A Changing Perspective

by Dragrace

Chapter 10 - Opinions Matter

Ten years. It had been ten years that he had been preparing for his new position. Ten years of some of the most extreme testing for a changeling. All of the hard work gone to waste when the Queen found of an undercover agent in Ponyville. She couldn't expect one single changeling to feed the entire Hive! Wings was one of the most agile changelings in the entire Hive, he had surpassed many of the royal guards in their combat abilities and speed. Furious with being assigned to take care of a weak, young changeling, he considered exploiting him in order to take him out of his position and return to his training. Wings never expected to get a position as a guard, but more of a scout, scanning the areas for any potential food sources. The more he thought about his career back home, the more he wanted to simply leave Jack and the other changeling, 'Domina' as he called her. Where in the Queen's name did 'Jack' come up with these sorts of names? Had he really been around ponies for so long he could create names? Changelings never had names - names were a weakness, something that took longer than a point and a simple "You there" to get one's attention. Names also involved memorization, something changelings weren't necessarily good at. All that Wings could think of was revenge on Jack, something to get Jack out of the picture, without jeopardizing his potential future. Of course that would only occur should he make it back to the Hive. He couldn't think of a single safe way of doing so, more than likely he would reveal himself, especially since oral communication wasn't his strongest feat. Slumping down against a tree just outside the hospital their subject had been admitted to; Wings stared blankly at his 'partner' expecting some sort of action.

>---<

Biggs didn't mind the assignment, anything that the Queen herself demanded must be done for the sake of the Hive. Food was scarce, most of the nearby area outside the Hive had very little life remaining, most of which was too small to feed even a freshly hatched changeling. The strange thing about this new area was the amount of life. Last time he had seen so much life, he had been assigned to assault a heavily populated city while the Queen destroyed the city from the inside out. He didn't quite remember how things had turned out afterwards; he just remembered waking up in a completely unfamiliar forest still full of life. The forest didn't have life for long, the changelings scattered across the many trees quickly sapped the area of life. Something was strange about the changeling he had been assigned to guard, he never seemed to require energy. The amounts of emotions from everypony around him were so... strong. But the 'Jack' changeling never seemed to feed, only eating solid objects. Biggs remembered eating solid objects before, this allowed them to produce bile, but somehow Jack seemed to be gaining the energy required to live from the solids and liquids. Never, in his entire life, had he ever heard of such a changeling, especially since he never saw Jack expelling the bile. With the strong emotions thrown just about everywhere in the new city, Biggs couldn't help but snag a little food here or there. The few solid foods he had eaten were completely different than anywhere else; they had a strange taste to them, almost as if it was bombarding his taste buds with... Kindness, for a lack of a better word. Standing a few feet away from the light purple changeling, Biggs blinked and then nodded his head towards his rear, encouraging his ally to get moving.

>---<

'Where does HE want me to go?' Wings thought.

This mission had been a complete disaster, how in the world would any other changelings be able to collect food with so much talking to deal with? Changelings knew their voices were much different than those of ponies; it was almost like the ponies could use different pronunciations to convey certain messages. It was strange being the one to talk most, compared to Domina. Should he learn how to change his voice and speak like the normal ponies, he would be able to achieve so much more in the name of the Queen, and ensure his position. For example, those 'parties' that Wings had visited would be top priority for the Queen, they were booming with all kinds of emotions. Most of the emotions were quite tasty to feast upon, such as happiness, excitement, and most importantly, Love. Love was the most powerful of all emotions, and it was the rarest of all emotions. True love would feed at least four changelings for their entire lifespan alone. Of course Wings had stolen a few of the feelings during the party, but none of the other ponies seemed to react. It was the most emotions Wings had ever sensed before, overwhelming him with the massive boost of energy that allowed him to stay awake the entire night.

But last night... Oh Wings didn't even want to think about it. He knew that something terrible would befall the three changelings eventually, but he wasn't sure when. The problem had been taken care of, only temporarily. Once the town noticed something was wrong, everypony would be on high alert, searching everywhere for the ones responsible. For now, he only hoped he would get a chance to give a full report to the Queen. Looking back up from his red tail, Wings found Biggs to be nowhere in sight, and the sun was beginning to set beyond the horizon.

>---<

Biggs assumed that Wings was following him. Both he and Wings had never separated since being assigned as watch over the new changeling. It was odd, that a new changeling had suddenly popped up around the Hive, but the short backstory the queen had given about ‘finding a new food source’ had explained some of his doubts. Still, changelings rarely made it to the new changeling’s age, and without being seen by another changeling before generated too many doubts for Biggs to handle. His head was pounding; he had never experienced such a feeling before without being in a brawl with a group of at least four other changelings. It felt although another changeling had pounded him in the back of the head! The more he doubted the mission, the more his head throbbed. It was wrong to go against the Queen, but the Queen had given so little information that he had actually doubted her for once. He always was the most obedient and one of the largest for his age, making him a dangerous foe for many of the other changelings. Quite often, the other changelings doubted his intentions, but he had always obeyed the Queen without question, until now.

‘The mission must continue’ Biggs thought, trying to expel the pain from his mind.

Pressing further on, Biggs noticed that he was alone, and the moon was beginning its cycle in the sky. Wings had not followed him, and it was strange being completely alone in the dark. Quite often changelings would mass together in groups and prepare for an assault on any nearby life forms at this time of day (or night), but ever since he had received his mission… Things changed. He felt these strange… feelings, like a tingling sensation inside his mind, or a fuzzy feeling at the front of his face, as if some sort of small critter was pressed up against his face. Was this what it felt like to expel emotions of his own? Biggs lie down on the small park bench, confused and alone, continuing to question what had really happened at the ‘party’. Without noticing it, he had passed through almost the entire town and returned to the park which they had visited on their first day, where they had watched the races, no, enjoyed the races. Enjoying, liking, these words were so… strange to him. Lying down on the bench, Biggs stared up into the sky, wondering what had happened in the Hive since he had left.

Comments

[theRedBrony]

1253943 personally I dont use proofreaders, but thats just cuz im so ocd

[DoktorK3]

Okay, now this is getting interesting.

[omega-ze-wargod]

this is gittin good .... them changlings are experiencing ... feeeeelings

[More Dakka]

Wait changelings have shit memories, to the point where names are considered problematic? … How the hell have this lot not been claimed by Charles Darwin? You know the old saying liars need good memories.

[Tome Turner]

Cute feels
Dawwwwww...