//------------------------------//
// Changeling Minds and Minding Changelings 
// Story: Earth, Magic and Sparkles 
// by Dreams of Ponies 
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I must have done something terrible in a former life to deserve this.

The mass of swarming carapaces in front of me buzzed and hissed. All the while, more changelings funneled into the cavern, filing orderly into neat rows in front of us. 

Suddenly there was a high pitched scream, which caused me to look back in response, "Twilight, are you alright?" I asked. Twilight looked at me flatly, and then gestured to the pony beside her with her wing. 

Golden Quill seemed glued to his rump, his eyes wide with terror, his gaze transfixed on the insects massing in front of us. He opened his mouth to scream again—before Twilight thumped him in the back of the head with her wing.

"Ow," Golden Quill said, massaging his mane with a hoof, "what was that for?" 

"Get a hold of yourself," Twilight said, gesturing to the army in front of us, "we can't afford to lose our heads here." 

Golden Quill grumbled, but at least he had stopped screaming like a school filly. 

I walked forward slowly, looking into the eyes of the abyss and then spoke calmly to it, "Hello, I'm sorry that we have dropped in like this, but if anyone could just show us the way out.."

I stopped in response to a renewed wave of hissing and bared fangs. 

"Got it, not the friendly types then," I murmured, slowly stepping back.

"You've seen changelings before, Azure?" Twilight said, watching my interactions with the insect like creatures.

"Not here in Equestria, but yes, I've come across them in my journey. And the one's that I met were a bit more friendly. I'm guessing your encounter was a little less than perfect?"

"Indeed,' said Golden Quill, who had finally found his normal voice, "These beasts invaded Canterlot, and tried to suck out my soul!"

I rolled my eyes at him, and then looked over the area for possible escape routes. There were smaller tunnels going off in different directions, but the only primary exit was not currently an option.

"They had the nerve to interrupt a royal wedding," Golden Quill continued, "and that queen of theirs was hideous, I think her name was—" 

"Queen Chrysalis," boomed someone in the royal voice. 

The changelings skittered back to make room for their queen, who was stepping purposefully into the chamber from behind them. She stood about three times higher than her children, if you included the jagged horn, and seemed to ooze contempt for us.

Twilight raised her shield reflexively around herself and Golden Quill, as I was standing too close to the changelings, and too far away from her, to be included. 

"Azure, stay away from her, she's evil!" Twilight gasped, watching me move slowly towards the queen.

"Evil!, ha," Queen Chrysalis darkly chuckled, "and after all we shared Twilight, I see how you really feel about me." Chrysalis walked forward, the changelings bowing to her as she passed, "I almost became your in-law, so do try to show a little respect, if you would be so kind."

I glanced back, a little confused, and then saw Twilight's face redden with anger and embarrassment. Queen Chrysalis merely laughed at the displays of emotion, coming to a stop a short distance in front of me.

"So who do we have here", the queen said, giving me the same look that I give my brother's maple glazed carrots.

Best to play it safe I suppose. I took a small half step back, and then bowed my head far enough for my muzzle to touch the ground. 

"Greetings, your Majesty of the Changelings, I am Azure, and I apologize on the behalf of my group for the unintended intrusion into your home."

Queen Chrysalis stared at me blankly, her eyes growing slightly wider at the reverence she was being given by a pony. Then her gaze narrowed at me in suspicion before she said simply, "Go on."

I returned to an upright position, but still kept my head at a lowered level, to signify my respect, "Our journey has accidentally brought us into your fine home, and we wish only to not cause you further trouble."

Queen Chrysalis's expression shifted only slightly while I spoke, before she seemed to decide upon something.

"Come with me, Azure, and bring the rest of your rabble with you," she said, turning to walk back through the changeling parade.

I slowly walked after her, slowing down so Twilight and Golden Quill could catch up. Twilight dropped the shield for the moment, and then hurried into earshot.

"You're crazy, you know that, right, Azure?" she said, looking at me with concern. 

"Whatever past you might have with her is secondary right now, Twilight. We are in her home, and thus aren't really in a position to make demands or fling insults," I calmly reminded her.

We walked past the lines of changelings, the majority of them eyeing us carefully, as well as some hissing at us quietly. We reached the large opening, and then turned down a small hallway of sorts. The walls had all been carved from stone, and there was no decorations of any kind. A low chittering could be heard from behind us, as the swarm tailed us carefully as we followed their queen.

At the end of the hallway, my eyes opened wide as the room opened up into a huge structure. The whole area was shaped like a sphere, and it had tunnels that exited in all different directions. Stone walkways spiraled around the area, short pathways available to climb all around, even though the changelings all had wings. In the center of the magnificent chamber, was a large throne, which was covered in some fine material I couldn't identify.

Queen Chrysalis spread her wings, and then flew across the chamber to take her place upon the royal chair. I could see a small changeling approach her, and then take to the air after she spoke to him. Its wings buzzed as it landed in front of us, and then he simply said, "Follow." And so we did, all the way around the chamber, taking the long route as neither myself or Golden Quill had wings. We walked down the inner path, which curved and then cut across the diameter of the area, which then led to the throne.

The three of us approached, a sizable cluster of changelings still following behind us. As we neared the throne, we stopped a polite distance away, and then I bowed again. I coughed softly into a hoof, and watched as Twilight and Golden Quill took the hint. We waited in that position for a moment before I stood back up, the others following suite. 

"Now," Queen Chrysalis said, slouching back into her throne, "I shall grant you a moment of my time, so that you may enjoy the opportunity to provide me with entertainment—before I have my drones suck you dry."

Twilight tensed, her horn creating only the slightest light—before I stopped her with a hoof. 

Golden Quill had shrunk back, cowering away from the insect queen while pleading, "Please, no, I'll do anything, just..just please don't eat me." Twilight promptly smacked him in the face with a wing. I stepped forward, keeping my face neutral while approaching the queen. 

"I shall attempt to be a diversion from your royal duties, Queen Chrysalis, if you'll allow it," I said looking up at her. She simply gave a small nod in confirmation that I may continue. 

I tapped my dream pearl with a hoof, pulling at its magic, after which a shadow rushed past us. A dark dome formed over the top of myself and Queen Chrysalis, which blocked out the rest of her home from view. Chrysalis raised her eyebrows at me, surprised—but not alarmed.  I struck a hoof to the ground, from which a flash of light emanated. The light pulsed out from my hoof, leaving a world of desert sand in its place. The sky itself shifted into a sandy haze, which was only dimly lit by the clouded sun. 

The sand swirled around us, blowing furiously overhead. Queen Chrysalis stepped down from her throne, which disappeared into the sand behind her. She looked around at the unknown desert before her, before leveling a displeased look at me.

"Well, now what, after all that flashy magic, this is all you've got to show for yourself?" she said, clearly unimpressed.

"I'm not done your majesty, please wait, but a moment longer," I said, closing my eyes to focus. The sand surrounded me, brushing through my mane and tail. I opened my eyes, after which the sand blew past me, leaving me with a view of a slightly more interested Chrysalis. I looked down at my hooves to see my shiny new black shell, which had holes up and down each leg. 

"Now," I said, stomping a hoof into the sand, which caused several lumps to rise out of the desert. Each one formed into an changeling that was identical to myself as I said, "Let's play Are You A Changeling."

Chrysalis snorted with mild amusement, perhaps trying to consider whether to kill me now, or wait to see what I do next.

"If you fail to find me among these changelings three times," I said, walking past my doppelgangers, "then you'll suffer a punishment worse than you can imagine. But, if you're successful, then I'll tell you how I infiltrated your home."

Queen Chrysalis stood there, the sand buffeting against her black shell, considering my offer. "Fine," she said, "but when we're done, you're going to play my game."

I nodded to her, backing up among the clones, before a flurry of sand covered our retreat. I commanded the clones mentally, the lot of them dashing away in different directions. 

For this first minute or so of the game, I kept giving her only glimpses of her quarry, teasing the predator. I kept my distance for the moment, having the clones dash around near her. She might not really care about winning, but I doubt the queen would simply let me beat her. Queen Chrysalis, to give her credit, was calm and calculating throughout the beginning of the encounter. I had changelings dash in near her, and she barely looked at them before dismissing each one. 

That of course, did not mean she could tell them apart just by looking, but probably that she didn't expect me to bravely charge towards her. Eheh, she doesn't know me very well. I pushed past a sand dune, streaking by a few feet in front of her. At the same time, I had a clone rush behind her, aiming for a distant hill of sand. Chrysalis spun around, ignoring me, and then shot a jet of green flame at the changeling. The clone exploded in a burst of sand, after which a small charge of electricity shot from underneath Queen Chrysalis, zapping her in the backside.

There was a surprised "Ow" that managed to squeak out of her mouth, after which she spun around to furiously search for me. The storm grew stronger, limiting her vision of the area. This time, I had a group of the eight changeling fly in a formation, which moved directly over her head. Chrysalis watched them carefully, trying to pick out something measurably different between them. So I gave her something. I directed the very last flyer to wobble in his path, and the irritable, magic happy queen shot him down without thinking. 

Again, a jolt of lightning shot from underneath her majesty, causing her to jump and then yell something indecipherable. Maybe I was having too much fun with this, either way, it's time for the final act. I called for most of the bug clones to transform, changing into duplicate copies of my true pony self. I of course, remained as I was, and walked forward with the rest of them. I was beside myself, calmly walking towards Queen Chrysalis, who was radiating malice and irritation. 

I projected my thoughts to come from the pony closest to her, commanding it to speak as me. 

"Give it up, Chrysalis, there's no way you can win," he said, sticking his tongue out at her. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at the clone, before I had the pony-ling next to him spoke.

"Yeah, there's no way you can beat us!" he jeered at her. Queen Chrysalis said nothing, but was slowly eyeing each of us carefully. 

The next Azure stepped up, almost shouting at her, "I can't believe you're letting a pony beat you in a game of disguises!"

Queen Chrysalis scowled at him, her face scrunching up in anger with each passing comment.

Finally, I stepped up, still appearing as a changeling, and then said, "Face it, Bug Butt, you never even had a chance!"

The queen was glaring at me, her horn charging with magic. Gotcha. I made my reserve pony clone fall over, his head landing just past the dune he was hidden behind. The queen jerked her head, her expression changing into a triumphant smirk, and then she fired a nasty looking surge of green magic at the changeling. My mirror image squeaked in surprise, before bursting into a flutter of sand.

I reached up, and then booped Queen Chrysalis on the nose, and then smiled before saying, "You lose."

She scowled at me, turning away from me in a humph. 

"Oh, right, now it's time for your punishment!" I said, calling forward a large number of changelings into sandy existence. 


---


The world swirled away in a blur of sand and shadow, to be replaced by the earthy tones of the hive. The changelings stood waiting for us, a few with worried looks on their faces.  I stepped forward, Twilight dashing up to give me a hug. I returned her gesture, but was then interrupted by a terrible scream.

"He's a monster!," Queen Chrysalis cried out, panting and scooting back to her throne. 

"What happened in there?" Twilight said, looking at me questioningly. 

"I just had a hundred Pinkie Pies sing her the Equestrian National Anthem," I said, giving her a goofy grin, "As a canon of course!"

Twilight face-hoofed in response, shaking her head at me in disbelieve. "I don't think anypony deserves that fate, Azure," she said.

"I admit, I might have gone just a tad bit overboard," I said embarrassed, my hoof scratching the back of my neck. 

"Azure, it's you turn to suffer, you cruel beast!" shouted Queen Chrysalis. I walked back up to her throne, but was careful to keep my distance from her. "You're going to play my own version of your twisted game," she said, her horn alighting with magic. In a flash, two Golden Quills appeared in front of me, both bound and gagged with changeling mucus. "There's only one rule though," Queen Chrysalis said while snarling at me, "the pony you don't pick, dies."

Twilight gasped at her explanation, rushing toward me, before when a bunch of changeling jumped in front of her—blocking her way. 

"Now now, Princess Twilight Sparkle, we can't have you interfering in the game. You'll just have to sit and watch like everyone else," Queen Chrysalis said, baring her teeth at Twilight.

I looked back at my niece, and nodded to her, trying to be reassuring. Twilight gave me a weak smile in response, and then just stood silent, watching us. 

"Fine," I said, addressing the queen, "but do you promise to allow us to leave afterwards?" 

Chrysalis thought on this for a moment, her smile growing slowly with each passing second. 

"Of course I will, Azure, but I think I'll add a new rule to the game, just to be a good hostess," She said, her grin definitely breaking the creepy meter. 

"You will be the one to kill whomever you don't pick yourself," she finished, which was followed by the sound of Twilight sucking in her breath.

I nodded my head to Chrysalis, still grimly aware that this was probably the best option. If we had tried to fight our way out of here, it would most likely result in not only our deaths, but the deaths of many other ponies as well. For if Twilight was killed or captured, Princess Celestia would be sure to retaliate, and the resulting casualties would be massive on both sides.

I walked up to the pair of golden ponies, looking each one over slowly. They both seemed very nervous. Each one was either twitching, sweating profusely or both. Funny enough, I think I had had a dream about tying him up once.

I took a deep breath, and then cleared my thoughts. I let the sounds of the changeling fade out, which was replaced by the magical humming of energy in the room. I drew in energy slowly, my skin tingling as I did so, until I felt a familiar strength inside of me. I opened my eyes, a small gasp escaping from Chrysalis, and then looked down at the hostages. 

I studied them carefully, watching their faces and eye movements. After a few moments, I reached up and tapped my new ruby gem, which alighted in response. I poured magic into it, the red hue glowing bright and wild. "Celestia help me," I whispered, looking up for a moment.

Then I blasted the golden pony on the right with a crimson burst of flame. The fire sprung from my gem, flying as a cyclone, before disintegrating the pony. Chrysalis blinked in surprise, staring down at the scorch mark where one of the Golden Quills had lain. 

"Can we go now," I said, leaning down to bust the solid mucus that was restraining Golden Quill.

"I must say that was pretty ruthless, Azure," Queen Chrysalis said in an odd tone. "I would say that not even my top mages have that kind of spell power."

I snorted in response, helping Golden Quill up, before answering, "You know that's actually kind of funny." Chrysalis raised an eyebrow at me. "I mean, I had to journey this far away from ponies, to finally get recognition as a magician, just a bit ironic really." 

"Now, if you would, please have one of your subjects guide us out," I said, walking away from her. I nodded to Twilight, who's gaze was transfixed on the burn mark on the cave floor. She shook her head, breaking her daze, before trotting over to join us.

"Very well, Azure, I shall honor my word. But remember, the next time I see you, we'll play a real game," Queen Chrysalis said darkly.


---


Our journey out of the hive was silent and uneventful. The changeling we passed simply stared at us, or scurried away as I approached. No one spoke as we emerged safely into a dry ravine, the sun beating down on us from above. Our changeling guide turned and left us without a word, leaving us alone with our thoughts.

I checked my compass, faced myself properly and then started walking. The others followed behind me, the only other company being the sound of our hooves upon the dry dirt. We traveled for about an hour, before somepony finally broke the silence. 

"I can't believe you killed that changeling, just like that," whispered Twilight. The missing sound of her hoof-steps made me stop, and then turn to look back at her. Twilight had a sad and confused expression on her face, and was looking at me with uncertainty.

"You killed that changeling, Azure, are you okay with that?" Twilight said, her voice growing slightly louder. 

I took a deep breath before I started, trying to speak very carefully, "Twilight, I'm sure that you, of all ponies, would know what would have happened if we had tried to fight, or had even just gotten captured."

"Of course I considered all of that," she retorted, "I went over every scenario in my head, thinking that there had to be a better way!"

"But there wasn't, and you know that," I said to her, Golden Quill looking back and forth at us as we spoke. 

"Yes, I do know that!" she bellowed back at me, Twilight's eyes going wide. 

'Then why are you yelling at me," I said, feeling both confused and worried. 

"Because even though I knew there was no other way, and even though I don't like Chrysalis, I couldn't have done it," she said, her eyes beginning to water. "But you killed that changeling, just like that, without even a second thought. I didn't think a pony could be that cold," Twilight finished, a single tear streaking down her cheek. 

I jerked back, a pain ripping into my heart like a dagger. My face scrunched up in pain and I opened my mouth to retort—but was cut off. 

"Twilight, that's enough," yelled Golden Quill. He walked toward her, a stern look on his face. "I know you might not like how it happened, but Azure saved countless lives today. And he did because he cares deeply about you, so please don't give him grief about it," he said, glaring directly into Twilight's eyes, his muzzle inches from hers.

Twilight turned her head away from his, small drops of water falling from her face onto the ground. Golden Quill moved away from Twilight, coming to a stop in front of me. I looked at him, his face unreadable. He stretched out a hoof out to me, his lips curving into a slight smile, before he said, "Thank you for saving my life, Azure."