"My old name was 849372, and I was born into the nest of the almighty Queen Chrysalis. Unlike my many brothers and sisters, I was not grey, and I did not have blue bug eyes. Yes, I'm a changeling- don't look at me like that, spider! How else did you think I could change appearance, change gender, change my voice?!"
Breeze sighed, and so The Terror continued. "My queen did not dislike my half transparent, half white body. Unlike the others, I also had a mane and tail, like the majesty herself. Of course, mine wasn't blue like hers. Mine was white and black, obviously. I had no cutiemark, but perhaps that was a good thing. Like my siblings, I had a form of wings and a horn. Luckily for me, mine was the same as theirs.
"Queen Chrysalis adored me. I was her prized daughter, her favorite changeling. I was different, but she liked it. She didn't care that I had normal eyes. She did not seem to notice my body was not dark like the rest. She liked how I was similar to a ghost; she loved my transparency. Sometimes I wish she hadn't.
"Years passed on, and I lived in solitude from my brothers and sisters. Only on my third day of school did it begin. As a young changeling, I had to go onto the training grounds. The queen felt it necessary that I learn like the others, so I attended it like a regular changeling. My siblings did not know who I was, for they had no access to see me because I lived with my good mother, the queen, in the castle of the hive.
"They did not see me like my mother did, or so I thought. They looked at me with fear, they seemed afraid. I had always been told by the queen that I was still a changeling... That I should still thirst for love. 'That is the one main thing that unites all changelings', she said to me, 'we all hunger for others' love.'
"My brothers and sisters from the hive were afraid, and I liked it. Some that were daring enough called me names. Pony-Face, because of my eyes, Hairy Mary, due to my mane and tail, and Ghost, because of my half white- half transparent body. But the most known one was named after my whole complexion- 'The Terror', so I adopted it as my own. I was no longer 849372; I was The Terror. Like my name, I knew then that I was to be destined to put fear in the hearts of others. I liked... No... I loved it. I began to crave their insecurities.
"On my fourth day of school, I entered with a grin. My many siblings that didn't decide to run from me started their name calling, hoof pointing, face making... And I began my skill that I learned I had a talent for when I was in the royal room. I trotted in and began to shout, 'Greetings, my brothers and sisters! I have a surprise for you in store, yes I do! You will learn to fear me evermore after this day!' The instructor of the school had me sent to my mother, whom gave me a hard stare.
"I asked her why I was sent to her. The queen only shook her head. 'I knew this would happen. You cannot stay here, my daughter. You must leave!' I took a step back. 'Why?!' I asked her, '...why?' All I wanted was for my longing crave to be satisfied. Every time somepony was scared, I felt more powerful. However, I was never satisfied. I wanted to reach my high... And I couldn't wait any longer.
"'Leave!' She yelled. 'Go, and fulfill your destiny! You are my favorite daughter, you have power! Conquer a kingdom, and bring the inhabitants to me for your siblings and I to feed on!' I looked at her. Then, sudden realization hit me as hard as an anvil does when dropped from the sky onto somepony's head. I almost fell, my heart stopped beating for a minute. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. My legs became weak, and my stomach felt sick. My mother, Queen Chrysalis, only favorited me because I was better. She was using me.
"Everything from the beginning of my life up until that moment to me was a lie. I was never loved, never truly accepted as who I was. My mother only favored me because I was different. Somehow, I appeared more magical than the others. Who was I, to even think about being loved? My mother, the ruler of the nest, did not care about me. She only trapped me into using me for my strong power.
"Perhaps that is why I hated myself. Those years I spent in solitude, all those lonely years that I only saw her, the guard, and sometimes a king, (I never met my father) was something I thought was going good in my life. Why me? Aren't I picked on enough? Perhaps I do not crave love like the other changelings because I do not know what it feels like. But I don't care... The past is gone! I cannot go back and change things, my fate is sealed!
"I lowered my eyebrows. 'No!' I rebelled, thinking not about what I was doing. 'No! I am not your slave! I thought you loved me!' The queen only laughed. 'Why, I do love you, and your siblings will too. Look here, 849372,' she wrapped her left foreleg around my neck, and with her mouth close to my right ear, she whispered, 'they will adore you if you bring them food.'
"The words rang in my head. 'They will adore you... They... Will... Adore... You... They... Will... Adore... You...' My head felt light, and my lungs felt heavy. I wanted to fall down, pass out... I did not want to stay here. I felt embarrassed, I felt... Mindless. I was being used. I knew deep down that those changelings would never accept me, love me, adore me... no matter how much food I brought them. I gritted my teeth at this.
"I was raised as a changeling... Changelings are only loyal to changelings. So how are ponies friends with different races, different types? Pegasi and unicorns, unicorns and earth, earth and pegasi... Alicorns, too! I never understood it. My mother told my I was always a Changeling, but my siblings never treated me like it. They didn't act like I was one of them. So who am I but a mistaken slave among those that I thought loved me?
"My mother let go, and stepping away she turned her back and said, 'I shall't wait any longer. Go conquer a kingdom, and bring back the food. You are like me, my daughter. You are special'... I wanted to fight back, but I knew I was defeated." The Terror was sitting, her back haunched down and her neck low. Her muzzle was aimed straight at the ground. The group of friends surrounding her only looked at her in bewilderment, puzzled and wanting to know more. Quietly they waited.
"It was then that I ran away. Everyone that I knew thought I was going to bring them food... But I do not think I will ever return. I flew away as far as I could until I was too hungry and tired to go anymore. I smelt something delicious... That thing, you call 'coffee'... I stopped here in this shop, completely invisible. I hid, and watched your friend Vanilla Mocha give that blue stallion coffee. I watched her, and her friends... Then after she closed up, I decided to stay here for the night. The next day she and that stallion came back," she pointed at Eclipse, "and I learned even more about her. Then, I trapped her."
"Why'd you do that?!" Paradise exclaimed.
"I was hungry! I cannot feed off coffee and pastries! I'm a changeling!" The Terror's voice sounded... Different. Not demanding as usual, not loud, not boasting... She was yelling, but it was soft in a way. Her throat sounded stuffed... Like as if she was hiding something.
"I feed off fear... Didn't I say that? Every time I feel insecurities in others... I... I just feel more powerful! B-but... When it's gone... I feel even less than what I had started with..." The Terror sniffled. Her glowing eyes closing, she clenched her teeth and began to cry quietly. Long watery tears fell onto the floor of the coffee shop.
Minutes of silence passed. The only sounds heard were the sniffles of the ghostly changeling and the slow ticking of the wall clock.
Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick... Tick...
The Terror lifted her head. "W-when I was in... S-school... I learned about the Thaumaturgy Gemstone..." She sniffled, "I would like it... Now..."
Eclipse held it tightly in his hoof. He looked down at it, then glanced back up. He opened his mouth to speak, but he had nothing to say. What could he say?
Frost sat up taller. "Perhaps-"
"Dearie, I hate to interrupt, but, if I may address a question to our... Visitor, this evening..." He looked at The Terror, "Why do you need the gem, anyways? You feed off fear. It's just an amulet, what could it do? Make you scarier?" Upon hearing this, the corners of The Terror's eyes turned red, identical to when somepony is crying.
"What are you saying? That she isn't already scary? I almost had a heart attack earlier!" Galaxy added.
"Um, guys...?" Frost asked quietly.
"I think what Quillton was trying to ask was why she needed the gem." Tacitus explained.
"That makes a lot more sense!" Daffodil agreed with the unicorn.
"Back to his question, why the amulet? What can it do? I mean, he did bring up a good point." Charming Thunder asked.
"Well, for one thing, The Terror could have had just tried to kill us." Shadow Wing added, "It was a dangerous journey, even for me." At this, The Terror's eyes stopped glowing.
"She isn't nice at all. And, who doesn't drink coffee and eat pastries? Food is amazing! Who wouldn't eat it?" Garfield asked.
"She is mysterious, and evil! She took our friend away from us just so that she could get food for herself!" Paradise Oasis agreed.
"She was more than just a friend..." Eclipse sadly sighed, remembering his marefriend.
"Yeah! She's a changeling, duh! All they are is evil!" Breeze exclaimed. The Terror's ears flattened down. She began to scoot back, her hooves moving frantically. She fell onto her back, the back of her head hitting the hard wood of the café hard. She had tears running down her face. Her forelegs were covering the top of her head, as if she did not want to be noticed. Her whole body was slowly turning completely invisible, showing she wanted to hide.
Frost stepped forward. "I have an idea..." She said quietly.
The group looked at her, and with their attention, the pegasus continued. "Um... What if, we didn't give her hate, but gave her love? What if she became our friend?"
The Terror smiled a little, but forced it away. "N-no!" She snapped. Her crying and stuffed nose was audible through her voice. "I don't want love, or friendship! I just want my magic! If I hadn't kept Mocha scared in that mirror this whole time, I'm not sure how I'd still be here. Please... Give me my gemstone... I'm a changeling, I'm not your friend, I'm a natural enemy, just like the spider said!"
Breeze waved. "That's me!"
The group looked at her, then back at The Terror.
"Just give it to me! We'll never be able to be friends, what difference will it make?! I am a no one, my life is a script that was written by fate. I am The Terror... An evil being with no heart. Changelings have no hearts, no conscious! We're hungry creatures that don't care what gets in our way. All we think of is ourselves, and we put others in danger in order to get what we desire! And when we finally do get it... When it wears off... We go lower than we started with!
"It leads to sadness, it leads to hurting... It lead me down a road I wish that I never walked down! I don't know why I'm different, I don't know why the queen thought I was better. I feel sick inside, weak... I don't know what or why I'm doing anything anymore. After learning about the amulet I knew that in order to get my desire, I'd have to find it!
"Because I crave fear I knew that I'd scare ponies into doing it for me! I'd feed off their insecurities, and now that you are mine, there is no escaping! So what if I'm down on the floor, so what if I'm different?! We are natural enemies, and I will live up to that! There's no denying it... My mother told me. She said once a changeling, always a changeling, and it's not my fault that I didn't want to be one... It's not my fault that I wanted to be something else! I wanted friends! I wanted love! But I will never have it!"
"Just... Give it... To me..." She extended her hoof and was breathing heavily.
Eclipse glanced at the mirror. Vanilla Mocha was trapped inside the darkness that hid beneath the glass. Turning his attention back to The Terror, he extended his hoof towards her. The amulet was almost in reach to the changeling when he swung around and threw it at the mirror. The gem shattered into pieces, cracking the small mirror as well.