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Prologue689 words
The Beginning {Chapter 1}6,002 words
The Middle {Chapter 2}6,003 words
The End {Chapter 3}6,164 words
Epilogue939 words

The End {Chapter 3}

True to his word, Selas needed no supplies; by the time night had fallen, he’d managed to fill his quiver with various rune-etched arrows and crafted a pair of rough leather saddlebags from the hide of Lamp’s manticore kill as well as a pair of waterskins. They weren’t pretty, being sewn up with a small bone-needle and more sinew, but they were comfortable and durable. In addition to the bags and waterskin, he’d fashioned a pair of extra bow-strings, for when his inevitably became too worn for use. Throughout all of this, he found himself astonished at just how much magic he had available. Normally, he’d only be able to fire a few arrows with his magic at a time, if he wanted to have any spare magic for wielding his axes, but now he felt like he could empty the quiver and have energy to spare.

It was a fairly simple explanation, in his opinion. This was his native world and it was abundant with the energy his body had been designed for. He assumed that what he had access to on Kalimdor was only what his body produced on it’s own. Something else he hadn’t really noticed until his stay in Ponyville was that in addition to magic, he had a reservoir of…well, he could only describe it as a mixture of feelings. The changeling half of him, he assumed. Even now, he could feel miniscule amounts of emotion drifting off into the pool as his natural reservoirs soaked in the abundance of magic in the air, filtering tiny amounts of emotion from it. He could feel both of them being drained in order to cast spells, though he was undecided if it was good or bad. It essentially cost him twice as much energy to cast a spell, such as levitation, since he had to dip into both pools, but in exchange, the emotional pool would fill itself up naturally over time, without him feeding, as Celestia stated that changelings had to do.

A familiar growl broke him out of his thoughts and Selas turned to watch Lamp crawl out of the underbrush, bloated waterskins dangling from his mouth.

“Ah, thank you, Lamp.” Selas hung both of the waterskins from the leather saddlebags. Glancing up at the sky, he could vaguely see the moon through the canopy of trees. “Well then, ready to travel?”

Lamp responed by turning southwest and hunching forward slightly.

“Off we go then!”

***

The first night went without issue; the pair had bedded down in an abandoned castle and Selas had stumbled upon various fruits in the garden, though at this point they were growing fairly wild and a lot of them weren’t edible, courtesy of wildlife. A number of apples, oranges, strawberries, and blackberries found their way into his saddlebags, while the rest found their way into his stomach, shortly before dawn. As the sun rose, Selas and Lamp pulled the door to one of the many abandoned bedrooms shut, allowing them a peaceful sleep in the darkness. They awoke as soon as the sun began to drop below the horizon and once again resumed their trip.

The second day was interesting. Shortly after leaving the ruins of the castle, a large crocolisk-like creature had attacked them as they filled their waterskins at the river. A well-placed arrow down the throat made short work of it and Selas spent the rest of the day carving the large creature up and drying the meat that Lamp didn’t eat over a fire, for future use. He stored a number of the bones as well as the hide, before throwing the remnants into the river for its brothers and continuing on his way as the moon rose high in the sky. They camped on the edge of the Everfree Forest that night, bedding down several hours before sunrise. A small town - Dodge Junction, if memory served - could just barely be seen in the distance, and since the ponies were diurnal creatures, he assumed it best that they approach during the day. With any luck, he might find somepony willing to purchase the large crocolisk hide. Elune knows he didn’t have any use for it.

As the sun rose, starting the third day, Selas made his way into town, shifting his saddlebags over his wings. As uncomfortable as it was, he didn’t doubt he’d have an easier time in town if they thought he was a regular unicorn. Not long after he entered town, a bulky brown earth-pony with a golden mane and worn stetson approached him.

“Howdy there friend.” The stallion’s voice was inviting, though Selas could tell from the emotions he gave off that it was a front. Something else he found himself adjusting to was the different emotions that the ponies gave off. Something else Kalimdor lacked, he supposed.

“Name’s Sheriff Gold Star.” He motioned briefly back to his cutie mark which was in fact a five-pointed golden star. “I’m the sheriff here at Dodge Junction. What’s your name, friend?”

“I’m Selas Nightwind, a hunter. A pleasure to meet you, Sheriff.” Selas met eyes with the Sheriff, causing the stallion to swallow uneasily.

“And what business do ya’ have here in Dodge?”

“I’m passing through to the Badlands, although I have a hide I’d like to sell, if anybody in town purchases such things.” Selas glanced up at the sun and then at the town. A surprising number of ponies were awake for such an early hour.

“I see.” The sheriff eyed him and Selas picked up the…taste, he supposed, of strong suspicion. Before, it had been a mixture of fear, worry, and a small sliver of hope. “Well, what yer’ doin’ in the Badlands is your business. As fer’ the hide, Fair Deal over in at the saloon might buy it. He likes to collect strange things. Other than that, I’ll ask ye’ to keep yer’ head down. We’ve had some problem with vandals wreckin’ up the town and harassin’ travellers lately. We asked the crown for help but haven’t heard anythin’ yet.” The sheriff tipped his hat and turned around, walking towards town. “Welcome to Dodge Junction,” he commented almost as an after-thought.

After a quick trip to the saloon where Selas managed to sell the hide - a cragodile hide, he learned - for a price of two-hundred and fifty bits, he left town through the south, disregarding the various looks and suspicion all of the townsfolk gave him. It wasn’t until he neared the Badlands and a number of ponies stopped him on the road that the day got interesting.

“Can I help you?” Selas glanced around at the six ponies that had surrounded him. He wasn’t surprised, as Lamp had warned him of them ahead of time.

“Oh, you can help us alright,” one of the ponies said with a chuckle. “Drop the weapons and yer’ saddlebags and we’ll let ya’ go. How’s that sound?” The pony looked at him with a grin.

“It sounds like you’re stupid.” Selas’ blunt delivery caused the grin to disappear almost immediately.

I suppose these are the ponies the sheriff mentioned…

“Whatever you ponies are up to is no business of mine, but I have business to attend and I’d like to be on my way.” Selas made to sidestep the pony, only for the pony to move in front of him. “Get him fellas!” The pony made to rush forward only for a scream to rip its way out of his throat as a massive black and grey blur smashed into him. The other five ponies almost immediately backed up in fear.

“Don’t run. If you run he’ll want to chase you.” Selas advised the ponies. He glanced at the stallion that had seemed to be leading them, which Lamp had smashed into. He had likely been dead before he hit the ground. “If I were to guess, I’d say your best chance for survival would be to calmly walk towards town. Maybe report this incident to the sheriff.” Selas glanced at Lamp who stood over his kill and back at the ponies who were taking his advice and walking - albeit, radiating pure, unadulterated fear - towards Dodge Junction. “Come on, we can still make the Badlands before sundown.”

***

Sure enough, just as the sun vanished and the moon rose, the pair stepped into the barren waste that was the Badlands. Almost as soon as he stepped in, a light hum set to reverberating through his mind. Occasionally, as the pair trekked deeper in, he would make out a multitude of words, the only word of note being “royal.”

A soft growl broke him out of his thoughts.

“Yes, Lamp, I can see them.” Admittedly, they were doing far better than the ponies from earlier, but at this point he doubted there were many creatures capable of stalking him, especially when Lamp was by his side.

‘Go, inform the queen! We’ll keep an eye on him!’

It was the first full thought that had entered his mind. Stopping, he glanced backwards, feeling a faint tug at his mind. “Let’s take a break,” Selas suggested, sitting down with his back to a wall of stone.

‘What’s he doing?’

Another full thought made it into his mind, this one followed by a reply.

‘He seems to be eating.’

As he pulled the strawberries from his saddlebags, a thought crossed his mind. With a slight grin, he allowed a thought to cross his mind, projecting it outward as best he could, ‘I’m stopping for a short meal. You’re both more than welcome to join me if you’d like. Lamp doesn’t bite.’

A brief impression of shock and fear reverberated over the odd mental link, followed by uncertainty and curiosity. After nearly five minutes of absolute silence, without so much as the hum in his mind, the hum returned and one of the two creatures that had been tracking him carefully approached the camp.

A changeling? Selas could certainly see some resemblance between himself and this creature, though this creature looked almost emaciated. The changeling was covered head to toe in black chitin, a pair of green, pupiless eyes gazing at Lamp in both fear and awe. The changelings wing and mane -fin?- both seemed to sag, and while it physically looked healthy, the changeling just felt emaciated and starved. Selas found himself surprised that the changeling was capable of standing upright, much less following him as long as he had.

“Good evening, I’m Selas Nightwind. What’s your name?” He remembered what Celestia had said about the creatures feeding on emotions. Carefully, he dipped into his internal reservoir and channeled a small amount of love through his horn, directing it at the changeling.

The effect was almost immediate, the changeling’s eyes widening and its jaw dropping slightly.

“Uh…” It finally spoke. The voice, Selas noted, was feminine and sounded odd, like it had a second layer underneath it. “I’m scout number seventeen.” The scout glanced at him uncertainly, though Selas could feel…gratitude, he believed. It was odd. Unlike the ponies, the emotion was there plain as day, but it didn’t contain any actual energy in it. Just the plain emotion, similar to what he would feel back on Kalimdor. Emotions without any…nutritional value. “Forgive me for asking, but what are you?” The changeling tore its gaze from the snoozing Lamp to the giant unicorn, who had levitated his saddlebags off and pulled a number of strawberries from it, offering them to changeling.

As he pondered whether or not he should give the scout the full story, he flexed his wings out. Unlike the scout, who had two tattered wings, he had four wings made of the same similar material, only full and unblemished.

“My name is Selas Nightwind and I am a changeling-hybrid.” Selas packed the strawberries back into his bag when the scout didn’t react to them. “And I’d like to warn you that if all of your other...scouts, I guess, decide to attack me, it likely won’t end well for you or them.” It wasn’t a threat or bravado; Selas spoke as if it were a simple universal fact. As he did so, he levitated his bow from its resting spot on the quiver, as well as an rune-tipped arrow.

Another changeling landed a short distance away. This one was different. It felt healthier and wore ornate, deep-blue armor. Unlike the first scout, it spoke with a commanding tone and had a pair of pupiless blue eyes. “The queen has requested your presence in the hive.”

Selas could tell by the feelings the changeling gave off as well as by tone and body language that it wasn’t a request. “Very well then, let’s go meet your queen, youngling.” The soldier, as Selas had decided to name him, frowned at the title of youngling and opened his mouth to retort only to realize that at some point Selas, as well as his cat had made it to the space directly in front of him, and the hybrid, as he’d referred to himself, was a lot bigger up close, and far more intimidating when his eyes, - eerily reminiscent of the Queen as they were - were gazing down on him. Swallowing slightly, Soldier nodded and turned, sending out a mental signal that while Selas couldn’t hear, was able to feel.

***

The hive was…simple, for lack of a better word. The formations all looked natural with the exception of hundreds of holes carved into the wall and a single room off to the side, blocked off by a stone door and guarded by four separate changelings. The structure was lit by a dull green light which emanated from the some type of…crystals, he supposed, hanging on the ceiling. All in all, it wasn’t terribly notable, with the exception of the various changelings staring at them as they passed. None of them looked what he would call healthy, and some of them looked downright miserable.

Lamp growled softly, drawing Selas’ attention to him. With a tilt of his head, the Nightsaber motioned towards a small alleyway of sorts. Focusing carefully, Selas could just hear a slight whimper as he faced it. Without addressing his escort, he broke off, trotting towards the sounds. He could feel a mixture of fear and uncertainty as he approached. By the time his escort realized he had broke off from them, he was kneeled in front of a young nymph. The soldier that he had first spoken to made to rush over to him only for the cat to growl dangerously at him, putting the entire escort on edge and causing their horns to flare to life.

“At ease young one, I’m not going to hurt you.” Selas briefly examined the child; her pupiless green eyes conveyed a surprising amount of emotion. All of the changelings had looked malnourished, but this one - a young female, he somehow knew - was almost painfully malnourished. Little more than chitin over a thin skeletal frame. Dipping into his reserves as he had with the scout earlier, he began funneling a thin trickle of love through his horn, directing it towards the nymph. After several seconds the fear and uncertainty vanished in favor of eagerness and…desperation.

“The queen doesn’t like to be kept waiting!” Soldier called out, trying to sidestep Lamp, only for the cat to match movement, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“Where are your parents, young one?” Selas spoke gently; the emotions shifted once more, this time settling on…depression? “I see. Would you like to come with me?” Selas hunched forward slightly. After another brief surge of certainty, the young changeling scrambled onto his head and slid down to his withers.

Trotting back to his escort, Selas smiled wryly. Soldier was trying to fly over Lamp, but the low cave-ceiling prevented him from gaining any height. Any time he tried to fly over, Lamp would swat him away.

“I’m ready to meet your queen.”

Soldier gave a glance at the young changeling and back at Selas. “Her Majesty will not like unexpected company.” He motioned a hoof towards the nymph who flinched reflexively and buried herself deeper into Selas’ dark cerulean mane.

“She’ll adjust,” the hybrid bluntly stated; it wasn’t a question.

Clenching his jaw, Soldier simply nodded and the group once more went on it’s way.

***

It was an odd feeling. Selas decided there had been a lot of those today. Ever since his first encounter with the changelings, it was like a whole second side of him had opened up. He’d grown a second…mind, of sorts linking him to, as far as he knew, all of the changelings. In addition, he found that he could speak to them, and siphon emotions along the same link, though it had to be channeled through his horn. In addition to all of those new discoveries, he somehow knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he had a sister. He couldn’t quite describe it, he simply knew. And judging by the silent, wide-eyed stare of the Queen, she knew as well.

For nearly ten solid minutes, the room fell into absolute silence. It wasn’t until the nymph on his back sneezed cutely that the pair seemed to snap back to reality.

“Guards, leave us.” The queen’s voice shivered briefly before she met eyes with the filly on Selas’ withers. “And take that nymph with you.” She glanced towards the nymph, causing her to whimper and try to bury herself in his mane once more.

The guard made to reach for her only for Selas to turn and cut him off. “I’ll kindly ask you to leave her alone.” The soldier glanced at his queen and back at Selas, uncertainty clear on his face.

“Very well, leave her, I’ve no objection if she isn’t causing my brother issue.” Chrysalis waved her guards out of the room.

Selas glanced at Lamp, blinking several times before turning back to Chrysalis, the pair of them lapsing into an awkward silence once more.

As the silence persisted, Selas found himself going over the queen. The resemblance between the two of them was striking. If he lost his fur and made his horn slightly more jagged, she’d be like a smaller version of him.

Finally, Selas spoke. “Sister.” It was a neutral tone. He wasn’t entirely sure how he should feel regarding the Queen of the Changelings. She only looked marginally healthier than her subjects and hadn’t spoken harshly to them.

“Yes, so it seems.” Chrysalis trotted off of the crudely carved stone throne and trotted slowly towards Selas.

Selas felt almost like a piece of meat on display as Chrysalis circled him, taking in every detail, including a strange feeling as her magic washed over him, seeming to measure his own reserves.

Chrysalis returned to her throne, a contemplative smile adorning her features. “So, why have you come here…?” she trailed off, waiting for an introduction.

“Ah, Selas. Selas Nightwind. And you?”

“Chrysalis,” she said simply.

Another awkward silence began, only for Chrysalis to stomp it out before it began. “So, what do you hope to accomplish by coming here?”

“I’m not honestly sure,” Selas admitted with a shrug. “I learned the history of…well, myself, from Celestia, and came here to try and acquaint myself with my other half I suppose. I must say, I didn’t expect…” Selas motioned at the room around him. “Is this the home of the changelings? It’s rather…small. To say nothing of how malnourished everyone looks.”

Chrysalis sighed loudly and stared at the floor. “I’m afraid this is home, brother. We’re in the process of carving it out further, but we only recently relocated here. After the fiasco in Canterlot, we had nowhere else to turn. But you know, you could help change all of that.” The pairs’ eyes met.

“How can I help?” Selas watched as Chrysalis trotted back off of her throne and towards him, their eyes remaining locked the entire time.

“You’re the middle ground.” Her voice had sounded almost hypnotic. It conjured up images of a being he had only met a handful of times but had the same tone: Queen Azshara. He had a feeling he would end up liking his sister about the same. “To say nothing of the abilities you displayed to Sun-butt back in Ponyville.” Her gaze seemed to hold him, his head turning to follow her as she stepped along his side.

It wasn’t until a growl reverberated through his mental link - and by extension, that of nearby changelings - that Selas snapped back to reality, tearing his gaze from the queen and trying to clear his clouded mind.

A poorly concealed frown spread across Chrysalis’ muzzle as she turned her back to the stallion, continuing to speak. “With your abilities, you could eliminate the princesses, and give the changelings the food they desperately need.”

Though his exterior was calm, his mind was racing, trying to figure what exactly had just happened, all the while trying desperately to keep his thoughts and emotions hidden from the other emotivores linked to him now. “Have you considered trying to make peace?” Selas doubted that Princess Celestia would turn away such an offer.

“And what reason do I have to make peace with them?” Chrysalis raised her voice, irritation clear, “It’s their fault we’re in this position to begin with!”

“Are you referring to the invasion Celestia told me about or the other history we share with them?” Selas shook his shoulders slightly, causing the nymph to slide off of him. “To the shadows, young one.” He slid her along the floor with a hoof, nudging her in the general direction he felt Lamp.

“Both!” Chrysalis raised her voice even further, “What was I going to do? Ask them for aid so they could systematically massacre those of us that remained? Invasion was the only option to ensure our survival.”

“It may have been, I don’t know all of the specifics,” Selas admitted. “But at this point what other options are there? If you seek their aid, there is a chance they’ll turn on you, if you don’t then the changelings die.”

“Then we’ll die with dignity, not grovelling at the hooves of alicorns.” Chrysalis spoke with finality and approached her throne once more.

“You’re going to let your people die because of a millennia old grudge?” Selas raised his own voice slightly, irritation of his own creeping in. “I don’t know what you went through all those years ago, Chrysalis, but you’re dooming your people without trying every avenue available to you. What kind of queen does that?”

“Guards!” Chrysalis suddenly called out. Quickly, the escort of five changelings, one of whom he had labeled ‘Soldier’ filtered back into the room. “Subdue him.” Their eyes once again met. “He will help us bring down Equestria, whether he likes it or not.”

Wasting no time in pulling his gaze away this time, he turned to the guards who were all gripping various weaponry in their green auras.

“Look at yourselves!” Selas levitated his own thorium axes out of their sheaths. “You’re all starving and your queen prepares to throw you right back at the alicorns! Is this the life you want to live?”

The guards hesitated slightly, glancing between the two royals.

“Enough of this!” Chrysalis finally snapped, slamming a hoof into the ground that caused the entire cavern to shake. With a twist of her horn, a thin green beam of energy launched itself towards Selas, forcing him to leap back him and turning the ground he stood on moments ago into a pile of molten rock. “All of you, subdue him, or die to me!”

Selas suddenly felt a wave of…something fall over him. After several rushed thoughts, he settled on compulsion. Perhaps a side-effect of the hive-mind, he could feel the changelings bodies moving to follow the command, even if their minds were against it.

I can’t kill them…they have no say in the matter… Selas thoughts ground to a halt as Lamp skidded along the cavern floor a short distance away.

No sooner than Selas had moved out of the beam, Lamp had bolted from the shadows and bowled into Chrysalis, sending her skidding across the floor. No sooner than he landed, he pounced in for a kill, jaws aiming for her throat; it was short lived as a powerful blast of magic sent Lamp crashing into the ceiling and back to the floor, unmoving.

Selas’s entire world slowed down as Lamp lay there unresponsive on the floor. Over thirty-five hundred years the two had been alongside each other, Lamp having received a blessing from Cenarius for that purpose alone. He wasn’t immortal by any means, but the blessing of the wild granted him eternal youth. While he couldn’t die of old age, he most certainly could die of injuries, and Chrysalis had just attempted - and possibly succeeded - in taking that from him.

With a leap backwards, Selas’s bow drifted up from his quiver, followed by a multitude of arrows, each one with a rune on the tip. His first order of business consisted of firing an arcane-tipped arrow at the ceiling near the entrance. With a crash, rocks exploded, crashing down and effectively sealing them into the large, empty cavern. Knocking another arrow, Selas ran towards the group, glancing briefly at Chrysalis who was climbing to her hooves once more, clearly in some degree of pain. Releasing the arrow, Selas shut his eyes as the room erupted into light, causing several of his aggressors to drop their weapons and slam their eyes shut, while the others shut their eyes yet kept a hold on their weapons. It mattered little as Selas took advantage of the brief blindness and slammed the back of his axes into their skulls in rapid succession; the sound of cracking chitin reverberated throughout the dimly-lit cavern as all five of the changelings fell to the ground, dead or unconscious, he wasn’t sure.

Even as he laid the changelings out, Selas kept running towards Chrysalis, axes rushing to catch up with him even as his bow readied another arrow.

Chrysalis, finally managing to find her footing, threw her horn outward at Selas once again, another, wider beam erupting from the tip. Unlike the previous one, this beam shattered the ground in front of Selas, sending him tumbling forward and into an uncontrolled roll. As he slid into her, she brought her hooves crashing down on his side.

With a pained grunt and only barely maintaining his magical grip on the axes, Selas rolled upright just in time to see Chrysalis charging another beam. As the energy reached its zenith, the mare’s eyes suddenly shot wide in pain as the axes buried themselves side-by-side in her chitin. Had it not been for the thick shell, they’d likely have passed right through. Instead, Selas found himself unable to pull themselves out with his magic alone. Quickly dropping the magical grip on the axes, he knocked another arrow.

Chrysalis, flooded with adrenaline, teleported across the room in a flash of light, once again charging her horn as Selas rushed towards her. As her horn reached the zenith of its energy once again, the arrow was loosed. This arrow, having been charged over a span of several seconds, was aimed directly at the queen's chest.

Whether on instinct or skill, the queen raised a hoof, the carefully aimed shot penetrating the shell and punching right through, the first fourth of the arrow making it through her hoof and into her chest. Damaging, but not the kill shot he’d been hoping for.

With a pained grunt, Chrysalis ripped the arrow out of her chest just in time for Selas to barrel into her, throwing her out of her feet. Her horn, having retained its charge this time, went wild, throwing out a bolt of energy. Whether by luck or intention, Selas felt himself lifted bodily off of the ground as the wind left him and he careened towards a wall. Managing to twitch his wings, he shifted trajectory slightly, crashing into the wall side-first rather than horn-first. The wall, and most of the bones on one side of his body, cracked before he slid to floor in a broken heap.

It’s funny… Selas found himself thinking as he struggled painfully to his feet. I land on my home world, learn the history of my species, meet a long list sister, and we’re trying to kill each other… Selas glanced at his bow and quiver, lying on the ground. Flaring his horn up, he winced as his magical hold was broken when another well-charged beam turned quiver and bow alike into a pile of dust. or she’s killing me I suppose… With a bloody smile, Selas forced himself to stand upright as Chrysalis carefully trotted towards him, blood oozing out her chest, a frown on her face.

“I hope you’ll do better than me…” It was so soft that Selas almost wondered if he’d imagined it. He had no time to ask however as a massive weight bowled her over, Lamp once more sending her skidding along the floor.

Unlike last time, her chitin was no longer perfectly smooth and the Nightsaber’s claws found purchase along the wooden shaft of the axes buried in her side. Latching on, two massive fangs buried themselves in Chrysalis’s neck, punching through the chitin like a knife through taut parchment. The queen’s eyes went wide as she went down, crashing into the floor with a wet grunt, Lamp still on top of her and his jaws still closed tightly, occasionally jerking.

As quickly as he could with his shattered ribs and shoulder, Selas limped over towards the queen. My only family… Selas stared sadly at Chrysalis who returned the gaze with sadness and fear. Four-thousand plus years and the first thing that happens upon meeting my only blood relative is that I disprove of her leadership, followed by a fight to the death…

Selas felt his heart stop when tears began to roll down Chrysalis’ face, and he felt himself choke up slightly. “I’m sorry Chrysalis…I…” Selas choked up slightly once more as the life faded from the queen’s eyes and Lamp finally let up, no doubt feeling her artery stop pumping.

Selas felt the energy leave his body and fell onto his flanks, head drooping as what he had just done set in. Though he couldn’t pinpoint the specific reason why, Selas felt hot tears working their way down his cheeks as he glanced down at the corpse. “I’m sorry…” he mumbled again, choked sobs coming in succession now. It wasn’t until he felt something nudging him slightly that the sobs stopped. Turning around, he glanced at the tiny nymph, who glanced at the queen uncertainly. With a pained swallow, Selas bit back the tears and bottled his emotions up. Reaching out with a hoof, he carefully slid Chrysalis’ eyes closed and released a slow, steadying sigh.

As Selas finished regaining himself, a soft rumble slipped through the room as the ceiling he had collapsed earlier was shifted away by a dozen or so changelings. Opening his mind once more, he felt hundreds, possibly thousands of voices all panicking, none of them certain what had happened. Steeling himself with a deep breath, he mentally shouted, Silence!

Expectedly, the voices faded into silence within seconds. Scout Number Seventeen, to the…” he glanced around the trashed chamber, eyes settling on Chrysalis’s throne. throne room immediately. Anyone else who can hear me, keep doing whatever it is you’re doing. Selas tried to project his thoughts with a sense of authority; not quite what Chrysalis had managed earlier with her forced compulsion - Selas felt that it was likely an ability he had not been blessed with - but commanding none the less.

***

For several days, Selas busied himself with recovering - as his heavily bandaged body indicated - and figuring out the Changeling’s state of affairs, provided for him by his new adviser, the former Scout Seventeen.

Everything from their numbers to their supply of love - something they apparently stored in a green goo that they could create - to the racial specifics, such as the classes. Drones, infiltrators, scouts, it all was apparently determined at birth and dictated by the natural color of their eyes. At least the birthing had been simple; while changelings could appear as either sex, they all ‘identified’ as one gender or another. Female’s naturally produced eggs and males would fertilize them. The female would lay the eggs, and soon you have a nymph causing you trouble; Selas knew, he had a nymph of his own causing him trouble, adorable as she was.

Something else he discovered was that none of the changelings seemed to have names. Chrysalis had numbered them for convenience, a thought that while he could understand it, really bothered him. Alas, that was a problem for another time. First and foremost, he had to solve the food problem.

He himself had been funneling every bit of emotion he could manage, but it simply wasn’t enough. On top of that, the ponies were still on the lookout for changelings among their towns. As night fell on the third day, Selas glanced up at the moon and frowned, contemplating how to contact Equestria. He was in no condition to travel, and the changelings likely wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the castle without prior clearance. “Princess Luna,” Selas spoke in a firm voice, “if you can hear me, please, visit me tonight. I’ve a dire matter to discuss but lack the means to do so in person.” It was a longshot, but if that didn’t work he’d have to send Lamp, who wasn’t doing terribly well himself, or make the trip on his own regardless of his health.

That night, much to his surprise, Selas found himself face-to-face with Princess Luna only moments after closing his eyes.

The princess of the night glanced at the heavily bandaged stallion across from her. “Twould seem you’ve seen better days.” She glanced over the bandages.

“Without a doubt, though I honestly feel I got off easy. Chrysalis could have killed me if she really wanted to.” Selas thought back to her last words. He wouldn’t let her down, he swore on Elune.

Luna suddenly grew very interested, “You have encountered Chrysalis? Does she hold you captive?”

“I have encountered her, yes. It was to be expected, as she was my sister.” Selas smiled sadly. “And no, she doesn’t hold me captive, Princess. She and I didn’t see eye-to-eye. We fought, she died.”

Luna reeled back in shock. “We see…we apologize. It couldn’t have been easy…” Luna hesitated, clearly uncertain how to address such an issue.

“In any case, that’s not why I called you here, Princess.” Selas took a short breath, wincing as his ribs twinged in the process, “With my sister dead, I’ve taken over rule of the Changelings that remain. There are roughly twelve-hundred of them, and things are fairly bleak. I would like to try and broker peace between your ponies and my changelings. Neither of our races should have to live in fear.”

Luna’s eyes widened in surprise.

“And I apologize for this, but I’d like to do it quickly if possible. There are a number of ponies held captive in feeding pods. They’re uninjured, but if the changelings extract from them much longer, there could be issues. If the changelings don’t feed from them, they’ll start to die of starvation.” Selas sighed and pressed a hoof to his head wearily.

Luna had initially opened her mouth to demand the release of the ponies, but fell silent as his explanation finished. “We will bring this to our sister’s attention immediately, but let no harm befall our little ponies, Selas.” It wasn’t quite an order, but it was no request.

“I look forward to meeting you in person, Guardian of the Moon.” Selas bowed low in respect as Luna faded from his dream.

Author's Note:

This chapter is half-edited/proofed. ChasingResonance hasn't had the chance to go over it yet, but Izanagi gave it a once-over. Expect it to get better eventually, when CR can go over it. So uh...here it is. Epilogue in a day or two when I'm sober.

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