//------------------------------// // Welcome Home, Your Highness // Story: Son-In-Law of Discord // by DisneyFanatic23 //------------------------------// Mothball and Screwball were speechless, neither of them sure how to respond. "M-mother is…" the prince stammered, "d-dying?" General Mantis nodded solemnly. "B-but…how? I mean she's only…" "A thousand and three?" Screwball muttered. "It happens to every changeling queen," Mantis explained. "They have extended lifespans, but there comes a time when the power they've gained over their lifetime runs out. First she loses her ability to reproduce, and then she eventually withers and…" He choked on his words, unable to continue. "That's why we need the prince back," said the lieutenant. "Her majesty only has a few days left, a week at most. We need someone to take her place." "But Mothy's a traitor," Screwball pointed out. "He left you guys. Why would you want him as your king?" "Because he's the only royal changeling there is," Mantis replied. "Well," the lieutenant shrugged, "aside from…" "Shush!" the general hissed. Mothball raised an eyebrow. "What?" "Lieutenant Bombus meant to say 'aside from our queen.'" "But…" The lieutenant paused when his superior gave him a warning glare. "Uh, right!" Bombus piped. "Aside from our queen! You know, until she dies and…" "They get it!" Mantis snapped. "The point is that despite Prince Mothball's past treachery, he is still heir to the throne and must return to the hive." Screwball scowled as she stood protectively in front of her fiancé. "Heir to the throne or not, Mothball's not going anywhere with you!" "You don't understand the gravity of this situation, girl!" "Gravity, schmavity! I defy gravity!" "Screwy, he's right," Mothball whispered. She turned to him in disbelief. "Excuse me?" "Just let him explain." "Thank you, your highness," Mantis huffed, still glaring at Screwball. "The changelings must always have a royal in charge, as they are the only ones that can reproduce. The prince must keep the changeling line going. If not, then our species will eventually become extinct." Screwball's expression softened as she looked back at Mothball. "Is this true?" The prince nodded. "The changelings must always have a ruler." As much as she disliked the changelings, Screwball knew Mothball wouldn't want to be responsible for their extinction. He'd be the only one left of his kind, and she knew how difficult that could be for someone. "Hey, nice gem!" Lieutenant Bombus exclaimed when he noticed Screwball's ring. "So you two engaged now?" "Err, yeah," Screwball uttered. "Good! Then we'll have a new queen already!" "WHAT?!" She turned to her fiancé. "Mothy, what's he talking about?" Mothball rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, uh…you see…while male royals are fertile, they…they can't give birth." She tilted her head. "Then what exactly were you planning to do once you took the throne?" The prince bit his lip. He really didn't want to talk about changeling reproduction with his fiancée right now. "Well…my mother told me that I had to find a queen, and…well…" Her spiral eyes widened. "Are you serious?! Me, Queen of the Changelings?! My dad'll kill me! After he kills you!" "Uh, there's one more little thing you should know…" "There's more?!" "See, the queen also has to be able to reproduce…" he gulped, "asexually. And she has to be able to give birth to a whole colony, and the only way for her to do that is if she's…a changeling." Screwball blinked. "What are you saying?" He looked down as he rubbed his hooves together awkwardly. "If…if you want to be my queen, you'll have to…you'll have to…" He gulped again and said the next sentence quickly. "You'll have to be turned into a changeling." He shut his eyes so he wouldn't see her reaction. "WHAT?!" "Why couldn't you guys have told her?" Mothball muttered to the soldiers. "But I…me…changeling…how do you even do that?!" "It's a very delicate procedure," Mantis explained, "and is only done under the direst of circumstances. It can only be used on a pony, however, since they are the closest to our species." She crossed her hooves as she glared at the general. "If that's true, then why are you wasting time with Mothball when you can just turn some random pony into your queen?!" "Because the spell can only be cast by a royal," Bombus answered. "I mean come on. Don't you think we'd have a lot more royals if any old changeling could make one?" "And her majesty is too weak to cast it," Mantis added. "It's been five years since Mothball left," Screwball pointed out. "If she needed an heir so bad, why didn't she try doing something like that before?" "That is none of your concern. Look, we don't have time to argue. Whether the prince accepts it, the queen demands his presence. If you don't wish to part with your fiancé, Miss Screwball, you are welcome to be our next queen." The general said this with a groan. "If not, then I suggest you leave and let us carry out our orders." Screwball put her hoof around Mothball. "Where he's going, I'm going. Besides, I'd like a talk with this queen of yours." The general sighed. "So be it, then. Follow us." The soldiers' wings buzzed as they took to the skies. Mothball looked at Screwball worriedly. "Screwy, you don't know what you're getting into. The changelings…" "You just let me handle them," she said firmly. "We'll get this sorted out even if I have to flood the hive with chocolate milk!" She floated up to the soldiers and Mothball sighed as he followed her. He had learned over the years that there was no use arguing with the Princess of Chaos. It was a lost cause. The first half hour of the flight was spent in awkward silence. General Mantis and Screwball kept glancing at each other in disdain, Lieutenant Bombus was too afraid to speak and that he might anger his boss, and Mothball was deep in thought as he watched the ground. Eventually, the prince looked up at his fiancée and asked a question that had been plaguing him since the beginning of the journey. "Hey, uh…would you…would you really hate being Queen of the Changelings?" "Well," Screwball groaned, darting her eyes at Mantis, "black isn't exactly my color." Mothball spoke in a whisper, "Even if you'd be my queen?" Her expression softened as she turned to look at him. "Oh. Oh, Mothy, I didn't mean it like that!" "No, I get it. I wouldn't want that for you either. After all, I never really wanted to become King. Besides," he gave her a small smile, "I like you just the way you are." Screwball smiled back and then frowned. "How you feeling, by the way? You know, about your mom?" He sighed and looked back down. "I don't know. I mean…sure, she's not the best mom in the world, but…she's still my mom." She nodded. "I get that. I'd be upset if one of my parents…I mean you saw what happened at the big battle…" Thanks to your mother, she finished in her head. "I just never thought…" Mothball stammered, his lip quivering. "I mean she's lived for such a long time and…" She laid her hoof on his back. "It'll be okay. We'll get through this." She decided to change the subject. "You know, I've never been to the hive before. Aunt Twilight told me it's like this dark castle with surprises behind every door! Talk about chaotic!" "You're thinking of our old temporary home in the Forest of Leota," the general interjected. "That was shortly after our…defeat in Canterlot. After Twilight Sparkle and her friends foiled our plans," he coughed, "yet again, we had to move base back to our old hive, which we still occupy today." "Oh, good," Screwball sighed. "I was worried we were gonna be flying for hours, 'cuz the Forest of Leota's super far away!" "Actually, we're almost there!" Bombus piped. She glanced down and saw that they were flying over a forest of black, leafless trees that might as well have been dead. "Sheesh," Screwball cringed. "The Everfree is livelier than this." "Now you know why we usually hunt outside our land," the general grunted. Screwball looked back up and gasped. "Holy moly!" What she saw was a giant green beehive structure with tall, lopsided towers sticking out of the top. "Sweet chocolate bunnies, that thing is huge!" she exclaimed. General Mantis rolled his eyes. "What'd you expect from a colony made up of twenty thousand changelings?" Her eyes widened as she turned to Mothball. "Geez, your mom's been busy." The entrance was guarded by two soldier changelings in green armor. At the sight of Mothball, they bowed their heads begrudgingly. "Your highness," they muttered. Mothball cringed nervously as he passed between them. When Screwball tried to follow, she was blocked by the guards' spears. "At ease, boys," the general ordered. "She's with us." He grunted. "Unfortunately." The soldiers groaned as they placed their weapons in their upright positions. "Think they remember me?" Screwball whispered to her fiancé. The guards hissed as she went past. "Probably," Mothball muttered. Screwball gawked at the interior of the hive. The walls contained thousands of hexagonal alcoves resembling honeycombs, changelings of all shapes and sizes bustling from here to there. In the center was a narrow green tower that she figured to be the queen's quarters. "Wow," Screwball uttered. "No wonder you call this place a hive." She touched the green wall. "What is this stuff made of, anyway?" "Crystalized mucus," Lieutenant Bombus replied. "EW!" she cried, retracting her hoof in disgust. "Is that the same green stuff you guys use all the time?" "Yeah, what of it?" She looked at Mothball in disbelief. "There are some things about me that are better left unsaid," he murmured. "Let's move along, shall we?" General Mantis demanded. He led the group to the center of the hive and held up his deformed hoof. "Wait here." He slowly opened the dark green door and shut it quietly. After a minute, he opened it again. "Her majesty will see you now." Screwball took Mothball's hoof. "You ready?" He took a deep breath. "Yeah." They walked through the doorway together and the sight made Mothball sick to his stomach. Chrysalis was lying in her black, king-sized canopy bed, several changelings keeping vigil at her side. They ranged from drones to nurses to soldiers to workers. Mothball rarely saw his mother without her crown. It was sitting on the table beside her. Her black skin was pale, her cobweb-like mane was practically cobwebs now as it spread lifelessly across the pillow, and her hooves lay heavily on her stomach. Even Screwball was uneasy as they slowly approached the bed. Neither of them had ever seen the queen so…vulnerable. "My queen?" Mantis whispered. "Your son." Her eyelids slowly lifted and a lump formed in Mothball's throat. The eyes that used to strike fear in ponies' hearts were now glassy and devoid of emotion. She sluggishly turned her head to look at him. "Ah, my son," she said, her voice weak and cracked. "So you've come home. My, how you've grown." "Mother?" Mothball uttered. "What…what happened to you?" She shrugged slightly. "My time, I guess." She lifted her head slightly as she caught sight of Screwball and growled at her. "I see you've brought the halfling with you." Screwball scowled. "Nice to see you too, Chrysalis." "So you two are still together?" The queen's eyes moved to the ring on Screwball's hoof. "Oh, and I see you've take your relationship a step further. Well, well, well. It will certainly be interesting to see a changeling queen with chaotic powers. Shame I won't live to see that." "Listen, you!" Screwball hollered, holding up her hoof. "I wouldn't be Queen of your disgusting race even if…" Some of the changelings hissed at her threatening tone. Mothball grabbed her hoof and whispered: "Screwy, we need to talk." He dragged her away from the bed. She stared at him in disbelief. "You're not actually gonna stand for this, are you?" she demanded. "They resent you enough already," Mothball warned, glancing back at the changelings. "No use making it worse." "But…" "Hey, I've had to put up with your family! Now you have to put up with mine! Just let me do the talking." She looked at the changelings and then back at him. Eventually, she sighed in defeat. "Fine." They returned to the queen's bedside, Screwball staying behind her fiancé. Mothball took a deep breath and faced his mother. "I don't want to be King, Mother." Chrysalis groaned. "I didn't think you would. You were always weak-minded. Pity. You were such a talented young changeling. Why, you were turning into adult ponies by your fourteenth year. Unfortunately, I was unable to produce a new heir. It would be best if you accept the throne, son. You wouldn't want to bring an entire species to extinction, would you?" "Don't try to guilt trip me! I'm aware of what's at stake, here, Mother." "My, my, my. You've certainly gotten more assertive since you left. You sure you don't want the throne? I'll even give you my blessing to marry the spawn of chaos." "I'm not changing anything about Screwy just so we can get married!" "Well, the options are that you turn her into a changeling and marry her, or marry some pony else. Either way, you'll have to be King." Screwball tapped Mothball's shoulder and whispered, "Is she serious? Is there really no way around this?" "I'm afraid so," the prince sighed. "After all, I'm the only royal left." "Well," Chrysalis sneered. "That's not necessarily true." The couple turned to her with wide eyes. "What?" Mothball choked. "My queen?" Mantis questioned, panic rising within his face. "You sure?" "Desperate times call for desperate measures, General," Chrysalis said as she cranked her head towards her son. "I'm afraid I've kept a little secret from you, my son. You see, you're not the only royal changeling I've given birth to. Before you arrived, I had another heir." Mothball blinked. "What? Why haven't I heard of this?" "I forbade anyone to speak of her, as I had done for you when you betrayed us." "Her?" "Your sister, Princess Bellatrix."