Changeling Transformation

Three days went by and everything was perfect. The bond was strong, chiton covered every inch of what was once soft skin, holes in his legs were burrowed through and their edges were sharp. Then he started to move. His instincts took over and he used his elongated canines to tear apart the cocoon. Soon his muzzle was outside and he took his first breath in his new body. The rest of him followed after slowly sliding out and ending up on the stone floor. I stood watching, waiting to see what he would do. He just lay there breathing deeply and peering around. The Queen was there in a flash and was using the hive mind to control him with her will.

He stood, a little wobbly at first, but straight like a general should. Chrysalis stood overtowering him, her shadow stretching over him like a dark beast. She used him like an extension of herself, forcing him to move and stretch like a puppet. She used no gentleness and compassion like I did. It sometimes made me wonder if she was more Dictator than Queen.

The Queen poked and prodded his body and mind evaluating him for something that I did not know. Then she stopped. She had been silent throughout the inspection but now she spoke to voice her decision.

“He is well made. He will stay.”

That was all the Queen of Changelings said. Then she left.

A sigh of relief left me and I faced the new changeling. It surprised me to see how tired he looked like he was about to collapse. I used my magic to gently lift him onto my bed. My bed was a rock covered in moss but I didn't mind, I knew there were others who has less. As he lay there I started speaking to him seeing if he would talk.

“ How are you feeling?”

It was a redundant question since we were mentally linked but I considered it common courtesy to ask.

He responded, “Like I took a long nap on a bed of concrete.” A smile crossed his lips.

“Sorry. Do you want something for the pain?”

“No”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure” he said again and this time I listened to him.

I left him in my quarters and went down to one of the many dining halls. I was starving. It wasn't like the equine style of dining with their fancy tables, chairs and food. A changeling dining hall was a long corridor with comatose ponies glued to the stone. All of the walls and ceiling were covered with a moving carpet of changelings. You could see which changelings were feeding and who were not. The feeding changelings were the closest to the equine captives, gently inducing them into a peaceful happy state. After all, this was the happy dining hall. Unlike popular belief we could feed on all ranges of emotions but the emotion with the most power was love and fear. There were other halls where all you could hear was the muffled screaming of the equines. The changelings that fed on fear were more monster like with jagged spikes running down their backs and hooves with talons. This is what would happen if you fed on fear you would become more like a feral beast than a changeling. It was terrible but the Queen allowed it. I wonder what would happen if they were all shut down?