Altered Visage

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.”