Altered Visage

Chapters

To Twilight's Town
Interrogation
Blue Eyes and Dark Alleys
Mad Dash
Nutcase
No Nightmare
Home in the Hive
Heart in the Hive
Home From the Hive
The Best Laid Plans
Side Chapter: Disappointment
Princess of the Hive
Emissary of the Hive
Green Eyed Monster
War
Queen of the Hive
Discordant Dreams
Of Angels and Changelings

To Twilight's Town

I lay there staring at the alien limb in front of my face. When I tried to move my arm, this black, holey appendage moved instead. My normal, hairy arm was nowhere in sight. I nudged the extremity with my muzzle. The plainly visible snout on my face likely would have furthered my confusion had I not been so preoccupied with the black, hole filled hoof in front of me. The leg felt as smooth as it looked, but was softer than I had expected it to be, more malleable too. Not as soft and malleable as human skin, but far from the hard and rigid carapace I had expected to find.

The gears in my head grinded slowly as I tried to piece together the situation I was in. I didn’t feel like I was asleep anymore, but couldn’t think of any other logical explanation. How do you pinch yourself without fingers? You can’t. Not really. Can you? My thoughts drifted to the now rather sharp fangs within my mouth and without taking a moment to think about the repercussions of such an act, I bit my leg.

“Ow, fuck!” Two streams of deep red trickled from two neat puncture wounds where my fangs had pierced my flesh, a few drops landing on the ground.

Funny, I had always thought that changeling blood would be green. As I rubbed my bloody leg on the grass until the bleeding slowed, my thoughts meandered to the unpleasant conclusion that I was not dreaming. I was a changeling bleeding in the middle of Sweet Apple Acres’ orchards and had just been discovered by Apple Bloom, who was at this very moment telling her big sister about the monster that was invading their farm.

I flipped myself off my back and got up onto my hooves, wobbling momentarily as I tried to get my balance. I searched for a place that I could hide, my eyes swiftly falling upon a nearby tree. The foliage looked thick enough to hide me, as long as nobody looked too closely.

Yeah, great idea, Victor. I’ll just climb right on up using my hands...oh wait!

I rolled my eyes at my own stupidity. I doubted I could climb any tree in my current form, and the fact that I could barely stand without falling over did not inspire confidence in my ability to fly with my new wings. I needed something just a little less impossible. Continuing my search, I spotted a shed nearby.

“It was over there!”

Fear gripped me as my head jerked towards the cute little voice that signalled my impending doom as my ears flattened against my skull. Her voice was faint, and the trees blocked any view I had of the approaching sisters, as well as any view they could have had of me. The shed certainly wasn’t ideal what with being so close to where I had already been seen, but I didn’t have time to find anything better. I stumbled as quickly and quietly as I could towards it, nudging the door open with my irritatingly large muzzle and sneaked in. I winced at the sound the door made as it swung shut behind me, hoping that the Apple girls didn’t hear it too.

It seemed like an eternity as I waited in the darkness, trying desperately to slow my heart down to a less heart attack inducing pace. Finally, I heard the sound of hooves striking the ground a short distance away from my hiding place.

“Yer sure ya saw it out here? Yer not tryin’ to get a cutie mark in practical jokes now, are ya?” It was Applejack, her voice was somewhat muffled by the wall separating us, but I could still detect the warring emotions of hope and fear her question carried.

“It was right here, ah swear it! Ah’m not lyin’!”

I could barely hear them moving around out there over the drumming of my heart. Thoughts of what would happen if I were caught flooded my mind. Applejack could buck me hard enough to crush my skull, or I could be thrown into a dungeon to slowly rot, or given to Celestia and banished to the moon. Could I survive on the moon? Nightmare Moon did, but then again, she was more or less a deity, I was just a measly human. Or a changeling. Whatever.

“Applebloom, did ya cut yerself out here?” I was snapped out of my train of thought by this rather random question.

“No, why?”

“Somepony was bleedin’ here.” I suppressed a groan. Of course my blood would give me away.

“Ya mean that thing is hurt? Should ah go get a doctor?” The concern in her voice warmed my heart. Even after being terrified by me she was kind-hearted enough to worry about my well being. I wondered if even Fluttershy would be so kind towards a changeling.

“Ah don’t know why it’s hurt, but if what ya said is right, that thing is a changeling. They’re dangerous. Ya’d better get back to the house, find Big Mac and Granny Smith and lock up all the doors.”

“But-“

“No buts, this is fer yer own good. Ah’m gonna go warn the others that there’s a changeling on the loose.”

I heard one set of hooves hesitantly go back the way they had come, accompanied by a few expressions of displeasure over being sent away. Once that faded, the sound of significantly larger hooves started up as well, coming closer to my hiding spot. One of my legs began to twitch uncomfortably. I held my breath as the hooves passed right by the door, then continued on, presumably in the direction of Ponyville. When I could hear no signs of pony life anymore, I exhaled noisily and collapsed to the floor as my trembling legs gave out beneath me. The tension flowed out of my muscles, many of which I hadn’t had the day before, and a euphoric relaxation spread through my body. I was safe, though probably not for long.

A few calming moments and several steadying breaths later, I poked my head out of the door and was scanning for any potential trouble. Finding none, I exited the shed. I felt an urge to bolt away, to escape from this dangerous place and find a better hiding spot. Where would I go, though? I didn’t know my way around this place, it’s not like the cartoon had shown me a detailed map of Ponyville and the surrounding area. With my luck I wouldn’t doubt that I’d run straight into the Everfree Forest and get eaten by a pack of timber wolves. I needed a plan.

Maybe Twilight could help me get back home, or at least undo whatever Discord did to turn me into a changeling. Unfortunately, she was a prime candidate for pony who would be the most hostile towards changelings due to the Canterlot invasion. Actually, Cadance and Shining Armor would probably make up the first two spots on that list, but Twilight would likely be a close third. What else could I do, though? Hide in the wilderness until I inevitably starved? Wander the world as a travelling performer, feeding off the adoration of the crowds as I put on a dazzling show at each new town I came across? Kiss my humanity and home goodbye without so much as a token effort to fix things? No. I couldn’t do that. I was a terrible performer, anyway.

There was a bucket filled with water nearby, and I caught a glimpse of my reflection in it. Sharp fangs, a horn protruding from my shiny black forehead, and eyes a near solid bright blue with a gradually lightening patch that was nearly white in the center where my pupils should have been. Innocent or not, there was no way I was going to get anywhere near Twilight looking like that, the town folk would form a mob and tear me to pieces long before I could find her library. Or would it be castle now? When in the timeline was I? Pre or post Tirek? Either way, I needed a disguise.

I began to wonder how exactly a changeling changes. Would it be some complicated magical effort that would require years of experience and training which would force me to search for an alternate means of disguise, or would it be more like a natural instinct and come easily if I willed it? For my sake I hoped for the latter. The ponies of Ponyville may not be the most observant, but I somehow doubted that a trench coat and groucho glasses would fool them for long. Not that I knew where I would find those objects anyway. I closed my eyes and began to concentrate on a face that I was familiar with: Pinkie Pie.

“Be Pinkie, be Pinkie, be Pinkie.” I muttered to myself, not knowing if it would work. My eyes shot open as I heard the fwooshing sound of changeling fire engulf me and gave a high pitched yelp and jumped into the air. A grin that would be perfectly in place on Pinkie Pie spread across my face. It worked! I looked back at my reflection and saw that the creepy blue eyes of a changeling were replaced with Pinkie’s relatively natural looking blue eyes.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?” I gave my new voice a test run. The voice of a changeling may sound pretty cool, but it’s quite unsettling when it’s coming from your own mouth. The much more solid sounding voice of a normal pony was considerably more comfortable, even if it was a few octaves higher than any man’s voice should be. I began wondering what else I could change into. If I could change into somepony this easily, would it be just as easy for me to change into somebody?

My eyes shut tight again as I concentrated on a mental image of my own face. Surely it would be easier to explain to Twilight that I was some sort of alien creature if I could show her what they looked like. Unless Equestria Girls was canon, then I suppose she’d know what humans are already and she might even assume that travelling between the two worlds transformed me into a changeling. Sure, it wasn’t true, but it would make it much easier to convince her I wasn’t really some sort of love sucking incubus that way, I could clear up any misconceptions about it when she wasn’t preparing to blast me into a million pieces with her spell of the week. I dimly realized that this may have been the first time anyone had ever hoped that Equestria Girls was actually canon. All these scattered thoughts probably weren’t helping me with my attempted transformation, though, as I quickly realized I was still very much a quadruped. I really need to work on keeping my concentration.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared my mind as well as I could manage, and as often happens when I try not to think of anything I don’t want to, the thought of camels popped into my head thanks to a story I heard as a child about a held stone turning to gold if you can actively avoid thinking about camels.

Are there sentient camels in this world? No! Bad! Stop thinking and concentrate on being human again!

I repeated a mantra of 'become human' in my mind as forcefully as I could, shoving any stray thoughts into the corner of my brain where I could mostly ignore them. Turning into Pinkie Pie had only taken a few seconds, but I had been standing in place for what seemed like forever now and all that seemed to earn me was a headache. I stared at my frowning, pink reflection as I sulked over not being able to return to my natural form. Maybe I didn’t have enough love energy? Or maybe humans were too different from changelings for me to imitate one?

“Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here? We’ve been looking for you all over!”

A tomboyish voice greeted me from somewhere both above and behind me. I found myself jumping nearly out of my temporary skin and gave out a girlish ‘eep’. I turned around and craned my neck up to see a sky blue Pegasus with rainbow mane and tail floating above me. This wasn’t good, I needed to think fast. What would Pinkie do in this situation?

“Oh, uh...Hi Rainbow Dash!” I cranked out as big a smile as I could muster as I began jumping excitedly in place, “I was looking for you too, well not just you, but all of you, though I was actually looking for Applejack right now because you see I was going to invite you all to my ‘It’s Thursday Party’, but then I saw my reflection in this bucket of water and was making funny faces at myself and I kinda lost track of time, but now you’re here and I can finally invite you!” I took in a deep breath after that longwinded and rapid explanation then sat down, beaming with hopefully authentic looking joy as Rainbow Dash landed in front of me, raising an eyebrow quizzically. At least I hoped it was quizzically and not suspiciously.

“But it’s Monday.” Rainbow deadpanned.

My smile faded and my eyes went wide at this. It figures that the day of the week wouldn’t be the same as back at home. I needed to fix this, fast. I let out an exaggerated gasp, much like I’d seen Pinkie do in the show several times over.

“You mean that I’ve missed the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday parties!?” I grasped Rainbow Dash with my hooves and shook her violently, I marveled at how easy it seemed to grab with fingerless extremities, then cranked up the hysterics in my voice as much as I could, “Why didn’t anypony tell me!? I have to go prepare for one super duper-ific Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday all in one party! I’m going to need more balloons!”

I tossed a terrified Rainbow Dash aside and ran in the general direction of Ponyville. I had the intention of finding someplace else to hide for awhile before actually arriving, but I needed to get out of Dash’s sight first. I doubted that going into Ponyville as Pinkie Pie when the mane six, including Pinkie herself, were likely to be gathering together to search for a changeling would be a wise decision. Unfortunately, I had forgotten how fast Dash really was and I didn’t exactly know how to take advantage of Pinkie’s seemingly impossible ability to teleport off screen to wherever she wants to be. That and I probably wasn’t moving that fast to begin with thanks to still being unused to moving as a quadruped.

“Hold it!” A rainbow blur appeared in front of me, blocking my path as I wondered if she had taken lessons from Phoenix Wright. "That can wait, Pinkie. Applejack says there’s a changeling around and we’re all to meet up at the library before we do anything.”

The news of the library still standing intrigued me, it meant that I had to have landed in Equestria before the Tirek attack. This of course assumed that the show was an accurate representation of what happened, or will happen, in this world.

“Good idea! I can throw the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and new pony in town party all at the same time in the library!”

“New pony in town party? We’re not gonna throw a party for it, Pinkie, it’s a changeling! We’re gonna kick its butt!”

“What?! But what if it’s a good changeling? It would be awfully bad if we attacked an innocent pony just because they were a little different.”

“Do you hear yourself, Pinkie? A good changeling? These are the same monsters that attacked Canterlot and eat your love until you’re a zombie! Remember?”

“But-“ I was cut off by a hoof being shoved into my mouth.

“Look, Pinkie, we don’t have time for this. Just go to the library. I promised Applejack that I would check up on her family, so I gotta go.” Rainbow looked impatiently at something in the distance behind me. I craned my neck around to see the farmhouse peeking through the rows of apple trees.

“Hmmmm,” I rubbed my hoof on my chin in an attempt to look thoughtful before smiling again, “okie dokie loki! I’ll go to the library and talk to Twilight about it and then we can throw a party!”

“Yeah, fine, whatever. I gotta go.” Rainbow rolled her eyes at my insistence on throwing a party, no doubt hoping Twilight could convince me just how grave the situation truly was. I watched as she flew off towards the Apple family home and when I was sure she wouldn’t see me, I dashed away in the general direction of the town.

After several minutes of following a road passing row after row of apple trees, the orchards came to an end and I was met with an untended field of mostly grasses, weeds and bushes, with a few trees popping up here and there. On the other side of this field in the distance I could see some houses with yellow roofs, likely made of some kind of straw or hay or something. I never really thought about what those roofs might actually have been made of before this point. That was definitely Ponyville, though.

I performed a quick check around to ensure that I was alone, and then hid amongst the nearest clump of bushes where I could hopefully contemplate a new disguise without interruption. Any of the mane six were out, for previously stated reasons. I didn’t think that any high profile ponies would be a good choice either, as I didn’t want to garner too much attention, so none of the princesses or any celebrities. That left me two choices, either a background pony or I could try and create a new pony from scratch.

A new pony might get some attention from the locals merely for being new, but who knows where any of the background ponies may actually be. They appear pretty much everywhere, so even if I knew my way around town I couldn’t simply avoid going places they frequented. I didn’t doubt that with my luck I’d run straight into the inspiration for my disguise and be caught immediately. While it wasn’t ideal, a new pony in town seemed the lesser of the evils here.

I concentrated on the image I conjured up in my mind and was quickly engulfed once again in green flames. I was still amazed at how easy it was to change into ponies, and more than a little relieved that I could transform into one that I just made up on the spot. A slight chill graced my new body, despite the late afternoon sun heating up the world to a near uncomfortable temperature.

I gave myself a quick look over to confirm that it worked as I intended. I was an earth pony stallion, somewhat smaller than the ones I saw in the show as I wanted to be as unintimidating as possible while still maintaining a measure of my masculinity. My coat was a simple light brown colour while my tail and mane were a dark grey. Though I didn’t have a reflective surface to confirm it, if things went as I wanted my eyes would be a shade of dark green. I twisted my neck around to look at my flank and was greeted by a pair of white dice. I didn’t know if my choice of a cutie mark would be unusual, but I figured I could easily say that I got it from my enjoyment of games of chance if pressed. My disguise was complete. I wasn’t going to win any awards for character design, but hopefully the relatively tame colour scheme would help me avoid catching any unwanted attention.

Tentatively, I stepped out from my hiding place and looked back towards town. Somewhere in that mass of buildings was a little purple pony that could hopefully help me get back home. At a brisk trot, I made my way towards my destination. Movement on four limbs was growing much easier, a fact for which I was grateful for. The uneasiness of becoming comfortable in a body that was not my own was more than made up for by the increased mobility. Fearing that you’re going to fall on your face with every step is not a sensation I recommend.

My gait slowed considerably once I reached the edge of town. The few glances I received from the citizens were short and disinterested as they went about their daily routines. So far so good, now I just needed to find Twilight so I could talk to her in private and convince her to help me. It shouldn’t be too hard, right? She was bound to be around there somewhere. Looking for me. With all of her friends. With the intent of attacking me on sight. Okay, I clearly hadn’t thought this through.

Retreating into your head isn’t the best choice when what you really should be doing is paying attention to where you are walking. I did not realize this until I had bumped into a bushy wall of blue and pink.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” A creamy, off white earth pony mare glared back at me as I spit out her multi-hued tail. Realizing that I had essentially just face planted into a mare’s more intimate spots, I tried to scramble backwards, though only managed to fall onto my rump. A quick look at her flank to see a few wrapped up candies confirmed for me that I had just run into the hind end of Bon Bon, or Sweetie Drops, whichever name she actually went by.

“I’m, uh, I...” I stammered is what I did, as no doubt a profuse blush grew on my face which was now feeling uncomfortably warm. Bon Bon, now turned to face me properly, continued to stare daggers at me, obviously not appeased by my botched attempts at an apology. For my part, I stood up, swallowed my embarrassment and tried again.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to butt- bump! I didn’t mean to bump into you. I should have been watching where I was going, it won’t happen again, I swear it!” Real smooth, Victor, stick your face into her ass and you just had to say ‘butt’, didn’t you?

“Yeah, right, I bet you meant to ‘butt’ into me. You’re some kind of pervert, aren’t you?”

My eyes grew wide at being accused of such a thing by a pony, I thought this world was filled with sunshine, ladybugs, happiness, forgiveness and not accusing some random guy of being a pervert! I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

“P-p-pervert?! N-no, I-I just-I mean, it was an accident! I didn’t, I mean I wouldn’t...” Bon Bon took an aggressive step towards me, “Please don’t hurt me!”

I took a frightened step back as tears actively coursed down my face and my lower lip quivered. A small crowd of ponies had gathered around to watch the events unfolding in front of them. I could hear a few whispers of how terrible it was that she had made some poor stallion cry.

Oh god, I am terrible at avoiding attention!

“Uh, look, maybe I over reacted,” Bon Bon halted her approach and was fidgeting at the scrutiny the crowd was giving us, “Just, uh, stop crying, I believe you.”

“Really?” I blinked away the tears and stared at her like a hopeful little puppy.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake, do I have to repeat myself?” Her eye twitched, and her tone belied the sentiment of her previous words as anger radiated off of her. I flinched involuntarily, and then whimpered pathetically as I braced myself for her to strike me in an enraged frenzy. I heard a few gasps, but no attack came forth. Instead, Bon Bon’s jaw appeared to have dropped even further than the onlookers surrounding us.

“I, um,” it was Bon Bon’s turn to stutter, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Please, stop looking at me like that. I’m not going to hurt you.” Her voice had raised an octave or so from the previous level she had spoken at, and wavered a bit. When I didn’t respond, she muttered something about having to go wash her cat and left as quickly as she could while trying to avoid the appearance of running away. After a few moments, the crowd of ponies awkwardly wandered off one at a time, leaving the strange stallion to dry his tears and attempt to regain some measure of composure.

Great. You just had to react like that, didn’t you? You couldn’t have just stammered out another lame apology and then walked away. You’re a god damned idiot. She should have hit you. Maybe it would’ve beat some sense into that stupid head of yours.

I stared down at a patch of grass forlornly as I berated myself. It had been a long time since I had an overreaction like that. No doubt the stresses that had piled onto me over the course of this day had left me particularly susceptible. I dimly noticed a fuzzy pink leg appearing in my field of vision as a hoof was placed on my shoulder.

“Heeeeey! What’s with the long face?” An energetic and near irritatingly perky voice interrupted my personal pity party.

“I suspect it might have something to do with me being an equine.” I responded in a low monotone. It was a lame joke, even if it was literally part of the reason I was so distressed. Lame though it may have been, it still got a girlish chuckle from my intruder. It was awfully contagious, actually. I could feel a bit of warmth spreading through me as I couldn’t help but giggle myself, I hadn’t realized just how cold my body had become during my encounter with Bon Bon.

The hoof moved to my chin and raised my face to meet a beautiful pair of blue eyes and the most genuine smile I had ever seen. It took a moment for me to realize I wasn’t looking at my reflection from earlier, it was actually Pinkie Pie, the real Pinkie Pie, and she was trying to cheer me up. I could feel renewed strength in my limbs as my spirits rose.

“That’s better, I knew you had a smile under that frowny face of yours!”

My vision blurred somewhat as new tears formed, this time of joy. I hadn’t been here long, but this joyous pink pony was the first to show me any kindness since I met Discord in my dreams last night. I threw my arms, or forehooves or whatever they’re called around her neck and hugged her, and much to my contented bliss, she hugged me back.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” I whispered.

“You’re welcome! Wait a minute....” Pinkie jumped into the air and gave out a gasp, sadly extricating herself from the hug I had been enjoying, “You know my name, but I don’t know yours! That means you’re new in town! Wait, how do you know my name?”

“Oh, right,” I snapped back to reality, realizing that I had just run into one of the worst ponies I could have possibly run into, “I’ve heard of you: element of laughter, greatest party pony in all of Equestria, helped defeat Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis and the like.”

“Queen Chrysalis? That’s a funny name, who’s she?” Of course I would forget that her name was never mentioned in the show.

“Oh, ummm....I heard that was the name of the changeling Queen that attacked Canterlot.” I hoped she would buy that, because I couldn’t think of anything better.

“Really? I never knew that! Speaking of names, I’m Pinkie Pie, but you already knew that of course, what’s your name?”

“I’m Victor,” I responded before I realized that I was giving my actual name instead of one more appropriate for a pony. I pretended to clear my throat and started over with the first thing that came to mind, “Victory. Chance Victory. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to leave.”

I turned away from the bouncing pink pony and attempted to leave her behind, but was quickly stopped by a pink blur seeming to just appear in front of me. Why was every pony in this world so much faster than me?

“Nope! I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, Chance!”

My ears splayed back against my skull. This was it. I had been discovered by Pinkie Pie because I knew the name of the changeling Queen. Of all the stupid ways to get caught, this was probably one of the stupidest.

“Not until I’ve cheered you up with a welcome to Ponyville Party!”

I blinked at this. Could it really be as innocent as that? Did she really just want to throw me a party?

“I wouldn’t want to impose. Anyway, I’m just passing through, really. I’m not moving here or anything, it would be a waste of time.”

“Don’t be silly, there’s always time for a party!”

“No, really, I’m only staying for a couple hours, by the time you’ve prepared the party I’ll be gone already.”

“Hmmmm....” Pinkie rubbed a hoof on her chin, eerily mirroring what I had done in front of Dash earlier, “then we’ll have to make it a quickie! We can do it at the library, some of my bestest friends are already going there for some reason, so we can have the party there right now and you can meet them!”

I conjured up a miniature version of me in my mind and punched him as hard as I could. Had I just let her throw a big party I may have been able to sneak away while she prepared for it, but now apparently I was invited to one that required no special planning whatsoever where all the most dangerous mares to me at the moment were gathered.

No matter how hard I struggled against her, Pinkie was able to drag me towards our destination with ease. She was far stronger than I had anticipated, either that or I was surprisingly weak. Then I got to thinking, maybe this was a blessing in disguise. I hadn’t previously known how I was going to approach Twilight, the closest to a plan I had was to hide somewhere in her home until they gave up the search and popping out when she came back alone to rest. I somehow doubted that surprising one of the most powerful magic users in Equestria would turn out well for me, especially when she was afraid that some monster had invaded her home town. Perhaps with Pinkie vouching for me I could have long enough to convince her that I didn’t mean any harm.

Shortly after I ceased my protests, our progress was interrupted by a feminine voice, one that was easily suited for melodramatic proclamations of the worst possible things.

“Pinkie Pie? Darling, you should be at the library by now, whatever are you doing traipsing about with this...stallion?”

Pinkie and I simultaneously turned to see a mare of pure white coat and lavishly styled purple mane and tail. Rarity’s nose wrinkled in disapproval at my presence. Or maybe it was disgust. I didn’t think that my appearance was that bad, but if anypony was going to be offended by my choice it would be the ever fashionable Rarity. I offered a weak, nervous smile in her direction.

“This is Chance Victory! I found him near the edge of town. He looked sad and he’s new so I’m going to throw him a party to cheer him up!”

Pinkie Pie gave a grin of face splitting proportions and let out the pony squeak that I had long associated with the show. Rarity, however, had a rather different reaction, staring blankly at both Pinkie and I.

“Darling, may I speak with you?” She glanced my way then added, “In private if you would be so kind.”

“Sure thing! Don’t you go anywhere Mister Frowny, I’ll be riiiight back!”

The pair of mares trotted off just far enough to hold a hushed conversation without me hearing it. Rarity’s ears twitched occasionally out of what I assumed to be annoyance as the two continued their heated debate, probably over me. I shifted my weight between my hooves, a sense of dread gripping me as I watched. I doubted this could be any good, and I briefly contemplated bolting. I decided against it, however, as Rarity had kept a suspicious eye on me throughout the entire conversation. I may be growing accustomed to my new body, but not enough to outrun a pair of mares who were native to quadruped motion, and if they somehow didn’t suspect me yet, running away would quickly change that. I waited patiently, if a bit nervously, for them to finish.

Soon enough, they seemed to come to some sort of agreement as I saw Pinkie going through the motions of her famous Pinkie promise. Based on the face hoof that Rarity had done right beforehand I had to guess that she was the party to make the greatest amount of concessions. The two parted, Rarity rushing off in the direction we had previously been moving while Pinkie returned to me, smiling as she always did.

I swallowed down the uncomfortable lump that had been forming in my throat. “So...what was that about?”

“Rarity just told me there wasn’t time to waste on parties, but that’s silly! There’s always time to party!”

Huh, maybe she doesn’t suspect me after all.

“After I told her that I was going to throw the party at Twilight’s, she got much more enthusiastic and made me Pinkie promise to make sure you get there and then she went to let Twilight know we’re coming so she can make preparations for it. She’s probably blowing up all sorts of balloons and getting cake and everything! Usually I’m the one who does those sorts of things, and I get kinda nervous when others do it for me, but they're my friends, so it’s okay!”

“Pinkie...promise?” I felt any hope I had previously crushed beneath the weight of those words.

“Uh huh! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! That’s a Pinkie promise and once you’ve made one you can’t break it, or else!”

Yup, I was screwed. Rarity was off telling Twilight that a changeling was coming to the library, and a Pinkie promise ensured that I would arrive at the gallows on time.

“I’m not so sure about this anymore. I think I may be getting a little sick, maybe I could take a rain cheque?” I let out a depressingly fake cough.

“Uh uh, Chancey! That’s not how this works! I made a Pinkie promise, so you’re coming with me to your party and then we’ll play all sorts of games and then you’ll be happy and smile again. Trust me, it’ll be great!”

“I don’t know, I get the feeling that I won’t enjoy myself very much.”

I didn’t think my objections would really get me out of this, but I felt I had to do something. I fully expected Pinkie to ignore my protests and to go back to dragging me to the party, by the tail if need be. What I did not expect, however, was for Pinkie’s usual cheerful demeanor to be replaced by a great frown and watering eyes. Even her mane lost a bit of its poofiness, though thankfully not so much as to be straight like in the episode Party of One.

“You don’t trust me?”

A quivering lip joined the rest of the ensemble as she sat there, staring at me through her tears. My mouth opened and closed a few times as I tried to find words. I was not prepared for this! I could feel my heart tearing into little pieces as this adorable little creature appeared to be completely crushed by my actions.

“N-no! That’s not it, I trust you! I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.” A gleam of hope shone in Pinkie’s eyes.

“You mean you’ll come to my party?” At the barrage of adorably sad looks, I gave out a defeated sigh. There’s no way I could compete with these weapons of mass guilt.

“Yes. I’ll come.” I let out weakly. The effect of my words was instantaneous. Pinkie’s hair bounced back to its full volume as she jumped up and down.

“Yay!” Pinkie pulled a conical party hat out of...wherever it is that Pinkie pulls all her stuff out of and jammed it onto my head, “That wasn’t so hard, now follow me!”

Did I just get emotionally manipulated by Pinkie Pie? I pondered while I plodded along behind her as she bounced excitedly towards the library.

It wasn’t long before the library came into sight. Pinkie bounded up to the front door as I trudged along, a weight upon me growing with every step of my hooves. Despite my every effort to slow time to the point of never getting there, I reached the door surprisingly quickly while Pinkie beamed at me. Her bright demeanor could almost make me forget that I was about to step into a metaphorical lion’s den. Her joy was at least infectious enough for me to offer up a small smile, for her if not myself.

Pinkie reached up and knocked, a gesture that seemed far more polite than I would have expected from someone as rowdy as her, especially considering that this was technically public property that anybody could visit at any time. She didn’t wait for a response though, opening the door and saying something about me going in first. I wasn’t really listening. I stared inside for a moment, appreciating the beauty of a tree that was hollowed out to create a place of learning. I could see a few bookshelves lined with tomes of varying thicknesses, but no ponies could be seen from where I stood.

I took a deep breath and held my head high, scrounging for some measure of dignity. This is where the events of today had led me. Maybe I could have done things differently and avoided this, but there was no sense thinking about that now. It was time to face my fate, and I wouldn’t do so cowering like a little child no matter how much I wanted to. I took a tentative step into the building, far more timid than I had imagined myself doing in my mind a moment earlier. I also noted that my head wasn’t as high as I had initially thought and I was holding in that deep breath I had taken.

So much for dignity.

“Now!”

Several bodies crashed into me and I heard a squeal of shock coming from Pinkie just outside the door. My head slammed against something hard and the last thing I could remember was a flash of green flame as my body and consciousness both went black.

Interrogation

I dreamed again, blissfully unaware of what had become of me in the waking world. I was a pony again, the Chance Victory disguise that I had donned before being knocked unconscious. Had I the mental faculties of a waking person I may have been upset at not being human, but I didn’t, so I just went with the flow.

My dreams were like most dreams: ephemeral, inconsequential and forgotten mere moments after they occurred. Nothing like the previous one I had with Discord. Considering how that one turned out for me, this kind of dreaming suited me just fine. At least it did until I had another uninvited guest.

“Excuse me, I do not mean to intrude, but you were having a terrible nightmare last night and I wished to ensure that you were alright.”

I blinked and looked up from my seated position to see a tall, deep blue alicorn with a flowing, starry mane and tail. I looked back to what I had been doing. I had no idea what that was, but it involved a garden hoe in one hoof, a microfiber cloth for cleaning glasses in the other, and a jar of peanut butter in a mysterious half human half pony arm that was for some reason protruding from my somewhat rounded belly. The objects and extra arm all disappeared as I put my face into my forehooves and groaned.

“I’m dreaming again, aren’t I?” I mumbled through my hooves as memories of what had happened during my consciousness earlier flooded into my brain. “Are you here to torment me too?”

The sound of a pinball machine coming to life as I finished the question caused both Princess Luna and I to look in the distance where Discord could be seen laughing maniacally, playing a game of pinball while a little changeling me screamed inside the ball getting knocked about. Not that you could tell I was a changeling with how fast the ball spun about.

“Nay, I have come here to-" Luna turned her head back to me as she began to answer my question, only to stop and stare mid sentence. I lifted up an arm and noticed it was black and full of holes again. I let out another groan of displeasure. Stupid dreams and their stupid impressionable natures.

“You are...a changeling?” Luna stepped toward me, to which I gave out an inelegant ‘eep’ while stumbling back

“Please, stay back!” My changeling voice reverberated through the dreamscape.

"Do not fear, I-"

Sploosh! I gasped into the waking world as ice cold water hit my face. A coughing fit wracked my frame from unintentionally inhaling some of that water that had so rudely awoken me. I shivered from the sudden drop in temperature and looked about bewilderedly at several ponies that surrounded me.

“Rainbow Dash! I told you we were to wait until Princess Celestia arrived in the morning!” The purple alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, glared up at the named cyan Pegasus who was hovering in the air above me with a bucket in her hooves.

“Yeah, not happening, Twi, I need answers now.”

Rainbow dived right into me, sending me sprawled flat on my back from the sitting position I had just gotten into. A sharp pain in my neck informed me that I was collared and tied to a nearby wall, which I had just been knocked a little too far away from. I trembled as I stared into the magenta eyes that were now taking up most of my vision.

“Who are you? Why are you here? Were you sent here to spy on us?” Before I could even attempt to respond, Rainbow shook me violently, causing my head to beat against the floor repeatedly and a splitting headache to flare up. “Answer me!”

“Hey, stop that!” Twilight demanded as I groaned in pain.

Rainbow was promptly levitated into the air, surrounded by a pink cloud of magical energy. She snarled as she struggled against the magic binding her, still trying to reach me. I closed my eyes, trying to shut away the view of the furious Pegasus and the pounding in my head, though the clatter of approaching hooves made the latter rather difficult. I flinched as a hoof touched my face, but it was gentle and I soon relaxed.

“Oh dear... umm...I don’t know much about changelings, but...um...he might have a concussion.” I opened my eyes to see a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane looking tenderly down at me.

Ah, Fluttershy, I guess you would be kind to an injured changeling after all.

“So?” Rainbow snorted.

“So? We don’t want to kill it.” It was Twilight again.

“And why the fuck not?” Rainbow crossed her forehooves as she was held helplessly in place by Twilight’s magic.

“You...you would k..k..kill him?” Fluttershy clung onto me at what her friend had just implied. Personally, I was more shocked that she said ‘fuck’. I hadn’t expected human swears to be shared by ponies.

“It is our prisoner. We do not kill helpless prisoners.” Twilight rubbed a hoof on her temple as she explained this to the irate Rainbow Dash.

“I agree with Twilight. We simply do not kill when it is not necessary. Besides, we need the changeling alive if we are to question it.” Rarity added.

“Fine, whatever, just put me down!” Twilight acquiesced to her demands and set Dash on the floor, where she promptly trotted off and up some stairs, slamming a door behind her.

“Well...that coulda gone better.” The southern drawl of Applejack greeted my ears.

I searched the room for the last pony of the sextet and saw Pinkie Pie sitting in a corner, looking absolutely crushed with a great big frown and hair that had lost all its bounce and curl. I swallowed a lump in my throat, realizing that I was probably to blame for her current state.

Taking an opportunity in this awkward silence to get a bearing on my surroundings, I saw that I was still in the library as far as I could tell. It was a spacious room with no windows where all the walls were still carved directly out of a tree. There wasn’t much furniture, just a couple of reading tables, a few books and several dusty boxes littered the space. Given that the only exit was up the stairs that Dash had just ascended, I assumed that I was in the basement.

“So...what do we do ‘bout it til the Princess shows up?”

“We need to make sure it doesn’t try anything. I think at least two of us should stay here as guards at all times.” At Twilight’s words, Fluttershy nervously disentangled her limbs from me and stood up.

“Oh...um...it’s getting late, and my animals....” Her words faded off into an incoherent mumble.

“You want to go home and take care of them?”

“If that’s okay with you.” She nodded meekly.

“I reckon that’s fine, Shy. Ah volunteer.”

“Good, then I think I’ll-“

“I’ll do it.” Pinkie Pie cut off Twilight as she appeared right next to her, causing the latter mare to take an involuntary step back.

“Are ya sure, Sugarcube? Ya don’t look so good. Maybe ya should go home and rest.”

“I’ll do it!” Pinkie reiterated more firmly, Applejack recoiled a little at the intensity of the glare that was levelled her way, but quickly recovered.

“Alright then, if ya say so.”

“I dooooo.” Pinkie stared directly at me with a creepy expression, sending a shiver down my spine.

_________________

Several hours passed in relative quiet, long enough that I suspected morning was swift approaching. Those other than my two guards had gone ages ago, Twilight having left the door open so that she could hear if her friends called for help. Applejack had attempted some conversation with Pinkie, but was clearly unnerved by the other’s current state of mind, so awkward silence had reigned before long.

I had crawled my way into a corner and curled up as best I could, resting my chin upon my forehooves. A creeping cold sensation had spread throughout my body as the night progressed, wholly permeating me. Well, it felt like I was getting cold, but it wasn’t quite the same. I could separately feel that the basement was a cozy, warm temperature. It was incredibly odd to feel both warm and cold at the same time. Whatever the feeling actually was, it was accompanied by a sensation of weariness and a desire to sleep.

However, I did not want to sleep. The last two times I had let my consciousness wane my dreams had been invaded and I was turned into a changeling. Whenever I felt my eyelids grow heavy I would jerk myself awake. In an effort to stave off slumber, I had taken to trying to figure out how to use my magic by levitating a nearby book, though I was making little progress. My personal best had been getting the book to wiggle a little bit, at which point Applejack had told me to cut it out. I started doing calculations in my head instead until she fell asleep, at which point I returned to my feeble efforts to levitate the book.

Rhythmic snoring came from the now slumbering Applejack, who occasionally tossed and turned while muttering about changelings attacking her farm. Given her position on the hard floor, I didn’t doubt that she would be sore when she awoke. Unlike her companion, Pinkie Pie had not fallen asleep, nor did she look even the least bit tired. I could feel her stare boring into me as I tried desperately to ignore her. She had not moved from her spot all night. She just sat there, watching me.

All this time laying there had given me plenty of time to think. It was only shortly after the pounding headache, caused by repeated blows to my head, had subsided that I realized I had completely missed my chance to explain myself to Twilight and ask for her help. I had asked Applejack if I could talk to Twilight. She had firmly denied my request, saying that she was probably asleep and shouldn’t be disturbed. I then asked if she would listen to my explanations. Her face had scrunched up as she thought about it.

“Well....Ah suppose-“

“No! Don’t listen! He’ll just lie again.”

I shook the memory out of my head and glanced over to Pinkie Pie, still watching me like a hawk. I’d just have to wait for Princess Celestia to get here to tell my story. No matter how scared I was, I still needed these ponies to get me home. I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes. Absently, I ran a hoof along the collar around my neck. The keyhole was found easily enough hours ago, not that I could do anything with it. The collar had proven to be plenty strong enough to avoid breaking when I had tugged on it, not that I had expected any different. The chain attaching me to the wall had proven equally resilient. I wondered why Twilight would even have a collar and chain like this in her basement, but suspected it may be better not to know the answer.

Realizing that I was starting to fall asleep again I forced my eyes open, only to be greeted by the sight of two big blue eyes mere centimeters away. My heart rate spiked and I jumped back, crashing into the wall behind me with a small yelp. A loud snore came from Applejack as she rolled over, but remained sleeping.

“Why did you do it?” My brow furrowed in confusion at Pinkie’s whispered question.

“Huh?”

“You said you trusted me. Why didn’t you tell me you were a changeling? Why did you lie?”

My confusion persisted. Why would she bother asking? Hadn’t she just said earlier that I would only lie again? I momentarily contemplated not answering out of spite, but soon remembered how hard Pinkie had taken my deception. My ears flattened against my skull and I stared at the floor in shame. Pinkie Pie deserved better than my spite.

“I was scared.” I waited to see if she would say anything, but I was only met with silence, so I began again. “I was scared of how you would react. I thought that if you knew, that you and your friends would hurt me.”

“What? But we would never-“ I cut her off with a single, bitter laugh.

“I’ve been tackled, knocked out, imprisoned, doused with ice water, had my life threatened and condemned to an official interrogation since you found out. I think my concerns were justified.”

“But if you told me I could have talked to them and made them see you weren’t dangerous!” A moment of silence followed as I contemplated her words.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should have told you. Lord knows I didn’t plan this out too well.”

“Speaking of plans, what were your intentions with invading Ponyville?”

The sound of several hooves coming down the wooden stairs followed the stern, matronly voice that had just interrupted our conversation. I looked up from the floor to see a tall white alicorn with a multihued, ethereal mane of blues, pink and green that seemed in constant motion, as if caught in an eternal breeze. My jaw dropped. I was in the same room as Princess Celestia, and she was far more beautiful and elegant than the show had ever made her seem to be. Pinkie stepped back from me, allowing her monarch to approach me unimpeded. With her now towering in front of me, the power of Celestia’s accusatory glare made me wish I could just disappear.

“What does your Queen want? Why did she send you here?”

I barely noticed as the remaining members of the mane six filed into the basement, Fluttershy awakening Applejack who stretched groggily. Finishing the ensemble, the dream walking Princess Luna who had just invaded my dreams hours ago stood beside her sister, staring at me with a wrinkled brow.

This was it. It was finally time for me to explain my situation.

“It was Discord.” I stated evenly. Celestia raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as she waited for me to continue, “Chrysalis didn’t send me, it was Discord. He brought me here.”

“But why would Discord bring a changeling to Ponyville?” Twilight stepped forth.

“I’m not a changeling!” Incredulous stares followed my outburst.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I must have imagined that you’re a black, shape shifting parasite that disguised itself as a pony to infiltrate our town.” Twilight countered sardonically.

“No, I mean I’m not supposed to be a changeling. Discord did this to me. I went to bed a couple nights ago, he invaded my dreams, turned me into a changeling, used me as the ball in a game of pinball and then pulled me through my dream to drop me off at Applejack’s farm.”

Upon finishing that sentence, I realized just how ludicrous that all sounded. There was no way that Celestia would believe such a story, and her narrowed eyes supported my conclusion.

“I see. If you are not going to cooperate, then I’m afraid I must take you to the Canterlot dungeons until you are in a more helpful mood.”

“Hold, sister. He may be telling us the truth.” Luna interjected.

“You don’t actually believe that little bug, do you?! It’s-“ Celestia silenced Rainbow Dash’s outburst with a lone raised hoof.

“Go on, Luna.”

“Yesterday I sensed a nightmare near Ponyville and I went to soothe its owner. When I arrived, the dreamer was nowhere to be seen while Discord was present alongside an unusual machine. Then, just last night I sensed the dreamer again. Upon entering the dream, I saw a pony I had never seen before. When I approached him, the same machine I had seen in the previous nightmare appeared with an image of Discord using it. Shortly thereafter, the pony transformed into a changeling. I believe this to be that changeling.”

“Discord can enter ponies’ dreams?” Celestia frowned.

“I was as shocked as you are, sister. When I confronted him about it, he merely dismissed my concerns and disappeared.”

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Go upstairs and inform my guards that they need to find Discord.”

“Yes, Princess.”

“Umm...excuse me,” Fluttershy interrupted, causing all those present to look her way which in turn caused Fluttershy to shrink back from all the attention, “Discord was visiting me yesterday and...um....stayed the night.” A slight blush spread on Fluttershy’s cheeks. “He said that he expected something to happen and wanted to be around to watch.”

“And you believe him to still be in Ponyville?” Celestia asked, to which Fluttershy meekly nodded. “That will certainly ease the search. You know what to do, Twilight.” Twilight nodded as she started going up the stairs.

“That won’t be necessary, Tia, I’ve been here all along.”

I froze in fear at that voice. It was Discord. With an audible poof, a miniature Discord appeared upon my muzzle, his eagle claw pressed up against the skin between my eyes as he leaned against my face. I tried to recoil in horror at the monstrosity, but found I couldn’t move. Twilight grumbled quietly as she descended from the stairs after being interrupted from following her mentor’s orders.

“Discord!”

“Oh please, Tia, don’t act so surprised. You knew I’d be here, thanks to Fluttershy. Speaking of,” Discord snapped his fingers and was suddenly gone from my snout, releasing me from my temporary paralysis and reappeared full sized, floating in front of Fluttershy, “it’s awfully rude to tattle on your friends like that.”

“What have you done to one of my little ponies, Discord?”

“Hmph! I haven’t done anything to one of your precious ponies, Tia. You should be thanking me, not scolding me,” Discord pouted, “all I did was bring their attention to a changeling I found in the Everfree.”

“But I caught you invading somepony’s dreams. This is that pony.” Luna accused.

“No, this is that changeling. I was just having some fun with an enemy of Equestria, you can’t blame a guy for that, can you?”

“You did this to me! You turned me into a changeling!” I jumped to my feet, wings buzzing with rage.

“I did nothing of the sort. I merely detected a monster, then entered its dreams so that I could get a lock on its location. I brought this creature from the Everfree Forest to Sweet Apple Acres so that the threat could be eliminated. As I said,” Discord’s mismatched eyes stared directly into mine as he grinned, “You should be thanking me. I’m a hero.”

“Liar!”

I charged at Discord, intent on goring him with my horn. I felt myself yanked back by the collar around my neck as I reached the end of my rope, letting out a strangled yelp of pain and fell to the floor coughing. Laughter filled the crowded room as Discord rolled about in mid air, gripping his sides. Fluttershy stepped forward to assist me, but froze as a pink blur burst past her to my side.

“Chance! Are you okay?”

I looked up to see Pinkie Pie hovering over me, her face contorted with worry. I gave her a weak smile to let her know I was fine and noticed that sometime since we had last spoken her mane had regained a small measure of its usual bounce. Not much, but enough to raise my spirits somewhat.

“Aww, how disgustingly cute. I didn’t think you of all ponies would be so quick to trust her,” Discord slithered up beside Pinkie, leaning close to her ear, “after all, she certainly didn’t seem to trust you.”

I doubted that the others could hear what he had whispered. I could barely hear it myself. If the sudden and complete deflation of her mane was a good indicator, Pinkie had heard it loud and clear. Discord continued whispering, quieter than before so that I could not hear it. I half expected her to turn grey from his ministrations.

“Pinkie?” Her eyes lost their unfocused appearance and locked back onto me, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

Pinkie stared at me, chewing her lip uncertainly, while Discord gave me an amused grin. Then an idea hit me. I sat up on my haunches and took a deep breath.

“I promise I don’t mean any of you harm,” I spoke up loud enough to ensure all present would hear me clearly and brought a hoof up to my chest to make a crossing motion, “cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Taking my hoof out of my eye as I finished the promise, I tried to gauge my audience’s reaction to the gesture. It was mostly a mixture of confusion and surprise. One little pink pony, however, was trembling profusely as a wide smile began to spread upon her face. The image of some container building up an unhealthy amount of pressure came to mind. After mere moments of frenetic vibration, Pinkie exploded into a ball of bountiful, bouncing, pink curls and leaped onto me with a crushing hug.

“I’msogladyou’renotabadchangelingandthatwecanbefriendsohandIstillneedtoplanyourparty-”

“Pinkie....I can’t breathe!” I interrupted her rant

“Oops! Sorry, Chancey!” She released me from her vice grip and sat in front of me, beaming with joy.

“Oh please, you aren’t going to fall for that, are you?” Discord hissed.

“Yupperooni! I believe him absolutely one hundred percent, bucko!” Pinkie joyfully replied, her renewed affection radiating off of her, warming me from that dreaded cold that had enveloped me earlier.

“We cannot dismiss that this changeling’s story and my sister’s account of events match up. What did you do to him?” Celestia demanded with a stern glare.

“I already told you, I did nothing to any of your subjects. This abomination was a changeling when I found her,” Discord snarled as he conjured up a small map with a big, red X on it, “right here, in the Everfree Forest!” Twilight snatched up the map and studied it momentarily before rolling it up and setting it to the side for later use.

“But he seems so different from the other changelings,” Fluttershy stepped forward, looking up into Discord’s eyes, “are you certain you didn’t change him from a normal pony?” He slumped over at the accusations from his only friend.

“Et tu, Fluttershy?” A slight unsteadiness entered Discord’s usual mocking tone, “I expected the others to not trust me, but you?”

“Um...I...” she fidgeted nervously, eyes flicking about from side to side at his sudden change in demeanor.

“I see.” Discord sighed turning to face the others, “If you don’t believe me, check for yourselves. I have little doubt that Twilight here has discovered a spell to detect my chaos magic.” He snapped the talons of his eagle arm languidly and disappeared with a small pop.

“Ugh! How could I forget?!” Twilight face hoofed.

“Wait, so ya mean to tell us you had a way to tell if Discord changed somepony into a changeling all this time and ya just forgot about it?” Applejack groaned.

“Well, not exactly. After Discord attacked the first time, I researched some spells on detecting chaos magic in case he returned. Chaos magic leaves a very distinct residue that can be detected with the right spell. A spell powerful enough to permanently transform somepony into an entirely different creature would leave a vast quantity of residue.” My ears perked up at her explanation.

“You mean you can prove that I’m not a changeling?”

“Well, yes,” Twilight bit her lip, “that is, if you’re telling the truth. With a little bit of work, I may even be able to reverse the spell and turn you back to normal.” My eyes widened at this wonderful piece of news and a sharp, toothy grin threatened to permanently plaster itself to my face.

“Now that’s just creepy.” AJ shuddered, but I ignored her.

“If I weren’t chained to this wall, I could just kiss you!”

“I...would prefer it if you didn’t.” Twilight blushed slightly, approaching me.

I sat patiently, my little changeling tail swishing back and forth in anticipation as she took out a key and removed my collar with a metallic click and a clatter as it fell to the floor. I had to put active effort into not embracing her. She may not have said I couldn’t hug her, but I felt it would be best not to take advantage of that technicality. Instead I put my newfound energy to use imitating Pinkie, who was now excitedly bouncing in place. An unintentional quick flash of green flame and I was bouncing in unison with Pinkie as her doppelganger, eliciting a giggle from the real Pinkie.

“Ummm...oops?” I gave a sheepish grin as I stopped hopping, to which Twilight simply rolled her eyes.

“Excuse me, Twilight,” the addressed alicorn looked back at Celestia, who had a guard pegasus standing beside her, “I have just been informed of something that requires my immediate attention. I leave you to your own task as I am certain you can handle it from here.” She eyed me as she said this.

“Of course, Princess, you can count on me.” Celestia gave a small nod and a warm smile at her former student’s confidence.

“Contact me by letter if something else comes up that you feel needs my attention.”

_____________________

I was back in my changeling form, sitting on the main floor of the library as Twilight pored through a book that she was levitating in front of her face. She hadn’t quite remembered how the spell had worked and brought me along with her to the library’s main room. She had Spike search for the book while she gave me an uncomfortably thorough physical examination, jotting down rather detailed notes as she did so. I blushed at the memory and tried to concentrate on the books lining the shelves around me.

The excitement I had felt an hour earlier had dissipated somewhat, thanks in great part to a sleepless night catching up to me. The embarrassment from the overly personal examination hadn’t helped my enthusiasm much either.

Catching a glimpse of a prismatic mane at the side of my vision I turned my head to look at Rainbow Dash. Most of the other ponies had left to attend to their own business, but she had stayed behind proclaiming that she still didn’t trust me. She looked between Twilight and I a few times, face scrunched up.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask Twi, is ‘Chancey’ a guy or a girl? I mean, Fluttershy and Pinkie called it a ‘he’, but Discord a ‘she’, and its voice isn’t helping me figure it out at all. What is it?” I rolled my eyes at this question.

“I’m a guy/She’s female.” Rainbow’s brow furrowed in confusion as the two voices came forth in a contradictory cacophony. Twilight set down her book and we blinked at each other a few times.

“So, uhh....which is it?” Rainbow tilted her head and rubbed a hoof against it.

“Uh, I’m a guy.” I restated. Twilight raised an eyebrow at this.

“No, you’re definitely female. I checked. I was very thorough.” I stared blankly at her. She was joking, right? She had to be, I was male.

“Hehe...Very funny,” I chuckled nervously, “you almost had me for a minute.”

“I’m not joking. You’re a girl. Now be quiet, I’m trying to read.” She replied in an irritated tone as she buried her nose back into the spell book.

The blood drained from my face. She had to be wrong. Me a girl? No, I couldn’t be. I would have noticed, right? Right?

You never did check, did you?

I wanted to dismiss the voice in my head, but I couldn’t. Terrified of what I might find, I slowly looked down to examine what I had between my hind legs. I whimpered pathetically at the noticeable lack of something that should have been there, as well as the presence of something much more foreign. Rainbow Dash burst out laughing at my reaction.

“You mean to tell me Discord turned some poor stallion into a mare?” Dash managed to squeeze out through fits of laughter, her mirth nearly overpowering my senses. “That’s hilarious!”

“This isn’t funny!” I shouted at the laughing mare while I subconsciously tried to cover myself. The sound of a tome landing with a heavy thump distracted me from my predicament.

“You can laugh about her gender identity crisis later, I think I’m ready to cast the spell.”

“It’s about time! Now we can finally prove that ‘she’ is lying to us.”

“Oh? And here I thought you believed me what with finding my situation so funny.”

“Nope, you may be a good actor, but you don’t fool me, ‘sister’.”

“Call me a girl one more time, you rainbow haired floozy.” I growled, baring my teeth.

“Floozy?!” Rainbow laughed derisively. “Oh that’s rich, coming from a changeling whore!”

“Girls!” I winced at being included in that word, swallowing the retort I was about to throw at Dash.

“Sorry, Twilight.” Rainbow apologized.

“Be quiet for a bit, I need to concentrate or I’ll mess this up.” Twilight scolded.

“Do I need to do anything?” I asked, eager to get this ordeal over with.

“No, just sit there.” I nodded at her order. Sitting. I could do that.

I watched as Twilight began to concentrate, her horn glowing with the buildup of magical energy required for the spell. Before it grew to anything too spectacular, I could see and feel a magical field of energy envelope me. It caused a tingling sensation, akin to what you feel when your foot falls asleep, though less intense. In a matter of moments it was over and two pairs of eyes laid upon Twilight, eagerly waiting for the results.

“Well,” Twilight swallowed, frowning slightly, “it worked.”

“And?” Rainbow asked impatiently. Twilight squared her eyes directly on me.

“I can definitively state that you are, without any doubt, a changeling.”

Blue Eyes and Dark Alleys

-------The Previous Night------

Garnet Targe was doing what she always seemed to be doing ever since her promotion to captain of the guard in the Crystal Empire: paperwork. Piles of paperwork arrived every day to read and sign in triplicate. Mountains of paperwork to make even the most steadfast pencil pusher’s resolve falter. Every grievance reported to the guard made its way to her desk. Every petty complaint over perceived sleights from the nobles, every melon accidentally knocked over in the market place, and every time a jumpy citizen, still fearing the return of Sombra, thought they saw a monster in the dark it would end up on paper, piled in front of her. The extra bits earned alongside her promotion were immeasurably useful in raising her daughter, Amber Strings, but she didn’t doubt this damned paperwork would drive her insane.

Letting out a sigh, she reached a faintly orange, crystalline hoof to the page on top of the nearest stack. It was another report of somepony’s acquaintance disappearing for a brief while only to return shortly afterwards with little explanation. This one in particular was for some baker’s apprentice who didn’t show up for work. Nobody could find him that day, but he returned the next stating he had personal issues outside the city he had to attend to the day before. On its own, it was nothing remarkable, but there had been dozens of similar reports these last two weeks and it had put Garnet Targe on edge.

Whispers of black creatures skulking about in the dark alleyways were a commonality in the Crystal Empire. For the longest time after the return of the empire, these whispers were of an imposing, dark unicorn with glowing green and red eyes. A lifetime of tyranny and fear under King Sombra was hard to forget, the crystal ponies could hardly be blamed for seeing the face of their defeated tormentor every now and then. Recently, however, the whispers were of smaller black creatures, blue eyes and green flames.

The changeling invasion of Canterlot had happened while Garnet, along with the rest of the Crystal Empire, had been lost to the world thanks to Sombra’s curse. Shape shifting monsters that could drain you of your emotions until you were little more than a husk sounded like little more than an old mare’s tale, something meant to scare the foals when telling tales around a campfire. Had the empire’s current leaders, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and her husband Shining Armor, not assured her that they were real she probably wouldn’t have believed that they even existed. Now she not only believed that they were real, she believed that the Crystal Empire was about to be invaded.

Garnet looked at herself in a mirror on the wall of her office that her predecessor had installed for Celestia knows what reason. She was met with radiant green eyes, her pale orange coat, and a vibrant orange-red mane, all in the crystalline structure of those from the Crystal Empire. She marvelled at the idea that those familiar features could be replicated so flawlessly that nopony would notice she was gone, perhaps not even her little Amber. Marvelled and feared.

Some of the ponies who had gone missing had been questioned, but nothing had come of it. There had been no strong indicators that anything was wrong with any of them, except that they had all vanished for a short period of time and the insistence of an occasional loved one that something was off about them. If Garnet had her way, she would have locked up the lot of them and gone through with a proper interrogation. Unfortunately, without sufficient evidence of wrongdoing she could not do so, her hooves were tied.

When she had informed Prince Shining Armor of her suspicions he had listened to her attentively, he wasn’t the sort of stallion to ignore the suspicions of the guards working under him. He had implemented thorough inspections of anypony entering or leaving the Crystal Empire and nearly doubled the guard, even bringing in guards from Canterlot to bolster their numbers.

Despite these extra precautions, ponies were still disappearing. Garnet couldn’t help but wonder how many ponies had been replaced without any noticeable disappearance beforehand. Ten? Twenty? One hundred? She had pushed for further action to counter the changeling threat, but was met with refusal. Without further evidence, Prince Shining Armor said he could not devote any more resources to the matter.

Garnet scanned through more papers until she heard an urgent knocking on her door. Before she could answer, a grey unicorn dressed in the golden armour of Celestia’s personal guards entered. She recognized him as Fine Edge, the head of the guards that Shining Armor had brought in from Canterlot and ultimately the second in command, after herself, of all guards currently in the Crystal Empire.

“Captain, you need to see this. It’s one of them.”

“A changeling?” Fine Edge nodded. “Where?”

“I found the bug near the castle trying to find a way in. We have it just outside right now.”

Garnet grabbed her spear and bolted past the guard into the outer room of the barracks. Sure enough, lying on the ground between two more spear wielding Canterlot guards was an unmoving changeling. She took note of a small pool of blood forming beneath it.

“Is it alive?”

“No, captain, it’s not. When it was discovered it attacked us and we had to kill it.”

This was just what the guard captain had been searching for these past weeks. This one corpse would convince their leaders that the threat was very real and drastic measures needed to be taken right now.

“You, carry the body. We need to get this to Prince Shining Armour and Princess Cadance immediately.” She said pointing at one of the two guards beside the changeling, then towards the other and Fine Edge, “You two will escort us. Be on guard for any more changelings.”

The assembled guard ponies saluted their commanding officer and followed behind her as they left the barracks. They emerged into the crisp evening air of the training grounds which were situated just outside the castle. All training for the day had ended before the sun had set, so the grounds themselves were empty save for one lonely pegasus that had been assigned to watch the area for the night.

Garnet gave a curt nod to the pegasus but otherwise ignored him as her entourage marched directly for the Crystal Castle entrance, four collective eyes darting about in search for any further intruders. None were seen, however, not that it meant much when said intruders could change their form to match their surroundings.

Upon approaching the castle entrance, the guards stationed there made a motion as if to bar her entrance until they drew close enough to see who it was. A few shocked gasps at the dead monstrosity draped across one of their backs escaped them.

“What is that?” A confused crystal pony guard asked.

“That is a changeling. Fine Edge here killed it while it was searching for a way into the castle.” A few nervous whispers could be heard. They had all heard their captain’s insistence that shape shifting monsters were infiltrating the city, but few had believed her until now. “We are going to inform the royals. Do not let anypony else in or out of this castle without my express consent.”

The captain didn’t bother waiting for a response before she continued her journey. She didn’t have any time to waste. She marched through the lavish halls, and past the occasional guard or servant performing their respective duties.

It wasn’t until they had turned onto a spiral staircase and begun ascending to the higher floors that Garnet Targe noticed that they had one too many shadows.

“We’re being followed.” Garnet whispered to Fine Edge walking beside her.

“I noticed too. I think it’s one of the maids. Should I go back and deal with her?”

“No. If it is a maid, she’s no threat. If it is a changeling then I would rather have more backup before confronting it. There’s no telling how dangerous it is, or if it’s alone.”

“So we just ignore it?”

“No,” Garnet shook her head and gave a wry grin, “we lead it directly to our backup. The royal chambers are heavily guarded.” Fine Edge was silent a moment contemplating the matter, then simply nodded.

While Garnet Targe couldn’t convince their leaders to implement stronger measures for finding changelings, she had been able to get their personal security increased. The usual two chamber guards at night had been tripled. If the changelings wanted a fight, ten fully trained guards, at least three of which would be capable battle mages, should be able to provide one. This of course was in addition to Cadance and Shining Armor themselves, both of whom were more than capable of handling themselves in a fight.

The final hallway leading to the royal chambers was at the top of the stairs, lit by a series of torches hanging from the walls. The six chamber guards were standing vigil at an intricately designed door at the end of the hall. Two of them repositioned themselves to directly block the passage of those approaching. Fine Edge looked to his captain nervously.

“What do they want? Can’t they see who you are?”

“Changelings are shape-shifters. If we made it that simple, they could just take on my form, walk past the guards and assassinate our leaders while they slept.”

Something about her own words scratched at the back of her mind, taunting her with a revelation that was just out of reach. She stood there in silence as she tried to figure out what was wrong.

“So how do we prove you’re not one of them?” Fine Edge prodded, snapping Garnet out of her thoughts.

“With a password.” She looked straight into the eyes of the larger of the two guards directly barring their path. “Twily is the most disagreeable porcupine, beware his hoof ball skills and don’t hire her to foalsit your lady bugs.”

The password was a mish mash of things both meaningful to the royal couple and meaningless, random drivel. It was changed to something new every night to further flummox potential assassins. Outside of the two royals and the chamber guards, she was the only one to learn what it was. If a single word was spoken wrong, then the one seeking entry was to be arrested immediately without question and interrogated.

With a silent nod, the two stepped aside while the three unicorn guards bowed their heads towards the door, their horns glowing. Soon, the door itself was covered in a swirling mass of magic as they removed the seal they had placed on it. Just one more layer of protection, so that if the guards were overpowered the door could hold the attackers at bay while those inside could escape through a secret exit that not even she knew the location of.

“Our unwelcome guest has arrived, and she’s not alone.” Fine Edge flatly informed her while those around them readied their weapons.

There were three of them. One supposed maid and two guards had snuck up behind them and were glaring at them from the top of the steps. Fine Edge took a step toward them.

“We know what you are, changelings.” he warned with a taunting smile as the three stared at him attentively, “You’re outnumbered. By all means, you can attack, but if you were smart you would run away like the cowardly little insects you are.”

Silence hung in the air like a shroud for a moment as nopony moved. The quiet was broken by the fwoosh of green fire as the three impostors returned to their original forms, throwing a few bolts of green magical energy down the hall and then retreating hastily back down the stairs and out of sight.

Garnet Targe leapt out of the path of one of those magical bolts and landed heavily on her side, while Fine Edge ducked below one hurtling for him, his sword held in his own yellow magical field. One of the chamber guards was not so lucky, taking a blast directly to his face and was sent sprawling to the floor like a rag doll.

“Quick, you five, after them before they hurt anypony else! We can protect the prince and princess!” Fine Edge barked at the chamber guards, five of which gave chase to the changelings that had just assaulted them. Getting to her hooves, Garnet approached the one who had been hit, Fine Edge kneeling beside him.

“Will he make it?” She asked of her second in command.

“No,” he shook his head somberly, “he’s dead. The force of the blast snapped his neck, he died instantly.”

Garnet cursed under her breath. She was not looking forward to telling the poor stallion’s family. Sadly, even more important issues needed to be dealt with before they would have the luxury of taking care of the dead.

“What a waste. He could have been so much more alive.” Fine Edge stated regretfully.

“Bring the dead changeling, we have some royalty to warn.” Garnet Targe ordered. The changeling, whose body had been dropped during the attack, was tossed back onto one of the guard’s backs as Garnet shoved open the royal chamber doors.

Two ponies were in the room, one of them a tall, feminine pink alicorn with a mane striped purple, pink and yellow, the other a large white unicorn with two toned mane and tail of differing shades of blue. They were taking cover behind an overturned desk, both of their horns glowing in preparation for whatever would come through the door. Upon seeing their trusted guard captain, they cautiously removed themselves from behind their cover.

“What’s going on?” Shining Armor demanded. Garnet motioned for the guard carrying the changeling to come forward.

“It’s Changelings, they’re attacking.” The guard placed the corpse on the floor before the royals. Matching grim frowns spread across their faces as they approached the body. “They already killed one of the chamber guards. You need to get out of here, now, before they bring reinforcements.”

“Are you suggesting we abandon our subjects?” Cadance objected.

“No, I’m suggesting we escape and find reinforcements of our own, and a more defensible position.”

“But the citizens-“

“We can send some guards to warn them after the two of you are safe.”

“Understood.” Shining Armor turned from the changeling on the ground and trotted to the wall beside their bed, and Cadance followed behind him. His horn glowed pink for a moment and then the wall slid open to reveal the secret exit.

“Okay, we can escape through-“ Shining Armor was interrupted by a massive green ball of energy blindsiding him, sending him to the floor of the secret passage.

“Shining!” Cadance screamed, staring in horror at the spot her husband had just been standing a moment earlier.

Several more bursts of changeling magic flew through the air. For the second time that night, Garnet Targe leapt out of the path of an oncoming magical assault, successfully dodging the first but was struck in mid air by the second, knocking her into a wall where she slid to the floor.

Cadance bolted towards the secret passage, hoping to get in and seal it behind her, stalling their attackers while she tended to her husband. She only reached half way before she found herself halted by a yellow magical field, frozen in place. In a matter of seconds, Shining Armor, Garnet Targe and Princess Cadance had all been incapacitated.

“What’s the hurry, Princess?” Fine Edge mocked Cadance as he lazily entered her view then pointed at one of the changelings in the room. “You, get the Prince.”

A changeling with green eyes instead of the usual blue walked past the Princess and entered the secret passage. In desperation, Cadance put all her might into charging her horn to save her husband. The spell holding her made it difficult, but her horn still began to glow an energetic blue.

“Ah, ah ah,” Fine Edge scolded while stepping between her and the tunnel, breaking her line of sight to her husband, “I wouldn’t do that were I you, unless you want something to happen to our dear Shiny.”

Recognition flashed in Cadance’s eyes as she conceded, letting the magic fade while tears streamed from her eyes. Moments later, one of the guards turned changeling installed a ring of metal onto the Princess’ horn. She could feel herself cut off from her magic as the metal band snapped into place.

A soft groan, unnoticed by the others in the room, came from Garnet Targe as consciousness returned to her. She shakily rose to her hooves and surveyed her surroundings. There were three changelings in the room, two of which were standing near Fine Edge while a third was dragging Shining Armor from the secret passage way with his sickly, green magic. The supposedly dead changeling wasn’t on the floor anymore, obviously having been faking all along. Outside of Fine Edge, she was the only guard pony in the room. She realized just what it was that had bothered her earlier: why would a changeling be undisguised when trying to find a way into the castle? Had she not been in such a rush she could have realized this entire thing was a trap.

A small voice in her head told her she had to save the Prince and Princess. She had to stop the changelings at any cost. Garnet Targe reached for her spear lying beside her.

“We need to get these two back to the badlands. Quick, we can go through-“

Fine Edge was cut off by the dying screech of one of the changelings being impaled by a spear. With one fluid motion, Garnet used her momentum from her first strike to flip around and kick the other changeling by Fine Edge in the head, breaking off its horn and crushing its skull.

“Enough!” Fine Edge bellowed furiously.

Before Garnet could remove the spear from the first changeling, she found herself suspended helplessly in the air by a second yellow field of magic. Fine Edge stepped close and struck the helpless mare’s face with a forehoof.

“Why?” Targe spit out some blood, “Why are you helping the changelings?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” he mocked. Garnet just glared at him from her levitated position. “No? Well then, let me show you.”

A torrent of green flame engulfed the stallion, burning away the disguise that had been worn for so long. In his place stood a towering, slender changeling with cruel, green eyes, a mane and tail of a shade of blueish green that was as full of holes as her limbs, and a wickedly jagged horn. To top off the entire ensemble was a little black crown atop her head. The magical fields surrounding the two mares faded into a sickly green.

"I am Queen Chrysalis."

“No, you can’t be....your magic was yellow!” Chrysalis cruelly smirked at her former commanding officer’s disbelief.

“Believe what you will, I am not here to explain myself to you.”

Garnet closed her eyes, resigning herself to her fate. She had failed. She had played right into Chrysalis’ hooves and now the entire Crystal Empire would suffer for it. Amber Strings’ young face flashed across her mind and a pang of regret filled her heavy heart as she realized her daughter would grow up without a mother. That is, if she got the chance to grow up at all.

“Just get it over with and kill me already.”

“You certainly deserve it for murdering my subjects, but no, that’s not our way. I have another use for you. I want you to deliver a message to Celestia for me: her time is at an end, I am coming for her. My changelings will hunger no more as they feast upon Equestria.”

“Fuck you.” Garnet spat.

A mischievous smile spread on the changeling’s lips. Chrysalis pulled the guard’s face towards her with a hoof and kissed her, deeply, biting at her lip with her fangs. Breaking from the kiss, she stared into the disgusted mare’s eyes.

“However much I would love a snack,” Chrysalis paused a moment to lick the blood dripping from Garnet’s lip, “I don’t have the time. Now, we can’t have you following us, so it’s time for you to sleep.”

The magic holding Garnet Targe in place faded and she fell to the ground while Chrysalis and the green eyed changeling escaped with the royals in tow. She attempted to get back onto her hooves and pursue the fleeing changelings, but couldn’t make her limbs obey her orders. A tingling sensation blanketed her mind. She was feeling exhausted, more so than she remembered ever feeling before.

Just a few minutes of rest, that’s all she needed. A few short minutes and then she could chase down the invaders and save the day. With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes.

Author's Note

Sorry about the shifting of the focus away from the MC for a chapter and leaving you on that cliffhanger even longer than you probably expected. Victor/Chance will be back next time. In the meantime, hopefully seeing what Chrysalis was up to isn't too big a disappointment.

If nothing else, you can see why the ponies were so concerned about a potential changeling invasion coming. It wasn't just general paranoia, they had been getting news from the Crystal Empire that something may have been up. You don't import a large squadron of guards from Canterlot without people noticing or having tensions rising.

Mad Dash

My heart sank at Twilight’s words. How could I really be a changeling? Discord did this to me!

“See! I told you!” Rainbow gloated, one hoof raised in triumph as she jumped into the air, where she stayed floating and smiled smugly at me.

“Yes, you did. It would seem we owe Discord an apology.” Twilight conceded, frown deepening. “But why would a changeling willingly go through this knowing that she’d get caught? It makes no sense!”

My mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came forth.

“Pfft! She was probably just stalling for time.” Dash dismissed her friend’s concerns with a wave of her hoof.

“You’re lying!”

The two mares turned to me at my sudden outburst. Rainbow dropped to the wooden floor with a loud clack, then marched right up to me.

“Oh, she’s lying is she?”

She was right up in my face, shoving a hoof painfully into my chest, or whatever the area between where my neck ends and my forelegs begin is called. “There’s only one pony lying here, and I’m looking at her.” My eye twitched at being called a ‘her’ again.

I backed away from her and she followed until I ran into a shelf full of books with my rump.

“Uh....I mean she’s mistaken?”

“No, I’m certain that I got the spell right. Discord did not turn you into a changeling.”

I was feeling awfully claustrophobic with a wall behind me and an angry blue and rainbow mare directly in front. My eyes darted about for anything that could give me a reprieve from the current situation, landing eventually upon a map on a table next to me with a big red X on it.

“Discord said he found me in the Everfree, maybe I got into some poison joke!” I offered pleadingly.

“I doubt it. Poison joke infection is a naturally occurring form of chaos magic. It’s not quite the same as Discord’s magic, but the spell still should have detected it.” Twilight countered.

A cyan hoof slammed into the shelving just to the right of my head. “We know you’re really a changeling, why don’t you just admit it already?”

Dash’s voice was loud enough to cause me to flinch. I could feel the hatred burning behind those words, which in turn sparked my own anger.

“I’m not a changeling, I’m human!”

My sudden shout caused my assailant to take an involuntary step back, followed by being tossed aside like a rag doll as Twilight shoved her out of the way to get close to me. The look of shock as she crashed into a wall was very satisfying.

“Wait, you’re a human?! Why didn’t you say so earlier?” She gripped my shoulders and began to examine me with renewed fascination.

“I, uh, it slipped my mind?”

This was perhaps the best news I could have hoped for. Twilight knew what humans were, and that meant that maybe I could finally convince her I was telling the truth.

“You mean those weird, monkey things you saw when you went through that mirror?

“Yes, exactly that!” I nodded enthusiastically.

“This explains everything! You fell through the portal, got turned into a changeling and.....ended up in the Everfree Forest?” The initially excited mare ended on a note of confusion.

“Uh, Twilight, how often does the portal open up?”

Rainbow obviously intended on leading her to a conclusion rather than being interested in learning the answer. I had an inkling of what she was getting at, and I did not like where this was headed.

“Hmmm...Once every thirty moons I think.”

“And how many moons ago did you use it?”

“That’s easy it was seven...oh.” Twilight stopped examining me and stepped back as realization struck her. “I guess that didn’t make sense anyway, the portal changes your species, not your gender.”

“I can’t believe you believed her.” Twilight stepped away and flushed in embarrassment while Dash trotted back in front of me, nose to nose. “Do you have any more lies to tell us?”

I felt a bead of sweat dripping down the side of my face as I sat there. I didn’t know I had sweat glands as a changeling. Too bad this newfound knowledge wasn’t much use in getting out of this mess. I needed to escape. I needed to come up with a distraction, and those magenta eyes staring into my soul weren’t helping.

Those beautiful magenta eyes.

A thought rose up like a skyscraper in my mind, built upon the foundation of three years of unhealthy obsession with candy coloured ponies, two days of soul crushing stress and one long night of sleep deprivation.

It was a bad idea.

It was a terrible idea.

It was the best fucking idea I’ve ever had in my life.

“Just one.” I responded to her previous question, half in a daze. Dash raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.

I grabbed both sides of her face and lunged forth, locking lips with her and pushing my tongue inside as her mouth opened in shock.

When I parted from Dash, she just stood there, like a twitching statue. Twilight’s jaw had dropped at the sight, nearly as stunned as her friend. I snatched the map from the table beside me with my teeth and made a run for the door, a slight giddiness in my step.

I just kissed Rainbow Dash! As I burst out into the early morning air, a small part of my brain told me that what I just did was sexual harassment, if not straight up assault, and that it was very wrong of me to do, but the rest of my desperate, sleep deprived mind didn’t care. I just kissed Rainbow fucking Dash!

“Get back here!”

I was knocked out of my thoughts by the furious screams of Rainbow Dash as she regained her motor functions. How was this plan supposed to work again? Did I really think I could outrun the fastest mare in Equestria and a teleporting unicorn with just a few seconds head start? I also noticed several other ponies cowering at the sight of a changeling running through the streets. Yup, this was definitely plan of the year material, that’s for sure.

I felt a pair of hooves dig into my back and I fell, dragging Dash with me. We were a writhing mass of black, blue and all the colours of the rainbow as her tremendous momentum had us tumbling rather painfully across several meters of grass and dirt and into the wall of a building. Fortunately for me, Dash cushioned the impact against said wall with her skull. As I scrambled back to my hooves, I could almost see the stars swirling around her head.

Hastily I grabbed the map again, which had been dropped during the struggle, rolled it up and slid it into one of my leg holes for safe keeping. I had always wondered what possible point there was to having legs full of holes, and I didn’t think this was really the intended use, but it worked surprisingly well.

I dashed away from Dash. Hopefully she would be out of it long enough for me to get away. Turning a corner I found myself blasting past Pinkie Pie. When she saw me fleeing for my life, she near effortlessly ran alongside me, providing me with an unpleasant reminder that I still couldn’t move very well in this body.

“Hi there, Chancey! Why are we running? Oh, I know! You’re being chased by ninjas!”

Rainbow Dash chasing me down dressed as a ninja flashed through my mind. I didn’t know whether to giggle or scream.

“I’m not finished with you!” The re-entry of Dash into the chase removed any semblance of humour I saw in the situation.

“She’s going to kill me!” I shouted at the pink mare beside me.

“What? We can’t have that! I haven’t even thrown you a party yet!”

Determination flashed in Pinkie’s eyes as she flipped herself around and hastily left my field of vision. Moments later there was a loud crash and exclamations of protest behind me.

“Rainbow Dash! Why would you want to hurt poor little Chancey?” Pinkie scolded her friend.

“She kissed me!” Yes. Yes I did, and I enjoyed it far more than I had any right to.

“I didn’t know you two were dating!” Though their voices were beginning to fade with distance, the genuine surprise in Pinkie’s voice was palpable.

“What?! We’re not! She......”

Much to my glee, I had reached far enough for their voices to be indecipherable. I ducked into an alleyway and hid. I needed to disguise myself, there’s no way I was going to escape looking like this. No time to create a new pony to change into, I decided to transform into the first background pony that came to mind: Lyra Heartstrings. Green flame surrounded my body and a mint green unicorn mare with a lyre cutie mark soon stood in my place, a slight shiver running down my spine as I completed the transformation.

The map I had slotted into my leg was now unfurled on the ground in front of me, having been forced out of my body as I had changed form. It was a crude drawing of Ponyville and the Everfree forest, the quality of which I would honestly have expected if I were the one to make it, now that I no longer had hands to draw with. It was still good enough for me to get an idea as to geography of the area, though.

If Discord really didn’t do this to me, something that I was beginning to begrudgingly accept thanks to Twilight’s confidence on the matter, then something else must have brought me to Equestria and turned me into a changeling. And a girl. I can’t forget that one.

The mirror from Equestria Girls served as a portal to a realm of humans. Admittedly, they were as colourful as the population of Equestria if the movie was accurate, but the fact of the matter was that portals to alternate universes or dimensions existed in this one. If there was one in the Crystal Empire, there was no reason there couldn’t be one hiding away in the Everfree Forest, and if these portals could change species, then who’s to say one couldn’t change my sex too? I was going to find it and prove to these girls that I wasn’t lying

Wait, no. That wasn’t right, was it? I was going to find it and go back home. Yes, that was it. Why would I ever want to stay in this magical land filled with characters I love, friendship and irresistible levels of diabetes inducing cuteness? That’d just be silly.

I folded up the map and hid it in my mane then took a tentative step out of the alleyway. Looking around for any sign of trouble, I was relieved to find none forthcoming. No Rainbow crashing into me, or Twilight teleporting right in my path, just a bunch of ponies going about their morning routines. Brushing aside my fears, I set myself at a brisk trot towards the edge of town, and eventually the Everfree Forest.

I could sense a general air of nervousness and fear as I went through streets, and could on occasion hear whispers of a changeling invasion. It appears that word of my presence and escape travelled significantly faster than I did. Many ponies eyed me suspiciously, but perhaps no more so than they eyed any of the others around them. I kept glancing about nervously myself, which inadvertently allowed for me to blend in better.

“Lyra? You’re back early! I thought you weren’t supposed to get back from Canterlot until tomorrow!” That voice, I knew it. Where had I heard that voice before?

My blood froze while my body simultaneously heated up as a pair of off white legs wrapped around my neck in a hug and I caught sight of a familiar blue and pink mane.

“Oh, hi Bon Bon.” Oh please be your name, please be your name, please!

“Are you okay, Lyra? You seem a little....stiff.”

“Oh, uh...it’s just the talk about changelings around town. It’s got me feeling kinda nervous.”

Bon Bon waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, that. I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure Princess Twilight and her friends have it under control.”

Oh god, I hope not. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“So, what brings you home so early?”

“Oh...umm....I kind of felt that I wasn’t welcome anymore.” I hoped that my vague explanation would satisfy her.

“Why would your family make you feel unwelcome?” Bon Bon scrunched up her face.

Thank you Bon Bon, that’s exactly what I needed to know. “Oh, it’s just that my father fell ill and he didn’t want me around to catch whatever he had.”

“Your....father?” Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at me.

Uh oh.....what aren’t you telling me, Bon Bon? I slowly nodded, worried that I just made a huge mistake.

“I see. That’s unfortunate. I know how much you were looking forward to spending time with your father.” A smile returned to her face, but it wasn’t a very convincing one, I could tell she didn’t trust me. “Anyway, I was wondering what you wanted for your birthday next week, have you made a list yet?”

Ha! I’m not falling for your tricks, Bon Bon! “Next week? My birthday isn’t next week, what are you talking about?” I put on my best confused face.

“Really? Huh....you’re right it was Octavia’s birthday next week, wasn’t it?” I gave the little me in my head a high five. “I’m sorry, I’m so forgetful. When was your birthday again? I wouldn’t want to miss it after all.”

Now I had the mini-me attempting to comfort me with an awkward pat on my back.

“Um,” my eyes darted down the street the way I had been going before, “November thirteenth?”

Bon Bon gave me a deadpanned look as if to say ‘I can’t believe you even tried.’

“I take it that my father is dead and that that is not my birthday.”

Bon Bon nodded.

“I don’t suppose I could convince you I’m a good changeling?”

Bon Bon shook her head.

And now my imaginary counterpart was giving a eulogy over my grave.

“So.....Nice weather we’re having, eh?” I pawed at the grass with a hoof, letting out a nervous chuckle.

The world slowed down to a crawl as the mare in front of me took a deep breath through her nose. I shoved a hoof into her mouth the moment she opened it to scream.

“HEEEEELP! SHE’S A CHANGELING.! SHE’S GONNA EAT ME!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, Bon Bon’s eyes widened as she realized what had just happened. I whispered an apology, removed my hoof and ran.

Many ponies around me were doing the same as I, running for their lives. Glancing back behind me, I noticed a few of the braver individuals had piled onto Bon Bon in a cartoonish heap, immobilizing her. With a grin, I turned my attention back to my journey.

My somewhat awkward gallop allowed me to reach the edge of town rather quickly, and soon I was approaching a rather familiar looking location: Fluttershy’s cottage. The map hadn’t labelled the building that was at the edge of the forest, but I figured it was unlikely to be anything but her cottage.

I slowed my pace to avoid drawing any attention from the building’s inhabitant, in case she was home. Fluttershy probably wouldn’t be much of an issue if she did approach me what with being so timid, but I didn’t want to take the risk. Maybe she could use the stare on me, and that’s something I wanted to avoid if at all possible.

Turning away from the building, I followed the path past it and into the forest’s edge. I stopped, feeling a sense of dread beginning to wash over me. This was one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, filled with timberwolves, manticores, cockatrices and any number of other monstrosities that would eat me up for a snack. Chewing my bottom lip, I contemplated all the ways I could die in this place.

I couldn’t stop, though. I had come this far, and returning now would only result in my capture and imprisonment, or worse, execution. Somewhere in that forest was a portal that could take me back home and restore me to my proper form. What were a few big, scary, murderous monsters? I’m a scary monster too, right? I shed my disguise and stood there as a changeling again, hoping that the appearance of monstrosity could convince some of the terrors of the forest to keep away.

The map I had hid in my mane fell to the ground again, my fin-like changeling mane not being very suitable for holding anything. I really wished I had a saddlebag or something, dropping everything every time I changed forms was getting to be really annoying. Oh well, I needed to look at the map anyway.

The map wasn’t as detailed as I would have liked. I only had a general idea of where to go to get to where Discord had found me, combine that with the realization that the portal may be hidden away somewhere or, worse yet, closed, and I had begun to question the soundness of my plan. The map indicated I had been in a clearing, or at least my interpretation of the scratchy drawing led me to that conclusion. At least I had something to look out for. I slid the rolled up map into a hole again and ventured forth.

I didn’t make it very far, however. I felt a rope land around my neck and was painfully yanked off of my hooves and onto my side.

“Gotcha, ya little varmint!”

I groaned in pain as Applejack entered into my field of vision and wrapped me up in more ropes. Once I recovered from the initial assault, my legs were tied uncomfortably close to my torso and no amount of struggling did anything to change that.

“Good job, Applejack.” Twilight Sparkle praised the one who had just lassoed me.

“Ah, tweren’t nothin’.” AJ beamed with pride that went against her more humble words.

The rest of the element bearers were there too, all six of them were staring at the changeling that was now helpless before them. Rainbow Dash in particular looked pissed. I hoped that the others could stop her if she tried to stomp my skull into itty bitty pieces.

“Uh...hi Rainbow Dash. No hard feelings about that kiss, eh?” I greeted her with a nervous grin on my face, but her glare only darkened in response as she approached menacingly. I swallowed loudly and shrank back as much as my bindings would allow.

“Behave, Dash.” Twilight warned.

“Wait, you mean to say that this creature kissed Dash?” Rarity queried with a slight upward curl at the edges of her mouth.

“Yupperooni!” Pinkie confirmed with her usual cheer.

“Oh my...” Fluttershy added, a blush spreading on her cheeks.

Rainbow groaned and covered her face with a hoof, hiding her own blush. “Look, can we not talk about that?”

“How did you know where to find me? And how did you get here first?”

“You took the map. It wasn’t hard to figure out where you were going. As for getting here first, I used a teleportation spell to bring us here where we waited for you to arrive.”

“Yeah, and now we’re gonna go find the rest of your bug buddies and stomp them, too!” Rainbow taunted.

“I don’t have any bug buddies,” I muttered bitterly as I rolled over to where my legs were beneath me, “I was looking for the portal.”

“Portal?” Twilight’s brow twitched in confusion.

“Yeah. I figured if Discord didn’t turn me into a changeling and I couldn’t have come through that mirror of yours, then there must be some other sort of portal to my home in the forest.”

“Yeah, right. You’re still going on about being a human?” Dash snorted.

“I keep saying it because it’s true.” I grumbled, irritated.

“Do ya really expect us to believe that? Applejack raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“No,” I confessed, “which is precisely why I was looking for it by myself.”

“I, for one, believe him!” Pinkie bounced in place, “This is so exciting! Maybe we can all go through the portal this time and I can meet the human me and we can throw a big party!”

“Her.” Twilight corrected.

“What?”

“Chance is a her.”

“My name isn’t really Chance.” I complained. A small piece of me died inside when I realized that I had objected to the name instead of the gender.

“Really? Why didn’t you tell me before, Chancey?” I sighed dejectedly at having my objection to the continued use of my fake name completely ignored.

“Because I wasn’t a girl before.” I felt my tail suddenly defy gravity as I realized Pinkie had disappeared from in front of me.

“It’s true! Chancey is a girl!”

I blushed furiously as I realized that Pinkie was behind me, lifting my tail to get her confirmation. I struggled to get away from the pink pony invading my very personal space, but succeeded in only falling back onto my side. I closed my eyes and groaned in embarrassment.

“Pinkie, that was incredibly rude! One does not simply lift a lady’s tail to confirm her sex.” Rarity chastised her friend, swatting her hoof from my tail.

“What? It’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before. You don’t mind, do you, Chancey?” Pinkie countered without a hint of remorse.

“Please, kill me now.” I whimpered.

“What? Why would I do that, we’re friends, right? And friends don’t kill each other, it’s in the rulebook! Or it would be if there was a rulebook. Oh! Maybe Twilight’s writing one! She should definitely put that in there as rule number one: ‘Do not kill your friends!’” I groaned in response.

“Ah don’t think she meant it literally, sugarcube.” Applejack explained to the overexcited Pinkie.

Twilight rolled her eyes and took the map I had stolen out of my leg with her magic. She spread it out in front of the other girls and they studied it. Rainbow Dash barely paid any attention to the drawings, choosing instead to give me suspicious looks with annoying frequency.

“Okay, girls, we all understand where we’re going now, right?” Nods of agreement followed the question. “Good. Now if there aren’t any questions-“

“I have one,” Dash interrupted and pointed a hoof my way, “what are we gonna do with her?

“Um, maybe we could leave her in my cottage?” Fluttershy offered.

“And let her escape while nopony is watching her?" Rainbow snorted. "I don’t think so. We should put her into a proper jail cell with guards."

“But if we do that, we’d have to go all the way back into town and then all the way back here, and then aaaaall the way there and back AGAIN to get Chancey to the portal when we find it!”

“Uh, sugar cube, do ya actually believe that there’s a way to another world inside the Everfree? Don’t ya think it a mite bit more likely that there’re more changelings that’ll ambush us?” AJ questioned.

“Yup! I mean no! I mean yes to the first thing but no to the other!” Pinkie responded, beaming.

“Maybe you could untie me and bring me along?” I offered. They were going to look for the portal anyway, or at least for some kind of explanation for how I got here, so I certainly wasn’t going to run away again.

“Oh, oh! I vote for that one!” Pinkie exclaimed, zipping over to me and reaching for my bindings.

“No, Pinkie, stop! We’ll take her with us, without untying her.” Pinkie frowned, but did as Twilight ordered. “If there really are other changelings in the forest, then maybe we can use her as some kind of hostage to dissuade them from attacking us. Applejack, could you carry her?”

Well, that would make for an interesting episode. I could see it now: ‘Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned the importance of negotiations in a hostage situation.’

“Sure thing, Twi.”

With her friend’s agreement, Twilight gently lowered me onto AJ’s back with her magic, the length of my body perpendicular to hers. With only some mild grumbling from Dash and some jovial humming from Pinkie Pie, we were going off into the big scary forest.

As I watched the ground pass by beneath me in a nigh hypnotic procession, I couldn’t help but notice just how soft AJ’s fur was. Or how warm she was. Or how her muscles moved beneath me, practically massaging my belly. A dim part of my mind blushed at some of the thoughts that crossed it. The rest of it, however, simply felt relaxed, despite being tied up as I was. It wasn’t long before the mostly gentle motions of her walking beneath me lulled me to a sorely needed sleep.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas, Happy Hearth's Warming, Happy Hannukah, and any other holiday you may or may not celebrate.

Nutcase

A flurry of blurred images rushed past me as I flew through the air. Blues and greens and grays swept by, but mostly I remembered pink. Screams of terror that may or may not have been my own reached my ears. I was tumbling through the air, but why? What had happened? A sudden impact, a sickening crack and I wasn’t moving anymore. Something jutted into my back as I lay on the ground, the world still spinning. Thoughts of my mother filled my mind as my vision faded.

Fuzzy warmth engulfed me as I slowly returned to consciousness and realized I had been dreaming. The sound of birds singing and voices greeted my ears. Half opening my eyes, I quickly recognized a pink blanket placed over me as the source of the warmth. I had been set down with my back against a tree, a decidedly uncomfortable position to be in with my new body, especially since a part of the plant jutted into my spine. In front of me was a clearing where the ponies that had captured me were searching presumably for some clue as to my origins. In the sky above, visible through the opening in the forest canopy, I saw that the sun had moved enough to inform me that I had been asleep for at least a few hours. A little lower down in front of me on the ground was a little pink cupcake with multicoloured sprinkles.

A sudden realization came to me at that moment: I hadn’t eaten anything since my arrival in Equestria. I should have been starving, but I wasn’t. Did my changeling form do away with the need to eat? While I had little doubt that such a thing would be convenient, it was still a distressing thought. Like many people, I enjoyed eating. It was a pleasurable thing to do, and something I took part in with a frequency that perhaps was less than healthy. Okay, it definitely wasn’t healthy, but I still enjoyed it immensely. What would my life be like if I couldn’t eat?

I reached for the cupcake before me only to realize that I was still tied up beneath this blanket. I growled lightly in frustration. Who would put a cupcake right in front of a man that was tied up? I then knew how Tantalus felt, if you ignored that I actually didn’t seem to feel hunger, and that I had only been kept at arm’s length from my food for a few seconds instead of an eternity, and that I’m in a magical world of sunshine and rainbows instead of the underworld. So, yeah, exactly like Tantalus.

Shaking my head to rid myself of Greek myths, I resolved myself to get to that frosting covered confection. I wasn’t going to be beaten by some ropes and a fuzzy pink blanket. I rocked myself gently forward, only to fall back to the tree trunk with a light thud. I tried again, this time with more force, and was rewarded with a successful departure from my stump. My triumphant grin swiftly fled when I realized that I had no way of slowing my momentum thanks to my limbs being tied up. Braced for impact, I landed rather painfully face first into the cupcake. Not letting this deter me, I stuck out my tongue against the confection.

It was tasteless.

I lay there on the grass in a foreign body of both wrong species and gender, tied up like some beast, tangled in a very feminine blanket, aching from my fall and bondage, and with my face covered in frosting and sprinkles that I couldn’t even taste. I was at that moment the most pitiful thing in existence.

“Hiya, Chancey!” I shut my eyes tight and groaned as Pinkie Pie bounded up beside me. “Are you enjoying your cupcake? Oh, and if you’re done with your nap you should probably give the blanket back to Fluttershy.”

She grabbed onto the edge of the blanket I was now lying on and yanked, which launched me screaming through the air. The sound of an imagined pinball machine and laughter resounded through my skull as I bounced off a nearby tree and fell back to the ground, where I somehow managed to roll back to my initial position face down in mushy cupcake. Through the haze of dizziness and pain, I speculated that only Pinkie Pie could ever have caused such an improbable thing to occur.

“Hmmm...Fluttershy probably won’t like all the grass stains, but I’m sure it was an accident so she’ll probably forgive you! Oh, hey Fluttershy!”

“Are you okay, Miss Chance? That looked painful.” Fluttershy asked, concern etched upon her face. All the events of the past couple of days flashed before my mind as I glared up at the gentle pegasus.

“No, I am not fucking okay!” The two ponies flinched at my outburst. “I have been taken from my home, forced into a body not my own, thrust into a world where everybody sees me as a lying monster, insulted, beaten, imprisoned, tied up and dragged around like cargo! You can take your useless fucking pity and shove it up your ass!”

Pinkie Pie’s jaw was hanging at my tirade. Fluttershy’s lip trembled tremendously and tears coursed down her face. Silence reigned in the entire clearing, broken only by the sound of sobbing. Six pairs of eyes stared at me as the high of rage began to fade and shame took its place.

“Fluttershy...I am so-“ the crying pegasus turned tail and ran away from me, “sorry.” I finished in a whisper.

“I know you’re sad and hurting right now, but that was plain wrong.”

With those words and a frown, Pinkie turned away from me and hurried after her distraught friend. One by one, the other mares turned back to their search until only Rainbow Dash looked upon me, brow furrowed. Soon enough, even she returned to her task and I was left with a crushing sense of loneliness.

With a little effort, I rolled myself onto my side and away from the remnants of the cupcake. While it wouldn’t make all my problems disappear, not breathing through frosting whenever I lay down my head was an improvement. I vacantly stared at a little, white rabbit a few meters away that stared right back at me before hopping out of sight.

Suddenly feeling very drained, I closed my eyes and tried to get back to sleep. Slumber would not come though, no matter how much I wished it. Fluttershy’s crushed face kept invading my mind. Guilt, shame, fear and anger all roiled about within me, making it nigh impossible for me to drift off.

My cycle of self loathing was interrupted when I sensed a presence beside me. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Rainbow Dash looming over me.

“Come to beat me for hurting your friend?”

The limpness of my voice surprised me. It gave off a sense of being resigned to my fate, and upon a moment’s contemplation I realized that perhaps I was. I had just cut myself off from the only ones of the group to show me any real compassion by being a complete jackass. I deserved what was coming to me.

“No.” Her voice was surprisingly quiet, considering who it was and what I had just done. If I hadn’t seen the rainbow mane I might have suspected Fluttershy was talking to me instead.

“Then why are you here?” I asked.

“I...don’t know.”

I let out a deep sigh and laid my head back on the grass. If she wanted to stand watch over the fly trapped beneath her, then so be it, as long as she didn’t start pulling its wings off. Not that I could do much to stop her if she did.

“You really are sad right now, aren’t you?” I slowly nodded at her question, trying to ignore the uncomfortable sensation of grass grinding into the side of my face. “And it’s kinda my fault isn’t it?”

I remained silent.

“It’s just....when I figured out you were the Pinkie Pie at Sweet Apple Acres, I thought that you must’ve been trying to replace my friends. That you were going to hurt them. But you never really did, did you?”

Awkward silence filled the air between us. Dash fidgeted nervously.

“Look, I’m not very good at all this talking and emotional stuff. What I’m trying to say is....what I mean is...” her face contorted with discomfort and she let out a groan of frustration, “I’m sorry, okay?!”

I looked back up at her, a glimmer of hope in my eyes. “You believe me?”

“No, I still think you’re lying. I just think I went too far with how I treated you.”

“Oh.” My hope deflated like a balloon. “So, have you found any of my ‘bug buddies’ yet?” I added bitterly.

“Hey, ah think ah found something!” AJ shouted as if on cue.

“Maybe we have!” Dash grinned and then flew over to where her friends were gathering, leaving me alone again stewing in my desire for freedom from my bondage so that I could join them.

“Hey!” I shouted at them, waiting until they looked my way before continuing. “Ya know, if I really did have friends around here, leaving me alone like this would give the perfect opportunity for them to free me!”

Twilight’s magical field embraced me and I was levitated towards the group of mares, a couple of which looked awfully sheepish over the tactical oversight that I just pointed out to them.

“If you do have friends out here, why would you warn us about that?” Twilight questioned me.

“I wanted to see what you found.” I shrugged as best I could in my dual bindings of rope and magic. “Besides, the only friend I have out here is Pinkie. That is...if she still wants to be my friend after what I did.” I glanced nervously at the pony in question, then to Fluttershy. “ I’m sorry about what I said, Fluttershy. I didn’t really mean it. I just....” My sentence tapered off as I chewed my lower lip.

“No....it’s okay. I understand you’re under a lot of stress right now. I forgive you.” Fluttershy responded.

“If Fluttershy forgives you and you’re really, truly sorry, then I forgive you too. You are truly sorry, right?” Pinkie stared at me accusingly, and I nodded. “Good, then we’re still friends!” The serious demeanor vanished instantaneously, replaced by a big smile and the very Pinkie like action of bouncing in place.

“Ahem!” I looked back to Twilight, who seemed mildly annoyed at the interruption. “Applejack found some hoof prints next to some flattened grass. We think this is where Discord found you sleeping.”

“Hoof prints?” I asked in confusion.

“Yes. One set of muddy prints leading up to the depression in the grass, and then returning back the way they came.” She continued.

“I think we found your friend, Chance.” Rainbow smiled smugly.

My eyes widened at this new revelation. Why would there be hoof prints leading up to and away from where I was? At every turn it seemed like what I thought must be true was being turned on its head. Maybe I really was a changeling all along and I was supposed to be spying on the girls.

“Ha! See that? She’s getting nervous. Your lies are falling apart. Better come up with some new ones.” I felt an ear flicker in annoyance at this rather familiar taunt from Rainbow Dash. I glared at her through narrowed eyes.

“Okay. I’ve met fish that are better kissers than you.”

“That’s not true! I’m a much better kisser than some stupid fish! Wait, I mean....uh...” Dash froze up in embarrassment as she realized what she said.

“Oh please, get a room you two.” Rarity interjected at the expense of the flustered mare.

“Huh?! No, we’re not...I mean....”

Dash’s verbal eloquence continued in the same vein as her previous speech. I bit my lip in an effort to not laugh, something I wasn’t entirely successful at. Rarity suppressed a chuckle herself, while Pinkie made no effort to hide her own giggle.

“If you’re done making fun of Rainbow Dash, maybe you could offer an explanation for these tracks? If this is where Discord found you, then they obviously aren’t yours since they lead away from here. Also, there’s the issue of there being only one set of tracks. Where are yours?” Twilight looked into my eyes seriously.

“How am I supposed to know? I was asleep, remember?”

“She has wings, Twilight. She probably flew.” Rainbow glared at me, having finally regained her composure. I just burst out laughing. “What’s so funny.”

“I can barely walk without falling over, do you really think I could pull off flying?”

“You seemed perfectly capable of running away from the library.” Twilight countered.

“Oh...uh...yeah. But I couldn’t when I first woke up in this body, and I still don’t know how to fly.” This explanation earned me a skeptical look from Twilight.

“Well, we’ve found where Discord discovered you, and there’s no sign of any portal to the human world. I’m thinking that Dash may have been right all along.” Twilight concluded.

I narrowed my eyes at her continued disbelief. An idea came to me, one that I probably should have thought of before when I tried to convince her but for some reason hadn’t. Perhaps I could blame it on my previously sleep deprived state.

“Internet, automobiles, computers, airplanes, mp3 players and cellphones.”

Most of the group blinked at me in confusion, but recognition flared in Twilight’s eyes. A small, triumphant grin spread across my muzzle. She knew what I was talking about, and nobody else had even the slightest idea.

“Uh, Twilight? What the heck did she just say? And why does she seem so smug about saying it?” Rainbow Dash asked of her friend.

“Those...those are all things you can’t find in Equestria. They’re technologies that I saw in the human world.” Twilight responded, not taking her eyes off of me.

“Do you believe me now?” I asked in a deadpan.

“See? I told you Chancey was telling the truth!” Pinkie asserted.

“I...well...maybe?” Twilight stuttered, her brow knitted in an uncertain fashion.

“Maybe? I just listed off half a dozen things that nobody in this world knows about and all I get is a maybe?!

“I find myself in agreement with Chance, Twilight. If she’s not from the human world, how would she know about these things?” Rarity asked.

“Look, when she first mentioned being from the human world I made some hasty assumptions that even Rainbow Dash was able to point out were faulty. I don’t want to make that mistake again.”

“Hey!” Dash objected to the implied insult.

“Sorry, Dash, but you usually aren’t that detail oriented.” She apologized to Dash as she sulked.

“Then how am I supposed to know about these things if I’m not actually human?”

“Well, I did make some very detailed notes about my journey into the human world.” She paused to look me directly in the eye. “Very detailed. I recorded everything about their world that I learned of.”

“And you think that I read your notes?” I spat out in disbelief.

“Maybe, maybe not. They went missing a couple of months ago. I thought I just misplaced them, but...well, maybe they were stolen instead.”

I tried to think of something to say to this. I had thought for sure I’d found a way to convince her I was telling the truth, but here she was squashing that hope. My disappointment must have been plastered clearly upon my face as Twilight spoke again.

“Hey, I’m not saying that you’re lying, I’m just saying that I need more evidence before I can decide either way.”

Pinkie Pie slithered up to Twilight and jabbed her repeatedly in her shoulder with a hoof.

“What?!” Twilight snapped at her.

“Tracks!” Pinkie stated while pointing to said tracks as if that explained everything.

“What about them, Pinkie?” Twilight’s brow furrowed in annoyance.

“They’re totally evidence!” At some point in time Pinkie had put on a Sherlock Holmes like hat and was examining the hoof prints through an oversized magnifying glass. “Maybe if we follow them we can prove Chancey’s innocence!”

“Of course we’re going to follow them! Did you really think I would just drag her away to be banished to the moon without finding more information on who made those tracks?”

“Please don’t banish me to the moon.” I whimpered.

“Well, maybe. You seemed awfully quick to say Dashie was right. Maybe somepony carried her away from the portal and left her here!” Pinkie offered.

“Even if I do believe Dash is right, not that I’m saying I do, but if I did that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop halfway through an investigation. I’m not so irresponsible.” Twilight pouted.

“Well then, what are we waiting for? We’ve got a mystery to solve, gang!”

Pinkie followed the trail at tremendous speed, staring through her magnifying glass as she went. Within moments she had disappeared into the forest.

“Argh! Pinkie! You just...ugh! Here, Applejack, take Chance.”

I felt myself lowered onto AJ’s back again as Twilight chased after Pinkie, followed shortly by the other four mares. I also noticed a white bunny trailing behind us and figured that Angel must have followed Fluttershy into the forest. I was uncertain as to whether I should worry for Angel's safety, or that of the creatures of the Everfree.

The journey was a quiet one, not much conversation was had as my captors followed the trail. I was left with my thoughts, such as the reminder of how soft Applejack’s fur felt on my chitinous skin. Had the owner of those tracks carried me just like this and dumped me in that clearing? Was their fur just as comfy and soft as AJ’s? Was the portal even open anymore? The mirror in Equestria Girls only open for a short period of time, what if it had closed up in these past two and a half days? I’d probably need a warm and soft blanket for comfort. Have I mentioned that Applejack is distractingly warm and soft?

“Did ya just say I’m warm an’ soft?” The mare carrying me asked in a somewhat creeped out tone. Apparently I did mention it.

“Umm....maybe? Like a blanket. You feel good. I mean you’re comfortable! I mean....uh...shutting up now.” My face burned in embarrassment.

“Twilight! Ya think maybe you could carry her with yer magic for a bit? She’s starting to give me the willies.”

“Now you know how I feel!” Rainbow Dash piped in from behind us.

I had to bite my tongue to not say anything. I desperately wanted to explain that I meant it in a completely innocent way, but I knew damn well I’d just shove my hoof into my mouth again if I even tried.

“Stop hitting on my friends, Chance.”Twilight absently scolded me, reminding me of my mother telling me not to pick on my brother for the hundredth time in a day when we were kids. She swung her head back and forth in search of something “Did anypony see where Pinkie went this time?”

Suddenly, Pinkie swung down directly in front of Twilight from above, eliciting a scream from the latter as she fell over in shock.

“I’m right here, Twilight!” Pinkie chirped as she hung from a tree branch. “What are you doing on the ground?”

“I’m harvesting spores for my collection.” Twilight responded flatly, her face a contorted mask of irritation.

“Oooo! That sounds fun! But we don’t have time for that, I found where the trail leads!” Pinkie dropped from her tree.

“Why didn’t you say so?” Twilight glared at her.

“I just did.”

“No, I mean....never mind, Pinkie. Where does it lead?

“A door!” Pinkie proudly exclaimed. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the simple explanation.

“A door?”

“A door.” Pinkie nodded.

Silence hung heavily in the air while the group waited for a more detailed explanation that was not to come.

“Sooo.....are you going to lead us to this door?” Twilight motioned for Pinkie to lead on.

“Oh, right! Follow me!

I had imagined a random doorframe just standing out in the open, maybe with some swirling vortex inside it leading back home, but nothing of the sort was to be had. To be fair to Pinkie, there wasn’t a lot more than a door, so it’s not like she was withholding much information. There was a mound of earth a few meters wide covered with grass and a sort of ramp dug out of one side leading into the ground where the door was. That little depression in the dirt and the simple, metal door were all there was to indicate that it wasn’t natural. Had we approached it from most any other direction we likely wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

I don’t know what it was, but something about that door made me rather uncomfortable.

“Huh.....a door.” Twilight commented upon the obvious.

“Well, duh! I told you there was a door!"

“Yes, Pinkie, I know. I just thought there’d be more to it than just a door dug into the side of a hill. The structure it leads to must be built underground."

“Maybe the door itself is the portal?” I offered, hopeful that it may be true.

“Yeah, right,” Dash rolled her eyes, “I bet we find changelings in there.”

“There’s no telling what we may actually find inside. Give me a second to come up with a plan!” Twilight turned away from our finding, sat down and put a hoof up to her chin as she contemplated. “Okay! I’ve got it! I will stand right over by that tree,” She indicated the location with a hoof, “and Rarity will be on the other side of the door by that other tree. We’ll both stand ready with our magic to counter anything that may go wrong. Rainbow Dash, you hover in the air and get ready to help anypony get out of the way if something is about to hit them. Applejack, you-“

A loud knocking interrupted her and everyone turned to find Pinkie standing in front of the door, one hoof rapping on it vigorously. Twilight’s eyes were wide, her mouth agape, both ears and an eye twitching.

“Pinkie! What are you doing?! I had a plan!”

“I’m knocking, silly! How else do you expect to get inside?”

“But...the plan...you just-“ Twilight was interrupted by the creaking of an opening door.

“Yes? Can I help you?

A unicorn mare with creamy orange fur, yellowish green eyes and a brownish orange mane greeted our troupe. From her positioning in the doorway, I could not make out her cutie mark.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! I didn’t know that anypony other than Zecora lived out in the Everfree Forest! We’re looking for a portal to the human world to send Chancey through, he’s a human! Well, not right now, she’s a changeling right now, but that’s why we’re looking for that portal, so we can send her back home to become a him again!”

The sound of leaves rustling in the breeze was the only thing to be heard for a good while afterwards as the mare just stared at Pinkie.

“What?”

“I said: Hi! I’m Pinkie-“

“I heard what you said, just....what?”

Her eyes darted about those assembled before her and eventually landed on me, all tied up on AJ’s back. A brief moment of panic graced her eyes, but it was gone so quickly I questioned whether I had seen it at all.

“Visage?” She questioned.

“No, that’s Chance!” Pinkie corrected. A cloud of yellow magic engulfed me and I was levitated to the door, nearly knocking Pinkie to the ground. “Hey, watch it! You could have hurt Chance!”

“What did you tell them?” The unstated threat within her whisper was apparent as she glared into my eyes.

“Do you know her?" Twilight inquired with a small measure of suspicion as she watched the new pony confronting her captive.

“I have no idea who you are, please...put me down.” I begged from my suspended position, loud enough for the others to hear.

“You don’t?” The unicorn holding me in her magical grasp tilted her head as I vigorously shook mine. A slight smile graced the edges of her lips after a moment before she addressed the others. “Yes, I do. She’s my friend and has been living with me for quite some while. I don’t recall how long, however. Time has a way of slipping away in this forest.”

“If she was living with you, why was she found in a clearing by Discord and subsequently brought to Ponyville?”

“Discord? You mean the spirit of chaos Discord? Turns the world upside down for his own amusement Discord? Stone statue in the middle of Canterlot Discord? If he’s free, I think you have bigger problems than a little changeling in the middle of the Everfree.”

“Umm....actually, Discord is our friend now.” Fluttershy timidly explained. The new unicorn raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“Yeah, it’s the truth, believe it or not. He’s not what ah’d call good, but he ain’t making too big a mess of Equestria no more. Now if you’d be so kind as to stop avoidin’ the question, why was Chance in Ponyville?” AJ narrowed her eyes.

“Chance? Is that what she’s calling herself? Typical of a changeling, you just can’t trust anything they tell you. Even the friendly ones are going to lie, it’s just in their nature.” Applejack kept glaring at her, not satisfied with how she kept dodging the subject. “Fine, if you must know. I am embarrassed to say this, but I thought she was dead. I left her in that clearing because I needed to get rid of the body.”

“Dead? Why would you think Chancey was dead? She seems perfectly healthy to me!” Pinkie pointed out.

“Yes....I’m quite baffled by it. You see, she has been quite ill for awhile now. I was taking care of her myself since it’s not like I could just bring a changeling to Ponyville for medical attention, she’d have been thrown in prison instead of a hospital bed. I am no doctor, though, and she just kept getting worse until eventually she died. At least I thought she did. I couldn’t detect any life signs, so I just assumed. I suppose it must have been some sort of comatose state, perhaps part of a changeling’s natural methods of fighting off infection.”

“I don’t believe you!” I shouted. None of what she said could possibly be true, I was a human god damn it!

“She claims to be a human from another world and not actually a changeling. Also, she says she doesn’t know who you are. An odd thing for a friend to do.” Twilight pointed out.

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s delusional. The sickness must have taken a serious toll on her mind, maybe even caused amnesia. It’s entirely possible her panicked mind latched onto the idea that she’s one of these...humans, whatever they are. It wounds my heart to think that she doesn’t remember me, but with time I hope to have my friend back to normal. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll take her back. She needs my help right now to get through this.”

“What? No! Don’t let her take me!” I shouted, struggling against the magic and rope that bound me, not that it did me any good. I was levitated through the door and into a plain, wooden entrance hall with two other doors leading out of it. My panic grew as my view of the more familiar mares was cut off. While passing the unicorn I got a glimpse of her cutie mark. It was a box of some kind filled with almonds. A sudden shiver crept up my spine.

“Waaaaaait!” Pinkie screamed, shoving a hoof into the door frame, preventing it from being closed. “I’m her friend! I can help her get through this!” I gave a silent thank you to that crazy pink mare. Better the crazy I know than the crazy I don’t.

“Friend? You?! Are you trying to insult my intelligence? I find her with you, tied up as a prisoner and appearing to have been physically abused and you call yourself her friend?” Anger flared from her, but something was wrong. I could tell that it wasn’t righteous anger over the mistreatment of a friend. I got the distinct feeling that I was nothing more than an object to her.

“Well, I-“ Pinkie began unsteadily.

“Have you even been feeding her?”

“Yes! I gave her a cupcake earlier today!” Her voice had brightened, glad for the opportunity to prove her good intentions.

“A cupcake? A cupcake?!” The unicorn’s ears twitched. She shoved open the door all the way and pulled Pinkie’s face up to her own with her magic, dropping me rather painfully onto the floor in the process. “Visage is a changeling! She doesn’t eat normal food like you or I, she feeds on love!”

Faced with the reality of my mistreatment at her hooves, Pinkie’s eyes were filled with tears. Seeing her so sad only served to make me feel even worse than I already did.

“Oh....” Pinkie sounded crushed and went limp in the unicorn’s magical grasp.

“Please....leave her alone.” I begged of my new captor, who turned her head to face me and merely snorted in my direction before turning back to the pink mare in her grasp.

“With the authority given to me as a princess of Equestria, I demand you release my friend.”

“Princess?” The unicorn stiffened and released Pinkie from her magic.

“Yes, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, former student of Princess Celestia.”

“Oh.” She stood there, processing this change in circumstances and then hastily bowed towards the royalty that was still outside of my field of vision. “I apologize, your highness. I didn’t know who you were. I was unaware that a new princess had been crowned.”

“Even so, your behaviour towards guests has been very much improper.” Rarity chimed in.

“I was just upset over the mistreatment of my friend. I’m sure you could understand that. You were very quick to defend your pink friend here for something far less than what appears to have happened to Visage.”

“Well, I suppose that makes sense.” Twilight conceded.

“Ah don’t trust her. She’s been more slippery than a greased up garden snake.” Applejack interjected.

“Yeah, she hasn’t even told us her name! I bet she’s a changeling. There’s probably an entire changeling hive behind that door!” Rainbow accused. The thus far unnamed unicorn gave out a little chuckle.

“I assure you, I am no changeling, and this is not a changeling hive. I apologize for my earlier rudeness in not introducing myself. I am Nutcase.” I quickly realized that the cutie mark I had seen was a case of nuts. Of course.

“Who in their right mind names their child Nutcase?” I blurted out. Nutcase turned her head to face me, brow furrowed in mild confusion.

“My mother, Almond Acre, she’s an almond farmer west of Baltimare.” She explained in a matter of fact tone. “I apologize again for my rudeness, but I really should be tending to my friend.”

“Hold it!” Nutcase let out an annoyed sigh as the royal order stopped her from closing her door a second time. “Rainbow Dash could be right. I would be remiss if I didn’t explore the matter fully. May we come inside?”

“If you insist. There really isn’t anything of interest in here, though.”

Nutcase opened the door as wide as possible for her guests and casually walked up to one of the other two doors in the room.

“This is the bathroom. If you’d like, you can search it, but there really isn’t much to see.”

Her yellow magical field pushed the door open, revealing precisely what she had claimed would be there. A simple, though somewhat cramped, bathroom with a sink, toilet and bathtub. A couple of the mares entering the home quickly looked over the room, Applejack actually entering into the cramped space for a closer inspection, opening up the cupboards beneath the sink and rummaging through them.

“She’s right, ah can’t see anything weird in here.” AJ confirmed, to which Nutcase rolled her eyes.

“If you’re done searching through my shampoo, we can move on.”

I felt the telltale tingle of magic as I was once again lifted into the air and dragged along as Nutcase passed through the remaining door and into a significantly larger room that appeared to serve the purpose of several different rooms. I was gently laid down on a couch at the opposite side from the entrance and left there. The comfort of the cushions beneath me only brought into sharper contrast the soreness in my limbs from my bindings. I really wished they would remove these. If they did, I could run away from this place.

“This is where I spend most of my time. As you can see, there’s a bed, a kitchen, some books for me to read and a few other knick knacks. It’s a simple life here, but I am content. I was afraid I was going to be lonely with the loss of Visage, but now that she’s back I don’t need worry about that anymore.”

It was true, everything was surprisingly banal. Nothing in this place struck me as unusual or worthy of alarm, and yet I could not help but feel terror as I lay on the couch. I wanted to get away from there, bad. It was as if a tale of terror and anguish was bubbling up through the earth beneath us and contaminating the place. I felt dizzy from the sensation.

“You have a lot of books on changelings.” Twilight observed as she searched the bookshelf.

“When I first met Visage I wanted to learn as much as I could about her kind. Unfortunately, things written about them are horribly mistaken at best, and pure fear mongering calls for genocide at worst.”

“That’s terrible!” Fluttershy gasped. “Why would anypony want to kill an entire species?”

I closed my eyes and tried to block out the overwhelming sense of dread that loomed over me. It was like a cacophony of voices shouting at me to run away as quickly as I could. I shivered, feeling worse with every minute that passed.

As time flew by, I contemplated what had been said since we arrived. Could it all be true? Was I always a changeling? Was my entire past merely a fabrication of a diseased mind and a few stolen documents that Twilight had? Was Nutcase really a friend that had been trying to save me? I was certainly feeling sick. But no, this couldn’t be right. I wasn’t Visage, my name was Chance! Wait, no, I meant Victor. Maybe I really was crazy. A terrible headache had formed and it was making it hard to think clearly.

“Are you okay, Chance?” I opened my eyes to see a concerned Pinkie Pie staring down at me. Her warm, friendly presence helped to steady my own rampaging emotions.

“No.” I whispered, shaking my head. “Don’t leave me here with her.” Pinkie chewed her bottom lip uncertainly.

“But if she really is your friend then maybe it’s best if you stayed here. It can’t be any worse than how we treated you. She can help you get your memories back and then you can be happy again.”

“Look, I don’t know if I’m crazy, or have amnesia or what anymore. I am so confused right now, but there is one thing I know: I am terrified of her. Please, don’t let her have me.” Pinkie stood there, watching me in silence.

“There really isn’t anything here.” Twilight concluded, sounding somewhat disappointed.

“Yes, it’s as if I was telling the truth all along.” Nutcase deadpanned. “Now if you’d be so kind, could you please get out of my home?”

“Just a second, Twilight. She could still be a changeling herself.” Rainbow argued.

“Well, how do you plan on finding that out? Nothing here indicates she is one and I don’t know any spells to detect changelings.” Twilight countered.

“Well, all the changelings we’ve fought before lost their disguise whenever we knocked them out.”

“Rainbow Dash! We can’t just go assaulting random ponies because we think they might be changelings.”

“That didn’t stop you before.” I blurted out, feeling rather peeved at how only now she seemed to have grown a conscience over the matter. Twilight winced at being called out on it.

“If it would convince you to leave me alone, then I agree to subject myself to such a test.” Nutcase’s aggravated voice cut through the room.

“Are you sure?” Twilight tilted her head.

“Just do it.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Twilight’s horn started glowing, building up magical energy for a blast sufficient enough to get the job done. Nutcase tensed up in preparation for impact. Shortly thereafter, a beam of energy struck the unicorn and knocked her off her hooves. She quite firmly remained a unicorn.

“Did it work? Is she unconscious?” Twilight asked tentatively. Dash flew on over and checked.

“Yeah, she’s out cold.”

Applejack brought a glass of water from the kitchen area over and dumped it onto the unconscious mare, who woke up with a groan, then helped her back to her hooves.

“I hope that this clears up any suspicions of me being a changeling.” Nutcase huffed, glaring at the assembled ponies.

“Yes...I’m sorry that it came to this.” Twilight apologized sheepishly.

“If there’s nothing else, would you be so kind as to get out? I have the injuries of my friend. and now myself, to deal with and would like to get to it.”

“Of course. Come on, girls.” Twilight and four of her friends walked towards the exit.

“No.” Pinkie objected, standing obstinately in place. Nutcase put a hoof to her face and growled in frustration.

“Come on Pinkie, we’ve caused her enough trouble.” Twilight tried to coax her friend into leaving, but met with little success.

“I don’t want to leave Chance with her.”

“Pinkie, ah think we really should go. We’ve outworn our welcome. We should leave the nice mare alone, now.”

“She’s not a nice mare, and she’s not Chance’s friend. I’m her friend!”

“You insolent, little, pink bitch! How dare you?!”

“Hey! Nopony talks that way about my friend!” Rainbow Dash ran back into the room to confront Nutcase.

“Girls, please, calm down!” Twilight pleaded.

“She doesn’t like you, so I’m taking her with me.”

Pinkie latched onto me and lifted me up above her head with her front hooves and made an awkward looking two legged dash for the door.

“No! You can’t have her, she’s mine!” Nutcase shrieked.

A blinding flash of light erupted from her horn and flew directly for Pinkie. I tried to brace myself for impact, but the blast was absorbed by a pink, magical, spherical barrier. Pinkie in turn ran into said barrier and fell over backwards, causing me to land awkwardly on top of her.

“Enough!” Twilight screamed furiously, wings flared and horn glowing vibrantly. I noticed that Nutcase was encased in a magical bubble as well.

“Hey, she attacked me!” Pinkie shoved me off of her and glared at the mare in question.

“Pinkie...you tried to foalnap her friend.” Twilight tried to explain.

“Actually...I’d rather go with Pinkie.” I countered.

“Oh....I see.” Twilight’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why?”

“Because leaving me behind with somebody named Nutcase is insane? Because I’m scared of her? Because this place gives me an over powering feeling of dread? Pick one, just please don’t leave me here.”

“Your fears are unfounded, Visage. It’s just the amnesia talking. I can help you.” Nutcase argued.

“Nu uh! I’m going to help her!” Pinkie gripped me in a tight hug, further banishing the sense of dread I had felt with the warmth of her caring.

“Oh, and do you know how to take care of a changeling?” Nutcase challenged. Pinkie wilted a little, realizing that she didn’t.

“I’m not a pet. I think I should be able to decide for myself.”

“Oh?” She turned her attention to me, triumph in her eyes. “You claim you’re not even a changeling. Do you know how to take care of yourself as one? Do you even remember how to feed?”

Silence. The air was heavy with it as the dreaded realization dawned upon me. My ears splayed back against my skull and I stared into empty space.

“No.” My whisper wasn’t an answer to her question, it was an expression of disbelief and terror. I felt numb at the prospect of either staying here, or starving.

“I didn’t think so.” A smug grin graced her muzzle.

The pink bubbles disappeared. Pinkie squeezed me tightly for a moment and then released me. She said something, but I wasn’t listening anymore. The dread came back at me full force, and with it the dizziness and pounding headache.

The sound of a door closing snapped me out of my self imposed exile into my own mind. I was alone with Nutcase who loomed over me.

“What foals...It’s a good thing that nopony actually knows anything about you changelings or else that never would have worked. Honestly, there’s no way that you would have starved with that pink monstrosity around.”

I grimaced at her mini-monologue but said nothing.

“So, my delectable little insect....Chance was it?” A spark of curiosity filled her eyes. Confusion managed to bleed through the pain in my head.

“But...I thought you said my name was Visage.”

“Oh, it is. Or was, I suppose. So you’re really from another world?”

“Wait, you believe me? I’m really human?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” I shivered at hearing those words again. Unlike when Twilight said it earlier, I felt a distinct coldness in her voice.

“What did you do to me?”

Nutcase ignored my question. Her horn glowed and the sofa I had previously been on skidded across the floor. With a clicking sound, a trap door that had hidden beneath swung open and for the umpteenth time I was lifted with magic that day as she brought me along with her through it.

“Hmm....maybe I didn’t completely fail after all...” She muttered to herself as we descended some narrow, poorly lit stairs. She turned her attention to me, “Were you by chance dead in your world?”

I was taken aback by the unusual nature of her question. “Uh...no?” With a sound of displeasure, she turned away from me again and continued musing to herself.

“That’s unfortunate. At least I have something to work with, but I’ll need to make some adjustments to the targeting portion of the spell.” Her voice was filled with restrained excitement. Despite the seeming disappointment that my response was, a definite bounce was in her step. In contrast to her joy, the sense of sorrow and fear I felt grew only stronger with every step we descended.

“Please....let me go.” I whimpered.

“What? Oh, no, I can’t do that! Where would I be if I didn’t have my little bugs to test on? You’re far too valuable a specimen to just release.”

“Pinkie will come back and save me.”

“I don’t think so.” She snorted in response. “Even if she does come back I’ll just tell her that her mistreatment of you had you in worse shape than I thought, so I sent you back to your hive in the badlands to recover with your own kind. I know her type. The guilt will be enough to stop her asking questions.”

We finally reached the bottom of the staircase, which had gone shockingly far underground. We had passed several flat platforms where the stairs turned the other direction so that we would remain more or less directly under the room above us. Our location was cold and dark, too dark to see anything, even to my eyes which had adjusted to the dim light of the stairway.

“Hey love bugs! I’ve got a surprise for you!” Nutcase called into the room as her horn glowed in the darkness. Soon enough, a series of orbs flared with bright, magical light, nearly blinding me. A couple somewhat familiar types of voice expressed their displeasure

When my eyes adjusted to the new lighting I saw we were inside some sort of cave that had been filled with all sorts of scientific and magical looking equipment. I barely saw any of those though as something much more important caught my eye.

Changelings.

There were two of them locked away within separate cages. Small, metal bands were on their horns and they stared at me with a mixture of shock and pity. As I stared at the two, I felt a cool metal band of my own latching onto the base of my horn. To my surprise, the overpowering atmosphere of dread that had been suffocating me disappeared, leaving behind only my natural feelings of fear. Not that those weren’t substantial on their own.

I was levitated into a third cage beside the changeling farthest from the entrance. Once I was safely locked inside, the ropes binding me were removed and for the first time in hours my limbs were free, even if the rest of my body wasn’t. My hoof instinctively reached up to the band on my horn and found that it was solidly in place.

“She told us you were dead.” The voice of the changeling next to me reverberated through the room.

“Yes...I did,” Nutcase mused, eyeing me like a predator gazes upon their prey. My fellow changelings cast their eyes down, one letting out a dejected sigh.

“Then it would seem that even in death we cannot escape this nightmare.”

Author's Note

Hello all and happy New Years! Now that this is posted, time to go and celebrate the day with my family.

No Nightmare

Author's Note

Just a reminder that this story has both Dark and Sex tags. You have been warned.

*Sits back and watches as Altered Visage gains a sudden spike in dislikes*

edit: Alternately, I could be pleasantly surprised as I watch it gain a spike in likes. That works too.

No Nightmare

Hours passed in near silence, the only sounds being that of Nutcase poring through assorted papers and the dull clunk of chitin on metal whenever one of us changelings repositioned ourselves in our cages. Once she seemed to notice something, and with an ear flicking in annoyance, she walked back up the stairs she had brought me down. Several minutes later, she returned, muttering something about nosy princesses and pink ponies.

The chilled air leeched the heat from my frame, and I spent much of my time curled up as much as possible, shivering. I tried to avoid moving from my position on the cage’s floor that had warmed through my contact with it. My eyes never left my captor, fearing what she may do and feeling envy over her warm coat of fur. My attempts to replicate said luxury through transformation were met with failure, presumably thanks to the metal band on my horn that no amount of effort seemed able to remove. Either that or I was a terrible changeling. To be honest, both were distinctly plausible.

Nutcase paused from her work to stifle a yawn. As much as I fought it, I couldn’t help but yawn in response. I turned my head away to hide it, and when I turned back she was approaching our cages, stopping in front of the one next to mine.

“Your turn tonight, Dryma.” Nutcase informed the changeling beside me with an eager grin. After a moment of hesitation, Dryma rose to his hooves.

While I contemplated the oddity of his name, both the unicorn’s horn and the metal band on Dryma’s horn glowed Nutcase’s signature yellow, followed shortly by an intense flash of equally yellow flame, causing me to jump to my hooves in surprise. In the changeling’s place was now a turquoise stallion with a fiery orange mane and tail. On his flank was a cutie mark of a stack of books. The overall effect of the disguise was somewhat mitigated by the presence of an obvious changeling horn upon his forehead, still encircled by a metal band.

Much to my surprise, Nutcase opened the cage door and Dryma stepped out. Her eyes wandered, lingering on certain areas of the transformed stallion and nodded with a satisfied smile. She sent a final pulse of magic into the metal ring and walked off, hips swaying, through a nearby door as Dryma followed stiffly behind.

Confused, I looked over to the remaining changeling in hope that he would explain what had just happened. No explanation was forthcoming, though, as he just lay there impassively. I glanced back at the door a moment, and then returned my attention to the changeling.

“Um...excuse me,” he raised his head and looked my way in response to my words, “what was that about? Why did she let him out of his cage?”

“You’re joking, right?” Confusion spread across the other changeling’s face.

“No, I really don’t know.” I plaintively responded. He just snorted derisively in response and turned away from me. “I’m not really a changeling. Whatever Nutcase did caused me to be trapped in this body. I have no idea what’s going on!” He turned back to me, eyes narrowed.

“This isn’t funny, Visage. Stop it.”

“I’m serious. I’m not Visage, my name is Victor and I’m human. I have a small apartment, a job at the bank, and a bed I was asleep in a few nights ago before I woke up as a big, black bug.”

The changeling leapt at the bars of his cage towards me with a loud clunk, fire burning in his blue eyes. “We are not bugs! We are not pests to be crushed beneath somepony’s hooves! We are changelings!”

“I’m sorry.” I squeaked out.

I quivered against the bars of my own cage as far as I could get from the furious changeling. The sound of deep, angry breathing filled the space, interrupted occasionally by an occasional sound coming from the room that Nutcase and Dryma had gone into. It sounded like her voice, but it was muffled by distance and a wall. I nervously eyed the door they had gone through.

“You really don’t know, do you?” His voice was low and mournful. I shook my head slowly in response to his query. He remained quiet for awhile after that, I wondered if he was going to continue. “My name is Pupa, and he is Drymanid, or Dryma for short.” He indicated towards the door with a nod of his head.

“What is she doing to him? Why did he turn into that stallion?” I asked, fearing what the answer may be.

Pupa closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, then pointed a hoof towards his horn. “She uses these rings to inhibit our magic and control us. Can’t take em off ourselves, as I’m sure you noticed. She makes us transform into her dead husband, Musty Tome, and then force feeds us.”

“Force feeds? What do you-“I stopped mid sentence, eyes widened and heart dropping in my chest as I realized the implications of what he just said. “No...”

“Yes.” Pupa confirmed my dread bitterly. “She uses us noble changelings as sex toys. Just a few weeks ago she got the idea to try and bring back her husband for real by reaching into the land of the dead and pulling his spirit into one of us.” My mind reeled at the information I was receiving

“How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know. A long time. Ever since we were knocked out of Canterlot during the invasion. A few others landed in the forest with us, injured, and were found by her. Only we three lucky ones survived.” That last sentence dripped with sarcasm and bitterness.

My mind raced, trying to figure out how long that actually would be. The show had a very loose sense of the passage of time. Twilight said Equestria Girls happened seven moons ago, which was after the season three finale. We were currently somewhere in season four, I think, so seven moons for a partial season. The Canterlot Wedding was the season two finale, so probably more than seven moons before Equestria Girls. Assuming ‘a moon’ is roughly one month, then that would mean....well over fourteen months.

I could be trapped here for years. I began to hyperventilate as the true gravity of my situation sank in.

“I have to get out of here.” I forced the words out from my trembling lips, desperate for Pupa to offer up a solution for escape from my fate. He shook his head nearly imperceptibly.

“We’ve tried. Any time we fight her, she cripples us through the rings.”

I stood there in tense silence for a moment, and then with a scream of fury, I threw myself against my cage door. The pain of the impact was dulled by my rage and desperation as I continued beating myself against the metal bars ineffectually.

“Calm down, Visage, you’ll hurt yourself!”

I ignored Pupa’s words as best I could, but as my body became more battered and bruised they wriggled their way deep within my mind until I was lying in a pool of my own tears. Could he be right? Was I soon to learn firsthand that acceptance of this new life I had been given was the only way to cope with the trauma?

“This.....this can’t be happening, it isn’t fair!”

Most men like to imagine themselves as a big, badass action hero who would spit in the face of danger and charge right through it to freedom and victory. For the majority of men, that is nothing more than a fantasy. Most men are more likely to be the hapless bystander who gets murdered to establish the villain as a threat, or the helpless hostage that the real hero needs to save.

For myself, these last few days had stripped me of any delusions that I might somehow be part of the special few. In the face of great adversity I was reduced to a blubbering mess, tears coursing down my face as I childishly proclaimed how unfair the situation was. As if pointing out that I was being wronged would suddenly convince the universe to break out of its cold, uncaring shell and set everything right again.

But this was reality. Reality didn’t care. Reality couldn’t care.

The only thing my whining accomplished was to make me look like a child throwing a tantrum, but what else could I do? It was all I had left. I had no agency over my own life anymore. Expressing my anguish was my sole remaining right.

As wrapped up in my own misery as I was, I barely noticed when Drymanid was returned to his cage, now in his usual changeling form and smelling of sweat and...other bodily fluids. If I had anything in my stomach, I probably would have thrown up. I covered my face with my hooves and tried to shut out everything around me.

The lights turned off as Nutcase presumably went upstairs to sleep. I could hear Pupa explaining to Drymanid about my situation, but I tried to ignore it as best I could and get to the temporary sanctuary of unconsciousness that sleep would provide. Sure, I would probably have nightmares, but it couldn’t be much worse than what was really happening.

Nightmares.

Of course! I could contact Princess Luna in my dreams and she could help me! She could send some guards or the mane six or maybe even come herself and save me from this place! A slight, hopeful smile spread across my tear stained face. Now all I had to do was fall asleep, while both terrified of what will happen if I can’t escape and giddy at the prospect of a way out. Needless to say, sleep was slow to come.

_______________

The sound of approaching hoof steps woke me and I opened my eyes groggily. Metal bars and darkness beyond greeted my vision and the sound of light snoring could be heard. It was difficult to concentrate on much, though, because two kinds of coldness penetrated me to the core, not to mention the aching pain from the plethora of bruises my outburst last night had earned me. I felt sluggish and tired, despite having just slept. Something else was bothering me too, but it wasn’t physical and my clouded mind couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

The hoofsteps grew closer and the magical lights flared on, eliciting a groan of pain from me as I tried to block out the offending brightness with a hoof. What I would have given for a return to darkness and sleep.

“Rise and shine, love bugs! It’s another beautiful day. Not that you could tell from down here, but it is none the less. I’m not even going to let that annoying pink friend of yours snooping around outside spoil it for me. Let her snoop. I’ve got this place so full of wards that not even Celestia herself could detect you down here.”

I steadfastly refused to look at Nutcase, who’s overtly cheerful voice grated on my ears. Maybe if I ignored her she would disappear like a bad dream.

A bad dream? Suddenly I knew what had been bothering me.

“I didn’t dream last night...” It was barely more than a whisper, more of a statement to myself than anything else, but Nutcase seemed to hear it just fine.

“Well of course you didn’t, you’re wearing a magical inhibitor.” She unhelpfully explained. I finally uncovered my eyes and stared up at her in confusion. “What, do dreams not work the same where you come from? Dreams are an expression of the latent magic within a pony. If I block your connection with your magic, you can’t dream. Simple as that.”

If I had been standing, I would have collapsed from this disastrous news. I thought I would have been crying at the crushing of my final hope for escape, but I was just too tired. The sharp click of my cage being unlocked and opened snapped me out of my stupor.

“Come on, Visage or Chance or whatever your name is now. I need to run some tests on you.” Nutcase beckoned me to come forth with a hoof. I attempted to back away further into the corner of my cage. “Don’t be like that. You don’t want to make me force you, do you?”

Resigning myself to the situation, I struggled shakily to my hooves. “There’s a good girl.” Nutcase encouraged me as if I was some kind of child, but I was too preoccupied with trying to stay upright to care. I took a couple shaky steps forward before my legs crumpled beneath me and I fell to the ground halfway out of my cage with a groan of pain. My breathing was laboured, as if I had just gone through some strenuous exercise instead of merely standing and taking a few steps.

“You’re hurt.” Nutcase gave an exasperated sigh. A cool, yellow glow passed over my body, causing me to shiver. “And you’re too low on love to heal up properly. Of course. No help complaining about it, I suppose. We’ll just have to fix that first.”

My stomach turned at the knowledge of what ‘fixing’ entailed, so I fought to regain a standing position.

“N-no...I’m fine.” I protested, even as the strength in my legs continued to fail me. Nutcase gave a derisive snort at my attempts to remain on my hooves, but she let me continue until I was gasping for breath on the cold floor. My limbs burned from the exertion and I had given up trying.

“Are you done?”

I didn’t respond to her question. I don’t even know if I was capable of responding with how difficult I was finding it to breathe. The room was spinning in my vision, so I laid my head down and closed my eyes, hoping it would stop.

Electricity arced through my body, originating from my forehead as something long, warm and wet dragged itself up my horn. I jerked my head away from the offending object, but a growl emanated from the creamy orange throat filling my vision, and Nutcase’s magical grasp jerked my horn back within reach of her tongue. I squeezed my eyes shut again as she continued her oral assault.

I shuddered violently at the intense stimulation my relatively new and incredibly sensitive appendage was receiving. An involuntary moan escaped my throat and I bit my lip to stifle it. Nutcase giggled lightly at my reaction, then moved beyond licking to engulf my horn with her mouth. She went torturously slow, taking her time to ensure I could absorb all I could as she ‘lovingly’ attended to the spike on my head.

I grew more and more tense as her ministrations continued, feeling a pressure building up inside me, fighting to escape from my body in a chaotic explosion of unnerving sensations. A burning consumed another recently added part of my anatomy, much to my discomfort. My cheeks blazed with shame and embarrassment.

The pressure reached a breaking point. I stiffened like a board, my body twitching involuntarily as I tried to muffle a scream of unwanted pleasure. I went limp and Nutcase removed herself from my horn. With a hoof, she forced me to look into her eyes and then brought her lips to mine, kissing me deeply. I nearly gagged as her tongue invaded my mouth.

For a moment, I thought I saw Rainbow Dash through the blur of my teary eyes where Nutcase stood. Was this how she had felt when I had kissed her? I made a promise that if I ever got out of this, I would apologize and beg her forgiveness. Nutcase broke away from my lips and stared longingly into my eyes.

I felt great. I felt ashamed. I felt energized. I felt sick.

Nutcase’s horn glowed as she channeled a new spell. It felt like my own horn was being torn from my skull, it burned with agony as yellow flames engulfed me. Being forcibly transformed was a disconcerting experience. For the first time since becoming a changeling, I actually noticed every change my body went through. I could feel my limbs extending, my body growing thicker, and my anatomy rearranging as I took on the guise of a turquoise stallion. Nutcase grinned with satisfaction.

I tried to turn my head from the mad mare in front of me. My head remained facing her.

I told my hooves to push me away from her as she gave me a flirtatious smile. My hooves pushed me into a standing position.

I willed my legs to run for the stairs as she trotted towards the door. My legs followed her into a dimly lit room with a large, plush bed.

I urged my body to stay put as she draped herself across that bed. My body crawled up after her.

I pleaded my lips to tell her to stop as she gazed lustfully at me. My lips tenderly kissed hers.

I begged my eyes to shut out what was about to happen. My eyes kept unwavering focus on the mare beneath me.

I screamed at my mind to think of a way out of this. My screams echoed silently through my mind.

Home in the Hive

I was back in the cavernous basement of Nutcase’s Everfree abode, locked securely behind the bars of my all too familiar cage. I lay on the floor, barely more than a mangled corpse. Another day or two, and I truly would be a corpse. The others were in worse shape than I, not even conscious anymore. Surely some would die soon. Maybe some already had.

Malicious, green eyes stared down upon me from up high, but not the eyes of Nutcase. I pleaded for help, but the eyes ignored my request, instead choosing to leave me to my fate while the pain and weariness caused my vision to fade to black.

A strange feeling greeted my senses as I slowly regained consciousness, something I hadn’t experienced a lot of since my arrival in Equestria: warmth and comfort. As my eyes flicked open, I was greeted by the sight of a pillow and the edge of a mattress. To say I was disoriented at first would be an understatement. It took me a lot longer than I’d like to admit to realize that I had been dreaming and was now lying on my side, tucked safely into a bed.

I had been in this world for a week, maybe longer, and in all that time I had never once been in a bed. Well, except for....never mind. I shuddered as I tried to not to think about it. There are those camels again. Still gotta figure out if camels are sentient in this world. I had more important questions to answer, though, like where was I?

Then memories of the changelings raiding Nutcase’s underground laboratory resurfaced and I began to panic. I struggled against the blankets covering me, trying to shake them off with my four awkward limbs and only succeeding in falling out of bed tangled in them instead. I froze up, fearing that my new captors would hear and come to stop me, but nothing happened. I let out a tense breath and tried to calm myself down so that I could examine my surroundings.

The room was small and simple, and I could sense a blended atmosphere of sadness and loving care. A low bed stood beside me, now missing its simple, patchwork blanket and pillow which had both followed me onto the floor. Hanging from the ceiling were several clear crystalline structures that gave off a white light. A basin was in a corner sitting next to a small, gray table with a mirror on it. There was one doorway leading out of the room, though not so much a door as a sheet of orange cloth hanging from the top of the opening. The floor that I had just landed on, and indeed the entire room, appeared to be carved directly from rock.

Taking it slowly so as to not entangle myself even worse, I separated myself from the bedding and rose to my hooves. I approached the basin and noticed it was filled with water. The table next to it appeared to be carved from the stone much like the rest of the room had been. The stone was surprisingly smooth and I couldn’t help but wonder if the changelings used magic or tools to shape the room. Whichever one, it looked like they were masters of their craft.

There was a wash cloth on the table, and I noticed that I was feeling very grimy from sweat. I wasn’t covered in dirt, blood, or any other unpleasant substances. I guessed that I had been bathed while I was unconscious. That was an awfully nice thing for my captors to do. As was putting me in an actual bed, and leaving me seemingly unguarded in a room with only a flimsy piece of cloth covering my escape route. There were probably guards outside the door or something.

I stared at the wash cloth for a few moments, painfully aware of how gross my sweating made me feel. I looked at my raised hoof momentarily, thinking of how odd it was to be able to lift things without fingers, and then reached out for the cloth. Trying to concentrate on exactly what I was doing as I manipulated objects, I was disappointed to find that I couldn’t lift the cloth at all.

I growled lightly at the annoying piece of fabric that refused to stick to my hooves. I had used my hooves to pick up stuff before hadn’t I? I had manipulated that map from earlier multiple times without even thinking about it, why couldn’t I lift a simple wash cloth now? I placed my hoof on my jaw as I absently thought of what I had been doing differently and jumped when I felt a rough fabric contact my face. Apparently whatever magic I use to lift things with hooves had a sense of humour. Either that or thinking about it too much leads to difficulty performing.

I washed off as much of my sweat as I could, which admittedly wasn’t as much as I would have liked. I couldn’t reach several locations on my body with my hooves. Perhaps if I knew how to use my horn properly I could actually take care of myself a little better. Though if I had my way, I wouldn’t be a changeling long enough to do so. Staring into my dark reflection in the basin, I lamented that I likely didn’t have much say in the matter.

I chided myself, there was no time for self pity. Now that I was somewhat cleaner and more comfortable than before, it was time to find out just where I was. Cautiously, I approached the doorway and stuck my head out past the hanging, orange cloth that covered it. Beyond it was another room carved from the stone and lit with the same hanging crystals, a rather large room with at least a dozen doorways just like mine. There were many shelves lining the walls, or more accurately carved out of the stone walls. A quick look at one shelf next to my door revealed a variety of medical supplies such as bandages, syringes, medicine bottles and the like. It appeared that I was in some kind of hospital or infirmary of some kind.

The most apparent thing was sitting at a desk in the center of the room with his face buried in a book. As far as I could tell, he hadn’t noticed me yet. I tensed up instinctively at the sight of him. I may have woken up in relative comfort, but I still remembered how I was assaulted and forced to come here. They had brought me here to give over to Chrysalis, and there’s no telling what would happen to me then.

“Relax, you’re safe here. Nopony is going to harm you, young one.”

The reading changeling spoke out to me with a reassuring, feminine tone, not even bothering to look away from her book. She sounded older than the other changelings I had heard. I blinked a few times in surprise. The reading one gave a lighthearted chuckle which caused me in turn to feel rather uncomfortable.

“You’re not very good at shielding your emotions.” She finally put down her book and looked directly at me with shockingly bright orange eyes. “Are you going to finish coming out, or am I going to have to continue talking to a head sticking out from a curtain?”

“Your eyes,” I stepped out from my room, unable to take my eyes away from hers, “why are they orange? I thought all changelings had blue eyes.”

“Hmm? Oh, right, I forgot. You're the changeling who’s not a changeling, Visage. Or not Visage as the case may be. Chance if I remember what the others told me.” I slowly nodded. She already knew, I doubted that I could convince her otherwise even if she didn’t have the ability to read my emotions.

“Come closer, I’ll show you something.” I hesitated at her invitation. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite. Not my patients anyway.”

I approached her warily, ready to bolt at the slightest hint of trouble. Not that I knew where I’d go, I’d probably just run into more changelings and get caught again. I stopped in front of the desk, making sure to keep that bulky piece of furniture between us. She seemed to deem the distance I had approached acceptable as she leant forward and closed her eyes. She said nothing as she just sat there with her eyes shut and soon the silence was growing rather awkward.

“Umm....what are you-“

“Boo!” She opened her eyes and waved her forelegs in an effort to startle me. I would like to state for the record that she most certainly did not succeed. I definitely did not scream like a little girl or fall to the ground in fear. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.

“Jesus Christ! What the hell?!” I shouted at the now giggling changeling in front of me. “Why would you do that? Wait....are your eyes blue now?”

“Yes. Most changelings have blue as their natural eye colour, though there are some exceptions. Some are green, such as the Queen herself. There are some other colours, such as reds, yellows and such, but they are exceptionally rare.”

“What about orange?”

“Not in this hive. Maybe in some other, but there doesn’t seem to be any history of orange eyes here. My eyes are as you see now, naturally blue.”

“Then why-“

“Were my eyes orange?” She interrupted me again, while simultaneously switching her eyes back to orange. “I’m Doctor Dew-Drop. As I’m sure you discovered in your previous... accommodations, we are shape shifters. Changing little details about ourselves is a good way to distinguish between each other at a glance, or more accurately to distinguish between different professions. Orange is the colour of those in the medical field.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.” I admitted. “You’re name seems a little, uh, different.”

“How do you mean?” She tilted her head quizzically.

“Well all the other changelings have had names related somehow to bugs, I think, like Pupa, or Webber. Well, I’m not sure what Drymanid is, and my name is Visage. Er... my body’s name? My predecessor’s name? You know what I mean.”

“Oh. Well, first of all, I suspect Dryma was named after a kind of cockroach. It’s not the same as the bug’s name, but it’s close enough.”

“That just makes your name stand out all the more.” I scrunched up my face in annoyance.

“And yours too, though to be fair, yours is more traditional than mine. I think you’ll find that we changelings are rather diverse with our naming conventions. Sure, many parents prefer going with the classic names, but spending a lot of time disguised and living among other species tends to cause many to warm up to names of all sorts.”

While this explanation also made sense, there was one more thing that was bothering me about naming conventions of changelings. Something that struck me as completely contradictory. Something that made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

“Why would changelings name their children after bugs and bug related things when calling a changeling a bug is considered offensive?”

“That’s a question for the ages.” Doctor Dew-Drop shrugged at my question.

Now with a lack of shiny new topics being dangled in front of me like a pair of keys, my mind wandered back to the situation I probably shouldn’t have ignored from the start. I had been brought there against my will because Chrysalis wanted to see the freak that I am. A heavy sigh from Dew-Drop broke through the silence that had arisen between us.

“What are you so worried about now? I try to relax you with a bit of small talk and by answering your questions and you’re right back to being terrified. I don’t even need to be an emotion reader to tell.” She began to rub her temple with a hoof.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Heal you. It’s what doctors do, despite how some novels portray us.” She said coldly. She didn’t seem to like being accused of having ulterior motives and wanted me to think her innocent. I wasn’t buying it, though.

“I was forced here against my will. I was attacked by your so called rescue team, put to sleep and then dragged here to be brought in front of Chrysalis. What are you going to do to me?” I tried to keep my voice level, though found it increasingly difficult as my irritation grew.

“I told you. I only want to heal-“

“Bullshit!” I interrupted, causing the doctor to flinch. “Since my arrival in Equestria, nobody has just been kind to me. Everyone has run away from me, attacked me, kept me prisoner, experimented on me or used me as a toy for their own pleasure! Now you expect me to believe that changelings, those monsters that invaded Equestria to try and steal away all their love, just want to help me?!”

“So just because I’m a changeling you think I want to hurt you? You’re just like all the ponies out there.”

“No, I’m nothing like them. I want nothing to do with them, either. I just want to go home.” I forced the last bit through clenched teeth. Dew-Drop looked about to respond when we were interrupted by a small cough. We both swiveled our head towards the source of the sound.

“Is something wrong?” The voice stopped to cough. “Are we being attacked?”

It was a little changeling foal standing just outside one of the doors lining the walls, a girl I think. She was trembling with fright, eyes wide and darting between the two fighting adults in the room and coughing with alarming frequency. I suspected her fear was agitating her throat and causing the coughs to become worse than normal. Feeling the fear radiating off of her immediately cooled the fires in both the Doctor and I. I stood there dumbly while Dew-Drop ran to the child.

“Shhh...it’s okay. We’re not under attack. We were just having a misunderstanding.” Dew-Drop cooed to the frightened foal, hugging her close and rubbing her back with a hoof. “Now go back to sleep. You can’t heal up if you don’t rest, okay sweetie?” The child nodded, having visibly calmed at the comforting of the older mare and trudged back into her room beyond the hanging orange cloth.

I looked over the room to see where I would go if I wanted to escape. Unfortunately, every doorway was covered in what seemed to be the same orange cloth, which I now suspected was that colour specifically to indicate the medical nature of the place.

“The exit is that one.” I jumped at the melancholic voice that suddenly appeared right next to me. “You can leave if you’d like, I won’t stop you. You seem to be physically healthy now.”

I looked over to the door she had indicated, then back to where the little filly had gone through. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She has the flu. That and she’s scared. She’ll be okay.”

“Does this place get attacked often?” I prodded, somewhat afraid of the answer. Dew-Drop sat beside me, stared vacantly into space and slowly nodded.

“Her father was killed in an attack a month back. Some ponies looking for revenge over the invasion forced their way in and started killing. Her father was a stone carver. He spent his life carving out the stone so that we’d always have space to call home. He was a good changeling. He deserved better.” I sat down beside her and contemplated the information she had just revealed in silence.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb the sick.” I finally offered in the hopes of garnering some peace between at least the two of us.

“It’s not your fault.” Dew-Drop shook her head. “Not fully your fault anyway. I read the report, you’ve had a very rough time. It’s easy to forget you don’t really know anything about changelings.”

“I know some stuff.” I argued, to which she snorted.

“You know about as much as ponies do, maybe less. The rescue team didn’t attack you, you attacked them. Doppelganger’s report said that you were overcome with the despair that permeated the area after they removed the inhibitor from you. You were terrified and tried to run away, knocking over two changelings, one of whom was injured. They put you to sleep for their safety and your own. That is how it happened, right?”

I thought back to the events of that day and realized that what she said was true. I had lashed out first, and the others responded in a relatively humane fashion, subduing me while causing minimal damage. I nodded sheepishly in response.

“You felt it right now, too, when Silver Cloud came in here. That’s her name, by the way. We both felt it. A properly trained changeling can shield their own emotions so that others can’t feel them, as well as put up barriers to prevent themselves from being influenced by strong outside sources of emotion, but an untrained one such as yourself is vulnerable to them. Not only are you unable to ignore the emotions of others, particularly strong emotions can actually overpower your own, either by having you take on the sensed emotion, or by responding to it with a new one. That’s why you were affected by the despair in that place while the others seemed to be okay.”

“Why did they want to bring me here? Why would Chrysalis want to see me?”

"She has her reasons." She responded unhelpfully, as if evading the question. I narrowed my eyes out of annoyance.

"LIke...?" I prompted her to elaborate.

“Well, as an alien stuck in a changeling’s body you’re unusual, and the Queen is interested in unusual things. She’s asked to be informed immediately upon your full recovery."

"So I'm just a curiosity to her?"

"No, it’s not just that." She paused as if to figure out how to word what she was about to say. "You are alone in this world. You’ve been mistreated and don’t know the first thing about being a changeling. Here at the hive, we could teach you how to survive, show you how to block out the emotions of others and to shield your own, teach you proper magic and give you a home where you won’t be judged because of what you are. We know what it’s like to not be in your own skin. It doesn’t matter that you’re some alien from another world. You’re one of us now and we protect our own.”

I bit my lip, uncertain whether or not I could believe her words. It sounded too good to be true.

“Here, let me show you.” With those words, I felt a sudden surge of emotion coming from the mare beside me. It was a heady mixture of caring, sympathy and familial love. I’m not sure how I could tell what kind of love it was, but I could. It was, for lack of a better word, delicious. It energized me for several seconds until Dew-Drop cut off the flow. It was an intoxicating sensation and left me swaying a little with a goofy grin on my face.

“Liked that did you?” Dew-Drop chuckled. “I purposely channeled my emotions into you. Do you believe me now?” I nodded as the sensation began to fade away, leaving me with more or less the same energy levels as before, albeit with a much calmer demeanor.

“Whenever I...fed before, the energy I gained always lasted awhile. Why isn’t this?” Well, there went my better mood, reminding myself of being fed and all.

“Another question for the ages. For some reason, feeding off of other changelings has drastically less effect than feeding on other sentient creatures. It works well enough for feeding our foals, but the energy barely lasts beyond the feeding in adults. It’s why we infiltrate the other species out there.

“If you can’t feed off each other, then how does a city of changelings work? Wouldn’t they all starve?”

“Well....we have some prisoners that we can feed off of.” I looked at her uncomfortably at this revelation. “Don’t be like that. Every society has prisoners, we’re no exceptions. For example, those ponies who attacked us a month ago are among them. In battle we usually try to avoid killing, though sometimes it is unavoidable or just too impractical. We much prefer to keep our enemies alive so that we can feed off of them. In addition to prisoners, we have love gathering parties spread all over Equestria helping to keep us fed. Love from other creatures can be transferred between changelings if you know what you’re doing.”

“What about changeling criminals? Are they kept prisoner too?” I pushed.

“Well, no. We can’t feed off of them, and we can’t afford to feed them. We try to reintegrate them into society for all but the greatest offences. Those who aren’t are banished, unless it is believed they’d be a greater threat to us if we did so. Executions are very rare.”

“So you send your worst criminals into the open world for other to deal with?” I asked incredulously.

“What would you have us do? We don’t want to kill our own unless absolutely necessary, and we can’t afford to feed them. We can barely feed everypony as is, hunger is rampant here. It’s why the Queen tried to invade Equestria, to try and feed us all.” Dew-Drop countered.

“You’re starving here?”

“We get by." She responded vaguely. I got the sense that she was understating the problem to make me feel better. "I know this place doesn’t sound that great with the hunger and the attacks, and you don’t necessarily like how we do things, but trust me when I say this is the best place for you to be. For every changeling to die in the attacks here, ten die out there. You can be protected from those who hate you and can be with family here.”

I reflected on the feelings I sensed when the doctor had let me catch a glimpse of her actual emotions. It was the most comforting sensation I had felt since coming to Equestria. It far outstripped even my fondest memories involving Pinkie Pie, or kissing Rainbow Dash. Looking back, that one probably would have counted as me forcefully feeding off of her. The realization made me feel sick.

Then I thought back on the life I had left behind when I was forced into this world. I remembered my little brother, David, still living with our parents as he went to college to earn a political science degree. I think he wanted to be a politician or something. And my parents, who were probably worried sick about me by now. Other little things flashed through my mind as I reminisced, such as my computer where I spent most of my free time, my comfy bed, the food in my fridge that I could actually taste thanks to my human taste buds. My hands that I could properly grasp things with no matter how much or little I was thinking about it. Oh god, I missed my hands. I let out a long, sad sigh.

Going to the land of My Little Pony might sound like a dream to a lot of bronies, but I had been thoroughly and utterly disillusioned by my experiences. Early on I may have actually been excited to be here beneath the fears I felt, and maybe even wanted to stay once I could clear up the misunderstandings, but not anymore.

“I just want to go home.” I hung my head as I vocalized my desire.

“I understand.” Dew-Drop nodded at my confession, rubbing my back in a comforting manner much like she had done with that foal earlier. “You know, Queen Chrysalis is one of the most powerful beings in the world. If anypony can help you get back, it would be her.”

I mulled this over momentarily before responding.

“When can I see her?”

______________________

The Hive was massive. Unlike what I had imagined, it wasn’t just a bunch of large labyrinthine corridors carved from stone either, though there were some of those too. There were grand rooms with soaring ceilings, park like areas filled with beautifully carved statues, fountains, and a variety of subterranean plants and fungi, some of which gave off an eerily beautiful glow. My favourite park that we passed was filled with tons different mushrooms of all sorts that glowed in a startling array of colours. We passed by an underground lake where changelings with their foals were swimming and playing, much like any human beach I had ever seen, except underground. Though I had little doubt I would soon miss the sun if I stayed here, I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the hive. It must have taken generations to build.

I know I should have expected it, but there were changelings everywhere going about their daily business. Though I got the general sense that the populace was a little worn down by something, the ones who noticed us were rather pleasant. A few of them had waved, smiled or gave some other cordial greeting to us. Occasionally one would give a knowing smile my way, probably because I still couldn’t hide my emotions over what I was seeing. Some had noticed Dew-Drop’s orange eyes and had approached us asking for medical advice or to set up an appointment for check-ups. The Doctor politely listened to their requests, then equally politely told them that she had urgent business with Queen Chrysalis and urged them to come visit her at her office later that day or the next.

I had been so absorbed in gawking at the beauty of this place that I hadn’t noticed we had reached our destination until Dew-Drop casually used her magic to stop me from walking past a comically large double door that had a pair of stone faced changeling guards flanking either side of it.

“We’re here.” Dew-Drop confirmed as she nodded towards the metal doors which loomed over me and made me feel very small. Once again remembering the things that Chrysalis had done in the show, I began to tremble nervously. “It’s okay, don’t worry. She won't harm you.” She reassured me

I took some deep, steadying breaths as my companion conversed with one of the guards. They were wearing what looked like armour shaped from emerald. It was incredibly fancy and I suspected was more for ceremonial use than it was for combat, and was perhaps used only for the Queen’s personal guards. When one of them noticed me staring at him, he blinked a couple times and then bowed his head politely at me. I decided to try and ignore them and watched the changelings that were passing us.

They didn’t really do much of interest, most of them just walked by. Occasionally some would give me a reassuring smile as they passed, likely sensing my unease. That’s actually starting to get annoying. If I can’t get back home I really need to learn how to block off my emotions from other changelings.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the doors being opened and one of the guards indicating that we should follow him. After taking another calming breath, I did as he indicated. We stepped through the long, corridor that was lined with many more emerald armour clad guards standing as stoically as any of the royal guards from the show. The plush, green carpet beneath us felt amazing on my hooves. We approached the end of this hallway and reached another oversized set of double doors which were promptly opened by the guard escorting us.

The throne room that lay before us was luxurious. The carpeting that had covered the corridor leading up to here covered the entire floor of this room. There were paintings hung on the walls depicting various changelings, most looking similar to Chrysalis, and all wearing the same little crown. Larger than life stone carved statues with glowing gemstones for eyes lined the walls of the room, many of them appearing to be regal depictions of the royalty in the portraits and painted to be as lifelike as possible. At least two of them were of Chrysalis herself. Chandeliers made of glowing crystals hung from the ceiling high above us, lighting everything brightly with their radiance. Between portraits and statues were tapestries, each one depicting some sort of momentous occasion. Coronations, mighty battles, grand victories, and various other feats and accomplishments adorned these fabrics.

The throne sat at the back of the room next to a couple of doors made of metal. The throne itself was made of wood, something I didn’t remember seeing at all anywhere else in the hive. It was large, looking more like a grand sized sofa rather than a royal chair, and it was draped with plush fabrics and pillows of emerald green. It was also accentuated with a variety of gemstones coloured green, red and orange. Beside it stood an official looking changeling with green eyes and a rigid frown. A tickling in the back of my mind said he looked familiar, but I couldn't place my nonexistent finger on it.

I, however, noticed very little of this at first. What caught my eye, and caught my breath in my throat, was a tall, thin changeling queen seated stiffly upon that opulent throne. Her mane and tail were that frustrating shade somewhere between green and blue that I could never fully decide which side it fell on. Her horn was long and jagged, looking almost like it could have been a normal, though oversized, horn that was given its gnarled appearance by being as full of holes as the rest of her extremities. She had dazzlingly appealing green eyes, with actual irises unlike every other changeling I had seen before, and slitted pupils that gave her a sinister appearance. Queen Chrysalis’ stared right at me from her seated position. There was curiosity in her eyes, and a hint of excitement.

I froze in place as the others bowed their heads deeply to their monarch. I shouldn't have come here. This was a bad idea. This was a very bad idea.

“This is Chance, my Queen. She’s the alien from another world.” Dew-Drop offered respectfully.

“I know who she is. Leave us. I wish to speak with her in private.”

The Queen’s gentle smile did little to comfort me as the guards and the green eyed changeling followed her orders. Doctor Dew-Drop put a reassuring hoof on my shoulder before following the guard out of the room. The resounding clunk of the doors closing behind me cut me off from the outside world and left me alone with one of the most dangerous beings in existence. Chrysalis noticeably relaxed as she rose from her throne and stretched casually, causing a couple of loud cracks to come from her back along the way. She sighed contentedly and approached me with a wispy smile.

“What’s your name, my child.”

That was the second time today that a changeling had referred to me as young. I couldn’t help but wonder if my new form really was that child like, or if the Doctor and Queen were just old. I swallowed a lump in my throat and resolved myself to answer her questions honestly as possible. If she really did mean me no harm and could help me, she should know everything. If she was a psychopath on the verge of killing me at the slightest provocation, then I couldn’t afford to piss off an emotion reading monster by lying to her.

“Victor. My name is Victor Mills.” I forced out.

“Tell me, Victor,” she clicked her tongue after saying my name and rubbed the top of my head affectionately with one of her forehooves, "if you are from an alien world, why are you so frightened of me? It’s more than me being royalty, I know that kind of fear and you’re exuding something considerably more potent. I would think a foreigner like yourself wouldn’t know enough to fear me. Is there something you're not telling me?”

“Oh, umm...well....” I stammered.

“Take your time, it’s okay little one. I won't be mad.” She cooed at me.

“I’m human.” I blurted out.

“Yes, the report said as much. Is it the same humans as can be found through that mirror locked away in the Crystal Empire? The ones that are mirrored versions of the inhabitants of this world?”

“You know about the mirror?” I asked mouth agape.

“Of course I do,” Chrysalis chuckled lightly at my surprise, “I have spies everywhere, including in Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle’s report on the human world was a fascinating read. We have yet to send anypony through the mirror due to the limited time frame it remains active, but I do know of it. I ask again, is that where you are from?”

“Well, no. At least I don’t think so. I’m not completely certain.”

“And why is that?” She raised an eyebrow, urging me to continue.

“Well, in my world we have a cartoon, uh, a story-”

“I know what a cartoon is. This world does have film, though it is not widely used.”

I half expected her to be annoyed at me for assuming she didn’t know what a cartoon was, but her tone and expression were gentle and caring, just as they had been for the entirety of our conversation so far.

“Er...right. Anyway, we have a cartoon called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It....well, it shows this world, mostly from the eyes of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They show the mirror world at one point and it looks similar to my world in many ways, but incredibly different in others.” Chrysalis leaned towards me curiously at my revelation.

“And this cartoon is how you know of me? This isn’t just a prank on your part?” Her tone sounded hopeful.

“Yes.” She kept staring at me, her body tense as she waited for further clarification. I took a deep breath and obeyed. “I mean yes to the cartoon part. It showed the wedding between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. In it you abducted Cadance, mind controlled Shining Armor and fed off of him, turned Twilight’s friends against her, abducted Twilight, then you had your armies invade Canterlot. Had you just killed Cadance or Twilight instead of imprisoning them you probably would have won, too.” For a moment, Chrysalis seemed disappointed in my response, but she quickly recovered.

“They were both my prisoners, and we do not kill our prisoners. Besides, if I had killed Cadance there is little doubt that I would not have been able to defeat Celestia.” Chrysalis defended her actions.

I thought it was rather odd that of all the species in the My Little Pony world, it was the changelings that had such a strong stance against killing. Rainbow Dash and Nutcase certainly didn’t seem to have any qualms about potentially killing me.

“You were feeding off of Cadance? They didn’t show that in the show.”

“Of course I was feeding off of her. She is the alicorn of love, a veritable buffet for a changeling. I suspect there’s a lot that your cartoon doesn’t show you.”

“Well, yeah. They don’t show any blood, or swearing, or sex, or even sexual innuendos. It’s kind of tame compared to the real thing.” I listed off several of the things I had seen since coming to this land.

“You make it sound like this cartoon is for foals.”

“Well, actually, it is.” I admitted.

Chrysalis brought a hoof up to her mouth in an effort to hide her laughter, but soon gave up on such a pretense as her mirth grew. I chuckled nervously along with her, not quite sure what I should be doing. Eventually, her fit of giggling petered out and she watched me, her eyes sparkling with merriment.

“Did this foal’s cartoon tell you that we invaded Equestria so that we could feed ourselves?”

“I think so. It was at least heavily implied if it wasn’t stated outright.”

“Then I hope you can see that our attack wasn’t completely unjustified.” I averted my eyes as I contemplated her words. I was having a hard time matching this changeling in front of me with the monster I had seen in the show. She just seemed so gentle and caring. “Anyway, I think by now you’ve seen how ponies react to changelings during your stay here. The invasion is not the start of their mistreatment of us. Let me be the first to properly welcome you to our world. You may be a monster out there, but here you are one of us. I hope you choose to make your home here in the hive.”

To my surprise, I was very tempted by her offer. Everyone here had been so kind to me, from the Queen and Dew-Drop to random changelings that we had passed that day who had given a friendly greeting, or offered looks of support or reassurance when I was nervous. And the aesthetics of the hive, to put it simply, were gorgeous. However, I couldn’t just abandon my life back home. I missed the technology. I missed my little one bedroom apartment. I had family, friends and a job to go back to. Well, maybe not a job seeing how I had disappeared for over a week without any explanation, but I still had friends and family. I turned my eyes to face Chrysalis again.

“I am happy to hear your offer, I truly am, but...I want to go home. There are people I left behind, and I really want to see them again. Doctor Dew-Drop said that you might be able to help me go back.” Chrysalis nodded sadly before responding.

“I understand. I can’t promise that I will be able to get you home to your friends and family, but I can promise to try my best to find a way. In the meantime, I hope you will come to accept me as your family, at least for awhile.”

“Thank you.” Tears of joy were streaming down my face, which Chrysalis gently wiped away with a hoof.

“Now then, since you’re stuck as a changeling until I can get you back, I think it’s time for some lessons on how to be one. First lesson: proper feeding.”

_______________________

Chrysalis had taken me through the hive and to the dungeons below, descending considerably deeper into the ground than I had been before. Many changelings were present here, both guards in more normal looking metallic armour keeping the place safe and ordinary citizens dropping by to get their daily ration of love. I thought uncomfortably on how that was the reason I was here too. It felt wrong to exploit people like this, and I had voiced my objections to Chrysalis, but she just gave a knowing smile.

I had thought that I had been feeding off of love just fine up to this point, but apparently what I was doing was only passive feeding. What Chrysalis wanted to teach me was active feeding, using my magic to draw out the love from within a sentient creature much like what she had done to Shining Armor and Cadance before. It was apparently something that mothers taught their foals at a young age. Given that I had no mother of my own, she took it upon herself to take on that role.

Passive feeding was enough to survive on, but active feeding was much more efficient and would allow for frequent use of magic beyond simply transforming. There was a definite downside, though. The ones you feed from would be physically and emotionally drained. If you fed without restraint, the person you were feeding on could become what is known as a ‘shell’, at which point they’d be an emotionless husk in a very permanent sort of way and rendered useless for future feeding. Chrysalis assured me that it would require an intentional, extended effort to reach such a stage and that I wasn’t about to accidentally turn some poor pony into a vegetable. If the general assurances weren't enough for me, the guards here kept a very close eye on their prisoners and ensured they weren't overdrawn by those feeding off them.

“So, do you understand the process, little one?” Chrysalis asked me after demonstrating on some poor blue pony stallion kept wrapped up in a cocoon like the ones seen in the episodes starring the changelings. I had just watched her pull out a large amount of glowing, green, energy from him and inhale it. The stallion didn’t look so good. I didn’t feel so good.

“I think so. Do I really need to do this?” I asked uneasily. Chrysalis rolled her eyes at me.

“Remind me to teach you how to shield your emotions later, you are too easy to read like this. Do not feel pity for him, he and his friends attacked us not too long ago, killing some of our guards and several innocents.” She explained.

“Do I have to do it to him? He looks ready to collapse. I really don’t want to be responsible for destroying somebody’s mind.” I pointed to the whimpering pony in the cocoon in the hopes of emphasizing my point.

“Hmph. He’s fine. He is not the one you will feed on, though. I had a different pony in mind for you. I think you’ll find it to be quite the treat.” She smiled warmly and indicated that I should follow her as she left the cell, so I stepped along behind her.

As we went along, she asked me questions about my home, saying that the more she knows the easier it will be for her to find a way back and the less likely that she’ll transport me to the wrong world. She seemed eager to get to know me as much as possible. While she did question me on general things such as the political structures of my world, nations, trade and the like, but she gave special focus to personal questions such as my friends and family, dreams and ambitions, and any romantic relationships I had in the past. She seemed rather distressed by the answer to that last question, almost seeming angry. A smile came to my face as I momentarily entertained the thought of Chrysalis showing up at my ex's door. As the conversation continued, she was intrigued to discover that my world had no true magic, at least none that I knew of, and that humans were the only intelligent species.

I answered her questions as best I could, but I found myself distracted by the emotions of the prisoners permeating the place. Now that I knew exactly what such feelings of sorrow and anger were and why I could sense them, it was easier to not let them affect me. Not easy, mind you, just easier. I was still rather uncomfortable in the place. As I looked into the face of another guard standing at attention, I wondered how they could stand to be exposed to the prisoners’ pain all the time.

As we moved further into the dungeons, I began to pick out a different sensation in the mix of emotions. It grew stronger as we continued until eventually it was overpowering the despair of the place. It was love. I’m not sure how I could tell, but it was definitely love. I slowed to a stop at a heavily guarded door and stared at it, curiosity and desire overcoming my discomfort. What would love be doing in a dungeon? Why do I care about the reasons? Forget about that, I wanted that love for myself. Part of my mind suspected that this is what a moth felt like when faced with a flame. The rest of my brain dismissed moths and flames as being unimportant, all that mattered was the love. I failed to even notice that Queen Chrysalis had come back and was standing beside me until she cleared her throat to get my attention.

“That door leads to a special wing of the dungeon where important prisoners are kept. As enticing as it may be, that is not our destination. Come along.” She gave a gentle, understanding smile and pulled me away with a leg draped over my shoulders. I gradually came back to my senses as the intense emotion began to fade. I was filled with embarrassment when I realized that I had let the residual emotions of the area control me again. Chrysalis chuckled at my new emotional output, which only exacerbated the sense of shame.

“Here we are.”

Chrysalis announced as we stopped in front of a door. A guard opened it with his magic and Chrysalis stepped inside. I sighed and followed after her. I didn’t want to do this, but I doubted she would let me get away with declining. She was standing in front of the prisoner with an exaggerated grin on her face.

“Normally we keep our prisoners encased in a magic dampening cocoon, but given the circumstances I thought you would appreciate something a little different. Allow me to present to you: your dinner.”

Chrysalis gave an embellished bow to me that seemed very out of place for royalty, especially royalty as scary as her, and stepped to the side to reveal my ‘dinner’.

A battered unicorn lay chained before me. Creamy orange fur, greenish yellow eyes, brownish orange mane and a box filled with almonds for a cutie mark.

Recognition was instantaneous for both parties. Fear reflected in the mare’s eyes, rage burned in mine.

“Nutcase!” I spat out with bared fangs.

“Please don’t hurt me.”

Tears flowed down Nutcase’s face. How many times had I begged and pleaded with those exact same words only to have her ignore them? The magical inhibitor stood out on her horn and for a moment I saw myself in her place. I would be just as bad as her if I stooped to getting revenge. She'd become another victim in the endless cycle of violence. A good person would not do this. I had always thought of myself as a good person.

Queen Chrysalis smiled proudly as I descended upon my victim.

Heart in the Hive

I shuddered with pleasure as I absorbed the bright green love from Nutcase. I felt energized. I felt powerful. I felt like I could move mountains with all the love I had been siphoning from this abusive mare. It was a very addictive sensation, and I had to remind myself that this was about revenge and I wouldn’t feed from anybody else for however long I was here. In the high from the swirling eddies of power I was frequently absorbing it was easy to forget my resolve and genuinely consider feeding on anything I could get my holed hooves on.

Chrysalis had given me exclusive feeding rights to Nutcase. It was certainly odd to give me access to what amounted to a feast everyday when much of the hive was going hungry, but I wasn’t going to complain. Not even Pupa or Drymanid were being allowed to feed off of her, even though they were both her victims as much as I. When I had offered Dryma a chance to feed on her as well he just said it wasn’t his place to take my food. I would have offered to Pupa, but he’s a dick and can get stuffed. In the last three days I had fed from Nutcase as often as they would allow. The guards made sure that I didn’t render her useless as a shell, but anything before that point was fair game for me. She looked as bad as I felt good, and she deserved everything that she got.

I knew I should feel ashamed of myself for what I was doing. Everything I had grown up believing in told me that I was wrong to extract my vengeance on her, that this wasn’t anything remotely related to justice. The thing is, I couldn’t bring myself to feel any shame for hurting Nutcase like this. The best I could do was to feel a sense of guilt over not feeling guilt. It was like I had lost a piece of myself that I had always believed to be a core part of my being, with the dawning realization that maybe it never existed to begin with. But even that unease was washed away in the euphoria of feeding.

If there was anything that I felt guilty for, it was the excessive amount of feeding I was taking part in these last three days that could have gone to other changelings. Passive feeding would require a daily dosage of ambient love, but the alternative was much more efficient. With active feeding, I should only need to feed once every three or four days, unless I was using up large quantities of magic, and yet I was draining Nutcase on average twice a day.

I smiled to the guard, a now familiar face thanks to my frequent feeding sessions, as I began my trek to leave the dungeons. Walking through the relatively dim corridors, I chose to conjure up a couple of balls of magical light through the air for the sake of lighting my way and for practice.

With all the excess energy I had been taking in, I had taken to learning how to control my magic from a teacher that Chrysalis had assigned to me named Jade Flare. His name seemed to reflect his skill with the naturally green changeling magic, and his equally green eyes. He had been the green eyed changeling that was standing next to Chyrsalis’ throne when I met her. He was her most trusted advisor and confidant and he was proving to be an adept teacher, even if he was rather cold towards me.

I had learned how to levitate things, produce simple balls of light like I was doing now, shield my own emotions from other emotion readers, and even how to change the colour of my magical energy field for improved disguises. Next up was teaching me to wipe the memories of those I feed from of the feeding process, a necessary tool for those sent out into the world to collect love for the hive.

According to Jade Flare, changeling magic is such a distinctive shade of green as a result of love itself. In its pure, magical form, love is that very same colour. The ability to change the colour of my magical aura was a recently invented spell that had swiftly become considered a necessity for all changelings to learn if they had any intentions to go outside of the hive. The majority of the other spells I had learned so far had been simple ones that most young foals knew how to do, but I was delighted by every feat of magic I accomplished. The excitement I felt was almost enough to make me want to stay in this world, but not quite.

When I asked him why I hadn’t been able to turn myself into a human before, he explained to me how the more different a creature is from our original form the harder it is to transform oneself into it. Angel turning into a little bunny rabbit, for example, is a lot harder than turning into a pony. Humans as bipedal creatures instead of quadrupeds like changelings would be just as difficult as a rabbit, if not harder. He assured me that with practice I could do it almost as easily as I could a pony. He even demonstrated by turning himself into a human, or at least a twisted image of one. Having only my lacklustre descriptions to go on, his form looked very...wrong and creepy. He looked like some sort of freakish, lanky monstrosity in that disguise, the kind of which would haunt my dreams.

The Queen herself hadn’t spent nearly as much time with me after that first day. She had a hive to run after all, not to mention she had to spend time searching for a way to send me home. I still saw her once a day and she assured me she was making progress, but it was slow going. Our conversations gave me the impression that she would much rather not find a way to send me away. I wouldn’t be surprised if she actually knew how to send me home already and was just keeping me around a little longer in the hopes that I would change my mind.

I had been staying in Doctor Dew-Drop’s medical centre along with Drymanid and Pupa. While Nutcase had kept us alive, she had certainly not been taking good care of us, so we were being kept under medical surveillance for a bit longer. I was getting even more attention than the other two were since they wanted to be sure that the transferral of my consciousness into this body wasn’t causing any extra adverse effects. So far, so good though, I seemed to be no worse off than my two companions from hell.

I stepped inside the medical centre to check in with Dew-Drop. She was acting as my guardian of a sort. I had been told I should see her frequently for health checks and to confirm that I hadn’t done something stupid to get myself in some kind of trouble. That and she was practically my new landlord since I was living in her workplace.

“Had a nice meal, did you?” Dew-Drop looked up from examining Pupa as she heard the clopping of my approaching hooves.

“Yup.” I confirmed cheerfully as I moved my magical lights around in a figure eight pattern. Pupa glared at me through narrowed eyes.

“Could you turn those off, they’re hurting my eyes.” Pupa complained.

“Sorry.”

I sheepishly extinguished my magic as I apologized. Pupa muttered something that could have been either appreciation or some minor insult. Maybe both. Pupa still didn’t seem to like me much. He seemed to accept me as a changeling now and wasn’t accusing me of being an impostor anymore, at least not out loud, but he still wasn’t exactly nice. He mostly tolerated me at least, and that was much better than the open hostility he had been giving me when we were prisoners. Perhaps it was just the stress of the situation that had caused him to act in such a way before.

“Soooo....I was thinking about how I haven’t seen the sun since I was in Ponyville and was kind of wondering if I could see outside of the hive.” I promptly revealed the main reason I had returned so quickly to the medical centre after feeding, aside from the mandatory checking in with Dew-Drop.

“I don’t see why not. Have fun.” Dew-Drop absently responded as she continued examining Pupa. I scrunched up my face at how she seemed to miss what I considered to be obvious.

“Umm....I kind of don’t know how to get out of the hive.” I explained.

“Oh.” It would have been amusing to see the realization dawning on her face had it not been so annoying that I had to ask for help getting around. “Right, I forgot. Well, I can’t show you, I have a job to do, but if you’re willing to wait a few minutes, I’m sure Pupa here could-“

“No.” Pupa interrupted her suggestion. Dew-Drop raised an eyebrow at his refusal.

“Why not?” She inquired.

“I’m just not going anywhere with her.” Dew-Drop narrowed her eyes at his lack of explanation, stopping her examination to cross her forelegs over her chest. Pupa glanced at me uncomfortably before continuing. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

“I’ll show her.” Three heads swiveled towards the new voice. Dryma had come out of his room and was approaching us. I was glad to be able to recognize him, I was getting better at telling the differences between changelings. “I’ve got nothing better to do, anyway.”

Drymanid, unlike Pupa, had been very kind to me in all of this. He spent much of his time watching over me, acting both friendly and protective. On occasions when random changelings seemed to recognize me as my body’s previous owner and tried to get too close for my comfort he kept them at a distance. While I appreciated it, I had to ask him why he was doing that. All he said is that he was a guard before all this mess occurred so it just seemed natural that he should guard me.

“Well at least somepony has a bit of common decency. Thank you, Dryma.” Dew-Drop looked coldly at Pupa as she said this, who sagged a bit under her gaze.

“Don’t be too hard on him, he has his reasons. Come along, Chance.” Dryma defended his friend and then walked out of the centre. I followed after him, mildly annoyed.

“You know my name is Victor, why do you keep calling me Chance?” I asked him as he led me through the hive. Dryma looked back at me with a playful smirk before turning back to watch where he was going.

“You don’t seem much like a Victor in anything. Now if you’d called yourself Loser, or Failure, then maybe.”

“Hey!” I protested. Dryma chuckled.

“I’m just kidding. Those names would probably fit me and Pupa just as well as you. Anyway, Chance is....well, it’s how I was introduced to you. That and it seems like a cruel twist of chance that took Visage from us and brought you here, so it just seems to fit. Do you really dislike it?

“Well....no. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just it’s not really my name.” I pouted.

“Well then, Chancey, if you like the name, then I don’t see what the problem is.” He exclaimed jovially.

For a guy who had been kept captive and experimented on for over a year, he seemed a very happy person. Maybe it was just his coping mechanism. Or maybe he really was just happy to be out and able to move on with his life.

“I’m not a pokemon.” I complained at him using the nickname ‘Chancey’.

“What’s a pokemon?”

“Uh...never mind. It’s not important.”

His using of that little pet name reminded me of more than a fun little game franchise, it also caused me to think about a certain pony who had called me that. Almost immediately after meeting me, Pinkie Pie had taken to referring to me with that variation on my given pseudonym. Of all the ponies who abandoned me to Nutcase, she was the only one to listen when I said I didn’t want to be left with her. She went so far as to try to take me out of that place singlehandedly. Singlehoofedly? Anyway, she even tried to visit me every day afterwards. I wondered how Pinkie was doing right now.

“Why would you be wondering about Pinkie Pie?” Dryma had stopped walking and was looking back at me with confusion in his blue eyes.

“Did I say that out loud?”

Dryma confirmed that I had with a nod. I really needed to stop doing that. At least this wasn’t as bad as when I called Applejack soft and warm. That was embarrassing. She was as awkward about that as Rainbow Dash was about me kissing her. Drymanid burst out laughing. Realizing that I had probably just spoken my thoughts aloud again, I felt my face flush.

“Oh come on!” I shouted as Dryma gained some control over his laughter.

“Sooooo.....you like the mares, do you?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, much to my embarrassment.

“Just shut up and get moving.” I retorted. He did as I commanded, but he dropped his emotional shield just so that I could feel his amusement at my expense. I didn’t need words to understand that. I would have dropped my own and beamed to his brain the extent of my annoyance, but I knew well enough that he’d mostly feel my embarrassment and that would only make the situation worse.

“I’m just teasing you. I am kind of curious, though.....has your transformation into one of us changed your preferences at all? Do you like stallions now?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it....” I mumbled through my embarrassment.

I hadn’t noticed at first when I came to this world since I hadn’t seen many stallions and was rather preoccupied with not being killed most of the time, but since coming to the hive and getting the hang of telling the differences between the sexes of changelings, I discovered I had been having rather uncomfortable thoughts about both of them. His radiation of joy and amusement increased further at my refusal to answer.

“Seriously though, why do you care about Pinkie Pie?” He pressed after bringing his emotional shield back up.

“She was that pink friend of mine that Nutcase was talking about. She was the first pony to treat me with kindness, and the only one to do so after they found out I was a changeling. Well, except maybe Fluttershy. And Luna.”

I added that last name rather quietly. Looking back on it, there was actually more ponies that were kind to me than I had realized.

“Huh. Hard to imagine her being kind to changelings. All I hear about her here is how she kind of tore a lot of us to pieces during the invasion of Canterlot. All the elements did.” Dryma exposited.

I didn’t much like being reminded that my companions in captivity had been soldiers that had tried to enslave ponykind and had only been captured because they were knocked into the Everfree by the Cadance-Shining love bomb. I supposed that the previous occupant of my body had been a soldier too. Thinking about the three of us, I couldn’t help but feel curious about something that Dryma had said before we left.

“You said that Pupa has reasons for not liking me. What are they?” I asked hopefully. Dryma tensed up at my words.

“I don’t know if it’s my place to say.” He deflected.

“Please, I just want to get along with him. Was it something I did?” Dryma sighed at my insistence.

“I suppose you deserve to know.” He hesitated long enough to make me wonder if he was actually going to continue. “Pupa and Visage were a couple. Your...er...Visage’s mother didn’t exactly approve, but Visage was adamant about it.”

“Oh.”

My heart sank. No wonder he was pissed at me. I had stolen the body of the mare he loved. My very presence was a constant, painful reminder of what he had lost. The fact that he mentioned my body’s mother wasn’t lost on me, either. I decided I would search for that mother later. She deserved to know what happened to her daughter, even if it would be really painful hearing it from one who is controlling her loved one’s body. Awkward silence filled the next several seconds.

“Hey look! The exit is just over there! We’re almost outside, isn’t that great? You can finally see the sun again!” His cheer sounded a little more forced than normal, but I appreciated his attempt to brighten the mood, so I forced a smile onto my face too.

“Yeah, it is.” I nodded, seeing sunlight streaming through an entryway several metres away into the empty tunnel. Hopefully the warmth of the sun on my flesh that I yearned for could cheer me up again. We both hurried our pace so to reach the door sooner.

“So you find Fluttershy kind, you kissed Rainbow Dash, got close enough to Applejack to learn how soft and warm she is, and you obviously have a thing for Pinkie Pie. I think maybe you want to see them again. Maybe get the chance to get closer, if you catch my meaning.” Dryma returned to teasing me as he stepped through the open doorway into the outside world.

“Ugh, god no.”

I quickly followed after him, noticing that we were the only ones out there. I considered it a shame that no other changelings were here to enjoy the beautiful day, so many of them had always been such killjoys what with staying in the dim hive all the time.

The entrance appeared to be in the side of a cliff with a mound of earth leading up to it. The land below us was sandy with outcroppings of rock and a few scraggly, dried out plants scattered here and there.

“Maybe it’d be fine if I could see Pinkie alone, but the last thing I want is Rainbow Dash trying to kill me again.”

“HIIIIIYAAAA!”

Almost immediately after I finished speaking, a rainbow blur dive bombed Dyrmanid. Both he and the blur went rolling violently down the gentle slope leading away from the hive’s entrance.

“Dryma!”

I rushed after them and leapt at Rainbow Dash, who was now pinning Dryma to the ground and looked ready to kill him. Before I could reach the violent mare, I found myself suspended in a familiar pink magical energy field. I looked around and found Twilight and the rest of her friends were also nearby. How had I not noticed their emotional signatures before now? Perhaps it was easy to miss it while distracted by other things. I could definitely notice now, though, and Rainbow Dash's hostility was very alarming.

“Please, don’t hurt him!” I begged Dash. Dryma had been through far too much, he deserved better than to be pummeled into the dirt and sand by her. Dash looked away from her prey to gaze at me with slight confusion.

“You sound familiar.” She stated accusingly.

“Rainbow Dash! I told you to wait for the signal! Why doesn’t anypony listen to my plans?” Twilight complained.

“Psh! You were taking too long! And what does it matter? It worked out.” Rainbow Dash dismissed her concerns.

“You were almost hit by the other one, if I hadn’t stopped him....” Twilight scolded. I noticed she was still unable to tell the differences between male and female changelings at a glance.

“But you did, I don’t see the problem.” She turned her attention back to Dryma, who was trembling beneath her.

“Chancey? Is that you?” Pinkie trotted up to me and stared at me with astonished relief.

“H...hello Pinkie.” I stuttered. I grunted in surprise as I was tackled out of Twilight’s magic by a very pink hug.

“Chance? I thought I knew your voice! Where’s Nutcase?!” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“Why? So you can save her? Haven’t you ponies done enough to us already?! Please, just leave us alone!” Dryma pleaded with them, still shaking. Rainbow Dash looked back to the changeling she had pinned.

“What are you talking about? I’m gonna kick her ass!” Rainbow continued.

“What?” I asked, confusion etched upon my face.

“We found her notes in her underground laboratory. We...know what she did to you.” Twilight explained somberly, “I am so sorry for giving you over to that monster.”

Twilight’s ears flattened against her skull as she averted her eyes out of shame, Fluttershy paled at the memory of their discovery, while Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement as she held me tighter.

“We would never have let her have you had we known.” Rarity chimed in

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said you were a human. I know that I messed up, but if you give me a chance to rectify the situation, we could arrange to have you live in Ponyville.” Twilight offered eagerly. “It might take awhile for the town to warm to you, but I’m sure they would eventually if I explained the situation to them.”

“Yeah, and you won’t have to be surrounded by these stupid changelings, either!” Rainbow Dash added boisterously.

“It was the changelings that saved me, Dash, they’re not all bad. Certainly better than most ponies I know. Queen Chrysalis has even promised to help me find a way home.”

“Wait, you’re in league with the changeling queen?!” Dash blurted out. “And to think I thought you might be a good changeling!”

“If all you’re here to do is cause trouble for us, then I’d appreciate it if you left.” I retorted with narrowed eyes.

“We can’t go home now. This is a rescue mission.” Twilight adamantly refused.

“You’re going to attack the Hive because you want to save Nutcase? Are you out of your mind?!” I shouted in disbelief.

“You mean Nutcase really is still alive? And she’s here?” Twilight asked. I averted my gaze and bit my lip. I had no intention of letting Nutcase get free.

“Chance?” Pinkie asked, separating from me with a furrowed brow.

“Please, Chance, she needs to answer for her crimes in a court of law. We can make sure she doesn’t hurt anypony again if you just trust us.” Twilight tried to reason with me.

“Just like you trusted me?” I spit out venomously, causing Pinkie Pie to wilt a little. “She’s getting what she deserves right here, and I’d sooner kill her myself than risk you guys setting her free.” A few gasps were had at my harsh words. Pinkie stared at me with horror, though the look on Rainbow’s face said she agreed with me. I began to fidget nervously beneath their accusing gazes. Had I truly meant what I said? Could I possibly kill her?

“We’re sorry for what we did to you, we really are, but we’re not here to save Nutcase.” Twilight said.

“Then who are you here to rescue?” Drymanid asked.

“Twilight’s brother, Prince Shining Armor, and his wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, were abducted by your queen nearly two weeks ago.” Rarity answered on Twilight’s behalf.

I was completely floored by this. I remembered nothing about Cadance or Shining Armor being abducted in the show in season four. Hell, I didn’t remember anything about changelings at all after they were introduced in the season two finale. I almost refused to believe it, but couldn’t help but notice a nagging feeling telling me that this isn’t really the show that I had known back when I was a human.

“Are you sure it was Chrysalis?” I asked, trying my best to keep a neutral expression.

“Yeah, we’re pretty sure. That snake sent a message to Celestia tauntin’ her about doin it.” Applejack assured me irritably.

Oh, Chrysalis. Right as I started thinking you weren’t stupid for not getting rid of Cadance during the invasion, you go and tell the only ones who could stop you what you’ve done. I found myself in a very unfortunate position. Betray my morals by refusing to help the royal couple in their time of need, or betray the one who had been so kind to me and was trying to get me home. What kind of choice was that? Never be able to forgive myself and go home, or stay trapped in a world that hated me but have a clear conscience? I hung my head, resigning myself to my choice.

“Is your offer of letting me live in Ponyville still available?” I asked.

“I...well, yes. Why?” Twilight asked in turn.

“Because...I’m going to help you.” All the ponies and one changeling stared at me in surprise.

“Why would ya be willing to help us now? Ya didn’t seem too keen on helpin’ us before.” Applejack was the first to talk.

“Because Cadance and Shining Armor aren’t Nutcase. They don’t deserve to be kept here.”

“And why would we want your help? How do we know you won’t just betray us to that queen of yours?” Rainbow Dash challenged. “I say we tie you up like all the other changelings we found and go in alone.”

“You’ve come all this way and your plan is just to attack the entire hive until you find them?”

“Perish the thought! It’d be suicide to attack the entirety of the changeling army with just the six of us!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Then what are you going to do?” I asked.

A flash of light blinded me momentarily. Standing where Twilight had moments before was what appeared to be a changeling.

“While Princess Celestia's scouts had searched for the changelings this last week, I’ve spent it practicing illusion spells in order to disguise ourselves as changelings.” Twilight explained in a mediocre imitation of a changeling’s voice. A hint of pride had sneaked into her tone, while a large heaping of pride was in her emotions.

“Did you actually transform yourself into a changeling?” I asked after I managed to pick my jaw up off the floor.

“It’s just an illusion. Anypony that touched me could tell I’m not actually a changeling, but if we’re careful, I think we could still fool them.”

“Seriously? Even if you somehow managed to fool them for awhile, do you honestly think you could search the entire city to find your brother before they’d see through your disguise?”

“I think you’re underestimating my abilities.” Twilight huffed, sticking her nose in the air haughtily.

“You’re feeling pride, indignation, and worry right now.”

“What?” She blinked.

“And now you’re feeling confused, and slightly nervous in addition to what you felt before. Changelings can read your emotions. The moment you step in there, you’re nervousness and maybe even your fear is going to skyrocket. Every changeling near you is going to be able to tell that something is wrong with you, and it won’t be long before you draw the attention of the guards because of it.”

“Oh.” Twilight stated simply, a flash of embarrassment entering her emotional array.

“Psh! Like that matters, once they find us we’ll just fight our way through!” Rainbow Dash boasted.

“You’re back up plan is to attack the entire hive?” I blurted out in disbelief.

“Yeah, what’s your point?” Dash glared at me.

“There are innocents in there. There are mothers, fathers, and children, countless changelings who haven’t harmed anypony that just want to make a living for themselves in peace. If you run amok in there, they could get hurt.”

“Oh dear, it wouldn’t be very nice if innocents got hurt because of us. Maybe we should accept her help.” Flutterhsy commented uncomfortably.

“I agree, I trust Chancey, even if he is being all scary about Nutcase.” Pinkie chimed in.

“Ah dunno, Dash may be right. She could just lead us straight into a trap if we trust her. It’s too big a risk.” Applejack made her opinion know.

“I know where they’re keeping Cadance and Shining. I can lead you straight to them.”

At least I was pretty sure I knew where they were. What else other than a potential goddess of love would radiate love like that in the dungeons? I hadn’t realized it at the time, but that was before I knew that she was being held captive in the hive somewhere.

“Okay, let’s say for a moment that we actually trust you not to betray us. What could you do to minimize casualties? According to you, we’re still going to be discovered when we go in there.” Twilight asked.

I thought for a moment on the problem. They were right. I couldn’t really sneak them into the Hive without being caught. I momentarily considered pretending they were my prisoners. It would allow me to bring them straight to the dungeons no questions asked, except for one rather important one. How did this one little changeling capture six of the most dangerous mares in Equestria alone? Well, five of the most dangerous mares and Fluttershy. Nobody would believe it. Being captured by them would be far more believable, but I doubted that a single hostage would stop the guards from trying to stop them from getting deeper into the hive.

I stared at the mares surrounding me one at a time, eventually landing on Twilight Sparkle.

“I think I have an idea.”

________________________

I walked past another pair of guards as I finally entered the dungeons, alone. I tried my best to appear as casual as possible so to hide my nervousness. I am so glad I learned how to shield my emotions or I have little doubt that I would have been stopped immediately for questioning. As things stood, it appeared that these guys didn’t think anything of my visit and I was able to get inside unhindered.

The plan was for Twilight to cast a locator spell that would last a few hours on me so that she could tell my exact location at all times. Using this information she could cast a teleportation spell to arrive next to me at any time of her choosing. Given my lack of magical talent, I was unable to signal her when the time was right to teleport in, so she would give me one hour to get into position and teleport in with Applejack and Pinkie Pie. The four of us would force our way into Cadance and Shining’s cell and we would teleport out and in so doing, we'd minimize casualties. Only three would teleport in so to avoid overtaxing Twilight since having to teleport all six of them, myself plus two potentially injured ponies would be difficult if she needs to do anything else with her magic between the teleports.

Two of the mane six didn’t like my plan and wanted to simply tie me up and invade the Hive, two supported me with varying degrees of enthusiasm, one was unsure, and the last was left trying to mediate between the two sides. I’ll let you guess which ones fell into each category.

Eventually it was decided that we would go with my plan, but they would keep Dryma and the unconscious guards they had taken out before we arrived outside as hostages to ensure my cooperation. If that wasn’t enough, if we weren’t out within two hours, then the three left behind would go and get a proper army to take the ponies back. Needless to say, I wanted to avoid that if at all possible.

I walked straight past the ever alluring pull of Cadance’s love and headed for Nutcase’s cell. Just teleporting into that corridor where so many guards were didn’t seem a good idea to me. They could be taken down by the guards before they could even get their bearings and then we’d have an army on our doorstep.

“You’re here again? I don’t think you should be feeding off of her so soon after the last time, she needs to recover first or she’ll become shelled.” The guard outside the door leading to Nutcase’s cell warned.

“I’m not here to feed, I want something else from her.” I vaguely explained. The guard merely raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Like what?” He pressed. I thought quickly about how to get this guy to let me in and came up with an idea. I didn’t like what I was going to say, but I needed to get in there alone.

“You know what she did to me? “ I waited until he nodded. “I want to return the favour and show her just what it’s like.” The guard’s face twisted with disgust at what I had implied.

“I think that’s going too far, the Queen wouldn’t-“

“The Queen gave her to me to do whatever I want to so long as I don’t kill her or turn her into a shell. Trust me, she’ll live through this.”

“But—“ The guard fidgeted nervously.

“Do you want to be the changeling that tells Queen Chrysalis that he didn’t want to follow her orders because he was too uncomfortable?” I interrupted him again. He sighed after a moment of chewing over what I had just threatened him with and unlocked the door for me.

“That’s better. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like a little bit of privacy for this.” The guard nodded at my request. He looked like he was going to be sick.

As I walked into the cell, a pang of guilt entered my chest. I realized that not only was I making that guard believe he was letting me do something to his prisoner that went so strongly against his morals, but that he would probably be the first to get hurt by the mares that I was letting into the place. I felt almost as sick as the guard looked as the door closed behind me.

Nutcase stared up at me wearily, not saying a word. I wasn’t sure how much time there was left before Twilight would teleport in, but I could tell that her staring would make for a very uncomfortable wait. I sat down and stared back at those eyes, trying to let my anger shield me from any guilt I felt. I had thought I felt no guilt over my actions, but after seeing the way that Pinkie had reacted to my rage, I was being faced with the prospect that I may have just been in denial. As the minutes passed, I felt increasingly anxious at her accusing glare and was soon fidgeting nervously. Rage and shame roiled within me in near equal measures. I couldn’t take the silence anymore. I engulfed myself in the flames of transformation and took on the familiar form of Musty Tome.

“This is what you wanted, right?” Nutcase remained silent. “You wanted to live a little fantasy where your husband was still alive, right? To spend a day talking with him again, to hear his voice and know that you’re not alone anymore? To have him fuck your brains out one more time? You couldn’t just let go and move on, like any sane person would do?!”

Nutcase refused to say anything, her mouth in the form of tight lipped silence. She ruined my life, and for what?

“The changelings here are desperate for food. It’s why they invaded Equestria. Had you just brought back your three prisoners to the Hive you probably could have had any number of them clamoring to let you delude yourself into thinking your husband was back with them so long as you let them feed from you every now and then. Instead, you keep them locked up as your prisoners and rape them. You killed one of them with your twisted fantasy! You brought ME here! I could have been at home in my bed right now, or spending time with my family!”

Nutcase looked past me for a moment then she returned her gaze to me. I saw no guilt. “What is this supposed to be? A trial in front of the Princess? I didn’t think changelings cared much what ponies thought.”

My eyes widened and I flipped around to see three ponies acting as audience to my venting tirade. Pinkie looked like she was about to cry or leap at me in a bone crushing hug, maybe both. Twilight and AJ looked very uncomfortable.

“How much of that did you hear?”

“Enough.” Applejack simply stated.

I sat down and sighed, closing my eyes. I thought that I would be crying at this moment, but I wasn’t. Pinkie finally overcame whatever it was that had been stopping her and rushed to my side to give me a great big hug, rubbing my back with a hoof. It was odd how gentle a hard hoof could be.

“We should take her back to Canterlot and have her tried for her crimes.” Twilight broke the pity party with her declaration.

I wanted to argue, to tell her that she should stay here where her presence could actually help those she had harmed, where I could....get my revenge. I couldn’t. I had already known that this was truly about revenge, but I felt that my anger was beginning to subside now. Don’t get me wrong, I still wanted to pummel that mare into the dirt, or turn her into a shell, just less so than before. Given my assistance towards these ponies, I doubted I would get much opportunity to torment her from now on if she stayed anyway.

I lifted Pinkie off of me with my telekinesis and set her down a couple metres away. I had never lifted anything as big as a pony before, but it was surprisingly not that difficult. Maybe Pinkie’s affection that I was passively absorbing helped. Or maybe absorbing several times the love I needed from Nutcase did it. I looked at Twilight and resolved to get down to business.

“The door leading to where they’re keeping Cadance is the fifth one on the right turning right outside this cell. There are at least half a dozen guards nearby.”

“We can deal with them.” Twilight nonchalantly responded, causing me to wince.

“No.”

“I beg yer pardon?” Applejack raised an eyebrow at my objection.

“I don’t want you hurting them if at all possible.”

“I suppose I could try casting sleep spells, but it doesn’t seem very practical for dealing with a contingent of armed guards.”

I shook my head. “It wouldn’t work, anyway. The soldiers of the hive have been trained to resist spells meant to influence their mental state.”

“Then what would you suggest?” Twilight huffed.

I looked to the door, and then back to the three mares, thinking. The moment they stepped out of that door they would be seen and attacked. Any one of them would be chased to ends of the Earth, or whatever the planet Equestria is part of was called. I studied Twilight a little more closely. Any single one of them.

“What are you doing?!” A shocked Twilight demanded as green flame engulfed me and left behind a perfect mirror of the purple alicorn.

“The moment one of you steps out here, you’re going to be seen and the guards will undoubtedly give chase. So, I’m going to give them one of you to chase.” My voice came out a steady, and dare I say good, imitation of Twilight. Pinkie gasped at my plan.

“But if you do that you’ll be caught and won’t be able to come with us!” Pinkie protested. Nutcase looked ready to gag at Pinkie’s desire to take me with them, but remained silent.

“Pinkie’s right. If you do this, your Queen will be livid with you and we won’t be able to save you. You don’t have to do this.” Twilight added.

“If I don’t, you’ll hurt the changelings out there. I want to avoid as much of their pain as possible.”

“I doubt every guard will give chase, they won’t leave the entire dungeons defenseless because one mare goes running by.” Twilight pointed out.

“If I can save even one from you, it’ll be worth it.” I argued, a hard edge entering my voice.

“Please don’t go! You were supposed to come back with us! I haven’t even thrown you a party yet!”

I gave Pinkie a sorrowful look. “I have to do this. Please tell Dash that I’m sorry about kissing her.”

I opened the door, indicating to the others that they should be quiet. I lowered my emotional shielding so that my nervousness would catch the attention of nearby changelings and cautiously stepped out the door.

“Ugh....now where did that teleportation spell land me this time.” I muttered just loudly enough to ensure that the guard outside the door would hear me.

I looked around, as if searching an unfamiliar location, and swiftly landed my gaze on the changeling I had tricked earlier and hoped to trick again. His eyes went wide in shock and his mouth fell open as recognition settled in, I mirrored his expression in an effort to feign surprise.

“Oh crap!”

I blasted a harmless ball of light into his face to temporarily disorient him and bolted, though not so quickly as to get out of his sight. I blew past some confused guards and came to a stop in front of the entrance to the special wing of the dungeon. The two changelings guarding this door were quicker to act than their counterparts earlier, wasting no time in approaching me in combat stances.

“I don’t suppose we could talk about this?”

I forced a nervous chuckle while darting my eyes from those two to the others I had left behind moments ago. Seeing that all the ones I had rushed past earlier were following me, I blasted the newest additions to the chase with another ball of light and ran again.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! This was a terrible idea! I mentally screamed at myself as I skidded my way out of the dungeons with several angry guards almost literally on my tail.

How I had managed to make it this far I didn’t know. The guards must have been extra cautious with me because they knew just how dangerous Twilight was. This had the upside of causing most of the guards I ran across to chase after me. It also had the downside of causing most of the guards I ran across to chase after me.

A quick surveillance of my surroundings showed me that more guards were already ahead of me, blocking off one of the paths I could have taken. They must have gotten word ahead somehow and called for reinforcements. Without a second look, I turned and stumbled my way down the unblocked path.

The appearance of new guards to bar my way and forcing me to change direction quickly became a recurring theme. Those behind me kept close enough to be a constant threat, but they never made any serious attempts to catch me. I had the distinct feeling I was being herded somewhere. I was tiring fast, too. My body hadn’t been done any favours being locked up for as long as it had and being well fed on love could only help me push a weakened body so far.

I turned a corner, my breath coming in ragged, painful gasps now. I froze in my tracks at what lay ahead of me. Chrysalis stood at the ready, her horn charged with immeasurable magical energy, no doubt boosted from feeding off of Cadance for the last several days. I whimpered pathetically as a magical beam that could take down alicorns was shot from her horn and blasted me into unconsciousness.

____________________

Chrysalis stared in horror at the mangled changeling that lay on the cold stone floor where before had stood her sworn enemy, Twilight Sparkle. She had struck down her dearest Visage.

Why would she do this? Why would she pretend to be that hated mare? It didn’t matter. She needed to do something to save her. She gently lifted the damaged mare with her magic and softly laid her onto her own back.

“Return to your duties, I must attend to her.” She dismissed the confused soldiers surrounding her.

The disembodied voice of one of her soldiers echoed through the monarch’s mind, a trick employed by the more magically adept changelings in her armies, herself included. Understanding and the sting of betrayal filled Chrysalis.

“Take her to my chambers and try to stabilize her condition. Find a doctor if you must.” Chrysalis ordered a pair of soldiers as she laid the injured changeling in front of them. “The rest of you, follow me.”

_______________________

Twilight watched as Chance, disguised as herself, slipped out the door. Within moments, she detected the use of a weak spell and a flash of light could be seen through the cracks of the door. The sound of hoof beats and some shouting followed, swiftly fading as it travelled further away from the cell. After precisely sixty seconds of silence, Twilight turned to the captive Nutcase and broke through her chains with a quick spell.

“You can either stay here and try to fight your way through a hive of angry changelings, or you can come with us. If you come with us you will be tried for your crimes and punished accordingly. Do you understand?” Nutcase glared at Twilight as she delivered her ultimatum, but soon nodded in agreement.

She contemplated about using the changeling illusion, but dismissed the idea. If it was truly so easy to see through as Chance had said, then it would just be a waste of time and energy.

“Alright, girls, let’s go save my brother!”

Twilight swung the door open and stepped outside, ready to put down any changelings that hadn’t fallen for the distraction. The corridor was empty. It appeared that Chance’s distraction had worked in clearing at least the immediate vicinity. She and her companions trotted along to the right in search of the doors leading to her brother and his wife.

“One...two...three....four...five!” Pinkie counted aloud as they passed each door until they reached the one Chance had told them about.

Twilight doubted that they had really needed to know exactly how many doors away this one had been since it stood out quite obviously from the rest. The door was considerably larger than any of its neighbors. She attempted to open the door with her magic, but found it to be locked.

“Applejack, can you open this door? I don’t think we have time for me to figure out how to unlock it with my magic.”

“Sure thing, sugar cube.”

Applejack turned her backside to the large doors and let out a tremendous kick with her hind legs and a thunderous crack echoed through the dungeons. The door groaned under the strain of the strike, but remained intact. One more mighty buck caused it to burst open.

From within, four changelings stood ready to defend against the intruders, horns flaring with an ominous green light. One more changeling lay on the floor unmoving, evidently having been struck by pieces of the now broken door.

The guards fought valiantly, but they didn’t stand a chance against the mares. Within seconds they were defeated. One had been taken out by blast out of Pinkie’s party cannon, which she somehow brought out of nowhere again, much to Twilight’s consternation. A second had been bowled over by Applejack who charged at them like an angry rhino, and the final two were incapacitated when Twilight tossed them against a wall with a swift blast of her magic. It was a simple solution and Twilight still felt a twinge of regret that she didn’t try something much more complicated, but she had finally started to learn that going for complicated spell craft to solve your problems wasn’t always the best option.

After finding a ring of keys on one of the downed guards, Twilight set about opening every cell she could find while AJ opened them with her own, forceful method. Pinkie Pie kept watch near the exit for any trouble coming for them from outside.

Twilight growled with frustration as she opened another empty cell. Why would they have so many cells in this part of the dungeon if they didn’t use any of them? She couldn’t even find them with her magic. Every scan of the dungeon revealed nothing to her about its occupants other than the changelings guarding the place. She couldn’t even detect Nutcase even though she was standing right beside them. It would seem that the magical inhibitor that she had spied on Nutcase was impeding her ability to detect her and surmised a similar magical dampening effect was on all the prisoners.

This was wasting too much time, there was no way that Chance hadn’t been caught yet. It would only be a matter of moments before they were swarmed by changelings. A few changelings here and there were no match for the three mares, but an army would be able to take her down just like they had during the invasion during her brother’s wedding. Twilight flung open another door and.....empty. Again. Twilight’s eye began to twitch.

“Twiliiiight! We have a problem!” Pinkie shouted back at them from her lookout position. She had pulled out her party cannon again, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The sound of buzzing wings and pounding hooves could be heard approaching.

Twilight jammed her keys into another locked door and swung it open with a renewed sense of desperation. Empty.

No time to panic, panicking won’t help anypony, just keep it together and move onto the next one.

The next one was just as empty as the last. The sound of the party cannon going off marked the end of their time.

“Twilight! A little help, please!” Pinkie was fighting off a flood of changelings that had gotten past her cannon. She was holding her own, but it wouldn’t be long before she was overrun.

“AJ, Nutcase, keep searching for my brother, I’ll try to hold them off!” Twilight ordered, tossing the keys to Nutcase then rushed to Pinkie’s aid. She erected a barrier to block off the entry of the changeling horde. With the flow of reinforcements halted, Pinkie was able to defeat the ones that had gotten through.

The sound of Nutcase opening doors was nearly drowned out by the horde of changelings beating against the barrier with bodies and magic both. The crashes from Applejack breaking doors down worked together with the pressure of keeping up the barrier against the changeling assault to instill a splitting headache in Twilight.

It was after another wince inducing crash that AJ spoke up. “Twi! Ah found them!” Twilight looked back to see where her friend had called from.

“Great, now we can finally get out of...oh no!”

Twilight sensed a buildup of magical energy coming from beyond her barrier and whipped her attention back to the changeling swarm. Glaring at her directly through the purple shield stood the changeling Queen, her gnarled horn glowing menacingly. The light from Chrysalis’ horn spread to cover her entire body and then she stepped forward, straight through the barrier as if it wasn’t even there. Twilight’s jaw dropped at this feat. Nopony had ever gotten through one of her barriers with such ease. The power she must have absorbed from Cadance had to be astronomical!

“We gotta go, Twilight!”

Pinkie Pie wrapped a hoof around Twilight and yanked her out of the way just in time to avoid a beam of energy directed at her. The sheer magical force of the blast was in stark contrast to the considerably weaker magical spells the Queen’s underlings had been using, there was no comparison.

In panic, Twilight dropped the barrier she had been holding up and teleported the two of them into the cell that AJ and Nutcase had already rushed into. Barely taking a moment to reorient herself and confirm the position of the unconscious Cadance and Shining Armor wrapped in changeling cocoons, she began to charge up as much magic as she possibly could as quickly as she could. Locking onto Rainbow Dash’s position, whom she had previously put the same locator spell on as she had with Chance, she teleported all of the ponies to safety.

Home From the Hive

My surroundings faded in and out of focus. Everything around me had a wispy, smoke like appearance unless I focused directly on it. Every other moment, the idea that I was dreaming crept into the back of my mind but was forgotten more swiftly than it came.

I was audience to my magic teacher, the green eyed Jade Flare, speaking with Queen Chrysalis. I couldn’t make out details of what was beings said, but I heard enough to understand that they spoke of war with the ponies and that Jade Flare seemed more enthusiastic about it than Chrysalis.

Momentarily, Chrysalis disappeared as a puff of smoke. I felt my legs driving me towards my teacher, far more determined than I was accustomed to being. Jade Flare’s green eyes widened at my appearance, but they quickly returned to normal.

“Greetings, Visage. What can I do for my p—“

I cut him off. “I don’t trust you. You may have her eating out of your hoof as you whisper your words into her ear, but I see that you’re nothing more than a snake and a warmonger. You undermine my authority by pushing us closer to war with your every action.”

He merely smiled at me condescendingly. “If we do not go to war, our people will starve. With each day that passes, more of our love collectors are being captured.”

“And whose fault is that, I wonder?”

“Are you accusing me of having something to do with that?”

A moment of tense silence fell as we stared at each other with challenge in each of our eyes.

“Just remember...I’m watching you.”

And with that final remark, my dream self trotted off, leaving a scowling Jade Flare behind. The dream slowly faded as I woke up, the last thing visible being his solid, green eyes.

The first thing I noticed upon slowly regaining consciousness was that I miraculously was alive and only mildly sore. The second was that I was on a very large, very comfortable bed. It was far larger and much more luxurious than my bed at Dew-Drop’s med centre. The third thing I noticed? Chrysalis was curled up with me at my back, nuzzling my head from behind. A sense of warmth was flowing into me from the much larger changeling mare. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was actually dreaming since there was no way that this could be real.

The glowing crystals were dimmed so it was hard to make out much of my surroundings. What I could see looked as posh as the throne room had been. I could make out the silhouette of a pair of statues across from me, one of them noticeably smaller than the other.

I brought my attention to the steady breathing of the changeling queen who I had just betrayed. I fully expected to be dead, or in a dungeon or something. What I most certainly did not expect was to be cuddled by said queen in her bed. It would be an understatement to say that I was confused. I momentarily entertained the idea that I had somehow ended up switching bodies with the royal consort or something but dismissed the idea when a quick examination proved it false.

“Chrysalis?” I whispered at the mare snuggled up to my back.

“S’okay, Vissy, mother’s here.” Chrysalis pulled me in tighter to her as her sleep mutterings devolved into indecipherable gibberish.

Vissy? Did she just call me Vissy? What kind of name is that? Wait.....

“Mother!?” I shouted in shock when I finally realized what she had said.

Chrysalis bolted upright in her bed, dragging the blankets up with her. Her horn instantly charged with enough magic to give the room an eerie green glow and make the air crackle.

“What is it Visage? Is something wrong?!” She demanded, still half asleep despite the impressive display of power she was giving.

I sat up too and coughed to get her attention, waiting until she was looking at me.

“Mother?”

Chrysalis blinked a few times before her brain caught up to precisely what I was accusing her of, or more likely why I was accusing her of it. She looked past me at the far wall where I had seen the statue silhouettes earlier then cast a small spell which caused the light crystals to brighten, temporarily blinding me. I could feel myself lifted up by her magic and floated on by until I was set down onto a plush, green carpet in front of those statues.

“Yes.”

It was all that Chrysalis said as we sat in front of the stone carvings. My eyes adjusted to the light and I got my first good look at them. It wasn’t two statues as I had thought previously, but one of two changelings standing next to each other. The larger of the two had been Chrysalis, as I would have guessed even in the darkness. The other looked like a normal changeling, but with my ever improving ability to discern the differences between us I could tell that it had many similarities to my current form. Looking down at the base of the statue I could see an inscription.

“Queen Chrysalis and Princess Visage.” I read aloud. I was shocked into silence by this revelation. My apparent mother, however, wasn’t. She explained the situation to me in a somber manner as she stared at the statue of her daughter.

“This is the only statue of you...of Visage left. I’ve kept it here to remind me of what I lost in the Canterlot invasion. I told her to stay back and watch from outside the city, but Cadance and Shining Armor’s spell still reached her and the guards I had left to protect her. My daughter was lost, and as the days turned to weeks it had seemed ever more likely that she hadn’t survived. After six long months I had her officially declared dead. You’re memorial was quite impressive.

When I heard of a changeling in need of help in the Everfree Forest I thought little of it. Agents and love collectors both go missing all the time and rescuing them is a common enough routine to have squads trained for the task. Then I got a message from Drymanid, one of my daughter’s personal guards that I had thought lost with her, and seemingly the only one to survive. It told me that he needed to speak with me about her. I dropped everything and went to speak with him at Doctor Dew-Drop’s medical centre. That’s when I saw you, lying there asleep in your bed. You were in poor shape, but there was no way I wouldn’t recognize my Vissy.”

Chrysalis paused to look away from the statue to me. She had a sad smile on her face, and tears in her eyes. I fidgeted uncomfortably. I wanted to look away from her, but couldn’t bring myself to do so.

“You have no idea the joys of a mother finding out her long dead daughter is actually alive, nor do you know the sorrow when a mother learns that such joyful news is a lie. Drymanid and I agreed not to tell anypony about Visage’s return, since you weren’t really her. We would treat you as any other changeling in need of help and try to integrate you into the hive. Yet, I couldn’t help but hope that, with a little guidance, you would have Visage’s memories return and I could yet have my daughter back.” Chrysalis trailed off as she dried her tears.

Not having the faintest idea of what was appropriate to say, I fell back on the age old response when somebody else is in pain. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Victor. No, there are three ponies who are responsible. Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor, and Nutcase.” Chrysalis’ voice filled with bitterness and pain. “And now they’re all gone thanks to your actions. Why did you betray me? Had I not been kind? Had I not given you everything you need?”

So this was it. It was time to finally face the music. Funny, I had expected to feel a lot more fear and a lot less guilt when this moment came. The shame I felt was almost as if my actions had hurt my true mother back home.

“Shining Armor and Cadance didn’t deserve to be our prisoners. All they did was protect their home. They did nothing wrong.” Chrysalis snorted in derision at my explanation.

“I would disagree, but noted. What about Nutcase? She was rescued as well.”

I looked away from her accusing glare. “That wasn’t my choice. I wanted her to stay here where she could be of use to the hive, but they wouldn’t leave her behind. They wanted to try her for her crimes and punish her themselves.”

“Her crimes against my changelings! Against my daughter! It is not their duty to punish her, it is mine!” I flinched at her sudden outburst and began to tremble. There was that fear I was expecting.

“M...maybe we can send an envoy to Celestia and explain. Maybe they’d release her back into our custody?”

“We are at war. The only envoy we will send to Celestia is an army with orders to bring us her head.” Chrysalis growled. I swallowed nervously before I decided to continue.

“There’s more. If I didn’t help Twilight Sparkle then they would have openly attacked the Hive to get Cadance and her husband back. They would have brought an army if need be. If that happened then a lot of changelings could have been killed. I wanted to avoid as much bloodshed as I could.”

Chrysalis’ anger faded and was replaced with a neutral expression. “Even now I still see some of Visage in you. She pushed hard to prevent any losses of our own kind and even hoped for a peaceful solution to the problems of feeding our changelings, just like her father.” She paused a moment then shook her head as the hard edge to her countenance returned. “But no, Jade Flare is right, she really isn’t there. She wasn’t this stupid, or disloyal. War had been declared from the moment I took those two from the Crystal Empire. With them fueling our army, we could have made a swift, decisive strike against the Equestrians and brought a quick end to the war. Without that power, we are now going to be embroiled in a long, bloody conflict where countless will die on both sides. If we don’t find another source of love to power us, then we may very well be ground into extinction.”

“Maybe if we just tried talking to Celestia, we could end this peacefully.“

“I doubt that very much, but even if we ended the war peacefully, our changelings are still left starving.”

“I'm sure if we just explained the situation that the ponies would help us.” I argued.

"Your father thought so, too." Chrysalis stated coldly, sending a shiver up my spine.

"And what happened to him?" I asked, scared to hear the answer. Chrysalis looked back to the statue of us before answering.

"Five years ago, he went to Canterlot to negotiate an arrangement with Princess Celestia. He was intercepted by Celestia on the outskirts of the city, and she murdered him." An undercurrent of pain and rage flowed through her words.

“You’re lying.” I couldn't believe her words. Celestia wouldn't resort to killing unnecessarily like that. Nothing in the show indicated that she would ever do something like that. A small voice echoed in my mind...this wasn't the show.

“The ponies can be rather savage when they feel like it.” An uncomfortable silence descended upon the room following Chrysalis’ assertion.

“So...what now?” I pawed at the carpet with a hoof nervously.

“Now I find a new source of love.” She stated in a matter of fact tone.

“I meant about me. Am I going to be executed?” There was no sense delaying this any longer. Whatever was to come, I would face it. Chyrsalis leveled an irritated stare my way.

“Have you learned nothing of us? Would I have spent so much love ensuring your recovery after I nearly killed you if I meant for you to die? Even if I could bring myself to execute my daughter's body, I wouldn't. We do not execute our criminals, we banish them.”

“So I’m to be banished then?” It was certainly better than I had expected. Sure, I’d be left wandering a world filled with beings that hated me, but I’d still be alive at least.

“Yes. You wish to return home, to your world filled with humans, correct?” I nodded eagerly. “Then I can think of no better punishment than to personally exile you there.”

I blinked and tried to say something, but couldn’t make my mouth work. Even after I betrayed her, Chrysalis was willing to send me home? This was too good to be true.

“You know how to get me back? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“As I said, I had hoped that with time Visage would come back and you would choose to stay. That and I don’t have a lock on your home world yet.”

“So you can’t send me home?” I asked, face scrunching up in confusion.

“Oh, I can. I had planned on taking my time and gradually locating your home through subtle scans of your psyche. It would have been a painless experience, but I can hasten the process. It will hurt, but it shouldn’t cause any permanent damage. This time tomorrow you can be back among the humans you love, and I hope that love you back.”

My eyes filled with tears of joy. This nightmare was about to end, I could finally go home to resume my normal life and not worry about ponies keeping me prisoner, crazies experimenting on me or being stuck forever as a love sucking bug pony.

“I’ll do it.”

“You don’t really have a choice.”

______________________________________

Several hours had passed since my conversation with Chrysalis that morning. I now stood in a large, mostly empty room near the military district of the Hive. Many changelings were in the room as well, some of which I knew. Chrysalis was there, of course, since she had to cast the magic to send me home. Doctor Dew-Drop, Jade Flare, and Drymanid, who Twilight had left behind after escaping, had all come to see me off after being informed of my impending banishment. Much to my surprise, even Pupa had shown up, though he was paying more attention to the proceedings and the Queen than to me. My farewells having been completed, I was now standing by the Queen in front of a mirror which would become the portal back home once the spell was complete.

“Concentrate on an image of home, it’ll make it much easier to lock onto it and ensure you arrive in a familiar location, as well as minimizing the pain you experience.” Chrysalis advised me, advice to which I nodded.

I closed my eyes and thought as clearly as possible about the living room of my little one bedroom apartment. I envisioned the ratty old sofa that my parents had given me when I moved out, the forty two inch flat screen TV, the simple beige carpeting, and that silly little Fluttershy clock I had hanging on the otherwise unadorned white walls.

As I tried to remember every little detail of home, I could feel a presence within my mind, as if I had somebody looking over my shoulder, seeing what I saw. It was an uncomfortable sensation, and the discomfort grew very quickly. Almost immediately, the sensation had passed the threshold required to cause pain, as if I had a headache at first, but it quickly grew to near unbearable levels. It felt like my head was being torn apart from the inside out by a wildfire that was running rampant within my skull. I screamed from the pure agony that I was experiencing. I screamed for what seemed like forever.

Then the pain stopped. It was instantaneous and complete. My body felt completely normal, only my memories of the torturous event and a sore throat provided evidence that it had happened at all.

I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the full length mirror in front of me. What had previously been a simple, reflective surface had transformed into an abyss of inky black with tendrils of ever moving green magic snaking across its surface. It looked far more sinister than I remembered the Equestria Girls mirror being, but as long as it could get me home I didn’t care what it looked like.

I looked over to Chrysalis beside me. “Did it work?” She smiled and nodded. I faced the mirror again, took a deep breath and then stepped forward.

It wasn’t the most pleasant sensation. It felt like I had set my foot where I had expected to find solid ground only to find empty space. I fell through inky blackness, worrying that I would injure myself when I landed. However, in mere moments my hoof landed on solid ground, finishing that step I had taken as if nothing had happened. My eyes were greeted by the back of my sofa and my television ahead of it, all lit by the late afternoon sun shining through my windows. I was finally home, but there was one problem. I was still a changeling. Actually, there were two problems. Something smelled terrible, like somebody’s dog had hidden some animal carcass in the building somewhere and it had been left to rot. This was admittedly less of a problem than my current bodily form, but only slightly.

I should have been panicking at this scenario. I should have been hyperventilating, curled up in a ball of nerves, or rushing back through that mirror that had suddenly appeared in my living room thanks to the spell to demand that Chrysalis change me back to a human, but instead my mind decided to focus on something else entirely.

Huh....so that’s how tall changelings are.

The familiar surroundings allowed me to estimate my own height. Just a little under four feet from the top of my head, if you’re curious. Perhaps the excitement over being home was overpowering any sense of trepidation over not being human, or maybe the reality of my situation simply hadn’t sunk in yet. Either way, I wasn’t concerned with my improper form yet.

I trotted into my kitchen and to the counter where I kept my phone. It was quite different looking at the counter top from my considerably lower vantage point. Much of my head poked above the edge, but not all of it. It was like I was a child again. I reared up on my hind legs and put my forelegs onto the edge of the counter to support me so that I could see my phone properly.

With a little bit of magical effort, I managed to bring the receiver to my ear and dial in the number for my voicemail. The little voice informed me that I had fifteen new messages. I played the first message.

“Hey Victor, it’s Ricky from TD. You’re late for work, did you forget to set your alarm again? Call me.”

Ah, Ricky. My co-worker and friend of twelve years. It was good to hear his voice again. Next message.

“Hey Victor, where were you today? The boss ain’t happy with you. You’re gonna have hell to pay tomorrow. You should really let us know if something’s come up.”

Most of the messages were from Ricky or other people from the bank and displayed a growing sense of either anger over my absence or concern for my wellbeing, depending on who was leaving the message. Eventually I was fired, and that was the end of the messages from work. It wasn’t the end of the messages from Ricky, though.

“Victor, please answer me. I’m worried. I came by your place earlier today but you weren’t home. Where have you been these past seven days? You’re landlord said he hasn’t seen you either and that you’re late on your rent. You’re not answering your cell phone either. Just please call me and let me know that you’re okay.”

There was one more message, this one from yesterday afternoon.

“Victor? It’s your mother. Ricky tells me you have been missing for the past twelve days. He’s afraid that he did something and that you refuse to talk to him. We’re worried that something has happened to you. I know you sometimes like to just go off somewhere without telling anybody, but this is too much. If you don’t contact us by tomorrow, I’m going to phone the police and report you missing.”

“It sounds like they truly love you.” I jumped at the invading voice and forgot that I was still a quadruped for a moment, resulting in me painfully smashing my face on the counter as I fell to the floor. Chrysalis stood a couple metres away, chuckling at my misfortune.

“So this is what the human world looks like. It’s....big. And it stinks.” Drymanid walked into the kitchen as well, with his nose wrinkled in disgust.

“It doesn’t usually smell like this. I think something crawled into a vent and died or something.” I defended the assault upon my home’s honor. It may not be much, but it was mine. “Wait, that’s not important. I’m a changeling.”

Chrysalis looked at me as if I had just said that the sky is blue. “Yes. You are.”

I groaned in frustration. “No, I mean I’m not a human, can’t you do something about turning me back to normal?”

“You are a changeling. If you want to be human again then become human.” Chrysalis dismissed my concerns. My eye twitched at her casual response.

“I don’t know how, I didn’t get far enough with my training to transform into a human. Anyway, it’s not the same. I don’t want to be disguised as a human. I want to actually be a human again.”

“I can’t give you back your body. Consider yourself lucky I could get you back home in the first place. Anyway, Drymanid here has offered to stay with you and teach you what you need to know. He’s no Jade Flare, but he’ll have to do.” Dryma bowed his head respectfully at being mentioned, though the display was somewhat hampered by his still wrinkled up nose.

“If I’m going to stay here, maybe we could do something about that smell.” He suggested as Chrysalis walked off to further explore my apartment.

“Yeah,” I nodded in agreement, “it’s making me feel sick too.”

“I think it’s coming from this way.”

Dryma walked off in the direction he indicated, so I followed him. We gradually drew closer to the source of the odour, if the increasing potency of the scent was any indication. Eventually we stood outside my closed bedroom door. With a twist of his magical grip, the door opened and a blast of the foul stench nearly caused us to gag. For once I was glad that I no longer ate anything since it meant I couldn’t vomit up my last meal. Flies were everywhere in my bedroom, buzzing about frantically at our intrusion. Trying my best to breathe as little as possible, I scanned the room for the highest concentration of the buzzing insects. A distinct sinking feeling greeted me when I found their source.

I hesitantly approached it, no longer certain that I wanted to find out what was causing the smell. Drymanid, however, had no such compunction and trotted past me with determined curiosity in his eyes.

“It seems to be coming from under-“ Dryma was interrupted by a sudden and violent coughing fit. Upon recovery, he lifted a hoof to shield his mouth. “Sorry, princess...I think I swallowed a fly. Anyway, it seems to be coming from under here.” Without further ado, he tore the blankets from the bed with his magical grasp and revealed what lay beneath.

Mere moments after seeing it, my legs collapsed, I went into dry heaves and tears flowed down my inhuman face.

Dryma gave an involuntary leap at the sound of me hitting the floor. Upon seeing what I was going through he came to my side and began rubbing my back.

“What is that thing?” He asked as he attempted to comfort me. I stayed there, kneeling on the floor trembling. I wanted desperately to look at anything but that, but I could not look away.

“It’s me.”

Lying on the bed was what was left of my body after what I could only assume was near two weeks of decomposition. Countless maggots feasted upon my discoloured, bloated flesh. Rotting bodily fluids had leaked out of my orifices, both the natural ones and the ones created by the burrowing maggots. The blanket on the floor and the sheets beneath me were soaked with the rancid fluids. I forced myself to look away as I fought against the return of the dry heaves.

“I’m dead.” I whispered in shock. From the moment I had found myself in Equestria I had tried to find a way to return to humanity and home, yet the entire time I was just lying in my bed, rotting away.

I laughed.

I laughed so hard.

My slight frame trembled under the weight of my mirth.

This wasn’t happening! I wasn’t dead, of course, that’d be ridiculous! Did I seriously think that I had somehow inhabited the body of a monster from a children’s cartoon and gotten thrust into their world? That was impossible. It went completely against all laws of science and nature. It must be some sort of hallucination caused by somebody drugging my drink at a club, or I had simply gone crazy and I was resting comfortably in a padded cell somewhere. There was no way such a thing could have happened. There was no way that I was dead.

A pair of big blue eyes came blurrily into view as I felt a pair of hooves shaking me from my shoulders.

“Get a hold of yourself!” The blurry blue eyed thing ordered. I smiled goofily at it.

“It’s okay, it’s just a dream. I’m not dead. I can’t be dead.” The laughter returned in spite of the shaking and pleas to calm down. Why would I need to calm down? I’m fine! Nothing is wrong!

I kept on giggling in a deranged manner until I was slapped with a very hard hoof.

I stared at the one who hit me.

“This isn’t a dream. You need to face reality, no matter how hard it is to accept.”

“Dryma?” My voice cracked as I called out to the one in front of me in despair. He wrapped his hooves around me and drew me into a tight hug. I burst into loud, wracking sobs as he held me close.

“I’m here. Let it out, it’ll be okay.” He cooed his comforting lie into my ear.

For several minutes we sat there with him holding onto me until I had no more tears left to spill and I was left feeling numb. Even then we didn’t move. I could sense his genuine sympathy flowing into me like a waterfall into its basin. He had dropped his emotional shield just so I would know I wasn’t alone.

“Thank you.” I slowly separated from him. “I’m sorry for....that.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

I merely nodded.

“Let’s get out of here.” He suggested, guiding me out of the room with a hoof and into the entry hallway.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The pounding of fist upon wood filled my apartment. My eyes darted towards its source. Chrysalis, previously forgotten in my grief, appeared next to us in the hallway curious about the sound. Somebody was at my door.

“This is the RCMP, we are here with your mother and your landlord. Open the door or we will force our way in!”

I could hear the voice of Mr. Stacey, my landlord, saying something to the police. While his words were muffled, I could make out something about a key and complaints about my irresponsibility. I could also hear my mother scolding him tersely.

Oh god, my mother! My mother was just outside, separated from me by a few meters and a thin layer of wood. My heart ached with longing. I so wanted to see her, especially after the soul rending experience I just had. I looked down upon my holey limbs and fear grew in my chest.

“She can’t see me like this!” Newfound energy flowed into my exhausted form from the sudden onset of panic. Chrysalis calmly went up to the door as more banging commenced.

“Open up, this is your last-“ Chrysalis casually opened the door and gave a toothy smile to the four people standing just outside, “warning?”

“What the fuck is that?” The second officer asked of the first. The four humans stood tensely, staring at the black monstrosity that stood just inside the apartment.

“Greetings, I am Queen Chrysalis, and you are my prisoners.” She declared to the shock of her audience. The policemen reached for their guns, but they were too slow. Chrysalis blasted them back with her magic into the wall opposite my door.

“Mom!” I shouted as I dashed through the door and to my injured mother’s side.

Chrysalis whipped her attention towards me, seemingly confused and then disappointed for a moment before recovering to her normal self. I nudged my mother with my muzzle, trying to wake her up. The pile of humanity groaned a little, but none of them got up from where they had fallen.

Changeling soldiers, the ones that had been nearby when Chrysalis had cast the spell to create the portal, filed out the door and shoved me aside. They carried the four people into my apartment. I followed after them, pleading with them to leave my mother alone, but none listened to me. They were being carried towards my bedroom, much to my terror.

“My Queen, what are you doing? Can’t you see how much this is hurting your daughter?” Drymanid asked of his monarch, eyeing their intended destination with trepidation.

“I am not her mother.” She stated flatly while bitterly watching the woman her soldiers carried past her.

Desperate to prevent my mother from seeing the horrors that lay in my room, I leapt at the soldier that was carrying her and bit into his shoulder. The crunch of chitin giving out to my teeth filled my ears and warm blood flowed into my mouth. My mother slid to the floor as his magical grip faltered. With a grunt of pain, the changeling I was attached to shoved back in return, easily overpowering me and slamming me into the wall where I let go of him, stunned.

Before I had fully recovered, I was lifted into the air by Chrysalis’ magic, preventing me from taking any more actions to stop them. I floated through the air along with them, right into the room where my corpse waited. Drymanid followed after us, distraught and unable to do anything to protect his charge lest he incur the wrath of his Queen.

“Why are you doing this? Please, let them go!” I begged of the Queen who stared at me with cold eyes.

“I told you, with the princess of love gone I need to find a new source of food for my hive." She responded coldly. "I’m merely fulfilling my obligation as Queen.”

The soldiers were busy creating cocoons of magic to bind their captives inside. First the RCMP officers were hung up from the ceiling in their green prisons, then my landlord. While my mother was being wrapped inside her own cocoon, she began to stir awake with a groan. Her eyes filled with panic as they darted from the changelings buzzing around her as they wove her prison, to the imposing figure of Queen Chrysalis, to me floating in the air with a tear stained face, and finally to the grisly sight upon my bed.

My mother screamed until she was rendered paralyzed by a spell from Chrysalis’ horn.

The Best Laid Plans

Author's Note

If you're squeamish about sex stuff, then you may want to skip a part of this chapter. Shortly before it begins, I have put a few words in bold. If you wish to skip, scroll down at that point until you see more bold in the form of "Ahem". You will miss a thing or two that has relevance to the story, but it's nothing too big, and I'm sure I have the important stuff mentioned again later.

The Best Laid Plans

It was the morning after my mother had seen my decaying corpse while the changelings wrapped her in a cocoon like a person would wrap up a half eaten sandwich. Chrysalis had gone back through the black mirror and brought my mother and the other prisoners with her. The changelings had been quick to capture every resident of the apartments and replace them with their own people. Every one of them had been taken back to Equestria to feed the hive, and there were whispers of expanding beyond the building and into the rest of the city soon.

Since my apartment was being used as a base of operations for the changeling infiltrators and they didn’t want me anywhere near the mirror lest I do something rash like try to destroy it, Drymanid and I had been shoved out of the way into one of the recently vacated apartments in the building. I was informed that I would not be allowed to leave the building until I knew how to transform into a human and that Drymanid would have to harvest love for me until then. I was in no rush to rebel against this order, either. If I had been kicked out onto the streets I had little doubt that I’d be discovered as an equine monstrosity, captured, experimented on and summarily killed. Or maybe I was just projecting my experiences in Equestria onto my home, I wasn’t really sure.

To say I was distraught by the events that had just transpired would be putting it mildly, but unlike when I was in that basement beneath the Everfree Forest, I didn’t feel truly helpless. I was at home. I knew how this world worked. I could actually do something, and if I didn’t, then things would get much worse.

I stood in front of a phone that I had levitated to the floor so that I could actually see what I was doing as I used it. With the receiver held to my ear in my magical grasp, I punched in my parents’ home phone number using a pencil that I held in my mouth. For once I was thankful that I couldn’t taste anything.

“Hello?”

I froze at the sound of my father’s voice. It had been so long since I had heard it.

“Hello?” He repeated, annoyed. Realizing I still held the pencil in my mouth, I spit it out.

“Dad!” I blurted into the receiver. There was a pause.

“Who is this?” His voice was laced with suspicion.

“It’s me, Victor!”

“Whoever you are miss, this isn’t funny.”

“It’s really me, Dad! I don’t have time to explain how, but it really is me!”

“What kind of person would use my feelings for my missing son to pull a prank? What is wrong with you?”

“Please, Dad-“

“Fuck off!”

“-listen, shape shifting monsters are invading! They’ve taken Mom!” The only response I received was that of the dial tone.

“He hung up on me.” I stated to myself in disbelief. Drymanid, who had been sitting off to the side and watching me with curiosity trotted up beside me and gave my back a comforting rub. I pushed his hoof off of me and glared at him.

Determined not to give up so easily, I picked up the pencil again and redialed my parents’ number. I waited nervously as the phone rang once. Twice. Three times. I heard the sound of breathing as it was answered.

“Don’t hang up! Please, you’ve got to believe me! Mom has been captured by-“

“Visage!” That one word warning hissed through the phone halted me in my tracks. It was my mother’s voice. “Listen closely. If you ever try to contact your family again, they will suffer the same fate as your mother. This is your only warning.” I was hung up on for the second time in mere seconds. I let the receiver fall to the floor as my eyes went wide and blood drained from my face.

“What’s wrong?” Dryma asked with a worried frown.

“If I try to talk to my family again, then they’re going to take all of them prisoner.”

Dryma nodded solemnly at my explanation. “I’m surprised that they haven’t done it already.”

“If they’re so worried about me convincing people, then why don’t they just kill me?” I snapped back as rage flashed in my eyes.

“We don’t kill changelings.”

“Do you seriously expect me to believe that you guys have never killed other changelings?”

Dryma’s face twisted with displeasure. “We don’t kill changelings if we can avoid it.”

“Whatever.” I dismissed the issue and trotted past him into the bedroom of the apartment where the previous owner had kept their computer. I had discovered earlier that he hadn’t set a password, so I was free to use it as I saw fit. Drymanid followed me into the room and stood at attention like the loyal little changeling soldier that he was.

My magical dexterity wasn’t so great as to effectively type so I settled for the same trick I used to dial the phone, a pencil held between my teeth. It was slow going, but I eventually had an email message ready to be sent to my friend, Ricky. I was hoping that he would be more receptive to my plight than my father. If nothing else he didn’t have a changeling living with him to intercept my message.

I looked over to Dryma. He was standing near the doorway watching me, but from his angle there was no way he could tell what I had typed on the screen. Without further hesitation I sent the email. Now all I had to do was wait for his response.

For good measure I tried to contact government officials to give them warning as well. I honestly didn’t know how to contact them, nor did I expect any of them to take me seriously after I found out, a suspicion that was later confirmed for me when not a single one of them responded. I also posted about the invasion on as many forums as I could find. Most ignored me as some nut job or troll, some threads quickly devolved into flame wars against bronies, while others turned into role playing threads for those who had mistaken me for one of them. The best I could manage was to convince a couple of crazies on a conspiracy centered website, and I didn't expect that to get any traction at all. I quickly learned that the internet was just too filled with trolls and oddities for anything I could say to have any lasting effect. At least my subscriber count on Youtube would have a significant spike over the next few weeks from people who admired my abilities with ‘special effects’. Yay.

I was in the middle of arguing on one of the forums when a knock on the door startled me into falling off my seat. Dryma was immediately by my side to help me to my hooves.

“Are you okay?” He asked me.

“Yeah....I’m fine.” I replied as I rubbed a sore spot with my magic.

The knock came again, more insistent than before. I cautiously approached the door. No human would be allowed to reach this room, so it had to be a changeling and I was not looking forward to any more interactions with my adopted species.

Swallowing a lump that developed in my throat, I opened the door. Behind it were two burly looking changelings staring at me with rather stern faces.

“Come with us, Visage.” The one nearest the door ordered. I looked behind me at Dryma who had on a purposely neutral expression. He gave a little nod, indicating I should probably do as they say. With a nervous gait, I followed after the two while Dryma brought up the rear.

The journey was a silent one. No explanation was forthcoming about what was going on, and I was too nervous to ask. I was brought to my old apartment and told to stay among the throng of changelings going about their business. I don’t know how, but they had gotten rid of the stench of my rotting corpse, but I still felt sick as I watched some human prisoners in their cocoons hauled through the black mirror. Some of the changelings gave me hostile looks, but Dryma made sure that none of them got too close to me. Having my own personal guard had been proving to be annoying more than anything else, but at that moment I was glad to have him.

After an uncertain measure of time, a changeling entered the room and warned all present that they were to be quiet. The buzz of activity that had previously filled my ears swiftly disappeared. Before I could wonder why for long, I heard voices approaching.

“Are you sure he’s here?” It was Ricky. What in the world was Ricky doing here?

“You said he wasn’t here yesterday.” Now it was my father who spoke. Realization of just what was happening struck me like a bolt of lightning.

“He phoned earlier today and told me he was back.” It was my mother’s voice, urging the others forward.

“It’s a trap!” I shouted as loudly as I could. I darted for the door, hoping I could get out and help lead them to safety, or get rid of my mother’s impostor or something. It was not to be, though, as I was tackled to the floor by multiple changelings. Dryma knocked the first few off with a blast of magic, but was soon overpowered himself. Both of us were swiftly immobilized and gagged.

“What was that?” I heard my father ask, his alarm radiating off of him strongly enough for me to feel clearly.

“He must have his TV on.” My mother’s voice tried to convince him.

“That didn’t sound like the TV.” It was David, my brother. Oh god, they even brought my baby brother!

“Maybe we should leave.” Ricky suggested. I could hear the sound of another door in the hallway opening. “The hell? Is that a changeling?!”

My heart sank as several changelings rushed out of the door and the sounds of struggle reached my ears. Within seconds they were dragging my father, brother and friend back inside to where I could see them. They had been roughed up a bit and they looked both terrified and confused. The changelings forced them to their knees in front of me and, after ensuring that I was watching, the one that seemed to be in charge punched my father’s face, knocking him to the floor.

Tears streamed down my face as my loved ones shouted a variety of threats, pleas and questions. I wanted to apologize for bringing this fate onto them, but the gag in my mouth and the soldiers holding me down prevented me from communicating. I was forced to watch the few remaining loved ones I had get forced through the black mirror where they would be used as cattle. The changelings were quick and efficient about sending me the message that I shouldn’t disobey them.

Drymanid and I were carried back to our room and unceremoniously dumped to the floor. I forced the gag out of my mouth now that I was no longer being held back and....and just sat there. How could they have known I contacted Ricky?

Drymanid walked up next to me and put a comforting hoof on my shoulder. I lifted my eyes from the spot on the floor I had been staring at and looked at the only other person that had been nearby when I sent that email.

“You....” I sputtered.

“Pardon?” Dryma asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“You....you told them!” I forced through gritted teeth as I recoiled from his hoof.

“What?!” He asked, more confused than ever.

“I thought you were my friend! You...fucking traitor!” I raged.

Alarm flashed on his face. “I didn’t-" I interrupted him by striking him in the face with my hoof, knocking him to the floor where I towered over him. I didn’t want to hear excuses. My family was wrapped up in cocoons and being drained of love because of him.

“You’ve done your duty to your Queen, why don’t you go back to her and stop spying on me.”

Dryma lifted his head to look at me, a dribble of blood coming from his snout. “You are my Queen.”

I blinked in surprise. “I am not a queen.” I hissed.

“You are my Queen.” He restated evenly while remaining on the floor, whether as a signal of submission to his ‘queen’ or in an effort to appear non-threatening, I did not know. Then I sensed Dryma lowering his emotional shielding. Waves of sympathy and caring washed over me.

“I would never betray you.” With the emotions pouring out of him, I couldn’t help but believe him. I collapsed to the floor as my anger gave way to sorrow.

“Stop calling me Queen.”

“Yes, Princess.” He responded, an uncertain smile creeping onto his face, somewhat marred by the rivulets of blood passing his lips. I did not appreciate his little joke, even if I suspected he was just trying to cheer me up.

“Seriously, don’t call me that. I’m not a Queen. I’m not Princess Visage. I’m Victor Mills, a human bank teller from a different world trespassing in her body. I’m a nobody, and right now I just want to go to sleep.” I dragged myself through the hall towards the bedroom, but Dryma stopped me with a hoof.

“When I volunteered to follow you into exile, Queen Chrysalis gave me one last order. She commanded that I keep you safe and to treat you with the respect I have always given her daughter. You may not think of yourself as royalty, but you still have a queen’s blood in your veins.”

Part of me wanted to argue with him, but an even larger part just wanted to rest. Shoving his hoof off of me, I trudged into the bedroom and crawled into bed. Sleep, however, eluded me as I tossed and turned. My mind was filled with far too much to grant me any rest.

The fate of my family was why I wanted to rest, yet paradoxically it was also what prevented my slumber. Images of their terrified faces as the green, swirling love energy was sucked out of them flashed behind my lidded eyes.

Had I not disobeyed the changelings....had I not helped Chrysalis get to Earth....had I not helped rescue Cadance...had I just let Nutcase kill me....had I not told Twilight I wasn’t a changeling...had I not tried to get home...there were innumerable things I could have done differently that would have averted this disaster.

And there was Drymanid, my loyal, little soldier, my one subject in a hive of two where I am the Queen, just like my ‘mother’, Chrysalis. No matter how many of the things I did contributed to the mess I was in, it was ultimately her fault that my family was in peril. I wanted nothing to do with her anymore. That I was of her blood was bad enough. At least I looked nothing like her. As far as I could tell, I looked like any other changeling and not the bug pony equivalent of an alicorn that Chrysalis seemed to be. Then again, maybe if I were one I could have the power to stop her.

I finally drifted off to sleep while wondering how to become a changeling alicorn and imagining myself beating the smug grin off of Chrysalis’ face.

___________________________

I was sitting on a checkered blanket amidst a grassy field, itself surrounded by a featureless void, while a cool breeze caressed my smooth chitin. On the blanket with me was another changeling and a...picnic basket? I giggled at that. I couldn’t taste anything, why would there be a picnic basket? He was probably just trying to set the mood.

I turned my attention to the changeling instead. It was Pupa. I traced my tongue over my lips as I placed a hoof on his chest. I pushed him onto his back and crawled on top of him, staring into his eyes.

“Are you sure about this? Your mother wouldn’t approve.” Pupa admonished me in a teasing tone.

“Are you questioning me?” I whispered breathily into his ear. Pupa trembled with anticipation as I nibbled on his neck. The swollen evidence of his arousal pressed up against my belly. Languorously, I slid down his body, dragging my tongue across his form as I went. Though taste was a foreign concept I could only imagine, the smoothness of his chitin and the warmth of his body were both pleasing to the senses my tongue did have.

My meandering mouth finally reached my lover’s cock, which twitched beneath my gaze. I turned my eyes to Pupa’s face while my tongue still hung out of my mouth on display for him to see. A quick flash of transformative magic, and my tongue doubled in length.

“Oh, holy hive mother.” He exclaimed with eager approval.

Not wanting to hold him in suspense any longer, I gave a long lick starting at his base and working my way all the way up to the top. I kissed the tip of his cock and swirled my tongue around the head for a bit, enjoying his moans of pleasure. A wave of his love washed over me, and though it was incapable of providing me with sustenance, I treasured every drop.

I spiralled my tongue down around his shaft like a snake wraps around its prey. Then, just like the snake, I engulfed him. I bobbed my head up and down his cock, working my tongue upon his sensitive member. He began thrusting into my muzzle in time with my movements, and his moans told me he was getting close. With a sly smile, I released him from my mouth and held him down with my magic, ensuring that he couldn’t work to finish himself off. With some gentle stimulation from my hoof, I ensured that he would remain on, but not go over, the edge.

“Don’t...stop.” He begged of me, struggling against his bonds.

“Only if you do something for me first. You know what I mean, riiiight?”

“You want that now?!” He hissed, his face contorted with the pain of his denied pleasure.

“If you don’t want to....” I trailed off, taking my hoof from his member. “Maybe I should find Dryma, I’m sure he’d do it.” I repositioned myself as if preparing to get up and leave.

“No!” Pupa shouted.

“Then you know what to do.”

He nodded. “Yes, my Queen.”

Pupa closed his eyes as his horn began to glow a brilliant, emerald green with wisps of purple swirling around within. A tendril of that green and purple energy snaked its way from his horn to mine, the stimulation eliciting a sudden gasp from my lips, which I quickly muffled by returning my attention to his eager member. The dual sensations of the spell Pupa was channeling and his warm dick sliding past my lips and along the length of my tongue had me moaning in ecstasy. My motions became jerky and undisciplined, but Pupa soon teetered on the edge of orgasm once again. The magical tendrils faded to a barely sustained trickle as he was finally pushed over the edge, filling my mouth with his seed. I swallowed eagerly as I continued suckling, draining him of all he would give me and stopping only when the spell connecting us finally failed.

I rolled over onto the ground and wriggled my way to his side, nuzzling him as we both gasped for breath. He returned my nuzzling and followed through with a kiss, in which I used my still enlarged tongue to play with his own.

“Thank you for that, love bug.” I whispered as we broke our kiss. He scrunched his face up in annoyance.

“I wish you’d stop calling me that.” He complained. I chuckled at his childish aversion to the nick name.

“Ahem.”

I leaped at the sound of another interrupting our snuggling session. To my great alarm, Princess Luna was standing in a black void, watching us. How long had she been there? Didn’t she know it was rude to peep on people during such intimate moments?

“Good evening, Queen Visage.” Luna continued. I scowled and marched towards her.

“Luna, you bitch!” I stood glaring at her, eye to eye. “How dare you trespass on my time with Pupa! Do you always go about interrupting ponies when they’re with their loved ones!?”

Luna, remaining completely nonplussed by my rage, merely smirked at me and raised an amused eyebrow. Slowly, what I said dawned on me.

“This isn’t right. Pupa hates me, he isn’t my lover. And since when am I as tall as you?”

“We merely assumed that all changeling queens were as tall as my sister and I.”

I examined myself, and sure enough, I appeared to be have grown considerably sometime in the last few minutes. I even had a proper mane, the same shade of greenish blue that Chrysalis sported. After a few moments of confusion more, it clicked.

“I’m dreaming again, aren’t I?”

A smile broke out on Luna’s face. “We had wondered how long it would take you to figure it out.”

My surroundings vanished into a black void, leaving Luna and I alone standing on nothingness with a light coming from nowhere in particular providing illumination. I lightly pulled at the mane I had sprouted only to find that it actually hurt to do so. I remembered the dream that started this all with Discord and how I had felt physical sensations then, too. I wondered if such tactile dreams were a side effect of them being magical in nature for the inhabitants of Equestria. Then I wondered what the hell I was doing questioning the nature of dreams when I had one of the rulers of Equestria in front of me.

“Princess! You have to help me! Queen Chrysalis-”

“Has opened up a portal to your home world of Earth, abducted your friends and family, and is expanding further into the human world with every passing moment with the intention of using humanity as a source of love to power her war against all of ponykind.”

I blinked dumbly at what she had just done. Seriously, that was some Pinkie Pie in Equestria Girls level stuff she just pulled off.

“How did you...?”

“The same way I knew your name was Visage.”

“You...can read my mind?

Luna face-hoofed. “No, you moron, I am your mind, or at least part of it anyway. I’m just a figment of your imagination. I’m a dream, dummy.”

“I didn’t realize I was so keen on insulting myself.” My face twisted with distaste.

“You obviously haven’t been paying much attention to your inner dialogue lately,” The Luna faced representation of my inner psyche said sourly, “and if you just let Chrysalis win now, you’ll have earned everything we’ve said.”

“What am I-“ Luna shushed me by shoving a hoof into my mouth.

“Just shut up, and think before you say something for once.”

I did not appreciate how abusive my inner psyche was to me, but I did as she said. I didn’t know what it was going to accomplish, but I sat there thinking as I stared at the dark, blue alicorn. Then I realized just what she was getting at.

My Luna self grinned in response to my revelation.

____________________________________

I woke up very suddenly, vaulting into a sitting position on the bed. I knew what I had to do. Well, not exactly, but I had a general idea about what I had to do. My mind raced as I tried to fill in the details of my plan, but it was suddenly snagged by one small realization.

I had just had a sex dream about giving a blowjob to a changeling that hated me and I had enjoyed it. A quick inspection under the covers and I confirmed that it was definitely enjoyed. I really didn’t need my body reminding me about my altered sexuality when I had more important things to deal with. I decided that a quick, cold shower to cool me off would be in order before I continued.

As I stepped out of the shower, which had been only partly successful in distracting me from the awkward feelings my dream had instilled in me, I ran nearly face first into Dryma. Apparently he spent his spare time just standing on the other side of shower curtains while girls were washing themselves.

“Jesus Christ!” I shouted as I fell back into the tub with a loud crash.

“Chance! Are you okay?”

Dryma reached over the tub’s edge to help me up, but I waved him off irritably. I realized that in my position lying on my back that a rather intimate area was very much exposed to him. I momentarily imagined him following me into the tub and taking advantage of my prone position and felt a growing burning sensation in my loins. With a blush warming my cheeks, I hastily repositioned myself. I’d read enough bad clop fics to guess why I was suddenly so preoccupied with sex. I hoped to any deity willing to listen that I was wrong, but I suspected I was going into heat.

“I’d have been fine if you didn’t surprise me like that.” I growled in multi-faceted frustration as I crawled out of the tub, deliberately avoiding looking at the suddenly rather appealing changeling stallion in front of me.

“Sorry, Princess.” He said stiffly, as if he were nervous over offending royalty. Or maybe I was emitting pheromones that caused said stiffness. I really needed to stop thinking about stiffness in association with Dryma.

“I told you to stop calling me that.” I continued leveling my death glare at him, then I briefly wondered if that was actually a thing I could learn with my magic. I’d probably end up guilty of genocide and feel terrible afterwards, but it would be really satisfying in the moment. Almost as satisfying as....No! Bad Chance! Stop thinking about it!

“Sorry, it’s a habit.”

I let out a frustrated sigh and turned to face him. “It’s okay, I’m just a little worked up. I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Anyway, I’m here to give you some love.” A slight bit of nervousness was still present in his voice.

“Pardon?” My voice cracked at his phrasing. Dryma fidgeted somewhat nervously and was quick to elaborate.

“The others won’t let you leave to feed until you can disguise yourself as a human, so I went out last night and collected love for you.” He explained. It made sense, I supposed, but I felt uneasy about the arrangement.

“You didn’t hurt anyone, did you?” I waited until Dryma shook his head in answer. “Well, okay then. I’m not really feeling hungry right now, though.”

“You are my...you are important to me.” He stumbled a moment, no doubt having been about to call me Princess or Queen again. At least he was learning. “I think it only proper to ensure you eat well.”

I thought back to how much I had enjoyed my times feeding off of Nutcase. I couldn’t do that now, but here was a changeling offering to give it to me himself. It was very tempting, even if I hadn’t begun to feel the coldness I could now associate with hunger yet.

“Okay. How do we do this?”

“Just relax, I’ll do everything.”

I watched with curiosity as Dryma bowed his head and closed his eyes in concentration. His horn lit up as he began channeling his magic and a twisting tendril of green and purple energy arced from his horn to mine. My mind exploded with the pleasing sensation of having love channeled directly into it. My body began to twitch from the power I was being pumped with, and I found myself suppressing the urge to moan with pleasure.

As quickly as it had begun, Dryma cut off the spell and I was left panting heavily. I felt tremendous. I was left feeling very powerful with all that excess love swirling within me, and a little embarrassed at the nearly perverse pleasure I had gained from it that left me aching for more. It took way more effort than I like admitting to not drag that hunk of a stallion into the tub with me and ravish him.

“That was intense.” I said through gasps for breath. “It reminds me of what Pupa did in my dream last night.” I clamped my mouth shut and blushed furiously when I realized what I had just said. Dryma tilted his head at me curiously, but said nothing. I was incredibly thankful for his tact.

I cleared my throat, deciding that the best way to distract from the current awkwardness was to change the subject.

“Can you teach me how to transform into a human?”

“Of course, that’s one of the duties I was assigned.”

“I’d like to start right now.”

___________________________________

It had taken four days for me to learn how to transform properly into a human. Dryma was very willing to praise me for accomplishing it in such a short time frame. The training had been rather intensive at my own insistence and at his included some basic magical combat training. I had worked myself into near exhaustion each day, at least in part hopeful of distracting myself from the swirling mass of hormones and the frustratingly reoccurring dreams I’d been having of Pupa.

I had burned through a lot of love in the process of my strenuous training. Fortunately, Dryma seemed very effective at gathering love for me and managed to keep me very well fed. Unfortunately, the process still felt very awkward. While the pleasure that came with it wasn’t technically sexual since it involved a completely different part of my body, or so I kept telling myself, it was certainly comparable. I had taken to referring to them as my mind-gasms, mostly because love-gasm sounded too much like the thing I was trying to differentiate it from.

My current disguise was that of a male human. I was taller, thinner and more muscular than my human self had been, and I had completely changed my hair, eyes, and pretty well every other major bodily feature. The best part was that being transformed into a man somewhat lessened my heat related urges, though not nearly as much as I would have hoped. I couldn’t always stay in human form either, and having spent the last several days steadfastly denying my urges had left me rather irritable regardless of my form.

I was a damned attractive man in my opinion. I told myself that I chose this form because it was only natural for a person to make themselves look better than they actually were if they could shape shift. The reality, I knew, was because I could only ever think about my rotting corpse if I looked like my original self.

I was a human among humans for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. It was an oddly foreign feeling. I was as close to being normal as I could have asked and yet I felt like an impostor among my own people. I had probably spent too much time as a changeling to ever feel normal again.

I was standing outside of a police station in a jacket I had borrowed from the apartment building to ward against the chilly fall weather. Drymanid was disguised as a pretty, young girl that spent much of the time latched to my arm, a very enjoyable, if embarrassing, experience. He had refused to let me go anywhere without him around to protect me.

The plan was to go in and make a fuss about the changelings invading the city and see where that took me. I glanced about and searched for the spies that I had learned were following me at all times. It was how they had known about the email I sent to Ricky. I couldn’t see them, but that didn’t mean anything, even the most insignificant fly could be one of them if they were really good at transformation. I had been sorely tempted to carry around a flyswatter when I had learned of it, though I had decided that murdering them wouldn’t be such a good idea.

With a deep breath, I walked into the station.

“Excuse me! I have an announcement to make!” I shouted over the throng of people.

Dryma looked at me oddly. He didn’t know what my plan was, I hadn’t told him anything because I didn’t want the other changelings to overhear. A few of the officers inside looked my way, but I was mostly ignored. That wouldn’t do, so I channeled a bit of magic into my voice.

“HEY, LISTEN UP!” I gave a magically amplified shout. It did the job of finally getting the attention of all those present, and about damn time too. “Earth is being invaded by a race of love sucking, insect like, equine shapeshifters!”

Reactions were mixed. Some stared at me as if I were a madman, some looked worried, others were annoyed, while a few chuckled at my declaration. While a part of me couldn’t blame them considering how ridiculous it felt to actually say that aloud, most of me just felt annoyed. I bet Chrysalis never had to worry about being taken seriously. One of the chucklers approached me, his mirth radiating off of him.

“That’s a good one. The changelings are invading! Is Sombra going to pop out and start ranting about crystals too?” He put an arm around my shoulders in an effort to lead me away. Dryma made a move to get him away from me, but I waved my loyal soldier off. If anybody was going to toss this personal space infringing idiot about like a rag doll it was me. Err... what I meant was that we couldn’t afford to get in trouble right now by assaulting him. Unfortunately.

“I’m serious. The changelings are taking humans prisoner and using them as a source of love so they can fight a war against Equestria.” The officer raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, you’ve got the joke across, you can stop now. It isn’t that funny.” He tried harder to lead me away, but I refused to move.

“I can prove it.” Oh how I wanted to prove it by dangling him off the side of a bridge, a thread of magic all that’s between him and a long fall, that’d teach him to treat me so lightly. But I couldn’t do that, so I swallowed my anger and attempted to maintain a neutral expression.

The officer looked at me like I had gone insane. “And how do you-“

“Jenkins! Get back to work, I’ll handle this.” Another officer, presumably somebody with some measure of authority, interrupted him.

“Yes, sir.” Jenkins hurried off and I was left facing a tall, robust man with graying hair. Notably, I could not detect any emotions from him whatsoever.

“Let’s go to my office and we can discuss this evidence of yours.”

I nodded and obediently followed. Dryma started coming with me, but he was halted by the officer. “Not you. Just him.” Dryma glared at both of us, but stayed behind with his arms crossed and eyebrows set in irritation. The officer I followed barely waited for the office door to close before dropping his facade.

“You really need to do something about your heat, princess. It’s making you do stupid things. Why don’t you take your pet home and have him deal with it? Or are you here because you want a real stallion instead?” He leered at me with a smug grin.

He mocked me! How dare he mock me? Forget that fool, Jenkins, I wanted to drop this man off a cliff, preferably after tearing off his wings.

“Touch me and I’ll toss you through that wall.”

He let out a deep, belly laugh at my threat. “You talk big, princess, but you can’t do anything. We control two thirds of the police in this building. If you did attack you wouldn’t get very far, and the rest of the humans here would be taken for harvesting.”

I frowned at this bit of news. I had expected some infiltration, but not this much. I didn’t doubt that he would follow through on his threat too by removing the few human police left if I did cause a scene here. I probably should have gone to a station further away from the apartment building.

“Fine,” I growled, “you win. I’ll go.”

“Just keep in mind that we can always find more of your friends and family, so don't try this again.”

I deliberately paled at his threat. Acting was so much easier when you could force bodily reactions with a little bit of magic. I hunched over in mock defeat and gave a sigh.

“I’m sorry to have bothered you. I’ll see myself out.”

Upon achieving a relatively safe distance from the police station, a furious Drymanid confronted me. “What were you thinking!? Are you insane?!”

The way he shouted at me in his disguise reminded me of my last girlfriend. Admittedly, the shouting was the reason I eventually left her, among other things, but right now this display of power was having a rather different effect than usual. Perhaps I really should take him back to the apartment and....no! Bad hormone addled brain! With lust beaten back into submission, smouldering rage took its place again.

“Don’t. Question. Me.” I demanded. A quizzical look flashed on Dryma’s face, but was gone as quickly as it had come.

“Yes, Princess.”

I shut my eyes tight and rubbed my temples. I shouldn’t have been so angry at Dryma, he was my ally and the only friend I wasn’t forbidden to see.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been frustrated lately because of...” I indicated my body. “You know.”

“Yes.” He confirmed. He was always so understanding....maybe I should tell him what I’m trying to do, at least some of it.

“I can’t just let them invade my home. I have to do something. What I tried didn’t work, but that’s because they’d already replaced most of the police there. They didn’t really feel threatened. I need something bigger.”

“If you say so, Princess.” He responded with a neutral expression.

A young man wearing a hockey jersey walked by us and suddenly I had a pretty good idea of where I could find something bigger.

____________________________________

Several hours later found Dryma and I at the city’s hockey arena. People milled about around us in droves, their combined emotions washed over us like the ocean tide. There was no way that the changelings had taken over this many people, they’d have had to have a full scale invasion to even come close.

“Are you sure about this?” Dryma, still in his human form, asked me nervously. There was no way he didn’t know what I was going to do this time, and he had periodically tried to talk me out of it since I told him we’d be coming to such a big event.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Before I could even take another step, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see who it was and was faced with a police officer whose emotions I could not read.

“You’re a little early.” I stated evenly.

“Did you really think we’d let you try that twice? The changeling cop asked as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

“I had hoped.” I waved off Drymanid before he had the opportunity to earn a charge of assaulting a police officer.

That’s what I wanted to do.

Without warning, I let loose a week’s worth of bottled aggression by blasting the officer with a very loud, flashy magical burst. His eyes widened to the size of saucers just as he was struck and sent flying several meters back, knocking over a few people along the way. I reveled in the sudden burst of fear he gave out as his emotional barriers failed just before he fell unconscious and turned back into a changeling.

Fear. So much fear. The mishmash of emotions that the crowd had emanated before became a concentrated mass of shock and terror. Screams filled the air as panic descended on them, many of those not close enough to have seen what happened likely feared that a bomb had gone off. A couple of the braver witnesses brought out their phone cameras to record what was happening and I could see a news crew nearby turning from their report on the upcoming hockey game to us. Perfect. It was time to give the world something to watch.

“Turn back.” I ordered Drymanid.

In rapid succession, we both went up in geysers of green flame. Some of the people with the camera phones began to run as well. That wouldn’t do at all. I snatched one of them, a young man with a Mohawk, with my magic and held him immobile in the air above the crowds where all would be able to see. I glanced at the news crew to ensure they were still recording me.

“Hear this, humans! Your days as the dominant species are numbered! The changelings have arrived and you will bow before your new masters!”

“Princess!” My attention turned to Drymanid as I dropped the Mohawk man. “We have company!”

Several police officers had surrounded us during my little speech. All those that had remained behind with a camera were being carted off by a few of their numbers, including the news crew. Mister Mohawk was snatched from the air and taken too. I should have expected that they wouldn’t send only one changeling to stop me. Hopefully some of the guys who ran away had enough footage to convince people.

“Stand down, Visage!” One of the changeling officers demanded. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

There were at least ten of them, and no doubt they were all combat trained. I wouldn’t stand a chance if I tried to fight them. Then again, I was the Queen’s daughter. Even if I was banished, I doubted they would be willing to cause me permanent harm, and I still had a lot of frustration to work out.

With that conclusion made, I rushed straight for one of their number, horn glowing and my fangs bared menacingly. Before my foe could react, I had blasted him off his feet, leaped over him and kept running away from them. The longer I could delay being captured, the more people that would see me and the greater chance that people would actually believe that changelings had invaded.

Within moments of breaking past that one officer, I found myself facing another a short distance behind him. Unlike the first, he had considerably more time to react. His forehead glowed green and I was suddenly levitated into the air. I tried to use the counter spell that Drymanid had been teaching me, but he had a very solid grip on me, and I hadn’t exactly mastered the spell yet.

He sneered at me as he stepped closer, but that sneer mutated into panic as his attention was drawn by a loud buzzing above and behind me. Drymanid, straightened out like a javelin, dive bombed into the officer hooves first from the air above me. The magical field holding me in place died as the man was sent hurtling several meters and turned back into a changeling.

“Run!” Drymanid shrieked at me.

I did as he demanded and bolted. The crowds of people had thinned dramatically. It made sense, I supposed, why would people stay at the location of what may very well be a terrorist attack? I ran through the doors of the arena building, ignoring the shouts of surprise from the crowds of people who apparently either hadn’t heard what was going on outside, or were hiding inside from said goings on. I rushed into the nearest bathroom where I disguised myself as a human. I slipped out of the bathroom, pretending to be chased out by the creature that had just gone in, and tried to blend in with the people around me. This plan wasn’t going as well as I had hoped, and it was about to get worse.

“Visage!"

My name was accentuated with a gunshot, causing screams to fill the air. Warnings not to run were shouted over the throng of noise. I dropped my emotional shielding so as to not give myself away too easily and turned with several others in the crowd to face the one who had shouted.

Standing by the entrance were several people who were definitely not cops. They were dressed as offensively stereotypical Middle Eastern types, the sort of thing you’d imagine were you to think of Muslim extremist terrorists. The news crew was also there and was recording the entire thing, or at least they appeared to be. The telltale lack of emotions informed me very clearly that they had been replaced by changelings.

A couple of them waved their guns, presumably the same ones they would have had as police officers, at the assembled people. Another was pointing a gun directly at the head of a man they had tied up.

“We have your friend, Visage! Come with us peacefully, or we will kill him!" The one pointing the gun at who I could only assume was Drymanid shouted.

They were bluffing. They had to be. Changelings don’t kill changelings. Changelings don’t kill anybody if they could avoid it. Chrysalis and everybody else had drilled it into my head that they banished their criminals and didn’t execute them. Then a terrifying thought came to me.

But what if the changeling had already been banished?

“This is your last warning! Surrender now or his brains paint the floor!”

And what if the changeling didn't have the immunity of being the Queen's daughter?

He scanned the crowd where I stood, sweating nervously. After a few seconds, he turned his attention back to Drymanid and pushed the gun right up against his head.

“Stop! I surrender!” I stepped forward. “Just don’t hurt him!”

"Wise choice."

The one who had been speaking for them motioned for another to tie me up, and within moments I was being carted off.

_____________________________________

“You really are a fool, Princess. Did you really think that would work? With the help of your world’s official news sources, this’ll just be dismissed as human infighting.”

Drymanid and I sat undisguised in my apartment building while a burly changeling, the one who had led the group that captured us, lectured me. He was probably right too, I begrudgingly admitted to myself . A few unofficial videos cropping up may lead to a few more conspiracy nuts believing the truth, but with an official news outlet having recorded the ‘terrorists’, the world at large would just believe it was another of the sadly all too frequent terrorist attacks.

The first part of my plan may have failed, but that didn’t mean the second half of it had to.

“You stopped me this time, but I’m not going to stop until the united forces of the entire world are bearing down upon you.”

“You won’t be able to do much of anything if I have you trapped in a cocoon.” The changeling threatened.

I merely gave a mocking smile, grateful that he couldn’t actually detect my true emotions. I was nervous as all hell, this had the potential to end very badly if I had misjudged my ability to manipulate him.

“Oh? I somehow doubt that your Queen would appreciate you doing that to her daughter. If you do anything to me then Mother is going to skin you alive and feed you to whatever predators live in the desert you guys call home.”

He remained motionless for a moment, scowling at me. I didn’t need to read his emotions to see that the threat of his Queen’s wrath was affecting him. It wasn’t long before his scowl was replaced with a grin of triumph.

“Well then, we’ll just have to give you to the Queen so she can discipline you herself.”

Drymanid blanched at this, but I inwardly grinned. Soon I’d be back in Equestria where I wouldn’t have to worry about convincing people that changelings even exist. I could just walk up to any pony and warn them that the changelings are attacking my home and are planning to invade Equestria again. He was playing right into my hooves, just as I planned.

_________________________________

As I withered under the unsurprisingly furious gaze of my mother—I mean Queen Chrysalis, I came to realize that this was a dumb plan.

A really, really dumb plan.

Did I actually think that she would just let me go free to wander about and warn the princesses about the imminent invasion? Maybe I really should have taken Drymanid back to the apartment and jumped him so that I could make plans with a clear head. That my estrus was the cause of my poor planning was certainly preferable to the idea that I was just really, really stupid.

“You continue to disappoint me, almost as much as I disappoint myself.” Chrysalis pronounced after my escort finished explaining the situation. The fire left her eyes and weariness entered. She looked away from the gathering in front of her couch like throne and sighed.

“What would you have us do, your highness?”

Chrysalis waved a hoof absently. “Take her to the dungeons.” She ordered in barely more than a whisper.

“You can’t do this!” Drymanid shouted.

His words broke mother out of her rumination. She turned to face my personal guard and smiled sadly.

“You’re loyalty to my daughter is admirable. Perhaps in different circumstances...” She trailed off in thought, and then continued after shaking her head. “But no, it doesn’t matter now. For your loyal service, you are released from your duties. She has no need of a guard or teacher while she remains in my dungeons. You are free to go.”

Drymanid’s mouth hung agape, his hooves rooted to where he stood. A pair of guards trotted up to me and prodded me, no doubt intending to lead me towards my new home in a cell. Most of the changelings, however, stood in nervous anticipation of further orders from the unusually morose Queen.

“As for the rest of you, leave me. I wish to be alone.”

Side Chapter: Disappointment

Queen Chrysalis stepped through the cell door, barely waiting for her loyal guard to step out of the way after opening it. With a quick glare, she made it abundantly clear to him that she wanted to be alone in there. Receiving the message loud and clear, he shut the door behind her with a heavy clunk.

There was a cocoon in the corner of the room, much like the one that her Visage would be wrapped in by now. If only she had not tried to interfere with her harvesting of the humans, she could have led a pleasant life under the watchful eyes of those she had assigned to keep her out of trouble. Chrysalis sighed. She should have known better than to give that much freedom to one who had just so recently betrayed her.

Slowly, she approached the cocoon and came to a halt in front of it, staring silently at the creature inside. It was one of the humans from the world she had been able to find thanks to Visage. A whole new world filled with creatures that, luckily enough, could be harvested for their love.

The option of moving her entire kingdom to a new world that didn't know about them had presented itself to her, but she couldn't do it. The destructive powers these humans possessed that she had learned from Visage, and continued to hear more about from those doing research in the new world, was frightening. She'd be lucky if Visage's actions in the human world didn't lead to them being discovered soon. Even without those actions, it was only a matter of time before the humans found them. Still, as long as she kept her operations relatively small and hidden, they probably wouldn't use their more devastating technologies, but an entire hive of changelings couldn't possibly avoid detection. In an all out war, the might of her entire armies would stand even less of a chance against the humans than they would against the combined might of her own world. They'd have to disband as a nation and spread across the land to even stand a chance of survival. Even ignoring the likelihood of annihilation, she didn't think she could move her entire hive to the new world unless she absolutely had to. Regardless of how promising it may or may not be, it wasn't home.

She admitted to herself that when she had heard these creatures described, she had imagined them being quite different than they turned out to be. She had pictured them as more like the bulky minotaur from the distant country of Minoa. That which she gazed upon looked so fragile by comparison. She marvelled at how a creature like this one, so pathetic looking and devoid of magic, could become the dominant species of their planet.

However, this one wasn't just some random human she gawked at in wonder over their surprising success. This human was the mother of the one inside her precious Visage. She looked so peaceful sleeping there in her cocoon. Her emotions stirred a little as she dreamed, a feat that had initially surprised her about these humans. No creatures from this world could dream while encased in a cocoon as it cut them off from their magic, but human dreams didn't rely on magic, so they dreamed on. She suspected that without that magical element, dream walkers would be unable to slip into the dreams of humans, but she made sure every one of them had a dream warding spell cast on them to block out potential intruders, just in case.

Watching this human mother, Chrysalis couldn't help but feel envious. Chrysalis had lost her child and this woman's own had taken over the body. It wasn’t Victor’s fault that he was there, but it still hurt tremendously to see her daughter’s face and yet know that she was gone. This woman, Victor’s mother, had the reverse problem. Victor’s body was dead as could be, but his mind was as alive as possible inside Chrysalis’ own daughter. The jealousy that Chrysalis had felt was overwhelming. Back in Victor’s home, she had let that jealousy drive her actions by attacking her and dragging her in to see her child’s rotting corpse, to show to her that her child was just as dead as hers. Now, though those emotions still smoldered on inside her, a new emotion had begun to creep into her breast: guilt.

“Hello, Louise.” She greeted the slumbering form awkwardly, remembering the name that Visage had given her during their discussions before. She didn’t know if she was able to hear her in there, but she had to get some things off her chest regardless.

“I am Queen Chrysalis, but more importantly, I am a mother, just like you.”

She paused, thinking on all that had happened in the recent and not so recent past.

“I know what it is like to mourn the loss of a child. Beyond that, I know what it is like to suffer the loss of a husband. I have no family left alive in this world, and I have the responsibility for the wellbeing of an entire nation on my back. Far more of my subjects die under my guidance than I care to mention, and each one is another failure seared onto my record as a wife, mother and Queen. With every death, I wonder more and more if those I care about would be better off without me.”

She waited several seconds, stewing in her own macabre thoughts, before she remembered that the one she spoke to couldn’t answer.

“But that is really not your concern, is it? You have little reason to care about my troubles, I am the monster that holds you and your family captive. I suppose what I am trying to get at is that I understand the pain you feel over losing your own child, perhaps even more so than you could ever realize. It is that understanding that brings me here now. Out of my own spite, I inflicted upon you a traumatic experience of such magnitude that few could possibly understand. I thrust upon you the corpse of your child. Knowing how it feels, I never should have done it, and for that I am sorry.

A little over a week ago, I had thought that my own child had come back to me alive after I had believed her dead for so long. I quickly learned that this was not the case. A being paraded around inside her, unknowingly wearing her face and crushing my heart with every moment she spent near me. Despite this, I kept her around, unable to push away the image of my own child, and ever hopeful that she would somehow return to me. A few days ago, I was faced with a very cruel lesson that she was truly gone. The anger I felt over this is what caused me to act the way I did to you. I have come to be very disappointed in myself for those actions.

I don’t expect you to forgive me. Even if you can hear me, I don’t really deserve it for the pain I have inflicted on you. As I said, I am the monster that abducted you and your family, and additionally I am enslaving hundreds of your kind to fuel a war that I begin to wish I hadn’t started. Yet I know that if I don’t fight this war, more and more of my subjects will starve to death. Those who don’t will eventually be hunted down by the ponies I war against and murdered, just like they did to my husband.

I see no way out of this. I am trapped and alone, and I don’t know what else I could possibly do to get out of this mess. I fear that everything I do is the wrong thing and only further tightens the noose around my subjects’ necks.”

The image of Victor’s mother blurred in Chrysalis’ vision and she wiped the tears from her eyes with a hoof.

“Even if everything else I do is wrong, there is one thing I can do that I know is right. That being that lives inside my daughter’s body? That is your Victor. Your precious child is alive and well inside of her, and I promise that I will do all I can to ensure that they survive.”

Chrysalis sensed a stirring of emotions in her prisoner. She didn’t know if it was in response to what she had said, or if it was just another dream. Either way, Chrysalis lied down on the cold, stone floor and stayed in the company of her fellow mother long into the night.

Author's Note

Just a quick, side chapter to show Chrysalis' emotional turmoil. It's not necessary for the overall story, but I felt it would be nice to do this regardless. Chronologically speaking, this occurs very shortly after the ending of "The Best Laid Plans".

Princess of the Hive

Pupa looked over the letter he had received from home as he sat on his bed in the medical ward. His mother had been delighted to discover that he was actually alive and had sworn her own personal vengeance on the mare who had kept him prisoner for so long. He smirked at the thought of the fate that awaited Nutcase. Whether it was by the hooves of Chrysalis, mother, or the ponies’ princesses, that mare’s days were numbered.

Her message also contained words of consolation over his loss of Princess Visage. He hadn’t gone into great detail over what had happened to her, choosing to merely say that the circumstances had led to the end of the relationship. Just thinking of the impostor inside of her body set his blood to boiling. How dare she wear her face? Had she no consideration for the pain that such a shallow imitation caused?

Shallow imitation or not, it seemed to be enough to trick Drymanid into sticking by his ‘Princess’. He couldn’t imagine why he continued to dote over her, it was blatantly obvious that she wasn’t the mare that they both knew and loved.

It didn’t matter. He had washed his hooves of the entire thing. Doctor Dew Drop had proclaimed him recovered. While he certainly wasn’t as fit as he used to be, a year and a half of being locked in a cage had done a number on his physique, he was in more than good enough condition to return home.

Home. How he had missed it, and yet he feared returning. The ache of failure was heavy upon his heart, layering upon the aches of loss and homesickness. He had come to Chrysalis’ hive for a purpose, a purpose that was no longer even possible. His mother would doubtless understand, but it still would make his return bittersweet. He was not accustomed to failing.

He folded the letter neatly and placed it into the small saddlebag he had received courtesy of his hosts. There wasn’t much inside them aside from the letter and some blankets to keep him warm at night, but it was all he would need for his return trip, it’s not like he needed to pack food. He had made plans to leave for home in the morning and was about to turn in for one last night.

Before he could do so, a loud commotion came from outside of his room. Somepony had burst into the clinic and was exchanging frantic words with the doctor. He couldn’t quite make out what was being said, but it was probably somepony bringing in a new patient. He stepped through the orange fabric separating his room from the rest of the clinic to see if he could be of assistance. It’s not like he’d be able to sleep until whatever problem had arisen was dealt with and they’d quieted down.

When he saw a hysterical Drymanid accosting Dr Dew-Drop, he froze in place. Hadn’t he been banished to that other world with the impostor? What could he possibly be doing here?

His question was answered when the pair stopped what they were doing and turned his direction. Drymanid practically tossed the doctor aside and rushed towards him.

“You’ve got to help me, Pupa!” He practically shouted into Pupa’s face while gripping his shoulders. “The Queen has locked Visage in the dungeons!”

Pupa narrowed his eyes and scowled at the loud changeling. With a focused application of magical power, he removed Drymanid’s hooves.

“No.” He swiftly turned around and trotted straight back into his room. He wanted nothing to do with this fool’s obsession with the impostor.

“No!?” Dryma shrieked in shock. “She needs your help! Does your past with her mean nothing to you? Were your declarations of love meaningless?” Pupa turned back to face him, his face contorted with rage.

“How dare you accuse me of not loving Visage!” He roared. “That thing you want me to help is not her!”

“I had sworn my loyalty to her, I am not going to abandon her!”

Pupa laughed cruelly at Dryma. “You just latch onto her now because you think that with Visage gone you may actually stand a chance with her!”

“That’s not true!” Dryma’s face reddened, whether from anger or embarrassment over being called out on his affections, Pupa did not know.

“Take my advice: get over her. She’s gone. Nutcase killed her and she’s not coming back.”

“She’s not gone!”

Pupa snorted at the ludicrous statement. Drymanid truly had been fooled by the impostor’s facade. He refused to grace his delusions with a response.

“She’s been acting more like Visage since we got to the human world! She seems more confident, she’s been giving orders again! And she’s been making plans that she’s been keeping from me!”

Ah yes, he was quite familiar with her secretive plans. They always had been a matter of annoyance and excitement in their relationship. But such traits were far from unique to Visage, there was nothing to say that the impostor couldn’t naturally be that way too when not under stress of imprisonment.

“Coincidence.” He dismissed.

“She’s been having dreams about you.”

“Dreams are hardly proof.”

Drymanid hesitated, unhappy with needing to resort to his strongest evidence. “When I channeled the royal essence into her, she recognized it being done before.”

Pupa stared at Drymanid in disbelief.

“You didn’t.” He protested. “You wouldn’t.”

Dryma maintained his air of seriousness. Pupa broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Oh, Chrysalis is going to love that! An impostor in her daughter’s body being infused with royal essence!”

“You’re missing the point. She remembered it being done before. How many changelings do you know that can create it? She didn’t just dream of you, she dreamed of you preparing her for royal ascension.”

The gears turned in Pupa’s head. Very few changelings were ever taught the process of combining stored love with magic in just the right way to produce the essence, so it was unlikely that another had done so. If the impostor remembered Pupa creating it then...no. It couldn’t be true. Could it? More importantly, could he live with himself if he left Visage to rot inside the dungeons if it were true?

____________________

“Do you really think Chrysalis will believe you?” Drymanid whispered nervously to Pupa.

“It doesn’t matter if she does or not. She’s already preparing for war with Equestria, she can’t afford to risk refusing me.” Pupa whispered back.

The two were standing outside the doors of Chrysalis’ throne room, waiting for the emerald clad guard to return and bring them before the Queen for their appointed audience. Though they had tried to get in the night before, they had been stiffly informed that she was not seeing anypony that night. They had to settle for an audience with her the next morning.

The creak of the door opening caught the two’s attention and a guard’s head poked out.

“Queen Chrysalis will see you now.”

The two entered into the extravagantly furnished throne room. Chrysalis sat upon her bejewelled throne, observing their entrance with a dour frown. By her side stood a changeling stallion with green eyes, no doubt he was some kind of advisor.

“Good morning to you, Queen of the Equestrian Hive. I am gladdened that-” Pupa greeted with a deep bow.

“Skip the pleasantries, Pupa. What do you want?” Chrysalis growled at the foreign changeling. Drymanid was reminded of how the Queen had never much liked Pupa, or his courtship of her daughter.

“As you wish.” Pupa rose from his bow and got straight to the point. “I demand that you release Princess Visage to be taken under my care.”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed and she rose from her throne. She approached Pupa, using the entirety of her tremendous height to tower over the young male as she stared down at him.

“And why would I do that?” She demanded of the smaller changeling, who in turn refused to back down or show any sign of fear.

“She and I were wed shortly before your failed invasion of Canterlot. As a prince of the hive from the minotaur lands, Minoa, my wife becomes princess of my hive as well and attains all diplomatic immunity such a title offers.”

“I don’t believe you. My Visage would not have married without my approval.”

“Just like she wouldn’t date me without your approval? Face it, your Visage had quite the rebellious streak.” Chrysalis’ eye twitched at his words, well aware of the truth of such a statement. “Now if you’d be so kind as to release my wife, we will be on our way.”

“No.”

“No?” Pupa parroted. He shared a concerned look with Drymanid before looking back to the Queen.

“Even if you speak the truth, she is no longer Visage. She is Victor, a human trapped in my daughter’s body, and up to this point you have accepted this and shown her little more than scorn.”

“My actions were...regrettable. I realize that now and wish to make up for my mistakes.”

“What has brought on this change of heart for you to want her back after despising her as you have?”

Pupa gave a sideways glance at Drymanid, who looked very uncomfortable under the scrutiny of his Queen.

“The truth is that Drymanid here had just informed me last night that perhaps Princess Visage isn’t quite as gone as we had thought.” Pupa confessed.

“What?” Chrysalis’ eyes bulged at this news.

“I said-“

“I heard what you said!” She hissed at Pupa then turned to Drymanid. “Is it true?”

Drymanid nodded. “Yes, my Queen. It’s true.”

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How do you know?”

“She’s been speaking of dreams since she entered into estrus in the human world. The ones she was willing to share are clearly memories of Visage’s relationship with Pupa. Memories that Chance could not have unless some piece of Visage was still part of her.”

Silence reigned for several moments as the Queen absorbed what she had just been told. Her breath had caught in her throat as she dared to dream of having her daughter back, and her eyes began to grow moist with the beginnings of joyful tears.

“My Visage is still alive?” She asked, filled with restrained hope.

“She still seems to be mostly the human, but there is at least some of Visage still inside. Maybe with the proper environment, she will regain more of her memories.” Drymanid added.

The monarch dropped any pretense of dignity as she scooped up Drymanid in a tight embrace, giggling with glee. She didn’t care that her guards could see her tremendous break from royal decorum. No parent alive could possibly have judged her for her joy at the prospect of being properly reunited with her child after such a long separation, even if that child required considerable time, effort and care to return to her normal self. She would do whatever it took to heal her Visage. Even if it took decades of hard work, it would be a small pittance compared to what she would get in return.

Pupa spoiled the mood by clearing his throat to get Chrysalis’ attention. Her eyes narrowed as she set down Drymanid and turned back towards the foreign prince.

“What is it?”

“As I was saying, I demand that you give Princess Visage to me.”

“No.” She said for the second time, far more fire in her voice than before.

“As princess of the Minoan hive, she should not be kept prisoner here.”

“I do not have a short memory, Prince Pupa. You abandoned her when you thought her gone and I cannot trust you to not do so again if her recovery fails to meet your expectations. I will not let you have her after you so readily forsook her!”

“If you continue to hold her, it’ll be a declaration of war against my mother.”

The Queen flared her wings and bared her fangs at Pupa, her eyes filled with blazing fury.

“She is my daughter and I will not give her up to the upstart bastard of Queen Minas!”

Chrysalis slammed a hoof down on the floor, the sharp crack of the impact and her shouts reverberated through the room. The guards by the door winced at seeing their Queen so furious. By contrast, the green eyed changeling by her throne merely tilted his head in thought.

This was not going as Pupa and Drymanid had hoped. Whether she was calling their bluff or was legitimately willing to go to war with another hive over her daughter, neither of them could tell.

“Are you seriously willing to go to war with another hive over this?” Pupa pushed.

“Go and tell your mother that she can bring the largest army the world has ever seen. If she thinks she’s taking my daughter from me then I will personally crush every one of her soldiers into a fine paste.”

Pupa involuntarily stepped back from the ire of the Queen before her. Was she absolutely insane? A war between their hives could devastate both sides to the point of being unable to recover.

“Ahem! Excuse me, my Queen.” The green eyed changeling spoke out.

“What?!” Chrysalis demanded as she turned the full force of her rage on him. To his credit, he didn’t even flinch.

“If you would be so kind as to indulge me, I’d like to speak with you in private.”

Chrysalis looked back at the two changelings that she had granted an audience to, and ordered her guards to not allow them to leave. The Queen and the green eyed changeling left through the metal, double doors leading to her personal chambers.

The minutes passed in awkward silence as the duo awaited the return of Chrysalis. It was not Chrysalis who returned, however, it was the green eyed advisor in her stead.

“Go and release the Princess from her cocoon and wait in her cell for further instructions." He ordered one of the guards at the door, who quickly exited the room, before turning to Drymanid and Pupa. "I have spoken with the Queen and have convinced her of the folly of warring with your hive, Prince Pupa. She agrees to give Princess Visage over to you.”

Drymanid’s jaw dropped in surprise. She had been so steadfastly opposed to the idea just minutes ago. This seemed too good to be true. A sentiment which Pupa seemed to agree with.

“This is unexpected. She seemed ready to kill me a couple minutes ago.”

“Do not think too lowly of her anger. She loves her daughter tremendously and is merely scared of losing her again. No doubt you will understand one day if you and Visage have foals of your own.”

“She’s going to give her over, just like that?” Pupa asked, eyeing the advisor suspiciously.

“There is of course a condition: you are not to attempt to cut the Queen out of her life. The Princess is to return home periodically to spend time with her mother. I trust this is acceptable?”

“Of course, I would never try to permanently separate a mother from her child.” Pupa assured him.

“Then we have an agreement. I suggest you spend the next hour or two preparing for your journey as the Princess will need a little time to recover from being trapped in her cocoon.” Dryma and Pupa nodded at the suggestion and thanked him for his assistance before turning to leave.

The advisor watched as the two left the throne room, ruminating over the whole situation. The creaking of the royal chambers’ doors opening and the sound of hooves trotting over the throne room’s lush carpeting brought him out of his thoughts.

“I don’t like it, Jade Flare. They’re lying.” Chrysalis stated.

“Quite likely.” He agreed.

"I should follow after them to make sure they don't do anything stupid."

"No." Jade Flare firmly denied her. "You have a kingdom to run and a war to prepare for. We can't afford to have you going off on a tangent like this, we need you here. I'll follow them. If they try to do something stupid, I'll do what I can to convince them to stop."

"I don't like it." Chrysalis repeated.

"I know, but you can't leave."

“Please, keep her safe.”

“I will, my Queen.”

_________________________

Mother and I looked down from our hilltop upon the city of Canterlot, which was surrounded by a gigantic, pink bubble of a shield. Nothing else in the universe existed except an inky void.

“How could this have happened?” I asked, astonished to find that changelings, and only changelings, were unable to pass through that barrier.

“They must have captured some of our scouts and used them to attune the barrier to our kind.”

“If that is true then they know we’re coming! Please, mother, this is a terrible idea! We can still try for a diplomatic solution to our hunger!”

My mother gave a wry smile. “No sheep ever willingly allows wolves to feed on them, your father learned that the hard way. I must do this.”

“If this doesn’t work, changelings and ponies will die!”

“If I don’t do this, our people will starve.” She stated firmly.

“You could die too! Send somepony else!” I shouted at her.

“I am the only one powerful enough to pass the shield. It has to be me.”

Mother wrapped me in a tender embrace, nuzzling me and letting her emotional barrier down. Her love washed over me like the tides of the ocean.

“I don’t want to lose you too...” I whispered.

Mother slowly faded from view, leaving me alone on that hilltop until Drymanid, Pupa and a few other guards had materialized from the ether. We were all staring in horror at Canterlot.

The pink barrier that our army had shattered had returned, at first as a tiny bubble, but it expanded at an incredible rate. Changelings who had been struck by the magical sphere were plastered to it as it continued to grow. A mass of terror radiated from the changelings in the city and was easily sensed even at this distance. Screams could be heard, increasing in volume as the magic drew nearer. It wasn’t stopping.

“Run!” I ordered at the top of my lungs. I took to the air, fleeing alongside those that had the sense to obey me.

It was too late.

The pink shield spell struck us all and we too were plastered to its side. The force keeping us stuck to its surface was tremendous and caused me immense pain. I could barely breathe. My entire world turned pink until suddenly I was flung through the air.

A flurry of blues, greens and grays rushed past my hurtling form. Screams of unadulterated terror filled my ears, my own mingling with those of my companions. My wings buzzed endlessly in a futile effort to regain control of my flight. A sudden impact and a sickening crack announced the end of my journey

The world swirled into blackness and I floated through the void until I was lying on a couch inside some sort of building. It wasn’t changeling built. Where was I? Was Mother okay? I needed to return to the hive, but I could barely move. As if the injuries I had sustained weren’t enough, the icy grip of love starvation nearly paralyzed me.

“What in Equestria are you?” A voice muttered. My eyes drifted to a creamy, orange unicorn standing over one of my unconscious companions. “And what happened to cause so much damage?”

I could sense confusion coming off one of my companions as she began to wake. A sudden burst of fear and she jumped at the orange mare, fangs bared to defend herself from the perceived threat. Her injuries slowed her down far too much, and the mare responded with a blast of magic to her face. Tears fell from my eyes as I could feel her emotions cut off. That blast, barely enough to stun a healthy changeling, had killed her instantaneously.

Fear radiated off of the mare as she looked between my remaining companions, so few in number now, until her eyes landed on me. She froze in place, eyes wide and body trembling when she noticed I was awake.

The unicorn cast a spell on me and I was whisked off through the void once more. Metal bars materialized around me and the mare from before was pacing nervously back and forth just on the other side. There was no floor. No ceiling. No walls. Just me, the bars, the blackness and a unicorn arguing with herself.

“They’re a bunch of monsters! But they’re injured. That’s only because they invaded Canterlot. They need my help. But if you help them, they might try to hurt you. If you don’t, they’ll die, just like the other two.”

She halted her pacing and stared through the bars into my eyes. I felt so weak. I could barely stay awake. The mare seemed to come to a decision as she stepped nearer to me.

“They feed on love. How am I supposed to love something that tried to enslave pony kind?” She chewed her lip nervously.

“Please...” I whispered hoarsely, causing her to flinch at my dual toned voice.

“They said you guys changed forms to trick ponies into giving you love. Maybe you could do the same thing, trick my mind into believing you’re somepony else!”

She faded away and a picture of a turquoise, unicorn stallion with a mane like that of an inferno circled around my head.

“Can you turn into him?” Her disembodied voice reverberated through the void. I tried to do so, but only a few, lone, green sparks came from my horn. I closed my eyes, blocking out everything in my view, resigning myself to my inevitable death.

I’m sorry, Mother...

“This isn’t working! I can’t just let you die on me!” The voice fumed. “Maybe if I...”

A cool band slid into place on my horn and I felt myself being cut off from what little magic I had left in me. A quick flash of bright yellow and I transformed, the energy required for the feat coming from an outside source. Moments later, a warm body wrapped me in a hug. Love poured into my crippled form, filling it with renewed vigour and warmth. I opened my eyes and all that remained was the orange cream mare and me. Her love was tinted with sorrow. The fur on her face was matted with her tears. I lifted one battered leg so that I could wipe them away.

“I miss you so much. Never leave me again, Musty.” She whispered.

“Thank you.” I whispered in return.

“Chance!” A new dual toned voice cut through the haze.

Soon, the lonely mare faded away. I was left in a featureless ocean of darkness, drifting about listlessly.

“Wake up!” The invading voice returned. I felt myself being pulled towards it.

In the distance I heard the mare’s words echoing to me, filled with pain and rage.

“Please! I can’t be alone again! You can’t go!”

“I must.” I responded. It was time to return to the hive.

“No! I won’t let you!”

She reappeared before me, her eyes blazing with unrestrained fury and her horn glowing with tremendous power. A massive beam of energy, the likes of which I had only seen those intent on killing use, came straight for me. In a panic, I tried to leap out of its path, but there was no avoiding it. It crashed into me with the force of a collapsing mountain.

With a shriek of terror, I vaulted awake.

“It’s okay! It’s just me!” A familiar voice reassured me.

“Drymanid?” I gasped his name breathlessly.

“Yes.”

“Oh thank God!” I threw my forehooves around his neck, holding onto him for dear life as my racing heartbeat threatened to burst out of my chest. It was just a dream. I was safe.

“I can see why you wanted to help her.” A second voice chimed in bitterly.

“Pupa? What are you doing here?” I asked in confusion.

“I’m here to get you out of this place, my dear wife.”

_________________________

Neither of my companions were willing to explain what the hell Pupa meant by calling me his wife, at least not while we were still in the hive. While I was incredibly appreciative that they had gotten me out of the dungeon, I was equally frustrated by their tight lipped attitude. I kept giving the duo dirty looks as we walked through the changeling city, almost like...well, almost like a woman who was pissed off at her husband.

My supposed husband and my personal guard looked suspiciously on any changeling that approached us, a few of them even going so far as to bow to me as they recognized my former identity. If I had to guess the reason for my companions' silence, they were worried about others overhearing what they had to say and reporting to my mother—I mean Chrysalis.

That was another thing, what was up with that dream? I’d been having a lot of weird dreams since I’d gone back to the human world, but most of them revolved around intimacy with Pupa. While odd that I would dream so much about a changeling that seemed to hate me, I had at the time dismissed it as a result of going into heat. This dream, however, had nothing to do with him. He barely even made an appearance.

The Nutcase part of the dream I could rationalize as a representation of my fears of her, but what about all that with Queen Chrysalis? And why did I keep thinking of her as my mother? These dreams even seemed to be influencing my waking life, I had lost track of how many times I had to correct myself after thinking of Chrysalis as my mother.

Speaking of ways that my dreams were affecting me, I forced myself to look away when I noticed that I was staring at Pupa as he walked ahead of me, his tail swaying back and forth hypnotically over his backside. I absently wondered if I could do that tongue extension trick from that one dream, but quickly quashed that thought. There was no way he was getting any from me. Husband or not, he had been a dick, and not the fun kind. Drymanid on the other hand....

When I realized where my thoughts had meandered to again, I cursed my new body and its hormones. Fortunately, it would seem that I was entering the later stages of being in heat, at least if my somewhat lowered libido was any indication. I still had awkward moments where I found myself staring at Drymanid and wanted to jump him, or better yet, have him jump me, but the urges weren’t as strong or as frequent.

Ever since I had noticed that I was now attracted to males, something I can’t even blame on going into heat as it happened long before then, my mind had been fighting against it. But the mind can only fight so long against the bombardment of an inevitable fact of my new life. Sure, through the haze of the hormones screaming at me to produce little changelings I could tell that I was still attracted to the ladies too, but I was no longer in denial. Stallions were hot. If my past self could see me now, he’d be freaking out over this change. Too bad my past self was a rotting corpse right now.

Well, that certainly shut my mind off of sex. Honestly, if I had the choice between losing myself to an uncomfortable, hormone induced, sexy thought train or the depression associated with facing the death of everything that I had considered me, I would have taken the sexy thought train any day. As uncomfortable as that made me feel, at least I could have some fun with it.

As my mind swirled with morose thoughts, the three of us exited into the bright, wide open air of the outside world. We continued on past the changeling guards posted by the entrance to the hive, and when we were far enough away from them and nothing nearby could allow for others to easily hide behind, we stopped.

Noticing my head and spirits hanging low while I sat there, Dryma stepped beside me and gave me a nuzzle, one which I returned half heartedly.

“Are you okay?” He asked, brow furrowed with concern.

“I was just thinking about what we found....what happened back home.”

Home. The human world wasn’t really my home anymore, was it? Nor was the hive we had just ascended from. I was a creature of two worlds now, belonging to neither.

“What happened there?” Pupa asked, intrigued by what could have me in such a dour mood.

“I don’t think we should talk about it.” Drymanid responded. It was sweet of him to be so considerate, but I was already thinking about it. Telling Pupa wouldn’t make me think about it anymore than I already was.

“It’s okay, Dryma. In my bedroom in the human world, I found my own rotting corpse.”

Pupa’s eyes widened in shock at this news. “I....I am so sorry.”

I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see his pity. I didn’t want his pity. I had more than enough pity from myself.

“So, are you going to explain what you meant about me being your wife now?”

“It was a ruse to convince Queen Chrysalis to let you go.” Dryma explained. “Pupa is a prince of the hive in Minoa, the lands where the minotaur live. If you two were married, the Queen couldn’t keep hold of you without risking war with Pupa’s hive.”

After absorbing the information that Pupa was apparently a prince, a fact that seemed relatively tame next to having found out that I was a princess, I gave a sigh of relief. I didn’t want to be married to Pupa. Even if a marriage that my body’s predecessor had gone through with didn’t extend to me, it was still a load off my mind that it wasn’t real anyway.

“I treated you horribly, Visage—“

“My name isn’t Visage.” I interrupted him.

“Oh, right...Chance then. Regardless, I wish to make it up to you. You’ve been through far too much. I wish to take you back to my hive where you can relax and forget about all that has troubled you here in Equestria. You’ll be safe there from Queen Chrysalis, from the ponies, and from the oncoming war.”

I was tired. So tired of all the suffering I had gone through. Tired of ponies hating me for being a changeling. Tired of being experimented on. Tired of Chrysalis and her changelings betraying and imprisoning me. Tired of the very humans I had once been kin to disbelieving me as I tried to warn them of the changelings infiltrating their world. I wanted to rest so much, and Pupa’s offer of refuge was incredibly tempting.

But I couldn’t accept.

For every pony I recalled that had hurt me, I remembered those who had not: Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Luna and countless ponies who I hadn’t even met. For every changeling that has harmed me, there was a Doctor Dew-Drop, or a sick, terrified little Silver Cloud. For every human who dismissed my warnings, there was one who had been captured and was being drained of love by Chrysalis and her army.

I couldn’t abandon all those ponies, changelings and humans to war. I had to do something.

“No.” I whispered.

“Pardon?” Pupa’s ear twitched at being told those two little letters yet again this day.

“No.” I repeated, louder this time.

“And what do you think you’re going to do instead?” Pupa asked incredulously.

I gave a weak grin. “I’m going to finish the second half of the plan. I’m going to Canterlot.”

Emissary of the Hive

After four and a half days of travel, my companions and I arrived at Canterlot beneath the canopy of stars that was night. Since we lacked any kind of money, we slept hidden beyond the city limits with the intention of journeying into the city the next morning.

Pupa and Drymanid had taken turns sneaking into the city to collect love, the one who was not at the time staying behind to keep watch over me. I had intended on going into the city too when Drymanid took his turn, but he insisted that I stay behind, saying that I wasn’t experienced at the art of gathering love while trying to avoid discovery. As annoying as it was, I conceded that he was right. I was mollified by his offer to provide me with some love after his return, though. I had grown to cherish those moments when he channeled that wondrous green and purple energy into me, something he had been doing for our entire journey to Canterlot. Beyond the pleasurable sensations inherent in the act, I always felt incredibly close to him whenever he did so, and I found myself looking forward to the sense of intimacy more than anything else.

I had also taken great enjoyment in those times that he continued teaching me magic. While I was sure that I was still a fledgling in that area, I was feeling quite proud of my progress. Something that was perhaps even better than the magic lessons was when he was teaching me how to fly. In those times when I could get over a lifetime of being afraid of heights, it was truly amazing. I was a little shaky in the air, but for the first time since I had found myself in the body of a changeling, my wings weren’t just for show. If only I had known how to fly from the start, we probably could have cut down the length of our journey to a single day.

While not as intimate as the feeding, I still felt rather close to Drymanid whenever he was teaching me either flight or magic. Occasionally I would catch Pupa staring at us with envy. I still felt a little guilty over having taken the place of his loved one, and I wondered what their lives together had been like. If they were anything like the dreams I had had of him, then they had been quite the amorous pair.

Speaking of Pupa, I had been surprised when he decided to travel with us rather than going back to his own hive, though when he kept trying to convince me to drop my plans and simply run off with him I nearly wished he hadn’t. I remained resolute in my resolve, and he remained by my side, ensuring my safety and ever hopeful that I would change my mind. When he wasn’t trying to convince me to leave with him, his company was pleasant. I couldn’t understand why his attitude towards me had changed so drastically, and he hadn’t been forthcoming with any explanations, but it was a nice change of pace from the way he had acted before.

In the end, I supposed it didn’t matter why he changed, I had more important things to concern myself with. I attempted to get to sleep so that I could be well rested for what was to come. Nervousness and an irritating itch on the back of my neck that had been bothering me a couple of days now made it nearly impossible to do so. At least the last vestiges of my heat cycle had finally dissipated, so I didn’t have to deal with an unnaturally high libido in addition to everything else. Eventually, I did manage to get to sleep, and for once I wasn’t plagued by unusual dreams.

The morning came all too quickly. I woke up with a groan and dragged myself to my hooves as Drymanid shook me awake.

“It’s morning.” Pupa declared in an irritated tone. “Maybe now you’ll tell us what your grand plan is?”

I grinned lazily in my still only half awake state. “Aww...does poor little Pupa still not like me keeping secrets from him?”

I had expected him to gripe at my teasing, but he just stood there, blinking at me. He glanced over to Drymanid who gave a cocky, knowing smile, as if to say ‘I told you so’.

“What? What did I say?” I asked, confused over their reactions.

“It’s nothing.” Drymanid quickly answered. I eyed him suspiciously, not satisfied by his ready dismissal of my question, though he ignored me doing so as he changed the subject. “Pupa is right though, perhaps it would be best if you let us know what we’re doing here.”

My mouth twisted with displeasure, but I allowed him to drop the subject. I had had my fun keeping them guessing, but now they needed to know.

“It’s simple. We’re going to walk right through Canterlot and demand an audience with Princess Celestia.”

___________________________

I felt tremendously uncomfortable as the three of us walked through the streets of Canterlot. Whispers of shock and awe surrounded us with every step we took. Ponies openly stared with slack jaws as we passed them by. Some of the bravest among them attempted to approach me, eyes filled with curiosity and mouths filled with questions. Fortunately, my two guards were able to keep them at bay so that I wouldn’t need to deal with them as we made our way towards the castle.

The reason for all this was that I had disguised myself as an alicorn. The appearance of an unknown alicorn was doubtless huge news and it would take no time at all for it to reach the palace I was sure. I towered over all but the tallest of ponies in Canterlot, with a regal pair of feathered wings and a long, spiraled horn upon by head. I had a buttery yellow coat, and a luxuriously long, orange mane and tail that shimmered in the early morning sunlight. My two companions had taken on the form of a couple of suitably royal guards for an alicorn, one black and the other white and both garbed in illusory armor of cold steel. Upon their chest pieces was a crest of my chosen cutie mark, which was a sphere of green and blue with swirling tufts of white. It was my old home. It was Earth.

It wasn’t long before we were faced with half a dozen of Celestia’s own royal guards. Our procession came to a halt as a large, white stallion with a chiseled jaw line stepped forth from the others to greet us.

“Hail to you, unknown alicorn. Who are you, and what is your business in Canterlot?”

“I am Princess Visage of the far off land of Canada. I am here seeking aid from the princesses Celestia and Luna.”

As I tried to give off an air of authority with my stance and tone, I couldn’t help but wonder if what I was doing was illegal back home. Canada did technically have a royal family, even if it was really Britain’s royal family, and they might not take kindly to somebody claiming their birthright. I’m sure it was fine, it’s not like I was in their jurisdiction even if it was illegal.

“Ca...nada? I have not heard of this land before.”

“And yet I am from there. Please, inform your princesses that I wish to see them.”

“Very well.” He gave a slight bow of his head as he acquiesced to my request.

They sent one pegasus ahead as a messenger while the rest of the guards remained behind to escort us to Canterlot Castle. I must admit, I was rather gladdened by this, even if I suspected they were there more to ensure that we didn’t try anything untoward. I honestly didn’t know how I was supposed to get to the castle and probably would have wasted much of the day wandering lost in the streets.

Within an hour, our little trio was assembled in some kind of grand waiting room inside the castle. Through a large set of double doors was the throne room, or so the leader of our escort had informed me before planting himself just outside the throne room doors. He had also informed me that I would have to wait until the princesses were ready to see me.

The wait was unbearable. I had attempted to sit myself down and maintain an aura of composed regality, but after near half an hour of waiting, I had found myself pacing nervously. The suspicious eyes of the guards followed me as I strode back and forth across the room. Well, maybe they weren’t suspicious of me, it could just have been my nerves making me think so. Could anyone blame me for being nervous? Here I was in the middle of Canterlot Castle, about to see the leader of a country in the hopes of pursuing a peace between ponies and changelings when I didn’t really have the authority to negotiate for either side. Additionally, Chrysalis had told me that Celestia had killed the last changeling to try what I was doing, her husband and my body’s father. But that couldn’t actually be true, Celestia wouldn’t have killed someone in cold blood, there had to be more to it than that. Either he wasn’t as peaceful as was claimed, or Chrysalis was mistaken or something, but no matter how much I told myself that, I couldn’t stop shaking. I was on the verge of freaking out. I thought I had been nervous when I had sneaked into Ponyville while disguised three weeks ago, but this was far worse.

Three weeks...had it really been so little time? It felt like a lifetime ago that I had woken up on Sweet Apple Acres. So much had happened, most of which I would rather forget if I were being honest with myself. A mere three weeks ago I could barely walk, and now here I was, trying to prevent a war and save my people.

It took me a moment to realize that when I had thought about ‘my people’, I had images of both humans and changelings in my mind. God, I had been a changeling too damn long. A pang of sorrow struck me as I remembered the fact that I never could be anymore than a facsimile of a human again.

The creak of those big, double doors opening dragged me out of my thoughts. A crystal pony guard with green eyes, a faint orange coat and a beautiful orangey red mane stepped out and stood before me.

“The Princesses will see you now.” She announced.

I closed my eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. I could do this. I needed to do this. I opened my eyes, held my head high and followed the crystal pony mare into the throne room, Drymanid and Pupa falling in step behind me.

The first thing I noticed upon entering was the colour pink. Had Celestia’s throne room always been so pink? Next were the awe-inspiring stained glass windows that could put any church to shame. Oh hey, there was the one celebrating Twilight’s ascension to an alicorn. But this wasn't the time to gawk, so I forced my jaw shut and my eyes forward as I stepped along the long, pink carpet that led to Celestia’s throne.

I nearly stumbled as I saw who all awaited me. I had expected to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but the entirety of the mane six were also present. As I finished my approach, I debated with myself on whether I should be glad to see some faces that could vouch for me, or worried that Celestia felt justified in bringing what amounted to her country’s first line of defense to meet with me.

I found myself looking to Pinkie Pie, who had her usual jovial smile plastered on her face. When she noticed me looking, she waved a hoof at me in greeting. I smiled back and gave her a nod of my head. With the reassurance of my friend’s pleasant attitude, even if she didn’t know that we were already friends yet, I decided on it being a good thing that they were here. I finished my journey and stood before the most influential ponies in Equestria.

“Introducing Princess Visage, of Canada.” The guard escorting us announced, slightly mispronouncing my country’s name. I bowed deeply to the royalty before me, and my two companions followed suit. No sense being rude. The benefit of not having to look at those who could choose to end my life at any moment was just a side benefit, I assure you.

“There’s no need to bow, we are both royalty, Princess Visage of Canada.” Princess Celestia stated serenely, then tilted her head in a quizzical nature. “Here I thought I knew all the nations of this world, but I find myself at a loss as to where Canada is supposed to be.”

I swallowed nervously, hoping she would take my deception well.

“Yes, well, I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of my homeland. It is very, very far away.” My voice trembled somewhat.

“Thou seem nervous.”Princess Luna observed. “Is there a problem?”

I looked over to Drymanid and Pupa, who kept their faces forward and devoid of any detectable emotion. I wasn’t going to get any help from them in explaining, this was all up to me. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to rely on them for help in getting out of this mess if this didn’t go well, as I had no delusions that if things went sour the three of us couldn’t possibly compete with the powers in that room.

“Before I continue, I must state that I mean you no harm and only seek your assistance.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I have been informed as much. What is the problem?”

“Do I have your word that you will not harm me or my companions?”

The assembly of royalty and heroes seemed taken aback by my request, several of their brows furrowed with confusion.

“Why would you seek such a promise?” Luna asked, suspicion beginning to creep into her voice.

I kept my lips sealed, unwilling to answer until I had their word.

“It doesn’t matter, Luna, I’m sure she’ll reveal all to us once we give her our assurance.” She eyed me with a slight twinkle in her eye. “I promise that we shall remain civil for as long as you do. We shall not be the first to hostilities, but if you prove to be so, we will return the sentiment tenfold.”

I took a deep breath. That promise was all I could have expected, even if I could have done without the threat. I closed my eyes, intent on changing back to my natural form, but found it incredibly difficult to do so.

“Do not worry so much,” Celestia encouraged with a warm smile, “reveal yourself freely, we will not harm you for your secrets.”

With that reassurance, I allowed my disguise to drop. Drymanid and Pupa followed suit and soon we were three changelings standing in Canterlot’s throne room. Cries of shock and alarm flew through the air, and several guards levelled their spears at us. The mane six and Luna all looked equally shocked, and some of them appeared ready to fight off the perceived, sudden invasion. Celestia, however, remained relaxed with that same twinkle in her eye as before.

“Halt!” Celestia ordered the others present before anyone actually took action against us. “I have promised them safety in our halls so long as they do not harm us. I would be severely disappointed if any of you turned me into a liar.”

I wilted beneath the suspicious gazes of most of the ponies. “You knew?”

“Luna may be a little out of touch with the current geographical and political landscapes of the world, but I am not. I knew well enough that there was neither a princess named Visage, nor a nation called Canada. I wasn’t certain that you were a changeling, but I certainly suspected as much.”

“That voice...Chancey? Is that you?!” Pinkie Pie bounded away from her position beside her friends and wrapped me in a hug.

“Hello, Pinkie.” I grinned as I returned her embrace. Oh, how I had missed her, and her boundless reserves of love for all.

“Wait, you’re Chance?” Twilight sputtered, squinting at me.

“Yup, in the flesh.”

“Okay, I have two questions for you. First—“

“Why do you look so different?” Rainbow Dash interrupted, eliciting a sigh of exasperation from Twilight. I blinked at the rainbow mare.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh! I got this!” Pinkie shouted as she put me at arm’s length and stared into my eyes. “You’ve grown approximately nine point five centimetres in height, your horn is longer, you have a bit of green hair growing out of the back of your neck where your fin mane thing is, and your eyes have pupils now!”

“Wait, what?!” I exclaimed in shock, trying futilely to look at any of the details she had just described and looking like a fool for doing so. Pinkie giggled at my actions and pulled a small mirror out of her mane.

“Look for yourself!” She suggested while holding the mirror in front of my face. I took it out of her hooves with my telekinesis and stared.

My eyes had transformed completely. In place of the near solid blue that I had grown accustomed to were dual ringed irises of varied blue and cat like slits for pupils. Not only had my horn grown, but it had begun to turn gnarled as well. Moving the mirror, I found the beginnings of an honest to goodness mane of dark green forming on my neck, beginning to obscure what had already been there. Ignoring the differences in colouration, I was starting to look a lot like Chrysalis.

I cut the flow of magic holding the mirror, which Pinkie Pie snatched up and put back into her mane, and looked back on the two changelings that had accompanied me. Pupa looked amused at my confused and worried reaction. Drymanid, on the other hand, refused to even look me in the eye. He knew what was happening to me, he had to. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Drymanid!” I barked out at him. He straightened up rigidly at my displeased tone.

“Yes, Princess?”

“Is what’s going on with me dangerous?”

“No, Princess.”

“Then we’ll talk about this later, we have more important things to worry about, for now.”

I looked back to the ponies in front of me. Many of them gazed on curiously at what was transpiring between the exotic creatures visiting them. Twilight’s brow, however, was knitted in confusion.

“Okay, now I have a lot of questions.” She stated while her ear twitched.

“I’m sure your questions can wait too, Twilight. I would like to hear what it is she has come here for.” Princess Celestia cut off Twilight before she could ask any of them.

“Thank you, Princess. As I’m sure some of you remember, I am a human trapped inside the body of a changeling and I had been trying to find a way back home.” I waited for my audience to acknowledge that they did indeed recall this information before continuing. “You may also recall that I said Queen Chrysalis had been looking for a way to get me there. Well, she succeeded. After I helped you rescue Cadance and Shining Armor, she created a portal to my home and banished me there as a criminal.”

“So that’s why your Queen didn’t kill you? She just banished you to your home? Doesn’t seem like much of a punishment to me.” Rainbow Dash interrupted my story, a fact for which I glared at her.

“She didn’t leave it at that. With the love that Princess Cadance provided gone, she sent her infiltrators into my home and began bringing back humans through the portal to feed off of. My family are included in their number.”

Fluttershy gasped as I said this while the royal sisters digested the news in relative silence. After a few moments, Celestia spoke up.

“And you wish for our assistance in saving your people?”

“Yes.” I simply stated.

“Would it be safe to assume that the changelings continue to abduct more of your humans each day, and as such only grow stronger as time elapses?” Princess Luna queried.

“Yes it would. Action needs to be taken immediately if we are to avoid disaster.” I replied.

“Then the forces we have mustered since they foalnapped Cadance will have to suffice. We shall march on the badlands two days hence.” Luna declared. I could detect Drymanid shifting on his hooves uncomfortably at the prospect of having the Equestrian army wiping out his home.

“No, that’s not what I want. Saving the humans will seem a hollow victory if the changelings are wiped out in the process.” I replied evenly, earning an annoyed frown from the lunar princess.

“If you do not wish us to strike at the changelings to save your people, then why have you come to us?” Luna asked with narrowed eyes.

“As odd as it may seem, the changelings are my people now as much as humans are, and they need help too. The primary reason behind the hostilities between changelings and ponies is because the changelings are starving. They need love to survive and they aren’t getting enough with the way things are now. What I propose is peace between ponies and changelings. If you would allow for them to feed off you, then I think peace can be attained.”

There were murmurs around the throne room, and the general emotional air was that of distrust and disgust with a smattering of fear on the side. It bordered on hostile, and it made me and both of my changeling companions nervous. Beneath Celestia’s outward appearance of calm, even she was uneasy with the proposition. At least Pinkie Pie’s emotions remained mostly supportive.

“Look, I know you don’t like the idea of changelings feeding off of you, but even if you can fight them to the verge of defeat, that won’t really help the humans as they’ll just flee through the portal and make things worse for them. Allowing changelings to feed off of you is better than going to war, isn’t it?” I pressed, hoping I could turn the tide of emotion in the room.

“We have seen what your feeding does. Princess Cadance is still recovering from her time in the changelings’ care.” Luna countered with rage fueling her words.

“What happened to Princess Cadance is far from the norm. She was being fed off of to prepare for war and was likely kept just above the threshold of being shelled for an extended period of time.”

“Shelled?” Twilight asked.

I blanched at this. I had let slip perhaps the most terrifying possible result of changelings feeding on people and Twilight had honed in on it immediately. I had yet to detect any appreciable change in the emotions of those present, and if I had hoped to change their minds I doubted that telling them about being shelled would help my cause. I bit my lip nervously.

“Please, if you want our cooperation we need to know everything about what we are agreeing to.” Celestia added when I didn’t immediately explain. I took a deep breath.

“A pony is turned into a shell when a changeling feeds on them too much. When this happens, they are turned into an emotionless husk permanently. They will still be alive, but the pony they were is essentially dead.”

I closed my eyes, eager to avoid seeing the reactions of those around me. Unfortunately, even an effort to prevent the incoming emotions from overpowering me didn’t block out my ability to sense them. Fear had been dialed up considerably, as did rage, and it was all being directed at me.

An uproar of shouts filled the room. Through my lidded eyes, I imagined several guards advancing on the three of us. I could see Rainbow Dash trying desperately to strike me with a bone jarring, flying tackle, only held back by Applejack, or maybe Twilight’s magic. The royal sisters had their horns charging with spells capable of turning us into a large red and black smear of chitin and blood. Realizing that my imagination was producing things far worse than was likely the reality I would have seen had I not closed my eyes, I opened them.

While several ponies looked ready to squash me, especially Rainbow Dash, they continued to obey Celestia’s previous order of leaving me in one piece. Eventually, the din died down thanks to Celestia’s attempts to return order to the proceedings.

“Shelling only happens in extreme circumstances and requires an intentional, extended effort to accomplish. Plus, a pony that is shelled can’t be fed off of ever again.” I looked at Applejack, “Even the most callous of changelings want to avoid that, it'd be like cutting down a perfectly good apple tree.”

“Setting aside you comparing my ponies to something as low as an apple tree, your feeding is still harmful. I do not think I could condone such acts being done to my little ponies.” Celestia pronounced.

“It’s not nearly as bad as you think!” I protested. “If the changeling doesn’t overdo it, the one being fed on feels tired and a little emotionally drained, but they recover with no ill side effects! It’s no worse than a pony performing a tiring task. Heck, you could probably advertise it as a sleep aid for ponies: having trouble sleeping? Feed a changeling! You’ll be helping somebody out and you’ll fall right asleep!”

Celestia tilted her head. “Hmmm...”

“And I’m not saying you just have to give us your love, we could arrange for trade deals, food for goods or services, just like you would with any other nation. Have you seen Chrysalis’ hive? They’re amazing stone workers, maybe they could come here and do some work for you.”

A little bit of uncertainty was now woven into Celestia’s emotional tapestry, and the general strength of disgust and hatred had somewhat diminished in the room. It was far from being eliminated, though. It was actually still quite substantial.

“If you’re still uneasy about having changelings actively feeding on your ponies, then there is passive feeding. It’s only subsistence living for a changeling, and they won’t be able to use anything more than the most basic of magic, but they can still survive off of it. Make an offer of peace and friendship, allow for our peoples to intermingle for awhile. We can continue discussions after ponies are more comfortable around us.”

“You said you were banished as a criminal. I find it hard to believe that you have the authority to negotiate anything on behalf of the changelings.” Celestia pointed out.

“Well, no, I don’t.” I admitted.

“Chance is the daughter of Queen Chrysalis.” Drymanid announced. “Even though she is banished, our Queen will still give her a chance to convince her, I’m sure of it.” There was a general murmur of surprise in our audience at this bit of news.

“Wait, so you really are a princess!?” Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced with excitement.

“Not exactly, I’m just in the body of a princess.”

“That’s so amazing! I’m friends with another princess!” Pinkie cheered, completely ignoring my denial of the title. "I need to plan your coronation party!"

“Even if she will give you a chance to explain a potential deal for peace, do you think your Queen would be satisfied with this arrangement? Or the rest of the changelings?” Celestia shook her head. “I doubt that they would settle for mere subsistence, and we only have your word that the other type of feeding won’t harm my ponies. I’m afraid that I cannot accept such an arrangement without better evidence that what you say is true.”

“Changelings have been feeding secretly off of ponies for years!”

“And do you know where we can find such ponies so that we can examine them for side effects?”

I looked over to Drymanid for help on this, but he shook his head.

“I have no idea where to find the ponies we fed off of last night, I didn’t exactly get a name or an address.” He whispered to me. I felt an urge to suggest we search for them anyway, but realized that searching a city as large as Canterlot for a couple of unknown ponies could take weeks.

“....No.” I conceded, turning back to Celestia.

“You understand that we cannot simply take your word for this. If—“

“Feed off of me!”

The crowd of ponies stared in surprise at Pinkie Pie, who had just willingly offered herself up to be the victim of a changeling. Rainbow Dash flew from her position near the throne to confront her friend.

“Are you insane, Pinkie Pie!?”

“If Chance feeds off of me, then you’ll all see that she’s telling the truth and then we can have peace with the changelings.”

“But what if you get turned into one of those shell things?!” I could feel the concern and panic emanating off of Dash.

“I trust Chancey.” Pinkie simply stated, causing Dash’s jaw to drop.

“Are you sure you wish to do this?” Celestia asked, her brow knitted with concern.

“Absolutely! There’s nothing I like less than seeing my friends unhappy, and I can’t think of anything that could make my friends sadder than a war! Plus, if we make peace with the changelings, then there’ll just be that many more ponies to make friends with!”

“Thanks, Pinkie.” I genuinely expressed my gratitude to that marvelous pink pony. I wanted to throw my forelegs around her and squeeze her in the tightest hug I possibly could, but I held back. Perhaps sensing my desire, Pinkie embraced me instead.

“You’re welcome, Chancey!” She chirped happily then separated from me. “Soooo....what do you want me to do?”

“Just sit down and relax.”

“Okie dokey loki!” She replied to my directions, beaming at me with joy.

I took a slow, deep breath. I hadn’t done this for awhile, what with Drymanid having been feeding me for so long, and I had never done it to anybody other than Nutcase. Every time I fed off of her, I had done so with the intent of causing her pain, of making her suffer for what she had done to me. This was going to be different. Pinkie was my friend. I needed to prove to the ponies present that I could hold back enough to avoid harming her. I needed to prove it to myself.

I channeled the necessary magic through my horn to open up the connection between myself and my friend. Once the eerie green glow of my magic contacted Pinkie Pie, she entered a near trance like state, unable to move for as long as I kept my spell up. Her eyes glazed over and began to glow the same green as my magic. Involuntarily, she leaned forward and her jaw fell open. An outpouring of green love energy flowed from her mouth like a breath being expelled from her lungs and hung in the air like a cloud between us.

I leaned forward and inhaled that wondrous essence. My eyes closed at the pleasure that rolled through me. My body demanded that I continue, ordered me to ignore her wellbeing and feed until I was completely sated. With a little regret, and considerable willpower, I cut off the flow of magic and released Pinkie Pie from my hold.

Pinkie Pie wavered a bit where she sat, nearly falling over, though she recovered and stood up on all four hooves. Her five friends looked at her with worry, especially Rainbow Dash who reached a hoof out to support the somewhat unsteady Pinkie.

“Are you okay?” Dash and I spoke in near unison. She looked at me, surprise at my concern for a moment but swiftly turning back to help her friend.

“Did I take too much?” I continued, concern etched upon my face.

“N..no. I’m fine.” Pinkie assured us with a tired smile gracing her lips. “See, Dashie? I told you Chancey was a good changeling.”

“Are you certain that you are alright?” Celestia asked as she descended from her throne.

“I’m just tired, I’m sure I’ll be right back to normal after a nap.” Pinkie answered. Celestia turned to one of her guards.

“Fetch a doctor, we need to get a professional to ensure that there are no side effects beyond this weariness.” She ordered.

I took a step towards the solar princess. “If the doctor clears her as healthy, will you attempt to negotiate peace?”

“We will monitor Pinkie Pie for three days. If she recovers and shows no ill effects for that duration, we will send an envoy to your Queen with an offer. I do not know if she will accept, but you have my word that we will try.”

I bowed down to Princess Celestia. There was no way I could possibly express the amount of gratitude I felt towards her at this moment. A thousand words flitted through my mind, but in the end I settled on just two.

“Thank you.”

______________________

The royal sisters had offered to us lodgings in a guest suite in the castle. It was a large suite, practically an apartment, though considerably larger than the one I had lived in back on Earth. There were only two bedrooms, and as such, only two extravagantly large beds. But that was a problem for later, as at that moment I had another thing that was occupying my attention.

“Now that we’re alone, perhaps you would like to explain what is happening to me.”

I confronted Drymanid, noticing perhaps for the first time that I had indeed grown taller as I had to look down to stare into his eyes. Drymanid looked over to Pupa nervously.

“Oh no, you got yourself into this one, you get to explain it to your queen.”

My eyes flicked over to Pupa, who had plopped himself down onto the nearby couch to watch the fireworks. With the way he had worded that, I had a sneaking suspicion of what was happening to me, but I needed to be certain of it. At least if I was right, it wouldn’t be as scary as going into heat. Not quite, anyway.

“Well?” I pressed.

“When I was feeding you love, I wasn’t just feeding you love.” He paused. I tapped my hoof on the floor as I waited impatiently for him to continue, causing a satisfying clacking noise. “I had been infusing you with royal essence ever since we had been banished to your home world.”

If that didn’t confirm my speculations, then nothing short of him explicitly saying so would. He kept explaining, though.

“Royal essence is a special mixture of love and magic that only a very select few changelings are taught how to create. It can be channeled into a changeling and will turn them into a queen or king, like Queen Chrysalis.”

“So now I’m queen of the changelings?”

Dryma shook his head. “No. You are just a biological queen, or at least will be soon, not a political one. In Equestria, only Queen Chrysalis is both types of queen.”

Well, that was confusing terminology if ever I had heard some, but I understood what he was saying. I stepped away from him and walked up to a window overlooking Canterlot. Ponies went about their business beneath me, unaware that a changeling queen was once again in Canterlot Castle. Would they listen if they were told she came in peace, or would such news cause mass panic?

“You said that I’m not actually a queen yet, right?” I asked as I watched a pair of foals playing tag in the streets, laughing as they chased each other.

“Yes. You are in the process of metamorphosis currently. In a couple of days, you will be a fully fledged queen.”

“What does becoming a queen entail?”

Drymanid stepped up to my side by the window, emboldened by my lack of visible anger. I contemplated letting my emotional barrier to let him feel my fury and resentment over his deceptions, but dismissed the idea.

“Well, you will change in appearance to be much like your mother. The strength of your magical and physical powers will be bolstered beyond that of normal changelings and your lifespan will double in length, so long as you are kept well fed, though you will require greater amounts of love to sustain your new body. Additionally, changelings everywhere will see you as a paragon of our kind. They will revere you as an ideal and rely on you to help guide them through life.”

That sounded like a lot of pressure and responsibility. As things stood, I could barely take care of myself, without Drymanid helping me every step of the way I would probably be dead by now. How was I supposed to guide an entire species?

“If you stop feeding me the essence, will the transformation stop?” I hopefully asked. From the corner of my eye, I saw Drymanid shake his head.

“No. It takes months of treatments to trigger the transformation, but once begun, it can’t be stopped.”

Months? He had at most been doing this to me for two weeks, that hardly counted as months. An image of Pupa doing the same to me in my dreams popped into my mind. Could those be...? An uncomfortable feeling clawed its way into my mind.

“I see.” I stated simply. The two of us stood there silently.

“That’s it?” Pupa’s disappointment was evident in his voice. I turned to face him. “I was expecting a big shouting match, for you to get all angry at him! You’d end your relationship with him out of disgust and come share a room with me out of vengeance! Mother would be so pleased if I brought a queen home with me.”

I clenched my teeth at my faux husband’s impertinence. I don’t know if he was being serious or just trying to lighten the mood, but it was more than I wanted to deal with right now.

“Despite what you may think, Drymanid and I are not a couple yet.”

Drymanid glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and let out a slight cough. My cheeks heated slightly with a blush.

Oh, God, brain! Why did you have to slip ‘yet’ into that sentence!

“Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you come to Minoa with me? You’ve done what you needed here, the ponies will send a message of peace to your mother.”

“No. Even if I were to leave before peace is official, I don’t think I’d go anywhere with you.” I hissed irritably.

“Give me one night in your bed and I’ll change your mind. I’ll show you why Visage chose me over Dryma.” He boasted while gazing at me lasciviously, which caused Drymanid to fidget nervously beside me.

I stared in shock at the lewdness of his suggestion, and my cheeks burned as several of my dreams flashed before my eyes. He had frequently made attempts to convince me to return to Minoa with him, as well as making romantic advances, but never had he been so aggressive in doing so. Noticing my blush and my lack of immediate response, he pressed on.

“There’s only two beds. Somepony’s gotta share, it may as well be us. Come and I’ll show you a world of pleasure that you’ve only dreamed of.” By the time he had finished talking, he had stepped right in front of me and was gazing longingly into my eyes. He was close enough for me to feel his warm breath upon my face.

I panicked.

With an unexpected surge of magic, I flung the aggressively flirty stallion across the room. With a buzz of his wings he managed to right himself before he hit a wall. He was unharmed, much to my relief, but clearly wasn’t happy.

“I’ll take that as a no.” He said sourly as he set himself down on the floor. “We still have the issue of there being only two beds.”

I contemplated the matter for only a moment before I came to a decision. One of them was sleeping on the couch tonight. If not for Pupa’s latest attempt to woo me to his side, I likely would have forced Drymanid to do so, but as is there was no chance that I was going to let Pupa get away without some kind of reprisal.

“That’s easy. Drymanid and I each get a room to ourselves. You’re sleeping on the couch.”

Pupa grimaced at this.

“As you wish, Princess.”

______________________

Nutcase kicked the dented metal tray that had held her meal into the corner of her cell. The meal had been insufficient to properly satisfy her, and she was feeling particularly irritable because of it. It wasn’t the quantity that bothered her, but the quality. It was always the same simple loaf of bread, bowl of oats and plain, dry salad. While her treatment in the Canterlot dungeons had been far kinder than her time spent in the hooves of the changelings, she was still quite miserable about the entire ordeal.

As far as she was concerned, she didn’t belong in prison. She had been on the verge of finding a way to defeat death. So what if she hurt or killed a few changelings to do so? Who cared about those monsters?

A Canterlot courtroom watched over by Princess Celestia herself, apparently. Her trial after being rescued from the changelings had been swift. The evidence provided by her very own research notes had condemned her in the eyes of the court.

“Hey, guard!” She shouted for the stallion who always held vigil just out of sight of her cell. “I’m thirsty, get me some water!

She waited for him to come into view, but nopony was forthcoming. That was odd. Usually the guards were prompt about this sort of thing. She stepped closer to the little barred window of her cell door and tried to get a better look.

“Hey, where are you!?”

It wasn’t any use. There was no response and the layout of the prison meant that she couldn’t see any of the hallway that wasn’t directly in front of her door. With a grumble, she left the entrance and laid herself down on her bed.

A few minutes passed in silence. She had nearly fallen asleep when the scraping sound of her jail door opening roused her. A royal guard was unceremoniously tossed into her cell, collapsing right in front of her. His only movement was his rhythmic breathing, and his eyes stared blankly into space at nothing. In those eyes, Nutcase saw only a fragment of the stallion he had used to be.

She tore her eyes from the husk of a pony on the floor and gazed fearfully at the open entranceway. A green eyed changeling strode into her cell, a delighted grin upon his muzzle. Forgetting in her fear that she was wearing a magical inhibitor, Nutcase attempted to lash out at him with her magic. The changeling closed the distance between them while she struggled feebly to strike him down.

“That was delicious,” he sighed with satisfaction as he pinned the mare to the wall with his sickly green telekinetic field, “but I think I’m going to need more for what I have in mind.”

Nutcase stared into those monstrous, solid green eyes in terror. Any effort to vocalize her objections or pleas to be spared came out as little more than an incoherent mess of syllables.

“The Queen sends her regards.”

Green Eyed Monster

I paced nervously in the dim candlelight of my temporary bedroom. It was getting to be late in the evening, late enough that I had had time to watch the sun set through my window and to have crossed the room a few hundred times over since then. Many would soon be heading to bed and I was running out of time to confront Celestia about that one particular issue that I had failed to bring up before. What had really happened with the previous changeling envoy that had attempted to negotiate peaceful relations between our two species? What happened to the king of the changelings?

I severely doubted that she had actually killed him, or at least that she had killed him unprovoked. That didn’t stop the loud, frantic voice in the back of my head saying that I didn’t truly know her despite the knowledge attained from the cartoon. It screamed at me that it’s possible that if I brought up what she had done she could kill me too, simply to hide her past crimes. I didn’t really believe that. She had been reasonably kind to me so far and had shown willingness to pursue peaceful coexistence, but fear isn’t always rational. No matter how much I should have known it would be okay, the thought of accusing Princess Celestia of murder terrified me.

As much as my fear wanted me to just pretend I had forgotten and go to bed, I knew I couldn’t do that. It was a major issue that could have drastic consequences on any attempts at peace if it wasn’t addressed. Celestia needed to know about this, especially if it wasn’t true.

After a deep, tension relieving breath, I stepped out of my room. Pupa looked up from a book that he was reading from beneath the blankets on the couch.

“I thought you’d be going to bed by now.” He commented.

I shook my head. “I need to speak with Princess Celestia. I’ll be right back.”

“I’m not letting you go anywhere near her by yourself.” Pupa announced as he set the book down and threw off his blankets.

“Fine.” I conceded. I had no desire to argue with him, if he wanted to come, then he could come.

One of the guards left outside of our guest suite guided us willingly to Celestia’s chambers. I was quite glad for his assistance, even if I suspected that his primary reason for escorting us was to ensure that we didn’t cause any trouble. I had little doubt I would have gotten lost with simple verbal directions several times before reaching our destination.

We came to a stop outside a large, wooden door that was engraved with an emblem of the sun. Two more guards stood vigil by the door and stared at our little procession with suspicion. It would appear that even with Princess Celestia’s blessing, changelings openly walking about were still going to treated with mistrust, not that such a thing surprised me in the least. Our escort knocked upon the door and, after a few long moments, it opened to reveal the celestial alicorn.

“Good evening, Princess Visage.” She acknowledged me with a slight bow of her head. “What brings you to me this late in the evening?”

I glanced over to the guards that kept a very close eye on us. I didn’t really want to be responsible for rumours getting around that Celestia had murdered anybody, even if it was a changeling.

“Could I speak with you in private? I have something to say that may have drastic implications on pony-changeling relations.”

Celestia followed my nervous gaze towards her guards and gave me a courteous nod. “Very well.” She indicated towards the guard that had accompanied us. “You may return to your post.”

“But, Princess—“He began, but his objections were swiftly cut off by Celestia.

“I think I can handle two changelings. You are dismissed.”

The guard’s mouth twisted with displeasure, but soon he bowed towards his ruler and trotted away. With him dealt with, Celestia stepped aside from the door frame and beckoned us to come inside. We accepted her invitation and entered her chambers.

The room was primarily shades of purple and blue. A bed large enough for an alicorn was positioned against the far wall and draped with royal purple blankets and a long, singular pillow made of a golden fabric. The crackling of a fireplace in the wall opposite the bed filled the air and the glow of the burning logs within it gave the entire place a warm feeling. Tucked into a corner was a sizeable desk covered with a myriad of papers. From the looks of it, Celestia had been going through them before we had knocked upon her door.

“I’m sorry if we interrupted something important.” I quickly apologized for our intrusion.

“Do not worry yourself with that, I was trying to dig up the appropriate paperwork on establishing diplomatic relations with a new species. It is tedious work and I am glad for a break. Besides, if what you have to say truly has an impact on future relations with changelings, then it holds equal if not greater importance to what I was doing.”

“Right.” I stated nervously as I gazed up at her face.

The anxiety I had felt over this entire situation seemed to only be amplified by such close proximity to the Princess. What if she didn’t take this well? She dwarfed me in both physical and magical ability and could crush me both literally and figuratively if she so chose. The panicked voice that frequently told me what I was doing was a bad idea was clawing desperately at the gates of my mind. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t starting to freak out.

“Boop!”

I crossed my eyes to look at the spot on my nose that had just been lightly pressed with an oversized, gold clad, white hoof. Did Princess Celestia just boop me? My eyes returned to normal as I gazed up in confusion at Celestia, who giggled at my reaction.

“Calm down, there’s no need to be frightened of me. I have promised that you would come to no harm while under my roof, I will not break my word simply because you tell me something I do not like.”

I took a deep breath, gladdened to witness a reminder that Celestia truly is a reasonable person.

“Better?” She asked of me with an amused twinkle in her eye. I nodded. “Good, now what was it that you wished to tell me?”

“According to Queen Chrysalis, I am not the first changeling to attempt to establish relations with the ponies.”

She raised her eyebrow at my declaration. “This is news to me.”

“Yes…well…the previous envoy was supposedly killed during the negotiations.”

“I feel you are dancing around important details. What is it that you are keeping from me?”

“By you.” I squeaked out.

Celestia blinked, but otherwise made no outward appearances of surprise. The radiation of her emotions on the other hand displayed surprise mixed with a small measure of offense.

“Are you certain that Queen Chrysalis was telling the truth?”

“I think so. She seemed genuinely furious over the matter. The previous envoy had been her husband.”

Celestia’s eyes widened at this news, matching the surprise I felt emanating from her emotional aura. “That is indeed very troubling. I assure you I had nothing to do with it. I do not know who killed your sire, but it was not I.”

“That’s a relief.”

“No doubt. I can see why you would be nervous to bring this up. I’ll be sure to keep this in mind when we send delegates to the changelings. Is there anything else?” I shook my head. “I have much paperwork left to do. I trust you can find your way back to your room?”

Before I could inform her that my sense of direction wasn’t the greatest, Pupa interjected. “I remember the way back.”

“Then I bid the two of you a goodnight.”

I followed Pupa out of the room and past the two guards at Celestia’s door, gladdened to see that at least Celestia seemed to trust me well enough to let us wander through her castle alone, even if nobody else seemed comfortable with us doing so. I was equally glad that Pupa was better at remembering our prior path than I. All these hallways that we walked through looked the same to me, and I had little doubt that on my own I would get hopelessly lost.

“Do you believe her?” Pupa suddenly spoke up as we entered into a hallway devoid of any other ponies, either guards or servants.

“Don’t you?”

“Maybe it’s from a life of not trusting anything that couldn’t transform, but I have my doubts.” He answered while his eyes darted up and down the hall for any evidence of potential interruptions.

I thought back on the conversation I had just had and shook my head. “I think you’re just being paranoid. I felt her shock at being told that the previous diplomat was murdered. I doubt that she faked that.”

“I’m not saying she wasn’t shocked, but that doesn’t mean it’s because she was unaware of it entirely. It could just as easily have been over learning she had murdered somepony as important as the Queen’s husband.”

I thought his words over a few moments then shook my head again. “No, I don’t think that’s the case. If she says she didn’t know about it at all, then I trust her.”

“I hope you’re right, but just in case you’re not, I intend on keeping watch tonight.”

The conversation hushed as we approached our guest suite and the guards standing vigil by our door. Their eyes followed us as we stepped past them, the one who had accompanied us earlier in particular looked displeased. I reassured myself that Pupa was just paranoid and that these guys were here for our protection and not to sneak in after we were asleep to assassinate us.

As the door shut behind us, I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized I had been holding in. Pupa trotted straight for a chair in the corner of the room where he’d be able to see everything in the vicinity. As I reached the door to my own bedroom, he cleared his throat and I turned to face him.

“I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour earlier today. I went much too far and for that I am sorry.” He bowed his head in deference to me as he apologized. I sighed.

“It’s okay.” I answered. “I’m sorry I overreacted like I did. I shouldn’t have thrown you across the room.”

“What? That little toss?” Pupa chuckled and gave me a mischievous grin. "That was nothing. Visage would do far worse than that to me all the time, usually at my own request.”

I blushed intensely as images from those dreams of Pupa I had suffered through flooded my mind.

“Hmmm....thinking about it now, aren’t ya?” Pupa teased. “Wondering just what it would be like? You know, I could always show you.” He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Pupa...” I growled in warning.

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’m going too far again. Sorry.”

“Just remember, even if I am in her body, I am not Visage.”

_____________________________________

“What I am about to teach you shouldn’t be used lightly. While it can be useful for obtaining information from those who are uncooperative, the side effects amount to nothing less than torture.”

I rolled my eyes at Mother’s warning. I doubted it could be nearly as bad as she was making it out to be. She had given me warnings about several spells she had taught me previously and none of them had proved to be anything near as bad as what she had said.

“I trust you have studied how to properly cast this spell?” I nodded at her question. What did she take me for? I always studied up on these spells ahead of time, ever eager to learn more magic. “Good. Then I want you to try casting it on me. I am thinking of a number, you are to search my mind until you find it.”

I smirked. Just a number? I had been expecting a challenge. Not only was this going to be a breeze, I concluded that there was no way the spell could truly be equivalent to torture if she was willing to let me use it on her. I charged up my horn, thinking clearly of the proper flow of magic to attain the desired effect, and cast the spell.

Nothing happened.

My smirk disappeared, replaced by a befuddled frown. In turn, Mother stood before me with a smirk of her own.

“Not as easy as you had thought, is it?”

I responded with a growl. I wasn’t going to let this stupid spell beat me! I hastily charged my horn again with considerably more power than I had before and recast the spell. Once again, nothing happened.

“This is a very intricate spell, you cannot simply force it with more power. It requires precise control of your magic to ensure you get the right flows. Take a deep breath and try again.”

I wanted to snap at her for treating me so lightly, but I knew she was right and that it was my impatient frustration that was truly preventing me from doing this properly. This wasn’t simple stuff like levitation, I should have known better. I took a deep breath as instructed and tried again, this time careful to direct the flow to weave the proper patterns of magic. Once I had checked and double checked to make sure the pattern was correct, I cast it again.

The next thing I knew, I was swirling through a black void. The simple, unadorned stone room that Mother used to teach me magic had been whisked away. Soon I found my hooves landing on something solid, though it appeared no different than anything else in my surroundings: just an inky blackness. I looked about void, but there was nothing to be seen, at least not at first. As the moments passed by, several wispy images began to materialize and voices drifted on a wind that wasn’t there, only intelligible if I focused on them. I had entered into my mother’s mind, now I needed to find that number.

I was distracted by a nearby scene of mother lying in bed and cradling a tiny changeling foal. By her side were my father, so small when compared to the queen that lay next to him, and an orange eyed doctor. My heart ached at the sight of my recently deceased father. As I focused on the memory, its wispy form solidified and their voices grew in volume.

“Congratulations, it’s a girl.” The doctor announced. “What will you name her?”

Mother stared down at the newborn foal, her body slick with sweat and looking downright exhausted. Despite her haggard appearance, she was beaming with joy, much like my father beside her.

“She’ll be my little Visage.” She cooed down at the infant version of myself, and then fed a green tendril of love from her horn into her foal’s horn.

“From that moment on, I knew I would do anything for you.” I jumped at the intrusion of Mother’s voice behind me, turning to see a vision of her that was faded of its usual colour and looked to be made of smoke. Her loving voice suddenly took on a hard edge. “And that I would crush anypony that ever sought to harm you”

“Mother?”

A slight smile graced her lips. “Not quite. I am just an avatar of Chrysalis here in her mind. Your real mother is still in the training room.”

From her horn she shot a ball of energy to the sky of the void which eventually exploded into a shower of light. In its place was an image of both myself and Mother in the training room, as she had said. I stood there with my horn glowing and eyes unfocused, but I barely noticed that. Mother was writhing on the floor, screaming in agony.

The shock of seeing my mother suffering in such a fashion caused me to cut the magic powering my spell and I was slammed back into reality. I barely waited to regain my senses back in the real world before I threw myself at my mother in an effort to help her.

“Mother!” I shrieked in fear of what I had done to her. She coughed as I helped her to her hooves and she gave me a wry smile.

“You didn’t get the number.” She commented.

I didn’t answer her, instead choosing to embrace her tightly. How could she have let me use such a terrible spell on her? I never wanted to see anypony in as much pain as I had just witnessed ever again. I could only imagine what she had just gone through.

You don’t have to imagine. You know.

An unbidden thought wormed its way into my mind. What did it mean? It didn’t make sense, this was the first time I had ever seen the spell in action. I had certainly never been subjected to it myself.

Not yet.

The wall beyond my mother shimmered and reformed to show an image, much like how the one inside my mother’s mind had appeared before me. It was Mother and myself standing in front of a crowd of other changelings. She said something about concentrating on home and then cast the spell on the other me, who screamed in pain near immediately. This still didn’t make sense, why would Mother use such a devastating spell on me?

Everything faded around me except for that shimmering projection, which mutated into a new image. This one was bright and filled with green and trees. Obviously it was somewhere outside the hive, though I had no idea where it could possibly be. The other me was lying there on the ground.

I watched as she awoke and bumbled through a long series of events. She looked like a foal trying to feel its way through a dark room. Honestly, it was rather disgusting to watch as she was captured by the ponies multiple times, ultimately resulting in being trapped inside a cage and having a magical inhibitor placed on her horn. Had it been me, I could have gotten out of the situation several times before being saddled with an inhibitor. How could she possibly have let such a thing happen to her?

Something about that cavernous prison that my doppelganger was now trapped in caused an incredibly uncomfortable sensation in my chest. I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t want to look at it any longer than I had to. I turned away from it only to come face to face with my doppelganger through a set of bars.

“You were there.”

I jumped back out of shock, my rump hitting bars behind me. Somehow I had become the one trapped in a cage. I watched in terror as the face before me twisted into first Jade Flare and then into the creamy orange mare that had trapped the other me.

As the mare grinned malevolently at me, memories of the invasion of Canterlot and its aftermath flowed into my mind. Loathing, fear and despair stretching over a time frame I had long lost track of were compressed into mere moments as it all came crashing back into me.

My surroundings faded under the onslaught of images being crammed into my head, and when my vision returned I was strapped to a table while Nutcase danced around with excitement. She proclaimed with glee that today was the day. She would finally bring back her Musty.

The crazy mare cast a spell on me and a sudden and intense pain threatened to crack open my skull. It felt like somepony had repeatedly bashed in my head with a rock, and the pain only grew as time passed.

Before I could pass out from the pain, the world tilted in a nauseating manner and I suddenly stood a few meters away from myself on the table as Nutcase continued her experiment. Screams echoed through the cavern and sent tremors up and down my spine. Within moments, the screaming and struggling stopped and all but the two versions of me disappeared.

This is what happened to me.

This is what happened to Visage.

Two inner voices spoke in unison, at odds with each other and yet both seemed right to me. I tried to make sense of the contradiction in perspective, but found I couldn’t. I stepped closer to my still form upon that table.

This is how Visage died.

This is how I died.

The two competing voices returned, just as contradictory as before and bearing a chilling realization. I was dead.

A torrent of memories tore through my mind once again. The images of my doppelganger that I had watched from afar before were now seen from her eyes. All her experiences were now my experiences, from waking up at Sweet Apple Acres and being discovered by Apple Bloom to being imprisoned by Nutcase and then beyond. My heart ached as I stood before Mother as somepony other than myself and saw the subtle signs of her pain, no doubt caused by facing the facsimile of her daughter.

Within moments, I was completely caught up to the present moment and my transformation from Visage into Victor was complete. Yet, was that right? Was I really Victor? That didn’t feel right, not anymore. I wasn’t Visage anymore, either, was I? Was it possible to be both, and yet neither at the same time?

I stared down at my dead form once again. Most people only ever had one life, and yet here I was on my third life, staring down on my second corpse. I reached out and brushed the side of my body's face with a hoof. I wasn’t sure why I had chosen to do so, but it had a surprisingly calming effect on my nerves.

As I let my hoof fall, the corpse gasped back to life and stared right into my soul. Had I not already realized that I was dreaming, I probably would have run away screaming about the impending changeling zombie apocalypse.

“You need to wake up now!” My mirror image warned me, causing my brow to wrinkle with confusion.

“What? Why?”

“Trust me, the fate of both ponies and changelings depends on it, you must wake up!”

My surrounding began to fade around me as I began to crawl my way back to wakefulness. I sensed an atmosphere of panic, fear and urgency that I couldn’t argue with. Those emotions dragged me from my slumber and would have done so even if I had wanted to ignore her warnings.

“Thank you.” The other me’s fading voice carried across the ether. “And please....tell him that I still love him.”

My eyes suddenly popped open and I was greeted with the natural darkness of night. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I had a feeling that morning couldn’t be that far off. It took me a moment to reorient myself in the unfamiliar environment. With a sense of dread, I realized that the emotions of fear and panic that I had felt in my dream were still very much present, and they were coming from the guest suite’s common room.

I hurled off my blankets, threw myself out of bed and leapt at the door which crashed open as I barrelled through it. I hesitated as a pair of faces turned to me, one lined with fear and desperation and the other laced with loathing, both of which were affirmed by the emotions they radiated. I could barely believe what I was seeing. Princess Celestia had Pupa pinned to the floor beneath her greater bulk. They were both illuminated by their respective golden and green magical auras as they wrestled for control over a sword emblazoned with the blue star emblem of the royal guard.

My entrance proved to be distraction enough for Celestia to overcome Pupa’s defences and I watched in horror as the blade descended into his chest. His eyes bulged and his emotional output turned to one of pain and confusion. The green aura that had struggled for control of the blade faded out of existence. It had all happened over a span of a couple seconds.

The sound of Drymanid’s own door crashing open was nearly drowned out by my screams of rage as I threw myself at the one who had just murdered my friend. A golden aura effortlessly swatted me aside, tossing me into the room’s bookshelf and causing its contents to tumble down and painfully bury me inside a pile of books. Drymanid’s own attempt to take down the alicorn met with no more success than I had had as he was thrown atop the pile that I was under.

“So much for subtlety.” Celestia muttered as she cast a spell which left a layer of golden energy covering the door leading out of our suite. Within moments, the guards outside began pounding on it. I could hear shouting about how their key wasn’t working and that they were trapped outside.

I stood up, trying to ignore the pain my body felt from my flight into the bookcase. Why would Celestia lock out her own guards? I reached through my mind for any spell I could think of that might help me combat the intruder and began charging my horn, but was interrupted as both Drymanid and I were violently lifted into the air and slammed up against the wall by Celestia’s golden aura. My concentration breaking completely ruined the intricate weaving of my spell and caused it to fail.

“Why are you doing this?” I croaked out from my position held against the wall.

“You’re a fool if you thought that I’d ever let you changelings feed on my ponies. If I had wanted peace between our people, I wouldn’t have killed your father.” She hissed as she drew the sword from Pupa’s chest with her magic and brandished it in front of us, dripping with blood. “Once I’m done with you, your mother is next.”

I could never have imagined Princess Celestia this angry and filled with hate before. Her actions and the loathing I felt radiating from her flew in the face of the calm, caring and reasonable pony that I had dealt with up until now. It was like she was a completely different person.

A completely different person.

This wasn’t Celestia. More than anything else in the world, I knew that this thing couldn’t possibly be Celestia. This thing was little more than a monster that had murdered my friend.

I charged my horn once again, going through the relatively simple energy weave of a spell to counter her hold on us. Fueled by rage, the love of one overly excitable pink pony and the power of a changeling on the cusp of becoming a queen, I completely shattered the golden aura that held us to the wall.

The monster’s stolen pink eyes widened and shock emanated from its very being as my hooves clacked against the marble floor. Before I had even landed, I had begun channelling the intricate spell that had been interrupted before again. The Celestia impostor began charging its own spell to counter me, but was interrupted and thrown off balance by Drymanid as he rammed into her with a flying tackle. She tossed him aside, but that distraction was enough. A beam of green energy shot forth from my horn and struck our attacker right between the eyes.

I was suddenly sinking through an ocean of darkness until my hooves found solid footing on an invisible floor. My eyes wandered about the oddly familiar environment that I had just experienced in my dreams earlier this night. If I concentrated really hard, I could hear the screams of the one whose mind I was invading, though that may have just been wishful thinking on my part.

If the events of my dreams this night hadn’t convinced me that they hadn’t really been dreams, then the fact that I had been able to cast a spell I had only know of thanks to those dreams would have confirmed it for me. A slight panic over who exactly I was began to rise in the back of my mind, but I pushed it aside. I had far more important things to deal with than a growing identity crisis.

Images and voices began to materialize around me, most of them carrying the distinctive appearance and sound of changelings. Central to nearly all of them was a green eyed changeling, one that I recognized from both dreams and my time in the hive. I realized rather quickly that I was in Jade Flare’s mind.

A familiar sight out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I turned to face it. Nutcase’s subterranean laboratory solidified before me and I could see three horribly injured changelings locked up in three separate cages. An image of Jade Flare approached the cages and one of the changelings, Visage I realized, looked up to him.

“Please....help us.” Visage begged in an exhausted, barely audible voice. Jade Flare stared at her for a few, long moments, but ignored her pleas as he turned away and left her to her fate. “No...don’t...go...”

The scene twisted into another subterranean room, this one the much more opulent throne room of the changeling hive. Jade Flare stood before Mother. I mean Chrysalis. No...I do mean Mother. She looked nearly sick with worry.

“I’m sorry, my Queen, but your daughter is not in the Everfree Forest.” The two shimmered slightly and then continued on with a different conversation. “Chance is a menace! I know you don’t like executing changelings, but if you don’t she’ll just cause more troubles for us!”

“I will not execute my own daughter!” Chrysalis snarled back at him.

“She is not your daughter! Your daughter is dead!”

Chrysalis winced at his words and continued in a much more controlled tone. “I still won’t kill her.”

“She just betrayed you and has jeopardized the entire war effort, something must be done.”

“You think I don’t know that?” She replied flatly. “I’ll figure something out.”

The scene faded back into nothingness. So Jade Flare had known where Visage was all along and had lied to Mother about it, then when I had been taken to the hive he had pushed to get rid of me again. I couldn’t exactly say I was surprised. He had already made it blatantly clear that he had something against me what with having just tried to kill me.

Remembering what the book that my other self had read had said about this spell, I concentrated on what I wanted to see. What was Jade Flare doing?

“I must thank you for your continued service to Equestria.” A voice floated over a non-existent wind, one that I recognized as Shining Armor. “We are indebted to you for all you have done to bring the locations of changeling infiltrators to our attention.”

“It was my honour, captain.” A new, unfamiliar voice responded, one that I could only assume was Jade Flare in disguise.

I shook my head. This wasn’t what I needed to know. According to my dreams, my past self had already suspected he was divulging the locations of love gatherers and infiltrators. I needed something more.

This new voice seemed to be heard from within my own mind, as if it were my own thoughts. A scene grew into being before me. It was inside some kind of opulent bedroom with a definite crystal theme. Within that room was a small group of changelings, and Princess Cadance held within a yellow magical aura. A crystal pony guard, one that I had seen the previous day when I had met with Celestia if I wasn’t mistaken, staggered to her feet and killed two of the changelings before the image faded entirely.

I grumbled out of frustration. This wasn’t what I wanted to find. He was trying to undermine the changelings, I already knew that. I needed to know why!

I searched through the scenes that were materializing around me until my eyes landed on a familiar glow of green and purple energy. I brought that memory into focus and two changelings came into the foreground of the mindscape. An unknown, female changeling was channelling royal essence into Jade Flare.

“Mmm....how was that, my King?” The female changeling asked with a coy smile.

“Wonderful as always, Gold Shine.” Jade assured her with a content sigh. “I’m not a king yet, though.

“A few more of our little sessions and you will be, then you can take your rightful place as our leader.”

“No,” Jade shook his head sadly, “I cannot. Though that bitch of a Princess was eliminated thanks to that botched invasion, Chrysalis survived. I can’t afford to risk her finding out I’ve ascended to royalty. She'd destroy me.”

“But you’ll be a royal, surely you could take her on!”

“Chrysalis has had decades to develop as a royal. Unless I could keep it hidden for a couple of years or strike her when she is weakened, she would easily overpower me. Even if I could defeat her, I’d need to wait for the opportune moment that would allow me to avoid taking the blame for her death. The hive would hardly follow me willingly if I openly assassinated their current Queen. No...I will wait. Chrysalis trusts me, I can afford to take my time.”

“So you’re just going to sit back and do nothing?” Gold Shine’s mouth twisted with displeasure.

Jade Flare smiled warmly at her, a rather unsettling sight considering the topic of their conversation. “Of course not. I will continue working to undermine her, to push her into situations where she is likely to get herself killed, or lure her into a position where I can get away with killing her myself, just like with her husband.”

Behind the pair, a silent image swirled into existence that displayed Princess Celestia slaughtering my father and several changelings that accompanied him.

I had seen enough. Jade Flare was trying to get the royal family killed so that he could assume the throne. I snorted. Could you get any more clichéd than having the royal advisor attempting to usurp the throne? I supposed the cliché made some sense. Those who try to gain a position with that much influence over a nation’s leaders would invariably be those that desired power.

Just as I dismissed the vision before me, I was struck from behind by something that knocked me off balance. I stumbled, but didn’t fall, and I soon saw a ball of green flame hurtling past me.

“Get out of my mind!” A low, dual toned voice growled at me.

I turned to face my attacker and was confronted by the smoky figure of Jade Flare, his horn glowing menacingly in the darkness. I knew immediately that it wasn’t the real thing, merely his avatar within his mind there to pester the one scraping through memories. Even if he wasn’t real, seeing him as more than just a memory triggered my rage. I snatched his wispy form with my magic and slammed it against the unseen ground, causing it to deform into a featureless cloud of smoke. Sadly, it wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped.

“You can’t harm me here, not as a mere shadow of your true self.”

The cloud reformed itself. “Get out of my mind!”

I rolled my eyes. Was that all it could say? I could have sworn Mother’s avatar had been far more lifelike.

“I’ve already seen all I need. I’ll tell mother about your treasonous ways and your plans will all be for naught."

Jade’s avatar didn’t respond, opting instead to merely glare at me. Why would he want me to leave so badly when I had already seen everything? Unless....My eyes widened as an unsettling thought struck me.

“What are you still trying to hide?” I demanded. He bared his fangs at me and growled. I put more power into the spell I was channelling and focused as hard as I could on my question. Though there was resistance, the ethereal landscape slowly transformed into a familiar setting.

It was Celestia’s throne room, and an image of myself was standing before an audience of ponies, including the entire mane six and both lunar and solar princesses. I shuddered at the realization that Jade must have been there at the time.

From the looks of things, it was nearing the end of our meeting. Pinkie had already been fed upon and many of the ponies were leaving. One guard in particular, who I quickly realized must have been Jade Flare in disguise, trotted out of the throne room and the focus of the scene followed after him as he found a secluded place to hide in. Upon finding a suitable location, the horn upon his head glowed and the environment around him took a sudden, jarring transition to black, not much unlike the mindscape the scene was set against.

Inside the blackness were an undisguised Jade Flare and, more surprisingly, a somewhat disoriented Queen Chrysalis. Upon seeing Jade Flare, her eyes filled with hope.

“What news do you have of my daughter?”

Jade Flare hesitated just a moment before answering. “It was as you feared. Your daughter was heading straight for Canterlot. I confronted them outside the city and beseeched her to turn away. Before I could try anything else, one of her underlings blindsided me and rendered me unconscious.”

“Please tell me that she is okay.” Her voice wavered. Jade Flare bit his lip and looked away, putting on a show of being nervous over what he had to say. Given recent revelations, I seriously doubted the veracity of his gestures.

“Investigations after I awoke revealed that she had confronted Princess Celestia with an offer of peace.” He hesitated again. “The pony princess pretended to agree only to kill her later when her guard was down.”

Mother closed her eyes tightly and just stood there, trembling. Tears began to trickle from the corner of her eyes.

“I am so sorry...I have failed you.” Jade stated with faux shame.

“No.” Chrysalis declared coldly as she opened her eyes. “It’s not your fault. I will leave punishment for the ones responsible for this.”

“What are you going to do?”

“My vengeance will rain down upon all of Canterlot. No mercy. No prisoners. I will not stop until either Celestia lies dead, or I do.”

Jade gasped. “But our armies aren’t ready! They haven’t had enough time to feed off of the humans yet!”

“I still have most of the love from Cadenza. I doubt that what I could gather from the humans could compare to that. As for my armies, they will have to make do with what they have.”

“Yes, your highness.” Jade bobbed his head in submission. “Do you have any orders for me?”

Mother paused momentarily.

“Yes. I want you to find Nutcase and eliminate her. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have an army to mobilize.”

I cut off the flow of magic to the spell keeping me in Jade Flare’s mind in a panic. I needed to warn everybody. The barren mindscape crashed around me as I was vaulted back into reality. Noticing the position of Drymanid, I could only guess that a few seconds had passed. A large crash echoed through the room as the door that had previously been barricaded by Jade Flare’s magic was broken down by a trio of guards. They swiftly levelled their weapons at the gasping changeling that was just now getting back to his hooves, his horn glowing.

“Give up, Jade Flare. You’ve lost.” I demanded.

The traitorous changeling closed his eyes and stood there for several tense seconds. Finally, the glow of his horn faded and he opened his eyes.

“I surrender.” He announced. “There’s no point in getting myself killed.”

I watched in surprise as he allowed himself to be escorted away. I didn’t have time to worry about that now, though. I turned to Drymanid.

“I need to find Mother.” I informed him.

He looked at me with confusion. “I’m pretty sure she’s still in the dungeons in the hive.”

Why would Mother be in the dungeons? Then I realized what he meant. “No, not her, I meant Chrysalis.” I explained.

“Chrysalis? What do you....wait...Visage?”

Faced with the question as to my identity once again, I thought on whether or not it was true. When I tried to remember my past, the memories of being Victor the human were the strongest images in my mind, but somewhere in there was also a lot of Visage the changeling too. I couldn’t remember everything of her life, not by a long shot, and what I did remember was generally a lot harder to focus on, but it was definitely there. Whether I thought of Victor or Visage, both had the subconscious label of ‘me’ plastered on them.

“I...sort of? Look, we can worry about my identity crisis later. Jade Flare lied to Mother, I mean Chrysalis, about Celestia killing me and now she’s on her way here with her entire army to try and get revenge.”

“Then we had better hurry.”

A hoarse cough interrupted us and my eyes were drawn to the sickening sight of Pupa, lying in a pool of his own blood in the middle of the room.

“Visage?” He forced out between coughs.

He sounded absolutely terrible, and he expelled blood with each wracking cough. I didn’t know how long it would take Chrysalis to get to Canterlot, but I knew that Pupa only had moments left to live, so I went up to him and placed a comforting hoof to his cheek.

“I’m here.” I dropped my emotional barrier so that he could feel that he truly wasn’t alone. “Thank you for warning us of the attack, without you Jade Flare could very well have killed us all.”

“Is it...really you?”

“Yes.” I lied.

He gave me a wan smile. “No...even now you’re the impostor.” He coughed. “At least now....I’ll get a chance to be with her again.”

He shut his eyes and remained nearly perfectly still. Only his shallow breaths and weak emotional signature told me that he yet still lived, and I doubted either of those would last much longer. As I felt his life slipping away, I remembered the last words of Visage in my dream. I didn’t know if it had truly been Visage, or just my mind guessing what she would have wanted, but either way I felt that it was only appropriate to deliver the message.

“Listen to me, Pupa. No matter what has happened, remember that Visage loves you, and always will.”

I felt absolutely ridiculous saying it, but it seemed to have done the dying changeling good. The edge of his mouth had curled up slightly, and the last vestiges of his emotional spectrum were tinted with happiness. Moments later, I could no longer detect even the tiniest amount of emotion and I knew he was dead. I took my hoof from his cheek and turned back to Drymanid, whose eyes were downcast with sorrow.

“We should tell Celestia of what I’ve learned, and then we need to leave immediately afterwards.”

“Understood.” Drymanid nodded.

Just as the two of us turned to leave our room, a huge explosion reached our ears, and several small objects rattled in our room from the ensuing shockwave. The two of us rushed to our window to see what could have possibly caused it, and in the distance we saw part of the city bathed in the orange glow of fire. Moments later, little dots of green light were flying through the sky, and soon so were a variety of other colours. Screams began to reach my ears.

The invasion of Canterlot had begun.

Author's Note

Edited by Astro-mancer.

War

Jade Flare convulsed uncontrollably from the pain of the spell that Chance had just cast on him. Unable to keep up his own spells under the torturous onslaught, his disguise and the barrier he had placed over the door fell. Within seconds, though it seemed much longer to him, the pain ceased and he was finally able to catch his breath.

As Jade struggled back to his hooves, a large crash echoed through the room from three pony guards breaking down the door. Within moments, Jade was faced with a trio of weapons being levelled at him and two angry changelings staring him down, one of which was nearly a queen.

“Give up, Jade Flare. You’ve lost.”

Not yet I haven’t, Princess...

Jade Flare closed his eyes and began to channel a spell of which he was very familiar.

___________________________________

Shining Armor stood vigil next to his bedridden wife, Princess Cadance. He had felt tremendous guilt over having failed to adequately provide protection for her when Chrysalis had abducted them from the Crystal Empire those weeks ago, so now he took it upon himself to guard her day and night to ensure her safety. He refused to allow anypony near her that could not conclusively prove that they were not changelings, and given the difficulty of such a task, very few ever got to see her.

Unfortunately, he was only a pony, and he needed rest just like anypony else and he was becoming quite fatigued by his constant watch. Previously, he had only ever trusted Luna to relieve him of his duties, and only after she demonstrated that she was truly Luna by moving the moon. Even then, he had slept in the same room as Cadance just in case something happened. He felt guilty taking up so much time from the lunar princess, though. He had heard that Twilight was in Canterlot for one reason or another, perhaps he could send for her to watch over them instead.

As Shining stepped towards the door where a considerable contingent of guards was stationed, the room lurched around him and then cut to black. Disoriented, he tossed his head about in search for any indication as to what had just happened to him.

“Greetings, Prince Shining Armor.”

Shining nearly leapt out of his fur at hearing the voice of a changeling behind him. He swiftly flipped himself around to face his sudden opponent and blasted the bug with a concentrated beam of magic. He breathed heavily as he cut off the flow of energy. His eyes darted back and forth, searching for any indication of what had happened to the changeling.

“That wasn’t very nice.” The changeling’s voice chastised him from behind. Shining jumped in surprise and turned to face him again only to get a face full of a green magical cloud. “Is that how you treat all your old friends?”

Shining shook his head, attempting to rid himself of whatever enchantment that had just been placed on him. He gripped as hard as he could to the idea that the creature before him was a changeling, something that was proving to be harder and harder the more time passed.

“I won’t let you have Cadance!” He shouted in defiance.

“It’s not me who wants your wife, my Prince, it’s the changeling queen.”

“You....you’re a changeling...you...want...” He struggled to keep hold of his senses, hoping that stating the truth aloud would help him maintain control.

“What are you talking about? It’s me, Emerald Blaze. I’m a pony that’s been helping you fight against the changelings for years!”

Shining cradled his woozy head in his hooves. It was a changeling in front of him, no matter what he said. He was going to hurt Cadance. Blink. He couldn’t fall to his tricks. Blink. What was he just thinking about? Something about tricks? There was a pony in front of him, but something was wrong about him. Blink. A smile broke out on Shining’s face as he recognized the pony standing in front of him.

“Emerald Blaze! It’s a relief to see a friendly face!”

“I wish I could say it was good news I brought, my Prince. Queen Chrysalis of the changelings is about to attack Canterlot, and she is bringing her daughter with her.”

“She has a daughter?!”

“Yes, and she is far more cruel than her mother, as hard as that is to believe. The two of them will destroy Canterlot and take Princess Cadance for themselves. You must stop them.”

“What about you? Surely you could help!”

Emerald Blaze shook his head. “No. They have already captured me and I will be executed soon, or worse. You must do this without me. You must save your wife by killing Chrysalis and her vile progeny.”

“I don’t know if I have the strength to kill them.”

“Perhaps not, but I may be able to help you with that.”

Emerald Blaze closed his eyes and channelled a new spell. Within moments, a gently glowing stream of magic connected his horn to Shining’s. A newfound energy poured into Shining Armor’s fatigued body. He could feel his already substantial magical power swelling considerably. Within moments, the stream connecting them faded and the other pony sagged on his hooves.

“There, I have granted you my power as well as knowledge of what Chrysalis’ daughter looks like. You may be able to take one of them on in a fair fight now, but I advise you not give them that chance.”

“Thank you.” Tears of gratitude coursed down Shining Armor’s cheeks. “I won’t let your sacrifice go to waste.”

Emerald Blaze smirked at his words as he faded from view from the mental link between them beginning to fail, a side effect of giving up so much of his magic. Once he completely disappeared, the ethereal plane they had shared collapsed and Shining’s senses were assaulted by the jarring return of the infirmary around him. He returned to his wife’s side as she lay there, peacefully unaware of the disaster that was approaching her. He gently kissed her on the cheek and then strode resolutely out of the infirmary. He had changelings to kill.

______________________________________

The glow around Jade Flare’s horn flickered and then faded entirely as he opened his eyes. He stood up straight to hide his sudden weakness from giving up the majority of his power to Shining Armor. Just because he could barely overpower an untrained foal at the moment didn’t mean that that anypony else needed to know that.

“I surrender. There’s no point in getting myself killed.”

He nearly laughed at the look of shock that both Princess Visage and the pony guards had on their faces. The guards quickly hid that surprise and rushed forth to apprehend him. He followed them willingly out of the room and quickly cast another, much smaller spell in the form of a more traditional telepathic message before they’d have a chance to slap an inhibitor on his horn.

“Cease your spell casting, changeling!” One of the guards growled at him. With his message sent, he gladly did as he was told.

He didn’t much like relying on these back up plans, especially since he hadn't even known if what he had tried with Shining Armor would work. He was susceptible to mind control due to how strongly and completely Chrysalis had controlled him before, as well as a few minor enchantments that Jade had layered on him over the course of several more personal meetings, but it had still been at great risk of failure for him to try controlling him over a connection between their minds instead of in person. As it is, he couldn’t take complete control. He had only been able to implant a strong desire in the stallion to do as Jade wanted by cultivating his natural desire to protect his wife and country. That he had given up most of his magical reserves only made him dislike the plan even more, but it gave him the best chance of success given the circumstances.

If neither Visage nor Chrysalis were killed in the battle and Shining Armor failed to kill at least one of them, then all his years of patience and plotting would be for naught. His true motives would be revealed and any hopes of becoming the hive’s next king would be destroyed. As tempted as he was to have Gold Shine try to help Shining Armor in killing those two, he knew that using her to get out of captivity would be infinitely more useful. If the pony prince did fail, then the last place he wanted to be was in a cell waiting for a furious royal to come tear him to pieces at her leisure. Free, he could at least finish his ascension to royalty so that he could stand a chance when they finally hunted him down. Heck, maybe he could even try to start his own hive if he could convince some to leave Chrysalis'.

The ground suddenly shook from a distant explosion and Jade’s lip curled into a small smile.

___________________________________

My body trembled furiously. I thought I had more time. I thought that I could have reached Mother before she attacked Canterlot. I had drastically misjudged the situation and now ponies and changelings both were going to die. Who knew how long it would take to find Celestia now that the attack had begun. It's entirely possible that she wouldn't even be in the castle and that searching for her would be a wild goose chase. We couldn’t afford to do the equivalent of sitting around twiddling our nonexistent thumbs.

“We need to find Mother now.” I declared.

I didn’t wait for Drymanid to respond before I opened the window. I took one deep breath to steady myself and leaped through it. As my hooves dangled in the air, my mind began to panic. It screamed at me that humans weren’t supposed to be in the air and that I was going to plummet to my death. I forced that voice down, tucked in my legs, beat my wings and began to fly. In moments I was soaring, somewhat less than majestically, over the castle courtyard.

Beneath me I could see a flurry of activity from the royal guard. I had no time to worry about that, though, so I focused on the dual task of not crashing and making my way to the source of the earlier explosion. While I couldn’t be sure Mother was there, it seemed like the most logical place to start.

“Watch out!” Drymanid screamed right before he tackled me. A bolt of blue energy flew through the spot that I had just occupied.

As Drymanid helped me regain my balance, I searched for the source of the attack. It had come from those guards below that I had chosen to ignore in favour of my prime objective, and the menacing glow coming from three separate unicorns informed me that they were ready to take another shot any second now. Within moments, a pair of pegasi guards approached us.

“Surrender peacefully, or the next shot won't miss.” They warned us.

How did I not see this coming? Changelings attack the city and I thought I could just fly away from the castle unimpeded? Just put it on the pile with the millions of other stupid things I've done since I had come here.

In an effort to avoid being shot full of magical holes or dive bombed out of the sky, I descended at a slow pace and landed near the unicorns and was followed shortly by Dryma. Before they decided to try clapping me in chains or whatever they had planned for captured changelings, I addressed them.

“I am not your enemy! I was trying to get to the changeling queen so that I could persuade her to call off the attack!”

“A likely story.” The lead unicorn snorted. “Take them to the dungeons, we’ll deal with them later.”

“It’s true! I’m the queen’s daughter! She’s attacking because she thinks that Celestia killed me! I can get her to stop!”

Drymanid dropped into a combative stance and bared his fangs as the group of ponies advanced on us, undeterred by my words. I didn’t want to fight them, I wanted to stop the violence, but I realized that I may not have a choice. I couldn’t afford to be stopped here. With considerable hesitation, I lit up my horn.

“Halt! You are not to harm those changelings!” A mare’s voice cut through the tension. The guards surrounding us immediately snapped to attention at the order and a crystal pony, the one I had seen when we had our audience with Celestia if I wasn’t mistaken, trotted up to us.

“But Captain—“ the lead unicorn began to argue before being cut off by his superior.

“These changelings are Princess Celestia’s guests and are under her direct protection. To attack, imprison or otherwise harm either of them would amount to treason.”

The unicorn paled. “Understood.”

“Go and assist with the civilians, the lot of you.” When the group hesitated, she continued. “Now!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

As the guards trotted off to help the ponies that were streaming into the courtyard by now, Drymanid and I finally relaxed.

“Thank you, ma’am.” I sighed with relief.

“It’s Garnet Targe, and don’t mention it.” She answered. “Is what you said true? Can you convince your queen to stop this attack.”

A niggling doubt in my mind surfaced at her question, but I couldn’t afford to let her know of it. “Yes.”

“Then we had better get you to her as soon as possible.”

“We?” Drymanid interrupted.

“Yes, we. I’m coming with you.”

“You can’t fly!” He argued.

“You won’t be able to, either, if you’re shot down by any of the guards that are in the city. I can stop any of them we run across on the ground from attacking you, but only if I’m with you.”

“We can disguise ourselves as pegasi, then!”

“And get shot down by changelings instead. Much better plan.” She retorted sarcastically.

“Then send a pegasus with us!”

“Feel free to take one with you.” She made a sweeping gesture to several nearby pegasi, many of which glared at us with open hostility. “I’m sure that they’d never go against my orders to not cause you harm once they're out of my sight.”

I stared warily at those pegasi and shivered. Their cold contempt and mistrust was palpable.

“Look, if we travel together, I can stop ponies from attacking you, and you two can stop the changelings from attacking me. You can stop them from attacking me, right?” She stared at me as she waited for an answer and I in turn looked to Drymanid.

“Could I?”

“Well...yes, you should be able to. The sight of a royal changeling should at the very least give them enough pause for us to explain ourselves, even if you aren’t finished your transformation yet. It doesn’t matter, though, we don’t have time to be slowed down by going on hoof!”

I bit my lip as I considered the options. “I’m not a very good flier. If we’re getting shot at a lot, I won’t be able to avoid getting hit and even if you manage to tackle me out of the way every time, that’s going to cause us to lose a lot of time. You may not like it, but I think we need her for this, at least until we get beyond the areas where most of the ponies would be.”

Drymanid groaned in frustration. “Fine!”

“Perfect. Now do you know where your mother is?”

“Well, not exactly. We were going to go towards that giant explosion from earlier.” I answered.

“I see.” Garnet paused to glance towards a group of guards near the gate that were helping to direct the influx of terrified civilians onto the castle grounds. “That may well be where she is, but I would like to check in with our scouts first to see if they have anything more solid than that. If you’ll excuse me one moment.”

She trotted off towards them, leaving Drymanid and I alone among a group of armed ponies that harboured ill will towards us. At that moment, I wished that I couldn’t detect emotions. I was awash negativity and it was making me feel very nervous. It wasn’t all the suspicion and resentment over me being a changeling, either. The emotions I detected from the swiftly growing throngs of terrified civilians were far worse than anything else. In the case of the closer ones, I could tell exactly where they were almost as if I were looking right at them. I suspected that if I wanted, I could have walked through the entire crowd without bumping into anyone based purely on my ability to detect their emotions.

Not wanting to be left without Garnet Targe to chase off any ponies that built up the nerve to attack us, I made my way to the gates that she had gone to. I warily eyed those around me, the constant barrage of mistrust and fear making me paranoid. A particularly loud outcry, both verbally and emotionally, drew my attention from my path. It was a little foal, crying with anguish as he, or perhaps she as it was hard to tell from my angle, was comforted by an adult.

It was as I looked at this sorrowful child that I bumped into somebody.

“Oops, sorry.” I impulsively apologized to the one I had bumped into, a guard apparently.

“Not to worry, it was entirely my...” The guard’s words trailed off as our eyes met and realization struck both of us at the same moment.

I couldn’t detect his emotions.

He quickly turned away from me, tensed to bolt away, but was stopped when he came face to face with Drymanid.

“Drop your disguise.” He hissed.

“Somepony help! The changelings have attacked me!” He screamed. Shock emanated through the nearby crowds, and I could see from the corner of my eyes a few guards levelling their weapons at me. Before anything more could happen, Garnet Targe forced her way through the crowds.

“What’s going on?” She asked me directly with a level tone.

“This ‘guard’ is actually a changeling.” I answered.

Garnet eyed the mentioned pony. “Fine. Take him to the dungeons.”

The guard’s eyes bulged at this proclamation. “You’re going to take the word of a changeling?!”

“We do not have the time to deal with this right now, so you are to go directly to the dungeons until we do have time, and that is an order.”

The impostor’s eyes darted back and forth between Garnet Targe and myself, and then he unfurled his wings and took flight. Drymanid leapt after him, but I was faster. My horn glowed its eerie green and my telekinetic field engulfed the disguised changeling and brought him down to the ground with a clatter of metal against stone. The changeling groaned as its disguise fell, leaving it in the very ill fitting armour of a royal guard. As the changeling was carted away by a pair of real guards, I recognized that it was Gold Shine, Jade Flare’s accomplice. I gave a mental sigh of relief over her capture. Who knows what kind of trouble she could have caused if she had gone unnoticed.

“Princess!” Garnet Targe spoke to get my attention. “Our scouts say that the changeling queen has been moving towards the castle from the source of the earlier explosion and that Princess Twilight and her friends are currently moving to intercept her. We won’t be able to get there in time to stop the confrontation, but with some luck we may be able to prevent any casualties from it.”

I nodded. “I understand. Lead the way.”

Drymanid and I followed after the guard captain. At first, most of what we saw were panicking ponies that were running away from the earlier explosion, many of which were headed for the perceived safety of the castle. Scattered among them were small groups of guards trying to help the fearful civilians. If it weren’t for the fact that we occasionally found the corpse of both changelings and ponies, mostly hidden away in darker corners and alleys, one may have come to the assumption that changelings hadn’t made it this far. It seemed apparent to me that at least a few of them had been sent ahead in disguise. I hoped that there weren’t any in the castle grounds yet, but I knew it was naive to believe such a thing. I had to hope that they were mostly there for reconnaissance and wouldn’t cause any real trouble for awhile yet.

The further we got from the castle, the fewer civilians we saw, at least living ones anyway. Both pony guards and undisguised changelings grew in number, often times clashing with each other. Our little band tended away from the main streets where most of the open combat seemed to be taking place in favour of the more secluded alleyways and side streets. Though these same areas were where most of the violence seemed to occur closer to the castle, out here where they openly fought without disguises they seemed content with the more open spaces.

I could hear screams, both of ponies and changelings, as we scurried our way through the city. The smell of smoke, blood and seared flesh stung my nose. Though I knew I was physically unable, I felt like I could taste the destruction in the air. Emotions flying about were of fear, anger, confusion and pain. Every time we drew near to a source of traumatic emotions, I desperately wanted to stop and help, but even if I did save an individual here and there, every moment that I delayed in getting to Mother would result in several more deaths everywhere else in the city. As much as it pained me, I couldn’t afford to help those near me, though that justification did little to assuage my guilt as I ran past them. Tears coursed down my face in a steady, silent stream as I lost count of how many times I felt a source of emotion vanish.

As we were about to bypass an alley where I could sense hostile emotions, I heard a loud bang. I knew that sound, but not from anywhere in Equestria. Immediately following the bang, the hostile emotions ceased and only one source of weakening pain and confusion remained in the alley. Though I knew it was a bad idea, I had to investigate the noise. I hoped with all my being that it wasn’t what I thought it was. I dove into the alley, ignoring the protests of my companions.

What lay awaiting for me was a grisly sight. There was a human wearing a tattered and filthy RCMP uniform sitting against a wall, breathing shallowly. A pool of blood formed beneath him, fed by a flow from his gut where an Equestrian spear had impaled him. One of the human’s hands was held at the wound, trying futilely to stop the bleeding, while the other lay at his side, holding a handgun and soaked with blood. A pony guard, the source of said spear, lay in front of him with a small, bloody hole in its forehead.

When he saw me, an influx of fear and hatred entered his emotions. He tried to back away from me only to descend into a fit of coughing. He lifted the hand with the gun, but the weapon slipped from his blood slicked fingers and clattered to the stone below.

“What is that?” Captain Garnet Targe asked with enough shock and wonder to overcome her sense of urgency.

”It’s a human.” I explained in barely more than a disbelieving whisper. “He’s from my home world.” How could Mother do this? How could she force humans to fight in this war? Wasn’t being abducted and used as a food source bad enough?

“We can’t help him, we have to go.” Drymanid urged me. I nodded in response, not taking my eyes from the dying human.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered to the man. His eyes bore into my very soul with the power of his hatred.

“Fuck you...” He spat out, causing my chest to tighten. With a heavy heart, I turned from the bloody figure and trotted away.

As we stepped out of the alley, my eyes were drawn to the skies above the city in the distance. A bright, beam of green, changeling magic had been shot from up in the air down at the ground below, and moments later a beam of golden magic was shot into the night sky in response to the prior attack.

Drymanid and I shared a horrified look. We were running dangerously low on time.

__________________________________

Twilight Sparkle panted heavily as her eyes readjusted to the dimness of the ruined Canterlot street, lit only by a few scattered fires and the pale moonlight, after being nearly blinded by the clashing of one of her spell’s with Chrysalis’. In the place where her foe had previously been standing was little more than a small, smoking crater in the road. As much as Twilight would have loved to think it was over, she couldn’t believe such a thing. How she wished she still had the Elements of Harmony to help with the situation, but they were with the Tree of Harmony now. She and her friends were forced to do this the hard way.

“Did we get ‘er?” Applejack asked as she frantically tried to find any indication of the changeling queen.

“I don’t know.” Twilight answered.

“There she is!” Rainbow Dash shouted from rear of the group. “She just went around that corner!”

Without hesitation, the group galloped in the direction that Rainbow Dash had indicated, all except for Dash herself. She landed gently on the stone street with a light click of her hooves and her forehead began to glow an eerie green.

Twilight, sensing a sudden build up of magical energy behind them, turned to see an inferno of green flames surging towards them. She erected a barrier just in time to save them from incineration. Her shield cracked beneath the power that was poured into it, but held until the last of the flames vanished. Twilight fell to her knees, drained from absorbing such a powerful attack, and watched as Chrysalis, still disguised as Rainbow Dash, stared at them.

“What have you done to Rainbow Dash? Where is she?” Twilight demanded.

Impostor Dash snorted derisively. “I think you should worry more about yourself.”

“Give her back!” Twilight growled through gritted teeth as she got up off her knees.

“You can have her back once I have Celestia’s head.” Chrysalis snarled in return.

Twilight shot a quick bolt of energy from her horn, but it was effortlessly deflected by an equally quick counter spell from Chrysalis. Before the others could act, Chrysalis lifted them all into the air in a great big cloud of green energy.

“Is that the best you can do? You can’t even break out of my hold, can you? You wasted far too much energy fighting me.” As the mares struggled against their magical bondage, Chrysalis gazed at the young princess hungrily. “Come to think of it, so did I.”

Chrysalis walked right up next to the group and stood face to face with Twilight and she closed her eyes as she channelled a new spell. In unison, the element bearers stopped struggling and their mouths drifted open. Currents of swirling green, more concentrated than the field of magic holding them in place, poured from their mouths and was inhaled by the changeling queen, reinvigorating her while simultaneously sapping the five’s energy. This went on far longer than Chance’s demonstration had and Twilight recalled with panic the words on what happened when changelings fed too deeply on their victims.

A flare of golden light slammed into the false Rainbow Dash, blasting her away from the mares and breaking the spell that held them in place, causing them to fall to the ground below with a chorus of thuds. Chrysalis quickly regained her footing and growled with frustration over having her meal interrupted.

A set of gold clad hooves landed on the stone by Twilight’s head with a clack. Trembling, Twilight's gaze followed the legs up to find Princess Celestia standing between her and Chrysalis protectively, her horn glowing like a miniature sun. Moments later, Princess Luna landed next to her sister with her own horn glowing a cool shade of blue. Celestia created a protective dome around their entire group, physically separating them from Chrysalis.

“Are you okay, Twilight?” Celestia asked in a steady voice with barely restrained fury behind her words.

“I...I think so.” She answered weakly.

“We are sending you and your friends back to the castle.”

“But, Princess—”

“No arguing, Twilight, you’ve done enough. We will handle this.”

“She has Dashie!” Pinkie Pie blurted out.

“Worry not, young ones,” Luna answered her, “we will find her. Now off with you.”

Luna directed her magic towards the five exhausted mares and with a small flash of light and a popping sound, they disappeared.

“Celestia!” Chrysalis hissed at the two remaining ponies within the protective bubble. She dropped her disguise and approached the solar princess and her lunar counterpart. How she had longed for this confrontation. Soon she would have her vengeance against this murderer of her kin.

“Queen Chrysalis.” Celestia acknowledged her curtly. “We need to talk.”

Chrysalis studied the dome protecting the pair. It was an impressively powerful shield, as was to be expected coming from an alicorn. Not powerful enough to be unbreakable, though. She began building up the power necessary to do so.

“I did not kill your husband, Chrysalis. I do not know who is responsible for his death, but we can help you bring the guilty party to justice.”

Chrysalis’ eye twitched at the deception she spouted at her. She knew what had happened. Changelings she trusted had seen her do it. Her lies wouldn’t help her now.

“This war is an unnecessary one, nopony else needs to die. We know your people are starving, and we can help you if you would just call off the attack. Peace can be attained!”

Chrysalis continued to ignore Celestia’s pleas. She only offered peace because she was afraid to die. Chrysalis wasn’t afraid to die. She would see this to its end.

“Please! Your daughter wants an end to the fighting! Come with us to the castle and we can all talk this over!”

Chrysalis’ stream of power faltered and faded at the mentioning of her daughter. It had almost sounded like she was suggesting that she wasn’t dead.

“How dare you use my daughter to try and fool me so soon after you murdered her?”

Celestia exchanged a worried glance with Luna. “I do not know what you have heard, but the last I saw, your daughter was alive and well.”

They were nervous. Both of them were. Chrysalis could feel it. Was it the natural fears arising from the assault on their home, or was it over lying to her about Visage.

“If Visage is alive, then why haven’t you brought her with you?”

There it was! Another spike of nervousness aligned with a definite hesitation to answer! Telltale signs of a liar.

“We do not know where she is right now. I had gone to fetch her when your changelings had attacked only to find her room in shambles and its occupant nowhere to be found. ” Celestia finally answered, then added on eagerly. “My guards told me that one of her companions was murdered by a changeling assassin, though she herself survived.”

Chryalis glared at Celestia. She was lying. She had to be lying. One of her own changelings tried to kill Visage? Ludicrous. If her emotions hadn’t been enough to convince her of this, then her actual words proved it beyond any doubt. If she were so foolish as to believe the princess, she was nearly certain that she would be executed as soon as her guard was down.

Chrysalis began charging her horn once again.

Celestia’s emotions were shaded with sadness. She looked to her sister and gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.

The domed shield fell and Luna charged straight at Chrysalis. The changeling used the spell previously meant for the shield to lash out at the approaching alicorn, but with a quick flash of light Luna disappeared and her spell only hit empty space. A sudden appearance of hostility behind her warned Chrysalis of her reappearance, but she couldn’t react quickly enough to avoid being struck on the back of her head by a powerful swing of Luna’s hoof. The blow staggered her, distracting her from the bolt of golden energy that the other princess shot at her. It struck her solidly in her side and sent her sprawling on the cobblestone street.

“Give up, you can’t defeat us both.” Celestia ordered as Chrysalis bounced back to her hooves.

Chrysalis answered with a blinding flash of light then transformed herself into a pitch black raven and flew into the air where the inky dark sky would camouflage her. She positioned herself where the two sisters wouldn’t immediately see her casting a spell and channelled magic into her currently hidden horn, aiming directly at Luna.

“Watch out!” Celestia screamed as a massive beam of green magic flew directly for her sister. She shoved her out of the way with a hastily cast blast of her own magic, barely saving her sister from taking the full force of the changeling’s attack, and then shot a beam of her own into the air where Chrysalis had just been. A quick volley of green energy bolts screamed through the air from a completely different part of the sky, striking Celestia from behind and dropping her to her knees momentarily. These bolts weren’t nearly powerful enough to keep her down, but they were still quite painful and much more quickly cast than the flashier energy beam Chrysalis had first used.

Chrysalis continued a routine of bombarding the two with the low energy volleys and flying to a new location to avoid their counter attacks, trying to wear them down a little at a time. By the third volley, the sisters had stopped answering with volleys of their own and stood inside a new barrier, this time supplied by Luna. With her quarry immobilized beneath a shield, Chrysalis charged up for another larger spell.

Suddenly, Chrysalis felt a field of magic approaching her like a net. The sky lit up in a golden crisscross pattern and then concentrated right where she was flying as it ensnared her. She squawked in surprise as she was dragged out of the sky, completely immobilized by the spell, and landed with a heavy crunch back on the stone street, her disguise failing from the painful impact.

The two sisters galloped towards the fallen queen as she once again struggled back to her hooves and faced them. Seeing that Luna was winding up for another strike with her hoof, Chrysalis wildly shot magical energy her way, not even bothering to aim. Luna disappeared with another small flash and reappeared beside Chrysalis again. Having anticipated a repeat of the last time, she had erected a small shield to defend from both Luna’s physical and Celestia’s incoming magical attacks. She swung her own hoof at Luna when her attack was deflected harmlessly and landed a glancing blow only to have her disappear yet again and appear behind Chrysalis, facing away from her this time and poised to buck at her. Both of Luna’s hind hooves hit their mark and Chrysalis was sent soaring through the air and slammed into the ruined remains of a building’s wall.

The pony princesses approached her again, much more slowly this time. They sensed victory was imminent as Chrysalis merely laid there against the broken wall.

The queen took note of her injuries. Her chitin was badly cracked in multiple places and rivulets of blood oozed from those fissures. She was almost certain that at least a few of her bones had been fractured by the multiple impacts she had suffered too. She had taken a lot of damage and was forced to acknowledge that Celestia was right. She couldn’t fight both of them at once. If she wanted to stand a chance, she had to take one of them out as quickly as possible so that she could focus on the other. First things first, though. She wasn’t going to be able to fight at all if she didn’t treat her wounds. She didn’t like wasting her love on healing herself, but she couldn’t get revenge if she bled to death first.

She turned her magic onto herself and felt the itching sensation of her chitin fusing back together and the uncomfortable pressure of her damaged bones being reinforced. She forced herself off of the ground and stood in defiance of her two opponents, her horn crackling as she prepared more spells.

With a dejected sigh, Celestia’s horn glowed in response, and Luna flew in to try and land a blow that would finally end the thus far one sided battle.

Chrysalis opened by sending her first spell directly for Luna who, as she predicted, disappeared with another flash. As the spell reached Luna’s previous location, it veered sharply towards its intended target of Celestia, catching her off guard and stunning her momentarily. It caused no real harm, but it wasn’t meant to.

Immediately when Luna reappeared next to Chrysalis, she let loose with a second spell. It was a small shockwave that radiated around its caster. It travelled through the lunar princess, seeming to do little more than momentarily knock her off her balance, which she easily regained.

Chrysalis used this second’s delay to face her attacker and cast her third and final spell. A torrent of green flames poured forth from her horn. Luna, with the calm of a well disciplined fighter, merely cast another teleport spell. Her eyes widened and a delicious spike of confusion and fear entered her emotions as she realized too late that she couldn’t do so. The flames engulfed Luna and she screamed from the searing agony.

“Luna!” Celestia screamed, emanating panic to match her sister’s. She erected a golden barrier around Luna, staving off the last of the flames. When Chrysalis stopped casting her spell, Luna was left in a smoking heap beneath Celestia’s shield. Her sister’s intervention, perhaps along with a measure of her own natural magical resistances, may have saved her life from those fires, but there was no way she was going to be able to continue this fight.

Chrysalis looked to Celestia with a cocky, toothy grin.

With a scream of rage, Celestia launched herself at Chrysalis. The changeling put up a shield to deflect the enraged mare’s tackle, but a small spike of Celestia’s own magic pierced through it and sent cracks all across its surface. The impact of the alicorn charging into it directly afterwards shattered it entirely and she tackled Chrysalis with the full force of her weight, knocking her to the ground with her assailant mounted on top of her. Celestia pummelled her furiously with a rain of hoof blows, causing her head to slam against the stone with every strike.

Frantically, Chrysalis let loose an unfocused blast of energy which managed to knock the princess from atop her. Before she could even stand up, a golden glow snatched one of her legs and began swinging her wildly, beating her against the ground with repeated sickening crunches. She could feel the hastily patched up cracks in her chitin bursting open again, along with many new ones forming all over her body. The stones she was being crushed against were beginning to be stained a deep red.

Just when she though she couldn’t take any more, Chrysalis was flung into the air with enough force to send her backwards half way down the street. Whether Celestia intended to release her or had merely slipped in her rage, Chrysalis didn’t know, but she did know that she had to take advantage of this or she would be done for. She locked her attention on the raging solar princess below and poured all the love she could spare into another torrent of flames. A moment of shock entered the princess’ eyes before she was engulfed in a green inferno. That shock quickly gave way to more rage. Still, she didn’t escape from the blaze, so Chrysalis kept pouring everything she had into her attack. Moments later, Celestia burst through the flames, splitting the stream of fire in two with a golden shield as she flew hooves first directly towards Chrysalis. She struck her belly from below like a javelin and her shield exploded on impact. Chrysalis was sent soaring through the air like a rag doll.

With a miraculous amount of effort, Chrysalis managed to steady herself in the air and maintained her flight. Her head pounded with every beat of her heart, and she felt woozy from being doubly drained of both love and blood. She had been knocked back another tremendous distance by Celestia’s unrelenting assault and was only a couple hundred meters away from the crater that had resulted from the explosion she had used to signal the start of the invasion.

A frantic search for where her opponent was revealed the alicorn to be flying towards her, a rocket of pure anger and killing intent jetting through the sky to finish her off. Chrysalis couldn’t possibly keep fighting, she had nothing left, so she turned tail and fled as quickly as her broken body would allow. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as fast as the one pursuing her. If she could just make it back to that crater she might be able to survive this yet. Just a little bit further.

She risked a glance back only to see Celestia right on her tail with a lance of pure light conjured up and ready to impale the fleeing changeling. At the last second before being skewered, Chrysalis veered left. She avoided being struck in any vital areas, but was still hit by the lance in her leg. Just another little sting to add to the sea of pain she already felt. Celestia barrelled past her and directly over the crater.

Chrysalis screamed telepathically.

Celestia turned sharply in the air, readying for another attack, when she was struck in the side by a solitary dive bombing changeling. She swatted it away effortlessly with her magic only to be struck by another from the other side. Within seconds, she was being bombarded by an entire army’s worth of changelings which either rammed into her with their bodies, or threw volleys of magical bolts at her. She erected a shield around herself, but it only lasted seconds before shattering underneath the might of the changeling swarm. She was left beating them off, many of which had latched onto her with their razor sharp teeth.

Chrysalis used the distraction of her soldiers to fly to a nearby roof, one of the few in the area that was still standing. Three orange eyed changelings stood there, having not joined in on the all out attack on Celestia. They stared in open horror at the damage that her body had sustained.

“You, try and heal my wounds,” she indicated towards one of the three combat medics, “and you two, give me your love. Quickly!”

The three set to work following their queen’s orders as swiftly as they could manage. Cracks in her chitin once again refused and she felt the chill of love starvation dissipate. They couldn’t do anything for the dizziness she felt from blood loss, nor could they empower her to a level anywhere near what she had been at the start of the attack. They could barely do more than the bare minimum to keep her alive in the time that she gave them before waving them off and lifting herself into the air with the intent of rejoining the fray.

Celestia had gone on the offensive and was tearing through her little changelings. She lashed out with hoof and spell against any changeling that came within reach. Many a changeling fell from the sky, dead, and it broke Chrysalis’ heart knowing that she failed to prevent this from happening. She knew that no individual changeling aside from herself could stand a chance against Equestria’s ruling sisters, or even against Twilight and her band of friends. They had all been aware that only a very large force of changelings could hope to overpower them and that many of that force would die in the attempt. That was why she had faced all of them alone. She had wanted to spare as many of her subjects' lives as possible.

Dozens of changelings had fallen at the hooves of the princess, and despite being a force easily two hundred strong, they were at a very real risk of losing.

Chrysalis flew up high into the sky above the frantic mass of changelings. She locked her sights on the radiant alicorn, using her emotional signature to avoid losing her whenever she was hidden behind a mass of black, and dived straight for her. The wind screamed past her form as she straightened out her body to minimize wind resistance. She dropped her emotional barrier so that her soldiers could detect her coming and would get out of the way as she dived into the battlefield. Celestia, lacking the ability to detect emotions, was not so lucky.

Far too late, she looked up to see the diving queen. She didn’t even have time to brace herself. Chrysalis crashed into her like a meteorite, knocking her out of the sky and into the rubble below hard enough to send a ring of debris and dust flying from the impact site. Chrysalis rolled onto her back, gasping in pain over her aggravated injuries. She was barely conscious, but that was more than the unmoving Celestia could boast.

The trio of combat medics from earlier landed next to their queen and began to tend to her once more. As soon as she was able, she crawled to her hooves, much to the protests of those healing her. She ignored them. She had to finish what she had come to do. She had to kill Celestia.

Celestia lay there, unconscious and covered in blood and dust. She was so vulnerable. A simple spell would be all it took in her condition, but something about that didn’t appeal to Chrysalis. It didn’t feel right. It wasn’t personal enough. She eyed the princess’ exposed throat and came to a decision. With bared fangs, her head began its descent.

“Mother, no!”

_________________________________

My wings and lungs burned with the effort of my frantic flight. On and on, closer and closer Drymanid and I flew towards that battle between Mother and Celestia. We had left Garnet Targe on the ground, no longer able to afford the costs associated with having her protection. An occasional bolt of magic soared by me, nearly striking me from the sky, but I couldn’t afford to worry about that.

Drymanid, as the stronger flier, flew ahead of me, allowing me the relative ease of travelling in his slip stream. It allowed me to fly faster than I had ever flown before, yet I couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t nearly fast enough.

We finally drew close enough to properly see the two combatants instead of just their magical outbursts. My heart sank as I realized that Celestia was chasing Mother down through the air as she fled directly away from us. She had some kind of solid light by her side and I had to fight against a rising urge to panic over what she was going to do with it. Suddenly, Mother turned sharply and Celestia blew right past her.

Mother’s voice rang through my mind. She sounded desperate and in pain. Moments later, I lost sight of both of them as my vision was obscured by an entire swarm of changelings appearing from their hiding places within the ruins. We drew close enough to hear the sounds of the battle and to feel Celestia’s emotions. Though I still couldn’t see her, I could still tell her approximate position in the swarm.

Just then, I felt another source of emotions from up above. I don’t know how, but as the source dropped from the sky at speeds that I doubted even Rainbow Dash would turn her nose up at, I knew that it was Mother. Barely a second later, the two sources of raging emotions collided and fell to the ground. One set of emotions faded into tranquility, while the other smouldered on in a considerably weakened state, then faded entirely. I could only hope that it was Mother putting her emotional shielding back up and not one of them dying.

The cloud of black changelings began to clear out, revealing Mother standing over the fallen Celestia. I could sense her murderous intent and could just make out her glistening fangs as her head began to dip towards the prone princess.

“Mother, no!” I screamed as loudly as I could manage.

Dryma flew to the side, nearly causing me to lose control as I lost his slipstream but giving Chrysalis a clear path to see me. I rocketed straight down to them as she and several of the smaller changelings turned to find the source of my shouting. I reached the center of the crater at top speed and tried to land, but I had far too much momentum and far too little flight experience to pull it off. I hit the ground hard and tumbled head over hooves across the rough, rocky terrain. A trio of orange eyed changelings had to dive out of the way to avoid being bowled over by my bulk. With a pained groan, I came to a stop when I rolled right into Celestia.

“Don’t...don’t...kill her...” I forced out between gasps for breath, lacking the energy to even right my sprawled form.

“Visage?” Chrysalis asked, her face twisted into one of shock. “Is it really you?”

“Sort of. At least partly anyway.” I answered. Before I could explain anything else to her, she scooped me up into her hooves and hugged me tight enough to hurt me. I felt a slick, slippery liquid covering her and transferring to me as she held me close and realized it was blood. She barely looked like she could stand.

“I thought you were dead!”

“I—” I began to respond, but was interrupted as she held me at arm’s length to get a good look at me.

“You’re ascending!” She observed with wonder, merriment and a hint of pride that clashed with her broken form. “That must be how you survived Celestia’s attack! A normal changeling wouldn’t be so lucky as to come out of that just covered in blood.”

“It’s not my blood, Mother, it’s yours!”

“Oh.” She responded as she let me go and looked down on her bloodied body with embarrassment. “I am a bit of a mess.” She admitted somewhat giddily. I had to wonder if all the blood she was losing was affecting her ability to think. “Jade Flare will be delighted to hear that you survived. How did you escape?”

“I didn’t escape, I was never their prisoner to begin with!” I shouted, hoping to break through to her.

“What?” She asked, blinking a few times as she wavered. One of the medics stood next to her to support her.

“I was trying negotiate peace with them as their guest! Celestia never attacked me, Jade Flare lied to you!”

Mother’s eyes narrowed and her jaw dropped as she tried to comprehend what she was hearing.

“He’s trying to overthrow you!” I pressed. “He’s been trying to kill us both for years!”

“That’s...that’s a very serious accusation.” She said as she pushed away the medic supporting her only to fall to her rump where she remained sitting. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. He tried to kill me while I slept in one of Celestia’s guest rooms. I survived thanks to Drymanid and Pupa and cast that mind delving spell you taught me on him.” I winced as the memory of Pupa’s dead body came back to me.

“I...I can’t believe it.” She whispered, the pain of betrayal was evident on her face. I began to wonder if perhaps she had seen Jade Flare as more than just an advisor.

“Pupa...he died to save me.”

Tears began to flood down Mother’s face, leaving trails in the dirt and blood she was covered in.

“I never did like him, but perhaps Jade wasn’t the only one I misjudged.” She admitted. “His mother will need to be informed. Is there anything else I should know?”

I nodded. “Jade Flare is responsible for Father’s death. He framed Celestia for the crime in the hope that you would get yourself killed seeking out revenge.”

Chrysalis looked past me at Celestia’s unconscious form.

“I nearly did." She whispered. "I have made a terrible mistake.”

“It’s not too late to make it right, we can still make peace.”

Chrysalis nodded and her horn began to glow.

Mother’s voice echoed through my mind once more, and moments after she finished there were countless changelings flying from the city to the south, all but the three orange eyed medics nearby were leaving.

“You three are to help here. One of you is to help Celestia, and the second is to find and help Luna.” She turned to the third medic. “Rainbow Dash is hidden beneath some rubble further into the city where I fought Twilight and her friends. I put her into a slumber, but you should still be able to lock onto her emotions easily enough. Find her and bring her to Canterlot Castle as a gesture of goodwill with a message that I am willing to negotiate for peace.”

“Yes, my Queen.” She answered and then flew off into the city.

“What about you?” I asked, my brow wrinkled with concern.

Chrysalis grimaced. “I just need some rest. I will worry about the details of the negotiations, and hunting down my ex-advisor, later.” She looked to me with a wan smile. “Come, little one, let’s go and meet up with the others outside of the city.”

Mother stood up and took a shaky step forward, nearly tripping over her own hooves. I stepped up next to her and dragged one of her forelegs over my shoulder so that she would be forced to let me carry some of her weight. She sighed, but didn’t resist my efforts to assist her, and we began hobbling away.

As I was fussing over her in an effort to make things easier for her, Mother’s ears swivelled towards a sound somewhere behind us. Before I could look to see what had caught her attention, her horn flashed a bright green and a shield went up behind us. Barely before it had been erected, a massive wave of pink magic hammered into it. Mother trembled under the strain of the sudden attack and hair line fractures began spreading through the surface of her shield almost immediately. She looked at me, eyes wide with horror. She knew the shield wouldn’t last.

With an unintelligible cry, Mother forced me to the ground with the leg that was draped over my shoulder and threw herself on top of me, covering me entirely with her now only somewhat larger form. Then the shield shattered.

Mother screamed in pure agony, but I could barely hear her over the roar of the pink ray of death. I was nearly crushed beneath her by the overpowering force of the assault, making it difficult to breathe. I could feel the heat of the magic searing my flesh and singing my newly grown hair. Yet through all of this, I could only think of how it must be infinitely worse for Mother.

As suddenly as it began, it stopped. Though I hadn’t seen it and would only learn of it later, Drymanid had tackled Shining Armor and put a halt to his destructive attack.

I was pinned beneath Mother, the scent of her burnt hair and chitin so thick that it choked me. I turned my head around to face her. Her eyes were barely open more than a slit and her body lay atop me listlessly. She hadn’t even the energy to maintain her emotional barrier, though I could barely tell with how weak the emotions that I could detect were.

“Mother!” I screamed in horror, hoping my voice would bring her from the brink of unconsciousness and, I feared, death.

“Are you...okay?” She asked in a barely audible whisper that I couldn’t possibly have heard if her lips hadn’t been so close to my ears.

“I’m fine, but you...”

Relief seeped into her rapidly fading emotions, along with a small measure of joy.

“Doesn’t...matter. As long...as...you’re...”

Mother’s words trailed off as her eyes closed.

Queen of the Hive

I sat impassively on my designated seat in the waiting room of Canterlot Castle’s medical ward. I barely noticed the wide berth that nearly all in the room gave me, though the fear and worry radiating from them was much harder to miss. Mother, Celestia and Luna had all been in the next room for hours now, receiving treatment for their wounds. There were no windows leading outside for me to confirm it, but I was nearly certain that morning had come by now, unless morning couldn’t come without Celestia around to raise the sun. Perhaps under different circumstances I might have wondered about whether or not there was a backup plan for controlling the sun and moon if something happened to the royal sisters, but at that moment I was just worried.

My eyes, hopes and fears rose in unison every time that anybody stepped out of the emergency room, but thus far there had been no word on the fates of those within. My eyes and hopes fell as the latest pony to emerge walked straight past me and out of the waiting room. Drymanid placed a comforting hoof on my shoulder, so I gave him a weak smile. He hadn’t left my side through all of this and I greatly appreciated his company. I didn’t want to be alone right now.

Twilight Sparkle was also there, pacing back and forth frantically as she vocally tried to convince herself that her mentor was going to be okay. Accompanying her was her brother, Shining Armor, all battered and bruised from what Drymanid had done to him after he attacked Mother and I. I had to stop Drymanid from permanently harming him and only succeeded because he realized that we had to get Mother medical treatment immediately. Neither of those two liked being in the same room, and both kept a very close eye on each other.

Shining Armor had been acting unusual, or so those who knew him claimed. Even after he had been informed that the war had ended he had kept trying to kill Mother and I, not that he was able to do much after being restrained during the trip back to the castle. After our arrival at the medical ward, he had been examined by the staff and it was discovered that he was under some sort of spell that compelled him to attack us. They weren’t sure just how strong that instilled compulsion was, but he did stop trying to kill me after it was dispelled. However much I wanted to hate him for what he had done, I couldn’t, at least not when I knew that his actions weren’t entirely his own. I suspected that Jade Flare had something to do with it, but the last thing I wanted right then was to see his face again. I would much rather forget him as he and his cohort both rotted in the dungeons, preferably in separate cells.

A pair of doctors, one pony and one changeling, filed out of the room where the injured were being treated followed by a bandaged and limping Princess Celestia. Twilight’s spirits rose dramatically at the sight and she rushed over to her mentor. The pair nuzzled each other affectionately as Shining Armor conversed with the pony doctor. The orange eyed changeling doctor approached me, and the distinct lack of Mother's presence caused a sinking feeling in my chest.

“We have stabilized your mother’s condition and, though we can’t be certain, we believe that she will survive her injuries.” She informed me with a respectful bow of her head and I sighed with relief. “However, it could be days before she even wakes. She pushed herself far beyond what the limits of her body should have been, and that was before she was...struck down.” I noticed her pause as she glanced over at Shining Armor.

“You mean before I attacked her.” Shining Armor interrupted as he stepped over to join us. Though I knew he hadn’t been fully responsible for his actions, I couldn’t detect even the slightest measure of guilt in him.

“Yes.” The doctor responded flatly, trying to keep control of her anger over his lack of shame. She turned her attention back to me and gave a quick bow of her head. “If you’ll excuse me, my Queen, I must return to my duties.”

I stared at the doctor as she walked back into the emergency room, trying to comprehend what she had just called me. The way she said that hadn’t sounded like she was just referring to me as a royal changeling, it sounded far more official. I turned to Drymanid with a question in my eyes.

“Why did she call me her Queen?”

“With your mother so badly injured, she is in no shape to lead us. As her daughter and a royal changeling you are the natural choice to lead us in her absence, at least until she recovers.”

I wanted to argue. I wanted to list off all the myriad reasons why I was a terrible pick for leader, ranging from not truly being a changeling to the sheer number of mistakes I had made since coming to Equestria. I couldn’t, though. I just didn’t have the will to argue about much of anything right now.

“It’s only temporary, right?”

“As I said, until she recovers.” Drymanid repeated.

I sighed. “I suppose we should meet up with the army to let them know what happened and to send most of them home.”

Celestia managed to escape from her conversation with the ponies of the room and limped towards us.

“Before you leave, I think it would be best if we talked.” She stated.

“Alright.” I answered succinctly and unenthusiastically.

“First I would like to know about the changeling that had tried to kill you. My guards had little time to inform me of the details.”

I nodded. It made sense that she’d want to know. “His name is Jade Flare. He’s the one truly responsible for the attacks on Canterlot. He’d been manipulating mother for years with the intent of getting her killed so he could become the next king of the changelings.”

“I see. And where were you when the attack began?”

“Where was she?” Drymanid interjected before I answered with narrowed eyes. “She was trying to stop the battle! Are you trying to imply that she had something to do with the attack?”

“I assure you that was not my intent and I apologize for offending you.” She answered calmly, the complete lack of hostility catching Drymanid off guard and leaving him looking awkward over hasty assumptions. “I merely asked because I had been searching for her before my sister and I went to confront Queen Chrysalis. I had thought I would have a better chance of convincing her of our good intentions if she was with us.”

My heart sank as I realized that the best course of action I could have taken when the attack began was to have stayed in my room and twiddle my metaphorical thumbs after all. I could have gone straight to Mother under the protection of Celestia herself and saved both time and lives. I had damned hundreds of ponies and changelings, if not more, to die thanks to my bull headed hastiness. My head drooped and a few tears escaped my eyes. Was everything I did this entire time a mistake?

“I’m sorry.” I whispered.

“Pardon?” she asked.

“I am so sorry.” I repeated louder this time as I raised my eyes to meet Celestia’s. “It’s my fault that so many died. If I hadn’t been so stupid—”

“If it weren’t for you, ponies and changelings would still be at war.” Celestia interrupted me. “Without you, many more would be dead now.”

“But...what about your injuries? Or your sister’s?”

She gave me a wry smile and looked over her bandaged form. “I’ve had worse. Luna will be bedridden for a few days as she recovers from her burns, but she’ll be fine too.”

“But I made so many mistakes...”

“And you think Luna and I haven’t?” Celestia’s jaw tensed and her eyes gained a haunted appearance as she stared into empty space while history replayed before her eyes. “We have lived a very long time, far longer than most can truly comprehend experiencing. I have made far more mistakes in my time leading Equestria than I care to recall, and most of them do not have a positive conclusion.”

I shivered at the cold, distant tone of her voice. The sadness, regret and weariness I felt pouring from her washed over me like the tides, nearly drowning me with each wave. For the first time, I think I truly began to understand just what immortality truly meant.

Celestia shook her head, ridding herself of her melancholy emotions as her eyes refocused on me.

“Do not let your mistakes consume you, young one, learn from them. Try to focus on the good you have done and learn from your errors so that you can do better moving forward.”

I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat and nodded.

“I’ll try.”

___________________________

I galloped through Canterlot Castle’s spacious halls while a small group of changeling guards, including Drymanid, followed behind me at an ever growing distance since they couldn’t quite keep up with my fully ascended form. I probably should have slowed down to let my new, personal protectors catch up, but I couldn’t force myself to do so as I rushed past the ponies of the castle that stared at us with disapproval and a smidgen of fear.

It had been three days since the attack on Canterlot. I had sent the bulk of the changeling forces back to the hive, assigned a messenger to travel to Minoa and inform Pupa’s mother of what had happened, and had ordered that all human prisoners and the mirror to Earth be brought to Canterlot. I had yet to hear back from the messenger or to see a single human outside of the few that had been forced to take part in the battle, but I knew it would only be a matter of time.

The remainder of changelings that stayed behind were mostly being utilized to help repair the damages to the city from the attack. I had hoped that having the changelings and ponies working together would help promote harmony between the two factions, but tensions had run rather high and a few fights had broken out. It was nothing serious, there were no injuries beyond a few scrapes and bruises, but it was still disappointing none the less. The two peoples had been kept mostly separate after the fights broke out with only the most forgiving of ponies directing the changelings on the rebuilding efforts. Hopefully we could get changelings more suited to such tasks from the hive soon, because it turns out soldiers aren’t the best at repairing a broken city, even with a few pony professionals guiding them.

None of this really mattered to me right now, though, as I charged through the castle. I had just been informed that Mother had finally woken up.

I metaphorically flew through the familiar waiting room of the medical ward, ignoring the surprise and alarm of those inside, and into the room where they were keeping her. Much to my surprise, Celestia was already inside talking with her.

Upon my entrance, Chrysalis’ eyes lit up and a smile crept onto her lips, displaying her sharp teeth for all to see. I practically leapt towards her where she lay in bed, intent on embracing her, but was brought to an abrupt halt by a combined glow of orange and green.

“No tackling our patients, please.” A stallion’s voice chastised me from behind.

“Yeah, all our efforts would be in vain if you crushed her.” A feminine changeling’s voice added.

I turned to apologize to the two doctors that had worked tirelessly together to save my mother these last few days. They were Bandaged Heart, an orange and yellow unicorn stallion with, what else, a bandaged heart for a cutie mark, and Crisp Dawn, one of the many medics that had come with the army a few days earlier.

The two of them worked surprisingly well with each other, and in all the time that I spent here I had noticed a growing affection between them as they bonded over their shared passion of healing the sick and injured. Well, at least from the stallion whose emotions I was able to read, the changeling mare had naturally kept her emotional shielding up, but I suspected she had grown to care for the stallion in return. I was delighted to know that I didn’t have to worry about at least one of my changelings being short on love. Seeing how well they got along gave me hope that, given time, the rest of the ponies and changelings could too.

“Sorry.” I apologized.

Crisp Dawn rolled her eyes. “Just be careful.”

I heard a pair of chuckles and turned back to see both Celestia and Mother having a laugh at my expense. I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment though was happy to see the two at least appearing to get along. I remembered Celestia’s advice to me to not focus on the mistakes we have made and instead on the good. Perhaps such a philosophy was responsible for her willingness to forgive so many of the show's villains, which may now include Chrysalis too.

“The Princess here was just telling me about how you’ve stepped up to lead our people while I was out.”

“I’ve been trying, but to be honest, I have no idea what I’m doing.” I admitted to her with a half smile. “I’m terrified that I’m just messing everything up.”

“From what I can tell by Celestia's words, you’re doing a wonderful job.” She reassured me. “I am so proud of you.”

Despite my best efforts, tears began to flow down my cheeks. I wasn’t even sure what I was crying for, but crying I most certainly was. It could have been elation over my pseudo mother’s recovery, her declaring herself proud of my actions, or maybe it was over being able to surrender the throne and all of the stresses that come with it to the proper queen soon.

I wanted desperately to embrace her, but the doctors’ words held me back. I didn’t want to hurt her and risk undoing any of the healing she had just gone through. Perhaps sensing my desires, Chrysalis’ horn glowed green and I was forced into her extended forelegs by her magic. I made no effort to resist being pulled in, I simply held on tight.

“I am so glad you’re okay.” I whispered into her ear.

The door opened and a set of hooves clopped on the stone floor as somepony entered. I separated from Mother and saw that it was Drymanid.

“The others are outside.” He informed me. “It took some time to convince them that you needed a moment with your mother more than you needed their protection.”

“Drymanid...” Chrysalis said, catching his attention. “Every time I have seen my daughter, you have been there by her side. Thank you for keeping her safe. You’re all I could ask for her to have in a protector and friend.” She lowered her voice so that Drymanid couldn’t hear as she looked at me with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “Or ask for in my future son in law.”

Drymanid and I both blushed furiously, though for different reasons.

“It was my honour to serve her.” Drymanid responded with a deep bow, which I suspected was done at least in part to hide his blush.

“So, how do you feel?” I hastily changed the subject in the hopes that Drymanid hadn’t heard that last part from Mother. I was having a confusing enough time dealing with my feelings for Dryma without her trying to push us along.

“Like I’ve been trampled by an army.” She winced. “The doctors tell me I’ll survive, though at my more painful moments I question that diagnosis.”

“Do you think that you’ll be well enough to resume your position as Queen soon?” I asked hopefully.

Celestia and Mother exchanged a look. I did not like that look. It was not a good look.

“I don’t think your mother will be retaking the mantle of Queen anytime soon.” Celestia finally spoke.

“What?” I stared at her with confusion.

“Celestia wasn’t just telling me about all you’ve done.” Chrysalis began. “She also told me about the difficulties in getting her ponies to forgive our changelings. They are angry over our attacks and fear us.”

“What does that have to do with you not becoming Queen again?” Panic had begun to squeeze at my heart.

“I led two separate attacks on their homes. They will never forgive or trust us for as long as I am in charge. Furthermore, a faction of ponies is demanding retribution for what has been done.” She paused a moment to take a deep breath. “Celestia and I have come to the agreement that I am to be imprisoned in her dungeons to appease them while you continue to lead our changelings.”

“But...you can’t!” I sputtered in alarm. “I can’t do this on my own!”

“Calm down, I’m not being sent to the moon or turned to stone, I’ll just be confined to a cell.” She told me in a soothing tone. “You’ll be able to consult with me anytime you want, as long as you’re willing to come visit me. The ponies will be more comfortable around our changelings if they know the one responsible for all this destruction has been locked away.”

“But it was Jade Flare that was responsible and he’s already behind bars, isn’t that enough?”

“Jade Flare may have been manipulating us all, but it was I that ordered our army to come here and kill the ponies and they know that. As Queen, I need to accept responsibility for my actions and I will do so by stepping down and accepting punishment.” Chrysalis closed her eyes, and in that moment she looked very, very tired. “Furthermore...There is something else I must accept the consequences of."

"What are you talking about?"

Mother opened her eyes and looked at me. I saw something in those eyes that caught me off guard: fear.

"Jade Flare had nothing to do with the invasion of your world, the mass abductions of your humans, or in forcing them to fight for us. That was all my doing. I must accept responsibility for that as well, and I understand if you cannot forgive me for such actions."

“I don’t...” My automatic response was to try and tell her that I didn’t care about that, but I swiftly realized that wasn’t true and couldn’t finish the sentence. I closed my mouth as conflicting emotions raged within me. I loved her, so very much, but a part of me hated her too. I think up to that point I had just been laying all the blame for what happened to the humans at Jade Flare’s hooves and ignoring all that she had done. I trembled as I remembered just how much of a monster Mother, Chrysalis, truly had been.

Mother watched me closely the entire time, easily reading the inner conflict that raged within me, with the pain of acceptance in her eyes.

“It’s okay to hate me. I’d hate me too. Just know that I am truly sorry for what I have done.”

The silence hung heavy in the air. How was I supposed to react to that? I wanted to punch her. I wanted to embrace her. I wanted to scream with rage and sob at the same time. I managed to hold back all those impulses by returning my focus to why the imprisonment, and by extension my extended rule, was a bad idea. I could sort through my emotions later, there were more important things at hand.

“What about our people? Ponies may react badly to you leading, but won’t our people react just as badly to you being thrown in jail?” I pointed out while trying to keep my emotions from my voice.

“Once I have recovered sufficiently, I will travel to the hive so that I can announce to them all the circumstances surrounding my upcoming imprisonment and your ascension to the throne. Once I have done so, I will return here for punishment.”

“Any of your people that have doubts are free to visit her at any reasonable time. They will see that she is not being mistreated and will be given the opportunity to speak with her so that she can explain to them personally why she is doing what she is doing.” Celestia added, and then continued with a chuckle as a thought came to her. “I imagine it will be rather interesting trying to find somepony to bring her meals.”

My eyes twitched rapidly, not focusing on anything as I tried to scour my mind for more reasons why I shouldn't be Queen.

“I...I’m not ready for this.” I protested. “I only accepted becoming Queen because I thought it was going to be temporary!”

“I led our people into two unnecessary wars and trusted a traitor for years as he undermined the safety of the entire hive, costing untold numbers of lives in the process.” She attempted to smile reassuringly, but couldn’t through her sorrow and shame. “You can’t really do much worse than that.”

“As your mother has said, she will be available to offer advice if you need it. Furthermore, my sister and I will be willing to assist you as you grow accustomed to your new duties.” She gave an impish smile. “I do so hope you enjoy paperwork.”

“Now that’s something I won’t miss.” Mother said with a weak, forced chuckle.

Drymanid stepped up next to me. I had nearly forgotten he was there.

“And I’ll be there for you too. I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but you won’t be alone in this.”

I raised my eyes to the ceiling, away from all those around me, as I tried to go through all that had just happened. After a few seconds of silence, Mother spoke up.

“So, will you do it? Will you lead our people?” Her tone was filled with hope. I forced myself to look between the three of them as they stared at me expectantly. Did I really have a choice in the matter? A part of me, far larger than I care to admit, shouted at me to scream 'no' and run away as quickly as I could. I couldn’t do that, though. I couldn’t abandon the changelings like that.

I took a deep breath and nodded, earning a broad smile from Mother. What had I gotten myself into?

____________________________________

Three more days passed. A large contingent of changelings had arrived today and Mother would be going back with a decent sized escort comprised purely of changelings, despite still being in rough shape, to give her speech and to officially step down. Celestia was putting a surprising amount of trust in her, I thought. She had already told those here in Canterlot about what was happening and had dubbed me the next Queen. My coronation, if you wanted to call it that, was a humble affair. The Equestrian princesses were baffled by this and wanted to throw a grand celebration, but apparently big, flashy celebrations were not the norm for crowning of a new queen among the changelings. Pinkie Pie in particular seemed almost like she would explode over this news, and I was almost certain she was planning a surprise coronation party regardless.

With the changelings that had arrived came many craftsmen that would be a tremendous boost to the rebuilding efforts. Most were more accustomed to the use of stone rather than the more commonly used materials that the ponies tended to build with, but they were still far better suited to the task than soldiers.

Feeding all these changelings was proving to be a headache. Even with Celestia and Luna both encouraging their ponies and assuring them it was safe, most of them were hesitant to let changelings feed off of them and many were barely getting anything more than passive feeding as a result. Though I couldn’t prove it, I was sure that a good chunk of the changelings had resorted to deception to get the love they needed. It was unfortunate that it had gotten to that point, but there was little to be done for that in the short term, I just had to hope that such actions didn’t seriously harm long term relations between the two peoples.

One of the best sources of love thus far had been from the businesses of the city where a significant chunk of business ponies had seen the benefits of using the resources we could provide from the badlands and the newly arrived changelings’ services, especially the incredibly skilled stone carvers. Oddly enough, an even more reliable source had proven to be criminals. Celestia had offered a reduction in sentence to most criminals in the dungeons if they willingly allowed changelings to feed off of them during their incarceration and for a period of time after their release, excepting of course the more dangerous criminals. While it was slow in coming, I had high hopes that ponies and changelings could one day coexist not only peacefully, but comfortably as well.

Perhaps more important than those who could help rebuild the damaged sections of Canterlot, both the mirror connecting to my old home and the human prisoners had arrived. They had been gathered in the castle courtyard and were being greeted by many of the more prominent figures in pony politics. Specifically there were Celestia, Luna, the mane six and myself. Cadance, though she had recovered enough to be able to move around by now, was notably absent as she and Shining Armor had returned to the Crystal Empire. Each one of us was speaking with small groups of humans at a time, giving them each a personal apology for being dragged into the war between ponies and changelings and explaining to them what had happened. Soon after that, they were sent back home through the mirror.

Among the hundreds of people I could detect a multitude of emotions. Fear and uncertainty were perhaps the most common, as was to be expected of people who had been torn from their homes and forced into a strange new world where they were kept prisoner, but accompanying those were wonder, curiosity, excitement and in some cases even joy. Quite a few of them were bronies, something which I discovered after being asked often enough if I was Chrysalis to start getting annoyed.

I had received reports that only nineteen humans had been forced into the fighting and that among that number three had died. Though I knew that such a number was incredibly low compared to what it could have been, it was still far too many as far as I was concerned. That was three families that needed to be told their loved ones had died in a war between mythical creatures taking place in a fantasy world, and sixteen that had to live with the trauma of being mind controlled and forced to do battle. Throughout the entire proceedings, the undercurrent of anger towards Mother burned on within me. I hadn’t much talked to her since she had woken, which I realized may have contributed to her decision to leave before she was fully recovered.

Equestria would need to set up some kind of embassy on Earth, and vice versa too I suspected. Either that or we would have to destroy the mirror to cut off all contact between the two worlds. That probably would have been the smart thing to do to prevent catastrophes from either side spilling over the other, but I don’t think I could have done it. Anytime I thought on it, I justified not doing so by saying that we could probably find a very important source of love in the bronies of Earth that wanted to visit Equestria, or even from non-brony tourists and adventure seekers that wanted to visit or explore a new world. In reality, I knew it was purely because I couldn’t bear to be cut off from my old life permanently.

All of that could be dealt with later, though. At that moment we had to focus on sending all those humans back home. We all did our best to address any and all concerns that the humans had. It was an exhausting ordeal to go through, to put it mildly. I would be lying if I said that most of them forgave us. At best, a third of the people I personally spoke to seemed willing to forgive us changelings, and even fewer truly held no ill will that I could detect in their emotions, though fortunately very few seemed openly hostile about it.

By the end of it all, arrangements for three humans to stay in Equestria permanently were made, as well as six more to stay temporarily who wanted to help with the rebuilding efforts. I was uneasy about having humans migrating to Equestria, but the offer of providing us changelings with love was too good to pass up, or so Celestia told me. Even with her reassurance that we should allow it, I was uncomfortable. It felt wrong bringing humanity to Equestria, as if they would somehow contaminate the world. It was a silly thought, and beyond that a hypocritical one given that I was as much human as I was changeling. I hate to say it, but it was once again Celestia who had to point that hypocrisy out to me.

But that’s really just me getting ahead of myself. Long before we reached the point of knowing that we’d have to accommodate a few humans immigrating to Equestria, there was something else that distracted me from my task of speaking with my allotted humans. My eye kept drifting on over to a group of four people that were being spoken to by Luna. I tried to do my duty and explain everything to my current wards, but my heart wasn’t in it. I couldn’t stop staring at those four people, at my family and best friend.

Once I finished with my own group, I waved over the changeling that was in charge of directing people towards me as I became available and asked him to stop for awhile. I spent the next couple minutes standing there staring at my loved ones as they wrapped up their conversation with Luna and my stomach tied itself into knots. In mere moments, they would be on their way through the mirror and, in all likelihood, I would never see them again.

I wanted to go and stop them, to let them know I was okay, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Mother had seen my dead body and had no doubt told the others by now about my death. I struggled for a moment with minor confusion as the conflicting images of human and changeling that were associated with the term 'Mother' filled my mind. How confusing would it be if I kept referring to both Chrysalis and Louise as that? I decided at that moment that I would refer to my human mother as Mom and Chrysalis as Mother. Hopefully I wouldn’t mix it up too much in the future. I winced as I realized that such a conflict wouldn’t be a problem much longer if I didn’t go and talk to them now.

Back on topic, Mom had no doubt already spread the news of my death, so would they even believe me if I told them that I was actually Victor? Even if they did, and I suppose I could always find something from our shared pasts to convince them, it’s not like I could go back with them anymore. I was queen of the changelings now, and my newfound people needed me far more than they ever could. I sighed dejectedly as Luna moved on to the next group. Perhaps it truly would be best if I didn’t tell them and allowed them to heal from the loss they believed to have instead of raising their hopes only to dash them back upon the stone parapets of Canterlot Castle.

“Heya Chancey!” What’s with the frowny face?” I jumped in fright at Pinkie Pie’s intrusion into my thoughts, apparently she had abandoned her own post to come see me. “Does it have something to do with them?” She pointed at my family with a raised hoof.

“Jesus Christ, Pinkie! Warn a guy before you sneak up on them like that!”

“What’s a Jesus Christ?” She asked innocently, causing my heart rate to skyrocket.

“Nobody, just forget I said anything.” I answered quickly. Human religions making it to Equestria may be inevitable if the portal remains active, but I did not want to be the one to open that can of worms.

“Soooo, who are they?” She pressed.

“They’re...they’re my family, Pinkie.” I answered.

Pinkie’s eyes lit up like twin spotlights. “Really?! That’s awesome! I’m gonna go say hello!”

“Pinkie, wait!”

My efforts to halt that little pink rocket failed spectacularly in the form of falling on my face as she pronked her way over to the ones that I think I had convinced myself to not approach.

“Hiya Chancey’s family!” She greeted them cheerfully. “I’m Pinkie Pie! I’m Chance’s friend!”

The four humans looked at her in confusion, though I could sense at least a little excitement from Ricky. My friend always did like Pinkie Pie.

“I’m sorry, but who?” My father asked, clearly not amused by her antics.

“Oh, right!” Pinkie bonked her head with a hoof. “Silly me! He said his name was Victor when I first asked, but he changed it to Chance Victory, so I called him Chancey!”

“Victor?!” My mother spoke, a tinge of pain in her voice. “I think you’re mistaken, our son is dead.”

“No he’s not, she’s right over there!” Pinkie giggled as she mangled my pronouns.

I wanted desperately to hide as all four pairs of human eyes followed Pinkie’s hoof directly to me, but I was much too big now to disappear in a crowd of ponies. I blew on the bangs of my emerald green mane and timidly waved at them. Not surprisingly, they didn’t seem amused by this either.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but it’s not funny!” My father scolded her angrily.

“But—” Pinkie tried to argue.

“No buts, missy! Do you have any idea how painful—”

“Stop!” I interrupted my father with a shout, saving Pinkie from their furious glares by transferring them to me instead. Before Dad could say anything more, I transformed into my original human form. He blinked a few times as I sheepishly walked up towards them. His anger had been replaced with confusion and a hint of hope, but that swiftly reverted to anger.

“How dare you wear my son’s face like that?” He asked me in a low voice laced with barely restrained rage.

“It’s really me, Dad!” I said. “Remember that time I was playing in the car as a kid when we were camping and it rolled into a ditch after I accidentally put it into neutral?”

He froze and stared at me uncertainly. “How did you...?”

I turned to Mom. “Or the time that you found me lost in the woods after I ran away because my first friend moved away and I wanted to find him?” I addressed David, my brother, next. “Or when I spilled fruit punch all over your holographic charizard card and tried to replace it with one I drew myself?”

My brother’s eyes narrowed and he walked up right next to me. I could tell that he was hostile from his emotions, but I held firm. After a moment of awkward glaring, he punched me right in the face.

“You fucking prick!” He shouted at me as I stumbled and fell on my rear. Funny how unstable my footing felt with only two legs.

“Victor!” Mom screamed.

“Chancey!” Pinkie screamed simultaneously to Mom.

“I knew it was you! You kept on denying it, but I knew!”

“Sorry.” I winced as I rubbed my sore jaw, which I begrudgingly admitted that I deserved. I had forgotten that I had actually gotten away with that one.

“Come here.” David reached out his hand to help me up. When I clasped arms with him, he pulled me into a hug. “I can’t believe you’re okay.”

“What? Not going to say anything to me? I’m hurt!” Ricky declared with mock indignation and a goofy grin.

“Yeah, actually I do have something.” I responded as I split from my brother. “You can tell our boss that he can take his toupee and shove it, I’ve been busy.”

He smirked. “It’s a good thing that you’ve already lost your job, or he’d fire you for that.”

It was my parents’ turn to embrace me as my brother stepped out of the way. I practically melted into their arms.

“How did...how?” Mom sputtered. “I saw your body!”

“I felt restricted by that old model, so I got a new one.” I spouted in a spur of the moment bit of dark humour. I almost immediately regretted saying it, too. “To make a long story short, a crazy unicorn dragged me out of my body and into someone else’s in this world.” I purposely left out the details of what she had done to me upon my arrival and hoped that they wouldn’t press.

“Why didn’t you contact us?” My father demanded with a hint of pain as we separated.

I wanted to tell him that I did, to bitterly remind him of that phone call I made to warn him, the one where he had hung up on me and dismissed all of what I said. I swallowed that bit of bitterness, though, as it seemed far too petty and dour to be brought up during this relatively joyful reunion.

“Oh, you know, couldn’t get much cell reception in an alternate universe.” I joked with no small measure of sarcasm, dodging my true feelings on the matter while also pointing out the stupidity of his question at the same time. I knew he was running more on emotion right now than logic, but it was still hard to keep the irritation out of my voice. Okay, maybe I hadn’t been as successful at dodging my true emotions as I would have liked.

“So...you’re a changeling now?” Ricky asked, perhaps intentionally distracting from my less than polite answer.

It had finally come up. All their eyes bored into me as they waited for me to explain the situation to them. I couldn’t just tell them that I was changeling now, I had to tell them that I couldn’t come back with them too, but how was I supposed to do that? I bit my lip and tried to find something to do with my hands. Had they always been this awkward to have? I shoved them into my pockets, or at least I did after I modified my disguise to include them.

“Are you okay?” Mother...no, Mom asked.

“Not really, no.” I admitted weakly. “It kinda, sorta might be my fault that the changelings were able to abduct humans in the first place.”

I stared at their confused faces for a few seconds before my brother asked the question that no doubt filled all their minds. “Uh...how?”

I took a deep breath. “As I said, I was dragged into somebody else’s body. That was the body of a changeling. Eventually, the other changelings of the world saved me from the crazy unicorn that did this to me and their queen offered to help me get back home. Using my mind to establish a link, she created the portal between our worlds that she used to start taking humans. I should have known she would do that, and I’m sorry.”

I averted my gaze out of shame only to have Mom gently turn my face back to her with her hand.

“It’s not your fault.” She told me sternly. “You were just trying to get back home. Back to us. The blame lies with the monsters who took us, not you.”

Anger flared up in my heart as I too thought of the monster responsible for their abduction. I knew there was little point in holding a grudge against Chrysalis as it did me no good to do so, especially since I'd need her help and advice on leading the changelings, but for now my anger burned on.

“I’ve had enough of magic and talking horses to last a life time.” Dad announced. “We can discuss all of this later after we’re back on Earth.”

And now I had to drop the biggest of the bombshells, one that I couldn’t afford to put off any longer.

“I’m not going back.”

Though I said it plainly enough and without any apparent difficulty, my chest tightened as the truth of those words sank in. I realized that not being able to go back with my family was the real cost of becoming queen of the changelings and what I had truly been dreading.

“What? Why?!” Dad demanded to know.

“I’m needed here.” I answered quietly in the face of the rage I felt building up in my father.

“You’re needed at home!”

I shook my head. “No, you don’t understand. You want me at home, but I am actually needed here. Whether you or I like it or not, I’m a changeling now and I don’t belong on Earth anymore.” I explained with a surprisingly firm voice, then added in a much less confident tone that ruined the effect. “Also, I may have become the leader of the changelings.”

My father stared at me, radiating the pain of betrayal. He had always been a passionate man and quick to anger too.

“So that’s it, huh?” My father said coldly, rage boiling just beneath the surface. “You’re just gonna choose those freaks and this fantasy land over your own family?”

“Dad, it’s not—”

“I don’t want to hear it!” He interrupted me. “Have fun being one of those...things.”

“Franklin!” Mom shouted as she reached out to my father, trying to stop him from leaving. She couldn’t stop him, though. He marched the several meters straight to the mirror and stepped through it without a single backwards glance. I swallowed a lump in my throat that had developed and tried to fight back the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes.

“That didn’t go the way it was supposed to.” Pinkie said with a distinct frown and a slightly wilted mane. I could only nod my agreement.

“I’ll try to talk to him.” Mom assured me. “I’m sure that, given some time, he’ll come around.”

She rushed up to me and planted a quick kiss on my cheek.

“Goodbye.” I whispered.

“Goodbye.” She whispered back and then chased after Dad through the mirror.

My brother sighed with exasperation. “Don’t worry, you know how Dad is. After he’s had a few days to cool down, he’ll be forcing his way back here to apologize.” He paused as he gave me a quick hug. “I won’t let you off so easy, though. Next time you see me, I’m going to make you pay for that charizard.”

I gave him a weak smile and waved at him as he too walked into the mirror. I looked over to the last of the four humans.

"So," Ricky began, "you looked like Chrysalis a moment ago."

I groaned. "Yeah, I've been told as much. Turns out the body I'm in was her daughter."

My friend snorted as he tried to suppress his laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up."

"Sorry, it's just...it's kinda funny. I guess that explains why you're leading the changelings now."

"Yeah..."

A moment's awkward silence fell before Ricky spoke up again.

“So, you’re really going to stay here?”

“Yeah.” I nodded.

“No way to convince you to come back? You can't pawn off the throne on somebody else?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“I guess this is goodbye, then. I’m gonna miss you, man.”

“You could always stay here.” I suggested hopefully. “I could really use a familiar face.”

“Oh! I could throw you a welcome to Equestria party!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while bouncing in place, the prior melancholy of a fighting family forgotten.

“As tempting as that party is, Pinkie, I think I’ll pass. This world is cool and all, but it’s a little too dangerous with guys like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek and the like about. I may visit now and then, though. Assuming that’s allowed.”

“Then I guess this is goodbye.” I echoed his previous sentiment.

“Until next time, your majesty.” He gave an exaggerated bow and chuckled. “I guess I was wrong about neither of us amounting to anything.”

“I don’t think a changeling queen was what you had in mind when you said that.” I smiled wryly.

“Don’t be so sure, Victor.” He raised an eyebrow. “I wrote some really bad self insert fan fiction in my day.”

“Of course you did.” I rolled my eyes.

“Anyway, later!” He gave a quick salute and then confidently walked off to the mirror.

“He was nice. I wish he was staying.”

“You and me both, Pinkie.”

As I stood there staring at the mirror, Pinkie Pie was eventually dragged off by an irritated Twilight Sparkle so that she would get back to the task she had been assigned. I should probably have done the same, but I needed a little longer to compose myself. I kept hoping that Dad would reappear and forgive me for staying in Equestria. I knew it was a vain hope. While I had little doubt my brother was right about Dad coming around, I knew it would take a lot longer than a few days, a few minutes was flat out impossible.

I looked down at my hand as I clenched and unclenched it. I had little use for my disguise anymore, so I turned back to my true form. When I finally turned away, ready to resume my own duties, I came face to face with Princess Celestia. My heart raced as I jumped in surprise. I really should have noticed her from her emotions, but must have been too distracted by my own to do so.

“I offer my condolences on what you have just lost. I know the pain of having a loved one scorn you.”

I nodded and mumbled my thanks.

“You will, however, still need to explain to my sister and I how your friend knows of the threats that Equestria has faced. In particular I am interested in his mentioning of Tirek.”

I sighed. I knew this would have to come up sooner or later. I suspected that messing with the timeline might be a bad idea, there’s no telling what terrible atrocities the space time continuum would wreak upon us all if I prevented all threats I knew about. It was inevitable that things would change, though, as I was sure that all that I had done would already prove enough to drastically alter the events of Tirek’s attack. How powerful would Tirek be if he had access to the magic of a changeling hive in addition to all ponies? Could super powered Twilight still compete with that? Or maybe Mother and I would give our own magic to Twilight and she’d stomp him into the dirt without having to learn any friendship lessons. Or heck, maybe that much power would just cause Twiight to explode into a fine mist of magic and gore.

“I’ll explain to all of you after things have settled down a little. We can prepare for the next disaster after we finish cleaning up this one.”

“Very well, we can speak of this later, but don’t delay too long. Tirek is very dangerous. If he is truly returning, then we are all in grave danger."

With that warning given, she turned back to the crowd of humans and indicated that she was ready to speak with more of them. With a deep breath, I indicated to my own assistant that I was ready to see more as well and continued with my task of explaining things to recently abducted humans.

_________________________

I walked past the royal changeling guards clad in their emerald armour and into my new guest suite in the castle. My own personal guards had taken the posts previously occupied by Celestia’s royal guard, a gesture of trust that was not lost on me or, I hoped, my guards. I saw one particular maid frequently cleaning in the area despite everything already being spotless, curious about the exotic new guards in their unusual armour. In turn, they would chat with her as she went about her superfluous tasks. Examples such as this of ponies and changelings getting along, few as they may be so far, were always a relief to my troubled mind.

As the doors closed behind me, I spied Drymanid lying on a couch. His head had risen to see me enter and I could tell that he had been woken up by my arrival. He looked as tired as I felt. Even so, he crawled off the couch and bowed deeply to me.

“My Queen.” He greeted reverently, eliciting a groan from me.

“Please don’t do that, not you too.”

Drymanid chuckled wearily as he rose from his bow and plopped himself back onto the couch. “As you wish, Chance.”

“Has your day been as long as mine?” I asked as I sat myself beside him.

“Yes!” He groaned. “I’m never volunteering to oversee construction plans for a new hive ever again.”

“I still can’t believe Celestia gave us permission to convert the old Canterlot mines into a hive.”

“It was certainly generous of her. I wonder why they stopped mining it, there’re still lots of gems and ore down there.”

“I dunno. Maybe I'll ask her later.” I shrugged, my eyes heavy from exhaustion. “How’s it coming along?”

“With some luck, we can have all of the basics set up in a few months. We won’t be able to hold a lot of changelings for awhile after that, but we can certainly have a place suitable for you and at least some of the changelings who are more comfortable living underground.”

“That’s good.” I said through a yawn.

I reached out with a foreleg and latched onto Dryma, earning a slight yelp of surprise as I pulled him towards me. I hugged him to my chest as if he were a teddy bear and dropped down onto my side, only half aware of what I was doing. Perhaps had I been more lucid, I would have cared about how embarrassing or inappropriate what I was doing was, but I was too tired for such trivialities. Drymanid himself didn’t seem to mind too much once the initial shock wore off, relaxing in my grip and even snuggling a little closer to my larger form.

There were a lot of things left to do, a lot of issues still to face. Changelings and ponies were still struggling to get along and freely given love for my people was a little scarce. I had yet to hear from Pupa's hive in Minoa, and had to worry about how another queen would react to her son's death. Tirek needed to be dealt with, not to mention that I needed to explain to Celestia about how they’re all a cartoon in my home world. Discord still hadn’t shown up, either, and I wanted more than just a few stern words with that jerk. All those and a million other things were ahead of me, but it all seemed unimportant laying there with Drymanid in my arms. Every one of those things could wait for another time. The only thing I truly wanted at that moment was sleep.

Author's Note

And that's the end of Altered Visage, I hope you enjoyed my story. There will be two forms of sequels...first is a proper sequel that will also be an adventure story called Jaded Visage. Second is a primarily slice of life focused sequel of things happening between the end of this story and the start of Jaded Visage which, while canon, won't be necessary reading.

Discordant Dreams

I closed my eyes lazily as I performed a perfect backstroke through the ocean of stars, enjoying the sensation of the cosmos caressing my form as I sliced through it. Or was it something other than a backstroke? I had long forgotten the names of the different swimming styles I had learned as a child. Is it possible to be doing something perfectly when you don’t really know what it is you’re doing? I put my hands behind my head and just floated there, letting the coolness of my galactic pool wash over me as I contemplated such trivial matters.

"Well, what have we here, a hairless ape swimming about in the night sky?" I opened my eyes to see a goat faced creature with a single fang hanging from an impish grin, and two very yellow and red eyes staring down at me.

“Discord!” I jovially exclaimed. “Make it rain chocolate milk, I’m feeling kinda thirsty, oh and fetch me a glass too if you’d be so kind.” Discord’s grin quickly faded to an annoyed frown.

“I am no butler, I am the embodiment of chaos,” bolts of lightning flashed through the inky abyss behind him as he continued his boast, “I bring worlds to their knees as I drag them into an abyss of insanity purely for my own amusement. You should show a little more respect.”

I pondered silently for a moment, finally noticing that this couldn’t be real. “I’m dreaming. Shouldn’t you be Luna?”

“Luna is not the only-"

“Never mind,” I interrupted him with a wave of my hand as Discord’s left eye twitched, “stupid question. It’s a dream, why would one fictional character be any more likely than another?”

“If you had any sense you would take this a little more seriously.”

“Awww, but where’s the fun in making sense?” I watched as his twitch grew worse at me stealing his line, “speaking of fun, why aren’t you? You’re supposed to be all zany and mindscrewy and stuff, but instead you’re just being grumpy.”

Was this the best my mind could come up with? An expanse of somehow liquid blackness dimly lit with a million stars and a so very not fun Discord? I closed my eyes and concentrated on turning Discord into Fluttershy jumping around in a children’s ball pit. I remembered hearing somewhere that you could control a dream if you’re aware it is one, and if I wanted to die of cuteness overload as if I met with an adorable Freddy Krueger, then I damn well was going to.

I opened my eyes and found myself sitting chest deep in multicoloured balls with a glaring Discord floating in front of me. I frowned as I threw a bright yellow ball at him, which landed with a light smack on his face. Much to my surprise, his head came right off and his body exploded into a thousand coins, the like of which you’d see in many video games. I blinked a few times as the ball that I had thrown halted in midair and then reversed direction entirely to float towards me, now with Discord’s scowling visage planted firmly upon it, kind of like when he was on those balloons as he was corrupting Pinkie Pie. It may not have been very manly, not that I had much manliness left after becoming a brony, but I couldn’t help but giggle like a little girl at the image.

“Glad you approve.” the sarcasm in his voice was thick enough to spread on toast. I contemplated making that literal for a moment, but decided against it since I wasn’t hungry.

“Too bad you’re not real, I’m sure you could do some truly amazing things that I couldn’t even imagine. It’d certainly spice up this dream.”

“Oh, I assure you, I am very much real, and if I hadn’t promised Fluttershy that I was going to be nicer I would have you at my mercy for your attitude.”

“Oh, please!” I scoffed, "If you’re the real Discord, then I’m a changeling!” As soon as the thought came to me I was surrounded by a green flame as my subconscious turned me into exactly what I was thinking of. Spitting balls out of my mouth (never thought I’d be saying that one), I raised a forehoof and stared through one of the many holes in my leg to Discord on the other side whose eyes had widened to the point of taking up half his ball. Face. Face-ball. Whatever. I put my hoof back down and narrowed my eyes at him, and in a voice that reminded me of Queen Chrysalis, though different, more masculine I liked to think, I protested, “This changes nothing. You’re still not Discord.” The look of surprise was quickly replaced by a malicious grin that had me fidgeting nervously.

“Oh, but you are a changeling.” The best way for me to describe his voice would have been cruel anticipation. I didn’t like it.

“Uh...s...so?” I squeaked as I sank as deeply into the ball pit as I could, submerging myself beneath the sea of colours, trying to escape from the little ball of chaos circling my head. I took a few shaky breaths, trying to reassure myself that it was only a dream and that a dream couldn’t hurt me. The image of a certain burnt up, fedora wearing, claw wielding dream walker popped into my head and I couldn’t suppress a shudder.

After maybe thirty seconds of silence I let out a sigh of relief, thanking my subconscious for letting me escape my nightmare so easily. Then, ever so slowly, all the little globes surrounding me spun around in place, revealing hundreds of little Discord faces staring at me. I tried to jump, to fly, to run, to do anything to get away from the mass of insanity that had engulfed me, but I couldn’t move at all, as if every sphere was holding me down with the force of a steroid fueled body builder.

“You can’t escape us that easily, insufferable insect.” The sound of a thousand voices admonishing me in not-quite unison was terrifying.

“Please, let me go! What would Fluttershy say?”

“Oh, we don’t think even Fluttershy would hold it against us for harming such a major enemy of Equestria.” The legion of Discords chuckled viciously, unendingly, driving me mad with fear. I closed my eyes and flattened my ears as tightly against my skull as I possibly could, the oddity of having ears that could do such a thing barely registering as I tried to block out my tormentor, quaking in terror.

“But I’m not-" the world changed around me as I could no longer feel the pressure of drowning in a sea of Discord, “a...changeling?”

I tore my eyes open, hoping that I had woken up and escaped my nightmare, but quickly realized I wasn’t so lucky. I was strapped inside a giant sized transparent ball that was inside some kind of tunnel. I could see bright, flashing lights in the distance and briefly wondered what they could be before turning my attention to my restraints. Each hoof was tied to a separate point of my prison, stretching me out spread-eagle, and no amount of struggling against them could free me.

“You’re right, I’ve been far too boring, it’s time to play a game.” I looked up to where the booming voice was coming from and froze as I saw a Godzilla sized Discord looming over me with sadistic glee plastered upon his face. I watched as he reached down to something that I could not see and yelped as I felt my ball rolling backwards until I was upside down and staring directly at a coiled spring. Realizing just what I was currently in and what was to come, I groaned.

“Well fu-“

WHOOOSH! My ball shot through the tunnel and out into the flashing lights. I was spinning far too quickly to see anything more than a blur of colour, but I could hear the telltale pinging sound of a pinball machine and the hearty guffaws of Discord as he racked up the points. Each and every time my prison slammed against something I felt my limbs get jerked painfully against their restraints. Did you know that you could feel pain in a lucid dream? Neither did I. Oh, and the dizziness! It took the entire effort I was capable of to not vomit. In the dim recesses of my mind, I was glad I hadn’t eaten Discord’s toasty sarcasm earlier as it would no doubt have made the task impossible.

After what seemed an eternity, but was likely only a few minutes, I realized that I had come to a stop, though I could barely tell with the way my head was still spinning. I was apparently positioned between a sloped wall and one of the flippers that was angled as if it had tried to strike me too soon and held that position, forming a sort of V that held me in place. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see anymore of the pinball machine that I now saw was filled with My Little Pony themed objects, the most prominent being a replica of Discord’s head, mouth gaping open and tongue sticking out to the floor as a ramp, ready to swallow any poor, unsuspecting pinball that was shot its way.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m having a ball!” I opened my eyes at the mocking tone to see that the head of Discord that had been a part of the intricate layout of the game had come to life and was gazing down upon me in my round prison.

“Please...stop. I’m sorry.” I could barely get more than a whisper out from my lips.

“Stop? But I’m so close to beating my high score!” I merely whimpered in response as tears streamed down my face, wishing that the pounding in my head would go away.

“Aw, are you crying? Aren’t you having fun?”

“It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream.” I kept whispering this mantra to myself, trying to convince my aching body that it was all in my head.

“Just a dream? Do you really think I couldn’t harm you just because you’re dreaming?” An uproar of his laughter struck me, shaking my prison and causing me to flinch.

“Please don’t hurt me!”

“Oh, I have a much better idea than that. What chaos would be wrought if a changeling were to be found nearby their very homes? The panic would be wondrous to behold, and I could say I’ve done my good deed by bringing your presence to light!”

“You....You’re bluffing! There’s no way you could do that, you’re not real!”

“Still clinging to that vain hope? I’ve already found you. The poor little changeling looks like it’s having a nightmare. I wonder what it could possibly be dreaming about, don’t you?”

Relief flooded over me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. It started out low and quiet, but soon grew to match even the most raucous of outbursts that the draconequus in front of me had ever let loose. Discord’s plastic pinball face warped into one of confusion and I could only laugh harder. If I hadn’t been strapped in place I no doubt would have fallen to the floor of my ball, legs unable to support me through my relentless giggling.

“I fail to see what’s so funny.”

“I...I know...“ I tried to explain that I knew he was lying now, but I couldn’t help laughing more, I began to think the cathartic release of all my fear at once had broken my brain. I bit my lip in an effort to stop and took a few slow, deep breaths through my nose to calm down, but failed miserably. A deep scowl now graced Discord’s face, obviously not pleased at how little seriousness I had given his threats. I felt a sudden jerk as my ball began rolling again, suddenly remembering that I could still suffer in this dream and my laughter came to a very abrupt halt.

“No....no no no no no!”

The movement was painfully slow at first, allowing me a perfect view of Discord licking his lips hungrily and then place his tongue back on the floor, opening his maw wide in preparation for what was coming next. THWACK! I was off again, a blur of colour gracing my retinas and a familiar sense of nausea took hold of me again. Then darkness and a loud gulping sound all around me as I stopped spinning.

“Congratulations! You’ve got the high score!” I heard an artificial, joyous voice exclaim as my container dissolved around me, allowing me to slowly sink into the darkness below as if I had fallen into a lake filled with caramel sauce. I found it hard to concentrate anymore, but I could swear that I heard a new voice somewhere above me.

“Discord! What....r...doing?” It was faint, but definitely feminine, and familiar.

“...na! No...ing...at....” I couldn’t make out what they were saying, and just let oblivion wash over me as I ignored them.

WHUMPF!

The sound and feeling of landing on the unfairly hard ground greeted me and I groaned in protest of the new pain that joined my aching limbs and splitting headache. I figured that I must have fallen out of bed as I tossed and turned during my nightmare.

Even with my eyes closed I could tell it was painfully bright, I probably should have closed the blinds on my window so that I wouldn’t go blind on waking up. Not much point in delaying any further, I figured, so I cracked open an eyelid just enough to see up to my ceiling. My sky blue ceiling with wispy white things floating around and what I could have sworn were the edges of the leaves from a tree in the periphery of my vision. I cautiously opened my eyes the rest of the way. The late afternoon sun danced in the sky, mocking me with the knowledge that I had slept in incredibly late. The trees I had thought I’d seen earlier were not only there, but even had ripe apples hanging from their branches.

“Where am I? Am I still dreaming?” My voice sounded off as I muttered to myself, so I tried to clear my throat with a cough. I hoped I wasn’t coming down with something.

“Hello? Is somepony there?” An adorable southern accent filled my ears, and in disbelief I whipped my head around to find its source. It couldn’t have been! But it was! Peeking out from behind an apple tree, there was a little, yellow pony graced with a red mane and an oversized pink bow topping it off. It was Apple Bloom! I could feel a squeal of joy building up inside of me, desperate for release as one of the biggest, toothiest grins of my life grew upon my face. My glee quickly disappeared when I saw unadulterated terror staring back at me.

“St...stay back!” She stuttered out as she took a shaky step back from me, eyes wide and trembling violently.

“I’m not-“ at the sound of my voice, she cut me off with a scream and turned tail, running from me as fast as her little pony legs could take her.

“APPLEJAAAAACK!”

“Wait! I’m not going to hurt you!” I reached out my arm in a futile effort to stop her. My black, chitin covered, holey arm ending in a blunt hoof.

Of Angels and Changelings

“Your little pink friend showed up asking if you’d come back again today. Unlike that nosy princess, she doesn’t know when to give up.”

Once my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness of the lights turning on, I glared at Nutcase. It had been five days since I had been taken in by her. I kept as close track of the passage of time as possible given my circumstances. It wasn’t much, but it helped keep me sane. I doubted I’d be able to keep track for much longer before it all started blurring together.

“What? Nothing to say this morning?” She questioned with a slight frown on her face.

I remained silent, staring daggers at her. I’d spit at her too, but I learned earlier what happens when I do that and didn’t want to relive the lesson she gave me. I had developed a burning hatred for my captor, and I latched onto it with all my might to shield myself from the sorrow that always threatened to overtake me. Part of me knew that, much like how my ability to keep track of the passing days would fade, my ability to hold onto that anger would be worn away by the despair of my situation. But for now, I smoldered on.

“No matter. I have good news! I’m ready to try bringing Musty back again.”

“And who do you kill this time?” Pupa deadpanned.

“I dunno! I haven’t decided yet!” Nutcase practically danced on her hooves in giddy anticipation. She pointed a hoof at Pupa, and moved her hoof to point at another of us three with every word to follow. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Catch a gryphon by the toe, if she hollers-“ Her childish rhyme was cut off by a sudden and intense shiver.

“What now?” Nutcase grumbled, her face contorting into a scowl. “Excuse me, boys, but it seems somepony is snooping about my door. If it’s that pink pony again, I swear I’m going to lock her up with you guys.” That last part was muttered under her breath. With that explanation, we three changelings were left alone in the silent basement again.

My thoughts drifted to the upcoming experiment. If Nutcase screwed up again, then maybe I’d get another human to talk to. I so badly wanted somebody around who would not only believe that I’m a human in changeling form, but be able to understand exactly what I was going through. Looking over my current two companions caused a pang of guilt for that desire, since the only way I’d receive it would be for one of them to die, and it would completely ruin another human's life too. Staring back at the floor, the inevitable thought came to me. What if I was the one chosen? I hated that place and wanted out with all my being, but I didn’t want to die to do so.

“If....If it’s me this time, then I just want to say goodbye.” I turned to Drymanid, wondering if he would continue. “It’s just that Visage didn’t get a chance to say goodbye before she...” He trailed off, choosing to chew at his lip instead of finishing that sentence.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad? I don’t know what happens after you...die...but it can’t really be any worse than this, right?” My attempts to comfort him didn’t exactly have the desired effect, as he flinched when I stumbled over the word ‘die’ and generally wilted at my uncertain tone. I felt my own spirits wilting with him.

“Maybe you should volunteer then, impostor. Maybe if we’re lucky Visage will come back.” Pupa spat out. He had never been friendly towards me, but the longer I was around him, the more hostile he had become.

“Impostor?!” I laughed. “This coming from a bug that makes a living impersonating people!”

“At least I am a changeling! You? You’re nothing but a mistake!”

“I’d lodge my boot up your ass, but it wouldn’t fit with that stick you’ve shoved up there.”

Dryma groaned in his cage between us as Pupa and I shouted past him at each other. Our screaming match continued for a few minutes as we slung insults back and forth, not stopping until we had both fully vented our frustrations. I doubted that either of us would have been nearly so combative if we hadn’t had a death sentence over our heads exacerbating our worries.

I faced away from my fellow prisoners and stared at nothing in particular, my breathing fast from the fight or flight response our argument had invoked. I slugged at the bars of my cage with a forehoof, hoping to work off some of the excess energy and aggression that the adrenaline in my system had infused me with. Unfortunately, it didn’t help. Now I was angry, had energy to spare and a sore hoof.

Energy. I definitely had plenty of that. Nutcase had been making certain that I wouldn’t be collapsing on her again. No sane person would ever call what she did ‘love’, but it seemed to be a good enough substitute for my bizarre, changeling digestive system. A few tears escaped my big blue eyes as my anger began to subside.

I hastily dragged a foreleg across my face and attempted to force back any future tears. If I started now, I doubted that I’d be able to stop. I had no intention of letting Nutcase see me crying when she got back.

As I put my hoof back to the floor, I noticed a rabbit staring at me from outside my cage. I blinked a few times then looked around for a moment before returning my gaze to the bunny that was very much still there.

“Angel....Bunny?” I whispered in disbelief, my jaw hanging open. Angel put a paw to his lips, indicating he wanted quiet.

Did I just get shushed by a rabbit? I wondered in disbelief.

What was he doing there? Did Fluttershy send him? Maybe Fluttershy was worried about me and sent him to spy on Nutcase? With all the badass characters in this world, was it going to the timid Fluttershy who saved me? Nothing against Flutters, I love her and all, but she was literally scared by her own shadow in an early episode. That she might be the one to free me was a surprise, to say the least. My contemplation was cut short by the sound of approaching hooves and agitated grumbling. Angel responded to the intrusion by hiding.

“You’ll never guess what just happened. I open the door and nopony is about. As I’m about to close it and come back here, I get hit by a peanut! A peanut of all things!” Nutcase was pacing back and forth in front of our cages, twitching every few steps. For my part, I tried to hold back laughter at that mental image. “I searched the area for whoever was responsible, being hit by a barrage of nuts all the while until I found a squirrel sitting in a tree aiming a final fucking peanut with his little paws, which landed squarely between my eyes. Then the little bastard had the nerve to wave at me before running off!”

The image in my mind was too much to bear, I burst out laughing. The giddiness at the prospect of being rescued combined with imagery of one of Fluttershy’s little squirrels pelting Nutcase with a stash of peanuts had me rolling in my cage.

“What’s so funny?” Nutcase stepped in front of my cage and snarled at me. The other two changelings stared as if I had gone mad. “Oh, that’s it! Let’s see how much you laugh after I use you to bring back my Musty.”

At the sound of my cage door unlocking, I stopped laughing. Angel Bunny’s presence may be a sign of impending rescue, but there wasn’t much one little bunny could do to stop a crazed unicorn from killing me. A rescue tomorrow meant nothing if I died today. You’d think that after all that happened with Discord that I would have learned not to laugh at those who had power over me.

I realized I had to do something or else I was going to die. Even if I didn’t stand a chance and it was futile to put up a fight, I couldn’t just let her kill me. When she reached for the cage door to open it, I rammed into it, causing it to violently open and strike Nutcase on the head with a loud crash. As she was knocked clear of my cage, I rushed out of it and leapt at her, prepared to pummel her into oblivion.

I managed to get only one strike on the face of my monstrous captor before the band on my horn began to glow a bright yellow and I was rendered completely immobile, staring down at Nutcase’s battered and furious countenance. Against my will, I found myself crawling off of her and climbed onto her examination table.

Within moments, Nutcase loomed over me, blood dripping from her nose as she strapped me into place. After testing my bindings to ensure I couldn’t escape, she released me from her control.

“I’d say that was very stupid of you and that you’ll regret doing that, but let’s be honest. I was going to kill you regardless.” She spit some blood from her mouth at my face where it slowly dribbled down my cheek.

“Please don’t do this!” I pleaded. “You want me to be your husband? I’ll be your husband! I’ll never let the disguise drop! I’ll buy you flowers, clean your home, cook you meals, make love to you, anything you want!

My pleading became muffled as Nutcase shoved a gag into my mouth. I writhed against the straps holding me down, my limbs soon burning with pain, but it was in vain. I wasn’t going anywhere.

As I continued to struggle, I noticed a little white rabbit out of the corner of my eye. Angel Bunny was sitting near my cage again. He had his paw covering his face and was slowly shaking his head. He removed his paw and glared at me. I stared back, trying to plead for help with my large, overly expressive eyes. He in turn rolled his own, gave an exaggerated sigh, and then a patch on his forehead started to glow green.

Wait, what?!

Before I could fully register what was going on, a bolt of green energy was sent hurtling towards Nutcase while Angel was engulfed in green flames. Noticing the flash of light, Nutcase was able to react just in time to set up a magical shield which deflected the green energy bolt harmlessly into a wall. Both the new changeling and Nutcase entered combative poses, prepared for a fight. For a few tense moments, nothing happened as the two stared at each other.

The staring contest was broken as the Angel Bunny changeling leapt at Nutcase, fangs bared, prepared to tear into her flesh. My two companions cheered him on, but Nutcase was not about to be caught off guard again, a simple magical burst of energy slammed into our would be saviour’s side, knocking him into the bars of Dryma’s cage. Before he could recover, he was lifted up in a telekinetic field. Nutcase made to toss the intruder into my currently empty cage, but the changeling’s horn channeled his own spell and the yellow magical field swiftly turned green before disappearing entirely as he dropped standing to the floor, breathing heavily from the effort needed to break her hold.

The changeling sent a volley of energy bolts, but Nutcase put up her shield again, causing them to fizzle out harmlessly. She threw her barrier forwards into her foe, striking him with a resounding crack and sending him to the floor facing away from her on his belly where he remained, groaning.

With a triumphant smirk, Nutcase levitated a magical inhibitor ring out of a drawer at her desk and approached the downed changeling. When she reached him, the changeling with one swift movement planted his forehooves on the floor and used the leverage that gave him to buck out at her with his hind legs. With a cry of surprise, Nutcase tried to dodge this attack, but was still hit solidly in her chest and lifted into the air by the power of the blow, collapsing to the floor as she landed. She returned unsteadily to her hooves, coughing.

While she tried to recover, the changeling charged at her again with a snarl, aiming to tear out her throat with his fangs. Nutcase managed to raise a leg to block the killing blow, but shrieked in pain as a mouthful of sharp teeth sank into her limb. Frantically, she reached out with her magic and grasped at the first thing she could find: one of the magical orbs she used to light the cave. The orb slammed into the changeling’s head, shattering from the impact like glass, and knocking him loose from her leg and back to the floor. He lifted his head, stained with blood from several lacerations and the wound he had caused to Nutcase’s leg, and saw several yellow bolts of energy about to strike him. He put up his own shield, but the bolts cut through the weak green barrier and struck him one after another, his screams echoed through the chamber. The two changelings still locked up stopped their shouting and sat in disappointed silence, leaving the only sound in the room the laboured breathing of Nutcase and the ragged gasps for air from her defeated assailant.

Nutcase laughed. Not a malevolent sort of laughter like you might imagine a monstrous villain doing in their moment of victory. No, this was a nervous laughter filled with relief, the kind a person releases when they are simply happy to have survived something they knew they shouldn’t have.

My heart sank. I was so close to getting out of here, and now instead of being rescued, a new changeling had been captured, or maybe killed if the damage he suffered was too great. With one short fight, my hopes were once again crushed. I thought bitterly that at least I wouldn’t be alive to suffer the guilt from facing the one who was caught trying to save me.

Suddenly, Nutcase’s laughter ceased as her ears twitched, a concerned look spreading across her face. She limped over to the stairway and pointed her ears towards the opening. I strained myself to try and detect what she had, and soon I could make it out too. It was a repetitive pounding sound, and it was growing louder. Her horn glowed and a faint wall of yellow energy was sent up the stairs.

After a few moments, Nutcase’s eyes widened and a look of panic spread across her face. She hastily limped away from the entrance, trying to reach the doorway to the bedroom. Due to her leg injury, she was much too slow. The sound was revealed to be three changelings running down the stairs as they burst into the room. Quickly noting the condition of the first four changelings in the room, all of which were locked up, tied down, or badly wounded, they approached the mare that had done it all.

“Give up, you’re outnumbered!” The largest of the three demanded in a deep, masculine version of the dual toned changeling voice, one I was instantaneously jealous of in my improperly gendered form.

Nutcase’s eyes twitched from foe to foe, trying to gauge her three new fresh opponents. Her response to their demand was to send a javelin of magic hurtling towards the one who had spoken. He dove to the side, barely avoiding the deadly projectile that gouged out a large hole in the wall behind him.

The second of the trio charged at Nutcase nearly immediately after she had attacked the first. Another volley of yellow energy bolts was sent hurtling at the approaching changeling, but they were deflected by a bright green barrier that the third changeling had put in place to protect their ally. Within moments, the second changeling collided with my captor with a bone crunching thud, both of them falling to the ground. A desperate, undisciplined burst of yellow energy sent Nutcase’s assailant flying through the air, though the changeling recovered in midair with a buzz of its wings.

Nutcase staggered to her hooves and stared down the changeling in the air and the one that had a dangerous level of magic charged up in its horn. Her eyes widened in fright as she realized she had lost track of the big one who had spoken. She searched the room for him only to hear the telltale sound of changeling transformation fire directly behind her.

She involuntarily jerked her head around to find the monster that had just popped up at her back and froze as she came face to face with a humongous bear. The other two used this distraction to strike simultaneously, the one in the air diving at her while the magician shot an impressive bolt of green energy. The dual pronged attack struck Nutcase full force and she fell to the stone floor, bloodied and unconscious. To complete her defeat, one of her own magical inhibitors was placed on her horn by one surprisingly dexterous bear.

The bear swiftly changed back into a changeling and gave a quick survey of those of us who had been held captive. My two caged companions were cheering at the rescuers and I could have sworn that the big guy was blushing as he took a great big, theatrical bow.

“Greetings, all, I am Webber, the transformation specialist and leader of the Hive’s Search and Rescue Squadron Thirteen. The lovely lady over there is Cocoon, our magic specialist, and that athletically built young stallion is our aerial combat specialist, Doppelganger. We will be your saviours today! Please, no autographs!”

After rolling her eyes at her commander’s flamboyant speech, Cocoon trotted up to my table, removed the gag from my mouth and set to work removing the enchantments on the magical inhibitor so that it could be safely removed.

“Thank you. You have no idea what she was going to do.” She gave a vague grunt of acknowledgement at my words and continued working on the inhibitor, horn glowing a vibrant green. “Do you think you could untie me?”

“Hmm? Oh, right”

With a quick flash of magic, my bindings were undone and I was able to move again, though she threatened to tie me up again if I didn’t stay still so that she could work on the magic inhibitor.

“This is quite the piece of work she’s got on you.” I found myself uncomfortable with the fascinated tone she took over the device of my subjugation. “It’s definitely not the standard issue inhibitors that most ponies use, probably custom built. Did it do anything other than stop you from using magic?”

“Yeah. She could use it to directly control me and my magic.”

She whistled at the news. “That is some powerful stuff. Gotta admire a mare that knows her way around enchanted items.” I did not share her enthusiasm for my previous captor’s abilities, no matter how impressive they may actually have been. Hoping for a change of subject, I spied Angel in the distance.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked, indicating Angel who was being helped to his hooves by Doppelganger. He heard my question and limped my way with a little assistance.

“Nothing a little tender love and care from Fluttershy won’t cure.” He winced in pain as Doppelganger accidentally bumped into his head. Remembering how he had appeared as Angel Bunny, I couldn’t help but ask a question.

“Are you really Fluttershy’s rabbit?”

“Yes, for a few years now. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell her that, though. You can call me Angel, I’ve grown to really enjoy that name.”

“Angel here isn’t trained for combat. In fact, he was only supposed to keep an eye on things until we could get here. What happened?” Doppelganger asked.

“Chuckles here found you guys throwing peanuts at the madmare funny and thought it was a good idea to antagonize her by laughing.” Angel scowled in my direction, causing me to avert my eyes in shame. “If I didn’t do something she was going to kill her.”

“I thought it was funny too until she hit me with that rock. It’s why we took so long getting here. I was out cold for a solid ten minutes.” Webber piped in from his position near the cages of my fellow prisoners.

“How did you guys find us?” Drymanid interjected into our conversation from next to his cage, having been released from it by Webber.

“You can thank Angel for that.” Webber explained.

Angel bowed his head, cheeks slightly reddened with embarrassment over the praise. “Fluttershy told me she had found a changeling, so I followed her and her friends into the Everfree and to this place. The entire area reeks of despair, so it wasn’t hard to tell something was wrong. Even if Fluttershy hadn’t expressed her concerns to me over your wellbeing later, I still knew I had to help you.”

“He contacted Queen Chrysalis, asking for help in getting all of you out, and here we are.” Webber continued for him. “I distracted what’s her name while the others sneaked in. My team sent Angel ahead to find you while they waited for her to return from outside, then propped the door open, searched for my unconscious self and then we all came down here. You know the rest.”

“So....what are you then, a spy?” I questioned Angel, who glared at me in return.

“No.” He responded coldly and I wilted a little beneath his glowering gaze, only to have the changeling attending to my inhibitor growl at me to stay still. Webber’s reaction was quite different from Angel’s, he chuckled.

“Nah, he’s Fluttershy’s darling pet now, he’d never do anything to hurt his precious master.” His tone was jovial, his words obviously intended as lighthearted teasing. “He hasn’t been part of the hive for years now.”

“Wait, you mean to tell me Chrysalis-“ I began.

“Queen Chrysalis.” Doppelganger corrected me.

“Uh...right. You mean to tell me that Queen Chrysalis willingly sent a rescue team to help out somebody who isn’t even part of the hive?”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Doppelganger raised an eyebrow. “Even if we weren’t saving other changelings, being you and those two over there, he’s still one of us. What hive are you from that you would think our Queen unwilling to help out her own?”

There are other hives? Other queens? Wait, stop! Bad brain, he asked you a question!

I swallowed and looked around nervously, trying to think of how I could get past this question. How would they respond to me not really being one of their own? Most ponies didn’t exactly believe me, and Pupa certainly hadn’t reacted very well. Oh right, Pupa. If I didn’t tell the truth, then he surely would and I doubt he’d care about making me look sympathetic.

“Truth is, I’m not from any hive.” I nervously stated.

“You mean you’re one of the unbound like me? Or that you’re born to unbound parents?” Angel prodded.

“Uh...no. I’m not quite sure what an unbound is, but that’s not what I mean. I’m not actually a changeling.”

Skeptical eyes greeted me all around, and Pupa’s satisfaction was so intense that I could feel it. It seemed Cocoon had finally gotten my inhibitor off and I could sense emotions again. As the sense of dread and despair that had been overwhelming me on arrival returned, I realized that it probably wasn’t really a good thing that she had.

“Got it!” She exclaimed triumphantly, my inhibitor hanging in her telekinetic grip. I sat up and winced while the negative emotions washed over me.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s great, Cocoon, now what do you mean you’re not a changeling?” Webber questioned.

“I...I...” Stammering was all I could get out as I looked into Webber’s accusing eyes. They said they had come out because they would help any changeling in need, but what about me then? I wasn’t a changeling. Would they execute me? Would they mind control me and use me as a source of love, like Chrysalis had done to Shining Armor?

“What she means is that this isn’t the first time that Nutcase had done her experiment. The first time, the changeling that you see in front of you died. This...thing from another world invaded her body and took it over. She is not Visage, she’s a monster.” Pupa had trotted up to my table, and I was visibly shaking by the time he finished.

Webber stared at Pupa incredulously before he turned his gaze back to me as if he were seeing me for the first time. My eyes flitted fearfully from face to face, each one staring at me with a shocked expression, except for Dryma and Pupa, who had a pained expression and a smug one respectively. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked past them at the stairway to my freedom.

“I think Queen Chrysalis will want to see Visage for herself.” Webber stated plainly.

In a panicked burst of energy, I leapt from my position on the table, bowling over Doppleganger and Angel and galloped as quickly as my legs would take me for the stairs. The injured changeling and his support shouted in surprise as they fell to the floor. Cocoon, however, was quick to react and blocked my escape route with a magical force field, which I promptly ran nose first into at top speed. It was like running into a trampoline, knocking me back flat on my rear. Getting back to my hooves, I turned to face Webber as he approached me. As he got close, I wildly swung a hoof at him, but he dodged easily.

I wasn’t a fighter as a human to begin with, and being in a foreign body only made it worse. My attack threw me off balance, which he took full advantage of by knocking me onto my side and pinning me in place. I struggled mightily to escape from him, fueled by the fear overwhelming me, but to no avail. Cocoon approached the two of us, horn glowing as she cast another spell. Before long, I felt my energy waning and I gradually stopped fighting as I drifted off to sleep.

___________________________

Pinkie Pie had been going to Nutcase’s home every day since their first meeting to try and see Chancey again, and, if Nutcase wasn’t as bad as she seemed, make friends with her too. Just because Twilight was too preoccupied with her foalnapped brother and sister in law to do so didn’t mean Pinkie wasn’t going to keep trying to find out what had really happened to her human turned changeling friend. There was absolutely, positifically no chance (hee hee! Chance! Get it?) that he would just leave her like that for good without saying goodbye no matter what Nutcase told her. They were friends, right? And friends definitely don’t do that sort of thing! It was in the rulebook right after ‘Do not kill your friends”.

Unfortunately, up to now she had little luck with her investigations, and today was thus far proving to be no exception. After searching the area for any clues or super secret passageways into the underground home, she had come up empty hooved again. The way things were going, she was tempted to start digging one instead.

A few days back, she had tried sneaking in through the front door in the middle of the night, but it was not only locked up by physical means, but by magical ones too! That wasn’t even fair! How’s a mare supposed to sneak into a house with that kind of protection blocking her way?

With her initial search complete, there was little more she could do beyond knocking on that door and hoping to convince Nutcase to let her inside. Sixth time’s the charm!

This morning when Pinkie knocked, instead of having to wait patiently for Miss Grumpy Grouse to answer and yell at her again, it opened inwards at her touch. Taking this as an invitation to enter, Pinkie did so with a slight bounce in her step. If Nutcase was letting her in so casually then maybe she was finally going to let her see Chancey again! She practically vibrated in excitement over the prospect.

Strangely, nopony seemed to be home. Even stranger, there was a stairway in the main room that hadn’t been there before when she and her friends had searched the place. Knowing an opportunity for an adventure when she saw one, she whipped out a black catsuit and had it on at such a speed that any sane pony would question just how Pinkie could have done it. Looking around she noticed with a disappointed sigh that nopony was around to be flummoxed by her actions. She loved seeing stunned faces filled with confusion over her antics almost as much as she loved seeing smiles. She wasn’t going to let that dampen her mood, though, as she had some super spying to do! She slunk as stealthily as a super spy should, just like in all those films she had seen with Rainbow Dash. She even had her own super spy theme music, which she supplied herself by humming.

Pinkie Pie now stood in an underground, cave like room. It was dimly lit by various faintly glowing orbs. Whatever magic that had been fueling them had noticeably faded, but it was still bright enough to see the horror. Cages, tables with straps for tying ponies down with, magic inhibitors scattered about, scorch marks burned into the walls and floor, and splotches of blood everywhere.

For the first time that day, Pinkie’s smile left her face as she ran back to Ponyville, screaming for Twilight the whole way.