//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: A Changeling of Heart 
// by Sun 
//------------------------------//

	"Mama?"
The Changeling foal's voice seemed to echo around the cave walls. He laid there, taking in the empty space, nothing but the wide, dark, barriers surrounding him and his mother. The only sense of light in the cave, was the small gap at the entrance, where small shimmers of brightness sneaked their way into the den. The foal blinked, his small, wide eyes gazing the floor, when his mother's head popped up.
"Yes, Shatter?" Shatter's mother raised herself to sit beside her son, her jaws showing fangs as she opened up in a yawn. "What is it?"
"Will...will you please tell me the story again? The one about Canterlot, and our queen?" Shatter begged as his mother pulled him closer into her hooves. She smiled down at him.
"Alright. I will tell you again." Shatter fluttered his tiny wings excitedly. He had heard the story many times before, and though it was a dissapointing story to all of the Changelings, it was still his favourite out of all the tales his mother told him.
"A while back, way before you were born, our queen decided to try and consume control of the land of Equestria." His mother began softly as her and her son laid inside the dark cave. "She flew out armies of Changelings to attack Canterlot, and cleverly desguised herself as Princess Cadence, who was soon to be the bride of the one stallion who was holding our plan back."
"Shining Armor." Shatter inturupted. He had heard this story so often from his mother, that he knew it by heart. "He was the one who put the protection sheild around Canterlot, right?"
Shatter's mother giggled. "That's right, little one." Unlike most Changelings, Shatter's mother, Frost, was kind and sweet. She wasn't to fierce towards the ponies in Equestria, unlike Shatter's father, who had joined the army and fought. His father had never even met him, and had left Frost later on after the fight, when he realized that she was going to give birth to his son.
"Now, our queen drained Shining Armor's love for the princess, in order to make his protection spell weak so that our armies could fly into Canterlot, and attack. But, one unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, saw through the disguise Queen Chrysalis had made, and got her to reveal herself as a Changeling at the Royal Wedding. Our queen sent our armies in anyways, and we attacked the ponies throughout Canterlot. Twilight and her friends though, fought back. The real Princess Cadence went to Shining Armor, and their love overpowered Queen Chrysalis, sending her and our army back to our caves here."
"Was dad mad that we lost?" Shatter questioned his mother once she finished talking. He knew that this question might upset his mother, but he wanted to know. 
"Your father was pretty unhappy," Frost stated. "He changed then, no longer the Changeling I loved. He always became angry easily, and he always talked about how he wanted nothing more then revenge on those ponies in Equestria. He didn't love me anymore, and when he found out that I was pregenant with you, he wanted nothing to do with you.
"Who is my father, mama?" Shatter never even knew his father's name.
Frost sighed. "He was a great Changeling, really. An excellent fighter-"
"No, I mean what was his name?"
"His name?" Frost stopped. "Well...if you must know, his name was Shadow."
"Shadow," Shatter repeated the name silently to himself. "Shadow..."
"I only whished you could have met him," his mother sighed.
"Do you think, mama, that when I grow up, I will be a great fighter, just like my dad?" Shatter bounced excitedly, dreaming of him being the head of a Changeling army, or even a king!
But Frost was hesitant. "Well, Shatter..."
Shatter stopped his day dreaming and looked up at his mother. He flopped down on his flank and sighed. What was he thinking? He could never be a fighter, never. All the other Changeling foals made fun of him. He just thought that maybe one day, he could be something...
Frost pulled her son closer,pressing her cheek against his. "You will be something great, one day." she whispered to her son. "I have faith in it."
"But I won't be a fighter, will I?" Shatter puffed. "I'm just useless. I can't so anything right. Not with my stupid horn that is." Shatter held back tears from streaming down his tiny face. "Why did this have to happen to me? I don't deserve any punishment!"
"Honey, you having a disability in your horn isn't a punishment." Frost soothed. "Just because you can't produce magic, dosn't mean you're different from everyone else."
"Yes it does!" Shatter burst, teardrops hitting the floor as he sobbed uncontrolably. "I can't do anything with the other foals! They just make fun of me! It's not fair!"
"I know, Shatter, I know." Frost pulled her small son into her arms, wraping her holy hooves around him. "But I love you, and that's all that matters. I dosn't matter if you can't levitate anything, or change into a disguise."
"But mama," Shatter was calming down. "That's what Changelings do. They change into other creatures or oblects. That's why we're called Changelings. If I can't do that...then maybe I'm not a Changeling after all."
"Shatter don't say that!" Frost exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. "Of course you're a Changeling, dear! And you're not useless either."
"Yes I am." Shatter mumbled half to himself. "I can hear them whispering outside our den, mama. The others. They talk of me and my useless, dumb, stupid horn."
"It's true, they're have been talks."
Shatter jumped at the voice, scrambling behind Frost to see who had spoken. Before him stood his own queen. Queen Chrysalis and two Changeling guards. As Chrysalis moved closer, Shatter felt himself pressing into his mother more. He trembled as Chrysalis locked her green eyes on him. He did not fear his queen, but something today made him quiver under her feet.
"These talks of your useless ability have made me think, Shatter." Chrysalis said, turning to Frost. "And I believe we've made a decision about what to do about it."
"Who's we?" Frost demanded.
"We? Why, the entire species but you and your son, of course."
"What decision?"
"I told you," Chrysalis snarled. "The decision about what to do with your son."
"What are you talking about?" Frost screeched, throwing herself to her hooves to stand strong and tall in front of her son. "Tell me the decision!"
"Well..." Chrysalis shuffled a hoof on the dusty cave floor. "It seems as though we have all come to an agreement that Shatter here is practically unable to do any of the tasks that meets a Changeling's standards so...I'm sorry but I don't believe he is able to stay here."
Frost froze. "W-What?" She trembled over her son. "W-Why not?"
"Well for starters," Chrysalis stated. "He can't exactly make magic, so there is no point in him staying and-"
"He's my son!" Frost snapped at her queen. "So what if he can't produce a spark?"
"If we did keep him, he wouldn't be able to do anything, it's an extra mouth to feed." Chrysalis ran a hoof through her matted mane while she spoke. "Others would just tease him-"
"So you're saying that instead we should throw him out in the snow?" Frost inturupted with a hiss. "What kind of a queen are-"
"SILENCE!" The queen Changeling roared. Her guards stepped over to Shatter and his mother, baring fangs as they crouched beside them. "How dare you speak to your queen that way? Guards! I was going to wait untill later, but, escort the useless one to the edge of our cave, and make sure he leaves and dosn't ever return!"
"NO!" Frost tried to fight off the guards but one threw her to the side while the other grasped Shatter by the neck and began to drag him across the floor. His mother pushed guard off her. She turned to Chrysalis. 
"How dare you do this to my son! He's only a foal! He won't survive out there! Please! I beg of you!" Frost began to sob at her queen, trying to make her feel guilty. But Chrysalis said nothing, only sat and watched as her guard hauled Shatter away.
"Let me go!" He shrieked as the Changeling guard draged him harder across the rock floor. "Let me go now!"
"Shut up, kid!" The guard growled as he reached near the end of the cave. "Almost there. Just think, no one else is ever going to tease you again, at least."
"But I don't want to be thrown out!" Shatter protested, tears dripping down his face. "I want to be with my mother!"
"Sorry. " Chrysalis padded up behind them. "It's our best option right now."
"It maybe yours but it's not mine!" Shatter sobbed. He spotted Frost out of the corner of his eye. "Mama!"
"Shatter, no!" Frost darted after her son, only to be slamed down by a guard once again.
"Please!" Shatter begged his queen. "Please let me go!"
Chrysalis said nothing, and countinued to pad alongside.
The guard reached the end of the cave, the small Changeling foal dangiling in his jaws as he tried to squirm free. The cold wind surged through Shatter, chilling his bones. Other Changelings gathered around to see the release of Shatter. Many began to whisper some looking shooked, others looking as if they knew this was coming since the very first day Shatter had opened his eyes.
"Goodbye, Shatter." Chrysalis waved a hoof to signal to the guard to throw him out, sending him tumbling down the snow covered cliff. Shatter prepared to fly his way out, thinking that these Changelings were to stupid to know that his wings didn't have a disability, and that they worked as well as anyone else's. But apparently, Chrysalis was prepared, too.
"Think you're just going to fly away, hm?" She challenged. "Sorry, but we can't have you come crawling back."
With a spark from her horn, Chrysalis used her magic to put a spell upon Shatter's wings, making them feel heavy and unbalanced. Shatter knew that she must have put a curse on his wings to keep him from flying.
"Well then," Chrysalis smiled. "You're all set to leave now. We would keep you, but you see...useless dosn't cut it when we're starting to prepare for another attack on Equestria." the queen pushed the tiny foal towards the snow.
"STOP!"
The shout echoed around the cave, Changelings muttering to themselves and looking around to see who had barked the order at the queen. Suddenly, and muscular, strong looking Changeling stepped out. Chrysalis whipped around and stared in rage and astonishment at the one who had challenged her.
"Leave him alone, Chrysalis." the Changeling ordered again.
"What?" The queen marched up to the Changeling, nostrils flaring, teeth grinding. "What does this have to do with you?" She demanded.
"I will not let you hurt him." he stated clearly.
"Why not?" The queen's face twisted up in rage.
"He is my son."