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// Chapter 1: To do what we must, 
// Story: A Kindled Beginning 
// by Darkevony 
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A Kindled Beginning



Chapter 1:

To do what we must,

Life is a bundle of surprises. In just a few days, it could change dramatically in what feels like the blink of an eye. One moment, you’re destitute in complete darkness for more than half of your life and escaping that stranglehold into the world above, the next you’re sinking back into its grips to save everyone you love by adorning the heavy crown of a broken people.

Changelings in this case. 

Yet, despite the harrowing adventure you might’ve lived in that time, how was it that you were never as clammy, never as anxious, and never as nervous as the moment you walked into your first day of class? Was this some hidden, sinister effect of this... ‘school’ everyone talked about? Even just standing in front of the door and being left to wait with all the eerie, foreboding tension in the world to be introduced to a sizeable class of miniature pony-folk, there was little doubt that adults had a sadistic way of teaching lessons. Was this some elaborate prank perhaps?



Chrys wondered this as she took her first steps into what would essentially become her new normal every day for the foreseeable future. In getting up to the elevated platform in front of the classroom, she had to part the overflowing bright green of her hair from her eyes to see the tall commanding figure of the imposing Miss. Cheerilee. She had been given extremely strict instructions to follow every beck and call of this pony mare before her. 

Or well, all that had been said was, “Make sure you listen to your teacher, okay?”

For Chrys however, this might as well have been meant as an imperative life-or-death order. As a creature with no social experience and not even being able to discern the gravity of importance in other’s words, the poor little changeling was a bundle of nerves as she considered the possibility of every worst-case scenario. How does one do well in school? What if she could not make friends like she was told to? Would she be abandoned again if she failed in these tasks? Was she already abandoned for having failed in some way shape or form without having known how?

It took every ounce of willpower to hold her tears back as she remembered Twilight Sparkle walking away after having dropped her off at school. As a Changeling, her very body struggled to stay intact in her original form, her skin looking like it was stuttering and shaking in waves. Much as she had grown emotionally, she still instinctively felt the need to change her form in her panic. But her promise to the purple alicorn was incredibly important to her, so she did not yield even as she turned to face the rest of the faces of her new classmates at Miss Cheerilee’s signal. Her deeply amber eyes immediately fell to the floor to distract her from the gazes.

Oh boy. This was going to be quite the difficult promise to keep, she already thought.

There was an immediate buzz of excitement, wonder, and even fear in the air with every single tiny pony exclaiming their surprise at the sight of her, whispering amongst themselves aggressively as Miss. Cheerilee left them to talk for a bit. Twilight had discussed the situation with Cheerilee prior to this, and to what Chrys could guess at from looking at her satisfied expression and the amusement in the flame of her soul, was that this was the exact reaction she had been gunning for. Shock therapy for a wounded reputation amongst races.

“Alright, settle down boys and girls. It’s time to introduce our new friend here.” Miss Cheerilee shushed the class with some rather soft words. She hadn’t had to shout or even finish the sentence before every pony became quiet in order to listen in with curiosity. “As you can see with your own eyes, our friend is very special. Would you like to say a few words to introduce yourself?” She said, gesturing over to Chrys who was now looking at her wide-eyed in horror. Her smile did NOT help the poor girl.

Chrys turned her head over to the class and pawed the ground gingerly, trying to muster her courage. As she opened her mouth, nothing came out. She felt frozen with terror as the seconds ticked by, hoping she’d be saved by the teacher. But in the silence, she could feel that Miss. Cheerilee would not budge on this. How cruel.

“Name. Chrys. I am.” She managed to ink out after many agonizing moments in total quiet. “Race. Um. Changeling... Transfer!” She squeaked out the last bit of her introduction in a high-pitched tone, getting spooked by the looks that the class gave her. Now within the mix of emotions in the air was confusion as every pony couldn’t tell if her speech pattern was a joke or a product of nervousness.

Chrys turned to look at the sound of hooves clapping together, Miss Cheerilee applauding her with a bright smile and adding to the confusion for everyone involved. “That was pretty wonderful Chrys, thank you.” She said while draping a foreleg over the anxious changeling. “So there you have it boys and girls, our new transfer student is Chrys, a changeling under the tutelage and care of Princess Twilight. I hope we can all get along with her. I’m sure you all have a lot of questions and concerns about her, so for today’s lesson, we’ll talk about the changeling race so we can learn more about our new friend.” Miss Cheerilee brought a chair for Chrys to sit in while still being in front of the class, much to her chagrin and began the special lesson in front of everyone. “Any questions?”

Tons of hooves, wings, and horns shot up at that moment. The teacher began scanning the room to select one of her own choosing. Chrys couldn’t see what was happening while she hid her face underneath her hair to look down at the ground in her shame. The first to answer was the haughty tone of a particularly pink and self-serving filly.

“Aren’t changelings dangerous? Why is Princess Twilight taking care of her?”

It was never going to be easy. Even as Twilight had explained the concept of school to Chrys, she knew it had been a bad idea from the start. Just her first real meeting with Twilight and her friends, who were more open and tolerating than most other ponies, had been catastrophic as she had seen the scars her race had created. She had been reminded of them just this morning in fact, when she saw the faces and fires of onlookers while walking down towards the school for the first time in public with Twilight. But to hear that question be asked directly right in front of her... well it hurt. It really did. Especially now that she was out here like this trying to make a change. For her own sake and especially for the sake of her kind.

Much as she had hated the idea to start with, Twilight had spoken too much sense to the point of being unable to deny it. If Chrys was to rehabilitate her people into the life and freedom of the outside world, she would need to work on making a home for them. It was her duty as the Changeling Princess to create the roads that led to peaceful cohabitation by making friends of the pony race. However, the first step towards this road began with proper communication, and talking straight was something she was still not capable of especially after a lifetime of living in isolation within total darkness.

These were all the pieces of the puzzle Twilight thought to connect by making Chrys go to school. It not only served to help her work on her speaking ability, but it would also allow her to make friends with ponies who could help increase the reputation and rapport of changelings. While she worked to sway public opinion in her capacity as newly crowned Princess, Chrys would make the beginning steps towards the freedom she sought for her kind. 

What the purple bookworm could not understand in the heat of that excitement, however, was that Chrys was still very young and quite sensitive. She had a similar disposition and temperament to Fluttershy, and her serious personality and incredibly strong emotions made her prone to misunderstandings. The little changeling Princess could also read every creature’s true nature and meaning in their words by looking at the heart of their souls, a living flame in everyone. This was a unique ability only afforded to her, but it meant that as sensitive as she was... being able to understand the real thoughts in others only spelled disaster.

To prove this point, even as Miss. Cheerilee had denied that changelings were dangerous, Chrys could easily see how little that answer had done to disway anyone from that idea. The teacher had purposely chosen that particular pony knowing she would ask it too in an act to emphasize it. But even Miss. Cheerilee’s flame wavered when she spoke, and Chrys was saddened by knowing that she did not fully mean her own words from the bottom of her heart.

Unbeknownst to Twilight, she had cast her into the fiercest battleground of emotions known to pony kind... or really any sentient race for that matter. The dreaded ‘school’ where kids were relentless both on the inside and on the outside. To make matters worse, beyond her special eyes and sensitive personality, as royalty to the changelings of all things, a race who fed on emotions, her magic vessel and aptitude were enormous. Chrys’ magical powers had the capacity to rival even the extremities of Equestria such as the Elements of Harmony, who had been powerless to stop Queen Chrysalis when she had fed on her negative feelings. This was undoubtedly a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.

Shouldering her new reality, Chrys held back tears and struggled to stay in her original form. After finally having been reunited with Twilight, it was obvious how much she meant to her, and how much she wanted to honor her expectations of her. The responsibility she carried had made her see this simple task of 'going to school and making friends' that much more important and daunting. 

For everyone’s sake. She thought in her head. Miss Cheerilee had moved on to teaching every pony in the class a mythicized version of how the changelings fell to ruin, and how it was their collective ‘sacrifice’ that had imprisoned them underground when trying to fight off the powers that ruined their kingdom. It was very far from the truth, but Chrys figured this was part of Twilight’s plan to ease pony society into accepting changelings gradually over time since the current generation of Equestrians only knew of their initial invasion of Canterlot during a royal wedding. 

Children were not as clueless as adults thought they were. They had surely heard of the invasion and the details surrounding it. They knew of the mad Queen Chrysalis, and her bid to rule Equestria. It was why the question that was first asked had even surfaced to begin with. Thankfully, Chrys’ saving grace at this point in time was that they were none-the-wiser about her origins as a Princess, and the direct predecessor to the queen. Even if told directly, they would’ve thought of it as a joke to consider that the scared little girl in front of them was anything more special than just another changeling.

Even so, there were still a few bright minds amongst the ponies who could see the puzzle pieces themselves. Why her name resembled the Queen’s so closely. Why she was the only changeling they were seeing in Ponyville for the first time. And why it was that she was under the supervision of Princess Twilight. Sure, they didn’t have any proof to back up their suspicions, but they understood something fishier was afoot with her appearance here and now. They were not at all scared at the prospect of finding out the truth. Their adventurous spirit made them that much more excited to uncover it. Who were these special little ponies who had come to this conclusion on barely the first day of Chrys’ arrival?

Well, who knows. Chrys didn’t. She was counting down the seconds trying to distract her mind until the end of school as the conversation floated from topic to topic about changelings this, changelings that. Thankfully, Twilight had, had some sense and foresight. She had waited to introduce Chrys to school on one of its shorter days so as to not overwhelm her with her first experience. With the bell ringing early, the Princess herself was waiting outside to pick her up, and the little changeling just about bolted to the door in her absolute relief that she hadn’t been abandoned and happiness of the day being done. 

Twilight and Chrys spent that afternoon furthering her vocal lessons at her home in the library. They practiced formulating complete sentences with little success. 

“Thank you. Very. Much.” Said the sleepy visage of the changeling princess as the sun was beginning to set. 

Twilight very gently used her wings to wipe away at the sleep forming on Chrys’ eyes and smiled at her with all the warmth in the world. “That’s a start Chrys! I’m proud of you.” She said sincerely. “For more than just creating that sentence. Thank you for following along with my idea of going to school. It’s never easy meeting new ponies but I know you’ll do just fine.” She said as she brought her forehead to hers. Twilight had not forgotten how to read the little changeling princess at all and she could easily see the anxiety in her heart. 

“Mm.” Chrys allowed herself to sink into Twilight’s hug to be enveloped by her warmth, yawning at the exhaustion from today’s events.

Before she realized it, Chrys had fallen asleep in that embrace. She awoke to the rocking of Twilight’s back as they walked through the rocky, uneven lands of the Everfree forest towards a familiar cave, her two wings securing her in place. 

“You woke up just in time Chrys, we’re already home.” Twilight said, noticing the shuffling from the confused changeling on her back. “Same time tomorrow okay? I’ll be right here.” The purple alicorn got to her knees to allow the small girl to disembark easily, her amber eyes groggily fluttering open and trying to make sense of her surroundings, straightening up in doing so.

“Mm!” Chrys said enthusiastically. If nothing else, she was happy to hear that she would get to see Twilight again. That single promise alone made going to school worth it. They exchanged one last hug before Chrys slinked back into the pitch-black darkness of the cave, and down, down the cold winding corridors of those ancient tunnels.

As she walked, she could see more crystals having appeared since the last time she had faced the Queen in earnest to save her friends. Their emerald green glow was still faded and dim, but they grew stronger the more she traveled the length of those echoing halls. Finally, she reached a familiar room where her mother slept.

“Go. I. To school. Met lots. Ponies. Saw Twilight. Happy.” Chrys said with enthusiasm while sitting down beside the bed where the unconscious body of Queen Chrysalis lay. 

She continued to practice her vocal lessons as she spoke about her day to the Queen in as much detail as she could muster. Finished with this task, in walking away to move out of the room, Chrys felt the queen’s body restlessly shift within her deep sleep as if troubled by something. She walked over to her to place their foreheads together, much like she had done with Twilight. It was initially a spell that the purple mare had taught her, but it had also become Chrys’ personal sign of affection. 

Inside her head, she recited the chant needed for a particular spell and her horn lit up with the power of her golden Fate, her magic, and it enveloped the two in a soothing warmth. Queen Chrysalis began to breathe easier now that her night terrors had been cast away. Chrys turned around one last time before exiting the room to make sure that the queen was feeling better, and in seeing that she was, she left to go handle the rest of her duties.

There was still a lot she needed to do. She needed to repeat that spell for every single one of the fallen changelings who had been consumed by the madness of the past. Had she really learned anything about the history of changelings if she was still living in those times? She wondered as the night grew older and her powers a little weaker with the exhaustion that came from overusing it.

Finally done, she retired to her own chambers to give her own restless soul time to relax. Even if she had been a little disappointed in herself for having handled the day poorly, she had been beside herself with joy at being able to spend more time with Twilight. More than that, now it felt like she was making real progress towards helping her kind. It certainly beat being that lost little child that had wondered if darkness was the only thing she was ever going to get to know. She wasn’t that same changeling that had thoughtlessly abandoned her duties and almost brought ruin to everyone in her weakness. She was no longer running away from her problems and from herself now that she was taking all of her feelings and emotions in stride.

She had already promised herself many times before. She would do everything in her power to carry those responsibilities to the very end, wherever the road finished. She would brave school, find some friends, and possibly maybe hopefully... Not burn out as a result.

I mean... It was just grade school, right? Can’t be too hard... she thought.