Changes

"Did you know that you remain semi-conscious when you're petrified? I'm not the monster here."

Instar didn't know what this thing was. It was clear that it wasn't just food, judging by the fact that it had a name, like her, yet her instincts told her to drain it and leave it as a husk, but Instar's higher functions forced that order away. She was too curious and honestly, she enjoyed her food's smell too much to let it decay like that.

In fact, she walked over to the overthinking mare and rubbed her muzzle through Twilight's mane and across her face, pulling over out of her fantasies and leaving her frozen in place. She definitely liked that scent.

Pulling back, her wings happily buzzed, siphoning off some 'excitement' for a quick snack and watched as her food shrank back, her ears folding down to lay against her head.

Twilight's found herself trying to formulate some sort of reason as to why the changeling just nuzzled up against her like that, but her mind was blank. No doubt it's draining something from me, she thought, glancing over to it with mild concern. When's Starlight getting back?

Instar chirped, before her eyes flicked over to her hiding spot. As quick as a flash, she scuttled over and grabbed the book, then returned to Twilight's side, smile on her face and a tingle in her stomach.

Seeing the book caught Twilight's attention and she perked up. "I knew you took it," she said, reaching out her hoof. "May I?"

The 'ling blinked and stared at the hoof for a second, then leaned in and nuzzled it with a low purr.

Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the sight, then used her magic to gently slide the book away from the happy mare and look the cover over. She leaned back slightly at the sight of an anatomical model of Chrysalis on the cover. "Dr Hard Cover's Changeling Specifics? Why did you take this one?" she mumbled, opening the book to a random page.

In truth, she hadn't actually read this specific book, mainly because she had bigger things to deal with, but it did seem rather relevant now.

Looking back to the Changeling, she pulled her hoof away, only to receive many agitated chirps. Rolling her eyes, she smiled and began to make her way towards the door. "Coming?" she asked, opening the door with her magic.

"Twilight," Instar said, jumping up and following Twilight out of the boiler room.

The Alicorn giggled and nodded. "Yup, I'm Twilight," she replied, stopping just before the stairs. "What is Starlight or Luna going to say?!" she mumbled, beginning to worry. "Okay, it'll be okay! I can explain and maybe they'll let me study you. It's not like having a Changeling Queen in the castle would arouse any suspicion, right?"

Twilight glanced to Instar, only to recieve a happy chirp. "I'll have to prepare the blast shelter..."

Several minutes later and Twilight had corralled the Queen into the map room. She had teleported away for but a moment to gather some writing supplies, and a blackboard, for some more visual explanations that she would no doubt need for the arriving Princess.

Popping back into the map room, she placed her equipment down and observed Instar as she looked the cutie-map over. Sliding her pencil out of its holder, she turned to a brand new page and began to idly take notes.

Observation of ~~Queen~~ Instar #1

The Changeling aptly named Instar, no doubt due to her outer exoskeleton, doesn't seem to hold the same air of regality as Queen Chrysalis held. Whether this is the same across all 'ascended' Changelings, is to be seen.

Thankfully, our interactions with the Changeling have been relatively cordial. After some placating with a display of vulnerability, she seemed to have warmed up considerably. We're sure that after teaching her how to speak properly, instead of parroting speech, she'll come out of her shell.

Ask for an audience with King Thorax!!

Twilight looked up from her note-taking and found the Changeling muzzle to muzzle with her, her ears perked up and curious. She squeaked and took a step back, only to drop her note-book on the floor.

Instar chirped, a smile widening. Quickly though, her attention was drawn off of Twilight and down to the supplies that she had brought. Leaning down, she nosed through the gathered books until Twilight's magical aura levitated them away.

"How about we keep you busy," Twilight said, catching her breath. Her magic pulled out a set of markers and some paper. "Let's see how well you can draw!"

Placing the paper down, she popped the cap off one of the markers and colored in a corner of the page. "See, easy."

The Changeling focused on the pen, then the paper, then finally reached out with her mouth and picked up a blue marker. She pulled the cap off and wildly began to scribble over the page, then when the page tore, she drew on the crystal floor!

"Oh, no..." Twilight sighed, wincing. "Sorry Spike..." she mumbled, mentally noting down to order some more gems for him.

After thirty seconds of the Changeling drawing on the floor, the map room's doors opened and in strolled Starlight and Princess Luna. Instantly, Instar dropped the marker and jumped between Twilight and the two new ponies in the room. She bared her fangs and hissed, her wings flared aggressively as she hid Twilight.

Starlight hid behind the Princess, who simply stood there, staring down at the Queen with a look of indifference.

"Twilight Sparkle," Luna began, sighing. "Would you mind telling me what is going on?"

"Princess! Uh, well..." Twilight mumbled, rubbing the back of her head and looking away from the Changeling's rump. "I think this is a new Queen that is separate from Chrysalis. Her name is Instar!"

Luna raised a brow at this information and ignored the hissing Changeling. "A new Queen? That is certainly news indeed. But are you sure she's different than that foul whorse?"

"I... I'm sure you just scared her!" Twilight reasoned, pulling herself over and gently placing a hoof on Instar's withers. "They're my friends..." she whispered, thinking of nothing but calm and hoping the Queen would notice.

The effect was slow, but as the seconds ticked by, Instar's aggression faded until she gently ran her muzzle through Twilight's mane once again.

"See," Twilight giggled, still slightly uncomfortable. "She seems to enjoy doing that... not sure why though."

Luna used her magic to close the Map Room doors and sat down. "Well, I would suspect you were the first to interact with her and as such, latched onto you."

"She looks, if I had to guess... my age, roughly. How would I be the first?" Twilight asked, giggling and gasping as Instar nuzzled against her ear.

"You have not heard? There was a meteor impact just out side of town."

"Wait, what?! How come none of the guards told me? Was anypony hurt?!"

"At ease, Twilight. Nopony was hurt and the only damage was some unlucky wheat and some shattered windows," Luna explained, watching as Instar stared at the stars in her mane with glee. "It cannot be a coincidence that she shows up on the exact night as that."

"And," Starlight added, having moved around Luna, but still as far away as possible from the awestruck Instar. "It's been a year since Chrysalis was turned to stone... to the day."

"It is?" Twilight asked, shocked. "It's simply flown by..."

"Indeed. But back to the matter at hoof, shall we?" Luna said, gesturing to the Changeling that was now currently trying to color in the floor. "What is your plan for her? I doubt Thorax's hive would support taking in a Queen after Chrysalis, plus Celestia and I are too busy to take care of her."

Twilight had already made up her mind, but Luna had just sealed it for her. "I'll take care of her," she declared, smiling. "I have plenty of books on Changelings that I'd love to actually read and anything I don't have, I can request from the Palace Archives.

"Besides," she waved her hoof. "Starlight doesn't need my help running the school anymore and I feel like it's time to take a student again."

Luna, although she didn't seem quite convinced, nodded. "So be it. I don't doubt that my sister will, as the kids say, 'roast me' for this, but I shall not stand in your way."

"B-But Lu -Princess! It's a Queen..." Starlight pleaded, gesturing to the Changeling that was now dragging the marker along the blackboard. "What if it starts to feed on ponies?! Or lays eggs in the castle?!"

Rolling her eyes, the Princess of the Night wrapped a wing around the mare. "Starlight. I know you've had a bad relationship with the Changelings, but isn't it time to overcome your fear. I doubt some of your students would appreciate you being afraid of them."

"I- but- fine..." Starlight mumbled, looking down, then squirming when Luna gently nuzzled her. "I'm blaming Twilight if she tries to stick her ovipositor in me."

Luna blinked, then shifted her gaze over to a suddenly sheepish Twilight. "I'm sure Twilight would find out if she has one much sooner than you would," she mumbled, watching Instar stick her face under Twilight's tail.

"Princ- eep!" Twilight gasped, scrambling forwards, her tail tucked between her legs.

Instar stood there, confusion settling over her face as she watched her fo- Twilight glare up at the tall thing.

With Princess Luna gone and Starlight having gone back to her room, Twilight could find Instar her own room that wasn't the basement for her to stay in. As much as she enjoyed having the underside of her tail looked at, which was to say a solid not at all, she did want to sleep at some point, especially since she was having such a lovely dream.

"Instar!" she called, opening up the door and walking out of the throne room. The Changeling's buzzing sounded out and she landed next to the Princess, following her expectantly. "Oh, good. That was quick. You'll have your own room. Then tomorrow, I can start on a teaching plan for you."

Twilight knew that the Queen didn't really know what she was saying, but she knew it would more awkward for her to not say anything at all, even if the conversation partner couldn't talk back without parroting her.

Instar listened to her Twilight rather intently. She had found it rather soothing to listen to the strange sounds that emanate from its mouth, even if they were rather gibberish. The other things that were like her Twilight didn't seem to like her, but the one with the pretty lights she enjoyed. Maybe they would give themselves to her as well?

Twilight stopped talking as the pair reached the room that was situated opposite her own. "This is your room, Inst- Wait, Instar?" she asked, looking around. She spotted her door open gasped, finding the Changeling Queen climbing onto her bed. "You have your own room, Instar," she explained, levitating the Queen off of her bed and into the room opposite.

The room itself held the basic furnishings which the rest of the castle was outfitted with, such as a plush rug that spread out across most of the floor, upon which sat a writing desk, double bed and a wardrobe. There was also an en suite attached.

"This is your room," Twilight began, gesturing around her. "In-star!"

The Queen stared at Twilight and simply smiled. "Twi-light!" she replied, buzzing her wings and, for the first time, let out a twinkling laugh.

Twilight froze for a second, unsure if she had actually heard that or if it was her imagination. Chrysalis had a harsh, almost grating laugh that filled anypony with an instinctual fear, but this... this was delightful. With a guilty sigh, she moved aside and let the Changeling flutter into her bedroom and watched as she dug her way under the covers.

Walking back into her bedroom, she closed her door and stared at the Queen in her bed. "Don't expect this every night, okay! This is because you were so scared..." she reasoned, mainly for herself. "Besides, it'll be nice to have somepony there, even if you're not a pony."

Climbing back into bed, she used her magic to close the window and pull the covers over herself. Finding a comfortable position, she felt Instar cuddle up against her side. "It's just for warmth, I'm sure..." the mare whispered, finding herself tense as the prospect of sleeping next to something that could drain her, or worse, cocoon her.