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.