Magnificent Changes for the Changelings

by LOL3evee

The Beginning of a New Journey

The rain poured down upon the forestry sheltering the remnants of the changeling army. Tiny droplets fell down from the clouds above and landed heavily upon the waterlogged soil, slowly but surely turning the once dry forest ground into a miniature marsh land full of filthy puddles and slippery mud. As it fell, the rain was it up by the brightness of the full moon, the gentle light reflecting off of every last drop of fresh water from the heavy clouds. As a slight mist formed on the ground due to the copious amounts of water hitting the earth, the moonlight whisked away all subtly and weaved through the rainy substance, creating a dazzling show of moonlit water dancing upon the face of the earth.

Queen Chrysalis took in a deep breath of fresh, crisp air as she wandered aimlessly throughout the lush greenery with her changeling kin in tow. As she exhaled, she felt the cool oxygen from the forest warm up within her lungs, only to be released into the world once more and cool in the rainy air of the environment. Each light thump of her subjects' hooves hitting the solid ground was like music to the queen's ears; a steady drumbeat rising from the dry earthen areas and swiftly coming into contact with her thin eardrums as if it were the subtle heartbeat of the forest.

It had been three months since the Canterlot invasion failed miserably. Chrysalis could still feel the burning sensation of the pony lovers' magic tearing away at her very being as she attempted to hold her ground, only to find that her efforts were in vain as she was flung right off of her hooves. The blast had sent the changelings careening through the air and landing hard on the ground in a barren wasteland beyond the borders of Equestria. Queen Chrysalis' memories stirred, bringing up the pain of impact as her insect-like body slammed into the ground and her face had a fairly unpleasant date with a nearby rock.

The changelings had landed in the badlands, and had since then traveled a little further to the west, only to reach their current location. The queen had no idea where her changeling army had ended up at this point, but it didn't matter right now. It was leafy and it was wet, and Queen Chrysalis took great displeasure in being trapped here in the constant showers of heavy rainwater with no where to run.

The changelings couldn't fly in the rain. Their wings were thin like gossamer, and soaking them would not only make them too flimsy for flying, but the flying appendages would "glue together" during flight, in a sense. The fresh rain pouring from the dark skies combined with the thin layer of oily secretions coating the changelings' wings creates a sticky substance that causes the wings to adhere to each other in flight. Chrysalis knew firsthoof how atrocious it felt to have your wings rapidly flitting about one second, then seemingly paralyzed the next. Plummeting down towards an unpleasant date with the ground was not on the queen's to-do list for that day, either. That meant that the changelings would be grounded until the blasphemous rain decided to stop falling long enough for the changelings to travel ten feet in the open.

They were surrounded by a dense thicket of tall, leafy trees that seemed to cage the changelings in, with seemingly no end to their leafy prison in sight. With the rain constantly pouring here, the only thing the changelings could do was to take shelter beneath their haven of leaves. A crestfallen Queen Chrysalis sighed as she lay herself beneath a particularly short tree with a massive, crown of free flying fronds. As she sat, her dear children gathered around her, rushing to be the first changeling to snuggle up with their mother.

The sound of the pouring rain echoed in Queen Chrysalis' ears as she sat beneath the leaves of the tree, sheltering her delicate, papery wings from the rain. A small shiver ran up the queen's spine at the thought of dampening her wings in the rain. This tingling sensation began at the base of her spine, and slowly crawled up the sensitive nerves in her back until it reached the tip of the bone, right below her cranial cavity; spreading all throughout her weary body from that point. She shuddered to dismiss the unpleasant feeling that had filled her whole body. The thought of being unable to fly due to the rites of nature was unbearable.

A flash of lightning brightened the dark and cloudy sky only for a split second, before giving way to booming thunder that shook the remnants of the changeling army to their cores. The queen shivered as a brisk gust of wind assaulted her mane, causing each strand of carefully groomed teal hair to whip violently around her head. The weary mother let out a low growl from deep within her throat, expressing annoyance towards her children as her eyelids grew heavier with each passing second. Living in a changeling hive with actual walls usually prevented phenomena like this from occurring, which only angered the queen even further.

Home... they had no home now. It had probably fallen into disrepair by that point in time, since no one was there at the hive to tend to the meticulously crafted changeling palace. The environment had probably taken over by now. Some pesky wild animals had probably moved in by now. The mess was probably too big to clean up by now. The ponies were probably living happily in their own kingdom by now, unaware of the constant struggle that the changeling hive was going through.

Queen Chrysalis's family of insect-like equines had been wandering for ages with no place to call home. Visions depicting terribly thin changelings tearing away at each other filled the sullen mare's mind. She imagined internal conflict arising between drones; her once obedient children succumbing to starvation and fatigue. Endless battles raged between them as they tore each other open to access the warm blood within to conserve warmth in the freezing night, using the corpses of their former allies as deep crimson blankets to comfort their worn souls throughout the lonesome and freezing night.

Bone rattling cries filled the desperate queen's ears as she begged for her children to stop to listen, if only for a moment. The tears that filled her eyes flooding down her gray cheeks as she realizes that all hope is lost. Her love was unable to reach the worn children as animal-like instincts overtook the poor drones, causing them to spread discontent throughout the broken hive. The distraught queen watched hopelessly as her world fell apart around her; the very earth beneath Chrysalis's hooves cracking open.

The very earth ripped apart beneath the tired queen was torn asunder, flinging the mare into the gaping maw that lead to what seemed like eternal darkness. As the changeling queen fell, she shed tears for her children. An endless waterfall of misery cascading down her cheeks as the wind rushed past her head. As she spiraled into madness, the queen heard a familiar sound... like the ringing of hundreds of joyful bells, the sound resonated throughout her mind. Seconds later, Chrysalis saw the source of the sound: ponies. They were all laughing and pointing their hooves at the falling queen, glad that she had lost her precious children to despair. The sound echoed throughout the queen's mind, tearing at her very soul and bringing one emotion forth from her heart. As the pressure built, she felt the steam rising. Her blood was coming to a boil as the technicolor equines made a mockery of her failures, egging the weary queen on until she fell past the breaking point and burst like a bombshell.

Queen Chrysalis let out a loud roar as she leaped up to stamp her front hooves onto the loamy soil before her, frightening the changelings who were sleeping by her and causing them to flee into the nearby foliage. The queen rubbed her eyes in a futile attempt to fix her now blurry vision, realizing that she had fallen asleep. The laughing, the fighting, the falling... it had all been a dream. It felt very real while it lasted, but the queen was somehow able to assure herself that it was a dream. Even though she was down to earth once more, she couldn't help but feel pain for the changelings in her dreams. Chrysalis shrugged the feeling off and quickly recalled why she had awoken in the first place... ponies. It was always those blasted ponies. Those technicolor freaks were always happy with their nice warm houses and their loving families, always having a somewhat permanent home to go back to by the end of the day.

They didn't need to travel around the world looking for love to feed off of, for they had vegetation to snack on. The ponies didn't have to wander aimlessly as their weary bodes carried them from place to place, setting down temporary camps (much like their previous hive) along the way. The ponies didn't have to do all of this. They didn't have to tend to fragile camps each day to prevent that neighboring tree from moving into their bedrooms. Worst of all, however, was that those equine creatures were happy. Each day, their hearts were filled with bursting blooms of heartening joy one way or another, allowing simple tasks like aiding a friend in need to fill them with that warm, pleasant feeling. Unlike Chrysalis and her children, the ponies actually had the chance to experience joy each and every day.

Of course, Queen Chrysalis felt a spark of joy just by looking at her precious brood, but that was really the only thing in this pathetic world that has ever brought her joy throughout the duration of her entire life. Chrysalis had never made candy with a friend, nor had she ever felt the need to treat her neighboring organisms to a good deed. Not that she really wanted to, though. Besides, the queen had her precious babies to cheer her up, right? That was enough for her, right?

Not when her babies were starving. With the changelings being forcefully removed from Equestria's capitol, and with no loving creature in sight, the changelings were starving. Queen Chrysalis had almost forgotten about her hunger until this point... until she had thought about the ponies. Her stomach grumbled, begging the changeling queen for her to feed herself with the love of another living being. The queen found herself staring at the loamy soil as she fled from her thoughts and lifted her gaze to see her children, who had cautiously returned to their mother's side for a snuggle after her spontaneous outburst. She took a single look at her children's faces and realized their distress.

She had lifted herself out of her thoughts just enough to feel her children's misery as they curled up to shield their poor, empty tummies from the elements. Their frail bodies pressed against that of their mother's in order to salvage and maintain what little warmth was left flowing throughout their blood, unwilling to give it up to the cool winds and the heavy downpour. Their bodies were weak, yet their spirits were strong, for they were unwilling to disappoint their mother.

However, that didn't change the fact that they were hungry. The changelings' sorrow resonated throughout the queen's entire body, causing her to shudder upon feeling such strong negative emotions radiating off of the skin of her precious changeling kin. As the queen looked up to survey the world around her, it became apparent that several hours had passed since the changelings had sat down. The rain had slowed significantly, and the wind was not screaming in her ears. The queen took the time to gather her abundant thoughts and realized what she had to do. She frowned once the thought popped up from the depths of her mind, knowing that it would not be a simple task. The possibility that they would yet again be denied the right to feed was ever-present in the queen's mind. There would be conflict and possible controversy among the likes of their warm-blooded counterparts, but in the end, the changeling queen knew what she had to do. Besides, she had a general idea of which direction they should turn to find the bountiful lands of Equestria.

She stood up tall, causing her children to look eagerly into their mother's eyes as they awaited the news. After all, the changeling's hearts were connected to their mother's, so they always knew when she had something to tell them. Queen Chrysalis surveyed her small crowd of changelings as she readied herself to speak with her children. After all, it probably wouldn't be very easy for the changeling army to take in the news of a possible return to Canterlot, at least after the events that had taken place three months prior. That was beside the point, though. Chrysalis knew she had to do this, or her precious babies would starve.

"My sweetest children," the queen cooed, "mother has something she would like to tell the lot of you. We shall be returning to Equestria in order to find food."

The changelings' excitement simmered down, and joyful grins turned into doubtful grimaces in the blink of an eye. They looked at their mother with questioning faces. Why would their mother want to return to the place that she had been heavily humiliated? Was the starvation getting to her, or was she really serious?

"I realize that you may be slightly skeptical of my decision, and I understand why all of you would feel that way. However, we are not to conquer the ponies like the last time we gave them a visit." The queen smiled warmly as she spoke to her children, reassuring them that there was a possibility that they would not be thrown out as violently as before, if at all.

"Instead, we shall return to their bountiful lands to live amongst them for awhile, at least until we gather up enough strength to live on our own. After all, Equestria is a land filled to the brim with more love than we could ever hope to devour, so we shall not run out of food as quickly as usual. In addition, if we are nice enough to the ponies and we plead with round adorable eyes, we may be treated to a permanent stay in Equestria so that we shall never have to wander hopelessly again!"

The wary changelings' looks of skepticism and confusion quickly morphed into enthusiastic grins as the thought of living happily in one place lingering within their weary minds.

"I know that even the best of plans are with out flaw, and we may be rejected at first," the queen said. "Even so, we must be patient. We cannot change hearts and minds in a day, just as ponies don't build castles in a day. It may take time for the ponies to accept us, and I do realize that. However, we must stay strong so that we can work to achieve our goal of staying in Equestria. I am honestly not fond of the idea of forming pacts with creatures that I have not made pleasant first-impressions on, and I have no idea how I am going to convince the solar princess to allow us to live among her subjects. No matter the cost, we can make this work, my children."

The changeling queen stood tall before her subjects. "No matter the cost, we can still live happily in Equestria. Are you ready to head towards Equestria?"

The changeling army cheered in response to their queen, with new found hope filling their hearts to the brim and giving the changelings a burst of energy.

"That's the spirit! Let us make haste for Canterlot, my precious babies!"

As the queen was giving her upbeat speech, the rain had slowly trickled to a stop. The heavy drops had their weights lifted as the clouds above emptied more and more of the fresh water within. The rain had come and gone, and just in the nick of time, too. The changeling queen finished her speech only to find the perfect weather for travel. The changelings began their march towards the land of Equestria, whose bountiful lands promised a massive feast for Queen Chrysalis and all of her children.

The air was cool, and the sun was rising slowly over the horizon, giving way to the morning light which spread its reach across the land and danced across the changeling queen's skin, filling her with warmth from the solar entity. With a clear sky in the path before them, the changelings spread their wings and took to the air. Queen Chrysalis bent her knees slightly as her wings flapped rapidly, releasing the energy and jumping into the air to give herself a boost to begin her arduous flight towards the lands of which she had promised to her children.

The queen felt a cool rush of morning air hit her face as she rose into the air with quick pace. She rose above the forest with new found energy, dipping forth with grace as she reached the perfect height to observe her surroundings. As she did so, her children soon followed, eager to catch up with their mother to hear her next order. The queen surveyed the landscape with utmost caution, checking for signs of danger above, below, before and behind herself and the rising swarm in order to find a safe path for the changelings to follow on their long journey.

As soon as she could verify that the coast was clear, she began searching for signs of the Equestrian civilization. It didn't take long for Queen Chrysalis to give out an joyful squeak, for in the distance lay Canterlot castle in all of its glory. It was quite a long way to travel, for the queen could barely see it upon the horizon, never mind that there was a light morning fog drifting all around her. The queen motioned towards the royal alicorn sisters' palace and gave the order for her subjects to follow her closely, waving her hoof in the air and calling out for her children to catch their attention and confirm their attendance and compliance in the journey to make sure that all of her children were along for the ride.

The buzzing of countless wings flooded Queen Chrysalis's ears, wrapping her heart in a warm sheet of love for her hive that delivered a small trickle of motherly warmth from her heart all the way throughout her hive, giving the changelings an extra boost of confidence as they made their way towards the beautiful land of Equestria.

----

The changeling swarm flew effortlessly over the foreign lands and into Equestria with the guidance of their mother to ease their worries, and her love to fill their hearts with the strength required to reach the destination. The sun shone through the queen's translucent wings, brightening up the opaque fibers that built the flying appendages. This was mirrored by her children, giving the changelings a radiant look about them. The swooped over top the forested lands and dove through countless clouds as they hurried towards the land of Equestria.

As the changelings drew nearer to the equine kingdom, their natural senses tingled, alerting them of the presence of food. The closer they got, the more powerful those feelings became, until it was almost too difficult to resist just diving in and gorging on the love of ponies. Before the group reached the nearest town, the changeling mother stopped dead in her tracks, freezing in place with her wins still rapidly vibrating to keep her aloft.

As she did so, her children reflected her actions, imitating their mother as she halted to fly in place. The queen pointed her hoof towards the town and looked back at her children, a stern look plastered across her face. The queen turned to face the swarm of changelings.

"First of all, I would like to address the situation at hoof," she said firmly. "We must not allow ourselves to be spotted as changelings. Doing so would jeopardize our cause. In order to shield our identities, we must shift into the form of pegasi. During my time in preparing for our past invasion in Canterlot, I learned that it is not uncommon to see pegasi flying about as a means of transportation, much like us changelings. Therefore, we should be able to safely fly about in the shape of ordinary pegasi."

"For now, I would like all of you to think hard to remember the ponies that you saw during our invasion. Think clearly, and shift into one of the ponies you saw. A creature of the winged variety, to be specific. I don't want any of us to be caught during the first few stages of our flight to Canterlot."

As soon as their mother had finished speaking, the changelings were all enveloped in violent green flames, one by one transforming into technicolor equine creatures to cloak their true identities. There were now numerous pegasus ponies of varying coat colors fluttering about rather than the dark grey changelings that had hovered there before. With many different mane styles upon their equine heads, the changeling children were now much easier to differentiate from one another than before. As for Queen Chrysalis, she wrapped herself in her own magic. Unlike her children, who had to have seen the creature to take its exact shape, the queen could morph freely.

Her changeling flesh was ripped out from visibility and covered in light grey fur, her twisted and gnarled horn shrunk down to the size of a foal's horn, and was shielded by a flowing blonde mane style sporting several sanguine streaks as her own teal hair burned away. The holes in her legs were rapidly covered by a mass of dull pony fur as her hooves took a more equine form. The serpentine pupil in the center region of her sickly green eyes rounded as her own iris was cloaked in a bright blue color of the same hue as the very sky that the changeling army had flown about.

As the last of the lime green flames had died out, it became apparent that the queen had finished forming. Looking towards her children, she beckoned towards Canterlot. Thus, the changelings were free to continue their journey under the guise of ponies.

Comments

[Perteks]

Its not bad, but first you were going about that they can't fly in rain (actually insects can fly in rain, its mor that they are not heavy but thier wings just glue to each other, you could say that water disrupt they natural magic for flying or something ) and little later they fly just after rain stopped... uh

Chrysalis is way to nice, not to changeling just overall she don't say how she despise that idea and she don't plot anything its just bad. We clearly see she is type of going to plot how to backstab (episode and comic) and she is highy and mighty attitude person.

[ForeverLunar]

I for one enjoy seeing a different side to her and not all insects can fly in rain, for example bees can not fly in rain and besides who cares anyways it doesn't have to be cpcompletely realistic. Anywho i do hope you keep writing i wish to see what becomes of this

[LOL3evee]

5495950 Thank you for the input. To the editing page I go!