Chapters A few days after the wedding and the kingdom joining ceremony, Malia and Francarlo smile as they look out over the kingdom as Malia holds a hoof to her stomach. She's expecting another round of hatchlings, this one with the strength of warriors and the fragility and shape-shifting abilities of changelings. She's thrilled.
Two weeks later, Malia gives birth to ten new hatchlings. The new batch of changeling hatchlings are bright in color like the others but are physically stronger. Malia smiles as she begins to name the ten new members of the hive. "I shall name you Tennai, Ab, and Domen, Ladybird, Anice, Mantis, Tenna, Corriander, Angel Bug, and Lace." She smiles down at the hatchlings as they crawl out of their eggs. This batch is more females than males but that's all around better for the hive and she knows it.
A few hours later, Francarlo comes in and looks down on Malia and the new hatchlings with a smile on his face. "They are all beautiful just like you are my love." He says as he stands in the doorway. Malia blushes as she turns around.
"Thanks," replies Malia. "I'm always proud when I give birth to a new brood of hatchlings, whether it be ten like this one, twenty or even fifty."
Francarlo lets out a little chuckle. He then comes over and kisses her on the head before leaving the room. He loves being a daddy even if the hatchlings are all the same breed as their mother but with the strength of his breed.
Several years later, Princess Malia and Francarlo and the changelings and gridanders get into a war with a group of creatures known as the Mardendorkus (a combination of a goat, Medusa, pig, and wolf). After several months of fighting this war, the changelings and gridanders come out on top but with Francarlo gravely injured. After several minutes of trying to help him, he finally dies in Malia's arms and her eyes begin to fill with tears that fall down her face. She then looks in a deep stare around at the gridanders and changelings that are surrounding her.
"Sorry for your loss, our queen," they say as they put their hooves on her shoulder. Thorax and Pharynx come forward and put their hooves on their mother's shoulder and try to give her a hug but she turns them away. She then flies off to her garden to mourn. She lost the love of her life and she's not going to be getting over it anytime soon.
The End
The next day, Malia wakes up with the sun when she is approached by the captain of her guard. "Your Highness, good news!" says the captain, "We managed to capture the Hidlehorse. He's being held on the outskirts of the Dracon Forest."
"That's splendid! I mean, that's great!" replies the Princess. She follows the captain of the guard to the Dracon Forest where she sees the Hidlehorse in chains. "Good job, Captain." She says.
"Thanks, your Highness," replies the Captain. "Now what do we do with him?"
"We can't kill him," says Colonel Halter. "Hidlehorses are endangered after all."
"Send him to The Preservatory," replies the Princess. The two nod as they load him into a giant wagon and take him to a zoo like area and place him inside it's Endangered Animals Zone. The Princess smiles as she flies off back to the palace and the Captain and Colonel do the same with all the hatchlings in hoof. The two then fly the hatchlings back to their parents, who happily hug their babies.
"Thanks, Princess Malia!" cheer the changelings as she alongside the Captain and Colonel fly overhead.
"You're welcome, my darling subjects!" replies the Princess as she blows them kisses and smiles at them. A few minutes later, she lands in the front garden of the castle and walks onto her throne and sits down. She's glad the Hidlehorse problem is handled. Now, she can get back to running a peaceful kingdom that isn't fearing their hatchlings being hatchnapped.
A few days later, Princess Malia visits the Preservatory and checks on the Hidlehorse. "Hidlehorse," she says, her voice shaking nervously, "Hidlehorse. Can you come here?" The Hidlehorse wakes up from his nap and walks up to the Princess. Once he's in front of the Princess, the Hidlehorse lets out a snort and then mutters a phrase in Cologi, one of the dead languages of the Dracons of those lands. "Tri calla deca ni," mutters the Hidlehorse. "Tri calla!" The Hidlehorse then turns around, returns to his corner, and falls back asleep. Princess Malia then flies back off to the palace where she is greeted by several of her hoof maids including Cecelia and Clarice.
"What are you doing here?" asks the Princess in shock.
"Your Highness," replies the hoof maids, "we are here for that meeting discussing our higher pay."
"Oh that, I totally forgot," replies Princess. "Please state your case."
"As you know," state the hoof maids, "we aren't paid as much as the court, the guards, or the musicians and scops. They make over 30 sconts an hour and we get paid only 15 sconts an hour. We want equal pay. We work just as hard as they do, maybe harder."
"I see your point," replies the Princess. "You will get your pay raise starting first thing tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Princess Malia, your highness," reply the hoof maids as they fly out of the room and back to their duties. A few hours later, Princess Malia goes off to see how the recruitment process of new young guards is coming along. After all, it's clear that they need to keep their army fresh after the whole incident with the Hidlehorse. She watches on as the captain and colonel train the young changelings. She smiles. She is glad the training is coming along perfectly. She then goes back inside to tend to her two sons, who are fighting in the playroom. She sighs and groans as she breaks up the argument between Pharynx and Thorax. She then sits the two in time out while she goes back out to observe the new recruits. She rolls her eyes. She wishes her sons could just learn to get along.
Author's Note
"Tri calla deca ni, tri calla!" translates to "Bad princess not good, bad princess."
In the throne room, Princess Malia and King Capillan talk. "How are you brother?" asks Princess Malia.
"Just fine," replies King Capillan. "Now, let's get to the real reason for this meeting. Face it, sis, you know how important this matter is."
"I'm fully aware," replies Princess Malia.
"As you know," begins King Capillan, "the Dracon Woods has produced many terrible monsters lately. Some of them dangerous to our fellow changelings. Those woods need to be closed off and its monsters destroyed."
"No!" screams Princess Malia. "We aren't going to kill the creatures of the Dracon Woods!"
"Then what do you suggest?" asks her brother.
"I suggest we either find a way to tame them or put them in the Preservatory," replies the Princess.
"Fine, but if that backfires, those creatures are our next meal," replies her brother. He then huffs before he flies out of the room. Princess Malia bows down her head. She hopes she made the right choice. Her brother may be right. The creatures may just need to be killed, but she has to try to convince them to go to the Preservatory first and resort to her brother's idea as a last-ditch scenario if they ever need one.
The next morning, Princess Malia goes off to a meeting with the dignitaries of another neighboring kingdom made up of hippogriffs called Hippogriffia. A few minutes later, she lands in Hippogriffia, where she is greeted by its king, King Hexton the Great Griff and his bride to be, Princess Melody the Meek Griff.
"So," says King Hexton the Great Griff, "are you prepared to host the Three Kingdom Ball this year?"
"Of course," replies the Princess. "Personally, I'm excited."
"Then there's the question of your brother," says King Hexton, "should we let him and his unruly behavior come to the Three Kingdom Ball?"
"I don't think we should, I love him, but he's already stepped out of hand," replies Princess Malia.
The three then begin to talk food and flowers and cookies. They talk about everything for hours before Malia finally returns home to tend to her hatchlings. She is glad that she gets to host the Three Kingdom Ball this year. After all, it's always been her dream and now it's finally going to be a reality. She can't help but be giddy.
Bright and early the next day, Princess Malia gets right to work on planning the Three Kingdom Ball. After all, it is in the next two months time. The first thing she does is prepare and send out the invitations to all three of the kingdoms: her own subjects, King Hexton and his subjects, and then to the third kingdom, the Flitter Bug kingdom. (Flitter Bugs are a combination between horses and small insects such as ladybugs, butterflies, bumble bees, and dragonflies). Princess Malia keeps her end of the promise as well and doesn't send any invitations to her brother's kingdom of Capital. Now, that the invites are out of the way, she gets to work on planning the menu and making the flower selections. She is going to make this the most unforgettable Three Kingdom Ball ever. She can definitely guarantee that.
Over the next few hours, she continues to work when she is interrupted by her brother. "Why wasn't my kingdom invited to the Three Kingdom Ball? Sister, ours is a joint kingdom, so why wasn't I invited?"
"Because of your rash outbursts like this one you're having right now," Malia replies as calmly as she can. "If you'd learn not to be so rash, we might invite you to more things, more major events. Did you ever think about that?" She then flies off leaving him in the dust. Her mad brother flies back to his kingdom, his face completely red. She's right and he hates that she's right. Alas, he has no choice but to listen to her. After all, she's the one in charge of it, not him.
The next day, Princess Malia gets a visit from her brother, King Capillon. On the visit, he admits the truth to her. He takes a deep breath before speaking. "Sis," he says, "I spied on your ball last night."
"But why?" asks Malia.
"Because you didn't invite me. That made me mad," replies her brother, "it made me very angry."
"I'm so sorry I hurt your feelings," replies Malia as she flies over and embraces her brother in a hug.
The two then go into the kitchen and make lunch. As they munch on their sandwiches, the two laugh and joke and have an all around great time. Princess Malia even teaches her brother how to make teaberry cookies. He smiles as he pulls the hot, steaming cookies out of the oven. The two then give them a taste. "Mmm," they say as they swallow the cookies, "these are amazing!" The two then put the rest in a jar on the top shelf and then grab Pharynx and Thorax and go out on a family fly. King Capillon is so glad his sister isn't avoiding him anymore. Hopefully, she'll invite him to the next ball, if he's lucky. For now, though, he's just glad he gets to spend some time with her, even though they have to drag the young princes along wherever they go.
A few days later, Malia returns to the glade and to the kingdom of the Drip Drops, where she once again meets with Princess Dew Drop. The two talk, laugh, joke, and even share a nice lunch together. The two can both agree they're going to have a great friendship and they are indeed going to be great allies. The two then hang out for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, back at the castle, the young princes are working on their form shifting abilities under a changeling named TicTacToe, better known as T to the young princes. They work on their shifting abilities with him for hours before stopping for a lunch break and then a nap. The two are worn out. TicTac then goes into a back corner and begins to smoke his pipe out of range of the easily flammable vines that line the walls of the hive. He's glad the Princess trusted him with teaching her sons. That just shows how much she values the older generation of changelings from the time of her mother, Princess Illustria's rule.
That night after returning to the castle, Malia is greeted by TicTac. "Hello, T," says the Princess with a smile, "it's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too, your highness," he replies with a grin. "How has your day been?"
"It's been great, how'd the form shifting training go with the princes?" Princess Malia replies.
"It went really well," he replies with a smile. He then wishes her a good night's rest and flies off to bed himself but not before blowing out his pipe.
In her room for the night, Malia tucks under the covers and begins to dream about the new life she'll soon have once she marries her fiance in a few months time. She can't wait for the big day. She can't believe it's just around the corner. For now, though, it's time for a good night's sleep.
Several months later, Malia and Francarlo are finally wed and the Gridanders move to a newly abandoned kingdom close to Malia, which after a big ceremony, she joins to her own kingdom. The two couldn't be happier. Their lives together are going to be perfect, she just knows it. The next day, the two announced the joining of the two kingdoms into one big kingdom along with Francarlo's new status of King of the Changelings and Gridanders. As the announcement comes to an end, the changelings and Gridanders cheer at the highest pitch possible. Malia smiles before turning around and going back inside. Francarlo follows her with a nervous look on his face. "Are you okay, honey?" he asks concerned.
"I'm fine," replies Malia. "It's just that my brother has severed from the changeling kingdom recently and that really has me upset."
"It'll be okay," replies Francarlo as he sits down and embraces her in his hooves. "I promise it'll be."
He then spends time with her for several hours before the two return back out to enjoy the festivities. Thanks to her husband, Malia has definitely brightened up and is now enjoying the festivities alongside everypony else. She's glad he knows how to keep her happy and content. That's part of the reason she married him in the first place and now, she has that amazing quality of his along with the rest of him for the rest of their lives.
It's a beautiful day in Maliana, the kingdom of changelings led by Princess Malia. She is a kind and fair ruler and all the changelings love her. As Princess Malia sits on the throne, she smiles as she looks out over her kingdom. She then flies down as two changelings, one pink and one turquoise, approach her throne. "How are you, my darling changelings?" asks the beautiful, young princess.
"Your Highness," the two reply, "some of the hatchlings have disappeared. We don't know where they went. Could this be the work of the Hidlehorse?"
"Possibly," replied the Princess, "I'll have my guards get right on it." She motions to her guards and tells them to go out in search of the missing hatchlings. Princess Malia then sits back down on her throne and takes a deep sigh. She's nervous for the baby hatchlings and hopes the guards happen to find them before the Hidlehorse does. The Princess then dismounts from her throne and goes inside her palace to pray.
"Al Achma," prays the Princess, "pleac retu gra hatchlits a protec kem drum the Hidlehorse. Pleac." A tear falls from her eyes. "Pleac." The Princess then gets up and goes outside to the garden and sits down on the bench and continues to cry. She hopes her guards can somehow manage to find the hatchlings before it's too late.
A few hours later, the captain of the guard approaches the Princess in the garden. "Your Highness," he says. "We were too late. The Hidlehorse killed the majority of the hatchlings and the rest died from starvation. I'm sorry."
"It's okay," replies the Princess in tears, "you did your best." The captain then leaves her alone, seeing that she is distraught by the terrible news. The captain just hopes he can keep the rest of the hatchlings safe and return with good news of the destruction of the Hidlehorse as soon as possible.
Author's Note
"pleac retu gra hatchlits a protec kem drum the Hidlehorse. Pleac. Pleace." translates to "please return the hatchlings and protect them from the Hidlehorse. Please Please."
A few days later, Princess Malia gets more bad news of hatchlings dying at the hooves of the Hidlehorse. This causes the Princess to weep in front of the captain of her guard along with her other servants who are in the room. "Princess," says the captain.
"Leave me be," replies Princess Malia. Her captain nods and flies out of the room and her servants soon follow suit. Princess Malia buries her head in her hooves and continues to cry for hours on end and even into the night. As she cries, she waters the flowers and trees of her castle halls and castle gardens. She is so distraught at all the bad news about the doings of the Hidlehorse.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Maliana, the Hidlehorse is sleeping in its den on top of all the dead bodies of the hatchlings. As he sleeps, the Hidlehorse snores a deafening snore. Princess Malia looks up from her bed as she hears it from the castle and shudders. "He has to be stopped before he kills any more hatchlings," cries the Princess. She then lays back down and tries to go back to sleep, but alas, the tears are too great and she just lays down and continues to cry. If only there was some way to get the Hidlehorse in the place they want him, in a giant pit in the depths of hell. Alas, she knows this is out of the question as TarTarUs is already full. She'll have to find another way to trap the Hidlehorse before all the next generation of changelings are dead and gone forever.
A few minutes later, Princess Malia goes inside to check on her own two hatchlings, Thorax and Pharynx. "Hey my little baby boys," she says sweetly as she grabs them from the crib, "someday this'll be your kingdom to rule but not yet." She then cradles them in her hooves. Thorax giggles while Pharynx moans. Even though they're brothers, they have very different personalities from each other. Princess Malia then hands each of them a little bug to eat, which they then down. She smiles as she watches them eat. She is glad to be their mother. That's one thing that will never change. Once she sees that they're done with their meals, she takes the two outside and lets them look out over the kingdom they're going to rule one day. "My little boys, someday this land is going to belong to you," she says. The two hatchlings in her hooves smile as they clap their tiny hooves together. Malia smiles. She then takes the two back inside and puts them down for their nap. She then goes off to tend to her beautiful flower gardens. She couldn't be happier knowing that her own hatchlings are safe.
In her garden, Princess Malia hums an old tune that her mother used to sing to her when she was a young changeling as she waters her flowers. "Flowers are so pretty, so beautiful, so delicate, so fragile," she sighs before returning to humming that tune. As she continues to water, she is soon interrupted by one of her hoof maids named Cecelia.
"Princess," says Cecelia, "little Pharynx has gone missing."
Princess Malia turns around and flies out of the garden in search of her son. She can't believe Pharynx would just abandon the nest, abandon her, abandon his brother. She searches high and low before she finds him on the border of the Dracon Woods. She swoops down and sweeps him up in her hooves and gives him a stern talking to along with a small spanking, one still hard enough to hurt him and show him that he did wrong though. She then flies back to the nest and thanks Cecelia for informing her before it was too late. The hoof maid nods before leaving the throne room. Pharynx is then taken back to his room by another one of the hoof maids named Clarice. Princess Malia takes a deep sigh. She's glad her son is safe and still in one piece.
A few days later, while she's out on her morning fly, Princess Malia sees a crying infant skunk squirrel and goes down and picks it up and takes it back to the castle in her hooves. Once in the castle, she puts a little diaper on the skunk squirrel and gives him a bottle of baby formula. She then names him Skunky. The Princess cares for Skunky for several more days before he's back to full health and then takes him to the Preservatory after researching that he is a nearly extinct species. Once at the Preservatory, she puts him in a small habitat along with several other nearly extinct tiny species. She then watches as the little skunk squirrel makes friends in a pinkameen mouse. After making sure he's happy, Princess Malia flies back to her palace.
Back at the palace, Princess Malia goes out into her garden and sits down on her bench. There she begins to hum to herself yet again as she picks up a fallen pink flower off the ground. She sighs as she holds it close to her. Pink flowers were something her mother loved before she died. She then takes the flower inside and puts it in a vase of water above her throne. She then goes off to tend to her sons before the family portrait that is scheduled to be taken this afternoon.
A few hours later, the Princess and her sons pose for a family portrait which is soon shot and taken by the changeling photographer, Utice. He then takes another two hours and frames the portrait and gives it to the three royals. The three thank him then return to their daily activities. The young princes go back to playing their games and Princess Malia goes off to her garden once again before going off to the Preservatory to double check on Skunky. After all, Skunky is still a baby and needs to be checked on every so often for the time being.
At the Preservatory, Princess Malia peeks through the bars of the habitat and sees that Skunky is doing just fine and is playing with the other small rodents. She smiles at him for a few minutes before flying away. Right now, she has to get back to the palace in time for a meeting with her dear brother, King Capillan of the nearby kingdom, Capital.
The next day, Princess Malia goes to the Dracon Woods and tells them about her brother's want to kill them all and tells them that their best bet to survive is to follow her to the Preservatory. The creatures agree and follow the Princess to the Preservatory where they hop into their proper habitats. Princess Malia smiles. She's glad she got to help the creatures and not end up having to follow through with her brother's plan. She then wishes the creatures well in their new home before flying back towards the palace. Once she touches down at the castle, she is greeted by her brother, who admits to her that he was wrong. Princess Malia smiles at his confession and then the two grab the young princes and the four go off on a family fly.
As they're flying, the young princes pull off some tricks just to show off for their mother and their uncle. Malia and Cappilan smile and giggle as the two hatchlings fly through the sky. A few minutes later, the four land on an old, flower-covered hill. There, they look out towards their kingdoms and smile. They then take off and chase after the young princes once again. The two laugh all the while. They may have different views on things, but when it comes to having fun as a family, they are willing to put their different views to the side.
A few hours later, the four land again at Malia's castle. There, she and her brother hug before he flies off towards his kingdom and she takes the young princes inside for their feeding time. As the young princes eat their dinners, Malia goes out onto the balcony and looks out over the kingdom and towards the Preservatory. Everything is perfect and she couldn't be happier.
Two weeks later, it's the night of the Three Kingdom Ball. Princess Malia, King Hexton the Great Griff, and the princess of the Flitter Bugs greet all their subjects. Their subjects greet them with smiles as they fly into the dance. Meanwhile, Pharynx and Thorax bicker in a corner behind their mother. Malia turns around and scolds the two and they straighten up and greet the guests alongside their mother. Once all the guests are inside, the two princes go off to their room to play, happily dismissed from the ball by their mother. Meanwhile, Malia goes off to dance with her fiance, a Gridander (a goat, horse, bird hybrid) named King Francarlo. The two smile as they dance.
Meanwhile on another side of the ballroom floor, King Hexton and his bride to be also share a dance, smiling and laughing all the while. The prince and princess of the Flitter Bugs also dance on the far end of the room. All the other subjects dance alongside them. Everyone smiles as the music plays and the balloons float overside and fireworks go off outside. Malia smiles as she looks over Francarlo's shoulder at the others who are peacefully dancing. Little does she know her brother is outside, staring angrily through the window at his sister, jealous of all the fun she's having them.
A few hours later, he gives up and flies off and Malia and Hexton and the rulers of the Flitter Bugs along with their subjects go off and enjoy some food and fruit punch. As they all eat, they smile, laugh, and crack jokes. For this, the two young princes gladly leave their rooms and come and get some fruit punch and sweets from their mother. After they finish up their food, however, the two princes return to their room to play their games while the rest get back to dancing and having a great time.
Four hours later, everyone parts ways. Francarlo kisses his love before leaving her for the night. He can't help but admit he had a great time and the others do the same before they leave for their respective kingdoms with their respective citizens. Malia then goes back inside and cleans everything up before retiring to bed for the night. She's glad the party went off without a hitch and she has no idea that her brother was even spying on her the entire night.
It's a new day and Malia is up with the sunrise as she goes out and tends to her garden in the morning dew. Meanwhile, the young princes are inside sleeping. Malia sighs as she waters her plants. She loves her garden. It gives her a nice to escape to and relax. After several hours of tending to her garden, Princess Malia returns inside and wakes up the young princes to go on their morning fly.
While they're out on their morning fly, Princess Malia tells her sons about the kingdom they will rule someday, way down the line. "When you two are the kings," says Malia, "all of this will belong to you. The expansive changeling kingdom, every last inch of it. You will rule it in a kind manner just like I do. You will not start a war. Changelings are a peaceful race and they need to stay that way. Do you understand?"
"Yes momma, we understand," reply the young princes. "We understand."
"Good," replies Malia with a sigh. "Now, let's go land in that glade over there for a rest." She points to the glade and the three then head that way and land. Once in the glade, the three are approached by the leader of the Drip-Drops, the creatures that live there. Her name: Princess Dew Drop.
"Excuse me," says the little princess softly and sweetly. "What are you doing in our glade?"
"We just stopped for a rest," replies Princess Malia as she bends down her long neck to talk to Princess Dew Drop. "If you don't mind, that is."
"Not at all," replies Princess Dew Drop. "Let us bring you something to eat." The minute princess then goes inside a hole in the glade and soon returns with a plate of tiny pastries, which she shares with Princess Malia, Prince Thorax, and Prince Pharynx. As they eat, the two princesses got to talking.
"So, you rule an entire race of changelings?" says Dew Drop curiously.
"Yes, I do," replies Malia with a smile. "It's hard work but I enjoy it."
"And how long have you been ruling the Drip Drops?" Malia asks curiously.
"Ever since my mother passed away last year," replies Dew Drop. "I was the next in line for the throne."
"Oh, well, sorry for your loss," replies Malia.
"Thanks," replies Dew Drop with a smile.
The two continue to talk the ins and outs of princesshood for several more hours before parting ways. As Malia and her sons fly off, Dew Drop waves a goodbye to them even though they can't really see it as they are now way up in the sky by now. Malia and his sons are glad they met the nice little Drip Drops. It's yet another kingdom they're sure to have good relationships with in the future. They can all agree to that.
The next day, the king of the Gridanders, Francarlo stops by to pay his wife to be a visit. Happy to see him, Princess Malia flies over and embraces him in a hug before going to share a kiss. "This is a nice palace, my beloved," he says to her with a smile.
"Thanks," replies Malia blushing. "It's my home and I love it here."
"And rightfully so, after all, this place is filled with your ancestry and their spirits still look over this hive to this day," replies Francarlo with a smile.
"That they do," replies Malia blushing. "My mother, Illustria, and her mother, my grandmother, Illiana, used to rule her and I can't help but feel their spirits coursing through me sometimes when I walk these halls."
The two then exit the halls and enter into Malia's garden. Once in the garden, Francarlo smiles as he watches her tend to her plants. He's always known about her love of gardening. It's part of the reason he fell in love with her. He happily picks up a spare watering can and helps her water her plants. She smiles over at him and guides his hooves to the places she hasn't yet watered. He smiles. He doesn't know much about gardening and appreciates her help and guidance. After several hours together in the garden, the two go inside and are greeted by the young princes as they all sit down together around the dinner table as the chefs bring in the night's meal. They all smile as they eat their dinner together. Francarlo is just glad to be with his bride to be. After all, he's soon going to be living in her castle permanently.
