Edited by DJ_Neon_Lights
Father looked at Mother. Mother looked at Catherine. Catherine was holding something dark and questionable on her lap. The room was abuzz with an alien nervousness. Father had awakened on the couch, his head propped on the armrest and a throw pillow. A blanket had been draped over his prone form. Mother had scooted the ottoman over next to her husband. Her hand held his and she hovered as nervous eyes flit from her daughter to the thing on the child’s lap. Of course, there were the other things in the living room she really hoped did not exist. Father fainted again. It was overwhelming for the poor fellow.
Yet, they did exist. Not fifteen minutes ago, they had showed up in her daughter’s bedroom. All of them were roughly the size of collies. All of them were black, with bug like shells and fluorescent compound eyes that swirled and could somehow focus. Gossamer wings like those of a dragonfly buzzed and flit, stirring the air in the room and keeping the flow constant. Mother noted how each one sported a little horn from the center of their head. Notched ears swiveled this way or that. The woman also noted each creature had holes in their legs. They varied in size and went all the way through their legs. She could not help but stare at those holes, fascinated, yet put off by how adorable the creatures were. Even their fangs just made them cute, like oversized naked mole rats. Gross, yet oddly adorable.
Catherine sat in her father’s overstuffed chair, clinging to one of the bug creatures. She was still in her pink pajamas. She had the sleepy look of a child who had been up all night with a great deal of excitement to spur her on. Thankfully, it was Saturday. This meant no school.
One of the things was currently being cuddled by Catherine. It identified itself as Speaker, and had made a rather unusual proclamation. It was one Mother had yet to come to grips with as she found herself wanting a cigarette. She had quit years ago when she discovered she was pregnant with Catherine and had not looked back since. Well, until now.
As much as she wanted to scream and panic, perhaps even faint, she could not. Her husband had done that the moment he hit the light switch and saw his daughter’s room filled with the black bug creatures. Their fanged smiles were terrifying. Some of the others tried hard to be adorable, but had instead, in her mind, managed to appear to be in dire need of a laxative. It was a disturbing image for her.
Windows had been cracked open and there were two pairs of eyes staring out every one in the house. The first rays of dawn were beginning to reveal the neat rows of houses on Maple Street. Several cars could be heard starting outside as some of the neighbors were off to work early. It was early spring and the leaves were just beginning to bud on some of the trees.
The creatures at the windows watched in silent fascination, chirping at each other in low tones. It was a new world to them.
Fear gnawed at Mother as she stroked her husband’s hand. She gave him one more worried glance before focusing her attention on Speaker. “So,” she began, struggling to find the words.
“So,” agreed the bug creature. He wore an expression she supposed was bliss. One blink, two, a third; each slow and deliberate as his own thoughts needed to be collected. “I am sure you have noticed things about my brothers and sisters.”
A light chittering of agreement sounded, mindful of the inert form on the couch.
Sher found a cup of tea offered from her right, held within a strange soft and barely noticeable light. “Tea? It’s chamomile,” offered another creature. It seemed to have a feminine voice, but it was difficult to be sure. Mother noted there seemed to be a buzz in their voices, as if a second was layered upon the first. “It’ll calm your nerves.”
She accepted her own tea cup, scrounged from her own kitchen. They had been exploring the house ever since they had emerged from beneath the bed. Some had found refuge from the crowded floor by simply clinging to the ceiling. Mother stared at those who had found the corner of the ceiling a nice place to cozy within. They stared back with expressionless gazes. It was mildly disturbing.
“Thank you,” she managed, her hands trembling. Surely they were destroying everything in the house. Her kitchen, recently remodeled, possibly reduced to shambles.
“We respect your house,” the creature told her, flicking a notched ear. They all had notched ears. The notches, Mother noted, were not all in the same place, like the holes in their legs. “You are afraid, correct? Please, do not be afraid. We would never harm the family of our Queen.”
Speaker cleared his throat. “Mother abandoned us. She abandoned us so she could chase a selfish dream of conquest. We found this portal. We did not want to do harm to others. Mother was angry with us for not supporting her. We came through the portal. We feared Mother more than we feared the unknown. We love Mother, but she can be violent when she is upset. We could not bear seeing Mother upset, but we could also no longer accept her neglect. We left the hive. We broke our bonds with Mother. We need a new Queen or we will not survive. We need love or our minds will slowly devolve to plain oatmeal mush. Noling likes oatmeal mush.”
Mother blinked. She inhaled deeply, then sipped nervously from her cup. “What do you call yourselves?” Mentally, she wondered when they would stop with the charade and begin devouring everyone.
Catherine was petting his neck, the little girl smiling tiredly. She fought to stay awake. Her eyelids were heavy. “Is Daddy going to be okay, Speaker?” she asked.
“It’s a promise. Wesley is watching over him,” assured Speaker. To Mother, he replied, “We are called changelings. Our kind have lived in the shadows, imitating other species and feeding off of their emotions.” His face scrunched up in mild annoyance. “Wesley, please don’t stare at him like that.”
Mother looked up. One of the changelings was attached to the ceiling, his head dangling as he stared intensely at her husband. “He hasn’t moved yet,” observed the observer.
Speaker assumed a wan smile of apology. “He takes his role rather seriously, I’m afraid.”
“He’s silly!” yawned Catherine. She giggled and hugged Speaker again.
“He’s creepy,” Mother said with a shudder. “Does he have to stare like that?” Her hands still shook as she tried to have more tea.
“Wesley, less creepiness,” commanded Speaker, trying to look authoritative. A six-year-old human girl was hugging the stuffing out of him. It felt nice to be loved unconditionally and without reservation. The new Queen was growing on him, as well as the others.
Mother noted the envious grins on the faces of the other changelings. A happy group sigh filled the air. Was it all a charade? Were they serious? They did help bring Frank from Catherine’s room to the couch. It took three of them, but they were gentle. She noted how they seemed to hang one every action and expression on her daughter’s face.
“We are the Changelings Who Say Ni!” piped up a squeaky male voice behind her.
“Shh!” shushed the others.
“You are still confused,” Speaker noted. “This is understa—urk!” He was glomped by Catherine, who was giggling again. “Understandable!” He had to pry her off while still managing to look somewhat respectable.
Mother sighed. She was afraid. Oh, so afraid! Still, these...changelings seemed nice and fawned over her daughter. They were respectful. None of the furniture was broken, contrary to her previous fears. There had been not one sound of something breaking over the buzzing of wings, clicking mandibles, and curious hissing. What was with the hissing? It would be adorable, if adorable was creepy and unsettling.
“My house. You will ruin my house.”
“We will not ruin your house. We respect the home of our Queen, as it is now our own.”
Mother did a spit take. “What? You are not staying here!”
Speaker’s ears flattened against his skull. He rubbed one leg against the other as Catherine glared at her mother from his side. “Mommy! They’re staying!” she proclaimed.
“We’ll take out the trash!” Cried out one changeling.
“We’ll do the dishes!”
“We’ll dust the furniture!”
“We’ll clean out the garage!”
“We’ll burp your Tupperware!”
“We’ll clean the toilet!”
All eyes darted to the last changeling to make a suggestion. All hooves pointed to Frank. “That’s what he’s here for!” The changeling was cowed into submission by the others and nodded sagely at their collective wisdom.
“You won’t even know we’re here,” assured Speaker as he cast a holed hoof over the throng of changelings filling every nook and cranny of the house. “We can literally live on love, so you don’t have to shop for food for us.”
Mother was shaking her head. “No.”
“We can change form, if our appearance is also a concern. We are less dangerous than pit bulls.”
“Or savage squirrels,” added another changeling helpfully. Mother sensed the changeling was female as a hoof was offered. She introduced herself. “Hi. I’m Angela. I’m a Virgo.”
Hesitating, the woman took the hoof gingerly with her hand. Did she just grasp it? Would it feel slimy? It didn’t look slimy. Thankfully, upon contact, her fears proved to be unfounded. “Beatrice.”
“You are concerned about many things.”
“That goes without saying,” laughed Beatrice nervously. “I have monsters in my house!”
“But we’re adorable monsters!” insisted Speaker. “We’re even making up names for ourselves as we go along because Mother assigned us numbers and letters for organizational purposes. There were too many changelings; not enough time to name us all.”
“She has a library of baby name books!” Called out an unnamed changeling.
Speaker added, “She used them all at some point, giving up on Swahili names. After around egg number one million, she more or less threw in the towel when it came to giving us names.”
“There are one million of you?”
“Not at the moment, no. Mother has laid over a million eggs, but that has been over a span of a couple of thousand years. Each of us drones only live sixty to eighty years and Mother lays eggs to maintain a certain population number. It’s over a million. She just stopped naming us after she started running out of names to give. It was becoming frustrating for her. That and diaper bills.” Speaker laughed weakly. “Mother was both brilliant and stupid. We love her and will always love her, but she’s a lovaholic.”
“Too much Cadence.”
Angela turned to the unnamed changeling who spoke. “Kevin, you dummy! She was drunk on Shining Armor’s love for the Princess of Love.”
Kevin shrugged. “Same difference. We’re here. Mother is a bed. Mother turned herself into a bed to escape responsibility! She does not speak to us. We did what we had to to get the love we need to stay civilized. I don’t want to drool in my own stupidity.”
“I get the feeling there’s a story behind this,” Beatrice said.
“It’s a terrible story, filled with plot holes, bad innuendoes, and other things that don’t make sense.” Speaker sniffed. “But, we wrote a song about it! Want to hear it?”
“Not really—”
“Here it goes!” Angela took in a deep breath and sang out:
Our Queen
We love our Queen
Even though
She’s kinda mean
She’s more than a queen
She’s our moooootherrrrrrr!
“A song really isn’t necessary…” Beatrice wondered where the music was coming from as the changeling scrambled to take positions. They were warming up, jostling each other, shushing each other and clearing their changeling throats. Speaker sat up straight and proud, and sang:
That day was going to be perfect!
She promised we’d all have a lovely ball!
But the love she took in
A decadent little sin!
And she screwed the pooch for us all!
‘Where have I heard this melody before?’ Beatrice blinked. Catherine was moving her head from side to side as she absorbed herself into the song. Angela went next:
That day was going to be perfect!
Mother assured us there’d be enough for all!
She promised us a home
We wouldn’t be like garden gnomes
But the promises she made fell like a stricken dove!
Speaker filled in smoothly even as Catherine hugged him again. She refused to let him go.
We snarled and we spat
We conquered in your name!
Mother, we did what we were told,
“Feed my children!” she cried,
“Equestria will fall before our pride!”
The truth is, we didn’t want to hurt anypony!
No, we did not want this war
But Mother had to settle a score
She wanted Celestia to feel her pain!
His voice faded and Angela filled in smoothly.
The truth is we want to love
By the stars that shine above
To come out into the light
To others no longer be a fright
The truth is, we wanted to be loved by all!
No, we did not want this war
For that we felt Mother’s ire
Silent, we watched
And witnessed Mother’s doom!
A sense of sadness fell over the room. The music faded and Frank stirred. The man groggily sat up. Whispers surrounded him as the changelings backed away from him. Except Wesley. Wesley assumed a wide grin and wagged his tail happily.
“Daddy!” Cried Catherine happily. She slid down from her seat and went to her father. She crawled into his lap as he sat up, a hand to his head as he groaned.
“What happened?” He asked, looking to his wife. “I had the strangest dream. We went into Cathy’s room and saw...saw...saw?” Drifting from wife to surroundings, his eyes grew wider and wider. “I heard music,” he went on, not comprehending there were unusual guests in his house. His arms went around his daughter protectively. Frank craned his neck over one shoulder, then the other as he blinked, uncomprehending.
“Do not adjust the center of your screen,” said Speaker in a monotone. “We control the horizontal. We control the vertical. There is nothing wrong with what you are seeing. We are real. We serve your daughter. Your daughter is our queen.”
“Ni!” cried a couple of changelings.
“Shh!” shushed a couple of more.
Frank fainted again.
Beatrice would have loved to join her husband on the couch. This whole thing was absurd! And where had that music come from? It was as if a horrible children’s show had spilled out and into her home!
“So,” Catherine chirped happily, bouncing on her unconscious father’s lap. “Can I keep them? Is it alright if I become their queen! I promise, I’ll be a good queen!”
Beatrice patted her daughter on the head. “No, honey. You can’t.”
The changelings gasped.
“But, we can change!” Speaker exclaimed over his own sputtering.
Angela groaned. Wesley simply grinned creepily at Frank. Several changelings facehooved. “We have simply started negotiations,” the female changeling reasoned. “First of all, we will listen to the terms of the mother of our Queen.”
“Get out,” Beatrice said sternly, pointing at the door.
The female changeling stared at her. She then nodded slowly. “Starting at the bottom. Good. We can work our way up from that.”
“Mommy, you can’t throw them out! They’ll be lonely!” declared Catherine with a pout. “They’ll die!” Tears formed, brimmed, threatening to come out.
“We can negotiate terms amicable to all, I’m sure,” assuaged Speaker. He wore his best and most diplomatic smile. “I promise we will make it worth your while! There is little we can’t do! We are magical creatures! We can be anything we want to be. Literally.”
Beatrice was overwhelmed.
“Please, Mommy?” Catherine looked at her father.
“I don’t think it’s a very good idea,” said the woman. “They’re illegal aliens…”
“We technically don’t exist, so we really can’t be considered illegal aliens. Undocumented, sure, but illegal?” Angela blinked and shrugged. Her wings buzzed in irritation.
Indeed?
Must investigate... later. Got edits to do.
I don't have time to read it yet but the summary alone made me giggle. You get a like for making me smile. Good luck with the story!
Oh my god, it's happening!
This is brilliant. I want a swarm of changelings. I will love them and hug them and call them George.
That mother wins the stoicism awards by mile. This shows some good promise. Keep it up!
This sounds interesting so im going to wait a bit on reading it and let you publish a few chapters first.
7110581 Perfectly understandable.
7110592
Yeah I normally don't prefer reading things as soon as they come out so I can give the creator of the story more time to fix any mistakes and add more to the story.
Investigation completed. Report submitted.
The reponse: What. Dafuq.
Win, this has. A favorite, you have earned.
Let's face it: Changelings make the perfect pets. They only need love to live and they can look like whatever you want.
See the part of this story that confuses me is why a bed?
Chrysalis could have left her future open and been a jar.
7110705 You'd have to ask Estee. It was her short story that inspired me to add mine, originally.
I know a good story when I see it, and this is a cut above those. Can't wait for more.
Horse-like creatures and their new ruler Catherine, plus story title?
I see what you did there, and it's amazing.
Thumbs up.
The knight changelings are here, now all we need is that demon bunny (Angel bunny)
Wonderfully unique. The narrative is fun and vert imersive. The always look on the bright side persona the changelings have is great to. I am eager to read more.
7111059 Why do you think they decided to run away.
i can imagine the singing while they work....
Oooh this sounds promising!
7111090 Aaaaaargh.... the puns hurt.
Man Frank would not survive a horror movie, it's fight or flight not fight, flight, or faint.
Promising story I'll be keeping an eye on it.
*Read the summary*
Oooooh boy! Sound like a lot of adorableness, sillyness and fun!
*Read the chapter*
Even better!
Not sure how far it can go without starting to be redundant, but for now have all the upvote!
I'm surprised this isn't rated mature... Catherine the Great kind of had a reputation for liking her horses a little too much, if you know what I mean.
Well I'll be darned. You certainly have outdone yourself with this piece of literature! You may have my like and favorite!
Should be "he replied."
Well this is interesting as all get up! I would read more.
Not super clear on the whole "Chrysalis is a bed" thing, though.
"I understood that reference!"
oh god did you to pull that twillight zone line, i can hear the show theme as the changeling say that
7111750 Fixed! The Chrysalis in Bed refers to a short story written by Estee for Admiral Biscuit's FimFic Authors are In Your Bed. I wrote a story that is also in that collection called 'A Swarm of Changelings are Under Your Bed'. It was unedited and wound up having a character with several names that I did not correct.
Link to Estee's short story is here.
Link to my short story is here.
I hope that clears up any confusion! Enjoy!
7111774
How many changelings are left that follows catherine? A hundred? A Thousand?
That would make sense considering they all could fit in the house
7111894 Not quite that many. Their numbers will be revealed in chapter 3.
I remember I loved the original story from the anthology, and this one seems to keep the promises of whimsical mayhem that one made.
I'll gladly follow it
Seems pretty cute and funny so far though I did find the changelings knowledge of human culture and spouting of references a little strange.
Cute. I think I like Angela best so far. Or maybe Wesley.
Love the concept. Your writing so far has been very heavy on telling with only a sprinkling of showing which makes it a bit tough for me to read but i'm sure you will get better at that.
Delicious little bit of irony here, you miss-spelled the word 'typo' in your author's notes. Not sure if that was on purpose.
7111789
The (original, monochrome) Outer Limits! I used to watch that show... good times, good times.
Having read the first chapter, I find myself wondering what the changelings could emulate so as to avoid causing panic in the streets or visits by the health and sanitation people...
I thought it was a russian ff.
DAT F words.... It gives me a huge nostalgic. I miss those old big letters and old books, It brings me joy.
img02.deviantart.net/e5ff/i/2008/016/0/f/old_book_by_tatasz.jpg
Awesome story! I look forward to reading more!
This actually looks pretty interesting. Haven't really read stories with changelings with them, but I'll give this one a try.
I knew this felt familiar, and now I know why. This'll be fun.
Hah, that was hilarious. And Beatrice knows how to keep her cool.
I like that, unlike in most other stories, they still love Chryssie, but want a better life, so they just left, without keeping a murderous grudge against her.
Changelings would make the best pets ever. Intelligent, easy to keep clean (no fur to wash), don't require costly food, no pooping, can look like anything you want, impossibly adorable in real form. I'd snug them endlessly of i could.
I'm going to immensely enjoy this story. I just know it. It's already pretty amusing, so let's see more!
7111059
IT
img.gawkerassets.com/img/17g8oraogh7j9jpg/medium.jpg
How can changelings from Equestria even know what Tupperware is?
THEY ARE ACTUALLY DEMONS IN DISGUISE!! *sprays them all with Holy Water and fires crosses at them from his Cross-ta-pult!* DIE DIE DIE!!!
They know WAYYYYYY too much to have just come from another dimension... *suspicious aliens are suspicious*
I'd have killed them all by now.
I thought this story felt familiar, and then you got to the part where Chrysi was a bed. That's what sealed the deal for me.
That was a fun collab. One I'm glad I got to contribute to.
WONDERFUL STORY!
The cute adorable changelings are trying to negotiate with -to them- aliens.
And speaker reminds me of a story teller by a fireplace in a library.
That classical scene.
I saw the cover art and I just had to read this.
Call it judging a book by its cover, I call it my vulnerability to the power of the D'awww.
7120674 I got the impression from the source short that this seems to be a continuation on that the changelings had been scouting this world for some time. Apparently at least one went trolling through popular media.
This is really quite amusing so far. I might suggest, though, putting the link to the source short at the beginning of the chapter rather than the end.
These changelings...
cdn.meme.am/instances/27173488.jpg
I need to go buy a plushie of a changeling so that I may hug it.
7122146 I tried singing it in its intended form, but instead it sounded like "Kill The Beast!" from Disney's Beauty and The Beast.
...would that technically be "Save The Beasts"?