Twilight, walking through the busy halls of the changeling hive, looked around on her own mission. Her eyes were heavy, her legs light, and she kept yawning.

Her new, guide, Alfred, was with her. Staring at her each time she yawned. When she did it again, she caught him giving her a bemused look. When she turned to look, he looked away with a sharp twist of his head. Squinting at him, she sped up and stopped in front of him.

"Um... Yes?" He asked looking down. "Is there something you require, Twilight?"

"Why were you staring at me?" She asked bluntly. "When I was yawning."

"It was-I... Um, don't honestly know." He said shuffling his hooves. "I was curious. 'Yawning' is what you were doing?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"I've just... Why do you do that?" He asked receiving a blank stare. "I'm serious! Why do you yawn?"

"Because I need to sleep. I'm tired, that's all." She said. "You've never yawned before?"

"Changelings, atleast me and the drones and the miners, do not know what sleep is. We fake it when we imponyate..."

"You can say it. You all pretty much ruined my life, you can't do any more harm." She shrugged. "Go on Alfred, I know you're going to say food. Right?"

"Right. But it doesn't mean it makes me feel any better." He said. "But, what is it like to sleep? I... I was imponyating a mare's husband one time, and she began kicking in her... Sleep. Is that normal?"

"Yes. Ponies tend to move around in there sleep. Is, there anywhere I could rest?"

"Would you care for another large tome then?" He smiled.

"Very funny." She said slugging him in the shoulder slightly. "But really, is there somewhere I could rest?"

"Yes, but it's near where the miners are. You must excuse them if they make too much of a racket."

"Don't worry, with the way I'm feeling, I could drop dead."

"You won't... Will you?" He asked looking at her, mouth slightly agape. "Please, don't. I wouldn't want to lose you. Otherwise. the hive would die within weeks."

"What do you mean by that? Die within weeks?" She asked narrowing her eyes. "Why would me dying, cause that?"

"I-I've said too much! Please, for the sake of us all, don't leave until your training is complete." He said placing a hoof on her shoulder. "Please, I'm begging you. If you stay, no harm shall befall you. If you leave, we all die. And, I don't know about you, but I'm not ready for that. Not yet."

Her expression softened, putting a hoof on his, she leaned forward and hugged him which he returned slowly. She sighed gently, her wings fluttering for a second before folding down against her sides.

"I'm not leaving," she said. "Not now anyway. But I want answers as to why I'm important here. And I will get them, rest assured."

"I can't rest, and you know that." He said pulling away. "Alright, if you will follow me, I will show you to your quarters."

They walked in silence, the only noise was from the passing changeling that flew overhead, or from the growing number of her followers. They went further down into the darkness to the point where she could see her own glow coming from her eyes.

The further down they got, the more she was expecting it to become colder, but instead it was getting warmer. Sniffing the air, she snorted when she sucked in a whiff of something burning alongside sulfur. He looked over at her as she gave another cough, putting his hoof to her nose she tried to snort but she couldn't get any air in or out. Panicking she looked at him in concern and anger.

"It is just the same fluid you used to... Entangle us." He said only making her eyes narrow even more. "You were choking on the fumes, breathe through the holes in your legs. They'll ventilate the air for you."

"How do I do that?" She asked. "I'm not exactly used to breathing through my legs."

Putting a hoof to his chin, he stood in thought. His eyes seemed to brighten even more when a small smile crept onto his face. She blinked in surprise when he sat down and put both fore-hooves on her muzzle. She crossed her eyes before trying to squeal. More of the green fluid had wrapped itself around her muzzle and was already hardening.

He let go and wiped the excess off before looking at her. He snickered a little as he saw her glaring at him, all the while pointing at the clites.

"Cut off the main flow of oxygen, your body acts naturally and you begin to breath through the holes in your legs. I'm brilliant, I know." He smiled.

She responded with a hoof to the back of the head.

"Hey, careful, I bruise like a banana." He said frowning.

She pointed to her throat instead, making muffled words his eyes widened in realization. Quickly lighting his horn, he put it to hers and her eyes flashed green for a second. Pulling away, he gave a small smile that turned into a grimace as she began hitting him with an onslaught of angry thought's.

'What is wrong with you!?' She yelled mentally. 'Was that really necessary? Shutting my mouth like that?'

"Well, it was either that, or you would have choked to death on the fumes." He said making her stop. "I made a telepathic link, yes, I'm receiving your thought's as you think them."

'I could have just casted a portable atmosphere spell. It wasn't necessary to do this.'

"Whatever you say or think. This is making my head hurt." He said. "Or did you hit me again without me knowing? No, that's impossible. Come along, only a few more turns and we're ready to tuck you in. This way."

Trying, and failing to give a snort, she complied and followed him further down the rocky halls.

The stone beneath her hooves had smoothed out, looking she saw it wasn't from erosion, but it had been pressed down. Now, finally looking around, she realized the tunnel they were going through was at least as tall as a two-story building. And just as wide as any other building.

He saw her staring and chuckled.

"They need to be this size, for the miners." He said leaving it at that. "Know, just go around this corner here and you will, hopefully, find a bed."

They turned the corner, and Twilight let her eyes immediately fall upon the beds lining the room. Alfred, guiding her with a wing, took her to the nearest one and set her down.

She put her head on the pillow, surprised at how soft it was. She looked up curiously when she felt a blanket pulled over her, Alfred grinned sheepishly as he tucked her in.

"Good night, I suppose." He said. "I'll be here, just wake up if you need anything. I'll be on the wall keeping guard."

Before she could think of a response, he cut the connection and climbed onto the wall above her. Looking up, she stared at him as he looked towards the entrance almost as if entranced. Slowly, she put her back down and fluffed the pillow slightly before getting comfortable.

As she finally let all the stress melt away, her mind softened under sleeps touch.

Twilight's dream

The sun rested peacefully on the horizon, letting the land be covered in an orange glow. Birds tweeted for the last of the day, singing their songs before sleep, crickets chirped, fireflys appeared and disappeared in the air above the knee high grass.

She looked down at herself and saw she had her normal, purple hooves back. Smiling, it grew even larger when her friends rushed past. They were all laughing and smiling, trying to catch firefly's, or just tackling each other into the soft grass in the warm air.

"It's nice, ain't it?"

She felt her cheeks grow hot from the voice. She turned around and hugged Big Macintosh, he let out a deep chuckle before returning it. She cried into his coat, happy and relieved. While he stroked her mane, she just sat in silence with him, listening to the comforting beat of his heart like a foal would listen to their mother's for comfort.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you." She said nuzzling his shoulder. "I've missed you all so much."

"What do ya mean?" He asked. "Ya never left. Cause' we all remember ya, and as long as we do that, ya didn't leave for a second."

Before she could speak, another voice broke her sentence before it started.

"For a dream, he speaks the truth."

Twilight turned and saw Princess Luna laying in the grass, by her side was Celestia, Camo Travels, Shining Armor, and the drone she'd come to hate and care for.

"Princess!" She quickly bowed before her mentor came up and hugged her, leaving the dream in a near stand still. "How are you all here?"

"Sun butt and moon butt casted a real neat spell and now were here!" Camo said before getting hit by both princesses and then tackled by Shining armor. "He's trying to bite me! He's worse than the Banshee!"

As they fought, the drone walked up to her and sat, head cast down ward. She looked at it, looking down herself, she sat down and made it flinch from the next contact. She leaned forward and gripped it in a near bone crushing hug.

"Mare!? What... What are you doing?" He asked leaning his head back enough while she did the same.

"Apologizing..." She said. "What you did to me was unforgivable, but I've gotten proof you didn't do it in a way. Alfred told me, he said that you went to him for help, but then Chrysalis found out. I'm... I'm still a wreck about what you did, what happened, but now I know that it wasn't you, it was Chrysalis. I'm sorry for almost killing you, and blaming you without proof."

"It... It is alright." He said, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"No it's not, none of this is." She said letting go. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, if I may make a request?"

"Yes?" They both answered in unison.

"Could... Could you spare him? The drone?"

The two alicorns, and changeling, looked at her in disbelief, Shining Armor and Camo were still fighting, but paying attention at the same time. Luna's mouth was open, her head was bothering her obviously from the use of both hooves to rub her temple. Celestia blinked a few times before clearing her throat.

"Twilight, what he did... what he did is-"

"Not his fault." She said. "Alfred, my guide and guard, told me that the drone came to him for help, and when he wasn't, he was staring at the wall thinking of other ways to not do what Chrysalis wanted. This drone, is as innocent as me; Chrysalis is the one who should be punished."

"T-Twilight... Are you sure?" She received a firm nod in response. "Well, seeing as how your mind is made up, he will be spared. But if we get Chrysalis before you, Twilight."

"Trust me princess," Twilight said. "If you remember what I did to the drone, that's nothing compared to what happens when I unleash my full abilities. That was a controlled surge I made then, for her, I'm aiming for one over four times that size and then I let go of the restraints. This may sound morbid, and very unlike me, but, there won't be anything left hopefully."

"He's still trying to kill me!"

"Would you be quiet Camo!" Celestia said picking Shining Armor off. "We're trying to have a moment here."

"And I was trying not to die!"

"You can't die for real in a dream!"

"It still hurts!"

As they argued, it all went quiet when the dream world shook. Luna looked around and gave a small nod to Twilight before they all disappeared. As Twilight watched her world crumble into darkness, another tremor shook the ground making her fall to her side.

Real world

Twilight struggled with whatever was constricting her, holding her in its unrelenting grasp. She kicked and gave small yelps when her hooves hit something hard; all at once it ended as the blanket was taken off. What she saw made her cheeks heat up.

Dozens upon dozens of changelings were staring down, or across the room at her. All she saw were white fangs and blue eyes in the darkness. Somepony clearing their throat got her attention, she looked up and saw Alfred with the blanket in his fore-hooves, a guilty smile on his face.

"They overpowered me." He said. "Um, are you alright? You hit the floor and me, and you were also making little yelping noises whenever you hit the wall or my face."

"I-I'm alright." She said putting a hoof to her chest. "I was just having a dream, and then something woke me up, that's all."

"It wouldn't have been like... I don't know, a large tremor?"

"Yes. That's exactly it."

"Those were the miners at work. They were just moving some boulders out from a recent collapse. You... You can go back to sleep." He said giving the blanket back. "But, I was wondering... Just a silly little thought, that's all. Nothing at all."

"Wondering about what?"

"What it felt like to dream." He said. "Does it feel... Nice? Warm? Cold? Hard? Soft? What does it feel like to dream?" He asked splaying his ears back.

"I... I could show you." She said. "Maybe a past dream. Would you like to know?"

"Yes. I would like to know." He said giving a small smile.

She nodded and patted the foot of the bed. He got on and sat as she was readying a spell. When her horn started to glow a soft blue, she leaned forward and touched the tip of her horn between his eyes. He gasped sharply before sighing, his own horn glowing the same color before the other changelings around them began to experience the same thing.

One by one, and then by pairs, and then dozens, they all fell or stuck to the ceiling or walls as they yawned and fell asleep. Alfred fell to her hooves, part of his forked down getting bitten by his teeth with a clack as they met. He shot up with a yelp, finding his tongue sore and Twilight looking around in confusion.

"My tongue..." He said rubbing the forked appendage. "Twilight? Is there something wrong?"

"What happened to them?" She asked. "The other changelings, they just stopped."

"When you showed me your memory, you connected yourself to the hive mind." He said. "Every changeling experienced sleep and the dream. I think when they wake up, you might have a few more followers. It's a shame that I woke-"

Before he could finish, numerous roars echoed through the room, shaking dirt and stone off from the walls, even dropping some changelings. Twilight hung onto the bed, her eyes wide and looking around frantically.

"It seems even the miners have been affected." Alfred said. "I would hope you have them on your side. They scare me."

"Y-You keep mentioning miners," she said. "And if that was them, what do they look like? How big are they?"

"Since neither of us are getting any sleep tonight, I suppose I can show you. Just follow me, the chamber is only a drop down."

"What do you mean by-"

He lit his horn and the floor was turned into the same gel changelings as before, with another burst of magic, a hole formed and he jumped down. She stared at the gelatinous floor in guilt, as she was doing so, Alfred flew back up and hovered in the hole. Quickly, he grabbed her and wrapped her in a hug before taking her down.

Dust was thrown up everywhere, she closed her eyes as they descended; as soon as it started, they stopped. He let go and she got back onto all fours, rubbing her eyes furiously. With a quick burst of magic, he got the dust out from them. She opened her eyes slowly, already feeling the heat from whatever was down there. When she opened her eyes, she felt the breath in her throat stop.

Randomly along the walls were small magma-falls, all of them converging into a central pit in the middle of the chamber. The chamber itself was at least eight stories high, with a width the size of a hoofball stadium. What really caught her attention, were the miners.

They were a story and a half tall, their horns making up for the last half. A pair of spiked mandibles hung limply by their jaws, green saliva dripped off before sizzling on the ground. Their wings were covered under a large shell, but even from where she was at, she could tell they were longer than the body itself. She began walking towards the closest one, a mere twelve hooves away.

When she got close enough, she noticed the ash covered shackles digging into its legs, with chains thick enough to be used in bridge construction were hanging on the floor and leading into the pit. She followed it and had to squint to clear her mind.

The pit, was exactly that, a pit with a light at the bottom, spanning miles down. It was faint, but she could see other miners down there. A sudden burst of hot air startled her and she yelped, the sound of her voice echoing throughout the chamber. She saw Alfred, wide eyed, slowly look up at one of the miners that was yawning. It opened its eyes and her's widened.

Slowly, with cracks, ash and rock falling off, it turned its head towards her and looked down with red eyes. She froze on the spot as it stared down at her, but as she stared, her fear became confusion mixed with worry as she saw something roll down its cheeks.

Slowly, she got up, and began going to it, never breaking eye contact. When she got to it, she put a hoof out and winced as a tear fell onto it. Wiping it on the floor, she spoke, hopefully loud enough to hear.

"A-Are you alright?" She asked making it arch its head back. "Does... Does it hurt? The chains?" She said pointing to the shackles.

It let out a low growl, that she soon heard was a whine. It nodded, chewing at a chain before it screeched. She stared wide-eyed as the arks of electricity stopped. It took a step, but with a limp. Looking down at her again, it nodded.

"Here... Don't tell anypony, because I'm not sure I should be doing this, but..." Biting her lower lip, she lit her horn and the shackles on its legs, from underneath, glowed blue for a second. It looked surprised but then, it's tears stopped and it purred slightly. When she was done, she smiled, even if she was panting slightly. "There, is that better?"

It leaned down and gave her a lick, coating her with spit before it began walking again. As she was turning to leave, she saw Alfred's jaw fall. She looked back just in time to see the miner raise onto its back legs and roar.

More stone fell from the ceiling, the magma rippled, and the ground shook to the point where Alfred had run and hung onto her for balance. Once it stopped, it got back onto all fours making a tremor. Before the tremor stopped, more roars could be heard, all of them in unison and were answered again by the same miner. Twilight and Alfred watched as it passed roar after roar, eventually stopping alongside the others as the last of the tremors shook the chamber.

"What... What just happened?" She asked watching the miner begin to move again. "Why were they all roaring?"

"You, you crazy little thing!" Alfred yelled hugging her. "You just managed to get every single, all four dozen miners, on your side! All of them!" He laughed. "It's incredible! That was incredible! You're incredible!"

"So I can see. You are becoming quite popular here, Twilight."

They both froze, Alfred let go of Twilight as he looked up at a frowning Chrysalis.

"M-My M-Majesty!" He said. "I-Is there anything wrong? Anything I could get you?" He asked putting on a fake smile.

"I'm not sure of that yet." She said. "Twilight, it is morning, now, come along for your lesson. And maybe we could talk along the way?"

"Fine, we can talk." She said narrowing her eyes. "I'm sure I could dig something up."

"Ah, making jokes I see, well that won't get you anywhere." She said beginning to walk away.

"It wasn't a joke." Twilight said walking past the changeling queen. "But there is one here. And I would like, so much, to let you hear the punchline."

"You'll get your time, don't worry." Chrysalis said quietly. "And we'll both get ours for what you did to us."

Author's Notes:

Du-Du-Du! A shocking twist to this story!