Scout Number One-Five-Nine, report to the Queen’s chamber. The all too familiar sense of the hive mind penetrated my thoughts. I repeat: Scout Number One-Five-Nine, report to the Queen’s chamber.
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Sheesh, I heard you the first time,” I grumbled. I was in the middle of one of my favorite dreams when the unwelcomed voice bombarded my consciousness.
A great exodus of ponies of all colors and race fled from the immense swarm about to befall on their pitiful town. At the lead of said swarm was the fearless leader, me, Scout Number One-Five-Nine. The awe inspiring aura surrounding me pacified the pathetic ponies into submission. They must have realized that escape from a changeling as amazing as I was as futile as attacking a hydra armed with nothing more than a twig. Under my command, my changeling swarm captured all of the ponies. Glorious cheers sounded through the conquered streets as the siege drones praised their leader for his heroic bravery for defeating not only half the royal guard singlehoofedly, but by also subduing Princess Celestia! Such a feat was never accomplished in history. In fact, I was so epic that Queen Chrysalis herself personally arranged a feast in my honor. After we had our fill of our captives’ delicious emotions, the Queen promoted me to second command, seeing that under my rule, all of her hopes and dreams would finally come true.
But, like I said, it was just a dream. I was nothing but a humble scout; sent only to find prey for the hive, whether large or small, to be captured by the siege drones or the guard drones or another scout or Chrysalis… I think you get the picture. Truth be told, I wasn’t even good at the job I was born for.
As a Scout class changeling, it was my job to infiltrate a local pony settlement, gain their trust, maybe steal some love where I could, dumb them down about the obvious upcoming invasion, and return to the hive with any information I gathered before any of the action started. Most missions I was sent on ended smoothly. Ok, I lied. I was lucky to make it out of the pony settlements alive before the invasion even started. Some pony would always end up finding me without my disguise, cause wide-spread panic, and force the invasion to start early. Sometimes it wasn’t even my fault. I mean, how was I suppose to know that those “fillies,” as the ponies call them, would be running around in costumes and barging into houses that one night. That was completely meaningless! Not to mention their constant demands for candy. In my opinion they were hyperactive without the added sugar. Needless to say, I didn’t have the best reputation around the hive.
Scout Number One-Five-Nine, report to the Queen’s chamber.
“I said I’m coming!” I yelled out. There was no point in my outburst seeing that whoever controlled the monotonous voice couldn’t hear me. I made my way downward through the winding corridors. Every now and then I would stumble upon small clusters of my fellow hive mates who would immediately turn their backs to hide a snicker. One particular group of Worker class changelings decided to tag along to make snide remarks.
“I hear you’ve been granted an audience with the Queen,” one of them, Worker 074, spoke up. “I wonder what you did this time.” The three others in his posse laughed.
“Yeah, 159. Have any new misadventures for us?” Worker 106 chided.
“Hey, at least I can have adventures outside of the hive, Worker class,” I retorted. I was sure to put as much venom in the term “worker class” as possible. Throughout my many years of life, I came to hold one philosophy true: When insulted, always undermine someone’s position. True, it wasn’t a good one, seeing it usually ended with me in the hospital wing, but it did boost my morale. And that was one thing that neither magic nor medicine could do.
“Oh, you poor Scout. Having to resort in petty insults must mean you’re already desperate,” Worker 230 said with fake sympathy. I really hated her. No matter what I said (or didn’t say) she could always twist them into making me look like a fool.
“It may be an insult, but it’s still true,” I returned. She let out an annoyed chirping sound and quickly buzzed her wings in agitation. I smiled at my handiwork. It wasn’t every day I managed to best her in and argument.
“Pff, whatever. Besides, I have work to do. Not that you would know anything about that, though.” I guess I spoke too soon. 230 left our little group. Her friends followed soon after.
“Best not forget your manners, Scout. If you have any that is,” the silent changeling snidely commented.
“Thank you, W131,” I sarcastically replied.
I soon approached the opening that led to the Queen’s lair. Two guards stationed at the entrance groaned as they caught sight of me. I paid them no mind as I walked by. I managed to tune out those kinds of reactions from the guards. I was more or less a frequent visitor in these parts. The queen always wanted status updates from me. And by that, I mean she always wanted to know what the most recent accident I caused was. I humbly kneeled before the exalted Queen of the hive sitting in her elegant throne.
“Queen Chrysalis,” I greeted.
“Save your breath, Scout Number One-Five-Nine,” the Queen said in a bored tone. “Let’s skip the formalities and cut to the chase. Have there been any recent… incidents that I should know of?”
I racked my brain to remember what happened between now and one week ago. There was that tunnel I accidentally collapsed, trapping five workers, two siege drones, a guard, and roughly ten nymphs. But technically it wasn’t my fault, though. One of the nymphs knocked me into a support beam that resulted in disaster. In my opinion, it was the workers’ fault for not making sturdy beams. There was that other time when I was left in charge of the nursery wing while the newborn changelings began hatching. Long story short, I’m no longer trusted with the nymphs by myself… or anything else that can catch on fire.
“Um, nope. Nothing that I can think of,” I said through the worst poker face in history.
“Of course,” Chrysalis replied. “Do you recall the information of the ‘royal wedding’ you reported?”
How could I? I overheard that little tidbit while I was “stepping in” for one of that camera crazed pony’s workers. What was her name? Picture Perfect? It had something to do with photography. I had a decent run with that group. That is, until I started molting while what’s-her-face was “making de magics.” Not only was that the most awkward moment of my life, but the other changelings wouldn’t let me hear the end of it. On the upside, though, I had officially made it out of the nymph stage that night.
“Uh, yeah,” I answered.
“I believe it is the perfect opportunity to invade Equestria.” My jaw nearly hit the floor. Invading Equestria? Such a task has never been attempted before. If this crazy plan succeeded, it would be the most momentous moment in changeling history. “I already have the entire invasion planned out. But, due to the lack in siege drones, I have decided to recruit the aid of other changelings in the hive.” Wait; was she going where I was thinking she was going? “So, it is with great remorse,” Chrysalis closed her eyes and brought a hoof to her head, “that I am appointing you to partake in the invasion.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Did I hear her right? She, Queen Chrysalis, hoof picked me, a clumsy scout, to take part in arguably the most important event in changeling history?
“I beg your pardon, but, did you say you wanted me to join the invasion?” I asked.
“Yes. As ridiculous as it sounds, I did. And I suggest you leave before I come to my senses and change my mind,” she replied in an annoyed tone.
“Yes, your, uh, Highness. I’ll, um, leave immediately,” the words stumbled out of my mouth as I tripped over to the exit. This was the greatest day of my life! I had to prepare. I rushed through the winding corridors to my dormitory.
“Where’s the fire 159?” one of the changelings stopped me. He actually had a worried expression.
“Dude, you’re never gonna believe this,” I answered excitedly. “Queen Chrysalis wants me to join the invasion force!” I searched his face for a response, but only saw a frozen look of horror. “Hello? Anyone home?” I waved my hoof across his eyes hoping to get a reaction.
“Um, I just remembered that I have to do that, uh, thing. Yeah, that thing at that one place with the um… I gotta go!” He darted past me toward the Queen’s chamber. I shrugged off his response. Who was I to worry about the thing at that one place with who knows who? I had an invasion to prepare for!
<><><>
Finally, after weeks upon weeks of waiting, it was time for the invasion. Anticipation surged through me as I patiently stood along with the tens of thousands of other changelings. Chrysalis had managed to sneak inside Canterlot and pose as the bride. I couldn’t wait for my dream to come true. After all of those screw-ups and blunders, I was finally able to show the world Scout Number One-Five-Nine’s true potential. Through the hive mind she told us it was time to launch our assault. We ascended towards the mountains in the distance that was harboring our target.
“Well, well, well. Look who we have here,” a familiar feminine voice said next to me.
“What do you want Worker 230?” I groaned. I didn’t have to look to know it was her.
“Oh, Scout, must we really fight before the war? It would be wise to conserve your strength for this long flight ahead of us,” she said in her usual know it all tone.
“That’s right. You’re not use to flying more than a few meters at a time,” I snickered. “Tell me, how do you like the outside, Worker? All these new colors must be a lot for you to handle. Are you sure you won’t pass out before we make it?”
“I am doing perfectly fine on my own.”
“Which reminds me: where are your ‘friends’ at anyway?”
“They had to stay behind to rescue some changelings in a recently collapsed tunnel. I don’t suppose you had anything to do with it?” I could feel her eyes boring into me. I gave a nervous gulp.
“Um, nope. Doesn’t ring a bell. I’m sorry to hear about— hey, what’s that over there?!” I pointed my hoof off in the distance. As 230 turned her head I raced off in the opposite direction. I found some solitude near the edge. It may have had something to do with the other changelings wanting to avoid me and my accident prone nature, but I was sure it would all change after today.
Canterlot soon appeared over the horizon. I’ve never actually seen it up close until now. Other changelings use to talk of how strange it was with all of the tall buildings and ornate statues of important ponies, but they never mentioned the pink bubble surrounding it. A small number of changelings were already on the scene when we arrived. Our leader had a small chat with them as I closely examined the top of the strange bubble.
“Hey, 159!” Worker 230 called out. She hovered a few meters away from me with an angry face. “What in Chrysalis’s name do you think you’re doing?”
“Oh look, you survived the trip,” I said not taking my eyes off the bubble. “And to answer your question, I’m trying to figure out what this thing is.”
“Well, if you stayed and listened for once you would have known that it’s a force field.”
“Thank you, Captain Obvious. I meant I was trying to find a way inside. If the Queen made it in somehow, then there must be a way to get in. But so far I haven’t found anything.”
“Have you tried using your head?” That was a stupid question. Of course I was using my head. There had to be a better way to get in other than brute force. Before I could question her intelligence though, she grabbed me and rammed my head into the bubble.
“What was that for?” I complained.
“Quit your whining, you nymph,” she snapped. She hovered closer to the bubble where she used me as a battering ram. “Come over here,” she commanded.
“Why? So you can slam me against the force field again?” I was still trying to massage the pain out of my head with my hooves.
“Yes.” 230 grabbed me and started pounding me against the barrier a few more times.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I asked between each hit.
She smiled, “You have no idea.”
“What do you maggots think you’re doing?” a gruff voice interjected. Siege Drone 1640, the leader of this mission, had given us a surprise visit with a few of his officers. Worker 230 snapped to attention. I struggled to copy her pose as I tried to gain a good position on the slick surface of the bubble.
230 spoke up first. “Sir, I may have found a way to breach the obstruction."
“Well? I’m no mind reader; spit it out!”
“If you would look over here, sir,” she pointed to the wall. “You can see that I have managed to form a scratch in the force field. Thanks to Scout 159 over there, I discovered that its integrity is much weaker than what you made it out to be.”
“And that is why you were beating him against it?” the Siege Drone asked.
230 nodded, “Precisely.”
The Siege Drone consulted with his fellow commanders. Through my peripheral vision I could see 230 smile in confidence. I broke my stance to examine the mark I made. I failed to see what the whole fuss was about. The scratch was barely longer than the diameter of some of the holes in my legs. I slowly hovered next to 230.
“Where are you going with this?” I whispered.
“You’ll see soon enough,” was my only reply. After a few minutes, the group of leaders dispersed, leaving 230 and I alone with Siege Drone 1640.
“Congratulations, Worker 230. We have decided to use your method to break the force field. You should be proud. With every changeling working in a concentrated area, we should make it in no time. Carry on,” he dismissed.
“Will do, sir,” 230 saluted. She looked over at me. A wicked smile replaced her usual frown. I gulped. “Come here, you.”
<><><>
Minutes sluggishly passed by and eventually turned into hours. Changelings were constantly pounded against the barrier. No major progress was shown except a few cracks here and there. Every Changeling did their fair share in the bombardment. Well, almost every changeling.
“Wow, I knew you had a thick skull, but this is ridiculous,” 230 said. I moaned in response. “Oh, cheer up 159. I’m actually impressed. I can’t think of any other changeling that can take three full hours of nonstop bashing against a solid object.”
“Uh, thanks?” I managed to reply.
“No problem. You know, this is the first time we actually got to hang out. This was nice.”
“I assure you, the pleasure was all yours. Can you let me down now?”
“Right, sorry,” she chuckled. I sat down on the glassy barrier with my back turned to the palace and cradled my wounded head in my hooves. “Hey, are you, um, ok?”
“Yeah, I just had my head beat against a magical force field for three hours straight. Everything’s peachy keen,” I sarcastically remarked. A faint green light flashed behind me.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the whole ‘using you as a changeling battering ram’ thing.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing those nurses at the medical wing can’t fix.”
A loud pop filled the air as the force field shattered underneath me. I started flailing through the air. From the few glimpses I caught while spiraling downward I could tell that the invasion had begun. I struggled to regain my balance during the freefall. I saw green flares shoot downward. I recognized them as the Siege Drones signature bombardment spell. I vaguely remembered watching the Siege nymphs practicing said spell. How did they do it? The ground was nearly upon me when a brilliant green light flared around me.
“Curse you, cruel gravity!” I yelled. The earth trembled as I landed. I was alive. I was alive! Sure, I was dizzy and had dirt in my mouth, but I would take that over the alternative any day. I looked up to see an alarmed purple unicorn. I tried to let out a menacing growl, but wound up wheezing with all the earth still in my throat.
The unicorn reared back and stomped my head into the ground, giving me another mouthful of dirt. To add insult to injury, four other ponies following her trampled me as well. A sat there like for a while, head buried in the ground, until I felt something pulling me up.
“You ok, 159? That was quite the fall you had,” 230’s voice said. The only response I could give was a moan. “Come on, there’s a fight going on not too far from here. I think we’re needed”
I groggily rose up to my hooves. I shook my head a few times to rid myself of my dizziness. When everything stopped tilting I let her lead the way. We flew up to a raised platform. 230 wasn’t kidding when she said there was a fracas. We landed in the middle of the fight and were soon surrounded by a group of four identical orange earth ponies.
“What are you two just standing there for? Copy a pony and get your shell in the fight!” one of them shouted.
Worker 230 turned to me. “I’m going to go with them. You should see if any other changeling needs your help.” A bright green fire enveloped her as she changed her form. When it subsided, a purple unicorn, much like the one I first encountered, replaced her. “Watch your back,” she called out as they left.
I stood in the middle of all the chaos, unsure of what to do. It seemed as if there were six different groups of ponies running around. It was fairly simple to tell the originals from the changelings. Out of all the purple unicorns, only one had a purple aura for their magic. There seemed to be a very timid version of a yellow and pink pegasus, which stood out like a flare in the commotion. It was hard to find the original blue and rainbow pegasus until the last moment, but as my eyes followed her I noticed that she preferred to stay airborne. I couldn’t make out any differences from the pink earth ponies until one of them hopped over to me.
“Ooh, you’re one of those bug thingies! Do something cool!” she smiled. This had to be the original. No changeling was ever that happy.
This was going to be too easy. There was no way this hyper pony could possibly overpower me. I lowered myself in a defensive stance and shape shifted into the white unicorn I’ve seen running around. I added a menacing snarl for an extra menacing effect. The pink pony looked at me with excited blue eyes. I reared back on my hind legs and took the form of the blue pegasus. The earth pony’s smile grew wider. I leapt up in the air in a green flame and hovered above her as the yellow pegasus. She started giggling in her high pitched voice. I slowly lowered back to the ground in confusion. What was wrong with this Discord-possessed pony? Surely she must have been a brave warrior who has traversed across the land and seen the utmost horrifying of sights to merely laugh at my intimidating presence. No doubt she would truly be a worthy foe in combat.
“Do me! Do me!” Or she was just another strange pony looking for entertainment. I swear I’ll never understand ponies. But who was I to turn down a show for the deranged pink pony? With a roll of my eyes, I erupted in a green flame. I emerged as a perfect copy of her. I even reared back, outstretched my forelegs, and put on the cheesiest smile I could manage. There was no doubt in my mind that this pony would be pleased beyond measure.
“Meh, I’ve seen better,” she waved her hoof dismissively. My forelegs suddenly fell limp next to my sides as I fell on my backside. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. She… she insulted my ability to shape shift. I always thought I did a fairly decent job at it. I’m a changeling for crying out loud! It was bad enough when the other changeling mocked me for random accidents that I just so happened to cause by mistake, but when a pony makes fun of what practically made me a changeling… That monster…
She pulled out the purple unicorn and used her as some sort of weapon that shoots magical bolts. She had a lousy aim, seeing how she managed to miss every single shot at me, but I suppose the other changelings being knocked cold by the blasts compensated for it. I sat there mystified as that accursed pony’s words reverberated in my brain. An orange pony galloped over to my position. It must have been Worker 230 returning from a successful mission. I almost greeted her as she turned around and gave me a swift buck to the face. I guessed it wasn’t 230.
I stumbled back and tripped over the yellow pegasus who was lying down and covering her head. As I was teetering on my hind legs, the white unicorn drove a punch into the side of my face. The purple unicorn jumped behind me and launched me forward with a blast from her horn. By then I was barely conscious of my surroundings. Details began to fade into a blur when that evil pink pony shot me with a cannon. I thought I had escaped reality when I found party decorations covering me. It wasn't until I received a headbutt from the blue pegasus did the world turn black.
<><><>
“Rise and shine, Scout Number One-Five-Nine.”
My vision slowly came into focus. Three changelings stood over me. One bore the attire of a Guard drone, a dark blue helmet with ornate markings and a matching back guard. The second changeling’s horn glowed faint green as he repaired my broken body. The third, Worker 230, was still trying to arouse me.
“That’s the best I can do for now. I recommend he stays away from any action for a while,” the medic said as he rose up.
“Thanks again, Nurse 014,” 230 called as he and the guard left. She turned back to me. “Seriously, I leave you for only a few minutes and you get yourself all busted up,” she shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Well, you can start by filling me in.”
“Do you want the long story or the short one?”
“Short,” I answered as I rose to my hooves.
“Well, as it turns out, those six ponies turned out to be the bearers of something called the ‘Elements of Harmony,’ or something like that. They managed to defeat the group we were in and make it inside. Fortunately, other changelings ambushed them and they were sent back to the castle to Queen Chrysalis. Now that they are incapable of escape, the Queen has allowed us go on a feeding spree.”
“Huh,” was my only response.
“Yep.” This conversation was turning awkward quickly. I felt it was time to go do something. The pink mare’s words sprung back up into my mind.
“Hey, I gotta ask the Queen an important question, so I guess I’ll see you later?” I asked.
“Um, sure. I’ll see you later.”
I trotted off in the direction of the castle and reflected on what happened. It was hard to believe that the invasion was practically over. It all seemed so fast. Then again, I wasn’t exactly conscious through a few chunks of it. A random pony ran by chased by a bunch of changelings. I didn’t experience any of the joyous adrenaline I always dreamed of. I didn’t perform any spectacular feats that would win me glory and fame back at the hive. I was just another changeling in the swarm.
The tower holding the Queen came into view. I buzzed my wings and lazily flew up. On the way up I realized I didn’t actually know what I wanted to ask her. I coming here was mostly just an excuse to get away from 230. 230… I was shocked at how dramatically our relationship had changed. Earlier today I hated her guts, and now she’s basically a friend. It’s kind of funny how things work out that way.
I was nearly halfway up the tower. What was it that unsettled me so much? Everything worked out in the end. My dream came true, mostly. I made a new friend, my first friend, actually. The invasion went smoothly. It was everything I wanted and more. So why was I not happy? I entered the room through the balcony.
“Queen Chrysalis? Could I ask you—?” I cut myself off and gawked at the scene before me. The prisoner had escaped her bindings and was helping Chrysalis’s host cast what looked like a powerful spell. A small purple bubble formed itself around them as strips of magical light surged around them. Their eyes suddenly opened. Instead of normal eyes, however, these were solid white with pure magical energy. The light surrounding them suddenly collapsed. A magical shockwave erupted from them.
“Well, crap,” I muttered.
A wall of unrelenting force collided with me and threw me out of the room. It continued to expand throughout the city, knocking back any changeling that got in its path. If I wasn’t trying so hard to catch my breath I would have screamed. The wall soon stopped expanding and I was launched into the air. Through the corner of my eye I could see the Queen desperately trying to reorient herself.
“Um, your Highness?” I yelled through the screaming wind.
“What do you want, Scout Number One-Five-Nine?” she replied. There was a lot of anger in her voice.
“If it’s all fine with you, I would like to go back to my position as a Scout. I don’t think I’m cut out for this invasion thing.”
