True Colors (Amf Version)

by amf studios

Prologue: love and war

Awe, the Changeling, a very unique creature. A prime example of the wonders of evolution, a creature that can be anything it wants, at any time. Another unique trait of these Equin-insects... is how dumb they are when it comes to their egos.

Probably the best example of this being true is the most recent queen of the changelings, Queen Chrysalis the 5th, aka the bug horse that invaded Canterlot, beat Celestia in a duel, then got flung halfway across the country by the one thing that made her overpowered. Yeah, that Chrysalis. But no, while this display of WTF will be relevant to our story, this is not where we begin, we begin at another one Chrysalis's most idiotic moves, that being, starting a war with their biggest trading partner. allow me to elaborate.

Ever since the friendship, yes, Friendship, of changeling king, King Centipede and griffon king, King Galahad, the two kingdoms had become the strongest of allies. Griffonstone and the Badlands Hive were great trading partners. The griffons would trade food and crops for a special metal called Changeling Steel, a metal only changelings knew how to produce that was extremely durable, yet very light and flexible. Thanks to this arrangement, The Changelings had a surplus of food, and Griffons had a surplus of Metal goods.

However, as time passed and the griffon's wealth began to deplete, they relied on their insectoid-allies more than ever. unfortunately, after a few generations into this great depression, the rulers of these kingdoms were not having much luck getting along, until it finally came to a head in the final summit of Queen Chrysalis and Grandpa(then King) Gruff.

"Queen Chrysalis, I'm afraid we can't offer anything to trade this year," the griffon leader sighed, "we've barely got enough food to last ourselves the year, we can't afford to trade you anything."

The recently crowned changeling queen was jaw-dropped, "WHAT!? You can't back out, WE HAD A DEAL!"

"Chrysalis, that deal was made when the griffons had food to spare, now we're on our last legs, we simply can't do it this year!" Gruff replied, he'd been in charge of his kingdom for roughly a decade and a half by now, he knew that he could reopen the trade as soon they had the resources, but they couldn't do it now.

"Hmph, I may have only been Queen for the last few years, but I know whenever our kingdoms made a deal both our previous ruler's kept their word! and Now you want to turn your back on your most powerful ally! Forshame, King Gruff!" Chrysalis yelled in the griffon's face.

"Chrysalis, I am not ending the trade, I am simply stating we can't do the trade this y-" "Who was there for you during the great blizzard that followed the ponies into Equestria!? Who has provided you with Changeling Steel year after year!? Who got that Hydra of your lawn last week!?" The younger monarch interrupted King Gruff.

"Chrysalis..." the griffon began.

"DON'T YOU 'CHRYSALIS' ME!" the queen put a hoof to his beak, "IF YOU REFUSE MY TRADE, YOU ARE NO LONGER MY ALLY!"

"Queen Chrysalis, don't do something you'll regret," Gruff said in a warning tone.

"CHRYSALIS REGRETS NOTHING!" the changeling walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She began walking out of Gruff's home, the 5 guards she brought with her following as she left. Just after leaving the building, she turned to her guards and said, "remember that trick I taught you, Captain?"

"Yes, your highness," the lead guard nodded.

"Do it here," Chrysalis said.

"Um, your majesty, are you sure that's a wise idea?" the captain asked with a look of worry.

"DO IT!" the queen commanded.

While no record was kept of what "It" was, roughly ten minutes later the majority of Griffonstone was on fire. the five guards just stared at the wreckage, jaws to the floor, while their queen just had a bored expression.

"Alright, let's go," Chrysalis turned and began walking away. The five guards stood there for another couple of seconds, then began walking away from the griffon kingdom very slowly, before turning around at full gallop to catch up with their leader.

After an eerily quiet fly home, Chrysalis entered the Changeling Hive, all of her subjects bowing to her as she passed. She paid no real attention to them, as she had much more pressing things on her mind. The queen reached the end of the hallway, and a wall opened up revealing a room on the other side. This room was vast and dark, only being lit by a few cyan lamp-like devices.

Chrysalis entered and began to hover over the floor, careful not to knock over one of the black, oval objects that littered the floor. from various parts of the room they were small noises, almost like crying. A changeling drone would rush to these areas soon after and the crying ceased.

"The eggs are hatching," The queen thought as she looked about the hatchery. Soon, every single one of these eggs would grow into a strong, independent changeling that would work to support their hive. Chrysalis always loved seeing the eggs hatch when she was young, watching the larva imprint on her mother in a moment of instant love, soon her own children would do the same.

But, this was not why she was here this night, for the cries she heard were of some of the early hatches, the majority of the eggs still had days, or even weeks left in their hatching processes. No, she was here for something far more important... Her heirs.

Every Changeling Monarch had to be sure to produce an Heir sometime within their reign, not just when their times as leader came to an end. While any changeling could take the role of king or queen if the need arises, it was the duty of the current monarch to have at least one Royal Changeling egg around at all times, that way should anything happen to the monarch, a replacement would be available.

For Chrysalis, something odd had occurred, the first four eggs she produced were Royal ones. She expected they'd hatch far before their common siblings, as they were the first. The four were tucked into a special chamber, watched by Chrysalis' most trusted Changeling, a mare known as Scorpia.

The Queen entered the chamber, which she had dubbed, "The Nursery," and was Met with said Changeling.

"your Majesty," Scorpia quietly bowed giving her queen a smile, "they've hatched!"

Chrysalis felt a tingle of joy as she heard those words, while all of her eggs were her children, the heirs were special. One of them would eventually take her place, she'd be teaching them everything about the world personally, she'd watch them grow, help them throughout their lives, they'd be the truest children she'd ever have.

Scorpia led her to a nest made of hardened green slime, inside slept four, adorable Changeling larva. Like all infant changelings, they were covered in fuzzy, white fur that swaddled them like a blanket, only their faces and front hooves were not obscured. Unlike the average larva, though, each one had already grown a bit of a mane which was poking out, each had a different color.

One Larva had a messy, deep blue mane which slightly curled at the end, she appeared to be cuddling with one of her sisters who had a white mane which was much straighter and slightly longer. A third was sleeping on her belly, this one with an aquamarine mane. Finally, the last had a dark purple mane and was sleeping on her side.

The Changeling queen was on the brink of tears of joy, carefully, she scooped up the blue maned one, cradling her with her front legs. Her daughter yawned a bit, drowsily opening her pupilless, Red-Violet eyes, later in life they'd develope pupils and irises like her mother's, but for now, they were just like her many siblings.

"m- Momma?" the little grub said in a squeaky voice.

"yes, my darling, go back to sleep," Chrysalis quietly said kissing her heir's forehead. The infant changeling yawned again and began to fall back into slumber within her mother's hooves.

"you still have to name them, you know," Scorpia whispered into her queen's ear.

"Thanks for reminding me," Chrysalis replied setting her child back into the nest, "hmm, for this blue one, I'm thinking-"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crashing walls, followed by the stench of smoke mixed with... feathers and cat spit. The Crashing sound continued causing the grubs to stur in their nest, beginning to open their little eyes as they whined.

"Stay with them," Chrysalis said to Scorpia, who nodded as the queen left the room. The Changeling Queen looked to the ceiling to see that something outside was trying to break into the Hatchery, the only thing keeping it at bay being the guards using their slime to patch the cracks, "What's going on?!"

"Your Majesty, we're under attack!" a guard said in panic.

"I figured that much, you idiot, WHOSE ATTACKING US?!" The queen demanded. As if to answer, the ceiling gave in as several griffons who looked like they had been burned earlier crashed through, "Oh... them."

"CHRYSALIS!" the voice of King Gruff rang through the air, the griffons parted to reveal their leader... who had apparently lost all his facial feathers in the fire, "You want a war? WE'LL GIVE YOU A WAR!"

The Griffons began to swoop down, their talons at the ready. The Changeling guard lifted their weapons, ready for a fight to the death, but instead of attacking them, the griffons flew over them. They began grabbing at the floor and swooping back up.

"Oh no," Chrysalis said as she realized what was within their attacker's grip.

"THEY'RE AFTER THE EGGS!" A guard called out. The griffons began to flight upward at least to the hight of the ceiling and drop the black eggs. Many panicked guards and drones flew to the rescue, grabbing as many eggs as they could, but unfortunately, some still hit the ground.

The sight of the her unborn offspring hitting the ground filled Chrysalis with terror, not for herself, but for her Heirs. At full speed, The queen ran back into the Nursery, telekinetically grabbing as many of the falling eggs as she could and setting them down gently.

"SCORPIA!" The Changeling queen yelled bursting into the room, the changeling in question was currently trying to calm four royal Changeling larva that had just been rudely awoken from their naps, "You need to get my daughters out of here!"

"What?" Scorpia questioned.

"The griffons are trying to wipe us out at the source, If they find my babies here..." She couldn't even bare the thought, "We are officially at war, and it's not safe for them, take them to Equestria, you can hide them among the ponies, I'll come for them as soon as it's safe."

"But my queen!" Scorpia tried to protest.

"That's an order!" Chrysalis yelled.

The drone was about to protest further, but instead nodded, "Yes your majesty." Using her slime, Scorpia created a cradle-like basket and hung it off her back, placing all four grubs inside. The wall opposite to the hatchery opened to reveal the night sky.

Chrysalis took one last look at her children, "Keep my babies safe."

"I will," Scorpia replied, her insectoid wings began to buzz as she took off through the hole, which closed upon her departure. Looking back, she saw the griffons had yet to notice her, which would have given her just enough time to duck into the cover of the Everfree Forest at the edge of the badlands, from there she'd be in the clear.

The drone charged her neon yellow aura around her horn, the aura engulfed the rest of her body as she began to increase in speed dramatically, breaking the sound barrier as a yellow explosion of light shot her directly into the Everfree. She could have swore one of the grubs was laughing as she sped through this part of the forest, staying just below the tree cover to stay out of sight, but not close enough to the ground to hit any of the various monsters the forest was home to, though her magic would have protected them anyway.

Somewhere along the line, she became too exhausted to continue moving at this speed. Her aura fading as she came to a stop. The drone checked the bag, all four grubs accounted for, the Blue and Aquamarine ones looked like they had just had the time of their lives, while the purple and white ones seemed more frazzled than anything.

Scorpia let out a sigh of relief, then began to observe her surroundings. She needed to find civilization, that way she could stash the hatchlings among the ponies until she could guarantee it was safe to return to the hive.

The first thing that caught her eye was an odd formation of clouds. Upon closer inspection, she deduced to was Cloudsdale, the ancestral home of the Pegasi. As good a place to start as any. The Drone went much of the way on hoof to catch her breath, then once she was directly below the sky-bound city she shifted her form to a pegasus.

She began to fly upward. Noticing how two of the grubs cheered and the others shivered, she figured the purple and white grubs would likely be better off on the ground.

Scorpia poked her head through the clouds, most of the city seemed asleep. She brought her body over the clouds and began to look into different houses, observing those inside. Finally, she found one who's residents were still awake. They seemed to be a young couple. The Stallion was a dark, pale purple with a short, multicolored mane, while his mate had light cyan skin and an orange and white mane.

They looked to be a pleasant couple and the drone could feel they had plenty of love to spare, so from the basket she pulled the Blue grub.

"you'll be staying here, little one," Scorpia said. Though it could not be seen, her horn lit up with yellow aura once again, as blue flames crept up the infant's body. When it faded, the larva was replaced with a foal that seemed to be a combination of the two ponies traits, yet her eyes, though pony-like, remained their deep violet color.

Scorpia wrapped the now disguised grub in clouds, then set her on the house's doorstep, knocking on the door before flying out of sight. Within minutes the Stallion opened the door, finding a foal that looked very much like him and his wife on his porch.

"well where'd you come from, cutie," He lifted her in his wing, then looked to both sides. finding no one, he returned to his home, taking the infant with him.

Scorpia sighed in relief, "now let's find somewhere for the rest of you."

Comments

[Shadic Midnight Blitzer]

Good!

[Changeling Alzura]

Hey this is a good start, interesting concept too.
also can you post a link to the original?

[amf studios]

10123230
Yes I can, though both I and the creator agree the original's strength is not its grammar.