//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: A Queen's Final Revenge // by Little Wood //------------------------------// A Queen's Final Revenge Chapter Three It's true that when Twilight walked down the stairs to the basement to let out Rainbow she wasn't expecting a hug or even a warm reception, but what she really didn't expect was a ear piercing scream that could have easily been heard from Canterlot. After Rainbow had seen her own reflection she'd galloped to the far corner. She began looking herself over, probably trying to figure out what was going on. Twilight , due to the fact that Dash was now in the hive-mind, could hear all of her thoughts, and one rose above all the rest. Why me. "The answer is quite simple my child. I am now the changeling queen, and I needed you to make sure that we are were survive.", Twilight said in a soothing tone that could calm any pain or end any sorrow and immediately Rainbow stopped freaking out and started thinking rationally. She could feel things that she couldn't before. She could feel a deep connection to the world around her. She could feel magic flowing through the air, she could feel it flow through the earth under her hooves, and most of all she could feel it flow through her. She could feel something else too. A strange presence in her mind, the presence wasn't hostile or anything like that, in fact it felt quite calming soothing even. Then she felt something else, a hoof on her shoulder. "Come now my child",Twilight nudged Rainbow, "I'm sure you have many questions." "No offence but I think I'd rather stay here until i understand what's going on." Rainbow said much nicer than she intended. "That's understandable. We'll stay here until you're ready to go upstairs." said with understanding in her voice. "Okay then, first off what'd you do to me, and second what am I." She asked with fear in her voice. "I converted you. As for what you are, you are now a changeling." Twilight said matter-of-factly. "Okay then next, why aren't I freaking out right now, because I'm pretty sure that I should be freaking out right now." Rainbow asked in a tone that she sure was far to calm for a situation such as this. "You aren't freaking out right now because I'm not letting you. Due to the fact that you're in my hive mind now you're only allowed to do what I allow you to." Twilight once again stated matter-of-factly. "Not sure if I like that ,but I still seem to have my free will so that's a plus. Next question, who are you and do I know you." "Oh yes, you know me quite well actually. Here let me give you a hint." Twilight said with mirth in her voice. She disguised herself like a regular pony. Specifically, herself. Well didn't see that comin'. At that moment Rainbow was glad that Twilight was in her head, because if she wasn't Rainbow would most likely be screaming bloody murder. After Rainbow got over her surprise she got up and asked "Twilight, what happened." "Well that's a interesting story. I know what you thinking, and no I've only been a changeling since this morning. So as I was-" "Wait, wait, wait, ", Rainbow interrupted, "Your telling me you've only been a changeling since this morning. How are you not crazy right now." "All in due time my child, now as I was saying. This morning I woke up as changeling. No rhyme, no reason, I just woke up as a changeling. After Spike came in and tried to beat me to death with a scroll, I calmed him down and convinced him that I was Twilight and not a changeling impostor. Afterwards we went down stairs to find out all we could about changelings from the library. Naturally there was nothing in the whole library that had anything on changelings so I was left to conclude that the reason I wasn't going crazy was because of the fact that I was a changeling. You see as queen I have the greatest natural ability to deceive, and that includes hiding true emotions. And that's when you walked in. You showed up at a very bad time because right then my mind was very fragile from the stress of waking up as a different species. It wasn't anything for my instincts as queen to take over my rational thought and trick you into coming down here and turning you into a changeling. When I came up from the basement ,where you were still stuck to wall, I was disappointed in my self. I made sure Spike wouldn't go down to the basement and disturb you, then I went up to my room to cry. Spike came up to ask what was wrong, I told him that being a changeling was, "Just getting to me." Then I sent him over to Rarity's so I could have some time to think on my own. However I never got the peace and quiet that I so desperately wanted because just after Spike had gone something very unexpected happened." Two Hours Earlier "Why me! Why in all off Tartarus would this happen to me!" Twilight screamed at no one in particular, "I mean really how does this even happen! This isn't a regular magic transformation, as far a I can tell it's a complete re-written my biology." she spoke only to herself, or so she thought. "My queen I have brought a message for you . Twilight wiped around as fast as her new body would allow. She found that behind her was one of her least favorite things, a changeling. It was different than the changelings that had attacked Canterlot. It had the basic build of a changeling, it had the same black caripass, the blue armor on its back, and the same hole ridden hooves. But yet something was different, its eyes weren't the solid blue that the others had, it had the eyes of a predator. Green eyes with a single black slit in the center. She was scared but soon her instincts kicked in and she suddenly felt very regal. "What was that. What would a changeling possibly have to bring me." Twilight asked with as much hatred as curiosity. "Well my queen, I bring a message from from the dearly departed Queen Chrysalis." he spoke ignoring the hatred in the young queen's voice. "What do you mean a message from the 'Dearly departed Queen Chrysalis'." Twilight spoke with question in her voice but managed to still sound regal. "My queen, I mean she's dead and I have message from her." the changeling said matter-of-factly as if it was obvious. "Show it to me then." "As you wish my queen." the changeling's horn began to glow an eerie green, and a viewing portal began to take form. After the viewing portal was formed Twilight saw the one thing that see desperately needed right now, answers. Twilight could see Chrysalis lying down, trying desperately not to let her head fall for fear that she wouldn't be able to lift it back up. She looked so weak and so helpless that for a moment Twilight actually felt sorry for her. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle I presume. If you can't tell by now I am Queen Chrysalis of the changelings, and I'm dying. Now I'm sure you have many questions but our time is short, the changeling showing you this message does not have long to live. So I'll give it to you strait" ,Chrysalis said dropping any form of regality that she had been able to muster in her weakened state, "you're the new queen. By the time you get this message I will have been dead and you transformed into a one of our glorious race. Right now I bet you're wondering how I can conjure such powerful transformation magic in a weakened state such as this." the queen gestured to herself. "The answer is, I didn't. When I tried ,and failed, to take Canterlot I decided that I needed some insurance. You see as queen I have a certain spell that only I, and now you, can cast. Some ponies call it a charm, others a curse, however I call it 'The Heir Spell'. You see it works on a very low level frequency that can't be picked up by regular unicorns. The spell will work its way into your very DNA and hide until the time is right for it to pounce. The spell makes its move the as soon as the caster dies, transforming the target into a changeling. Which is what happened to you. Right after I bound you and your friends to the floor at the wedding I decided that you would make the perfect queen should I die. That is all I have to say. This changeling will stay with you until he dies soon after this message concludes. Good luck and may you lead your hive well." Twilight could do nothing but stand there dumb struck as the viewing screen closed in a pop of green magic. She couldn't believe what she'd just seen. She had been screaming at the the heavens for answers, and what do the heavens do . They answer two questions and make fifty. Twilight was broken from her mental assault on the heavens by a voice behind her. "My queen is there anything I can do to help you before I go." "You can, tell me all you know about the spell that Chrysalis spoke of" Twilight somehow managed to speak with regality considering all that had been dropped on her, "and please don't call me queen, call me Twilight The changeling looked a little weirded out by the request but followed none the less. " I don't know much Twilight, but what I do know is that it's only reversible by the caster and that it transforms the target into a queen, the highest rank of changelings." "So what you're saying is that the only way I can reverse this thing is to get Chrysalis to do it, and that's not exactly possible because she's dead." Twilight said, her power to deceive no longer able to hide that fear and panic in her voice. "Yes." the changeling said "No, no, no, no. This can't be happening, this can't be happening. There has to be a way to reverse this. Maybe I can reverse engineer the spell. No, no, no that won't work I can't even cast the spell how could I reverse engineer something I can't see. Maybe...." Twilight continued to rant like this for several minutes until she noticed something. Behind her the changeling was on the floor, coughing up blood. Twilight rushed over to his side. "Oh Celestia what's going on. "It's like Chrysalis said, I'm dying. I'm the last of my hive. Without a queen to lead the hive it begins to die out. The queen's constant influx of magic is what keeps us alive. Without you our proud race will go extinct because with my death you will be the very last of the changeling." then the changeling lay still on her floor slowing dying. Twilight never did liked the idea of death. When she was a just foal she had a pet dog. She loved that dog so much that she thought that her love would sustain it forever, but much to her despair it wouldn't. She came home from school one day and was excited to play with her little Princess but she was confused when she would call her and she wouldn't com. Her parents had found her calling for Princess and asked her to come sit on the couch so they could talk with her. Her parents had always been rather blunt they didn't mince words they didn't draw it out they just came right out and said it "Twilight, Princess died while you were at school." Those words had hit her like a train. She understood the word death, She'd read about it many times in the thousands of books she'd read while under the wing of Celestia, but she had never had to deal with its ramifications, until that moment. Afterwords she had locked herself in her room for a week. She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't sleep, she wouldn't even leave for school with Celestia. Seeing this changeling dying on her floor she felt even worse she wanted to run away from there as fast as she could hoping to avoid death itself, but she didn't. She felt responsible for this changelings death, after all he had spent his last moment delivering a message to her the least she could do is comfort him as he died. So she began to comfort the changeling, whispering sweet nothing in its ear while stroking the back of its head. __________ "And then he died in my embrace." Twilight finished tears tugging at the corners of her eyes. "I sat there for a while letting my tears fall on his lifeless husk of a body, and that's when I realized changeling aren't the beasts that we make them out to be, there so much more. They're not mindless drones that do nothing with there lives, they have feelings, they do what they do because they must and if it's in my power I'm no going to let them die. That's when I realized that I would do anything to make sure that this glorious race would continue. That's when I realized that I must be there new queen.