The world looked different, as it did every morning she rose. Her body felt strange and everything seemed out of place, but every day that passed it seemed out of place a little less.
"She's awake! Pounce-bug time!" Bobbin said.
Ocellus was used to this, of course. Every day since she'd come to visit Rarity's hive, Ocellus had woken to an ambush. When Bobbin and Beside rushed into the room, Ocellus had her arms out and ready to catch them. "Morning!"
Unlike the two black changelings that clung to her in their native form, Ocellus liked to assume a more human shape to fit in. Fitting in was a big part of feeling at home in a place, she'd found, and living in the little community Rarity, Nora, and Rainbow had set up was definitely something.
"Breakfast snuggles. Open wide, 'coz here's the love!" Beside said, and squirmed against Ocellus.
This was the part Ocellus would never get used to. She'd been a changeling before Thorax had redeemed them, and she'd tasted love before, but the hive Chrysalis had run had never shared love as freely as Rarity's.
They gathered it, Ocellus knew, from people who were not just healthy but willing to exchange it for entertainment. It was a complicated system, but she'd learned to enjoy the shared love only because it was ethically obtained.
And it was sweet. The love that she swallowed was like honey mixed with yet more sugar. She gulped it down and felt the effects immediately. Ocellus chirped.
"There you are! I knew I'd get a good chirp out of you this time." Beside nuzzled against Ocellus' belly and giggled at the happy sounds it made. "Come on, Bobbin, I bet you can get her to chirp again."
Ocellus tried to protest, but convincing the sisters that she was full without being full wasn't just dishonest, it was impossible. She wrapped both arms around the changelings and squeezed them against her. No sooner was Bobbin touching her skin than another rush of love poured in and she found herself losing her grip on her disguise and flopped into a pile with the two changelings.
She was bigger than them, but her form was far more different. Her colors were as vibrant as in Equestria and her chirping far louder since she didn’t have to fudge it with fake wings.
"I got the best chirp yet!" Bobbin stuck her tongue out at Beside and blew a raspberry.
"You did! I'll have to step up my game. Mom said she wants to see you." Beside jumped off the bed and landed on the floor. Shaking her head, she turned the motion into a full-body shake that worked all the kinks out of her shell and shape.
Ocellus didn't have to ask which mom. Rarity was undisputed in her role as queen of the hive. Nora was firmly planted in her own work of reinforcing the legal position of their company and changeling rights, while Rainbow saw to it that the family itself ticked along perfectly.
It had surprised Ocellus at first to see Rainbow Dash, the supposed mirror of an element bearer in Equestria, happily ensconced in domestic duties, but it had happened nonetheless. "Do you know what she wants?"
"She won't say. She just said to meet her at the main house," Bobbin said, mimicking Beside's little shake. "But she said you needed to be well-fed and also said not to worry."
"Well, that makes me worry. Can you give me any hints?" Ocellus focused on changing back into a human form and was successful only after a lot of effort and love burned.
Dressing up each day had become a delight to Ocellus. She opened her closet and looked inside with all the glee of a foal opening their Hearth's Warming presents. Lifting out a dress, a shirt, socks, underwear, and shoes, Ocellus was brought up short by Bobbin's look of disdain. "What? These go together!"
"Red shirt and orange dress with lime-green socks? And you should know not to wear a light-colored bra under a dark shirt. Ocellus, how are you a bug and still don't have a clue on fashion?" Bobbin shapechanged into a human form—complete with clothes—and picked up the underwear, shirt, and skirt. "Pick one, and only one."
"Will Rarity wait for me to get dressed?" The answer to the question, as soon as she asked it, was obvious to Ocellus. "Of course she will. Okay, I'd like to wear something that matches that dress. I love it."
"Orange, with your hair, needs something cooler to tone it down and let your face take center stage. I think something in a muted red—not the bright red shirt you'd chosen."
By the time Bobbin was done with her, Ocellus felt like she'd spent a full hour picking out colors and styles—when she checked the time and realized they had used a full hour doing just that, she started to panic. "This has taken too long! What will I tell Rarity?"
Bobbin rolled her eyes and tapped the side of her head, how she usually reminded Ocellus that she could communicate instantly with all the other technolings. "I already told Mom what we were doing. You should know by now she fully understands a fashion emergency has to take preference even over her. Come on, you look great now. Give me a spin!"
Ocellus still worried about being late to a meeting with Rarity, but Bobbin's excitement when it came to fashion pulled her mood around. She twirled in place, her dress spreading out and rising a little as she did, before she stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. Her skin was her old shell color, her hair was that of her fins, and her eyes—she made completely human. It didn't do to make a human form what Rarity explained as being uncanny valley—almost but not quite perfect.
Unable to hold back a laugh of excitement, Ocellus nodded to Bobbin. "You're right. I know you're always right when it comes to fashion, but I just… I want to try more myself. I want to learn!"
"You are, but you need to take in all the colors and patterns you're using. Just because you like three different colors doesn't mean they can go together." Bobbin walked up and pointed into the mirror while she hugged Ocellus. "You think I was hatched able to do this? It took practice—a whole year of practice."
"Okay, let's go see what your mom wants." It felt easier to just say your mom rather than Queen Rarity. The only other changeling queen Ocellus had ever known was Chrysalis, and despite being the leader of the hive, she never truly led them.
The various houses that comprised Rarity's hive had no fences between them. The gardens were all cultivated into one big parkland with paths through it that connected each house. Ocellus didn't find this odd until she'd seen other suburban blocks and the segregation that occurred. The only exception to the nice houses was one house had been gutted and rebuilt as an office and entrance to the underground portion of the hive.
It had taken eight months, in the end, to rezone the block—but Beta had been the happiest little bug by the time it had been.
As they walked from the guesthouse Ocellus had been staying in to Rarity's home, Ocellus spotted several changelings working on plants with hooves, mouths, and magic. With the size Rarity's hive had grown to, it had been inevitable that there was a small population of changelings who enjoyed gardening.
It struck Ocellus that this is what her old queen—Chrysalis—could have done with her hive. She didn't need to invade Equestria, all she had to do was extend a hoof in friendship and— "Sorry!"
Bobbin had a smile on her face while she waited for Ocellus to catch up. "You don't have to apologize."
"I was just thinking about what our queen had done with our hive. You're lucky you have Rarity." Ocellus gestured around not just to the changelings chirping up a storm as they worked in the garden, but to the community as a whole. "Our queen decided she needed to take by force rather than help our hive."
"Are you sure she didn't feel trapped into thinking that was her only option?" Bobbin leaned down and gave one nymph's crest a quick stroke—earning her a happy chirp.
"W-What do you mean?"
"I mean, did your queen fully understand her situation and how she could get out of it, or was she just another bug dealing with life as it came and trying to do the best for her hive?"
The question sank deep into Ocellus' mind. She'd been well-taught how to think about problems and work her way to a solution, but in this case she had the result and had to work backwards. "In the end she was chasing after specific ponies to get her revenge on them. She'd abandoned her hive and was working only for her personal revenge."
Recoiling from the reply, Bobbin winced a little. "Ouch. Okay, maybe she took some bad paths. What happened to her after that?"
"She tried to destroy an entire nation—maybe the world. Thankfully some friends helped stop her. Now…" Ocellus sighed. "She got turned to stone."
"What, really?" Bobbin stared at Ocellus. "How's that work?"
"I don't know. Discord, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna did it. The last time it'd been used was on Discord as punishment for cracking the world open like an egg to see what was inside. Turns out, the yolk was still runny." The joke was the best Ocellus could do to lighten the moment. She chuckled awkwardly. "So my mo—Queen Chrysalis is a bit of a sore subject for all us changelings now."
"I guess, if I was a Windigo, and I didn't like SuriGo, it might feel pretty bad." Reworking the problem into a frame she was familiar with, Bobbin smiled. "But that just means I would work even harder to be good. To make up for my mother's mist—OH!"
"Yeah. We're all sort of obligated to be the nicest we can be. It feels"—Ocellus cut herself off with a long sigh—"it feels like a relief to be here; to not have to live up to the good image my mother's bad one requires. But I don't know any other way to be. At the old hive, any of us who didn't like how things were, would just—we'd hide. We'd hide who we were and what we liked and even who we loved."
"I heard you even hid your chirping." Bobbin put her arm around Ocellus and squeezed her with a hug, sharing some of her love as she did so.
The care and attention made Ocellus chirp out loud and giggle. "Yeah, we all did that. There were rules you followed, but I don't have to follow those here, and it's a little scary."
"You've been here for a month now. It's still scary?"
Reaching her hand out to the door of Rarity's home, Ocellus nodded. "Yes. Like in Equestria, I'm free to partake in whatever action I wish, but there's more here. My morals are—they're stretched. I can do and say anything!"
"What do you want to say that you couldn't in Equestria?"
Tapping her chin with her free hand, Ocellus grinned after a few moments. "I am not responsible for what Chrysalis did!" As she spoke, the door pulled inward and almost drew Ocellus with it.
"No, you're not. I've read the books Princess Twilight sent," Rarity said, "and I find none of you owe any obligation to 'make good' for Chrysalis' actions. Please, Ocellus, come inside."
Ocellus gasped every time she saw Rarity because Rarity spent as much of her day as she could in her changeling-queen form. The sight of the most mighty of changeling types made Ocellus want to kowtow and toe whatever line Rarity might give her. That Rarity was about 2/3 her height was a good foil to those instincts. There was the fear that the changeling queen could dispatch her without much effort, but there was also the urge to pet her. "O-Okay."
Inside the house was a constant cacophony of chirping. Ocellus' little efforts at making casual chirps were nothing compared to one of Rarity or Nora's children from the moment they were hatched. It put the experience of talking with a changeling queen in a much more relaxed way when there were nymphs around chirping up a storm in obvious excitement at everything in their little world.
"After yesterday's little incident, Beta took on the newest clutch and has taught them to build. A shame—I liked that couch." Rarity glanced into the living room just enough to see that her latest offspring had made enough resin to glue the couch cushions into a blanket fort. "Would you like something to eat or drink?"
That was a complicated question. Like the changelings of her new hive, Ocellus could eat and drink to derive sustenance, but with the diet of love she was getting eating was a luxury. "J-Just some tea, please."
Expending her own magic, Rarity started the kettle boiling and prepared two large cups with teabags. "You originally agreed to visit for a month." Rarity quickly fired off a request to Bitwise that included an order of food for just herself.
Ocellus jumped a little even as she sat down. Rarity was always so direct with her, and she knew it was rubbing off. "I did…"
"You sound like one of my girls when I tell her it’s bedtime. Speak your mind and heart, dear. I shan't bite."
"Time moves too fast." Ocellus took a slow, deep breath to refocus on what she wanted to say. "I know it might not seem that way to you, but it does to me. I watch this world moving by and see what you've done with your part of it and I'm left in a state of wonder. You're the exact opposite of Chrysalis. She sought rack and ruin, but you push not only your own hive to greatness, but you lift up every creature around you." As she spoke, Ocellus couldn't help but feel fate and destiny pushing her along.
"There's one more I wish to lift up." Rarity heard the kettle whistle and shut off and turned to deal with it. "I have a proposition for you, Ocellus. It will cost you nothing except six months of your life."
Stepping through the huge, vertical flat-screen in the entrance way of the house, Byte held up the plastic bag to check it had come through intact. "Mom, your sushi's here." She was dressed in a custom piece her mother had made. The dress was all charcoals and soft grays that layered perfectly on Byte's cerulean-on-black human form. A white shirt set off her colors and made her stand out in any room.
"In the kitchen. I'm just about to talk to Ocellus about the little idea." Rarity preferred keeping as much general conversation in her own home vocal as she could, and her daughters had picked up on that.
When Byte stepped into the kitchen, she let out a loud chirp of excitement. "Want me to explain it?" As she set the sushi on the table, Byte sat down and smiled at Ocellus.
"Uh, sure." Ocellus held out her hand and took the mug of tea out of Rarity's magic then held it between her hands to warm them.
"Well, I was talking with Mom about you being here and how you seemed to want to stay a bit longer, and how I wanted to visit Equestria for a while to see what it's like, and I came up with the best solution." Gesturing to Ocellus, Byte smiled. "We swap places for a bit. You stay here and learn to run the daily ins and outs of our hive, and I'll visit Equestria and go to your friendship school."
Almost dropping her tea, Ocellus stared at Byte. "W-What? But how would that work? I can't communicate with your—"
"I can remedy that. It's a small thing, dear." Rarity adjusted her old red glasses that sat across her nose. They didn't do anything for her with their flat glass, but she liked wearing them—they reminded everyone she dealt with that she was intelligent.
Ocellus' jaw moved a few times before she managed to close it and focus on the offer. "I'll need training."
"I don't need to go right away." Gesturing around her as if to take in all the hive, Byte shrugged. "Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. All it takes is compassion and love—and you get the love for free."
"B-But what would you do in Equestria? It's so amazing here! Things move faster than I can even think sometimes. Equestria would be slow and quiet, and you—" Ocellus realized that Byte had a fascinated and happy look on her face. "You really want that?"
"I want to experience it! I don't want to stay there forever, but I want to know what it's like to live disconnected and reliant on speech. I want to feel all the magic of Equestria and friendship!" Byte got so excited she let out an excited chirp from under her clothes—revealing that she currently had changeling wings that could chirp.
While her daughter and Ocellus chatted, Rarity explored the little pack of sushi her daughter had sent her. A little note inside was in Bitwise's handwriting.
Chef Kit said I could make the nigiri. It's not easy keeping my hand temperatures just right, but she said I am getting much better at it. I hope you enjoy my letter and the food!
It was signed with a little sketch of a changeling.
The delight Bitwise found in the natural world and such things as hand-written notes astounded Rarity. Each of her daughters had their own unique outlook on the world and the way they embraced it. She carefully lifted the note up to her cheek with her magic and nuzzled it affectionately.
"But why swap then? I could take you back to Equestria and show you around," Ocellus said.
"Oh. Well, if you want to go back now, that's fine. I'm sure I could find one of my sisters to take over here." As Byte said it, she could see the longing flare up in Ocellus' face. Gotcha, she thought.
Ocellus was too used to her friends back in Equestria. She could be recalcitrant about what she wanted to do and they would always encourage and push her. Flailing mentally, she tried to work out how to tell Byte that she really wanted to stay but wasn't sure how.
"I mean, unless you really do want to stay and are just trying to be a sneaky bug and get me to agree to something else too?" Byte asked.
It was like a life raft. Ocellus nodded and tried to get her traitorous mouth to come up with something to say. "I really want to see more, but I have a hard time expressing that sometimes."
"'That'? What do you mean?"
"Until I get really comfortable somewhere, it's hard to push myself out. To show how much I want to do something. It was really bad back in the hive. I'd get stuck with all the worse jobs as a nymph. My friends at the school helped a lot. They made it easier to be me and learn what I needed to know to be confident about it, but here I don't know everything. I just…" Ocellus struggled to find all the words she wanted but finally came up dry. "I want to learn everything."
"So what you're saying is you want to work your way up to hive overseer? You need a role in a hive. I'll help you find one, let you grow within it, and help you learn everything you want to learn." Unable to hide her own excitement, Byte was chirping into the digital realm for all she was worth. "But it needs to start with you being part of the hive."
Ocellus felt stunned by a revelation. "I-I wasn't part of the hive!"
Byte chirped in surprise.
"This hive, I mean. That's why I felt so uncomfortable, and why I did when back home and still trying to fit in. I'm a changeling—I need a hive." It was such a surprise to finally understand part of herself that had previously been a conundrum that Ocellus started chirping repeatedly. "When my friends became my friends, they became my hive. They supported me and I supported them."
Having been mostly watching, Rarity let out a soft chirp before asking, "And your family back in Equestria? They are a hive to you?"
"I guess a changeling can have many hives." This was all new philosophical ground for Ocellus and she loved it. She was itching to write her newfound knowledge down. "But the most important one is where they are at the time."
"Do you want to join my hive, Ocellus?" Rarity asked.
The question had been coming, but when Rarity actually said it out loud, Ocellus chirped in surprise and lost her form. She wasn't as tall as Rarity, but she was taller than Byte would have been in her natural form. "You really mean that? You'd give me somewhere here to belong?"
Giggling, Rarity chirped without restraint at Ocellus. "A place to be yourself and belong is what my hive is all about. There is nothing more core to what changelings—in this world—are about than that. There are plenty of humans I consider part of my hive already, a different kind of changeling would not be unwelcome."
—She's quite excited about belonging. This isn't entrapment, is it?— Byte asked Rarity.
—How would be the best way to test that? I don't want to make this seem like I'm using a big carrot to steal her from her heritage,— Rarity sent.
Byte sent a stream of giggling chirps. —Ask her, Mom.—
—You're right. She's an adult.— The conversation with Byte had cost Rarity less than a second. She was able to continue on with her previous reasoning without more than what seemed like a pause to take a breath. "But first I want to make sure you definitely want this. You can stay here as long as you wish as you are—there's no need to commit to this."
"I want to. When you went to Equestria, you said that you couldn't communicate or anything. That means that if I do have any regrets, all I have to do is return to Equestria and I will be my old self." Ocellus had already convinced herself and come up with all the ways this was the right thing to do. "When would you be able to do the—the you know?"
"Implanting of technology. I have some shell right now I could use if all you want is a single phone. If you want more hardware than that, we'll need much more." As she spoke, Rarity heard a distant chirp from a firewall under attack. The panicked software was calm when she reached out to it, so she left it be.
"Oh! Uh, a phone will be fine." With the immediacy of the process, Ocellus suddenly felt a hint of nerves—nerves that she pushed down in the name of science and a hive to belong to. "Really fine."
Rarity smiled and barely managed to slip off her seat before she heard that panicked chirp again. Once, she thought, is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. And I don't believe in coincidence. Reaching for Nora, she gave a gentle nudge as she picked up her weapons and armor digitally. —Nora, darling, I have another Windigo to deal with. Give my apologies to Ocellus and please help her implant a phone.—
Nora stretched out into the real world and let Rarity fall back into strictly digital. —It's alright. We don't want to let any of them get any serious power again. I love you, Raribug.—
—I love you too, Nora Bug,— Rarity sent before charging off.
"Sorry, Ocellus, but Rarity had to run off to take care of something. It looks like I'll be helping you." Nora took a few steps to get her hooves under her properly. "I'd suggest doing it in your natural shape rather than taking back up your humanoid one."
"R-Right. Sorry, it's still a little surprising when you do that." Ocellus couldn't keep back a blush of embarrassment.
"From what others have said, it's easier when you can talk to them both at the same time." Byte led the way through to their computer room.
The house had seen several renovations, including the addition of a special basement, but while the computer room had become larger, it had also become uncluttered. There was a desk that extended around two walls of the room that had computers set up at regular intervals. The server was gone, and there was only a small rack of spare systems, screens, and peripherals in a closet at the back of the room.
It was here Ocellus had learned how to use a computer, trained by Byte, Bumblebee, and her own curiosity. The only exception to the room's modern tech vibe was a large safe bolted to the floor in one corner. There were no electronics apparent on the old safe—it just had a large dial and a handle visible.
Approaching the vault, Nora reached out with her magic and touched the latches inside. Focusing, she recalled the intricate process of turning the latches in just the right way to unlock the mechanism. Of course, the dial on the front didn't operate the lock at all and could spin freely. When the softest of clicks was heard, Nora reached her hoof out and nudged the handle down.
The large door swung on perfectly machined and oiled hinges to reveal what would be considered a large fortune in changeling eggshell. The exact value of it was meaningless, of course, without a changeling queen there to administer it. "Ocellus? Step closer and relax. Byte will catch you."
"W-Will catch me? You mean if I do fall over?" Nerves assailed Ocellus as she stood in place and it felt like the walls were closing in.
"I mean when. There's only been one person who's still been standing after this process, and that was our wife." Nora looked past Ocellus to Byte. "Are you ready?"
—Rarity was trying to be careful with her. Ocellus gets a little overwhelmed,— Byte sent to Nora.
Taking stock of the situation and still struggling to pull her head out of the legal work she'd been focused on moments ago, Nora took a slow, deep breath. "Sorry. I've been rushing this and I have no right to. What questions do you have?"
Ocellus felt like she could breathe properly again. She looked from Byte to Nora. Nora Bug was the real deal. Rarity became a changeling queen, but Nora was created as one. She was the closest person to Queen Chrysalis—historically speaking—that she knew. "What's going to happen?"
"I'm going to pass you a phone and the right amount of shell to start the process. Then I'll be channeling magic into you. If there's not enough shell, Byte will fetch you more. When the shell and phone start to absorb into you, my magic draw will be at its highest." As she explained, Nora felt herself calm down a little too. She was always a little tense when Rarity was out hunting—part of her feared Rarity wouldn't come back while another part feared she'd come back with SuriGo's ferocity. "Once the process finishes, your brain will have to get used to thinking a lot faster in order to keep up with the phone's electronics. This is why you'll fall over. You'll have the worst headache you've ever had in your life."
"Oh!" Fully explained, it made a lot more sense to Ocellus. She smiled and nodded, and when the shell floated over to her, she held out a hoof to hold it and another for the phone Byte passed her. "Okay, I'm ready when you are."
Understanding the situation now, Nora smiled as well and started to charge magic in her horn. Each day since she'd become a changeling queen, Nora's magic had incrementally increased (the same as it had for Rarity). The effort she needed to expend now was far less than it was when she'd first tried this. "I think I had things just right."
Ocellus' sight turned to bright blue as she felt the full power of a changeling queen flood into her. For the slightest moment a rush of panic accompanied it, but the light/power did more than just fill her, it revealed its user to her and forged a bond. She barely even realized the shell and phone were pouring into her as her eyes met Nora's and she smiled.
The rush of happiness—the chirping—became all too quickly overwhelming. Ocellus let out a chirp of surprise and realized the floor was starting to come upward. Green light saved her, but it wasn't Nora's magic.
All Ocellus could do was chirp at Byte as she was so slowly lifted up and in slow motion carried from the room. It felt almost like an hour before she was out the door, and the trip down the hallway took almost a full day.
A full day of her grinning like a silly nymph and giggling along with her chirps at a high rate of speed.
—Can you hear me?— The strange thing was this information wasn't a voice and it wasn't written. It was just there in Ocellus' head.
Poking at where the not-a-voice had come from, Ocellus found some way to make her own words appear. —Hello? Who is that?—
—Is that Ocellus?— Bobbin asked.
—I am Ocellus. Who are you?—
—I'm Bobbin, silly. You're talking on ChirpNet. How does it feel?— Bobbin asked.
Smiling down at Ocellus, Byte eyed the two dark stains on her forelegs. "As we leave our mark on the world, it leaves its mark on us." Turning, she walked for the door as Ocellus and Bobbin got a full conversation in.
—Beta?— Byte asked. A quick affirmative chirp reassured her she had her sister's attention. —I have a feeling Ocellus might want a more buggy home in the hive. Perhaps something underground would be in order?—
—That was her?— Beta stepped from the digital realm (through one of the many large flat-panel displays in the lower hive) and into the real world. —I have just the chamber for her. Does she have any preference for decoration?—
—Ask her.— Byte forwarded Beta Ocellus' contact ID. —She and Bobbin are chatting like crazy. I think we might have another Sweetie Belle here.—
Byte was referring to Rarity's sister who had stubbornly refused to slow her mind down for nearly a week. Nothing on the network had been proof against her excited exploration, and she still held the record for most time spent as a human in full-digital-time.
—That bad?— When she gently chirped toward Ocellus, Beta got an excited rush of chirping back that made the engineering bug grin like a nymph. —Hi, Ocellus. Did you have any ideas on how you want your own room in the hive to be decorated?—
That was Byte's job. Connecting nymphs together who had desires and abilities, and handling any low-level tasks within the hive. She eased the door to the "recovery bedroom" closed and stepped outside humming along to her own chirps.
Touching base with her personal followers on social media, Byte quickly sent out a slew of personal messages of thanks, comments, and recommendations. The emotion they contained was only trace amounts, but she dealt in quantity—later on she'd stream and feed far more deeply. Byte reached the end of the hallway and poked her head into the living room to see her mother laying on the couch.
"She's sleeping in the recovery bedroom." Byte walked up to the back of the couch and opened up her emotional sluices and felt her mother feed. "Is Rarity back yet?"
"No. This must be a bad one. Could be that new client we got in Canada. They were reporting massive attacks by a Windigo that their own systems couldn't pin down. Oh, she just said it was three Windigo that seemed to have called a truce to work together. They're being annoying." Tilting her head back and up, Nora pressed her cheek to Byte's neck and let the love flow into her.
For several months Rainbow Dash had been enough for a pair of hungry changeling queens, but their needs had expanded more, and now it was mostly up to their hive to provide the energy they needed to remain at peak magic.
"What do you think of Ocellus?" Love was draining from her reserves, but even as it did she could feel more flowing into her. It took close contact to release such a flood all at once, but every changeling in the hive who "hunted" love was trickling it back into Byte. Her own reserves were the greatest of any other changeling in the hive bar their mothers'.
Slowly easing off the flow of love, Nora ran her tongue over her lips and tilted her head back down again. "She's capable, smart, though a little reserved. I'm willing to side with Rarity on one thing, however, she certainly yearns to learn. Plus I don't think I've had to teach her the same thing more than once. She soaks up knowledge like a sponge."
"You think she'll react well to the tech implant?" Circling around the couch, Byte sat down and used her magic to float a controller over to her hands.
"She's the first changeling to need an implant. I have no idea how she'll react to it, but I think hearing all the hive will help her fit in. Particularly if she lets herself sing the song too." Floating another controller over, Nora needed to shapechange to get hands to play, but she preferred the mechanical system to just sending digital commands to the console.
Starting a game of her favorite racing simulator, Byte chirped softly, digitally, and opened her senses up to the hive around her. The game was a tiny distraction at real-time speeds, not interrupting her work in the slightest. "Beta has her team digging a new room for Ocellus."
"You're serious about having Ocellus take over your role while you're away? Wouldn't Bootstrap be better?"
"She would. Bootstrap is every bit the bug I was two months ago. She is smart, she manages a section of the hive already, and she has a vast social network she connects with. But you know why I won't push her to take my place?" Byte had been playing a lot with physical controls. She'd learned early in her streaming career that people didn't want to see her just staring at the screen.
"I can guess, given how you phrased that." Not as practiced as Byte was, Nora struggled to get her car around the corners without smooshing it into them.
Reaching one arm up and over her mother's shoulders, Byte used her magic to hold and control the empty side of the gamepad. "Right. She doesn't want to. She likes having me to look up to. She wants to follow, Mom, not lead. She likes the interactions with her fans far more than she likes specifically controlling anything."
Leaning to her left a little as she turned her car, Nora knew what she was doing but didn't care. "You'll have reasons for everyone I name, won't you?"
"Mmhmm!" Byte's car zoomed around the track, taking corners on the ultimate driving line each time, braking only exactly as much as needed, and never losing control.
"Except Ocellus."
"Oh, no. I have a reason why she shouldn't be hive manager. Several, actually. But they're things she wants to overcome. I'll stick around for a little while so things don't go haywire, but she's going to need to step up and chirp loudly." Racing past her mother on the track, Byte showed no indication that she'd slow down. "And I want to hear her chirp so much…"
Nora turned and hugged her daughter. "You are a good bug, Byte. It makes me wonder what you'll get up to when you visit Equestria."
—I'm back!— Rarity sent to her hive as a whole, along with a flood of her own chirps that were drowned out by the reply. —How has Ocellus fared?—
There was a measure of tiredness in Rarity's chirping that Byte knew too well—she'd exerted herself. —She's resting. It went well. How much energy did you use?—
—Five! Five Windigo had set up in smaller ISPs and were bombarding our client with what looked like only slightly inflated traffic, but within it was a slew of attacks. Thankfully we had a hackback contract with two of the five ISPs and I was able to assault those before the other three noticed. They did notice, too, despite me continuing the camouflaging traffic. I think they had some kind of communications protocol. Dratted things keep reproducing. This would be much easier if everyone just paid us for their protection.— As she compiled the message, Rarity let loose some disgruntled and annoyed chirps, though she let loose a more relaxed one after sending it.
—That wouldn't be right, Mom. There's several promising competitors to our firewalls that are showing signs of resisting Windigo attacks. Then there's the idea of actually making client-facing surfaces secure,— Bumblebee sent.
Digitally frumping, which required much more imagination than anyone without hardwired, direct-to-mind data connection and a fashionista's sense of presentation could manage, Rarity let out a final plaintive chirp and hugged Nora. —I know. I know. I wasn't able to chase the last two Windigo because I couldn't contact anyone at the ISPs they used. One got back to me and gave me the go-ahead to chase through their networks. Quite nice of them.—
Hugging back for all she was worth, Nora shared some of her love with Rarity in an act any researcher in Equestria would call unthinkable: a changeling queen sharing their food with another. —I love you, Rarabug.—
A slew of happy chirps left Rarity in a rush and she clung to Nora digitally. She nuzzled and kissed too, of course. —And I love you too, Nora.—
—Hey! Are you two snuggling without me?— Rainbow Dash was deep in slow-motion time as she pulled her latest creation into their home's driveway. —Because if there's snuggling, you know I'm gonna be there in less than ten seconds flat.—
Rainbow Dash was able to prove that ten seconds was eight more than she needed.
The first thing that occurred to Byte as she stepped forward was how quiet it was. She had no data connection, no chirping, and not a hint of her hive-mates. A shiver rolled from her tailfin to her crest, only to stop when a soft wing touched her back.
"Byte?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "I believe Sunset said that was your name. Are you alright?" She towered over the changeling drone, so much so that Byte's shoulders didn't reach Twilight's belly, but that didn't stop her from doing exactly as Rarity had instructed—she hugged Byte.
Her wings chirping in panic, Byte looked up and up and up. Gulping, she tried to nod and send a message at the same time, but when the latter completely failed she panicked again and squeezed her eyes closed. "I can't hear anything. It's so quiet without my hive."
"Maybe I can help?" Starlight Glimmer spent most of her time in the School of Friendship—as head-mare—but today she'd gone in search of a special new student. "Byte, I think I can help you with a spell. Can I cast it on you?"
Snapping her eyes open, Byte looked at Starlight, then nodded very slowly. An impressive flash of teal magic later and she froze.
—Hello, Byte. Rarity said that something like this might help reassure you.— Starlight had been practicing the spell with Sunburst and Trixie, and both had been suitably freaked out at first, but the joyful look on Byte's face told her she'd gotten it just right. —You just have to think at me to talk.—
—Thank you! This helps a lot!— A mental touch, even one as alien to her as a pony's, buoyed Byte's spirits up. She shook herself and let out a cleansing chirp from her wings before looking around the impressive room. "Is this a castle?"
"This is my castle. You're safe here." It was hard for Twilight to get past her prejudice of Byte. Here was a creature that would spark many ponies to think of the bad days of changelings. She'd had very careful words with all her Royal Guard and the upper members of the E.U.P. Guard. "Would you like some room?"
There were thoughts swirling and flowing from Starlight that Byte was a little confused about, but adored. The spell she'd used was leaking all kinds of little things between them, but that was better than the cold and empty mental landscape. "I'm okay now. Starlight's magic has helped. Helped a lot!" As she said it, she punctuated the word with a loud chirp. —Sorry if I'm making a lot of chirps, that's how we convey our emotions.—
—It's alright. Would you like to come and meet some new friends?— The mental speech was a little faster than just talking, but not by much. "We're just having a chat mentally. I'm surprised at how fast Byte picked this up—it took Sunburst days to get the hang of it, and Trixie days to get the hang of holding anything back at all."
The praise earned another chirp from Byte who paused when she noticed how many other ponies were in the room with them. Big ponies in armor holding weapons. She took a deep breath.
—If you use a disguise, it will make things easier. Is there one you normally use back home?— Starlight asked.
Flashing with green fire, Byte assumed her human form. She was tall now, almost as tall as Twilight Sparkle. She looked around at the guards and realized it was far less intimidating now they were smaller than her. —This is much easier. Uh, is there something wrong?—
—You made yourself really tall. It's okay, I'm used to all sorts of creatures at the school. Canterlot, though, is a little less visited by non-ponies.— Starlight realized they'd been quiet and just looking at each other for several moments. "If you'll excuse us, Twilight, I'll get Byte ready to travel back to Ponyville."
Twilight was almost stunned at the reminder of what humans looked like. What really surprised her was how tall Byte had been. In recent years—with Celestia and Luna spending more and more time away from Canterlot, Twilight had felt a little lonely in her altitude. "Okay, and thank you, Starlight."
Following Starlight out of the huge room, Byte found herself in a long hallway filled with stained glass windows and bored looking ponies—bored, that is, until she walked into the room. —They're all staring at me. Should I shapechange into a pony form instead?—
—Not now.— Starlight walked through the hall with her companion beside her. —They're just a little scared of something that they don't know.—
—Oh! Just like humans. I had to explain that to Ocellus too. Once she understood what was going on, though, she settled on a human form to maintain.— Byte followed Starlight outside into the bright, chill Canterlot summer. —Oh wow. This looks amazing!—
"You're going to need to get used to talking more out loud."
Heaving a sigh, then covering it with a giggle and a mental chirp, Byte shrugged her shoulders. "And I'm normally the bug telling the others to talk out loud more. So, where is this school?"
Despite the comment about fitting in, Byte felt more comfortable in her human form and chose to remain in it for the train ride to Ponyville. She was surprised to get off the train and find three ponies waiting for her—looking at her intently. A pegasus, a unicorn, and an earth pony stared back at her. Gathering up her innate chirpiness, she walked over and held out a hand to them. "Hi! My name's Byte!"
"Hi! I'm Apple Bloom!" The mare shoved her hoof out toward Byte, having to angle it up to get high enough to have a hope of being shakeable.
"And I'm Scootaloo."
"Sweetie Belle!"
With all three offering her their hooves, Byte wasn't sure who to shake first. The problem was solved as each put their hooves close enough to shake them all at once. Their raw enthusiasm lifted Byte's spirits to the point where she wanted to chirp a lot. "It's great to meet you! Are you my welcoming committee?"
"Uh." Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom and they shared a smile and a nod. "We sure are! We just need to see our friend off first—she's going to Princess Twilight's school in Canterlot—and then we'll show you around town."
Byte had participated in hundreds of billions of social interactions online and could easily recognize what had happened. She was too slow to reply, however, as Starlight approached.
"You girls have met Byte already? She's the new student I told you about. Well, student and teacher. I'm sure we all have a lot to teach each other about friendship!" Looking between her three part-time teachers, Starlight watched them all pause in confusion. "Byte is a changeling."
"Ohhh!" Sweetie Belle looked up at Byte again. "Right, you were coming here while Ocellus is in your world, right?"
Taking a deep breath, Byte nodded and undid her disguise. Green fire flickered around her and she was revealed in all her black-carapaced, buggy glory. "Yup! Sorry for keeping that disguise up, Starlight said it would be best to not advertise that I'm a changeling there. I guess you guys are a lot more relaxed about it?" As she spoke, Byte realized that a silence was descending over the three young mares.
Having dealt with several (now reformed) black changelings, Starlight was quicker to react than the three friends staring in disbelief. "You'll note that Byte's hive is nothing like what Queen Chrysalis' was. They're friendly and open, and nopony is harmed by their feeding."
Apple Bloom was first to shove down the instinctual panic of seeing a "bad" changeling appear. She elbowed her two friends. "Ahem. Girls? They're still the same person."
A whistle from the train startled them all and Sweetie Belle squealed in surprise. "I'm going to miss the train!" Floating her luggage after her, Sweetie took off at a canter for the platform.
It took several seconds for the stream of cases, bags, and chests to pass them, but Byte was used to that level of expansive fashion. That's when everything fell into place and she stared after the mare. "That's Sweetie Belle…"
Scootaloo heard Byte's comment after her own shout of goodbye to Sweetie. "Well, yeah. You didn't think she was a changeling, did you?"
"N-No, I mean—It's hard to explain. In our world, everyone is so similar to this world. Rarity, Rainbow, and Nora are my moms, and Sweetie Belle is my auntie," Byte said. "It didn't sink in who she was until just now."
"Hold up." The world had started to tilt sideways for Apple Bloom and she needed it back on level ground. "You have three mothers, and two of them are Rainbow Dash and Rarity?!"
In her native form, Byte had no compunction about chirping in excitement. "I sure do, and they are!" Talking about her hive made Byte want to prance with excitement, but she noticed her new friends looking at her strange. "What's wrong?"
"You sound like a cricket," Scootaloo said.
"Oh! We tend to chirp a lot. We use it to express emotions. It's the best way to just let everyone know how you feel!"
"It's a lot easier to get the hang of in your head." Leading the way across Ponyville shouldn't have filled Starlight with as much worry as it did. There hadn't been a sighting of a black-carapaced changeling since Chrysalis had been dealt with once and for all.
Not following Starlight's words properly, Apple Bloom looked over at her. "Wait. In your head? What're you talkin' about?"
"Well, when Twilight—that is, the Twilight from Byte's world—explained that Byte's hive communicate with instant mind-to-mind information, I thought it would be a good idea to work on a spell that helps her feel at home. It turns out changelings from there chirp in their heads a lot, too." On her favorite topics, magic and friendship, Starlight Glimmer could have gone on all day, but she'd learned how to rein in her tendencies to over-explain.
Looking at Byte, then to Starlight, Scootaloo made a choice—and her choices were always on the side of friendship. "Can you cast it on us too?"
The request surprised Apple Bloom, but she couldn't and wouldn't stop her own reply. "Yeah!"
Surprised, Byte looked at the two mares and chirped her startled surprise. "You want to be my hive while I'm here?"
"Only if you agree to be a Cutie Mark Crusader!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom said together.
"I've trained for this. Byte taught me everything I need to know. This shouldn't be hard." But Ocellus was having one big problem with her job—love. Love poured into her from changelings all over the hive. Love poured back out of her to those changelings who didn't have the knack of feeding digitally. But, no matter how much love she poured out, there was extra.
Focusing all her attention on not feeling how much love she was stuffed with, Ocellus walked into the kitchen of Rarity, Rainbow, and Nora's home to make herself a snack. "That's the worst bit. I'm so bloated with love and I'm still hungry!"
"You can give that love to Nora or Rarity, you know?" Rainbow was in the process of making herself a salad. "You want what I'm having? No meat."
"Yes please." Ocellus dropped her rump onto a chair at the kitchen table and watched Rainbow pulling various green leafy things from the fridge. "I just don't feel comfortable—It reminds me too much of how things were before."
"You wanna talk about it?" Rainbow simply doubled her normal lunch-salad proportions, quickly dressing it with some croutons, nuts, and a light dash of oil. She split the greens into two bowls and turned back to the table without hearing so much as a digital chirp from Ocellus.
"Thanks." The salad looked good even without any insects on it. Ocellus had gotten used to a more ponyesque diet while living in Ponyville, and this fit the bill just right. "I guess I do, but it's hard. I haven't even talked to my own family about this.
"I grew up in the hive. It would be nice to say that I was a gentle and recalcitrant changeling, and that I didn't want to be like the others." It was hard to think and even harder to say. "But that's wrong. I was an infiltrator. I was learning how to manipulate emotions in ponies and how to find the best disguises to take advantage of them when Thorax returned.
"I was full of love at the time, not because we were sharing it like you do here, but because I was being trained in how to extract it effectively. And, I was good at it. We'd only been practicing on each other, but I could always trick the others into giving me their love. Then all that desire was gone because I didn't need it anymore. I still don't!"
"Would you rather go back to doing that? We've got plenty of nymphs who love chatting with people and skimming love. We're not going to hold you back from what you want to do. Byte may have thought this was the thing for you, but it doesn't have to be." Using her fork, Rainbow started munching on some of her salad.
In counterpoint to Rainbow's eating, Ocellus just pushed her salad around a little. "I don't think I want to do that."
"Do you want to try?"
The question shocked Ocellus. Everything had been so theoretical until Rainbow Dash, an almost mythical figure in the hive, offered to let her feed. Or so she thought. "Y-Y-You want me to…"
"If you want. You're part of the hive, and though I normally save up my love for Rarity, Nora, and any newly hatched nymphs, you can have some if you want." Though she took another big bite of her salad, Rainbow was ready for a metaphysical touch that never came. When she gulped her food down, she asked, "No?"
"I'm full. Really full. I don't know what to do with all this!" To demonstrate, Ocellus made a little show of a light. "If a changeling in our old hive did this, they would be—they wouldn't be treated well. This much love is crazy…"
"It works for us. There's a lot of people in this world, and the more changelings there are, the more we can make sure that everyone has someone to talk to when they need it." Snorting, Rainbow rolled her shoulders. "I'd say You'd be surprised how many people appreciate having someone who cares about their wellbeing, but I think you're experiencing that first hand. Maybe you should spend some time gathering?"
"I…" Ocellus bit her lower lip as she thought about it. "I'd need to learn all over again. Attacking people like I'd been trained wouldn't be right."
"Pretty sure you knowing that is one of the reasons why this isn't a horrible idea. Come on, I've watched you interact with my family. You're as gentle as a—" Rainbow ate a little more salad before finishing, "—a bug."
"That's only because I make sure I'm always nice. I don't want to be mean or hurt anypon—anyone. Sorry."
"You don't need to apologize for that. It's kinda cute that you still want to call us all ponies."
Unable to hold back a smile at being called cute—particularly by someone she still thought of as a mentor—Ocellus let out a giggle. "Then I'll try, but first I need to get rid of all this love and find someone else to do my job."
—Bobbin?— Rainbow Dash asked. She was well-used to the curious digital chirp she got in reply. —Any chance you could take over love management for the day? Ocellus has a glut and needs to get rid of it.—
—Be there in a…— Bobbin had been working on fashion designs for the boutique, but hearing one of her friends (and her mother) needed help superseded that. She had been working on the designs by hoof, but it only took a few quick steps to reach a large flat-panel display and pour her physical form into pure digital. —…second.—
Rainbow heard the clopping sound of Bobbin's hooves on the floor as she walked through to the kitchen. She smiled up at her daughter who, in her own unique style, liked to keep a mostly-changeling look with only an upright stance and human arms being her sacrifice to efficiency. Reaching out an arm, Rainbow caught her daughter as she approached the table and gave her a hug. "You sure you're up to it?"
"Mom, you wouldn't have asked me if I wasn't, but I know I am. I can't do all the comms stuff, though. You can keep doing that, Ocellus?" Bobbin leaned down and hugged Rainbow while looking across the table.
Chirping, Ocellus nodded her head. "That's easy. I can direct everyone in that regard. I never realized how much work Byte did all the time…"
"My big sis is pretty amazing. She deserves her holiday, though. Okay, are you ready to drain into me?" Bobbin prepared herself. She didn't generally keep large quantities of love, but her work frequently required her to use it up regularly and that meant she had a higher than normal reserve.
This was something Ocellus had actually trained for in her old hive—before Thorax returned. She opened herself to Bobbin and waited. Then she waited some more. "Oh! You want me to push it?"
"Maybe it'd be easier if we touch? This is a bit different to the normal flow of love in the hive. How much do you—" Bobbin had walked around the table to Ocellus and reached a hand out to her. The moment they made contact she felt the avalanche of love hit her.
It should have surprised Ocellus how much love the changelings of Rarity's hive could hold, but given how tight resources had been in Chrysalis' hive, no changeling had managed to ever be full except for the hunters. When the flow finally tapered off, she cut it short herself. "S-Sorry, I need to keep a little for myself."
"Of course. Don't feel bad about keeping a little love. We're changelings; we need love." Bobbin was feeling particularly full, of course, and started to pour her excess love off to other of her hive-mates. It was a normal process for her, but the scale had changed from just a little excess to an entire hive's love supply.
"Did you want to teach her how we feed, Bobbin?" Rainbow finished off her salad and let out a wistful sigh.
"Wouldn't Byte be—" Bobbin stopped and rolled her eyes. "I wish you could delete speech as easily as you can delete an unsent message. Of course I can do that. Do you want to come to the computer room and do it, or just go and relax on a chirp couch?"
"A chirp couch?" Ocellus blinked in surprise. "What's that?"
"Well, some of us like to dive fully into the 'net to chat and gather love, and some just like to stretch out on a couch and get chirpy. That's why we call 'em chirp couches. Come on, we even have a special set of WiFi routers set up to keep that traffic clean." Leading the way, Bobbin headed to the room that served as the house's entrance to the hive underneath the house (and entire block).
Ocellus hadn't been into this part of the hive before. The truth, she had to admit, was that she was scared of how comfortable the hive was. As the tunnel turned in a slow spiral down, she felt a sense of home wrap around her and squeeze on her anxiety from every direction.
When Ocellus' hooves found the floor of the entry hall, she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Tunnels branched off in several directions, but Bobbin was focused on just one. "I haven't been down here before."
"Yeah, this is where most of the harvesters hang out. Private chambers are down those three halls"—Bobbin pointed as she walked to the entrance to the room where they actually worked—"and in here is where all the action happens. Try to keep your voice low and don't use digital comms in here."
"Are they that sensitive?" Ocellus didn't really have to lower her voice because she wasn't a loud talker at the best of times, but now she could only barely be heard.
"They're working and helping people. We don't want to stress them, since they're what keeps the hive working." As she walked past each, Bobbin could feel them reach toward her magically and give her a tiny bit of love. "There're two couches over here."
The couches were of all different kinds, but one thing they all had in common was they were small enough to fit a single nymph comfortably. Ranging from armchairs to beanbags and even a few park benches, there was truly something to suit every bug.
The pair of old leather armchairs that Bobbin led Ocellus to looked worn with age, though they both looked to have plump, new cushions in them.
"Come and get comfortable. You'll find your WiFi AP on the arm here."
Ocellus followed the directions and looked at the information attached to the chair. Connecting to the network, she found complete silence in the digital world. There was no digital chirping, though all the bugs around her were making the actual sound. "It's just for me?"
"I'll be joining yours as well so we can chat together. ChirpNet detects these networks specially and keeps them from local generic chats." Climbing up on the couch beside Ocellus, Bobbin got her rump settled first and then slowly folded down onto the chair. —Hello?—
—Just us in here. It feels so quiet.— Ocellus latched onto the connection from Bobbin. —So how do we find people who want to chat?—
—Most have their own connections and circles they work with, but we have an open chat to a bug set of channels. All you have to do is activate that and the system will detect your connection type. Here, we'll both join one together,— Bobbin sent.
New interfaces and chats poured around Ocellus. She witnessed hundreds of conversations flooding around her before things narrowed down and she was left in just one. The first user to connect was Bobbin, but then a few others started joining.
—Uh, hello? Anyone in here?— StarDan23 asked.
—Talk to them. This is your place to relax and help others relax too,— Bobbin sent to Ocellus privately.
Taking a deep (metaphorical) breath, Ocellus reminded herself she was safe and in a hive. —Oh. Hi. Sorry if I dragged you out of another chat. I'm trying to learn how all this works.—
—No way, you're new to this? I mean, like just hatched? Why's your name not start with B?— Jess asked.
—Actually, I'm kinda an exchange student. This is my first time chatting like this…—
—Feeding, you mean?— Jess asked.
—Yeah.—
—Don't sweat it. It's fun to chill out and chat about stuff. I've been hanging in BugChat for months now and I've never noticed anything from it. So, where are you from?— StarDan23 asked.
Bobbin chirped to Ocellus. —You can tell them. It's fine.—
—Is that the Bobbin? You hardly ever chat in here anymore.— Jess sent.
—I'm trying to help ease Ocellus into chatting and feeding. Are you all fine with helping? I promise to step in if the feeding gets too much,— Bobbin sent.
—Sure am! This is cool,— Jess sent.
—Do we have to do anything special?— StarDan23 asked.
—Tell us immediately if you feel faint.— Bobbin noticed a lot of the other users disconnected and moved to other channels and there were several lurking. This was normal behavior, she knew, and wouldn't cause any undue problems. —Now, did anyone want to see us try to draw things?—
—Draw?— Ocellus asked.
—Oh, yeah! Can you draw anime style?— StarDan23 asked.
That's when Ocellus felt it. It was the slightest hint of something on her peripheral. It wasn't the kind of love ponies felt, but it was something she could taste.
—Go gentle. He's in good health and hasn't been fed from for a full day. Just a little nibble now,— Bobbin sent to Ocellus privately.
Carefully and with as much caution as she could manage, Ocellus took her first drink of love direct from another living thing in years. It was a tiny sip, so little that she wouldn't be able to do anything useful with it. —Like that?—
—Try a little more. Also, let's draw them some cute girls.—
Ocellus couldn't help but chirp in excitement.
"But she'll be here any minute!" Ocellus chirped in concern and looked around the house. She then looked around the hive's network. What she found was mostly a normal day in the hive. Changelings were going about their business, but they were doing it sneakily—they were all trying to hide their excitement.
Their big sister was coming home.
—I picked her up and am driving there now. You guys all set?— Rainbow Dash asked in a direct chat with Ocellus.
—Yup. Just give me a few seconds warning before she gets in the door.—
—Got it.— Rainbow Dash was driving as she messaged. Keeping her car to the normal speed limit meant she was free to do a lot more with her accelerated mind. —Nora, how's work?—
—Tedious as always. They will spend a week deliberating and then, as if they need to, spend an hour giving a speech before actually telling everyone their answer.— Nora Bug sat in court beside Twilight Velvet, their personal chat channel buzzing with idle conversation while they recorded the speech from the judge for later perusal and archiving.
Satisfied the digital preparations were set, Ocellus looked around the living room. "Girls, I don't think we've ever had twelve upright lamps." Six of the lamps turned back into changelings with a flash of green fire. "Maybe throw pillows?"
Three of the remaining lamps flared with green fire and hurled themselves onto the couch, shapechanging into cushions as they did so.
Ignoring the one extra lamp, Ocellus let out a chirpy giggle and took up her own spot right beside the door. —How much longer?—
—Just about to pull up now. Get ready.— Rainbow saw her home halfway down the street and might have stepped on the pedal just a little harder as a result. "Just about there."
"Everyone's so quiet. I'm so used to only having a few friends in my hive with me. I'm almost afraid to set myself as online." Byte's hands were clutched in her lap, and even her mother's driving wasn't getting through to her. "Did anyone even miss me?"
"I did." Rainbow pulled the car into her driveway and then leaned over to kiss Byte on the cheek. "Let's go ask the others. I'm sure someone's inside. I did tell them I was bringing you back."
The kiss and a hug from her mother had Byte feeling chirpy and more confident. She hugged Rainbow back and then sighed. "I guess I was just expecting… I don't know. The school was amazing in Equestria, but it wasn't home."
"C'mon, kiddo, let's head inside and fire up a game. When was the last time you got to play something?"
Her eyes widening, Byte let out a surprised chirp and buzzed her wings. Assuming her human form had been difficult after spending a year in her own shell, and she'd left her wings on. "Coming!"
—We're walking toward the door,— Rainbow Dash sent.
Ocellus flickered with green fire and became a coat rack beside the door. Her senses dimmed somewhat, so she swapped to viewing one of the cameras. She watched the front door unlock and open, and watched Byte walk inside. Behind her, Rainbow Dash nodded.
Byte didn't know what to think when she saw the whole room erupt into green fire. Couch cushions, lamps, an inexplicably superfluous three televisions, and even the coat rack beside her became a familiar, multi-colored changeling.
"Surprise!" Ocellus and two dozen other changelings shouted, and yet more shouted into ChirpNet.
Caught off-guard, Byte chirped excitedly to see her sisters, and held out her arms to hug them. "I can't believe you did this! Mom! Did you know about this?"
"'course I did. They needed me to help coordinate it and keep you from connecting to ChirpNet too early. You should totally go online now, though." The delight of her big family reunited made Rainbow want to chirp herself. She instead waited for Byte to come online and sent her a pile of hug emoji.
Overwhelmed by the flood of chirping and messages pouring into her, Byte felt excited and extra chirpy. —Thank you, everyone! I missed all of you so much!—
—You should tell them,— Rarity sent to Nora. —They'll want to know.—
—It can wait a little bit. Let Byte have her celebration. This news, now, cannot be undone.— Nora stood up beside Mrs. Velvet and turned to her. They didn't need to exchange any words aloud, not after the deliberation had just been revealed.
—We did it, Nora. Almost a full year of fighting in court, but it's now done.— For Twilight Velvet, conversing and even accessing data over her digital interface was as easy as holding regular conversations now, and the way it caused her to think a little faster than normal was a huge boon for her work. —Perhaps invite your friends around for a party? Get everyone together?—
Rarity chirped up a storm and started sending a flood of messages out. —Rainy, dear, I'm inviting some friends over. Nora had a little win, and once Byte is done being welcomed back, she'd like to announce it and make this party a bit bigger.—
—Awww yeah! Bobbin, can you pick up some stuff on the way home? Sending you a shopping list.— Rainbow sent a list of drinks and food she could easily cook for their friends. —How's the boutique doing today?—
—Great! We made some sales and one lady ordered a wedding dress!— Bobbin was in the process of boxing up a dress for a young man who looked positively ecstatic. "I hope you enjoy it! My mom is just amazing at making clothes."
"Oh, tell me about it. I don't even know how I got to chatting with her, but her designs are to die for! I can't believe I get to own a Rarity Original for myself! My girlfriend will be soooo jealous!" The young man hugged the box to his chest in glee. "Well, I must be off! I can't wait to try this on!"
—Mom, you just made someone so happy I feel a little drunk,— Bobbin sent Rarity.
—Hrmm?— Rarity quickly logged into the sales system at her boutique. —Oh, that young man was a delight to make something for. Please save some of his love for me.—
Bobbin chirped a giggle and fired off a digital, chirpy version of it to Rarity. —I'm fairly sure you could sample it yourself. He still has your chat details, and I think he'll be sending a message to you the moment he gets that on.—
The party started out as a relatively tight family affair until Rarity and Rainbow's high school friends arrived. Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich had been the first, followed by Sunset Shimmer and Flash Sentry, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Maud Pie, and finally Applejack.
The moment Applejack was in the door, Pinkie finally couldn't keep it in any longer. She put down her soda and cleared her throat while standing. "Excuse me, but we have an announcement."
Cheese stood up beside Pinkie and pulled her to his side. Making a show of kissing the top of her head. "I love you, Pinks."
A shiver ran through Pinkie at the affection. A hand moved involuntarily to her belly and she felt the warmth of all her friends seeping into her. "We're going to have a baby."
Rarity and Nora could have made a meal out of the room and been completely full. Everyone started talking at once and congratulating both Cheese and Pinkie. Once everything settled down, Pinkie aimed herself to sit next to Sunset with all the guile of a male ostrich doing its mating dance. "Sooooo. I don't suppose you'd be able to give me some pointers?"
"Enjoy your pregnancy, Pinkie. Don't stress, let Cheese help you as much as he wants to, and avoid any mental-attacking demons." Sunset looked down and her whole expression changed. The little girl in her arms soaked up every ounce of her attention and—when her daughter looked up at her—she melted into the biggest smile ever. "Are you hungry?"
Fluttering joy assailed Pinkie too. She watched as Sunset reached down and checked on her daughter. "Don't you ever worry that you might do something wrong?"
"Constantly. You'll make enough mistakes to cement that worry in stone, but at the same time you fight every day to do enough right."
"Do you think Rarity got lucky?" The question slipped out before Pinkie could stop it—a habit of hers from the day she first started talking. "I—I don't mean, that is…"
"Pinkie, Rarity has had to not just struggle each day to bring up her family, she's waged a war against monsters and society itself so that her kids have a place in it. Do I think she's lucky? She bound herself to those who love her, just as we both have. She's like a sister to me—you all are."
Feeling giddy with happiness, Pinkie put an arm around Sunset and hugged her. "I've just been so excited and terrified about this. It's nice to have someone tell me I'll survive, but I still need—"
"Me?" Cheese asked as he sat down on the couch beside Pinkie.
Pinkie broke into giggles and put her arms around Sunset and Cheese and squeezed both to her sides.
"Things are different in Ponyville, for changelings. They've had a whole year of getting used to me." Byte stood beside Ocellus at the entrance of the portal to Equestria. "And you might even find that some ponies are okay with you nibbling."
"What?!" Ocellus chirped in shock. "But—You walked around without any disguise on?"
"Well, yeah. Once Starlight got me hooked up with my own little hive there, it was great. Come on, I'll show you." Holding out her hand, Byte waited for Ocellus to take it. "I'll see you in a day, Mom!" —Love you moms!—
—A day? I'll just hang around at this time tomorrow then,— Rainbow Dash sent.
Bobbin's overworked chirp blasted through the chat toward Byte. —A whole day trying to juggle all this? You better only take a day!—
—I promise, sis.— Waiting only for another two warm chirps from Rarity and Nora, Byte stepped through the portal with Ocellus beside her.
It had been a whole year since Ocellus had been to Equestria. She'd been through and done a lot in her time away from home. Stepping out, she fell to all fours and chirped in surprise as she was again subject to gravity as a quadruped.
"Oof. That always comes as a bit of a surprise. Are you okay?" Byte asked. She tried to look around the room, but it was dim except for the—
"Surprise!"
In a fit of panic, both Ocellus and Byte shapechanged into furnishings. Byte chose a stylish single-seat sofa while Ocellus picked a cushion and flopped on Byte artfully. All the ponies and changelings in the room broke into nervous giggles.
Twilight Sparkle stepped forward and held out a hoof to Ocellus and Byte. "Sorry for startling you. We figured a Welcome Home Ocellus party was in order. Well, Pinkie demanded it, and last time I checked Equestria always bowed to the might of Pinkie Pie where parties are concerned."
Pronking forward, Pinkie leaned in close to Ocellus. "Sorry, but we have this huuuuuge party ready for you." Pressing her nose to one of the cushion's tassels, Pinkie lowered her voice. "If you're changeling-hungry, I don't mind you nibbling."
That information was enough of a surprise to coax Ocellus out of her disguise. When Byte reformed beside her, she felt like she was still connected to her despite lacking ChirpNet's connection. "S-Sorry. It was a bit of a surprise, and no one mentioned there would be all of you here."
"Well, it wouldn't have been a surprise party if you had known, silly. Come on, you need to meet everypony and everybuggy all over again, I bet!" Pinkie didn't give Ocellus time to recuperate, she grabbed the changeling's hoof and pulled her into the crowd.
Byte, who wasn't overly fond of such a tightly-packed crowd either, followed her friend and kept close. After all, chirpy bugs stick together.
"You're chirping." King Thorax was surprised by Ocellus' audible stridulations. He tried to bite back on the old-hive prejudices that made chirping something only very young nymphs did, and only until they were told it wasn't right.
Stepping up beside Ocellus, Byte narrowed her eyes at Thorax—and chirped.
Ocellus chirped a little louder in harmony with Byte's. "Chirping, King Thorax, is what changelings do!"