It's Thorax's first crystal faire. It's amazing - it's absolutely spectacular, breath-taking, and the love that the crystal heart emanates on the day feels like it could keep him fed for a whole year. It should be the most fantastic thing he has seen all year! And yet...

“That’s a stupid question.” Pharynx rolled his eyes, while coming over to look at the markings Thorax had made in the dirt of their room in the hive. “I think, you dummy, that you can literally transform into any pony that you want.”

“Plus, why would you have wanted to been a pony in the first place? Being a changeling is the best.” He said, puffing up his own chest, before scowling down at the drawing of a pony that Thorax had made, before scraping his own hoof in it, swiping the dirt right back into place over the pale imitation of a pony, before roughly nudging Thorax.

“... Right.” Thorax said, smiling slightly at his brother despite the rough-housing, and the comments as he looked down at the dirt where his drawing had been. “I don’t really know why I would want to be one,” he lied, as he got up from the position he was laying down in, going to follow his brother.

Or becoming a part of something you dreamed of, but never thought you could really have.

Secret Santa gift for Dashie04

The hive is in celebration. The invasion goes well, and soon all Equestria will surely fall. The victorious changeling soldiers will be covered in wealth and glory, and poor young Thorax fears the war will end before he can enlist.

It does not.

Chrysalis Chrysanthemum is one of the most powerful, feared individuals in the world of corporate business. There is nothing she can't do if she puts her mind to it. At least, that's what she always thought. Then a girl named Sunset Shimmer drops into her life. Chrysalis is set to discover that of all the ways she has succeeded, there's one thing she failed utterly at. Make that three things.

Now she must face the hard truth and find some way to fix it. If only she had the faintest clue how.

The story of Chrysalis as a mother in two parts. Inspired by a long-held and beloved headcanon of mine.

Pre-reading done by Wandering Twilight, Ghost Mike, ShiningBeacon, and AuroraDawn.

Cover art commissioned from AmazingPuffhair, who surprised me by getting it done perfectly in only one try.

During a diplomatic visit from King Thorax, Princess Luna discovers that, inexplicably, his brother Pharynx hates her lavender. And for that matter, potted plants in general.

That won't do, of course – even if Pharynx is the new Changeling Prince – and so she'll need to teach him a lesson.

And one lesson won't be enough.

Featured from 18/05/2020 to 20/05/2020, peaking at #4 in the box.
Featured on Equestria Daily! Also featured in Equestria Daily's 38 Fanfics to Read for Luna Day 2020!
9/10, from My Little Reviews & Feedback.
8.8/10 and 8/10, from the Reviewer's Mansion.
Rated Really Good by Ghost Mike!

Edited and proofread by VoxAdam, pre-read by Valtyra. Thanks, you guys

Written for the May 2020 Original Pairing Contest.

Cover by hosikawa_choco.

Author's Commentary

Thorax still remembered his nymph years. They were lonely, and even life threatening at times. If it wasn’t for Pharynx, he’d probably be dead long ago.

He just wished Pharynx didn’t have to go such extreme lengths to protect him.

When Chrysalis, former queen of the changelings, is finally found, it seems something strange has happened to her. The once proud and noble queen now has cats. A lot of cats.

(An idea based off of a brief conversation with YuGiOh Brony in the comments of A Changeling at the Breakfast Table. However, the two stories are in no way connected. So while I might encourage others to read it as a way to shamelessly plug myself, there is no need to in order to enjoy this story.)

(Now with a dramatic reading: here)

They were actually making progress in the conversation department. “Hey, sunshine, you’re a genius, aren’t you? Leading an army and all that. Help me with this crossword.”

Note: I did not make up the name S.M.I.L.E. It is the actual name of the secret agency Sweetie Drops (Bon-Bon) mentioned being a part of in Season 5 Episode 9.

THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE STORY.

I refer to 'Bon-Bon' as 'Sweetie Drops' in this story because it felt right. Instead of 'Bon-Bon', the pony who works in Sweetie Drops Candies selling candies, she is 'Sweetie Drops', the special agent who works for the "super-secret anti-monster agency" as she refers it in Slice of Life.

Cover art by some guy called FanaticPanda on DeviantArt.

Years before her enrollment at the School of Magic, Ocellus spent her larval stage in the Changeling Grotto Junior Military Academy.

She did better than one might expect.

Cover art by Zutcha on DeviantArt.

This is an entry in the Snippet Series, an anthology of old oneshots that I (and my good buddy Str8aura) wrote based around interesting pics I found. New ones will be posted every other Thursday for the foreseeable future.

The days of fear, torture and fierce opposition is over in the changeling hives. There is no longer the need for an elite, combat-ready military ready to eviscerate, pillage and destroy whatever they are ordered to kill. There is no longer a hive, only a hollow shell of pony lights, pony love, pony customs and the fading of changeling tradition. As each day passes, the old 'Chrysalis' ways are replaced by perverted versions of 'Celestia' and her subordinates' disgusting aesthetic.

Pharynx didn't think he'd be alone in his thinking. He didn't think he'd be the only one who stood defiant, fierce and intimidating to those around him. He didn't think that they wouldn't understand. They had to understand. They were his own kin! They turn their backs to him, ignorant to the years they've all spent as warriors and guards, in exchange for a life of comfort and ignorance.

He didn't think the entire hive would betray him. He didn't think the outcasting would be so unabashedly obvious. Is this what Thorax felt when he left the hive? Was this fate's sick karma of tormenting him until the day he dies?

You abandoned your brother. Now, they all abandon you.

This was no longer home.

Created as a pick-me-back-into-writing-again-write-as-I-go-kind-of-like-this challenge for myself. Can't say I am completely satisfied with how I conveyed the story, but it did get me inspired again.

Source Image: https://www.deviantart.com/inuhoshi-to-darkpen/art/No-Need-for-a-Soldier-702973099

Pharynx is forced by his brother to take Ocellus to a carnival. He discovers that the experience is unbearable. Will he make it through the day?

Rated T for Pharynx mild swearing.
Cover belongs to someone on DeviantArt called FanaticPanda.