Twilight glided slowly to the edge of the Everfree, for she had seen movement in the trees that she knew were not made beyond the normal inhabitants. When she landed, the movement with the forest stilled, and then a single changeling walked out, looking scared but presenting herself before her as she began to speak.
“My name is Node, and I speak for my people. We were told by our queen to meet you at the edge of this wood, and to turn ourselves over to you for leadership, as is our way.”
Twilight nodded, and then looked up as the others changelings began to exit the forest, all of them looking to her for guidance as she cleared her throat to speak.
“I know you must all be frightened, afraid that the ponies of this place will attack you if you enter. But know as long as you remain under my care, no harm of any kind will come to you. I have taken on the major responsibility of carrying your new queen within me, and through that act, I have taken up the charge of caring for all of you, so all I ask is that you trust in me, and in the good hearts the ponies of this town all carry.”
She then turned, “now if you will all follow me, I shall take you to where we will be building your new hive.”
The changelings nodded, and then started following her as she began moving. As they were moving, Twilight took that chance to count the changelings that were left, but finished soon after, as they weren’t that many left.
“I count only forty-eight changelings here,” thought Twilight with worry, “and if I add in the two Chrysalis said were waiting for me at the palace, and exclude the queens…that means there are only fifty changelings left in the entire world.”
It was a sobering thought, and it led to other dark thoughts as well. Shining had told her many times in some of his letters that he had been sending out raiding bands of loyal guards to hunt down scattered changelings, and had been slowly picking them off in large numbers bit by bit. If his letters were true, then Shining had helped to reduce them to this point, which made her all the more determined to bring them back from the brink of this precipice.
She knew there would be many trials, and sadly one of them was fast drawing upon her, for many of the citizenry of Ponyville were coming out of their homes, all of them looking to Twilight as some of them began to speak.
“Princess, what is going on…?”
“…what are those things doing here?”
“Are we under attack?”
Twilight raised her hoof to silence her ponies, waiting for them all to quiet down before speaking. “Citizens of Ponyville, I come to you today under the weight of a new and heavy responsibility. We have recently been made aware that the attack on Canterlot by the changeling army was an act of desperation, brought on by insanity driven by hunger. Due to this, they cannot be held responsible for their actions, but through a combination of both starvation and pony retaliation, the changelings behind me are the last of their kind.”
This brought out several shocked gasps from the crowd, but some did not looked convinced, one even moving forward with an angry glare. “If that is true, then why are they still alive, we should finish them off right here and…”
He stopped suddenly when Twilight slammed her hoof down, her gaze turning upon the speaker as she spoke again. “You will not speak such words in front of me again Mister Rich, and none of you will take action against these poor souls as long as they stay here. The changelings are under my protection, and any action are taken against them will be seen as a threat to an endangered species and will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. This is my word, and as such is without contestation, so you will quietly return to your businesses, and leave these beings in peace.”
For a long moment nopony moved, but then with a grumble ponies started to move away, most heading back to what they were doing, but some stopping to whisper some kind words to some of the changelings. After they were all dispersed, Twilight and the changelings began to move, but soon that had to stop, for Twilight’s friends were approaching them, glares adorning their faces and their rainbow powers activated.
“Girls…”
“Twilight,” said Applejack, “why the hay are yah leading that group of creatures tah the palace, those things are the enemy.”
“They are not the enemy Applejack,” said Twilight simply, much to the girl’s surprise.
“But…but darling,” said Rarity, “those things attacked Canterlot; they hurt both your teacher and your foal sitter, why are you saying they are not the enemy.”
“Because as we are speaking their queen is standing before the court of Canterlot, to answer for the crimes she committed due to unknown factors.”
“What do you mean unknown factors,” said Rainbow sternly, “what could have happened to make you lead around forty eight changelings like they were pets?”
Twilight wanted to scold Dash for her harsh words, but instead she sighed, waving her wing over to her as she spoke again. “Come closer Dash, and you will see what I mean.”
Dash looked hesitant for a moment, but then she moved closer, Twilight indicating that she should look at one of the changelings. The moment she did, she met the changeling’s eyes, and immediately she backed away in shock. “Her eyes…”
“…are normal,” said Twilight simply, “and if you will look over her body, you will notice that the holes are gone, and that they have developed manes and tails. The reason they have changed so is because the crystal empires effect has been nourishing them, feeding them love and allowing them to become what they once were. And before you ask, the reason why they attacked Canterlot was because they had been starving, and due to that they cannot be held accountable for their actions.”
“And…and do you have a reason for bringing them hear,” asked Fluttershy, “um…if you don’t mind my asking of course.”
“Not at all Fluttershy,” said Twilight calmly, and to answer your question, I brought them hear so that they could be protected, for these forty eight changelings behind me, plus two which are waiting for me in the palace…are the last of their kind.”
The girls immediately gasped, Fluttershy actually walking up to one of the changelings and hugging her, whispering an apology to her as the changeling thanked her. She then turned to Twilight, the other girls all gathering around her as she spoke.
“Is…is there anything we can do to help?”
Twilight nodded, “you can help me get them to the palace safely, and then I will need you girls to wait for me in the dining hall…for I have something important I need to tell you all after I get all of the changelings settled.”
The girls all nodded, not even questioning now why they needed to keep the changelings safe, and instead forming a protective perimeter around the group as they finished there trek to the palace, waiting outside till all the changelings were in before walking inside themselves, Twilight pulling Rarity aside as the changelings all shuffled about.
“Rarity, if you don’t mind, I need you to make keep Spike in the dining hall till I come and see you girls, for with how he has been changing this past month I don’t think it would be a good idea for him to come upon them so suddenly.”
“I understand dear,” said Rarity with a knowing smile, “you just get these darlings settled, I’ll keep him occupied.”
Twilight thanked her, and then got the changelings attention as Rarity walked away, leading them all down into the cellar of the palace and then stopping. “Ok, all of you need to stand back for a moment, I got a pretty good idea of what I am doing, but I would rather be safe than sorry ok.”
They all nodded, then backed up as Twilight lit up her horn, watching as she used her magic to form a new arch way which led smack dab into a blank dirt wall.
“Ok, I have created an entrance for your hive, the rest will be up to you…I hope it helps.”
“It will queen mother,” said one of the changelings softly, catching Twilight off guard with the title but staying her as she opened her mouth to ask a question. “It is a title we give to all those who carry our queens, but the information on all that is held up above, guarded by the two waiting for you in the throne room.”
Twilight nodded, and then nuzzled the changeling’s cheek before leaving the room, the changelings looking at the stairs for a long moment before they once again began moving, for they had a lot of work to do.
Twilight reached the throne room with little difficulty, her eyes scanning over the room for any sign of those who waited for her, but there was nopony there. “Um…hello, is anypony there?”
The moment the question had left her lips, what had looked like solid pillars next to her throne suddenly rippled, and two feline like shapes leaped off of them, landing upon the ground and shaking themselves as they returned to their normal color.
At once Twilight knew they were changelings, for their chitinous hides and insect like wings made it quite easy to trace their origins, but they were not like the drones she had seen before. For one, their forelegs ended not in hooves, but in razor sharp claws, and their bodies were more feline like, making them look like predators.
Both the creatures walked up to her, each of them moving close and sniffing her a little, before smiling as they sat down, one of them opening her mouth to speak. “Hello queen mother, we are honored to meet you, and we are glad to see you are well.”
“Um…thank you,” said Twilight, “but…who and what are you.”
Both the strange creatures looked confused for a moment, then they giggled in unison, before the other one spoke up. “We are sorry queen mother, for we forgot that much of what ponies know about us was lost when the empire vanished, and we know our appearance must seem strange to you. Our names are Terror and Razor, and we are called chameleons, for we have the mimic the color of the surface we are hiding upon.”
“I see,” said Twilight, “and I assume you have the information Chrysalis promised to provide?”
They both nodded, Terror getting up and moving back to the throne as Razor continued to speak. “We have brought all the information you will need to learn of us and our species, especially any all the information concerning your upcoming pregnancy.”
“That’s good,” said Twilight, watching as Terror came back with a large chest in her magical grip, the changeling setting it down before stepping back as Twilight opened it, marveling at what was inside.
“Everything about us is in there,” said Terror with a smile, “contained within crystals, and a few books written by the few ponies who lived with us in the hive, we hope they are to your satisfaction.”
“They are,” said Twilight with a smile, before using her magic to send the chest to her room, where she would study the contents later. “But for now, I have another engagement in another part of the palace, though I think it would be a good idea if you both joined me to help smooth things over with the others, especially Spike.”
The changelings both nodded, and then they moved to either side of the princess, and then they left the throne room.
“Are you sure she is ok?”
“Yes I am sure Spike,” said Rarity, “she is perfectly fine; you have nothing to worry about.”
“But…but all those changelings, what was she doing with them?”
“She has her reasons spike,” said Rarity softly, patting the dragon on the shoulder before sitting back down, and glaring at him when he remained standing. “Of for heaven’s sake darling its ok, I promise she will explain everything when she gets here, just sit down.”
Spike grumbled but complied, sitting down next to her before laying his head down on the table, his recent growth spurt having made him about the size of a large stallion, which had been a shock to everypony when he had woken up like that five days after Tirek’s attack. Celestia had theorized that spike had changed in order to better protect Twilight and the others from threats, and most of them agreed, especially after they had found out he had increased in strength, and his fire and scales had become stronger.
Suddenly the door to the dining room opened, everypony in the room looking up before gasping as Twilight walked in, flanked on either side by two strange looking changelings.
“Whoa,” said Rainbow as she flew over to investigate the two, “what the heck are these two, they look awesome.”
“Apparently they are changelings as well, an offshoot from the drones called a chameleon, but that’s all I know so far. Now um…could you please return to your seat Dash, I really need to speak with you about something.”
“Sure thing Twi,” said Rainbow with a nod, before returning to her seat as Spike growled at the two changelings.
“You have a dragon,” said one of the changelings calmly, looking at spike with its blue eyes while the other went over to Fluttershy to get a better look at her.
“Yes she does,” said Spike menacingly, only to look over as the other changeling seemed to chitter in joy as she snuggled up to Fluttershy.
“Oh she is so cute, can we keep her Terror, please?”
Terror simply grumbled, walking over to her and pulling her away from the timid mare before scolding her as Twilight cleared her throat. “Spike, I am going to need you to calm down about this ok, I know you are probably freaked out…”
“Of course I’m freaked out,” said Spike aggressively, “you come walking into the place with a bunch of changelings, and you expect me to be calm about it?!”
“I know Spike, but those changelings are the last of their kind, how would you feel if you were the last of yours and somepony was wondering why you were being protected?”
Spike looked stunned by that, lowering his head in shame as he mumbled an apology, before Pinkie Pie bounced over to Twilight and sat down. “So what’s this important thing you need to talk about, because if it’s to tell us you’re pregnant I already knew about that?”
The room immediately stopped, everypony looking at Twilight before finally Rarity spoke up, “Darling…is this true?”
Twilight nodded, and immediately everypony started congratulating her and asking who the father was, till Twilight lifted her hoof up to stay them. “Girls, I didn’t even know about this…till the meeting up at Canterlot where Chrysalis told me I was pregnant…with her child.”
“WHAT,” shouted Rainbow, “how the hell is that possible?”
“I’m still wondering that myself,” said Twilight with a grin, “but from what I was told, changeling queens have the ability to carry embryos inside them without them growing, and in times of stress these embryos are transported into the strongest magical being that can protect them till they can be recovered.”
Everypony stared at her like she had gone mad, and then Fluttershy spoke up, looking skeptical as all hell. “Um…not that I don’t believe you Twilight, but that sounds like something out of a really bad science fiction novel.”
Twilight sighed, “I know it does, but it’s the truth, I scanned myself before getting here to confirm it all…and it’s like she said…I’m pregnant…with a changeling queen.”
Again everypony stared at her, but this time it was with looks of concern, Applejack getting up to drape a foreleg over her shoulder, “you ok sugar cube?”
“No,” said Twilight, “I mean yes, I am excited to be a mother…but I never wanted it to be like this…and I can’t give up the child…not now.”
“But why not darling,” said Rarity, “I…I mean there are procedures that could help remove her safely right.”
“But the queen mother is in her second month of carrying,” said Razor to Rarity, “the new queen has already begun taking her nutrients from her mother, which makes it far too late to remove her without…the child perishing.”
A few gasped, and Applejack looked over toward Twilight, “is…is this true sugar cube?”
Twilight nodded, “yes, I checked that as well…if I remove the child now, she will die because she won’t be able to survive due to needing things from me. Plus…there is also the fact that she is the last hope for their kind, for Chrysalis was rendered incapable of bearing any young, queen or otherwise.”
That got everyponies attention, Fluttershy clutching her mouth in her hooves as the others looked concerned. “Wait a moment,” said Rainbow, “are you telling us that Cadance’s love blast that made all the changelings go away made Chrysalis un…unable to have any more kids?”
Rainbow looked genuinely concerned by this, and when Twilight nodded her head, she fell flat on her rump, looking between her legs as she tried to speak again. “That’s…that’s just sick…I can’t believe her magic could do that, it’s not right.”
“I know it’s not, but with how Chrysalis’s system was compromised due to her starvation, it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Everypony nodded, and then Pinkie looked at Twilight with a questioning gaze. “So what about the ones downstairs, are they uh…can they no longer make babies.”
“Um,” said Twilight, “I’m not sure, I’m not even sure if they can have children.”
“We can have children,” said Terror from the corner of the room, “but we can only produce drones, which is what allowed us to keep our numbers the same through the years.”
“I see,” said Twilight with a smile. “Well girls, with this out of the way, I have some matters to attend to in my room, but if they are ok with it, I am sure these two will be willing to answer any questions you might have about their species.”
All the girls nodded, and then Twilight smiled once again, leaving the girls as they began to mingle with the two new occupants, and praying this would be a good start towards a bright future for their race…and hers, for she knew if things could not work out here…they would never work anywhere.