//------------------------------// // Chapter 44 // Story: To Be a Changeling // by PlagueRat //------------------------------// On the outside, her mother appeared the picture of confidence as she lounged along her side atop her pile of comfortable pillows. Inside however Chrysalis was nervous. Only because she was sitting right next to the changeling queen could Pupa sense it, and just barely at that. It was like catching a brief scent and then losing it immediately; you knew you smelt it, but before you could confirm that you had, it was gone without a trace. The nymph looked back at her parent and give her a small smile in an attempt at showing her support, what little she could anyway. Her smile must have been a nervous one, since she was slightly worried herself concerning the event that was about to take place, and her mother placed a reassuring hoof on her withers. “Everything will be fine,” Chrysalis whispered to the nymph. “I’ve been handing troublesome creatures for a long time and they won’t cause anyling harm. Just remember what I told you, we’re the predators, they are the prey.” “Predators shouldn’t fear the prey,” continued Pupa. “Prey fears the predator.” “That’s right,” said her mother, “what else?” “We’re predators but we are not mindless beasts,” said the nymph, “be cautious with prey because even a mouse can strike back when cornered.” “Good,” Chrysalis leaned down to nuzzle her daughter and Pupa gladly accepted the affection while taking comfort from her scent. “Now pay close attention to me. I’m going to control this meeting by throwing her off with only a single sentence.” “I will,” chirped the nymph with a nod. A few changelings began to filter into the chamber now, Mosquito and Phasmid among them, and took positions on either side of the room. With a nod from her mother the closest changeling to the entrance cleared his throat and began to speak. “Her highness is ready” he said, “They may enter.” The purple alicorn entered the room, trotting alongside a powder white unicorn with a violet mane. Both mares took each step with a determined poise. While the unicorn kept her head up, wanting to show them just how self-assured she was, it was the alicorn that held Pupa's attention. She didn’t appear the same way she had those few days ago; now her eyes simmered with resolve. Both mares stopped and stood in place at the halfway point between Chrysalis and the exit, then a long pause of silence filled the chamber. “Twilight Sparkle,” her mother said in a dual tone while keeping her voice sweet as honey, “how are your brother and sister-in-law fairing these days?” As if she had been struck in the chest by an arrow, the alicorn, Twilight, tensed up. Both of her eyes widened and one of her ears twitched. The white coated mare leaned over and whispered something out of the corner of her mouth which seemed to restart the alicorn’s breathing. Chrysalis gave them both a vulpine grin then ran her tongue over her fangs. “They were already cocooned when I last saw them,” her mother went on in her normal voice, “so we never had a chance to… catch up.” “They’re fine,” answered Twilight with a tinge of abhorrence in her tone. “Happily married, deeply in love, and raising a wonderful foal; despite any of your disruptions.” With the smile never leaving her lips, Chrysalis rested her cheek on the back of a perforated hoof. Her sharp emerald eyes glowed briefly and she tilted her head, causing a part of her long mane to slip over one eye to rest against her muzzle. “So nice to hear that,” the queen purred, “but it seems you’re not in the mood for pleasantries. Perhaps we should get right to the colloquy about the issues at our hooves.” “Yes, I think that would be for the best,” the alicorn agreed. “I request the immediate release of any captives currently in your possession.” “We are disinclined to acquiesce to your request,” answered Pupa, causing all eyes in the room to shift focus onto her. Though she was completely unsure as to why she said that or how she even came up with such a phrase, she felt compelled to add one last sentence. “It means no…” A long uncomfortable hush passed and the nymph swallowed the little lump that developed in her throat. Chrysalis then let out a mirth filled chuckle and reached around her daughter’s barrel to pull her against her chest. The alicorn exhaled, adopted an unimpressed look and cleared her throat. “I have to agree with my daughter,” Chrysalis said, “unless you can give me a good reason to turn them over to you.” “Because they had nothing to do with any attack on you,” said Twilight, her determination appearing to return. “Especially not my students.” “Then perhaps you could enlighten us with who did?” pressed her mother. “I don’t know,” answered the alicorn, “but it certainly wasn’t me or Thorax.” “So you say,” said her mother, narrowing her eyes. “Because it’s true,” the alicorn curtly said before continuing. “Look, let’s start by going back to the letter you found. Yes, it is one of my enchanted scrolls and it did have my personal seal on it, but after doing my own investigation on it, I believe it was stolen from my home. I think someone forged the message on it in an attempt to causes a fight between us.” “Stolen from your castle?” asked the changeling queen. “Yes,” Twilight nodded. “Don’t you have some kind of security?” questioned Chrysalis. “Guards? Wards? Perhaps something called a lock?” “Of course I have locks,” said the alicorn, “but I’ve never had any use for guards or wards.” “You are a princess right?” asked her mother. “The other princesses have guards, though they are mostly for show.” “What does that have to do with any of this?” sighed Twilight. “Because maybe if you had some kind of protection set up in your castle, no one would have been able to steal from it,” deadpanned Chrysalis, “and we wouldn’t be in this situation.” “You’re blaming this on me?” balked the alicorn, frowning deeply and fidgeting her wings slightly. “How could I have expected something like that to happen? How could anypony!?” Chrysalis let out a scoff and rose to her hooves. Her horn glowed softly and Pupa felt herself being lifted from the pillow pile to be placed on her mother’s back. With a few graceful strides, the changeling queen walked up the two ponies, overshadowing them with her height. “I have lost twelve children sparkle,” Chrysalis hissed, “I almost lost them all. I’m entitled to blame someone.” The alicorn stared up at the queen in silence, not backing away from her menacing stature. Then her violet eyes glanced to the nymph and took on a tinge of sympathy. “Chrysalis,” said Twilight softly with only compassion in her voice, “I’m sorry about what happened, and I understand how you feel but-“ “No, you don’t understand,” snapped her mother, lowering her head so she was almost muzzle to muzzle with the alicorn. “You have no idea what it’s truly like to lose a child and you have no right to say you understand unless you have.” "You’re right,” admitted Twilight, lowering her eyes. “I don’t know what it’s like. I can only imagine how hurt you feel.” Slightly appeased by the alicorn’s concession, her mother raised her head up again, giving Twilight back her personal space. “Since you’re in the mood to be understanding then I hope you can understand why it’s so easy for me to believe you and Thorax had some involvement in this,” Chrysalis said. “Since your student and him both worked together to poison the minds of my changelings.” “Starlight and Thorax didn’t poison their minds,” defended Twilight, “they showed them they don’t have to steal love to survive. Thorax is leading them to a better way of life.” Again her mother scoffed, turned her back on the alicorn and she shook her head as she took a few steps away. “Thorax is leading them to their graves,” her mother said. “What do you mean?” asked Twilight. “Do you think that in all the thousands of years changelings have existed, or even in the hundreds of years I’ve been alive, that there weren’t a few like Thorax?” Chrysalis put forth, looking back over her withers at the alicorn. “What do you think happened to them?” “There aren’t many records on changeling history,” said Twilight, “and I can’t say I remember coming across any similar stories.” “I’ll enlighten you then,” Chrysalis said, returning to her pillow pile and sitting on her rump. She levitated Pupa from her back, placed the nymph in front of her and gently ran a hoof over her mane. “Their pretty colors will fade, their chitin will become brittle, their wings will crumble and then they’ll be no more than empty shells.” “That’s… awful,” whispered the unicorn, placing on of her shiny hooves over her mouth. “I’m sorry but how can I believe that’s true?” asked Twilight. “Every one of Thorax’s changelings that I’ve meet seems to be completely healthy.” “What they did is like pouring a pile of dry leaves on a fire,” her mother explained. “It will burn brighter for a short amount of time but it will use up its fuel all the faster. For a few years they should be fine, maybe even for a decade or two, but then a sickness will set in. I know because I watched it happen before.” A few of the changelings in the room began to whisper to one another and there was the sound of nervously buzzing wings. “Let’s say I believe you,” the alicorn said, obviously suspicious, “could anything been done to help them?” “I don’t care if you believe me,” said Chrysalis with no anger in her voice, just an acceptance, “and there is no way to help them.” Twilight became momentarily withdrawn, a hoof against her chin and her eyes focused on the stone floor. Seemingly content to let the alicorn be for the moment, Chrysalis began to groom her daughters mane, fixing a tangle in the back and slipping the hairs behind Pupa’s ears. When the nymph looked up at her doting mother she could see the specter of regret in the matron’s eyes. “Excuse me,” the white unicorn spoke up with her strange accent, “I know a lot of new information has just been divulged, and it is rather daunting, but perhaps we’ve gone a little far off topic?” “Yes, I agree,” said Chrysalis, “let’s get back to the business at hoof. The release of a half dozen guards and your students, and yes I did say students. Four more of the little dears came to us all on their own, almost like four other uninvited visitors from years past; only this time they didn’t get very far.” “If you harmed a-” the alicorn began. “Please save it Sparkle,” her mother sighed, “calm you’re fetlocks, they’re safe and sound.” The nymph nodded, thinking Gallus, Silverstream and Sandbar to be perfectly fine when she was with them. “What are your demands then?” asked the alicorn, her eyes slightly narrowing.