A Changed Lifeby Rocky BoulderChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 3Chapter 2 - Hive BasicsPrologueQueen Chrysalis was dying. Her children, her barely grown drones, hardly numbering more that a hundred, were full of despair, even if unable to show it. 'If not for that son of mine Thorax, the hive would be thriving... Left with no subjects she had very few choices. Few of them didn't include asking for help from other changeling Queens. Refusing to step that low, decided to take a risk, so she tried. She dug a tunnel in a cave, hatched some eggs, and slowly, things started too look up. But it seems she was wrong. The love shortage, the lack of equipment and lack of assistance, along with a light sickness, turned out to be too much for the queen. The sickness developed into a fearless thing. Her drones, still unable to collect love due to lack of experience, were starving just as much as her. Her death was inevitable. Even the new-hatched nymphs could feel it. 'Well, looks like my reign has ended...' Five drones with best medical training were standing near her bed, horrified of not being able to do anything, but watch as life leaves their queen.' These children are my last ones remaining loyal to me... I can't let them die...' Her mind, clouded with pain and hunger, started jumping between decisions, trying to figure out the best one. She announced via hive mind to her drones. One of the drones called out to her. 'I don't care... I don't have much time anyways... might as well choose the lucky one.' She focused, as she sank in her memory, faces and names of creatures and names she knew, looking for the worthy one. She needed to choose carefully, after all, the one she chose, no matter which gender, state of mind, or even species she chose, would transform into a changeling queen, as well as her rightful heir. 'Crystal Sword? Hmm.. Reina? No... Perhaps Celestia? I would like to see the look on her face!' Chrysalis started snickering, but seized quickly, for a sharp pain ran through her lungs. 'I need to think of candidates that will give those kids a second chance...' She thought but only people she hated popped out. 'I guess I'll have to choose one of those.. Starlight? No that brat is to naive... she's doesn't have it in her to rule. Cadance has a grudge with us... or perhaps one of the bearers? They each have different weaknesses. A coward, or too prideful. no brainer, too honest, will die from dirt... T-Twilight?' She stopped at the thought, a bit surprised that she is even considering it. 'But who else? She has already ruled, she is forgiving, as well as fast adapting. Also, her alicorn genes will help the hive evolve well...' Chrysalis thought as a sickly green aura wrapped around her horn. She said as the spell was cast. She felt as if the spell was taking a part of her soul, her very being as it left. 'Huh..." She thought as the last of her consciousness drifted away, leaving behind an empty lifeless body of Queen Chrysalis Alor, the fourth daughter in line for the Rodonia Hive. Chapter 1Twilight The morning couldn't be better! Today I had no princess duties, so the obvious answer was to spend time with friends. After we gathered up at the Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy decided to show us her new bear. She said she found him in the forest, with a broken leg, so she decided to take him in and call him Brownie. She took us to her cottage, finding that he and Harry (Fluttershy's first bear) had become best palls. Watching her introduce Brownie to Rarity was quite the fun spectacle. Rarity seemed quite uncomfortable though. After a tea party (in which everyone drank at least 16 cups of tea) our tea drunk group parted with Brownie, and headed to my place. We usually spent most of our indoors time in my castle. The castle, even if small outside, was larger then the Canterlot Palace inside. I always was amazed by the sheer magical power of the Tree of Harmony. We would usually explore the castle, or play hide and seek, while trying not to get lost. Sometimes, the castle got quite creepy when I was alone, especially when hearing my hoofsteps echo into the depths of the castle. That, was the only times when I hoped I had servants and royal guards. We played a lot of things, from poker, to pin the tail on the pony. Later, the group slowly began to smallen. Pinkie left for Sucarcube Corner, Applejack for her applebucking, and Rainbow for her 'Bolts practice. "Bye Fluttershy." "Bye." I closed the castle doors, and headed towards my bedroom. Suddenly I wobbled and fell on my face, as I felt as if my brain has been punched. My mind grew cloudy, as I was still struggling to get on my hooves. I managed to lift myself up and crawl all the way to my bed. 'Shees... I'm sick again... Where is Spike when you need him?' I fell onto my bed, and sleep claimed me. That was my last day as a pony. ===*=== Twilight I was hearing voices. There were a lot of them, but something told me there far too few. My mind was still cloudy. I opened my eyes, seeing a ceiling made out of a dark magenta chitinous material. I threw off myself a blanket of similar material, which gave me a shiver. I sat on the edge of the bed, and checked my surroundings. I was in a room, barely bigger than a hospital one, with a fairly small furniture assortment. An oak bookshelf, a bedside cabinet, and the bed I was in. There were no windows. The source of light was a single glowing bulb on the ceiling. The floor was made out of some sort of purple rock. The walls were also covered in chitin. 'What's with this place's love for chitin?' There was a wooden door at the end of the room, that looked quite tempting. Not as tempting as the bookshelves though. I stood up, wobbling on my hooves as I did so. 'Why do I feel like a newborn?' I thought as I reached out towards one of the dozen of books sitting on the shelf. 'Ways to spy on Celestia' The title said. 'Hmm, this name sounds familiar...' I flipped the cover. What I saw, took me aback. The page was filled only with the sentence 'It's impossible.' All over and over again. I turned the next few pages. They were all the same. 'Whoa, depressing.' A smooth, confident voice announced that from somewhere in her head. "What? Who is there?" I spoke there. My voice was high-tuned, but also smooth. I liked my voice. 'Wait, who am I?' All my thoughts stopped, as I struggled to remember my identity. 'Ah, that's right, it's Twilight Alor. Wait, that doesn't feel right... I looked down, noticing my chitin covered forelegs. They had only the slightest hint of magenta. There were holes covering all of my arms.'I think this isn't right.' I turned my head backwards, seeing my back was also covered in chitin. Two insect-like wings sprung from it. They had a purple color, and reflected the light coming from the very weak light source. 'Now that I think about it.. How can I see so well in this level of light? I was able to read no problem!' Suddenly I heard a creak come from the direction of the door. It opened, revealing a changeling drone. He was black, and his eyes glowed with a purple color. "My Queen, I see that you're awake." He said. 'It was his voice that announced that thing in my head.' I realized. "My name is Rosch." 'Wait... my queen?' "What do you mean?" I asked. "You are the current queen of this hive, Your Majesty." He said it like it was no big deal. "Don't worry, it's no loss of memory. The previous queen- Chrysalis, chose you for the next ruler of the hive. Your old memory should be restored completely in about a week." I nodded. "I am unfamiliar with the body of a changeling queen. Could you tell me what should I expect?" "First, we will run an inspection to be sure that your transformation went right." He turned around and prepared to leave the room. "Meanwhile I can show you the hive." He then stepped out of the room, me shortly following suit. The corridor was similar in structure to my new bedroom. The only difference being the doors and tunnels that went along it. Some drones similar to the one that I was following. "The hive has a population of one hundred and fourteen drones. This is very little, for a hive that has a queen. You may have realized that from the hive mind." "The Hive Mind?" I asked as I heard a few faint voices in my head. "It is a way that changelings from a single hive can communicate between themselves. The center of the hive mind is the queen, so if something happens to her, the hive mind will get disabled." I then stopped, looking around. I saw a female drone leading a dozen of nymphs. They were playing, and running around the drone, which I suspected was their caretaker. One of them stopped, to look at me. She stared at me, with her huge eyes. Her face showed respect awe and fear. I sat down face to face with her, before nuzzling her. She gave out a surprise yelp, before giggling and running to join the other nymphs. Only now, I seemed to notice that I was a head taller that most of the drones around me. 'Guess it comes in a pack with being a queen.' I hurried after Rosch, who turned opened a wooden door. I followed suit. The room was also simple, and two drones were sitting on a wooden chair, having a dispute. Once I came in, both of them stood up simultaneously. "My Queen! It's an honor to meet you!" said on of them. "Please take a seat." She pointed towards a stool in the middle of the room."We'll check how your transformation went. Please do not move." The two nurses started going around me, checking my wings, shining lights into my eyes, even poking me between the chitin place on the belly. "This is interesting... Rosch come here." Said one of the them. 'Is something wrong with me?' "What?" He came closer. "Is something wrong?" "I'm not sure. Check out her hive mind connection crown." 'The what now?' "This is weird..." By now, I was quite nervous. "What's wrong?" I finally asked. "Your Hive Crown has five branches instead of four." Nurse Number One announced as she gave me a large mirror shard. When I saw my reflection, my feelings were pretty mixed- Interest, horror and satisfaction. My face was covered in chitin, two sharp carnivore-like fangs poked out from my upper teeth. My horn was crooked, and filled with holes. Unlike the other changelings, I had a faded purple colored main, with (of course) more holes in it. My eyes were magenta, a feline slit running through them. And finally, behind my horn there was a black crown. It looked as if five short, thick branches were growing out of my head. To me, it looked quite natural. Author's Note I hope you like this story! As you can tell, this story will be built around the idea of Twilight becoming a changeling queen. I got the inspiration for this story after reading Change. Great story, especially if you like classic changelings (No rainbow colors. Thorax is not a moose). Also Just telling you that until I finish A Wonderbolt Trip, this story will have rare updates. I request that if you have any criticism, you write it in the comments. Chapter 3===*=== Twilight I woke up to a cramp in my gut. While I had no idea what it meant, my body knew it was something important. A week has passed since I had woken up as a Queen, but I was yet to get my memories back. It seemed like Rosch wasn't all-knowing after all. He said through the Hive Mind. I blocked my thoughts with a sheepish smile, and was about to stand up from the bed, when another cramp in my gut made me fall on the bed with an 'Oof'. While I was confused over the cramp, Rosch came inside the room, an overjoyed smile crossing his lips when he saw me poking at my belly. "I think we should let the nurses check you out." He suggested. 'Does he know what the cramps mean?' I thought as I stood up om my hole-filled hooves. ~~~ "By the way, are you a living book or something? Almost every single thing you say feels as if it comes straight from a document!" I giggled as I looked at the drone. We were walking down the hive's main hallway, passing by my future office on the way. A sign saying 'P1 Office Q-Class' hanging over the heavy oak door. "Close enough, my Queen. I am an Archive drone, to be precise. Since paper production is hard to achieve for the hives, making paper a rare resource, available only to the Queens. Instead the Queens have implant valuable information in the minds of newly-hatched nymphs. Speaking from personal experience, it's not pleasant. Ah, the memory implanting I mean." He explained. "Well, I won't do that to my nymphs when they hatch!" I said as I huffed. "Twilight, while I understand where that comes from, it would mean the hive would be left without any way to keep the required information." He sighed, looking away from me. "I do hope you'll reconsider." I shot him a pleading look, only for his gaze to turn away. I pushed at the door handle with my magic, opening it. The two nurses, Scintulla and Perea, looked at me, before standing up and bowing. I noticed a stack of cards scattered on a coffee table near them. "May I?" Said Scintulla. I nodded, before sitting on the same wooden chair as last time, my insecticide wings slightly scraping the hard wood. "We only need to confirm something, and you can go." She explained as she approached me. All she did, was brush a hoof gently over my lower belly. I gasped as the cramps in my gut returned, only this time stronger. When I looked up, I saw that all three drones in the room were wearing a creepily overjoyed smile. "My Queen," Perea began with cheery note in her voice. " you will start laying today!" ===*=== Thorax Things were not going good. While Celestia had split Twilight's work between the princesses and Starlight, there was just too many things that only Twilight could execute perfectly. The media and reporters were constantly demanding more information from the Royal Sisters. One newspaper even went ahead, writing that Twilight is dead, and the princesses are trying to hide it from the public. That caused an uproar, and the newspaper was shut down, but the damage was done. Equestria was confused and scared. I had also sent out four drones to four of the kindest queens I knew, in hope that the other changeling hives had any idea where she could be. Three of the drones had lost connection to the Hive Mind, indicating their death. The other queens had no respect for the life of drones. But more importantly, these were our hive's first losses since Canterlot. I stared out the window, into the slowly re-growing badlands, to hear my room's door swinging open as Pharynx walked in. "Thorax, you would like to hear this. Our last messenger has returned, with queen Saomi's message!" He announced and quickly slipped into the hallway, me following suit. We walked into the throne room, our messenger already waiting for us there. Well, it was the similar thing to the throne room that they had. They had decided that the hive's center during Chrysalis's rule was a little too... Insectoid? Disgusting? Anyway they had began to build a new throne room, thought they had barely layed out the bases yet, and the only indication of the room's importance were the twin thrones at it's end. I and Pharynx positioned ourselves in them, before nodding for the drone to begin. "Queen Saomi was not pleasant..." Started the drone. "She called us 'mutants', and she said that you... are undeserving of this throne, brother." She shied away, clearly feeling guilty for saying that, even if they were Queen Saomi's words. "Apart from a big lot of similar insults, the queen did mention mother..." As the drone saw anger flash on Thorax's face she corrected."..Chrysalis. She has apparently built a new hive in an unknown location, and requested help from other queens, before falling silent a week and a half ago." The drone licked his lips before adding "There is going to be an All-Rank queen council it two weeks. You, umm, weren't invited." Pharynx snorted. "I kind of expected that we aren't recognized as a hive in the face of the High council." I ignored my brother, and asked my questions. "Did Saomi tell what happened to Queen Rondia? Is that what the council is about?" "Well, all we know is that Queen Salinda's forces have been spotted near Rondia's hive throughout the last few days. We suspect that she has been put under Salinda's 'protection', or worse." I sighed, before asking if there's anything else. After a negative reply, the drone was dismissed. After a few seconds of organizing the new facts in my head, I reached a conclusion. Our situation is still not good. ===*=== Twilight "W-What?!" I screamed. I hoped that I would at least get more then a half of my memories back by then, but I only have brief faces, images, faces and a few buildings to remember. At least from what Rosch told me I have the same personality I had back then. "It will happen in a few hours, so you have enough time to mentally prepare." Said Perea. 'Mentally prepare' my flank! I am going to a mother in a few hours! "By the way our first team of emotion collectors that you sent out is going to be back in less then an hour. We can only hope that the harvest was successful. This might be one of our last chances." My 'assistant' explained, already walking out of the door, as if oblivious to my worries. But still, he almost managed to make me forget about my situation with this announcement. ~~~ Me and Rosch, along with a few nymphs and duty-free drones, were staring at the horizon, waiting for the team to arrive. Our hive's entrance was more like a tunnel, leading down into dark caves, albeit not that dark. But the view it lead out to was one of the most fascinating I have seen. The day was cold, yet surprisingly calm. It was an autumn day, the trees' golden leaves shaking calmly with every breath of the wind, sometimes tearing them away, and sending them flying under the day's blue sky. Since in Equestria the seasons were artificially controlled by the pegasi, they usually skipped autumn and spring, leaving only winter and summer. But oh, what a big mistake it was. Soon, the drones came into view, every changeling's mood brightened. Even from a few hundred meters away, I could still feel the emotional energy from the crystals and the positive mood of the collectors. A they landed some of the drones cheered, some asked for the outcome, though, the answer was quite obvious. The collectors bowed to me, before quickly moving through the small crowd, still carrying the pylons, which were flicking wildly with colors, showing their full charge. I wanted to say my belly twisted from excitement, but then I realized it was not it. That's when I felt something shift in my gut, and a realization quickly came to me. I was going to lay. I teleported to my quarters at the blink of an eye, panic already starting to rise in me, as I nervously paced around my room. Fortunately for me, the hive was short enough to let Rosch be here in a dozen of seconds. "Get yourself together and breath slowly. If you move to much you might damage the eggs!" He said urgently. That made me to stop panicking enough to sit down and perform the breathing exercise Cadence had tough me. Shakily, I stood still, preparing for the inevitable. Then it happened. Something shifted inside my gut once again, and an egg slowly slipped out of me, being followed by another, and one more. After the third egg dropped to the floor and I , I shakily turned around investigating the clutch. 'I...I layed. I am a mother now...' All three were a lilac color similar to my mane's, and barely bigger then a hoof. I lay down on the floor, curling myself around the clutch. 'And they are my kids' A thought struck my head. 'At least my first ones...' Author's Note Yup, now that I got that awkward part out of the way, the rest of the writing should go smoother for me. Thought the next few chapters will still be hard Chapter 2 - Hive BasicsCanterlot "King Thorax, I believe I deserve an explanation." Celestia stated while flipping through a newspaper with a big header that said - Attempted Assassination on King Thorax! The Culprits are CHANGELINGS? - "Well, you see," He uncomfortably said "T-There are other changeling queens and hives, apart from ours." The room grew quiet. "What?" Celestia was extremely shocked, yet had no strength to pull out a good reaction. "You forgot to tell us something like THAT!?" Luna said, the last part being in the Royal Canterlot voice. "Can you tell us, are all the queens like Chrysalis, or is she a bad exception?" Celestia questioned, hoping it was the former. Thorax swallowed. "Well, let's say, she isn't half the worst." He said, in a voice, barely louder than a whisper. "B-But there are good ones! Rondia for example!" He tried to be positive. "The only problem is, that the kindhearted queens don't last long." Informed Pharynx. Celestia brokenheartedly sighed, and leaned back into her cushions. Luna looked at her sister with worry. Celestia was pale, and though she tried to hide it, she was heartbroken, tired and lost. When Twilight ascended, Celestia thought that Twilight was going to be with her forever, and they would guide the ponies of Equestria through the centuries. So when Twilight vanished without a trace two weeks ago, she was heartbroken. Actually, most of Equestria was. Twilight was widely known, despite being crowned only seven years prior. From her and her friends' heroism as Elements of Harmony, to her loved and successful rule. This is what anyone could call 'A Heavy blow for Equestria'. Celestia flipped to the next page, noticing another, smaller header. Princess Twilight, is still missing. Suddenly something clicked in her head. "What if the attempt on your life, and Twilight disappearing wasn't a coincidence?" Silence followed the words, again. "I'm afraid, that it is likely." Pharynx broke the silence. "But until we find out in what condition she's in, we must hope for the best." Starlight, who has been patiently listening to the dialogue, wondered when the king's brother had opened up so much. Pharynx was like a totally different 'ling now. "Can you tell the approximate count of the hives, and any rules and connections they have between each other?" Celestia resumed the questioning. " 'Bout forty-five of them. From what I know, the only real organization between the hives, apart from protection treaties, is the High council. It's a meeting of the seven most influential queens. It's used for all-hives wide problems, like a plague. The council is rarely summoned, for most of those queens are too lazy and cautious to come out. " Thorax explained. Celestia bit her lip. There were a total of around forty-fives, that had a similar goal, if the council's queens ordered them to. "How are the queens' influential power decided?" Starlight heard herself say. Thorax turned towards her. "By the overall number of drones. By overall, I mean both the queen's hive, and the hives of queens she has under her protection and influence, in exchange for something else of course." He said, winking at Starlight. "I thank you for the information, Thorax and Pharynx, but I think that everyone here has royal duties to attend to. Also, if any of you will still be in Canterlot, you're welcome to come to Flurry Heart's fifth Birthday party tonight." Cadance announced, while standing up from her cushions, and nudging her sleeping husband to wake up. "Well, seems like the meeting is over. Let's go." Said, Pharynx, as he buzzed his wings a bit. ===*=== Starlight Starlight stretched her hind and front legs. She dumped the army of paper on the table, huffing as she left the room. After Twilight disappeared, Celestia had sent her a letter, asking her and the ponies Elements of Harmony to cover up Twilight's duties. Sadly, Pinkie was the only one with free time, and all her problems are solved with cake. By the third day, Starlight had freaked out at least twenty times. She had no idea how to handle this! For example, Filthy Rich and some businesstalion from Canterlot both wanted to have a speech at the Ponyville festival, at the same place, day and time! She told them what she felt was right - to share it - which resulted catastrophically. After the speech, they both came to complain and shout at her, but this time as a team. In these two weeks so many bad things happened to Starlight, she lost count during the third day. 'Where are you Twilight?' Starlight thought as she looked at a late sunset, the stars already staring to show. ===*=== Twilight "Now, you will only be able to consume love now, since you require nothing else to eat. Also, be careful with your horn. It's almost as sharp as your teeth." Rosch noted as I was lying in my bed, looking confusedly at a pink crystal, trying to find out how I was supposed to get my food out of there. Then I remembered a question I had since yesterday, one that was lingering in my thoughts as I went to sleep. "Ah, Rosch? I saw a lot nymphs yesterday, considering the size of the hive. It seems like a dumb question, but, who lays the nymphs' eggs?" I said uncomfortably. Rosch sighed, as if knowing that this question would come up sooner or later. "The queen does. This means you as well." I froze. From what he told me, some hives had up to half a million drones... Just the thought of laying eggs scared me. The reason must be hidden in my soon-to-be-recovered memories. But still having thousands of kids, both scared me and excited me. The exited part probably came from some new queen instinct. "When am I going to start... laying?" I asked, getting extremely uncomfortable. "Well, it happens happens differently to different queens. Some start laying when their body has matured, and some when their queen-mothers are dead. For you, both conditions are met, so you can start laying any day. But at our inspection yesterday, we didn't see any sings of your body building eggs, so you are safe for at least a week." I sighed in relief. I barely remembered who I am! I can't have children without being able to tell them what their mommy did in her life! ... Huh, I accepted my egg-laying destiny fairly fast. "But I ask of you, my Queen, that you take haste in starting to manage the hive. Our emotion supply is running low. We have about two weeks left, before we run out of food.You should send out love collectors." I nodded. "Do we have an office of some kind? Also, I would like a map of our location, please 1:4,000,000 or larger. "At once, thought we do not have an office yet. I can order construction." Rosch said, as a drone ran inside the room, scroll in hand. Rosch waited for me to stand up from bed, before unrolling the scroll on it. The map was clearly drawn by professionals, every detail and name written down. The center of it was on the east base of a mountain, located near the north. On the left side of the map, across the Celestial Sea (Based on official Equestria maps) lied Manehattan, and lower to the mountains, Griffonstone. From what I can remember, these two places were marked as 'The Southern Borders of Pony-Known Territory'. On this map, they were the western ones. While this confused me, I noticed the right side of the map. It looked quite strange - the central part of the continent was covered with more then twenty rivers, and countless swamps. A lot of drawings of different cities - from underground to skyscraper-like, were spread unevenly across it. O I read aloud the name of one of the larger ones. "Skoria Hive..." A shiver ran down my spine as I read the other ones. "These cities... They are all HIVES!" I said in panic, while trying to count them. 'More then thirty...' Rosch looked at me, worry in his eyes. "My queen, let me explain how changeling society works." He said, before to my joy, slipping into lecture mode. "For starters, there are hives, with queens as rulers. The normal population of a hive is about five thousand. There is only one hive without a queen - The Central. It is supposedly the changelings' birthplace, as well as the center of changeling society." "The Council - a meeting of the seven queens with the largest populations. It makes decisions important for the changelings as a race. Large conflicts between hives as well. The largest hives' populations number around half a million." I started compressing and eating up the information, only to feel as an ant. The sheer size of those hives made my head hurt. "But you need not worry about the other hives, for now. Until you are officially recognized by the council as a queen, we will remain unnoticed. For now, you should just focus on food supply, and stabilize the hive." My stomach gurgled, causing me to look hungrily at the pink crystal on the bed. Rosch sighed. "That is, when you learn how changelings feed." "Please, posses my nervous system." He announced. I cocked my head to the side. He asked me, via hive mind. I channeled my thoughts in the same plane of consciousness his voice was coming from. "Good. Now, try to feel my connection to you on the hive mind, and push your consciousness in, just enough to give me free movement of my body." I said as he did, slowly, but effectively. Though I wouldn't call it possessing. It was more like watching from his eyes. He grabbed the crystal in his magic, and started opening something, like a door in his telekinesis. It felt as if a warm fuzzy feeling was filling me, or rather Rosch. He sat the crystal down on the bed, and I returned to my body. Taking the crystal, which had now become rather pale, I did the same thing as him. Or at least I tried. It took me ten minutes to finally open the door, and fill me up. ===*=== Twilight I stared in awe at the huge pylon, swirling with red, pink and black color. This was the hive's... my hive's emotional energy supply. A dozen smaller ones, about my size stood near it, empty. "While our love collectors can hold inside them a fair amount of emotional energy, these pylons," He pointed at the smaller, empty ones, "can collect love as well, but keep inside them incredible amounts of emotional energy. We place them in a place with a lot of emotion, and replace them with empty ones, when these are full. Currently, it is the most efficient way known to us." Rosch explained as he smiled at one of the nymphs who was looking in awe at the food-packed crystal. "So basically I only need to point out the locations, and you'll place them there?" I asked, wondering if it was that simple. "As long as it has any kind of emotion. Except hate. It can be lethal in large doses." I smirked, my chest filling up of pride. "Then I know the best place! The Crystal Empire!" When I said the name, something... some forgotten names and memories suddenly appeared. "Shining Armor, Cadance, Flurry Heart..." I mumbled as a whole album of pictures, sounds and memories started filling up my head. "Twilight Sparkle." But I knew that those memories, weren't nearly all of those I use to have. Didn't stop me from smiling at the memory of Flurry Heart blasting holes through the castle. She looked so cute and innocent while doing it! My senses nearly stopped as I realized something. The next time I came to her, and my other friends I don't remember, they won't know who I am. They will think, that I'm just another changeling queen... But I somehow knew, that I wasn't going to see them anytime soon... I've got a hive to rule, right? Author's Note I was going to say next chapter not coming soon, but I never do the things I write. Yes, I'm not planning on a happy reunion any time soon... Maybe never...
PrologueQueen Chrysalis was dying. Her children, her barely grown drones, hardly numbering more that a hundred, were full of despair, even if unable to show it. 'If not for that son of mine Thorax, the hive would be thriving... Left with no subjects she had very few choices. Few of them didn't include asking for help from other changeling Queens. Refusing to step that low, decided to take a risk, so she tried. She dug a tunnel in a cave, hatched some eggs, and slowly, things started too look up. But it seems she was wrong. The love shortage, the lack of equipment and lack of assistance, along with a light sickness, turned out to be too much for the queen. The sickness developed into a fearless thing. Her drones, still unable to collect love due to lack of experience, were starving just as much as her. Her death was inevitable. Even the new-hatched nymphs could feel it. 'Well, looks like my reign has ended...' Five drones with best medical training were standing near her bed, horrified of not being able to do anything, but watch as life leaves their queen.' These children are my last ones remaining loyal to me... I can't let them die...' Her mind, clouded with pain and hunger, started jumping between decisions, trying to figure out the best one. She announced via hive mind to her drones. One of the drones called out to her. 'I don't care... I don't have much time anyways... might as well choose the lucky one.' She focused, as she sank in her memory, faces and names of creatures and names she knew, looking for the worthy one. She needed to choose carefully, after all, the one she chose, no matter which gender, state of mind, or even species she chose, would transform into a changeling queen, as well as her rightful heir. 'Crystal Sword? Hmm.. Reina? No... Perhaps Celestia? I would like to see the look on her face!' Chrysalis started snickering, but seized quickly, for a sharp pain ran through her lungs. 'I need to think of candidates that will give those kids a second chance...' She thought but only people she hated popped out. 'I guess I'll have to choose one of those.. Starlight? No that brat is to naive... she's doesn't have it in her to rule. Cadance has a grudge with us... or perhaps one of the bearers? They each have different weaknesses. A coward, or too prideful. no brainer, too honest, will die from dirt... T-Twilight?' She stopped at the thought, a bit surprised that she is even considering it. 'But who else? She has already ruled, she is forgiving, as well as fast adapting. Also, her alicorn genes will help the hive evolve well...' Chrysalis thought as a sickly green aura wrapped around her horn. She said as the spell was cast. She felt as if the spell was taking a part of her soul, her very being as it left. 'Huh..." She thought as the last of her consciousness drifted away, leaving behind an empty lifeless body of Queen Chrysalis Alor, the fourth daughter in line for the Rodonia Hive.
Chapter 1Twilight The morning couldn't be better! Today I had no princess duties, so the obvious answer was to spend time with friends. After we gathered up at the Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy decided to show us her new bear. She said she found him in the forest, with a broken leg, so she decided to take him in and call him Brownie. She took us to her cottage, finding that he and Harry (Fluttershy's first bear) had become best palls. Watching her introduce Brownie to Rarity was quite the fun spectacle. Rarity seemed quite uncomfortable though. After a tea party (in which everyone drank at least 16 cups of tea) our tea drunk group parted with Brownie, and headed to my place. We usually spent most of our indoors time in my castle. The castle, even if small outside, was larger then the Canterlot Palace inside. I always was amazed by the sheer magical power of the Tree of Harmony. We would usually explore the castle, or play hide and seek, while trying not to get lost. Sometimes, the castle got quite creepy when I was alone, especially when hearing my hoofsteps echo into the depths of the castle. That, was the only times when I hoped I had servants and royal guards. We played a lot of things, from poker, to pin the tail on the pony. Later, the group slowly began to smallen. Pinkie left for Sucarcube Corner, Applejack for her applebucking, and Rainbow for her 'Bolts practice. "Bye Fluttershy." "Bye." I closed the castle doors, and headed towards my bedroom. Suddenly I wobbled and fell on my face, as I felt as if my brain has been punched. My mind grew cloudy, as I was still struggling to get on my hooves. I managed to lift myself up and crawl all the way to my bed. 'Shees... I'm sick again... Where is Spike when you need him?' I fell onto my bed, and sleep claimed me. That was my last day as a pony. ===*=== Twilight I was hearing voices. There were a lot of them, but something told me there far too few. My mind was still cloudy. I opened my eyes, seeing a ceiling made out of a dark magenta chitinous material. I threw off myself a blanket of similar material, which gave me a shiver. I sat on the edge of the bed, and checked my surroundings. I was in a room, barely bigger than a hospital one, with a fairly small furniture assortment. An oak bookshelf, a bedside cabinet, and the bed I was in. There were no windows. The source of light was a single glowing bulb on the ceiling. The floor was made out of some sort of purple rock. The walls were also covered in chitin. 'What's with this place's love for chitin?' There was a wooden door at the end of the room, that looked quite tempting. Not as tempting as the bookshelves though. I stood up, wobbling on my hooves as I did so. 'Why do I feel like a newborn?' I thought as I reached out towards one of the dozen of books sitting on the shelf. 'Ways to spy on Celestia' The title said. 'Hmm, this name sounds familiar...' I flipped the cover. What I saw, took me aback. The page was filled only with the sentence 'It's impossible.' All over and over again. I turned the next few pages. They were all the same. 'Whoa, depressing.' A smooth, confident voice announced that from somewhere in her head. "What? Who is there?" I spoke there. My voice was high-tuned, but also smooth. I liked my voice. 'Wait, who am I?' All my thoughts stopped, as I struggled to remember my identity. 'Ah, that's right, it's Twilight Alor. Wait, that doesn't feel right... I looked down, noticing my chitin covered forelegs. They had only the slightest hint of magenta. There were holes covering all of my arms.'I think this isn't right.' I turned my head backwards, seeing my back was also covered in chitin. Two insect-like wings sprung from it. They had a purple color, and reflected the light coming from the very weak light source. 'Now that I think about it.. How can I see so well in this level of light? I was able to read no problem!' Suddenly I heard a creak come from the direction of the door. It opened, revealing a changeling drone. He was black, and his eyes glowed with a purple color. "My Queen, I see that you're awake." He said. 'It was his voice that announced that thing in my head.' I realized. "My name is Rosch." 'Wait... my queen?' "What do you mean?" I asked. "You are the current queen of this hive, Your Majesty." He said it like it was no big deal. "Don't worry, it's no loss of memory. The previous queen- Chrysalis, chose you for the next ruler of the hive. Your old memory should be restored completely in about a week." I nodded. "I am unfamiliar with the body of a changeling queen. Could you tell me what should I expect?" "First, we will run an inspection to be sure that your transformation went right." He turned around and prepared to leave the room. "Meanwhile I can show you the hive." He then stepped out of the room, me shortly following suit. The corridor was similar in structure to my new bedroom. The only difference being the doors and tunnels that went along it. Some drones similar to the one that I was following. "The hive has a population of one hundred and fourteen drones. This is very little, for a hive that has a queen. You may have realized that from the hive mind." "The Hive Mind?" I asked as I heard a few faint voices in my head. "It is a way that changelings from a single hive can communicate between themselves. The center of the hive mind is the queen, so if something happens to her, the hive mind will get disabled." I then stopped, looking around. I saw a female drone leading a dozen of nymphs. They were playing, and running around the drone, which I suspected was their caretaker. One of them stopped, to look at me. She stared at me, with her huge eyes. Her face showed respect awe and fear. I sat down face to face with her, before nuzzling her. She gave out a surprise yelp, before giggling and running to join the other nymphs. Only now, I seemed to notice that I was a head taller that most of the drones around me. 'Guess it comes in a pack with being a queen.' I hurried after Rosch, who turned opened a wooden door. I followed suit. The room was also simple, and two drones were sitting on a wooden chair, having a dispute. Once I came in, both of them stood up simultaneously. "My Queen! It's an honor to meet you!" said on of them. "Please take a seat." She pointed towards a stool in the middle of the room."We'll check how your transformation went. Please do not move." The two nurses started going around me, checking my wings, shining lights into my eyes, even poking me between the chitin place on the belly. "This is interesting... Rosch come here." Said one of the them. 'Is something wrong with me?' "What?" He came closer. "Is something wrong?" "I'm not sure. Check out her hive mind connection crown." 'The what now?' "This is weird..." By now, I was quite nervous. "What's wrong?" I finally asked. "Your Hive Crown has five branches instead of four." Nurse Number One announced as she gave me a large mirror shard. When I saw my reflection, my feelings were pretty mixed- Interest, horror and satisfaction. My face was covered in chitin, two sharp carnivore-like fangs poked out from my upper teeth. My horn was crooked, and filled with holes. Unlike the other changelings, I had a faded purple colored main, with (of course) more holes in it. My eyes were magenta, a feline slit running through them. And finally, behind my horn there was a black crown. It looked as if five short, thick branches were growing out of my head. To me, it looked quite natural. Author's Note I hope you like this story! As you can tell, this story will be built around the idea of Twilight becoming a changeling queen. I got the inspiration for this story after reading Change. Great story, especially if you like classic changelings (No rainbow colors. Thorax is not a moose). Also Just telling you that until I finish A Wonderbolt Trip, this story will have rare updates. I request that if you have any criticism, you write it in the comments.
Chapter 3===*=== Twilight I woke up to a cramp in my gut. While I had no idea what it meant, my body knew it was something important. A week has passed since I had woken up as a Queen, but I was yet to get my memories back. It seemed like Rosch wasn't all-knowing after all. He said through the Hive Mind. I blocked my thoughts with a sheepish smile, and was about to stand up from the bed, when another cramp in my gut made me fall on the bed with an 'Oof'. While I was confused over the cramp, Rosch came inside the room, an overjoyed smile crossing his lips when he saw me poking at my belly. "I think we should let the nurses check you out." He suggested. 'Does he know what the cramps mean?' I thought as I stood up om my hole-filled hooves. ~~~ "By the way, are you a living book or something? Almost every single thing you say feels as if it comes straight from a document!" I giggled as I looked at the drone. We were walking down the hive's main hallway, passing by my future office on the way. A sign saying 'P1 Office Q-Class' hanging over the heavy oak door. "Close enough, my Queen. I am an Archive drone, to be precise. Since paper production is hard to achieve for the hives, making paper a rare resource, available only to the Queens. Instead the Queens have implant valuable information in the minds of newly-hatched nymphs. Speaking from personal experience, it's not pleasant. Ah, the memory implanting I mean." He explained. "Well, I won't do that to my nymphs when they hatch!" I said as I huffed. "Twilight, while I understand where that comes from, it would mean the hive would be left without any way to keep the required information." He sighed, looking away from me. "I do hope you'll reconsider." I shot him a pleading look, only for his gaze to turn away. I pushed at the door handle with my magic, opening it. The two nurses, Scintulla and Perea, looked at me, before standing up and bowing. I noticed a stack of cards scattered on a coffee table near them. "May I?" Said Scintulla. I nodded, before sitting on the same wooden chair as last time, my insecticide wings slightly scraping the hard wood. "We only need to confirm something, and you can go." She explained as she approached me. All she did, was brush a hoof gently over my lower belly. I gasped as the cramps in my gut returned, only this time stronger. When I looked up, I saw that all three drones in the room were wearing a creepily overjoyed smile. "My Queen," Perea began with cheery note in her voice. " you will start laying today!" ===*=== Thorax Things were not going good. While Celestia had split Twilight's work between the princesses and Starlight, there was just too many things that only Twilight could execute perfectly. The media and reporters were constantly demanding more information from the Royal Sisters. One newspaper even went ahead, writing that Twilight is dead, and the princesses are trying to hide it from the public. That caused an uproar, and the newspaper was shut down, but the damage was done. Equestria was confused and scared. I had also sent out four drones to four of the kindest queens I knew, in hope that the other changeling hives had any idea where she could be. Three of the drones had lost connection to the Hive Mind, indicating their death. The other queens had no respect for the life of drones. But more importantly, these were our hive's first losses since Canterlot. I stared out the window, into the slowly re-growing badlands, to hear my room's door swinging open as Pharynx walked in. "Thorax, you would like to hear this. Our last messenger has returned, with queen Saomi's message!" He announced and quickly slipped into the hallway, me following suit. We walked into the throne room, our messenger already waiting for us there. Well, it was the similar thing to the throne room that they had. They had decided that the hive's center during Chrysalis's rule was a little too... Insectoid? Disgusting? Anyway they had began to build a new throne room, thought they had barely layed out the bases yet, and the only indication of the room's importance were the twin thrones at it's end. I and Pharynx positioned ourselves in them, before nodding for the drone to begin. "Queen Saomi was not pleasant..." Started the drone. "She called us 'mutants', and she said that you... are undeserving of this throne, brother." She shied away, clearly feeling guilty for saying that, even if they were Queen Saomi's words. "Apart from a big lot of similar insults, the queen did mention mother..." As the drone saw anger flash on Thorax's face she corrected."..Chrysalis. She has apparently built a new hive in an unknown location, and requested help from other queens, before falling silent a week and a half ago." The drone licked his lips before adding "There is going to be an All-Rank queen council it two weeks. You, umm, weren't invited." Pharynx snorted. "I kind of expected that we aren't recognized as a hive in the face of the High council." I ignored my brother, and asked my questions. "Did Saomi tell what happened to Queen Rondia? Is that what the council is about?" "Well, all we know is that Queen Salinda's forces have been spotted near Rondia's hive throughout the last few days. We suspect that she has been put under Salinda's 'protection', or worse." I sighed, before asking if there's anything else. After a negative reply, the drone was dismissed. After a few seconds of organizing the new facts in my head, I reached a conclusion. Our situation is still not good. ===*=== Twilight "W-What?!" I screamed. I hoped that I would at least get more then a half of my memories back by then, but I only have brief faces, images, faces and a few buildings to remember. At least from what Rosch told me I have the same personality I had back then. "It will happen in a few hours, so you have enough time to mentally prepare." Said Perea. 'Mentally prepare' my flank! I am going to a mother in a few hours! "By the way our first team of emotion collectors that you sent out is going to be back in less then an hour. We can only hope that the harvest was successful. This might be one of our last chances." My 'assistant' explained, already walking out of the door, as if oblivious to my worries. But still, he almost managed to make me forget about my situation with this announcement. ~~~ Me and Rosch, along with a few nymphs and duty-free drones, were staring at the horizon, waiting for the team to arrive. Our hive's entrance was more like a tunnel, leading down into dark caves, albeit not that dark. But the view it lead out to was one of the most fascinating I have seen. The day was cold, yet surprisingly calm. It was an autumn day, the trees' golden leaves shaking calmly with every breath of the wind, sometimes tearing them away, and sending them flying under the day's blue sky. Since in Equestria the seasons were artificially controlled by the pegasi, they usually skipped autumn and spring, leaving only winter and summer. But oh, what a big mistake it was. Soon, the drones came into view, every changeling's mood brightened. Even from a few hundred meters away, I could still feel the emotional energy from the crystals and the positive mood of the collectors. A they landed some of the drones cheered, some asked for the outcome, though, the answer was quite obvious. The collectors bowed to me, before quickly moving through the small crowd, still carrying the pylons, which were flicking wildly with colors, showing their full charge. I wanted to say my belly twisted from excitement, but then I realized it was not it. That's when I felt something shift in my gut, and a realization quickly came to me. I was going to lay. I teleported to my quarters at the blink of an eye, panic already starting to rise in me, as I nervously paced around my room. Fortunately for me, the hive was short enough to let Rosch be here in a dozen of seconds. "Get yourself together and breath slowly. If you move to much you might damage the eggs!" He said urgently. That made me to stop panicking enough to sit down and perform the breathing exercise Cadence had tough me. Shakily, I stood still, preparing for the inevitable. Then it happened. Something shifted inside my gut once again, and an egg slowly slipped out of me, being followed by another, and one more. After the third egg dropped to the floor and I , I shakily turned around investigating the clutch. 'I...I layed. I am a mother now...' All three were a lilac color similar to my mane's, and barely bigger then a hoof. I lay down on the floor, curling myself around the clutch. 'And they are my kids' A thought struck my head. 'At least my first ones...' Author's Note Yup, now that I got that awkward part out of the way, the rest of the writing should go smoother for me. Thought the next few chapters will still be hard
Chapter 2 - Hive BasicsCanterlot "King Thorax, I believe I deserve an explanation." Celestia stated while flipping through a newspaper with a big header that said - Attempted Assassination on King Thorax! The Culprits are CHANGELINGS? - "Well, you see," He uncomfortably said "T-There are other changeling queens and hives, apart from ours." The room grew quiet. "What?" Celestia was extremely shocked, yet had no strength to pull out a good reaction. "You forgot to tell us something like THAT!?" Luna said, the last part being in the Royal Canterlot voice. "Can you tell us, are all the queens like Chrysalis, or is she a bad exception?" Celestia questioned, hoping it was the former. Thorax swallowed. "Well, let's say, she isn't half the worst." He said, in a voice, barely louder than a whisper. "B-But there are good ones! Rondia for example!" He tried to be positive. "The only problem is, that the kindhearted queens don't last long." Informed Pharynx. Celestia brokenheartedly sighed, and leaned back into her cushions. Luna looked at her sister with worry. Celestia was pale, and though she tried to hide it, she was heartbroken, tired and lost. When Twilight ascended, Celestia thought that Twilight was going to be with her forever, and they would guide the ponies of Equestria through the centuries. So when Twilight vanished without a trace two weeks ago, she was heartbroken. Actually, most of Equestria was. Twilight was widely known, despite being crowned only seven years prior. From her and her friends' heroism as Elements of Harmony, to her loved and successful rule. This is what anyone could call 'A Heavy blow for Equestria'. Celestia flipped to the next page, noticing another, smaller header. Princess Twilight, is still missing. Suddenly something clicked in her head. "What if the attempt on your life, and Twilight disappearing wasn't a coincidence?" Silence followed the words, again. "I'm afraid, that it is likely." Pharynx broke the silence. "But until we find out in what condition she's in, we must hope for the best." Starlight, who has been patiently listening to the dialogue, wondered when the king's brother had opened up so much. Pharynx was like a totally different 'ling now. "Can you tell the approximate count of the hives, and any rules and connections they have between each other?" Celestia resumed the questioning. " 'Bout forty-five of them. From what I know, the only real organization between the hives, apart from protection treaties, is the High council. It's a meeting of the seven most influential queens. It's used for all-hives wide problems, like a plague. The council is rarely summoned, for most of those queens are too lazy and cautious to come out. " Thorax explained. Celestia bit her lip. There were a total of around forty-fives, that had a similar goal, if the council's queens ordered them to. "How are the queens' influential power decided?" Starlight heard herself say. Thorax turned towards her. "By the overall number of drones. By overall, I mean both the queen's hive, and the hives of queens she has under her protection and influence, in exchange for something else of course." He said, winking at Starlight. "I thank you for the information, Thorax and Pharynx, but I think that everyone here has royal duties to attend to. Also, if any of you will still be in Canterlot, you're welcome to come to Flurry Heart's fifth Birthday party tonight." Cadance announced, while standing up from her cushions, and nudging her sleeping husband to wake up. "Well, seems like the meeting is over. Let's go." Said, Pharynx, as he buzzed his wings a bit. ===*=== Starlight Starlight stretched her hind and front legs. She dumped the army of paper on the table, huffing as she left the room. After Twilight disappeared, Celestia had sent her a letter, asking her and the ponies Elements of Harmony to cover up Twilight's duties. Sadly, Pinkie was the only one with free time, and all her problems are solved with cake. By the third day, Starlight had freaked out at least twenty times. She had no idea how to handle this! For example, Filthy Rich and some businesstalion from Canterlot both wanted to have a speech at the Ponyville festival, at the same place, day and time! She told them what she felt was right - to share it - which resulted catastrophically. After the speech, they both came to complain and shout at her, but this time as a team. In these two weeks so many bad things happened to Starlight, she lost count during the third day. 'Where are you Twilight?' Starlight thought as she looked at a late sunset, the stars already staring to show. ===*=== Twilight "Now, you will only be able to consume love now, since you require nothing else to eat. Also, be careful with your horn. It's almost as sharp as your teeth." Rosch noted as I was lying in my bed, looking confusedly at a pink crystal, trying to find out how I was supposed to get my food out of there. Then I remembered a question I had since yesterday, one that was lingering in my thoughts as I went to sleep. "Ah, Rosch? I saw a lot nymphs yesterday, considering the size of the hive. It seems like a dumb question, but, who lays the nymphs' eggs?" I said uncomfortably. Rosch sighed, as if knowing that this question would come up sooner or later. "The queen does. This means you as well." I froze. From what he told me, some hives had up to half a million drones... Just the thought of laying eggs scared me. The reason must be hidden in my soon-to-be-recovered memories. But still having thousands of kids, both scared me and excited me. The exited part probably came from some new queen instinct. "When am I going to start... laying?" I asked, getting extremely uncomfortable. "Well, it happens happens differently to different queens. Some start laying when their body has matured, and some when their queen-mothers are dead. For you, both conditions are met, so you can start laying any day. But at our inspection yesterday, we didn't see any sings of your body building eggs, so you are safe for at least a week." I sighed in relief. I barely remembered who I am! I can't have children without being able to tell them what their mommy did in her life! ... Huh, I accepted my egg-laying destiny fairly fast. "But I ask of you, my Queen, that you take haste in starting to manage the hive. Our emotion supply is running low. We have about two weeks left, before we run out of food.You should send out love collectors." I nodded. "Do we have an office of some kind? Also, I would like a map of our location, please 1:4,000,000 or larger. "At once, thought we do not have an office yet. I can order construction." Rosch said, as a drone ran inside the room, scroll in hand. Rosch waited for me to stand up from bed, before unrolling the scroll on it. The map was clearly drawn by professionals, every detail and name written down. The center of it was on the east base of a mountain, located near the north. On the left side of the map, across the Celestial Sea (Based on official Equestria maps) lied Manehattan, and lower to the mountains, Griffonstone. From what I can remember, these two places were marked as 'The Southern Borders of Pony-Known Territory'. On this map, they were the western ones. While this confused me, I noticed the right side of the map. It looked quite strange - the central part of the continent was covered with more then twenty rivers, and countless swamps. A lot of drawings of different cities - from underground to skyscraper-like, were spread unevenly across it. O I read aloud the name of one of the larger ones. "Skoria Hive..." A shiver ran down my spine as I read the other ones. "These cities... They are all HIVES!" I said in panic, while trying to count them. 'More then thirty...' Rosch looked at me, worry in his eyes. "My queen, let me explain how changeling society works." He said, before to my joy, slipping into lecture mode. "For starters, there are hives, with queens as rulers. The normal population of a hive is about five thousand. There is only one hive without a queen - The Central. It is supposedly the changelings' birthplace, as well as the center of changeling society." "The Council - a meeting of the seven queens with the largest populations. It makes decisions important for the changelings as a race. Large conflicts between hives as well. The largest hives' populations number around half a million." I started compressing and eating up the information, only to feel as an ant. The sheer size of those hives made my head hurt. "But you need not worry about the other hives, for now. Until you are officially recognized by the council as a queen, we will remain unnoticed. For now, you should just focus on food supply, and stabilize the hive." My stomach gurgled, causing me to look hungrily at the pink crystal on the bed. Rosch sighed. "That is, when you learn how changelings feed." "Please, posses my nervous system." He announced. I cocked my head to the side. He asked me, via hive mind. I channeled my thoughts in the same plane of consciousness his voice was coming from. "Good. Now, try to feel my connection to you on the hive mind, and push your consciousness in, just enough to give me free movement of my body." I said as he did, slowly, but effectively. Though I wouldn't call it possessing. It was more like watching from his eyes. He grabbed the crystal in his magic, and started opening something, like a door in his telekinesis. It felt as if a warm fuzzy feeling was filling me, or rather Rosch. He sat the crystal down on the bed, and I returned to my body. Taking the crystal, which had now become rather pale, I did the same thing as him. Or at least I tried. It took me ten minutes to finally open the door, and fill me up. ===*=== Twilight I stared in awe at the huge pylon, swirling with red, pink and black color. This was the hive's... my hive's emotional energy supply. A dozen smaller ones, about my size stood near it, empty. "While our love collectors can hold inside them a fair amount of emotional energy, these pylons," He pointed at the smaller, empty ones, "can collect love as well, but keep inside them incredible amounts of emotional energy. We place them in a place with a lot of emotion, and replace them with empty ones, when these are full. Currently, it is the most efficient way known to us." Rosch explained as he smiled at one of the nymphs who was looking in awe at the food-packed crystal. "So basically I only need to point out the locations, and you'll place them there?" I asked, wondering if it was that simple. "As long as it has any kind of emotion. Except hate. It can be lethal in large doses." I smirked, my chest filling up of pride. "Then I know the best place! The Crystal Empire!" When I said the name, something... some forgotten names and memories suddenly appeared. "Shining Armor, Cadance, Flurry Heart..." I mumbled as a whole album of pictures, sounds and memories started filling up my head. "Twilight Sparkle." But I knew that those memories, weren't nearly all of those I use to have. Didn't stop me from smiling at the memory of Flurry Heart blasting holes through the castle. She looked so cute and innocent while doing it! My senses nearly stopped as I realized something. The next time I came to her, and my other friends I don't remember, they won't know who I am. They will think, that I'm just another changeling queen... But I somehow knew, that I wasn't going to see them anytime soon... I've got a hive to rule, right? Author's Note I was going to say next chapter not coming soon, but I never do the things I write. Yes, I'm not planning on a happy reunion any time soon... Maybe never...
