Short Stories from Beyond Time, Space, and Shadow

by ZeroCore

Sisters, All The Same

Changeling hives... Massive, towering structures that shoot up into the sky like a giant termite cathedral... Within their towering walls, thousands upon thousands of Changelings live and work, all under the guidance of their Queen, their mother. Some of these shapeshifter children, however, are different from their siblings.

Some were adopted.

Ponies, Gryphons, Minotaurs... it didn't matter. From all walks of life some, upon learning about the Changelings, and studying their culture, wanted to aid the emotion-eating creatures instead of shun them. It's this shared love that eventually brought peace between Equestria and the Changeling Hives. These beings offered themselves, their love, their kindness, to the Swarms in order to keep them fed. At first the shapeshifters were wary of their ways, suspecting it all to be a large, multi-racial trick, but in time they warmed up to their new-found friends to the point of offering them places in their Hives, at first symbolically, and later literally.

Using a combination of complex spells and cocoons, the Changelings managed to find a way to turn others into more of them. Some accepted, and became one with their new-found homes and families.

The political figures of all peoples, Changeling Queens, Pony Princesses, Minotaur and Gryphon Lords, and so on, embraced their decisions, using it as a means of furthering connections between their people. The populace of all these nations, however, didn't always agree. Some openly shunned these "adopted Changelings", treating them almost as bad as the natural-born ones had been not more than a few words before. This didn't sit well, needless to say, with the adopted Changelings, who occasionally felt depressed, downtrodden, and left out even within their own Hives.

This is something that a newly-adopted Changeling, a former Pony named Lightbringer, was soon to find out.

It was about 3:25 in the afternoon, and anyone who was present in the Hive's hatchery would have noticed the sounds that echoed through the birth chamber. The caretakers smiled, the trained Changelings all too familiar with the sound of a cocoon opening, and, although not always there, the delighted laughter of a newly-adopted sibling.

"This... is... amazing!" Lightbringer nearly squealed, giving her diaphanous wings a quick flutter.

"W-whoa!" she said, rising off the ground a bit too quickly, the new Changeling still not used to flying.

"Take it easy," a caretaker said, helping their new little sister stand up.

"Don't overdo it," another added. "We'll send for a guard to help you get everything in order."

Lightbringer nodded, the Changeling still smiling as the caretakers led her to a nearby guard post.

Lightbringer was always the cheerful sort, but after learning of the Changelings and how they literally feed upon love itself, she couldn't resist heading out to see them. She began to care deeply about the Changelings after spending years living with them. She gave them love, and in exchange for the generous meals she provided, they protected her during her visits, and tried to reciprocate the emotions she provided as best they could. The mare was happy being with her shapeshifting friends, but slowly she began to feel a sort of emptiness inside. She'd lived a happy life as a pony, to be sure, but she couldn't help but notice how even though pony society was good, Changeling society just seemed to... fit her, as if she was meant to be with them. The longer she stayed with them, the more these feelings grew.

One morning, after a long, happy dream that she looked exactly like the jet-black, insect-like beings, she felt almost disappointed as she saw her reflection in a pool of water on the Hive's one level, feeling oddly... trapped, almost like she wasn't really herself. She felt this emptiness, this feeling of being mismatched in one's own body more and more as time went on. To her, it was like thinking about a piece of clothing that, for some reason, didn't even go with itself. The Changelings noticed this, realizing their friend's emotion as she went about her daily routine. A few of them, some of whom were also adopted, suggested also becoming one with their swarm. It was a lengthy process to be sure, one first having to get used to the patterns and actions of being a Changeling, and the possible negative remarks she might receive, but Lightbringer had to fix that emptiness she had inside, and she truly enjoyed the company her Changeling friends had given her, and just how right it felt to be around them...

And so, after learning for a long while how to be like them, living with them, acting as them, she eventually found herself in the care of very magically-adept Changelings, specialists who knew all about transformation magic. With some worry, not knowing how things might turn out, she let them cocoon her, the strands of green slime they produced quickly hardening into an enchanted fabric. Lightbringer could remember how her metamorphosis began, and how uncomfortable it was at first, but as she felt the changes overtaking her body, she fell into a deep sleep, only just awakening now as, what felt like for the first time in a long while, herself.

Unfortunately her happiness was interrupted as a somewhat tall, but not terribly much taller than her, guard approached them, an almost scowling expression on her face. The slightly taller Changeling had a red tinge to her chitin, and eyes, a trait that Lightbringer learned the guards possessed.

"I take it this is the new one?" The guard said, her voice stern, and somewhat cold.

"Now, now," the caretaker chided, "is that any way to talk to your little sister?"

"But to answer your question," the other chimed in, "yes. This is Lightbringer. Perhaps you could show her around?"

The guard snorted. Lightbringer cringed slightly as the intimidating Changeling looked her over.

"No red about you, and thank the Gods for that," the guard muttered, "no green either, so you're not a worker... blue thorax bands, and blue eyes... a hunter, eh? Hmph."

Hunter.

They were the Changelings that most knew of; they were the thin, jet-black beings with blue eyes and thorax stripes who, in times now past, went out and stole love from other beings, and also aided their Queens as an invasion force.

These days they mostly just performed odd jobs and aided the guards.

Speaking of which:

The guard Lightbringer had uncomfortably met suddenly flew into the air, her long wings making a low-pitched buzzing as she hovered.

"You coming or what?" she flatly asked.

"Don't mind her," the one caretaker roller her eyes.

"Just take it easy," the other said.

Lightbringer nodded, the new Changeling listing a bit as she slowly rose to the air.

"H-hey, I think I've nearly got it!" she said, her wobbling flight getting a smile from the caretakers.

"NEARLY won't do in here," the guard hissed. "Now follow me."

Lightbringer fell slightly as the harsh guard's voice met her ears. As her red guide began to fly off, the new Changeling followed, the thin fin on her head twitching a bit in apprehension as she flew through the Hive's towering main area. The young adopted Changeling was mesmerized by the flight in. Before her adoption, she had already seen the myriad of living, flying lines of Changelings, worker, hunter, and guard, flying buzzing about within the huge structure, but never before had she been able to fly amongst them, and from this new perspective it all became fresh again as she was finally able to join their ranks.

"This is..." Lightbringer said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"What?! What do you mean 'stuck with her'?!" A loud voice sounded up ahead.

Lightbringer's flight wobbled a bit more, the noisy voice throwing her balance off. Looking ahead, she found the loud sound had come from her guard escort, her red, older sister fuming at the words of a higher-ranking guard.

"You heard me," the higher-up said. "She's your problem since all the other available guards already have a hunter on duty with them. Besides, this could be a good opportunity to show your little sister around."

"Opportunity, right..." the red Changeling hissed.

Lightbringer was startled, and a bit confused. Why did it seem like that guard wanted rid of her so badly?

"That's it then," the guard spat as she flew closer. "Looks like I'm stuck with you then. Just stay behind me and do try to keep up this time."

Without even giving the new Changeling time to speak, the guard took off, darting ahead as she went back to her post near the Hive's entrance. Lightbringer tried to keep up, still not used to flying on her newly-sprouted wings. Eventually, after carefully dodging lines of flying Changelings, Lightbringer made her way to the Hive's entrance, her guard companion already having taken up a spear and armor as she stood looking out over the horizon.

The new Changeling approached her companion, catching the attention of another hunter as she did. The second blue-clad Changeling tossed Lightbringer some equipment, the former Pony flinching slightly as the sharp armor was flung toward her. Seconds before it hit, Lightbringer noticed a red glow, the armor hovering in front of her before it, seemingly on its own, slid around her body and latched into place, the grip of the spear lodging itself in her mouth.

"Don't count on that happening again," the guard spoke, releasing her magical grip from Lightbringer's armor.

After a short while, the young Changeling spoke up.

"Thanks for--" she began.

"Don't... Talk..." the guard interrupted. "Only say something when you see an intruder, and don't get all poetic and teary-eyed watching the horizon either. Remember, we have a job to do here."

Lightbringer, felt a few tears go down her face. She was glad she was wearing a helmet now; no one could see her crying. She knew how important guard duty was; if someone was trying to gain entrance to the Hive, peaceful or not, the last thing that anyone would want to see on duty is a sobbing Changeling.

"This isn't going how I thought it would at all," she thought to herself.

Hours passed, and the sun was beginning to set. Lightbringer and her guard companion were soon called away from duty as the evening guard took up the post. Sliding out of her armor, the young hunter took flight, taking after her guard sister who had already flown off. Lightbringer hovered about for a moment, looking around for her rather bad-tempered sibling, sighing when she found her lying down on a slab of stone on the Hive's opposite side.

The former Pony approached quietly, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself as she made her way towards the rocky slab. The guard, she noticed, just scowled, looking down at a small puddle of water.

"Hey," Lightbringer spoke up, "I know you said not to talk earlier, but we're off duty now, so..."

"You again?" the guard interrupted once more. "Look, what will it take for you new ones to just leave me alone? I swear, ever since they started assigning me new ones, I've barely got a single moment to myself anymore! Why can't you just buzz off somewhere and--"

Lightbringer was generally patient, but this had gone on long enough. All day she'd heard the guard grumble to herself about her, and could have sworn at mid-day that she'd heard a few insults going in her direction.

And she'd had enough.

"Stop it," she quietly hissed.

"What was that, squirt?" The guard snapped. "If you've got something to say then either spit it out or--"

"Shut up!" Lightbringer yelled.

The guard was almost taken aback.

"I don't know what your deal is," the former Pony went on, "but your attitude is just downright rotten. Now I know guards and hunters have to appear tough, but you don't need to do it all the time! And also, I don't know why you're so upset just because I'm around."

"You're adopted," the guard said. "That's all that needs to be said. Trust me when I say this, it's not all that you think it is."

"What?" Lightbringer replied, feeling a chill go through her. "So that's it? You hate me... because I'm adopted?"

The guard just sat there, staring at the puddle of water below.

"A-and you're not?" the new hunter continued. "So that's it? You think you're better than me just because you were born from an egg and I had to be reborn to be one of you?! I don't believe this... of all the... S-so, you think I was wrong to join your Hive? You think that you're so much better than me just because of--"

"I'm adopted too!" the guard started to sob. "Alright, there! No, I'm not one of those bigots who hate adopted Changelings..."

Lightbringer's anger quickly melted away, confusion seeping into the young Changeling's mind.

Silence followed for a few minutes...

"You are?"

"Yes," the guard, her voice much softer now, continued, "I was reborn just like you, and just like you I thought that I'd actually be me when I hatched, and then everything would better, I thought. Turns out I was wrong. Even in here there are those who will put you down just because of the fact that you were turned, not hatched. In my case, I got it even worse."

There was a long pause before Lightbringer broke the silence.

"Why? Why did they act so harshly against you?" she asked, sitting down next to her older sister.

"Look at me," the guard said, turning to look Lightbringer square in the eye. "My original name was Hard Tack. I was born a long time ago now to a pony family in southern Equestria, right near Appleoosa."

"That name..." Lightbringer murmured.

"Sounds like a stallion's name, doesn't it?" the guard spoke up, a bit of sarcasm and anger in her voice.

"So... they changed you... that way?" Lightbringer replied.

It was common knowledge amongst Changelings that the only males were the drones, the Queen's personal escort and entourage, all others were female, natural-born... or not.

"Didn't you ask to be a drone? I'm sure they would have done so if--"

"No," the guard responded. "I specifically asked them NOT to make me a drone."

"Why?" Lightbringer asked.

"Because..." the guard went on, "I never felt like one inside. I thought that becoming different would allow me to get away from that feeling, like I didn't fit in my own body, and at first, well... it did for a time, but then..."

"Other Changelings harassed you over it?"

"Not just them; Ponies, Gryphons... everyone. All of... no, I suppose not all, but a lot of them seem to have something against those who are just born... well, with the wrong parts," the guard said.

Lightbringer felt tears in her eyes again, not from her own sadness this time though. The guard continued staring at the pool of water, her own tears deepening it even more.

The older Changeling shivered a bit a she felt something warm lean against her side. Looking over, she saw Lightbringer sitting next to hear, the hunter wrapping her thin, membranous wings over her.

"I don't care what you were before," Lightbringer said, looking at the red Changeling. "I didn't know you back then. As far as I'm concerned, this is the original. You're a guard of this Hive, part of my swarm, and one of my many big sisters."

The guard's expression softened considerably.

"And I think you should think of it that way too. I say this; be who you are. If you feel like a mare inside, I think you should be happy if you get to bring her outside for everyone to see, even if they're too blind to see how beautiful she really is." the hunter smiled. "Hold on a second! This isn't just dust around here on the walls, it's clay, isn't it?"

"Y-yeah, the walls are lined with it," the guard replied, "but why are you--"

Lightbringer jumped up, hovering over to the Hive's wall. The hunter scraped a bit of clay off the wall, mixing it with the green gel that Changelings secreted. After a few seconds, she flew back over to the guard, sitting down next to the red Changeling once more.

"Hold still, and close your eyes," Lightbringer said. "You'll like this!"

"Hey, what are you doing?" The guard asked as Lightbringer placed a chitinous hoof over her eyes.

"You'll see!"

With a faint snort, the guard closed her eyes, opening them again only when Lightbringer said so. With her sister's direction, the guard looked back into the pool of water, her eyes widening slightly at what she saw.

"Ta-da!" Lightbringer laughed. "My mom showed me how do something similar with clay and water a long time ago!"

The guard couldn't help but smile a bit, a thin tear--a tear of joy, for once--sliding down her cheek. Lightbringer had mixed the clay pigments with her own gel, and some of the water from the pools that dotted the walls of their Hive. Using a thin twig, the ends of it flayed out and softened to form a rather well-made brush, the hunter had made a sort fine, powdered makeup, the guard noticing her hooves now glowing a duller sort of red, with a rather thin red lining going around her eyes. Right below her one eye was a set of sparkling red stars, not too large to be distracting, but just enough to compliment her own natural red coloration.

The guard was surprised, but couldn't help but smile. It might have seemed a bit childish, but the feeling was there all the same. She could feel it, not just in the pigments, but from the hunter at her side. Lightbringer truly did care about her, the love the young Changeling had for her sibling was quite real.

The guard wrapped her own red-tinted wing over her younger sister, the two sitting by side for quite some time. Eventually, though, it had gotten quite late, and they both knew they'd need to get some sleep before tomorrow's shift.

"I guess I'll see you at the gate tomorrow," the guard said, Lightbringer standing up beside her.

"Uh-huh, see you there!" the hunter said.

No sooner had Lightbringer taken off she noticed a rush of air beside her, her sister already quite a distance away from her.

"Wow, you're fast!" the hunter called. "You trying to outrun a comet or something?"

The guard just laughed, and then slowed to a hover.

"Comet..." she said to herself, remembering the faint small stars her sister had painted under her eye.

"Not bad for a mare's name..."

"I don't think it's such a bad name either," a royal voice echoed.

The two Changelings landed back on the rocky slab, both of them looking around for the voice's source.

"Who was that?" Lightbringer asked, feeling a small chill go through her.

"Trust me, you're going to want to bow down," the guard replied, her eyes wide. "I know who made that voice, and trust me, you want to be on your best behavior when--"

Her instructions were stopped short as a pillar of green flames erupted from the floor beneath them. As the fires died down, the two sisters looked up in awe as a tall, regal Changeling stood before them, her wispy blue mane and tail shimmering slightly in the Hive's dim light. The two bowed immediately, shocked that their Queen had appeared before them.

"Don't worry, girls," the Queen spoke, "there's no need for that this time. Please, sit down with me; we have a bit to discuss."

The two did as instructed, each sitting down on the rocky floor near their matriarch's side.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you earlier, Lightbringer," their adopted mother said, a small frown on her face. "I try to make sure I'm there for all of my children when they hatch, be they from an egg or cocoon."

Lightbringer smiled.

"And Comet," their Queen continued.

"Comet... hey that is a good name for you!" Lightbringer said.

"Quiet!" Comet said under her breath. "You can't interrupt--"

"Ahem," their Queen said, grinning at her daughters with an eyebrow raised.

The two sisters immediately went silent.

"As I was trying to say," she continued, "I didn't realize that your... previous life... was so hard on you. No one, mare or stallion, should have to go through that, and if it happens again here, I want you to personally report it to me. I promise you, my daughter, I'll make it stop."

Comet nodded.

"And to both of you," their mother said, "don't ever worry. Even if you feel alone in here, lost amongst the thousand siblings you now have, you at least have each other to talk to, and, should I be away from my own duties, I can be of help from time to time."

Their Queen paused, nuzzling both of them.

"Remember, my daughters, your mother loves you, and I think you'll find that your siblings do too."

The three remained there for a few minutes more, draping their wings over one another. With a hug and a laugh, they eventually parted, not before Lightbringer offered to paint their Queen's eyes and hooves too. With a laugh, she politely declined, as she vanished in flash of green flames the two sisters flew off to their honeycomb-like sleeping cells, the two settling down for the night.

"Hey, Comet," Lightbringer said as sleep began to overtake her.

"Yeah?" Her sister responded.

"You were wrong earlier; this was no mistake."

"I know," Comet the guard replied, "I was off too. There may still be those idiots out there who'd make fun of us both, but... we're still together."

"And," the young hunter said, "we're still family either way."

Author's Note:

Another tale for all of you. Keep in mind though, this one is a bit topical but still a message worth learning, because the fact is that no matter one's views about themselves, or where they came from, if their mind is kind and open they still deserve basic respect.

Now, I myself am not gay, bi, trans, or adopted, but I've known people who are, and it bothers me very deeply when they get discriminated against just because of it.

And as goes those who discriminate against them: I don't care if someone's upbringing makes them bigoted, or their faith demands that they be bigoted. Whatever the cause, I say drop the bigotry at the door and let people who are different than you alone. As long as they're not doing anything to hurt you, or someone else, and they're not trying to break any written laws of the society they live in, they deserve the same respect as anyone else.