What I Lost

    Changelings. I hate Changelings. I dipped my hoof into the small pond of water that lay before me to create ripples in the still water. I hated seeing my reflection. My hoof was a deep black when I took it out of the water. I forced myself to drink some of the dusty water. Though I was a Changeling now, I still needed it. The Changelings only fed on love, but I always needed something more. I still had to eat food, but when I'd come across berries and edible flowers, they never looked appetizing to me.

    I lied at the edge of the pond, stirring the water with my hoof. I flapped my wings occasionally to keep them from going stiff on me. Some other Changelings would have to remind me how to get them unstuck, then they'd mock me afterwards. I never liked returning to the underground nest at night so I could sleep. The other Changelings would always beat me to a comfortable spot, so that would leave me with a dumpy spot at the edge where the ground was hard and cold.

    I had only one friend; a young Changeling called Buzz. He was the weakest of the other Changelings his age, so they would constantly reject him. In this cruel place, all we have is each other. I got to my hooves to fly back to the nest. Buzz and the other juvenile Changelings would be done practicing how to transform by now. I flew as far as I could with my undersized wings. I walked the rest of the way. It didn't take long for me to know I was nearby.

    The little Changelings were having fun playing a variant of Hide and Go Seek, where they disguised themselves as things they'd find in the enviroment. Buzz was obviously on the sidelines not participating. His arctic blue eyes lit up when he saw me. "Abelle!" The other juvenile Changelings sneered when he flew towards me. "Yeah, go play with Freaky Dragon-Eyes! We don't want you here!" One of them shouted. Another one started to play along. "If you hang out with her, you'll never be as good as us!"

    Buzz looked a little discouraged but he continued to make his way to me. "Don't listen to them." I comforted him. Buzz looked up at me with a neutral expression. "Let's just go." I made no complaint about that. Buzz flew up onto a large rock. I followed him up, but I almost fell back down onto the ground because my wings were still sore from the partial flight back. "So, what did you learn today?" I started a conversation. Buzz just grinned. "Watch this!"

    A green aura quickly swept over him, and when it was gone, there was just a little lizard in his place. "Hehe, I can't transform into big things just yet.." Buzz chuckled. "Well, you'll learn eventually." It warmed my heart to see him truly happy. He reminded me of my brother, Quicksilver. He would be turning eight in around a week. I would give anything to be back in Canterlot with my family again, but I knew that was never going to happen. I would just have to make do with what I had, which wasn't much.

    "What's the biggest thing you can turn into?" Curiousity suddenly swept over me. Buzz squinted his eyes and looked up to the sky. The green aura swept over him again, but this time, he was a boulder. I quirked my brow and smiled. "And you choose to be a rock." I chuckled. Buzz went back to his Changeling state to talk. "Well, I can only transform into things I've seen before at my age. When I'm older, you can give me a description of something, and I'll turn into that!" He spoke excitedly.

     I had never tried to transform before. I wonder what it's like... "Hey, show me how to do that." I said as I got to my hooves. "It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. You just think about what you want to be, then you use the magic stored in your horn. It's like unicorn magic, I think." I thought for a moment about what I looked like when I was a pony.

    I stood still, and let the magic from my horn sweep across me. I looked down at my hooves after I was sure the transformation was over. They were cream-colored, just like they used to be. I swept my tongue around my mouth for a moment to notice I didn't have any fangs. I even had my Cutie Mark; a golden honeycomb with a few magenta streaks coming off of it.

    "H-How did you do that?" Buzz asked, his voice full of wonder. "Do what?" I was surprised that it seemed like I actually did something amazing. "Changelings can't transform into ponies unless they see who they want to transform into, and on top of that, they have to be receiving romantic love from another pony! That love is what keeps the illusion going!" Buzz explained rather in-depth.

    "What does it mean?" I asked him. An unfamiliar voice came into the conversation unwelcomed. "It means it ain't natural for this to be happenin'. You're going to have to come with me to see the Queen." A Changeling flew down and picked me up by my tail like he was lifting a small bag of groceries. When I could see the entrance to the hive, I made myself turn back into a Changeling so I wouldn't attract more attention than I already would be.

    The Changeling set me down when we were right in front of the entrance. "Now, if you try anything funny, I'll pick you up again." He hissed quietly. I gulped, then nodded. I followed him into the hive. There were only about two-hundred Changelings inside. The rest were probably out looking for anything they could eat. I followed the Changeling deeper into the hive. We went down a large spiraling tunnel, where a slab of rock was blocking Queen Chrysalis's room.

    The Changeling knocked on the rock. "Your Highness, I must speak with you." He then proceeded to push the flat stone aside. Queen Chrysalis was lying in a bed above the ground woven with the repulsive slime Changelings spewed. Her dark green eyes had a quality that could strike fear into nearly anything she looked at.

    "What is it, Windsor? I have a lot of thinking to do for the plan." She scoffed. Windsor just looked at me, then back at the Queen. "I think there's someone fit to be our Missionary."