//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 // Story: To Be a Changeling // by PlagueRat //------------------------------// Even after being made up to look more like a changeling, Sandbar still acted nervous. The entire walk back to her room, the colt kept his head down, his ears folded back and his tail tucked between his hind legs. “I’m back,” called out Pupa as she trotted through the chambers entrance, “and look who I got!” Chrysalis peered up from an unrolled scroll and give her daughter a quizzical look. Odonate, who had replaced Phasmid at some point while she was out, turned half way around and quirked a questioning eyebrow as Sandbar sluggishly walked over the threshold. Tsetse followed right behind the colt. “Tsetse, what’s going on?” her mother said in a neutral tone but with narrowed eyes as she looked Sandbar up and down. “Why is that pony out of his cocoon?” “The princess released him you’re highness,” the scout said after bowing to the queen changeling. “She wanted a playmate.” “Did she free any others?” asked Odonate, who turned fully to face the trio. “No sir,” answered Tsetse, “only the colt, and the incident was discovered immediately.” “Why does he look like that?” Chrysalis asked, slowly rising to her hooves. “He’s a changeling now,” chirped Pupa who trotted in a circle around Sandbar. “But he still needs wings.” “I’m not sure if I should find this humorous or insulting,” muttered Odonate, who lifted Sandbars head up by placing a hoof under the colts chin and looked over the ponies’ face. “Whose idea was this?” “Mine,” the nymph beamed up at the guard, “so he doesn’t have to be scared about being around changelings.” “By the hive,” hissed Chrysalis while placing a hoof between her closed eyes. “Pupa, you can’t go around releasing ponies from their cocoons and ponies should be scared of changelings, they are just food for us.” “But we can play with them too right?” questioned Pupa. “Katydid and Lacewing would talk about playing with ponies all the time.” Odonate choked on whatever he was about to say and had to take a few steps back from Sandbar to compose himself. Sandbar’s cheeks would have been bright red had his fur not been dyed black. Tsetse was now wearing a smirk from ear to ear and Chrysalis just sat on her rump and pressed her hoof harder between her tightly closed eyes. “What?” innocently asked the nymph, looking from one changeling to the next. “Okay, Odonate, Tsetse, take the colt back to the feeding chamber and return him to his cocoon,” her mother said, punctuating her command with a stomp of a hoof. “No!” interjected Pupa, “We haven’t even played anything yet!” “Pupa,” began Chrysalis but stopped when she looked into her daughters watery eyes. “Please mom,” the nymph whimpered. “Just a few games?” “I can’t believe I’m about too,” her mother’s voice trailed off into a grumble of unintelligible words and returned in a slight growl, “very well.” “Woo!” cheered Pupa who, reminiscent of a baby goat, hopped up onto Sandbar’s back, then off and back down onto the floor. “Uh, maybe you could let me go too?” the colt timidly asked. “You know, after a few games.” The three older changelings in the room all gave Sandbar the same apathetic look. “Or I could just stay and learn about changeling culture,” quickly said the pony, with a nervous smile. “Oh! He needs fangs too!” the nymph said. “I’ll need to make him fangs later.” “Would you like me to stay and guard the pony your highness?” Odonate asked. “No, you both can go,” Chrysalis said, “I can handle him if he tries something stupid.” “As you wish my queen,” both the guard and the scout said, bowing respectfully before leaving the room. Pupa trotted over to the pile of left behind games and started to lay them out next to each other. One caught her eye right away, having a picture of a grinning changeling on the cover who was flying away from a group of ponies. “This one has a changeling on it!” the nymph exclaimed and then unsuccessfully attempted to levitate the box, which was much heavier than a pebble, with her magic. “Let’s play this one first.” Shuffling over to take a look at the assorted games, Sandbar frowned deeply at the one Pupa picked out. Seeing his reaction, Chrysalis gracefully walked over and scowled after viewing the boxes cover. A soft green glow enveloped the game, lifted it into the air and turned it around so her mother could read the back of the box. “Maybe we should play a different one,” the pony suggested. “No,” her mother said, placing the box back down at Sandbars hooves. “I think you should tell her the name and read her the packaging first.” Looking visibly uncomfortable, the colt nudged the box as if it was toxic. Pupa looked from Chrysalis to the pony, her ears twitching and confusion etched on her face. “Find the Changeling,” Sandbar read from the box,sounding unenthusiastic. “A game about hunting down a nefarious monster.” “Go on,” said Chrysalis, returning to her pillow pile and waving a hoof at the colt for him to continue. “A sneaky changeling has found its way into town and replaced one of the citizens,” Sandbar resumed reading aloud. “It’s up to you and your friends to track it down and expose it to the princess before it can complete its dastardly plan. Take turns finding clues and using your wits in figuring out which pony is really a foul changeling in disguise. Once you gather enough evidence to make an accusation, race your piece to Canterlot Castle and inform the Princess. Guess correctly and send that evil changeling off to rot in the Canterlot Dungeons; but guess wrong and your piece goes to the changeling hive… Two to eight players, for all ages, some assembly required.” The excitement had slowly drained away from the little nymph as Sandbar had read and once he finished Pupa could only stare up at him silently. She turned away from the colt and walked over to her mother and pressed herself against her parent’s carapace. Chrysalis placed her front hooves around her child and held her protectively. “Pony,” her mother said, “why don’t you just bring that checkerboard over here and set it up.” A few one-sided rounds of checkers went by between her mother and Sandbar with the changeling queen winning each time. Eventuality Pupa had pushed aside her morose feelings and inserted herself into one of the games and took over playing from there. While she didn’t do anywhere near as well as Chrysalis, she didn’t let it upset her. “Learn from your mistakes, plan ahead,” her mother coached but never attempted to suggest a play or stop a bad move. Eventually checkers was set off to the side and exchanged with a different game. It was about guessing the location of your opponent's tokens across a sky based grid while they try to do the same to yours. Pupa had picked up on this one quickly and noticed that Sandbar liked to hide his tokens in the corners. This continued on between Pupa and Sandbar through several different games and gradually both the nymph and the colt began to grow tired. Pupa had ended up falling asleep next to her mother right in the middle of a game about slides and stairways. “What would you like me to do with the colt my queen?” asked Odonate as he looked over at Sandbar, who was off on the other side of the chamber and asleep, curled up on Chrysalis’s least comfortable pillow. “Nothing, for now,” said Chrysalis while tenderly stroking her daughter's mane. “I have my own use for him.” “For what?” the guard asked. “Pupa needs to learn ponies and changelings can’t get along,” explained Chrysalis, “and I’m going to get him to do just that.”