The Changes We All Must Make

Celestia rose from her bed as she did every morning and as she did the sun seeming to rise behind her in a glorious brilliance. Today was another day. The birds were singing, the sky was clear, the grass is green and she was going to have a great morning. At least that is what she thought. Enjoying her extra fluffy pancakes with banana cream syrup and whipped cream, she hummed in delight. Banana cream, oh how she loved it so. If it was at all possible she'd marry it.

Smiling at the idea only for the smile to disappear as Shining Armor and Cadance entered into the dining hall. They weren't engaged in the usual playful banter that she'd hear from them every morning since they had been married. Something was wrong but she couldn't place her finger on what exactly it was. At least not yet.

"So Cadance, how did the interrogation of the changeling go?" Celestia asked taking another bite of her fluffy and beloved pancake heaven bringing her smile back to her lips.

"I'd say it went rather well Auntie." Cadance responded, as a plate of waffles was placed in front of her covered in mixed berries along with a tall glass of milk. "Learned a lot from the changeling. He was even inclined to tell me a bit about his notebook."

"Did he tell you how to decipher it?"

"No, but he told me what it is about written in it."

"And you believe him?" Shining interjected huffing clearly still upset with this wife in regards to the situation the previous day.

"Actually yes I do Shining... his advice to me was actually rather enlightening when I talked to him."

"An enlightening conversation from a Changeling? Oh, please do tell I'd certainly love to hear what you found so enlightening in a conversation with parasite."

Celestia watched as the two bickered back and forth and sighs content to listen and not interrupt.

"Well... He said our marriage... is unhealthy."Celestia dropped her fork looking up from her delicious and heavenly pancakes while the fork clattered against the dish causing a growing silence in the room. After taking a few moments Celestia returned to eating her heavenly guilty pleasure, but was now extremely interested in what was going to be said next.

"Oh yeah, and just when did he say that?" Shining inquired.

"When I went to talk to him last night."

"You did WHAT?" Shining shouted.

"See right there! That is why I went to see him!" Cadance shouted back at him. "Not only that he also said that our reliance on sex to fix our problems even after talking about them isn't healthy either Shiny!" Her saying his name at the end wasn't the normal way she addressed him. Shining got the feeling dread come up his spine from how venomous it sounded. "And I think I can skip all the pleasantness and niceness right now. I was going to follow the steps he told me to take first but I'm going with the last one. I demand marriage consoling from Zenith! The both of us are going end of discussion."

Celestia looked up from her plate slowly in shock, her ears were following everything said to the letter. Somehow the changeling was a marriage expert?! That couldn't be coincidence could it? No. Judging from what she just heard she would agree that the changeling had to have some knowledge about the subject. Even if it was bare minimum her niece clearly believes that Zenith is capable enough to be of use in fixing the problems they were having.

"Ahem," Celestia cleared her throat getting both Shining and Cadance to look at her. "It seems to me that not everything is known about this changeling's motives, but you are confident in the evaluation you received from him Cadance?" The response was a solid nod from her niece. "If that is the case then I will go speak to him myself." She stated standing up. "Cadance you will fill in for my duties for today while I go meet... Zenith was his name, yes?" Another nod from her niece was given. "However, that doesn't change what Zenith has recommended. Until I can confirm or deny his liability you will follow what he has told you." Shining got a slightly worried look and seemed to wanted to voice a concern but when her gaze fell on him he closed his mouth. "Good, now if you both will excuse me I have an appointment with a supposed changeling PhD." She picked up her plate of fluffy deliciousness in her magic and popped out of the room leaving Cadance and Shining alone in it.

Zenith believed this was going well. Sure, he had his moments of brief power over the persuasion of Cadance's actions, without magic, but would it truly help him get out of this cell? That remained to be seen. Being helpful to her and her alone most likely wouldn't be enough to get him out, however much he helped her. Time was ticking and the hive would soon get impatient and nervous without his presence after to long even with his occasional message back to them using the love that he's been skimming from Cadance. Against popular belief changelings can feed on love without hurting or disorienting the target but the amount is rather minimal and has to be taken very carefully. That process doesn't even need magic either, which is rather convenient given his situation.

Closing his eyes and reaching for the deep confines of his mind he felt the presence of his hive.

Zenith's eyes flashed open, there it was again... He was certain that something was changing in his mind. It seemed like the absence of the Queen and the reliance on him was starting to activate the other effects of the Crono jelly. Royal, Guardian, and Crono... The trinity of the changeling hive-mind. Royal, presided over all. Guardian, protected them. Crono, learned for them. The system had it's flaws however.

Royal jelly, it took the most time to take effect. Being the most powerful and the most potent could be given to any changeling and make them a successor to the throne. That being noted, Chrysalis never found it necessary to choose one or even consider it. Had she, he wouldn't be in this mess and he'd still be conducting research under a new King or Queen but he didn't want to dwell on that thought any longer than needed. He was the new King and he had to accept it even if it was a royal pain in the ass.

Zenith snickered at himself, "Oh, I slay me..." He said to himself before returning to his thoughts.

Guardian jelly, easily the most dangerous of the three. Guardians... They are the brutes to put it bluntly. They are tasked with protecting the hive should it be assaulted but that's not all they do. Royal's assign colors to the Guardians and there are usually more than one. The colors symbolize the effectiveness and even more so how dangerous they are. The colors go in order from lightest to darkest, all the way to black... Morgana, the black guardian. She's absolutely ruthless, and was the most dangerous changeling he'd ever seen. Her skill far outmatched that of the other colored guardians even so far as to test it, Morgana fought off every other color at once! SHE is a monster, a monster sleeping in the hive that he's responsible for... They are also the personal guards to the Queen or King. They are bound by their orders. Should the Royal in charge of them say to kill, they will kill. Should they say destroy, they will destroy. They are truly dangerous beings. Ones that wont exactly be very welcomed in Equestrian society.

That leaves Crono jelly. Crono jelly, the jelly he ate when young was a gamble. It is a gamble because it expands the mind exponentially. It's not something to be toyed with that's for certain and it can't be given to just any changeling. Expanding a changeling's mind is a difficult thing to do due to the hive mind's influence. Zenith himself was fortunate it didn't kill him. The sudden knowledge that he had gained from the jelly was similar to having access to the biggest library of knowledge all at the same time but it was empty, needing to be filled. The other changelings that had eaten it before him had died by means of stroke, psychosis leading to them beating themselves to death and a number of other things are possible, the most painful one however was complete disconnection from the hive mind. It was horrible to watch, they convulsed, writhing in pain and begged for death over and over again. The thought of it still sends shivers down Zenith's spine to this day.

However, that wasn't all Crono jelly did. It also changed his eye color. Now unlike the color coding of the Guardians the color of the eyes had extreme significance but they only came in 3 colors and none of them being the usual blue of a normal changeling or green of a Royal. The colors consisted of Yellow, Orange, and in his case Red. These three colors signaled the rate at which intelligence was gained and the effectiveness at retaining that information among other things.

Yellow being the most taking the least time to study information and report it but would eventually forget they had even studied that subject after a few years. This forgetfulness usually ended up with them studying the same subject at least twice or three times in their life. Not only that they acted like complete airheads.

Orange was a bit odd. They could study things but it would take extremely long, however the results would be staggeringly accurate, worth the wait. However, they had a particular flaw. They happened to take so long to study in fact that they could only study that one thing for their whole life and after they presented their findings they would die a few days later.

Last but not least Red, the color of Zenith's own eyes. Red was the rarest of his kind. Efficient and creative, red eyed Crono changelings were the most valuable resource of changeling knowledge. They learned anything they could get their hands on. They have a thirst for knowledge so extensive when they are young they leave the hive as soon as they are able to find out about the world with or without the Royal's permission. The best part was they don't forget anything they learn. They can store it away in a cloud of memory for use later. Imagine being able to recall everything you've ever read or learned with the snap of your fingers. It was amazing and Zenith himself could attest to it. He traveled quite literally around the globe in his search to sate his seemingly never ending thirst.

It takes years for it to end, and some changelings like himself went mad because of never finding enough to make them satisfied. Zenith was fortunate to have found one of the biggest libraries in the world, the Brittany Royal Library. Brittany, he loved that place the tea there was fantastic and the books. All the book he could ever read! He spent years there, some ponies there even referred to the disguise he had been wearing at the time to be a highly attested scholar.

A few fillies and colts actually took interest in him. It was odd but they reminded him of the children back in the hive. Changelings that were young and not under the effects of the three jellies still had a brain and they could still learn. These children over the years he was there unknowingly fed him and he was all to happy to read them a story or two in exchange. He grew in popularity however, and that's something as a changeling you don't want. He eventually left, saying his goodbyes to the ones who he remembered before finally heading home to the hive.

Red eyed Crono changelings, they had one flaw... a vicious one at that. They can become attached to others that they can freely feed off of. It is dangerous to do that as every changeling knows. Zenith had gotten attached once... That wonderful mare was gone now. She passed away in a terrible accident and he was heartbroken for some time. So much so that his research into emotion was effected and the roadblock stood for quite some time.

*CLICK* *CLANK*

The familiar sound of the door being unlocked snapped Zenith from his memories and thoughts alike. He wondered just who it could be this time. Was it perhaps Shining Armor? Here to take out is frustrations against him? Or perhaps Princess Cadance seeking more advice? Maybe even the Corporal under his captain's orders to beat him? He didn't mind which of these predicted outcomes came. He was ready for them.

Little did he know just how under prepared he was.