A Meeting With A Changeling King

by origami

About the King and his Kingdom

The meeting between Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the changeling king named Apidae had officially begun. There would be many topics discussed, but the princesses had one issue that they wanted to address first.

"King Apidae," Celestia addresses the changeling, "there are some things we would like to know."

"Of course" the king replies. "What is it you wish to know?"

Celestia and Luna look to each other before Luna offers the question.

"We know so very little about yourself and changelings as a whole. I believe we would both appreciate it if we could ask you some questions."

"Okay" the king responds. "What question would you like me to answer first?"

"Could you tell us about yourself and your hive?" Celestia asks him.

The king thinks to himself for a moment before he nods his head in agreement. "Of course, but may I please have another cup of this wonderful tea?"

Celestia nods and uses her magic to levitate the teapot over to the king's cup and pours him another drink. Once the cup is filled properly, the king takes a honey pot into his own magic and proceeds to add some to his tea before stirring it with a spoon and taking a drink.

"Thank you" he says to Celestia, who offers a nod. The king takes another sip and then places the cup down. Clearing his throat, he begins to tell the story of himself and how his hive came to be.

"In regards to your question about our hive, I can't tell you exactly how it began. This isn't because it's some secret I wish to keep from you. Rather, it's because we only started keeping documented records some two thousand years ago, and our hive has existed for far longer than that. I dare say we may have existed even before the time of the unification."

Celestia and Luna nodded in understanding. The time of unification was before even they ascended to their positions now. Even the ponies at the time only kept rudimentary records of events that transpired, and most of that was done by the unicorns, whose opinions at the time tainted the records with bias and presented scenarios that removed fault from themselves and projected it onto the pegasi and earth ponies.

"As for myself, I was born a couple of centuries ago. I had a relatively normal nymphhood compared to most changelings. I attended school to read and write, and I received training on how to infiltrate pony societies and how to manipulate emotions so as to improve my ability to harvest love to provide for the hive."

The comment made Celestia and Luna tense. King Apidae picked up on this and offered his apologies.

"I beg your pardon. It has become so normal and ingrained in our society that I tend to forget how it makes other creatures feel. It certainly wasn't something the dragons wanted to hear when we first had contact."

That statement caught Celestia's attention. "The dragons know of you?"

Apidae nods. "It happened a short time after I ascended to the throne. About a decade, I believe. There were some dragons that had heard of a 'glowing treasure in the mouth of a cave', which was actually one of the entrances to our hive."

"When they approached the entrance, my guards adopted forms similar to theirs and made an attempt to persuade them to leave. This failed, and the guards decided to try and incapacitate and capture the dragons. A fight quickly broke out between the guards and the dragons, and the dragons were quick to deal with the guards."

"I was told of how swiftly the dragons had beaten my guards and was ready to take on the dragons, but as I was told of how the battle transpired, I quickly realized that even I would have no chance against them. So, I elected to try a controversial tactic among changelings: I attempted to negotiate a peace."

"An attempt at peace?" Celestia responds. "You attempted to make peace with the dragons."

"I did" Apidae responds. "The dragons weren't out for a fight; my guard's actions prompted that. All they wanted was treasure for their hordes, so that's what I would offer them."

"Having had some considerable coffers from the infiltrations of my subjects over the years both before and during my reign, I made a deal with the dragons. If they allowed our hive to stay and did not attack it again, I would pay them a sum of the treasury to split among themselves. Needless to say, they were quick to agree."

"That event is what actually inspired the idea of a peaceful coexistence in the first place. If I could make peace with the dragons, why couldn't I do it with other creatures?"

"So, I mulled over the idea for some time, weighing pros and cons, and eventually concluded that it would be in the best interests of all my subjects. It was not going to be easy, but I knew with a careful enough plan, I could make it work."

"The first thing I needed was a way to gather more information about the various societies in Equestria and the world at large. I wanted the information collected in a fashion different from book learning; it's one thing to study things like etiquette or manners from a book, but another to understand the current affairs concerning the territory and influencing their mindsets in regards to things such as peace offerings. So, I needed my subjects that provided this information to be fully immersed in these societies as actual members of them and not just some temporary visitor under a false guise. So, from that point forward, I told my subjects that if there were interests that they had and wished to explore, they were free to do so."

"So you sent your subjects out into the world to live their own lives, and only asked them to report back on the current events of the world" Celestia summarized. Apidae nodded.

"And what did your subjects do with this new freedom that was granted them?" Luna asked with curiosity.

The king sips his tea before answering.

"It honestly took some time before any of my subjects were bold enough to take the metaphorical plunge. At the time, Queen Vespa, my predecessor, thought it was a fool's errand and that the drones would continue on infiltrating societies and stealing love to feed the hive. That all changed when Admirabilis returned from Equestria."

"He had been taught to read and write Equestrian so he could go on an infiltration mission. However, with my decision to allow my subjects to choose how they wanted to live their lives, he elected to visit the city of Manehattan. While there, he became so enamored with books and reading, he took a job as a librarian. Eventually, he liked the novels he was reading so much, he elected to write some of his own and get them published. I believe the name Sorrel King may mean something to you?"

Celestia and Luna both go wide eyed. "You mean to tell us that the author of the most influential horror works of the modern era was a changeling spy?" Celestia asks in disbelief.

"I wouldn't use the word 'spy'" King Apidae says with nervousness. "Admirabilis came here to Equestria to fulfill his desire to see a real city. While he did provide our hive with a great deal of information, none of it was the sort that you wouldn't want enemies learning about."

Celestia grimaced at that idea. Equestria did have a few state secrets, but they were state secrets for a reason. She would have to make mention to a guard later about getting the mages to improve the wards protecting the restricted areas of the palace.

"You said before in your film that you were raised with as normal a life as the average nymph in your hive" Luna points out. "Were you born as royalty or were you chosen to succeed the previous ruler?"

"I was chosen by the haze ritual" Apidae responds.

"You were hazed to become the king of your hive?" Luna says in confusion.

"No, nothing of that sort" Apidae replies. "When changeling royals pick a new leader, there's a... unorthodox procedure to do so."

"Unorthodox?" Celestia questions.

"Yes" the king confirms. "We call it the haze ritual. The ruler enters a chamber filled with incense. These incenses are made from plants known to have chemicals in them that cause hallucinations. The ruler stays in this chamber until they have a vision of who the next changeling to lead the hive is."

Both royal sisters look at each other with worry. "No offense to your culture," Luna begins, "but that seems rather inefficient. One would think an order of succession would be established."

"At one point in time, there was," the king admits, "but there came a time when the royal succession gave rise to a tyrannical queen who was quite insane. She had attempted to usurp Discord before you imprisoned him in stone."

"Interesting" Celestia muses. "So your hive's succession ended with this insane queen's rule?"

Apidae nods. "It is an extremely rare event that drones in a changeling hive deem their ruler to be ineffective to rule and oust them in favor of another. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the queen lost to Discord and vanished immediately after, so an ousting wasn't necessary."

The interested Celestia and Luna greatly. "Do your kind have any idea what happened to this queen?"

"No" the king answers. "It's presumed that, as a punishment for her actions, Discord cast her into his own chaotic realm where her mind would be repeatedly broken again and again. As long ago as that was, the queen would likely be extremely old or, more likely, would have perished some time ago."

Celestia and Luna shivered just a little bit at the thought of a creature existing in Discord's chaotic dimension. The group sipped at their tea in silence for a moment before the moon princess decided to ask the next question.

"You say that your subjects have been sent on 'infiltration missions'. Have any of these involved the foalnapping and imprisonment of our subjects?"

The question was pointed, but a fair one in the scheme of things. Apidae looked a fair bit guilty, but he didn't deflect the question.

"In the past, they did" he admits. "Often times, the 'strategy' was to replace a loved one after intense study so that nothing would be amiss. However, we learned over time that ponies that share a strong enough bond end up developing a 'sixth sense' that tells them that something is off about their loved one, even if everything they've shown them so far is exactly the same as it has always been. After some time, we decided that this was because they could detect our kind's parasitic nature."

"I can tell you in total honesty that my hive discarded that practice a long time ago."

"And when was this 'long time ago'?" Luna asks, a bit of an edge to her voice.

Apidae is hesitant, but does answer the question. "Shortly after I came to the decision to try a more peaceful means of existence, about 150 or so years ago."

Celestia and Luna both look rather perturbed by the admission. "So you are admitting to us that you have authorized the abduction of our citizens?"

The king looks down at the cup and saucer before him for a moment, before looking back at them. "It is not something I am proud of, and I am willing to provide whatever recompense you demand of me. I understand that I have wronged you and your subjects, and for that, I am sorry."

Celestia and Luna look at each other for a few moments before Celestia lets out a sigh. "You have approached us desiring peace and have been cooperative in our requests. Like you have said before, there are things about your kind that we will find 'uncomfortable' for some amount of time. In the interests of moving forward with this meeting, we will revisit this topic at a later time. Are we in agreement, sister?"

Luna nods. "Yes. We will decide later what appropriate compensation will be."

Apidae gives a somber nod. "Very well. Now, what else would you like to know?"

"Do you know of how changelings came to be?" Celestia asks.

The king thinks on this for a moment before answering. "Unfortunately, I don't know exactly how we came to be. In truth, no changeling knows. In fact, every changeling hive has a different myth as to the origin of our kind."

"Very interesting" Luna comments. "Would you mind sharing some of them?"

"I don't know all of them fully," the king admits, "but I know of a few."

"One hive tells of our origin as being born from a single queen. She was a very loving creature, exuding the emotion the same as any non-changeling creature can. One day, she met the love of her life, but the stallion that captured her heart chose to break it. She then sought revenge against him and turned to dark magic, suffering a horrible fate wherein she was transformed into what changelings have become today."

"Another suggests that we originated from some kind of dark magic experiment that was meant to fuse an insect with a pony, which is meant to explain our equine traits."

"The hive of Chrysalis suggests that we were born from a evil plant grown from a rotten acorn that fell into a cursed pool near a cemetery. According to the myth, your mage Starswirl the Bearded came across the lake and proceeded to affix a sign to the plant that warned ponies and other creatures not to come near the pool. The changelings are said to have crawled out from the cracks created by the nails that held up the sign."

Celestia and Luna both grimace at the mention of Chrysalis, but find the stories about the origins of changelings rather interesting.

"What about the legend of your own hive?" Celestia asks.

The king smiles as he finishes his tea. "One I know quite well. We call it 'The Lovers and The Witch'."

"A long time ago, there were two ponies. One was a unicorn mare and the other was a pegasus stallion."

"The couple loved each other dearly and married. After their wedding, a war broke out, and the pegasus volunteered to fight. He became a hero, and eventually was declared the rightful king of the land he and his mate lived in."

"The pegasus and unicorn were fair and just rulers, and their kingdom prospered into the greatest known at the time."

"One day, an old mare approached them. She was a witch, and sought to find a position with the king and queen so she could obtain incredible power and wealth for herself."

"The king and queen saw through her guise and did not appoint her to their court. The witch was outraged, and swore that she would have revenge. The king ordered her taken to the dungeons and held prisoner until he could decide how to deal with her."

"The imprisoned witch had decided that she would enact revenge. In her cell, she conjured a curse to place upon the king and queen. When she next saw them, she ignited her horn in a sickly green glow and cast her curse."

"Immediately, the love the couple had for each other and their subjects was gone, sucked out by the witch and used to fuel the dark magic she was weaving. Green fire surrounded the couple, and when it settled, they were forever transformed."

"Their new forms were based on their individual passions. The king studied insects as a hobby and had an extensive collection of different species from across the world. The queen was a gifted actress and capable of stepping into any role that you could think of."

"The new bodies had many insect-like traits, from gossamer wings, to compound eyes, to chitin-like skin. They also bore fangs in a reflection of their new predatory nature, and their magic would allow them to transform their bodies into any creature that they saw fit to transform into."

"When the curse was finished, it then left its mark. From the legs of the king and queen sprouted large holes, some so big that a foal could stick their own hoof the whole way through."

"The witch cackled maniacally and told the king and queen that they would be forever cursed, as would their progeny. They would be nothing but a parasite to ponies and would need to feed on the love inside the their subjects. Their actions would cause them to be cast out and shunned, and when that happened, they would have to find a new home, far away from ponies or any other creatures, yet close enough that they could prey upon them. With a flash of magic and a cackle of laughter, she vanished and left the king and queen to their fates."

Celestia and Luna looked quite shocked to learn of this story, with Luna in particular appearing rather mortified. "Does your legend not mention the names of this king and queen?"

The king shook his head. "No, it does not" he replied. "All that is known is that sometime shortly thereafter, the king and queen were consumed by the need to satisfy their hunger and began to feed upon their subjects. Their subjects, who had once showered them with love and adoration, shunned them and cast them out of their kingdom."

"They eventually found a place in a fertile valley to make the first changeling hive. From there, they had daughters and sons, and the first hives were born from those children, and all of them born with the ravenous hunger for love that plagues changeling kind to this day."

"A tragic story" Celestia laments. "If this is the true origin of the changelings, then perhaps our mages could perform the necessary research to help your kind overcome this curse."

"Perhaps," the king muses, "but as with all the legends surrounding our creation, we can't be certain which one is correct. I would hate to waste any effort your subjects could provide in that matter."

"Any effort put towards an actual solution to this problem would not be wasted" Luna counters.

"True," Apidae agrees, "but I would still hate all the effort to be for nothing."

Celestia and Luna both take sips from their tea. After refilling their cups, Luna decides to ask the next question.

"You said that the last queen before you retired due to her health" the lunar princess begins. "What can you tell us about her?"

Apidae takes a sip from his cup and sets it back down. "Ah yes, Queen Vespa. She was a strong queen. None in the hive dared to oppose her. For five hundred years she held her crown, but her body was not quite as strong as her will."

"It was about five or so years before I was named her successor that she began to exhibit some unusual symptoms. Very fatigued, sore joints, constant shortness of breath and tremors in the wing muscles; it looked like she was always preparing to take off and on a few occasions, she actually lifted off from the ground against her own will."

"Our medical drones at the time had no term for it, but described it as an inability to properly process magic in the body. It isn't life threatening, fortunately, but there's no real way to fix the problem. However, eliminating stressors is the best course of action, so after an episode where the queen nearly flew straight up into the sun, she called for the succession chamber to be prepared, and I was the one named during her session within it."

"What does your queen think of your plan for peace?" Celestia asks.

"Admittedly, she was against it initially; she thought similarly to how almost all changelings do in regards to other creatures. After I asked her to reflect on it, she eventually came around to the idea."

"I suppose I have the incident with the dragons to thank for that. Had it not happened and demonstrated the potential for a peaceful coexistence to work, she likely would have called for my usurpation."

"Would that be possible?" Luna asks.

"Most definitely" the king responds. "Remember how I said that the law of the hive is most often the will of the drones in the hive? Well, they choose who to follow and who not to. If she had went ahead and moved to have me ousted, she would only need the support of about sixty percent of all the drones to do so."

"What finally convinced her to come around to the idea of mutual coexistence?" Celestia asks.

"For the most part, a lot of contemplative thought" Apidae replies. "Once I had shown her some of the evidence that I had collected over the years, it was hard for her to deny that cooperation worked far better than trying to conquer or enslave. She may not have always had the warmest of feelings as a queen, but she was always a pragmatist. Once I got her past herself, it wasn't hard to convince her of most of my decision."

"Most of your decision?" Luna questions.

"As I said earlier," Apidae begins explaining, "there are laws that govern all changeling hives. One of those is called 'The Masquerade Protocol'. It basically means that whenever we interact with other species, our true identity must always be concealed. Secrecy is paramount to the actions of changeling hives. Actions that I don't believe I need to elaborate on."

The two sisters contemplate what they've been told. They have heard a great deal about the changeling's supposed origins, but only know a little about the actual king. This, combined with memories of watching the first film reel, leads Celestia to ask a more personal question.

"Please, tell us about Hera."

The king looks up from his cup of tea. "Of course" he responds as he sets his cup down. "She was a drone that I was infatuated with some years ago, as she was with me. We had a connection that few share, even among your subjects. It was a kinship unlike any other I've had before, and may never experience again."

"She was one of the first drones to study abroad, attending schooling for jewelry making under the guise of a mare named Silver Bracer. She quickly gained her degree and came back to the hive with a goal to educate other changelings that wanted to become jewelers. My crown was actually her final project, which she earned top marks on."

As the king tells the last part of the story, his hoof reaches up to rub the ornate crown atop his head. Both Celestia and Luna notice a smile upon his face. It's the same kind of warm, yet bittersweet smile ponies often have when thinking about loved ones that have passed on.

"If you don't mind our asking," Luna interjects, "what happened to Hera?"

The king removes his hoof from his crown and takes a breath. "Her profession involved working with some dangerous materials from time to time. After some time, I took notice to strange spots on her chitin, and after some prodding, she eventually agreed to be checked by our medical drones. When they finished, they greeted me with very somber news. Hera had anthrax."

Celestia and Luna both gasped. At one point in Equestria's history, anthrax was a very serious disease. Had it not been for the efforts of a medical pony named Yellow Silk, the disease would've harmed far more ponies than it already had.

"By the time she was diagnosed," Apidae continues, "it was already too late. Because of how little was known about the disease affecting our kind, Hera volunteered to be monitored. She believed that her death should not be for nothing, and spent the rest of her life in our medical sub hive."

"I visited her every day, and she was happy to see me, but it pained me to see her suffering as she did. I had the thought to take her as a queen and ascend her to royalty, but the doctors told me that the bacteria that cause anthrax could affect me just the same as it affected Hera, so I would not be doing anything that would actually save her."

"Though I didn't actually ascend her, I still consider Hera to be my queen, and I made it official only a day or so before her death. It was the last kind gesture I did for her, besides being beside her in her final moments."

At that last remark, Apidae bows his head. Celestia and Luna stay silent for a few moments out of respect. They may never have met Hera, but they could tell that she had a profound effect on the king.

"We're sorry to make you revisit such unpleasant memories" Celestia offers.

Apidae raises his head and waves a hoof at her. "It's quite alright" he responds. "I've shed more than enough tears for her, and she wouldn't want me moping around when I could be doing something positive."

"Did she know of your plans to seek out peace?" Luna asks.

"She did," Apidae answers, "and she agreed with them. Her time spent studying had shown her what we could become with cooperation. In fact, she had thought once about revealing herself to some classmates she shared a close bond with, but I talked her out of it. I may have been planning to seek out ponies to establish peace and reveal my kind to the world, but I certainly did not wish to see her punished for embracing my ideas before I was ready to act on them."

"Speaking of your ideas," Celestia interjects, "I must wonder what will happen should we move forward with this. From what I understand, there will be opposition from other changeling hives to your revealing of your kind and seeking out peace. What I would like to know, are there any other changeling hives that might agree with your viewpoint and agree to peace if we offer it?"

Apidae thinks for a moment before he gives an answer. "I can't see every single hive being on board with my decision to reveal ourselves to the world, at least initially. However, there is one that I am fairly certain will be at the very least open to the idea."

"And this would be?" Luna prods.

"The hive of Queen Carnation" Apidae answers. "I must ask you not to make me reveal her hive's location. Besides possibly putting ponies in danger-"

"Putting ponies in danger?!" Celestia says with alarm.

"If I tell you where her hive is and you seek her out, she may choose to take and hold hostages for fear of an attack" Apidea explains. "As I was saying, besides the danger she may inflict on your subjects, it is also against our laws to reveal the location of another hive to non-changelings, and since that law hasn't been broken previously, I do not intend on breaking that one yet."

"Then how would you propose approaching her without putting our subjects in harm's way?" Celestia asks.

"The best solution would be to address her by name in a newspaper" Apidae suggests. "It's likely to catch the eye of one of her infiltrators and will get back to her sooner instead of later. I wouldn't just recommend calling her out in some kind of announcement; she would likely think you are aware of her hive's location and, as I said before, would take steps to defend it."

Celestia gives what King Apidae has told her some thought and agrees. Her goal is to establish peace, not cause a panic or create a hostile situation. While she was unsure of his idea, she could definitely see his point about approaching the situation with a healthy amount of tact.

"What makes you certain this Queen Carnation would be the best chance at Equestria making peace with another hive?" Luna asks.

The king finishes his tea and places his cup back down. "Carnation shares a similar viewpoint to mine. She sees you all as more than just a way for us to sustain ourselves. To that end, as long as the hive is never revealed, she allows her changelings to interact with ponies however they deem fit to do so. Of course, she demands that her subjects remain loyal to her and answer her when called upon."

"What do you mean by 'answer her call'?" Celestia asks.

"If you are ordered to return to the hive, then you must return, no questions asked" Apidae responds.

"That is our biggest difference. I respect the drones of my hive enough to understand that they have crafted lives for themselves and that my calling upon them for something trivial creates an unnecessary burden on them. Queen Carnation believes, as the other hive leaders do, that drones serve the hive first and foremost."

"And if that service means abducting a pony in their life that they've developed feelings for?" Luna suggests rather pointedly.

"Then that drone would have to obey that order, as much as it would pain them. However, if only in more recent times that I chose to, Queen Carnation has discontinued with abducting ponies to farm love from as well."

"I have stated that I am open to the discussion of compensatory acts as a means of making amends for mistakes made in the past by my hive, but I advise caution if you decide to approach that subject with Queen Carnation, should you succeed in making contact with her. I should think that she would try and justify her actions as necessary for her subject's survival."

Celestia and Luna consider this and agree. The whole point of these conversations was to try and establish a peace between Equestria and an adversary. Making a demand for compensation with one that was unwilling would easily derail any future talks to broker that peace.

Before any further questions can be asked, the drone known as Dionices taps Apidae on his side. The king leans his head down and she whispers into his ear. Hearing what she has to say, Apidae nuzzles with her and smiles. "Yes, I do believe that will be very helpful in these matters."

The interaction piques the interest of the royal sisters. "May we be privy to your conversation?" Celestia asks.

King Apidae smiles and nods. "Yes, you may" he answers. "Dionices has just proposed an excellent idea in regards to our previous discussion of compensating your kingdom for the wrongs committed in the past."

Luna raises an eyebrow. "And what would this 'excellent idea' be?"

The king grasps the tea pot in his magic and pours himself another cup. "She has brought to my attention that fact that you have several ponies in a nearby hospital that were drained completely of love and have been left in a very weak and apathetic state" the king points out.

"How would you like it if we showed you exactly how to heal them?"

Author's Note:

And so, the lore dump is complete

I elected to add a good bit to this story, so I'll point out some interesting bits.

The changeling legend of the broken hearted queen was taken from the story The Advent of Applejack by Mister Friendly.

I also make my first linking of two stories together as Queen Carnation in this story is the same Queen Carnation mentioned in my Earth Day story Planting

And, of course, Sorrel King is inspired by Stephen King.

As for the lore, it took me a bit to decide how I wanted to flesh everything out. The haze ritual is obviously a reference to the oracles in Greek history and legend. They would have young virginal women do a lot of hallucinogens and interpret their mind trips as being able to see the future.

I don't think that I'm going to make the next chapter quite as long, but I can promise we will start hearing more from the king's entourage in the future, starting with Dionices.

7/15/22 - I cleaned up some stuff that I saw was wrong while rereading and some mistakes pointed out by swarm chaser

Comments

[Starlight Glimmer1]

Why do I get the feeling that Celestia has met the insane queen?

At the time, Queen Vespa, my successor

I believe the word you were looking for is predecessor not successor.

[origami]

11295025
Good catch

[swarm chaser]

I attempt to negotiate a peace.

attempted

Do you know of how changeling came to be?

changelings

As for their hive's legend, i've seen other fics speculate that the love of a nation would be able to give a changeling enough power to rival celestia.
So unless they were bad leaders it would seem the general love and admiration should have prevented that from ever being an issue.

On that note I have read at least one fic where celestia was a changeling swapped in for celestia at celestia's request and the queen was able to move the sun and moon using the love freely given to her by the nation.