Repercussions (MLP)

[Hiver]

AN// This is a continuation of Complications (MLP), a series starting with New Beginnings. (MLP). You want to start there if you haven't already. Now, big thanks to those that is betaing this story(and I really should ask if they want a shoutout about it in the future), you know who you are!



Cover art is from Sipioc over at fimfiction.










The bed shifted beneath me and I pulled the blanket tighter around myself with a grumble, squeezing my eyes closed tighter.

Don't wanna.

"Go back to sleep, My Page," Luna said gently and kissed my head, "I need to raise the moon."

Mumbling in agreement, I flicked my ear and nuzzled closer to the pillow, curling up slightly and drifting off to sleep again. Way, way too early to get up.

I wasn't sure how much longer I slept, but it couldn't have been too long as when I opened my eyes again, I could still see a slight moonbeam through the curtains but it was quickly cut off by thick whirling snow and darkness.

That and a pair of green luminous eyes about a hoof from mine.

I startled back before I groaned, "Luna…"

"Yes Page?" she murmured and scooted close to my back, nuzzling at my neck as she slipped her forelegs around my barrel, pulling me back against her as she put the book she had been reading down with her magic.

"There is a bedbug in my room. She's staring at me."

Luna giggled and nuzzled at my mane, "Silly Page."

Skitter rolled her eyes and jumped onto the bed, putting her forehooves on my chest, giving me a push, "Sir!"

I groaned before I scowled up at the Changeling Princess, "When did you get so pushy? I remember a much more patient lovebug that waited until her food was well and awake."

She did a small bounce, poking me with both hooves as she glared down at me, "Sir!"

"Off!" I groaned as I rolled and she slipped, dropping onto the bed next to me before I stretched, vinching slightly at the ache and tug at my foreleg the motion gave me before I looked at Skitter, "I don't know," I admitted, "Yes, I found Changelings that's likely other hives, but some are quite far away and I'm still trying to figure out their Queens or Princesses. Your species is wei-."

Like a weird strange twisted and kind of wobbly or distorted, almost through a lens and strangely connected.

"But you found them?" Skitter asked quickly before she looked down with a small cringe, "...Sorry, sir."

"...You're excited, don't worry about it," I said and rubbed my eyes with a hoof as I stretched my wings with a yawn, "It's just really early. Okay," I continued and shifted my wings again, stretching them wide for a moment before folding them again, "I found three hives other than the Canterlot hive. One is beyond the Badlands. One seems to be somewhere in Griffon territory and one somewhere across the sea way further down the coast."

Skitter slowly nodded, her wings doing a small buzzing sound, "That's good. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," I told her with a small sigh, "I'm still not sure it's a good idea."

"But unless we know more about them, we can't know that. If we could just talk to them, show them that there is another way of doing things!"

"Which is why I agreed to this," I said and struggled onto my hooves, frowning as my right hoof trembled against the bed before I forced it still.

Skitter frowned at me for a moment but scooted a bit to the side to give me room to jump off the bed.

"Hungry?" Luna asked with a smile, "There is a fruit bowl out in the main room. Oh, and the guards mentioned that Sunset were looking for you."

I nodded and worked my right shoulder, lifting my hoof off the floor a couple of times, stretching my leg,, "You're busy tonight?"

Luna nodded with a small sigh, jumping off the bed to give me a small soft kiss, "Sadly, yes. Night Court."

I glanced to the dark window where I couldn't see the moon as evidenced by the thick whirling snow and howling wind, "...You really think anypony will show tonight? I doubt anypony will mount the polar expedition required. Where would they even get the Yaks required?"

"Always a few," Luna said and smiled, "But they still deserve for me to be there even if they are unable to come."

"Have fun."

Luna grinned and gave me a small nuzzle, "See you once I'm finished?"

"Of course."

Luna trotted out and when the door closed behind her, Skitter was instantly at my side. I glanced at her and then rolled my eyes, "I'm fine," I told her and lifted my right hoof again, shifting my shoulder once more, the twinge in it mostly gone by now.

Skitter frowned at me, "You're not."

Well, no tricking her, was there. Not when she could taste whenever I felt a small twinge of pain.

"Seriously, I'm fine. I'm almost fully healed, I think I just slept wrong," I told her, "I'll be fully recovered in another couple of weeks."

Considering I got smacked by a Goddess, that was pretty good in my book!

Skitter frowned at me and I just smiled at her,

"Seriously, I'm almost back to normal," I told her and gave her a quick hug with my wing, "I'm fine."

Her wings buzzed softly but she nodded, "...Yes, sir."

Giving her a smile, I let go and trotted out into the main room towards breakfast. I was getting seriously hungry and I could use some tea and then maybe have an apple or two. Or four. Oooh, wonder if they have mangos today...

"About time you get up," A voice drifted over to me and I looked over towards the couch where Sunset was laying, a book floating before her, "It's almost midnight, you lazy bat," she teased with a smile.

Fern was deep asleep in his basket in the corner, the winter having made the Timberwolf sleepy… more than usual. Which made a bit of sense as he was a plant. Sunset was far from asleep though, looking at me from the couch.

"Don't give me that, I was up late yesterday," I said and trotted over to touch my horn to hers, "And I seem to remember you being there."

She grinned and nodded, her horn against mine, "What did you think of the play though? Like it?"

"I did, was funny," I agreed and then jumped onto the couch next to her and stole a kiss before I turned to gather fruit from the table.

Oooh, Cherries.

 

[Finagle007]

So very, very happy to see this continuing.

 

[Hiver]

Stomping my hooves, I kicked the snow off them as I entered the castle, fluttering my wings beneath the cloak to throw the snow off it the best I could. Stupid frozen water flakes!

Now, I get why snow was a good thing. It's winter and all and it's necessary and looks good and all, but did they have to make it howling snowstorms? Really?

"Commander."

I looked to the side before I smiled, "Tempest. You're up late."

The former commander of the Storm King's forces scraped her hoof against the stone floor as she nodded, "I was studying," she admitted and tossed her mane back, "I… have a lot to catch up on."

She had not exactly been able to use magic much for most of her life.

I nodded, "How's it going?"

Tempest shook her head and stomped her hoof, "...Slowly."

"Go get some sleep, there is another day tomorrow."

"I know."

I looked at her for a moment before I sighed, "Tempest, I know it's frustrating," I told her quietly, "But you're trying to catch up on a lot of years of practice and learning in a couple of months. You have already come a long way."

Her ears flicked back for a second before she nodded and looked to the side, "...I know."

"So go get some rest."

Tempest nodded and then bowed slightly, "Good night, Commander."

"Good night, Tempest."

I looked after her as she left before I sighed softly. She was working herself too hard. I think she was trying to make up for what she had done.

But if she's been working herself to the bone for the last four months. She was up before the sun and it was not exactly the first time I had run into her hours after midnight. It was actually the rule more than the exception.

...And she had kept up with her physical training too.

If this keeps up, I'm going to have to start ordering her to cut down on her outright insane schedule. Maybe ask Sunset to talk to her?

...Or maybe not. While they were polite enough, Sunset didn't like her. Maybe I'll ask Crysa…

I paused at that thought and then quickly shook my head. No. No, bad idea!

Maybe Glimmer. According to Twilight, she really had turned her life around, so maybe introducing those two to each other would be a good idea. I might not personally like Starlight, but to be completely fair to her, I had not actually talked to her more than a couple of minutes since she was 'reformed'.

Shaking my head slightly, I frowned. Maybe that was an idea… maybe sending her to Ponyville wasn't a bad idea. Under the excuse of learning magic from Sparky, that might actually be a good idea.

Get her away from the city she attacked, get her out onto the countryside as well as getting her in contact with Sparky and get her talking about things with Glimmer…

Might work. Going to have to send a message to Sparky and see what she thinks about the idea.

Hmm.

As for right now, I wanted to go flying. But that just wasn't going to happen in this kind of weather. While I still had some of the cold resistance of an Alicorn, it turned out most of it came from the pegasus part.

Thestrals, nowhere near as cold resistant as a pegasus. Which meant I wasn't either.

So while I could handle the cold better than a random unicorn, I didn't want to try flying around in this weather unless I absolutely had to.

I hate being cold! Fucking Discord!

I suddenly stopped, my nose twitching twice before I looked down at the floor. There was a grape sitting on the floor between my hooves. I frowned and picked the grape up. Grape? Why the fuck is there a grape sitting in the middle of the corridor?

Did one of the maids drop it or something.

I looked around. There is another one!

I trotted over and picked that one up too before I looked around the corner. Another grape a couple of meters away.

I raised an eyebrow at that.

Really?

Really now?

"Amber?"

"Yes, sir?" my changeling guard answered from behind me.

"...You wouldn't happen to know where Luna is right now, would you?" I asked as I brushed one of the grapes in my magic clean against my coat before popping it into my muzzle, each one getting the same treatment as I moved along.

"At the other end of the trail of grapes, I would say, sir."

"That's what I suspected. Because if there is a trap at the other end, I'm not sure what I would think about the villain's sense of professionalism or their opinion of my intelligence."

Amber trotted along next to me with a smile, "Well, to be fair, sir… it is working."

"Quiet you."

 

[NHO]

Ah, Blank Page. Will follow very obvious trail of breadcrumbs (grapes, in this case), very loudly complaining about cliche of the thing and also rationalizing about springing the trap. Sometimes, his WIS isn't.

 

[TatsuZZMage]

ohh a piece of candy.....

 

[Finagle007]

Could be worse. Could be a trail of sugar cubes instead of grapes... and Pinkie instead of Page... and a cup of quintuple expresso at the end of the trail instead of Luna...

 

[Hiver]

The trail of grapes lead to one of the smaller private sitting rooms overlooking one of the small parks in the castle. One of surprisingly many actually, but it likely shouldn't be.

Celestia liked them and it was she had remodeled the castle so many times, it was hardly a wonder that it was the way she liked it.

Poking my head inside revealed a roaring fireplace, the table, couch and chairs pushed to the side to make space for a blanket laid out before the fireplace.

On the blanket, was a Luna. More specifically, my Luna. She looked up from her book when I entered before she smiled and raised her wings,"You found me," she said as she closed the book and floated it over to the table with her magic.

"I did," I said and smiled as I crossed over to nuzzle her, "...Can't say I'm overly flattered with the way you got me here though..."

"It worked, did it not?"

I stuck my tongue out at her before I settled down next to her, her long wing quickly shifting to lay across my back as she pulled me close, "How was court?" I asked after several long seconds of leaning against her.

"Quiet," she said and nuzzled at my ear, "There was a single supplicant that wanted to borrow money from the Crown to repair his farm. There was some damage during one of the autumn storms, apparently it ripped the roof straight off his barn."

"Not many dare out in weather like this."

"True," she agreed, "How was your practice?"

"Short," I admitted and gave her a small kiss, "Got cold, even with the spell on the cloak... and it snowed so hard I could barely see the targets away, so I figured I might as well give it up for now. But for a more interesting topic..."

"Hmh?"

"What is all this?" I asked and looked at her in question, leaning against her and nuzzling at her neck.

Luna smiled against my mane and pulled me a bit closer with her wing, "Just wanted some time with you and it seemed like just the right time for it. We're both usually busy."

She more than me, but I had my own duties to tend to. They just were less public than hers.

"No arguments there," I agreed and nuzzled at her neck with a small sigh as I got comfortable.

We just stayed like that for a long moment, just enjoying the warmth and closeness before Luna finally spoke up again, "...I think you should change your sleeping pattern again and go back to half night and half day."

"Wuzzat?" I asked, almost half asleep as I blinked my eyes back open again.

"I love having you with me at night," she said and smiled down at me, leaning down to bump her nose against mine, "But it can't be that practical for you. And I know Sunset misses having you around when she's actually awake too."

I shifted slightly, "I guess you're right," I admitted, "I have been thinking about it, it's just... you know, since this," I said and shifted my thestral wings, "It just feels so much more natural to be up at night. And I loved that it works better with your schedule too."

"I know," she said and nuzzled at my ear, "But the one you had before worked well..."

"Bit after noon until three or four at night?" I asked before I nodded before I groaned, "...That did work well, It's just going to be such a pain to twist things around back there again."

I didn't look forward to spending time out in the sun either... so bright. I'm not sure how Fluttershy did it, I think I might have to send her a letter and ask or maybe visit her dreams or something

"I'll miss waking up next to you though," I then admitted and looked up at her, "That was the best part of all this."

"I'll miss it too," Luna said softly and gave me a small kiss, "But I know you have things to do that's much easier during the day."

Like meeting with my publisher. Not to say that she 'wouldn't' be willing to put in the time to meet at two in the morning for as many Bits as I had drawn in for them, but it did make me feel bad about the entire thing.

Luna was right and in all honesty, I should have put a stop to it ages ago myself.

"I know, I know," I admitted and sighed, slipping out from beneath her wing so I could stretch my own, "...Which means I'm going to get up early today, aren't I? What time is it anyway?"

"Around four," Luna supplied as she watched me, one ear flicking slightly.

"I'll stay up another couple of hours then," I said and slipped back beneath her wing, nuzzling at her neck, "And I know just how to spend them."

"...Page, I don't have two hours, there are matters I have to-eeep!"

My wife didn't get much more done that night. I made personally sure of that. As revenge for making way too much sense.

Such a thing can't go unpunished after all.

 

[dogbertcarroll]

Luna is being subtle! He really does need to spend more time with Sunbut.

 

[Hiver]

"You look dead."

"Guhhhhh," I answered Swift Spear, glowering at the unicorn before going back to not trying to fall asleep muzzle first in my bowl of apple cubes, "Whu ya wan?" I grumbled.

"Oh. forgive me, your royal highness," Swift said with a grin and bowed deeply, his polished armour catching the sunshine of the midday sun, "it was not my intention to bother the royal consort of the Princess of the Night, but I have a message to deliver to you, My Lord."

I looked at him sourly, "Ponies without wings shouldn't be that annoying so close to a window," I grumbled and suppressed another yawn as I picked up my second double strength cup of the strongest blend Silver Leaf sold.

Coffee could in theory be better, but that'd involve drinking coffee and as Equestria wasn't actually on fire, there was no way I'd resort to such barbarism.

"Of course, sir," he said cheerfully and handed over a scroll before he frowned, "...Seriously though, there has to be an easier way to turn your sleep schedule around around than to just do it like that. That's rough, man."

I sighed and took the scroll in my magic, "Not really easier, just drags it out a lot longer," I grumbled, "At least like this it'll be over in a couple of days," before I unrolled the scroll and tried to blink my eyes clear enough to be able to read it.

"Princess Celestia, blah blah blah invite blah blah diplomatic blah blah Minotaur delegation, blah dinner, blah. Princess Sunshine, ruler of the pony country of ponies and cakes'' I read before letting the scroll roll back up again and dropping it onto the table as I tried to remember what I was doing at that time and drawing a complete blank, "Uhm… Amber?"

"Yes sir?" Amber asked, poking her head out from behind the curtains behind Swift. To Swifts credit, he didn't even twitch at her voice behind him.

"How's the... uhm..." I said and then frowned, "The... you know the... the thing that tracks times and meetings and such..."

"Schedule?"

"Yes... yes, the schedule for a couple of days from now? Just got an invitation from Sunshine to a diplomatic dinner with the minotaurs in two days. Am I clear then?"

"Yes, sir," Amber said with a smile, trotting over and refilling my tea, "I cleared the next few days of what little was planned."

"Oh. Uhm, thank you."

Amber was amazing.

She nodded and her wings buzzed slightly, "Queen Chrysalis does want to see you when you have time though."

I nodded and popped an apple cube into my mouth, "Did she say what it's ab-" I started to ask before my brain caught up a bit with my mouth, "...Forget I asked, she never does."

Amber smiled a bit in apology, her wings doing a small buzzing sound, "...Sorry, sir."

"Don't worry about it, she is who she is," I said and shook my head, suppressing another yawn, "I'll be free tomorrow evening, could you let her know?"

"Of course, sir."

Because there was no way I'd meet with Chrysalis while this groggy. That'd be like walking into a tiger cage while blindfolded and with a bleeding leg wound.

Smiling, I got up and moved up to Amber, giving her a quick hug with my wing, thinking about our friendship and of Luna and Sunset for a second before I let go. While I had to be careful not to overfeed her like I accidentally did Skitter, I didn't want her to go hungry either.

Giving her a smile, I returned to what passed for breakfast before I looked at Swift, "I'll write an answer to Celestia after breakfast. Want to hang around until then or are you busy?"

"Dude, I'm in the guard. I'm never busy," Swift said with a grin and dropped down to sit across from me, "Well, unless we are. Don't tell my boss, but a lot of it is looking busy rather than being busy or they might give you something to actually do"

I glanced down at my tea. Dark, dark golden brown.

Not strong enough. I need to try triple strength, maybe let it steep longer. Wonder if a spoon can stand up in that?

I then looked to Swift with a small frown, "Wait, you're Nightguard. I'm Luna's Consort and husband, wouldn't that technically make me your boss?"

"What's your point?"

"...Never mind," I sighed and sipped my tea. Maybe I should have done this slower instead of just getting up after two hours of sleep.

At least I could put off whatever Chrysalis were going to-Gak!

Fern had somehow snuck up on me without me noticing and then tried to jump into my lap, knocking me off the bench and onto the floor, table, fruit bowl and tea all going flying as I went down beneath the playful wuffspirit.

"Fern! No! Down!" I yelped in surprise as I tried to push him away as that leaf tongue went across my face, "I'm awake! I'm awake!"

"Mruff!!"

 

[NHO]

Ain't Fern bigger than alicorns already?

 

[Captainwolf]

Ain't Fern bigger than alicorns already?

Click to shrink...

I don't think he is bigger, but he might be the size of a normal pony by now

 

[Avernus]

Ain't Fern bigger than alicorns already?

Click to shrink...

Fern is stated by Celestia to be bigger than Page back in Complications.

"He's getting big," a voice commented and I looked back towards Celestia as she landed close to me, folding her wings.

"Still a puppy," I said as Fern returned with the small branch. He dropped it a couple of meters back before making his way over to Celestia, sniffing at her coat.

Celestia ignored him and turned to looked to me, "Page, he's larger than you are."

"Timberwolves grow to be as large as you are, larger even," I said with a smile, "That's in the wild without proper nutrition. I bet he'll get a bit bigger."

Click to shrink...

Which explains why Fern being playful knocked Page, chair and table all over.

 

[Hiver]

After the freezing cold and sun bright air outside, the darkness and the warmth of the Changeling hive was almost comforting. Enough at least that I could see why changelings would prefer it to being in a more brightly lit and spacious pony style building at least, even if I'm not sure I'll ever really be comfortable with their preferred 'xenomorph hive' building style of dark resin and softly glowing balls of green hardened goop.

But it was warm and not too damn bright which made it alright in my book, at least at the moment.

The sound of my hooves echoed softly against the tunnel walls as I followed the changeling guide before me deeper and deeper into the hive as he brought me to Queen Chrysalis. Not in the throne room like usual, we were deeper into the converted mine now. Much deeper. Deeper than I had ever been before, actually.

We finally reached the end of the tunnel where a quartet of changeling drones were waiting by the sides of a gate. They were actually carrying spears and heavy resin armour, not something even the drones guarding the entrance to the hive did. They had not even used any of those when they attacked Canterlot.

"The Queen is inside," He said and gave me a small bow.

I nodded and looked at him, "Thank you, Thorax.... what's inside?"

"The Queen."

Well, ask a stupid question...

I gave him another nod before I walked towards the door, half expecting the guards to stop me, but instead they simply stepped to the side to allow me past, the closest one lighting his horn and pulling the door to the side, allowing me inside.

I wasn't sure what to expect really, but what I saw inside, was not it. It wasn't overly big as chambers went, just barely bigger than the tower Luna and I had as our private rooms. It was warm inside, almost hot and the air was very moist. It almost felt like I had walked into a rainforest or a greenhouse. There was no furniture, just... eggs. A dozen eggs, a big bigger than a hoof along one wall.

Chrysalis was in the middle of the chamber. She was laying on the ground, three white and fat larva on the ground between her forelegs, inching around and wiggling. She didn't even look up as the door closed behind me, her eyes focused on the larva before her.

I slowly crossed the chamber to her, "You asked to see me, Queen Chrysalis?" I asked as I looked down at the larva. They were kind of... ugly cute. While they were white and soft, that's where the maggot comparison ended. They had four little stumpy legs they barely used and a tiny little horn, but I could see changeling traits in their forms.

"You have never seen this place before, little predator," she answered, not even glancing in my direction.

Oh. It's going to be one of those meetings.

Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I sank down to lay on the floor opposite to her, "Can't say I have," I answered.

"This is the safest, most protected chamber of the hive," she answered quietly, "More than the throne room, the love reserves. Nobody but a changeling is allowed in here. Ever. Not even all changelings are allowed in here. Not even to feed the little ones."

One of the larvae started to inch in my direction and I eyed it curiously, "So why am I here?"

"So you could see what is at stake," she said and finally lifted her head to meet my eyes, "If this foolish idea of my daughter does not work out as she hoped."

"It's not a stupid idea, merly a dang-hey, stop that," I said, looking down at the larva starting to try to gnaw at the edge of my hoof, "I have been walking around on that all day," I told him and lit my horn, pulling him gently away before shifting slightly and extending my wing. The larva quickly started to gnaw uselessly at the tip of my wing again before I returned my attention to Chrysalis.

She had gone stock still, her eyes locked on me, her fangs half bared in a way that suddenly made me very aware that she considered me food. But I also refused to be intimidated and showing fear to her could very possibly be lethal, no matter how she was playing along.

So I raised an eyebrow at her instead, "Yes?"

Chrysalis blinked twice and then looked away, "...You do not understand changelings, not if you think it will be merely dangerous. For a Princess to approach another hive will be seen a weakness. A weakness that can be exploited to destroy or take the hive over... and their hunting grounds. Especially when we are now... working with the... ponies."

"I know changelings better than anypony else," I said and looked down at the larva. It had rolled onto its back, wiggling and trying to paw at my wing. Okay, that's actually pretty adorable. I shifted my wing a bit to give it something to wrestle with before I looked back to Chrysalis again only to find her watching me intently, "I know perfectly well how changelings think and act," I continued, meeting her gaze, "Which is why I haven't given Skitter the exact position of the other Hives. For this to even have a chance to work, it needs you to step up and back her up."

"It's foolishness!"

"The same foolishness that let your hive live where so many others had been defeated?" I asked, "The same foolishness that let you not only live, but flourish with ponies, not against them? To stop starvation? To stop the fighting? That foolishness?"

Chrysalis hissed at me and surged to her hooves, pacing around the chamber, "You were meant to talk my daughter out of it!"

"I'm not going to do anything of the sort," I told her firmly, "Do you know why?"

She just glared at me.

"Because she really is your daughter," I continued, glancing down at the larva wrestling with my wing tip, "And she has inherited your stubbornness... and it's not like she's wrong. Sooner or later the other hives will buck up and be discovered and unless they do like you did, they will fall."

"Let them! They're not my hive!"

"No," I agreed and looked at her again, "But they are changelings, just like you. Just like this one," I continued and glanced down at the larva again. His littermate had joined him and they were now both trying to claim ownership of my wing tip. I lit my horn and picked them both up, gathering the third one before holding them against my shoulder for a second, focusing on my love for Luna and Sunset. Of my friends.

Then I gently put all three of them down onto the floor, only to find Chrysalis watching me strangely again, "Oh, come off it," I told her, "You know you can trust me. If you didn't, you had never let me in here in the first place."

She hissed at me.

I bared my fangs and hissed back. I found that after my entire battificaton, I had gotten a pretty good hiss.

She blinked in surprise before she sighed and sank down by the larva again, gently gathering them close between her forelegs with her hoof, "What do you propose, my little predator?"

"Let things continue. Support Skitter, help her instead of trying to stop her."

Chrysalis hissed softly before leaning down to nuzzle at the closest larva before she answered me, "...Even if it had a chance of working, they would kill any messenger sent. I would have. They will. Even if they listen, it will be seen as a weakness. They will come for us."

"Not if handled right, figure out a plan," I told her, "And if they do come for you, I'm afraid they will find the entire matter a bit more difficult than they had anticipated."

She looked at me with a small frown, "How do you mean?"

"Allies work both ways," I told her as I met her eyes, "You stood beside Equestria when we were attacked. The might of Equestria would stand beside you if or when it's your turn."

"I do not want my daughter to get hurt. Or any of my children."

"Neither do I."

 

[Avernus]

Changeling diplomacy isn't I see, which explains why Chrysalis is often so bad at it.

Typo:

I gave him another nod before I walked towards the door, half expecting the guards to stop me, but instead they simply stepped to the side to allow me past, the closest one lightning his horn and pulling the door to the side, allowing me inside.

Click to shrink...

"lighting".

I really hate those lighting/lightning, discrete/discreet, rogue/rouge, cannon/canon similar-word typos; they're insidious and spellcheckers don't help.

 

[ptbptb]

I really hate those lighting/lightning

Click to shrink...

Also lightning/lightening
Along with lose/loose that is one of my strongest pet peeves. I see it everywhere.

 

[Finagle007]

Chrysalis hissed softly before leaning down to nuzzle at the closest larva before she answered me, "...Even if it had a chance of working, they would kill any messenger sent. I would have. They will. Even if they listen, it will be seen as a weakness. They will come for us."

"Not if handled right, figure out a plan," I told her, "And if they do come for you, I'm afraid they will find the entire matter a bit more difficult than they had anticipated."

She looked at me with a small frown, "How do you mean?"

"Allies work both ways," I told her as I met her eyes, "You stood beside Equestria when we were attacked. The might of Equestria would stand beside you if or when it's your turn."

Click to shrink...

Eeyup. Any other changeling hives try anything, they'll suddenly develop a very bad case of insomnia due to repeated screaming nightmares... and, if that proves insufficient to make them see reason, they'll develop a very bad case of sunburn.

 

[Avernus]

Also lightning/lightening
Along with lose/loose that is one of my strongest pet peeves. I see it everywhere.

Click to shrink...

"Lighting" for "lightning" is likely my least favorite because it usually occurs in dramatic scenes and ruins the effect.


The hero casts lighting upon the dastardly villain!

"Thanks", said the villain. "It was kind of dark in here."

 

[kylina]

Is this Chrysalis secretly-not-so-secretly testing out Page's Dad-instincts to see if he's compatible with Skitter or something? Like, before she gels him and throws him at her daughter with a proverbial thumbs up?

Because she could have totally had this conversation elsewhere.

 

[IvanDead]

Is this Chrysalis secretly-not-so-secretly testing out Page's Dad-instincts to see if he's compatible with Skitter or something? Like, before she gels him and throws him at her daughter with a proverbial thumbs up?

Because she could have totally had this conversation elsewhere.

Click to shrink...

No, no. This new, less stressful lifestyle that Chrysalis is experiencing has made her realize that she feels kind of lonely, and is considering the idea of a husband/Changeling King. She just didn't think that Page would hit even more "Ideal target" checkboxes than she expected.

What? She is at the end of her life, and Page is ageless, Skitter can have him after Chrysalis kicks the bucket. Hail Page, the dark consort.

 

[Hiver]

While the outside of the castle was cold enough that even pegasi were starting to seriously bundle up, the inside of the Castle was comparably warm.

Sadly, comparily warm in this case just meant 'above freezing'. Even with magic, it simply wasn't worth trying to keep something this big and made from stone at full temperature. At least outside of key areas, such as living quarters, kitchens(Those mostly produced their own heat anyway), the throne room and a dozen other places such as that.

Pulling my cloak a bit tighter around myself, I passed the guard standing by the door, pushing it open and then letting it close behind me as I felt the warmth pressing in against me.

"Seriously, Sunshine. Would it kill you to bring that big ball of fire a bit closer?" I asked as I looked over at Celestia where she was sitting by the desk close to the window, a stack of papers three hooves tall sitting on it next to a steaming cup of tea.

"It's a part of winter, Page," Celestia answered with a smile, "And I try not to mess with the weather schedule, it's calculated by professionals for a reason. We were overdue for a really cold winter actually, it's been decades since we had one this cold."

"Easy for you to say, you're not only have to actively try not to set things on fire, but you're an alicorn, you don't get cold," I said and swept my cloak off, dropping it over the back of a chair as I moved to claim a cup of steaming hot tea, "Not everypony else is as resistant."

Celestia frowned a bit at me and put her papers down before she rounded the desk to join me, "You're not?"

"Used to be," I admitted and shifted my wings before spreading my right one to show it off, "Before this, I was close to Luna when it came to that, not like you. Now, it's closer to a pegasus I think. Maybe a bit worse than those too to be honest, at least in the wing parts."

"I'm sorry."

"Eh," I said and shrugged my wings, sipping at my tea, "You know what? In the end, I think it may be coming out ahead. Not only did I get Tempest healed, but even this," I said and shifted my wings again, "is not all bad. While I may get cold easier, I also see waaay better in the dark and flying isn't really any worse now when I'm used to it and quieter at that. And I think my hearing is better too… and like you said, not like we get winters like this every year."

Celestia frowned slightly and her ears flicked, "...How's your shoulder."

"Only aches when somepony is feeling sorry for herself close to me. Ow."

Celestia smiled sadly and gave me a small nuzzle between the ears, "Page. Seriously?"

"Seriously, I'm good," I told her and sighed, giving her a nuzzle back, "Every week, I'm feeling better. Another couple of weeks and I'll be fully healed I think. Not bad for somepony getting hit by a sun wielded by a goddess."

"It wasn't a sun," Celestia said and shook her head, "You know what spell it was, it was just a variation of a standard kinetic strike."

"That also set things on fire," I said and grinned up at her, "I know. But can we call it a sun? It sounds way cooler and more impressive."

"Impressive?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know how you like impressive things," I told her with a grin, "Big, warm, impressive things."

Princess Celestia, Princess of the Sun, the eldest of all alicorns, ruler of Equestria acted her age and stuck her tongue out at me.

Well, if she was acting like that, she was feeling better at least. She had been acting a bit strange since she hit me with her spe- sun. I think she was feeling guilty about it, despite it being completely my fault. Because, seriously? Sneaking up and doing a jumpscare on an alicorn just after an invasion? That's a clear darwin award winning move and it was nothing but luck and the skill of the doctors that made sure it wasn't. And Amber. Amber caught me enough to slow me down before I hit the ground in what really would have been terminal velocity. That bug deserved all love I could possibly give her and more.

Still, if she let me get that one in without returning fire, maybe she wasn't fully o-

"Then again," she said and shifted her wings innocently, "Maybe we should call it a sun. Make sure you have something big and impressive to talk about."

Did she just...

I raised an eyebrow at her, "I suppose you would be the expert of big and impressive, wouldn't you?"

She smiled and spread her wings, "Of course. What about you? Aren't you a bit small for an alicorn?"

I looked at her for a couple of seconds before I started to laugh. She joined me a second later before she moved up and slipped a wing and a foreleg around me in a hug. I hugged back for several long seconds before I smiled up at her, "I'm good, Sunshine. I promise."

It still didn't feel the same, it was almost like she was forcing it. Not like the same… she still felt guilty.

But it was getting better I think.

I hugged her tighter and gave her neck a small nuzzle.

"I'm glad," she answered and sighed softly before letting go to look down at me, "So what can I help you with?"

"Oh, just curious about the dinner tomorrow with the minotaurs you invited me to, if there is anything I need to know? I have been a bit out of the loop for a couple of months."

Celestia shook her head, "Nothing specific really, it's just a welcome reception for their new ambassador to Equestria. The old one is retiring an..."


#####################


The sun was setting in the distance as I overlooked the lands beneath Canterlot. It was freezing cold, but a warming spell, a thick cloak and an unicorn beneath my left wing helped a lot against it.

Sunset pulled the cloak a bit tighter around us with her magic as she leaned against my sidet me, "So how was your day?" she asked.

"Mostly meetings, legion, still dealing with some of the Storm King's ships. You?"

"Mostly the same actually," she admitted, "Then practice with Tempest. Never met a unicorn that physically tough. Seriously, she's ripped, it's like trying to fight an earth pony!"

"Well, she did spend most of her life without really using her magic," I said, "How's that going for her."

"...Better," Sunset answered after a second of thought, "She's having trouble with fine control and precision spells, but for anything she can just pour on the power on? She's golden. I think she might actually be stronger than me."

"There is something to be said for just pure power," I admitted, running my wing softly along her back, "Speaking of which, want to come to the diplomatic reception tomorrow?"

Sunset gave me a strange look, "What kind of segway is that? Anyway, that's the minotaur one, right?"

"Yeah."

"Sure. I'd appreciate a bit more time next time though, a day isn't exactly a lot of warning."

"It's a reception, how much warning do you need?"

Sunset rolled her eyes before she stretched a bit, "Luna coming too?"

I shook my head, "Way too early for her for something that's not critical."

She nodded, "Sure, I'll come. But why did you accept anyway, you hate those things? And it's your first 'public appearance' since the entire bat thing?"

"...Yeah," I admitted and sighed softly, "But I couldn't really say no when Celestia invited me. She's been feeling bad and if I don't go, she'll be the only alicorn there dealing with the ambulatory beef today."

"No she wouldn't," Sunset said, suppressing a small grin, "We both know that if you declined, she'd invite Twilight instead if she really didn't want to deal with them herself."

I eyed her, "Maybe I should have declined then… I bet Twi would have wanted some Kitten cuddles after all that diplo-GAHHH!!"

I shied away from her and ripped my cloak off, shaking it as I shook myself to get the snow away from the back of my neck where Sunset had stuffed some with her magic.

Glowering at the giggling unicorn, I lit my own horn and gathered a hoofful of snow, quickie compressing it into a sphere and then launching it at her.

The powdery sphere exploded against her chest and she squeaked, "Hey!" and then quickly returned fire.

 

[Avernus]

Typo:

Sunset gave me a strange look, "What kind of segway is that? Anyway, that's the minotaur one, right?"

Click to shrink...

That should be segue, not segway. Another pair of words confused fairly often.

Also, the image of Page zipping around on a Segway is funny.

 

[dogbertcarroll]

No, no. This new, less stressful lifestyle that Chrysalis is experiencing has made her realize that she feels kind of lonely, and is considering the idea of a husband/Changeling King. She just didn't think that Page would hit even more "Ideal target" checkboxes than she expected.

What? She is at the end of her life, and Page is ageless, Skitter can have him after Chrysalis kicks the bucket. Hail Page, the dark consort.

Click to shrink...

Well... since he is a Thestral now with a mouth full of fangs... you may not be far off. He probably appears much more attractive to her.

I think Celestia will completely recover when Page has.

 

[kylina]

Blank Page: Forever consort, never the princess

 

[Hiver]

"So what do you think of the entire matter?" The new ambassador asked as he turned to me. Soft music played in the background. A small plate of finger food floated before me in my magic and I looked up at the minotaur. His horns were a bit smaller than average, but that might simply be an illusion because he was also a head taller than any other minotaur I had seen and his coat was a grayish black.

"As you understand, I'm going to have to stand behind Equestria," I told him with a smile, "And usually that implies agreeing with Princess Celestia and my wife."

Ambassador Dorwall smiled at that, "More than understandable," he agreed with a nod, "But surely you have some opinion about the region in question?"

A small patch of worthless grassland at the border between Equestria and the Minotaur Empire that's been contested for hundreds of years.

"My personal opinion," I told him, "Is that I really couldn't care less about that worthless patch of grassland."

He actually blinked in surprise before looking amused, "Really?"

"There is a reason I'm not much of an ambassador," I told him with a smile, "I know it's important to both Equestria and your nation, but personally I don't really care. I would much prefer a peaceful resolution to the entire matter and I'm sure we'll be able to find one. Because seriously, we both have more stretches of open grassland than we know what to do with, no use fighting over yet another patch."

Picking up a cucumber thing from my plate, I popped it into my mouth.

"I would prefer the same," He agreed. "But the Naravel region is a part of the Empire."

I just shrugged my wings. Really didn't much care either way, just that if they did start to cause trouble, I'll help Celestia kick their tails up between their horns. I really rather wouldn't need to, but I would if I had to.

"But," he continued and smiled, "This is not the venue for this kind of conversation. My apologies, Prince Page. This was meant to be a welcome reception in my honor and here I go talking politics."

"No worries at all, I assume that-"

A voice interrupted me from the door and the sound of a staff hitting the floor as the earth pony there spoke up, "Introducing Queen Chrysalis and Princess Skitter of the Changelings!"

Excuse me, but fucking what?

Both of them walked inside, side by side as the entire room turned to look towards them.

I mean, they were always invited as close allies to Equestria to these kinds of things but none of them had ever accepted before.

They both crossed the room, moving through the crowd to talk quietly to Celestia for a moment before I turned back to the minotaur, "If you would excuse me, Ambassador," I said before making my way over towards Chrysalis and Skitter as they broke off from Celestia.

...Oh dear, I really would rather talk with Chrysalis than with the ambassador. That didn't say much for his odds, now did it?

"Queen Chrysalis," I said and spread my wings slightly, giving them a tiny bow, "Princess Skitter."

"Prince Blank Page," Chrysalis answered with a slight bow of her own, Skitter bowing deeper next to her.

"I can't say I expected either of you," I admitted, keeping my voice low.

Chrysalis looked down at me, "We were invited, my little predator," she answered quietly, "So we are here… supporting our allies."

"And by all right," I admitted, "Just… unexpected."

Chrysalis looked around before her eyes found the ambassador, "If you excuse me," she said and moved past me, leaving me with Skitter.

I glanced after her before moving closer to Skitter, "...Should I be worried?"

"No, sir," she said softly, "Mother decided that it is time that we are seen to publicly support our pony allies."

Mhmm. What's she up to?

I glanced after her for a second before I mentally shrugged. Whatever she was up to, I'm sure if it was something I needed to know, Skitter would let me know eventually… assuming she knew anyway.

"Want some introductions?" I asked, looking at Skitter after a second.

"I think I should catch up to Mother," Skitter answered, seeming a bit reluctant.

"Better get going then," I told her with a smile, "I'm here if you need to escape at some point. Just signal me or something."

Skitter smiled and then quickly moved to follow her mother. I let her go and gave Celestia a nod before crossing the room again to find Sunset studying the food laid out for the reception,

"Find anything good?" I asked as I moved up next to her, "Because I sure did, you look amazing."

Sunset actually blushed slightly, "I have used this dress before, you didn't give me much warning, you know. Didn't expect to see Chrysalis and Skitter here."

"Don't think anypony did," I agreed and glanced in their direction, trying not to notice the slightly wary look some ponies shot at me when they thought I didn't notice.

It was the first time I had been out in real public like this. It was to be expected.

 

[Hiver]

I didn't get back to the tower until well after dark. Which was nice. What was less nice was going back inside and into our brightly lit quarters.

While the night vision was nice, going from dark to bright was less than nice.

Ignoring it, I crossed the room and gave Luna's wing a small nuzzle at where she was sitting by her desk, "Hey."

She smiled and looked away from her papers, "Hey… did you enjoy the reception?"

"Ughhhhh…" I answered and leaned against her, "If I ever get such a brilliant idea again, tie me to the bed."

"That sounds fun…" Luna mused.

I glanced up at her and shifted my wings, "...Keep that thought for later," I told her and pulled back before I stretched again with a groan, "Something strange happened though."

"Which sort of strange thing?" Luna asked, putting her current paper down to look at me again with a curious look.

"Chrysalis showed up. She brought Skitter along," I said and slipped my cloak off, starting to remove my uniform, "They are both invited every time, but Chrysalis had never showed up before."

Luna frowned and looked down at her desk for a moment before she looked to me again, "What do you think she is plotting?"

I folded the jacket and shook my head, "I'm… unsure. I think it might just be Chrysalis being Chrysalis, I think it has something to do with the other hives, but I don't follow her logic at the moment."

Not that it meant much, Chrysalis was squirrelly at the best of times and what more, she was a changeling, she didn't really think like a pony.

What more, she was smart. Very, very smart. Smarter than me.

Luna nodded and jumped off her chair, "The other hives…" she said thoughtfully as she moved over to pour a pair of glasses of warm cider, "You have located all of them?"

I nodded, "Mostly," I said and sighed, "But the next step is going to be tricky and is going to need Chrysalis to buy into the entire idea. And who knows how that'll work out," I admitted and took the glass in my magic when she offered it before taking a sip.

Oh, Luna, that's good.

"You do know the Changelings better than anypony else, you understand them," Luna admitted and sipped her own Cider and moved to jump onto the couch.

I moved to join her, jumping up to lay down next to her, leaning against her side with a small sigh, "As much anypony can," I admitted and then sipped my cider, "I'll talk to Skitter tomorrow, see what she knows. How was your day so far?"

Luna sighed softly, "Consisting mostly of paperwork," she answered and rested her head against the top of mine, "...I think it may be multiplying."

"Wouldn't be surprised if it was," I admitted and sighed, "I miss computers. Would make things so much easier."

"I remember you telling me of those. Would they really make things simpler?"

"...Yes and no," I admitted, "Moving all of this stuff digital? Would be an absolute nightmare and need the entire process rebuilt. And then everything to support that…" before I sighed, "...So yes, when everything was done, it really would. But that would be a process twenty years old and that's after a hundred years of industrialization to support it unless we want to import everything through the mirror."

And knowing what that process did to the human world, I wanted to bring that to Equestria about as much as I wanted a hole in the head. The majority of the pros already existed from magic and I bet we could get the rest with time. A sample would likely be enough to get Sparks wanting to build her own anyway.

"Barely seems worth it," Luna said and slipped her wing over my back, pulling me closer.

"Well, there are pros," I said and then rolled onto my back, looking up at her with a smile, "I do kind of miss late night gaming. I remember going to lan parties when I was younger."

"'Lan' parties?" Luna asked, raising her eyebrows, "What is that?"

"Imagine a bunch of caffeinated teenagers staying up for three days, leading simulated armies, blowing each other up in a virtual world and just plain eating enough greasy food to feed a small equestrian army."

Luna looked amused, one eyebrow stayed raised, "...Really? And that's fun?"

"Was amazing fun," I told her with a grin, "Kind of grew out of it after a bit," I admitted before I frowned, "...Or maybe technology moved on. Before I ended up here, well, the internet was fast enough that you could play the same way while staying at home."

Luna nodded, "The communication network you talked about?"

"Yeah. I miss the internet," I sighed and ran my hoof along her wing, stroking her feathers, "It was just so convenient, so much fun. Imagine having any book you'd ever want, anytime you want, instantly."

"That sounds c-convenient," Luna said and I could feel her tremble softly as I teased her feathers.

I smirked at that, "I'll show you whenever the mirror opens next," I said and nuzzled in to nip softly along the side of her neck.

"P-page…"

I pulled back and stretched a bit, looking up at her with a smirk, "Yeah, you're right, I should let you get back to your paperwo-eep!"