Party Pop strolled along a path in the Everfree forest, humming happily as she picked herbs here and there. Her auntie Zecora had asked for some help gathering potion ingredients, since it was getting harder for the gracefully aging zebra to do so herself. Pop didn't mind, and it was nice to get to go on a walk in the woods. She wasn't scared, like some ponies might have been, because her Master had taken her on walks here before, and she knew her way around this part rather well. However, unbeknownst to her, recent events in a nearby empire would affect her in quite a profound way.

"Announcing her royal highness, Queen Chrysalis!" a changeling guard proclaimed to a large crowd that had gathered around the palace. The queen herself walked out moments after, accompanied by the usual royal fanfare. The crowd cheered, and the queen smiled. Today was incredibly special, because it was the day that her new child, the prince, would be introduced to the kingdom. She had not even seen the child yet, but she knew he had been hatched only three days before. A nursemaid came out of a nearby door, carrying something tiny wrapped up in a blanket. Chrysalis smiled, knowing that it was her new baby. The nursemaid began to unwrap him as the guard read from a scroll.

"And introducing, for the first time, Prince Chitix!" he said. Chrysalis smiled to herself, but her happiness was soon cut short by the horrified gasp from the crowd. She looked over to the baby, to see what was wrong, and got the shock of her life. The child was a soft, buttery yellow color, with the healthiest, glossiest chitin she had ever seen, and his mane was a mossy green. However, the thing that horrified her and chilled her to the core was his eyes. Royal changelings, like herself, had vivid green eyes, and the nobles had red. Commoners had violet, but the lowest caste, which were mostly used as slaves in battle, had blue eyes, like the child held before her had. However, he still had the larger, jagged horn of royal castes. Her mind raced for an explanation, her eyes darting back and forth in her worry. She would occasionally use one of these slaves for pleasure, but she also made sure to use protection to avoid any unwelcome problems. Had this failed her? If she allowed this child to be the prince, she could be dethroned, and the country would go into anarchy. No, it was simply unthinkable to her cold, practical mind.

"That is no princeling of mine, fool!" she said, hissing as she knocked the baby out of the nursemaid's hooves, sending it to the floor with a wail.

"Take it to the woods and leave it there!" she barked at the guard, "The creatures of the forest will have more use for this thing than I. And then execute this vile maid for her treachery, let her be an example of what happens to those who would dare attempt to make a fool of their queen." the guard saluted quickly, trembling in fear as the nursemaid was hauled off, kicking and wailing as the crowd gazed on in silenced horror. Another guard picked up the baby, rocking him gently to stop his crying.

"Take it at once, fool! That dreadful sound is hurting my ears." Chrysalis said. The guard looked away as he carried off the disgraced prince.

All of this had happened two days ago. The guard had taken pity upon the child, and had hung him from a tree, swaddled securely in a blanket to keep him warm. The height would keep him safe from wolves, or other carnivores of similar size. He had given the baby a gentle kiss, so that it would have at least a little love to feed on. However, it hadn't lasted very long, and the sweet butter yellow of the young prince's chitin had faded to black from the starvation. The tiny baby had tried crying out for his mother, but nopony had come for him. At least, not until that fateful day, when Pop's path just so happened to take her to the tree he was in. When the starving baby heard her hoofsteps, he let out a tiny squeak, barely able to muster the energy for much else. Fortunately, Pop had very good ears, and heard him. She looked in the direction of the noise, and was horrified to see a tiny, helpless baby hanging from a tree branch, his blanket stained and starting to fray at the knot. She ran over to him, and quickly had him down.

"You poor thing, who would leave you-" she started, but then she noticed that the baby was not, in fact, a pony at all, but a changeling. She didn't know much about changelings, but she knew that most of them didn't look quite like this one. His horn was completely different, for one, and he had slightly larger wings compared to his body size. She knew, however, that this poor infant was starving, and they fed off of love. She unwrapped him from the soiled blanket, tossing it aside and using her magic to clean him up. She cuddled him up close to her body, kissing his forehead gently and nuzzling him. He opened up his mouth wide, making a small hissing noise as he sucked in the love radiating from her heart. She smiled, and stroked his back gently as he turned back to his glossy pastel yellow color. He finished after a little, looking up at her and cooing gently. Suddenly, there was a loud howl from the bushes, and the tiny baby began to cry again, this time from fear rather than hunger. Pop looked up to see three timber wolves running towards them at full speed, jaws snapping and their eyes on the pair. She quickly tucked the baby into her saddlebag, firing a blast of magic at the wolves to temporarily disintegrate them before running for her life. It only stopped them for a few seconds, and she quickly heard them again, running after her with remarkable speed. She galloped madly, the baby in her bag wailing in terror as they tore across the forest. She reached her auntie's house in record time, the wolves on her heels. Zecora herself was outside already, as she had heard the commotion and had come out to see what was going on. Pop dashed for the door as fast as she could.

"AUNTIE ZECORA!!! OPEN THE DOOR!!!" She practically screamed, hurling herself toward the cottage almost as fast as her other aunt, Rainbow Dash. She did so, shutting it fast behind her adoptive niece. She stood her ground, facing the beasts head-on. She pulled out something from a pouch, scattering it upon the ground in front of her as she began to chant in her native tongue, slowly rising from the ground as winds began to swirl around her.

"Nenda zako, mapepo ya mti, katika nchi hii mimi kufukuza kwako! Mimi kutupwa nawe nyuma mashimo ya kuzimu na kutoka huko kwako alikuja! Kutupwa juu ya makaa ya kukata tamaa kama wewe kubomoka chini ya uzito wa dhambi zenu!" She called out, her eyes beginning to glow white from the magical energy coursing through her body. The wolves slammed up against her magic barrier, then began to whimper and howl as they crumbled and burst into flames, burning away until they were nothing more than ash scattered upon the wind. The winds died down as she began to descend, the glow fading away slowly as she returned to normal. She placed her hooves upon the ground, and walked back into her cottage. Pop sat by the window with the foal she had found, watching her aunt. Zecora walked up to her adoptive niece, smiling as she looked up at her from her seat by the window.

"There is no longer a need to flee, my dear, for I have cast those wooden demons far away from here." She said, sitting beside the exhausted mare. Pop sighed in relief, and stroked the mane of the baby in her arms.

"Well, that's good. I found this baby in the woods, and then those timber wolves started chasing me! We're lucky to be alive!" She said, pressing the foal close to her chest.

"A tragic affair it would have been, had you not found shelter here within." Zecora replied. She looked down to the tiny, helpless foal.

"A normal foal would have been enough of a surprise, but is that a changeling prince I see before my eyes?" she asked, seemingly shocked. Pop nodded, a tear in her eye.

"I think so. I found him tied to a tree branch, and the blanket was starting to fray at the knot... If he'd stayed much longer, he would have fallen and been badly hurt. He was all black when I found him, but I gave him some love and he turned yellow. Is that good?" Pop asked, panting a little at the end of her long winded question. The zebra elder smiled and stroked the foal's mane.

"Yes, when changelings starve they lose their color and sheen, but when you feed them again, they return to normal, as you have seen." Pop nuzzled the tiny baby in her arms, smiling as he cooed.

"Well, he won't ever be hungry again with me around, because I'm going to give him as much love as I can." she said, giving him a tiny kiss on his forehead. He smiled, and cooed gently, sucking in the sweet magic sustenance. Zecora pulled out a, exotic herb from her shelf, with blossoms shaped like brilliant pink hearts, and a very large heart-shaped flower in the center, with four brilliantly golden stamens in the center.

"This herb, called love's blossom or heart's desire, will provide plenty of food for the changeling foal's fire. But, to inform you, I am behooved, for him, a name you must choose." It wasn't a perfect rhyme, and Zecora hoped Pop wouldn't notice. She didn't, fortunately. She was too busy thinking of names. Then, she looked down into his cute little face, radiating so much love from his tiny baby heart. And in that moment, she knew the perfect name for him.

"I think 'Sweetheart' sounds perfect for him, don't you, Auntie Zecora?" she said, nuzzling his cheek. Zecora smiled upon him, packing a bag of baby supplies for her niece.

"A perfect name you have chose, now take these supplies back with you before the town gates close!" she said, ushering her outside. Pop looked up at the sky, noticing how dark it was getting. She waved goodbye to her aunt, and made a mad dash for the train station so she could get back to her home in Manehattan that night. Her master, Gold Soul, was waiting at home for her, but had no idea that he was in for the shock of his life.

"Master, I'm home!" she called out, putting the cover of the saddle bag over Sweetheart. She wanted the infant to be a surprise. Her master popped around the corner with a smile and hugged her, nuzzling her cheek.

"I missed you so much, Kitten! How was your trip?" he asked, petting her soft mane. She smiled, nuzzling him back.

"It was wonderful! I got to help my Aunt Zecora with her work." she said, purring gently as he petted her. He smiled, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, how about some snuggle time on the couch together?" he said, a slightly seductive look in his eyes. Pop blushed.

"Well, actually, I have a surprise for you, Master." she said, reaching back for her saddle bag. Gold smiled, eagerly anticipating her- well, whatever it was. He gasped is surprise and shock when he saw her pull out the last thing he had expected. In her arms was a tiny changeling foal. He had had a few dealings with changelings before, and he knew that they were a good, honest people who happened to have fallen on hard times in their homeland. However, this looked a lot like a royal changeling child, which meant it probably was the child of their oppressive dictator queen, Chrysalis. He looked down upon the tiny child, who looked back up at him with his big blue eyes. Wait, blue eyes? Royal changelings had green eyes. His eyes shot open as he finally understood the horrific truth of what had happened to this tiny baby.

"His name is Sweetheart. I found him tied to a tree branch in the woods, all alone. He was starving to death, but I fed him, and he's ok now. Can we keep him, please?" she pleaded, looking into her master's eyes, a few tears in her own. He looked back at the foal in her arms, who was still looking up at him with his big blue eyes that had caused him so much heartache and pain already. He reached out and picked him up, then held him close to his chest with a little nuzzle, which earned him a giggle from the little colt in his arms. This might cause some international drama, but it wasn't anything he and his royal sisters couldn't handle.

"Yes, I think we should. He's the perfect baby for us to adopt." Gold said, hugging his pet close to him as they snuggled with the foal in their arms, who was more than happy to feed on the love pouring from the hearts of his two new parents.

Author's Note

I am using the idea of changelings changing color this way when starving from this story.
Also, Zecora is not her biological aunt, she's just an adoptive one, like Rainbow Dash is.