//------------------------------//
// Princess Rarity 
// Story: The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen 
// by Diamond Sparkle 
//------------------------------//

Rarity sighed. She did so enjoy the weaving and making of her beautiful, bejeweled dresses, and the fact that the great and the good would make the train journey all the way from Canterlot to Ponyville and then pay the high prices to buy a genuine Rarity Orginal. Even Princess Celestia herself who normally wore only her sacred royal regalia had made a point of publicly dropping in from her sky chariot to buy a couple of Rarity Orginals, something that made sales go up a great deal as all the noble mares then wanted to buy a dress. All the same, it was such...hard...work. So hard that a piece of her fur had dropped off just an hour ago, revealing blackness underneath, something that Rarity felt embarassed about and covered up with her tail whenever anypony came into her shop to order a new dress. It was then that the royal sky-chariot, pulled as normal by two armoured royal guards, came and landed in front of the Carousel Boutique. Rarity came out and one of them said to her "Princess Celestia herself ordered us to go and fetch you and bring you to Canterlot, as there is an urgent need for her to speak to you."

"To me? Oh, I'm honoured." 

I wonder why she wants to speak to me, and only me? Perhaps she has several sky chariots and has sent one to each of my close friends? Or perhaps she has some secret that only I am supposed to know? But then, what could that possibly be? 

She stepped aboard the royal chariot that flew high into the sky and turned in a slow loop, and with some difficulty she slipped her seatbelt on. 

She thought Oh, I hate flying. A fall from this height would surely kill me unless I was lucky enough to land in a lake. Still, those pilots know their dutiesand are trained for this sort of thing, and even if by some chance one of them had a heart attack in mid air, the other could still land this chariot safely.

The pegusai started flying due east and speeded up their flying.

Now I happen to be a pony with a good sense of direction, and Canterlot is to the north of Ponyville, which means that we are flying the wrong way. 

"I'm sorry to be a back seat flyer, but we appear to be flying the wrong way, towards the Badlands, where Changeling Hives are known to be located. I'd really rather we didn't end up there, it's dangerous."

There was no reply from either of the pilots, who just speeded up their flying.

"Now you're creeping me out. I demand that you either change course back towards Canterlot or land this chariot so that I can make my own way there by train. Princess Celestia will be angry if I am late because you delayed my arrival." 

Rarity stamped her hoof in anger and with bursts of green flame, the two pegsuai transformed into insectoid changelings. White wings became green ones and white pony skin was revealed as white chitin. Rarity let out a little shocked scream. 

I've been kiddnapped! I can't jump out at this height or I'll die when I hit the ground, and I can't lash out at my kiddnappers or I'll crash the chariot with the same result. What are they going to do to me, use me as a hostage? Wrap me up in a cocoon so they can drain me of my love? Send an imposter to take my place? 

Ahead of her loomed a mountain and as the chariot headed for the ground, she saw a great crowd of Changelings. An entire Hive-full of Changelings, too many to fight, waiting for her arrival. As the chariot landed the Changlings formed two long lines with an aged Queen Changeling at the end of them who came walking up to Rarity.

This Changeling was old. Her hole-filled limbs shook with the effort of keeping her up. her mane and wings were grey with age, and her once gleaming white carapace had turned a dull gray and lost it's glossyness. Clearly, Changeling Queens might live for a long time, but they were not immortal like alicorns were.

Unless this is some kind of trick, but why would a Changeling Queen take the shape of somepony as old as Granny Smith?  

The Changeling spoke in a surprisingly strong voice for such an old being. "I am Queen Primary of the Silverrock Hive. Welcome, Princess Rarity, daughter of mine and soon to be Queen in my place." And she spoke a few words of Changeling magic.

Rarity felt a little strange, then looked down at her hooves and screamed. Her beautiful white body was now one of white chitin, with insect wings and a long bent horn like a Changeling. "What have you done to me?!" Rarity screamed.

I can't have this, I want to be me again... With a flash of green fire, Rarity turned back into her true self and thought to herself "Was that my magic or am I a Changeling now?" 

She looked at one of her legs and imagined it taking the shape of Rainbow Dash's blue legs, and in a flash of blue that is what it did. Another thought, and she went back into Changeling mode. " Your Majesty," she asked, deciding that being rude to a Changeling Queen whilst she was totally surrounded by the Queen's subjects would not be the best course of action "why have you magically turned me into a Changeling?"

"Oh, you were allways one. Thirty years ago you were born in my royal egg chamber and I loved you from the start. But when you were just a small larva my Hive came under attack. Changeling Hives are sadly sometimes at war with each other to gain territory and, by fair means or foul, the love of the non-changelings within that territory. Whilst we can eat pony food and meat too, we need love to stay healthy. Also, even in a famine and a drought,as long as we have a good source of love we can survive on that alone, unlike any other creature in Equestria. That's why we can survive so well in the Badlands. Anyway, the biggest warlord amongst us was Queen Chrysalis."

"Oh, I know her allright, all too well" Rarity said.

"She and her Hive started attacking the other Hives and killing their Queens. To avoid wars being even more drawn out then they could be, the law of Changeling war is that when one Queen is killed, the other is automatically the victor. They came for our Hive and did quite a bit of damage, to the point where I had a couple of trusted Changelings take you away for safety and I magicked you into unicorn shape. Once the danger was over, I decided to leave you where you were, both to protect you from danger, and so you would not grow up spoiled beyond belief like so many young royal children do. By the time they come to the throne they think only of themselves and their power. I wanted you to develop your own talents and do a well-paid but honest job and you have not dissapointed me. I have called you back because...I'm dying. Changeling Queens, if it does not happen by violence or accident, know when they are going to die,and I've lived for over two centuries. Now, even well nourished by love, this old body is giving up."