Prince Metamorphosis Cocoon, eldest son of Queen Chrysalis, known by his friends and personal guard as Morphos, could not believe his eyes.
He, just like all hatchlings, had been told the story of the greatest hero of all Changeling history, his mother's friend.
Every Prince and Princess of the hive had to rotate between different jobs yearly, ranging from gathering solid food and farming love, to guarding points of interest, and each brought with them their personal guard.
This year, his job had been to guard the abandoned home of the Guardian. To prevent thieves and to keep the building in perfect condition. Just in case it's owner was simply missing, and not dead.
But here he was, standing in front of Metamorphosis himself.
"Greetings, long lost Hero. My name is Prince Metamorphosis Cocoon, firstborn of Queen Chrysalis. And may I be the first to greet you back to this glorious country of Light"
---------------------
Prince Metamorphosis Cocoon... now THAT name brings back memories. Last I heard from Chryssy, she had informed me that she had given birth to her first Prince, and that she had named him Metamorphosis... They were going to visit after I finished my mission in the Vex Stronghold.
"Metamorphosis..." I said as I dropped to my knees, tears streaming down my face. Reaching up, I removed my helmet, dropping it to the ground. "So good to finally meet you... my Godson..." I whispered to him as I looped my arms around his form, hugging him close.
within seconds, Metamorphosis reciprocated the hug, tears streaming down his own face.
"I always hoped... That you were simply missing... Not gone for good... Especially after all the stories Mother told me..." The Changeling Prince said back, burying his face into my neck. With a solemn smile, I ended the hug, looking directly into my Godson's eyes.
"I'm here now. Come, let us go inside, I have other guests that I promised introductions to" I said, standing back up, cradling my helm under my arm. Metamorphosis nodded before cleaning his face and standing to attention once more. Turning, I noticed the five mares slowly come out of the brush, their alicorn friend draped over the back of the orange one.
"You... are friends with Chrysalis!? That monstrous bug!?" the marshmallowy pony exclaimed, almost exasperated. I rolled my eyes at her.
"What ever happened to the stories of me and my friends? Surely Sunbutt and Lulu made sure the tales of the six of us were well published?" I asked the large gathering of Changelings and the six Ponies. Metamorphosis simply shook his head before speaking.
"Let me explain inside Uncle..."
----------------------------
Inside, the house was immaculately preserved. The couch sat in the exact same spot. every utensil in the kitchen that did not survive the years had been replaced, and even the cupboards looked brand new. And one cabinet stood out, it was my memento cabinet, holding all the treasures I had gathered over my time in Equestria. It was even enchanted with a preservation spell so that everything inside stayed the way they were, even the clothes and hats.
"I... guess introductions are in order before you explain what has happened in my absence. My name is Ian Lake, I am what is known as a Titan, A Guardian of the Light. Long ago, I was friends with four ponies and a Changeling. We were once known as the Elements of Unity. although, you could have also called us the Elements of Harmony, but we preferred Unity." I took a deep breath, remembering our old adventures as I sat on the couch.
"There was myself, the Element of Honor. Chocolate Swirl, the son of Starswirl the Bearded was the Element of Joy. Princess Luna Evermore was the Element of Truth. Queen Chrysalis Cocoon was the Element of Compassion. Sombra Dusk, the most talented Crystamancer in all of the Crystal Empire, was the Element of Selflessness. And finally, Princess Celestia Evermore was the Element of Leadership." I explained when I saw the confused expressions of the five mares, Metamorphosis chuckled heartily.
"Well Uncle, these six mares are the current Elements of Harmony. I'll leave the introductions to them, but it's true." the Changeling Prince said in between chuckles. I gave the mares odd looks before the first introduced herself.
"My name is Rainbow Dash! I'm the fastest flier in all of Equestria and the Element of Loyalty!" brashly exclaimed one of the two pegasi in the group, she had a cyan coat with a rainbow mane and tail. I chuckled at the introduction before commenting.
"Loyalty? Seems like we share a purpose Skittles. Protectors through and through, Loyalty and Honor are thought by some to be the same" I quipped with a smirk. The flying Rainbow Parade scowled at the nickname before tapping my offered fist with a hoof.
"HI! I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm Ponyville's number one party pony! And I'm the Element of Laughter!" Joyfully exclaimed the pink on pink monstrosity, bouncing in place with a smile threatening to split her face in two.
"Hah! you and Dizzy would get on famously! that was Chocolate's nickname by the way" I chuckled, patting the excitable pony on her puffy pink mane, whom smiled even larger than before.
"Ah'll go next, ah guess. Ahm Applejack! Apple farmer and Element of Honesty, at yer service." said the orange pony, tipping her stetson to me. I smiled at her before walking over to my memento cabinet. I opened the door a took out a single hat that I treasured like my own foal.
My Stetson.
"Well then Partner, seems like you are a glutton for work, much like Lulu. Heh I remember her old battlecry crisply, 'Fear Us Cretins! For We are the Hammer of Justice itself!'" I said, placing the hat with a promise upon my head, remembering old adventures. after a moment of silence I returned my promise to it's place in the cabinet. When I looked back, I noticed a solemn smile on Applejack's face. Seems like her stetson was a promise too. but all nice things must come to an end.
"I'm sure that is all nice and dandy. But the only one of you that could possibly relate to Generosity would be Sombra, and I refuse to associate myself with that ruffian! Nor do I think that dear Fluttershy would ever dream of being grouped with that insect!" stated the marshmallow pony with a flip of her impeccable purple mane. Metamorphosis snarled at the prissy unicorn. However, I put a hand on his shoulder. the gesture calmed my Godson heavily.
"I understand that things may have changed over the years, but the six of us were representatives of various species and were even protectors. Sombra dedicated his life to bettering life in his home country, the Crystal Empire. And even Chrysalis showed mercy in the face of her foes, especially if they aimed to kill her" I stated, a frown on my face. My attention was quickly grabbed by the remaining conscious mare of the group that I had yet to be introduced to. She was a meek butter yellow pegasus with a pink mane.
"U-um... Would you mind telling me more about Chrysalis... If you don't mind that is..." She asked, in a voice almost inaudible to the naked ear. I smiled at her curiosity of what the Changeling Queen was like behind the exterior.
"Like all Changelings, Chrysalis has the ability to sense emotion, she can tell if you are afraid, in love or angry, among other things. During my time, the Changelings were close allies with Equestria, usually being used as negotiators during hostage situations or as ambassador's assistants. Their abilities allowed them to sense what the opposition was thinking, how their mind worked, and use it against them" I explained to the butter yellow pegasus. At the mention of the emotion sensing ability of the Emotivores, I noticed that every non Changeling eye in the room widened.
"Chysalis was exceptional though. while all Changelings can use this ability, Changeling Royalty have a more acute version, as they are able to sense emotion at a far greater distance than their subjects. And Chryssie used this to defuse wars. She singlehoofedly prevented wars between many species, without raising a single weapon." I finished with a smile. The Pegasus, which I assumed was Fluttershy, smiled softly before slowly frowning once more.
"We all met her a while back, at the wedding of Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor... She had infiltrated it and posed as the bride... Why would she do that Mister Guardian?" Fluttershy softly asked, I frowned slightly.
"That seems like something she would do... But only as a last resort to feed her Hive. Chryssie was more attuned to asking others for aid feeding others... The only reason why she would impersonate a bride like that would be if she was refused by every single race on the planet for aid." I said, looking over to Metamorphosis for enlightenment. The Prince looked back at me and sighed.
"Mother has spent many years trying to gain help from the other races to feed the Hive, many do not wish to help, as the Equestrian Nobles claim we are beasts and nothing more. After our treaty with Equestria was destroyed by said Nobles nine hundred years ago, we have been slowly wasting away." Metamorphosis said solemnly, looking away. As I leaned down to comfort my Godson, I noticed other movement. It seemed that Fluttershy had the same idea as I did, as she had wrapped the Prince in a warm embrace.
"I'm sure the Princesses will help when they find this out... I mean... They were Chrysalis' friends, surely they will help an old friend" the meek pegasus said, comforting the Changeling Prince. a small blush and a similarly sized smile appeared on Metamorphosis' face as he softly hugged Fluttershy back.
"Thank you for your kindness. I'm sure that once we manage to get Mother and my Godmothers in a room things will get better." He said, breaking the hug with a warm smile for the pegasus. again, the mares all looked stricken at this statement.
"'Godmothers'!?" exclaimed the marshmallow unicorn, almost disgusted. Metamorphosis frowned at her tone of voice before speaking once more.
"My mother and her friends were like family once. All of them were deemed my Godparents upon my birth. And I feel no different about my surrogate Aunts and Uncles even after so many years apart" He said, looking away from the unicorn. I quickly noticed his ire at this, and changed the subject.
"Now that introductions are out of the way for those of us that are awake, how about you tell me whats been going on since I disappeared. Apparently it has been at least nine hundred years from what you said" I said. Metamorphosis sighed solemnly once more before speaking.
"Well, you know what happened to us Changelings, so let's go back to the start and explain everything. Two thousand years ago, you went missing. Around the same time period as two ponies reaching Avatar status. The first was Chocolate Swirl. According to him, he had gained enough skill to be considered for the position when he last saw you and went looking for the Avatar of Chaos, whom was a Draconequus named Eris at the time. He told us that Eris had already chosen him and all he had to do was accept." Metamorphosis explained, recalling the old tale his Chaotic Uncle once told him. Everyone in the room was listening intently to the story.
"They merged together, as happens when a new Avatar rises, morphing Chocolate into a Draconequus. Normally Draconequui are made by a high concentration of Chaos magic. But as a rule, the Avatar of Chaos becomes one. Another rule to being an Avatar is taking on a new name." The Changeling prince continued. But before he could go on further, Applejack wanted to ask a question.
"What are these 'Avatar' thingies yer talkin' about anyways? Never heard of them before" the Farm Mare asked. Her companions agreeing with nods all around, I took this as my queue to explain an old term.
"An Avatar is the highest class of Magickal being. There are four stages to reach this. The first is 'Control'. All beings that research an archetype of Magick reach this stage, as this simply means you know how it works. Once someone reaches the stage of Control, they can use the subject where it exists. A Magmancer can control nearby lava and an Aquamancer can gather the moisture in the air." I explained, sketching a small picture of a pair of unicorns. One gathering water from the air, the other gathering lava from a volcano.
"The next stage is known as 'The Hunt'. A user of an archetype must 'search' for keys to a box given to them by the current Avatar of that field of Magick. For example, a Crystamancer must search for a certain type of gemstone or crystal, and once they find it, the item will become a key to the box." I continued, drawing a unicorn with a small box next to a hunk of a random gemstone. At this the mares murmured amongst each other, however, I continued.
"The third stage, is known as 'Mastery'. Once a pony or other being finds all the keys they need they reach this stage. Admittedly, The Hunt and Mastery are technically the same, but most scholars prefer to distinguish these apart. Once a being reaches Mastery, they can use the element to bolster themselves or objects. Metalmancers, for example, can use a piece of metal to harden their own skin into a metal carapace, or turn simple cloth into flexible sheets of metal" I stated, drawing a Minotaur with a sword bouncing off his bare arm. Again, more murmurs, they were becoming louder now.
"Finally, is becoming an Avatar. As Metamorphosis stated earlier, anyone that has reached Mastery can search out their respective Avatar. Once the Avatar is happy with their replacement, they merge, becoming one. Some Avatars are changed into new forms, like Chaoticians becoming Draconequui. All Avatars take on a new name as well. One such Avatar that I met chose the name Hephaestus. He's a Minotaur and was the Avatar of Metal, greatest smith in the world too." I continued, drawing the same Minotaur again, forging a sword from nothing, not even using an anvil. I smirked, I had a small bit more to add.
"Also, I have personally witnessed the ascension of two ponies. Their names were Celeste and Lunares, and by inheriting their parent's powers during the merge, became the Avatars of Sunlight and Moonlight. Becoming Celestia Evermore and Luna Evermore respectively" I finished, the faces the five conscious mares made were priceless. During the stupor of the mares, I turned to Metamorphosis and spoke.
"So... What name did Chocolate choose?" Metamorphosis grinned widely at the mares, whom were still murmuring amongst each other before answering. As if he knew that saying the name would summon the Devil, so to speak.
"The name he chose... is Discord."
With a bright flash of light and the sound of glass breaking, a Draconequus appeared in the middle of the room.
"Fluttershy? What happened to our day out? We were going to visit one of my most favorite places in the world! Hang on..." he spoke, before looking around. Once his eyes met mine, his jaw literally hit the floor.
"Well butter me with Taco sauce and call me Mary... Long time no see best buddy!"