Twilight swallowed bile as she scanned the caves. The rocky floor was dusty, spiderwebs covered the corners near the ceilings, the green lighting panels were dull and most were completely depleted of magic, and the occasional starved changeling was scattered randomly across the ground. It was clear that their first order of business would be to clean the hive.
She glanced back at the horde of changelings behind her. They looked to her for guidance, trusting her to make a decision for all of them. It was a daunting burden; one she wasn't sure she was ready for yet.
Still, she had formed her checklist, and she knew where to start. First, shelter; second, supplies; third, growth. She turned towards the changelings pulling the cart. “Piquis. Sira. Ithir. Take the nymphs somewhere protected and safe.”
As the cart started moving, she glanced back. “Jarret. Hrit. Follow them, make sure the young ones are fed. Then report to me how much love we have left and how long it will last.”
Jarret saluted and shuffled off, his swollen abdomen swaying as he walked.
She turned towards Bruch. She leaned down. “Changelings bury their dead, right?” she whispered.
Bruch nodded.
Twilight looked back at the changelings. Most appeared to be exhausted, barely awake on their hooves. She exhaled. “I can’t give that order now,” she murmured. Doing so might actually increase the body count. She turned to address them all. “My little… changelings,” she said, her voice catching only slightly on the different word. “It’s been a long trip for all of us. Return to your rooms and sleep. We will begin working tomorrow.”
Her changelings murmured their thanks and a few odd words of praise as they dispersed. Bruch remained by her side.
Twilight exhaled. “I still can’t believe we’re back here,” she said, looking around. “Last time I was here, I was running for my life.”
Bruch cracked a weak smile. “We’re all fighting for our lives, now. I don’t know how much love Jarret has, but it isn’t enough.”
“It’s never enough, is it,” Twilight murmured, not even needing to form it as a question.
Bruch shook his head.
Twilight nodded resolutely. “It’s now my responsibility. I won’t let the hive down, Bruch. I swear it.”
Bruch looked away and murmured something that sounded like ‘wish that were true’.
This, of course, did nothing but intensify Twilight’s resolve to succeed. “Bruch, get some sleep,” she ordered. “I’ll need your help in the morning.”
“Yes, Princess.” Bruch bowed and departed.
As soon as he vanished out of sight around a corner, Twilight sank to her haunches and exhaled slowly. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn’t quite have a set plan for guiding the changelings. Once her integration idea had been shot down, she had to start thinking like a changeling. And a changeling she was not.
Not yet, anyway.
Twilight kneaded at her eyes, eyes that had irises that had already begun changing to be more green. If she were completely honest with herself, she would have admitted that she could already see fairly well in the near-darkness of the hive. Her pupils were probably already turning into slits.
Thankfully, Jarret soon returned, giving her a much-needed diversion. He bowed. “At our current survival rations, we’ve got enough for about three days. More if we feed just the nymphs.”
Twilight exhaled. “Thank you,” she said. She had much to learn about changeling metabolism. How much did they actually need to eat? How efficient was harvesting?
How could she provide for her changelings?
Twilight shook her head. She could work on that later, when she was rested.
Jarret scuffed a hoof. “Is there anything else, Princess?”
Twilight shook her head. Jarrett turned to leave.
Actually…
“Wait. Jarret, there is one thing. Did Chrysalis have a sort of queen’s chambers?”
Jarret nodded.
“Could you take me there?”
* * *
Twilight slowly entered the hallway that Jarret had indicated. Chrysalis' chambers had been carved out in the center of the hive, probably for her own protection. Twilight could remember seeing no other doors down here, and nothing like the door made of wrought iron and wood at the end of this hallway. Even from this far away, she could tell that it had been intricately carved. All along the walls, there were dead and dying glowpanels (changelings did not care much for fire) and portraits of previous changeling queens. At least, they might have been; Twilight lit her horn to recharge the glowpanels and under that light she saw that they seemed to have been destroyed by magic blasts, which had left deep, angry gouges in the rock. Twilight pursed her lips as she passed. Her portrait would by rights be along this wall, too.
She arrived at the end of the hallway, and turned back to nod her thanks to Jarret. He bowed and departed.
Twilight tapped on the door, but of course, there was no answer. It wasn't likely that Chrysalis had trapped it, but it was an option. With slight trepidation, Twilight lit her horn and pushed it open.
Twilight was not entirely sure what to expect, but she hadn't expected this. Remnants of Shining Armor were all over the room. His likeness was painted on the wall, the outline of his cutie mark was etched into the floor, and a little stone statue of him rested on one of her tables.
Twilight bit her lower lip. During the fight with Chrysalis, she was more concerned with staying alive than anything else; but now she began to wonder. Had Chrysalis truly cared for her brother? She felt a small twinge of guilt. Not that anything could have happened, of course—he was quite happily married to a wonderful mare—but still. It almost had an element of romantic tragedy.
She hesitated as she looked down, but then shook her head. This was her room, now; her queen’s chambers. By rights, she owned everything in it. She stepped further into the room. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea how changelings slept; but she doubted they could all sleep like this. Chrysalis's four-poster bed was huge, with translucent green curtains hanging from the carved posts. The covers looked thick and plush, and she found herself drawn to it. Feeling her exhaustion catch up with her, she stepped forward and gently moved the curtains aside, ready to collapse.
She froze. She recognized that sensation.
This wasn't a curtain. This was slime.
Now very much awake, she retracted her hoof as quickly as if she had been bitten. She desperately shook her hoof out, nearly hyperventilating.
Then she took a steadying breath. No. I am the leader of the changelings. This is a part of life for them. A natural process. Purely scientific. And someday I might be making this myself. I will not be disgusted. I will treat it with simple scientific professionalism.
Twilight paused.
She scuffed a hoof against the ground and coughed.
Then she spun around. “On second thought, there's just so much to explore in this room,” she said airily. “I can sleep later.”
There wasn’t much more to the room, Twilight discovered. Being a queen meant you got a large room with a large bed, but aside from the huge mirror (which she avoided) and the ornately-carved desk, there wasn’t much else in here. There was also a trunk with a substantial amount of bits in it, but that was about it. For a few moments, Twilight wondered if she would be able to find anything to distract her in here.
And then, underneath the bed, she found a journal. It was written in a flowing script, jagged but definitely regal. Chrysalis’s diary.
She stared at the book for a good minute or two before her curiosity overcame her reluctance. She opened the diary and began to read.
Day one. This plan is perfect.
Twilight chuckled dryly. She skipped to the next entry.
Day two. Already I wonder at this pony I am to ensnare. Shining Armor of the Royal Guard is not fit to rule. He is an ignorant simpleton, cares too much about his physical appearance and ridiculous manecare products, and is far too kind to be an effective prince. One must rule with an iron hoof. I am beginning to doubt the necessity of personally coming and replacing Mi Amore Cadenza.
Twilight was mildly disturbed, but continued reading, unable to tear her eyes away.
Day three. I am beginning to see why Mi Amore Cadenza fell for this fool. He is indeed as simple as I had expected, but he is full of love and honor and goodness. Gag me, right?
Day four. It is done. Mi Amore Cadenza resides in the caves beneath Canterlot and I have taken her place. It was far too easy.
Day five. Shining Armor has become suspicious. Stallions are so easy to manipulate, though. I merely distracted him with a simple tail-wave (reflected in the suit of armor behind me, of course), and was able to cast the spell on him without him even noticing. What a fool.
Twilight bared her teeth and kept reading.
Day six. I hear the whispers in the hallways. Apparently, the poor princess is under a lot of stress right now. Some have even wondered if I should just get mounted, but it is far too late for that. Shining won't remember doing it, though. He and his stuffy sense of honor meant I had to expend the energy for a memory-wiping spell as well as the manipulation spell, but the return was well worth the investment. He has introduced me to the concept of anal sex, which is somewhat of a taboo in this culture. Ponies are weird, with all their holes. Nothing like the streamlined integrated systems of a changeling. And don’t get me started on this concept of a penis. It’s a thick, unwieldy rod of flesh that-
At this point, Twilight couldn't continue, and slammed the book shut. No longer did she feel much sympathy for the former queen. Instead, she felt like she needed to take a cold shower.
Which was good; it was probable that magical water heating was a foreign luxury out here. That would be another thing she would look into. She looked around her room and sighed. Maybe Chrysalis never bathed.
And she was going to sleep in the same bed.
She cast a cleaning spell on the bed, letting it run for twice as long as it usually required. Once she felt marginally more secure, she lifted the slime curtains high out of the way enough that she could get in and crawled in.
It was a strange sensation, sleeping in someone else’s bed. But Chrysalis had apparently enjoyed the finer things of life; these covers were soft and must have been made with the finest materials, and the mattress felt like the ones at the castle.
Wait. Did she…?
No…
She slid out of bed and lit her horn once more, flipping the mattress over. Sure enough, she recognized the logo on the bottom. A company that made mattresses specifically for Celestia herself.
“She did steal this from the castle! What a jerk!”
This gets an auto favorite and like before i even read it because the first one was so good.
Glad to see you continued it so quickly.
ii would think they would set up a hive up in the everfree forest,
encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRtKiX-5xWEv44uVe0uobs8g-Xlb6RscC0Zq9vpTLX7TBXLSt4JhNSNndshtg
Love that journal. Hope we see more of it.
Also love that ending.
Go chrysalis.
Maybe that was the plan all along.
Beds 1st, Conquering 2nd
WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. F***?
Well, can't complain about this story. Exactly what it says on the tin.
7389089
She already went. :V
7389128
Yes that is what you do with a penis.
7389173
I'm getting an uneasy feeling after reading that journal with Twilight. What kind of changes besides the obvious are going to happen to her? How the heck are they going to harvest love way out there in the Badlands? I can sorta see Twilight falling back on her friends in Ponyville, and there's the Princesses that love Twilight.
It's been so long since I started reading this so I have no idea what kind of harvesting lore this world uses. Can a changeling feed on non-directed love, friendship, or just good will? Does this drain the host the same as [assaulting] taking the love forcefully? Does the host have to be in a pod? Are changelings unable to communicate when not in a pony form with other ponies? Her nightvision is improving but will it extend to seeing into the spectrum not available to ponies? Bees can see into the ultraviolet and flowers have adapted their coloring accordingly for example; and there's going higher into the infrared which is heat-vision. Pheromones is it's own bag of lore and stuff to discover. And what of Twilight's alicorn-level of magic power? Will she start losing that? Will it stay the same making her superior to a "normal" Queen in that running low on love doesn't leave her crippled magically?
And on the subject of magic, what about the Element of Magic? You remember that, right? The most important defense the entire world has? Has the crown abandoned Twilight for a new Bearer or is it still linked to her?
I'm assuming we'll eventually find out what kind of morphilogical changes Twilight is going to get in regards to "unnecessary" holes and appendages. Either by her own experience or asking one of the changelings.
I have a suspicion that Twilight will probably stay transformed into her old self more often than not because that's what her "residual self-image" remembers. (Yeah yeah, whatever Morphious)
7389174 Ha ha. Now why the f*** did you include that line?
The last story was really good and funny, and I hope that the second will have more of the same. I wander if Chrysalis produced an offspring from Shining seed and that it hasn't been born yet. I would imagine that Twilight could raze the nymph as her own sense it would be of the same blood as her brother. It is a shame that Shining couldn't get the chance to say a heart warm farewell to his little sister. I wander what will the rest of the EoH will do now that Twilight is gone and what will happen to to her castle sense it won't serve as her residence anymore. As a stop gap measure, for when thing will be at their worths, and it will before it gets any better, I could imagine that Twilight take ponies as hostages for shot suck some of their love and use them as bargaining tools in case any Changelings get captured and would make sure that if any of her subject get hurt or killed they can get even with them on that. It would keep a dialogue going between them and the Equestrian in negotiating; it would not be an ideal situation at all, but at least they would stay feed decently even if it destroys all the previous effort in trying to cultivate trust between them and the ponies. I wander if Twilight could ask Celestia in researching on her own end a solution to their love shortage all the while Twilight does her own searcher on her end. I could also imagine that the changeling could be used as Equestria's alternate spy service for other nations and could trade information for love to feed on.
7389114 Hah!
My plan for world domination:
Step 1: make a plan.
Step 2: raid and steal the comfy beds of the rulers.
Step 3: manipulate the rulers and be an evil lord pulling the strings.
Step 4: $ PROFIT $
MUAHHAAAHHWHAAA!!!
I make best plan.
7389770
The Canterlot Invasion was a changeling cover-up for the true plan.
#Exposethetruth
7389647 He sort of did have s hesrtfell good by, it was just indirect as he was talking to the guard standing next to him while she was well within ear shot.
Also Twilight still lived in Golden Oaks Library she doesn't have a castle as this is before Tirek. Spike now runs the library.
I also don't see Twilight taking hostages to drain them of their love like that or for any reason unless an absolute last resort and I doubt it will ever come to that as Celestia would never abandon Twilight like that nor would her friends (in theory)
As for the EoH no clue I'd imagine she is still a Bearer as I don't think switching species really effects them as she's still the same person.
7389487
A lot of those were answered in the first book. Yes they can survive on positive emotions but not for any extended length of time (if i remember right). No the host does not need to be in a pod. And yes they can only speak pony if they assume the form of one. The rest is kinda up in the air. For the element I can't remember if this was before or after Tirek so the elements may not even be accessible, however if they were I would argue that the elements work on values honest, laughter, generosity etc. and if we figure in that Twilight's element was sparked by friendship then arguably so long as she still values her friends then the element should still respond to her. That being said since we really don't know much about them it is also equally possible that the elements may view Twilight as a corrupted individual and thus not work. I also agree that seeing how this is going Twilight may have to take a similar method as Chrysalis in trying to feed her subjects. I mean the ponies already kicked them out of canterlot (not sure if that extends to equestria). Unless she can win the noble's favor (or convince celestia to get off her royal ass and actually use her authority) then she's pretty well stuck in the same position chrysalis was in. Rejected everywhere they go and unable to get food thus leading them to drastic measures.
does this mean tirek can roam free now that twilights banned from equestria?
7390042
Just Canterlot, and that's assuming the Element of Magic still accepts Twilight as it's Bearer. We don't know, the author isn't saying, and Equestria hasn't seen any Rainbow-level Emergencies since Tirek got pwned.
7390002
Invasion worked out real well for Chrysalis and Twilight knows this. Granted, Twilight is also well versed in written histories of various wars and could probably succeed where others have failed (I think she'd be very good at strategy). But I don't believe Twilight would ever resort to hostile invasion. Oh, it might be an invasion, but a friendly one. If she can find something that would make Changelings valuable to ponies, Equestria would welcome her and the hive with open arms. The trick is finding what that special something is. What would make your average Joe or Jane Pony really like a changeling?
In the meantime, what about trade with the locals? Aren't changelings really good at construction? Entertainment is an easy thing to do since they are natural actors. Put on small shows, heck, re-enact Daring Do books since those are freakishly popular in Equestria.
>Twilight Sparkle becomes a changeling.
>No Main Six tag present
>Ponders if this is another 'oh, let's uproot my entire life because of this incident' story that is meh.
Opinions, blah blah blah, Equestria/Ponyville/Canterlot is home, not a whole 'let's go somewhere else entirely cause, oops, I'm changing! Oh no, le gasp, magical things!'
... perhaps I'm a little bit salty over some of the 'X becomes a Changeling' focused stories.
Good luck, regardless.
7390276 the first book covers why there is no mane 6 tag.
Long story short Twilight kills Chrysalis, changeling magic is now making her the new queen as since she beat chrysalis she will make a better queen, changelings are banned from.Canterlot by law the nobles pass, the Changelings are a deceptive race so living out in the open with ponies (food) is a no and very unnattual for them. So for now the only place they can go is back to the old hive.
She will Stay in touch with everyone but she has a responsibility to the changelings who now see her as their queen and can't function properly without her around to give orders and run the hive.
It's actually well explained why she leaves and she doesn't just leave. She trys tonstay and intagrate tje hive into equestria and basiclu does what sje can to stay. It actually takes her a lot of thought to decide to leave as she doesn't want to but she is now a rule of a people and mist put their wellbeing above what she wants.
I guess if nothing else Twilight is loyal and trying to be altruistic.
Keep going! ;)
Funny having that come from Madame Cheese-Legs, Chrysalis.
7390276 7390758
Spacecowboy, I know being a story approver means you’d likely be very busy; however, if you read the previous story (which Scorch215 has kindly summarised), you wouldn’t need to be sardonic in the first place.
7389061 It’s only fitting that we hear Takei say it as well:
7389784 What Ponyville needs is a ponyfied Keep Beach City Weird.
Aaaand we're off and running! I can't wait to see where this goes...
u 'avin a wot m8
a sequel?
welp
Like, with a spoon.
Castle are like hotels, it's already factored into their prices.
Looking forward to this story.
Twilight seems to be taking leaving behind everything she's ever known pretty well.
7390124 well the element shouldnt be racist as that goes against harmony and what if the threat stays in canterlot or something?
7391291
Give her time, right now there are many things to study and an endangered species to guide. She'll crack at some point, the Lings need a lesson 0 :)
7390124 The invasion worked well for Chrysalis thanks to the ponies being uniformly buried by idiot balls and her being handed super-powers thanks to the love of one unicorn. Let's not forget, without her convenient power-up, SOMETHING SHE DIDN'T EVEN ANTICIPATE, Celestia would have vaporized her and it would be game over.
She won by PURE PLOT CONTRIVANCE which didn't even bother constructing an internal continuity on any level.
I don't see how the hive will be able to feed from where they are. That this place is barren and inhospitable helps the hive hide, but travel across the dangerous and hot wasteland is a waste of energy and love. Maybe if they were at full strength it would be a minor issue, but as-is they're already in a crisis.
And Twilight's idea for integration wasn't a bad one. It was just... premature. So soon after Canterlot, barely anypony will have a positive attitude towards changelings, let alone be willing to love one. And deception is so much of a tradition for changelings that they're uncomfortable without it (although considering that Honesty is part of the foundation of the most powerful force in the world, they'd probably be stronger if they didn't rely on it in their dealing with ponies).
Also, ew. A slimy Chrysalis stalker shrine devoted to your brother is probably the most disgusting thing to ever come across. I do find it adorable that such an awful, terrible person keeps a diary and hides it under the bed. That's just precious.
And changelings have no right to talk about anypony having too many holes.
7391929
You have to come to terms with the fact that every cartoon confrontation ends in the villain's favor until the friendship lesson is applied, no matter how incompetent or weak that requires the heroes to suddenly be.
7392296 Except Sombra. He barely made it into the Empire and then Spike and Cadance blew him up.
Making him, of course, the most pathetic villain of the series!
Celestia, "I mean, sure I knew he'd be too feeble to put up too much of a fight... but, damn, SPIKE and CADANCE took him out? Damn... now how am I supposed to test Twilight's readiness? Eh, I guess I'll throw some BS together with a spell she's sure to mess up."
7392503
That was after Twilight learned the friendship lesson, though: Ignore stupid rules preventing you from beating the villain. Shining Armor was useless against him.
7392625 Shining Armor's pretty much useless against everything.
th07.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2012/286/4/4/shining_armor_by_alien13029-d5hoimf.png
I am a bit surprised that Twi moved them back to the Badlands hive. In her place, I probably would've moved into the Castle of the Two Sisters; it would make 'friendly-infiltrating' a lot easier.
Just binged through the previous story, and it's nice to see a theme of Changeling Twilight without being evil/corrupt. You also hit the nail on the head for me with changeling nature. They're sneaky sneakers and really don't want to be anything else.
It'll be interesting to see what ideas Twilight brings to her new people.
7393998 pretty much
Wait, what? No more chapter? Damn!! I just got addicted!
Excellent story, very interesting, well written and the jokes made me smile :)
I don't think Twilight's eye color should change at all.
Hey; it's not stealing, it's borrowing without permission. Plenty of people I know do it.
I'm hooked. Can't wait for more.
This one is spicy. Story one was great but this thing is even better. I just wonder if it will get enought updates to work...
7392693 But he can throw his wife like a pro.i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/436/596/2fd.gif derpicdn.net/img/2012/11/12/149654/full.jpg derpicdn.net/img/2013/3/23/277716/full.png
7394869
Would think eye and mane color would stay the same. But changling magic at some point so she's got that going for her
Now that I think about it I don't remember reading about Twilight's friends saying there goodbyes?
Glad to see this continue. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Ya.... I think Chrysalis is weird.
Or was weird.
Well, I'm curious what the bed before that was? Also it's not nice to call a dead Queen a jerk.