//------------------------------// // A memory of Alecia's childhood // Story: The Filly & The Changeling // by Finnie Nara //------------------------------// The permanent shelter was finally finished and they finally had a place to call home although they would expand it whenever they could, even if it was in the middle of a forest. Twilight and Alecia managed to fill the house to the brim with makeshift furniture and rooms to make the place seem more civilised. Many times previously there would be a dangerous and wild animal roaming the grounds and damaging the plants that Twilight had planted, thus prompting Alecia to build a fence surrounding the area. They even had a picnic table just outside of the house. The area surrounding the house was beginning to look more like a field rather than a jungle with all the trimming that Twilight was able to do in the 7 months that they lived there. It seemed as if the world was cut-off from them as during those 7 months not once did they see anypony wandering through the fields looking for them at all. Twilight gave up on trying to recall her memories and decided to focus on creating new ones with Alecia. I wish i could remember the memories i had but its more important that i spend as much time as possible to make memories that can fill up the gaps in my head, thought Twilight, also Alecia hasn't really told me anything much about her past. So Twilight went off to find Alecia in the hopes of learning a thing or two from the changeling. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alecia was busy creating storing light into one of the wooden sticks she made* when Twilight came bursting through the door of their house. Alecia was already quite used to the fact that Twilight loved to burst through doors dramatically the first few times she did so, Alecia thought the was an emergency but it was just Twilight's way of opening doors when she was really excited. Aecia simply placed the wooden stick gently on the table. Her back didn't hurt that much now but there was the occasional ache and cramps but otherwise it seemed fine. "What is it Twily?" asked Alecia "Well i was just thinking maybe you could tell me a story you haven't told me any other than the one where you were blasted across Equestria and landed on your back with a crack" Twilight replied, earning a wince from Alecia from the memories of the pain her back brought her. "Hmm... okay would you like to hear the story of my past?" asked Alecia "Mmmhmm!" responded Twilight enthusiastically "Well ok then along time ago back when i was a hatchling... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alecia walked along the long and dark corridors careful not to make any noise as the corridors would magnify any noise emitted within its walls rather loudly. She descended slowly down the stairs as silently as possible. What she was about to do was rather risky considering the little compensation Alecia would get if the plan was executed perfectly although it would be a perfect way to get back at her. Alecia crept along the walls staying in the shadows so as not to be seen by the guards that were positioned right infront of the doors, what they didn't know was that there was a hidden passage into the room. Somehow, Alecia was not spotted as she entered the room. Those guards really needed to be fired if i can slip past them this easily, Alecia thought, There she saw her lying on the bed breathing in and out calmly not noticing the bucket her hoof was being placed into which was filled with slime and hot sauce covering her sheets. Alecia silently cast a spell that would create a really loud noise as soon as she left the room. And when she said loud, she meant loud as in the whole of Equestria probably heard it loud. After the set-up was complete, Alecia sneaked out of the room and as soon as she was back in her tiny cabin did she activate the spell. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .... Yeah i was laughing for i think 10 minutes straight or something similiar cos' my stomach really hurt when i was done laughing . Unfortunately for me, the others heard it as well (Alecia refers to her birth-mates as others) so i was brought into the room and soaked with slime and hot-sauce covered face with puffy red eyes was Queen Chrysalis. I was unable to stand the sight without laughing so i did. However the queen didn't share my enthusiasm and punished me severely. I still got the scars here from the beating she gave me" said Alecia, indicated to the outside area of her thighs which bore some cracked scales or chitin as Alecia called it, "totally worth it though" "Wow i wish i was there to see it. It must have been hilarious" Twilight giggled at the thought of a changeling queen covered in slime and hot-sauce "Yeah it was pretty funny," agreed Alecia "I guess that memory served me well cos' now i know to never play pranks on royalty again.and it served to discipline me a little-teensy-weensy-bit" "Say, Liloo what does a changeling queen look like?" asked Twilight curiously "Hmm... well a changeling queen is usually taller than us normal folk. and has lots of jewelry and is most of the time the birth mother of a hive. Meaning that if one were to die, the hive would stop having hatchlings and most of the food produced would stop coming in as the queen provides the eggs for fertilising and the uh... slime we eat... though i do prefer fruits and other kinds of produce personally. However if there were to be a shortage of food the slime stored would be able to feed the hive for quite awhile." replied Alecia "I see..." said Twilight as she mentally noted all the facts stated "well seeing as how i'm nearly done with the torches and i have you here do you want to help me finish building the swing?" asked Alecia "Sure thing Liloo!" exclaimed Twilight As Twilight galloped outside into the forest to gather some wood, Alecia thought to herself on how lucky she was to have Twilight with her. She could't imagine what would have happened if Twilight wasn't there taking care of her for the first few months while she recovered from her back injury. It reminded her of when she first saw a severely injured changeling when she was back in the hive... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alecia was flying around the hive, she always did love to fly with the feeling of nothing holding her back, she would fly whenever she could, as such she spent most of her break time flying around the hive. This time, she heard some wailing as she flew past a particular area of the hive, naturally as curious as she was she could not stop herself from investigating the source of the noise. When she neared the area from which the screaming came from, she spotted a silhouette gasping for air as she flew down to investigate. "Help....me..." croaked the changeling in despair as he tried to raise a hoof "Wha...what happened?" asked Alecia "I hit one of the stalagmites and fell down here..." whispered the changeling "get...help...please..." "I...I..." stuttered the young inexperienced Alecia. Standard procedure was to leave any changeling that was a burden or needed special assistance as the hive could not afford to waste its resources and this was a broken changeling. surely the standard procedure could be changed right? There was a tiny hospital in the hive but that was reserved for the queen and they simply would not treat anyone else in the hive. So Alecia had two choices, to kill him or to leave him and let him suffer. Alecia tried so very hard but she could not do it, tears started to flow from her eyes, yes she was a changeling but she was no murderer no matter how dire the circumstances yet if she left, she would be letting the changeling suffer longer.She wanted to relieve the changeling of his suffering but no matter how hard she tried to convince herself she knew that she would never do it. She would never take the life of someone or something directly. And so Alecia did the only thing she knew how to do. She ran. She ran so far away... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...And to this day she was still running although from a different thing altogether, she was still running away. Away from her past.