Loyalty of a changeling

by SwarmLordAbdonis

Leaving home

This is disasterous. Unnacceptable. I would never have thought that this day would have been possible, let alone happen. But it is, and it has...

Even after it has happened, I still find myself struggling to believe that a single unicorn and her team of misfits had not only successfully infiltrated the hive, but also defeated the queen and has even persuaded my own brothers to switch onto her side! The side of the ponies, our enemies! So many of them, now transformed into... those things! So many, willing to betray the queen without so much as a second thought! Traitors! All of them!

Not me though. I will not so willingly accept this new role and fall into submission. This false destiny! I am still a pure changeling. One still loyal to the queen.

And now, here I stand, just at the doors of the throne room unnoticed looking in at that which burns my soul and fuels my hatred. The princesses the ponies and the traitors. So powerful in both number and magic compared to me a single changeling. Staying here would be very unwise.

"There is nothing here for me anymore anyway. The hive is now theirs. It would be smart to slip away whilst they are celebrating".

With those last burning thoughts I galloped away from that room as fast as I could. I needed to get out of this converted hive I once called home. For now this place served only as a great reminder of my species' greatest failure and sheer lack of willpower. I have no purpose here anymore. I will need to mourn for the loss of my race later. For now I must go while I still have the chance.

My objective was clear. If I had even a small chance of accompolishing this goal, I would first need to escape. Escape to a secluded area and with luck find any remaining loyal brothers. What comes next can be decided later when I have the time and place to do so.

Thankfully there was one such exit I could use that would guarantee my freedom with a low risk of being found. At the very back of the hive was an emergency hole that would take me straight out of the hive unnoticed. Given the circumstances it is doubtful that many will be using it. The path I'm taking should be clear considering that everyling is most likely distracted with... recent events.

At last I end up coming across the exit. A small hole barely big enough to fit one changeling at a time. Since it's for emergencies this one will not disappear and reappear like regular holes. Freedom away from this accursed place is within my reach.

"Hey! Excuse me? Swarm leader"?

Someling began to call to me through my rank from behind. I reluctantly turned round hoping for the slightest chance it was a remaining pure changeling.

It was not. Not any more. It was one of them. A converted drone. This one slightly taller than myself with yellow chitin bright enough for me to squint my eyes and instinctivly hiss. The friendly smile he was giving made me sick. It was as though he did not realise what had been done to him. Of all the luck that a single one of them would have found me. Better than a group or a swarm at least. The image alone of this thing was enough to make me hate it. Yellow chitin, orange eyes, a smaller horn and no wings. Nothing about it was changeling.

As much as I wanted to just make a run for it, I wouldn't make it far once this converted drone used the hive mind to alert the rest of the hive of my resistance, considering they could still use it. I would need to play along for now. If things don't go the way I hope they will, I will just need to fly as fast as I can and hope by Chrysalis that I pull it off. I not... I fear the worst.

"Yes"? I reply, holding back as much malice as I could.

"Forgive me for asking sir but... what are you doing still looking like that"? He asked as he trotted closer towards me.

"I do not understand what you mean".

"You know... like... that". He replied with such discomfort as he pointed at me, or more likely my black chitin covered body. Whether it was from trying not to offend me (Which was clearly not working) or was now disgusted with my body, his wavering voice and somewhat nervous form was irritating me more and more.

"And what, may I ask, is wrong with my body"?

"You're kidding right? Don't you know what happened? With the ponies and the queen"?

"I am fully aware of what happened, yes".

"But... you'd rather remain like that"?

"Is there an issue with that"? I snarled, being sure to show my anger as I shoved my own face closer to his, bearing my fangs. It made the converted drone take a step back. That seemed to be a mistake on my part as he became a little more serious.

"I don't want to start a fight. Look, maybe you'd better come with me. We can discuss this with king Thorax. Maybe he can help you understand what you're missing out on. You could be free like the rest of us".

I barely supressed a snarl! King Thorax? This ungrateful drone would so easily forget the queen who commanded him since his birth?! If I wasn't so tempted to escape I would have actually agreed just to have a shot at dealing with him. However with the pony princesses I would be put down before I could even touch him.

"I would rather not"!

"Why? Don't you want to meet our saviour? Whatever you're feeling, I'm sure he would be happy to"-

And thus, my restraint broke and I unleashed my anger.

"Saviour? SAVIOUR?! That traitor has almost destroyed the entire changeling race and transformed them into abominations! Our queen is gone and yet you smile and cheer! How can you not see our hive is lost and destroyed! There is nothing for us here anymore! NOTHING"!

I had no reason to allow him to take me to the last place I wanted to be and once more headed towards the exit. I had hoped that if I had left it there, in a mostly peaceful manner, this fool wouldn't alert the hive mind. However luck was not in my favor. The idiotic drone decided it to be wise to 'forcefully help' and before I realised it I was floating in the air with an orange magical aura surrounding me.

"What are you"-

"Sorry sir but you need help. We're going to king Thorax right now".

I don't recognise the changeling this converted was but I hope for his sake now that he's more than just an ordinary drone! One thing it is unwise to do...

You do not, under any circumstance mess with a swarm leader...

My own magic easily overpowered his own as I immediatley destroyed the magical grip this fool had on me. He turned to see only the beast he had toyed with, still blind to my reason to struggle.

"Wait! Just let us he"-

With another, more concentrated magical blast from my horn, the drone shot backwards into the wall behind him before falling unconcious. Now there was no turning back. What's done is done. I bolted for the exit, unsure if the drone had already warned the others.

I made it into the tunnel and flew the twisted path that followed. In a matter of seconds I had made it to what seemed like a dead end. But I knew better. With what strength I had I pushed the ceiling until the sound of stones scraping against each other could be heard. It only took a few pushes more before I was able to successfully create a wide enough gap for me to squeeze through.

Once I moved the cover stone back into its original place I headed in the direction opposite to the hive. My wings buzzing loudly as I travelled further and further away until the hive... my once proud home was nothing more than a tiny black dot before becoming nothing altogether.
Not once during the journey from the hive did I see another figure flying away, further confirming my fears that I am truly alone. Other than Chrysalis I may possibly be the last of my kind. And even for a warrior of my rank, it scares me.

May fortune smile on me through this difficult time. For no-ling else will...

Author's Note:

Hello there.

First things first, thanks for checking the story out. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

As you've probably figured out, I've already watched the season finale, and that I'm a fan of the changelings. So I decided to go ahead and make an OC changeling of my own and open up with a simple introduction story. And the end episode of season 6 seemed like the best way to introduce him as a regular changeling. As cool and flashy as the new changelings are, I prefer the original look, hence the creation of this story.

So, once again thanks for reading, hope you were entertained by it, and I hope you'll read more in the future. Cheerio!

Comments

[Clicker]

Very good, I expect a sequel from that ending.

[DR-Fluffy]

It was good, but it needs more. I would love to see this changeling meet up with Chrysalis and take back the hive.

[silvadel]

Thumbs Up. I agree it could use a sequel if you want to go longform with it. I haven't seen any fics really with this point of view although I have expressed it on message boards.

"Hey, they are race traitors, no longer changelings by any sense of the word. They probably can't even shapeshift anymore."

[Obsidian Quill]

I love the idea, and for a short one shot its good, though i feel you can do more with it. On the one hand you can have this Swarm Leader join with Chrysalis or you can have him evolve in the other direction. Like say a changeling that learns to eat and grow not with love, but with hate. But that's just an idea, either good job and hope to see more.

[Razzy]

While in of the opinion that only the changelings in the throne room changed and there are many more in the hive and put off it, on missions, replacing others, this was pretty nice and kinda mirrors my opinion of the change.

They are no longer changelings, they're yet another race of cutesy pastel ponies, but with chitin. They probably can't even shapeshift anymore. And they have no sense of loyalty, they literally sold out their mother for some food without a moment's hesitation.

I like to think that they're also doomed, since the flashback from the Thorax episode suggests that Chryssie gave birth to all of them, Thorax is a male and all the voiced drones are males, and they just ran out the only female in the hive, their queen. Whoops.

Wanna read more!

[Wroth]

7635550

[PonyDragon]

Interesting concept.
After watching the episode I had wondered if something like that had happened.
Also, there are probably other changelings still out there. Patrols, small outposts and something like that. At the very least those who replaced the captured ponies seen in the throne room.

[jrc5639]

I just started posted a story about a changeling that could not transform, but wanted to.
So I find it funny that the first story I read on this group was about a changeling that could transform, but did not want to.

You should continue this.

[Dragonborne Fox]

A constant error I noticed was ending punctuation being outside of quotation marks whenever a character dialogues. Might wanna fix that.