In the tunnels below the badlands, Pepper raised her voice. “Chitin?" she asked.
"If you ever ask me again when we arrive, pony, I'll rip your tongue out," grunted Chitin, who already had no patience with Pepper's attitude.
“We have just walked and turned so many times. What else am I to do in such a maze? Oh, I know! What is your Princess' name?" she asked.
"Princess? There is no Princess here. That's a title that’s only good for your alicorns. Here, it is the title of Queen that suits the one who runs our hive, and her name is Chrysalis," Chitin said proudly, sounding haughty. "Stop,” they suddenly ordered, clattering their teeth to make the other two Changelings move a rock that looked like any other out of their way. “We’ve arrived,” they said, as a passage leading to a large, bright room was revealed. "Walk in, Lone Star."
Pepper walked toward the middle of the cavern. Looking up at the ceiling, she squinted her eyes. Large green cocoons that glowed, allowing her to see as if she was in broad daylight. She stopped and turned around to finally see her hosts.
One of the three Changelings did not wear armour. The chestplate and helmet of the armour were of the same colour as the deep-blue shell on the top of their backs. At close range, these creatures seemed to be cut out of obsidian - not only because of their colour, but also because of their apparent fragility, mostly in their legs.. The mare did not understand how they could stand on these limbs, which were riddled with holes that gave them anatomically improbable shapes. Their ridiculous wings were also perforated with holes that shouldn’t allow them to fly. As her gaze lingered on their heads, she saw upper canines sticking out of their mouths as well, their horn like a curved ice pick. Pepper was glad to know that the changelings were only after love. "How can you run with legs like that? They seem as if they would break at any moment with all these holes. You all look like wooden shields after a rain of arrows," Pepper said stoically.
"Are you mocking us, pony?!" Chitin shouted, while the other two Changelings hissed.
Pepper did not understand the reason for their outburst. "I am not laughing. This is my first time meeting Changelings. I am curious to know more about your species."
Chitin gave orders to the Changelings, who went back into the tunnel and closed the passage behind them. "No pony is curious when they see our true appearance. They get scared, and—” she giggled— “TRY to run away."
She turned away from Chitin, leaving the room to enter a new tunnel, following the sticky substance that connected the light sources together. "The ones from Equestria, no doubt,” Pepper answered, “but I am not from there. I am a traveller, and I am looking to go further south. Where is the southernmost exit of this hive?"
The Changeling followed her, making sure she didn't go into sensitive areas of the hive. "Please, Lone Star, accept our hospitality and stay for the rest of the night. We'd be so very happy to have you to eat for brunch."
The offer brought a grin to Pepper's lips as she took in the sights of the rooms she walked past. "There's not much left to eat, but I intend to come back at every opportunity. It is very liberating."
"Tell me, what happened to make you feel such remorse that you thank us for eating your feelings? I am sure that we can find a way to revive them and have a midnight snack," Chitin said, licking their lips in advance.
Pepper was going to give a fake answer before she stopped in front of a room that was even bigger than the very first. In contrast to the previous caverns, the one before her was lit by blue crystals. "This is different. What is this room?" she asked, entering and looking at the large seat placed opposite the entrance.
"This is the throne room, where we’ll serve brunch to our queen at eleven o'clock,” Chitin answered. “So, this remorse, where did it come from? I want to turn the knife in the wound."
Pepper ignored Chitin's words. She felt like she was being watched, so she approached the throne carefully, convinced that someone was hiding behind it. She walked around it, then came face-to-face with the one keeping their eyes on her.
Hidden behind the royal seat was a young Changeling who looked quite different from the other three. A tiny, female changeling. Barely bigger than Pepper’s head. She had eyes akin to that of a pony, her pupils slightly formed like those of cats: Two vertical slits looking back at Pepper, full of curiosity. Her differently coloured eyes reinforced the power of her gaze - her left iris was of a deep malachite green, her right one was of a soft yellow, like the colour of sulphur. Pepper could see her head filling with questions while the changeling looked at her.
She took a few steps back. "Who is hiding back there?" asked the mare in a whisper, sitting down on her rump.
The Changeling child took off, buzzing as she hovered before Pepper, biting her hoof to try and suppress in vain a question that was burning on her lips. "Are you a pony?" she asked in a chirp, putting her hoof on the unicorn's snout.
"Aglowing Shell? What are you doing here?" Chitin slowly approached them, eyes fixed on Pepper, all the muscles of their body tense, ready to jump on her if she ever tried to make a move towards the child.
"Well, I..." Aglowing avoided looking in the direction of warrior Changeling.
"I am a pony," Pepper confirmed with a smile. She continued to observe the small Changeling, ignoring the tensions in the air. The child’s mane was a dark, cerulean blue, except for a celestial blue wick that cut her mane by passing to the left of her horn, then descending to the middle of her fluffy chest.
Aglowing Shell had stars in her eyes. She leapt on Pepper's face, belly to her muzzle. The child’s hooves clamped down on the mare’s muzzle while she rubbed her face against the pony’s forehead. "Whoooooa! A real pony. This is the first time I've seen a real one! Thank you, Mother! I wanted a pony for such a long time now!" the little Changeling chirped excitedly.
"Mhmf?" Pepper muttered between her teeth. She looked towards Chitin.
The latter disappeared into a pillar of greenish flames. When the flames faded, the Changeling looked vastly different: Taller and slender, a small black crown sitting atop a long mane made entirely of ceruleum blue strands that fell heavily on her shoulders. Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings, smiled with satisfaction at having deceived Pepper all this time. "As you can see, you should worry for two. We will need at least that much for our eleven-hour brunch."
Aglowing remained silent, simply observing.
Pepper used magic. Ethereal hands appeared at the end of her hooves, and, with rare delicacy, she encouraged Aglowing Shell to free her jaw, dislodging her from her face before handing her to her mother. "You may insist as much as you want, but I shall not stay for your brunch. Where is the southernmost exit, so I can continue on my journey?"
"Oh? But! I thought we were going to play," Aglowing said with a sad pout.
"Play? Do you not have friends for that?" Pepper asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What's a friend? Is it edible?" asked Aglowing Shell innocently.
"A friend is somepony you play with. Somepony you like to see every day. Somepony you get along with," Pepper explained.
"Oh! Mother is a friend then," said the little Changeling.
Pepper dared to look at Chrysalis while she held back a laugh.
The Queen was reluctant to have fun. She slammed her teeth together, then licked her lips to display a carnivorous smile.
Pepper examined the sovereign and her daughter. Now that she was paying more attention, the mother looked more like an insect. The skin was made of a very dark-grey shell. She also had a shiny shell on her abdomen, while the girl had fluffy fur there. The child's horn was more like that of a unicorn, although it had a few holes and seemed as pointy and deadly as her mother’s. "Not quite. A friend is someone who is not part of the family, but whom you like," Pepper tried to explain patiently.
"That… I… like?” Aglowing Shell thought for a minute. “Oh! Like as in love?! Someone from whom I collect love every day then?" she chirped with a big, childish smile.
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Pepper and Chrysalis laughed for different reasons, and Aglowing joined in.
The mare turned to the Queen. "I could use a little help right now," Pepper pointed out, amused.
"It's a pony thing. You're going to have to manage alone, Lone Star," replied Chrysalis, a little smile on the corner of her mouth. She was appreciating the irony that a pony had trouble finding the words to explain the concept of friendship to someone who was foreign to it.
Pepper sighed, smiling, and returned to the young Queen. "All right. We'll keep it simple. A friend can act in several ways. They can be kind, they can make you laugh, they can offer gifts without asking for anything in return, and, most importantly, they never betray you no matter what. Friendship…” she paused. “No, wait, that's five. What am I forgetting? Handsome, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity... Oh, yes, Applejack. I always forget her Element. No wonder why,” she thought before resuming her explanation. “Friends also never lie to each other." Despite her explanation, she saw the large question marks in the child's eyes.
"Don't listen to her, my daughter. We are the Changelings. We don't need friends, just ponies like her to collect their love. Otherwise, there would be no pleasure in playing with your food."
Pepper focused on Aglowing. "Putting the remark from your mother aside, did you understand what a friend is?" she asked.
"A friend is complicated," the child answered.
The so-called Lone Star giggled. As she thought about it, she realised that if the child didn’t have any reference points, she had to be given some. "Yes, it is. Look, if it helps you, here's how to know if someone is a friend." Pepper took a deep breath, and ,without singing, she thought of the six elements of harmony, making them into a nursery rhyme. "Goodness in the eyes, Laughter on the lips, Honesty in words, Generosity in heart, Loyalty in choices. Friendship is ignited by a spark of Magic. If you can say that anyone reacts like that to you, or makes you react like that, then maybe they are a future friend. Of course, it is rare to see them all at the same time."
Aglowing and Chrysalis suddenly turned their heads toward the entrance of the room, ears perked. The drone had come back at a gallop, alone. They only stopped when they had stepped into the room. They immediately began to snap their teeth, their wings vibrating frantically to convey a message. Chrysalis's face hardened, fury in her eyes. She gave new orders to the changeling, then to Aglowing Shell before leaving the room in a hurry.
"What is happening now?" grunted the unicorn before noticing that the subordinate changeling was watching her like a cat in front of a mouse hole. "And what do you want from me?"
"It's Chitin. They sent the drone to transmit a message:
Considering this new information, Pepper saw an opportunity to leave the hive and continue her journey. But she had to get rid of the drone first. The child was not likely to cause complications. "Oh look! There is another pony," Pepper said, pointing away from the changeling supervisor.
"Where?!" the child asked, a big smile on her lips as she fell into the trap.
Pepper took advantage of Aglowing Shell's inattention to turn the watcher into a candy, quickly picking it up before the little changeling realised that she had been duped. "I shall release them once I have found an exit. I can only hope that I do not have to dig one," she thought.
"There is no other pony!" said Aglowing, frustrated at first, then shocked after turning back to Pepper. "Where are they? Where is the drone? They were here just a moment ago!"
Pepper looked at Aglowing, acting all innocent. "I do not know. They just suddenly vanished." Pepper walked toward the exit. "Well, if your mother is looking for me, tell her I am no longer... there." She stopped. The orange wisps appeared again. She had to turn around as Gamine’s magic activated..
Head down, the young Aglowing broke into tears. "I... I don't want to... finish alone."
Pepper came closer. "I can not believe it. It was her. I can not believe I almost missed the source of the call," she thought, rubbing her snout against the top of the child's head to get her attention.
Aglowing lifted her nose towards Pepper, her eyes blurred by tears. When she saw the orange wisps, she got scared, falling on her back.
"Calm down,” Pepper said, trying to reassure the child. “This is... like kindness in the eyes. If you calm down, it will fade away."
Aglowing exhaled, trying to drive away the sinister ideas that invaded her mind. She wanted to believe in the mare’s words.
Slowly, the wisps began to fade. It was still present, but barely noticeable. "See, I was telling the truth," Pepper said, a soft smile on her lips, although she had trouble believing it herself.
"Is that what happens every time somepony worries?" asked Aglowing. Her little voice sounded curious, broken by emotions as she stood up.
"I think, in your case, it is more than mere worry, FaceHugger," Pepper said.
"FaceHugger? My name is Aglowing Shell," the child protested.
The right corner of Pepper’s lips curved into a smile. "Do not mind. This is a bad habit of mine. I sometimes give a nickname to those I like. Look, I am here, just for you, to help you. If you need anything, just ask. Generosity in the heart," Pepper said.
"Honesty in words?" Aglowing asked with a little glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Pepper couldn't help but laugh. "You learn fast. In that case, I have to introduce myself. I am Pepper Chilly," said the Unicorn in turn.
"Pepper Chilly? Mother called you Lone Star earlier," said the little changeling, sounding surprised.
"I could not give my real name to your mother, Aglowing Shell. I can not stay here forever to play with you, but I can help you now, so you will not end up alone. You just have to tell me what is wrong,” Pepper explained.
Aglowing thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay," she said, thinking about the whole story with a little nostalgic smile. Then, she began to tell her worries. "The hive. It was full of life before, full of changelings. They used to go out all the time to collect love. Everyday, they went outside, then came back. We were happy." As suddenly as it had come, the smile disappeared. Sadness took its place. "Then, one night, fewer came back than were sent. Those who came back were wounded, and I didn't understand why. They started to make balls of light with magic, which stayed on the ceiling for a few minutes. It was beautiful, like the stars of the night sky. The next night it was the same: Others didn't come back, and there were the lights again. The next day, mother ordered not to go out. ‘We have enough food for the whole hive, so we can take a day off,’ she told me. But I could see that she was not well."
Pepper thought it was clever to start the genocide by attacking the Changelings that were isolated from the rest of the hive. She assumed this event made Chrysalis suspicious, and forced her to send out a search for the missing individuals. This gave Nightmare Moon a last opportunity to cull the changelings before to besiege the hive.
Aglowing coughed a sob. "Days passed. We didn't go out anymore. ‘More days of rest,’ I was told. Every changeling was restless. Mother started to send most of the drones to sleep in cocoons. But it didn't change anything. There was less and less food for the hive. Then, one evening, Chitin ran in saying they were at the entrance of the tunnel. Mother locked me in my room before leaving with every warrior of the hive that was still awake. When they came back hours later, they were wounded, and ..." She began to cry.
Wary, Pepper raised an eyebrow as she witnessed Aglowing’s magic crackling around her horn.
"And... there was almost no one left. I understood then. I understood what they were trying to hide from me. All those lights, all those changelings who had disappeared. They're never coming back! And mother hates me. She keeps me locked up all the time. She doesn't want to see me anymore. She doesn't want to play anymore. She tells me to stay in my chamber again and again. She wants others to forget me. Said that it's better for me. Several times changelings tried to open the door, but mother chased them away. She yelled, she shouted through the whole hive not to approach me ever again. But I don't understand what I did wrong. Why she scolded them. Why she punished me. Is it my fault? Should I have protected the hive? Why did she never teach me how to defend my own subjects? If I had known, I could have helped her! I could have saved them! I'm destined to be the Queen. But if I don't protect the hive, if the hive is empty... What good am I?" Distress squeezed her throat, making her voice sound hoarse.
Pepper frowned the eyebrows. Something was clearly off in this story.
Aglowing’s tears kept flowing. "I don't know what to do. There is less and less food, and soon there won’t be enough left to feed the changelings that are sleeping. They will starve to death in their sleep. There are four changelings left awake to save them. I don't know what to do! I don't know what to do anymore! And..." Her imagination was running wild with the worst possible outcome. “And, I don't want to end up alone! I know that, one day, mother and Chitin will never come back! I don't want to see these balls of light anymore. I'm afraid to see them again. I never want to see them again! I don't want to feel bad when I see them! I don't want to learn like that, that one of our own won't come back. And just thinking about it hurts. It hurts so much! My body hurts so much. It tightens. As if a rock fell on my body. Is that how it feels when you disappear? What did I do wrong to make this happen to us? Why doesn't mother tell me what I did wrong so I can do it right? Why? Why?! WHY!?"
Pepper listened in silence. The wisps grew stronger. Touched by the child's story, Gamine was reviving herself. Pepper understood. The guardian misled her - it wasn’t just her magic, but a passive ability that activated itself. If she could feel true despair, she concluded that this child’s despair was so strong that it had reached the guardian despite the distance between the Badlands and Canterlot. Aglowing was very young and already thought of the responsibilities that ruling over an entire hive entailed. The mare took the changeling in her forelegs to offer some comfort. "You are not at fault, FaceHugger. You are not. We shall fix this one way or another. We will fix it.”
"How?" asked the little Queen, sniffling.
"First, you must be hungry. Collect my love," Pepper said, wiping tears from the child's face. "Can you do that at least, little Queen?"
"Yes, Mother taught me how." With those words, Aglowing Shell set to work.
The monster needed to lean on a hoof to avoid falling on her rump. Even coming from a child, the feeling of being punctured was painful. Fortunately, this time, there was only one changeling, and there was not much to eat. But it served its purpose - Gamine was sent back to the darkness - and, even better, her presence seemed slightly smaller than before.
When she finished, Aglowing looked at Pepper, tilting her head slightly. "I think I'm done. Why are you grinning?"
"Oh, I sat on a rock," Pepper lied. She looked around the room. She needed a plan. With her mind devoid of the guardian’s sentimental distractions, she soon had an idea worthy of a monster. "Now we shall play a game," Pepper said with a grin.
"A game? What game?" asked Aglowing Shell.
"Munch the candy," Pepper replied with a smile.
"I don't know this game," said the changeling, sounding intrigued.
"Oh, believe me, you will like it," Pepper whispered with a malicious grin.