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                      A Little Change                      
                      -by AliceA020-                       
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                     Chapter 1: A Wish                     
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Chapter 1: A Wish
Silk peered through the window sighing. She rested her head on her pillow, closing her eyes. The moon shone brightly throughout the hive, and although Silk had the room where it shone through most, she felt as if though it were the darkest.
Everyday, she wakes up, still the daughter of Chrysalis, the changeling queen. She is still the heir to the throne. She is still the one that feeds on the love of other ponies, despite how much she despises it.
Silk lifted her head and looked around at her room, the moonlight making it easy to see. Her room was obviously that of a princess. It was too big for her liking, but when she asked her mom if she could have a smaller room, Chrysalis simply brushed her off saying that her room is perfect for her, that it is fit for a princess. No matter how much Silk protested, her mom always told her that their was no need to get a smaller bedroom, and that she would grow to love it eventually.
But that was eight years ago, and she still hates it as much today as she did back then.
As Silk was looking around, she saw her vanity. It was black, much like her flank. Her room was painted a dull gray, and the rug on the middle of her floor was black too. The door was a light brown.
She turned her head and looked at her closet, a very large closet at that. It held hundreds of outfits she never wore. Silk hated all the outfits. A lot of the outfits were girly colors, like pink, and a little too fancy for her liking.
But at least her mom let her choose the room's color.
Her bed was much like her room—lifeless, gray, and dull.
The blankets were black, but everything else was a darkish gray.
Silk turned her head again and looked up out the window. She noticed the moon right away. It was a full moon tonight. The moon shone brightly and the stars glistened and twinkled.
She threw the blankets off of her bug-like body and trotted over to the window. Using her two front hooves, Silk propped herself up on the window sill. She looked down at saw the two guards at the front of the castle gates, watching carefully for any possible intruders.
She looked back up at the moon, knowing that it was near impossible to change her fate. Silk would become the next changeling queen when Chrysalis stepped down from the throne. She would have to lead her subjects and help them to get fed. That's what a queen does, right? She protects her subjects and keeps them fed to the best of her ability.
As Silk looked at the moon, she wondered what life would be like if she were a normal pony.
I could have a normal job. I could not have to be checked on by servants every hour of every day. Maybe I could even possibly fall in—Silk shook her head at that thought. Changelings only feed on love, they don't feel it.
Silk began to think about what love even was. Is it raising a family, spending time with somepony you enjoy being around, or is it being with somepony that makes you happy?
Although it would most likely never happen, Silk continued to daydream about her being a regular pony, one that could feel love.
Her lips curved a bit as she was in deep in thought. But the smile disappeared quickly. Why should she be smiling? A life like that could never happen for her. No matter how much she dreamed of it, she would still become the changeling queen. She just needs to learn to accept that.
Silk stopped for a moment to think a bit more about this 'love.' Do changelings really only feed on it? Do they not feel it at all? Doesn't that mean that her mom doesn't love her at all?
But Chrysalis did always treat Silk nicely, showering her with gifts, letting her chose her own bedroom colors, letting her chose whether or not she wanted to wear any of the stupid outfits she had. Chrysalis did always do her best to make her daughter happy. Silk knew that.
Silk sighed, regretting that she had made herself hopelessly confused on whether or not changelings could truly feel love.
She began thinking how she did have a changeling prince she was supposed to marry, but that wasn't love. It's just a forced marriage, setup by the royal families. Silk wished she could choose who she wanted to marry. Oh, how much she despised being of the royal heritage.
Silk dreamed and dreamed of being able to feel love. She thought about how happy she could be.
But then she thought about the pain love could bring. Silk remembered when she went out on a hunt with her mother and the changelings. She remembered when hiding she saw ponies utterly destroying other ponies' hearts, leaving them in tears.
It happened way too often.
I can't fall in love...She thought. I can't because if I do, I will only cause myself pain.
She turned her focus back onto the moon, taking notice that it had risen a little higher than before. Silk widened her eyes a bit, wondering how long she has been just standing there thinking about love.
She began looking at the stars, wishing dozens of wishes that would never come true. She looked at the brightest star in the sky, and wished that she could fall in love, knowing that it would never happen. But as if it were saying a response, the star twinkled.
Silk then had an idea. I can escape...She thought. I can escape from all this royalty crap. I can runaway from it all. I won't be able to fall in love...but I can definitely change my current life...at least for a little bit!
She rose up, setting all fours on the window sill. She raised her wings, preparing to fly. Flapping her wings, she took off, flying pretty high. She couldn't risk being spotted by the guards. She'd be sent immediately back to her room.
When Silk was sure she was high enough, she began flying in the direction of Equestria, the trip taking longer than she originally thought. Her mom hadn't taught her the transportation spell yet, fearing that Silk would use it to her own advantage.
Finally, after what felt like days due to how tired she was, she finally reached Equestria. However, due to her drowsiness, she rested in a spot under the shade of a tree. Silk was quite tired. The sun had already risen.
She changed into a pony form. The holes in her legs filled up and her wings disappeared. Silk now looked like a regular earth pony.
She had a pure white flank, and a blue mane and tail with blue eyes to match.
Silk closed her weary eyes, unaware of what kind of adventures were awaiting her.

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                    Chapter 2: A Friend                    
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Chapter 2: A Friend
Silk opened her eyes to see her new surroundings. At first, she was confused on where she was, but it all came back to her in a moments' time.
She stood up and looked down at her new body. A grin was brought upon her face as she saw that she didn't have a changeling body, one full of holes and tattered wings, but instead,a regular pony body.
Looking back up, she saw busy ponies bustling about in the small town in front of her. The sun hadn't gone down yet, but with the way ponies were rushing about, she could tell it would be nighttime soon.
Wanting to explore the life of a normal pony before her chance slipped away, she trotted toward Ponyville.
Silk glanced around as she trotted. She saw ponies at stalls buying some sort of food item. She saw ponies talking to their friends, smiling and laughing. Silk stopped for a moment and observed them. She began wondering what having a friend would be like.
Being of royalty, she never really had any real friends. The ones she was closest to were the servants back at the castle, and even they didn't provide her with much company. Many changelings always came to the ball her mother held every year, but she wasn't allowed to talk to them as if they were friends. Silk was supposed to stand at the highest point of the ballroom with Chrysalis. The only changeling she were allowed to talk to in a friend sort of way was the one she was supposed to marry. But she didn't like him very much, and she knew that he didn't like her very much either.
They acted the best of friends whenever they were around either of their parents, but the moment they left the room, they fought. Not physically, but they always threw insults at each other. There was never any winner though. They both always had something to say back, and they never hesitated to think about it.
Silk closed her eyes for a moment, listening to the laughs of fillies, colts, mares, and stallions alike. She wondered if she would every meet somepony who could make her laugh like the ponies she heard.
She shook her head at the thought. Of course there won't be anypony like that. This visit in Ponyville is only a temporary one. Even if she did meet somepony like that, it wouldn't last long. She would go back to being the stupid changeling princess and never see that somepony again.
Right...Silk thought to herself. This is only a temporary visit. I'm not staying for long. I only came to live the life of a normal pony instead of a bug-like pony. By tomorrow, I'll be back to having servants at my hooves following my every order.
Silk sighed at the thought. She had only been standing in Ponyville for seven minutes and already she liked it better than being a princess.
Silk looked around, seeing fillies bouncing around, laughing and smiling. I wish I could've had a childhood like that one...She thought.
When she was a child, she never had anytime for playing. Instead, her time was spent learning how to be a proper princess.
She began trotting around again, looking at the buildings and seeing ponies smile. A smile slowly began to form on her on face, growing wider and wider. The more she trotted around, the bigger the grin.
But that smile quickly fell when she bumped into something, or rather, somepony.
Silk looked up only to be faced with three buff-looking earth ponies. They all looked a bit drunk, and the one standing in the middle, the same one she bumped into, had clenched teeth.
“Hey, what do you think you're doing?!” He scolded.
“Um...” Silk began to slowly back up in fear, but was stopped when she backed up into something. She turned around and saw one of the three glaring down at her.
A crowd of ponies slowly began to crowd around watching the scene, whispering to each other.
“Maybe I should teach you a lesson so you learn to watch where you're going.” scoffed the same pony who scolded her earlier.
“That won't be necessary!” Shouted a voice from the gathering crowd.
Everypony turned their heads to look at the source of the voice. They stepped aside as a stallion walked to the front of the herd.
He was white, much like Silk, but his mane and tail were a chocolate brown. He had icy blue eyes, complementing the rest of his physical features well.
“Think you can stop me?” The buff pony challenged, glaring at the stallion.
“I may not be able to stop you in a physical fight, but I certainly am sure I can convince you to let this little one of easy.” He said in response.
Silk's eyes widened a bit, surprised that somepony would be standing up for her.
“Hmph,” the other pony grunted. “I doubt it, but let's here you try.”
The white pony stepped forward and stood next to Silk.
“If you haven't noticed,” he began. “She is new around her. This young mare was gazing around at her new surroundings. Now, of course, this isn't any excuse for her not to be looking where she is walking.”
Silk opened her mouth to respond, saying she wasn't at fault, but was stopped when the stallion continued.
“However, you could've been looking where you were trotting yourself. Had you not gotten so drunk, this would've never happened.”
The other stallion opened his mouth to back him and his gang up, but no words came out as he was thinking of something to say.
“Whatever,” he scoffed, then gathering his crew he stormed off.
The crowd of ponies before now slowly dispersed, living the white stallion who saved Silk, alone with this pony whom no one knew.
Silk turned her head toward her savior. She widened her eyes when she noticed he was staring back at her.
She quickly turned her head back around. “Thank you...” she said.
“Don't mention it. You sure you're okay?” He questioned.
Silk opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by her stomach growling, loud enough to be heard by the other pony standing next to her. She quickly closed her mouth and her face turned a bright red in embarrasment.
He chuckled. “I guess you're okay for the most part. Want to grab something to eat?” He asked.
Silk nodded, but then remembered she had no money with her.
“I'd love to, but...” she hesitated a bit before continuing. “I have no money.”
“Aw, your moving into a new town with no money? How does that work?”
Silk shrugged. “I'm not exactly moving in, I'm just here for a visit”
“Still, a visit with no money is just...” the white stallion sighed. “I'll pay, come on.” He turned and starting trotting.
“You don't have to do that!” Silk shouted at him, earning a few glances from other ponies who were passing by.
The pony in front of her stopped and turn around. “Listen, if I'm stupid enough to stand up to those three ponies, I'm stupid enough to bring a mare who was dumb enough to visit a town with absolutely no money on her whatsoever out to eat.” He turned around again. “By the way, my name is Silver Blade.”
Silk was a bit taken aback by his little insults, but didn't let them get to her and announced her name. “Silk,” she said.
“Well, Silk, let's get going.” He turned around and spoke again. “Unless you prefer standing there all day.”
Silk shook her head and ran up to him, coming to an immediate stop once she caught up. “Let's go,” she said.
Silver Blade nodded and began trotting towards the restaurant, Silk following close in pursuit.
As they were walking toward their destination, Silk began to think.
Is this what it's like to have a friend? She pondered.
Silk looked over at Silver Blade who continued looking straight ahead.
No. I shouldn't jump to conclusions yet. Silver Blade is just a stallion who would probably do this for any pony. Silk thought.
When they reached the restaurant, they were quickly given seats.
Silk read over the menu, finally deciding on a daisy sandwich. The two ponies called a waiter over to their table, and ordered their food. The worker jotted it down on a notepad before trotting off letting the cooks know about the wanted food.
“So,” Silver Blade began. “What made you decide to visit Ponyville? Especially with no money on you?”
“Well, it's a long, complicated story...” Silk said, answering him.
“I've got time.”
She sighed. “What I mean is, it's kind of a personal thing.”
Silver Blade sighed. “Well, if you say so. I don't want to intrude on your personal life.”
Silk nodded. At that time their food was brought to their table. They began eating in an awkward silence.
* * *
Chrysalis stormed around the castle, looking furiously for her daughter.
She called for the servants and asked if they any luck.
“We're sorry Your Highness. We had no luck in finding the young miss.”
Chrysalis glared angerly at the two stallions.
“Well, keep searching tell you do find her!” She fumed.
The two servants nodded before running off, searching all around the castle for the missing princess for about the fifth time.
I swear when I find you Silk, Chrysalis thought. You are going to be in a load of trouble!
Then she began storming around the castle, searching hopelessly for her daughter.

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                     Chapter 3: A Hope                     
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Chapter 3: A Hope
Dinner with Silver Blade ended but not after they started talking about some things. Silk learned about Silver Blade, probably as much as he did about her, which wasn't a lot.
They talked about simple things, like favorite colors and favorite activities.
When they exited the restaurant, Silk quickly took notice of how late it was. The moon had risen and hundreds of stars twinkled brightly throughout the night sky.
Her eyes widened and she said her goodbye to Silver Blade, and before he could even say his, she darted off into the opposite direction.
Coming at a halt once she reached the outskirts of Ponyville, Silk turned back to her original form. Her tattered wings returned as well as the holes in her legs. Her eyes gained back their bug-look and her white flank was now charcoal.
She flew up high, and looked down at Ponyville. With how high she flew, she could see the whole town. She saw many of the houses, many of which had no lights turned on, telling her that she really needed to get moving.
She flew as fast as she could back to the hive. However, she wasn't going her fastest. With all the events throughout the day, she grew to be quite drowsy.
Silk got into her room just in time, plopping right onto her bed and pretending to be asleep. Though she already knew her mom would've taken notice of her daughter's leave by this hour, Silk clung to a little piece of hope that her mom was in a good mood today and would let this all slide.
Unfortunately, she couldn't be more wrong.
Chrysalis opened the door angrily and stomped over to her daughter.
“Silk!” Her mom's voice boomed.
Silk slowly opened her eyes and looked up, only to be faced with Chrysalis's glaring eyes.
She let out a small 'eep' and quickly threw the blankets on her bed over her body.
Her mom grabbed the blanket and threw it off the bed.
“Where in the name of love have you been?!” The question made Silk jump a little.
“Out...” she responded.
“Out where?” Her mom questioned in a stern voice.
“Out in Ponyville.”
“Hunting for some love to eat I presume?”
“No...” Silk answered truthfully. When it came to Chrysalis, she knew there was no point in trying to lie.
Chrysalis sighed. “Dear, we've been over this many times. You are a changeling and you eat love. As much as you hate it now, I'm sure you will grow to love it. After all, it is your fate to become the new changeling queen once I step down the throne.”
Silk didn't reply so Chrysalis continued.
“Because you left without permission and without a good reason, you are grounded for the next week. You aren't to leave your room.”
Like I was going to leave anyways. Silk thought to herself.
“Yeah, whatever.” Silk replied.
Chrysalis nodded and left the room but not before she said “I'm kind of disappointed in you Silk. What's so bad about feeding on love? It's what we do, what we're here for. I do hope you will grow to love it soon.”
Her door was shut and Silk waited a few moments to make sure her mom was far enough away before getting up off her bed.
“I can't believe it!” Silk squealed with delight. “I made my first friend!”
She twirled around and fell face up on to her bed. She continued laughing and squealing with delight at the thought of her first friend.
Suddenly, she stopped.
“Well...” she said. “I hope we are friends.”
Silk continued to think about it for a moment.
“Friends hang out right? That means I should hang out with Silver Blade more!”
Silk nodded to herself, approving her thought.
“Yeah! I should go see him tomorrow! We can hang out again!”
She plopped her head on her pillow and pulled the blankets over her body, falling asleep with a huge grin on her face.
* * *
Morning came and the sun's rays peeked through Silk's window. Her eyes opened and blinked a few times while they were getting adjusted.
Light filled her room, but it was still as dull as it was when it was dark.
A knock came at her door as did a voice. “Young miss?” It said.
Silk groaned, knowing it was one of the female voices.
“Yes?” Silk asked tiredly.
“I have your breakfast prepared. May I come in?”
“Whatever.”
The servant opened the door and set the tray on her vanity, a servant of which she did not know the name of.
Silk never bothered to remember the names of the servants. After all, they're all servants nonetheless, there is no point if one will come when she asks for a servant. Not that she asked for servants often, only ordered them if she absolutely needed to.
The servant bowed before walking out of the room. Silk threw of the blankets and walked over to see what her breakfast was this morning.
Eggs.
She sighed. She did love eggs, but she didn't want to eat them cooped up in her room.
Silk levitated the tray with her magic and walked over to the window. She spread her wings and flew to the outskirts of  Ponyville.
* * *
Silk sat under the shade of a tree and turned back in to her regular pony-looking form. Her flank became white and her wings disappeared. Her blue mane and tail were back along with those icy blue eyes.
She looked at herself in a nearby pond and grinned, glad that she no longer looked like a changeling.
She began to eat her breakfast as she thought about what she would do when she finished.
She decided that when their were no more of her delicious eggs, she would go into Ponyville and see if she could find Silver Blade.
Her eggs were devoured quickly, as she really wanted to see her friend.
Silk hid the tray in a place she would remember and ran into Ponyville.
She found Silver Blade quickly and she quickly ran up behind him.
“Hey Silver Blade!” She said with delight.
The stallion jumped a bit, obviously a little startled by her sudden appearance.
He turned around. “Oh, the idiot's still here?” He joked. “Good morning Silk.”
“Good morning Silver Blade!” She said with a huge smile on her face.
The two friends began walking and talking together.
Suddenly, Silk had a feeling they were being watched. She stopped and looked around worryingly.
Silver Blade took notice of this quickly and asked “Hey Silk, everything alright?
When Silk found nopony watching them, she brushed it off and said “Yeah, it's nothing.”
“Well, alright. If you say so.”
They began walking again and soon she was rid of the strange feeling.
Silk grinned even more, hoping she could spend the entire day with her friend.
* * *
“Well, what is she doing? Is she in her room?” Chrysalis asked the servant in front of her.
“My apologies, Your Highness. The young miss left her room.” The servant said, answering the intimidating queen.
The queen sighed. “I hope you were following your orders and keeping a watch on her.”
The servant nodded. “Yes. It appears she has turned herself to look like a regular looking pony in Equestria and befriended a stallion in Ponyville.”
This made the queen quite mad.
“What?!” She roared. Chrysalis took a few deep breaths. “May I have a description of this stallion?”
The servant winced a bit at the question. She had forgotten to get a good look at the stallion. The only reason she knew it was a male was because of how deep his voice was.
“M-my apologies,” the servant stuttered. “I was so caught up in my orders, making sure to keep a watch on the young miss, that I have forgotten to get a good look at him”
The queen sighed. She was quite upset.
“You aren't to have any dinner tonight as punishment.” Chrysalis ordered.
The servant nodded and left the room.
Silk, Chrysalis thought. It seems you will have to learn how to become a proper princess again. A proper princess does not befriend other commoners in other lands.
* * *
Despite what was going on in the castle, Silk was having a wonderful time with Silver Blade, hoping she could visit him everyday.
Unfortunately, this day could very well be her last.