I Love You, My Little Changelings
"There is plenty of love in Equestria. Enough to feed us forever. But yet, we must fight to obtain it. We must journey on till we find a resting place with plenty to feed off of. Don't worry, My Little Changelings. I will guide us there."
The Queen of the Changelings, Chrysalis, has always been frowned upon by Equestria for her ways of finding food for her subjects. But, when fighting is all you can do, what else is there to make ponies open up to them?
Being a Queen isn't easy. Being a Queen of the Changelings? Even tougher. Trying to find food to keep her subjects alive is no easy task for this leader. Especially when nopony accepts Changelings.
"Go my subjects! Feed!" That fateful day. When the Queen thought she had a master plan to take control of Canterlot. She was closer then anypony had ever gotten to overthrowing the Royal Guard, and Princess Celestia.
"How could I fail? How could I let my guard down and allow that Unicorn to free Princess Cadence? It all was going to right. Until I turned my back."
Pacing her worn down throne room, the Queen tries to think of a new plan to feed her subjects. After a sigh, she walks out onto her balcony, and stares out into the baron wasteland known as the Badlands they call home.
"The time to move is upon us. We must find a new home. One where we can live comfortably and luxuriously for a long time. Listen my Changelings! I've put forth a plan, a plan to find us new life elsewhere!"
There are no homes in the Badlands. All of the Changelings sleep out on the ground. The only building, is the castle, that is mostly fallen to the ground.
"Tomorrow, we leave, and search once more to find food!" The crowd of Changelings get restless. Some because the last plan failed, and some in excitement to search once more. But nonetheless, the sun falls, and they prepare to depart.
The sun rises in the early morning. The only Changelings who don't wake up are the ones that didn't sleep. They just sit there and patiently wait for their leader to give the orders.
And give the orders she will. Walking out of the shadows and into the light, Queen Chrysalis flies up directly in front of her subjects.
"We leave now. And I promise you, we won't be coming back." With that said, all of the Changelings rise into the air, as their leader takes off, they follow. Ready for anything that might be in store.
It doesn't take long for them to find civilization. A few small towns here and there, but nothing big enough to feed them all. Until they come upon Dodge City. Not quite as big as Ponyville, but still contains plenty of love for the Changelings.
"First stop, Dodge City!" The Queen yells, and all of them dive down, ready to attack. They waste no time getting started. Dodge City is quickly put into a panic from the sudden invasion, driving most ponies out of their homes.
"Get out of our city!" One brave Unicorn stands against the Changelings, ready to fight back. What can just one Unicorn do though? Call in backup.
While the feeding is going on, most of the initial guard is gone from them all, including their Queen. And with carelessness comes failure. A group of five Unicorns join in a circle and preform a spell that is unique to only Dodge City's Defense Force.
The Defense force was formed due to them being so close to the Badlands, and it paid off. The spell starts shooting off magic plasma at the Changelings, knocking them around one by one, and getting the attention of Queen Chrysalis.
"You dare stand against me and my subjects?! Attack!" The focus switches from feeding to assaulting the Defense Force.
Queen Chrysalis's horn starts glowing green, and she launches her own beam at the Unicorns, who fire one of their own back. The two beams meet in the middle, pushing each other back and forth. It's almost like it will never end.
The beams fight, but Chrysalis's is growing weaker and weaker. The Defense Force is using the power of five Unicorns, while Chrysalis is on her own. It's draining all of her energy to fight back, so she breaks her beam from the two and swiftly dives down to avoid the one attacking her.
"This won't do. We must fell my subjects! Flee to the skies where they cannot attack back!" They take no time at all to lift into the sky, out of the Defense Force's beam range.
The large group of still hungry Changelings fly over to an open area to regroup. "I'm sure most of you didn't get to feed in that short amount of time. But we must not stop moving! We must charge for the next city!"
But how many cities will it take? How long will it take? How much love will there be to feed off of? The Changelings are starting to question the tactics of the Queen.
Hours pass by. It feels like the flight will be endless for some of the Changelings. Then strangely in the distance, buildings are spotted by the Queen. "There! We found another city! Let us go feed!"
All they got was disappointment. The buildings didn't turn out to be real buildings, but ruins instead. Ruins of what seemed like was an old castle. "What is this place?"
Curiosity strikes all of them. To the point where they begin exploring the old ruins. eight stories tall, in the shape of what could almost compare to the castle in Canterlot. But nothing more then that. "What was this place?" The Queens mind races, forgetting what their goal is.
Finally, after a long while of exploring, Chrysalis comes across an old throne room. A beautiful, stone throne room, with the throne left standing.
"This must be what used to be a castle to Celestia, or maybe a former ruler." Pacing back and forth, just like she did in the Badlands, trying to think of a new plan.
"We must just keep on moving. We will find salvation." Her words are final. They continue moving. And they continue to be unsuccessful. Attacking smaller towns and coming up empty. Even sucking the love dry out of some small towns. The number of Changelings growing tired and angry with Chrysalis's plans is growing.
It's the same tactic each time. Find town, attack town, and either suck the love out of it till there is nothing, or get fought against and driven out.
Days pass, and the number of Changelings is growing smaller. Some have abandoned their Queen and gone on their own to search for a home and food. But there are those that are remaining loyal, and not giving up hope yet.
Continuing to fly more, the group over over one-hundred some Changelings fly over top of Ponyville. "Ponyville. The home of the Elements of Harmony. We must continue onward. We can't take our chances here."
Tired of listening to Chrysalis, one Changeling flies in front of the group. "What are we doing?! We've been following her all this time and for what? Nothing! She doesn't know what she's doing, let alone knows how to be a leader! I say we all go our own ways, and blend in with the ponies, so we can feed in secret, while being able to live comforta-"
The Changeling is struck by Chrysalis's magic. The whole group of Changelings look on at their Queen struck with awe. The one who was struck cannot believe it either, and neither can Chrysalis herself.
She floats in the air, and watches all of the Changelings fly off. One by one, they slowly leave, until the only one left is the Queen herself. "What have I done? I had all of my subjects. Who obeyed me. Who followed me. Who stood beside me, even after being defeated in Canterlot. And now, it's just me."
She turns around and starts flying in the other direction. Getting lost in her own thought along the way. "They were more then my subjects. They were my family." She finally after hours of flying stops at the ruins, and slowly walks to the lone throne that stood tall in the ruins. "And I loved them."
Time goes by. None of the Changelings have come looking for her. Everyday she sits on the throne of the ruins imagining what life would be like as a pony. She would be accepted into society. She would be just like everypony else in Equestria. And she thinks about her Changelings too. If she would have lead them differently, would they still be by her side?
All of the thoughts, all of her dreams, meaningless now. She now realizes that she loved what she had. "Wait a minute..." She jolts up off of the throne in shock of her own thought.
"We Changelings feed on love. And I'm expressing love toward them. So, can't we feed off of that! We can!" But it's too late. Not a Changeling remains by her side.
"I know." She walks out to the half broken balcony, her horn glowing green, like it's charging. And then, a massive beam of light comes shooting out of her horn into the sky above, acting as a signal for her subjects.
Her face lights up as the beam dissipates, knowing her subjects will come to her.
"Come to me subjects. Feel off of my love!" Time starts moving. No sign of any Changelings yet. But the Queen isn't going to give up hope yet. She stands and waits on the balcony, all the way through nightfall.
The moon is bright, the stars are shining, but Chrysalis still stands alone. Sadness rushes to her as the moon starts to fade from the light of the sun that is starting to rise.
Overflowing with emotion, she walks back into the empty throne room and sits on the throne. "They didn't come. I'm sorry I couldn't be a better Queen for you all."
The cold morning air rushes around her, blowing a tear off her face. There is nothing left she can do but move on to a different home. But she doesn't. She stays where she is for days, until finally, she gives in.
Breaking down in tears of loneliness and feelings of failure. The feeling of giving up hope that one day, her subjects would return. It's been more then a week since they all split apart, and most of them are doing good. Some are confused still as to what to do, some struggling to change and be a pony, but most of them split into groups of five or six so that way they wouldn't be alone.
"So this is it. I just hope my subjects are okay. I'm sorry I failed you all."
One last time, she sits on the throne, and her horn glows.
"I love you, my little Changelings."
A beam surrounds her, and slowly moves up, her body turning grey and cold. Into stone. Where she will be alone, waiting for a Changeling to come find her.
