The sun shone brightly over the horizon, piercing Elytra's eyes with its golden rays. She yawned and stretched, listening to the sounds of the other changelings near her doing the same. She got up and glanced around. Carapace's makeshift cage was far enough from the rest of the camp that the others might not have noticed his disappearance yet.

Chrysalis cleared her throat, gathering all the changelings around. In the midst of everything that happened last night, Chrysalis hadn't yet given them their jobs for today. As she opened her mouth to speak, however, she paused and sniffed the air. "I see someone snuck out to do a little late-night feeding."

She scanned the crowd, pausing to locate the exact source of the scent, then pointed at Elytra. "You."

"Me? What about me?"

Chrysalis sighed. "You know the rules, Elytra. Did you really think you could sneak some past me? Hand over my share. Now."

She couldn't. Chrysalis didn't understand. This was her love, her very own. She hadn't stolen this from anypony, she'd earned it herself. She froze, like a deer in the headlights.

Chrysalis sighed. "Really? Come on, Elytra, give it here. If I have to take it by force I'm going to take it all."

She had to say yes. Then she'd only lose half of it, not the whole thing. Why wouldn't her mouth form the word?

"Fine, then. If that's how you want it."

Her hooves left the ground; Chrysalis lifted her into the air. Then she began feeding.

It felt horrible. Love felt like a warm glow when it was inside you, but leaving? Leaving, it felt like a squishy, slimy ball of ooze crawling across your body. Even losing all of it had to be better than this.

Elytra released it all.

She faintly heard a thud, like someone had been thrown backwards: Chrysalis? Something seemed to wind around her, and suddenly she was encased in blue crystal. Panicking, she pounded on it with her hooves, and it gave way in an explosion of brilliant light. Her hooves touched the ground again. Everyling was staring at her. She looked down at herself and gasped. "What- what happened? Your majesty! What's happened to me?" Her breath came in panicked gasps.

Chrysalis's eyes narrowed. "So. You've thrown your lot in with Thorax and those traitors."

"What? No, I- I don't know what you're talking about! What happened to me? Please, someling! What's going on?"

"Seize her!" Chrysalis cried.

Preservation instinct kicked in, and she turned and fled. A part of her mind vaguely registered how smooth each wingbeat felt, how quickly she moved. She glanced back. Her wings were whole, long and thin like a dragonfly's. The changelings in pursuit had already fallen far behind. She was still panicking, but she knew where she had to go.

She landed in front of Twilight's castle and burst in. Princess Twilight herself was in the entry hall with Starlight, seemingly about to leave. "Who are you?" Twilight asked. "I hadn't even written to King Thorax yet, so you can't be here for that, but-"

"I need to talk to Carapace," she panted. "Just him."

"I'll go get him," Starlight offered, popping away in a flash of magic.

"Are you all right?" Twilight seemed concerned. "What's your name?"

"No, I'm not all right. But that's none of your business. I need to talk to Carapace."

Twilight opened her mouth to ask another question, then bit her lip. "Fine."

Starlight teleported back in with Carapace. His head, neck, and legs were a cerulean blue, fading darker towards the bottom, his wing cases shone purple, reflecting the light, and his underbelly was a paler shade of blue. Three gem-like structures glittered on his neck. "You did it too?" they cried at the same time, but her tone was horrified, and his was jubilant.

"Carapace, what's happened to me? I don't understand!"

He smiled. "Elytra, this is a good thing! A wonderful thing! Look at yourself. Your legs are solid. Your wings are strong and fast. You're unique now, not just another identical drone. Elytra... you're beautiful."

She looked herself over, really looked, not just the quick and confused glance she'd spared before. Her color was white, fading to a silvery-grey at the base of the neck, which lacked the jewels Carapace had. Her underbelly was an extremely pale blue, and her wing cases were iridescent, shining with every color of the rainbow. Her tail was long and shaped like her wings. She could already tell how it would streamline her flight. Maybe Carapace was right. Again.

"What's up with those gem things? How come you have them and I don't?" she asked, in a significantly less panicked tone.

Twilight stepped forward. "As far as we can tell, only the male changelings have them."

"Still not talking to you. Carapace, why did this happen? What does it mean?"

"From what they told me, it happens when you share love freely, instead of merely taking it. Basically, you have to release all your love willingly. It helps if you have friends, or... other relationships. So... I guess this means you were okay with what happened last night? You never managed to get a cohesive sentence out about it."

In answer, she leaned forward and kissed him. "Oooh," said Twilight and Starlight.

Carapace smiled. "So... does this mean you're okay with the change?"

"I guess so. I mean, it's a lot to take in, but it's not the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

"Do you want to stay here until you figure it out?" Twilight offered.

Elytra shook her head. "No. There's one more thing I need to do first."

Author's Note

Sorry this one is a little shorter. One chapter, and possibly an epilogue, remain.