____*Ponyville, Gwen's house, Skitter's room, 10:00 AM*____
Skitter sighed as she sat up in her bed, she was holding her medallion tightly, she gritted her teeth as she felt another kick in her stomach, she also felt a sharp pain in her head, she clutched the medallion even tighter as the pain continued.
Soon enough, she felt the pain get even worse, she then clutched the medallion to tightly.....and it broke.
Skitter gasped as the pain quickly subsided, she quickly picked up the now broken pieces of the medallion. "No....no no no no no no!" She attempted to reassemble the medallion in a panic, but it only resulted in failure.
"Damn it!" She cursed quietly.
Skitter looked at the broken medallion, she looked away with a grimace and put it in the drawer, she took a few deep breaths and wiped away tears that were forming on her face. "Why was I doing that?" She asked herself.
Eventually, Skitter looked down at her now large stomach and put a hoof over it. "How did you get here anyway?" She wondered quietly.
Skitter stood up and walked to the door, she opened it up and headed downstairs.
____*downstairs in the kitchen.*____
Skitter was heating up some water for hot chocolate, it was very cold this morning for some reason, but she didn't mind, if anything, it gave her an excuse to have her second favorite drink.
As she heated the water, she couldn't help but try to find her hive, she closed her eyes and focused her mind, listening for anything of use, but, just like always....nothing, not a sound.
She bit her lip as her old life flooded back to her, she shook these thoughts from her mind as she heard someone coming down the stairs. "Hey Skittle." Said the familiar voice of Gwen.
Skitter growled at the mention of her nickname. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" She wondered.
Gwen laughed quietly. "You know I'm never going to stop." She pointed out.
Skitter shook her head and walked over to the table, she sat down and set the hot chocolate on the table. "You think they're alright?" She asked.
Gwen nodded almost immediately. "Of course, Lyaroa has Fang and Roxanne, not to mention Golden, they'll be alright." She replied confidently.
Skitter blinked and stared at her drink before taking a sip, she then stared at it blankly. "Hey.....you alright Skitter?" Gwen asked.
Nodding slowly, Skitter looked at Gwen. "Yea, just trying to keep sane, got a baby on the way and an adoptive daughter to look after, anyone with this situation probably loves having these quiet moments." She replied.
The two sat there in silence after that, only moving when they needed a drink or to reposition themselves, soon however, they heard familiar footsteps going down the stairs.
Skitter looked back and saw Spark. "Hey kid." She said.
Spark rubbed his left eye. "Hey Skitter." The dragon said sleepily.
As Spark made his way to the table, Skitter found herself thinking back on her past, and everything that happened between then and now.
____*many years ago, outskirts of Las Pegasus*____
It was a cool night, the Changeling hive was lively today, the Drones that should have been working, the Warriors that should have been on guard, the Keepers who should have been making rounds, and the Manti, who should have been at the ready, they were all watching as one particular birthing cocoon was opening.
Inside was a young Changeling, one that was long expected to arrive, a female, rare among the Changeling race, and even more so for the Queen herself to take an interest.
The cocoon was hatching, and inside, the young Changeling slowly awoke, the hive waited in anxious anticipation as the Changeling's eyes slowly opened, they could not see their color, as the cocoon was blocking their view, the Changeling blinked slowly as the cocoon continued to crack, until finally.....it finally burst open and the young Changeling fell to the ground, her hooves landed on the ground, holding her up, while the rest of her was on the ground, she closed her eyes and picked herself up a little so that she wasn't on the ground completely.
The young Changeling slowly opened her eyes as she breathed heavily, immediately hearing murmurs, she looked up and saw many of her kind, they were standing around looking at her, she felt a sense of dread and she rose to a kneel, she was confused as they seemed to bow down to someone approaching.
The young Changeling blinked and looked around, she soon saw a Changeling walking towards her, but this one was massive, much taller and more powerful looking than the rest, this Changeling was also surrounded by four smaller but fierce looking Changeling's.
The young Changeling was confused at this point, but as she looked around, she saw that the other Changeling's had risen, she did not know what to do at this point, and didn't know what to say, so when the large Changeling approached her, she did the only thing that made sense......she payed attention.
"Welcome to the hive young one, I am Queen Phera." She introduced.
The young Changeling was unable to understand what exactly that meant, she tilted her head in confusion.
Queen Phera looked down at the young Changeling with a patient gaze. "Young one, it is time to begin the test." She said calmly.
The young Changeling looked up at the Queen curiously, she couldn't understand what she was talking about, but she soon stood up.
"T....te......test?" She eventually said with extreme difficulty.
The Queen looked back to one of the four Changeling's and nodded, the one Changeling then lit its horn, soon enough, a small circular disk came into view and floated down, it landed in front of the young Changeling, on the disk were four items, she didn't know what they were, but she felt something strange in her gut.
"The test is simple, take each item in hoof one at a time." She Queen said.
The young Changeling blinked and reached out to the small sharp object, upon contact, she felt the coldness of the steel, it was strange, she held it carefully for a few moments before setting it down, going to the next item, which was a steel gauntlet of some kind, she picked it up, but felt only cold once more, she failed to see the point, but continued anyway.
The young Changeling then reached for the third item a small stick-like object, it was dry and heavy, but felt nothing from it, continuing on, she reached for the fourth object, but before she could grasp it, she spotted something.....a fifth object, seemingly unimportant and decaying, she blinked as she looked at it, it was round and flat like the disk, but with a diagonal object built into it, she looked up at the Queen curiously. "W....wh....what, I...is?" She asked with difficulty.
The Queen chuckled. "That, young one, is a small and old sundial." She answered.
The young Changeling eyed it for a moment, but eventually looked away from it, she reached out and grabbed the fourth object, it was steel, but not frozen like the others, it was smooth and strangely flexible, but other than that.....nothing, she set it down and looked at the sundial, she blinked and reached out for it, upon contact with the cold stone she felt something inside of her resonate, she seemed to glow and eventually it stopped, she looked and saw that all of the Changeling's jaws were dropped, she blinked in confusion, but upon hearing a small crack behind her, she looked over and saw something shocking and curious.
From inside the cocoon she came from, cracks in the back of it were seen, she blinked as the four Changeling's that seemed to guard the Queen moved cautiously with weapons out.
The back of the cocoon burst open and another Changeling female fell out, murmurs and shocked whispers went through the crowd as this happened.
The young Changeling stood up slowly, her legs slightly wobbly, she slowly approached the new Changeling, as she neared, she collapsed to her feet and she watched the new Changeling slowly rise. "H...he.....hello." She greeted.
The new Changeling rose and soon got into a sitting position, she then looked at the young Changeling curiously. "Hi." She said quietly.
One of the guards approached the Queen and whispered to her. "Your highness, what should we do?" He asked quietly.
Queen Phera watched the two young Changeling's quietly interact, she sighed and looked at the guard. "Take them both to the new Den." She ordered. [1]
The guard seemed confused and shocked. "But your highness....." He looked around for eavesdroppers before whispering again. "You know our laws as well as I." He started.
"Yes?" Said the Queen.
The didn't change his expression. "Then you know one of them must not stay!.....our oldest surviving law clearly states that there cannot be two Princesses, it caused too much strife before!" He reminded quietly but seriously.
The Queen looked at the guard. "I never said a thing about the second one being a Princess did i?....no, I don't believe they are cut out for that, but still...." She looked at the two with a knowing grin.
The two watched the two young Changeling's bond quickly. "Could you tear those sisters apart from each other?" She asked the guard quietly.
____*the present.*____
It was hours later, and the kids were in school, well....all but one.
Skitter held her stomach after a kick, she chuckled to herself as she looked up at the sky. "Phera always did know best all those years...." She muttered to herself as she watched the clouds go by.
Her thoughts drifted to the broken medallion, she growled and trembled at the mere thought of it. "Why did I have to go and break it!?" She cursed herself silently.
Skitter slowly calmed down after a short flight, afterwards she headed back home and had a new thought in mind. 'Ok....calm down, I'll just ask Lyaroa about it when she gets back, but until then, don't think on it.' She told herself as she entered the house.
Skitter walked over and sat down on the couch, she conjured up a crystal canine familiar and played ball with it for a while, but after both she and the dog were done she simply let it vanish.
Another kick in her stomach told Skitter that the kid was other annoyed or hungry. "Sorry little guy or girl, but I can't help till your out." She said as she kicked back on the couch, having nothing better to do.