “Why are you intelligent? I thought we were the only ones to have smart drones.”

“It’s amazing what sort of mental gymnastics someone will do to both condemn something and yet still do it, all the while convincing themselves they aren’t doing it.”

Rainbow snorted with a smirk. “Yeah, that sounds like Polybia to a tee.”

“If - ah - if you must know,” Stopwatch began slowly, fearing Rainbow’s response. “I’m actually a partitioned section of Polybia’s mind, or at least I was until she died. Her last act was to make sure I could survive without her.”

“Partitioned? That’s a new one.” Rainbow Dash’s puppet glared at the chitin bound drone’s eyes, searching for the madness the real Polybia had possessed. “So... what? Are you the good half she threw away so she could stomach working with Grogar?”

“In a way?” Stopwatch shrugged. “I know I was created before she captured Grogar. I didn’t even know she had until Pear Butter told me. All I knew is that she wasn’t the same person by the time I heard from her last.” Stopwatch averted her eyes, thoughts lingering on how the queen she knew died long before the end of the war. When Rainbow Dash remained silent, allowing Stopwatch to volunteer information, the drone eventually did so. “Of course, I didn’t inherit most of my queen’s personality. I don’t think she could have handled being a drone.”

She looked back up to Rainbow Dash with a pained smile. “But if I’m all you got to work with diplomatically, then… truce?”

Rainbow scowled in disappointment. “Not much fight in you is there?”

“Heh,” Stopwatch let off with a self-deprecating half smile. “Aside from fleeing from the jungle, my life’s been mostly spent in that bordello. Passing on information from what I was able to tease out of my patrons. I’m not a warrior.”

“That can’t be all you were here for,” Rainbow Dash stated after thinking it over. “Why else would Pear Butter know about you?”

“I was Polybia’s only agent in Equestria, so Pear had no one else to use as her contact. She smuggled the princess into the city and I helped try to find a pony family to take her in. I’m sure Pear filled you in on anything else there is to know.”

There was no joy for Rainbow Dash in this. Some vain hope she would get a mindless ranting drone from an equally mad queen had sounded fun at first, but every emotion she was picking up from Stopwatch painted a depressing picture. <Hey Long Arm, are you sure this mare doesn’t have a single other arrestable warrant or charge leveled against her?>

<Nothing I’ve seen, but then again, we didn’t even know about her until now.>

Finding no easy answer there, Rainbow scrunched her muzzle in thought. “If I were to let you go, what assurance would I have that you won’t try anything?”

“As long as Stellar Drift’s happy, then so am I. You’ll never even know I exist.”

Rainbow tilted her puppet’s head to the side, listening to other council. “Tell you what. I don’t like leaving you out of sight, so you’ll be serving Phoenix’s Roost from here on out.” Stopwatch blanched at the unrefusable offer. “Go back to the bordello if you can get away with it, or somewhere else in Canterlot. There’s always crime in any city with non-changelings in the mix. You spy for us, and maybe I can arrange short visits when Stellar is older.”

For the first time in a very, very long time, Stopwatch was well and truly without words. She could only look at Rainbow’s puppet with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. So long was her stunned silence that Rainbow Dash got impatient. “Should I take that as a yes, or do I need to have you jailed or banished as a possible rogue element?”

Stopwatch scrambled over herself to grovel at Rainbow’s hooves and kiss them. “No. no. no. no, I’ll take it! Doubly so! I’ll be the best snitch ever! Anything that happens in Canterlot will go in your ear, I swear it!”

Rainbow Dash cringed and forcibly shook the slobber off her hoof and took a step back, much to the puppet’s gratitude. “I’ll stick with what goes through whatever stallion house you camp out in. I don’t need an overenthusiastic spy mucking up other operations.”

Stopwatch stepped away, fearful she caused offense. “Yes, my Queen,” she replied automatically without even realizing it until after it left her lips.

“I’m going to pass on that,” Rainbow rebuked not quite as harshly as she originally intended upon seeing the scared tension out of Stopwatch. “Chrysalis warned us that Polybia used Link bombs on a few of her rivals during the war, then add the fact that Pear Butter mentioned you went into what I’m assuming was a rebirthing cocoon to be a stand-in hive mind. Even if you weren’t originally a walking bomb, I can’t imagine that demon crazed loony would pass up one last chance to screw us over. So you can stay out of my hive mind as far as I’m concerned.”

Not willing to press her luck, Stopwatch nodded in hasty agreement. “As you wish, y-your highness.” It was only then that Rainbow’s objection actually registered. “You don’t think she actually turned me into a bomb do you?! I was supposed to be the princess’ guardian.”

“Yeah, a guardian that just so happened to let that princess land in Twilight’s lap,” Rainbow shot back with a smirk. A moment’s thought wiped that smirk off in a real hurry. “Now that I really think about it, how about you just leave town instead. Go find some doctor who’s willing to risk you exploding on him to see if you got a bomb sac in you or something. You come back with a doctor’s note and we’ll go from there.”

Stopwatch fell flatly on her rump, hugging herself while the mental picture of volatile chemical sac within her just waiting for the wrong twitch to blow. By the First Mother, she’d do it to! I knew it was weird to want so much garlic after my queen ordered me to prepare. “I think I know one or two who I have some dirt on.”

“Good, now if I don’t hear about some back alley exploding in the next few weeks, I’ll be expecting an intelligence report every month.” Satisfied, the puppet stepped away and banged on the metal door. After sharing a brief word with the guard, Rainbow gestured to the exit. “The guards will see you to the train station and you’ll get a ticket to anywhere free of charge. Now get outta here before I change my mind and have you quarantined in a bunker or something.”

Present day.

Pear Butter stood in front of a mirror in her room. The door was ajar with the sounds of children cackling mischievously coming from the hallway beyond. The gentle blue glow of her eyes and naturally heightened night vision made her forget to turn on the lamp at this late hour. She was brushing her wavy orange mane in the scant few minutes she could spare before the three fillies tried to break something, or worse, tried convincing Pranceston into letting them give him a makeover again.

The last time they did that, Pranceston had suffered the ignoble ordeal with the expected grace of a butler. He had been sure to give Pear extra duties the following week as punishment for letting the fillies torture him with mascara and hoof gloss. It might actually be worth letting it happen again so Ah can take pictures. A sudden crash and the distinct sound of breaking pottery made her cringe. The immediate silence followed by ‘ooohs’ heralded the need for her return. Too late. At least everything breakable in that room’s cheaper than a bar o’ soap.

With her hair more or less presentable again, minus the silly string that bedecked it a minute ago, she raced her way to the playroom across the hall. Pranceston was thankfully absent. Good, Ah might have time to convince the girls to clean up before he sees anything.

Upon all but bursting into the playroom, Pear Butter found Stellar Drift, Amber, and Flurry Heart all trying to put a broken flower vase back together again. The mess was right in the middle of a cardboard box recreation of the walls around Phoenix’s Roost with little pony and changeling dolls attending a ball in the middle. The broken vase had apparently been a stand-in for the castle. Flurry Heart had been levitating a piece, but dropped it upon seeing Pear’s entrance. Flurry Heart was easily taller than the two royal changelings. “It wasn’t my fault! Amber was trying to use the vase as a throne!”

“You said it could hold me!” Amber shot back with childish pouting.

“I told you your butt’s too fat for that,” Stellar stated while wiggling her rump in the air.

“Nuh uh! Your butt is ginorrrrrmous!” Amber shot back while waving her hooves as far wide as she could.

“Nuh uh,” Stellar bit back. “Your butt is so big aunty Tia and Lulu have to move it every day.”

“Girls,” Pear Butter called out with a caring yet admonishing voice. “What’s the first rule when you break something?”

Two tiny royal changelings and one alicorn hung their heads. “Clean up first, then point hooves.”

Pear nodded sagely. “Just remember to point the hoof at yourself if you’re at fault. The truth feels better than holding a lie. Now, let’s clean up before the stone pony gets here or he’ll hide the snaky cakes.”

“I heard that,” Pranceston stated with mild annoyance from the door.

Pear’s wings buzzed out of surprise and she turned around with a sheepish grin. She noted the stallion had even brought a broom and dustpan. Crud. “Sorry about the mess, sir, the girls and Ah will get it cleaned up lickety split, right girls?” she asked while levitating the cleaning tools over to them.

A choir of ‘yes ma’ams’ rang out from the fillies as they hurriedly resumed their task.

As Pear made as though to join them, Pranceston beckoned her over with a wave of a hoof. “I’m sure the girls can handle cleaning a broken vase out of the carpet long enough for me to share a word with you. Celestia knows they have the experience.”

With the butler as stoney as ever, Pear cringed and floated over to him and started whispering. “Ah’m sorry, sir, Ah’ll pay for the damages.”

The brown furred earth stallion lifted a solitary eyebrow. “You and I both know nothing in this room is worth more than the food stuck between your teeth."

Pear Butter blushed furiously out of embarrassment and started licking her teeth trying to find the offending food. A task which Pranceston was in no hurry to aid.

"Do not worry about the damages. In fact, much to my surprise, I come bearing gifts.” From a pocket, Pranceston produced four black tickets with gold letters. “The little misses and you have VIP tickets to the next big show at the Royal Orchestra Hall. Apparently there is new talent in town.”

As soon as the words ‘Royal Orchestra Hall’ left his lips, Flurry Heart gasped and bolted as fast as she could towards Pranceston, much to the ire of her changeling friends for abandoning their chore. The little alicorn rammed into Pranceston’s standing foreleg, nearly knocking it out from under him. “Oooooo! I wanna go! I neeeed to go! Pleeeeeease!!” Flurry was a pro at sad puppy dog eyes, and she leveraged every ounce of that now.

Pear Butter had claimed the tickets when Flurry rammed into the butler to allow him to use his other leg to stabilize himself. With a mischievous smile of her own, a toothless one to hide the alleged stuck food, Pear Butter separated one ticket from the pack and waved it in front of Flurry’s nose. “If you want to go, you better clean up and pick out a good dress.”

“Deal!” Flurry let go of Pranceston and jumped high enough to claim the ticket in her mouth. Pear let it go so Flurry could take the ticket into her hooves to look at it. She could barely read the fine print, but Flurry was familiar with the famous black and gold tickets and squealed with girlish delight. “I’m going to the concert!” she sang repeatedly while bouncing up and down.

“Not if you don’t help us ya featherbrain!” Amber called out grumpily.

More than happy to work for her prize, Flurry raced back over and tried to rush everyone else to stuff the broken shards into the pan. With the adults not directly intervening, the children started bickering over who should fetch the small wastebasket at the corner of the room.

Pranceston and Pear watched over them, mostly to enjoy the sight of children at play, but also to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves. “A concert, though,” Pear mused to no one in particular. “Ah don’t remember if Ah’ve ever been to one before.”

A hum of wistful approval escaped the stallion next to her. “The first one is always the most memorable.”

Author's Notes:

There will be at least one or more other flashback chapters, but the main plot occurring on the present day will be the main event and will be returning next chapter.

3: The Concert

The night of the concert was quite the social event. To many in the upper echelon of Canterlot society, a night where unknown talent was being introduced was an excuse to peacock. All around the Royal Symphony Hall, noblemares and stallions were bedecked in their absolute best finery. Jewelry, dresses, tuxedos, perfume, and elaborate hats crowded the street and entryways. Not to mention the rumor mill was in full swing.

Night Light, Azure Skies, Pear Butter, and the three fillies were in a carriage which itself was in line behind a few others as VIPs were permitted first entry. The lone stallion was smartly dressed with sharp angles and dark colors being the motif of his clothing. Azure Skies and Pear Butter had only the best dresses money could buy, a perk for having Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash as benefactors. Those two queens had quite the friendship with Equestria’s most esteemed seamstress and tailor couple after all.

As for the trio of young princesses, Flurry Heart’s pink and turquoise dress was flecked with white to mimic snow. Since Stellar Drift’s rebirth had not removed the fur and mane colors her pony disguise had possessed, her dress complemented her navy blue coat and dark purple mane. And the once fearsome necromancer turned little bug horse, Amber had a cloud theme going for her gown.

Stellar Drift sat patiently on her seat while Amber and Flurry Heart’s faces were squashed against the right side windows. The two were soaking in every detail of the crowd. “You’re going to mess up your hair if you smush your faces like that,” Stellar warned.

Completely ignoring her sister, Amber cooed at a collection of mares’ hats. “Oh wooow! They all look like swans!”

Stellar Drift fidgeted in her seat trying to ignore the temptation to go look.

Flurry rocked a bit as the carriage moved forward. “Ew, that one looks like a patch of poison joke.”

That got a curious eyebrow lift out of Azure, and she scooted away from Night to investigate. Sure enough, upon peering over the little alicorn’s head, she found the blue flowered hat. “Well, isn’t that a bold move. I dare say those flowers look real,” Azure hummed with concern. “Let’s hope you’re wrong.”

Their carriage came to a stop at the red carpet with all three window watchers pulling back. Stellar saw both of the other fillies’ manes were flat in front. “I told you two, but nooo.”

Amber pouted and tried to do her mane with a hoof. “Looks better this way anyway,” she claimed while trying and failing to resist Pear’s efforts to fix her mane.

Azure primped Flurry’s mane back into shape right as a valet opened the door to allow them to disembark. Camera flashes started immediately, with Night Light and Azure Skies taking the initial brunt of the paparazzi. The fillies filed out with Pear Butter bringing up the rear. The foalsitter couldn’t stop herself from blushing from all the pictures being taken of her. She wasn’t used to wearing such expensive clothing, and all the attention she was getting was overwhelming. She tried to use the rest of the family as a shield to little effect.

Just get inside an’ forget about the cameras, Pear told herself as she tried and failed to exude confidence in the face of such judgmental ponies. She was sweating to the point it was beginning to accumulate in one of her leg holes. Oh, the itchiness that brought. Thankfully, Night Light was quite well-versed in tactfully directing attention away from Pear with a few well placed words to fellow aristocrats, while Azure Skies and the trio of fillies won over the rest of the attention.

The family made it inside with the press managing to take only a few embarrassing photos of Pear trying to scratch the offending leg hole. The lobby was filled with more nobility and staff trying to cater to everyone’s needs. The fillies made a mad dash to the concession stand. As the adults walked over to join the little scamps, Night could overhear Stellar barking orders.

“We have to get the best taste to calorie ratio. Now, Flurry—” Night Light heard nothing more.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a grey and purple mare. He sharply turned his head towards the staff entrance, only to barely catch the end of a tail as the door closed, but he couldn’t be sure if it was the two familiar colors. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but was jarred out of it by Azure waving a hoof over his eyes.

“You okay, hon?”

Night Light’s hard expression vanished as he returned his attention to Azure. He briefly scanned for the girls and was grateful to see Pear Butter organizing their orders. “Sorry, baby, I thought I saw somepony familiar, but I guess it was nothing.” He planted a kiss on Azure’s nose to reassure her.

It seemed to work as she brightened up and skipped forward while pulling him towards the food stand. “Come on then, let’s share a popcorn.”

Just behind the staff entrance, Twilight Velvet was shaking in a cold sweat. To her everlasting gratitude, no one else was in the short bend of the hallway but her. No no no! Why is Night here?! I have to tell Lyra I can’t be here!

After a minute or so, Velvet got her breathing under control and passed through the staff hallways without further incident. Simple music was already leaking in from the main concert hall, but experience told Velvet those were merely idle songs for now. She began to make her way to the musicians’ row, and saw a number of ponies were getting ready out in the hall. Shielded by a wall of bipedal blue drones was Lyra’s room.

Velvet hesitated at the sight of them. She couldn’t suppress a shudder of old terror, of lingering fears realized. The internal war to squash those fears led her to overhear one of the musicians she happened to stop near.

The haughty stallion was speaking to another unicorn. “What are those bugs doing here? I thought none of them could hold a tune to save their hides.”

“They’re not here to play,” the other stallion whispered so the distant changelings couldn’t hear, but Velvet could. She was using the conversation to distract herself. “Rumor has it, that Lyra character has something special in mind. You know, the mare that somehow managed to get the queens to turn her into a ‘Ling?”

The stallion snorted derisively. “So they had to poach a pony to have a musician? Sounds about right.”

The distraction wasn’t working, and the overheard conversation wasn’t helping either. Years of suppressed paranoia threatened to relapse as images of various kinds of weapons sprang to Velvet’s mind.

“Hey!” a raspy voice called out from the screen of changelings. One of them was pointing at Velvet while a second buzzed over to her. “What are you doing? Lyra said you ran off to get snacks. You forget your bits or something?”

Velvet forced herself to not look at the two stallions who huffed and trotted off. “I realized there were some ponies out there who’d recognize me and might cause a scene if they saw me.” Not a lie, just an omission of who exactly. She tried to hide that fact to keep her emotions from giving her fear away.

The blue changeling mare gave a half-frown. “Just my luck. Fine, whatever, go wait in the room then or something. I’ll buy the snacks.”

“T-thank you.” Velvet levitated over the bag of bits and the list of desired snacks.

After the changeling walked away, Velvet sped towards the closed door and slipped inside. Her initial intention to announce her ex-husband’s presence was derailed by a bewildering sight. Lyra was clinging to the ceiling as she practiced a slow dance while plucking away at her lyre. She did it mostly to playfully annoy Bon Bon.

The final distraction to completely throw Velvet's train of thought aside was the sudden music she had not heard in the hallway. It was a hauntingly exotic play style that gripped the soul. Velvet was so stunned that she stood in the open door until one of the drones outside shoved her through the threshold and closed the door.

Lyra did not react to Velvet’s entrance at all, so the older mare was able to claim a seat next to Bon Bon after coming to her senses. With the burning question of the true nature of the music on the tip of her tongue, Velvet forced herself to keep silent for now. Bon Bon patted Velvet’s hoof reassuringly, but otherwise remained quiet as well.

Taking a few moments to get a feel for the music, Velvet realized Lyra must have just started the song since it was building up in tempo. Lyra’s hands danced over the strings, and as her horn lit up in golden light. A violin and bow rose up from the chair opposite of Bon Bon and took up station to Lyra’s left. All of it still upside down. Normal unicorn levitation would completely envelop the violin and bow. Lyra’s form of control, however, was a pair of ethereal hands that grasped the instrument, with another glow pressing on the chin pad for stability.

The bow hit the strings and a pitiful tune came out of it. The notes were faint, the pitch was grating to the ears, and it was an overall miserable companion to the lyre. Velvet flattened her ears and glanced at Bon Bon who had the same occasional winces of auditory agony, but kept her ears forward and straight.

Lyra didn’t get very far before she stopped her dancing and the music cut off. She detached from the ceiling and dropped heavily to the floor. Instead of looking at the other mares in the room, she turned away, and tilted her head, letting one ear hang limp. “Gah! I can’t practice with it like this.” She paused, staring blankly at some point on the ground. “Well, I know that, but how can I get an ear for it without it plugged in?” Lyra turned away from the other two mares and said nothing further aloud.

Confusion washed over Velvet for a second or two before realization struck her. Must be that hive talk.

A gentle hoof on her shoulder brought Velvet’s attention to Bon Bon who had a half-grin. “She’s a mad one, I’ll grant you that,” the pale earth mare stated as she tried to read Velvet’s expression. “The violin will sound worlds better when she gets on stage.”

“I would hope so.” Velvet tensed a bit to ask that question. “Is that the surprise her fellows outside were talking about? Being able to play two instruments at once?”

Bon Bon chuckled and waved a hoof. “A little. That’s mostly Queen Blitz giving Lyra enough extra brain power to multitask, but even then Lyra can’t do that for very long. No, the bigger surprise is the violin being electric.”

“Electric?” Velvet had to search through her admittedly limited musical knowledge. Staying locked away in an archive for six years tends to limit one’s knowledge of modern advancements. “I know there are mana guitars, is that the sort of thing you mean?”

Bon Bon shook her head. “I made that mistake too when I first heard about the violin. But it’s different than mana instruments.” Bon Bon wiggled a hoof and looked up trying to think of the right words. “Lyra could explain it better, but there’s a more… gut feeling to electrics over the more lofty and floaty mana ones. That’s why you don’t see any mana bass instruments. Plus, these electrics can perfectly imitate acoustics and mana variants with the flick of a switch.”

“I see… I hope she remembers to flick that switch before showtime.” Velvet sighed with a shudder, and inwardly chided herself with heavy self-deprecation. Idiot! If the changelings were up to something, the princesses would have called them out on it by now.

The horrid music started back up, yet Lyra couldn’t stand the noise after a few miserable notes and dropped to the floor with a sour face. “Ugh, I can’t practice without the amps.”

Before anyone could give a response, a yellow light bulb lit up next to the door, causing Lyra’s face to brighten. “Looks like the first act is starting. I still have a few minutes.” Lyra flew over to her fancy chair by the vanity mirror to rest in a slouch. Her violin was delicately set in its case.

With the lull in noise and conversation, Night Light returned to Velvet’s mind. Assuming she would need to bring the issue up with her parole officer, she approached Lyra’s relaxing form. “Pardon the interruption, Miss Heartstrings, but I feel it might be better for me to stay here during the show, or at least somewhere out of public sight.”

With a kick, Lyra rotated her chair to give Velvet a grumbly face. “Look, I know the violin sounded bad, but that’s because my sisters set the amps up on stage. Gimme a break. By the way, where’re my chips?”

“I’m sure it will sound lovely,” Velvet lied with a forced smile. “I was going to get your chips, but I saw my ex-husband in the lobby.”

“And?” Lyra spat back with a glower most dire. “Isn’t the whole reason why you’re in Canterlot to face your family?”

Bon Bon got off the couch to join the others as Velvet gave a worried response. “Yes, but didn’t you want all that to wait until after your big night?”

The dots finally connected for Lyra and she started to freak, only for Blitz to waylay the emotional outburst with what amounted to dousing her in emotional cold water. Lyra averted her gaze to speak rapidly with her queen until eventually nodding. When Lyra next faced Velvet, she bore the eyes of her queen. Her body seemed to burst into flames, and revealed the standard blue furred and rainbow maned colors of her brood. Lastly, the outline of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark manifested on Lyra’s prismatic wings.

Velvet recoiled from the display while Bon Bon was entirely unfazed. The earth mare gave a respectful bow. “How are things, your highness?”

Blitz gave a warm smile towards Bon Bon. “Quite well, actually. My beekeepers are starting to see some good honey yields, plus Aegis and I have already compiled a solid list of candidates for royal rebirth.”

Bon Bon clapped her hooves excitedly. “That’s wonderful news. Do I know any of them?”

To that, Blitz put on a sly grin. “You do, actually.” Blitz had to make extra sure her inner thoughts didn’t leak into Lyra. “But we’ve decided on a ‘wait and see’ approach for now. It’ll give us time to better prepare for supporting princesses and what sort of modifications will be needed.” Pleasantries exchanged, Blitz returned her gaze to Velvet. “We’ll have to catch up later, Bon Bon, unless you still wish to speak to me. If you do, I must ask that you continue to do so through one of my children outside.”

Bon Bon stepped back and placed a calming hoof on Velvet’s withers. “I think I’m needed here more.”

The elder unicorn shuddered at the touch, but didn’t shy away from it. The act got a nod of thanks from Blitz. “Ms. Velvet, it’s almost an honor to meet the birth mother of my bloodline.” Blitz narrowed her gaze as she studied the fearful mare. “I can see why you stayed away for so long. You’re far from ready to face your family now, correct?”

Velvet imitated her daughter’s breathing exercise and calmed down enough to speak more or less with an even tone. Both queen and earth mare patiently waited for her to find her voice. “Y-yes, your highness. I thought it best if I just stayed out of everypony’s way. I - uh - I can’t say I was preparing myself all these years for a confrontation like this.”

“Obviously,” Blitz replied with more hostility than she wanted. Blitz took a moment to give a long sigh, both with Lyra and her real body. “The fact of the matter is, nopony can ever truly be ready for such things. If the novels and plays I’ve seen with such topics have a grain of truth to them, such reunions are always emotional trainwrecks. But ultimately… ultimately this needs to happen. My aunt bears a scar only you or a memory wiping rebirth can heal, and she’s not going to have that procedure for a very, very long time.”

“We can compromise,” Bon Bon offered. Blitz and Velvet gave her a quizzical look that silently waited for elaboration. “It can’t be too hard to find out what seats Night Light is sitting in right?”

Of course, I gave them the tickets, Blitz couldn’t keep that little snippet from leaking through to Lyra’s mind. The musician was flabbergasted at her queen. <Sorry. If things go bad tonight, I’ll make it up to you. Uh, somehow.> “Yes, I can find that out easy enough. I can already tell you he’s probably taken a balcony.”

“Perfect!” Bon Bon stepped away from Velvet to place one hoof on the wall with the other forehoof to the side and slightly below the first. “Say this top one is Night’s and this bottom one is Velvet’s seat. He’s bound to notice Velvet before the night is out. If we give Night Light a few hours or even a chance to sleep on it to get used to the idea of Velvet being in the area, then he won’t have all the usual shock and outrage if Velvet showed up unannounced.”

Acting as if she hadn’t thought of it herself, Blitz rubbed Lyra’s chin in contemplation. “Night Light’s well respected. He won’t cause a scene in such a public setting.” Especially with the girls with him. Lyra caught that part too. “I like it.”

<My queen, you are so meeeean! It’s bad enough I have to face a crowd of the super rich and influential without the risk of somepony exploding out there,> Lyra all but cried.

<I like to think of it as tough love,> Blitz shot back while blowing a mental raspberry backed by a stern presence. <Besides, you need the extra excitement to perform at your best, and a bit of punishment for being so caustic to Velvet, deserved or not.>

Back in the real world, Velvet had taken the two changelings’ silence as time to think. “I don’t really have a choice in this, do I?”

Bon Bon got off the wall to give her a reassuring nod. “You’ll do fine. Once you get the first meeting jitters out of the way, you can bully through the rest of it with the momentum.”

“I hope you’re right.” Velvet scuffed the ground. “I really do.”

The concert was in intermission. The horseshoe shaped stage was masked by curtains, hiding the preparations for Lyra within. There was a general din among the audience filled with conversation and excitement. An excitement that had Azure Skies stuck between keeping up with her family’s activities and looking over the private balcony railing to see if the show was resuming. Pear Butter had snuck in a deck of cards so everyone could play Uno during times like this.

The quasi’s three remaining cards floated in front of her face, masking the evil grin behind them. One skip turn and two draw fours! I’ve got this one in the bag.

Yet before she could enact her dastardly plan on a hapless young alicorn, the lights went dim, and a hush fell over the audience. Stellar Drift, who had over ten cards, bolted off the floor, abandoning her miserable hand in an instant.

“Stellar!” Amber grumbled as she magically snatched all the cards off the floor and back into the deck box that Flurry Heart was helpfully holding up for her.

Willfully ignoring her sister, Stellar snuggled in between Night Light’s forelegs, basking in his warmth and love.

Night Light gave the scamp a ruffled mane, but decided against calling her out on it. “Thank you, Amber, Flurry. Now hurry up or you’ll miss the opening.”

The six and seven year olds scrambled to shove the cards in, bending a few in the process, much to Pear Butter’s horror. The young pair all but tossed the crammed box at the foalsitter before rushing into their seats.

Azure Skies doled out some freshly refilled popcorn for the little ones and sat down next to her stallion. Both little changelings had butter stains on their faces, but Flurry Heart had been careful to avoid such problems.

Azure’s return was timely, for the curtain lifted to reveal a small collection of stone arches made to look like ruins serving as the background. Hidden in darkness around the edges of the stage, a few drummers sat at the ready. Perched on a tall simplistic altar sat what looked like a violin. However, those possessing keen eyes or theater binoculars could see the instrument looked more like a stylized treble clef than a functioning acoustic instrument. Not to mention it had more strings than a hoof could possibly use correctly. The whole stage was well lit, with a light behind the ruins mimicking the sun on a cloudless day.

A single drum beat rang out, focusing the crowd as Lyra walked out of the ruins and straight to the violin with her lyre in hand. She paid the crowd no mind on her march to claim the instrument. In what some might call an act of showmanship, cockiness, or an offering to the audience, Lyra let her lyre float in her magic while she held the violin aloft in both hands. The drums kicked up in tempo as Lyra rested the violin on the crook of her neck and withdrew the bow from her back. Calling back on her training in the mirror world, Lyra started playing only with her hands.

The audience was immediately taken aback by the sheer number of beautiful notes, precise warbles, and Lyra’s light dancing with the music, as if her body was as much of an instrument as the violin. What would take two or three hoof-held violins all came from this single instrument.

Needing only muscle memory, Lyra closed her eyes and let the music take her. With her body swaying back and forth, she poured her love and experience into life. The first song brought to the common pony her interpretation of the song of the hive mind. The drums added the short bursts of intensity Lyra heard during military drills.

Almost mid-note, the violin flew a short distance away in her magic so Lyra could take her lyre in hand and played a short solo with it. During that time, a few unicorns conjured up a compact rainstorm over the stage. The musicians in the sunken area around the stage were shielded from the rain, but the rain started falling with enough intensity for bits of water to splash the closest patrons.

As soon as the storm was in full swing, Lyra switched back to her violin and played a different song, breaking tradition by not announcing the change. Yet the new song segued so smoothly only a few in the audience realized it. Back at home, Blitz started hive meditation, changing the music of the hive mind, making Lyra feel as if she was being shot with adrenaline. Her swaying to the music grew even more pronounced. Lyra started swaying wildly back and forth, completely driven by the song.

With a final strong draw of her bow, Lyra ended her song, signaling the magi to abruptly cut the storm off and allow the false sun to shine clear once more. As the steam cleared the stage, it revealed Lyra curtsying with her bow and violin swept out and her lyre floating above her head.

Stomping hooves of praise rang through the audience. Lyra ended her curtsy to bask in the overwhelming cheer. Most of the aristocracy were too posh for such displays, so many of them remained seated, but offered their version of high praise with gentle clapping. Lyra milked the audience for all they’re worth, and blew kisses at any stallion she saw.

Her gushing calmed a bit when Blitz spoke to her. <Bravo as always, Lyra.>

Lyra gave a girlish giggle as her queen’s pride touched her every thought. The accolades the audience was showering her with was but a pale shadow compared to receiving even a modicum of praise from Blitz. Lyra couldn’t stop her wings from buzzing from the warm feeling. <You can thank the mirror world for the training.>

<Perhaps. Could you do me a favor and play that melody you’ve been working on?>

Lyra nearly missed the stage light signaling her to either leave the stage or quietly agree to an encore. <But it’s incomplete. I’m writing it to have lyrics but I haven’t found the right words yet.>

<But the instrument parts are complete. Can you still play, for me?>

Blitz’s love for Lyra flooded the musician, a feeling that burned away any and all desire to deny her queen. It was not just the love of mother to daughter, queen to drone, but also Blitz’s love of Lyra’s craft. <Anything for you, my Queen.>

Lyra looked to the stage director hidden in the dugout to the right of the stage and nodded her wish to do the encore. Yet it was left to Lyra’s brothers and sisters to relay the more detailed instructions to the staff.

As the magi were bringing the storm to life, Night Light was enraptured by the expert playing. Along with the rest of the audience, he too was pleasantly caught off guard by the sudden storm and lightning. The lightning flashes lit up the whole theater with just enough light to not cause pain. By the second flash, though, Night Light caught something in the corner of his eye.

He leaned forward, disturbing Stellar and Azure so they moved away from him to get better looks at the performance. That freed Night Light up to get a closer look at the balcony below and ahead of his own. No, it couldn’t be…

The delightful music was all but ignored as Night Light focused on the shadow-cloaked pony sitting with one other on the balcony. When the storm cracked with lightning again, the flash of it burned the image of Twilight Velvet into his retinas. All it took was that instant of recognition for an anger he thought had long since been repressed to surge through him. Memories of the lies Velvet told him to hide her work with the PCE, of being forced under house arrest so she could kidnap Twilight, and of so many other wrongs his ex-wife had committed.

“Daddy?”

Stellar’s fearful question snapped Night back to his family. The music caused Azure to miss the little filly’s question, but the two changelings and one quasi were looking at him with concern. It didn’t take Azure long to see everyone else was distracted. She looked to him as well and noticed the tension in his face. “Something wrong, dear?”

“Just a bad memory,” he offered apologetically. “I need to use the restroom anyway. You all enjoy yourselves; I’ll be back soon.”

Azure Skies may have been willing to buy the lie, but none of the changelings were. Even so, Pear Butter didn’t want to stick her muzzle where it didn’t belong. She quietly pulled the two princesses over in a hug and tried to distract them with the performance. Flurry Heart had been ignorant of the whole exchange and was still enraptured by the music.

Night Light slipped away without further incident. His first impulse was to head straight for the other balcony. Better head to the restroom anyway. That way, nopony can call me a liar even if somepony catches me checking to see if that mare is truly Velvet.

By the time Night Light got to the lower balcony, Lyra had moved on to the song requested by Blitz. It was a slow, somber tune that tugged on the heartstrings. To Night Light, it sounded eerily like an old lullaby Velvet used to sing to Twilight. The gentle calm and love it used to evoke in the old stallion was tainted by renewed malice and regret.

There was no one in the hallway, and upon reaching the three stairs leading into the balcony, he found two ponies present, but the one that riled him up was seated closer to him. “Twilight Velvet,” he announced without anger, just in case he was mistaken. The way the seat was positioned, he couldn’t see her cutie mark.

The mare stiffened in response, and slowly turned her head to look at him. Standing this close, there was no mistaking her face for anyone else. Night Light ground his teeth, wishing to yell at her. I can’t risk the girls sensing my anger, I shouldn’t have come down here.

With a silent, seething warning in his eyes, he stepped backwards, unwilling to turn his back on the pony who had betrayed him so completely. It didn’t matter that he could see her sobbing into her clasped hooves. Yet before he could move out of sight, a second mare got up from behind Velvet and all but raced to get close enough to speak quietly with him. “Sir Night Light?”

Night Light only averted his eyes away from Velvet for the barest of moments to take in the newcomer’s apparence. She was a cream colored earth mare he had seen on rare occasions around Lyra, but her name escaped him. “Yes, and who are you? This one’s parole officer, I hope.”

“My name’s Bon Bon.” The earth mare looked back towards Velvet, who was trembling but wasn’t turning away. “And I suppose you could think of me more as a… counseling officer.”

The job title gave him pause. He faced Bon Bon fully with a perplexed expression. “You’re… Lyra’s friend, right? The same Lyra on stage?”

Bon Bon nodded with what she hoped was a disarming smile. “The one and only, so far.” Bon Bon glanced down both sides of the hallway, grateful the coast was clear. “It was Queen Blitz’s idea that Velvet try to find some measure of closure with the family.”

“And she thought a damn concert is the best place for that?!” Night Light hissed angrily.

By now, Velvet had worked up the courage to walk up to the top of the balcony stairs and hide beside the wall that would shield her from sight of the rest of the family above. Before Bon Bon could say anything further, Velvet spoke up. “Please, Nighty, I just want to talk, nothing more.”

In his periphery, Night Light saw Bon Bon give Velvet a deeply concerned and questioning look. Uncaring what she had to say, Night Light put the earth pony off balance by throwing a dismissive hoof in Velvet’s direction. “I don’t give a flying rut about what you have to say. Just leave before I get Rainbow Dash to bully you completely out of Equestria this time!” Trusting a friend of a changeling to keep Velvet from doing anything stupid, Night Light stormed off. I need some fresh air.

Velvet hesitated at first, allowing the stallion to put some distance between them. She attempted to chase after her ex-husband until Bon Bon placed a restraining hoof across her chest.

“What was that about? The plan is to give him time to cool off first.” Bon Bon warred with herself trying to keep her exasperation at Velvet in check in favor of being diplomatic.

Velvet clenched her teeth in an attempt to calm herself down. It wasn’t working. “I - I can’t risk waiting. If I do, I don’t think I can work up the strength to confront him again.”

“You go out there right now, and both of you could say something you’ll regret.” Bon Bon used Velvet’s hesitation to walk in front of the older mare, and gave her a sympathetic small smile. “Velvet. We did what we came here for, more or less. He’s seen you, and now he can go cool down, and so can you. If you’re not up for staying around, we can go back to the hotel; Lyra will understand.”

“No, no, no!” Even before Bon Bon finished speaking, Velvet was violently shaking her head. “That’s not what Arvatus taught me.” Velvet’s labored breathing came in heavily. “‘A broken bone that didn’t set right must be rebroken to correct it.’ This whole ‘ease him into it’ thing was a bad idea. He needs to vent his anger on me or else it will just fester again.”

“And you will rebreak it, just not here, alright? Look, I don’t presume to be smarter than a doctor,” Bon Bon cried, almost too loud for her liking, “but all I know is that you’re in no state to face whatever toxicity he’ll unload on you. Please, we did what we came here to do-”

I’d trust that kind tom over some confectionist any day of the week. Knowing she couldn’t push past Bon Bon, Velvet grabbed the earth mare with her magic and all but tossed her aside. Velvet sucked in a long, hard breath to steel herself and ran off.

Bon Bon hit the other wall. She was more stunned by the act itself rather than any damage done to her. “Velvet, stop!” she shouted as loud as she dared. If Velvet heard her, she ignored Bon Bon and raced to the far end of the hallway where Night Light had run off.

Night Light had retreated to one of the many pegasus aerial exits on this floor. They weren’t hard to find, thanks to the convenient exit signs. It was on the south face of the building, overlooking some other concert halls nearby. The light from recently installed neon lights of changeling design gave the exterior some illumination beyond the dim streetlamps. The exit itself had a short, fenced balcony to keep drunken ground ponies from falling to their deaths.

There was more than enough room for him to bask in the cool evening air. After a few long moments, he realized he didn’t hear the door shut behind him. He whirled around to see Twilight Velvet meekly poking her head around the door. There were lines of tear stains under her eyes, and the aging mare looked like she had taken a few moments to collect herself. Nevertheless, her red-rimmed eyes told their own story. “You’ll get locked out here if you let the door shut.”

Night Light bristled and turned to face her fully, ignoring her advice. Did she do something to that officer? I can’t believe Bon Bon would let Velvet approach me again in good faith. “You shouldn’t be here,” he growled with panicky defiance. “Go back to Manehattan and rot in that library!”

Velvet’s ears wilted along with her depressed frown. Using a nearby door stopper, Velvet propped the door open before stepping fully onto the balcony. It wasn’t a large affair, barely big enough for three ponies to stand end to end.

“Night, I - I,” Velvet couldn’t bring herself to speak of Celestia and Blitz forcing her hoof into action. I should have done this years ago. Mustering up the courage to look her ex-husband in the eye, she found deep wounded anger, but his defensive stance and tensed muscles reminded her of a cornered animal.

Burning shame forced Velvet to avert her gaze towards the ground below. “Am I really that terrifying?”

Her demure stance did nothing to dampen the fear he had, but his anger flashed as he whisper-shouted to prevent drawing eyes up from the street. “How dare you ask that if you’re as sane as you claim to be.”

The retort felt like a slap to the face, making Velvet wince.

“From my great-great-grandfather, I’ve carried my family tradition of second chances,” Night Light seethed with almost clenched teeth. “But you threw it away by lying about continuing to consort with the PCE. I gave you a third because I loved you, then I find your letter to the archmage condemning your daughter! A fourth chance because you were my wife, then you proceed to drug me and place me in a cell so you had free rein to foalnap Twily.” He vigorously shook his head. “There will be no fifth. I don’t care what the princesses say; you’re a walking disaster as far as I’m concerned.”

Stinging tears dampened Velvet’s face, yet she made no excuses, taking his verbal lashing like a flagellant.

As Night Light’s anger overpowered his fear of Velvet, he vented all the pain and tortured thoughts and feelings he had been keeping locked away. “Why couldn’t you just move on?!” he raged, his voice getting a little louder. “Sure, Twilight came back to us as some kind of insect, it took some serious getting used to. I’m not so self-righteous not to admit that, but you never gave her a chance! You always rambled on and on about how she was going to become the next Chrysalis! Her children, our grandchildren, are the most loving ponies in the world! Maybe a bit too much at times, but still! But you couldn’t see any of it. First it was becoming Chrysalis, then it was taking over Equestria from within.” Night Light couldn’t stop his ranting even if he wanted to. The dam had burst and Velvet was damn well going to get swept up in the flood. “All the lies you told me. ‘I told the PCE I wasn’t interested.’ ‘Just because I agree with them doesn’t mean I support them,’” he spat acidly.

Every word, every barb, all the lies thrown back at Velvet were like hammer blows to her already frayed nerves. Night Light was nearly a minute into his tirade when Velvet’s own self-condemnation doubled the weight of his accusations. All of her resolve to weather his hatred had evaporated before the truth. Irrational panic started setting in, causing her to back away from his fury. Velvet didn’t get very far due to the railing pressing against her tail.

“I knew you drugged my wine that night,” Night Light growled with hatred in his eyes. Velvet looked at him with stunned surprise. “You think I was so blind back then that I wasn’t watching you carefully?” He clenched his teeth, wrestling with long pent up self-anger. “But I had hope. Some thin hope that after I died—or at least was knocked out by your poison—you’d come to your senses. That you would finally step back from the cliff.”

With an almost sarcastic huff, he flailed a hoof at their surroundings. “And look where that trust brought us.” He jabbed the same hoof in Velvet’s direction. “Were it not for Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor, I’d say nothing good ever came from our marriage.”

Velvet languished in the silence Night Light left as he turned his thoughts inward. Again, she looked at the pavement three stories down. “We were happy once…” She looked back up at Night Light, trying to remember his smiling face. The young stallion she had fallen in love with. But time and depression had robbed those memory of any clarity. All she could see now were the reopened scars she had created just by showing her face. “Weren’t we?”

Night Light saw no danger in the broken mare doing a poor job trying to control her sobbing. He would have left her there had she not been so close to the door that he’d have to touch her to get by. “We were,” he admitted coldly after a long moment. “We had loving kids too. But only one of us still does,” he added spitefully. As much as he’d loathe himself later for it, he took some sick satisfaction in seeing Velvet’s thin mask of control shatter completely.

Velvet collapsed against the side of the balcony, her sobs muffled by her foreleg. Her body shook with every wracking cry, and she was finding it hard to breathe. Yet she controlled herself enough to stutter out a question. A question to which she had tried to think of an answer for six years and had come up with nothing. “What…” some small spark of her drive—the same drive that had pushed her to do everything in her power that she thought would save her daughter—gave her the strength to face Night Light again, “What can I do to make it right?”

Night Light snorted dismissively, and fixed her with a wrathful eye. “You have the gall to ask that?” He shook his head. “Twily was always better at forgiveness, or at least figuring out some worthy penance. So I won’t speak for her. But as for me, I’d be perfectly fine never seeing your face again.”

The street below lingered in Velvet’s tear-blurred gaze. A few passersby started to notice her. The thought of jumping and letting Elysium or Tartarus take her in final judgement bore down on her. It felt like hours passed as her self-preservation rebelled against her wish to end it all. I can’t face her. Not Twily. Not after what I tried to do to her.

In a surge of movement, Velvet was magically thrown away from the edge and pressed hard against the wall.

Night Light closed in on her face with indignation burning in his eyes. “Don’t you dare!” Velvet’s sobbing was cut short by the sheer audacity of his act. “I don’t know who or what possessed you to come here and try to speak to me after all these years, and frankly, I don’t care.

“What I do care about is letting Twilight have her say about any form of penance before you decide that for yourself.” Night Light cut his magic off, allowing Velvet to slide down to the cold, cement floor. “And when I said I don’t want to see your face again, that included seeing your splatter on tomorrow’s paper.”

Not willing to babysit her, Night Light unceremoniously shoved Velvet aside so he could get through the door. The grey and purple mare offered no rebuttal or resistance to the act.

In the tight squeeze to get through the door, Night Light accidentally kicked the door stop and only realized it after the door had closed behind him. He looked around, but no one was present in the hallway. Just as I thought. Either Velvet did something to that counselling officer, or Bon Bon used this whole thing as a therapy session.

He thought about just leaving Velvet to her fate, or Bon Bon, whichever happened first, but that damned nagging lesson his father gave him stayed his hooves. “A watershed moment can change a pony for good or ill, Nighty. Oftentimes, however, others are not willing to believe or trust such repentant ponies. Be the one that does.

Night Light ground his teeth. “This is the reason you always told me not to pry.” It gets too personal. Even with his father’s words in his mind, Night Light was not willing to give a sixth chance. But he could almost feel his father’s disapproval weighing down on him from the grave.

In a burst of action, and before he could regret it, Night Light cracked the door back open and shoved the doorstop in place. He didn’t bother sticking around to hear any gratitude and marched off to find some other place to cool down before returning to his family.

After he left, Bon Bon crept out of a nearby unoccupied balcony and made for the exit door. Blitz is not going to be happy about this.

Author's Notes:

It's been waaay too long since I've been able to pump a chapter out. Hope you enjoyed it!!

Don’t forget, comments are author food. And after 2 months I’m starving.

4: The Ties That Define Us

Three and a half months after Pear Butter was exposed as a quasi.

Deep within Phoenix Castle, Twilight Sparkle entered into her alchemy lab. The colony ship-turned-castle had been quite cramped when it was first laid down, but the process of cannibalizing the ship had given the changelings an excuse to expand the size of carefully selected areas by removing whole sections.

At present, a quartet of drones were already in the chamber toiling away with the completion of their latest project. The walls were covered end to end with books and scrolls climbing towards the ceiling while vials and tinctures of alchemical agents lined the shelves closer to the ground. The total cost of the reagents alone would buy a city block in Canterlot.

There were a couple of sedated drones, blue and purple both, who were encased in large glass tubes filled with multicolored liquid. Three of the scientists were studying the new strains, while the last one was overseeing Pear Butter who was resting on a bench while her legs were all knee deep in her own vat of alchemical soup.

Twilight gave a few passing words to the trio before arriving at the quasi’s side. “Feeling alright, Pear Butter?” she asked with morning tiredness.

The former earth pony wanted to wave in greeting, but had been instructed to not step out of the vat. Not that she felt she could. While she had a nice cushy bench to lay on, the process itself was a metabolically draining experience. An unexpected side effect was that Pear was unable to actually sleep, no matter how tired she was. Since alchemical dipping was still experimental, Twilight had opted to minimize the risks to Pear Butter by making her stay in the shallow pool of alchemical reagents for the whole treatment, rather than short doses over a longer period of time. The bags under her eyes were so heavy she hadn’t been able to lift her head off the pillow until Twilight’s arrival gave her motivation to look up at her. “Tired as a bump on a log ta be honest, yer highness.”

“Well, let’s hope you can get some proper rest soon.” Twilight turned to the tending scientist. “How’s she doing, Test Tube?”

The stallion nervously held his clipboard close to his face as his eyes scrutinized the readings taken from the night shift. “Provided Tangent Curve was not asleep at his desk when he took last night's readings, I think the subject is ready to vacate the vat.”

Twilight’s mouth made a pressed line at how clinical Test Tube was towards Pear, but she decided not to call him on it for now. “Excellent news. Pear, would you mind lifting your right forehoof for me?”

Too tired to be properly remember she normally couldn't, the quasi did as instructed with some difficulty. Test Tube spat a bit of re-engineered salve designed to break resin apart. That allowed Twilight to offer Pear some magical assistance in pulling the leg free.

Twilight shook away some of her own morning fatigue and used a simple spell to remove the clingy chemicals and loosening resin off of Pear Butter’s lifted leg. Luckily for the vat, Test Tube moved in after her to place a lid on the hole, to keep the air out.

It didn’t take long to see that all signs of chitin were completely removed. However, while Pear had a normal looking pony leg and hoof, she now possessed the hoof structure that enabled wallwalking, a feature she had orginally lacked. Not… quite what I was aiming for, but I hope she sees this as a plus rather than anything negative.

After inspecting the rest of Pear’s legs and finding they were complete as well, Twilight lifted the wobbly mare away from the vat while Test Tube took a small hose to wash away the small fortune of spent chemicals. During all of this time, Pear had finally succumbed to her exhaustion and collapsed into sleep.

Pear Butter slept through the next two days. When she awoke to the gentle chiming of a clock, she found herself stretched out in a large bed within a guest room in the castle. It was a room on par with what she had grown accustomed to in the Sparkle Manor: finely decorated, yet with a hint of modesty. The key difference however, was the masterwork of artistic moving gearwork along the walls. All of it was behind glass to protect against accidents, and muffle the sound.

She rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out, only to realize halfway through that her hooves felt normal against her eyelids. Blinking the last of the sleep away and holding her hooves out, she saw peach colored hooves and fur adorning her legs once more. Quiet tears fell from her eyes and she shoved the blankets away to see her back hooves were the same.

She actually did it! Pear Butter could still feel the bed sheets rubbing her wings and the weight of her horn. Ah may never be who Ah once was, but at least she got me as close as possible.

<Ah good, you’re awake,> Twilight called out from within her head.

Pear Butter jumped out of her skin, she was so startled, and fell hard on the carpeted floor. <Wha? T-Twi, er, Ah mean, your highness?> Pear asked instinctively, without realizing she didn’t vocalize the question. She cast her gaze to and fro, looking for the purple Queen, or even a PA speaker, but found no obvious source.

<I take it Polybia never spoke to you over her Link.> Twilight’s tone was sympathetic enough to give Pear pause. <You remember when I told you one of the conditions of remaining Stellar’s foalsitter was to join my hive mind, correct?>

Pear dumbly nodded her head, not even thinking if Twilight could see her.

Since she could not see the act, Twilight decided against puppeting the mare and opted for plan B. <I’m going to have to apologize for this ahead of time.>

Pear Butter’s world bent and shifted. For a full second, she felt like she was getting pulled through a tunnel of silver light before being deposited onto a grassy plain. The grass and dirt beneath felt real and the early morning sun warmed her skin. Taken completely by surprise, she instantly began hovering and scanning her surroundings until she spotted her new Queen standing a few feet away. The taller changeling bore a small motherly grin and just by looking at her, Pear felt at ease, as if her fears and nightmares were dashed away by Twilight’s presence.

Yet Pear Butter had spent enough months under Polybia to not trust her sudden mood change, and resisted the calm by remembering Twilight’s hostility when she was outed as a quasi. “Where am Ah?”

“To keep the answer simple, you are within a small artificial landscape I’ve created within the hive mind. Personally I like the term Linkscape. I coined that one by the way,” Twilight added with a hoof on her chest and proud grin on her face.

Pear Butter nervously fidgeted with a lock of her curly hair. “Ah see.”

“I would have preferred to have spoken to you in person, but a queen’s job is never done,” Twilight added with both pride and enthusiasm. Her tone quickly shifted to a more serious one. “As I promised, I only looked into your mind enough to see you are no threat to my family, and I’ve left the rest of your thoughts private.” She breathed, giving Pear a moment to process. “Pear Butter, I’ve noticed you’ve been respectful in addressing me since coming here, but you have never called me, ‘my queen’.”

Pear Butter shied back a bit, wishing there was something other than open fields of grass to hide behind. “Ah- Ah’m sorry if Ah’ve insulted you-”

“You misunderstand me,” Twilight interrupted in haste to keep Pear Butter’s building panic from derailing her thoughts. Twilight sighed, trying to think of a diplomatic way of putting it. “What I’m trying to say is, Miss Pear Butter, do you wish to be one with my hive, or would you prefer to be mentally isolated like non-changelings are?”

Pear Butter went wide-eyed for a long moment before subconsciously shielding her chest with a raised hoof. “Yer - yer givin’ me a choice?”

“I am,” Twilight replied with her firm but well practiced regal voice. “I originally required your connection so I could have better access to your mind. I couldn’t be sure just how much of your personality was being shaped by the geas Polybia placed on you. For all I knew, you could have been a hardened criminal who wouldn’t think twice about harming Stellar Drift or my father once the geas was removed.”

“Ah figured as much,” Pear replied while scraping the grass. She briefly marveled at how authentic the fake world felt. “At least ya don’t have any doubts now though, right?”

“I don’t, and I’m glad you understand,” Twilight continued with a nod of approval. “So I’m going to leave it up to you. Do you wish to be removed from the Link, a biologically dangerous prospect, but if that's what you want, I'd abide by your choice.” Twilight caught a whiff of morose resignation in Pear’s slight frown. “I would like it if you’d prefer to become a full member and citizen of my hive, should you wish it.” Twilight suppressed a disappointed frown from appearing. “Or… perhaps we can keep the status quo and we only maintain a basic connection for emergencies and is probably safer for you in general than the first option.”

Pear Butter closed her eyes to think. She took in the sun’s warmth, the smell of wild grass, and the soft wind in her mane. It was so perfect that it reached the realm of the surreal, even more so due to the highly technological hive she was in. She could even feel the traces of her earth magic entwine with the earth and grass.

Twilight waited as patiently as stone for an answer. Luna had told Twilight of Pear’s dreams that included Stellar Drift, of caring for Stellar as if she were her own daughter. This was not a mare Twilight wanted to sour any further than her earlier confrontations already had.

“Ah thank you for the options,” Pear answered at last. “But Ah don’t think Ah really have a choice. Ponies out there‘re fine and dandy with changelin’s so long as they’re from your hive. But if they knew Ah was freelance, they’d rightly be a mite suspicious.” Pear Butter opened her eyes to find Twilight giving her a sad yet agreeable frown. “‘Sides, bein’ separated would end up killin’ me. Last time it happened after Polybia,” she seethed, “died, Ah could barely move. Even if that alone don’t kill me, starvin or going thirsty ain’t worth the pride.”

“I… wasn’t aware of that,” Twilight replied glumly. “Sorry.” There was a pause. “Assuming this was on your mind, no, I can’t reverse the changes to your nervous system to make you more independent, not without turning you completely into a changeling. As I’ve told others who…” Twilight closed her eyes to steel herself from dark memories. “Tried to turn me back into a pony. Once a changeling, always a changeling.”

Pear Butter nodded gratefully, but her ill mood lingered. “I figured as much. Thanks for tellin’ me the truth of it.” Pear Butter lifted hoof up to eye level, enjoying the feel of the gentle wind on her fur. “But um - bein’ in yer Link ain’t no different than bein’ in Polybia’s. Plus if Ah stay in, Ah can tell ya if any danger happens to the family quick smart, and you—”

Pear Butter hesitated once she realized Twilight was barely controlling her laughter behind a hoof. She was struggling so badly that echoes of her laughter gently rolled over the land.

“What’s so funny?”

Twilight had to leverage all of her experience to control her mirth enough to talk. “I'm afriad I've given you the wrong idea. While you are connected to me, just enough to keep any withdrawal symptoms from manifesting apparently, you are not part of the greater Link. I’ve kept you shielded from joining the main chorus. It’s been my experience that anypony who even briefly joins the chorus will never leave willingly, changeling or not. So I thought you’d prefer to decide for yourself on this.”

“Do Ah have ta be connected to this ‘chorus’ at all?” Pear asked after some thought. “Is it dangerous ta not be part of the whole hive mind?”

"I can't say for sure on the long term, but so far you seem in good health." Twilight tilted her head slightly and gave a contemplative frown. “Such as it is, I suppose. The fact is, you are more drone than pony. I’ve cleaned up what you wanted me to, but at the end of the day, your nervous system was almost completely transformed. If what you said about your medical condition after Polybia died, and before being connected to Stopwatch, I presume, then I would hazard a guess in saying that’s why you are still alive at all.

“In light of that, I would not risk full separation if I were you.”

A depressed sigh escaped Pear Butter, it was not surprising news, just unwelcome. “Ah see.”

“As I mentioned, you can remain as you are,” Twilight offered with a carefully crafted neutral expression, “and I’m willing to refrain from speaking to you over the Link if you so desire. It will be about as close to a pony’s isolated mind as possible. But,” she added with much more enthusaism, “allow me to toot my own horn for a moment by saying you would be far and above happier being fully integrated.”

Pear Butter became more conscious of the insect wings resting on her back, and she reached up to rub the horn she knew she hadn’t be born with. The months of hating what Polybia had done to her festered below the surface. She had already tried ripping her wings off once, only to find the pain unbearable and the cursed things grew back in a few months out of spite. Pear had not dared harm her horn or peel at her chitin for fear of lethal injury or being exposed as a quasi.

Yet here and now, Twilight, who had reversed some of that damage Polybia inflicted, was asking her to be a willing member of her hive mind. “Will Ah still be able to foalsit Stellar? Ta see and help her grow into a proper mare?”

An approving hum escaped Twilight. “I must confess my surprise at how… loyal you are to the directive Polybia placed upon you. Especially since you seem to revile her so vehemently.”

Pear looked away and snorted angrily. She feared the foul language she’d unleash in the presence of a queen she actually respected, so she chose her words very carefully. “Ah don’t remember much of who Ah used to be. But every time Ah held Stellar close, Ah felt pride and joy at seeing her bein’ happy… Ah bet my bottom bit Ah was a momma when Polybia foalnapped me. Ah don’t know if Ah can have foals of my own anymore, and mah original kids could be long gone by now.

“Even if Ah could never call Stellar Drift my own, Ah’d be happier than a pig in mud if you’d let me keep bein’ her sitter.”

A sorrowful, fragile smile crossed Twilight. “When we first met, I sorely misjudged you, Pear Butter. For that I’m sorry.”

Pear tried to wave it off with a causal hoof shake. “Don’t be. You thought somethin’ was off about me, and you were right with the whole geas and belongin’ to a rival queen bit. Ah…” Pear Butter’s dismissiveness drained away along with her good mood. “Ah woulda done the same thing. Ah bet the old me wouldn’t though. Probably how we got spirited away in the first place.”

The ‘we’ in that statement brought Twilight’s mood down further. The Queen voiced the answer she suspected Pear was too polite to ask for. “I’m afraid we never found your partner Paint Brush. There’s no real point in using wanted posters, but I hope we pick him up alive one day.”

“That poor stallion,” Pear whispered more to herself than Twilight. “He was so scrambled up by Polybia, the pony he used ta be is probably long dead.”

Twilight let the conversation hang for a long moment. She could see Pear Butter was close to breaking down, and felt some silence would help her recollect herself with dignity.

It was not too long before Pear Butter’s sniffles died away. Here in this Linkscape, she didn’t possess the red rimmed eyes her real body surely did. “This… um… this Link a’ yours,” Pear started, trying to keep her voice free of emotional hiccups. “Will Ah still be mahself if Ah fully join? Ah don’t want ta be brainwashed into bein’ a yesmare.”

“We all change, Pear Butter,” Twilight explained with more sympathy than the academic lecture she wanted to give. “Every species does through their experiences. But I can tell you that our conjoined hive mind champions individuality. Ad… mittedly, conformity is a bit of an odd thing to our species. The drones’ genes make them predisposed to be uniform in thought, to an extent, so most of the individuality pressure has to come from the queens. So…” Twilight frowned at herself for taking too long. “Yes, you will still be able to think for yourself and be independent in that fashion.”

Nodding in acknowledgement, Pear Butter steeled herself. “Ah suppose that’s ‘bout what Ah expected.” Pear Butter fell silent and cast her gaze up to the wispy clouds in the distance. “Lil Stelly’s the reason Polybia freed me from her pod prison, and then from her control entirely. Ah owe that little filly so much and she don’t even know it. Ah guess… Ah guess the only way ta best understand her as she grows up is to be a part of her hive mind, isn’t it?”

Twilight merely shrugged at the observation. “It’s what we are. Stellar especially since she will one day be a nexus of her own section of the unified hive mind.”

“Then Ah want ta be apart of that. That so called ‘chorus’ and all if that’s what it takes.”

“As you wish.” Twilight’s image glowed bright violet as she released the dam of voices.

Polybia’s hive mind left Pear Butter woefully unprepared. A cacophony of loving voices surrounded Pear and lifted her spirits with passive encouragement backed by the weight of tens of thousands of souls. Pear staggered to the ground, utterly enraptured by the full voice of the Link so readily embracing her. Gone was the cold isolation and the silence that caused dull pain in the back of her head ever since waking from the pod. Here, she was family. Not a servant to a caring aristocrat. Not a simple foalsitter, not an outsider, not some malformed quasi, but a sister. She belonged. The voices, energetic and overflowing with the deep ties of family, resonated with Pear to her very core. It did not matter to the thousands of other drones that Pear didn’t come from their Queen, only that Twilight had accepted her into the fold.

Pear Butter fell on her side as brain-clouding joy overwhelmed her. The need for family ties that she had tried to project onto Stellar was satiated in an instant. Tears streamed down her face as she wept in utter bliss. With Twilight’s gentle guidance, Pear Butter took her place within the chorus of the Link to add her own voice to the eternal song.

The world around Pear Butter shifted and she was dropped back into the real world inside her guest room. Towering over her was Twilight Sparkle and two attending caretakers. Pear Butter had been weeping here too, and looked up to Twilight’s offered hoof, and then to her face. It was the same face Twilight always had, but now Pear felt half of the other voices of the hive mind calling to her. Twilight was the absolute center of their world, the Queen-Mother. To Pear, who always believed that Celestia loved all of her subjects, it was entirely different to feel that love.

With a knowing warm grin, Twilight pulled the dumbfounded mare to her hooves. “How about we start over, you and I?”

A wide grin cleaved Pear’s muzzle and she eagerly accepted the hoof. “Gladly, my Queen.” For the first time, Pear was relieved to have a queen worthy of the title.

After helping Pear Butter up, Twilight hugged and nuzzled the foalsitter, making Pear return it in earnest. The two caretakers joined in, mirroring the embrace in the hive mind. Through it all, Pear Butter wept wracking sobs at how much pain her transformation had caused her, only for Twilight and her hive mind to turn it all around into a blessing. Pear grapsed Twilight harder, begging this wasn’t some fevered dream.

On their part, Twilight and the two caretakers strengthened their own embrace, helping Pear Butter cry away all the emotional turmoil she had been shouldering until now.

After a time, Pear Butter was emotionally exhausted, and finally brought herself to let go of Twilight. “What happens now? Do Ah go back to Canterlot or stay here?”

Twilight’s tone remained warm, but developed a commanding edge. “As you know, Stellar Drift is to be reared in both a pony and changeling environment. So you will be traveling with her back and forth from now on, at least when my father can’t make the trip. Your place will be at her side until she is of age. After that, I’ll leave the matter between the two of you.

“For now though, Stellar and Amber are being tended to in the Brass and Steam Kindergarten. We have to reinforce that love of engineering after all,” Twilight added with a sly grin. Twilight took a moment and hummed curiously at the mare before her. She’s passed the tests. Let’s see if I’m right about another little mystery. Twilight adopted a friendly and casual tone. “You know what? It just so happens to be cider season in Ponyville, which also happens to coincide with the Sisterhood Social this year. I’ve tried to convince everypony to make it the Sibling Social to include males, but they just decided to host that event on Father’s Day instead.” Twilight shrugged with mock helplessness. “At any rate, why don’t you join Rainbow Dash, me, and some of our children in Ponyville? I can only imagine the case of cabin fever you must have by now.”

Ponyville. Even after hearing about the growing town mere weeks after first arriving in Canterlot, the name had brought ghostly memories. One thing she had learned through casual eavesdropping, was that Applejack lived there, plus, Apple Bloom was in town on break from engineering school. Pear was up until now incapable of confronting neither of the sisters directly due to the geas forcing her to shy away. But now… now she was free, and given an open invitation to boot. Pear Butter’s wings buzzed with more excitement than she realized. “Ah would absolutely love to!”

The train from the hive to Ponyville hissed to a complete stop. Since Twilight had departed on her own to find Rainbow Dash, Intel was designated as Pear’s escort. And here I thought I’d get the day off. Lucky me.

The Captain of the Jevruun Vrunningee moved to join Pear (who had been smushing her face expectantly against the window the entire ride over) with far more dignity, and had the common sense to fly over the crowd so she could easily keep up with the running mare.

The majority of the other passengers were changelings, though there was the odd mix of imperial thestrals and sphinxes. Pear Butter paid neither them nor Intel any mind and spotted the ticket master kiosk currently free of any travelers. She made a mad dash through the crowd to get to the earth stallion manning the post before any customers could beat her to it and slow her down.

With Intel trailing behind her, Pear Butter all but slammed into the kiosk, startling the stallion into banging into the opposite side. “Farm! There’s a farm here, right?!”

The stallion gave her a baffled look and looked to Intel who had managed to reach them. The captain shrugged at him. “Uhh… I take it you’re here for cider season. You have that look about you,” he muttered. “But yes, if you follow the main road, you should see signs directing you to Sweet Apple Acres. Are you here for the cider or the Social?” he asked, trying to get the manic mare to leave as soon as possible.

The actual details of both events escaped her for a long moment, long enough for Intel to answer for her in an almost bored tone. “She’s here on business with the Apples, or something.”

It took the stallion a moment to realize Pear was a changeling since her eyes didn’t have the typical blue glow. “Ah, I see. Well, the Social isn’t until tomorrow morning, so I would imagine Applejack is at her shop in town square.”

“Thank ya, thank ya!” Pear called out as she raced away. With the wider town open to the station, the crowd had thinned considerably, giving Pear Butter more room to run. Intel chased after the manic mare through streets and and alleyways before curiosity got the better of the captain. The small town had grown quite a bit since Twilight founded her hive, let alone when Pear Butter was abducted. What scant few hints of memories she had of the layout were prodding her in the wrong directions. It didn’t help that industrial development had led to several stretches of town being rezoned and built up.

Intel had no trouble following after the mare from the air as Pear neglected her wings entirely. It’s like she doesn’t know how to get to the Square.

<Hey, momma, is there a reason Pear wants to meet the Apples so badly? Isn’t she just some half-drone you picked up from grampa?>

Intel could almost feel the coy smile on her mother’s face. <Oh, I think there’s much more to her than meets the eye. Just keep an eye on her though. If she breaks anything running around, just have it charged to the treasury.>

<Okaaayyy. Why not just gift her the location for Aunty Apple and save us the trouble?>

<Some things are best done on your own. Let her have this.>

Intel almost missed Pear’s sudden left turn as she flew after her, barreling over an aging brown earth stallion with grey hair, causing him to drop a load of firewood. Intel hesitated long enough to see the stunned gaping jaw on him before having to chase Pear Butter again. He looks like he’s seen a ghost.

The town was all wrong. The ghostly memories, barely coherent enough to give instinctual directions, were useless. The number of brick and mortar stores were above and beyond what she vaguely remembered. What few houses she ran across had either become larger apartments or were far more wealthy than the small, sleepy town had any right to be in her time. She came to a stop upon seeing a large building on a low hill with tall spindly towers that looked like an overcompensating chimney. A few pegasi had a dark grey cloud hovering just over the mouth of the black belching chimneys. That was most certainly not there before. She just so happened to catch them moving the grey cloud away to replace it with a white and puffy one.

Is this really the right place? Are mah memories that tore up? The sound of buzzing wings behind her caused Pear to look back at her escort. Intel. While Pear had inherited some empathic abilities, Intel was too far away for them to work, so she couldn’t tell if the full changeling was annoyed or bored from this distance.

“Why don’t you try flying?” Intel called out. Now that Pear had stopped, the Queen’s Guard landed next to her. The pair were standing on the walkway of a cobblestone road near the retirement home. A few aged ponies were nestled on their rocking chairs, oblivious to them.

Pear Butter shuffled nervously on her hooves, trying to fight the urge to follow her instincts over learning the town’s new layout. “Ah uhh… Ah don’t want any of the Apples to see me first, is all.” Pear Butter closed her eyes to think and calm her nerves. The chorus of the hive mind was a tempting place to retreat to, to allow her anxiety and stress to be diluted through just listening to her new kin. The hive mind’s subtle nature was a constant reminder that she was now part of a greater whole, but it was by no means a dominating impulse. Pear squeezed her eyes tighter to reassert herself. No, it’s not their troubles, only mah own. As if to comply with her wishes, the chorus dimmed to only the background of her mind.

Intel sniffed out the will for self-assertion, but nothing else of Pear’s inner conflict. “Were… were you somepony important to them?” Intel asked in a much more somber tone.

The question caught Pear Butter completely off guard, and she stared at Intel for a long silent moment. Only the clip clop of hooves or the occasional chug of steam engines filled the street. “Twilight didn’t tell you all about me? But you’re her personal bodyguard or something, aren’t you?”

Pear Butter caught a brief flash of pain in Intel’s eyes. Not physical, but one of longingness, and dare she think, kindredness. “Only the queens know us drones inside and out, as is proper.” Intel’s eyes focused intently on Pear’s non-glowing eyes, trying to judge on what to say. “Twilight may have accepted you into the hive mind, but you are still a mystery to the rest of us. It’s… not something I’m used to in kin.”

Pear scuffed at the ground, her searching gaze went back to the streets. “Ah’d tell ya, honest. But first Ah have to know if Ah’m actually somepony to the Apples. If Ah was a friend, kin, or… even a rival. It’s all Ah got left of mah past life.” Pear looked back at Intel. “Ah know Ah can never be that pony again but… ”

Intel’s eyebrows lifted at the news, her somberness forgotten. “Did you try looking into the census archives in Canterlot?”

Pear sadly shook her head. “Ah couldn’t. Every time Ah went there the geas would keep me from entering the door like Ah was some sorta vampony that hadn’t been invited.”

Intel studied Pear intently before sighing heavily. “That must have been horrible, being a prisoner in your own body.” Intel hugged Pear after the former pony retreated back into the alleyway and started crying quietly. Intel was mildly impressed she didn’t want to weep openly in public, causing a scene. “Come on, you’ll find the Apple Store two streets down and to the left.”

Pear silently accepted the news as an excuse to recollect herself a bit faster than she wanted. Once the tears stopped and she rubbed the water off her face, Pear turned to give Intel a small annoyed scowl. “You knew where to go this whole time? Seriously?”

Intel rolled her eyes, the mood lost. “Peh. Well, yeah. You just ran off before I could show you.” She flew into the air to be just below the roofs of the nearby structures. “So unless you want to run around aimlessly again, follow me this time, eh?”

“It wasn't aimless,” Pear Butter countered with a huff and a stomp. The fuming frown only deepened when Intel just gave her a disbelieving smirk. “Fine, Ah'll fly this time.”

And there it was, the Apple Family Store. It had a deactivated red neon apple sitting on top of the whole place with a windowed front. Within was a display of not just apples and cider, but all kinds of jiyya products. A few thestral couples were eyeballing the bulbous fruit with gluttony. Superimposed on the window in front of the jiyya display was a stylized thestral chowing down approvingly on the fruit. The store as a whole had a strange mix between rustic wood, brass, and iron.

The store was lit, but a large sign on the polished wooden door read ‘out to lunch’. There was a little clock on the sign, indicating the break had just started less than a minute ago.

Pear Butter stood in the middle of the street with Intel beside her. She gazed at the store as if it was both a beacon of hope and a monster of emotional devastation all at once.

“Intel ‘La ‘Gence, my long time friend and ally!” a deep masculine voice called out from behind the pair. Both mares turned around to find a muscle-bound thestral stallion. He had a single saddlebag that smelled of hay burgers and pickles. He wore a massive, friendly grin and had a foreleg open, ready for a bear hug. “How’s my favorite trooper?”

With a grin to match, Intel cackled at the proper use of her full name. “Dusk Branch, I was hoping I’d get to see you again!” She all but leapt into his waiting hug and the two squashed each other to see who would relent first. No matter how much she tried, Intel didn’t have the strength to match Branch and released him first. “How’ve you been ya big softy?”

Dusk Branch bellowed a laugh at her, before faking insult by gasping and holding a hoof to his chest. “Da, there’s not need for such cruel words between friends. Why I got voted the toughest nut in my family ten years going, I’ll have you know!” He dropped the act as quick as it came. “So what are you doing here? Finally got some time off?”

“Almost.” Intel turned around and pointed a hoof at Pear Butter who was waiting politely. “I have orders to escort Ms. Pear Butter over here to meet with the Apples, or at least Applejack.”

“Is that right?” Branch asked rhetorically. He slid past Intel to both size up the odd changeling and to offer a hoof. “Well you’re in luck there, I was just coming back with lunch for all while AJ did inventory. The name’s Dusk Branch.”

Pear Butter smiled at the friendly giant and eagerly shook his hoof. “Pear Butter, heh, as you heard. Are you a family friend or just an employee?”

“Ha! A bit of both and more. I’m Applejack’s fiancee.” His grin widened at Pear’s astonished reaction. “But come, come, we can all chat and eat. I brought enough for all, and the store can’t stay closed for lunch forever.”

As Intel moved up alongside them, Branch found it a perfect excuse to rope her into a second hug, and partially dragged her to the door. “Come my friend, we simply must have lunch together. I want to hear all about your crazy stories.”

Intel didn’t need much prodding, but she played the part of a resistant guest and pulled against him, not that it helped. “Think you can stomach the good stuff this time? AJ got pissed when she had to clean your breakfast up off the floor last time.”

"That was not my fault. I had a bad cannoli, it disagreed with me horribly, is true. But now, I can listen to the worst you can throw at me this time, without fail!"

Pear chuckled behind a hoof and followed them in. Ooh, Ah like him.

The jolly group made their way inside with Branch calling out as soon as the door shut, “Soups on, everypony!”

“Oh, you better not have brought soup!” a terse Applejack cried out from behind the stockroom door. “Ah tolda,” she burst through the door with eyes zeroed in on Dusk Branch. “You best be playin’ again, ya big lunk.”

“Dah! You know I only be fooling.” Branch teased with a flourish of his left hoof. “But let us quibble for fun later, we have guests!” Branch stepped aside to reveal Intel and Pear behind him.

Applejack had marched half way across the store by the time the stallion moved aside, and she stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing Pear Butter. Applejack’s mouth was agape at a pony that had stepped out of her time-fogged past.

As for Pear, the instinctual fear of the geas’ reprisal for being this close to Applejack hit hard, but the punishment didn’t come. This was her chance, at long last. Even still, her heart pounded in her chest, and she broke out in a cold sweat trying to come up with something to say.

Both Intel and Branch were puzzled by the reactions, equally unsure of how best approach the situation.

“Landsakes,” Applejack said slowly, almost reverently. Upon regaining her wits, she noticed the horn, holes, and short yet noticeable fangs the mystery mare possessed. The only thing that gave her more pause than the mare’s colors, face, and curly hair, was that her turquoise eyes had no blue glow, allowing them to shine on their own. Her brow furrowed in mild suspicion. “You look… awfully familiar. What’s your name, missy?” Applejack asked the mare that looked slightly younger than she did.

“P-pear Butter,” she replied shakily. “Ah—”

Pear stopped when she saw Applejack getting angry in a hurry. “Pear Butter ya say?” Applejack gave Pear a look that could melt steel beams before glaring at Intel. “Girl, Ah’m gonna say this once. Ah like a good joke er prank, but anythin’ about mah parents is off limits, ya hear me?!”

Intel cowed out of surprise under the seething fury and waved her hooves placatingly. “Whoa, wait a second. Hold up! If this is a prank, it’s news to me.”

“Well, ain’t that the biggest donkey manure lie Ah’ve ever heard!” Applejack stormed over and jabbed the drone in the chest with a hard hoof. “Y’all should know family is sacred. And as for you—” Applejack began as she returned her ire towards the peach colored changeling, “—Ah should throw… you…” Applejack stopped as she stared at Pear Butter’s cutie mark, or at least what was left of it. Applejack stepped off to the side to get a better look at the damaged cutie mark.

Pear Butter kept scurrying away until she bumped into a shelf. She cowed a little at the irate farmpony, but stopped resisting after she had nowhere else to retreat to.

Applejack ignored Pear’s flight, and focused solely on that distorted cutie mark. She had fully expected to either see the unforgettable jar of fruity cream on Pear’s flank, or no cutie mark at all. Yet what she found looked like a smear of darker peach colors mixed with the light blue of glass and a hint of red from the lid.

The lapse in Applejack’s anger prompted Branch to come over and lay a reassuring hoof on his fiancee’s back. Applejack grabbed the offered hoof with her own. “Who are you?”

Pear Butter refused to let the hive mind shoulder any of her anxiety. She took comfort in the presence of the chorus, but she wanted to do this solely with her own strength. Shoring up the courage to speak, Pear Butter started slowly. “Ah’m hopin’ somepony from here, actually.” She risked an upward tug on her lips, but Applejack’s stern look made her press on before losing her nerve. “Ah know Ah used to be a farmer when Ah was a pony. But a long time ago, Queen Polybia,” Pear Butter forced the words out with deep hostility instead of the usual, less identifying, and decidedly more crass names she reserved for the dead queen. “She, foalnapped me and put me in a pod so she could use mah experience as a farmer to feed her swarm.” Now that she had started, the words flowed faster and easier. “She woke me up ta be a guard for her royal daughter and sent me and one other to Canterlot. Her daughter was, uh, Stellar Drift by the way. The whole time though…” and on Pear Butter went, spilling every little detail, emotion, and event she remembered.

Through it all, Applejack listened with rapt attention, yet she kept the walls around her heart. This was not a scar she wished to open so readily. Her mouth was bone dry all the same. Applejack’s memories of her mother were almost as faded as the quasi’s own, worn away by time rather than alchemy. The singular thing Applejack remembered most of all though, was her mother’s kind voice. A voice that had always put her at ease as a filly with lullabies and praises. She grasped Branch’s hoof tighter and tighter as Pear’s story continued right up to the end.

“...And so Ah ended up here,” Pear Butter ended hopefully, looking at Applejack with shaky optimism. “Ah can’t tell ya how much Ah’ve wanted to meet ya. Ta learn who Ah used to be.”

Applejack licked her parched lips with a sandy tongue. She looked to Intel for a moment. “Ah know you’re listen’n, Twi. Ah can’t see ya letting her get to say her piece like this if you didn’t believe her.”

Everyone looked to the soldier as Intel bore her mother’s eyes and voice. Twilight put on a troubled, if regal air. “I had Starlight Glimmer double check my investigation on her cutie mark. It’s badly degraded, as you can tell, but it is real. Polybia was a lot of things, but I can’t see her awakening a random prisoner and injecting your mother’s broken memories, assuming she somehow acquired them in some other way. Only to then not use her against you in some manner.” Twilight caught Pear’s stunned reaction at being called Applejack’s mother out of the corner of her eye. “As far as I can determine, Pear Butter is who she says she is. Anything more than that, I have to leave up to you and the rest of the Apples.”

“Are - are you seriously tell’n me mah momma ain’t dead!?” Applejack took a tentative step forward, daring to hope this wasn’t some sick joke. RD maybe, if she were stinkin’ drunk. But not Twilight. “Are you for real?” she asked desperately, tears starting to fall. “No foolin?”

Pear Butter could feel it in her heart. Older though Applejack may be, having a moment to look her in the eyes was all she needed to connect some of her broken memories. A tearful smile crossed Pear Butter, with, she too making that first step. “Ah am, by Celestia’s light, Ah am!”

With a rush of tears, Applejack burst forward and embraced her long lost mother in a crushing hug. Pear Butter responded in kind, the both of them a reunion neither thought possible.

Upon Intel’s suggestion, Twilight erected a privacy screen over the windows. Both she and Dusk Branch watched mother and daughter cry out decades of absence. Catharsis of such depth, such reopened pain, was a rare and surprisingly euphoric emotional high for Intel, and Twilight by proxy.

So caught up in the waves of euphoric catharsis were they, that neither of them noticed Dusk Branch suddenly catch them as Intel started to keel over. The flash of vertigo brought both queen and drone back to their senses, only to have to resist the euphoria again.

“You ladies are suckers for a good, tearful reunion aren’t you?” Branch flashed a thankful grin as he helped Intel stand again. He whispered to as to not disturb the reunion. “My Apple was always mum about her parents, now I see why.”

As if on cue, both of them overheard Applejack ask her mother the question Twilight had dreaded. “Where’s pa? Did he get woken up too?”

As Twilight mustered an answer, it was Pear Butter who spoke first. She pulled away from Applejack with a deep pained sorrow threatening to eclipse her joy. “Ah don’t know, exactly. Ah told you Polybia woke me alongside a stallion. After a while, Ah thought he was mah husband, or at least a special somepony in some manner. But…” Pear Butter steeled herself, and found strength from Applejack’s side-hug. “But whoever he used ta be is long gone. Polybia changed him too much for any real memories to return. The last Ah saw him, his only thoughts were to protect Stellar Drift, not because she deserves it, but because it was Polybia’s final command.”

Applejack wiped the tears from her eyes, a surge of righteous anger coloring her voice. “If Ah had known.” She turned that furious look at Twilight. “Ah’d have gone on that warpath with ya. By Celestia, Ah’d have done more than Luna did. A thousand times more.”

Twilight heaved a slow controlled breath. “Let’s not dwell on her. Polybia is dead and locked in a horrible afterlife. We should leave it at that.”

“Aye,” Pear Butter agreed while putting a hoof on Applejack’s withers, drawing her daughter’s attention, which softened into sympathy. “Ah say we forget her entirely, that’s the worst thing we can do ta her.”

Applejack squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth to release some of her anger. In the end, she wasn’t very successful. “Fine. But we should look for that stallion. He might be pa, or he might not… anymore. But Ah want to be sure. If only to put him to rest for real.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Between Princess Luna’s and Rainbow’s efforts, I have no doubt we’ll find him eventually. Once we do, you can be brought in, but for now, please don’t let this news hound you. Leave the hunt to us, and focus on your own life.” If only Stopwatch was able to track him through her connection with him, but that would be too easy now wouldn't it?

“Ah… Ah know ya will, Twi. Thank ya.” Pear Butter walked up behind her and nuzzled her daughter, eliciting a grateful, if teary smile from the farmpony.

“Come on,” Pear offered with excitement to chase away the negative pallor that threatened to ruin the day. “Show me this cider season and Sisterhooves Social Ah kept hearing about on the train over!”

Seeing the ice breaker for what it was, Dusk Branch leapt at the opportunity Pear presented. “Ah ha! Excellent idea! We should make it a whole affair, all day!” He manhandled Applejack into a side-bear hug while gesturing wildly with his free foreleg. “Think of the headlines we could bring. The season is not only expanded to Jiyya cider as well, but we can have the return of my future mother-in-law as the keystone! Oh, what fun we shall have!

“Come, my dear sweet apple, we have much to do!” Dusk Branch belted off a jolly laugh as he all but dragged Applejack away to the storeroom. Applejack offered only playful resistance, producing giddy laughter from the changelings who briefly remained on the store floor.

Once the couple were out of sight, Pear Butter inched over to Intel and whispered conspiratorially at her. “Oh Ah like him, where did she find him? Is he one of them imperial bat ponies?”

Twilight giggled behind a hoof. I could just hive chat for perfect privacy, but where’s the fun in that? Intel conveyed her own lack of amusement, only for Twilight to perform the Link equivalent of blowing a raspberry at her. “Nope, he’s Equestrian born and bred. AJ picked him up after she went searching for a jiyya expert. She wouldn’t go into details, the spoilsport, but I think we can guess how the two met.”

“Ah might be able to leverage some maternal strings to get the truth,” Pear Butter snickered happily. She took a long moment to enjoy the feel of social gossip. As the two passed theories back and forth on how Applejack and Dusk Branch got together, Pear Butter's eyes wandered throughout the store’s interior, marveling at what her family had accomplished in her absence. The general layout was about as much as could be expected, with shelves lined with various types of apples, jiyya, or their fruity products. There were also a number of simple machines, by changeling standards. Each of the machines served an obvious function, be it product lifting or sorting; very little was left to artistic flair, save for the repeating cutie mark of an apple on top of a shield. Pear Butter walked off towards the stockroom, but stopped at the sorting machine. “Did an Apple make these or is this one of yours?” Pear asked, breaking the chain of gossip.

With a proud grin she reserved for her students, Twilight was all too happy to let the topic shift and extol the tale. “This was designed and built by your very own Apple Bloom, thanks to my excellent engineering school of course. Bye the bye, she’s staying at Sweet Apple Acres this week.”

It wasn’t long before everyone made towards the asphalt road into Sweet Apple Acres. Along the way, Twilight had arrived with her real body, allowing Intel to scamper off to enjoy some free time. The quartet had chatted up all the minute little things both had lived in Pear’s absence. Applejack had been mum on most of Apple Bloom’s achievements, willing to wait for her little sister to speak for herself later, and so Apple Bloom could see her mother’s pride first hand. Dusk Branch had been more than happy to go into every little detail about jiyya farming and his own family business.

Twilight merely added occasional commentary, happy enough to see the light return to Applejack’s eyes. Something that had been missing for a while.

The group was along the same old dirt path between the main freight road and the farm house. Pear Butter took in all the sights. The healthy and bountiful apple trees stretched far and wide in perfect rows. There were even some new pear trees, and by Pear Butter's critical eye, she could tell they were only a year away from producing a full crop. Off in the distance were rows of massive greenhouses with even more trees within.

The group was halfway up the road when Pear Butter popped the question Twilight had been dreading. “Ya only been mentioning yer siblings. What about your grandparents? Weren’t some of them alive before Ah was taken?”

At that, Applejack stopped walking and stared longingly at a particularly young apple tree. “Well…” Dusk Branch gave her a side hug, but knew Applejack well enough to let her speak on her own. “I don’t know if you remember, but Grandpa Apple died well before you were… taken. But Granny Smith, she - she passed on last year.” Applejack leaned into Dusk Branch’s barrel silently thanking him for his strength. “Oddly enough, yer father, Grand Pear, passed not a day after.”

“Oh.” Pear Butter’s ears wilted with a mix of anger and sorrow warring over her face. “Ah wish Ah remembered either of them.”

Wiping away a tear, Applejack turned back towards Twilight. “Is there anything you can do about that?”

“Afraid not.” Twilight used her magic to project a brilliantly cut gem. “Memories can only be saved like that in a memory crystal. Since Polybia abhorred individuality in her… subjects, nothing like that would exist for Pear.”

Dusk Branch pulled away from Applejack and waved towards the farmhouse. “As horrible as all this is, I think we should focus on making new memories instead of letting what horrors Polybia inflicted on us. To show we can move beyond her.”

Pear Butter found vindictive strength in that. “Agreed. Ah want to see mah family, even if Ah have ta reintroduce myself.”

Shaking her head to cast the pallor of depression aside for the time being, Applejack interposed herself between Pear Butter and the farmhouse. “As good an idea as any other. Why don’t Ah make sure everypony is ready before ya come on up. Ah won’t tell them who, just that somepony important is coming to see us.”

Twilight stepped forward and placed a wing on Pear’s back. “Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you to shout us over.”

Nodding in agreement with her queen, Pear Butter smiled. “Ah can hardly wait.”

“Well, won’t be long, Come on, DB, time to rouse the family!”

“As if I would ever miss this!”

With that, the two ponies raced off, leaving the two changelings alone for the time being. Now that they were out of earshot, Pear Butter looked up and gave Twilight a long worried look. “Mah queen, can Ah stay here for a while? Like, longer than the social, at least?”

Twilight bore the same concerned motherly face she often bore with her children. It wasn’t quite neutral, but it wasn’t smile or frown either. “Your meeting with Applejack was the final bit of evidence I needed to be sure you were who I thought you were.

“Pear, you didn’t choose to be a changeling, half though you may be. So I don’t want to force you into it either. You may stay as part of the hive mind, of course, but if the farm is where you choose to stay, then far be it from me to keep you away from them.”

Twilight could see the conflict on Pear’s face. “If you’re worried about Stellar Drift, don’t be. I have more than enough caretakers who can help daddy out in raising her in Canterlot when she’s over there.”

For the longest time, long enough that Twilight expected Applejack to call them over at any moment, Pear Butter stewed in her own thoughts. But eventually, Pear Butter shook her head. “No, Ah can’t do that. Not ta Stellar.” Pear gave Twilight a determined stare that brooked no rebuttal. “Ah don’t care if Polybia forced me inta bein’ Stellar’s guardian. That filly is kin, more now than ever.” Pear glanced out at the trees gently swaying in the wind. A pained expressed marred her face. “Ah want ta see mah pony family a’ course, and Ah want ta visit often but… Ah can’t abandon Stellar just to make mahself happy. Neither can Ah do it ta Night Light, Pranceston, or Azure Skies. Polybia may have forced me into it, but Ah choose to stay.”

With a few tears of her own, Twilight knelt down to be eye level with Pear Butter and embraced her. An act that surprised the former earth pony before she eventually reciprocated. “You’re a wonderful person, Pear. I know you’ll do an amazing job with Stellar.”

5: Determination

After the concert, Twilight Velvet locked herself inside the hotel room’s only bedroom. Lyra was too excited after her rousing success and came in later that night drunk as a skunk. Bon Bon had slept on the futon while Lyra ended up on the floor in a drunken haze.

Come the next morning, Lyra awoke to the smell of scrambled eggs, toast, and plump pancakes. Her pleasant mood was immediately soured by a hangover that felt comparable to a minotaur stomping on her head. “Ow, ow.” She curled into a fetal position and cradled her head. “Make it stop, oowwwwiee.”

Bon Bon snorted in amusement from the small dining table nearby. “I take it your queen won’t dilute hangover pains over the hive mind.”

“Not so loud, please.” Lyra cracked her eyes open to find a glass of grape juice resting nearby. Lyra snatched it up and greedily guzzled the whole thing. Leaking purple juice drenched her muzzle as the musician laid on her back with a modicum of her pain departing. “What would I do without you, Bonny?”

“Probably die of malnutrition,” Bon Bon called out with a sullen tone from her seat at the table. “So how was your little celebration at the Bug House?”

A lecherous grin cleaved Lyra’s face. She closed her eyes, both to try and remember it and to keep the sunlight at bay. “Oh, it was amazing. The purples and blues couldn’t get enough of me, nor I of them. I couldn’t walk after I left, and that wasn’t just because of the booze.”

Bon Bon’s ears went flat. “I was hoping you’d leave it at just ‘I had a good time.’” She had suffered Lyra’s friendship long enough to keep from losing her appetite, and proceeded to shove some pancake in her mouth.

It took Lyra a solid ten minutes to gather enough strength to drag herself up to the table and sit in front of her plate. By then, Bon Bon was done eating, and Lyra’s food was cold. Yet that didn’t stop her from resting her face on the table and using her tongue to pull food into her maw. The use of magic was a bit too much to ask for her hungover brain.

Yet even in her addled state, Lyra was able to glance about, and noticed there was one plate with a vacant seat. “So, uhh… I missed you girls after the concert. Everything go okay?”

Bon Bon’s face sank, but the bedroom door opening stopped her from saying anything. Twilight Velvet emerged with a steady gate, but had red rimmed eyes and tear stains all down her face. She found the other mares quickly enough and spotted her food. She wavered, unsure of what to do.

Bon Bon and Lyra watched the indecisive mare for a few moments before the confectionist waved at the waiting plate. “Please, I’d like for you to join us. I brought some food from the buffet downstairs.”

Velvet’s questioning eyes went to Lyra, yet all the green mare did in response was to lethargically roll her head back over so she could keep eating. Seeing the green changeling was not being overtly hostile, Velvet wordlessly claimed her seat. Yet all she could do was sit there, silently staring at the cold food.

“So,” Lyra said a bit louder than necessary. With her hangover blinding her empathic abilities, she couldn’t sense the others’ emotions. “Did you have fun last night?”

Bon Bon instantly regretted not having time to explain to Lyra what happened before she left for the celebratory party. She frowned, trying and failing to think of something to say.

Yet it was Velvet who spoke first. “I - I did in a way.”

Bon Bon was dumbstruck, and gaped at Velvet with utter disbelief.

Lyra nodded with her head still lying flat against the table, as ignorant as ever. “I figured you would. Bonny, can you get today’s paper? I wanna see what the media said about my concert.”

Completely ignoring the request, Bon Bon wanted to place a comforting hoof on Velvet’s own, but thought better of it and only rested her hoof partway there. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Velvet’s gaze went vacant for a moment before she gave a thread-thin smile and started using her magic to reheat her meal. “I don’t know why, but I feel last night was cathartic… like a flagellant after receiving a good lashing.”

“I’m not familiar with what a flagellant is,” Bon Bon replied cautiously. “But maybe we should take it slow. Give yourself a day to recuperate before trying to talk to Night Light again.”

“Wait, you actually talked to him?” Lyra wasn’t interested enough to raise her head. Instead, she attempted to rotate the plate with her tongue so she could keep eating, meeting with limited success. “That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“I can’t stop now,” Velvet insisted with a tensed brow. “I spent all these years hiding from my family. If I hesitate now, I may not work up the nerve to ever face my daughter again.”

“I’m not saying we wait for long,” Bon Bon replied with a hoof gesture for slowing down. “Just let your emotions settle a bit.”

Velvet held Bon Bon’s gaze for a long, hard moment. Eventually though, Velvet relented with a nod. “You’re right, of course.” She started eating again, leaving Bon Bon to get up.

“Don’t worry about washing the dishes, the hotel staff will take care of it. Why don’t we find something fun to do? Something to release some stress?”

“We can all go to the bug house,” Lyra suggested with snickering laughter. “We can just say Velvet is a lookalike, and isn’t really her.”

“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve heard out of you yet,” Bon Bon glowered. “I was thinking about a spa day. So long as Queen Blitz doesn’t mind fronting the bill.”

Velvet said nothing, appearing to only focus on her food.

Lyra grinned at the prospect and spoke after munching down some pancake, face still on the table. “That’d be perfect. Blitz said I could have any reward I wanted so long as I could keep an eye on our honored guest.”

“How about it, Velvet?” Bon Bon asked with a welcoming half-grin.

“It’s been forever ago since I had a spa day. It sounds nice.” Velvet gave a weak grin.

“Perfect. I’ll take the first shower. I’ll see you ladies in a bit.”

“We’ll be here.” Lyra finished rotating the plate some more and was trying to drag more pancake into her mouth with just her tongue.

Velvet waited a few minutes, slowly eating her breakfast until she heard the water running for the shower.

By now, Lyra had given up trying to eat with her head on the table and pulled herself up to a proper sitting position, but was still a bit wobbly.

“Lyra,” Velvet started with a worried tone. “I remember seeing a gift shop in the lobby. They might have some headache medicine I could get you.”

Lyra squeezed her eyes shut to ease the pain a bit, before nodding absently. “I may be hungover, but even I’m not stupid enough to let you go by yourself, and I don’t feel like walking anywhere right now.”

Velvet sighed, got up, and started making her way to the bedroom. “I was only trying to help.”

“Not for nothing,” Lyra called out, stopping Velvet by the door. “But my queen was pretty damn clear. You stay with us to make sure none of my kin try to kill you. They won’t care if we’re in the middle of Canterlot.”

“A bit of an exaggeration,” Velvet muttered to herself. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to rest my eyes a bit, so you can take the shower next.”

“Sure, sure,” Lyra replied. The green changeling was resting her face in her left hand while giving a dismissive wave towards the older pony with the other.

Closing the door behind her, Velvet heaved a heavy sigh to steel her nerves for what had to be done. Thank goodness the bathroom door isn’t in the bedroom. Velvet went to the pillow sitting on the unmade bed. Using her magic to remove the case, she took the pillow in her hoof and used the point of her horn to rip a hole in it. The act let several bird feathers fall from within. There we go. These should do nicely.

Next, Velvet looked at the dresser to find Lyra’s coin purse that Bon Bon had put down the night before. Velvet snatched it up and looked inside. Plenty of bits for a train ticket. With her funds secure, she went to the window and opened it. The streets of Canterlot stretched out seven stories down. Given Lyra’s ability to fly, the staff had opted to give them a room with a pegasus balcony. It was little more than a fold-out platform just barely big enough to stand on.

Keeping a bundle of feathers locked in her magic, Velvet grabbed the turnwheel and cranked the balcony out. Once it was secure, she grabbed the windowsill to prop herself up onto the platform. “You can do this, old girl. This spell should work with any type of feather.”

Using an old spell she had learned in college, Velvet’s magic disintegrated the feathers, and she leapt from the balcony. Instead of falling like a stone, Velvet glided down at a leisurely pace more or less in the direction of the train station.

She spotted a plethora of ponies giving her astonished looks, at least those that noticed she wasn’t a pegasus. Not too many unicorns had cause to learn featherfall, let alone use it. Yet her descent from the window was short-lived enough to keep anyone from panicking and calling for the authorities. Velvet was not as spry as she used to be, and stumbled a bit upon landing, nearly running face first into a lamp pole. The exhilaration of both the spell and of taking charge of her life once more made her giggle at the whole thing. She glanced about at passersby and put on her best haughty Canterlot accent. “Using stairs are so out of fashion, wouldn’t you agree?”

Not wanting to wait around, Velvet threw her nose in the air and started trotting to the train station. When she felt she was well and clear of the landing spot, Velvet picked up the pace and ran as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself. Yet before she could reach the station, she spotted a dress shop nearby. It was not one of the high class establishments, but rather more for the working class. Velvet jingled her absconded coin purse. I’m probably going to need a bit of a disguise if I want to get close.

Bon Bon emerged from her shower completely refreshed. With a pleasant sigh, she looked about and found Lyra slowly sipping on some water. The changeling didn’t look nearly as bad has she had ten minutes ago. Bon Bon’s smile wavered. “Lyra, where’s Velvet?”

“She’s in the bedroom getting some sleep.”

“Sleep? But we just woke up.” Bon Bon looked to the bedroom door, concern written on her face.

“She’s old. Old people sleep more,” Lyra shrugged.

“She’s not that old!” Bon Bon knocked on the bedroom door. “Velvet?” Another knock with no reply. “Are you okay?”

“She’s probably actually asleep,” Lyra offered with a sarcastic drawl. “Leave her be.”

Were it anyone else, Bon Bon might have heeded Lyra’s advice. “I can’t do that,” she directed at Lyra, her concern growing ever faster. “She told me she tried to commit suicide last night.”

Lyra’s eyes went wide and she stood up. “Whoa, what?! Bonny, why didn’t you say anything?”

Ignoring the question, Bon Bon cracked the door open at first, just to see if Velvet was indeed on the bed. But the strong gust of wind and the unfiltered sound of road traffic forced her to shove the door open and raced inside. “Velvet!” she screamed at the open window.

Bon Bon bolted for the open window and looked to the street, fully expecting a corpse. Poking her head out as far as she dared, Bon Bon searched frantically, but found nothing, just ponies walking or flying about their business.

Lyra stumbled into the room, real fear in her eyes upon noticing her friend was looking out of an open window. “Please tell me I’m not going to have to tell my queen that stupid mare up and killed herself!”

“She - she’s gone.” Bon Bon turned around to give Lyra a scathing glare. “Why weren’t you watching her, idiot?!”

“Hey, hey,” Lyra countered with a jabbing finger. “You didn’t have any problem with me leaving her in this room before you found out she ran away.”

“Gah!” Bon Bon growled as she paced the window a bit before pointing at Lyra. “Shut up! I’m supposed to be the smart one here!”

With adrenaline running in her veins, Lyra was able to ignore most of her diminishing hangover and stand more or less normally on two legs. “Okay, smart one, we have to find her, and fast. So where would she go?”

“I don’t know…” Bon Bon’s gaze went distant as she tried to think. “She mentioned wanting to talk to her family again. She’s probably on her way to the Sparkle Manor.”

“Okay, good plan.” Lyra spotted her pistol was still in its holster on the dresser and moved to claim it. “Can’t leave without-” Lyra hesitated when she noticed her coin purse was missing. “Wait, where’s my cash?” Lyra started frantically pulling drawers open. “That nag! She took my bits!”

Bon Bon stopped her pacing. “Why would she take your money if she’s going to see her ex-husband?”

“To get a taxi, I guess? How should I know?” Lyra growled as she secured her holster around her barrel. “I told her my brothers and sisters would kill her on sight. So maybe a taxi would keep her hidden.”

“There’s no way the two of us could ever hope to find her.” Bon Bon caught Lyra’s panicked eyes. “You need to tell Blitz.”

Lyra vigorously shook her head, fear in her eyes. “But she’ll kill me for losing Velvet.”

“And I’ll kill you if you don’t suck it up and do it!”

Lyra dragged her fingers over her face out of exasperation. “Fine! Gimme a moment.”

A heavy, fearful frown marred Lyra’s face as she sent a priority ping to Blitz.

<Something happen?> Blitz responded just a split second later.

Lyra swallowed the lump in her throat. <Uh huh. Velvet disappeared on us.>

Lyra could feel Blitz glowering over her mind. <What do you mean she disappeared?>

<Velvet either teleported out of the window or scaled the wall, because I know she didn’t leave out the front door.>

<Did you yell at her again or something?>

Lyra shook her head once she felt Blitz bristle from intense exasperation. <No. I even told her all the other ‘lings would goomba stomp her if she wasn’t with us.>

<Okay, we’ll deal with this. I have a few of my children in town; they can report her whereabouts. I want the two of you to go to Flare Lane. That’s more or less the center of town if I recall correctly. When I find Velvet, you’ll be able to link back up with her quickly.>

<Right away, my Queen.>

After relaying her queen’s plan, Lyra bolted out of the window while Bon Bon raced for the stairs.

Twilight Velvet departed the clothing store with a threadbare smock and complementary pants. It was a plain, puke green outfit, but it was on clearance and did a good job covering much of her body, including her cutie mark. Velvet spotted a good number of Canterlot locals giving her various levels of disgust. Well, this color is never in season, but it was cheap enough to still afford a train ticket. A shame I could never be bothered to learn that fur color spell.

Velvet trotted her way to the train station through a mile of switchback streets. Her disguise proved to be quite effective. Sure, she drew some attention to herself, but those eyes were focused on her hideous choice of attire, rather than giving any mind to her mane and fur colors.

Canterlot Central Station was heavily congested this time of day. Ponies and a small number of blue and purple changelings boarded and disembarked at a steady pace. Still, Velvet was able to squeeze through the steam fogged station to reach the line for the ticketbooth. With the station as busy as it was, most ponies came here to buy tickets hours in advance.

Velvet watched the changelings carefully whenever she spotted one, her eyes lingering on the purple ones in particular. Her heartbeat sped up at each one she saw. Aside from sharing her daughter’s colors, it was the little differences Velvet noticed the most. Some didn’t keep their manes rigidly squared. Others wore their mane or tail differently. Most sported some kind of equipment. The scant few armored ones had rifles slung across their backs, but the majority had saddlebags lined end to end with wrenches and other tools she couldn’t identify offhand.

Through it all, though, Velvet saw small aspects of the old Twilight brought out more fully in the drones. Most drones were actually talking with ponies, some sharing funny stories, some talking about the sciences, and others just catching up with friends.

A small part of Velvet wanted to sniff out any signs of deception, of a plan to undercut Equestrian society. However, her search found none of the old signs. It was as if a curtain had been removed from her eyes. They’re just like another tribe of ponies. Twily truly did what she said she would.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She hid her face under her mane, and did her best to squash the surge of regret. Her old paranoia served her well in keeping the changelings around her from catching more than a brief spike of raw emotion. Velvet glanced behind her, scanning the changelings. A few close by seemed to stop and look about, but their gaze never lingered in her direction.

Velvet squashed what was left of her guilt. I can’t let myself get caught. Not until I reach her… hive. Rubbing the fur under her eyes dry with a fetlock, Velvet fixed her mane back up and mentally prepared herself to move forward.

“Attention: The eleven o’clock train to Phoenix’s Roost with Ponyville connector will be departing in ten minutes.”

Urgency coursed through Velvet, dashing all other thoughts from her mind. She poked her head out to see the line at the ticket booth was shrinking rapidly. She spent half of her remaining ten minutes looking anxiously between the booth and the clock mounted on the wall above it. With only a single bit to spare, Velvet bought her ticket and practically leapt into the passenger car along with two other late arrivals.

The rows of benches were not overly crowded, but that was more due to Equestrian law limiting the number of passengers per train car. Velvet had been beaten by the morning commuters from Canterlot, so there were a scant few free seats to choose from. Velvet wearily scanned the other passengers, and found not a single changeling. It was a bit of a relief actually, not having to worry about any empaths.

A long, high-pitched whistle heralded the train starting to move forward. Velvet didn’t see many open seats, and quietly cursed when two of those seats were taken up by the other late arrivals. However, she spotted a free spot next to a yellow furred, red maned earth pony with a bow in her hair. Velvet wouldn’t have kept looking were it not for a robotic claw poking out from her saddlebag and her nose buried in a textbook. Is she one of those so-called engineers too? If that’s the case, she must have spent a lot of time around Twilight’s children. She might give me some idea of how these changelings think. And if I have that, then maybe, maybe I can reach Twilight.

Trying to act in a casual friendly manner, Velvet made her way to the mare’s bench. “May I sit here?”

The studious mare looked up from her book, and politely tried to hide her distaste for Velvet’s attire. “Uh, sure thing.”

Velvet sat down with a grateful smile. “Thank you, deary.”

She made herself as comfortable as was possible on the hardwood. Her bones mildly ached, but she refrained from showing it. Before the other mare could get engrossed by her book again, Velvet cooed at the claw. “My word, what is this peculiar thing?” she asked, playing up the old lady act.

The mare followed Velvet’s gaze to the claw in her bag. “Oh that?” She removed it from the bag and showed it off, but didn’t offer it up for Velvet to take it. Behind the claw was a gauntlet made to fit around the foreleg, making it a bit too long to completely hide in the saddlebag. It had pressure pads blanketing its entire front end, both where the hoof would fit and on the tips of the claws themselves. “It’s my robo hand. It’s for using tools too small for hooves.”

It didn’t take too much effort to look interested. The engineer was practically giddy in showing the thing off. “I forgot my manners, I’m Tee Vee,” Velvet inwardly kicked herself for using the old handle she had during her PCE days, but it would have to do.

If the other mare was fazed by the odd name, she made no show of it. “Ah’m Apple Bloom.”

“Nice to meet you, Apple Bloom. Could I hazard a guess that you went to that engineering school the changelings established a few years back?”

“It’s been a bit more than a few, but that’s right,” Apple Bloom’s face swelled with pride. “Ah’m actually close to getting my masters cert. Ah’m on my way to Ponyville to start a work contract.”

Velvet tried to glance up in the direction of Phoenix Roost, but the train had entered the first tunnel, forcing her to refocus on Apple Bloom. “This may be my age talking, but in my day, engineers were only known as soldiers who could build siege weapons; everypony else were called architects. I don’t suppose Ponyville is going into the business of war.” Velvet giggled behind a hoof to show she was in jest.

The act worked and actually got a snort of amusement out of the mare. “Nah, Ah’m goin’ over to help mechanize the cider mill mah sister’s raisin’. Ah tried ta tell ’er I’d do it for free, but she went over my head and paid the guild directly, say’n honest work deserves honest pay.”

“She sounds like quite the character.” Velvet cleared her throat and let some of the good humor ebb away. “I must confess I had a motivation for sitting next to you.” Apple Bloom gave her a lifted eyebrow. “I’m actually going towards Phoenix’s Roost myself, but I only hear rumors or tabloids talking about these ‘alliance changelings,’ I think they’re called sometimes. Since you were educated by those changelings, I was hoping you could give me some pointers. You know,” she added with a dismissive hoof wave, “social faux pas, things we ponies would see as normal but they would be insulted by… that sort of thing.”

“Ahhh, I getcha.” Apple Bloom put her textbook in her other bag and deposited her robo hand back in its own. “Well, first thing you should know, the ’lings act a mite differently in the hive than they do in the wider Equestrian cities.” Something between a grimace and a devilish grin appeared on Apple Bloom’s face. “They ah, Ah’m not sure how to say this all frou frou so I’ll just put it to ya straight. They’re touchy feely all the time, so don’t be surprised if you see a few makin’ out on the sidewalk. So just fair warning.”

“You don’t mean, as in, something that—” Velvet’s ears wilted as Apple Bloom nodded.

“If ya ask me,” Apple Bloom leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “Ah blame the hive mind fer it. All those shared thoughts and emotions include the dirty deeds o’ everypony in the hive. They probably see it as a hoofshake, I’d wager.”

The very thought of a purple drone coming onto Velvet with that intent invaded Velvet’s mind despite monumental attempts to keep it at bay. “They don’t do that to regular ponies do they? I hope.”

Apple Bloom leaned back against the window. The train exited the tunnel so she was able to look out at the hive hidden in the forest beyond. “Nah, they know better than ta do that. Other than that, though, they’re a good bunch.”

Velvet gave a visible sigh of relief. Sure, they’d probably attack me the instant they realize who I am, but before that…

“I will say this right now, though,” Apple Bloom said upon turning back towards Velvet with a stony warning frown. “Unless you’re friends with them, and they know it’s a harmless joke, don’t ever disrespect their queen-mother. Especially if it in any way insults the ‘mother’ part of that title.”

It felt like Apple Bloom had just stabbed Velvet in the heart. Velvet couldn’t stop a slight tremble in her forelegs, but managed to keep her face and voice even. “They take motherhood seriously. Well, don’t we all?”

“Some less so than others,” Apple Bloom added with a careless shrug.

The two mares fell into silence, and Apple Bloom looked out at the scenery. Velvet sat quietly, trying to keep her composure as renewed self-loathings plagued her mind.

She tried to cast such thoughts aside in order to plan how she would face her estranged daughter. Does she hold court like Celestia? Could she be out in public? The possibility of having to reveal herself crossed her mind, casting a pallor over her face. Maybe she’d at least come face to face and give her own sense of justice.

She spent the next ten minutes mulling over various ways to approach Twilight once she was face to face. But her musings were abruptly cut short when a hand landed heavily on her withers, causing her to cry out in surprise.

Everyone in the train car looked to see Lyra hunched over Velvet with a manic off-kilter, twitching face. Her right eye was bloodshot and a spark of mana was popping off her horn every so often. “There you are! I have been looking everywhere for you, and you will not believe what it took to get on this train.”

“L-Lyra?” Velvet nervously ran a hoof through her mane. “I - well, this is a suprise,” she said placatingly, trying to keep her from making a scene.

“It sure is!” Lyra pulled back a bit to give a fangy grin. “Now, care to talk in private with me? I know Queen Blitz is dying to know what happens next in your book.”

“Lyra?” Apple Bloom asked with mounting fan girlish delight. “As in the violinist from last night?!”

The ponies around them went from concern over an altercation to that of rumor-caused delight. Lyra turned her slightly unhinged grin at her newest fan. “That’s me! I’ll throw out all the autographs ponies could ask for, but right nooow…” Lyra sang as she bodily pulled Velvet to her hooves and started pushing her towards the back.

Velvet was too bewildered to give much resistance. Eventually, Velvet stopped letting herself being pushed and started walking on her own. Between Lyra wearing that manic grin and one of her ears twitching constantly, Velvet didn’t feel like speaking.

Apple Bloom leaned over the next seat with a hoof outstretched towards Lyra. “Wait! You should do a collab with mah friend Sweetie Belle!”

“I’ll think about it,” Lyra absently called out, not really thinking too much on the suggestion.

Towards the front of the train were the first class cabins, and Lyra barked for Velvet to get inside. The cabin was one that was on permanent retainer for royal business across the entire railroad company, be it alicorn or queen in nature. As such, it was a comfortable accommodation with red padded seats and a small glass chandelier.

Velvet took the bench near the window while Lyra shut the door behind them, and then gave a maddened snarl at the unicorn. “Do you have any idea, any idea what it feels like to have your queen take control of your body and teleport you ten times to reach a moving train?! When you’ve never been teleported more than once?!”

“I had good reason—” Velvet started, only to cut herself short when Lyra shoved her muzzle in her face.

“I puked my guts out in the middle of a damn crowd!” Lyra raged, sending a bit of spittle and salve flying. “My brain’s numb, which, by the way, was still recovering from a hangover, so thanks for that. She had to mute the hive mind to keep me from getting lasting brain damage!” Lyra jabbed Velvet with a hoof, practically shoving her against the wall. “Do you have any Celestia damned clue how painful that is!?”

Velvet pushed her back to get some space. “I’m not about to make excuses. I’m going straight to Phoenix Roost because Twilight deserves her retribution. I can’t do that with your queen’s plan of tiphoofing around.”

“How are you going to give her that if you’re dead?” Lyra rebuked sharply. She paced back towards the door, throwing her hands up out of exasperation. “You don’t know Rainbow Dash like Blitz does. As soon as you step hoof onto hive territory, her kids will kill you.” Lyra turned back around with tired anger as the backlash of so many rapid teleports caught up with her. “Rainbow Dash doesn’t exactly… think things through when she’s pissed, okay? And seeing your face wouldn’t just piss her off… words like “livid” and “enraged” are insufficient to describe what her mood will be like” Lyra pressed her back against the door, and slowly slid down to fall on her rump. She clutched her head, hissing in pain while rocking left to right to free her wings from being pressed against the door. “Stop being so damned stupid. That’s my job.”

“I’m sorry you’ve been hurt by this, but this is what I have to do.” Velvet looked out of the window, but they were still on Canterhorn Mountain, so all she saw was passing stone. “If Queen Rainbow Dash demands that I should be executed, then so be it. If she allows me to speak with my daughter one final time, to let Twilight pass her judgement, whatever that may be, then I can die with a lighter heart.”

Lyra snorted derisively, moving her fingers so she could snark at her charge. “You? Die with a light heart? You should take up comedy.”

“I didn’t say light,” Velvet countered with no real bite in her tone, “only lighter.”

Lyra shapeshifted her arms into forelegs so she could stand again, albeit quite wobbly, just long enough to claim the bench adjacent to Velvet. “If it were up to me, I’d have thrown you to the wolves already and forgotten about you. But how about this instead? My queen says Starlight Glimmer is in Ponyville today doing something I forgot because pain.” Lyra waved a hoof dismissively in the air as she shifted it back into a hand. “She rutted up way worse than you did, only she didn’t make it nearly as personal to Rainbow Dash or something. If you get her to escort you to Phoenix Roost, then that should make RD think a bit before chopping your head off, deal?”

The name rung a bell for Velvet, and it only took her a few moments to remember Celestia had dropped the name during her audience. “I remember her being mentioned, yes.”

“So ask yourself, do you just want to die, or do you at least want to speak to Twilight first?”

“I think you’re lying to me to try and get me to go along with your queen’s plan.” Velvet gave Lyra a stern glare as the anthro changeling did the same back to her. “I refuse to believe Twilight would allow Queen Rainbow Dash to execute me on the spot.” Velvet hesitated as doubt crawled its way back in. “…She’s a better person than I ever was.”

Lyra chewed on her lip, trying to think of what to say. “Maybe Blitz is exaggerating and maybe she isn’t. Her plan is still worlds better than you just running off on your own.”

“You could be right, but I don’t care!” Velvet nearly yelled. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. “I’ve waited far too long to do this. No more distractions, I’m going to see Twilight today!”

Author's Notes:

My new job really makes writing difficult through most of the week, but there's no way I'm letting that stop me entirely. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

6: Kindred Soul

Starlight Glimmer nervously tapped her hoof on the Ponyville train station’s receiving platform. Crowds of ponies and changelings milled about, making the air electric with anticipation for the train's arrival. Even though Ponyville was the closest town to the hive shrouded in the forest, the changelings around Starlight were scant and far between. Today at least, that suited Starlight just fine. If Queen Blitz was telling the truth, the fewer empaths around here the better.

However, her position as Twilight’s personal student carried a good amount of weight with the local changelings, and she was always being watched like a celebrity of sorts. Starlight felt those eyes upon her and looked to her left where a young purple changeling was whispering to a blue one. Both changelings waved energetically at her, to which Starlight happily returned. This whole thing with Lyra sounded a bit too clandestine for Blitz’s usual fair. In her mind’s eye, the cheery faces of the two changelings flashed back to into the cold animosity she faced when the truth of her crimes against Twilight had been revealed to the hives. Hateful names, and mumbled slurs rang in her ear as she felt her mind fall back to the past. She started to hyperventilate until a distant train whistle banished the haunting memory, and pulled Starlight to the oncoming locomotive that was steaming towards them.

Starlight had calmed down by the time the train came to a halt. Lyra wasn’t all that hard to pick out from the crowd. The bipedal bugs were fairly scarce among the scattered changelings, and Lyra’s coat and mane colors practically made her a beacon to Starlight. The pale purple unicorn slipped through the throng of ponies, only to hesitate a bit upon seeing the crudely dressed mare walking alongside Lyra. The pair slid along the train to avoid cutting through the dense crowd. Starlight followed after them, yet could only catch up to Lyra once the changeling found a bench in front of a café. It didn’t take a former villain like Starlight to realize the location distinctly lacked any other changelings nearby. She did a double take, after seeing one had been dining outside suddenly drop a bit purse on the table and leave. Wait, are all the bugs being ordered away from the café. What is this? Are we planning a surprise party?

“Lyra! I got Blitz’s message.” Starlight kept a pleasant smile on her face, trying to make it feel casual. Starlight and Lyra weren’t friends exactly, more like briefly experienced a teacher-student relationship that had relaxed over the years. It was only when Starlight saw Lyra wearing Blitz’s eyes that she started to get concerned. “Is something the matter?”

“Oh you can say that again,” Lyra said in her own voice. The contempt in her tone was so thick Lyra might as well have thrown a proverbial brick at Starlight. She jabbed a thumb at the gaudily dressed unicorn next to her.

The changeling spoke again, this time the voice was Blitz. “Forgive my quite rude daughter. We have an urgent matter to address, and I’d like to keep my aunt and especially my mother in the dark about it. At least until after my guest has had a chance to speak with you.”

“Oh.” Starlight craned her neck to get a peek at the poorly dressed unicorn mare. The mystery mare was looking the other way, but didn’t seem to be naturally shy. Looks like there’s more to this favor than there just be a need for secrecy. “Visiting students might come knocking if we go to my condo. But I know of a little place where we can talk in private.”

Trixie’s wagon was a decidedly cramped affair with two ponies and a changeling squeezed inside. Had Trixie not pulled out the props for a show later this week, the supplies would have made the tight confines far too constricting. As such, Lyra was nestled on one of the twin hammocks while the unnamed mare stayed by the closed door.

Starlight was about to climb into the other hammock, if only to have some room to breathe, when she gave the odd mare a concerned frown at her advancing age. “Do you want to take the hammock instead? I don’t mind standing.”

For her part, the mare looked distracted and irritated, her eyes only drifting from the slitted windows long enough to politely address her. “Thank you, but no, I’ve been on a train for hours.” Velvet was about to return her attention to the window when she spotted a large, ugly scar on the left side of Starlight’s barrel. It was a near perfect circle towards the front of her ribcage, with the healing process making the edges irregular. The fur was thinner than normal in the middle, allowing minute glimpses at the gnarled skin beneath.

Starlight let off a self-depreciating chuckle and pulled her hips around to hide the scar. “Oh, of course. Well,” she cleared her throat, “my name is Starlight Glimmer, the current councilor at the Rainbow Sparkle University of Engineering.”

“I’m Velvet Sparkle.” She ended it there, knowing that was all she needed to say.

“Velvet?” Starlight asked incredulously. She briefly looked at Lyra for confirmation. “You mean, the Velvet?”

Blitz kept watch through Lyra’s eyes and ears, but it was the drone who spoke. “Yup. The one and only pain in my tail for the last few days.”

“You can’t blame me for that hangover you whined about all morning.” Velvet snorted dismissively. “Nopony forced you to drink yourself under a table.”

“It was a celebration for a bomp'n concert! Drinking's practically expected of you.”

“Alright, let’s keep things cool.” Starlight slowly slid into the hammock to give herself time to process the news, and allow the situation to defuse a little. Lyra gave an angry snort, folded her arms, and looked away from Velvet. The older mare kept some measure of dignity about her, and sat there with mounting tension, as if she was going to spring right up and leave at the slightest provocation.

If she’s here with Blitz and Lyra, then it can’t be anything that would be dangerous to Twilight. Starlight was unsure how to approach the matter. I need more information. “Something tells me you should be looking for a family therapist, not a school counselor.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Velvet grumbled at Lyra. She did however manage to give Starlight the briefest of nods. “This whole detour is both unwanted and unnecessary. But it was either this, or Blitz was going to forcefully smuggle me out of town.” She gave the changeling a dirty look, but when Blitz met her gaze, the older mare sighed and averted her gaze. “I tried fighting a queen once. It didn’t work then, and I see no reason it would now.”

Blitz’s distinct voice hummed in disagreement, yet her stern tone was at odds with Lyra’s laid back, if hostile, presence. The musician was losing interest. “Normally, I’d agree with you, Starlight, but Velvet is being horrendously impatient. She’s ready to stroll right up to Phoenix Castle today, and straight into the gun barrel of the first guard to recognize her.”

Starlight almost raised a hoof to her mouth in surprise, but stopped mid-motion. “Are you saying she,” Starlight turned towards Velvet who was scowling at the window with mounting anger. “That you are trying to commit suicide by soldier?”

“I was going to submit to whatever justice she deemed fit.” Velvet gave Blitz a withering glare, and looked about ready to storm out of the wagon. “If Twilight demands my life, then so be it. If Rainbow Dash demands the same, and Twilight does nothing to stop her, then it makes no difference to me. This whole matter is far beyond having a counseling session with Twilight.”

Starlight went silent, her downcast eyes absently studying the rickety wooden floor. A haunted frown creased her muzzle as her mind wandered over similar words of the past.

Blitz sighed heavily. “Look, I know my aunt, alright? She’ll probably share some harsh words with you, and then let my mom have her way with you. And believe me, mom despises traitors. She still gives Kreesus all kinds of grief, and you've never seen her act out some of her vengeance fantasies in a few Linkscapes. I can’t blame her but-”

“You’re wrong.”

Blitz blinked at the sharp interruption. She looked at Starlight with derisive disbelief. “About what?”

“Queen Blitz, you know why Twilight made me her student in the first place.” Starlight tried to study’s Blitz’s face, but all she got was Lyra’s uncaring, slumped expression.

If the distant queen was aware of Lyra’s dispassionate posture, she didn’t show it in her voice. “Of course I do. It’s the main reason I dragged Velvet to you in the first place. You are the pony I know who has had experience with reconciling with a horrible choice, has worked her tail off to earn my aunt and mother’s trust after the fact, and could talk some sense into...” Blitz scrunched her muzzle trying to control herself, and not start name calling. “Velvet.”

The mare in question stopped inching towards the door, and fixed a critical stare at Starlight. “A single bad choice?” She snorted. “It couldn’t have been that horrible if Twilight took you in.”

Starlight developed a cold sweat as she dragged old pain back to the front. And here I thought I was long done confessing this. “Ponies like us, that were us never make just one bad decision. We aren’t the ones who destroy lives in a blinding moment of passion. Walking trouble like us, are created by a long string of mistakes.”

Velvet’s mouth twitched. Remorse threatened to break onto her face. For her part, Blitz remained quiet, and waited to let the two ponies speak their piece.

Starlight looked down at her hooves, and nervously fiddled with the fabric of the hammock, if only to keep herself busy. “Ever since… that spark. Every fire starts with one. A moment where you start down that path that leads you to a very dark place.” She looked carefully at Velvet, measuring the older mare's subdued, pensive tension.

“Ya know,” Lyra drawled. “A fire and dark place, don't seem to really metaphor together all that great.” Starlight glared daggers at the mint green changeling, yet it was Blitz who gave her a mental slap that made Lyra wince.

Hoping to not be interrupted again, Starlight Glimmer started her story once more. “As I was saying, my spark was a friend of mine abandoning me after he got his cutie mark. At first I blamed him and his parents.” Starlight kept herself in check every time she was about to say the friend’s name. “He was sent off to study magic, leaving me behind. To this day I still don’t think his father bothered sending him the letter I wrote.” Starlight’s face was marred by old anger that she had to consciously force back down. “If it had just been him, that could have been the end of it. I made other friends back then, but one by one, they were whisked away to study what their cutie mark said they were best at. Magic, blacksmithing, floral arrangements, it didn’t matter. At the time my hometown was nowhere near as cosmopolitan as it is now, so having somepony local a foal could apprentice under was uncommon. And - um - I couldn't stand the ones who could stay. She-who-shall-not-be-named was such a cantankerous filly, I swear to Celestia she was an old nag the day she was born.

“So I grew to hate cutie marks for taking my friends away.” That was the easy part. A foal's troubles seem so innocuous to adults, at least until they learned where it led. “What about you, Velvet? What was your spark?”

Velvet’s hostility bled away at the painful question. The old unease, the fear she thought she had overcome returned anew. With a long, slow, heavy sigh, Velvet sat down on the hard, dusty floor of the wagon. The sounds outside seemed to fade, the sunlight dimmed from the passing clouds. “My daughter came back from near-death as a changeling. To me, she seemed to be utterly blind that she was being manipulated by the very species that attacked us, and was flippant towards my concerns.” Velvet quickly turned to Blitz, knowing the objection waiting on the queen’s lips. “I know I was in error, but back then, I couldn’t see that Twilight had been preserved as much as could be hoped for.”

Nodding, Starlight offered a weak smile. “When I got my mark in magic, I saw it as a joke. Getting a cutie mark for the same thing that took my friend away was… I thought it was beyond cruel. So I ended up studying cutie marks, intent on destroying them once and for all. I wasn’t entirely blind. I knew cutie marks are a foundation of Equestrian society. So after I found the spell that could remove cutie marks, I decided I needed to create a new village. One that was built upon the principle of equality. No cutie marks to force destiny’s will upon us.”

Starlight let off a long, heavy sigh. “The community started off pretty rocky, as you can imagine, but we started learning how to deal with the lack of cutie marks. That is erm… Except for me.” Starlight let off a sheepish, half-hearted chuckle. “I couldn’t cast the spell if I removed my own cutie mark, so I had to fake it.”

Starlight took a deep breath to continue. “At any rate, I managed to hide the fact for a good long while. My whole plan started to unravel when one of my more – zealous citizens tried to recruit our only trader. We had set up as a mining town, you see, so we were in no position to grow our own food, and the trade was our only lifeline. But the recruitment went sour in a hurry, and he vowed to never come back.”

Lyra tilted her head, a mildly interested smirk on her face. “You must have been one sassy pepper about that one.”

Blitz took over, mentally swatting Lyra again. “I still can’t get over the fact you were relying on only a single trader as your food source. Didn’t that seem unnecessarily risky? What if he got waylaid without you knowing?”

“It was a risk we all agreed to.” Starlight shrugged sheepishly. “Well, by 'we' I mean I sorta cajoled everypony into agreeing to it. I wanted to keep my experiment quiet until I knew Equestrian society could function long-term without marks. I had to take that risk. Aaat any rate, with the trader gone, I personally went looking for a new one, and that’s when I first saw a Phoenix changeling. I forget her name," she started with a dismissive wave, "but two things were important to me: she was having a luncheon with the local general store owner about setting up a supply purchase, and she had no cutie mark at all.

“Needless to say I was immediately interested. I spoke to her about restocking my village, and thought she’d be an excellent example of how to build a markless society. It ended up not being her, but another changeling, Intel’La’Gence, who eventually visited my town. At first I was thrilled, mind you. A perfect representative of a pony-ish society working well enough to be technologically superior to anything I had seen before, if her - ah - flying warship was any indication. I lauded her, and by extension, Queen Twilight as proof that my town’s problems were simply the growing pains of a markless society. But um… to make a long story shorter, let’s just say she found out I still had my cutie mark, and told everypony in town that changelings were a different equinoid species that didn't have cutie marks, like hippogryphs and kirin, and then things quickly spiraled out of control. I was ejected from the town the day after Intel’La’Gence arrived.” A shiver ran down Starlight. “I high tailed it out of there, and ended up homeless for a while.”

I’d ask Intel about some more details, but something tells me I might tip my hoof too much if I do. Blitz decided she was safer just asking directly. “I admit I never really asked the details before, mostly since Aegis and I were busy with building Tradewinds. But, Starlight, why were you allowed to leave at all?”

It was Starlight’s turn to give Blitz a questioning gaze. “I hadn’t done anything wrong… well, nothing illegal anyway. I may have… coerced, to put it gently, some of my citizens, but nothing approaching a crime since they all eventually gave up their cutie marks willingly I only ran because I was furious at Intel, but not stupid enough to think that I could fight her and that gunship she arrived in.”

Through it all, Velvet remained in begrudging attention. She was already drawing parallels with her own slow descent. “Back then, I only toyed with the idea of joining the PCE. But every time I saw Twilight after her return, it felt like the changeling she had become was consuming her once noble, pony soul. At the time, when my grip on reality was strained at best, all I could see when I looked at her, was a stranger wearing her fur.”

“So you know how it’s like. That’s when my life… my mind went down a very dark path,” Starlight Glimmer admitted while rubbing her foreleg. “Nopony ever really believes they’re the villain, right? I believed I was helping create a social revolution for the betterment of all ponykind. And within a single day it was all ripped out from under me. To make matters even worse, I was branded as a deranged radical. Which, looking back on it, was pretty spot on. But at the time I was in no state to see what I was doing wrong.

"It didn't take me long to funnel all that indignation and self-righteousness into a vendetta. At the dissenters, at Intel, which I later expanded to all of the phoenix changelings for ruining my revolution before I could perfect it. I was blaming everypony but myself.” Starlight’s mouth started drying up, making her glance about the wagon and spotted the cheap red wine Trixie kept around for particularly profitable shows. It would have to do.

Using her magic, Starlight pulled the wine bottle up and gathered a trio of wooden cups. “Would you all like some? It’s not the best wine, but I really need something for my throat.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Velvet said as she waved away the offered glass. A deep part of her fear, one she thought she had beaten down, desperately wanted the liquid courage. “It would be rather… unfortunate if I was tipsy the first time Twilight spoke to me in years.”

“I’ll take some,” Lyra tried to reach for the glass, but Blitz took control of the hand at the last minute and pulled it back.

“You’ve had quite enough since last night. Besides, you know I can’t listen through a drunk drone. It’s nauseating enough having the remains of your hangover to deal with.”

Starlight felt embarrassment flushed her cheeks at being the only one who would be drinking, but her fraying nerves upended the first glass of wine the instant she poured it. It burned her throat on the way down, but it did manage to calm her a little. Ugh, how can you drink this, Trixie? I’m buying you a better brand. She waited for Blitz and Lyra to end their short-lived argument before continuing. “I still saw myself as a hero, I needed to believe that. At first, I thought I could just dust myself off and try again in another town, but my reputation would follow me wherever the changelings saw me or heard that my ideals were being spread around. I was convinced Queen Twilight had a vendetta against not just me, but the advancement of ponykind as a whole.” Starlight fumbled her next drink as the pain of so many years of seething in misdirected anger and assumed heroism bore down on her. “Some part of me thought Twilight and Rainbow Dash had discovered the benefits of a cutie markless society and that it was at least partly responsible for their rapid success. They kept foiling me because they wanted to keep Equestria socially backwards.”

Blitz’s tone was almost scholarly, as if she were listening to a history story. “I can see where you might see that with all the drones, but Mom and Aunt Twilight still have their cutie marks. The marks even still possess their original magic.”

Starlight shrugged, trying to only sip on her second glass. “I was misguided enough to think they only kept their cutie marks as part of a changeling’s disguise. And not even I was blind to what the tabloids were saying about changeling theories. So I thought they kept their marks to keep ties to Equestria strong.” Starlight stared blankly into her glass as she fought to keep the story going. This was a story she had told dozens of times now, and it was only slightly less emotionally exhausting than before. “Eventually I had enough of it. I needed to remove the changelings from the picture, but I knew even if I did it without anypony being the wiser, my reputation was still irreparably tarnished.

“So I delved into time magic.”

“Time magic?!” Velvet gasped. “H-how? I toyed with the idea myself, but I could never solve the bootstrap paradox to even try it.”

Lyra leaned forward with slight interest, as if actually paying attention to the story this time around. “Say what you want, but having the stones to use time magic is pretty rare. Ya know, when you’re also not stupid too.”

Starlight flashed a ghost of a smile. “Thank you for the vote of confidence. I found a work around, in the end. I had to-” Starlight's jaw snapped shut with enough force to rattle her teeth. It took her a moment to mentally recover from the surprise. “Sorry, I kinda forgot that I swore a geas between myself and Twilight that we would carry the secret of how I did that to do that to our graves.”

Lyra raised her hands up in surrender. “I wouldn’t wanna know anyway. That sorta thing should be buried and forgotten.”

When Velvet muttered in agreement, Starlight continued. “I spent the next two years researching and buying the necessary spell components and completing one of Starswirl’s spells. After a bit of history research, I figured out, if I stopped Twilight from being nearly killed on her first diplomatic mission, she would never have become a royal changeling and brought a whole slew of immigrants into Equestria. No Alliance changelings, meant no pony would have stopped my revolution.”

Blitz’s blood chilled a little, both in her real body and in Lyra’s. Her queenly instincts of losing all of her children in a snap set her on edge. “No matter how many times I hear this, I can’t understand how was it not painfully obvious we’re all Twilight and Mom’s kids?”

“I was willfully narrow minded,” Starlight said barely above a whisper. The shame of it burned her face. It took her a few moments to find the strength to raise her voice back to normal. “Or I should say, I was too focused on the solution to see the collateral damage I was going to cause. I… I was too bitter to think things through.” Starlight closed her eyes to focus on the past with more clarity. “When I first visited Phoenix Roost, I saw a dream come true, to be honest. No cutie marks and a sameness that ran so deep all of its citizens had only two colors combos. It was like somepony had taken my whole philosophy and perfected it ages ago. I had just assumed the matching colors was some religious aspect tied to the Silver City I overheard about on occasion. I tried to make some inquiries about formally joining the hive, but my request was universally shot down. The changelings I asked never even bothered asking their supervisors, let alone the queens. I started feeling even more bitter over the rejection than I had when my foalhood friends left town. The hive was the embodiment of everything I had worked for, and I was rejected out of hoof. I gave up after a month, and that was around the time I started thinking about temporal magic.”

“Wait, a second, that’s your only excuse?” Blitz chided in utter bafflement. “I must have missed that part, because a religious practice would have all of us painting or disguising ourselves as the queens all day every day? Do you realize how hard that is without serious training?”

“I hate to say it,” Lyra cut in as she blew a lock of hair out from her eyes. “But, my queen, none of us go around shoving eggs into ponies’ faces saying ‘hey look, this is where we come from. What with all that ‘we’re just another tribe’ vibe we try to put off. I mean, yeah sure, Twilight’s published some books about our biology, but come on, how many non-sciencey ponies are going to read that stuff?”

If Blitz had any reply to make, she didn’t share it with the ponies. Instead, all that happened was Lyra noding at Starlight with a side-smile.

“Especially when there’s so much more juicy gossip about us like whole drop-everything orgies we have?” Lyra smirked at the grossed out face Velvet was making. “Those happen as often as ponies do impromptu songs.” Lyra’s patronizing grin only widened as she tapped the side of her skull. “I know you’re married to Aegis, so I can see why it’s easy to forget other species frown upon siblings doing the nasty together.”

Blitz forced Lyra’s mouth shut, and was looming over the musician's brain like a angry cloud. <Okay, okay, I get it.>

Both Starlight Glimmer and Velvet were taken aback by the defense. Velvet was taking noticeably longer to compose herself at the news of her grandchildrens’ recreation of choice. “Thanks, Lyra,” Starlight said with a slightly upturned mood.

The mint green changeling shrugged with mild indifference. “Eh, you’ve helped me a bunch with my double-instrument control, so I kinda owe ya.”

Even with Lyra’s support, the prospect of bringing up old history put a pallor over Starlight’s mood. Part of her wanted to stop, if only so Lyra wouldn’t hear the full story of her crime. And yet, the other part of her pushed on with it, if only to get the feeling of catharsis through confession. She downed the rest of her second glass and poured another. “Where was I?... Oh, the plan. Right. So, I found out that Twilight made it a point to show up in person to each of her four best friends’ birthday parties. Rainbow Dash’s presence was a given any time they left the hive. So I decided to go with crashing Fluttershy’s party since she always kept the events to just her close friends.”

This was it, all of Starlight’s years of work, of planning, research, and subterfuge, was all down to this. Fluttershy’s party was held at her cottage, and the woods surrounding it were more or less empty. No scores of drones guarding the place, no bystanders, no one between Starlight Glimmer and her target.

It was after dark and Starlight had crafted her invisibility spell well. Word of mouth said queens were masters of tactical spells, plus Twilight was Celestia’s former student. Caution was par for the course, and Starlight had waited too long to let overconfidence be her downfall.

She was standing next to a tree along the only path to the cottage, and the queen was in sight. Twilight was walking side by side with Rainbow Dash. The other queen was an expected complication.

The pair were in a heated, if friendly argument with Rainbow being the first one Starlight could listen to. “Come on, Nosferatu was the godfather of vampires! If he was allergic to sunlight, then they all have to be or they’re not real vampires.”

Twilight Sparkle scowled at her sister with all the nerd rage she could muster. “The godfather? Try the actual father, Dracula. The original text clearly says sunlight doesn’t hurt him. Modern vampire stories don’t require sunlight weaknesses.”

“By the First Mother, who cares about the original Dracula? He didn’t make it in Applewood until after Nosferatu so he doesn’t count. If anything, we should only go with the newer Dracula.” Rainbow met Twilight’s scowl with one of her own. “Next thing you’ll tell me they should all look like that gross goblin like Noferablueh.”

Twilight backed her face up a bit and shot Rainbow a sardonic leer. “You just want all of them to be super sexy and sparkle in the sun.”

Rainbow got hot under the collar until a snide idea came to mind, and she gave off a smug smirk of her own. “Oh yeah? Then why is that series named after you, hmm? I bet you wrote those books yourself.”

“That – that’s just a horrible coincidence!” Twilight flustered.

By now, both queens were facing each other, and more importantly, away from Starlight’s hiding spot. They were barely three feet away, and Starlight was using every ounce of willpower she had to keep herself emotionally neutral. She was mostly successful, but she couldn’t help but to be filled with self-righteousness. At long last, she could erase the past, and reclaim her revolution.

With the grass muffling her hoofsteps, Starlight burst from her hiding spot already pulling the spell scroll from her saddlebag. She caught the queen’s flat footed, but Rainbow sensed the buildup of mana first, and moved to interpose herself between this empathically invisible source of charging magic and Twilight. The pair worked smoothly together, and Twilight acted to project a shield around them without questioning her sister first.

But Starlight was already inside the bubble Twilight threw up, allowing the unicorn to latch onto Twilight’s leg. Starlight unfurled the scroll so the spell could form properly. Rainbow physically grabbed at the now visible pony, but all her efforts served to accomplish was to have her too, be enveloped into a column of white light emanating from the scroll.

In a blinding flash, all three mares suddenly found themselves standing on a rooftop below a midday, cloudless sky. The elation of success loosened Starlight’s grasp on Twilight long enough for Rainbow to finish throwing her off of her sister.

Starlight rolled with the throw, and managed to get back on her hooves. The sudden shift from night to day gave the sisters enough pause for Starlight to orient herself. Keeping one eye on the changelings, Starlight saw the majestic marble spires of the Canterlot royal palace jutting up behind the queens. “It worked!”

“What worked?!” Twilight challenged with more fearful curiosity than hostility. “Where are we? Who are you?”

Rainbow Dash flared her wings, her horn glowing menacingly, yet before any spell could be unleashed, Rainbow’s eyes went wide, her mouth agape. “Twi, they’re gone.”

Twilight was shaking so hard she fell to one knee, tears of shock mixing with sweat. Her sister was in better shape though. Before Starlight could be certain they were in no state to challenge her, and make her escape, Rainbow Dash lashed out with a kinetic spellbolt that sailed so close to Starlight’s horn that her hold on the time scroll fizzled out.

Damn it! Not wanting to risk it further, Starlight leaped off the side of the building and used her magic to float safely to the ground three stories down.

Just as I predicted, Starlight mused with an inward grin as she looked back up. Neither queen had recovered enough to even watch her go. Their hive mind can’t stay connected if brought to a different time. This should buy me all the time I need. I can worry about the scroll later.

Starlight sprinted down the cobblestone roads as fast as her legs could take her. The signs of warfare were fresh on Canterlot, as Chrysalis’ invasion had only happened a week ago. Surveyors were still out and about, assessing the damage with only a scant few places were nearly done clearing up the rubble.

Donut Joe’s should just around the bend. Ignoring the startled, skittish bystanders, Starlight saw her target. A purple unicorn, one Twilight Sparkle, was leaving Donut Joe’s with Spike riding on her back. The unicorn waved farewell at the proprietor before heading towards the palace and that fateful meeting.

Starlight skidded to a halt on the other side of the street, earning a curious look from Spike, but his attention was pulled away by Twilight’s conversation. Not even paying attention. Perfect. Pulling out a small, green, sphinx spellstone with a hoof, Starlight held it in front of her horn and powered an incantation. “Quiet whisper, cloak of night. Hide my spell from their sight.” A second spell coming from Starlight’s horn shot into the stone held aloft between her and Twilight. The spell passed through the stone and was masked as a simple gust of air. The spell hit Twilight square in the stomach, yet all the unicorn did in response was to absently swish her tail over the impact spot.

With the deed complete, Starlight smirked in satisfaction. It’s done. Now to stall. She looked back the way she had come, only to notice a few ponies were giving her curious looks, obviously having spotted her spellwork. However, when nothing seemed to happen, the other ponies ultimately went about their way. Starlight ignored them, and listened in. There were no shouts of alarm, or even a pair of ponies racing up to her. So they figured out they can’t be in their true forms without causing trouble. Smart, but useless now.

Starlight spotted a rooftop with a large billboard that would offer at least a modicum of privacy from fliers and levitated herself up and waited. It wasn’t long before a pair of unremarkable pegasi flew up to join her, their wings quickly melting away in changeling fire, and horns grew on their heads the moment they touched down.

Starlight tried to play it smooth, and kept up a defiant, yet proud half-grin. Twilight Sparkle was unable to hide twin rivers of wet fur under her eyes. The elder sister’s gaze was torn between the scroll she now held in her magic, and Starlight Glimmer. As for Rainbow Dash, her eyes were like two pits of hellfire that threatened to burn Starlight where she stood. Her rage made her disguise drop around her fangs, making her growling muzzle unsettling enough to make Starlight start to sweat. Come on, time, hurry along. “Your majesties, I’m afraid you’re a bit too late. I-”

Without a second’s warning, Rainbow Dash’s telekinesis grabbed Starlight’s head and smashed it face first into the marble roof. “You’re dead, you hear me!” Rainbow shouted with scathing fury. Starlight was too stunned by the attack to weave a coherent spell, and all she could do was roll her head over to see Rainbow Dash running up to her prey. Starlight rolled to the side before Rainbow’s hoof could crash down on her. “I’m going to plaster your brains all over this roof!”

The unicorn tried to fling a fast spell, but a lavender shield appeared on Rainbow Dash, leaving the disguised queen free to jump Starlight. Before Rainbow’s hoof could make contact though, Starlight brought up her signature shield, completely encasing herself in a diamond barrier. She flinched at Rainbow’s raining kicks and spells on the barrier, but the barrage was as close to breaking it as gentle rain on stone.

“That’s quite enough,” Starlight fumed, while wiping the blood off her lip with a hoof. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Twilight glanced at her disguised sister. <Rainbow, stop, we’re not going to get through that shield without destroying the city block around us.>

Both queens jumped a little when they heard a police whistle being blown, and looked out over the street to see a pegasus officer waving a spell nullifier baton threateningly at them. “Stay where you are! All three of you are under arrest for disturbing the peace!”

The officer never had a chance to make good on his threat when the world around Starlight and the two queens vanished in a burst of light. “I did it!” Starlight belted off uproarious laughter. “I finally get my village back!”

The admittedly harsh badlands of her village was not what greeted Starlight, but a rooftop on Canterlot city again. The same rooftop she started on. “What? Why am I back here?”

“Because you created a time loop you short sighted donkey,” Twilight hissed from behind Starlight.

The crystalline barrier flared back into being so fast that Rainbow Dash smashed into it hard, her muzzle starting to bleed. Starlight ignored the militant, attacking queen to focus on Twilight, who was waving the spellscroll Starlight had used earlier. “What are you talking about?”

Twilight Sparkle appeared in her original unicorn self, already assuming guards would be nearby. She was giving Starlight a pained, restrained grimace. “You didn’t honestly think with a history like mine that I wouldn’t put some kind of temporal safeguards in place? I’ve been waiting for this to happen ever since she left the asylum. I didn’t expect a stranger though, which explains how you’ve managed to even drag us into…” Twilight glanced around, taking the time to finally process the damaged cityscape surrounding them. “Canterlot, battle damage, and no airships on station, so it’s not the future. You brought us into the past, probably around the time of the invasion. As I suspected.” Twilight’s face darkened. “You have to know by now any attempts you make on changing the past won’t work, not so long as my safeguards are in place.”

Seeing that she was not going to have any success in burning some new holes into Starlight, Rainbow Dash backed away from Starlight. She circled around to flank the lone pony though. “You might as well give up now. Once Twilight figures out how to counter your little safety gem here, your ass is grass.”

Starlight huffed and summoned a quartet of spellstones and had them float near her head. “I’m willing to bet your precious safeguards operate under the Time-River correction theory.” Starlight caught the barest hint of a shift in Twilight’s face. Her brow furrowed for just a moment, but it was enough for Starlight to grin victoriously. “You and I both know those safeguards of yours are large and expensive. The materials alone probably set you back a few million bits, didn’t they?”

Twilight’s temple started throbbing. “Discord is notoriously difficult to cooperate with,” she answered coldly. “Each one of the safeguards we cajoled him into making was… costly.”

Starlight’s face was a mask of stunned admiration. “Discord? Heh, leave it to royalty to court with somepony as deranged as the aspect of chaos. If your face is any indication, I’d say you probably have… four of these safeguards tops. You can’t save the original timeline forever.”

Rainbow Dash started sweating too as real fear started to break her bravado. “We won’t need it to last forever once we stop you.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, and largely ignored Rainbow Dash. “I had wanted to just give your old self a bad case of the flu. Nothing that could do any lasting physical harm, mind you, just enough to keep you from going to that meeting with Ambassador Gloss. But now you’re forcing me to make a more overt interruption.”

It took some serious concentration for Starlight to keep the barrier up, yet all the queens could do was watch as Starlight removed a small collection of spellorbs and chanted the new incantation. “Free as birds upon the wind, fly far across the bend.” Starlight cast a second spell into the orbs before arcane clones of the orbs exploded in numbers. Dozens, then hundreds of tiny spectral orbs multiplied within Starlight’s barrier like viruses within a cell. When she felt their numbers were enough, Starlight dropped the spell, causing the tiny orbs to scatter far and wide, far too quick for Twilight and Rainbow to counter them. Within moments of escaping, the orbs started buzzing loudly. The two queens paled once they recognized they sounded like a massive swarm of changelings.

The reaction was almost immediate, screams erupted from the city as the citizens scrambled for cover. Panic of a new invasion spread like wildfire, and would keep the meeting from ever happening. From there, Cadista’s boldness in exposing Gloss’s true nature the first time would fade, and she ultimately stayed passive, waiting for decades to try and step into the light again.

Yet as before, instead of being sent to her chosen future, Starlight was dropped back onto the roof with both queens glaring at her. She stared right back in defiance. “Two down. How many more to go, I wonder?”

“Do you have any real idea of the consequences you’re causing?!” Twilight challenged heatedly, an emotional warble in her voice.

Starlight brought her shield back up after catching Rainbow trying to flank her again. Safe behind her barrier, Starlight had a self-righteous scowl. “Of course I do. At some point, your safeguards will run out, and the two of you will have never become changelings. Not my endgame directly, but more importantly I’ll finally bring about my revolution. Cutie marks tether their owners to a fate not always of their own choosing or even desire. Some have to learn to accept what destiny saddled them with, but I’m working on the destiny problem plaguing our species. And I was well on my way of freeing ponykind from the tyranny of cutie marks when one of your soldiers found my village and turned my citizens against me! I lost everything because you brought your species out of the damned jungle.”

Twilight was dumbstruck by the admission. Rainbow Dash bristled intensely, and her vision reddened from sheer rage. “You would commit genocide just so you could get rid of cutie marks?! And here I thought Discord cornered the market on immorality! I’m going to put you down so hard you’re going to wish we gave you the Tirek treatment!

“I didn’t kill anypony,” Starlight barked back with disdain. “Sure, maybe Aegis and Blitzkrieg won’t be born as they were, but that’d just mean they’d be born as ponies since neither of you will become changelings once you stop resisting.”

Twilight recovered her voice. “Assuming for a moment you’d be right about Aegis and Blitz, what about our hundreds of thousands of children and grandchildren? We’d never be capable of having a ghost of a fraction of that as ponies, so you’re still committing genocide. Where did you think the drones in our hive came from? Thin air?!”

“Don’t take me for an idiot,” Starlight scoffed as she retrieved the spellorbs from last time. “They immigrated with you to Equestria. Without either of you becoming changelings, they’ll stay there, and away from my village.”

Twilight and Rainbow’s horns lit up in tandem and brought up a much larger shield around Starlight’s diamond barrier. Intricate runes of power and sigils manifested along its spherical surface. “I’m sorry you feel wronged,” Twilight began, giving Starlight a concerned frown that the unicorn took as being patronizing, like a mother to a misbehaving child.

“But we have to defend both our children and our futures,” both queens said in perfect unison.

Starlight looked around at the barrier that entombed her, the barest hint of a smirk on her lips. “Then you’ll have to forgive me for fighting for Equestria’s future instead.” Starlight pulled out another sphinx spellorb from her saddlebag and flaunted it around her face. The queens eyed it wearily, but remained steadfast in their spellwork. “Censored!”

A monumentally powerful shockwave of disruptive magic slammed into the queens’ wards, causing fissures to appear. Both Twilight and Rainbow flinched as the feedback of the attack strained their horns.

“I can’t believe somepony smart enough to pull this off is stupid enough not to see the obvious facts!” Rainbow seethed with a hateful glare that managed to unnerve Starlight a bit. “Are you blind to the painfully obvious fact that all our drones have our exact same coat and mane colors!? We’re literally their mothers!”

“Silenced,” Starlight shouted, sending another pulse. The tears in the wards were wider now, but she didn’t trust the queens. Could be faking how much damage I’ve actually done.

Starlight needed a few moments to summon enough of her reserves to empower another attack, so she at last addressed Rainbow Dash with a dismissive huff. “Please, no pony can birth a whole city’s worth of foals. As for their colors, you changelings have disguise magic. It’s obvious they just change colors to mimic who they are most loyal to.”

“You’re wrong,” Twilight rebuked a bit harsher than she meant to. “I’ll admit we don’t exactly shove this fact in ponies’ faces, but we queens lay eggs, like ants or bees. Between the two of us, we lay close to thirty a day.”

Rainbow added, “If you had bothered doing some actual research on us instead of where Twilight would be today, you’d know that.”

“Rebuked! Starlight grinned in satisfaction when the wards wavered and nearly collapsed outright. “I’m not going to listen to the propaganda of two royals desperate to hold onto their power.” Starlight powered her magic to say the final word of power.

“Please, stop!” Twilight pleaded with growing tears in her eyes. “We can prove it!”

“Oh hoh,” Starlight chuckled darkly. “Are you really out of protection already? Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure you won’t remember ever being a queen.” With a final bellow, Starlight Glimmer shouted “Denied!” This pulse was twice as strong as the last, and the wards entombing Starlight shattered like glass. Knowing her false-invasion orbs would soon fly off on their own as soon as she dropped her diamond shield, Starlight took a moment to dream about having her village finally returned to her, of one day convincing even Celestia of the virtues of a markless society. However, a shout broke her out of her dreams and back to the queens. Instead of trying to stop the swarm of fleeing orbs, Twilight had turned her back to Starlight and was back in her undisguised self. Starlight was about to ignore her again, that was until she saw a purple egg slip out of her, and drop a bit before being caught in Rainbow’s magic. Starlight’s eyes bulged as a second egg appeared, then a third; fourth, they just kept coming until fifteen in total left Twilight.

“We do this every day,” Rainbow cried with the terror of losing her hive crushing her heart. “Please, stop trying to murder our kids!”

Starlight’s blood ran cold at the sight of the eggs. All the years of pain and rage from losing her village burned brightly in her mind, only for it to expand beyond her comprehension. The idea of killing for her cause had danced in her mind, she might have been prepared for a murder, two at the most, but the prospect of eliminating hundreds of thousands from ever being born terrified Starlight so deeply she blanked.

Starlight couldn’t even process murder on such a vast scale. An army or a nation committing it maybe, but this was deeply personal. She, and she alone would be responsible. Cries of sheer terror shocked her back to the present. Starlight had been so distraught that she had forgotten to keep the barrier active. She couldn’t fix it in time, and the orbs scattered to the four winds. Twilight and Rainbow tried shooting them down, but they might as well have been shooting at fleas. The cacophony of buzzing changeling wings filled the air, and the screams soon followed.

Starlight’s horrified eyes followed one of the eggs as its parent tried desperately to destroy the orbs that were now well beyond her reach. “No, no, no, no! This isn’t what I wanted!” An idea struck Starlight, and then time slowed. She looked back at Twilight who was completely frozen, a quick look showed Rainbow Dash was utterly motionless. Both the queens and the eggs started to fade away as the alarm was raised throughout the city, and the past-self of Twilight was growing further and further away from attending the meeting. The spell scroll that Starlight had used to start it all laid abandoned on the edge of the roof, the wind threatened to push it off the edge. Starlight grabbed the scroll in her magic and yanked it back over to her. From there she sprinted towards Twilight, who was now little more than a ghost. Frozen tears, and a petrified expression of horror was plastered on her face. The sight of it brought such deep, heart chilling shame upon Starlight she didn’t hesitate any further and tried to rope a foreleg around one of Twilight’s own and power the scroll. Yet in her haste, Starlight only noticed in mid-cast that her leg went right through Twilight’s own as the queen phased away.

The world went pitch black and folded in on itself. In a snap, Starlight was back on the trail leading to Fluttershy’s cottage. She was back in the bushes that ran along the trail, only, she, wasn’t in the same position she had been when lying in ambush.

Starlight was disorientated for several moments until she could process that fact. She was alone again, in the bushes. Neither queen was in sight, and it was after nightfall. Is my past self not here yet? She shivered at the memory of the eggs. How did I not see it before? Was I really so tunnel-visioned?

She thought back to the days she spent scouting the hives, both Phoenix Roost and Tradewinds. At the time she had been looking for Intel, but now she couldn’t escape the realization of what she had done. All of them. Dead. A part of her wanted to make excuses, that it wasn’t murder per say if they never existed. That’s still murder. I caused them to be erased.

Starlight hugged herself as a deep chill ran through her. Her mind was racing with the magnitude of her crime. Two whole cities just… gone. I can’t let that happen. Not again! She looked around, trying to gauge where her past-self was hiding, but she had originally come to this spot during the day. Now that it was at night, all Starlight could tell was she was along the same dirt path to Fluttershy’s cottage.

What do I do to stop myself? If I just run out into the open telling myself to stop, would I listen? Or would I just think a changeling is disguised as me, and is trying to flush me out? My old self could just run away and try again later. Would I fade away and only my old self would be left?

Light hearted chatter and laughter from down the path grabbed Starlight’s attention. She looked over and saw the two queens cantering down the path. She was running out of time. What do I do, what do I do?!

Starlight was so distraught and distracted by her own thoughts, by the time she returned to the present, the queens’ chatter from down the path reached her ears. In a panic, she scanned her surroundings as best she could without disturbing the bushes she was hiding in. Yet with the poor light from the half moon in the sky, she couldn’t see much, let alone where her original self was hiding. I can’t let them sense me. Not until my past-self shows up. Recollecting herself a bit, Starlight pulled out a small bit of tied up, dried herbs and grasses. She popped the whole thing in her mouth, and struggled to swallow it dry. The effect all but erased her emotional aura, rendering it invisible to the changelings’ empathy. What she should do still warred in her mind. I could try capturing my other-self. If I-

Rustling from further down the path caught her ears as her past-self burst forth. The world around Starlight slowed to a crawl. In that instant, for all her planning and intellect, only one thing came to Starlight’s mind. The three individuals on the path missed Starlight powering her horn and the spell taking form.

However, the old Starlight was faster and latched onto Twilight’s foreleg, and brandished the scroll.

“I won’t be a monster!” she screamed with all of her built up self-loathing. Pouring that same emotion into her spell, Starlight fired a caustic beam of magic straight into the barrel of her past-self. The scroll burned away from the heat, and the old Starlight’s fur was charred black along her left side.

As soon as it had happened it was over. For the briefest of moments, Starlight was staring dumbfounded at what she had done, only for the world to shift around her. Instead of standing there in the burnt bush, her view of the world was suddenly obscured by the tall grass. She was lying on her side. It took barely a moment, but a hot, deep pain erupted from her barrel. The pain was so intense she blacked out before she could scream.

Back in Trixie’s wagon, Starlight Glimmer rubbed the scar in memory of the pain. The wagon was silent. Not even the creaking rope of the hammocks disturbed the peace.

Blitz had entirely let go of Lyra’s face after the story went into familiar territory, and other matters of state demanded her attention. Lyra, by contrast, was far more open with her support, and only stayed quiet out of respect more than anything else.

Of them all, Twilight Velvet felt cold, as if she were sitting on a glacier. If I had been in her place in the past…

“As it turned out,” Starlight continued when she could speak evenly. “The wards I used made sure I remained unaffected by the shifting timestream. Too bad for me, the sisters didn’t remember any of it until they touched me after I went unconscious.” Starlight let off a half-hearted chuckle. “From what they told me, they spent the first minute trying to make sense of an hour’s worth of memories as I bled out on the trail. I admit I was stunned they ended up taking me to a hospital though. When I came to, I told both of them the whole story from the moment I was outcast from my village and on. They were still looking for the mysterious bush caster until I explained it was me.”

Lyra whistled. “Damn lady, and ponies say I’m jacked up in the head for wanting to change species just to have hands. You’re on a whole other level.” Lyra frowned at bit when Starlight’s face sank, and the unicorn pressed herself lower into the hammock. “Well – er – used to be, at least.”

Starlight grasped at the compliment and cracked a thin smile. She rose up a bit and stroked a lock of her mane that had fallen over her face. “Do you really have to say that every time you hear that story?”

Lyra shrugged and flashed a friendly, mischievious smirk. “Eh, it’s a living.”

“Right…” Starlight felt a bit lighter, if slightly raw emotionally. “I like to think I’ve been earning that second chance she’s given me most of the time. It’s taken me so many years, and I’ll admit to a lapse in judgement on occasion. Funnily enough though, my recount of how the last safeguard, the one after they laid the eggs, reacted wasn’t what Discord advertised. Fluttershy had some choice words with him after that.”

“I don’t remember, did you even get a chance to see what this changeling-less future looked like?” Lyra asked, genuine curiosity painting her face as she leaned in.

“Um, no actually. Twilight’s countermeasures activated the moment the timeline would have veered away from her rebirth, and I needed to leave the past before I got swept into the new timeline.” Starlight absently shook her head. “It’s probably for the best. I was so tunnel-visioned back then I didn’t plan much beyond the change itself.”

“Thank you for the story, Starlight Glimmer,” Velvet said at last breaking her silence. She felt mildly more reassured, but the skeptic in her couldn’t take much stock in it. “I can see Princess Celestia wasn’t being entirely melodramatic when she said your crimes were “apocalyptic”. But ultimately, you were never her family, her mother-”

“Maybe not,” Starlight cut in, irking the older mare a little. “But you should have more faith in your daughter. Yes, you tried to kill her, and worse if you consider how dear the role of motherhood is in changeling society. But.” Starlight paused to regain her emotional strength. “But I nearly erased all of her children. Granted, I was able to reverse it before that timeline could become real, but – but I succeeded in it. I still have nightmares of seeing that egg vanishing in thin air. Princess Luna lets me keep that nightmare, even if she stipulated only for a few years at most. I need it as a reminder.”

Starlight Glimmer paused as her lip started quivering with emotion. She tried to get her voice under control but to no avail. “Twilight possesses this bewildering ability to trust in ponies who by all accounts have no reason to be trusted.” Starlight’s voice was muted and somber, but she pressed on. “The only thing she needs from you is a genuine effort to be a better pony. To quote a kindred spirit, show her that your past is not today.”

Author's Notes:

Will Velvet take any lesson away from this? Will Blitz offer Lyra a private place to stop puppeting her, or will she lead her into a crowded plaza first? Will Twilight and RD react unexpectedly? Just what did the writers think they were doing putting Flurry Heart into that star-shaped outfit. i needed 14 insulin shots when i saw that. Those are expensive ya know!

Also, 1 word for what is next: summit

Also, i will be writing the next chapter right away.

7: Oligarchy

Two months before Velvet left Manehatten.

Queen Twilight Sparkle stood within an observation blister on the P.R.N Steamrunner as she overlooked the Ebony Castle. The comforting, omnipresent hum of steam, clanking gears, and distant hoofsteps on metal did little to calm the disquiet she had upon looking at the landscape. While the castle itself had been left intact, vast swaths of jungle were still blackened and dead. The only positive light she could see was that there was no miasma of undeath writhing below her. The Equestrian Holy Corps still had a sizable presence, evidenced by the two airships hovering low over the black scar. A brigade of bright mages and paladins labored under the watchful eye of a contingent of Home Guard.

The Steamrunner was a bit early for the Summit. The Home Guard was only reporting half of the queens were present, so Twilight was not in a rush to disembark the Steamrunner just yet. Movement of small, distant objects brought her attention to a squadron of fighters being launched from the T.W.N Long Shot

Tradition dictated each queen arrive in their own form of transportation, but they didn’t need to stay there. Twilight felt a grin form at the prospect of seeing Aegis and Blitz in the flesh again. Talking over the Link just isn’t the same. Twilight’s gaze lowered to a second airship, this one was boxy and looked about as maneuverable as a lazy whale. The Column of Spring had been gifted to Sectovaria if for no other reason than to grant her experience in using non-organic technology. She better get used to it when my grandniece starts coming into her own. Steam is in our blood.

It hasn’t crashed yet, so that’s a good sign. Rainbow’s musings flittered through Twilight’s mind as easily as one of her own. It mingled with her train of thought, causing her to shake her head at the oddity. She turned around and found her sister rising from a seat cushion as she ended her hive meditation.

Rainbow stretched like a cat and yawned loudly. “Do you think Sectovaria ended up hiring sailors to run it for her?”

Twilight snorted with a laugh. “Right. Right along with having a few donkeys around as court jesters.” The good humor evaporated quickly however. “I rather hope she could learn how to do it with the books we gave her. It's the form of tribute she agreed to after all.”

Rainbow shrugged almost dismissively, and joined her sister at the window. The blue queen smirked at the joyful race between two fighters in particular that were doing a mad dash towards the Steamrunner. “So what do you think? Will they actually land, or do a teleport finish?”

A playful smile crossed Twilight’s muzzle as she tried to spot which queen was piloting the bombers. “Depends on who’s winning.”

A small flash of light came from one of the approaching aircraft. In a burst of orange fire Aegis rolled hard out of a teleport, but still mashed her face into the wall. <Ha! I win!> The bipedal queen peeled herself off the glass and stood up to face her mother and aunt. While Aegis still sported purple fur, she had a shock of orange and red bangs hanging over her face and the edges of her mane and tail. Despite standing in her bipedal form, she was noticeably shorter than the last time the elder queens had seen her. “Hey mom, we really need to hang out in person more.”

Twilight giggled and sat down so she could offer a hug. Aegis was all too happy to get some Momma-Twilight time and practically glomped her. Rainbow was quick to add to the royal hug. Aegis may have changed her appearance, but the profound love, pride, and unwavering gratitude she exuded towards her mother was all Twilight needed to know that nothing had changed between them.

Of the three, Aegis would have never broken the embrace first, so it ended up being Rainbow Dash who accepted the dismal yet necessary act to pull away first. “That new do is looking pretty snappy there, Aegy,” Rainbow said with a proud smirk at her protégé. By now, everyone had broken up to stand apart.

“Elegant entry, by the way, I hope you told your copilot you were porting out of there first,” Twilight added as she stole a glance out of the window and was glad to see the aircraft was stabilizing. A part of Twilight was both sad and confused at the new colors, but the mother in her was just happy to see her in the flesh.

A second teleport flash heralded the much calmer arrival of Blitzkrieg, not rocking on her hooves in the slightest. Like her fire crowned counterpart, Blitz was on two legs as well, but she still kept her original colors. The youngest queen in the room crossed her arms and glowered at Aegis. “I knew you’d cheat.”

Aegis stood up to her full height and dusted off her shoulder. “Yes well, all’s fair in love and war. And since I’m the militant queen, I get to use that excuse so it wasn’t actually cheating.”

Blitz huffed and let it drop so she could focus on Rainbow Dash with a smile. “How are you doing, momma?”

Rainbow wrapped a foreleg around Twilight and leaned on her sister, yet Twilight took it without so much as a thought of complaint. “Oh, you know, drills, eggs, and policing the chaos lands, not exactly in that order.”

“What about you two?” Twilight and Rainbow added in unison as Twilight leaned into Rainbow Dash in turn.

“Same thing,” Aegis answered with a shrug. “The homeland sphinxes are getting uppity. Even with our tech advantage, Tradewinds doesn’t have the numbers to be intimidating enough to keep those warhawks from nagging Ventras to claim more land and smite the psykera.”

“Stalling for time is my job though,” Blitz added quickly, fearful she might appear not up to the task. “And I’ve got it under control, Aunty, honest.”

Both of the elder queens gave approving nods. “I trust you do. Now…”

With the welcomes and pleasantries out of the way, Twilight could finally address the main question burning in her mind. “So, I’m dying to know, what possessed you two to shrink yourselves?”

Blitz gave a sigh and looked at Aegis to give an answer.

Aegis couldn’t help but to twirl around, perfectly balancing on one hoof. “And here I thought you’d never ask! I was getting a bit too irritated at either scraping my horn on the metal ceilings or having to be on all fours any time I was onboard a ship or in somepony’s house or store or whatever.” Aegis stopped prancing about and looked down at herself and moved about so she could study herself like an artist would a statue.

“So after doing some serious diplomacy of my own,” Aegis started with a flourish of her hand and a smug grin to match. “I convinced Blitz to give up the ghost and find a way to shrink us so we could stay bipedal all the time. You can’t imagine how much space-waste there is trying to make everything work for both four leg and two leg mode. It’s really just not worth it.”

Blitz sighed and played with her fingernails. “I admit, it was a fun challenge to spend my down time on. Taking out the ability to go back and forth on two and four legs made our alchemical make up so much simpler it's not even funny. Especially finding a way to keep our smaller sizes from forcing us to lower egg production.

“It really helps cut potential costs,” Blitz added with a resigned sigh. “The two of us are simply too tall on two legs, and this one refuses to ever use four legs again. Plus, any time we visit a place outside of the hive, we don’t have to worry about banging our heads. It did mean we, and by we, I mean I had to both shrink our eggs further, and come up with a brand new albumen make-up to be more energy rich.”

Aegis cut in with a proud smile at Blitz. “Short version: we were able to shrink ourselves, but not at the cost of egg production.”

“New albumen?” the sisters asked in unison with perfectly matching excitement. Their eyes flashed into a matching magenta. “You’ve been holding out on us. You’ve got to share the formula!”

A smile broke over Aegis’ face. “You got it, momma.” Her manic grin at the thought of even more voices being added to the Link’s chorus, ebbed a bit as curiosity took over. “Sooo, umm, is that eye change thing you two keep doing for fun or… what?”

Blitz stepped over to be side by side with Aegis, curiosity and no lack of excitement was plastered on her face. “I must admit it’s a bit more showmanship than you usually do.”

The sisters’ eyes reverted back to normal and they looked at each other for a long moment before Rainbow squinted at her daughter. “Uh, that’s news to me.”

Twilight rubbed her chin with a wistful expression. “But Schadenfreude did mention something like this would happen, and isn’t much to worry about. I just hope I paid him enough for that to be the truth of the matter.”

“Blech,” Aegis felt like just hearing his name gave her a bitter taste in her mouth. “What possessed you to go to him this time?”

“I wanted to make sure Amber was still free of any demonic influence,” both sisters replied when their eyes flashed magenta. “She’s nothing like Grogar used to be, so I wanted to make sure he didn’t leave any contingency consciousness plan behind or something.”

Blitz listened for Amber’s voice upon the Hive Mind and noticed she was playing with some engineers and marines onboard. “That demonologist didn’t find anything did he?”

Rainbow shook her head, their eyes returning to normal again. “Nothing on Amber herself at least.”

Twilight nodded, letting the younger queens have a bit of a relief. “But he did warn that if Grogar wanted to have a backup plan it could be lurking out there, so once she’s old enough, I’m going to have Amber trained in protective measures against undeath and demonic corruption.”

“Even if Grogar didn’t plan anything,” the sisters said together, “I have no way of knowing if any of Grogar’s allies or enemies saw the soul ritual that night. I’m playing it safe.”

“I hope you’re not tempting fate,” Aegis added while crossing her arms and giving her mother a fearful frown. “At any rate, so what did that demon rutter say about the two of you?”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow Dash scoffed with a cheshire grin, “we were talking about that. Basically that Shaddy was saying something about our souls are two steps from being completely fused together.”

Blitz and Aegis’ eyes widened in surprise with the fiery queen rocking a bit on her hooves. “Fusing? You mean like mixing blue and red paint to get purple kind of fusing?”

“In a way,” Twilight answered with a dubious shrug. “When we’re standing in the same room, unless we focus, get really excited, or distracted we keep slipping back and forth between thinking separately, or as one mind.”

The sisters’ eyes shimmered back into a magenta color. “In the end though, if speaking with one voice is the worst thing that happens, then I can live with it.”

“Eh, fair enough.” Aegis sat down on a seat cushion, and didn’t bother adopting a quadrupedal posture, but elected to cross her legs instead. “Not like you’re merging with an eldritch horror or growing tentacles,” a mischievous grin creased her muzzle. “But I bet there are some nights you wish you could, eh Aunty?”

A raspy, breathy, tone exuded out of Rainbow’s maw. “Oh the games I could play with the boys if I did. Maybe I should figure out a way to alchemy up some tentacles anyway, whadda say, Twily?”

Ugh, it’s bad enough my hive’s two steps from becoming a bordello. This is the last thing I want to talk about. Twilight marched over to the port-side window and pointed at the third airship loitering in the skies. “Whyyy don’t we instead go see how Sectovaria and our granddaughter are doing, hmm?”

Aegis brightened at the idea, even more so than Twilight expected. “Hey yeah! Sectovaria is a vassal of yours after all. She should be following your advice a lot more than the other jerks.”

“More importantly,” Blitz added, “she’s extremely young for a queen. Um, that is, for those besides Aegy and me.” Blitz chuckled sheepishly started twirling her mane with a finger. “That probably means she’s been the most willing to adapt to the new reality of raising a loving, technophilic child.”

Twilight gave her niece a proud grin. “Well, I think it’s time to see if your intuition is correct. Rainbow, why don’t the two of us go over and visit Sectovaria before the summit starts?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Rainbow Dash started heading for the galley. “I’m going to get her some chocolate. I bet Sectovaria doesn't even bother buying her sweets.”

Roughly an hour later, Twilight and Rainbow Dash stepped off the shuttle and onto the wooden deck of the Column of Spring. The deck was covered in white flakes of corroding paint with patches of blue resin filling in the holes that were scattered about. The engines sounded strong at least, if a bit strained. The ship itself was more of a long box with engines and a single, stubby spire for the bridge.

It took only moments after the two queens stepped hoof on the deck when a formation of honor guard changelings flew out of the numerous exits and formed a living corridor from the shuttle. Twilight and Rainbow Dash waited by the shuttle until Sectovaria and her royal daughter tried to make a dignified entrance from one of the hatches leading into the cargo hold, but their haste betrayed their nervousness.

<Good thing we came alone,> Rainbow mentally poked her sister. <She looks about as self assured as Fluttershy does during Nightmare Night.>

<You better behave,> Twilight playfully admonished. <She’s our first and probably last ally who doesn’t share our blood.>

Rainbow Dash’s eyes scanned the skies, and spotted Fluffy Jr. off in the distance. <My sentiments exactly.>

Stepping forward at the same time, the sisters took the time to study the drones as they passed by. They were chitin bound, to the last. Much to Twilight’s disappointment, not one of them had an ounce of anxiety, fear, or so much as a nervous twitch. What they did have, was a singular strong emotion of simplistic contentedness. Like a dog who was performing for its owner. Not a single spark of real intelligence. Twilight didn’t need Rainbow’s thoughts to be mixing with her own to know her sister came to the same conclusion.

Nevertheless, they walked down the procession without showing their disapproval, and stopped once they reached arms length in front of their host. Sectovaria and her heir took to one knee and bowed respectfully. “Welcome - aboard, my Over-Queens. To what do I owe the honor of your presence?”

Rainbow Dash took some satisfaction from Sectovaria prostrating herself so much, and stood a bit straighter and prideful. “I wanted to see how well you’re doing adapting to inorganic tech. It can’t be easy for somepony without grease for blood.”

Twilight couldn’t help but to smile at the blue eight year old princess shaking like a leaf. I can’t really blame the poor dear, I haven’t had a chance to get to really get to know her. “I’ve also come to see my grandniece.” The little filly froze with terror, much to Twilight’s chagrin, but the little one managed to look up at her with a touch of curiosity. Twilight put on the same motherly smile she gave to all her children and laid down to be eye-level with the startled child. “We haven’t seen each other in person before, at least since you’ve been old enough to remember. I don’t think I was ever told your name, little one.” It was a lie of course, the sisters had a liaison at Sectovaria’s hive, but suspected the child wouldn’t understand.

The filly inched closer to her mother, yet stopped herself halfway towards clinging onto Sectovaria. The child was like most of her half sisters from the other queen’s, save that her chitin had been whittled down to remain only around her chest and withers. Outside of that, Twilight would swear the child looked no different than one of her direct daughters, and she would treat her no differently.

The child’s mouth was bone dry but she managed to croak out, “I - my name is Khirala Enginseer.”

“Enginseer?” Rainbow asked Sectovaria with a tilted head. “When did you get a second name?”

Despite it all, Sectovaria took the statement as a modicum of praise. “I gave it to her a few weeks ago. I hope you approve of the addition. Given the Equestrian direction our species is taking, or returning to depending on who you ask, I found it rather fitting that a more… traditionally Equestrian name following her original was symbolic of that.”

<Sounds too much like a job title than a name,> Rainbow quipped.

Twilight gave her sister a mental slap in the back of the head, earning a snide giggle over the Link. She broadened her disarming smile at the filly. “I think it’s a lovely name. You can call me Twilight or Aunty if you prefer.”

“Umm,” Khirala looked up at her mother, undoubtedly talking over the link.

Yet Sectovaria answered verbally. “It would be rude to use such formal titles if she requested something different. And she is your grandaunt.”

“Y-yes Ma’am.” Khirala looked back at Twilight.

And yet it was the blue queen that decided to take the lead. “So sprout, whadda think of the ship we’re on?”

The filly brightened a bit and nodded so hard her ears flopped about. “Mother’s been letting me read the engineering books Aunt Twilight gave her, and she even lets me pull some levers in the engine room.”

Rainbow blanched at the claim. Sure, her own children were doing the same at that age, but drones were also adults by then. “You’re reading that techno jargon before you’re even ten?”

Twilight leveled the flattest look at her sister who looked back at her defensively. “Techno jargon? Really?”

“What?! Just because I understand that sorta stuff I can’t say techno jargon?”

Twilight grumbled to herself and knew better than to try and press the issue towards Rainbow of all people. She looked back at the little princess who was tilting her head in confusion. “Well of course she can,” Twilight replied with a friendly nod at the filly. “She’s clearly got grease for blood.” Twilight oh so wanted to squash the little bug in a hug, but alas, there was a third queen present.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but to give the little princess a proud grin. “Can’t argue with that.”

Sectovaria stepped aside and gestured towards the bridge spire and its large door. “Please, my Over-Queens, the summit isn’t too far off, and I suspect you’d like to go ahead with your assessment.”

Close to two hours later, the royal entourage had gone from stem to stern and back again until they ended their tour at the bridge. The q-ship was much like it was when Twilight and Rainbow had last ridden it so many years ago, only the crew and fading paint had really changed.

The bridge had a nice view of the Ebony Castle along with the Long Shot off in the distance. Twilight Sparkle was looking out over the landscape while Rainbow was in the middle of showing Khirala how the flight controls worked.

With the two blue changelings preoccupied, Sectovaria approached Twilight with a resolute yet timid stance. “I can’t help to feel that the tour didn’t live up to your expectations.”

Twilight cast a knowing eye towards her sister, to which Rainbow nodded before continuing to distract her granddaughter. The two continued on, and Twilight waited until they were out of earshot to return her attention towards Sectovaria. “Let me make one thing crystal clear. Your maintenance and control over the freighter is frankly a lot better than I expected any old guard queen could do. That being said, you have still made little real progress on integrating intelligent drones.” Sectovaria’s ears and face wilted under Twilight’s diplomatically disappointed expression. It was a face Twilight had learned quite well from Celestia. “The most any of them seem capable of is handling a single function or two with next to no adaptiveness.

“The sole point of tribute we asked of you was the production and usage of intelligent drones.” Twilight’s glower intensified. “It seems the liaison we sent over has been covering for you,” Twilight added with a slip of anger.

Sectovaria started shaking a little, just enough for Twilight to notice. “Please, don’t punish Entreat, I kept asking him to give me more time before telling you the truth.”

“He still lied,” Twilight rebuked sternly in a lethally cold tone that silenced Sectovaria better than any physical gag. “Or at least bent the truth. Regardless, I will deal with his reassignment later. As for the matter at hoof, a lack of truly intelligent drones is not good for you or your daughter.”

Sectovaria nodded with acceptance and a touch of shame. “I must apologize to you. I have tried to develop my own intelligent drones using your instructions, but… but it feels so - so…” Sectovaria turned away, trying to put it diplomatically. “Incompatible. I fear I am simply not built to handle intelligent drones.”

“Are you sure that’s not just fear talking?” Twilight asked with more understanding than irritation. A part of her couldn’t help but to see it as an excuse.

Sectovaria turned back to face Twilight, a certain, yet pensive look about her. “No. We changelings adapt ourselves to whatever is thrown at us, be it social, mental, or genetic. But this, how to put this, this usage of a hive song to bring order to so many strong voices is the antithesis of my very being. It is a bridge too far. We queens may be bred to procreate, but it is in the Link that our purpose in the hive is crystallized. From what you told me, I see you and your kin more as conductors of an orchestra.” Sectovaria sighed in resignation. “Whereas obsolete queens such as myself are spiders amidst a silent web.

“I am no more a conductor, than you are a spider.”

Twilight’s ire faded away. Even she could tell Sectovaria had been practicing that argument, and it was not one Twilight felt comfortably knowledgeable about. “I see your point. In light of that though, leaving Enginseer here all the time, and away from a - conductor’s hive mind, as you put it, might leave her unprepared for her children’s arrival.”

Sectovaria nervously rattled her wings. “I came to a similar conclusion. Which is why it shames me to ask a favor of you after you have been excessively generous already, even though I suspect you’d approve anyway.”

Twilight considered it for a moment before waving at her. “I’m listening.”

Sectovaria took a long breath to steel herself. “Both you and your sister have demonstrated that your bloodline works best in pairs. It is painfully obvious to me that I cannot fulfill that role with Khirala, which is why I would humbly request your permission to have my second daughter from one of your consorts. To act as her partner.”

Twilight nodded solemnly. “I was hoping you’d ask before too long. Given your… conductor and spider analogy, I’m assuming you do not wish to be her rebirth partner anymore.”

Sectovaria hid behind her mane for a moment before she forced herself to face Twilight with both eyes. “As you have politely pointed out before, even as young as I am, I am still of the ‘old guard’. It is impossible to be reborn into a loving queen, is it not?”

Twilight averted her eyes as her thoughts drifted towards Cadista. A barren queen bereft of purpose. “I’ve tried, but nothing works. Not even rebirthing one of my many siblings into an exact copy does the trick.”

Sectovaria gave a resigned, thin smile. “I expected as much.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “In light of this, My duty is clear. I must to give rise to Khirala’s generation and then step aside.”

Twilight Sparkle gave Sectovaria a terse, hard look that made the young queen recoil a step. “I - you sound like my mother right now.”

Sectovaria recovered a bit, and gave a shaky nod. “It is the honorable thing to do. I wouldn’t dare to question your intellect, Over Queen, but this next generation. They are such a radical departure from everything I know, it is only by the grace of the Silver City that Khirala can still produce love. When she and the rest of her generation are of age, we old guard will have served our main purpose. Evolving the species.”

Twilight wanted to argue. Cadista had always shut down any point Twilight made. The venerable queen was old, and as much as Twilight hated to see it, she was tired. Oh so very tired. But Sectovaria was not. “Are you seriously telling me you’d have nothing further to add to our race?”

“Biologically? No.” Sectovaria turned away to walk over to a drone manning the helm. Twilight’s gaze followed her as Sectovaria brushed the drone’s frill with a hoof. “So much of what I can offer outside of protection would be of little use. I can not help them manage the Link, my grasp of this unliving technology is so much weaker. When I saw how Khirala reacted to a history book, I simply could not bring myself to care about anything she shared.” Sectovaria’s eyes drifted only so high as Twilight’s hooves. “I went through the motions of acting like it was all fascinating for her benefit, but…”

“Her way of thinking is alien to you,” Twilight offered with a touch of morose resignation.

Sectovaria nodded quietly. “I will stay with her for as long as one life allows.”

Twilight’s arguments fell flat before even leaving her lips. “Just promise me one thing.” Sectovaria met Twilight’s gaze, but remained expectantly silent. “Don’t pass this fatalistic depression onto Khirala and her sister. They should at least grow up thinking their mother will always be with them.”

Sectovaria smiled weakly. “As you wish, Over Queen.”

The time of the Summit was close at hand. Twilight, Rainbow, Aegis, Blitz, Amber, and Stellar Drift were all walking in the middle of a tall, well-lit hallway lined with tapestries. Twilight had shared her conversation with Sectovaria to the three other queens. The original excitement of the upcoming Summit had been dimmed with such a mindset to work against in the very near future.

Saving the little ones from such troubles, the quartet of queens led Amber and Stellar by the nose through the great halls. While Stellar’s eyes were glued to the extravagant tapestries that were meticulously maintained, Amber was much more concerned with the prospect of facing her first Summit. She was constantly fidgeting with both her and Stellar’s manes, much to her counterpart’s annoyance.

Stellar felt a chill run down her spine as Amber once again tried to fix her mane, making the dark purple filly swat away at the magic clinging to her hair. “Stop that! I had it just perfect!”

“It has to be worse than perfect,” Amber retorted with a puffed up face. “We’re going to see all of our half sisters, and they’re all going to think you’re a square root.” she countered with all the gruff a child could muster.

“Worse?!” Stellar cocked her head in bewilderment. A sentiment shared by the adults who remained quiet.

“Yeah, duh,” Amber started, “there’s no high society here. Looking too primped up will make us look stupid and uncool.”

“But we’re royalty!” Stellar argued back with a loud buzz of her wings. “We have to look the part in a big meeting.”

Aside from Blitz, the other adults snickered at the younglings’ bantering. Blitz was far too preoccupied by trying to put herself in the other queens’ hooves, to see if she could bring herself to kill a daughter who lost the ability to produce love, or herself if she was the love-less one. What struck her the most is that she could she see the cold, emotionless logic behind it. A logic she wanted no part of. Blitz’s gaze absently fell on Twilight, and with it, the stories Aegis told her about Velvet Sparkle. She acted out of logic too at first. I wonder how long the other queens can justify filicide before they end up like Velvet did. A crazed broken wreck.

Aegis gave Blitz a sidelong look after noticing her counterpart was brooding. She roped Blitz into a loose side hug so they could keep walking. <Come on, let’s find out what’s actually going on before we start worrying about our sisters.>

Blitz tried to calm her uneasiness, but wasn’t very effective. <I guess so.> Blitz blinked before properly facing Aegis. <Are you saying there’s more to this Summit than the Home Guard wanting a head count?>

Aegis merely ended the hug so she could shrug. <I’d put money on it. Aunty Pinkie Pie said a doozy was going to go down this time around, but she never elaborated.>

One of the final winding staircases between them and the Summit grounds stood before them. Aegis’ forced easy-going demeanor faded when Blitz failed to cheer up. <Well, if nothing else, we’ll see who’s left out there.>

Later that day, Twilight and Rainbow were seated at the head of the Summit upon twin thrones of black stone. They were starting to sweat under the burning midday sun. The other queens all seemed at ease in the humid heat of the jungle, but none were crass enough to show petty smugness at the two.

The gathered royals were muttering to themselves in hushed tones. Predominantly between rival hives since their princesses would still be bound to their mother’s hive mind. Twilight’s ear caught a few words about Aegis and Blitz’s comparatively diminutive sizes. Part of these comments were derogatory or dismissive in nature. I wonder if this has been a ploy by Aegis. Everypony should expect a smaller size means a smaller egg count per day. Twilight took quite a bit of underhanded delight at such a deceptive act.

Twilight was otherwise bored enough at this point that her instincts wanted her to up the ante of the ruse when an unfamiliar, and young looking tan, leathery princess emerged from the main entrance. She was flanked by two young princesses, the youngest of which looked no more than ten. The leading princess escort bowed her head briefly at the two Prime Matriarchs before taking a seat next to a green scaly princess who had arrived earlier. Of the four, the tan princess was the oldest, close to twenty five years old if Twilight were to guess. The youngest, a yellow chitin bound changeling, couldn’t have been more than ten.

As she studied the odd quartet, they were all huddling around the elder tan princess, with the yellow one shivering with terror. It was only upon looking at the filly fully that Twilight could taste her fear.

<My Queens, the Home Guard says that was the last of them.>

<Thank you, Intel.> Twilight inwardly sighed. I can’t blame her. Four princesses alone with no support…

Casting those troubled thoughts aside for now, Twilight turned toward Rainbow where they shared a look of understanding. Twilight and her sister pushed into each other’s minds as if they were attempting to puppet the other. Their thoughts mingled much as they involuntarily did on occasion. Soon, they could see out of the other’s eyes, hear out of each other’s ears. They allowed their thoughts to mingle and merge until a single voice spoke out of two mouths. “Welcome all to the Summit. We have a few items on the docket, so let’s move along to the most pressing issue shall we?”

The gathered royals originally had eyes upon four of the independent princesses, but Twilight and Rainbow’s unified opening speech was unsettling enough to get the Summit’s full attention.

“First up, we have four princesses who have long been absent and thought dead.” Both Twilight’s and Rainbow’s bodies moved with fluid unity to gaze upon the four princesses in question. Of the four, only the youngest of the lost ones refused to show any disquiet at the display.

Out of the group of four princesses, the eldest tan one stepped forward and bowed respectfully “Prime Matriarchs Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, my name is Electria. The others have nominated me to speak for us, so as to save time from explaining ourselves individually.”

The eeriness of Twilight and Rainbow acting as one consciousness was always a source of disquiet among the other queens. The Sisters had barely started speaking and they were already putting the others on edge.

Trying to ignore the sense of wrongness about them, one of Jstrul’s puppet seeing eye drones gave a condescending glare at Electria. “Sounds like they elected a fall-ling. Make it good, youngling, or you’ll be the next rogue.”

Electria turned away from the Prime Matriarchs just long enough to throw some shade of her own. “If I were declared rogue, I wouldn’t stop at taking your eyes.”

Jstrul bristled and moved to stand, only for Chrysalis to magically force her back in her seat. “Calm yourself sister. There’s no need to show superiority over droneless royals.” Chrysalis gave Electria and her retinue a dismissive leer. “They’ll grovel before us soon enough.”

The admonishment had been with a conversational tone, but it was even more scathing to Jstrul than Electria’s retort has been. Jstrul allowed herself to sit back down, and take solace with the future her sister expected to unfold.

“Getting back to the topic at hoof,” Electria continued as if there had never been an interruption. “The four of us, Dalia, Chidadia, Bella, and myself were left orphaned in the opening years of The Great War. We fled past the eastern coasts towards an archipelago Dalia had learned about. Since none of us had any drones between us, we had no way of knowing Polybia had lost the war until two months ago, let alone that Summits were resuming.”

Kreesus leaned in with distrust on her lips. “Not one drone? How have you survived without love collectors?”

“We nearly didn’t. There’s was a sailing vessel from the Sphinx Federation that was apparently circumnavigating the globe and performing cartography. We disguised ourselves as their officers.” Electria had a rather pleased smirk. “It didn’t need to be convincing, just enough to get us close enough to capture and pod them. There was enough agricultural experience between them for us to identify edible kelp and start a small farm from the kikki seeds Bella had kept during her escape. A pod farm of the Federation's finest is more than enough to satisfy our needs and then some.”

Chidadia stood and buzzed her wings to get Electria’s attention. “Don’t forget our… ally. They will ask.”

Instead of butting in for clarification, the royal sisters opted to see how Electria reacted to the interruption.

The Electria eyed Chidadia with something between annoyance and resignation. “They certainly would now.”

Turning back towards the Prime Matriarchs, Electria dipped her head in apologetic respect. “Truth be told, we didn’t pod everyone. One of their number was a prisoner. If he is to be believed, he apparently developed psionic powers during the voyage due to removing his wards at night to sleep. The rest of the crew took great offense to this, as I’m sure you can imagine. As such, he was more than willing to serve us instead, and is currently guarding our hive, if you can call it that.”

Kreesus hummed derisively and gave a condescending tone. “Even assuming you sensed no deception when you left, what’s stopping him from fleeing now that you’re away? He likely doesn’t know the jungles are far more dangerous than the four of you.”

Electria was about to give some assurances when the youngest, Bella, broke ranks and stood in front of her speaker. “That doesn’t matter! The other sphinxes are going to come soon. They hate our kind, and they’ll kill all of us since we’re not friends with anybody!”

Chrysalis chuckled loudly at the young princess trembling with fear. “Such is the cry of the weak.” She looked at the Prime Matriarchs with an expectant look and a simple gesture of a hoof.

Begrudgingly, Twilight and Rainbow Dash nodded at her. “The floor recognizes Queen Chrysalis. So kind of you to ask this time.”

“I am, as ever, a humble servant to our race,” Chrysalis remarked with a fang filled grin. She didn’t show an ounce of disquiet about the two Sisters acting as one. If anything, she was quite enjoying everyone else’s decaying moods the longer the Sisters acted that way. Chrysalis sauntered around the front of the dual thrones without care. “If there is one thing that those four have been useful for, it is this warning. All we have to do is let the jungle have its way with any pioneers that dare step hoof here. At most, we should keep a few scouts to destroy any hoofholds that threaten to become permanent. The sphinxes are in no position to truly threaten us here.”

“Fine by us,” Aegis commented while leaning backward and holding her head in her raised arms. “Any Feds you keep busy down here is one less screwing with us.”

“Is that right?” Jstrul purred with interest. She cast her ruined eyes down at the twin lavender and blue fillies sitting beside her who had been dutifully silent. With halting gentleness, she rubbed the backs of their heads, making the pair give off that warm, directed love. “Sister, perhaps we should be more… forceful with expelling any landing parties. They’d be a likely threat to our futures after all.”

Blitz inwardly grumbled at Aegis’ poor diplomacy and stood up to speak. “Surely doing so would rob you of a new danger to adapt to.” Blitz felt a bit gratified when Jstrul’s smirk started to slip into one of contemplation. “The jungles are dangerous, true, but they are a mostly known danger to all of you by now. The sphinxes are new, and new breeds innovation.”

“She has a point,” Kreesus added in. “The only real danger to us anymore are two things: carelessness, and each other. Were it not for our loving daughters, we’d be stagnating.”

Chrysalis sat back down next to her sister with an indignant sigh. “There you go again, kissing at Rainbow Dash’s hooves. Letting her little alliance have an easier time of it.” She ignored the scathing glare from Kreesus to focus on the Sisters. Chrysalis was a bit intrigued when both Twilight and Rainbow had matching expressions of annoyance towards both her and Kreesus. It was a moment longer before Chrysalis realized the expressions weren’t just matched, but they mirrored each other. The narrowing of the eyes, the half scowl, and even the flicking of wings were in perfect tandem. Now Chrysalis was getting unnerved, but only betrayed a twinge in her eyes. “I make no promises in regards to how I will handle any sphinx incursions along the coast.”

“As noncommittal as always,” Kreesus retorted. She waited for Chrysalis to banter back, but the black queen simply ignored the comment.

“Then I shall leave you all to handle it,” Twilight and Rainbow Dash said when the chamber fell into silence. The pair’s gaze eventually fell back towards Sectovaria. “I believe you had something to put forward.”

“I did.” Sectovaria first turned to Khirala and kissed her on the forehead. The filly collapsed right there on the spot, snoozing quietly. Sectovaria quickly looked to Twilight and Rainbow, knowing what her action looked like. “Forgive me, Prime Matriarchs, but I fear my proposal might create an environment detrimental to her love production.”

The other old guard queens balked at the claim, and it didn’t take long before they too were forcing their princesses to sleep as well.

The Sisters could feel the waves of anticipatory ire already rising up, causing them to turn towards Amber and Stellar. <Girls, why don’t you two play in Bubbleland?>

Amber pouted and watched Sectovaria make sure her daughter was positioned comfortably. <But this is my first Summit. I wanna watch!>

<Yeah, me too!> Stellar parroted eagerly waiting to see the room explode. <This is gonna be awesome!>

With Sectovaria now getting up to take her place at the center of the room, the Sisters decided to play hardball. <If you don’t go play for just a minute, there won’t be any more pudding for a month. We’ll let you come back when it’s safe.>

Amber flopped on her back in protest, and shot Sectovaria a nasty look at making her mentally leave. <Okay, fine, guah!> With that, Amber’s head slumped limply to the side as her mind lept into a Linkscape.

Stellar gave her sister the best puppy dog eyes on the planet, but they held no sway against she who suffered millions of such eyes before. Knowing defeat, Stellar kicked at the air and muttered to herself. “Stupid Secto and her meanie words.” She too ventured off into Bubbleland, and fell forward onto the stone seat.

Now that Sectovaria was standing in the center of the chamber, she tried to ignore Chrysalis dismissively toying with a pebble and not even bothering to look in Sectovaria’s direction. Sectovaria took several deep breaths to steel herself against the uproar to come. “Our species has gone through two major turning points in our history. The first was when we changelings first came to be, following the solidification of Gethar’s curse upon our ancestors. The one who survived that difficult time came to be known at the First Mother.

“Now, with the effective removal of that curse, our species is once again being reborn into a new form. A form that will out compete every other strain. For that,” Sectovaria paused to keep from shaking like a leaf. “I move that Cadista be named as the Second Mother.”

The room exploded in uproar alright. Kreesus, Electria and her allies, and above all, Jstrul denounced Sectovaria out of hand. Aegis and Blitz were more flummoxed than anything else for a few moments, while Twilight and Rainbow were so shocked their minds split back apart.

“How dare you name a Sterile the Second Mother!” Jstrul spat with such venom, her rage tasted like bile. “Were I the Prime Matriarch, I’d declare you rogue here and now!”

“She’s given much,” Kreesus half shouted, “but going as far as naming her the Second Mother is absurd. She’s not even a queen anymore.”

Rainbow was snapped out of her post-separation lull, and stormed to her hooves. “That’s rich coming from the traitor who forced her to do that!”

Aegis was just as quick to launch herself into a low hover. “How about you say that again to my face after the Summit ceasefire is over?”

“She’s not my mother!” Electria raged with her allies adding their voices in agreement. “I’ve no intention of ever weakening my bloodline with former ponies!”

“Even though our species used to be ponies?” Blitz shot at her with a biting tone and a smirk to rival that of her mother’s best. “If anything, we’re the more restored bloodline.”

Twilight Sparkle ignored the continuing firestorm of accusations and condemnations. Oh, mom is going to love this.

Back in Phoenix Roost, Cadista was enjoying some time in her personal art gallery. It was perched upon what had been the old observation tower back when the palace was a colony ship. Since it had been many years since she divorced herself from the duties of rule and politics, Cadista was content to be a fount of wisdom, but spent most of her time refining her hobbies. Surrounding her in the narrow four story studio, were her paintings, statue busts, and a few small pieces of engineering.

Cadista was putting the finishing touches on a new painted statue of Yumia when Twilight Sparkle’s highly amused voice rang out. <Momma, you’re so not going to believe this.>

A small grin crossed the old mare’s lips. As removed as she was from politics now, she still loved a good gossip. She continued on with her hammer and chisel, carefully chipping away at Yumia’s horn. <I suppose this is where you want me to make a guess first.> Twilight’s excited squeal was all the answer she needed. <Chrysalis decided to amend her old ways?>

<Even better! Sectovaria wants to name you as Second Mother!>

To her credit, Cadista chuckled with genuine mirth. <Is that right? And I’m sure Aegis has decided she wants to weaponize a refrigerator.>

<That would be safer, but no. You really are being named the Second Mother.>

Cadista halted her work, fearful she might damage the statue. She clambered back down to the ground to be more steady. <Dear, what makes you so sure?>

<Because between myself, Rainbow, Aegis, and Blitz, we outnumber all the other remaining queens. Once everypony finishes venting, I’m putting it to a vote.>

Cadista’s eyes bugged out and she dropped her tools. <By the First Mother, you’re serious!>

<I absolutely am, Second Mother.>

<You - you - I know I’ve done a great deal with creating your bloodline, but you were just as important as my work. If anypony should be the Second Mother, it’d be you.>

Twilight couldn’t help but to smile at the sentiment, yet part of her was troubled by how modest her mother was being. Did sterilizing yourself do more damage than we thought? Fierce determination struck Twilight, making her grit her teeth. <You deserve recognition. Mother implies the creator of the person, and that means you, not me.>

The Summit had devolved into a shouting match between everyone except Twilight and Chrysalis. Twilight couldn’t help but to be unnerved by Chrysalis’ too-wide grin. Shaking it off as an intimidation tactic, Twilight stood up and used her magic to firmly yell above the others. “Enough!” Her voice shoved everyone back into their seats, with Aegis and Blitz tumbling a bit more than the others.

Twilight glanced about the now quiet chamber. “Call me biased all you like, but Sectovaria brings up a critical point.” Twilight glanced around the various princesses. Aside from Electria and her allies, every last one of the young royals shared Twilight’s bloodline, and were thankfully sleeping through the whole debate. Inwardly chiding herself from losing focus, Twilight recentered her attention on the gathered adults. “You can dislike Cadista all you wish. Denounce her if you must. But none of you can deny what she has done for us all. Gethar’s curse is effectively broken. Not to mention all of you have to adapt to different thinking to keep this love curse at bay. Like it or not, my bloodline is the future of the changeling species, and the one who recreated me as I am now, was Cadista. I, for one, say she has deserved the title of Second Mother.”

“I second that!” Rainbow Dash announced instantly.

“As do I,” Aegis replied with a shake of her fist.

“And I as well,” Blitz added with firm conviction. “The facts are irrefutable.”

Jstrul looked to her sister for support, but Chrysalis seemed to be content to watch the show. Outraged, she turned back to Sectovaria. “If this must be put to a vote, I say absolutely not!”

“You’ve already lost,” Aegis retorted mockingly. She waved a hoof at Blitz, her mother, aunt, and Sectovaria. “We have you outnumbered.”

Kreesus was getting a desperate tone in her voice. “There are still only three hives between you. Even if you dismiss Electria and the others, we’re tied.”

“That’s not how the Summit works,” Twilight countered with a stern face. “One queen, one vote.”

Jstrul looked again at Chrysalis, but still she refused to speak. “I refuse to accept this!” She almost screamed at Sectovaria. Jstrul’s daughters and nieces cowed away from the bitterly spicy taste of her anger. Jstrul glared at Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “I will never accept Cadista as the Second Mother. You only shatter what unity the Summit allows if you force this through!”

Kreesus stood as close to shoulder-to-shoulder as she was willing with Jstrul. “My crimes against Cadista are already shameful enough. But I refuse to let my daughters live with the stigma that will surely follow if Cadista is named the Second.”

Further arguing was stifled by quiet laughter. Everyone looked at Chrysalis who was now cackling maniacally. She struggled to stand from how painful the laughing was getting, but her eyes were looking at each queen with intense amusement. “Oh, this is absolutely perfect. So very perfect. I vote yes!”

Jstrul gaped at the audacity. “You’ve lost your mind!”

“Have I?” Chrysalis asked as if it was obvious. “You see, dear sister, that our purple Prime Matriarch is quite the scholar with a mental condition to make sure every detail is accurate. Where do you think she would be if I had not set everything into motion when I invaded Canterlot?”

Chrysalis whirled around to face the mare in question with a smug, toothy smirk. “I’ll tell you where. She’d be back in that miserable tree library, as somepony who’d go her whole life without a mate, and be looking at Cadance with envy, forever wishing but unable to have a child of her own. But because of me, here she sits before us as the current pinnacle of our species.”

Aegis raised a hand. “You should be saying that last part at me.”

Chrysalis continued without acknowledging the interruption. “You owe your current existence as much to me as you do Cadista. You’ll have to put down in your precious history books that I am practically your sire.”

“I will never call you my sire,” Twilight growled scornfully.

“Oh, You don’t have to. Your account on history will do that for me.” Chrysalis’ massive grin turned even more smug. “This is of course, provided you go ahead with voting yes as well.”

Twilight at last got to her hooves and stepped forward to face Chrysalis. “I know what you’re playing at.”

“Is that so?” Chrysalis asked playfully, with a sinister undertone.

“How you go down in history is irrelevant. My mother deserves to be declared the Second, and no amount of mind games from you is going to stop it.”

“If I wanted it to stop, I would have voted ‘no’, now wouldn’t I?” Chrysalis turned away, ignoring any indignation from Twilight to fixate on Kreesus. “I couldn’t care less how you go down in history, traitor.” Kreesus growled her fury at the insufferable wretch standing before her, and her restraint was sorely tested. It was only now that Chrysalis graced Electria and her allies with a modicum of attention. “As for the riff raff over there, do keep in mind the post-Summit ceasefire doesn’t last forever.”

With a cold sweat, Electria shuffled back into her seat. “I withdraw my objection.”

With a dangerous smile, Chrysalis looked away. “Smart.”

Jstrul and her sister shared a few tense wordless moment before she too backed down. “I abstain.” She looked away, shame and no small amount of anger plain in her emotional aura.

“You can’t cow me like some subservient speck or weak willed kin.” Kreesus stood defiant against them all, but her gaze was locked with Chrysalis.

“Ah yes, another war is exactly what we need with the prospect of the Federation landing on our shores.” Chrysalis yawned loudly at the ease of her political maneuvering.

Among the four furry queens, Aegis was the first to find her voice. “You would actually go to war over granny being named the Second?!”

“Of course she would,” Rainbow Dash replied with begrudging respect in her tone. “Naming the Second Mother is bigger than huge. If it isn’t unanimous then that’s going to cause problems later on. Civil war at best.”

Chrysalis gasped mockingly. “So you do have a brain for more than fighting. A pity you don’t use it very often. You need the exercise.”

Rainbow Dash ground her teeth until they started to hurt, but she wasn’t about to give Chrysalis the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her.

Kreesus on the other hand struggled to keep a strong footing. “You’re bluffing. If the sphinxes come, you’d be too weak to fight them if we went to war. You would doom us all.”

“On the contrary, my poor ignorant friend, Queen Twilight and her little alliance would be left out of our conflict. Even if you did somehow defeat my sister and me, I would send our princesses to live in Equestria. It would hardly be ideal, but my bloodline would survive. In the end, that is enough.” Chrysalis looked over Kreesus before eyeing Fluffy Jr. floating in the distance. “Believe me, should you continue to this pointless objection, I can guarantee there will be war.”

Kreesus was so furious she was shaking. She pulled up to Chrysalis’ face and growled, “One of these days, I’m going to rip off that smug face of yours and mount it on a pike!”

“Even if you did, it won’t matter by then,” Chrysalis purred, “I’ve already won.”

Author's Notes:

Part 2 will be the post-summit little meetings. I'm debating on either making the next chapter short, and just contain that, and then have the chapter after that to be Velvet arriving at the hive, or to include both next chapter.

Also, sorry for the long delays, but work burns me brain 3-4 days out of the week and i need a bit to recharge.

8: As the Old Guard Bows Out...

The summit concluded shortly thereafter. Aegis was the first to leave the amphitheater and she was practically vibrating with barely contained excitement. But she kept herself in check as the group walked quickly away through one of the connecting passageways. It was not out of any sort of tradition, but she didn’t want her upcoming outburst to be seen by a rival queen.

Her ears shifted backwards as Twilight and Rainbow quietly instructed Amber and Stellar Drift to do the same. Oh wow, wow, wow, wow!! She ran into the four Queen’s Guard waiting for them, two from Phoenix Roost and the other two from Tradewinds. Intel and Thunderfury were right beside Celsius and Shield Wall waiting for their queens’ return. As soon as they saw Aegis, all four of them sprinted to close the distance.

“Is it true momma?!” Celsius all but cried out. The bipedal mare mirrored her mother’s enthusiasm. Both she and Shield Wall stopped just short of hugging Aegis. “Did Granny really get named the Second Mother?!”

“She totally did! We need to throw a party, Auntie Pinkie style!”

Shield Wall skidded to a halt near Aegis, but his nervous eyes were focused on the rest of the royals calmly making their way over. The adults anyway. Amber and Stellar were finally released, and were making a mad dash to join Aegis.

The blue drone had to fight to keep the nervous excitement out of his voice. “We should clear out of the castle, my Queens, where we won’t be overheard.”

The two fillies ignored his warning and began spilling the beans on every little bit of what happened. “The red one is so mean!”

“Did you know there are princesses with no queen?!”

“Sticky Spit is really creepy.”

“Why was her friend allowed to have drones in there? I thought that was against the rules.”

“She’s not a friend, she’s her sister!”

“Nu uh!”

“Yeah huh!”

“Girls,” Twilight called out as she reached the bickering duo. “Maybe we should take Shield’s advice, hmm?”

Rainbow Dash had such a massive smirk on her face that it crept into her speech. “Why? We should remind the other queens just how much we’re the new face of our tribe.”

Blitz rested a hand on Rainbow’s withers. “Maybe we shouldn’t be so antagonist, momma. The last time a rival got this big of a shock we got dragged into a war.”

“Agreed,” Twilight added, lifting an eyebrow at her sister and first daughter. “Treat this like any other diplomatic meeting with other nations.”

“So in other words, you’re telling Aunty and me to behave?”

“Your words not mine,” Twilight said with a playful smirk while poking her tongue out. <None of you would go around gossiping right outside Celestia and Luna’s throne room would you?>

<I would,> Rainbow butted in with a cheeky grin.

A younger Aegis might have laughed openly, or chafed under the suggestion. She still did internally, but pride in her crown stayed her tongue. <I would too, since ponies can’t hear the Link and all that.>

Twilight scrunched her muzzle in getting outplayed on technicalities.

Aegis scooped up Amber into her arms like a nymph, and started giving her a noogie. For her part, Amber giggled madly and swatted at the attack. “Either way, let’s get out of here, eh sprout?”

“Stoooooop!” Amber wailed unconvincingly as Aegis walked her way towards the exit stairwell. Stellar scampered after Aegis while the others followed after her. The darker furred princess jumped at Aegis trying to get a ride too.

At the top of the stairs stood an aging black chitin bound drone in the resplendent armor of the Home Guard Captain. As with all of his queen-less kind, he had slightly rough chitin, appearing more brittle than those of Chrysi’s brood. He had the holes, same as any changeling, and head frills. Only his eyes somewhat mirrored that of Twilight’s tribe, lacking the blue glow entirely.

Thoran tried to ignore the royal rough housing, but couldn’t stop himself from cracking a smile. A smile he hid by bowing deeply. “Your graces.”

Aegis freaked a bit in her excitement to see him, having missed Thoran on the way in. “Hey, it’s my favorite gunshot victim! How’ya been doing?” She started bouncing from one leg to the other, making Amber giggle madly.

Thoran let off a choked laugh and absently rubbed the old bullet wound she had given him years ago. “I’ve been much better since then. Not one second of being mind controlled since.”

“Ha!, glad to hear it.” Hearing the rest of her family was catching up, Aegis stopped bouncing and gently put Amber down, only to have Stellar worm her way into Aegis’ hands. “Me next, me next!”

<Behave yourselves in front of those not of our hives, girls.> Aegis warned firmly.

Stellar pouted at her aunt. <That’s not fair, you were being silly in front of him too!> The little blue princess’ cheeks puffed out in young indignation.

Aegis sent motherly pride over the Link to them, as that typically got them confused enough to stop whining, allowing Aegis to refocus on the drone. “Please, rise.” As he did so, Twilight and the others caught up with them, each queen giving the captain a range of regally aloof expressions, yet they were all clearly pleased to see him alive and well. “How’s life these days?” Regal indeed.

Thoran was taken aback by her question, but quickly recovered his composure lest he cause offense. “Ah, good, we had a problem with ripper hornets a few weeks ago, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

Blitz came up along side Aegis and gently leaned against her, and wrapped her tail around Aegis’ own. “Do you want us to donate some equipment or just the usual egg and love crystals?”

Thoran risked a glance at Twilight to find the elder queen had a tiny, playful grin. No admonishment, no correction. “Forgive me, but I am not used to such… casualness from royalty.” He recalled the time Twilight investigated the First Mother in the castle, but even then, the studious queen was professional, yet more polite than expected.

Aegis took a long, slow breath as Blitz’ love washed over her like a warm, comfortable, familiar blanket. It took her the briefest of moments to refocus on Thoran. “Eh, what can I say? I know how rough the drone life can be.”

“Oh please,” Twilight scoffed as she came up on Aegis and pulled on her ear with a bit of magic. “Sure, you got into some battles here and there, but you and the rest of my kids have it far easier than any drones that lived before our line.”

“Some battles she says,” Aegis laid the sarcasm on thick.

“Easy, she says,” Blitz mirrored with a sly grin at Aegis. “Life’s pretty easy if you’re just a glorified puppet instead of a free being who has to do the thinking herself.”

Twilight pressed her lips tight and eyed the two former drones with motherly annoyance. “I suppose.”

Basing his assumption on how queens typically reacted to this sort of verbal sparring, Thoran was quick to interject as politely as possible before war declarations were cast about. “If I may, Prime Matriarch Twilight Sparkle, I knew this day was coming. The naming of the Second Mother, that is.”

At that, everyone but Blitz and Aegis were surprised. Both of the bipedal queens adopted haughty tones of the Canterlot elite. “Honestly, mothers, if we had known the title was up for grabs, we’d have nominated her ages ago.”

Twilight chuckled lightly at how the young ones were mimicking her and Rainbow. “Of that, I have no doubt.”

When Thoran thought no one other than the fillies were paying him any attention, he quietly pulled out some index cards (donated by Twilight of course) and skimmed them quickly before realizing some of them were missing. “I, ah...sort of had a thank you speech planned, but think I misplaced some bits of it.” When all eyes were back on him, he hastily hid the cards to fix Twilight with a warm, yet firm look. “Prime Matriarch Twilight Sparkle, from the day you first entered these hallowed halls, I suspected you would be an engine of change.” He felt rather proud of that, borrowing from her hive’s vocabulary. “Yet it was when you showed not just a passing interest in our species’ history, but going so far as to making it your contribution for the crown, I was utterly convinced that one day, either you or Cadista would be nominated as Second Mother. Had it been within my power, I’d have proposed it years ago. You have all but nullified Gethar’s curse, and the other queens are following you, whether they like it or not.

“For those of you who don’t know, we Home Guard look the way we do because we were modeled after the First Mother’s drones… well, if you add the intelligence at least. If you would permit it, we of the Home Guard would be deeply honored if you modified our alchemical template to better match that of the Second Mother, or more honestly, your own.”

Twilight’s brain froze in that moment and her eyes dilated like a cat about to pounce. She was being handed history on such a shiny silver platter. Not only was she being asked to change the Home Guard, but being given a chance to see the very roots of modern alchemy. Her heart started racing, and she was threatening to foam at the mouth with her hyperventilation. Her eyes turned magenta along with Rainbow Dash who also started to do the same.

Aegis and Blitz eyed their mothers with deep concern and started to take a few steps back before one of them remembered something rather important. <Calm them down, quick!> Aegis hissed out of frightful concern.

It took both of their efforts to bleed Twilight’s and Rainbow’s excitement into the hive mind, and none too soon, as they were starting to bear down on Thoran who was only just starting to become clued in on the danger.

When their work did the trick, and the sisters snapped out of it and recomposed themselves, Twilight shook her head and easily pushed away their efforts. She looked at each of them in confusion. “What was that for?”

Rainbow had experienced plenty of Twilight’s knowledge cravings, and a few too many of similar focused intensity. What made this one unsettling was that this time, Rainbow wholly shared in that craving. It left her speechless and dazed a bit.

Blitz hoped to spare her mother some of the embarrassment and focused entirely on her aunt. <You heard Thoran’s idea and were about to go full Twilinanas.>

Twilight chuffed in indignation. “I wasn’t going Twilinanas!!” Aegis’ and Blitz’s unconvinced glares, along with Thoran’s own confused one made Twilight look away in cheek-reddening embarrassment. “Okay fine, maybe a liiittle Twilinanas.”

Rainbow Dash decided to play along and acted like her own trip down Rabid Egghead Lane didn’t happen. “As if you could hide it from us,” she added with a sardonic wiggling eyebrow.

“Oh whatever, it’s not my fault you don’t understand how meaningful this is.” Twilight at last looked back at Thoran. “As much as I’d love to take a look, are you really okay with me doing this? If your template’s lasted this long, wouldn’t you want to keep it? For tradition’s sake, or maybe the other queens might see it as negating your neutrality?”

Thoran nodded in understanding, and bowed while directing Twilight towards a different staircase. A second Home Guard drone was waiting for them. Without further prompting, Twilight led the other royals after it. Thoran fell into step beside her. “My answer to you will be the same to any other queen that asks. These are still uncertain times for our species.The next generation of queens are being raised, and have mental… predispositions that make modeling the future impossible. In that light, for the preservation of the Home Guard, we need our strain to support love production. Our purpose will not change.”

Blitz hummed approvingly. “Rational, smart. I’m guessing you want the eggs we donate to you to start retaining that ability from here on.”

“You would be correct, I’m afraid.” Thoran nodded at the Guard ahead of them for him to lead the way to the incubation wing. “With so few queens left, we have had to… thin our ranks of some of the older members.”

Rainbow’s look of horror was mirrored by the others. “Why didn’t you ask for more love rocks? We’d have given you all you need.”

“And then some,” Aegis added.

“It is not our place,” Thoran replied meekly in the face of so many irate royals. “We have always made do during harsh wars. Polybia was not the first to cull so many queens at once; I only hope your bloodline will make her the last.

“As for the tradition of it all, I have been outvoted on the matter.”

“Voted?” Twilight and Rainbow parroted, their eyes turning magenta. “You vote on things?!”

“Aye. Most of our members have been wanting you to edit the template to allow love production, to make us more resilient during love droughts. It was only with the results of today’s Summit that garnered enough votes to force my hoof.”

Coming from both a diarchy of Equestria, and living as the queen of a hive, the very idea of voting for anything this monumental was creating a logic error in Twilight's and Blitz’s brains. Aegis and Rainbow simply thought it was stupid and left it at that.

The group had made their way halfway down the castle, and were passing through a common hall when they ran into Kreesus who stood alone; not even her princess was there. The burning torches cast the red, leathery queen in a grim light that made Amber and Stellar hide behind Twilight and Rainbow.

Shield Wall and Celsius were all but compelled by Aegis’ flash of anger into jumping between her and Kreesus with hands resting on their weapons. Intel and her group were more used to letting Rainbow’s heated emotions slide off of them, and didn’t move into formation. They were still in the Ebony castle after all.

Blitz preemptively pinged Aegis to keep her temper in check, while most of her concern was leveled at her mother.

All Rainbow outwardly did was mirror Twilight’s rigid, cold stance. Yet their shared aura was that of deep, seething anger barely covered by a dusting of snow.

Since Blitz was behind the elder queens, she noticed the other clues, their emotional auras were perfectly identical, their voices on the Link didn’t even sound like two voices speaking as one, but as only one voice without so much as an echo. It put Blitz in a state of awe and not a small amount of forbearance. She glanced at Aegis who noticed it too.

<Shield, Celsius, nice reflexes and all, but fall back for now.> Aegis inwardly beamed with pride at the two drones and showered them with praise over the Link.

<I’ll redirect any questions the kids have to us, so they don’t distract them,> Blitz offered, with Aegis nodding in silent agreement as the two drones fell back into step with Intel.

“What do you want, Kreesus?” the Sisters asked with heavy disdain. Even in the waking world, they spoke in perfect unison.

Kreesus’ ears flattened at the disturbing sight of those four quiet, burning, magenta eyes. “I was hoping we could talk away from the posturing and ego of the Summit.”

“Make it quick,” the Sisters all but demanded without emotion. “My time’s more valuable than yours.”

<Ouch,> Aegis sent Blitz, <didn’t think mom would ever talk like that.>

<Or that my mom would even speak to Kreesus ever again,> Blitz added. Their voices were completely as one. Not an echo, but actually one, single voice… She stepped up to her mother, who looked at her without facing away from Kreesus. “Why don’t I take the girls along? No need for them to stick around for this.”

“Good idea, I’ll see you soon, Blizzy/Little Blue,” the Sisters replied quietly.

The usage of both names caused Twilight to blink a fraction of a second faster than Rainbow Dash; and like that, the spell was broken as Rainbow’s eyes returned to normal. She blinked and stepped aside from her sister. “Umm,” confused embarrassment caused her to take both fillies onto her back. “Aegis, why don’t we let the diplomats handle this instead before something weirder happens, or I break the Summit rules and kill her.”

“Uhh, sure.” Eager to do just that, Aegis waved Thoran and the escort on. “Lead the way, boys. I’ll be sure to keep all the juicy bits off the Link for ya, Momma.”

“Excellent, thank you.” Twilight watched her sister, daughter, and Queens’ Guard leave with a bit of thanks that their tempers were not going to be an issue.

All three of them waited as Rainbow and the others disappeared around the bend. Blitz rested a hand on the side of Twilight’s neck, earning a questioning look.

For a moment, Blitz didn’t quite see her mentor. Twilight’s aura was tinted too far into the reddish-orange of controlled ire, with a few large splashes of regal purple composure she usually kept in dealing with authority figures of other nations. <Can I try taking the lead here?>

Twilight hummed, casting a frown at Kreesus. <She asked for me specifically, and there’s no reason to be rude, no matter what she’s done. Still, interject if you think of an idea, or a better one than I come up with.>

<Better than you?> Blitz giggled nervously, the corner of her lip twitched. <I doubt it, but I’ll - I’ll try.>

<I have faith in you, my wonderful student.> Twilight’s cheery, loving tone turned much more professionally neutral once she faced Kreesus at last. That much at least seemed more like her normal self. “Alright, say your piece.”

Kreesus tensed, her gaze studying the two furry queens, measuring their moods. “There’s nothing I can really do about Cadista’s appointment. For what it’s worth, your line is proof enough she deserves it.”

“How kind of you,” Twilight admitted with a level gaze. “A pity fear causes such admissions to remain behind closed doors.”

Fear? Blitz’s tail swished questioningly.

Kreesus kept a level tone. “If you want public support for the nomination, I’d be more than willing to be the loudest proponent.”

Blitz’s temper spiked, yet all that betrayed her sour mood was a light scowl. “As if that’s worth anything at this point. Cadista is the Second Mother no matter what anypony says now.”

“Perhaps,” Kressus spat more at herself, ignoring Blitz pulling Aegis’ attention away from her. “So take what I say as you will, but…” She pawed at the ground, frustration staining her aura. “You have it all. A monopoly on cold, artificial technology that the other races of the world actually desire as opposed to refined flesh. And with it, an economy that can pay for supporting multiple new hives. It’s astounding you’ve limited yourself to a single pair of heirs at a time. You have full support of the largest known nation, save perhaps the Federation if they’ve been truthful about their size. And then there’s the free love.

“You have it all. Quite the insidious trap you’ve set for yourself and the others, isn’t it?”

“A trap?” Twilight blinked with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Equestria is not all too dissimilar from a hive, if you think about it. Celestia and Luna may rule together now, but it is Celestia who has guided Equestria, molded it. Be it hive or a nation of mammals, they are shaped by two things: the queen and the struggles they endure.

“The pony military and the Chaos Lands it keeps in check are such distant concerns for the common pony that even we queens didn’t know about them. It made Equestria soft and weak. With your overabundance, you and your line will fall into that same trap too.”

“Oh right, this again,” Twilight sighed while rubbing her temple, exasperation peeking through her diplomatic tone. “Yes, yes, I’m well aware of our race’s need to struggle. Honestly, it’s true of all sapient species; but I suppose we’re the only ones who openly acknowledge it. Isn’t that right, Blitzkrieg? I believe Lyra’s birth family is familiar with that.”

Blitz was caught between cringing at her full name, and jumping a bit for being put in the spotlight. “Oh, yes, her - father used to say ‘Difficult times create strong ponies. Strong ponies create good times. Good times create weak ponies. Weak ponies create difficult times.’ Queen Twilight adds that the other aspect is addressing new challenges that didn’t exist before instead of focusing on old risks.”

“Very well done, Little Blue,” Twilight commended with a welcome, genuine smile. “But you said something rather good this morning before coffee, what was it?”

“Ah - right—” Blitz mentally fumbled a bit to remember it. “Personally, I feel unnaturally prolonging hard times creates generational fatigue, but ultimately I think the real challenge is balancing the cycle of wax and wane.”

“Wonderfully put.” Twilight gave a cheerful buzz of her wings, causing Blitz to glow with pride. Twilight looked back at Kreesus with a knowing, regal smile. “The old ways of fighting the jungle for survival was a form of stagnation in and of itself. How can we grow beyond survival alone if all we ever do is adapt to nature? It is a fight the ponies mastered long ago. No, the widespread rise of my hive’s technology will bring about new challenges and hard times. A dear friend of mine, who I’ll simply name Sunny, has shown me what dangers and pitfalls her… people faced when they reached what she called the Industrial Revolution. Pollution, overpopulation, environmental degradation, more complicated sanitation, and a slew of others she has thankfully warned me about. The difference between my bloodline and the ponies is that they answered these questions by staying too close to nature, outside of a few cities worth the name.

“Our species is finally reaching the next tier of evolution, Queen Kreesus. A societal and technological reformation, one which I plan on bringing Equestria along with us. We’ll still be facing plenty of hardships, just not the ones you’re familiar with.”

A choked laugh escaped Kreesus and her face fell. Her aura blackened entirely with not even a token attempt to mask it. “I see… So I’m just as much of a relic as the rest of us.” A humorless, forced grin crossed her face. “I have nothing further to say.”

Twilight’s face fell into a grimace. When she was satisfied Kreesus’ comment was not a warning for sudden violence, she started marching towards the stairwell Rainbow had vanished into. <Come on, Blitzkrieg. We don’t want to overstay our welcome.>

This is bad, Blitz thought grimmly at how dark Kreesus’ aura was getting. She had seen it plenty of times. Like how sphinxes see a Psykira on the street. It was a black that could herald someone killing their own family. Or even, one’s own daughter. “Well, I do!” Blitz half-yelled at Kreesus, ignoring Twilight. She took a step towards the red queen, causing Kreesus’ gaze to jump up in a start. “Back in the Summit, you made your real objections quite clear, but nopony seemed to hear you, and I was too caught up to address it myself. For that, I’m sorry.”

Twilight turned fully around and tilted her head. “Blitz, what, are you talking about?”

Blitz turned to her aunt, a fierce look in her eyes. “Don’t you remember? She said she doesn’t want her daughters to live with the stigma of her betrayal against Granny.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she searched her memory and gasped when she remembered it. “That’s it?”

The hostility in Twilight’s voice was a bit too sharp for Blitz’s liking, but she pressed on. “Of course it is!” Blitz pressed on with a closer approach to tactfulness. “What queen doesn’t do everything they can to raise their princesses right, no matter what their form of ‘right’ is?”

“Let me get this perfectly clear,” Twilight growled through gritted teeth. She glared at Kreesus who recoiled under such a cold, hate-laced glare. “You betrayed your only ally and friend for hundreds of years out of some misplaced fear. Who I might remind you, actually forgave you for it, First Mother knows why! And then you do it again?! Right there on the Summit floor?!”

In that moment, that ire, that aggressive stance, Blitz didn’t see Twilight, but Rainbow Dash. Her aura looks just like Mom’s when she’s super pissed.

Twilight’s loathing rage threatened to burn away any diplomatic posturing. “Does treachery have to be your go-to every. Single. Time!? Did it ever occur to you to rutting ask?!”

“I did this for my daughter’s future!”’ Kreesus shot back, taking a step forward. “I would think you of all queens could understand that.”

“And you think I wouldn’t do the same for my granddaughters?!”

Kreesus went wide eyed out of shock, but Twilight was too angry to catch it. “Did you honestly think I would care if you or even Chrysalis, or whoever was their mother? Have you paid attention at all on how much Rainbow and I love our kids?! All of them?”

Kreesus looked at Blitz, and in that moment, saw her for what she truly represented. A drone made queen. “I - I always thought it was a front to placate sentient drones.”

Twilight snorted scornfully. “That’s what I thought. In one ear and right out the other with you. You just keep believing what you want to believe! At this point, I’d be surprised if your daughter can still produce love. Assuming you didn’t just steal a Mare’s Guide to Motherhood.”

Twilight scoffed at herself and turned away from Kreesus, and walked away a bit to give herself some space.

It was a tactic Blitz was familiar with. Diplomacy wasn’t always polite smiles and veiled threats. She wants to act like she was cooling off. But… is she really though?

“I should have seen the signs,” Twilight said at last with more disdain than diplomatic tact. “You’re just like her.”

It didn’t happen often. In fact, Blitz avoided the topic whenever possible, but she recognized that flicker of black in Twilight’s aura. Velvet.

“You only hear what you want to hear. I could have brought you right in to live in Phoenix Roost and you’d still have betrayed mother one last time at the Summit. You’re so damned paranoid that you’d rather I scream in your face than be courteous.”

Twilight teleported right into Kreesus’ face and put herself muzzle to muzzle with her. “Even Chrysalis is more pleasant to be around. You are absolute scum! You can rest assured my record of history is going to be very accurate.”

“You’re not listening either!” Blitz yelled, breaking through Twilight’s anger, but not dispelling it. The elder queen turned to give Blitz an incredulous look. One matched by Kreesus. “If she can’t understand what you’ve been trying to tell her, then tell her in a way she can.”

Twilight huffed and walked away from Kreesus to buy herself time to think for a moment. Her aura went awash with calming blue as Twilight reigned in her outburst. “Alright…” She didn’t face Blitz since she was too focused on cooling herself off, for real this time. <Do I really have to speak like my sister to get her to understand?>

Blitz inwardly shook her head. Great, she’s lying to herself again. You’re not that good of a liar when you’re temper’s flaring, Aunty. You’re so worked up you’re broadcasting without thinking.

After visibly calming down with some breathing exercises in a few dozen linkscapes, Twilight leveled a flat look at the red queen, Twilight faced Kreesus with sarcasm dripping from her fangs. “Kreesus, let me make this as - lowbrow as possible.

“No matter how much history will tear you apart, and the fact that I will be making zero attempts to - omit your crimes; know that your princesses are still my granddaughters. I will never allow that to harm them. A daughter should never, ever inherit the sins of the mother.

“When they are old enough to enter the wider society I’m creating, we will welcome them with open hooves.” Twilight’s nostrils flared with heated anger, and Blitz would swear to the end of her days it looked like Rainbow was in Twilight’s body. “But I shouldn’t have to tell anypony that by now!” Twilight stomped the ground out of sheer exasperation.

Kreesus’ eyes started watering and her voice quivered. “Thank you, Prime Matriarch. I won’t forget it.”

Twilight’s heated glare threatened to devolve into a snarl until she faced away from Kreesus, which then slumped into a resigned, sad frown. Even then, she kept the resignation out of her tone and aura. “Pah, how about you put it in writing this time,” Twilight chided. “And stick it above whatever you use for a bed.”

The purple queen would say no more and departed. Blitz lingered for a moment at the top of the stairs, looking at Kreesus. The red queen was trying to hide it from Blitz, but she could see the ancient mare was crying. Just like Velvet huh? I wonder… I wonder if I can change that.

9: Single Personality Disorder

The day Velvet spoke with Celestia and Blitzkrieg.

A few days had passed since the last Summit. Aegis was standing on a raised platform looking down with pride at the drill grounds below. It was a blistering hot cloudless day on the far southern end of Tradewinds, and the Royal Marine recruits below were going through a rough training course.

Up above, the Long Shot and her new sister ship the Fluke were on station, casting the only meaningful shadows. The new monoplanes buzzed in a wide training area, adding to the din of war. Aegis watched on as one group went through obstacles, another a firing range, while more still did basic running or endurance training. Lastly, on the eastern end of the training facility were the squads closer to graduation who were training alongside clockwerk weapons platforms.

Standing beside her was Equestria’s Secretary of the Navy, Easterly Wind. He was a squat stallion of pale peach fur with a green mane. He puffed lightly on a pipe before removing it from his mouth with his magic. “Very impressive, your highness. I can’t say I ever thought about using air drills above the recruits to better simulate battle noise.”

Aegis nodded appreciatively, and only glanced at Easterly before returning her attention to the drones below. The vast majority of them were purple, many were blue, but the youngest recruits shared Aegis’ new orange and red mane colors. Those, above all others, bore her highest expectations. “Thank you, Sir Easterly. I remember my first battle involving airships.” A wistful smile graced her lips. “The noise made listening to orders difficult.”

He gave her a bemused eyebrow. “Even with your hive mind?”

“Heh, Secretary, it may be a surprise, but loud noises can even drown out the Link. We still have to ‘hear’ it after all.”

“Fascinating…” He tapped his chin for a moment before dismissing it. “I can relate to the noise issue at least. Chaos spawn typically require artillery to bring down, and I believe the army only trains with personal arms clashing.” He eyed the clockwerks with great interest. “I must wonder though…” He paused to take a short drag on his pipe. “Do you think war with the Federation is coming?”

“Blitz doesn’t seem to think so.” Aegis looked through the eyes of a few puppets far out of sight. She could see the series of defense towers dotting the vast stretches of land between Tradewinds and the border of Stratholme’s territory. But those same puppets also saw the constant stream of cargo ships, trains, and personal transports along the route between both cities. “I’ve found war is not easily waged by nations ruled by committee as opposed to a single ruler. The sphinxes will bluster and posture, but I don’t think it will ever go that far. Not unless something changes.”

He hummed in agreement, but not with enthusiasm. “Do you think it was a mistake? Letting the Feds establish themselves on our shores? No other species or nation has challenged Equestrian supremacy for a long time. They might.”

“Blitz doesn’t seem to think so,” Aegis repeated after a long moment. “It’s my role to trust her judgement in diplomacy, and she hasn’t given me reason to think otherwise. More importantly though—” A strange shift in the very fabric of the hive mind reverberated around her head like a tuning fork. Twilight and Rainbow’s voices went off-kilter for the briefest of moments. The hives dismissed it as nothing, a few moments of excitement were expected fairly often. A queen rarely bothered hiding such things from the Link, and it could have been caused by a raunchy or suprising scene in a book for all they knew. A somewhat common occurrence. This time however… Aegis wrinkled her brow with sudden worry. That wasn’t normal. It was more like a muffled scream.

“Is something the matter?” Easterly inquired with a half bemused smile.

Times like this, I’m glad they can’t sense emotions. Aegis let off a halfhearted chuckle. “Just my mom playing a prank. But anyway, I’ve been meaning to review the logistics planning in the event a war does actually break out.”

Easterly nodded with measured enthusiasm. “Yes, I’ve been wanting to do the same, actually. I admit, ever since you and your mother’s hives sprung up, its generated a boom in the railroad industry, and I have some ideas on how we can use that for troop movement.”

While Aegis physically continued her discussions with the general,, she sent a quick request to puppet a drone guarding the royal guest quarters in Tradewinds Castle. The hallway was lined with sterile white painted steel, but the floors were carpeted. After fully taking control, she turned and barged through the guest suite doors, surprising the puppet’s partner.

The guest suite was strictly reserved for other queens of the Alliance, both present and future. It shared the same clockwork motif Rarity had designed for Phoenix Castle, ranging from moving gears within the walls to a curtained bed that could cover or unveil itself with a switch. Currently, Twilight Sparkle was standing in front of a mirror with a hairbrush that had fallen to the floor nearby. She was holding a hoof to her temple while a concerned, distant expression darkened her face. Rainbow Dash was in bed, and still under the sheets, clearly having just woken up. She bore a bewildered expression and had been facing Twilight before Aegis burst in.

“Momma, Aunty, is everything okay?”

Blitz’s own voice came from the puppet’s partner barely a moment later. “What happened? Is there—?” Blitz went silent as their mothers seemed to recover a bit.

“We’re fine,” both elder queens responded.

Twilight turned towards her sister. “Can you see it too?”

Rainbow blinked a few times as realization cut through her morning fatigue. “Holy – I can see out of your eyes!” Rainbow jumped a bit and covered her ears.

“And I can hear out of your ears!” Twilight half yelled in surprise.

The four queens stood in stunned silence, but Aegis was more surprised than anything else. “Sooo… your half-puppeting each other? How did you pull that off?”

“Yeah,” Blitz added with a mix of curiosity and confusion. “Royals can’t be puppeted.”

Rainbow, far from being troubled, fluttered over to stand in front of Twilight with a scrutinizing face. But it wasn’t her sister that was her focus. “Heh, cool, I can use you as a mirror.” Twilight went slack jawed as Rainbow took her sister’s forgotten comb and started fixing her bed head.

Twilight stuttered back to life. “Ra-Rainbow! We have to fix this!”

Rainbow used her magic to straighten Twilight’s head. “The only thing I need to fix is my mane. Gotta look queenly for the trade negoche you’re dragging me to, right?”

Blitz fumed so hard her Link presence steamed to the point that local drones started to catch on that something might be up. “Mother! this is kinda more important!”

“Eh,” Rainbow shrugged as she gave Twilight a friendly nuzzle. “I could think of worse eyes to see through. Namely, ones not looking at my hot self.”

Twilight allowed Rainbow to dilute her anxiety throughout the hive mind, and fixed her sister a reluctant smile. The double vision wasn’t overly unsettling. After all, the four of them had gotten used to it via multiple puppets over the years. Nevertheless, it was still a problem. “Okay, new plan. Blitz, you’ll have to go without me on this one. The rest of us should head over to Blitz’s lab to see what’s going on.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, but didn’t object. Blitz on the other hand was visibly worried. “Not that I really care, but wouldn’t that be seen as an insult to the Federation or something? You could at least send a representative in your place.”

Aegis perked up and a mischievous grin crossed her muzzle. “Good idea, Aunty. Mom, how about sending Rolled Scroll. I’m sure the sphinxes would love him.”

Blitz freaked a bit. “No! Aunt Twilight, you wouldn’t dare!”

Rainbow started cackling with giggles, yet Twilight felt torn. I know I should say no. RS is good, but not for sphinxes… But… Something was wrong. It had to be wrong, because she was actually considering it. Twilight didn’t know what came over her, but she eventually looked at Blitz. “I’m sure it’ll work itself out. Think of this as one more test. <Rolled, honey, I have a new job for you.>

As Twilight spoke with her ambassador, Blitz sunk into despair. “Why me?”

Aegis slid up to her and gave Blitz a squeezing side hug. “Relaaax, we can just tell the cat-birds mom’s sick and we need to postpone the meet and greet until this evening when Rolled Scroll gets here. Who knows, maybe we can fix the problem before lunch.”

“I really hope you’re right.”

Blitz’s alchemy lab was a different take than Twilight’s own. Instead of more industrialized mass-alchemical jobs, Blitz’s lab was tighter, more experimental in nature. Her capsules had incubating strains arrayed along the ceiling, each capsule had its own readers and sensors, giving at-a-glance measurements that took the guesswork out of using one’s horn. Additionally, the lab was much better lit, but had most of the incubation pods heavily tinted to protect them, save for a viewing port and retractable cover. A pair of separated doors on the west side led into the storerooms. Overall, between the tiled floor, polished white painted metal walls, and the stainless steel instruments, the lab felt very sterile.

Only a scant few alchemists were present, and each of them bowed as the royals arrived. One wearing a white lab coat with blue trim stepped away from an incubator. “Your majesties, are you finally here for the tour mother’s been dying to give you?”

Twilight smiled proudly at Blitz who was having trouble keeping her excitement in check despite the situation she and Rainbow were in. A slip barely even noticeable in her emotional aura. “I’m afraid it’ll need to wait. We have an issue that must be addressed promptly.”

“Let's start with what we know,” Blitz began as one of the drones hurried over with a clipboard in hand ready to take dictation. “What are the symptoms?”

Rainbow’s and Twilight’s eyes shifted color before they spoke in unison. “I can see out of my sister’s eyes. Hear out of her ears. I can even feel the AC moving her mane.” That made them blink and give each other odd looks as their eyes returned to normal.

“R-right,” Blitz said to break the sudden silence, save for the scratching quill. “Better add that to the list.”

Aegis waited for Twilight and Rainbow to reach an empty station. She stepped up to them to scrutinize her mother’s eyes. “I’m not so sure about you two talking in unison, but your eyes change whenever you do. I bet five bits our puppeting ability is still related to the issue. Do you, like, hear each other’s thoughts when that happens?”

Rainbow opened her mouth, but stopped herself short. Twilight averted her gaze to think. Eventually, Rainbow hummed aloud. “I can’t really say, actually. It’s weird, but we sorta just feel…” she rolled her hoof trying to find the right word that refused to come.

“In sync?” Blitz offered.

Twilight buzzed her wings. “Yes! That’s the word.”

Aegis frowned a bit and pulled back. “Ok, I admit, your whole linked minds was cool for a while, but now I’m really worried about you. How does it feel when these sync moments happen?”

“It’s hard to describe it outside of that,” Rainbow admitted with a growing scowl now that she was taking this more seriously. “You two were drones once. How does it feel to be puppeted? Maybe it’s similar.”

Aegis arched a derisive eyebrow at them and crossed her arms. “Uh, why not just puppet somepony after linking in with their sensations first? That way, you can find out personally?”

The Sisters shared a look before shrugging. All in all, it was trivial to find a willing test subject. Not one drone had ever shown even a hint of reservation at being puppeted, and today was no exception. Twilight’s first thought was Intel, who was presently enjoying the sun from aboard an air cruiseship loitering around Sunset Bay. With the standard request preceding her, Twilight delved a little deeper into the vacationing soldier’s mind than normal. I typically feel a puppet’s sense of touch last, so this’ll be new.

From Intel’s point of view, Twilight puppeted her slower than usual. Twilight felt her presence push into the drone like hot water trickling down a cracked stone, filling her with such a euphoric warmth all over that her real body briefly went dizzy. In the end, Intel felt like she was bloated on love, yet the sensation abated after a few seconds until she was merely a passenger in her own body.

Twilight hummed aloud before walking Intel over to a private room before departing her body. “Well, I don’t think that it’s like being puppeted. At least not exactly.”

Rainbow ended her own experience shortly thereafter. “Yeah, that's more like what the name means, right? Like I’m a puppet on strings. I don’t get why the kids love it so much, except for getting off when we leave.”

Aegis gave a toothy grin. “That alone was enough for me,” she said with a giggle. “But if not a straight up puppet misfire, then what else? A curse maybe?”

“What about our souls?” Rainbow offered while raising a hoof. “That demon dude kept saying our souls were merging. Maybe that’s part of the problem too.”

Twilight growled in frustration and closed her eyes to think, only to still have Rainbow’s vision. “But why are we merging? I wish I had the time to figure this out.”

“Didn’t seem like a big deal yesterday,” Rainbow offered with a frown of her own. “Maybe this is why the other queens didn’t share a hive mind.”

Everyone else, even the silently listening drones stared at her with various levels of horror. Blitz and Twilight fell into silent muttering, connecting dots and evidence together that may or may not be related.

Aegis was tapping her hoof until an idea struck her. “Didn’t Granny and Yumia share a hive mind over multiple rebirths?”

Blitz snapped her fingers with excitement. “Hey, yeah, that’s right! If anypony knows about long term bonded queens, it’d be her!”

“Isn’t she teaching an art class at your engineering college, mom?”

Twilight nodded with growing energy as well. “That she is!”

Art class didn’t really take the form of fabric canvas, paints, and oils. No, here, Cadista’s classroom was more akin to a workshop that had a scattering of prize winning works of metal and brass art. The classroom was the size of a small hangar, and had ten projects of five students each.

Currently, the class was seated in a semicircle in front of Cadista while she had a large object behind her covered in a tarp.

The former queen gazed upon her students: thirty drones, eighteen ponies, and two Psykira sphinxes. So long as I live, they’ll be the only kind of sphinxes allowed here. I’ve no time for psychic genociders.

Using a burst of magic, Cadista smacked her baton on the floor, silencing the idle chatter that was droning on when she had flown over. “Class… thus far, we’ve covered nothing but theory and limited you to the drawing board. But as I’m sure all of you have guessed by being here, those days are over. Here at last, you will have a chance to build what you imagine. But!” she punctuated with a slap on the tarp, shaking a little of the sleep still clinging to a few of them. “There is one thing you must never forget: aesthetics!”

“A city, the buildings, and streets live and breathe, not just its inhabitants.” She scanned the focused faces. Cadista had no time for first years. Only those who cared enough to pay attention made it to her class. “A city of plain geometric shapes of concrete and steel may serve just fine in function. But a hive devoid of culture is no better than a parasite for your spirit. Art is what keeps the spirit of a city alive and vibrant. Something I’ve noticed that investors seem to forget. So in my class, young ones, you will learn how to express such culture on a budget and with cheap materials, because let’s be honest, we will have jobs that do not allow for marble statues and gorgeous clockwerk. Now I know not all of you are artistically minded, but construction and invention is not a one-pony job anyway. I have assigned teams based on keeping at least one artist for each.

“Today, I want all of you to start on something special. The school is opening a new branch in the Crystal Empire. It will be the students here who design the school for the great Crystal city.” She grinned at the stunned and excited students who started sharing silent glee with each other. “Our class will be working on a new expanded rail yard. I want you to incorporate form and function to make Princess Cadance proud. You have a budget of four million bits. I know none of you are here to be accountants, but learning to stay within a budget will make your future careers much easier. All relevant source materials are available to you at the stations.” Cadista paused and watched the class until only three of them were still jotting down her instructions. “You all have assigned miniature stations and drafting tables. You may begin.”

The groups splintered off and were already falling into conversations and debates on how to start. Cadista started a slow lap around the stations. She wanted to maintain a presence without looking like she was hovering. Now comes the waiting until the questions start.

Ultimately, that was perhaps Cadista’s favorite part of teaching. Questions meant genuine interest. It meant—

<Momma, I’ve got a really important question!> Twilight all but shouted at her.

The elder mare tripped on her hooves a bit, but managed to stay standing. <I’m listening,> she replied with grim annoyance she masked with expertise.

Twilight hesitated for a moment, allowing Cadista to realize this was not asked lightly. <Do you remember saying Yumia was your other half?>

She breathed slowly through her nose, glad that the students were absorbed in their work. <I do.> Cadista’s mood soured at the memory of her loss. Yet she dared not show it to anyone, and she inwardly chided herself for getting emotional, even after all this time. <Why do you ask?>

<Well, I’ve already told you what Schadenfreude said about Rainbow and my souls are fusing. And now we share sight, hearing, and limited touch.> Twilight didn’t bother trying too hard to sound calm, not to Cadista. <Please tell me you’re familiar with this.>

Cadista stopped walking and rubbed her chin. <Fascinating… Yes, I am aware of such - eh - symptoms, for lack of a more appropriate word. Like you have already experienced with talking together with Rainbow Dash, Yumia and I did much the same.>

<Why didn’t you mention that sooner?!> Rainbow Dash butted in, startling Cadista to a mental standstill. <Woulda helped us come up with a plan.>

I didn’t realize this was a group conversation, Cadista fumed. She tried to ignore the unannounced interruption.

<Rainbow, how did you hear me?> Twilight asked slowly.

<What? You weren’t broadcasting that to me?>

Cadista’s irritation quickly morphed into concerned surprise.

<No, I - well, I thought I made that a private conversation.>

<Ladies,> Cadista said with ancient authority. <Stay focused. A panicked queen is a panicked hive.> The conversation went silent. Good. Twilight always needs her panic attacks stopped before they start. <Now, yes, I know of your symptoms, it was one of the few things we kept track of over our lifetimes. I admit I had assumed they would be in line with what I experienced with Yuma. For us, such mirrored speech and even eye color changes were common after a time. Admittedly, that only started happening roughly four to five hundred years after one of us underwent rebirth. That would reset the clock, as it were.>

<That helps,> Twilight admitted diplomatically. <But Rainbow and I haven’t even been together for thirty years, let alone four hundred.>

<Yeeah, I’m with Twi on this one. I don’t want to have to do a rebirth every thirty years.>

<Did you ever discover the cause?> Twilight pitched.

Cadista saw a student come up and struggled to split her attention on both the student and her daughters. Perhaps I was too aggressive with removing my royal blood. Multitasking is so difficult these days. It took her a long time to think. <If we did, it was not something we kept track of. And don’t bother trying to find a book on it, Twilight, even if the book survived Stripped Gear, I never would have written it down.>

<A pox on old security procedures,> Twilight huffed.

<Yes well, I do remember an alternative solution, something that Yumia and I did shortly… shortly before her death.> Cadista headed off the inevitable and useless reassurances by pushing the conversation forward. <With rebirth not being a viable option… both of you can temporarily separate yourselves from the hive mind.>

The following silence was stark, and was certainly not the wild condemnations she was expecting. This isn’t the first time they contemplated this. How long has this problem been going exactly?

<How temporary is temporary?> Rainbow asked shakily. <A few seconds, maybe?>

<Last I went through it, it took a full day inside an isolation sphere. We took turns holding the Link together, but that was only because it was the two of us. I’m sure Aegis and Blitz can hold things together so you can both go in at once.>

Link silencing spheres. Located within Tradewind’s primary school, they were deceptively simple devices if outward appearances were anything to go by, and yet it dredged up so many unpleasant memories.

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. There was a primal fear that she was all too willing to listen to. “I really don’t like this idea.”

Rainbow Dash, barely two paces to her right was practically shaking. “Hey, Twi, are you sure we can’t find another way? Like maybe your books, or the princesses, or something?”

“Granny already said she didn’t have books on runaway puppeting,” Aegis chided diplomatically, “I know this is going to feel really bad, but it’s only for a day.” She gave a nervous laugh at the dirty looks she got from the older queens.

Twilight eyed the sphere with trepidation, and took a long slow breath. She took strength from her own test inside one such sphere. “It’s fine. We’ll be fine. It’s scary at first, but it gets easier.” With her path set, Twilight magically pulled the levers, opening the spheres with the clatter of moving gears. The brass shell irised open, revealing a simple school desk and chair. For the moment, it did nothing to quiet the Link.

As the royals psyched themselves up, a number of drones were dropping off water bottles, some dried food, and a number of books for both of them. But they both knew these were just distractions. Distractions doomed to fail the instant the doors closed. Feels like somepony’s wanting to chop my leg off, Twilight thought dreadfully. A leg. Were it so small a thing to bereft a queen of her Link. A part of her, more than even a drone could understand.

“Hey,” Rainbow called to her with that famous bravado grin. Twilight looked at her sister with a weak smile. “It’s not the end of the world. Have some peace and quiet, read a book, take a long nap and we’re done.”

“Rainbow, there’s only one of those things that would interest you, and I can’t remember the last time you took a nap.”

A crack appeared in Rainbow’s brave face. A dash of black terror leaked into her aura. “Yeah well, even with no wars to fight, security keeps me busy.”

Aegis and Blitz stood next to each other in between their respective mothers. The two isolated spheres were no less daunting to them either. “I remember these evil things. I hated testing in SGU. Should be banned if you ask me.”

Blitz snorted derisively. “We all go through the same isolation exams, and you know why we do it.”

“Yeah well, it’s still evil.”

Rainbow rounded on Blitz with a fiery grimence. “Alright, we’ve stalled long enough. The kids already signaled they’re ready. Just take them off our heads so we can get this going already.”

Twilight tried to take strength in Rainbow’s resolve. She still remembers what it’s like to be alone in your head… she growled at herself while facing Aegis. Don't think like that. She’s just better equipped for this.

“Stay strong, mom.” Aegis said with a hand on her foreleg.

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Right. Like she said, let’s get this over with.” And here I thought I’d only be doing this when I get reborn. “Take good care of them my Little Shield.”

“I’m still just as tall as you are,” Aegis shot back with a weak attempt at joviality.

Mother and daughter touched horns and Twilight reluctantly moved her connection to every last one of her children over to Aegis. In a way, it was far less painful than she expected. Their voices were no less audible to her, no less than before. And yet, she still felt diminished. Small. Like she was just one person instead of being the center of many.

In the end though, neither she nor Rainbow could separate themselves from the Link, nor could Aegis and Blitz push them out. A royal changeling without a hive mind was like a magnet in a sea of iron shavings. Twilight was still latched into Aegis, and there was only one humane, roughly speaking, way to remove her.

Even though the transfer was easy, all of Twilight’s drones felt the passing of the torch. Aegis’ mind felt different, less strictly organized, her song was a slightly different note.

Twilight heard a flood wash over her.

<Be safe, mommy!> <We’ll be waiting for you!> <Do you really have to do this?> <Take your time, we ain’t going anywhere.> <I love you, be careful please!>

That and many more brought tears to her eyes. Aegis have her a tight hug.

“It’s not going to be the same without your voice.”

The two were shaken from their thoughts by Rainbow belting off a hearty laugh. “Geez, Blitz, you keep acting like I’m dying. I’ll be in and out before you know it.” So as to keep her brave face intact, the blue queen marched inside the silence sphere and stood at the ready. “Well, come on, Twi, let’s get it on already.”

Taking strength from her sister, Twilight stepped inside her sphere. Aegis and Blitz hesitated for a moment before pressing the buttons locking their mothers inside their separate spheres.

Silence.

Dead silence.

It was soul crushing, maddening, and terror all rolled into one horrid stillness of the grave. Or at least, that was true for the first ten miserable seconds. Suddenly, the darkness she was left in was banished by the light switching on.

Wait.

The light wasn’t remote operated. She saw the pull string in the pink aura of Rainbow’s magic. “I’m still seeing through your eyes.”

As she feared, Rainbow had heard her. “Whoa, that’s not what I expected. How can we still hear each other?”

Twilight clicked her own light on, and shivered a bit as she felt Rainbow scratching the back of her neck. Troubling though it was, being able to hear another’s voice cleaved through her primal fear, and allowed her to think. “I don’t know.” Whatever is going on must not be entirely related to the Link.

“Do you think that means we can get out of here early?” Rainbow asked eagerly.

Twilight froze in shock. It took Rainbow a second, but she went stiff a moment later. Hold up. That didn’t sound like it echoed off the walls.

I didn’t say that aloud! Twilight screamed as she hugged herself.

Rainbow went sprawling as her forelegs were pulled right out from under her and into a hug. “What in Tartarus is going on?!” She growled in confused frustration as she forced herself to stand back up, only to inadvertently force Twilight to do the same.

Their eyes flashed to matched fuchsia. Both of them started banging on the spheres. “Let me out! This was a big mistake!”

Fear, panic, and confusion washed over both of them equally, their auras perfectly mirroring each other. Twilight started hyperventilating, dragging Rainbow into doing the same. Their thoughts were going a mile a minute. Both of them started blindly feeling around with their magic, trying to pull the lever to reopen the spheres, but both Aegis and Blitz rebuffed their efforts. The surging terror rocketed past their breaking point.

With a heavy whump, Twilight passed out, and slumped on the floor, and Rainbow Dash right with her.

From outside the isolation spheres, Aegis and Blitz listened to the muffled yelling and screaming finally die down. Aegis was the last to let go of the levers, both with spell and hand alike. Blitz was beside herself with worry, and started walking laps around the two pods. Aegis was wringing her hands after the tense minutes left her arms sore, and was close to hurting her wrists a couple of times.

<Do you really think this was the best plan, Granny?> Aegis asked both Cadista and Blitz.

Blitz looked up at no point in particular. <Yeah, there was a lot of banging and shouting, but I couldn’t make anything out.>

By now, Cadesta’s classes were over for the day, and she was currently at her desk writing up a lesson plan. She had been paying close attention to the Link. She rubbed at her temple. <Isolation is never easy. We queens are designed to be social. Isolation is a very bitter pill necessary for times like this. Such dependence on others is the price we must pay for a combined hive mind.>

<Never assume a system is without flaw,> Blitz quoted mechanically.

<I’m glad you remembered.> Cadista tried to project some pride over the Link, but her power was not what it once was. <In any case, you did make sure the spheres were total isolation, correct?>

<Yes, ma’am.> Blitz wanted to hold her mother so bad she felt her eyes watering.

Cadista’s tone lost some of its aloofness. <It is difficult to watch, I know. But there is some good news,> she added with a bit more pep. <They should pass out from the stress before too long.>

Aegis heard a loud ‘whomp’ from inside. She carefully tapped the glass casing. <I think they just did. I don’t hear anymore noise.>

<Good, good. Sleep is the brain’s way of resetting itself. Without each other’s connection the puppeting issue should be resolved. Make sure to not interfere.>

She woke up groggy. As she opened her eyes, the double vision of a pack of well-preserved books and cold ham sandwiches greeted her. Just my luck, it didn’t work.

For a long minute, she contemplated just staying on the floor, guessing her sister would get up first. After a time she grumbled and got up. “The hive never sleeps,” echoed in her ears.

“Hey,...” she reached her sister’s name, but she stopped cold. For the life of her, she didn’t know which name to call. A slow terror crawled up her spine. Finally paying closer attention, she looked down with both heads. She moved her purple foreleg up and down, testing her control. She then did the same with the opposite blue leg. Then she moved all four forelegs, and received not a single hint of resistance. This is a test. I am not alone. I am never alone. And yet she was. There was no echo in her thoughts. Nothing but her voice, and her voice alone.

“What happened to me?” She was drenched in cold sweat as she conjured a mirror to check herself. Her reflection revealed magenta eyes from both faces. Each twitch, each movement, was her action. “What happened to them? I - they… became me…”

Whoever or whatever she was, she forced herself to breathe slow and deep. She possessed both Twilight and Rainbow’s memories. As such, she had twice the experience of keeping a cool head than either of them alone. The hive needs me. Or, it needs its queens back. I can’t - shouldn’t exist. “They should have paid attention to my - manifestation - better, I guess?”

As she searched her memories, her feelings, her thoughts, all were still from Twilight and Rainbow. For their memories and judgments were her own. She hung her head in morose resignation. “But they liked it. Right up until this morning.” Assuming it’s still the same day. I don’t think I saw a clock in the pile. She dispelled the mirror and searched around, and sure enough no clock was present.

She sat back and tapped her chins. “But how did I form so quickly?” Was it the hive mind? She wrinkled her brow before eventually shaking her head. “No, this only accelerated after they were cut off. “The Link must have slowed my formation down. But I can’t rule out that it could have started the process.”

Resolve slowly built within her. “Whatever the cause, I’m not going to figure it out in here.”

Blindly feeling around with Rainbow’s magic, she found the switch and opened the isolation sphere. The classroom was dark now, with only Tradewind’s nightlife spilling any illumination through the trio of windows. With her blue body free, she quickly spotted the corresponding one to the other sphere and unlocked it as well.

Now free to get her bearings, she heard soft snoring towards the exit. The instant she saw Aegis draped on top of some piled together desks sound asleep she psionically latched onto Aegis and reconnected with the hive mind.

It was like fresh water coursing over a droughted river bed. The love, excitement, and happy chittering filled her mind’s ears. Both out of craving the attention, and not wanting to start a panic, there had been enough of that already, she answered to Twilight’s and Rainbow’s names.

<I missed you to!> she said with full honesty. Even if I didn’t technically exist a few hours ago. <Yes, don’t worry, I told all of you it would only be for a day at most,> she lied easily. But it still brought pain to do so. Maybe more of a few days or a week before your real mothers come back.

Mothers. It was only upon thinking that did she realize both of her bodies were ready to lay the day’s eggs. Uh oh… If I don’t fix this soon, which I need to be realistic about… Would these eggs consider me their momma, or… ” I can think of what my relationship with Twilight and Rainbow is later.

All the commotion over the Link shook Aegis from her doze. She rolled over to look at the spheres when she shifted the desks the wrong way and caused them all to collapse. She fell right along with them, causing her to miss the initial rush of hive chatter. “Momma! Ow, damn it.” She magically pushed the outer desks away and physically shoved the ones around her to clear a path. By the time she managed to stand up and dust herself off, the elder queens were still in the midst of receiving their welcome home.

Aegis grinned and raced over to Twilight. She bowled Twilight’s body over and bear hugged her for all her modest strength. “You made it! The Link wasn’t the same without you…” Something felt wrong. Twilight’s aura felt different. Her mind voice was slightly off key, and when Aegis looked up at her mother’s eyes, she did not see the familiar purples looking back. “It didn’t work?”

The blue body stepped up with a pensive expression. “Worse. Twilight’s and Rainbow’s minds fused - into me. Whoever I am…”

“Fused?” Aegis pulled back to stand on her own, also allowing the purple body to stand. “I get that you two were talking in unison, but outright fusion of the minds? When you said you wanted to be part of Rainbow’s life, I didn’t think you’d take it so literally.”

“Yes, well, I don’t exactly want this either. I’m hoping we can keep this discreet until I can be split apart into Twilight and Rainbow again.”

Aegis nodded firmly, a hint of her mischievous smile returning. “Glad to hear that. I’m not exactly sure what I’d do if you wanted to stay like this.” Aegis sensed a growing sense of confusion in the Link regarding their Prime Matriarchs. She had to expend a good portion of her multitasking ability to diverting attention and soothing concerns. <Just give them a day or so. The whole quarantine is exhausting, alright? Now shoo, scat, be gone!>

As Aegis worked on calming the drones, she fixed on her mother—or at least her mother’s body—with a fearful frown. “Um, I - okay, I have to say, I was afraid something like this was possible. Wish I had been wrong. For the time being at least, I hope you’ll still talk to the kids as if you were still my mother and aunt. There’s no way I can keep you isolated without a riot breaking out.”

The two-bodied being shook her heads. “I will try at least, but if you were able to tell I wasn’t two people so quickly, then…”

“Then try to break the news to a handful at a time. But um—” Aegis wringing her hands, her tail swished nervously. “I - have you thought of a name for yourself at least? You have mom’s body, and I guess you are my mom in half, but calling you that feels…”

The purple body wilted at the admission. It stung, deeply, but at the same time, she couldn’t deny it. “I was scared to give myself a name. It felt like I would give my current… status more permanence.”

“Psh, a name is just a label to call yourself.”

“Names have power, my Little Shield,” the purple body replied. “Er - sorry, but-”

Aegis waved off any apologies before they could continue. “No, don’t. As far as I see it, you’re still my mom - ummm - just with Aunty Rainbow thrown into the bowl and mixed around a bit too long. You can still call me any goofy names. First Mother knows I do it to my kids all the time,” she added with a brief laugh as fond memories flooded her.

A smile crossed both of her faces as Aegis resumed a hug, brief though it was. “Thank you. But all the same, I don’t know what to call myself.”

“Eh, let’s go with…” Aegis tapped her chin and her gaze drifted off as she pondered the issue. “Maybe... nah, or, no way, how- eh.”

Each time Aegis sounded like she had an idea, the depressed frown on Twilight and Rainbow's faces deepened.

After a minute or so, Aegis snapped her fingers. “How about Twidash!” She saw distaste for it flow off of Twidash's bodies like a wave front. “At least for now.”

Twidash hissed with displeasure. An act made all the more potent coming from two mouths. “I will accept it as a label, not a name. And it's all the more reason to fix me.”

“Great!” Aegis clapped her hands, only to get a bit more serious. “Now, here’s the thing I was thinking about while you apparently did the opposite of what was supposed to happen. If we want to actually split you back up into mom and Aunty RD, we need to ask him.”

Twidash knew exactly who she meant. Her faces puffed up in irritation. “I’ve - well - my two halves made it a point to use him as a last resort and I’m of the same mind.”

Aegis stubbornly tapped her hoof, her wings teased the air. “Well, since I’m pretty sure this has nothing to do with puppeting anymore, and I don’t know of any of our kids who sniffed around mind magic like this. And I’m pretty sure Starlight only did mental suggestion, not outright merger.”

“It’s still dangerous,” Twidash interrupted. “One of these days, Schadenfreude is going to ask for a price we can’t pay.”

Aegis shrugged nonchalantly. “There’s always a certain friend of Fluttershy who could probably fix this in a snap.”

Twidash's cheeks reddened so much it completely overshadowed her fur. “You little fireball, you wouldn't dare!" she stomped in maternal outrage. “He'd make everything ten times worse!”

Aegis grinned as her trap was set. “It’s for your own good. Sure he'd get his kicks off, but eventually we could guilt him into splitting you up.”

Twidash vigorously waved her forehooves. “Okay, okay, fine, I'll speak to Schadenfreude. Still though, I might be able to discreetly turn to the Sestapo for any information, or the various Psykira we have. At the very least we have to sound like he isn’t our only option.”

Even with her mother's and aunt’s faces staring her down, Aegis was a queen in her own right, and stood her ground. “Just try not to oversell what we got. He probably already knows we don’t have anything on soul magic. Celestia certainly doesn’t, and I wouldn’t trust the Feds enough to ask, no matter how much the Sestapo seems sympathetic. Not to mention he’s the only one who saw your soul merging. I bet the Long Shot he could help you split up.”

Twidash stared Aegis down, but the bipedal bug refused to flinch. “...Fine, I will set up a meeting as soon as possible, but in the meantime, I’m going to start breaking the news to the R&D department so they can start investigating anything related to this. Maybe Granny Momma forgot about something in one of the books we saved from Stripped Gear. And Blitz can—” Twidash blinked and looked around the otherwise empty classroom. “Speaking of which, where is Blitz, exactly?”

“Oh.” Aegis thumbed backwards at nothing in particular. “She had to run off on some side project of hers. Probably some treaty or diet toothpaste crap. I can fill her in later. Now, we should get busy, eh? I’ll sniff out our favorite demonologist’s lair, and you - er...” Despite her status as queen, Aegis didn’t feel comfortable giving Twidash an order, or a firm request for that matter. Whether she was her mother enhanced by Rainbow or an entirely new personality, Twidash still wore her mother’s skin. “Just do whatever you feel you need to.”

Twidash sighed. Some part of her, something she was only barely aware of, felt like splitting apart would kill her. Not Twilight or Rainbow, but herself. It’s for the best anyway… Throwing the thought from her mind, she nodded at Aegis. “Right. I’ll figure something out.”

Author's Notes:

To those who read the last, briefly published chapter by the same name, I just decided to keep the name for this one, and have the 1/2 chapter ( it will need a slight rework now) under a different name shortly.

10: Most Valued Customer

Schadenfreude was enjoying some fine wine in front of his lair’s fireplace. His residence in Lower Canterlot was about as close to safe as he could feel. Safe enough for his more discreet research and experiments. For it was not mortal spies he feared most. Plus he had a business to run; and this was the only place that had a gateway to the ‘shopfront’ his mortal clients knew about.

Grogar’s last tome floated in his dark red magic and would duck in and away from his face every time he took a sip of wine or wrote his own notes on separate paper. The results of an accidental splash on the pages were… best avoided.

He was reading a rather captivating chapter on lost artifacts. His brow was raised almost permanently since starting it. “A dozen imp souls fused with twelve damned murderers can do that? Oh, my old friend, if only I had asked for more than just one tome of your knowledge.”

The warm fireplace in front of his most comfortable velvet chair crackled even louder than usual, and a disfigured pony-ish face appeared in the flames. The noise grabbed his attention. “Massster, two delicious mortals are here to sssee you. Changeling hybridsss by the scent of their sssoul.”

“Them?” His mood brightened, but he checked himself and kept a stony face. This messenger was somewhat new, and he wasn’t completely sure it didn’t have ties to other demons. Not to mention there were still other queens out there, and it wouldn’t be the first time his new doorman was deliberately vague. It was a game he tolerated. “See them in.”

He closed the tome and hid it away in a pocket portal on the floor next to his chair. He got up and faced a blank brick wall expectantly. Soon enough, blue ripples broke upon its surface as a pair of minotaurs stepped though. As with his sentry, Schadenfreude saw through the disguise as if they wore paper plate masks that had crude bull faces drawn in crayon.

It had been years since he saw this pair last, but he remembered the look of this soul quite well. Anyone with soul sight would be hard pressed not to. He dipped his head in respect after the ‘minotaurs’ finished stepping through. “Queens Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. It has been far too long.”

He expected a faint, brief smile out of at least one of them, but he was disappointed by the slight deepening of a frown on both of them. They dropped their disguises to reveal a sight that prompted him to dim his soul sight to look upon them normally as a curiosity. What he saw left him dreadfully bewildered. Their fur was different, being the first thing that was noticably amiss. Twilight’s fur was slightly brighter with a faint bluish tint to it, where as the opposite was true for Rainbow Dash. Both of their manes had matching styles, but the colors and patterns were off in the same respect thier fur was. Lastly, the red in Twilight’s wings were softening, while Rainbow’s prismatic ones were gaining a redish tint.

“I’m afraid it will have to be a little bit longer,” one of them said, but for the life of him, Schadenfreude couldn’t tell which queen was which. “May I sit?” asked the other body.

Schadenfreude’s eyes narrowed in confusion, but he was a reputable host, and ultimately nodded and loudly clapped his hooves. Out from the only visible exit, a pair of animated chairs started walking over. As the furniture walked in, he turned back to the queens. “I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.” He waved at the new chairs, prompting them to take a seat before him. “I must say I’m highly impressed. Incorporating a soul mask with your disguise could prove astoundingly useful in my line of work, on both sides of the rituals.”

The queens sat down, allowing Schadenfreude to do the same with his original seat. “You are mistaken,” said the queen on the right. “I am not using any form of disguise at the moment,” continued the left.

Schadenfreude arched an intrigued eyebrow. Is that so? Are you saying when you stopped looking like minotaurs, that you didn’t just switch to a new disguise? He wanted to voice that very question, but the businessman in him kept quiet. Perhaps he could get his answer indirectly. He poured a new glass of wine for himself, not bothering to offer what he knew would be refused. “If that is the case… then my original identification was both right… and wrong.”

The twin queens nodded. “Yes. I’m afraid the fusion of Twilight’s and Rainbow’s souls had more consequences than they originally hoped.”

“You keep saying ‘I’ instead of ‘we’.” Schadenfreude sipped his drink to try and hide his mounting fascination. “I assume that means you are literally a single mind instead of two working in unison.”

“Correct, and is the reason I’ve come,” the left queen said. “I was hoping you would have some artifact or at least the knowledge of how to split my soul back in two, and allow Twilight and Rainbow to live again.”

“You continue to surprise me,” Schadenfreude said after nearly choking on a sip of wine. “I would have thought you’d want to continue existing, Miss…”

Both queens sighed at the implied question. One started nervously scratching a foreleg, while the other’s wings buzzed lightly. “Names have power, Schadenfreude, something you are no doubt familiar with. I felt naming myself would make me more… irreversible,” she elaborated while rolling a hoof. “But ultimately, it was Aegis’ label being rather distasteful that motivated me to have a proper name.”

When she didn’t immediately give that name up, Schadenfreude chuckled politely. “Ah yes, I have heard of Queen Aegis Altair’s proclivities. I can only imagine what deviant name she gave you, eh?” he added with a waggle of his wine glass.

The two queens fumed, but refused to pout. They most certainly did not pout. “Yes, well, when I broke the news to Rainbow’s parents, her -” the two queens hesitated on the wording. “Mom felt like I was still her daughter, not granddaughter or usurper or brain thief. Just that I was still Rainbow Dash, just with Twilight gum and Awesome daughter gum chewed up in the same mouth for a day. So she gave me a new name: Light Rain.”

Schadenfreude nodded diplomatically. “As good a name as any, Queen Light Rain. Or would you prefer queens plural?”

Light Rain gave a low croak of indiscion for a moment. “I have two bodies, sure, but I only have one mind. So just ‘queen’.

“As for wanting to be split back into Twilight and Rainbow…” Light Rain’s purple body continued. “My - eh - I don’t really see myself as an entirely new person anymore. I share all of Twilight and Rainbow’s memories and desires. That includes being two separate beings. The philosophy of my hive demands two separate queens. It doesn’t matter if I can think with two brains at once, I am still only a single mind. Not to mention it’s causing a lot of problems with the hive mind trying to adjust to this.”

“I see,” Schadenfreude traced a hoof along his wineglass. “I must say, you’re really throwing away a golden opportunity here. Should you succeed.” He fixed Light Rain with his best salespony grin, an effort weakened by him not exactly knowing if he should focus on one face or both.

Light Rain huffed with both bodies, but only crossed her forelegs with the left one. “I’m well aware one mind in two bodies opens many avenues of advancement, but I can’t do it.” She cast her expression in stone. “My… separate selves, wished to remain individuals once they realized what was going to happen.”

“More’s the pity then.” Schadenfreude set his wine down and spared a moment to think. “What you, or they, ask for is possible, strictly speaking, but I doubt you are willing to pay the cost.”

“You’re going to start charging me souls this time around?” Light Rain replied evenly. Barely worth being shocked over if she was honest with herself.

“If you are indeed an amalgamation of Twilight and Rainbow, then I already know you could never pay such a price. Unless perhaps… your own,” Schadenfreude added with a playful glint.

She winced at being called an amalgamation, and it tinted her reply a touch more hostile than intended. “You can forget about studying my soul! And selling anypony’s soul is out of the question.”

Schadenfreude grinned widely. “If you possess as much of Twilight’s and Rainbow’s morals as you claim, then that is hardly a surprise. No, the price I speak of is not the cost for my services, for the moment, but in what spliting you in two would require. You would be reduced to foals, not too dissimilar to what Grogar did to himself.”

Light Rain furrowed her brows. “But I already have my bodies right here. I wouldn’t be moving into a different vessel.”

“Ha! I would like to see a foal’s soul try to keep an adult’s body alive and well. You would lapse into a coma from which there would be no return. A soul’s strength grows with both age and experiences, memories and trials. Hard to do that in a coma, don’t you think?”

Light Rain opened her mouth to reply, but she stopped herself. Her expressions sank as she mulled over his explanation.

Schadenfreude stared at Light Rain as an art starved aesthete. To his eyes, Light Rain’s soul was a beacon of beauty. It glowed strong and powerful, and now that the conversation had lapsed, he was able to take it all in. As soon as he became hot and bothered, he had to shake himself away from trying anything. He cleared his throat. “Besides, no amount of payment could make me do that anyway. I have never seen two souls merged together so beautifully before. Not even the master soulsmiths can achieve what you have become.”

“Soulsmiths?” Light Rain piped up, deciding to completely ignore the horrid imaginings she had of what he’d do to her soul if it ever became his. “Could they have something? If you can’t split my soul, what about keeping Twilight’s and Rainbow’s minds separated? Like a…” She buzzed her wings trying to find the right word. “Like a crown or amulet to keep me from forming in the first place?”

“A mind split eh…?” Schadenfreude got up and cantered over to his stone altar. It had stacks of chemicals, mundane and supernatural both. He ducked under it and snatched up a scroll. “I actually think something like that already exists. Soul merging is not a clean science, and sometimes a compound mind cannot access some of the memories its forming intelligences once possessed. I know a smith who could help. For a nominal fee, I could get him to craft something for you.” He unrolled the scroll and searched for the right name. By now, Light Rain had joined him, but stayed a safe distance from the altar. “It will cost extra to purify it from demonic and dark magic, and I’m sure you’d rather…” He gave a razor sharp smile. “Avoid certain symbols and runes.”

“You will have your money, Schadenfreude,” Light Rain answered with little hesitation. “But only if I become Twilight and Rainbow again.”

“That’s the rub.” Schadenfreude found the name and tapped his hoof on the floor. “I would trust this to work so long as you wore the artifact, but the moment Twilight or Rainbow takes theirs off, you would reform again. Without the process I mentioned with Grogar, there is no reversing this. At least, not in the prices you’re willing to pay.”

Light Rain took a long deep breath. “Or what you’re willing to show me.”

Schadenfreude gave off an unnaturally wide grin, flashing more teeth than equinely possible. “You’re more than welcome to look to others for aid, but - something tells me I am your only real resort, no?” Light Rain revealed nothing in her stoic mask, but that alone was an admission in of itself. “I’ll even accept a rough design for what form you want this to take. So…” His magic flared and a piece of contract parchment and ink quill manifested. “So, shall we draw up a bargain?”

Author's Notes:

In order to prevent any confusion I just deleted the old version along with its comments, and remade it anew. Now that the formalities are out of the way...

Will Light Rain get angry and become a storm? Will Schadenfreude ever get his Styx cereal from those darn kids? Does Aegis have a committee of caretakers that do all the nymph naming for her? Will Blitzkrieg ever get around to legally shortening her name? Can Rainbow and Twilight find common ground?

Find out next time, same Hive Time, same Hive channel!!*

*disclaimer: by reading this sentence all obligation to provide any answers is invalidated and will be purposely forgotten about.