//------------------------------// // Take Five // Story: Changeling: The Movie // by Obselescence //------------------------------// “And so ends our brief journey into Equestrian territory,” said Chrysalis, touching down at the sandy edge of the Badlands. Beyond which she’d probably get a terrible sunburn, and Celestia’s prying eyes would again focus upon her. She grinned wildly at the camera. “I do believe our efforts today were an unqualified success.” “They were indeed, your Highness,” said the camera. The other drones landed in formation behind him. “Generations of changelings shall benefit from the insight we have gleaned.” “It will be an excellent movie, your Highness!” “It’s gonna be awesome, probably!” “Yes, yes,” said Chrysalis, waving them off. “The documentary was good too. But I meant the other scheme.” Obviously.   She did a quick roll call on her changelings, just to confirm that everything had really gone that perfectly. Seven drones, the camera, and zero workers precisely. She clapped her hooves together and laughed. Perfect. Six elite workers disguised in Ponyville, and poor Twilight Sparkle hadn’t noticed a thing. If only she’d bothered to pay attention to the changelings themselves, instead of their distractingly charismatic queen. And perhaps, eventually, she would have noticed anyway—had the drones not provided a convenient excuse to bolt for it. “Excellent work on the distraction, by the way,” she informed them, giving them all a round of well-deserved patsies. One, two, three, four, five, six, and—wait, no. Seven? She stopped. There’d only been six going in, hadn’t there? She shrugged. Well, who could be bothered to keep track of the drones? Not her, that was for certain. She gave the seventh a pat too. “I’m moderately less disappointed in all of you.” Chrysalis turned back to the camera and laughed her most evil laugh. “We are much alike, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, “but in the end, I think I was just a bit more cunning. Don’t you? It was so easy to deceive you.” She grinned to herself, imagining the look on Twilight Sparkle’s face when she realized. She’d see it eventually, once she got her own copy of the documentary. Which she was still going to get—Chrysalis had every intent of keeping that promise.   She wasn’t a monster. “What is a pony?” she asked. There were many answers to that question, only a few of which she’d learned today. She had so much to think on now, but all that came secondary to gloating. “Evidently a fool!” She laughed again. “I can’t believe she fell for those lies! ‘Friends’ indeed!” She turned away from the camera and her triumphant grin faltered just the smallest bit. Yes, much to think on. Twilight had said things with a little wisdom to them. Only a little. Things that no drone had ever told her. Mostly because they weren’t smart enough. Twilight, though—she understood. In that single, stupid, lowly pony, she’d seen faintest glimmer of an equal. A confidante. A friend, even. Queens of their own little hives.   She’d never seen that glimmer in a changeling, and the realization of that made her feel... There was a word for it. It was on the tips of her tongue... Lonely? Surely not. She took one last glance at the vast blue sky above her. There was a world here that stretched far beyond the walls of drone-dug tunnels and earthy ceilings. A world where she could truly be queen of all she surveyed. Ponies lived in that world, and she didn’t. That had to change, no matter what Twilight Sparkle had said. No matter what a pony was. She was a changeling. Chrysalis turned back toward the camera, wearing her biggest grin. “Infiltration successful,” she laughed. “And Equestria will soon fall in turn.” She gave the camera a tender pat, thinking anxiously of the bright future that lay before her. “You may stop recording now,” she told him. “This is the end.” * * * “And here’s your drink,” said Spike, handing Twilight her hayshake. “Sorry for the wait. There was a line.”   “Nonsense, Spike.” She took a quick sip and smiled. “Much appreciated.” “So,” he asked, sipping on his own ruby smoothie. “You sure this’ll work?” He had the faintest sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t work at all, but, hey—if Twilight thought it was a good idea... It was probably still bad. “It’ll be fine,” she told him, horn aglow. A magical monitor spread out before, displaying a bunch of gaggle of ugly changelings, and Queen Ugly Herself, in perfect detail. “Everything Dash sees and hears while she’s in disguise. Real time. Now that’s a camera, Chrysalis.” Spike raised an eyebrow. “And you don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing this?” “Well...” Twilight bit her lip. “I, uh...” She shrugged. “All right, I do feel a little bad. I mean, I know she’s still evil and everything...” “But...” “But I guess I saw something in her,” said Twilight, studying Chrysalis’ toothy grin in the monitor. “Something that could maybe, possibly, just barely constitute a friend. And it’s usually not polite to spy on friends.” She coughed. “It’s only fair, though.” Spike shrugged too. Semantically true. Which still made it true, sorta. Twilight had only sent one spy out to keep an eye on Chrysalis. The Ugly Bugling had left no less than six sneaking about Ponyville. Not that changelings were that tough to spot; they’d already found five of them gnawing on assorted trees and houses. “Well,” Spike began. He paused as a rhythmic thumping sound bled through the walls of their tree-house. That was probably the one they’d missed. “Fair’s fair,” he finished. “I’m just saying, though. I think you two might have more in common than you want to admit.” “I told her that too,” said Twilight, smiling as she reclined in her chair. “I’d like to think she listened.” “Mmhm.” “Trust me, Spike, I’m confident that there’s more to her than—wait, shhh.” Twilight tightened her grip on the edges of her seat. “Let’s see what she’s saying.” The camera focused in on Chrysalis, gloating now about how easily she’d fooled that idiot Twilight Sparkle. Laughing over poor, stupid, all-too-trusting Twilight Sparkle, and how simple it had been to deceive her. How easily she’d bought all those obvious lies. How foolish she’d been, for thinking she’d actually made a friend. Ouch. Spike looked at Twilight. Twilight looked back at Spike. She took a long, solemn drink of her hayshake and set it down on Spike’s head. “Well, I guess that’s the end of that, then,” Twilight sighed. She leaned in to get a better view of the screen. “To be continued.”