Author's Note
Thank you for clicking on my story! If you are just reading this for the clop, then I would recommend starting on Chapter 3 and staying tuned for when chapter 4 comes out. If you want to test out our story-writing ability, please read it from the beginning and give constructive criticism. Whatever you do, thank you for showing interest and please enjoy!
-Wolfgang
Chapter 1: The Aftermath
Prisoners of War
Chapter 1: The Aftermath
Celestia's sun was burning down on the lands. A huge ball of fire, which almost seemed to mock the retreating black bug-like creatures as they trotted to the desert. They were scraped, bruised and starved, but they had to keep going. They had a hive to protect, and even in hard times likes these, their group comes first.
Darkness fills the view of the depleted Changeling army as they enter their hive on the outskirts of Equestria, which was the first red flag for the remaining changelings. This colony was always lit with the glowing green eyes of their brothers and sisters, so any time without light like this moment was scarce.
The home they had left was still filled with the hard working colony that could do little other than hold hope that somehow, their lives would improve. No matter how low the morale was, or how little love there was to harvest, they had to hang onto that last glimmer of hope if they were to stay sane. That Changeling spirit died out with the apparent losses of life in their hive. Left here to starve while the army made its last ditch effort to give them a life to look forward to. Truly, that is the worst defeat they could have suffered.
The changelings had seen better days. After their plans of a large scale Equestrian invasion backfired, they got blasted right out of Canterlot. They tried to regroup themselves afterwards, but with such small numbers, they were left in a state of dismay.
While the soldiers were all battered and starved, their Queen was in the worst condition. Her injuries were critical, and none of the changelings believed that she had much time left. With her gone, the changeling race would surely perish. Without a leader, what few changelings were left would be without leadership, and all hope of recovery would be lost. They only carried her back in hopes that she would give them any form of wisdom to survive in this darkest of times.
They went to work on Chrysalis’ wounds, trying to ignore the ruins of their old home, in hopes that maybe they could save her. Even with what little love they could scavenge, the possibility of their leader surviving didn’t look all that likely.
Just as their imminent doom started to set in their minds, they saw another figure fly into the cave. They soon realized that it was not one, but two figures entering their home. One of their changeling brothers had survived, but was flying back home weighed down by the unconscious pony he was carrying on his back. The blue-coated unicorn mare was quickly thrown onto the cold stone floor as her captor tried to catch his breath.
“S-she’s… a heavy one…” he said in between gasps for air.
The few that already occupied the cave were less worried with the arrival of their ally than the appearance of a pony on their land. Never before has a pony step foot inside of their home, and after what the ponies have done to them, they weren't planning on letting this one either.
“What is this filth that you curse our home with!?” one changeling yelled.
“They took the lives of so many of our people, so I took one of them.” the other responded, finally regaining his breath. “Maybe with her, we could negotiate some supplies from the ponies.”
“You idiot! You're only giving the ponies a reason to come here and attack us! Do we look in any way prepared to defend ourselves!?” the first changeling said, his temper quickly rising at the thought of having to deal with the Royal Guard for a second time.
“W-well… What else are we supposed to do with her? She doesn't have an ounce of love in her body…” the changeling stuttered; trembling at the sight of of his brothers slowly turning on him.
“Well then.” another changeling said while charging up his horn with all the magic he can muster. “There's only one thing he CAN do…”
“STOP!” bellowed the Queen to the surprise of her few remaining subjects.
She panted heavily under the strain of her weakened body. She pushed against it to talk to her subjects yet again.
“Can’t you idiots think before you act!? I know times look hopeless, but we can't be acting rashly now! All this bickering will do is make you turn on each other!”
All of Queen Chrysalis’ remaining subjects solemnly hung their heads at the words of their queen. They were loyal servants to their queen, and they never wanted to disappoint her. Seeing her disapproving eyes under the circumstances were the hardest things for them to take.
The queen spoke again. “Now, it doesn't take an expert to know that my time is numbered. I doubt I will still be alive by nightfall. Of course, without a queen in the hive, all chances of survival will be lost, but his new mare could be just what we need to save the hive.”
This made the few remaining changelings look up to their Queen. There were only about 30 of them left, and with that they were trying desperately to grip for any straw they could find.
“I will make a proposition to you, my children. I know you might not like it, but it's all you have right now. The hive can be saved, but in order to do so, it will need a queen. I can make this mare the new queen of the hive, so that you can live another day.”
This idea was immediately met by protest, as the changelings weren’t all too fond to have a pony, the race that nearly killed all of them, should be their new leader.
Queen Chrysalis suddenly got into a violent coughing fit, and the changelings immediately panicked again. As it subsided, a trail of green blood started to dribble down their Queen's muzzle, and served as a harsh reminder that of the time constraints the changelings were under. The reality finally dawned on them. It wasn’t about if they wanted a pony to be their Queen. It was more about if they wanted to survive. An eerie silence fell over the room at that. No changeling wanted to speak up at these rather morose perspective.
The changeling that carried the blue mare into the hive stepped forward, deciding to be the first changeling to speak his mind.
“I agree,” he said as he turned around to the others. “We need to survive, or we will never be able to get back at the princesses! If we die now, everything would be in vain!”
The changelings looked up from the floor, slowly conceding. This really was their only chance, and throwing their life away would only show disrespect to their Queen. With that they all reluctantly agreed.
