Chapter 3
Twilight Sparkle wandered through the further reaches of her hive. Although two thousand seemed like a great many changelings, they must have numbered many more at some time in the past; huge areas of this cave had been left desolate, their glowpanels dead, the hallways dusty. The changelings must have adapted to the loss of population by just consolidating into the smaller area she’d first seen.
Though the changelings had moved, the evidence of their presence had been left behind. There were rooms, rooms that had been where changelings had lived; halls where changelings had walked. She felt a strange sense of melancholy as she passed a space that looked oddly like a chalkboard that was devoid of writing. Could she ever build her hive this numerous again?
She paused, reflecting on her mental phrasing, then shook her head and continued exploring.
She made it out of the ‘residential’ area, and found more open spaces. She saw large hallways, and what might have at one time been a ballroom. One especially large hallway drew her attention. Twilight followed it and then stopped short, stunned.
It led to an enormous arena. This arena was huge. The center court was large and round, filled with sand and covered with dust. Encircling it was a thick, high wall of dark rock. Benches ringed the court with staggered, stadium seating that reached the high arches required to support the weight of the huge structure, numerous and stacked high enough to contain perhaps two hives’ worth of changelings. She whistled. Whatever usually happened in here must be quite the sight to see.
But thoughts of forming her own changeling dodgeball league would have to wait. Her changelings were still starving. Besides, she still had more of the cave to explore, so she turned and left the arena behind.
Crossing beyond the hallways, she found what could only be storage chambers. Twilight brightened. There had to be something useful in here.
But as she poked her head into a storage chamber, she crinkled her nose. She poked around some of the smaller cubbyholes to get a better look, but her vision only confirmed what she'd already smelled.
Nitrates and sulfur.
Had Chrysalis been stockpiling weapons? Or was that just a natural byproduct of cave digging? Twilight shook her head. She continued walking, passing by more storage areas and abandoned dwellings. She inhaled and exhaled slowly. This was actually fairly depressing.
Eventually, she found herself back at the current hive. She saw a few changelings, and they bowed as she passed.
And then she heard squeaking. Her ears pricked up. She knew that sound. She followed the sounds until she found the source.
It was the nursery. She recognized some of the crystal toys brought from the caves under the castle mixed with some of the rocks from here.
Some of the nymphs recognized her, and ambled over as quickly as their tiny legs and large heads would let them. Twilight picked the fastest one up and lifted her into the air. She giggled excitedly, her tiny and still functionally useless wings buzzing, thrilled at having gotten the queen’s attention. Another, also wanting some attention and slightly jealous at not having gotten there first, made an attempt to climb up Twilight’s leg.
“They’re so tiny,” Twilight breathed, lighting her horn and picking up the crawler.
Piquis giggled. “They are. They come smaller, you know.”
Twilight blinked. She was not aware of this. “What?”
Piquis led her into another room. She ducked under a thick curtain-like door of slime and Twilight hesitated only a little while before following.
If Piquis had been annoyed at having had to wait two minutes for her queen to follow her, she didn't show it. As Twilight entered, she held out what could only be a changeling larva. It had many little legs, a white grub-like body, and a head far too big for its body. It, too, recognized Twilight, and it squealed excitedly and wriggled its forelegs at her. Twilight took it—him—in her foreleg, hefting him. He was kinda cute, in a weird sort of way.
The sound of crawling grew louder, and more appeared. Like some kind of changeling larva cute-ocalypse, they swarmed her, crawling up her legs again much like the nymphs before them.
Twilight’s breath caught in her throat. So many little ones depending on her. She would rise to the occasion. She looked around and her eyes landed on an opening to another chamber.
“And this is also where we keep the eggs,” Piquis said, following her queen’s eyes. “When we’re working, we can’t watch our eggs; so we put them all there to keep them warm and safe.”
Twilight waded through the larva and to the egg chamber. She looked around. This chamber was not very large, but was still fairly empty. Eggs were clustered together, probably to conserve heat. She was somewhat relieved to see that while there was one changeling standing guard (who bowed as soon as she saw Twilight), these eggs were not being sat on. That would definitely be a job she would not be prepared for.
“There aren’t that many,” she said quietly.
Piquis bit her lower lip. “Times are hard,” she murmured, an ever so common refrain.
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Times are changing.”
* * *
Twilight stepped back into her new command center. The map of Equestria (and other places, too) was complete. As Twilight had requested, all the more populated areas had been blown up, showing more detail and divided into sectors. She gave it a good once-over, and then nodded, satisfied. “Looks good,” she said. “And these are my volunteers?”
“Yes. Name placards of all the usual runners, as requested,” Bruch said.
“Any changelings that should not be together?” Twilight asked, flipping through them idly.
Bruch shrugged. Changelings adapted.
Taking this as a ‘no’, Twilight placed the placards at random. “These are the assignments,” she said when she was done. “I think that'll work.” She looked back towards Bruch, as if for reassurance. “Right?”
“We are changelings,” Bruch said simply. “We will adapt.”
This was a little less excitement than she'd expected, even from Bruch. Still, it was organization, and as such, it made her feel better.
But there was still much left to do.
* * *
Queen Twilight Sparkle was not like Chrysalis. This went without saying among the changelings. She didn't demand grovelling or anything upon her arrival, she had never lost her temper, and she seemed to be treating her changelings almost as equals. It was strange, but not entirely unwelcome.
And one of the stranger things was her desire for art. For example, she had called changelings who worked in stone; not once, but twice this week. This had sent ripples of gossip through the hive, but it had died down fairly quickly.
Twilight paced in front of the gathered changelings. There were only five of them. It was clear that Bruch had not been exaggerating when he said art had been quashed under Chrysalis. “I've been told you're the best. I remember Bruch saying, in front of princesses no less, that your sculpture is among the best in Equestria. Is this true?”
The changelings shrugged modestly. One waggled his hoof from side to side. Another dug the tip of a rear hoof into the ground.
“I want to see it,” Twilight said. “Someday, I'd like to use your artistic abilities to provide revenue for the hive. But for now, just show me what you can do.”
The changelings saluted and flew off to find materials. Twilight watched them leave.
* * *
Twilight didn't like being interrupted while working. So she left the sculptors alone while they worked. It only seemed fair.
As she walked, it occurred to her that she didn't know much about the security of her hive. Were there sandsnakes or tatzlworms around here in the badlands? She had no idea.
She found Bruch, working alongside a few other changelings. She almost felt bad asking.
Almost.
“It's a pretty decent ring system,” he said. “There's a system of fifteen stations. Every hour, the changelings on watch rotate to the next station. If there's anything wrong, they'll send up a green signal flare.”
“And it's a good thing I haven't seen any of those, right?”
Bruch chuckled. “You remember how hard it was to get here? This is one of the safest hives ever. It's almost a natural fortress.”
Twilight smiled. That was a relief. “And the fact that I literally marched in here and became queen is pure coincidence, right?”
Bruch paused in his work and met her eyes.
Twilight decided not to push further.
* * *
Twilight returned to where she'd left the sculptors. Art had never been her strong suit. She didn't know if they were done or how long it would take.
It had not been nearly long enough, she realized. The changelings were all working hard, but even the changeling who had gotten the furthest had only a basic shape done. And one jumped as she came in and dropped it on the ground.
Twilight stepped forward and kindly picked it up. She turned it over in her hooves. It was nowhere near complete; but what little of the head was visible showed great care and skill. “Wow,” she murmured. “This is really nice.” She looked back. “Can you make it bigger? Statues. Fountains. Things that ponies will buy.”
The changelings nodded eagerly.
“We can start selling them at craft shows,” Twilight started, “and then move up from there. We'll need a backstory, though. Something about, I dunno, a family of artisans from high in the mountains.”
“We can do griffons,” one changeling offered.
“That’ll be good,” Twilight said. “Yeah, I like that.” She smiled. “I like that a lot. Now, do we have any artists?”
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I respect and like your story and I respect your opinion but I kind of like the new look the changeling got in the season finale
Restoring culture might boost spirits indeed.
Now that she's sent out infiltrators they can start recovering food, right?
Keep going! ;)
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You might be the only one.
7830602 I know and I'm okay with that people don't always have to agree on everything.
I wander if Twilight could establish an embassy in the Crystal Empire, and try to harvesting the Love emanating from the Crystal Heart like Thorax did in Season 6, it would at least be a stop gape measure and Sense it's ambiguousness statues as a country, protectorate, or just a province to Equestria their might be leeway to stay in contact with her brother more frequently as the Noble of Canterlot wouldn't have much to say about it and could be used a good intermediary between the Changelings and Equestra. All doe the Hastings would need to be more discreet and avoid any kidnapping there.
THIS STORY ISNT DEAD! WOOHOO!
Let's hope that the update times are a-changeling to what they used to be, too.
that pun at the end was bad and you should feel bad about it every dead comedian just rolled over in their graves
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dang right...I hated the 4 month wait
Ahh. I've been waiting for quite a while and I have to say that I've been pleased with this new development.
Keep up the good work, my friend.
For my own mental well-being, I will assume that it's the mental changes that come with becoming a Changeling Queen that let her find being climbed on by a swarm of grubs adorable.
You are exploring the Badlands Changeling Hive "Sanctuary Stone".
You find a masterful wall carving by Diretk the Timid.
It is a carving of a Changeling Queen and a Pony and a Changeling Queen.
The Pony and The Changeling Queen are fighting, the Pony is Striking down the Changeling Queen, the Pony is becoming the Changeling Queen.
You look away from the wall carving.
Yay!
IT IS ALIVE!!
I can hardly wait for more
Continue the awesome work.
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Oh, they're not bad; they just don't fit the story.
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Well, I'm planning on updating tomorrow; but after that, you might have to wait until next year.
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It is; the defenseless little ones need to be protected and so that's one of the first.
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How far into next year since Sunday is the first?
Great chapter!
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I blame the technicolor bugpones on the medium. It's fairly obvious that they meant to be irridescent rather than day-glo, but the animation medium is far more suited to flat colors with simple gradients. It kind of makes sense in a way. They're always hungry up to that point in the show, dull, dour colors like black primer paint. But once they're full, stuffed even, their black chitin becomes increasingly shiny to the point of iridescence, reflecting a small rainbow when the light strikes them. Kinda reminds me of flowers and plants in a way; the malnourished ones quite easy to spot as they wilt with faded colors and stunted growth.
Twilight's going to need more than art to lure investors into her hive. I suppose mining skills could be bartered with, assuming Diamond Dogs haven't beat them to the punch. Does the hive offer anything that could tempt other species to want to visit? I'm not saying turn it into a second
Den of Inequityer, Las Pegasus but entertainment sounds like something well suited to the changeling talents. And isn't Las Vegas located in the middle of an inhospitable desert too? Mmm, curious real-world parallels indeed.Oh shit i thought this story was dead. Lol.
7830581 More like building a new one.
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To be fair, the design was OK, but the radioactive pastel gradient mostly killed it.
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Joke's on you. I'm from Germany, so in my time zone that comment was posted on the 31st.
7830797 ...and all the live ones too
7830576 i thought the design was alright, but i hated it for what it represented. it's basically saying that pretty = good, that if you aren't pretty and sparkly then you have to be evil, but most of all it is a symbol for the descent of mlp. the writing has already been going downhill, and this just proves it.
but also, Did you know that there are actual real-world insects that, when forced into close contact with each other due to scarcity of food, will go into what's called a 'gregarious' state? They become friendly and secrete more serotonin. They even go through a physical change, as well!
Those insects are called locusts.
take that as you will
"Change"
Wishes it could be half the changeling story that this is.
Change bored me to tears.
But I have patiently awaited your return.
7832058 spain too xD we have the german timezone, also i am having breakfast in a german bakery, such is the coincidence
Oh yay! I was missing bthis fic
Twilight optimising a hive? This is looking good
Next she will ask if there is any tailors in the hive.
Awwww... I want more, I just found this and it's fantastic!
A CRIME AGAINST NATURE!!!
Finally got around to reading this after burning out on reading and it has not disappointed me.
Also for the love of Celestia please please do not turn the changeling of this story into the Skittles form S6 finally.
7945090 Yeah, I also prefer black and stealthy to rainbow and really-friggin-obvious.
No idea why Hasbro went with rainbowfying the Changelings, but...sigh. Here to stay...
As for the holes, I like Twisted Fate's description - caused by hunger; the more love consumed, the more the holes shrink, and then disappear. If the changeling becomes hungry again, the holes return.
There are 2 spaces between 'the' and 'egg'
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*EARRAPE AUTISTIC SCREAMING*
8207261 .... Yes?
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Autismᴴᴰ ヽ༼°ل͜°༽ﾉ
I made a rainbow text generator just for this comment. Cool, eh? ([link])
8208518
I have been waiting for this mai sub-pony stripped friend
So I guess you could say the times are… a-changeling. Eh?ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDIN ME
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thanks.
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Thank you for this generator. It is very useful.