ALL HAIL TO OUR NEW QUEEN!
It was around midnight when Starlight’s eyes shot open, gasping after having a horrible nightmare. The same one she had the night before. She groaned and laid on her back, brushing the blanket that laid across her in anger. After staring at the ceiling for a bit, she sighed and rested her arm over her eyes, wishing this would end already, but part of her felt she deserved it, dreaming of everything that had happened all those months ago.
“Can’t let it go…” She thought to herself. “Can you, Starlight…” She took her arm off her eyes and looked out the window, seeing a crescent moon in the sky and the many stars that surrounded it. Feeling the need to relieve herself, she got out of bed and made her way to the restroom, hoping that that and a drink would put her back to sleep. She opened the door and walked in, not noticing a dark shadow dashing across the moonlight that shined through the window.
After finding slight relief, Starlight looked into the bathroom mirror, seeing the face of a tired mare. She sighed and closed her eyes as a pair of dark figures ran past the reflection. She didn’t notice as she walked out and into the open bedroom, rubbing her eyes and dragging her hoof down her face, still having a hard time seeing the room, even with the moonlight helping, she was about to flair her horn if it wasn’t for something bumping in front of her, making her fall back and land on her flank.
“AH!” Starlight stood up and put a hoof to her chest defensively, seeing a figure in the shadows, “W-Wh-Who are you!?” She yelled, lighting up her horn and preparing to strike the intruder. “S-Show yourself!”
The pony shaped figure emerged from the shadows and into the moonlight, showing its front hooves before the front of its body. Starlight’s jaw dropped and her horn un-flared once she saw what stood in front of her, knowing exactly who it was. After a short pause, the pony spoke. “I’m you…” It answered, sounding just like her as well.
Starlight seemed glued to the spot, shaking in both fear and confusion as her doppelganger stood in front of her with a wicked smile; the same one she had months ago when she fought against Sparkle. “M-Me!?”
Her twin leaned forward. “Who?” It asked, tilting its head.
Starlight would’ve screamed and ran, but a swift smack on the back of her head made her fall to the floor, she tried getting up, flaring her horn defensively, though it didn’t help once another hit came, making her vision go blurry and her hearing fade out as voices talked around her.
“Nice shot, Twig…”
“Did I get it, Shawn?”
The last thing Starlight saw was herself, looking down at her with a smile that gave her flashbacks to her dream, and the last thing she heard before she passed out was a sinister laugh coming from her clone, followed by a sentence that made her fear for the worst.
“The hive shall rise again…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first sense that Starlight regained once she started coming back into the world was her sense of touch, feeling as though she were laying on a hard, cold floor. She then felt a huge amount of pain in her head, making her wish her other senses would come back sooner.
“How much longer?”
Starlight’s ear flicked, thankful that her sense of hearing was working, but also terrified at the tone of that voice, sounding like its voice box had been thrown into a shredder then connected into an amplifier
“I dunno.” Another said in a similar tone. “How hard did ya hit her, Twig?”
“It was just a light tap, nothing too serious.”
“Twig, your definition of a ‘light tap’ isn’t really that-”
“Mhghhrhhm?” Starlight was surprised that she could say anything during this, even if it was nothing but groaning.
“Quick, she’s waking up! Everyling, get in positions!”
Starlight’s eyes slowly opened, her sight showing her nothing but darkness. In an effort to stand, she rolled on her side, still feeling the pain in her head. Before long, she was able to sit up and rub her eyes, hoping that doing so would help her see. After she blinked a few times, she finally managed to see what was in front of-
“Hello!”
Starlight screamed and backed up, yelping as she hit a cold wall seconds after. Her eyes darted around the dark area as hundreds of blue eyes lit up, coming closer and closer to her. Her eyes started adjusting to the darkness, now seeing sharp teeth and fangs under each eye.
Despite her lungs now going into overdrive, she asked the first of many questions that swam through her head. “Wh-W-Who are you ponies!?”
“Oh, we’re not ponies!” A voice called out. “We’re changelings!”
Starlight had never heard of such a word, nor a voice in such a weird tone. “Wh-What?”
“Ya know, those things that feed on love and that ponies call monsters.”
“Wh-Whu..Whaaat?” Starlight squeaked out.
“Here, lemme show you.” Starlight yelped as a black, hole filled, blue eyed, fanged creature with bug like wings stepped in front of her. “See;” It said pointing at itself. “Changeling, or you can call us bug horses, insects, overgrown cockroaches or-”
“Sta-Stay back!” Starlight tried lighting up her horn, but for some reason, it refused to do so, this only made her panic more.
As for the changeling, it just laughed at how she was acting. “Calm down, listen, my name’s Phil: new ambassador of the changelings.”
“‘New?’” Starlight repeated.
He, and others behind him, nodded. “Unfortunately, our other ambassador, or ‘speaker’ as he liked to be called, decided to go out on his own along with some other bugs, so, we all took a vote on who should be the new one and, after a month, we decided I should be the one to represent the hive!”
“A-A whole month?”
Some changelings shrugged. “It takes a pretty long time when you don’t have anyone to tell us how it works.” One pointed out.
Starlight continued looking around, now starting to see even more of these creatures in the room, which looked like a huge cave with no exits that she could see. This made her think of her next question. “W-Where am I?”
“You’re in the cave. Our home.” One changeling said proudly. “Well, our new home...I guess you can call it that.”
Starlight tried lighting up her horn again to, not only get a better look around, but to prepare for a fight. Unfortunately, her horn refused to do so. She looked up and tapped it with her hoof, feeling a strange, slimy substance covering it. “W-why can’t I...I-I…”
Phil noticed this and scratched his neck, looking away awkwardly, as did others. “Heh...y-yeah, Sorry about the gunk on your horn, we were too afraid you would use it before any of us could explain what’s going on,” He laughed. “but you probably know why you're here anyway.”
With her heart still pounding against her chest, she shook her head furiously. “No! I-I don’t!”
Many changelings looked at each other in confusion. “You...don’t you know why you’re here?”
Starlight thought of many reasons as to why she was here, each thought worse than the last. “I-I really don’t know...w-what do you ‘changelings’ want with me.”
Phil stepped closer, his smile not going away. “Isn’t it obvious?” He asked. “I mean, we freed you, brought you to our home, made you sit in front of all of us, we have a history that I’m sure you can relate to…”
The mare started having very dark ideas of her purpose. “L-Listen….I-I’m not that tasty, okay. I-I don’t even have that much meat on me anyway, a-and I doubt I c-can feed all of you!”
Seconds of silence came before the entire cave busted into laughter, Phil was the first to calm down. “Oheheh...Okay! First off, we’re not into that, and second, why would we want to eat our new queen?”
The gears in Starlight's brain momentarily stopped. “Q-Qu...Q-Que...QUEEN!?”
“Of course!” A changeling yelled. “What other reason could there be? It’s not like we take random ponies for no reason.”
Starlight was getting more confused by the second. “But why me? A-And what do you mean by ‘new queen’? W-Who was the old one? And where is t-this cave? A-And why did you ponynap me? A-And...a-and...”
Phil sighed. “I suppose we should explain.” He clapped his hooves, a group of changelings quickly flew off and rolled in a large cork board on wheels with many pinned up papers and pictures, a few files pinned up as well, filled with even more papers. “Let’s start at the beginning.” A changeling next to one of the boards pointed at a picture of their queen, her large fangs and catlike eyes gave Starlight chills down her spine. “Our queen, bless her dark soul, has vanished ever since we were flung out of that city.”
Starlight was even more confused. “City?”
Phil nodded. “The city of Canterlot was where we did our first ever attack on ponies for rejecting us of our need for love!” He cleared his throat. “I’m guessing you don’t know of our attack?”
Starlight slowly shook her head. “N-No...I-I don’t.”
Phil looked away. “Well, it’s best that you don’t know the details, just know that we were flung over Equestria from a magic blast thanks to that lovely couple and the element bearers."
“Element whats?”
“It’s a code name.” Phil explained. “A code name for those six ponies that defeated us...and we know that you know about who we know...ya know?”
Despite the confusing sentence, Starlight had a rough idea as to who he was talking about, and it only made more questions. “Y-You’re talking about Twilight and her friends?”
Phil nodded slowly. “That pony and her five stupid friends managed to get past the first fleet of bugs before being stopped by the next.” Others growled. “If our queen hadn’t told us to take them to her unharmed…” He snapped his teeth in the air, making Starlight’s heart leap to her throat. “Well, we wouldn’t be here, I’ll tell you that much.” Many changelings behind him nodded, showing signs of anger that Starlight had never seen on anyone.
Starlight bit her lip, knowing that she had to get on their good side if it meant getting out of this place. “I-I’m sure you wouldn’t…heh.”
Phil managed to regain his composure as he looked back at the board. “Anyway, long story short, the purple pony saw through our plan, she helped a princess escape, and managed to make her brother and sis-in-law blast us out of that city. We'll go more into detail later.”
Starlight was rather impressed. “S-She did all of that?”
Others nodded. “Yup.” Phil then closed his eyes and hung his head. “And, in the process, we lost...her, our one ruler, our only ruler, the one who would’ve led us to victory if it wasn’t for that STUPID MARE!” Phil stomped the floor, causing a slight uproar in the crowd.
Starlight’s eyes went wide, hoping they weren’t serious. “A-Are you saying Twilight...y-ya know...”
Phil opened his eyes. “We don’t know. We lost contact with the queen after everyling found each other. It was...heartbreaking, but we ended up moving past it and followed protocol.”
Starlight had to ask. “Which is?”
Phil turned to his brothers and sisters, wanting them to answer. “Find a new ruler.” They said in unison.
“A-And I was your first pick?” Starlight said.
Phil cringed. “Technically, yes, but we had other options.” He turned to the cork board, a changeling nodded and took hold of a file that said ‘C-King’ on it, handing it to Phil. “After sending our first search party out to find siblings or food, we caught word of a king, who had apparently been trapped for over a thousand years, had risen from his slumber and was preparing to invade a place known as The Crystal Kingdom.” Phil opened the file and held up several pictures of the kingdom.
“A-A king?”
Phil leaned his head over to the board, a photo of a dark cloud with a pony shaped head at the top. “King Sombra was very close to taking over that place...but guess who stopped him.” He growled as he slammed the file on the floor, pictures of the king being blasted along with Twilight and her friends in their crystallized forms. “They did it again...they stole another ruler from us!”
Sounds of anger echoed through the cave, making Starlight fear for her life. “W-Well, t-that must be terrible.”
“And those ponies didn’t stop there.” Phil continued as another changeling pointed at a picture of Discord while others picked up the file on the floor. “This mutant goat was on the list as well. His chaotic nature and his lack of mercy seemed like a good choice, but it would seem that after his second un-stoning, he...reformed…” Many changelings hissed at the word, as if it were the most vile thing they could ever say or hear. “So, no luck there.”
“But I’m-” Starlight then bit her tongue, knowing that telling them that would be suicide.
“And then there’s this blue mare who once fought that purple pony.” Phil pointed at a photo of Trixie, looking as though it was taken behind glass. “Unfortunately, this one also seems to no longer care for the element bearers, even though she came back twice…”
Starlight was getting more worried by the second. These bugs, not only knowing about Twilight and her friends, but also about the foes they faced was rather unsettling. “Listen, I’m not-”
“And then we had a breakthrough!” Phil smiled as more changelings pointed at a larger section of the board, showing many pictures of a giant red and black centaur. “Lord Tirek might have some unoriginal colors, but he looked like he knew what he was doing, he even managed to turn that goat back to his side and capture almost every element, but, like the other’s, he fell before we even had a chance to talk to him.” The entire hive sighed sadly. “We were sure that no one would ever try and face her again after that...but then, something wonderful happened!”
Starlight was almost too afraid to ask. “W-What happened?”
The bugs smiled as they flipped the board on the other side. Starlight gasped once she saw what was on it. “We found another…” Phil said, looking over the dozens of pictures, written parchments, and sketches all revolving around Starlight and her doings. “We found someone who had done it, who prevailed, who managed to trick the element bearers better than we, or any other ruler, ever could!”
Starlight’s eyes traveled the entire board, pictures of her smiling evilly, sketches of the staff of sameness and the cutie marks she had once collected, different pictures of the town she once ruled, even a photo of her yelling at Twilight to be quiet. “H-How did you get these pictures!?”
“Oh, we took em’ when we followed that purple pony to your location.” One changeling said, holding a camera in his hooves. “It’s kinda how we did it with the other rulers, just followed that purple pony around and, once we see who she fights, we take pictures just to see how good, or, how bad of a ruler they are.”
Starlight hated the way the bug said ‘bad’. “B-But I’m not-”
“For she knew how to rule!” Phil interrupted, making Starlight feel like Twilight when she did the same. “Managing to take over an entire village and stand over them was quite astounding to see, your ways of ruling, more than likely, put our former ruler to shame.”
Starlight wasn’t sure how a queen, who led more subjects than her, was less of a ruler than herself. “B-But how did-”
“Then came the despair…” Phil said, starting to annoy Starlight with how much he was interrupting her. “When we found out you had lost to those meddlesome ponies, we had nearly given up hope again. We didn't even try to look for you in the cave you ran to...but then, we saw that you still hadn’t given up! You were still with them...in the background, silently planning no doubt.”
Starlight’s eyes widened. “Y-You knew I was spying on her?”
Many changelings laughed. “Pssh, of course we knew.” One changeling in a helmet said. “You’re talking to changelings, creatures that are masters of stealth and espionage, so, ya, we knew you were still with them.
“But we have to admit,” Another said, scuffing the floor. “you really need to work on your undercover skills.” Many changelings nodded in agreement. “It was really shocking to see that the element bearers didn’t even notice you while us bugs could spot ya from a mile away.” He chuckled. “Hiding your face in a menu has gotta be the most hilarious thing we had every seen.”
More changelings laughed, making Starlight blush in embarrassment. “Regardless,” Phil continued. “we continued watching to see what you would do next...and when you finally made your move.” He chuckled. “We knew we finally found the right one to lead us.”
Starlight had a rough idea as to what he was talking about. “Y-You don’t mean…”
Phil waved his hoof, a table coming in between him and Starlight. Another changeling grabbed a file from the board and opened it on the table. Starlight’s eyes went wide when she saw what was inside. “Changing timelines…” Phil said, placing his hoof on sketches of almost every timeline Twilight had went through. “Something that we had never seen before, something that made us question our own reality, something that made hatchlings shiver, drones afraid, and our scientists go mad!” He breathed. “But, to be fair, our lab guys aren’t as smart as the next pony…”
The changeling that grabbed the file nodded. “Even our lead scientist, the one who named himself after some greek guy, started writing his own stories and ideas of other universes.” He snickered. “And boy are they stupid. Like someling can be afraid of a princess…”
Starlight was too busy trying to figure out how they drew these to pay attention to the conversation, the only one missing seemed to be the barren wasteland. “H-Ho...How in Equestria did you know about this!?”
Phil smirked. “We’re everywhere, Starlight…” Phil paused for a moment before letting loose his laugh. “Okay...m-maybe we just heard from that purple pony that she went through places where the villains won and we kinda...just sketched it” He grabbed one picture of a swarm of changelings. “I think this one’s the best. We look really intimidating, huh? You can thank the master of being without death for that.”
“B-But you know how it ended, right?” Half of Starlight hoped they would realize she no longer cared for defeating Twilight while the other half was afraid of how they would react.
Other’s nodded sadly. “Oh...we know, she defeated you...again!” Phil slammed his hooves on the table, making Starlight yelp. “You would’ve succeeded, you would’ve won, you would’ve prevailed in ending the timeline of those accursed mares, but some way or another, she defeated you.” The changelings growled. “We couldn’t figure out how. We were confused, angry, furious, hateful after hearing about this!”
Starlight gulped, not liking any of the looks these bugs had right now. “A-At me?”
The changelings stopped growling. “Wh-wha...n-no, not at you,” Phil motioned for another changeling to come, this one holding a hoof ful of darts. “but at HER!!!” Phil then threw one at a nearby dartboard, which had pictures of all of Starlight’s new friends hung all over, with one photo having more holes than the others, which the dart landed on. “Twilight Sparkle...the mare who took our queen away, the mare who saw right through our plan, the mare who has now left us to perish after everything that happened!”
Starlight needed to ask. “Uh...h-how long has that dartboard been there?”
“She’s done it all!” Phil yelled, making Starlight's face go deadpan. “She’s won, she’s been victorious, she’s beaten and knocked down every obstacle in her path, but NO MORE!” Phil got on the table and stood on his hind legs. “We have had enough of watching this mare and her five friends take away our hopes and dreams, watching her defeat foe after foe, watching her be happy and free while we stay here and rot!” He raised his hoof in the air. “For on this day, in the name of our fallen queen, will be perfect, for this day will be the day our queen’s dream will come true, for this day we will gather round and, with the help of our new queen, we will finally defeat TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”
A round of cheering and applause echoed through the cave, forcing Starlight to flop her ears. “B-But you can’t!” She yelled
Phil got off the table. “Of course we can’t, not without you.”
“WH-WHAT!?”
Phil shoved the table out of the way. “Starlight, you’re the only one left, we’ve seen what you’ve done, the plans you pulled off, the challenges you’ve been through.” All of them smiled. “We’re here to give you another chance, we’ve freed you from the dreaded prison she kept you in, and now that you’re with us, you can help save our kind!”
Starlight wasn’t sure how her bedroom was considered a prison. “Y-You thought I was in prison?”
“Of course you were imprisoned, did you see the accommodations she put you in?” Some changelings nearly gagged. “I'm sure Tirek has it easy compared to you.”
“L-Look, I-I’m not-” Starlight then saw the looks they were giving her, all of their expressions were filled with hope the more they looked at her.
“You’re not what?” Phil asked, stepping closer. “Starlight, you’re our last hope, w-we’ve been through so many tough months of being by ourselves, of constantly searching for a leader, of watching, hoping to find someone who can help...and I think we can all agree that you, despite being a pony, can lead us to victory!”
Starlight cringed, knowing that she would have to tell some truth or else she might lead an entire army of changelings into battle. “I-I’m just not comfortable leading...well, you guys.”
One changeling raised their hoof. “We can put equal signs on our flanks if it’ll make you feel better.” Green fire formed around his bottom half before a white equal sign was on both sides of his flank. “It’s not black, but it’s still pretty equal.”
To Starlight, this only made things worse. “I-I’m just not ready for something like this…”
“We can change into your enemy so you can prepare for your victory speeches.” One changeling walked up to her and bursted into green flames, disguising at Twilight without her wings. “Oh Starlight!” He acted. “How could I have been defeated by such a powerful mare like you? If only those accursed changelings weren’t in the way, maybe I would’ve had a fighting chance.” The disguised Twilight slid across the floor before he was at the hooves of Starlight. “Please, Starlight, have mercy on me!”
Phil chuckled and decided to join in on the act. “That’s queen Starlight to you, Sparkle, and we’ll talk about mercy...once we’ve drained you of all the love from your body!”
Disguised Twilight gasped and rose to his back legs, leaning his head back and putting his arm over his eyes. “Noooooooooo!” He yelled before coming back into his original form. “How was that? I didn’t get an A in acting 312 for nothing.”
Starlight’s jaw dropped. “I-I don’t-”
“We could even have a pretend fight to help you prepare!” Phil clapped his hooves, two changelings coming forward and changing into Starlight and Twilight.
“You’re time of doing evil is over, Glimmer!” The disguised Twilight yelled as they flared up their horn and shot a blast of green light right at the disguised Starlight.
The fake Starlight simply stepped to the side, the blast hitting another changeling, who had turned into one of Twilight’s friends. Fake Starlight sarcastically clapped their hooves with a smile, making the real Starlight shiver once she saw it from a different perspective. Phil stepped closer to her. “Are we great at acting or what?”
Starlight pushed him away. “Listen, changelings. I...I-I’m...I…” She knew that she had to tell them, but she needed to find a way to defend herself if things got out of hoof, it was then she noticed her gunk covered horn.
“You're what? Still not convinced? Because we even have a musical prepared if you don’t-”
“I don’t feel comfortable with this stuff on my horn right now!” She blurted out. “Uh...d-do you mind?”
Phil gasped. “O-Of course we don’t mine, why, it would be an honor!” Phil stepped up to her and opened his mouth, biting down on her horn, a mixture of fear, shock, horror, disgust, and arousal swirled through Starlight's mind until he tore the stuff off with his teeth, her horn sparking seconds afterwards. Phil then noticed the expression on her face and laughed. “Heh...s-sorry about that...It’s the only way to get it off.”
Starlight tapped it, seeing that it prepared for anything that might happen. “Well, now that it’s working...I-I need to...tell you all something.”
Many changelings tilted their heads. “What is it?” One asked. “OH! Don’t tell us, you have a plan to take her out, right?”
“Uh...no, I need to say-”
“That you’re prepared to lead us to battle!”
“No. I want to-”
“Tell us about how much you hate that mare and are prepared to end her?”
“No! I-”
“You want to rule the entire land of Equestria? Because we can do that if-”
“I’M NOT EVIL!”
…
The only sound coming from the room was the heavy breathing from Starlight, after some time, one changeling snickered, another did the same, and before anyone knew it, the entire hive bursted into laughter, some had tears down their face from laughing so much. Phil was, again, the first to calm down and say, “Hahaha! O-Oh, that’s a good one, my queen. You’re not evil? HA! A-And I thought we had some pretty good jokes.”
Starlight’s face went straight, knowing she had to tell the truth. “This isn’t a joke, I’m not evil, Twilight and her friends forgave me and I’m good now!”
As the laughter died down, one changeling flew in the air and smiled. “Oh, please, like you could ever turn good after the things you’ve done, I mean, you tricked those elements many times, you almost took their marks, you made that purple pony go through so much just to stop you, you have the best evil smile any of us have ever seen, you almost destroyed Equestria just to get to her. How can you not be considered a bad pony?”
Starlight knew they were wanting her to take that as a compliment, but all those things they said almost broke her heart. Despite this, she took a deep breath and continued. “But I’m not like that, and I’m sure others feel the same.” Starlight walked up to the board and flipped it the other way with her magic, pointing at a picture of discord. “I-I mean, look at Discord, he did bad things and he, was not only forgiven, but he was also reformed.”
Many changelings rolled their eyes. “Yeah, but he did it without reason, that’s more of being stupidly evil than being evil evil. Our past queen, and our new queen did it for a reason: to help the hive and to get revenge! Because everyone likes revenge, right?”
Starlight was baffled at how they thought that made sense. “T-That doesn’t even make any-”
Phil flipped the board back to the other side. “And the way you ruled over the ponies in that equal town...” Many nodded in agreement. “It would’ve make our past queen proud.”
Starlight started thinking, trying to figure out some way to make these changelings understand. It was then that she realized something. “Changelings, before I continue, I need to ask. Why did you invade Canterlot in the first place?”
Phil crossed his arms. “Because we’ve tried talking to ponies before, only for them to run away and scream, never giving us a chance.” He sighed. “So, in a last ditch effort, our queen planned an attack on Canterlot to harvest love and get revenge on the ponies who turned us away when we needed food!”
“T-They never gave you a chance?” They nodded sadly, though, Starlight wasn’t surprised, giving creatures who feed on an emotion and shapeshift into ponies a chance would be very hard. “I must say that’s...not a surprise.”
The bugs nodded, knowing what she meant. “Yeah…monsters that have fangs, glowing blue eyes, and feed off of love probably aren’t a creature anyone would like,” Most of them turned to the dartboard. “especially that pony!”
Noticing this gave Starlight an idea. “Listen to me, all of you. I know you hate Twilight-”
“Ain’t that the understatement of the century.” One sneered
Starlight ignored this and continued. “B-But she’s forgiving, along with the other ponies. I’m sure if you talk to them they can-”
“We’ve tried talking to ponies!” One bug pointed out. “They rejected us the moment we showed our true form, what makes you think a pony like her can forgive us!”
“She forgave me.”
All of them froze with wide eyes. Their minds hitting a brick wall with that statement. “S-She did?” One changeling asked, thinking that was impossible.
Starlight nodded. “Like you said; I’ve done some terrible things, and, just like you, I hated her for what she did to ruin my plans, but I realized how awful it was, and that being mad at her only made it worse.” She looked at all of them. “I can tell you right now, if she can forgive me after what I’ve done, I’m sure she can do the same for you.” She stepped closer to Phil. “You just need to let go of this grudge you have against her.”
The entire hive had mixed feelings about this, some understood, others were still upset, a lot were still confused, and many didn’t know what to do. “But how?” Phil asked.
“H-How can we…”
“W-what can…”
“W-What’s the first step in doing this?”
“We don’t have a leader who can help us anyway.”
“Where can we even begin?”
“How can we start?”
Starlight knew where this was going, that these creatures couldn’t do anything without someone helping them, and after everything they told her, she knew she was their only hope. “I’ll do it…”
Ear stems raised in the air once Starlight said those words. “R-Really!?” They said.
Starlight regretfully nodded. “But you need to promise to listen to me, alright.
All of them saluted “Yes, queen!”
Phil stepped forward, happy to know that their plan, even though it went in a strange direction, might still work. “So, what’s your first order, my queen?”
Starlight had many, ranging from not calling her queen, to showing a good impression, to making sure not to do anything stupid, to realizing the error of their ways, to help with their acting skills, but her first one was the most important, the one she wanted from the beginning, the one she should’ve asked from the start.
“Well, for starters, where’s the exit to this place?”
Author's Note
Okay, the ending for this fic was EXTREMELY hard to make,
I seriously couldn't figure out any other way for it to end,
so, I apologize if it seemed rushed or unsatisfying.
I could always make it up for a sequ-
oh...right...
Deleted scene: Friends like us
Author's Note
Remember when Phil said he had a musical prepared,
well, there was one, but it was taken out due to the word limit of my chapters.
(I try to keep them at 5k words for personal reasons.)
But I thought "well, can't let the work go to waste" So here it is.
The deleted musical number.
Deleted scene: Friends like us
“You sure, cause we even have a musical prepared too.”
“I’M NOT...a-a musical?”
Phil nodded with a grin. “We have it all prepared and ready!”
Normally, Glimmer would’ve told them about her being good, but she had to admit, she was curious. “Um...w-well...I don’t know…”
“Glimmer!” Phil ran up to Starlight and wrapped an arm around her. “I don’t think you realize the position you’re in, so just sit back whilst we show you the possibilities.” He pulled her into the middle of the crowd and looked at his fellow brother’s and sisters, all of them nodding and ready.
Phil stood in front of her on his back legs with his front ones behind his back, shifting his eyes before six changelings came up behind him, all disguising as Twilight and her friends. “Well Twilight has them five friends; all powerful from head to tail.”
They surrounded her, Glimmer immediately panicked and tried to run, but before she could move an inch, more bugs appeared behind, going into fighting stance around her. “But Queen, you're in luck cause up your sleeves ya got fiends that will never fail”
She was pulled out of the small group and landed in a wooden chair, a changeling massaging her shoulders with another one holding a towel next to her. “You have power in your body now.”
Another tapped her horn. “Powerful magic in your horn.” More started crowding around her, slowly making Starlight regret this decision. “Ya have spunk, pizzaz, power all around.You’ll never have to sit and mourn, cause we’ll say-”
Phil flew in the air and crossed his front legs. “Miss Starlight Glimmer, what plans should we discuss?” The changelings pulled out a table in front of her before making her sit in another, more comfortable, chair.
A changeling with a quill and paper stood next to her and smiled. “Let us take your orders and plan ahead. You’ve never had friend like us. HA HA HA!”
Another changeling came up to her and set down a platter with a lid on top. “Equestria is our restaurant and-”
A changeling popped out of the dish, covered in gravy with a smile on his face. “We’ll devour love to lust!”
Phil leaned his head toward her ear. “Just whisper what it is we’ll do You’ve never had friends like us.”
“Yes mam, We take pride in our service.” More bugs crowded around her with many different types of spa equipment, cleaning her hair, hooves, and face.
”You’re the boss, our ruler, our queen!” They then set multiple hats on top, starting with a hat that said ‘number 1’, then a head dress, to finally a crown that resembled their past queen’s.
“Say what you need. It’s yours, indeed! Doesn’t matter what it means!” A pair of changelings grabbed her and started moving her through the cave, the hats falling off. “We’ll travel all the way! Domination is a must.”
A changeling landed in front of her with sunglasses on. “We’re always in the mood ta help ya dude! You‘ve never had friends like us.” He took hold of her and spun her around a few times before going into a tango stance.
Starlight would’ve tried letting go, but the changeling already did that, throwing her to another pair of hole filled hooves. Starlight was then spun around through multiple changelings until she was in the hooves of Phil again. At this point, Starlight knew she had to say something. “B-But I already have enough friends!”
Phil chuckled. “Oh yeah? Well…Can your friends do this?” He leaned over to a group of changelings spinning spears. “What about all of that?” Then toward one changeling who shapeshifted into many other ponies. “Can those friends pull this-” He took out a rather familiar wizard's hat and held it up. “Out a showmare’s haaaaaaat.” He reached into it and stepped closer to Starlight. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst. “Can your friends go WOOOOO!”
Starlight opened her eyes and looked down, dropping her jaw, now seeing that she was in a green and black dress. A bug came up to her and pulled out a full body mirror. “Well looky here, heh.”
Starlight was about to tell them that she had enough, but the song continued as a group of changelings circled around her, disguised as random ponies. “Can your friends go alakazam then…let it RIP!” Three of them grabbed hold of the dress and ripped it apart, Starlight covering her torso and waist seconds later. They were then pulled away from her by more changelings. “And make all your foes disappear!”
Phil came up to her again, making her step back. “So don’t sit there dropped jaw, buggy eyed! We’re willing and prepared.”
A bug in a helmet ran up to her with many medals on his chest. “Ya got soldiers trained and certified!”
Phil pulled out a pair of glasses and adjusted them on his eyes. “You have a bug that’s a charged d’affaires.”
Starlight looked up, seeing more changelings flying above her, each one singing.. “We have a powerful urge to take over. So what are your plans? We really need ta know.”
One bug pulled out a long piece of rolled up parchment, unrolling it. “You gotta have a list that’s all thought out, now doubt, well all ya need to do is say it soooohoohoooo!” He whipped her flank with the long sheet of paper, making her yelp and walk right into the front legs of a pair of changelings, who then hoisted her in the air and flew her across the entire hive.
“Miss Starlight Glimmer! We’re the minions you can trust!” They dropped her in front of Phil, who then helped her up.
“We’re ready to please, our glorious queen!” He flew up, raising his arms at every other changeling, each one of them either flying in random directions, twirling weapons, playing instruments, surrounding their bodies with green flames, or just trying their best to impress her by dancing.
“You’ve never…”
Had…”
Friends…”
Like ..”
UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSS!”
Phil then cackled in laughter, as did others, making Starlight question their sanity, before long, they stopped and faced her with with smiles on their faces.
“You’ve never had friends like us!”
They all sat down in front of her in silence, a group of them holding up a crudely drawn sign that said ‘applause’ on it. It took a minute for her to realize they wanted her to say something after everything that just went down. “Well…” Phil said. “What do you think?”
Besides having an agaped jaw, Starlight wasn’t sure how to respond to this, she knew ponies have done this before, but she never knew changelings could do the same. “Uh...w-well, it’s...impressive?”
Phil smiled. “Glad you like it, cause I know for a fact we’ll be practicing for our next song, this time about you ruling over the world with an iron hoof, I’m sure we have a song in mind for it.” He turned to the other bugs. “Isn’t that right?”
They all nodded and were about to get in position, but Starlight quickly stopped them by saying. “WAIT! U-Uh...c-can you at least get this gunk off my horn?”
