The changelings had been greatly wounded in the battle of Canterlot. Not just their bodies were hurt; their dignity was also scarred. What was at first a downhill battle for the changelings quickly became a near impossible task. It was, to be quite frank, a complete disaster. What caused such a complete shift in power, you may ask? What brought the almighty changelings to their VERY KNEES?
The power... of love.
"It can't get more embarrassing than that." General stinger thought, as he paced about one of the many nesting rooms in the hive. Suddenly, however, another detail came to his head. "Oh wait,' he thought, with a groan. 'yes. Yes it can." The fact Stinger had momentarily neglected, was that changelings fed off love. They were defeated by their own, special brand of magic! It made sense, General stinger supposed, as he sat down with a hearty sigh. They were warned that some ponies could harness all branches of magic, but he had assumed that you'd have to be completely inept to have such a power and to not have conquered the whole damn continent by now. But no. Stinger sighed. ponies were smarter than he had given them credit for.
If he was taking this loss hard, he couldn't imagine how his army was feeling. Being so disciplined, its not like they would break down crying or anything, but it couldn't be easy. Especially considering that all of them had expected a complete win. Even Thorax was a little excited about the food they stood to gain, and Thorax didn't like anything fun.
Stinger paused, taking in a breath of the dry, wasteland air.
He had to address his armies.
He groaned again. It wouldn't be a fun conversation, telling thousands of changelings that things are okay, when things are clearly, absolutely not okay.
He decided, eventually, however that there was no avoiding it. He would just have to call a meeting. What was the code for the ping room again? Alkabalster, or something? He began to stand, albeit reluctantly; but as the general stood up to take action, he was interrupted by a voice. "Ah, Stinger!' The mystery changeling's tone was sweet, but their voice was cold and terrifying, two words that matched the owner well. And worse still, it belonged to someone, who, as far as Stinger could tell, was standing right behind him. 'Just the changeling i'm looking for." they continued. Stinger froze in his place, before turning around quickly.
He knew that voice well, and the owner was high above him in the pecking order.
It was the queen.
As he and Chrysalis walked down the hole-filled walls of the changeling hive, Stinger noticed the queen's chipper attitude. Suspiciously chipper, he thought. And he wasn't exactly wrong. The hive had just undergone a great loss, and chrysalis wasn't as happy as she would have been, had they, well, actually succeeded. But she was excited for something, something Stinger would learn about very soon.
Stinger continued to follow her, making note of where he was. He had never been in this part of the hive before, and he had been in the pinging room. "This place must be important." The somewhat obvious thought popped into his head. For some reason, however, it didn't look like someplace important. Rooms as secretive as these were usually large and grand, like the throne room. They were meant to make you feel small. But all things considered, it was arranged more like one of the pony 'hotels' he had seen on retrieval missions. Just a long, winding hallway with connecting rooms. The whole way it was constructed was just... wrong, and small.
And stupid.
Despite the aura of claustrophobia that permeated throughout the place, Stinger pressed on. Partly out of respect for his queen and his position, and partly out of fear that should he stray to far from the queen, he would become lost in the confusing network of rooms. There were just so many ROOMS! “What could possibly be in here?” Stinger was starting to feel annoyed, rather than afraid. It seemed like a waste of space to have built this. Was it the hatchery? The queen was extremely secretive about the larvae, so it would make sense to hide them in some maze. ”No…” He thought. ”No reason to take a failed war general there. ‘Hey, look at this new generation you just failed! Doesn’t that make you feel better?’” But, then again, it seemed like something Chrysalis might do.
”Maybe she’ll demote me.”
The sudden thought made Stinger sick. Maybe she blamed him for the failed attack, and she was taking him somewhere private to discharge him with dignity. ”No, no.” He reasoned with himself. ”No creature could’ve evaded that blast. The queen is cold, but she’s not a dunce. She was there, and she knows that no amount of skill could have helped. If she demotes me, she might as well demote herself!” Stinger was satisfied with his reasoning.
But then… what?
Now that was a question Stinger couldn’t answer.
Luckily, however, it was a question Stinger didn’t have much longer to ponder, as Chrysalis sighed in relief, before exclaiming, ”Here we are!” In an excitable, sing-song-y manner, more akin to a foal showing off their first place trophy than a Queen speaking with one of her highest military officers. Stinger wasn’t focused on her, however, as the thing that caught his eye was an intriguing door. It wasn’t intriguing for any form of uniqueness from the other doors, but because of its peculiar placement; rather than following the uniform pattern of the side-to-side doors, this one was at the end of one of the many branching hallways.
Chrysalis stepped up to the door with vigor. Her eyes darted back towards Stinger. He returned her stare with a series of long blinks.
The queen sighed. ”Are you coming, Stinger?”
”OH, obviously-!” Stinger thought, nearly facehoofing, but opting instead to walk quickly up to the queen. “I apologize, my queen.” She simply shrugged, giving him melancholy look. “Not to worry, Stinger… You have the right idea,’ The changeling queen leaned down close, making Stinger suddenly realize how foreboding she was. She whispered, in a hushed, cold voice, ‘this place is not to be seen, or known, without my permission.”
Stinger stared.
Stinger knew what she was doing. She was trying to scare him.
She tried scaring everyone.
It maintained an aura of mystery, and unpredictability, that fostered the appropriate fear-filled environment that she needed to rule effectively. Stinger had used this tactic himself, when commanding his armies. Acting manic or unpredictable can scare people into submission. It was such a useful tactic, in fact, that despite his familiarity with it, it never ceased to make him feel on edge.
The queen suddenly snapped back up, her demeanor completely changing, her voice now holding a vicious amount of excitement. “It’s fun, to show off your trophies to others, Stinger. You’ve won a couple metals, haven’t you?” The queen began to speak as her horn glowed brilliantly, the green aura rapping around the entire door. Stinger quickly gasped, as he realized that the doors ‘handle’ was nothing more than a facade. The entire door rolled to the side, revealing that its shape was truly more of a sphere, than the cleanly cut rectangle that Stinger had previously perceived. The door fit cleanly into a slot inside the wall, before slowing to a halt. However decent the doors technology was, didn’t concern Stinger, however, as he stared face-to-face with her royal majesties’s ‘trophy’ was now revealed.
In the middle of the room was a food pod. Inside of the food pod, was a pony. Which makes sense. That’s where they go. There’s a reason it’s called a food pod. But what was disturbing was the ponies… stature? They looked like the ‘Alicorns’ that had defeated them in Canterlot, but they only had a horn. Stinger would have laughed at the absurdity of the ponies common populace being unable to preform magic and fly, if not for his focus on the creature in front of him. They had a pale, pink coat, and a rainbow mane. She looked like she was sleeping soundly.
Chrysalis smiled wickedly, before sliding the door back into its proper place. Stinger didn’t like the idea of being trapped, but he was too curious to back out now. Chrysalis sat down, then nodded her head at Stinger, encouraging him to do the same. Stinger sat.
“Do you want to hear a story, Stinger?”
Stinger did.
“When my rule was still young, the ponies of the newly founded ‘Equestria’ were separating themselves into little groups. The winged, the horned, and the earth bound remained apart. And where this hive now stands, once stood the prosperous city of Unicornia. Being a segregated plot of land, it was, all things considered, a good place for the Unicorns. With food, water, and an army at their flank. Which was why I was hesitant to invade them. I was happy where the hive was.”
Chrysalis looked into the distance. She seemed sad, at first, but then she smiled.
Not a content smile.
It was that of a creature who had done something that they didn’t regret.
Chrysalis continued:
“The Unicorns, however, were unhappy with our little settlement. Maybe they saw us as a threat.”
Chrysalis became suddenly tense.
”Or maybe they saw it as an eyesore.”
The pure venom in her voice was just a glimpse into the hate that Chrysalis felt towards the dead empire. It was enough hate, in fact, to make Stinger angry, too.
Chrysalis gave Stinger a smile. “Clearly, the Unicorns underestimated us. We captured their leader, Princess Rarity. Common Unicorn name for a common line of pampered diplomats. But instead of feeding off her, I wanted to keep her. A little trophy.” Chrysalis looked into the transparent material that the food pod was made of. She tapped it with her hoof, like a foal in an aquarium, and Rarity moved, just a little.
“She is a pretty Unicorn, don’t you think?”
Stinger stared at her. He didn’t know quite how to process this. But he felt a little better knowing that they had bested the ponies before. Chrysalis stood up, sighing deeply, and laying a hand on Stingers shoulder. He nearly flinched, still fearing the queen. She looked at him with determination.
“I want you to tell this story to your troops, General. Let them know that we always prevail.
Let them know that we are powerful.
That we are changelings.”
Stinger had found a trickle of hope that day. The story had inspired him.
But now, as all three Princesses stared him down, his entire hive having turned against him, he realized that it was nothing more than a patriotic drivel.
The queen had doomed them.
Author's Note
This story is based on my brother’s OC, General Stinger! He’s not too happy about the reformed changelings. 
I hope you like the prologue, and a huge thanks to ______________ for helping me edit. Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! ❤️
A lovely canopy of leaves blanketed the teeming forest. The birds, rested from a long night, stretched their wings and sang a tune. Mice feasted on a cacophony of different seeds and brush. Ursa Majors and Minors alike slumbered, awaiting nightfall. The lizards and frogs found a cool, comfortable refuge in collecting puddles of dew.
Everything was peaceful, for now.
And Stinger hated everything about the place.
He had been to pony settlements a couple of times before, and he knew they had an abundance of plant life. He remembered being specifically warned that Equestria was "extremely natural", but clearly, he and Equestria had a very different definition of what "natural" meant.
Stinger suddenly stopped his trudge through the forest, the weight of the situation crashing down on him.
He had just been kicked out of the hive.
By ponies.
Ponies who had done.. something to almost every changeling.
He paused.
Was he doomed?
"No." He decided, after a while. He couldn't be. Ponies could and have been bested by changelings before him. They may seem imposing, even scary, but it was nothing that couldn't be overcome with changeling might.
But without his army, without the strength in numbers that had brought the olden changelings through tough times, Stinger wasn't so confident.
The hive wasn't even destroyed. It didn't even go with dignity; it completely surrendered. Stinger hated to admit it, but he had always hoped that, were they to fall, they would fall fighting.
But his queen had run like a coward, his armies had succumbed to a false promise of never going hungry, and of ALL THE CHANGELINGS IN THE ENTIRE HIVE, they had chosen Thorax to lead.
Stinger was sure that the hive would crumble under the weight of its own glaring weakness.
But if they somehow held themselves together, Stinger was sure that he could give them a helpful push.
But first, he needed a place to shelter. The sun wouldn't stay in the sky for long, and even with his training, he didn't want to face off against some sort of crazed wildlife. He doubted this was maulwarf territory, but who knew what magically charged wildlife Equestria held up its sleeve?
Stinger eyed the canopy. Could he fly through that?
"Probably not." He answered his own question. Still, it was worth a shot. Maybe he could find a nearby pony settlement, and stay somewhere warm for the night. He looked around for a place to take off. "Tree, tree, tree, rock, tree...' he listed locations aloud as he looked. 'tree, tree, big rock, tree- wait. Big rock?" A jagged boulder caught his eye. It looked like a good takeoff spot. Better yet, its presence discouraged the many, view blocking trees from growing near, creating the perfect, sunny hole for him to fly through. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close. Stinger trotted over, briefly extending his wings in flight as he climbed atop the boulder.
He planted his hooves, and took off.
Being slapped with vines and branches as he went, Stinger aimed for the only open spot he could see throughout the sea of leaves, which, as mentioned before, was just above the boulder. He made it through easily, if not sustaining a few scratches, and looked above the trees. Dejectedly, he saw he still had a ways to go before the forest began to thin out, but he reasoned that it wouldn't take more than a couple hours, now that he was flying. And, much to his delight, he had found an amazing resting place: a city in the distance.
"Bingo."
He looked towards the sun, covering his eyes with his hooves as he did. About half the day was left. He would have to fly fast.
By near sunset, Stinger was exhausted. He had managed to rest on the odd branch, poking out of the canopy, but looking towards the sun for the time, he knew he had to keep going. Luckily, by now, he had reached the city. A train-track just outside the flashing lights of the pony settlement connected to an equally flashy train station, with an polished, steel sign reading, "WELCOME TO BALTIMARE! POPULATION: 565,239!" in a bold font. Stinger would've found the signs' precise metric impressive, if he didn't think that counting your populace was useless. Many different ponies bustled around the train-station, running late for this, and meeting up for that. It was a good thing the ponies had a strange fixation on plants and shrubs, otherwise, Stinger wouldn't have any cover. This place was clearly a tourist trap. That meant twice the annoying ponies, but also twice the inconspicuousness for him. Nocreature would bat an eye at anyone new.
Stinger backed farther into the bushes, keeping quiet as he did. He had neglected to disguise himself while flying towards the city, opting instead for the superior, bug-like wings of a changeling over the slow, bird-like appendages of a winged pony. However, Stinger had forgotten how flashy transforming was.
"Ah, it'll probably be fine."
A green Unicorn colt sat at the train-station, awaiting his dad, who had gone into the train gift shop. They were on vacation to Baltimare. A city which, in the Colts eyes, was totally boring. He knew the real reason his dad was here was the up and coming buck-ball game. But his dad tried his best to hype him up for the trip, sharing random historical knowledge, pointed with vigor at the landmarks, even taking him to one of the museums, which was sort of fun.
Overall, however, the trip was, and had been, very boring.
FLASH!
The colt nearly jumped from his seat. The bush he had been staring wistfully at for the past half an hour suddenly flashed with a muffled light. He didn't think anypony else noticed it. Just as the poor colt was about to get up to tell the train man, a pony emerged from the bush. "A Unicorn." Was the first thought that popped into his head, but the stallion that had emerged from the bush was a Pegasus. He had a pastel blue coat, a vibrant yellow mane, and a cutie mark that consisted of a single cloud. The Unicorn scowled at him with vigorous suspicion.
The Pegasus, who was now paying attention to him, scowled back. The colt, without his dad, felt a little scared of the Pegasus, who was now looking at him like he was the weird one. The mystery stallion took his hoof, raised it to his neck, and made a quick slashing motion, directed towards the colt. The boy had never been so obviously threatened by an adult. The Pegasus gave him a small once over, before trotting away quietly.
The colt started, dazed, at the spot the Pegasus had been.
He maintained that Baltimare wasn't cool; but he couldn't say it wasn't exciting.
The colt walked into the gift shop where his dad was. His father was rummaging through various nick-nacks. Decorative mugs, sarcastic t-shirts... all the normal gift shop stuff. He soon found his preferred object, a cheesy, cheap hat, that read, "BALTIMARE CRABBING." with a Unicorn and an Earth Pony holding a crab cage.
"Hey, Emmy.' His dad smiled at him. He liked giving the colt stupid nicknames, with only some of them relating to his actual name, "Emerald Blaze." His dad smiled at him. "Find anything you like?" The kid looked around the counter briefly, before picking out a weird, plush wiener dog. "This, please."
"Sure, Ems. Do you wanna pay with your Bit-purse?"
Emerald nodded furiously. "It's Outside." The colt responded quietly.
Emerald fully intended on buying it himself, like his mom taught him too. Unfortunately, when Emerald and his dad walked towards the bench outside, his Bit-purse had mysteriously disappeared. He still got the wiener dog, however, and he learned a lesson: don't leave bags of money with shady strangers.
Stinger had been walking through the streets of Baltimare, disguised as a Pegasus, for a while now, and it was starting to get annoying. He was looking for an inn to stay in, but unfortunately for him, his written Ponish wasn't the best. But on the upside, he had... "found" some bits at the train station. He assumed it was enough to pay for a one night stay, but it was equally as possible that he had stolen an amount of money closer to a lollipops price than a hotel room. But when he saw the Ponish word for "stay", and a bed shaped logo on one of the many buildings, he was given new hope for a pleasant rest. And luckily for him, the mare at the counter happily took his bag of bits.
In light of recent events, Stinger knew he had some cleaning up to do. He had to clean up the hive, he had to clean up the ponies, he had to clean up the changelings.. but right now, he was pleased to have a place to sleep. "Say what you will about ponies, they know how to make a bed comfortable.' Had he been less tired, he would've performed a spell to keep his disguise on throughout the night, just in case, but he figured it would be fine. He deserved a little break. He blew out the candle next to the bed, and drifted off with relief.
Author's Note
I got a little tangent-y with that random Unicorn, but I needed a way to give Stinger some bits. Sorry, Emerald. 
