The Changeling King

by th3l0stch1ld

On the Run

Amor walked slowly in down the path he found that day. He had no idea where he was going, so he traveled in no particular direction. He looked every so often, not sure of what he would see. Maybe a pony, maybe a bird or two, something to keep him occupied while he walked. But nothing could prepare him for what he saw, for when he looked up, he saw a small squad of changelings flying away from the hive, being led by Chrysalis herself.

“I thought I told her not to look for me!” he said to himself. It was clear he was going to have to hide from his pursuers. Luckily, the forest on the edge of the road provided enough cover that he wouldn’t be seen.

Amor ran through the forest for hours, trying to keep out of sight of any changelings that might be in the area. He did not know it, but these soldiers were not trying to find him. This was simply the small squad set up to ambush the princess. Amor tried to run as long as he could, but he was growing tired, and he would need to find shelter before he could rest. So he looked for anything that would suffice. He spotted a large cave opening.

“That will do for now.”

When Amor entered the cave, he couldn’t see anything. It was just total darkness. His horn buzzed and hummed and glowed, letting off enough light to see within five feet of himself. The way he saw it, the deeper he went into the cave, the less likely they were to find him. But his bad luck continued.

As he traveled through the cave, he ran into something that he almost couldn’t see. It was translucent, it glowed blue, and it looked like the night sky littered with stars. When he heard the earth shattering growls he knew exactly what he had just disturbed. Standing right in front of him, ready to tear him apart, was an ursamajor. Amor was bewildered. He had no idea something so dangerous lived anywhere near the hive. Every part of his mind screamed one thing to him that he heard loud and clear. Run!

Amor took off. He looked like a wonderbolt, kicking up dirt with every step. His mind just kept screaming at him. Run! Run until you cannot run anymore! Run until you are miles away from that thing! So he did. Amor ran until nightfall, and when he stopped, his hooves practically screamed with pain. He collapsed where he stood, too tired to go on any farther.

As he slept, Amor found himself in that strange place again, a place he was fond of calling the void. The name seemed suiting, considering he couldn’t see a thing, no matter how bright his horn glowed.

“You have left the hive, as I told you to. Good. You will find your answers soon enough.”

“When? I have left my people to fend for themselves. I have left the only pony I have ever loved! When will I find these answers you keep telling me of?”

“Soon enough, soon enough.”
The answer Amor got irritated him. His horn began to glow, and he shot a blast of energy at the darkness before him. He watched, as it continued in a straight line, never touching anything, never breaking down.

“Don’t worry, your hive will be fed soon enough, even if only for a few minutes.”

“How could you know this?”

“You don’t need to know, but I will tell you, those soldiers were not after you.”

“How do you know!?”

“Hush now, it is time to wake up.”

“No! Not yet!”

But as always, Amor was swallowed by the green flames, and found himself in the dirt where he passed out the night before.

Amor continued walking. He was growing hungrier by the minute, and with no love in the area he would have to put up with it for now. He was somewhat rested, so he could make do for another day. But his mind began to wander again.

“Who could be trying to contact me through my dreams?” he said to himself. “What makes me so important? No one has even heard of changelings, I’ve made sure of that. Whenever we infiltrate a town, I always make sure they are none the wiser. So why is it this voice is haunting my dreams?”

He didn’t realize that he made his way back on the road. As Amor thought, he bumped into a sign in the road. When he looked at the sign, he knew right where he was. The sign pointed in three directions. To the left, was Canterlot, to the right, Ponyville. And straight above me, Cloudsdale.

“Well, as much as I’d hate to feed, I am getting weak.” It was true what Amor wrote. He always felt guilty when he fed. The idea of stealing from somepony in order to survive, it put added stress on himself. This, actually, was part of the reason he decided it would be better for him to leave the hive.
”Let’s see, Cloudsdale lacked love, Canterlot is a good stretch away and is heavily fortified. It would probably be a lot easier to sneak a single pony into Ponyville than an entire hive, so looks like I am stopping there. But I’ll need a disguise. I’ll keep this basic.”

With a hum of his horn, a green fire started at Amor’s feet. As it rose, his body began to transform. When it finally got to the top of his head, the full transformation was complete. It was nothing special, he was a basic grey unicorn, his wings hidden, and his cutie mark still showing. His horn had changed from the gnarled horn of a royal changeling to a short little thing sticking off the top of his head. It was a bump compared to what he was used to. Other than his wings and horn, Amor’s outward appearance changed drastically. He was much shorter than he normally was. His fangs were no longer there, and his legs were no longer full of holes. His crown, being atop his head when he transformed, completely disappeared.

“This will do.” He said as he made his way to Ponyville.

The town was quieter than he expected. After all the reports Amor has gotten about Ponyville, he was expecting some high class town with ponies coming from every direction. While in his thoughts, Amor was taken off guard by the pink pony that shot out in front of him.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”

“Uhh, Amor.”

“Well hi, Amor! I’ve never seen you around town before, and I know everypony! Are you new to Ponyville? What am I saying, of course you are! Would you like the tour of the town?”

Amor could feel the affection coming off of this little pink pony. Even if it was just friendship, it passed as a meal, even if he had to listen to her babble on.

“So, want the tour? I know where everything is in town! So wanna tour huhuh do ya?”

“Uhh, no, maybe la-“

“Well just find me and let me know whenever you’re ready! I’m usually hanging out with one of my friends so you may have some trouble finding me, but rest assured you will find me eventually, but you would probably find out what everything is just by looking for me so I guess I’ll give you the tour whenever I see you next! I’d love to stay and chat but I gotta get home and start packing, cuz I’m off to Canterlot for a big wedding! I guess I’ll see you later!”

As Pinkie Pie walked away Amor stood there for a few minutes to try and put together what just happened.

“Well that was…different.”

Author's Note:

I plan on adding a picture to this chapter soon, so keep an eye out.

Comments

[Razzy]

Pinkie protocol initiated, desired confusion obtained.

Cya
Raziel-chan