//------------------------------// // 20. Time Skip and Changelings // Story: Zombies to Ponies in Ten Seconds Flat // by 8r0ny //------------------------------// The next five years went by quickly.  Between getting settled, transporting our base from the Everfree, negotiating trades with what little we had, we kept busy.  Before Celestia left she asked if any of us wanted to change our form and Matthew and I agreed.  Camden, Cody, and Nyjill were happy to stay in their human forms, but Matthew and I...well we were bigger fans of the show so we took the offer.  It’s not everyday you’re offered a chance to be something from a tv show.  Matthew thought the aspect of flying would be a boon in our settlement, and it was.  I agreed and I also wanted to be a Changeling because fuck yah!  I was also informed that if I practiced long enough I could change into other forms like griffins, diamond dogs, and even humans, but it would be a long process.  Sure there were downsides, like all of Equestria being afraid of your kind and needing to drink an unnecessary amount of liquor to get drunk, but I could also change my appearance and I was immune to hangovers.  So ya, no regrets. As for the island, we used the existing house our new base of operations while we built all the stuff we needed.  We were basically opening a new country so we needed a lot.  The smaller island was going to be our Capitol Hill so to speak.  Although I was basically King, we let Celestia know it would only last a few years after we got the portal open.  After that we would probably resort to a democracy.  I didn’t feel like getting killed to prove a point that humans have already proven dozens of times in the past.  She accepted it but I don't think she really understood it, but that's a future us problem. We completed the lab first in accordance to Camden and Cody's request.  It made sense really, we were mostly trading knowledge for materials since we had basically nothing.  Yet as underdeveloped as we were, our countries worth skyrocketed after selling the knowledge for radio communication, and basic knowledge of aerodynamics.  Two extremely simple things to us but with magic, they were never really addressed here.  After completing the lab, we made a large living quarters for visiting dignitaries and also for the influx of people we would be getting soon.  The building was three stories tall and consisted of sixty dorm-sized rooms.  On the top floor were eight larger rooms we had dignitaries stay in. Whilst building all this we made an agreement with the knowledge hungry Twilight to help us.  We would explain how things worked back home and she would work on getting them working here.  Almost everything electrical was replaced with magic, but it was free like Tesla wanted it to be.  It’s how we got elevators in our Housing building, a magically powered saw mill, and a kitchen that everything just worked.  The biggest accomplishment we had was indoor plumbing.  We set that old house up. And like you would expect if you get Twilight, the main six would follow.  And each of them had their own set of skills that helped us along.   Fluttershy gave us an in-depth report of all the animals living on and around the islands, what ones were dangerous, and how to deal with them.  Rarity helped us locate gems and other metals so we could start mining when we needed materials.  Rainbowdash controlled the weather for us, keeping it sunny and letting us know in advance when we would have a storm or shower.  Applejack was helpful with all things construction.  She was terrified of our lumber workshop at first with all it's magically powered machines, but once she got over that we were building at an amazing pace given there were only eleven of us.  Pinkie kept us fed.  We thought she was all sugar and no nutrients but she could cook like a mofo.  She wasn't even bothered by our meat consumption like the rest of them were at first.  And as stated before, Twilight helped us with almost everything while taking copious amounts of notes in the process.  She even helped me with magic, and did what she could to help me change into a human.  It took about two years of daily practice but I got it finally.  But I could only replicate my human form.  If I tried to change anything I would lose it, Changelings are weird. So Terra was coming along nicely.  We had good relations with other countries, our islands were being slowly terraformed, and we still probably had a while before we had more humans arriving...or so we thought.  Although we have been here for a little over five years, only a month has passed back on Earth.  Camden said they didn't plan on opening the portal for another few months, so we could have up to fifteen years to work.  And if we really wanted to, we could open the portal from this side.  Camden and Cody had been working on that for a while and at year two they sent a note through saying we succeeded and that they can come over as soon as they are ready.  So they’ve had almost three weeks to send out the memo and gather people.  That is assuming there are people still on the other side...we were optimistic. Today was our monthly chat with Celestia and Luna.  Celestia couldn't make it this time so Luna came alone.  We had these chats to let them know how we were doing and if we needed any help.  It was nice having their backing whilst jump starting a country.  The first few included all of us but as time went on the others would only sit in occasionally if they had specific questions, today it was just Luna and I.  They would also give us bits of information on the happenings of the world.  If something was really important they would tell us over the radio we had set up that let us communicate.  But if it was little things like trade agreements and who had the best deals at the time or the likes, we would save them for these chats.  Today's little chat included the state of the Diamond Dog empire. “The diamond dogs are becoming more united so gem prices are falling.”  Luna explained.  “Big Tom was kicked from the head and now there is Rex.  He united the Dogs by appealing to their greed.  So we’re not to sure about what to think of him yet but there's no trouble at the moment.” “Yah, I guess we'll see how this plays out.  What about the ponies around there, they report anything negative?” “If anything there are less reports of raiding.”  Luna said.  “He’s basically unifying all the smaller packs into one big group.” “Huh, anything else today?”  I asked Luna. “O yes, this pertains to you.”  Luna said looking like she just remembered something important.  “The Changelings are back.” “What!?”  I asked surprised.  “Why wasn't this put over the radio, and how did you forget that?” “Calm down, they are peaceful now that Chrysalis in gone.”  Luna said smiling.  “Their new queen, Chloris, has learned from Chrysalis’ mistakes.  She came to us unguarded to tell us about how Chrysalis was dethroned.” “So how does this pertain to me?”  I asked confused.  “I know I’m a changeling but that is hardly a reason to care.” “Because she wants to move here.”  Luna said looking innocently to the window.  “She heard about a new country ruled by a Changeling and became quite interested.  Apparently the fragmented info she got didn't tell her you guys were basically aliens.” “Whaaaaaat?”  I said dumbfounded.  “I don't know about that…” “Neither do I.”  Luna replied.  “We did fill in the blanks for her but she said she can't go back to where she was because the magical energy there is tainted. Her ‘hive’ has shrunk down to pitiful numbers and they need a new place to live or the entire race will die out.” “Sounds familiar.”  I said grinning a bit.  “And I bet Celestia was all for it.” “Yup.”  Luna said.  “She said they shouldn't be punished for their old queens actions.  It is much the case with your race.  But she wasn’t going to just send them here.  She wanted your input.” “I feel bad, I want to let them come, but with an unknown number of people on the way...I just don't know if we can support them.” “So you are saying you would help them as long as they didn't interfere with humanity's continued existence?”  Luna asked. “Well duh, I can't jeopardize our survival to help another race.  But if they can promise to not get in the way of our survival and modernization...we’ll see.”  I said unsure. “Good.”  Luna said breaking into a big grin.  “Because it just so happens that Queen Chloris is here to talk to you.” “What?”  I said dumbfounded.  “What if I said no?” “She accepted that risk when she came along.”  Luna said coolly.  “Let me get her, she’s just outside.” “Well, time for me to put my money where my mouth is.”  I said to myself as I waited for Luna and this Chloris to come back in.  I played with the idea of changing to my natural Changeling form but decided to keep up my human appearance for now.  I heard a strange noise from outside and a rush of hooves.  “O boy.” “Thank you so much!”  A green and black blur said as it bowled into me, knocking me to the ground.  Luna came in shortly after looking worried. “Chloris, calm down before…”  Her scolding drifted off when she saw it was too late.  “I’m so sorry Shawn, she got away from me.” “It’s ok, I know the feeling of hope after such heartache.”  I said whilst Chloris cried into my shoulder as we sat on the floor. “I’m so sorry.”  Chloris said quickly standing back up and backing to Luna's side.  “Let me introduce myself, I am Chloris, leader of the Changelings.” She stood tall and flashed a small smile.  She wasn't too big, maybe a head taller than a normal Changeling, and jet black with green highlights much like my own in my Changeling form.  She must have been a young queen, just starting out with the remains of what Chrysalis had done. “Hello Queen Chloris, I’m Shawn.  Leader in name alone of the human race.”  I greeted.  “Let me start out by saying I can sympathize with what you are going through and I want to help you.  BUT, it can not interfere with the preparations for my peoples arrival.  We don't know how many humans will come, or when, but we have to be ready to ensure the continuance of our race.  I’m sure you can understand that pressure.” “Please, just call me Chloris.”  She said shyly.  “Queen Chrysalis ruined that title, and I don't want to be lumped in with the likes of her.” “I understand.”  I said.  “I will address you as Chloris.” “Well, let me tell you about the Changelings.”  She continued  “We don't need food, just water.  We are great builders.  We make our hive underground so you don't have to worry about us getting in the way.  And there are only fifty of us left.” Luna and I were shocked by the last point.  What did Chrysalis do to reduce the Changelings to such a pitiful state? “You’re in.”  I said before my brain could even process the information. “Really!?”  She asked, trying her best not to get her hopes up. “Are you sure?”  Luna also was surprised. “Fifty of you will not get in our way.”  I said as my mind caught up.  “And I can't turn her away after hearing what her hive has been reduced to.  You can move in as soon as you want.” For the second time today I was tackled by Chloris.  This time I was ready and I kept us off the ground.  She just sobbed and said, “Thank you” for a good five minutes.  After that she regained her composure to ask one last question. “Shawn, can I see your Changeling form?”  She asked quietly sitting in front of me. “I suppose.”  I said smiling.  “Want to see if the rumors were true?” She nodded and I reverted to my base form.  Turns out I was about the same height as she was.  I just thought my teacher back in the Everfree was short but turns out I was tall. “They captured your  likeness perfectly.”  She said her eyes watering up again.  “I will return my king.”  She said.  She bowed low and darted out the door before I could say a thing. “Wait what?”  I said confused.  “Luna?  Who captured me, and what just happened?” “Shawn, did you get taller?”  She said staring at me. “No idea, but who cares!”  I said annoyed.  “What happened?” “I do believe that she chose you as her king, and possibly mate.”  Luna said still eyeing me. “What!”  I yelled running outside.  “Chloris, get back here!  We need to sort some shit out.” It was too late.  She was nowhere to be seen. “I think she went back to her hive to get her people.”  Luna said as she walked out the house.  “It was very kind of you to do this for them.” “How are you so calm about the fact she called me her king’?”  I asked trying to talk with my hands, forgetting I was a Changeling and falling forward. “When you do things for people they respect you.”  Luna said simply.  “She was distraught and you came in as her knight in shining armor.  So she addressed you with the highest authority she knew of, your title as king.” “Then where does the mate thing come in.”  I asked, partly scared to hear the answer. “You two are the same color.”  She said.  “That part was just a guess.” “O you twat.”  I said face-hoofing.  “That was cruel.” Luna just smiled.