Summer Clouds Over Canterlot IV

>It was a beautiful and monster free day in Ponyville.
>The birds were chirping their sweet summer song and the flowers in Caramel’s garden were in full bloom.
>Toiling away down in the flower patch was Caramel himself, tending to his azaleas.
>Taking a sip of lemonade he set his pruning shears down and admired his work.
>He had trimmed a few of the taller buds off, which made him nervous.
>The Flower Sisters had told him not to be afraid of pruning while the flowers were in bloom, but he wasn’t very sure of his cuts.
>They should be nice, tight, and pretty they said, all to make them the more beautiful next year.
>Caramel wasn’t sure how much was flirting and how much was professional advice but he listened to them, they were the experts after all.
>And Daisy was cute.
>Normally he would ask Anon over to chat about gardening, Anon had a respectable rose garden himself, but he wasn’t home.
>Around eleven Princess Luna had teleported into the street, shouting nonsense about defending Anon’s honor.
>And then she just foalnapped him in broad daylight.
>The Princess of Equestria, snatching handsome young stallions from their yards.
>Caramel already told all of the guys in town and they agreed, the matriarchy was growing too bold.
>He had a whole rescue team together and everything, but he remembered something.
>Princess Luna had referred to Anon as Prince Anonymous.
>Caramel pouted and flicked his tail.
>He didn’t know if Anon was a secret hyoo-man prince or if he was having some whirlwind romance with the Princesses, but one thing was certain.
>He hadn’t told Caramel a thing.

>Anon didn’t seem happy to see Luna.
>Maybe he had been leading her on.
>Caramel shrugged.
>Whatever was going on he hadn’t told his best friend Caramel about it.
>The two of them had been neighbors for years.
>Why, he was the only stallion Anon regularly spent time with outside of the gang getting together for colt’s night.
>Anon had way too many filly friends.
>Caramel knew that he was a janecolt but a lot of those mares wanted more than friendship.
>And it was disgusting.
>Mares like Rarity were harmless, but he was ‘friends’ with a Trixie, no joke her name was actually Trixie.
>But what really hurt was that Anon probably would have told that hussy Trixie all about his Canterlot escapades.
>Well, if that’s what their friendship meant to him then, Caramel sniffed, then he wouldn’t get invited to Sunday brunch.
>Next door at Anon’s house ponies fluttered in and out, it was a circus.
>Pegasai flew through windows like caveponies while unicorns and earth ponies occasionally ran out the back door.
>Being the nosy neighbor that he was, Caramel took a peek.
>He didn’t recognize anypony, but he noticed that a hoofful of them were stallions.
>He knew that Queenie wasn’t the cheating type but he still mentally catalogued everything that was going on while Anon was gone.
>Typical mare, the stallion leaves and she immediately throws a party.
>He had never liked Queen Me.

>She was mean.
>She never ate his lemon tarts when Anon and her came over, and she never gave him any compliments like Anon did.
>And the word on the street was that she was abusing Anon.
>Sure, it may have been his word that started the rumor but, and thought he hated the phrase, he felt it in his gut.
>Caramel didn’t have a gut.
>He had a slender tummy that he had worked very hard for, fyi.
>Why else would a nice stallion like Anon stay with such a grump, she had to be taking advantage of his kindness.
>Also, Queenie hated Caramel using her nickname and made him call her Queen Me, which was just so inconvenient.
>It’d be like Big Mac forcing everypony to refer to him as strictly Big Macintosh.
>It made him feel as if she didn’t want to be his friend, like his presence was bothering her.
>Anon could do better, he was somepony that could light up a friend’s day just by laughing.
>Usually it was his friend that he was laughing at, but he was always there when it counted.
>Caramel may have been mad, but the thought of losing Anon’s friendship frightened him.
>He was the only ‘pony’ who listened to his constant complaining.
>Anon had been the one who got him off that fad diet before he withered away.
>He’d spent countless hours helping Caramel with his relationship issues, getting him ready for dates, and consoling him after bad breakups.
>And that time when Caramel had joined that Nightmare cult it was Anon who slapped him in the face right before they sacrificed Princess Twilight’s magic to the ether.
>Anon was a good friend in his own way.
>He just needed to stop with his mono horseapples, start a herd, and get some mares to straighten his bitchy marefriend out.
>A marefriend that Caramel was definitely tattling on when Anon got back.
>With a dramatic sigh he went back to watering his azaleas.
>He gazed longingly at his neighbor’s house.
>It was a shame he wasn’t invited.
>The party was probably really fun too.


>Much like the human, Anon’s home stuck out like a stubborn nail.
>The surrounding homes were all in the traditional pony style, thatched roofs and timber frames.
>Anon’s house was a modest Colonial.
>With shingles.
>A feature Anonymous fought with the architects over for weeks.
>It wasn’t that big, but it was cozy and it was his.
>While rather drab looking on the outside, the interior was wall to wall hardwood.
>Oak, mahogany, chestnut, elm, ebony, anything Anon could get his hands on.
>This was the human’s last bastion of manliness.
>Anon later came to find, after expanding his business of making knickknacks and furniture to home décor, that ironically his ultra masculine style was viewed as very, very colty.
>We’re talking ponies viewed him as the queer eye in home design levels of colty.
>Hence the magazine exposure.
>Wood for some reason was intrinsically linked with stallions, he hadn’t asked why but there was an obvious answer and it pissed him off.
>He hated this world sometimes.
>But like everything else the human took his licks and soldiered on.
>In the room Anon had dubbed ‘The Emerald Room’, otherwise known as the family room, Chrysalis was throwing a fit.
“D-461, where are those maps of Canterlot?”
>Changelings were franticly rushing into the room, dropping off intelligence reports, and gathering for the mission briefing.
>“Uh, Charley should be back with them any moment, my Queen.”
“Remind me, which one of you is Charley?”
>“I-277, my Queen.” Said Four-Sixty-one, whom Anon had lovingly named Leslie.
>Her human had found it difficult to remember the ling’s names, just as she found it difficult to remember their new ones.
>There were just the drones, intelligence, soldier, and officer ling.
>It should be simple.
>The current hive only had four thousand, six hundred ninety-six lings.
>That was barely any.
>Though she supposed males have always had fanciful notions when it came to naming children.

>He had insisted on giving each and every ling a name of their own, feeling that the numbers made them cold and mechanical.
>The both of them had decided that changeling names were reserved for royalty, as there weren’t enough bug related names to go around, so Anon had suggested giving them traditional human names.
>The only stipulation being that he was to keep the names gender connotations to himself, as the ling were sexless and didn’t need any unnecessary confusion.
>And ‘G’ names were off limits as the gryphons’ had unexpectedly appropriated them at some point in the past.
>So now her ling carried proud human names.
>Like Charley.
>The noble ling I-277, a ling that had faithfully served the crown for decades, a ling skilled in the art of stealth and infiltration, was now known as Charley.
>Chrysalis didn’t think much of them but her lings loved their new names almost as much as they loved their King.
>Anonymous wasn’t officially the king…yet, but to the lings he was the Changeling King in all but name.
>A haggard ling ran into the room carrying a scroll.
>“The Canterlot maps, my Queen.” Charley said, standing at attention.
“Splendid, you are dismissed.”
>The Queen took them into her magic and the maps were tacked up on the operations corkboard.
>With everything in place to plan their attack the Queen felt a monologue coming on.
>With gusto she began to pace across the floor.
“I tried to play nice, I attempted being civil, and what did it get me?” Chrysalis said as she looked around the crowded room.
“We found the first being since my father, King Typhon, that embraced us willingly. He let us into his home, fed us with his love, and hid us from the ponies. The changelings could have had a king but instead once again we find ourselves left in the lurch.” She struck the corner of the fireplace with her leg, the gold baubles atop shaking and a small splinter of wood chipping off as she did.
>A hush fell over the room.

>Chrysalis watched as the small spec of wood fell to the floor.
>Uh oh.
>The King to be wouldn’t be pleased with that.
“Ah, where is D-189? Someling get me D-189.” She roared as she started to hyperventilate.
>“Right here your majesty.” Said the carpenter ling.
“Eighteen-Nine can you fix this?”
>“Yes, my Queen. King Anon shouldn’t be able to tell if I were to sand and refinish the entire fireplace frame.”
“Thank the Goddess, get to work immediately.”
>Norm, at least Anon thought they looked like a Norm, left to get their tools.
>Chrysalis breathed a sigh of relief.
>Anonymous had been trying to curb her temper lately, mostly because she broke things when she was angry, this in turn made Anon angry.
>And noling wanted the King unhappy.
>Whenever the Queen got scolded the King’s irritation wafted through the house, giving it a bad taste.
>During this, the lings would often retreat to the makeshift basement hive until someling gave the all clear.
>Gently, but enough to make a satisfying bang, Chrysalis slammed her forelegs on the coffee table.
“As I was saying, we changeling have attempted to turn over a new leaf and do things the pony way, and how did they repay us?” A burst of magic lit the fireplace in an ambient green fire. “By stealing our King from us.”
>The soldier ling rhythmically stomped out a tune, the other ling joining in harmony.
“To make matters worse, it wasn’t just anypony who stole my beloved.” She spat. “No, it was the pony Princesses, the hypocritical despots who have to have everything their way.”
>Everyling already knew the situation, there were even giant doodles of the Queen standing above unconscious princesses up on the board, but monologing was a necessary outlet for the Queen to discharge her built up negative emotions.
>Some ling flicked the dimmer switch, allowing the green firelight to illuminate their Queen’s speech.

“If they wish to steal my happiness then I shall destroy theirs.” Pointing to the intel on the corkboard she continued. “This weekend they will throw their precious centennial garden party, which is when we will strike.”
>She picked up a glass of wine and took a theatrical drink, not swallowing but spitting the liquid into the fire.
 “While they celebrate, you my lings will have taken key positions across the city. And when I give the order… the city will be ours. The stupid, fat ponies will be powerless to stop us.”
>Letting out a short, villainous cackle she threw the wine glass into the fireplace where it exploded.
“With Anon’s love I’m much stronger than I ever was on borrowed love, so I should be able to destroy the Princesses and the Elements with ease. And once every pony has fallen we will raze Canterlot from Equestria, leaving only the new capital city of the changeling… Rivenfell.”
>The ling’s stomps reached a crescendo and the lights came back on.
“But first and foremost we must rescue our King.”
>Cheers and hurrahs swept the room.
>A tool belt wearing Norm returned with the items needed for the simple job ahead.
>Taking one look at the fireplace Norm’s muzzle scrunched.
>“My Queen, did you break another glass in the fireplace.” It wasn’t a question as this was a frequent occurrence, and the evidence was rather evident.
“You worry too much Eighteen-Nine.” She said as she magically smothered the fire. “D-432, sweep up the glass. D-388, fetch another glass from the hive.”
>Chrysalis had thought ahead and bought duplicate sets of their kitchen glassware, in case of incidents.
>Genius, really.
>Anon would never know she had accidently broken his favorite Father’s Day mug, or that she still had five more replacements hidden away in the hive.
>“Though it may be flame-retardant this rug isn’t resistant to wine stains, my Queen.” Norm said pawing at the Saddle Arabian carpet.

>The Queen’s eyes widened and her breathing became less controlled.
>The aforementioned splotch of wine was in the middle of a white section of carpet.
>Figures.
“One-Forty-Four.” She shrieked. “Where is I-144?”
>Spymaster Seventy spoke up.
>“They’re off on a reconnaissance mission in Canterlot your highness.”
“Seventy, do you think you could make this stain disappear?” Chrysalis said with rare desperation in her voice.
>“Well, it is not my area of expertise but King Anon didn’t name me Sly for nothing. The stain will be invisible to the naked eye once I am through with it.”
>Anonymous had actually named the ling Sylvester.
>But like most of the high ranking ling the Spymaster was self-absorbed, asserting that the other lings call them Sly.
>That would show such a lowly Intelligence ling their place in the hive, Sly thought as they smiled to themselves.
>I-144 had missed their chance at glory.
>The Spymaster couldn’t allow a subordinate to steal a march, especially when they had a formidable name like Marilyn.
>The name practically oozed power, commanding awe and terror in everyling in the Intelligence branch.
>A ling like that couldn’t gain too much favor from the Queen, lest retirement would arrive early for old Sly.
“Go, go before the stain sets you puffed up fool.” Chrysalis hissed.
>Rug thrown over their back the Spymaster hurried to the kitchen to eradicate the stain and secure their place as Chief of Intel.
>Chrysalis rolled her eyes at the display of bravado.
>Though she loved her ling, trusting the officers and their chronic backstabbing was almost as bad as trusting a gryphon.
>Almost.
“You all know your roles.” Clicking her tarsus on the wood floor Chrysalis dispersed her subjects. “Go forth and serve the crown, remember you fight for your King.”
>Ling scattered like… well, bugs, and in the chaos a small form squeezed into the room.
>It was a young ling from the most recent clutch.

>They were still fairly small, only just having had their third molting.
>The spring clutch was the first to have never been known by a number and Chrysalis would never forget these ling’s names.
>Before her stood Maxwell.
>“Mommy where’s Daddy?”
>Irradiating some stored love she coddled the little one.
“Daddy’s on a business trip, he’ll be back in a few days.”
>“I miss him.”
“We all do honey, we all do.” She repeated as she hugged the tiny ling. “But it will only be a few days.”
>The house felt empty with him gone.
>His phantom emotions faintly floated about, not enough to taste but more than enough to remind them that he had been there mere hours ago.
>Everything in the home was charged with his emotional residue, reminding the changeling what they lost no matter where they looked.
>Their relationship had started as a lie.
>The original plan had been to use Anon and his home to get a tactical position from which she could launch an attack on the Elements, but now…
>Chrysalis didn’t care about dominating Equestria, compared to Anon it wasn’t as important.
>She just wanted her king back, her Anonymous.
>And if the Princesses had laid their hooves on him then she…
>Well, she didn’t know what she would do as the current plan already included the complete destruction of Canterlot, but whatever she decided on would be far worse.
“Mommy’s busy, go play with your siblings.” The Queen said, gently sending the child off.
>“Awight, Love you mommy, bye.”
>She could feel the love in the ling’s words.
>The hive had changed since Anon came into their lives.
>Before, a ling would never allow love to seep out of them, it was much too precious.
>But now newlings were recklessly giving out love to others, something unheard of in times of their elder ling who didn’t know when their next meal might be.
>Periods of strife filled far too many pages in changeling history, it was time for an era of prosperity.

>When Anonymous had asked her if there were boy and girl ling she had told him that the only gendered ling was a Changeling Queen, the rest nothing more than asexual drones.
>Foolishly, Anon had remarked aloud that he thought Chrysalis II sounded like a neat name for the next queen, as he had always wished that he had a regal sounding name like Anonymous III.
>Chrysalis blushed thinking about it, but she had to admit that it was a rather attractive suggestion.
>A queen could only be birthed with love, true love between mates.
>And despite feeling that she still had a few more decades of ruling left in her, the thought of handing her crown over to her daughter didn’t sound so bad.
>Being constantly brimming with Anon’s love was making her soft.
>Sitting down on the loveseat, Chrysalis contemplated life without Anon.
>Wretched.
>The changeling couldn’t go back to the lives they lived before, they wouldn’t go back.
>They would fight for that small glimmer of hope.
>A whimsical knock sounded on the front door.
>It sounded like ‘Shave and a Manecut’.
>Chrysalis shifted into her ‘Queen Me’ persona as she got up to answer it.
>She wasn’t in the mood for Caramel’s colty mindgames.
>A secret code was sent to her ling with the door bells in the foyer, warning them of a visitor.
>Opening the door she wasn’t met with Caramel but a middle aged stallion in a butler suit.
“Hello?”
>“Ah, Lady Queen Me I presume.”
“Yes, who are you?”
>“Pardon Milady, I am Savoir Faire, valet to Prince Blueblood. Prince Anonymous sent me.”
>Prince?
>Various emotions surged through Chrysalis.
>Fury, confusion, worry, and then sheer rage.
>Finally she settled into ‘empty’.
“Wha… how…” She swallowed, but her mouth was dry. “Prince?”
>“Can I come in, these matters are best kept private.”
“C-certainly.”

>In the living room her ling hadn’t managed to cover up the operations corkboard.
>So suspicious ponies awkwardly stood in front of it, trying to cover what they could.
>One whistled in a very ‘don’t look at me, I’m not suspicious’ manner, a staple tactic of the changeling stealth force.
>Another was wearing a maid bonnet and was dusting.
>The others made no attempt to conceal their efforts to cover it with their bodies.
>But the guest didn’t pay them any mind.
>Seating himself Savoir patted the Queen’s wither.
>“Don’t worry my dear, I saw how you reacted to Anonymous’ title. It isn’t as you think.”
>Now she was back to being furious.
“Well what is it then?”
>“Young Anonymous has been adopted by Princess Celestia.”
>What.
>That’s stupid.
>Nothing the ponies did made sense, why now of all times would Celestia choose to adopt.
>Why Anon?
>Ugh, that would mean that technically The Princess was her mother-in-law.
>Great.
>Chrysalis could forget about asking for her blessing.
>“But I regret to inform you that wedding bells are indeed on the horizon. Princess Luna has arranged a fiancée. She will be arriving tonight by sky yacht.”
>Luna.
>This was all her doing.
>Once, the Queen had respected the Princess formerly known as Nightmare Moon, now it seemed that the powerful night goddess was her enemy.
>So be it.
>Long ago it wasn’t uncommon for suitors to fight a mother or aunt of the male they wished to wed.
>This would be the grandest test of worth in eons and Chrysalis was confident of victory.
“So did Anon send you to stop me from rushing after him?”
>Savoir Faire glanced at the corkboard which bared the title ‘Operation Kingseeker ‘.
>“On the contrary, he sent me to bring Milady to him. He has a plan that involves less violence.” He said gesturing to the top secret changeling documents.
>The ‘ponies’ that had been guarding the board panicked, but the Queen calmed them with a wave of a foreleg.

>Looking behind her guest Chrysalis saw a pair of changelings.
>One with a sack.
>And one with Anon’s maple baseball bat, which he kept in their bedroom for ‘intruders’.
>The second ling was winding up a swing.
>She shook her head and they stood down, rather reluctantly.
“Anon has a plan does he? Something that will not only get him back home but also annul his engagement?”
>Anon’s plans weren’t bad per say, they were unique.
>Not that Anon wasn’t intelligent but heavy thinking was best left to females.
>“Indeed, Prince Anon has come up with an ingenious plan. With the aid of Prince Blueblood and myself, we are to sneak Milady into Canterlot where you will ingratiate yourself with the Princesses. Prince Anon’s wish is that you appear more deserving the title of fiancée.”
>That plan sounded like Anon.
>Maybe she should thank Luna for taking him if this all worked out.
>The timing was terrible and the groom was technically foalnapped, but if this ended with the two of them walking down the aisle she couldn’t complain.
>She wasn’t happy with the fact that Anon proposed first in this roundabout manner, but it was backwards like everything else about him.
“You don’t seem surprised that I’m a changeling.” She said as she dropped her glamour.
>“I am, it merely isn’t proper to show it I’m afraid.”
“So why help me? I’m sure you remember the last royal wedding, we’re enemies.”
>“This plan will not only solve things peacefully but bring two lovers together. I’m reminded of Queen Titania and Mr. Bottom looking at the two of you. Very romantic, how could a stallion not help in any way they are able?”
>Like most stallions this one was a smooth talker.
>Perhaps if more ponies were like him, and less screamed in terror at the sight of a changeling, Chrysalis wouldn’t want to crush them beneath her tarsus.
“Strategist Nine.” She yelled.
>A ling like any other entered the room.
>“Yes, your grace?”

“There has been a change of plans, shift Operation Kingseeker into phase three. Await my order.”
>“Right away, your grace.” The busy little ling shuffled out.
>“The two of you complement each other wonderfully.” Savoir said hopping to his hooves. “Come along, the train to Canterlot waits for nopony.”
>Looking at the clock Chrysalis saw that it was five ‘til four.
>The train left in minutes.
“But it’s too late to get a ticket.”
>“Luckily I already took it upon myself to procure us tickets, don’t dawdle or we’ll miss our train.”
>After a mad dash to the station the pair collapsed into their private car.
>Well Chrysalis collapsed, Savoir Faire elegantly made his way to his seat and then sort of slowly deflated.
>“Supper starts at six, which gives us enough time to give Milady a makeover befitting a proper lady. As a master of disguise it shan’t be a difficult part to play, in fact there is a significant advantage.”
>Ugh.
>Chrysalis hated wearing clothes.
>But it was for Anon.
>Time to show those Canterlot fillies what a real mare looked like.
“Oh, joy.” She replied sarcastically.