Time For a Change

by DuskShadowBrony

II- The First Day

Chapter 2- The First Day
“Good morning, young sirs.” A Changeling bowed to us. “The Queen has requested that we treat you formally. Would you like some breakfast?”

“Sure.” I answered. Clear and I had gotten up about an hour ago, and were discussing various events at our job.

“And here, you are, Dust Storm.” He passed my blades off to me. I smiled as I strapped them on, the familiar weight making me feel a bit more comfortable. “Follow me.” He led us down the twisting hallways, eventually stopping at a small dining area. “I’m afraid we don’t have too much to your tastes, but we do have fruits and vegetables.”

“I’ve got a question. Do you changelings only feed of love or…” Clear started.

“Ah, no, we can eat foods like you can, but it tastes bland to us.” He answered. “We very much prefer feeding off love.”

“Contrary to popular belief…” I took a seat. “They don’t actually drain the love that they consume.”

“What, really?” Clear asked in surprise, as the Changeling prepared a fruit salad for us. “So there are a lot of misconceptions about them.”

I nodded as the Changeling set the bowls down. “What’s your name?” I asked him.

“Ah, well, because we’re born in large amounts, our names may be a bit different. My name is C2.” He answered. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can get you two. My Queen wants to see you two in her throne room after you’ve eaten.”

“All right. I actually can’t wait to see the cute little guys I’m going to help caretake.” Clear chuckled.

“And if anything tries to hurt them, they’ll have to get through the other guards and me first.”

***

“So, you understand?” Glimmer smiled at us, as her guards passed off translation crystals to us.

“Yeah, take care of the little guys in the Eastern nursery.” Clear nodded.

“And my task is to patrol the Eastern nursery perimeter, to make sure nothing gets in.” I patted my swords. “We’ll do our best.”
“I ask for nothing more.” She led the way down to the Eastern wing, stopping at a set of green, gel-like doors, opening them with her magic.

“Oh…. Wow….” Clear looked at the over hundred of little changelings, tumbling and playing about. All of them looked the same, like most changelings in the hive, making it impossible to tell any apart. A few older Changelings were roaming around, likely the caretakers.

“Go on, then.” Glimmer nodded as Clear trotted in. I noticed a balcony ring around the Eastern Nursery. The Nursery was like a dome, overhanging an area, branching off from the hive. I knew what to do, carefully stepping past some curious changeling hatchlings staring at the two newcomers, probably never having seen other ponies before.

“Hi!” I looked down as a tiny female voice spoke. One of the little changelings was staring up at me, a pink diaper on her waist and a pacifier hanging on a string from her neck. “Why awe you in disguise?” she asked, young enough to lisp. The translator devices we were given allowed communication via Equestrian and Changeling. Not that I needed it myself, anyway.

“I’m not in disguise.” I smiled at her, in a friendly way. “I’m an actual Unicorn.”

“Oooh, weally?” her eyes flashed with excitement. “Show me magic!”

“Well…” I looked over at Glimmer in the doorway, who nodded.

“Okay then.” I concentrated my magic, teleporting a short distance to the balcony, then back. I winced, my teleportation spells always making me dizzy.

“Yay! Cool!” she clapped her little hooves, making me smile.

“Show-off.” Clear chuckled, walking up behind me. “Hey there, Dust Storm has to go to his patrols, so you want to play with me?”
“Yeah!” she crawled after him happily. I felt an odd, warm feeling inside as I watched Clear and her play.

I smiled again as I walked to the balcony, examining the green bubble barrier over the hive. It seemed fairly strong, but I could understand the need for precautions. Keeping my swords sheathed, I began patrolling the ring.

I had patrolled for an hour before a ball rolled out of one of the open doorways, a hatchling crawling after it. I noticed it was getting rather close to the balcony, so I stopped it with my hoof, despite there being a barrier to protect the young ones from crawling past the railing.

“Here you are, little guy.” I kicked the ball gently back to him with a smile.

He was smaller than the other changeling ‘filly’ I encountered, too young to talk. He babbled a bit, smiling at me as he caught the ball. He rolled it to me again, obviously wanting to play. I hesitated, then shrugged, this time, using my magic to bounce the ball gently to him. He giggled, and we continued to roll the ball back and forth for some time, until an older Changeling walked up. “R1? What are you doing? Don’t bother the guards.” She spoke in a gentle tone as she lifted the little one up in her magic, “Sorry for bothering you.” She said to me, giving me a warm smile.

“It’s no issue, really.” I answered. For some reason, her smile, for a moment, made me feel completely safe. I shook it off, watching her re-enter the nursery before resuming my patrol.

***

It was almost dark when Glimmer checked up on me. “You know, you didn’t have to patrol this long.” She said softly. I felt calmed in her presence, some of my worries being slid away.

“I know.” I answered, looking up at her, blinking a bit at the calming feeling over me. “I’m used to doing long patrols.”

“Alone?” she frowned. “My guards took a break a long time ago. The nursery barriers are sealed again.”

“I’m used to doing things alone, I’m fine.” I assured her. “It’s easier for me that way.” My words gave a painful twinge to my heart, which Glimmer obviously felt. Changelings were highly sensitive to any kind of emotion.

“Come on back in. Supper will be ready soon.” She motioned for me to follow her, the slime barrier opening up for us as we walked through.

“How did Clear do?” I asked, as the slime closed behind us with an odd squelching sound.

“Oh, he was wonderful. I’ve never seen any of my caretakers do so well taking care of the sheer amount of hatchlings.” She smiled. “You did very well, too.”

“Can I ask something?” I looked up at the Changeling Queen. “How do you name your… hatchlings?”

“Oh, that’s simple, darling.” She chuckled. “When they’re still in pods, we move them to a hive grid. Depending on which part of the grid they’re born in, they’ll get a different letter and number. Of course, this does cause quite a lot of same-names, but by then, they’re usually off on their own. Once a Changeling leaves the hive, they often get their own individual name unrelated to the grid.”
“What was your old name, if I can ask?”

“G4.” She answered, as we reached the main dining hall. I could hear the hisses and clicks of Changelings talking. Although my translator was inactive, I could still easily understand them. It was just another language I took during my time in the Royal Guard academy. Glimmer opened up the doors, letting me walk in first. Clear was at a small table, eating a salad and waved me over.

I trotted over to him and took a seat across from him. “How was your day?” I asked, pulling an empty bowl towards myself, using the tongs to get some greens from the main serving bowl.

“Great!” his eyes shone. “They were all so adorable and well-behaved!”

I rolled my eyes at his enthusiasm. “Glad you liked it. My day was fairly uneventful. Not that it’s any different from Canterlot. I kind of like the quiet.”

“I could just feel the love from them.” He sighed happily. “They’re a really happy family, even if they are a huge one.”

I stopped eating, family always being a very sensitive subject for me.

“Uh, did I say something wrong?” he asked, noticing.

“No. Nothing.” I went back to eating, but said nothing more for the remainder of the meal.

When we finished, we bid good night to Glimmer before heading to our rooms, escorted by a few Changeling Guards.

“Good night, sirs.” They said politely, before closing our doors.

Clear and I went back to the chess board to play a few more games before we slept. He kept looking at me before finally asking, “What happened back there?”

I knew he was talking about the dining hall, but I still tried to evade. “What do you mean?” I asked, moving my Bishop to threaten his Knight.

“You know what I mean.” He moved the Knight back and away.

“I just didn’t have much of a family.” I answered, advancing my own Knight.

He was silent for some time, trying to think of a move and what else to say. Clear moved his Rook over to the side. “Look, if you want to talk about it-“

“I don’t.” I answered shortly, moving my Knight once more. “Check.”

He looked down at the board, seeing my Knight threatening both his Queen and King. “Damn.”

Author's Note:

I haven't played chess in forever. I loved it, though

Comments

[DuskShadowBrony]

4881464

Chapter 2 released!

Continuing to write.

If someone buys me pizza, I'll write faster :P

[Matt11]

Good chapter

[Shpoople96]

4882125
Then give me your address.

[DuskShadowBrony]

4882817
hue hue hue..... only if you can guarantee pizza and not an axe to the face.
Besides, all pizza place near me are closed, it's 10:24 here

[Shpoople96]

4882907
I can guarantee a couple dozen none pizza with left beef, and maybe a bible or 100.

[DuskShadowBrony]

4882922 Say what?

[Shpoople96]

4882946
A common practice when you post dox on the internet hate machine is to purchase a shit ton of random crap and have it shipped to the address, usually bibles.

[DuskShadowBrony]

4883018

As for scene changes, I forgot transition marks, those will be fixed momentarily.

Additionally, that's the point. There's a chapter focusing on Dust, then one on Clear, eventually, they will blend together into one.

Glimmer was not aware he spoke Changeling, which is why he was given the translator.

Each focus chapter will be told from the perspective of the pony it focuses on.

[Clear_Skies_Pegasus]

Who added this to Chryssy's hive? Any way to remove it?

[DuskShadowBrony]

4887602

Don't know and don't think so.

[Autum Breeze]

Okay, this was a very good second chapter and very cute once we got to the nymphs, I think that's what you call baby changelings anyway.

One thing interests me though. If clear "felt" the love coming from them, is that a sign, something for us to all ponder? Or is it just his way of saying they were so cute you could feel the love coming off of them even if you weren't a changeling? Just wondering is all.

[Autum Breeze]

4887602 no, from what I've learned, only yeh person who puts a Fic in a folder can remove it, aside from the moderators

[DuskShadowBrony]

4917907

This'll be clarified later, but at the moment, he feels.... how to put it... a warm aura like when one hugs you.

I'm speaking from third-person, I have no idea what a hug feels like. So er, I guess like a blanket wrapped tightly around you.

[Wind of the Skies]

Ahh those people who are like" if you want to talk" are supremely annoying if we wanted to talk we would say more. When they say that they are being prying creeps