Two changeling nymphs played in the nursery, giggling as they wrestled with each other happily. Metamorphosis sighed at this sight, closing his eyes to remove the picture from his mind.
"You know we must do this." A resonant voice behind him sounded sadly.
"But why? Do they deserve such a fate?" He asked, pain filling his heart.
There was a slight chik-chik-chik sound he recognized as a changelings tears. "No. They don't. But we have to do this for the.. good of the hive." Her voice was husky and she sounded as if she were attempting to convince herself as well as him.
He turned to face her then, his dark grey helmet with its green crest rustling as he moved. The changeling female in front of him was old. She had deep cerulean eyes, that spoke of wisdom far away that no one but her could understand. Her coat was an slightly unnatural shade of black, a chitin color that made her stand out amongst the others. He suspected she had once had the deep grey chitin of all changelings, but as an near immortal, color had deepened over time.
And her mane was the most striking thing about her, next to her black skin. It was deep blue. Blue like the night sky, almost as blue as the dreaded Nightmare Moons! "Impostor..." He protested weakly, his own lime green eyes filling with tears. She shook her head sadly, then strode forward past him to watch the two he had been watching earlier.
Putting a perforated hoof on the glass separating her from the sterile room- at least, as sterile as you could get in the badlands- she murmured. "Good Night, little Chrysalis. And Good Night, Shapeshifter."
With that she blinked rapidly as if to rid herself of her tears and walked away briskly with clacking hooves, leaving Metamorphosis to stare after his mate in surprise. He turned back to the duo, staring at the drone nymph in particular. In all 'ling history, there had never been a named drone. But then again, there had never been a Queen and a drone from the same larvae. They were like a miracle.
Identical twins. (Unless of course you count the fact that the little Queen had pupils and the drone did not)
His mind went on and on automatically judging the difference. He sighed, then turned and left, nodding to the guards with a forlorn silence. He made his way through the hive, noting with despair how many emaciated changelings there were. They hissed pif anyone dared come close to them but when they saw the King they did the only respectable thing for starving citizens of a dying empire.
They attacked. Each blue orb that filled the drones eye was full of hatred. They set up a wailing cry, as they fought agains each other to be the first to the King. He had stopped and waited, downcast, for his fate. Then by some eerie phenomenon a wail sounded from the nursery. All turned to look and suddenly, a blast a pure pink light traveled outwards. Each changelings mouth gaped open in shock and wonder as their hunger vanished almost instantly.
Each changeling, their belly now bulging with love, fluttered weakly upwards in an attempt to gorge themselves on more. Metamorphosis also licked his fangs and ate no more then he needed to. He had to save it for his subjects. Despite the fact that they were all love drunk now, he continued to let them feast. It was not often they got this big of a source, and all at once. He took slow, painstaking steps through the cerise rays and made his way towards the nursery. His eyes went wide as he witnessed an odd scene. A white colt with a blue mane played with a younger purple baby female pony.
/They know how to change already?/ He panicked. Little did he know that this was a foretelling of sorts of the future. As he scrambled around desperately for the door to the playroom Queen Impostor showed up, looking tired and irritated. But, he noticed, she was also full, something that had not happened in a long time. "What is GOING ON!" Her cerulean orbs were filled with annoyance and she barely glanced at Metamorphosis before registering the twins with shock.
"What...." Was her only comment. He staggered to his hooves, her sudden entrance having thrown him off balance, and shrugged.
"I don't know." he continued to take in the sight, then his brow furrowed under the metal helm and his worry increased. "Shouldn't they have stopped by now?" Queen Impostor glanced at him impatiently, then scrutinized the twins. He was right. The pure amount of emotional energy they were emanating was delicious, yes, but it was slowly darkening with the grayer feelings on the emotional scale. Hate. Envy. Regret. Even as she thought these, the fright rays slowly yellowed with something dangerous.
She recognized it as despair, the most dangerous of all changeling foods. To them, it was poison. The pure food that had been beaming from them like a beacon changed color, from the yellow of despair to the red of anger to the black of hate and then to the second most toxic emotion. The deep deep blue of sadness. And, she noted with horror, a small dash of silver greed.
"THEY'LL POISON EVERYLING!" She shouted, thinking of pure raw love as a shield against the negativity as she forced her way through the circular shield of poisonous food. Instantly her hunger came back, though less sharper then before. The darkening force pushed her back but she kept going, wrenching one hoof in front of the other. Soon she reached the twins and without further prolonging she grabbed the white colt by the nape of his neck and slowly staggered out of the bubble, afraid of the poisoning.
Metamorphosis, on the other hoof, had ran out into the main quarters f the hive and shouted at the top of his lungs to "stop drinking, the source is getting tainted!" Glad for the meal they had been deprived of for a long time, they almost immediately reacted as his voice was not only echoing through the air, it was echoing through the hive mind.
The hive mind was a curious thing. The King and Queen were connected to all of the changelings there, but not all of the changelings were connected to each other. Only mates had a connection, and only parents and their brood had a connection. No one else did, if they were not related and had not yet agreed to marry.
Gratified that all had followed his orders for the first time in weeks as he witnessed the buzzing black mass descend and turn into separate changelings again. He sighed with relief and turned back to the nursery, where the food source was lessening greatly. He easily stepped into it and found Impostor on the other side of the room, holding Chrysalis and furrowing her brow with fear.
He immediately took stock of the situation and grabbed the disguised Shapeshifter. Almost instantly the poisonous rays stopped. both Royals let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding and looked at each other from across the room. "Well. i guess that settles it." Queen Impostor said uncomfortably, breaking the silence.
He nodded his assent sadly, before taking one long look at his daughter. He may never get to see her again.
They walked out to regard the changeling civilization. Metamorphosis spoke first.
"We have made a decision!"
Each changeling looked up to attention and seeing the two changelings who towered above them, they snapped off a respectful salute. Impostor let her voice ring out next.
"We have decided to separate the royal nymphs!"
Everyling chittered with confusion, looking at each other and starting rumors. Metamorphosis sighed, his race was always a gossipy one.
"Everyone who feels like they are loyal to me and Shapeshifter, head for the west end of the badlands! we will be training him there! If you feel you are loyal to Chrysalis and the Queen, follow her to the east end! She will be a Queen some day!
Cheers followed his statement and nearly half the population funneled out of the catacombs of the hive towards the est end whilst the others stayed on the ground, looking up to their Queen and King.
Each looked at the other, crying slightly, and they smiled through their tears. They spoke in unison.
"Good bye, my Queen/King." With those parting words said, Metamorphosis bowed to little Chrysalis and picked up Shapeshifter off the ground with his emerald magic. Almost immediately he began to squall and reach for his sister, as if he knew they were not going to see each other for a very long time. Chrysalis had the same prophetic premonition and her lower lip quivered. Then she broke out into a bawl.
They spent the next few minutes soothing the nymphs and then headed their separate ways. Outside of the hive, the drone that was being clutched to Metamorphosis' chest started crying and he heard an answering sob, echoing from the other side of the canyon. This heart-wrenching way of communication only made the King go faster to catch up with the changelings loyal to the Prince, and tears beaded at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill.
~~~
*Three years later in the east end of the Badlands*
A sleeping Chrysalis was draped over her silk bed, and Impostor lovingly moved an offending lock of hair behind one of her long ears. Chryssi, as she became known as, had grown into a fine young mare, with gaping holes in her legs and turquoise locks. She resembled her father closely, though never having known him very well.
As Impostor brushed her lips against the top of Chrysalis' onyx head chitin, she heard small whimpers from her daughter.
"No.... Please....." Worriedly, the current Queen checked her little daughters head for signs of fever. Nothing. She wasn't delusional.
Suddenly she cried out. "NO!" Then her voice grew softer and it sounded like it was full of tears. "I have a brother......." Her mother gaped at her in shock. ut luckily she was asleep so she didn't know.
Hurriedly she stepped out of the room and saluted to the helmet bearing guards. "Onyx, Alabaster," She mused over those odd names in her mind then realized they were looking at her expectantly. She drew herself up, regaining her regal composure. "I do believe Chrysalis has remembered her twin." They showed signs of shock as well, jaw unhinging at unnatural angles. Her brows went up as she witnessed a pair of teeth.
Alabaster's fangs were pearl white as they should be, but Onyx's were as dark as the night itself.
~~~
Seven miles away, Metamorphosis was tucking his son into bed. The drone looked up at him sleepily. He had some signs of individuality like a helmet he had taken to wearing, and Metamorphosis had decreed that only t=him and his son could were helms, to preserve their uniqueness. "Dad?" his sons voice joltd him out of his reverie and he looked lovingly down at his only son.
"Yes?" The question that came next he was not prepared for.
"When's sister coming back?" Green eyes went wide for a moment, but he kept calm and took several deep breaths.
"Well.." he laid a hoof on his sons belly. "As soon as you are a grownup and all trained to meet the Queen, then you can see her. I promise." What he did not know was that his son knew much of the hive workings and the only females were the Royals.
So some how, in a freak astronomical coincidence, each siblings remembered their twin in the exact same moment.
What are the chances?
