It was late in the evening by the time Fluttershy left the library in high spirits. All her friends had accepted her, and she felt incredibly joyful. She hummed a happy song as she opened the door of her cabin.
However, she noticed quickly that something was different. Namely, the huge hole in the floor, which had a soft green light radiating from it. Nervously, Fluttershy walked over to it, and peered over the edge. A small cavern, lit by that green light, lay there, and she saw something moving around down there.
"H-hello?" Fluttershy quietly said.
A changeling drone wearing a blue wizard hat popped into view. "Oh, hello Queen Fluttershy. Trixie was just remodeling." she said, as she moved something out of sight.
"Under my house?"
"Well, since you are Trixie's queen, this is Trixie's hive now." Trixie responded, matter-of-factly. "Trixie is merely creating a living space."
Fluttershy hopped into the hole lightly, fluttering her wings to slow her descent. In the hole, she saw green pods of goo and glowing dripping slime on the walls. "What do you think?" Trixie asked, smiling expectantly.
Surprisingly, Fluttershy felt rather at home in these alien surroundings. Perhaps it was because she was a changeling. "I don't know why, but I like it..." Fluttershy said, quietly.
Trixie beamed. "Splendid! Trixie is glad she was able to meet with her queen's approval."
"But... what about the animals?" Fluttershy asked, feeling concern about how they'd react to these drastic changes.
"Trixie hasn't noticed any animals making any fuss, so Trixie assumes they don't mind." Trixie said, turning around to move one of the goo pods around, revealing Angel latched to her leg, biting at Trixie's thick exoskeleton.
--
A few hours later, and a quick letter to Applejack, a trapdoor was installed. Trixie was rather nonplussed, but helped build and install it anyway.
"Now this is really somethin'" Applejack remarked to Fluttershy after the door was put in place. "Ta think that Trixie was not only a changeling, but yer changeling." Applejack let out a low whistle. "Life sure is strange sometimes, ya know?"
Applejack tipped her hat, and left, as Fluttershy waved. "Thank you so much!" She called after her.
"Not a problem!" Applejack responded.
Fluttershy went back inside the cabin and closed the door. The animals had all settled down, now that there wasn't a glowing pit in the middle of the floor. Angel glared at it suspiciously, but seemed to have also calmed down.
Fluttershy sighed, and climbed up the stairs to her room, before collapsing on her bed. Though the day ended well, Fluttershy was completely exhausted.
--
Fluttershy was walking down the streets of Ponyville, happily looking around at all the smiling ponies who waved at her. She felt really good!
Suddenly, she stopped, as she felt her forehead tingling. Her horn suddenly appeared, and suddenly, in a burst of green flame, she transformed into her changeling form! She panicked, as the onlooking ponies gasped in horror at the large Changeling Queen standing near them.
The green flames didn't die down even as time continued to pass, they merely continued to increase in intensity...
Then everything was on fire.
--
Fluttershy woke up in her bed, screaming. She looked around, panicked, before slowly realizing that there was no flickering green light out the window, no sounds of screaming ponies. It had just been a dream. Trixie burst into the room. "My Queen!" She yelled, in changeling form, "Are you alright?"
Fluttershy slowly slowed her breathing. "Y-yes, Trixie. It... was just a nightmare." she said, slowly calming down. "I just dreamt I turned into a changeling and... and then everything was on fire."
Trixie paused, looking at Fluttershy, before responding slowly. "Well, Trixie hopes that your nightmare does not keep you awake. Changeling flames do not work like normal fire. Your dream couldn't really happen."
Trixie smiled, and slowly walked out, closing the door behind her as she called "Now go back to sleep, Queen Fluttershy. Trixie will keep you safe."
Fluttershy wished Trixie had been more specific, but she did feel a bit better, and she slowly settled back into her bed.
--
The rest of the night was dreamless, and soon it was morning again. Fluttershy awoke to the sound of birds chirping, and for a moment, all of what had happened was forgotten as she lay there, listening to the birdsong. That illusion was broken as Trixie opened the door. "Good morning, Queen." Trixie said, smiling as she stood at the threshold.
"Oh, good morning, Trixie." Fluttershy responded, everything that had happened returning to her. She slowly got out of her bed, and walked over to the door.
Trixie's wings buzzed as she slowly flew down the staircase in front of Fluttershy, her hooves barely above the staircase. Fluttershy couldn't help but find this a little cute, as this motion strongly reminded her of a hummingbird.
--
The day carried on, as Fluttershy and Trixie took care of the animals together. At first, Trixie had a lot of trouble, as none of the animals trusted her, and she was frankly quite poor at taking care of small animals. With some guidance from Fluttershy, and Angel being in a slightly more forgiving mood than usual, Trixie eventually got a general idea of how to do it.
"Excellent work, Trixie!" Fluttershy said, smiling gently.
"Was there EVER any doubt?" Trixie responded, grinning cockily, ignoring Angel latching onto her leg again.
Time passed in this way, until around noon, when there was a knock at the door. Fluttershy stopped trying to coax a group of bunnies out of the little changeling hive and headed over to the door. "Coming!" She called, opening it.
"Howdy!" Applejack said, tipping her hat. "Just came to see how y'all are doin', and how Trixie is settlin' in." She smiled, and gestured at a small basket at her hooves. "Pinkie asked me to bring these over to ya, too."
Fluttershy looked in it and saw a collection of small cupcakes, with an especially thick green frosting, reminiscent of the slime in her mini-hive. "Oh. Thank you, Applejack. We're doing fine here." Fluttershy smiled. "And thank Pinkie for me. Would you like to come in?"
"Sure!" Applejack said, stepping in. "Howdy, Trixie." She tipped her hat at the Changeling, who at that moment was being chased by a group of squirrels. Trixie stopped to respond, only to have a squirrel make a great flying leap and attaching itself to her face.
"Trixie's been doing much better." Fluttershy said, smiling gently.
Applejack watched, chewing on a bit of straw. "If this is better, I don't think I wanna know what happened when y'all started this." She muttered, as Trixie, unable to see, crashed into the wall, dropping a birdhouse onto her head.
--
Eventually, with some assistance from Applejack, Fluttershy managed to get the animals calmed down.
"Trixie requests that she never has to do that again." Trixie said, putting a small bandage on her face where one of the squirrels gnawed on it, managing to crack her carapace.
"I... think that would be for the best, Trixie." Fluttershy said, as she continued to try to coax Angel off Trixie's leg.
"Sheesh, looks like y'all got yer hooves full here." Applejack said, "I was plannin' on headin' back to the farm, but..."
"Oh, don't worry about us, you've already helped a lot." Fluttershy said, tugging at Angel. "Trixie and I will be fine here, you go ahead."
"Well, if ya insist. See y'all later!" Applejack tipped her hat, and then left the cabin.
Fluttershy used this time to take out the cupcakes. She ate one, and found it to be just as delicious as Pinkie's foods usually were.
--
A knock rang out, and Fluttershy walked over to the door, and opened it. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom all rushed in, knocking Fluttershy over.
"Alright! Time for the next meeting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in Fluttershy's House to commence!" Scootaloo yelled, as she rushed past, not even stopping. Fluttershy immediately realized that today was the day she was supposed to be watching them, as Rarity had an appointment with a Canterlot clothing boutique, who a week ago wrote her saying they were interested in stocking her dresses.
Fluttershy looked around, unsure of what to do. The trapdoor was obvious in the middle of the floor, and thankfully at the moment Trixie was down in the hive. "Well, hello girls..." Fluttershy said, quietly, forcing a smile. She had to get them out of the main room, before they found the hive. "Oh, it's such a nice..." She glanced out the window as she spoke, "...evening out there... shouldn't you girls go play outside while the sun is still up?"