//------------------------------// // Coffee shop, Dumb Guards and Changelings. // Story: Mustic the Changeling // by Stanislas //------------------------------// Few ponies know the real reason why the Changeling race looks so different from a couple of hundreds years ago, yet they just shrugged it off, saying that it was magic and never bothered to find out why. In a sense I can understand them since if they did they would find out that their precious Sun leader almost annihilated a complete species. So now let me tell you why you look quite different from your ancestor. I want you to know our story, everyling must know so they can never forget the many sacrifices made to make this future generation better. Almost three hundred years ago, our proud nation attacked the pony civilization. We started by infiltrate their capital before launching an all-out attack on it. In the beginning everything was perfect. We took them by surprise and took care of their defences quite easily. The victory was close but the leader of this army, Queen Chrysalis, underestimated her opponent and she, with the entirety of the Changeling's force, were blown away to the east from an explosion created by the past prince of the Crystal Kingdom and the still current princess of it. Most of us perished by the sheer force of the explosion by simply being crushed between a wall and it, or by the rough landing in the eastern desert. From the thousands of Changelings following Chrysalis, only a few hundred survived the landing. It was a miracle that they had survived the impact but the joy of being alive quickly left to give place to despair and sadness as one of them found the dead body of their Queen laying on the hot sand of the desert. When the remaining Changelings found the dead body of their Queen, they all felt as if something broke into them like a part of them was gone forever. All of them without exception worked together to bring the lifeless body of Chrysalis back to their kingdom without saying a single word during the journey. Once they arrived, the survivors were welcomed by the remaining population. They organised a ceremony to lay to rest their Queen, but now, without a leader, most Changelings had the same question circling around in their mind. What will happen to them now? The answer did not make itself wait. A few days later most Changelings felt like they were less hungry as the day came by. They did not know the reason behind it but the Changelings welcomed the changes with open hooves. However, what really changed our nation took place a month after the death of Chrysalis. It only started by a rumor, but soon enough, not a single Changeling was unaware of what happened. A changeling was pregnant. Before I go on, you must know that in the past Changelings were born from eggs laid by the Queen and fertilised by the couple who wished to have a youngling of their own, so a pregnant Changeling was quite the news, and what really alarmed the population was that as time came by, more and more Changelings find themselves pregnant. When the first pregnant mother started to deliver her child into our world she was surrounded by the best doctors we had and they successfully helped her for the delivery. But what happened after took them all by shock. The newborn infant was quite different from them. Not only did he have pupils, but the mane of the newborn child was yellow instead of the light blue that every changeling had. When the doctors used their magic to examine the newborn, they touched both his mind and mine. For the first time since my death, they had rejoined me. I, who was once known as Queen Chrysalis, sacrificed myself and what I had left of my power to save them from the coming death they were destined for if I was to die. I changed our race by mixing the D.N.A of a Royal Changeling and a Normal Changeling onto my subjects so that the future generations could live by themselves without the need of a Queen to ensure the survival of our species. What I had not intended to do though, was to make my soul attach itself to every new subject of the future Changeling Generation. *** “Criikikikik” “Sir, I must ask that you back off and please calm down. Now, if you could speak to us in a calm and sensible manner we could understand what you are saying and begin to help you.” Strong Shield, who was on patrol duty that day, attempted to calm down the Changeling that was shaking his golden armor forcefully while yelling at him in a language he did not understand. During this encounter, his partner was snickering at him without lending him a hoof. “Crik-She, she need's Krik! Please kikik must Cricri her,” pleaded the Changeling. “Sir, we cannot do anything if you don’t calm down. If you c-” “Don’t be so formal, ST, you clearly see he is too shocked to speak in a proper Equestrian,” interrupted Strong Shield’s companion before he got closer to the panicking Changeling and started chittering to him. Strong Shield could only watch in wonder as to how and when his friend had learned to speak “The Melody.” like the changelings called their weird tongue, but the chirping and clicking sound that his companion made seemed to calm down the Changeling. “So what did he want?” asked Strong Shield when his friend had returned. “Well I’m not quite sure, either he want us to go help him blow up his wife in the coffee shop over there, or he want us to go help her,” he answered hesitantly. “Are you serious?” “Well the word for help and explode are almost the same. It’s a matter on how you position your tongue and your ears and I’m still pretty new to this, so if you could stop looking at me like I was mental, it would be much appreciated.” “Just… Let’s go to this shop and see why he wants our help,” deadpanned Strong Shield before taking the direction the Changeling pointed him. *** The Changeling who was known as Mustic watched the two guards with a worried expression while a sentiment of impatience grew inside him, but right before he was going to leave those two behind and go look somewhere else for help, the same one as earlier who’d spoke to him approached. With his thick accent, he was asking him to show them the way, but not before complimenting him on his eyes, which Mustic just shrugged off to his lack of proper knowledge on how to “sing” properly. As the trio were on their way to the coffee shop, Mustic could not stop his mind from wandering to place he did not wish to. “What if I took too much time and she died?What if she does not forgive me for having left her behind to gather help, why have I accepted to bring her to Canterlot! Canterlot is not a proper place to have a baby. Do they even have Changeling hospitals here?” Mustic wanted to ask the guards to go faster but it was his wife who knew how to speak Equestrian, so he dropped the idea. Once they arrived at the coffee shop the guard immediately knew that something was not right, a changeling with pink eyes and mane was lying on the floor, her respiration erratic and rash, as she was holding her midsection. The guards did not need to share a single word to let each other know what was happening. She needed help, and fast... Strong Shield and his comrade did not waste any time, and while one of them casted a teleportation spell to go fetch a doctor, the other one was dispatching the forming crowd around the soon to be mother. It did not take long for the guard to reappear with the doctor by his side, quickly the doctor galloped to the mother's side and began to examine her. “She going to give birth, we need to bring her to the hospital right now!” he declared. After judging that she was strong enough to support it, he asked the the guard that brought him here to take them both back to the hospital. Leaving Mustic and Strong Shield behind. *** A week had passed since Mustic and his wife Cornelia had left the hospital to return to their small recently bought farm on the edge of the Whitehill Forest just a couple of miles away from the city of the Friendship Princess. The farm in itself had nothing really special about it, a small house and two or three yards’ worth of empty plain, but the new parents were happy with of their purchase. “Alright, It should be working now,” said Mustic as he placed the camera on a tripod before he joined his wife and kid in front of the camera. “We should have a whole minute before the picture is taken, do I look good?” he asked, trying to adjust his hat with his hooves. Her wife giggled. “Don’t worry, you look just fine.” “Why are we wearing those clothes again?” His hat falling on the grass. “Because they perfectly match our profession and I’ve heard the ponies in general find the act of wearing clothes attractive. It will be easier to get our weekly dose of emotion if we wear them.” “It still does not explain why you want us to wear them when we’re at home,” answered back Mustic, frowning as he placed his hat back, which kept falling off his head. “It's not by being grumpy that you will make us look good on the picture, now stop moving and hold her with me,” said Cornelia in an authoritative tone. Mustic sighed at the short temper of his wife before he looked up at his newborn girl with a great amount of affection. He still was not able to fully believe it, he was a dad now and he had a wonderful daughter. He held her carefully in his hoof, helped by his wife before smiling at the camera. They heard a small click and a picture came out from one of the openings under it. “How does it look?” asked Cornelia as Mustic returned with the picture. “Perfect!” he answered. “Y-you think this will work out?” asked Mustic once his wife finished looking at the picture. “What will work out?” she said, tilting her head. “All of this!” Mustic said back, pointing at everything around them. “The farm, the house, living here and raising her. Do you think the ponies around here will accept us as smoothly as you think? I’ve read things; not pretty things and sometimes I think we should have stayed at the hive and raised our daughter there, in the security of our homeland.” “We had this conversation plenty of times before,” sighed his wife before passing a hoof around him and pulling him into her embrace. “ I want us to do our part in the cultural exchange with the ponies and us, and I find ponies quite fascinating and I’m sure it will only do us good to live with them. We just have to do like we said. You take charge of the field work and grow those special flowers of yours like only you know how to do, while I make the fancy bouquets and sell them in the market at the village and we will both raise up our little Tulip over here in harmony and happiness,” she said, pointing at their daughter she was holding in her swaddle. “And don’t worry about the ponies around here, Ponyville is known to be one of the cities that’s more friendly toward Changelings like us so everything will play alright.” “I know…” said Mustic without any conviction in his voice. “And you’re probably right, but I’m still feeling a bit insecure about all this, forgive me.” He leaned his head against Cornelia and watched her daughter try to grab his muzzle with her tiny hooves. “You think she will be proud of her father later?” Cornelia rolled her eyes and gently pushed Mustic. “Stop worrying about everything you bosh’tet. Now come inside and make us something to eat,” she said before going inside and leaving her husband behind. Mustic sat on his rump and watched the sunset for a while before listening to his wife and finally joining her inside. “She's right.” he told himself. “Everything will go smoothly and as planned.”