A New Princeby foxbardChaptersPrologueChapter 1 - CapturedChapter 2 - RebirthPrologueMy name is Kaerea, and this a story about my time in Equestria. It had been about, what, 5 years so far? Yeah, that sounds about right. Honestly, the details from the very beginning are pretty fuzzy by now. I remember having fallen down some hill or another one day while I was making my way through some park in the city. Either I forgot what happened next, or I must have knocked my head on something on the way down, because I don’t remember landing anywhere. In any case, next thing I knew, I was in some sort of small room somewhere, lying on a rather comfortable, if somewhat small bed. I figured I was in a hospital, so I was pretty calm about it. That was about where the calm mood and cohesive memories ended. The rest of it is a blur of tests that were run on me, realizing I was in another world, freaking out about being in another world, despairing that I was in ano- you get the point. After they had determined I wasn’t some sort of alien hell-bent on killing everypony, I guess they figured I was safe enough to interact with ponies other than the research staff. One of those first few encounters really stuck in my mind, above any of the others. It was an audience with Princess Celestia. She told me all about Equestria, how things worked here, the basic laws and principles that ponies lived their lives by. All the basic things I would have needed to know, being a visitor to Equestria. Now, the fact that it was an audience with Princess Celestia certainly was reason enough to have it stick out among my memories. She was stunning, and I don’t mean just beautiful, because as ponies go, she looked incredible. But there was something about the way she carried herself, not just regally and imposing like one might expect the ruler of a nation to be, but warm, almost like a caregiver, or a teacher. It was a very reassuring experience, as I hadn’t quite come to terms with the shock of my relocation yet. But it stuck out for another reason. As I left the throne room, I had my first encounter with Celestia’s student, a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. Of course, at first she avoided me, the strange creature I was. I didn’t blame her, or take any particular offense to it. I was far too wrapped up in my own mind to think much of it. It wasn’t the last encounter in that first while though, as Celestia had allowed me access to the royal library, suggesting I read up on Equestrian history and lore. Being an avid reader, I figured ‘hey, if I can understand their spoken language as if it were English, their written language must be the same!’ Suffice to say I was completely wrong. They must have cast some sort of long-term translation spell on me so that I could understand their speech, because I had literally no idea what I was reading from the first book I picked up. Now, I was reading stuff like the full Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by grade 6/7. I read often, and I read voraciously, so you can imagine just how embarrassing it was to be so stumped on a language I clearly understood when hearing. I guess Twilight’s curiosity about me got the better of her, because between her own studies and teaching me the written language, I taught her about my own life in the human world. We forged a pretty close bond while I was there, and I can honestly say she was my first real friend there in Equestria. Realizing that was probably the best thing I’d ever felt in my life till then. I also got to know her assistant Spike, an adolescent dragon that she had hatched for her entry test into Princess Celestia’s own tutelage. He was a good kid, a little more outgoing than Twilight, and very mentally mature for his age. Then again, I still don’t know a thing about dragon biology, so for all I know it’s nothing but the norm. When Celestia sent Twilight to Ponyville, she suggested I tag along to learn how rural ponies lived, and maybe to see if I fit in there. I still needed a home, after all, and I was eager at this point to learn more about Equestrian society. Granted, I attracted more than a few stares when we got there, but apparently it wasn’t a complete surprise, at least, not according to one particular white unicorn, Rarity. She informed me that I had been in the news a while back, so I guess the real shock was just that I was there in Ponyville at that point, not that there was a human in Equestria. I got the chance to meet the other four elements that day too, but I was mostly uninvolved in the events surrounding Nightmare Moon’s return. At first I was too scared to follow the six of them in, but I eventually worked up the courage and made my way there. I arrived at the old castle just in time for them to defeat Nightmare Moon, and you could imagine my surprise at Princess Celestia’s arrival. It was quite the shock to learn that Nightmare Moon had been Celestia’s younger sister, Princess Luna, who had been banished to the moon a thousand years ago for various reasons. From that point on, I tried my best to integrate myself into Ponyville’s daily life. I worked odd jobs around Ponyville to make some money while I looked for somewhere to stay, usually things that my stature and manual dexterity gave me an advantage at. After a while, I had managed to scrape together enough bits to afford a cottage near the Everfree, within a short walk of Fluttershy’s cottage too! Over the time I had spent in Ponyville, she had always stuck out to me as somepony I wanted to get to know better. She was such a kind pony, that yellow Pegasus; so often thinking of others before herself, even if it was barely seen past her timid demeanour. It was done around the time of the Grand Galloping Gala, so I was more or less incommunicado that night. I was told it was quite the affair, however, especially with Twilight and friends there. Shortly after the gala, I received a summons from Princess Celestia, having me return to Canterlot for a while. Having studied under Twilight, she felt I was a good second to have do some research on a few topics for her, without taking Twilight away from her lessons on the magic of friendship. It was good to be back in the city, and I didn’t attract nearly as much attention as in past. After all, my presence in Equestria was old news by that point. While I was there, I was introduced to Princess Luna, and somehow I was even more in awe of her than the first time I met Celestia. I really wish I’d had more time to get to know her... During my research in Canterlot, the events surrounding Discord, the spirit of disharmony, took place, and I mostly hid away. What could some human with no grasp of magic possibly do to help, after all? Thankfully, the incident came to a peaceful resolution, and Discord was sealed back away in stone. A few months later, my research for the princess finished, I moved back to Ponyville. It was shortly after Hearts and Hooves day, their analogue of St. Valentine’s Day, that I returned. I got reintegrated in the smaller town life, and things were generally okay, for a while at least. It was a month or two after I returned to Ponyville, the snow was all gone, and warmer weather was in full swing. Something I should note before I get much further is that during my research in Canterlot, I had taken quite the interest in all things related to unicorn and alicorn magics. The theory behind it, the applications, the relationship between cutie mark and magical specialization, it all fascinated me. One such topic was heavily discussed in one of the writings of a renowned unicorn of old named Starswirl the Bearded. I read through the rest of this one particular volume of his writings for pleasure, and in addition to magical theory, it covered topics such as some of the creatures he had encountered in his time. Creatures like Timber Wolves, Manticores, great Serpents, Windigos, and Changelings. I had meant to give the volume to Twilight to return, but I never did get around to it... Author's Note Originally, there were going to be more parts, but I figured it would be best to splice parts of the first two together to actually make a prologue to the main body of the story. I hope it isn't that big of a deal. Chapter 1 - CapturedI was on an errand for Fluttershy one day during those months before the wedding. It took me a little deeper into the Everfree Forest than I was used to, but I figured it was no big deal; I had gotten used to trekking its darker depths during my time in Ponyville. That day, though, something felt off. It wasn’t something I could really explain in detail, but I just felt worried about the day, like something was going to go wrong, and it would be my fault. Of course, I tried to reason out why I felt that way, which got me quite lost in the forest. Not the ideal situation by any stretch. Wandering my way around, I heard a faint whooshing noise, and then some rustling around me. Then the world exploded into black stars, pain blocking out my sight and thought. I awoke with a splitting headache, to be expected I suppose, in hindsight. Dazed and dizzy, head pounding, I tried to see where I was. It was certainly darker than the spot in the forest I had been. How much time had passed? Was it already night? I couldn’t feel the open air on my skin anymore, I wasn’t outside. Where the hell was I? Did somepony find me and bring me back? Maybe it was that zebra I’d heard about that lived in the Everfree, Zecora. I’d always meant to introduce myself to her... A sudden strike to my ribs ended my pondering and squirming around. I realized that my hands and feet had both been bound together, which had been preventing me from moving around well. I stopped moving, and when I wasn’t hit again, I figured that I probably shouldn’t try again. Yeah, I was definitely not in a good place. I tried to take in the few surroundings that I could see. Everything around me was blackish in colour, and looked like it was carved out from what was already there, rather than having been built from premade materials. It felt a little cold, but dank as well. Perhaps I was in some sort of cave? Thoughts of the Ursa Minor that had been drawn to Ponyville a while back flashed through my mind and I shivered, eliciting a sort of chittering hissing noise from somewhere I couldn’t see. I cringed, and hoped I hadn’t earned another shot to the ribs from my captors, but no attack came. Instead, I was grabbed by my collar, and dragged roughly to my knees. I was surrounded! There were these insectile creatures, most no larger than a mare around Twilight’s age, all around the chamber I was in. They all had wings, more like what you’d find on a bee than a pegasus’ wing, and horns that were almost unicorn-like. They had long fangs, short horselike tails, and their skin, or whatever they were covered with, looked hard and shiny. Their limbs all had holes in them, like swiss cheese. But their eyes were what scared me the most. Their eyes were hard, solid, as if one single piece each, of bright, piercing blue. Even though they looked almost like ponies, I saw them for what they were. I had been captured by Changelings. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, my heart and mind both began racing, my breathing became fast and shallow, and I struggled to think of some way to escape from these predatory creatures. But slowly, logic kicked back in, overpowering the fight or flight reflex, and I realized I had no hope to get away, not from this many of them. I didn’t even know where I was, never mind how to get out of here. Where realizing I could consider Twilight a true friend had been the best I’d felt, this was the worst, far worse even than realizing I was stuck in Equestria with no chance of returning home. Then, all at once, the chittering and hissing noises they had made stopped, and they all turned to one side. I felt a partial hoof, a hole taken out of one side of it, press into my back and force me into a bow, my hands still behind my back. The room was almost completely silent, save for the odd flittering of one of their wings, or the shuffling of their hooves. The silence let me hear each step of a newcomer from one side of the room. Clip, clop, clip, clop, it came closer and closer. I hadn’t felt this scared since the nightmares I’d had as a small child. I was powerless to save myself from whatever fate was in store... Then I was pulled back up, and found myself looking into a menacing pair of dark green eyes. Their pupils were slitted, ringed by a deep blue-green, itself ringed by a gradient green, almost toxic in colour. It didn’t take me more than a few seconds to piece together what I was looking at. I had just been granted an audience with this hive’s queen. She stepped back, showing her form, as tall as Celestia, with much the same stature. As all Changelings, her limbs had holes in them. Her wings were much larger than most of the Changelings, and her horn was an impressive, jagged affair. Atop her ragged blue mane, she had a small growth that looked almost like a tiny crown. She focused on me, and I cringed. I was terrified to the point where I was frozen as I was, watching her observe me, like a spider examining a fly it was about to wrap up and devour. I knew that Changelings fed on emotion, but I’d had thoughts that they probably ate substantial food as well. Looking at her fangs, I could only imagine what that food was, and tried to keep myself off of the list my mind was making of them. After her appraisal of me, she gave a grin, and narrowed her gaze at me. “I was hoping to have the chance to meet you, human,” she said, her voice distorted by a slight buzzing sound, almost duplicating it at a slightly different pitch. It was an unnerving effect. I found myself at a loss for words, so she continued. “I’ve heard much about you, Kaerea. That you know much about Canterlot, the princesses, and those so-called ‘Elements of Harmony’.” Great, she knew my name. She stooped down towards me, chuckling, and said “Ah, but it would be rude not to introduce myself, wouldn’t it? Especially with how much I know about you.” She stepped back, put a hoof to her chest and proclaimed “I am Chrysalis, the queen of this Changeling hive, and future ruler of Equestria,” her horn began to glow as she worked her magics, lifting me to my feet before her. She pulled me close to her, forcing me to kneel once more, and continued “and you are all mine.” Author's Note I'm trying to really get the character's thought process across during the following chapters, which hopefully explains a lot of the strange, grammatically horrible sentence structure in the next chapter. Chapter 2 - Rebirth This chapter contains forced transformation and aspects of mind control. Consider yourself warned. The chamber she led me to was much smaller than where I had awoken, almost claustrophobic with how many Changelings were there with us. I’m certain she had been feeding off of me since I saw her, because by this point I was feeling very weak. Weak enough at least, that with a gentle push of her hoof I was flat on my ass again. This felt different to the ground we had been walking on for the past few minutes though. It was spongy, and had a lot of give. Her horn gave off yet another telltale magical glow, and my bindings undid themselves, leaving me free to move my hands and feet as I wished. It was a short-lived freedom though, as her magic had me on my feet, straight as a ruler. My feet sunk into the ground beneath me, and I felt… something start to make its way up my leg. “What’s going on?!” I demanded. She gave a laugh like she had just seen something so incredibly stupid. “Why, little human, I already told you! You’re mine now. All mine.” Then the floor started rising out around me, creating a sort of bubble that rose around me. There were others like it in the room, like clear green plastic. I tried reaching out to touch it, to maybe try to stop it, but my body was frozen in place. “Why?” I managed to ask, just as the container sealed around me. I still don’t know if she even heard me, or if she did what her reply might have been. The last I saw of her right then was her giving what seemed to be a laugh, then walking away, obscured by the material around me. Some sort of liquid started bubbling up from the soft floor, my feet still trapped. I felt my body go limp, back under my own control, and I started screaming. This was not how I wanted to go! This wasn’t right! I didn’t want to drown, please Sisters save me! The liquid didn’t stop until my head was covered. I held my breath for as long as I could, but it didn’t recede. Instead, the blackness edged into my vision, until I could see no more. I felt myself exhale, and that was it. Cold silence. Except that wasn’t it, somehow. I can’t really explain it well, but even though I had blacked out, I was still aware. While I wasn’t awake or conscious, I could tell what was happening to my body, and I could still think clearly. It was an odd sensation, being suspended in that liquid. Even though the liquid was cold, it felt warm, like being under a thick blanket on a cold winter morning. It was nice, somehow, like it was some sort of reward, or a gift. Time stopped meaning anything by that point, so the changes all seemed to happen at once. My body was numb to me, but I could still feel my limbs shifting, shrinking, the bones dissolving in the liquid. It ate holes in my flesh, but it felt more like scrubbing dirt off in a shower. My hands and fingers fused into one single piece, all semblance of flexibility gone from them, my feet and toes soon following suit. My hooves too gained a few holes of their own. My skin grew hard, chitinous, like an ant’s carapace. My mouth and nose stretched out and together to become a pony-like muzzle, my teeth growing out into fangs. A short horn sprouted from the middle of my forehead, sharp and smooth. My ears moved up to the top of my head, elongated past recognition as those of a human, tearing in places to match the rest of my body. My hair all but dissolved, leaving only small fringes on my now elongated neck. My torso changed, forcing me into a four-legged stance, or so I figured as I felt my bones and muscle shift and warp. A small shell grew across my back, rusty red in colour. From that shell sprouted a pair of small, glossy wings, like a dragonfly had its wings torn by hand. Finally, I remember my tail sprouting behind me, the same listless gray as the remainder of my hair. That wasn’t all of it though. Once my body had been molded, time started to return. I started to feel my body more and more, though I was still unable to control it. I felt... a sort of click in the back of my mind. Like a small pin had poked through a piece of paper. Over time, this hole grew and grew, and through that hole poured endless thoughts and sensations, thousands if not millions of individual bodies, all feeling different things, all linked together with the same mind, the same will. I could feel all of the other Changelings of the hive as they went about their work. It was scary at first, but it quickly began to feel natural. It was almost reassuring, knowing I would never be alone. It felt good to know that. ‘Wait, no... That can’t be right,’ I thought. I wasn’t going to just give up and be one of the drones like that, no! I’m me! I’m Kaerea! I fought the feeling to just let go, and it slowly left me. But I could still feel them all, every single one of them. Then I felt her. It was the mother. No, it was the master. No, it was me. No, Chrysalis. Yes, that was it. It was Queen Chrysalis, making her presence known to me. I tried to call out to her, some primal instinct, longing for connection, for acknowledgement. She entered my mind and sifted through my every memory. It burned, for so long it burned. She took everything out of me, then shoved it all back, placing it wherever and however she wished... But she put something else in me. Some sort of seed, it felt like, in my mind. And that seed grew, so very quickly, fed by my own thoughts and feelings, my memories of love, of hate, of anger and fear. It grew, and stretched through the hole, and I lost track of its growth. But I could always feel her now, the Queen. She was always within my mind, no matter how much I fought it, or tried to escape her. I was hers, as she had said a lifetime ago. Then something strange happened. Of course, this whole thing was strange; being transformed into some sort of insectile equine shapeshifter isn’t something that can really be counted as normal, even in a land like Equestria. But this was something strange even to my new instincts, those that had accepted my new form, and my connection to the Hive. Something else reached back through the hole, travelling along the seed’s growth back into me. It put something deep in my mind, something I found myself unable to describe in my thoughts, even as it connected itself to the very core of my being. Then it withdrew, leaving me unsure if I had only imagined it, even with the impression it had left upon my memory. The greatest part of her affect on my mind is still hard to describe in terms that those who haven’t experienced it can understand, but still I will try. I felt her own feelings, her thoughts, her will pouring into me. She willed me to grow, to finish, to return to myself. She wanted me there, to be hers, but to be me. She wanted my mind to join hers, to join the hive, but to be my own. There were so many strange thoughts, conflicting in my mind as they tried to find their place at my very core. But they sorted out. I was Kaerea, a Changeling. I belonged to Queen Chrysalis, my leader, my will, but I was my own self still, listening to my own mind above hers, but her orders were absolute, unable to be ignored. I was a tool of the hive, but I was a person still. I knew I was meant for this, even if I wasn’t before. I knew this was what my life was to be, and I accepted it for what it was. Hell, I embraced it. The Hive was so hungry, and I thought maybe my own individuality could help sustain it. We could feed, but we could live with Equestria- That thought was quickly wiped away from my mind by hers. There would be no co-existence. They were our food, resources to sustain the Hive. They were to feed us until they were drained dry, then discarded like all of the lands the Hive had taken before it. These ponies were no different than the rest. They hated us, but we needed them, so we took from them, stole like thieves. It was the only way we could survive. But the Queen… Chrysalis… She had a plan. She would take Equestria, become its ruler, mask herself as one of them, then take the throne. Such a brilliant plan, so long thought out, it simply could not fail! Not if the hive was to live. Soon after that, my mind and body returned together. I was me again, already with the knowledge of how to live, to work, to change, and most importantly to feed. I was just another Changeling of the Hive, but I was special, that much I knew. That thought I hid deep within me, never letting it surface, and with that thought remained the seed of doubt, however, that we and the Equestrian ponies could co-exist; that we could live with them, not simply live off them. My role was simple: to remain ready at the hive, in case reinforcements were needed once the invasion proper began. I never did get to Canterlot though. Author's Note Not really much more to say here that I haven't said in other comments. I really tried to give a good idea of how it would have felt to Kaerea, how he would remember it, how he was, for lack of a better word, changed, both mentally and physically.
PrologueMy name is Kaerea, and this a story about my time in Equestria. It had been about, what, 5 years so far? Yeah, that sounds about right. Honestly, the details from the very beginning are pretty fuzzy by now. I remember having fallen down some hill or another one day while I was making my way through some park in the city. Either I forgot what happened next, or I must have knocked my head on something on the way down, because I don’t remember landing anywhere. In any case, next thing I knew, I was in some sort of small room somewhere, lying on a rather comfortable, if somewhat small bed. I figured I was in a hospital, so I was pretty calm about it. That was about where the calm mood and cohesive memories ended. The rest of it is a blur of tests that were run on me, realizing I was in another world, freaking out about being in another world, despairing that I was in ano- you get the point. After they had determined I wasn’t some sort of alien hell-bent on killing everypony, I guess they figured I was safe enough to interact with ponies other than the research staff. One of those first few encounters really stuck in my mind, above any of the others. It was an audience with Princess Celestia. She told me all about Equestria, how things worked here, the basic laws and principles that ponies lived their lives by. All the basic things I would have needed to know, being a visitor to Equestria. Now, the fact that it was an audience with Princess Celestia certainly was reason enough to have it stick out among my memories. She was stunning, and I don’t mean just beautiful, because as ponies go, she looked incredible. But there was something about the way she carried herself, not just regally and imposing like one might expect the ruler of a nation to be, but warm, almost like a caregiver, or a teacher. It was a very reassuring experience, as I hadn’t quite come to terms with the shock of my relocation yet. But it stuck out for another reason. As I left the throne room, I had my first encounter with Celestia’s student, a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. Of course, at first she avoided me, the strange creature I was. I didn’t blame her, or take any particular offense to it. I was far too wrapped up in my own mind to think much of it. It wasn’t the last encounter in that first while though, as Celestia had allowed me access to the royal library, suggesting I read up on Equestrian history and lore. Being an avid reader, I figured ‘hey, if I can understand their spoken language as if it were English, their written language must be the same!’ Suffice to say I was completely wrong. They must have cast some sort of long-term translation spell on me so that I could understand their speech, because I had literally no idea what I was reading from the first book I picked up. Now, I was reading stuff like the full Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by grade 6/7. I read often, and I read voraciously, so you can imagine just how embarrassing it was to be so stumped on a language I clearly understood when hearing. I guess Twilight’s curiosity about me got the better of her, because between her own studies and teaching me the written language, I taught her about my own life in the human world. We forged a pretty close bond while I was there, and I can honestly say she was my first real friend there in Equestria. Realizing that was probably the best thing I’d ever felt in my life till then. I also got to know her assistant Spike, an adolescent dragon that she had hatched for her entry test into Princess Celestia’s own tutelage. He was a good kid, a little more outgoing than Twilight, and very mentally mature for his age. Then again, I still don’t know a thing about dragon biology, so for all I know it’s nothing but the norm. When Celestia sent Twilight to Ponyville, she suggested I tag along to learn how rural ponies lived, and maybe to see if I fit in there. I still needed a home, after all, and I was eager at this point to learn more about Equestrian society. Granted, I attracted more than a few stares when we got there, but apparently it wasn’t a complete surprise, at least, not according to one particular white unicorn, Rarity. She informed me that I had been in the news a while back, so I guess the real shock was just that I was there in Ponyville at that point, not that there was a human in Equestria. I got the chance to meet the other four elements that day too, but I was mostly uninvolved in the events surrounding Nightmare Moon’s return. At first I was too scared to follow the six of them in, but I eventually worked up the courage and made my way there. I arrived at the old castle just in time for them to defeat Nightmare Moon, and you could imagine my surprise at Princess Celestia’s arrival. It was quite the shock to learn that Nightmare Moon had been Celestia’s younger sister, Princess Luna, who had been banished to the moon a thousand years ago for various reasons. From that point on, I tried my best to integrate myself into Ponyville’s daily life. I worked odd jobs around Ponyville to make some money while I looked for somewhere to stay, usually things that my stature and manual dexterity gave me an advantage at. After a while, I had managed to scrape together enough bits to afford a cottage near the Everfree, within a short walk of Fluttershy’s cottage too! Over the time I had spent in Ponyville, she had always stuck out to me as somepony I wanted to get to know better. She was such a kind pony, that yellow Pegasus; so often thinking of others before herself, even if it was barely seen past her timid demeanour. It was done around the time of the Grand Galloping Gala, so I was more or less incommunicado that night. I was told it was quite the affair, however, especially with Twilight and friends there. Shortly after the gala, I received a summons from Princess Celestia, having me return to Canterlot for a while. Having studied under Twilight, she felt I was a good second to have do some research on a few topics for her, without taking Twilight away from her lessons on the magic of friendship. It was good to be back in the city, and I didn’t attract nearly as much attention as in past. After all, my presence in Equestria was old news by that point. While I was there, I was introduced to Princess Luna, and somehow I was even more in awe of her than the first time I met Celestia. I really wish I’d had more time to get to know her... During my research in Canterlot, the events surrounding Discord, the spirit of disharmony, took place, and I mostly hid away. What could some human with no grasp of magic possibly do to help, after all? Thankfully, the incident came to a peaceful resolution, and Discord was sealed back away in stone. A few months later, my research for the princess finished, I moved back to Ponyville. It was shortly after Hearts and Hooves day, their analogue of St. Valentine’s Day, that I returned. I got reintegrated in the smaller town life, and things were generally okay, for a while at least. It was a month or two after I returned to Ponyville, the snow was all gone, and warmer weather was in full swing. Something I should note before I get much further is that during my research in Canterlot, I had taken quite the interest in all things related to unicorn and alicorn magics. The theory behind it, the applications, the relationship between cutie mark and magical specialization, it all fascinated me. One such topic was heavily discussed in one of the writings of a renowned unicorn of old named Starswirl the Bearded. I read through the rest of this one particular volume of his writings for pleasure, and in addition to magical theory, it covered topics such as some of the creatures he had encountered in his time. Creatures like Timber Wolves, Manticores, great Serpents, Windigos, and Changelings. I had meant to give the volume to Twilight to return, but I never did get around to it... Author's Note Originally, there were going to be more parts, but I figured it would be best to splice parts of the first two together to actually make a prologue to the main body of the story. I hope it isn't that big of a deal.
Chapter 1 - CapturedI was on an errand for Fluttershy one day during those months before the wedding. It took me a little deeper into the Everfree Forest than I was used to, but I figured it was no big deal; I had gotten used to trekking its darker depths during my time in Ponyville. That day, though, something felt off. It wasn’t something I could really explain in detail, but I just felt worried about the day, like something was going to go wrong, and it would be my fault. Of course, I tried to reason out why I felt that way, which got me quite lost in the forest. Not the ideal situation by any stretch. Wandering my way around, I heard a faint whooshing noise, and then some rustling around me. Then the world exploded into black stars, pain blocking out my sight and thought. I awoke with a splitting headache, to be expected I suppose, in hindsight. Dazed and dizzy, head pounding, I tried to see where I was. It was certainly darker than the spot in the forest I had been. How much time had passed? Was it already night? I couldn’t feel the open air on my skin anymore, I wasn’t outside. Where the hell was I? Did somepony find me and bring me back? Maybe it was that zebra I’d heard about that lived in the Everfree, Zecora. I’d always meant to introduce myself to her... A sudden strike to my ribs ended my pondering and squirming around. I realized that my hands and feet had both been bound together, which had been preventing me from moving around well. I stopped moving, and when I wasn’t hit again, I figured that I probably shouldn’t try again. Yeah, I was definitely not in a good place. I tried to take in the few surroundings that I could see. Everything around me was blackish in colour, and looked like it was carved out from what was already there, rather than having been built from premade materials. It felt a little cold, but dank as well. Perhaps I was in some sort of cave? Thoughts of the Ursa Minor that had been drawn to Ponyville a while back flashed through my mind and I shivered, eliciting a sort of chittering hissing noise from somewhere I couldn’t see. I cringed, and hoped I hadn’t earned another shot to the ribs from my captors, but no attack came. Instead, I was grabbed by my collar, and dragged roughly to my knees. I was surrounded! There were these insectile creatures, most no larger than a mare around Twilight’s age, all around the chamber I was in. They all had wings, more like what you’d find on a bee than a pegasus’ wing, and horns that were almost unicorn-like. They had long fangs, short horselike tails, and their skin, or whatever they were covered with, looked hard and shiny. Their limbs all had holes in them, like swiss cheese. But their eyes were what scared me the most. Their eyes were hard, solid, as if one single piece each, of bright, piercing blue. Even though they looked almost like ponies, I saw them for what they were. I had been captured by Changelings. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, my heart and mind both began racing, my breathing became fast and shallow, and I struggled to think of some way to escape from these predatory creatures. But slowly, logic kicked back in, overpowering the fight or flight reflex, and I realized I had no hope to get away, not from this many of them. I didn’t even know where I was, never mind how to get out of here. Where realizing I could consider Twilight a true friend had been the best I’d felt, this was the worst, far worse even than realizing I was stuck in Equestria with no chance of returning home. Then, all at once, the chittering and hissing noises they had made stopped, and they all turned to one side. I felt a partial hoof, a hole taken out of one side of it, press into my back and force me into a bow, my hands still behind my back. The room was almost completely silent, save for the odd flittering of one of their wings, or the shuffling of their hooves. The silence let me hear each step of a newcomer from one side of the room. Clip, clop, clip, clop, it came closer and closer. I hadn’t felt this scared since the nightmares I’d had as a small child. I was powerless to save myself from whatever fate was in store... Then I was pulled back up, and found myself looking into a menacing pair of dark green eyes. Their pupils were slitted, ringed by a deep blue-green, itself ringed by a gradient green, almost toxic in colour. It didn’t take me more than a few seconds to piece together what I was looking at. I had just been granted an audience with this hive’s queen. She stepped back, showing her form, as tall as Celestia, with much the same stature. As all Changelings, her limbs had holes in them. Her wings were much larger than most of the Changelings, and her horn was an impressive, jagged affair. Atop her ragged blue mane, she had a small growth that looked almost like a tiny crown. She focused on me, and I cringed. I was terrified to the point where I was frozen as I was, watching her observe me, like a spider examining a fly it was about to wrap up and devour. I knew that Changelings fed on emotion, but I’d had thoughts that they probably ate substantial food as well. Looking at her fangs, I could only imagine what that food was, and tried to keep myself off of the list my mind was making of them. After her appraisal of me, she gave a grin, and narrowed her gaze at me. “I was hoping to have the chance to meet you, human,” she said, her voice distorted by a slight buzzing sound, almost duplicating it at a slightly different pitch. It was an unnerving effect. I found myself at a loss for words, so she continued. “I’ve heard much about you, Kaerea. That you know much about Canterlot, the princesses, and those so-called ‘Elements of Harmony’.” Great, she knew my name. She stooped down towards me, chuckling, and said “Ah, but it would be rude not to introduce myself, wouldn’t it? Especially with how much I know about you.” She stepped back, put a hoof to her chest and proclaimed “I am Chrysalis, the queen of this Changeling hive, and future ruler of Equestria,” her horn began to glow as she worked her magics, lifting me to my feet before her. She pulled me close to her, forcing me to kneel once more, and continued “and you are all mine.” Author's Note I'm trying to really get the character's thought process across during the following chapters, which hopefully explains a lot of the strange, grammatically horrible sentence structure in the next chapter.
Chapter 2 - Rebirth This chapter contains forced transformation and aspects of mind control. Consider yourself warned. The chamber she led me to was much smaller than where I had awoken, almost claustrophobic with how many Changelings were there with us. I’m certain she had been feeding off of me since I saw her, because by this point I was feeling very weak. Weak enough at least, that with a gentle push of her hoof I was flat on my ass again. This felt different to the ground we had been walking on for the past few minutes though. It was spongy, and had a lot of give. Her horn gave off yet another telltale magical glow, and my bindings undid themselves, leaving me free to move my hands and feet as I wished. It was a short-lived freedom though, as her magic had me on my feet, straight as a ruler. My feet sunk into the ground beneath me, and I felt… something start to make its way up my leg. “What’s going on?!” I demanded. She gave a laugh like she had just seen something so incredibly stupid. “Why, little human, I already told you! You’re mine now. All mine.” Then the floor started rising out around me, creating a sort of bubble that rose around me. There were others like it in the room, like clear green plastic. I tried reaching out to touch it, to maybe try to stop it, but my body was frozen in place. “Why?” I managed to ask, just as the container sealed around me. I still don’t know if she even heard me, or if she did what her reply might have been. The last I saw of her right then was her giving what seemed to be a laugh, then walking away, obscured by the material around me. Some sort of liquid started bubbling up from the soft floor, my feet still trapped. I felt my body go limp, back under my own control, and I started screaming. This was not how I wanted to go! This wasn’t right! I didn’t want to drown, please Sisters save me! The liquid didn’t stop until my head was covered. I held my breath for as long as I could, but it didn’t recede. Instead, the blackness edged into my vision, until I could see no more. I felt myself exhale, and that was it. Cold silence. Except that wasn’t it, somehow. I can’t really explain it well, but even though I had blacked out, I was still aware. While I wasn’t awake or conscious, I could tell what was happening to my body, and I could still think clearly. It was an odd sensation, being suspended in that liquid. Even though the liquid was cold, it felt warm, like being under a thick blanket on a cold winter morning. It was nice, somehow, like it was some sort of reward, or a gift. Time stopped meaning anything by that point, so the changes all seemed to happen at once. My body was numb to me, but I could still feel my limbs shifting, shrinking, the bones dissolving in the liquid. It ate holes in my flesh, but it felt more like scrubbing dirt off in a shower. My hands and fingers fused into one single piece, all semblance of flexibility gone from them, my feet and toes soon following suit. My hooves too gained a few holes of their own. My skin grew hard, chitinous, like an ant’s carapace. My mouth and nose stretched out and together to become a pony-like muzzle, my teeth growing out into fangs. A short horn sprouted from the middle of my forehead, sharp and smooth. My ears moved up to the top of my head, elongated past recognition as those of a human, tearing in places to match the rest of my body. My hair all but dissolved, leaving only small fringes on my now elongated neck. My torso changed, forcing me into a four-legged stance, or so I figured as I felt my bones and muscle shift and warp. A small shell grew across my back, rusty red in colour. From that shell sprouted a pair of small, glossy wings, like a dragonfly had its wings torn by hand. Finally, I remember my tail sprouting behind me, the same listless gray as the remainder of my hair. That wasn’t all of it though. Once my body had been molded, time started to return. I started to feel my body more and more, though I was still unable to control it. I felt... a sort of click in the back of my mind. Like a small pin had poked through a piece of paper. Over time, this hole grew and grew, and through that hole poured endless thoughts and sensations, thousands if not millions of individual bodies, all feeling different things, all linked together with the same mind, the same will. I could feel all of the other Changelings of the hive as they went about their work. It was scary at first, but it quickly began to feel natural. It was almost reassuring, knowing I would never be alone. It felt good to know that. ‘Wait, no... That can’t be right,’ I thought. I wasn’t going to just give up and be one of the drones like that, no! I’m me! I’m Kaerea! I fought the feeling to just let go, and it slowly left me. But I could still feel them all, every single one of them. Then I felt her. It was the mother. No, it was the master. No, it was me. No, Chrysalis. Yes, that was it. It was Queen Chrysalis, making her presence known to me. I tried to call out to her, some primal instinct, longing for connection, for acknowledgement. She entered my mind and sifted through my every memory. It burned, for so long it burned. She took everything out of me, then shoved it all back, placing it wherever and however she wished... But she put something else in me. Some sort of seed, it felt like, in my mind. And that seed grew, so very quickly, fed by my own thoughts and feelings, my memories of love, of hate, of anger and fear. It grew, and stretched through the hole, and I lost track of its growth. But I could always feel her now, the Queen. She was always within my mind, no matter how much I fought it, or tried to escape her. I was hers, as she had said a lifetime ago. Then something strange happened. Of course, this whole thing was strange; being transformed into some sort of insectile equine shapeshifter isn’t something that can really be counted as normal, even in a land like Equestria. But this was something strange even to my new instincts, those that had accepted my new form, and my connection to the Hive. Something else reached back through the hole, travelling along the seed’s growth back into me. It put something deep in my mind, something I found myself unable to describe in my thoughts, even as it connected itself to the very core of my being. Then it withdrew, leaving me unsure if I had only imagined it, even with the impression it had left upon my memory. The greatest part of her affect on my mind is still hard to describe in terms that those who haven’t experienced it can understand, but still I will try. I felt her own feelings, her thoughts, her will pouring into me. She willed me to grow, to finish, to return to myself. She wanted me there, to be hers, but to be me. She wanted my mind to join hers, to join the hive, but to be my own. There were so many strange thoughts, conflicting in my mind as they tried to find their place at my very core. But they sorted out. I was Kaerea, a Changeling. I belonged to Queen Chrysalis, my leader, my will, but I was my own self still, listening to my own mind above hers, but her orders were absolute, unable to be ignored. I was a tool of the hive, but I was a person still. I knew I was meant for this, even if I wasn’t before. I knew this was what my life was to be, and I accepted it for what it was. Hell, I embraced it. The Hive was so hungry, and I thought maybe my own individuality could help sustain it. We could feed, but we could live with Equestria- That thought was quickly wiped away from my mind by hers. There would be no co-existence. They were our food, resources to sustain the Hive. They were to feed us until they were drained dry, then discarded like all of the lands the Hive had taken before it. These ponies were no different than the rest. They hated us, but we needed them, so we took from them, stole like thieves. It was the only way we could survive. But the Queen… Chrysalis… She had a plan. She would take Equestria, become its ruler, mask herself as one of them, then take the throne. Such a brilliant plan, so long thought out, it simply could not fail! Not if the hive was to live. Soon after that, my mind and body returned together. I was me again, already with the knowledge of how to live, to work, to change, and most importantly to feed. I was just another Changeling of the Hive, but I was special, that much I knew. That thought I hid deep within me, never letting it surface, and with that thought remained the seed of doubt, however, that we and the Equestrian ponies could co-exist; that we could live with them, not simply live off them. My role was simple: to remain ready at the hive, in case reinforcements were needed once the invasion proper began. I never did get to Canterlot though. Author's Note Not really much more to say here that I haven't said in other comments. I really tried to give a good idea of how it would have felt to Kaerea, how he would remember it, how he was, for lack of a better word, changed, both mentally and physically.
