EoH Evolution Interlude: Integrationby Bahamut0ChaptersRude AwakeningRoyalsHard ShellsInterviewOpen HeartIntegrationIndividualsRude AwakeningNarico was sleeping soundly as the rays of the morning sun shined in from his room's window. It literally one day ago that he was a changeling nymph. One who was now a fully grown royal changeling and the current king of his race. He wasn't sure what lie ahead, but figured that would be an issue for tomorrow. Unfortunately, tomorrow happened as soon as he opened his eyes. "AH!" Narico screamed as he stumbled out of his bed at the sight before him! In front of him were a few changeling drones. He knew they meant him no harm. Namely because he was their king now. Certain events at a particular wedding leading to a mass emigration from the hive. However, that didn't mean Narico was accustomed to having an entire race at his beck and call. "Um, good morning?" The drones bowed. "We are prepared to assist you with any tasks for your morning preparation." One of the changelings declared. "Shall we fetch you your clothes?" "Uh, no thanks." Narico said. "I'll get them myself. They're not even that far out of reach." Narico went over to the nearby closet and pulled out a pair of forest green pants, a light grey dress shirt, and an emerald coat. Rarity sure went through a lot of trouble to make sure I had a good royal color scheme. Narico slipped on his grey boots, and clapped his hands together. "So. Has everyone eaten yet?" Narico asked. "Fang always said the day doesn't really begin until after breakfast." "About that my king?" The other drone, a female, nervously asked. "We kind of haven't eaten since, well, before the invasion? And the humans really aren't too keen on approaching us since then. Most of them know what happened because Princess Celestia told them we defected to live under your rule, but they're still a bit skeptical of us." Narico sighed. "They're not without that right. So how do you feed on love anyway? I remember Shining Armor saying Chrysalis sucked it out of him, but there weren't any bite marks." "We either cocoon the target and siphon it from there, or absorb it when they channel affection toward us when we're in disguise." The other changeling answered. "Though we've never received that much anyway, so we often had to hunt for love a lot." Narico raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you get that much love? Is it because you had a shortage? That would explain one reason of the invasion." The new king then narrowed his eyes as he remembered when Chrysalis tried to steal his love to increase her power. "But I'm guessing it's more along the lines of you didn't matter that much to Chrysalis." He noticed the two drones before him nod sadly. "Well, gather everyone. I'm sure you must all be pretty hungry. And last I checked, good leaders don't let their people starve." The female drone was astonished by this! "My king! Surely you aren't thinking of feeding the whole hive?! Such a feat has never been done before in all of our existence! If you do this, the hunger would surely drive you into a frenzy!" "How can I starve like all of you if I've never felt the hunger in the first place?" Narico asked as he slipped on his crown. "You're my people now. That means I need to take care of you before all others. I'm no exception to that. Now gather everyone." Sure enough, all the changelings who left the hive were gathered in the courtyard. All of them staring nervously at Narico. The young king took a deep breath as he focused on the love he felt for his new adopted family. "Hope you're all hungry." Narico's horn glowed bright green as a green mist trailed out over the crowd of changelings. All of them readily opening their mouths and inhaling the mist. Most of them patting their bellies in satisfaction. However, as Narico cut off the flow of love, he noticed something. A changeling was holding her nymph in her arms, and it looked like the child was still hungry. Narico didn't need to hear them speaking as his mind was in telepathic contact with his entire people. The young king calmly walked toward the mother and child, and sent a little more love the nymph's way. The young changeling burping happily. "Excuse you." Narico said with a chuckle. He then noticed the astonished looks on his fellow changelings' faces. No one had shown such care for them before. Narico sighed. "Well, I'm off to eat. Let me know if there's anything you need some help with." Narico buzzed his wings, and flew off to the cafeteria. Upon grabbing a plate of pancakes, he noticed Fang sitting with Silk Snare and Constrictor. "Morning guys." Fang gave an exaggerated bow. "And a good morning to you too your majesty. You finally grace the day with your presence." "Thanks bro." Narico said with a smile. Fang always did know how to make him smile. Narico then turned his gaze to Silk Snare. "By the way, how's Carapace doing? His was pretty messed up from what you told me." Silk Snare took a deep breath. "The doctors don't know much about our anatomy. The body of a standard changeling is easy enough to fix up considering how humanoid our race is to begin with. But in the case of us mutants, it's a bit harder since. They need to know more, but I doubt anyone's up to volunteering for dissection." "Actually, they won't need to cut us up." Narico chirped as he munched away happily on his pancakes. He may have a grown body, he was still a child at heart. "Twilight told me she'd like to run analysis spells on me sometime to know how changelings work. We could probably get even more results if some of our healers consulted the doctors." Narico polished off his pancakes and let out a content sigh. "It's been nice catching up with you guys, but I gotta meet with Princess Celestia. She wants to discuss how everyone's going to feed since they can't go stealing love." And with that, the young king buzzed away to meet the princess of the sun. RoyalsNarico's heart was racing as he stood at the door to the throne room. From what he'd heard, Princess Celestia was one of the kindest people to ever live. She was always considerate of her people, and cared for their needs above hers. In fact, she was the type of leader Narico aspired to be. And it made him nervous to all Tartarus to even be speaking with her. Cautiously, the young king knocked on the door. "Come in." Celestia answered from the other side. Slowly, the door opened and Narico went in. The solar princess had a serene smile on her face. "King Narico. You've arrived earlier than expected." Narico nodded shakily. "J-Just didn't want to take up too much of your schedule p-princess." He then motioned to the hallway. "Care to lead the way?" "It would be my pleasure." Celestia said with a nod as she fluttered over to Narico. Landing beside him. "I've always found a mobile conversation more engaging than a stationary one." As soon as the two were outside the room, Celestia gently placed her hand on Narico's shoulder. "You don't have to be so nervous around me Narico. There's no need to kiss the ground I walk on because I'm a goddess. You're a leader like me. And I will treat you as such unless you give me reason to do otherwise." Narico blinked before letting out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness." The young king let his body slump a little. "I was worried I'd have to use so many royal titles each time I spoke to you." "What in the world made you think to do something so silly?" Celestia asked with a giggle. "But back to the topic at hand. You're people's unique form of nourishment is something many hold dear. To them, love is something that is irreplaceable." Narico nodded. "Well, it's not just love we can feed on. Any positive emotion makes for a good meal. Love just happens to be one of the tastier ones. I wouldn't know what it's like to feed off it, but I do know how it feels." Narico then came to a realization. "Do you mind if I feel out your love real quick?" Celestia nodded in approval. "Thank you." Narico's horn was covered in a minor glow as he felt out the love of the solar princess. His eyes snapped open upon seeing how much love Celestia had in her heart! "No wonder everyone loves you as their leader. You love all of them more than they could ever hope to know." "Indeed I do." Celestia said with a warm smile. "Although, I guess you could say there's one I love more since Burst Stream is my boyfriend." The two leaders shared a laugh. "Many of my subjects say that I have a motherly air about me. So I guess that explains why a lot of them are so eager to see my smile." Narico smiled. "Well, I never knew my parents. I was just put in with the other nymphs and we were taught what was needed out of us for the hive. But for what it's worth? I think you'd make a great mom." "As nice as that is, we should really try staying on topic here." Celestia said with a slight blush. "You were saying that any positive emotion is a good source of food for a changeling. So maybe you could tell your people to spread happiness throughout Unity?" Narico scratched his head. "I don't know. I really don't want to put Pinkie Pie out of a job. But maybe we could run a dating advice service? A lot of changelings have experience getting close to people. They know a lot of ins-and-outs for how to make a relationship work. We could just charge the love as a service fee." "That sounds like a splendid idea." Celestia said with a smile. "But there's also another matter of concern. I realize that your people are either spies or soldiers. Not to mention their shape shifting abilities have many applications. So what other fields have you thought of for them to make full use of their talents?" "Let's see. . . " Narico listed off the possibilities in his head. "Well, do you have an information network or intelligence branch of your guard? All of my infiltrators could form an intelligence gathering network for you. And the soldiers? Maybe we could get them to join up with the guard that you have. As for the civilian types? Well, they never really got much of a say in what they wanted to do with their lives. Maybe I should tell them to find something they enjoy and make a life out of it. Then again, we are pretty durable. Maybe stunt doubles or-" Celestia giggled. "You know you're starting to ramble a bit, right?" "OH CRAP!" Narico blurted out as he snapped out of his ramblings. "Sorry! It's just that, this whole situation is so heavy." Narico leaned himself against a wall. "I think the pressure made me say my first curse." Celestia gave the young king a knowing smile as she took her own crown off. "Yes. This can be quite the difficult position on occasion. But it's the toughest job I've ever loved." "Okay. That settles it." Narico said with a joking smile. "If no one thought you were mom material before, you should DEFINITELY be considered such now." The two royals shared a laugh. "Well, I'd better go. Fang would probably flip if he heard that his cinnamon roll of a little brother just said his first curse." "NARICOOOOO!" Fang yelled as he raced towards his adoptive little brother! Narico's eyes went wide as he caught sight of Fang pouncing on him! "OH SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA!" Hard ShellsOne thought raced through Narico's head as he led the soldier changelings to the Royal Guard training grounds. I hope the royal guards aren't too ticked about how outclassed they were. Steel Edge always said that the guards took great pride in their duties. And it was literally just a couple days ago they were locked in combat. "So we're going to meet with the excuses for guards that we got the drop on during the wedding?" The youngest soldier changeling, a teenager, boasted. "If they want a rematch, they just had to ask! I wouldn't mind wiping the floor with them again!" One of the elder soldier changelings bonked his younger comrade on the head. "Forgive him my king. He is young and brash. Shall I dismiss him?" Narico shook his head. "No. In fact, Captain Shining Armor's brought in a group of new guard recruits due to the wedding incident. This could serve as a humbling experience for both hotshots of our respective guards." Sure enough, the group arrived at the training grounds. "Hey there Narico." Shining Armor greeted. "Looks like you brought out your own personal army." The soldier changelings chuckled at Shining Armor's joke. Namely due to the fact that it was so true. The captain of the guard smiled at the changelings' response. "Care to spare a few of your guys? A lot of the new recruits think they're hot shots and could take them no problem." Narico nodded. "Sure. We've got a few in need of being taken down a peg. Namely the younger ones." Narico waved over the younger changeling soldiers. "Please try to play nice?" Most of the group nodded, but the boasting one earlier just rolled his eyes. "Thank you." The boasting changeling from earlier squared up against Flash Sentry. The new royal guard recruit having a cocky smirk on his face. "You bugs don't look so tough up close! Just try and beat me in the air! I'll swat you down no sweat!" "Have to hit me first feather-brain!" The boasting changeling shot back as he flew straight at Flash! The two grappled before Flash head-butted the changeling! "OW!" This left Flash a chance to hit him with his staff! Both of the older guards and soldier changelings were spectating the fight. Needless to say, neither were impressed by the combatants' conduct. "He really went with an insult?" One of the royal guard said with a sigh. "Honestly. I know you guys are insect-like, but really?" One of the soldier changelings shrugged. "Could be worse. He could've called him a parasite. Still, for a new fighter, the Skyborn is doing well against someone literally raised to fight." The royal guard all went rigid at the soldier changeling's words. "Oh. You all weren't raised to fight since you could walk?" "Not in the least!" Another one of the guard exclaimed. "We all took the mantle of royal guard because we were willing to take up arms to protect our kingdom. Because it was a task we wanted to undertake. It has and always will be our choice." All of the soldier changelings felt just the least bit empty after hearing these words. Another soldier changeling, a female, sighed. "So. . . you all actually got to know your parents?" The royal guards on the sidelines nodded. "I bet that feels nice. Feeling like an actual family." The match soon ended. Both Flash and the young soldier changeling collapsing exhausted, but giving each other a thumbs-up. That still didn't stop the two from trading remarks. "Pretty good." Flash Sentry panted. "You're still getting swatted next time. Hope the 'bug' thing didn't get to you." The young soldier changeling managed a weak smirk. "Hey, everyone one in my race has pretty hard shells. If we let one tiny insult about us being insects get to us, all those invasion skirmishes would've been over quick." As both combatants returned to their respective sides, Shining Armor addressed the soldier changelings. "King Narico has brought you all here today because he sees an opportunity to help integrate you into our kingdom." "All of you have experience as soldiers for the hive." Narico began. "Each of you are committed to fighting for your people and your ruler. But Unity is our home now. And as long as Chrysalis is still out there, Unity is still at risk. I'm not going to make you bear this burden. None of you were given any choice before. Making it all the more important that I give you that freedom now. If any of you doesn't want to go through with this, leave now." None of the soldier changelings budged. "We've made our choice King Narico." One of the changelings answered. "Besides, it'll be nice to actually receive actual armor. Seriously! Queen Chrysalis almost sent us into battle naked just because of our tough skin!" Both the soldier changelings and royal guard burst into a fit of laughter! "I think you won't have to worry about them getting along." Shining Armor said to Narico. "So what's next on your to do list?" Narico scratched his head, then came to a realization when he saw the entire mass of identical colors that were his people. "I think I just found out." InterviewA whole week had passed by since Narico had successfully integrated his people's soldiers into the royal guard. However, the young king's work wasn't done yet. All of Unity had yet to hear from him. And after the failed invasion during the royal wedding, the citizens of the changelings' new home could use some reassurance. "Guys c'mon. . . " Narico groaned as Rarity fussed over his appearance. "My hair's fine. Do I really need to completely change its style?" The young royal changeling managed to escape the Element of Generosity's well-intentioned gesture and returned his hair to its natural state. "I get looking good. But you're kind of taking it a bit too far. It's not like I'm gonna be on television!" Oh how wrong he was. The second Narico met with his interviewer, he was met with the sight of a camera recording them. The interviewer smiled. "A pleasure to meet you King Narico. Don't worry this will be short and quick. Just answer my questions truthfully, and we'll make sure all the people there know how you're running things. Shall we begin?" Narico nodded nervously. "Excellent! First question: Do you plan on uniting your kingdom with ours by marrying one of our rulers?" "PFFFFT! WHAT?!" Narico shouted as he spat out the water he'd been drinking! "You can't be serious, right? I was just a kid only a week ago! I haven't even had my first kiss yet! How could I possibly think of getting married?" The interviewer nodded. "Hmm. Interesting. So you really don't know what you're doing, do you?" Narico didn't have any time to answer as the interviewer jumped right into a barrage of questions. "What makes you any different than Queen Chrysalis? Have you apologized to Princess Cadence for what happened at the royal wedding? Are you going to make it so that your people wear some form of identification to distinguish them? Where do you plan on making your capital?" "Uh. . . uh. . . " Narico's head was spinning. "Could you excuse me for a moment? I have something important I forgot about." Narico teleported away in a flash of green fire to his guest room at the castle, and threw himself on the bed. He promptly screamed into a pillow. "AAAUUGH! AAAGGGHHHH! WHY?! WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!" After a solid minute of screaming, Narico removed his fluffy venting mechanism. "I need to cool my head. But I can't go out like this. I'd be dealing with a different and far more dangerous swarm." A flash of green fire washed over Narico, and he was now disguised as a human version of himself. He also changed his outfit to look more casual and stand out less. "Much better." Narico said with a sigh of relief as he teleported away to the city streets of Castalot. "Now to cool off." Narico walked into the nearest ice cream parlor, and ordered a double scoop. "Ice cream. Take away my worries." Narico practically threw himself onto the nearby bench, and started munching away at his ice cream. Man, this sucks! I don't even want to be king! But if I'm not, then all of my people won't have anyone to help them out. I'd be worse than Chrysalis if I did that. The young king of the changelings let out a sad sigh. "I don't want to be anything like her. I want to use the better way of helping my people. But how can I do that when none of us lifted a finger to stop the ones who attacked without any hesitation?" Narico hung his head in defeat. "Maybe I was stupid to think this could be done so easily or so soon. I probably should've had that Thorax guy take charge instead. He wasn't afraid to speak out against Chrysalis. Not to mention I have the funny feeling he'll be important later." "Mind if I grab a seat next to you?" A new voice asked. Narico was so caught up in his ramblings that he didn't even notice that someone was standing over him. The source of the voice was a woman with pure white skin. And in sharp contrast, her hair was pitch black while her eyes were a medium grey. She wore a simple grey dress, and had a kind smile on her face. "But then again, you seemed quite preoccupied. So if you're too busy-" Narico shook his head. "N-No! I'm not! I mean, I'm not taking up this whole space!" Narico was blushing pretty badly upon realizing he'd been caught rambling on with his thoughts. "It's just, I've got a lot to deal with right now. Everyone's got a lot of questions for me, and I don't know if I can answer them all. But that's not the worst of it." "Hmm." The woman grabbed a seat next to Narico. "Well, would you care to elaborate? I don't know if I can give you any advice, but it's healthier to let out your problems. Bottling them up makes them explode. And quite violently." Narico took in a deep breath. "Well, there's this interview I have. And that's where my problem with questions comes from. I was being asked so much at once that I didn't even understand which one to answer. All of it was right there in front of me, and I just wanted to get through it. But I couldn't! AGH! It's just so. . . frustrating!" Narico took a large bite out of his ice cream to emphasis his state of mind. "Interesting." The woman said with a small smile. "You know? I think I know how to help you out." Narico's perked up at hearing this. "Your problem is pretty simple. You're trying to get everything done at once. It's admirable that you want to get your work done as quickly as you can. But a rushed job is far worse than an incomplete one. Don't jump head first without thinking. I'm sure that's part of why your former queen's plan blew up spectacularly." Narico smiled at first, but his eyes went wide as he heard the woman mention Chrysalis. "You don't have to worry your highness." The woman said with a giggle as she raised her hand for silence. "My lips are sealed. As for how I knew? Let's just say you were almost hiding in plain sight." She then got up to leave and pointed at Narico's ice cream. "If you want to thank me next time, buy me a scoop." And with that, the woman left with a content smile on her face. Narico shook his head. "Well, she was nice. I guess." Narico teleported back to his interview. "Sorry for the abrupt departure. To answer your first question, the difference between me and Chrysalis is that I know what it's like to love and be loved by others. See, my adoptive siblings, the mutant changelings who defected, heard Chrysalis plotted to either kill me or mutate me like them because I had the potential to become a royal changeling. She wanted to preserve her own reign at any cost. Which led to me winding up in Unityville. That's where I met Night Fang. You might know him better as the Element of Determination. He was like me. A little different from everyone else. I didn't hunger for love and he had wolf ears and a tail. So yeah. We kinda became family during that Nightmare Night. " "Fang always took care of me. He made sure I had a place to call home, and he'd always pick me up from school. And when Chrysalis sent soldiers to come and get me, Fang fought them back. He'd always get a bit beat up, but he never gave up. Because he wanted me to be safe, and he knew that I had a home with me and the friends I made here. And when I did show myself to the friends I'd made, they didn't care. That made me think, maybe there was a better way." The interviewer nodded. "Interesting. But I must also ask, is Chrysalis your mother? Your old home was a hive in structure. So is this the equivalent of teenage rebellion?" "No. Chrysalis will never be my mother." Narico said as he shook his head. "She didn't give birth to us all. All changelings have mates of their own. But all changelings are taught to obey the queen from the day we're hatched. Chrysalis never really bothered to raise any of us. Just because we're an insect-like race doesn't mean we're all related. Not to mention Chrysalis was never really invested in raising us. She never really paid much attention to us. Much less show us any affection. Most of us were raised to do little more than follow her orders. To never question." Narico snapped himself out of his unpleasant memories. "I encourage my people to speak their minds. To question me. Because if I can't listen to my people, how can I fix their problems? As for your second question, I haven't apologized to Princess Cadence because I'm scared. Chrysalis would have ruined what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. It was a royal changeling that caused her so much trouble. Me and my people have caused her enough trouble. I figured the best thing to do would be to leave her be." "As for identification," Narico began. "I stressed the importance of being individuals to my people. Each of them took to altering their appearance so that none of them looked the same. They still have their same body frames, but I guess they all got inspired by all the colors they see around them in this land. Back at the hive, there really wasn't much variance in terms of colors. It was all either black or green. It's a nice color scheme, but seeing nothing but that for your entire life would be pretty dull. Especially since you look almost identical to everyone else." Narico took a deep breath. "And to answer your last question, I don't plan on making a new kingdom here. So there's no need to make a capital. I want to make a new home for my people here. The mistake of Chrysalis was that she thought the world was wrong, and she needed to change it. But in reality? There's nothing wrong with the world itself. Just the people living in it. If she really wanted to change the world, she should've changed herself. Because if you can't change who you are, then what hope does the world have of changing?" Narico let out a sigh of relief. "I guess that's all I really need to say. Thanks for having me." And with that, Narico flew off. Hoping that whatever changes this event brought on would be for the better. Open HeartAll in all, Narico was feeling pretty good about things. His people had started venturing out more from the castle after his interview. And much to the young king's delight, the changelings were largely welcomed or just treated as part of the everyday crowds. However, Narico knew they couldn't just stick themselves in Castalot. There was so much more to the kingdom of Unity than its capitol city. Unityville might be the best place to start. It's not too small, and everyone's more or less accustomed to crazy, sudden events. A knock on the door soon tore Narico away from his musings. "Come in." He nearly fell out of his bed when he saw his visitor. "P-Princess Cadence?!" The young changeling king hadn't expected the princess of love, whose wedding was almost ruined by the prior changeling ruler, to visit him. "C-Can I help you?" "Actually, it's the other way around." Cadence said as she levitated over the only chair in the room with her magic. "I saw your interview today. And I was pretty surprised at one very specific bit of information" She looked into Narico's eyes. "Do I really terrify you that much because of what happened at the wedding?" Narico brought his knees close to his chest. His current position indicating the age he truly was in his mind. "Well, you were supposed to have the happiest day of your life, right? And it turned into a literal battlefield. All because of Chrysalis, a royal changeling, had delusions of grandeur and a plan doomed to fail." Narico curled himself up more. "You were imprisoned in those catacombs for days while Chrysalis stole your identity. She took your face and used it to hurt everyone close to you." The young king was almost in tears at this point. "It doesn't matter that I'm not the one who hurt. The fact is, a changeling was responsible for dong you harm. And because of that, I'm afraid of what you think of me. Of my people. Of what everyone thinks!" Narico's body began shaking. "You probably think we're monsters. That we don't care what happens to anyone else so long as we get what we want. Who could blame you? Could anyone, even us, blame you for thinking that of us?" "Narico." Cadence said in a comforting tone. "Part of what you said is true. Queen Chrysalis did cause me a lot of grief during the wedding incident. But that doesn't mean I place any blame on you or your people." The princess of love then placed a hand on Narico's trembling shoulder. "You tried to talk her down. In spite of what she'd done, you thought you could convince her to try a better way." Cadence smiled when she saw Narico perk up a little at her kind words. "When I look at someone, I don't use my eyes. I look with my heart to see who they are. And I keep it open to see all of them. Take Shining Armor for example. When I started dating him. Sure, my heart saw all of his good points, but it also saw him for his flaws. In his case, he's not the sharpest sword in the armory. But I wouldn't change that for the world." The princess of love pointed to Narico's heart. "And in your heart? I can see that you're nothing like Chrysalis. You're very kind, and have more love in your heart than she could ever hope to have. You're content, and have no trace of the hunger I felt coming from her. You're also weighed down by pressure. You feel that you need to do the best you can for all the changelings, and you're also scared. Scared of what the world thinks of you and your people." "Yeah." Narico said with a small nod. "Hit it right on the nail there. So how do I fix that?" Cadence smiled. "Keep your heart open Narico. If you close it off, then that shuts out the world around you and all the possibilities. So keep it open. You'd be amazed at what you can do." Narico's response to these words was the biggest smile Cadence had ever seen. "Wow. That rivals the look on Twilight's face when I used to read to her or get her a new book." "Am I really that cute?" Narico asked. "Because Fang once called me a 'cinnamon roll to precious for this world' when I put on a pair of wolf ears so I could look like him. I still have no idea what that phrase means." Cadence giggled. "It means you're sweet Narico. Any girl you wind up with would be lucky to have you." The princess of love then noticed the blush on Narico's face. "Or do you already have someone in mind?" My work is never done. "Let's just say she helped pick me up when I was down." Narico said with a small smile. I wonder if I'll ever meet her again. Is this what they call love at first sight? IntegrationThe day had finally arrived. The process had taken about two weeks, but it was finally time. Narico took a deep breath as he stepped onto the platform. He could see almost the whole city, as well as his people, in the massive crowd before him. "This will be a day long remembered." Narico began. "Today, we see an event similar to what I view as this nation's greatest moment. Two different peoples coming together as friends. But the greatest achievement belongs to me and my people. We have fully incorporated the nature of our race's name. We have changed, and for the better." A chorus of cheers rang out from the crowd. Narico raised his hand for silence. "I can't thank Princesses Celestia and Luna enough for allowing us to make a new home among their own. Before I took up my crown, I had the honor of calling the kingdom of Unity home. The meaning behind its name and the nature of its founding is what drove me to pursue my people's integration. This kingdom was formed by different tribes coming together and uniting for the greater good of all. And today? I see that in all of you. Your leaders represent that purpose itself. But most of all, I see it by your acceptance of my people." "And it's with great pride that I say, we are citizens of Unity!" Another roar of cheers sounded. As the crowd quieted down, Narico smiled. "I have one last message for my people. I haven't been your king that long. But looking back at my time as your ruler, I couldn't be happier with the job I've done leading you. And so," Narico removed his crown. "I can happily say that I won't be needed any longer." Narico could feel the sadness coming from his people. "Don't cry because I'm stepping down. Smile because you've been lead to a far better life than you could have hoped for at the hive. You're all unique. None of you quite the same as the other. And now? You live in a land where you can freely be yourselves. Where you decide who and what you are. And in my case? I just want to be like anyone else. I promised to be your king for as long as you needed me. And now, my purpose has been fulfilled." Narico then got in front of the podium, and bowed to the crowd. "Thank you all for giving me the privilege of leading you." Applause sounded from the entire crowd as Narico took his leave. He quickly changed into a more casual outfit. It consisted of a dark green dress shirt, light grey pants, and green sneakers. "Now for a sweet farewell to my position." Narico headed to the ice cream shop he visited last time, and purchased two ice cream cones. He then grabbed a seat on the bench, and started eating one of them. "Hope you don't plan on eating both of those by yourself." A familiar voice said. Narico looked to his left, and smiled. Before him was the same woman who had aided him during his break from the interview. "A changeling getting brain freeze wouldn't be a pretty sight." "Actually, I was hoping to repay you for your help." Narico said with a grin as he handed the woman the other ice cream he'd bought. "My big brother always said return a favor. Hope this satisfies you." The woman smiled as she took the ice cream. "How sweet." She said as she took a seat next to Narico. "Literally and figuratively." The woman then kissed Narico on the cheek! "And just like you." Narico's face was almost entirely red! "I don't know what's melting faster. My heart, or my ice cream." He then saw his ice cream starting to drip. "On second thought, I have my answer." Narico quickly ate away at his ice cream. Leaving no traces of it. He then looked into the woman's eyes. "You know? Your eyes are pretty deep. It's almost like staring into an abyss." "Then you'll be happy to know that I'm looking right back at you." Abyss said with a giggle before she rested her head on Narico's shoulder. "Would you do me one favor your majesty?" Narico chuckled nervously at how close Abyss was to him. "I'm not king anymore, but I honestly can't repay you enough for your help. So what's the favor?" Abyss smiled as she leaned into Narico's ear. "Don't change." She whispered. "You're so cute when you're blushing." Another quick kiss on the cheek, and Abyss walked away. "This was a great first date." She then wrote something on a piece of paper, and tossed it over to Narico. "Make sure to memorize it." Narico unfolded the paper, and his eyes went wide. It was Abyss's number. Such joy couldn't be contained, and Narico took off into the sky! Buzzing happily all the way home. IndividualsA few hours later, Narico had once again assembled all of his people. All of them were chattering amongst themselves, or literally buzzing about wondering what their new king wanted to talk to them about. "Glad all of you could make it. The reason I asked you all here is to address a burning question. Why do all of you look the same? I know each of you is different, and it's easy enough to tell guys from girls, but why do none of you have hair?" "It's the way things have been since long before your reign King Narico." One of the elder changelings at the front answered. "The hive's identity is solely through its royal changeling. They are the ones who are allowed to be more expressive and unique." Narico was utterly dumbstruck by this. "But why?! You're all individuals! Beings with your own thoughts, wills, and feelings! None of you are exactly the same, so why keep yourself in the exact same shape?! We might be insect-like, but that doesn't mean all of you have to remain as uniform drones! The reason we all work as people is because each of us has something different. And that's what makes all of us the same! What good is being your own person if you're not even allowed to express who you are?" The entire crowd was shocked at Narico's speech. "Do any of you have a favorite color? An eye color that you really like? Or a hairstyle that you really think fits you? If so, embrace that. Change so that you reflect that. Let everyone know that you're not just another drone." And at Narico's urging, the sea of black turned into an ocean of different colors. Some changelings had remained hairless while others were now sporting heads of hair. No two changelings were alike in their new skin colors. And if they were, they just changed their eye color or hairstyle. Yes, none of them looked identical. But they were still the same people at their core. One unified group out of differing individuals. Narico smiled at the sight. "Looks like nobody has to worry about telling each of them apart anymore."
Rude AwakeningNarico was sleeping soundly as the rays of the morning sun shined in from his room's window. It literally one day ago that he was a changeling nymph. One who was now a fully grown royal changeling and the current king of his race. He wasn't sure what lie ahead, but figured that would be an issue for tomorrow. Unfortunately, tomorrow happened as soon as he opened his eyes. "AH!" Narico screamed as he stumbled out of his bed at the sight before him! In front of him were a few changeling drones. He knew they meant him no harm. Namely because he was their king now. Certain events at a particular wedding leading to a mass emigration from the hive. However, that didn't mean Narico was accustomed to having an entire race at his beck and call. "Um, good morning?" The drones bowed. "We are prepared to assist you with any tasks for your morning preparation." One of the changelings declared. "Shall we fetch you your clothes?" "Uh, no thanks." Narico said. "I'll get them myself. They're not even that far out of reach." Narico went over to the nearby closet and pulled out a pair of forest green pants, a light grey dress shirt, and an emerald coat. Rarity sure went through a lot of trouble to make sure I had a good royal color scheme. Narico slipped on his grey boots, and clapped his hands together. "So. Has everyone eaten yet?" Narico asked. "Fang always said the day doesn't really begin until after breakfast." "About that my king?" The other drone, a female, nervously asked. "We kind of haven't eaten since, well, before the invasion? And the humans really aren't too keen on approaching us since then. Most of them know what happened because Princess Celestia told them we defected to live under your rule, but they're still a bit skeptical of us." Narico sighed. "They're not without that right. So how do you feed on love anyway? I remember Shining Armor saying Chrysalis sucked it out of him, but there weren't any bite marks." "We either cocoon the target and siphon it from there, or absorb it when they channel affection toward us when we're in disguise." The other changeling answered. "Though we've never received that much anyway, so we often had to hunt for love a lot." Narico raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you get that much love? Is it because you had a shortage? That would explain one reason of the invasion." The new king then narrowed his eyes as he remembered when Chrysalis tried to steal his love to increase her power. "But I'm guessing it's more along the lines of you didn't matter that much to Chrysalis." He noticed the two drones before him nod sadly. "Well, gather everyone. I'm sure you must all be pretty hungry. And last I checked, good leaders don't let their people starve." The female drone was astonished by this! "My king! Surely you aren't thinking of feeding the whole hive?! Such a feat has never been done before in all of our existence! If you do this, the hunger would surely drive you into a frenzy!" "How can I starve like all of you if I've never felt the hunger in the first place?" Narico asked as he slipped on his crown. "You're my people now. That means I need to take care of you before all others. I'm no exception to that. Now gather everyone." Sure enough, all the changelings who left the hive were gathered in the courtyard. All of them staring nervously at Narico. The young king took a deep breath as he focused on the love he felt for his new adopted family. "Hope you're all hungry." Narico's horn glowed bright green as a green mist trailed out over the crowd of changelings. All of them readily opening their mouths and inhaling the mist. Most of them patting their bellies in satisfaction. However, as Narico cut off the flow of love, he noticed something. A changeling was holding her nymph in her arms, and it looked like the child was still hungry. Narico didn't need to hear them speaking as his mind was in telepathic contact with his entire people. The young king calmly walked toward the mother and child, and sent a little more love the nymph's way. The young changeling burping happily. "Excuse you." Narico said with a chuckle. He then noticed the astonished looks on his fellow changelings' faces. No one had shown such care for them before. Narico sighed. "Well, I'm off to eat. Let me know if there's anything you need some help with." Narico buzzed his wings, and flew off to the cafeteria. Upon grabbing a plate of pancakes, he noticed Fang sitting with Silk Snare and Constrictor. "Morning guys." Fang gave an exaggerated bow. "And a good morning to you too your majesty. You finally grace the day with your presence." "Thanks bro." Narico said with a smile. Fang always did know how to make him smile. Narico then turned his gaze to Silk Snare. "By the way, how's Carapace doing? His was pretty messed up from what you told me." Silk Snare took a deep breath. "The doctors don't know much about our anatomy. The body of a standard changeling is easy enough to fix up considering how humanoid our race is to begin with. But in the case of us mutants, it's a bit harder since. They need to know more, but I doubt anyone's up to volunteering for dissection." "Actually, they won't need to cut us up." Narico chirped as he munched away happily on his pancakes. He may have a grown body, he was still a child at heart. "Twilight told me she'd like to run analysis spells on me sometime to know how changelings work. We could probably get even more results if some of our healers consulted the doctors." Narico polished off his pancakes and let out a content sigh. "It's been nice catching up with you guys, but I gotta meet with Princess Celestia. She wants to discuss how everyone's going to feed since they can't go stealing love." And with that, the young king buzzed away to meet the princess of the sun.
RoyalsNarico's heart was racing as he stood at the door to the throne room. From what he'd heard, Princess Celestia was one of the kindest people to ever live. She was always considerate of her people, and cared for their needs above hers. In fact, she was the type of leader Narico aspired to be. And it made him nervous to all Tartarus to even be speaking with her. Cautiously, the young king knocked on the door. "Come in." Celestia answered from the other side. Slowly, the door opened and Narico went in. The solar princess had a serene smile on her face. "King Narico. You've arrived earlier than expected." Narico nodded shakily. "J-Just didn't want to take up too much of your schedule p-princess." He then motioned to the hallway. "Care to lead the way?" "It would be my pleasure." Celestia said with a nod as she fluttered over to Narico. Landing beside him. "I've always found a mobile conversation more engaging than a stationary one." As soon as the two were outside the room, Celestia gently placed her hand on Narico's shoulder. "You don't have to be so nervous around me Narico. There's no need to kiss the ground I walk on because I'm a goddess. You're a leader like me. And I will treat you as such unless you give me reason to do otherwise." Narico blinked before letting out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness." The young king let his body slump a little. "I was worried I'd have to use so many royal titles each time I spoke to you." "What in the world made you think to do something so silly?" Celestia asked with a giggle. "But back to the topic at hand. You're people's unique form of nourishment is something many hold dear. To them, love is something that is irreplaceable." Narico nodded. "Well, it's not just love we can feed on. Any positive emotion makes for a good meal. Love just happens to be one of the tastier ones. I wouldn't know what it's like to feed off it, but I do know how it feels." Narico then came to a realization. "Do you mind if I feel out your love real quick?" Celestia nodded in approval. "Thank you." Narico's horn was covered in a minor glow as he felt out the love of the solar princess. His eyes snapped open upon seeing how much love Celestia had in her heart! "No wonder everyone loves you as their leader. You love all of them more than they could ever hope to know." "Indeed I do." Celestia said with a warm smile. "Although, I guess you could say there's one I love more since Burst Stream is my boyfriend." The two leaders shared a laugh. "Many of my subjects say that I have a motherly air about me. So I guess that explains why a lot of them are so eager to see my smile." Narico smiled. "Well, I never knew my parents. I was just put in with the other nymphs and we were taught what was needed out of us for the hive. But for what it's worth? I think you'd make a great mom." "As nice as that is, we should really try staying on topic here." Celestia said with a slight blush. "You were saying that any positive emotion is a good source of food for a changeling. So maybe you could tell your people to spread happiness throughout Unity?" Narico scratched his head. "I don't know. I really don't want to put Pinkie Pie out of a job. But maybe we could run a dating advice service? A lot of changelings have experience getting close to people. They know a lot of ins-and-outs for how to make a relationship work. We could just charge the love as a service fee." "That sounds like a splendid idea." Celestia said with a smile. "But there's also another matter of concern. I realize that your people are either spies or soldiers. Not to mention their shape shifting abilities have many applications. So what other fields have you thought of for them to make full use of their talents?" "Let's see. . . " Narico listed off the possibilities in his head. "Well, do you have an information network or intelligence branch of your guard? All of my infiltrators could form an intelligence gathering network for you. And the soldiers? Maybe we could get them to join up with the guard that you have. As for the civilian types? Well, they never really got much of a say in what they wanted to do with their lives. Maybe I should tell them to find something they enjoy and make a life out of it. Then again, we are pretty durable. Maybe stunt doubles or-" Celestia giggled. "You know you're starting to ramble a bit, right?" "OH CRAP!" Narico blurted out as he snapped out of his ramblings. "Sorry! It's just that, this whole situation is so heavy." Narico leaned himself against a wall. "I think the pressure made me say my first curse." Celestia gave the young king a knowing smile as she took her own crown off. "Yes. This can be quite the difficult position on occasion. But it's the toughest job I've ever loved." "Okay. That settles it." Narico said with a joking smile. "If no one thought you were mom material before, you should DEFINITELY be considered such now." The two royals shared a laugh. "Well, I'd better go. Fang would probably flip if he heard that his cinnamon roll of a little brother just said his first curse." "NARICOOOOO!" Fang yelled as he raced towards his adoptive little brother! Narico's eyes went wide as he caught sight of Fang pouncing on him! "OH SUGAR HONEY ICE TEA!"
Hard ShellsOne thought raced through Narico's head as he led the soldier changelings to the Royal Guard training grounds. I hope the royal guards aren't too ticked about how outclassed they were. Steel Edge always said that the guards took great pride in their duties. And it was literally just a couple days ago they were locked in combat. "So we're going to meet with the excuses for guards that we got the drop on during the wedding?" The youngest soldier changeling, a teenager, boasted. "If they want a rematch, they just had to ask! I wouldn't mind wiping the floor with them again!" One of the elder soldier changelings bonked his younger comrade on the head. "Forgive him my king. He is young and brash. Shall I dismiss him?" Narico shook his head. "No. In fact, Captain Shining Armor's brought in a group of new guard recruits due to the wedding incident. This could serve as a humbling experience for both hotshots of our respective guards." Sure enough, the group arrived at the training grounds. "Hey there Narico." Shining Armor greeted. "Looks like you brought out your own personal army." The soldier changelings chuckled at Shining Armor's joke. Namely due to the fact that it was so true. The captain of the guard smiled at the changelings' response. "Care to spare a few of your guys? A lot of the new recruits think they're hot shots and could take them no problem." Narico nodded. "Sure. We've got a few in need of being taken down a peg. Namely the younger ones." Narico waved over the younger changeling soldiers. "Please try to play nice?" Most of the group nodded, but the boasting one earlier just rolled his eyes. "Thank you." The boasting changeling from earlier squared up against Flash Sentry. The new royal guard recruit having a cocky smirk on his face. "You bugs don't look so tough up close! Just try and beat me in the air! I'll swat you down no sweat!" "Have to hit me first feather-brain!" The boasting changeling shot back as he flew straight at Flash! The two grappled before Flash head-butted the changeling! "OW!" This left Flash a chance to hit him with his staff! Both of the older guards and soldier changelings were spectating the fight. Needless to say, neither were impressed by the combatants' conduct. "He really went with an insult?" One of the royal guard said with a sigh. "Honestly. I know you guys are insect-like, but really?" One of the soldier changelings shrugged. "Could be worse. He could've called him a parasite. Still, for a new fighter, the Skyborn is doing well against someone literally raised to fight." The royal guard all went rigid at the soldier changeling's words. "Oh. You all weren't raised to fight since you could walk?" "Not in the least!" Another one of the guard exclaimed. "We all took the mantle of royal guard because we were willing to take up arms to protect our kingdom. Because it was a task we wanted to undertake. It has and always will be our choice." All of the soldier changelings felt just the least bit empty after hearing these words. Another soldier changeling, a female, sighed. "So. . . you all actually got to know your parents?" The royal guards on the sidelines nodded. "I bet that feels nice. Feeling like an actual family." The match soon ended. Both Flash and the young soldier changeling collapsing exhausted, but giving each other a thumbs-up. That still didn't stop the two from trading remarks. "Pretty good." Flash Sentry panted. "You're still getting swatted next time. Hope the 'bug' thing didn't get to you." The young soldier changeling managed a weak smirk. "Hey, everyone one in my race has pretty hard shells. If we let one tiny insult about us being insects get to us, all those invasion skirmishes would've been over quick." As both combatants returned to their respective sides, Shining Armor addressed the soldier changelings. "King Narico has brought you all here today because he sees an opportunity to help integrate you into our kingdom." "All of you have experience as soldiers for the hive." Narico began. "Each of you are committed to fighting for your people and your ruler. But Unity is our home now. And as long as Chrysalis is still out there, Unity is still at risk. I'm not going to make you bear this burden. None of you were given any choice before. Making it all the more important that I give you that freedom now. If any of you doesn't want to go through with this, leave now." None of the soldier changelings budged. "We've made our choice King Narico." One of the changelings answered. "Besides, it'll be nice to actually receive actual armor. Seriously! Queen Chrysalis almost sent us into battle naked just because of our tough skin!" Both the soldier changelings and royal guard burst into a fit of laughter! "I think you won't have to worry about them getting along." Shining Armor said to Narico. "So what's next on your to do list?" Narico scratched his head, then came to a realization when he saw the entire mass of identical colors that were his people. "I think I just found out."
InterviewA whole week had passed by since Narico had successfully integrated his people's soldiers into the royal guard. However, the young king's work wasn't done yet. All of Unity had yet to hear from him. And after the failed invasion during the royal wedding, the citizens of the changelings' new home could use some reassurance. "Guys c'mon. . . " Narico groaned as Rarity fussed over his appearance. "My hair's fine. Do I really need to completely change its style?" The young royal changeling managed to escape the Element of Generosity's well-intentioned gesture and returned his hair to its natural state. "I get looking good. But you're kind of taking it a bit too far. It's not like I'm gonna be on television!" Oh how wrong he was. The second Narico met with his interviewer, he was met with the sight of a camera recording them. The interviewer smiled. "A pleasure to meet you King Narico. Don't worry this will be short and quick. Just answer my questions truthfully, and we'll make sure all the people there know how you're running things. Shall we begin?" Narico nodded nervously. "Excellent! First question: Do you plan on uniting your kingdom with ours by marrying one of our rulers?" "PFFFFT! WHAT?!" Narico shouted as he spat out the water he'd been drinking! "You can't be serious, right? I was just a kid only a week ago! I haven't even had my first kiss yet! How could I possibly think of getting married?" The interviewer nodded. "Hmm. Interesting. So you really don't know what you're doing, do you?" Narico didn't have any time to answer as the interviewer jumped right into a barrage of questions. "What makes you any different than Queen Chrysalis? Have you apologized to Princess Cadence for what happened at the royal wedding? Are you going to make it so that your people wear some form of identification to distinguish them? Where do you plan on making your capital?" "Uh. . . uh. . . " Narico's head was spinning. "Could you excuse me for a moment? I have something important I forgot about." Narico teleported away in a flash of green fire to his guest room at the castle, and threw himself on the bed. He promptly screamed into a pillow. "AAAUUGH! AAAGGGHHHH! WHY?! WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!" After a solid minute of screaming, Narico removed his fluffy venting mechanism. "I need to cool my head. But I can't go out like this. I'd be dealing with a different and far more dangerous swarm." A flash of green fire washed over Narico, and he was now disguised as a human version of himself. He also changed his outfit to look more casual and stand out less. "Much better." Narico said with a sigh of relief as he teleported away to the city streets of Castalot. "Now to cool off." Narico walked into the nearest ice cream parlor, and ordered a double scoop. "Ice cream. Take away my worries." Narico practically threw himself onto the nearby bench, and started munching away at his ice cream. Man, this sucks! I don't even want to be king! But if I'm not, then all of my people won't have anyone to help them out. I'd be worse than Chrysalis if I did that. The young king of the changelings let out a sad sigh. "I don't want to be anything like her. I want to use the better way of helping my people. But how can I do that when none of us lifted a finger to stop the ones who attacked without any hesitation?" Narico hung his head in defeat. "Maybe I was stupid to think this could be done so easily or so soon. I probably should've had that Thorax guy take charge instead. He wasn't afraid to speak out against Chrysalis. Not to mention I have the funny feeling he'll be important later." "Mind if I grab a seat next to you?" A new voice asked. Narico was so caught up in his ramblings that he didn't even notice that someone was standing over him. The source of the voice was a woman with pure white skin. And in sharp contrast, her hair was pitch black while her eyes were a medium grey. She wore a simple grey dress, and had a kind smile on her face. "But then again, you seemed quite preoccupied. So if you're too busy-" Narico shook his head. "N-No! I'm not! I mean, I'm not taking up this whole space!" Narico was blushing pretty badly upon realizing he'd been caught rambling on with his thoughts. "It's just, I've got a lot to deal with right now. Everyone's got a lot of questions for me, and I don't know if I can answer them all. But that's not the worst of it." "Hmm." The woman grabbed a seat next to Narico. "Well, would you care to elaborate? I don't know if I can give you any advice, but it's healthier to let out your problems. Bottling them up makes them explode. And quite violently." Narico took in a deep breath. "Well, there's this interview I have. And that's where my problem with questions comes from. I was being asked so much at once that I didn't even understand which one to answer. All of it was right there in front of me, and I just wanted to get through it. But I couldn't! AGH! It's just so. . . frustrating!" Narico took a large bite out of his ice cream to emphasis his state of mind. "Interesting." The woman said with a small smile. "You know? I think I know how to help you out." Narico's perked up at hearing this. "Your problem is pretty simple. You're trying to get everything done at once. It's admirable that you want to get your work done as quickly as you can. But a rushed job is far worse than an incomplete one. Don't jump head first without thinking. I'm sure that's part of why your former queen's plan blew up spectacularly." Narico smiled at first, but his eyes went wide as he heard the woman mention Chrysalis. "You don't have to worry your highness." The woman said with a giggle as she raised her hand for silence. "My lips are sealed. As for how I knew? Let's just say you were almost hiding in plain sight." She then got up to leave and pointed at Narico's ice cream. "If you want to thank me next time, buy me a scoop." And with that, the woman left with a content smile on her face. Narico shook his head. "Well, she was nice. I guess." Narico teleported back to his interview. "Sorry for the abrupt departure. To answer your first question, the difference between me and Chrysalis is that I know what it's like to love and be loved by others. See, my adoptive siblings, the mutant changelings who defected, heard Chrysalis plotted to either kill me or mutate me like them because I had the potential to become a royal changeling. She wanted to preserve her own reign at any cost. Which led to me winding up in Unityville. That's where I met Night Fang. You might know him better as the Element of Determination. He was like me. A little different from everyone else. I didn't hunger for love and he had wolf ears and a tail. So yeah. We kinda became family during that Nightmare Night. " "Fang always took care of me. He made sure I had a place to call home, and he'd always pick me up from school. And when Chrysalis sent soldiers to come and get me, Fang fought them back. He'd always get a bit beat up, but he never gave up. Because he wanted me to be safe, and he knew that I had a home with me and the friends I made here. And when I did show myself to the friends I'd made, they didn't care. That made me think, maybe there was a better way." The interviewer nodded. "Interesting. But I must also ask, is Chrysalis your mother? Your old home was a hive in structure. So is this the equivalent of teenage rebellion?" "No. Chrysalis will never be my mother." Narico said as he shook his head. "She didn't give birth to us all. All changelings have mates of their own. But all changelings are taught to obey the queen from the day we're hatched. Chrysalis never really bothered to raise any of us. Just because we're an insect-like race doesn't mean we're all related. Not to mention Chrysalis was never really invested in raising us. She never really paid much attention to us. Much less show us any affection. Most of us were raised to do little more than follow her orders. To never question." Narico snapped himself out of his unpleasant memories. "I encourage my people to speak their minds. To question me. Because if I can't listen to my people, how can I fix their problems? As for your second question, I haven't apologized to Princess Cadence because I'm scared. Chrysalis would have ruined what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. It was a royal changeling that caused her so much trouble. Me and my people have caused her enough trouble. I figured the best thing to do would be to leave her be." "As for identification," Narico began. "I stressed the importance of being individuals to my people. Each of them took to altering their appearance so that none of them looked the same. They still have their same body frames, but I guess they all got inspired by all the colors they see around them in this land. Back at the hive, there really wasn't much variance in terms of colors. It was all either black or green. It's a nice color scheme, but seeing nothing but that for your entire life would be pretty dull. Especially since you look almost identical to everyone else." Narico took a deep breath. "And to answer your last question, I don't plan on making a new kingdom here. So there's no need to make a capital. I want to make a new home for my people here. The mistake of Chrysalis was that she thought the world was wrong, and she needed to change it. But in reality? There's nothing wrong with the world itself. Just the people living in it. If she really wanted to change the world, she should've changed herself. Because if you can't change who you are, then what hope does the world have of changing?" Narico let out a sigh of relief. "I guess that's all I really need to say. Thanks for having me." And with that, Narico flew off. Hoping that whatever changes this event brought on would be for the better.
Open HeartAll in all, Narico was feeling pretty good about things. His people had started venturing out more from the castle after his interview. And much to the young king's delight, the changelings were largely welcomed or just treated as part of the everyday crowds. However, Narico knew they couldn't just stick themselves in Castalot. There was so much more to the kingdom of Unity than its capitol city. Unityville might be the best place to start. It's not too small, and everyone's more or less accustomed to crazy, sudden events. A knock on the door soon tore Narico away from his musings. "Come in." He nearly fell out of his bed when he saw his visitor. "P-Princess Cadence?!" The young changeling king hadn't expected the princess of love, whose wedding was almost ruined by the prior changeling ruler, to visit him. "C-Can I help you?" "Actually, it's the other way around." Cadence said as she levitated over the only chair in the room with her magic. "I saw your interview today. And I was pretty surprised at one very specific bit of information" She looked into Narico's eyes. "Do I really terrify you that much because of what happened at the wedding?" Narico brought his knees close to his chest. His current position indicating the age he truly was in his mind. "Well, you were supposed to have the happiest day of your life, right? And it turned into a literal battlefield. All because of Chrysalis, a royal changeling, had delusions of grandeur and a plan doomed to fail." Narico curled himself up more. "You were imprisoned in those catacombs for days while Chrysalis stole your identity. She took your face and used it to hurt everyone close to you." The young king was almost in tears at this point. "It doesn't matter that I'm not the one who hurt. The fact is, a changeling was responsible for dong you harm. And because of that, I'm afraid of what you think of me. Of my people. Of what everyone thinks!" Narico's body began shaking. "You probably think we're monsters. That we don't care what happens to anyone else so long as we get what we want. Who could blame you? Could anyone, even us, blame you for thinking that of us?" "Narico." Cadence said in a comforting tone. "Part of what you said is true. Queen Chrysalis did cause me a lot of grief during the wedding incident. But that doesn't mean I place any blame on you or your people." The princess of love then placed a hand on Narico's trembling shoulder. "You tried to talk her down. In spite of what she'd done, you thought you could convince her to try a better way." Cadence smiled when she saw Narico perk up a little at her kind words. "When I look at someone, I don't use my eyes. I look with my heart to see who they are. And I keep it open to see all of them. Take Shining Armor for example. When I started dating him. Sure, my heart saw all of his good points, but it also saw him for his flaws. In his case, he's not the sharpest sword in the armory. But I wouldn't change that for the world." The princess of love pointed to Narico's heart. "And in your heart? I can see that you're nothing like Chrysalis. You're very kind, and have more love in your heart than she could ever hope to have. You're content, and have no trace of the hunger I felt coming from her. You're also weighed down by pressure. You feel that you need to do the best you can for all the changelings, and you're also scared. Scared of what the world thinks of you and your people." "Yeah." Narico said with a small nod. "Hit it right on the nail there. So how do I fix that?" Cadence smiled. "Keep your heart open Narico. If you close it off, then that shuts out the world around you and all the possibilities. So keep it open. You'd be amazed at what you can do." Narico's response to these words was the biggest smile Cadence had ever seen. "Wow. That rivals the look on Twilight's face when I used to read to her or get her a new book." "Am I really that cute?" Narico asked. "Because Fang once called me a 'cinnamon roll to precious for this world' when I put on a pair of wolf ears so I could look like him. I still have no idea what that phrase means." Cadence giggled. "It means you're sweet Narico. Any girl you wind up with would be lucky to have you." The princess of love then noticed the blush on Narico's face. "Or do you already have someone in mind?" My work is never done. "Let's just say she helped pick me up when I was down." Narico said with a small smile. I wonder if I'll ever meet her again. Is this what they call love at first sight?
IntegrationThe day had finally arrived. The process had taken about two weeks, but it was finally time. Narico took a deep breath as he stepped onto the platform. He could see almost the whole city, as well as his people, in the massive crowd before him. "This will be a day long remembered." Narico began. "Today, we see an event similar to what I view as this nation's greatest moment. Two different peoples coming together as friends. But the greatest achievement belongs to me and my people. We have fully incorporated the nature of our race's name. We have changed, and for the better." A chorus of cheers rang out from the crowd. Narico raised his hand for silence. "I can't thank Princesses Celestia and Luna enough for allowing us to make a new home among their own. Before I took up my crown, I had the honor of calling the kingdom of Unity home. The meaning behind its name and the nature of its founding is what drove me to pursue my people's integration. This kingdom was formed by different tribes coming together and uniting for the greater good of all. And today? I see that in all of you. Your leaders represent that purpose itself. But most of all, I see it by your acceptance of my people." "And it's with great pride that I say, we are citizens of Unity!" Another roar of cheers sounded. As the crowd quieted down, Narico smiled. "I have one last message for my people. I haven't been your king that long. But looking back at my time as your ruler, I couldn't be happier with the job I've done leading you. And so," Narico removed his crown. "I can happily say that I won't be needed any longer." Narico could feel the sadness coming from his people. "Don't cry because I'm stepping down. Smile because you've been lead to a far better life than you could have hoped for at the hive. You're all unique. None of you quite the same as the other. And now? You live in a land where you can freely be yourselves. Where you decide who and what you are. And in my case? I just want to be like anyone else. I promised to be your king for as long as you needed me. And now, my purpose has been fulfilled." Narico then got in front of the podium, and bowed to the crowd. "Thank you all for giving me the privilege of leading you." Applause sounded from the entire crowd as Narico took his leave. He quickly changed into a more casual outfit. It consisted of a dark green dress shirt, light grey pants, and green sneakers. "Now for a sweet farewell to my position." Narico headed to the ice cream shop he visited last time, and purchased two ice cream cones. He then grabbed a seat on the bench, and started eating one of them. "Hope you don't plan on eating both of those by yourself." A familiar voice said. Narico looked to his left, and smiled. Before him was the same woman who had aided him during his break from the interview. "A changeling getting brain freeze wouldn't be a pretty sight." "Actually, I was hoping to repay you for your help." Narico said with a grin as he handed the woman the other ice cream he'd bought. "My big brother always said return a favor. Hope this satisfies you." The woman smiled as she took the ice cream. "How sweet." She said as she took a seat next to Narico. "Literally and figuratively." The woman then kissed Narico on the cheek! "And just like you." Narico's face was almost entirely red! "I don't know what's melting faster. My heart, or my ice cream." He then saw his ice cream starting to drip. "On second thought, I have my answer." Narico quickly ate away at his ice cream. Leaving no traces of it. He then looked into the woman's eyes. "You know? Your eyes are pretty deep. It's almost like staring into an abyss." "Then you'll be happy to know that I'm looking right back at you." Abyss said with a giggle before she rested her head on Narico's shoulder. "Would you do me one favor your majesty?" Narico chuckled nervously at how close Abyss was to him. "I'm not king anymore, but I honestly can't repay you enough for your help. So what's the favor?" Abyss smiled as she leaned into Narico's ear. "Don't change." She whispered. "You're so cute when you're blushing." Another quick kiss on the cheek, and Abyss walked away. "This was a great first date." She then wrote something on a piece of paper, and tossed it over to Narico. "Make sure to memorize it." Narico unfolded the paper, and his eyes went wide. It was Abyss's number. Such joy couldn't be contained, and Narico took off into the sky! Buzzing happily all the way home.
IndividualsA few hours later, Narico had once again assembled all of his people. All of them were chattering amongst themselves, or literally buzzing about wondering what their new king wanted to talk to them about. "Glad all of you could make it. The reason I asked you all here is to address a burning question. Why do all of you look the same? I know each of you is different, and it's easy enough to tell guys from girls, but why do none of you have hair?" "It's the way things have been since long before your reign King Narico." One of the elder changelings at the front answered. "The hive's identity is solely through its royal changeling. They are the ones who are allowed to be more expressive and unique." Narico was utterly dumbstruck by this. "But why?! You're all individuals! Beings with your own thoughts, wills, and feelings! None of you are exactly the same, so why keep yourself in the exact same shape?! We might be insect-like, but that doesn't mean all of you have to remain as uniform drones! The reason we all work as people is because each of us has something different. And that's what makes all of us the same! What good is being your own person if you're not even allowed to express who you are?" The entire crowd was shocked at Narico's speech. "Do any of you have a favorite color? An eye color that you really like? Or a hairstyle that you really think fits you? If so, embrace that. Change so that you reflect that. Let everyone know that you're not just another drone." And at Narico's urging, the sea of black turned into an ocean of different colors. Some changelings had remained hairless while others were now sporting heads of hair. No two changelings were alike in their new skin colors. And if they were, they just changed their eye color or hairstyle. Yes, none of them looked identical. But they were still the same people at their core. One unified group out of differing individuals. Narico smiled at the sight. "Looks like nobody has to worry about telling each of them apart anymore."
