As Luna raised her head, her glowing horn carried the moon up into the twilight skyline. Speckles of light scattered in the distance, soon came into focus as her arcane might lifted the moon high over the horizon, the fading sunlight just barely illuminating the approaching airships coming from the south. With a nod of satisfaction at her job being complete for the moment, Luna turned and headed back into the throne room of the castle, finding both Dusk and Echo waiting for her.

"Princess." Dusk greeted, with a salute.

Luna sighed, "Dusk, I'm starting to wonder if you keep saluting me just to annoy me at this point." She replied with a thin grin.

"Just checking to make sure you aren't a changeling, your highness." Dusk smirked.

Luna rolled her eyes and gave the guard a playful shove, "Let me know when a changeling can raise the moon. I'll be impressed to see that." She chuckled as she stepped past them.

Like clockwork, Dusk and Echo fell into step behind their princess and the trio made their way out of the throne room. They passed several Day Guards all preparing for the daily shift change as they walked through the corridors lining the castle wall. All the guards they passed, snapped to the position of attention and saluted, receiving a nod from the lunar princess as she walked.

However, as they continued down the long hall, Luna found herself out of breath remarkably quicker than usual. The weight of her foal certainly made something as trivial as walking a much more difficult prospect, and before she even reached her destination, she found herself quietly huffing and puffing.

Echo and Dusk, both acutely aware of their princesses increased and labored breathing, protectively stepped closer to her.

"Um, your highness? Do you need to stop and rest for a moment?" Echo asked, no small amount of concern in his voice.

"I'm quite alright, Echo... the foal is simply nearly here. Only a little over three weeks left so it's to be expected that my lungs aren't quite happy with their reduced space but this foal is going to be a large one, I'm sure. I have their father to thank for that, I suppose." Luna explained, fondly shaking her head.

Dusk snorted, "Well I'm sure he'll be proud of that."

Echo nodded, "What was it he said? That they'd both be giants and would take over the whole world?" He chuckled.

Luna snickered as they rounded the corner and found themselves walking down the stairs to the armory, "That sounds like him."

The group shared a collective chuckle as they made their way down the stairs. Albeit after a few minutes, due to Luna's decreased mobility with her baby bump, the trio made it to the entrance of the armory. Once there, Dusk quickly flagged down Swan as she stood in line to receive her hoof blades from the armorer, getting her to trot over to the group.

"Princess." Swan greeted with a salute.

"Swan," Luna nodded, "Two things. Firstly, I wanted to inquire as to what guards you'd be replacing Dusk and Echo with for this weekend. Secondly, I wanted to inform you of what the plan is with regards to the changelings we expect to arrive shortly."

Swan nodded, "Dusk and Echo are being replaced with Top Heavy and Kiowa. I'm all ears for the housing plan for all these unexpected guests we'll be receiving." She replied, professionally.

"Top and Kiowa?" Dusk tilted his head to the side.

"I thought they were stationed all the way in Las Pegasus." Echo added.

Swan nodded, "They were, but the only two guards entrusted to protect our prince are taking this weekend off, so they needed to be brought in to fill the gaps."

Echo shook his head, "Anon's not gonna like them."

"Top just does what his lead does and Kiowa never speaks to VIP's. If Anon thought he barely saw us, he won't even know those two are there." Dusk chuckled.

"All the more reason for you two to enjoy your time off." Luna offered, with a smile.

"Thank you, Princess." Dusk and Echo both nodded.

"You're quite welcome," Luna replied, before turning to Swan, "Now, as for the changeling situation, we've decided on the caves under the city. I'm aware that the prison is in those caves, so we'll be redirecting unicorn guards to provide shields specifically designed to discourage changelings, around the prison structure. We plan on at least two dozen day guards being added to your roster by night's end. I'm sure you've heard of the construction teams sent in there last night as well. We hope to have enough structures ready for changelings to inhabit by the time they arrive here." She explained.

Swan hastily pulled a notepad out of her armor and scribbled down the notes as Luna gave them to her. Once she had everything written down, she put the notepad away and nodded, "Alright, Princess. We'll get the prison secured. I hope that giving them access to the caves isn't a mistake, though. Who knows where they could get off to."

"I understand your concerns. I share them. Celestia has ensured me via a letter that the changelings have fully cooperated thus far, even including the wearing of mana rings. They shouldn't be a problem while they're in the caves aside from maybe getting lost or stumbling out somewhere they shouldn't. Tia is already allocating an entire Day Guard battalion for just such occasions." Luna replied.

Swan gave a nod, "Very good, Princess. Did she say where they'd be dropping them off?"

Luna simply pointed toward the window behind Swan, to the open parade field behind the castle. Over a dozen airships were within a mile and closing, while several dozen more were flying in from off in the distance. Each one appeared to be practically overflowing with black forms that could only be changelings.

Swan let out a low whistle as she watched the closest airship approach and gently come in for a landing on the parade field.

"Welp, that's one way to start a shift." She muttered.

Anon stepped off of the last airship while stretching his arms over his head. He let out a long, loud sigh before swinging his arms down and stepping onto grass once more. Javelin was only a few steps behind him, followed immediately by Chrysalis, Twilight, and then albeit much more slowly, Celestia.

Anon offered his hand to help steady the heavily pregnant alicorn as she descended the steps, and she gratefully accepted the gesture with her wing. Once she was on the grass as well, the group surveyed the literally thousands of changelings being funneled into the castle. However, notably, were the changelings, themselves.

The little bug horses hastily looked around the castle and the city, their eyes wide with amazement and drool practically dripping from their agape mouths. It took mere moments for them to start absorbing the love in the air. Several changelings opened their maws wide and tilted their heads skyward, a semi-transparent pink mist suddenly forming and funneling its way into their gullets. Due to the sheer volume of changelings present, the air quickly filled with pink mist, making it much more difficult to see.

"Uh... are we sure all of Canterlot isn't going to see this and freak out?" Anon hesitantly asked, turning to Celestia.

A worried frown plastered itself on Celestia's face as the air grew thick with pink love mist. She turned to Chrysalis, finding an equally worried look on the Changeling Queen's face as she saw just how much love her subjects were taking in all at once. She hurriedly galloped ahead toward her hive, prompting Anon, Twilight, and Javelin to run after her.

"Chrysalis!?" Twilight called.

"Stop! You all need to stop!" Chrysalis frantically cried out.

The drones and nymphs closest to their queen quickly heeded her warning, and a hurried order to stop washed through the hive. Much to both Anon and Celestia's surprise, the entire hive complied with their Queen's orders within a minute, and the air stilled once more. Chrysalis let out a breathless sigh of relief as she fell to her haunches, dozens of her drones quickly rushing to her side to ensure she was still alright.

The tide of drones instantly parted to allow Anon, Twilight and Javelin room to reach their queen as they rushed over to her. Once they were by her side, Anon placed a hand on her wither.

"Alright, let's not do that again before we break news to the city that they're all here, yeah?" He announced, offering a small smile of support.

Chrysalis nodded, "Yes, thank you, Prince Anon," She replied, before turning to the drones beside her, "Tell the entire hive that we are to receive a feeding schedule. The hive cannot feed all at once, lest we draw a panic. The ponies of Canterlot have been informed that we're coming, but not that we're here yet. I expect the ambient love levels to drop dramatically once they find out. Princess Celestia has agreed to allow us all to feed enough to stave of starvation over the next few days, but then she will have to break news of our arrival." She explained.

The drones, much like trained soldiers, nodded and quickly disseminated the information throughout the rest of the hive. Within just a few minutes, the entire hive was informed. Just as Celestia reached the Changeling Queen and her husband, the last of the drones received the information and gave nods of acceptance or begrudging words of hunger.

"Well, that certainly wasn't how I planned to start their introduction to Canterlot." Celestia sighed.

"We got it sorted. I don't think most of Canterlot would have noticed, do you?" Anon asked, turning to his wife.

"I certainly felt the shift in the air. If any ponies are awake - unicorns, especially - they probably felt it too." Twilight offered.

"It is nearly one in the morning. While much of Canterlot is asleep at the moment, the thestral population surely would have noticed something. Let's not forget the Canterlot night life as well. There are dozens of bars and clubs still open and most likely crowded with ponies at the moment. Hopefully we can explain it away or ask them to remain calm." Celestia replied, thoughtfully.

"Most thestrals are on duty or inside, at the moment, sister." Luna suddenly announced, teleporting beside her.

"GAHWHATTHEFUCK?!?" Anon shrieked as he was startled into tripping over Javelin and falling onto his back. Twilight snickered.

"Oh, sorry about that, honey," Luna sheepishly replied, using her magic to help get Anon back to his feet, "I forgot that teleportations scare you."

Anon shook his head as he dusted himself off, "When you're popping away I'm fine. I can see the horn charging up and everything so I know it's coming, but when you just appear next to me? You're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, woman." He replied, petulantly crossing his arms.

"I'm fine, by the way." Javelin muttered, getting to his hooves after having Anon's weight fall over his back.

"Heh, sorry about that, bud." Anon sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked back at his guard.

The sound of two leathery wings quickly reached the group's ears as Dusk and Echo reached Luna's side and quietly landed.

"We didn't see where you teleported to, princess." Dusk curtly acknowledged.

"My apologies, Dusk. I simply saw my husband and sister and decided to make sure everything was alright." Luna acknowledged.

Echo quickly glanced back at the changelings gathered around them, finding that several of them were pointing at him and Dusk and backing away. Fearful looks covered most of their faces as they observed the pair of thestrals, almost as if they recognized them. Cocking an eyebrow back, but deciding to ignore it for now, Echo returned his attention to the situation in front of him.

"Is there... any damage done?" Chrysalis hesitantly asked.

"None so far that can't be easily rectified. I'd advise you to ensure your hive doesn't do that again. If it were daytime and all of Canterlot was out and about, they'd surely think they were under attack. You'd scare all the love out of the air within minutes and drive half of the city to take up arms or evacuate." Luna replied, simply.

"Good, that's good. I'll ensure this doesn't happen again." Chrysalis gratefully replied, bowing her head ever so slightly.

"Well aside from that little hiccup, I think this whole thing went really smoothly." Anon proudly announced, placing his hands on his hips.

"Oh, why would you say that out loud?" Twilight sighed.

"What?" Anon asked, only for the sound of shouting in the distance to reach his ears.

"Oh my Faust! They're everywhere!" A masculine, but still somewhat feminine voice shrieked from the castle door.

The group turned and squinted at the pony causing the sudden ruckus in the otherwise quiet and cooperative changeling gathering, finding a snow white stallion with a blond mane and tail standing on his balcony.

"BlueBlood..." Celestia facehoofed.

"Guards! Guards! We're under attack!" BlueBlood cried, ignorant of the literal hundreds of guards outside among the changelings.

Luna sighed, "I suppose I should go deal with him. Perhaps keeping him out of the loop was a mistake this once." She admitted.

"Well in my defense, I thought he was going to be out partying with the nobles as usual. It's rare for BlueBlood to stay in the castle this late into the evening." Celestia half shrugged.

"Guards! Guards! Why are you not doing something!?" BlueBlood shrieked.

Luna rolled her eyes, "I will handle him. I've already informed Swan of where to put our guests until we can warm the city up to them."

Celestia gave a grateful nod, "Thank you, sister." She replied, before leaning in and quickly nuzzling the smaller alicorn.

Luna happily returned the nuzzle before pulling away and lighting up her horn. She disappeared with a flash, and quickly reappeared on BlueBlood's balcony. The stallion jumped several feet into the air from the startling arrival of his aunt, before she quickly pulled him inside and closed the door behind them.

With BlueBlood dealt with, Celestia turned back to Anon, "And that is why we don't say things like that out loud, honey."

Anon rolled his eyes, "I mean, that wasn't that ba-" He started, only for Celestia's magic to close his mouth before he could finish.

Celestia gave Anon a deadpan look while he indignantly looked back at her. After a few moments, she released her magical hold on his lips, allowing Anon to work his jaw once more.

"That was just rude." He muttered.

Celestia chuckled before leaning in and planting a kiss on Anon's unsuspecting lips. He gladly returned the gesture and held her head with his hands, his fingers playing through her ethereal mane. Once they'd made everyone around them sufficiently uncomfortable, they pulled away from each other.

"There, did I make up for it?" She playfully questioned.

Anon nodded, "Yeah, I suppose you did," He replied, before turning back to the rest of the group, "Oh shit! Dusk, Echo! You guys are still here!" He exclaimed, upon seeing his night guards.

Dusk nodded, "Yes sir. Been here the whole time."

"It is night time, and we are your protection detail after dark." Echo added, teasingly.

Anon rolled his eyes, "Smartass. Anyways, you guys have this weekend off." He stated.

Dusk and Echo shared a look, "Um, yes. We do." Dusk hesitantly replied.

Anon pointed at them, "You drink with us." He declared, while pulling Javelin into a one-armed hug.

Dusk and Echo shared yet another look before looking back to Anon and nodding, "We drink with you."

Anon beamed, "We all drink, this weekend." He proudly announced.

Chrysalis simply stared at the group with a dumbfounded expression as Celestia and Twilight walked up beside her, "I... even my drones don't communicate with so little..." She muttered.

"I've... been struggling to understand Anon the entire time I've known him." Twilight responded, shaking her head in confusion.

"He has said that he wants to 'crack open some cold ones with the boys' for quite some time now. I suppose this is just their way of showing their excitement. Just a group of janefillies, I suppose." Celestia chuckled.

With his weekend plans cemented, Anon turned to his wife, Twilight, and Chrysalis, "I can't wait for this weekend. This is gonna be great." He smiled.

Celestia nodded, "I'm sure it will be immensely fun for you, dear. However, we do have nearly five thousand changelings just sitting around out here on castle grounds, waiting to be escorted to their new home. Don't you think we should get back to that?" She said.

Anon nodded, "Ah, yes. Of course. Royal business and all that. Let's get to it." He replied, clasping his hands together.

The group turned and made its way to the castle entrance, where they quickly found Swan and Luna once more. The excitement of the day quickly dwindled as the changelings were processed into the castle one by one. Each changeling was escorted by a royal guard all the way to the crystal caverns below, making the process slow and tedious. The night dragged on, and as Anon assisted as much as he could, he could feel the strain of the days events quickly wearing on him. Sleepiness clouded his mind and fuzzed the edges of his vision while he looked over one of literally thousands of identification papers for the changeling before him.

"T-Thorax? Hey, I remember you. You were that other little changeling's dad or something, right? What was her name? Ocella? Ocelot? Revolver Ocelot? Snaaaaaaaake..." Anon chuckled to himself.

"Um, you mean Ocellus, Prince Anon?" Thorax sheepishly asked.

"Yeah! That's the one." Anon nodded.

"Oh, well she's not my daughter. She's actually my little sister. Well, broodmate, but we've always been really close." Thorax explained, a smile on his face.

"Ah, that explains that. Where's she now? You guys didn't get separated, did you? We tried to keep that from happening." Anon replied, looking back and forth across the sea of black forms before him.

Thorax hastily shook his head, "Oh, she's was just processed before me. I believe Princess Twilight took care of her."

Anon nodded, "Ah, good. Purple smart is good at all this paperwork crap." He muttered.

"Uh... Purple... smart?" Thorax parroted, confusion clear on his muzzle.

"Nevermind that." Anon shook his head before stamping Thorax's papers, "There you go, bud. Just show this paperwork to one of the guards when they come over here and they'll escort you to the caves down below." He said, handing the papers over to the changeling.

"Oh, thank you so much, Prince Anon!" Thorax happily chirped.

"Don't mention it, bud." Anon smiled.

Anon reclined back into his seat and stretched his arms over his head while a long yawn forced its way out of his mouth. After smacking his lips for a moment, he heard the sound of yawning to his right, and turned to see Javelin mid-yawn. He gave the guard a raised eyebrow until he finished.

"What? Yawning is contagious." Javelin said, matter-of-factly.

Anon chuckled, "I remember a time just a year or so ago where you wouldn't have budged an inch if I yawned next to you."

Javelin rolled his eyes, "And I seem to recall that you hated how I acted while I was guarding you. As you're now my prince, I've changed my behavior accordingly." He replied, a small amount of sass in his voice.

Anon laughed, "Then I should get you a medal for going the extra mile to pull that stick out of your ass, shouldn't I?"

Javelin chuckled, "I could always go for another medal on my record. I plan to have a wall of medals and awards when I retire."

Anon smirked as he surveyed the changelings still crowded in the castle before him. Luna, Celestia, Twilight, Swan, and a plethora of guards were tending to the lines, all of them slowly whittling away at the thousands of guests as quickly as possible. Another wave of the little bugs was swiftly directed to Anon's desk, signaling the end of the brief lull in Anon's work.

With a sigh, he sat back upright in his chair, just in time to notice Dusk and Echo stepping over to his side from the corner of his eye. Anon turned to acknowledge his night guards, but also noticed Thorax and the new line instantly shying away from them as they approached him. Puzzled by this new development, Anon turned in his seat and fixed the thestrals with a raised eyebrow.

"What'd you guys do to them? They all seem scared of you all of a sudden." Anon asked, good-naturedly.

Dusk and Echo shared a look before shrugging, "Honestly, no clue. They've been really afraid of us since they got here, but not any other thestrals. They don't seem to be afraid of Swan or any other night guards roaming around." Dusk replied.

"I think they recognize us." Echo offered, glancing around at the fearful changelings.

Anon pursed his lips and slowly turned to Thorax, "Hey, uh... Thorax? You alright?"

Anon received no response as the changeling simply stood stock still, his eyes locked on the two thestrals standing just a few feet away from him.

Anon waved his hand in front of Thorax's face for a few moments, and albeit with massive hesitation, the drone turned his head until he was looking at Anon. With his shock now broken, the drone quickly started trembling at just the sight of the two night guards, making Anon glance back to the pair of thestrals with a frown. After receiving a simple shrug in response from his guards, Anon turned back to the trembling changeling before him.

"Uh... are you okay?" Anon asked, gently.

"Y-yes, Prince A-Anon..." Thorax stammered.

"Thorax? That wasn't very convincing. Why are you so scared of Dusk and Echo?" Anon questioned, his voice taking the tone of a concerned parent.

"The... the twin thestrals..." Thorax mumbled, clearly shrinking away from Anon's line of questioning.

Anon raised an eyebrow as he looked at Dusk and Echo once more, "I'm... pretty sure they aren't twins... Dusk, aren't you like, eight years older than Echo or something?"

"Six." Echo corrected.

Anon nodded before turning to Thorax, "I mean, the night guard armor enchantments make them look similar, sure, but they aren't twins. Wait, where did this 'twin thestrals' name even come from?" He questioned.

"They... they-" Thorax began, only for Chrysalis to step in behind Anon.

"They killed fifty seven changelings during the invasion." She announced, redirecting Anon's attention to her.

"Oh... well... shit." Anon muttered, a grimace forming on his face.

Dusk and Echo shared an uncomfortable glance as their past deeds were brought up in such a negative manner. A blanket of awkward tension enveloped the group for a few moments before Javelin suddenly spoke up.

"What's done is done. It's in the past now. Dusk and Echo aren't going to hurt any changelings unless they're attacked first." He stated.

Anon quickly nodded, "Yeah, what's done is done. We were at war but now we're not. They aren't gonna hurt you." He offered, looking to Thorax.

The trembling changeling looked up to his queen for assurance, and albeit with a moment of hesitation, she nodded, prompting him to slowly make his way over to the pair of thestrals. Without a word, Dusk and Echo turned and escorted the clearly terrified changeling down the hall and out of sight.

With the air now somewhat clear of tension, Anon let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding, and turned to Chrysalis. She wore a look of deep thought on her face, but it was clear through her clenched jaw that she was upset.

"Hey, uh... I know you probably hate Dusk and Echo... but they're good ponies. We were all just on different sides back then." Anon offered.

Chrysalis sighed, "You're right, Prince Anon... It's just going to take some time to get used to seeing them without..." She grit her teeth.

Anon placed his hand on her wither, "I know it'll take time... but this whole thing has been about forgiveness, hasn't it?"

Chrysalis looked down to the point of contact between them for several seconds, "I suppose you're right... Prince Anon."

Ooooh. Some drama is building up, isn't it? Dusk and Echo have quite a kill count on their hooves. We'll have to see where this goes from here.