A Changeling's Love to Hate

"Wah! NO! DON'T!" Dark Fang shouted. He jump up out of his bed and accidentally landed on something soft.

"Oof! Hey! Get off me you double sighted tub of lard!" Whoever it was has bucked him right off, slamming him into a wall. Dark Fang was a bit dazed after getting hit against the rocky wall of the tunnel they were in. He was still stuck in the was he was leaving a nice dent in it the shape of him. "Seriously Dark Fang, I didn't ask for a wake up scream. So stop getting those nightmares and let me get my beauty sleep."

"Death Moon... that would kill a normal creature." A Changeling that seemed a bit older than the two said. He was sitting in the corner, marking stuff on the cave wall with a stick with green goo on it.

"Meh... he'll be fine. Dark Fang is strong!" Death Moon said, chuckling, trying to get back to sleep. "But definitely not brave. Heh heh!"

Dark Fang slowly slid out of the wall and plopped onto the ground. "Oh, I'll get you for that!"

"Oh yeah?" Death Moon jumped up and glared at her opponent. Sleep didn't matter to her anymore. Putting this Changeling in his place was more important now. "Try me!"

"Stop it now before you hurt someone else!" The older Changeling said.

"Sorry, Waver..." The two Changelings said, being slightly depressed as they were having a bit of fun with each other.

"Now, Dark Fang, you've been getting too many of these nightmares. Anymore and Death Moon definitely will want to kill you someday, and we don't want that now do we?"

"Of course I'd do that!" Death Moon was chuckling, but Dark Fang just looked kind of depressed. He was staring at the ground, not saying a word. "Okay, come on Dark Fan, you know I'm joking like always."

"It's not you..." Dark Fang muttered sadly. "It's the dreams I keep getting."

"Oh? What's going on then?"

"Yes, please tell us. It'll probably help ease your pain." Waver said, staring at the Changeling.

"Well... I've been getting weird messages. Weird messages that in a way... I feel are meant for me. It's telling me that we are hurting other species too much. It's telling me that... gah! Nevermind. I can't say it." He banged his head against the wall of the cave a couple of times.

"Oh come on. It can't be that bad." Death Moon said. "Go on, tell us more!"

"Death Moon, maybe we should leave him be until he's ready." Waver said.

Death Moon sighed and looked kind of annoyed. "Alright, fine. Then what can we do today, mentor?"

"Practice some more fighting techniques of course. But let's go meet the queen in the great chamber. She said she's got an important message. It's about the invasion going on next week, and everyone needs to be ready." Waver stood up and started walking down farther into the cave. "Oh, and Dark Fang, it would be nice if you could attend. We could use your fighting techniques in this big battle. With you, surely we can't lose!"

"Ha ha! With him we'll surely lose because the two of us always fight!" Death Moon laughed about this, "Come on Dark Fang, you know how true that is, right?!"

"Shut it, Death Moon. You're not helping." Waver said, glaring at the young Changeling.

Death Moon sighed once more and trotted up next to Waver, looking annoyed with her best friend who's now traumatized by nightmares.

Waver gave a sad look to Dark Fang who happened to still stare at the ground, looking depressed. "You sure you don't want to go? It's very important. All of us are going to be there." Dark Fang did not budge at all. He didn't even move, except for blinking regretfully about something. "Well, I guess we'll just share the news with you once we get back. Take care, young one."

With that, the two Changelings trotted down the tunnel to head straight for the meeting they were talking about. Dark Fang lied down on his back, staring up at the ceiling of the cave. He felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. This was the way he lived for his entire life. His constant dreams made him question his way of life. No, not his. It was the Changeling way of life. His dreams showed him that other species were getting hurt very badly because of this. Even families were losing their kids to them. These kids were being lost because the Changelings were converting them against their own will, never to see their true parents again. Not only that, but when they feed off of love, sometimes they'll feed off of so much that the ponies they feed on will die, like as if they lost all of their blood. Ponies were being sacrificed... for the good of the Changelings. It was wrong and he knew it.

He couldn't sit around and do nothing about it. But he was also afraid of what might happen if he tried. This could mean that he was to be starved to death. It could mean he get banished... or worse... execution.

Though, what really is driving him to a decision, is that voice in his dreams. That loud female voice when he sees the moon. Who was it? Why was she talking to him? And how does she know him? He wanted answers. He wanted to know more about what was going on. And maybe... if he tried to do the right thing, maybe he'll get the answers he seek. Or... at least... that's what he felt.

"Well... only one way to find out then..." He muttered. He stared down the cave where the other two went. The cave looked miles and miles long, even though in reality, it was just a short walk to the curve. His eyes were telling him that this is a one way trip. "There's no going back after this..."

"Welcome my subjects!" Queen Chrysalis shouted above all of the noise at the top of the highest mound in the giant room of the cave. The room was much larger than a football stadium, with the highest mound being in the center of it all. Along the edges, the room sloped up so Changelings in the back could see. There were tens of thousands of them in the room, and they were all cheering for their queen. "As you all already know, next week is our invasion of Canterlot. Once we finally conquer Princess Celestia's throne, all of Equestria will be ours for the taking! We will live on for a long time and convert Princess Celestia to our side. Our species... will be unbeatable!"

"YEAH!" The crowd of Changelings shouted. "All hail Queen Chrysalis!"

"That's right, my subjects! We will thrive forever!"

As Queen Chrysalis was giving her speech, Dark Fang was watching from the entrance of one of the caves. He looked all over the place and saw that pretty much every Changeling living in the hive was present in the meeting. There were all happy and content with this life, but not Dark Fang. Dark Fang wishes that there was another way that Changelings to feed on love. A way that wouldn't hurt anyone. Though, he wasn't sure how, but maybe the queen would listen to what he had to say.

"Excuse me, pardon me. Oh sorry about that!" Dark Fang muttered as he tried to get through the crowd down to the mound. It felt kind of uncomfortable to be squished in within all of these Changelings. He even wondered how he managed to survive being with all of them at once as well. Though, he manged to get on through the crowd after about 10 minutes of struggling through. By the time he got to the bottom, he stopped. He was at the edge where the crowd stopped and broke into a huge circular gap within the crowd. In the middle of it was the Queen on her mound. Dark Fang felt a little embarrassed to even think about walking out into the open like that, where everyone will pin point him.

"Go!"

"What?" Dark Fang muttered silently/

"GO!"

It was a voice inside of his head. It was the same one that thundered in his dream. The same one that terrified him. At this point, he wasn't sure of which he was more afraid of now. Talking to the queen in front of everyone he knew or the mysterious voice that nags him to do the right thing.

"GO!"

Tell me who you are first! Dark Fang thought, thinking that maybe it's a way to communicate back without attracting much attention from the Changelings around him.

"Go, and all shall be revealed!"

Please, tell me who you are first! I want to know!

The voice inside his head stopped. Dark Fang was still hesitating while the queen was talking about her plans to ponynap someone by the name of Mi Amore Cadenza and impersonate her. Dark Fang didn't know who that was. Rather, he didn't want to know as more ponies will definitely get hurt. Maybe even worse, they will lose their beloved leader.

"Go! Everything will be fine!"

Dark Fang didn't protest this time. He felt his legs move on their own towards the queen. He couldn't help it. It's like as if the voice inside his head was controlling him. He didn't know what to do. Not even knew what to say. Oh, please don't make me do this! He thought very hard. Please let this nightmare be over... I just want to...

"Yes? What is it Dark Fang?"

Dark Fang looked around and saw that he was in front the one and only Queen Chrysalis. She looked kind of terrifying, even though he's already seen her many times. But this close up to her made him feel as though he was talking to another one of his worst nightmares in person. He swallowed hard, he looked into her eyes, and sweated with nervousness.

Even though the queen was actually giving a friendly smile, something about her felt very menacing, making Dark Fang frozen solid in place. But then, the words finally escaped his mouth. "I think we should cancel the invasion!"

There was a loud gasp going on within the entire crowd of Changelings. Lots of muttering and murmuring can be heard among them. Lots of them were glaring eyes down at him, as if they wee angry with him disrespecting the queen's ways.

The queen herself, unfortunately, also didn't look too happy with what Dark Fang said. "Okay... care to share your thoughts then?"

Well, at least she might hear me out... Dark Fang thought. "It's just... so many ponies getting hurt because of us. Those ponies out there are terrified because of us. We threaten them and then suck the love right out of them." There was more murmuring going on in the crowd. They clearly weren't pleased to hear Dark Fang's words. This didn't stop him, though. "And what's worse for them is that many of them lose their fillies to us because he convert them into us. They aren't even real Changelings and we have to live with them!" The crowd starting yelling protests of Dark Fang's words. Everything he was saying was only making situations worse. Dark Fang wanted to stop. He really did. In all of his life he really did. But something deep down inside him made him know he was doing the right thing, which felt kind of good for some reason. Though, seeing as how he got everyone's attention, he may as well finish his thoughts. "And these ponies... they have families! They have families like how we are one big family! It'll be a grievance to some of us if we lose one Changeling, even if we are thousands! They are not much different than us! They are heartbroken because of our way of life! I say... we need to change our ways and find a better way!"

As expected, the Changelings started to snarl and taunt Dark Fang. Dark Fang managed to pinpoint where Death Moon and Waver were. Death Moon was the only Changeling to look shocked and sad towards him. Waver also looked kind of shocked, but he was more disappointed than anything. Waver shook his head and then walked up the slope and back into the tunnels, followed by Death Moon.

"You fool! You realize how disrespectful you are to Changelings all around?! You mocked your colony! You mocked me! And most important... you mocked Changelings all over the world!" Queen Chrysalis's voice was roaring like an erupting volcano. Dark Fang was starting to think that maybe letting that voice in his head nag at him all day was heaven compared to this. "Oh... there will be a heavy price to pay now thanks for your insolence!" The queen flew up high in the room, almost to the selling. Her voice was shaking the entire room, causing almost all of the Changelings, including Dark Fang, to cover their ears. "From now on... I HEREBY BANISH YOU! LEAVE BY TOMORROW AND NEVER RETURN! And should you decline this punishment... I'll have you EXECUTED!"