Flight
It’s a simple plan. Divide them into groups and send them away, not in banishment…but in hope.
In hope? They don’t know what hope is! I don’t know what hope is! The technicalities are endless in number!
Enough, commander. I will not have this argument again. You are to stay with me, but before the others depart, I need you to assign leaders to--
This will only lead to more bad things than good! Our very species will only die off faster! I know that you know how the changelings came to live in the Everfree in the first place! You spoke of it to me personally!
And I…a-and I ordered you to never speak of it again! Do you hear me? Even you should know the price for defiance, commander. You, out of all my changelings, dare to disobey me? Do you beg for the most severe of punishments?
…no, my queen. Forgive me…
You make me feel like you hardly deserve it. Such a feeling sickens me. Now, rally the others and prepare to move out by sundown. The search parties will be less frequent then. You may go, commander. I must return to my son.
Yes, my queen. At once.
~~~~~
“You two appear to be getting along nicely,” said Chrysalis, bearing a short, reassuring smile as she re-entered the bedroom and found Roseluck laying on the ground in a rather uncomfortable-looking fetal position. Ditto however seemed to be having the time of his life, giggling uncontrollably as he sat on the mare’s back and batted at her rose-red mane.
Hearing his mother’s voice, Ditto turned towards the source and sped into the queen’s awaiting hooves.
“He’s…sweet, I guess,” said Roseluck as she nervously rose from the ground.
“He’s hungry as well,” Chrysalis added as Ditto rubbed his belly.
“Well, let’s get this over with…” Roseluck sighed, rolling her eyes as she hobbled up to the queen and bowed her head. In his mother’s hold, Ditto reached one hoof out to Roseluck to play with her mane some more. Chrysalis gently intercepted his hoof and pulled a length of her own mane around for him to play with while she began to transfer the life-giving love from the mare before her.
“So…what happened?” asked Roseluck, remaining calm as her heart was being tugged for its love.
“What do you mean?”
“You said you were meeting with the commander about something. What was it?”
“Oh…right.”
The transfer ended quickly, leaving only a few small morsels of love behind. Ditto was almost bouncing in his seat as the tip of his mother’s horn came down and graced his forehead, opening the valve to an overwhelming supply of tasty sensations. Chrysalis remained silent as she fed her child.
“Umm, Chrysalis?”
“I will tell you later, Roseluck.”
“But—“
“Later.”
The last scraps of his hearty dinner made Ditto feel like the happiest changeling in the world. His chest was slightly pudgy and his smile was as wide as a river. His tiny belly glowed a faint pink and appeared to be almost see-through. Chrysalis set her child on the ground and nudged him towards Roseluck. Ditto barely hesitated as he migrated from caretaker to cosseting cuisine, determined to do whatever he could to get the mare to like him more.
“I’m going to take a nap,” stated Chrysalis, turning away and walking towards her damp pit of a bed.
“The queen of the changelings takes naps?”
“I feel I will need at least one for the days ahead…do try to keep Ditto entertained, at least until he tires and falls asleep.”
The queen laid down in her coverless bed, curled into a ball, and fell asleep within seconds, releasing barely audible breaths that turned to mist as if they were struck by a sudden flash of cold.
Roseluck cautiously peered down at Ditto, who awaited the mare’s next move. Seeing a changeling act so harmless and so innocent felt completely out of place. It was as if Ditto wasn’t even a changeling at all; he was like a sheep in wolf’s clothing, a backwards version of the ages-old idiom. Though it felt uncomfortably bizarre, Roseluck did whatever she could to keep the infant occupied. Besides having him play with her mane, vines made great play ropes. Ditto would often become entangled within the mess of lengthy creepers, but still found amusement as he attempted to figure out how to untangle himself, giggling hoarsely as he kicked his hooves wildly in the air.
After what felt like an eternity, Ditto’s playtime was eventually over at long last. He let out a quiet, toothless yawn, tuckered out from playing for so long. His eyelids were heavy and his face was sagged with drowsiness. His older playmate carefully carried him to his crib and gently put him to bed. At the same time, Chrysalis awoke from her nap and acknowledged her presence with a slurred yawn.
“How long was I asleep?” asked Chrysalis as she stretched her legs getting up.
“I’m not sure. An hour maybe?” Roseluck replied.
Chrysalis looked to the sky. The clouds above were pink in color as they drew closer to the horizon with the onset of the blue night sky following close behind them.
“The sun has nearly set,” said Chrysalis.
“I…can see that.”
“When the last rays of sunlight are gone, the entire forest will shake, and the changeling species will forever be…well, changed.”
“What do you mean?”
Though Roseluck expected an answer, Chrysalis looked away as if she did not hear her and continued to ramble on.
“Nine-hundred years…I thought the changelings would never go far beyond the Everfree ever again. It’s been too long. I can hardly bear to see them go after so long.”
“I…still don’t follow,” said Roseluck, sheepish. “What are you talking about?”
Mere moments before Chrysalis could part her lips in readiness to reply, the last glimpses of the sun faded below the barely visible horizon. With its departure came a great rustling noise. The wind howled like a feral beast, shaking trees loose of their thick leaves and sending bone-chilling winds blowing against Roseluck’s face. The queen did not seem to mind it one bit as her breaths turned to frost, but her companion however was not gifted with such immunity to the cold. Her body shivered, and she hugged herself tightly to stay warm.
Seeing this, Chrysalis sought to do something about it. From behind the queen’s bed, a folded, purple blanket floated over to Roseluck, who snatched it out of the air as soon as it was within reach, wrapping as much of it around herself as she could. The blanket was quite small, and not exactly meant to be used as a suitable means of covering oneself at night.
“It’s a spare blanket I kept for Ditto, just in case he accidently ripped or tore his first one,” Chrysalis explained.
“Th-th-thanks…” said Roseluck, her quivering body slowly calming down.
With the coming of night on the Everfree came the awakening of its nocturnal population. Owls, swamp frogs, and many varieties of twittering creatures sang their songs for all to hear.
Joining its forest brethren, a loud discordance of crickets made themselves known with their excessive chirping, but something about their familiar routine felt…off. Chrysalis became uneasy, biting her lower lip as the sound of the crickets grew louder. Noticing this, Roseluck took to approaching the queen.
“Is something wrong, Chrysalis?” asked Roseluck.
“N-no!” Chrysalis quickly replied. “I-I need…where’s Ditto?”
“He’s in his—“
“Move. Move!” Chrysalis whirled around and pushed Roseluck aside, almost knocking her to the floor. The queen jogged to Ditto’s crib and carefully raised him out, pulling the infant into a hug almost immediately. This sudden embrace awoke him from his short slumber, but instead of crying like most foals, he smiled and hugged her back.
“What’s going on?” asked Roseluck, worried. “I know your emotions are changing, but this is getting pretty ridiculous.”
Chrysalis remained silent, instead shifting her gaze towards the dark sky just as the trees began to rustle again. The cricket noises seemed to have evolved into wing beats, like those of hummingbirds.
All of a sudden, everything was made clear. The moon’s light became dim and blotted, and Roseluck looked up to find the heavens swarming with winged, black figures. It was like watching a cloud of locusts surge towards their next target, never fleeting, never stopping. She didn’t need a book or an hour’s thinking time to figure out what matter of creature of was flying high above them.
“It has been nearly a thousand years since the last time the order was given,” said Chrysalis, frowning. “The entire changeling species is migrating…”
“Migrating?” asked Roseluck.
“To other safe havens in Equestria to seek out love. We can’t stay in this forest for long. The dangers are too great. My changelings have been reduced to a mere fragment of what they once were, and our situation is only getting worse. No one cares about us…so we had to act now or face total extinction.”
“Where are they going exactly?”
“Anywhere they can find love. The deserts, the mountains, the arctic regions…anywhere.”
“Anywhere?”
Chrysalis nodded, looking back down at Ditto’s face.
“W-well, what about you? Why aren’t you leaving?”
“We’re at a critical moment. We can’t keep our presence concealed anymore, at least not now. I’m staying here, and the commander is staying as well, right where it all began…”
Chrysalis began rocking her forehooves left and right, exchanging peaceful grins with her son as he closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep again.
“But what’s happening really?” Roseluck emphasized her thoughts. “And what do you mean by ‘where it all began?’”
As quickly as it came, the swarm high above disappeared into the distance, the sound of their wing beats fading along with them. Chrysalis sighed and took her time as she placed Ditto back into his crib. After kissing her son goodnight, she refocused her attention on Roseluck.
“I could explain it as simply as possible, but I feel that would not be enough,” stated Chrysalis. “There’s no point in keeping it locked up. You deserve to you know why we are hated. You deserve to know it all. Please, lay down. I’ll explain everything. Besides, the wind won’t blow onto you as much if you’re close to the ground.”
Roseluck did as she was told, mostly because she wanted to get away from the dreadfully chilly winds. The low cover offered little protection, but with such a small blanket for shelter, this was as comfortable as she was going to get.
“Nearly one-thousand years ago, my mother, the first queen of the changelings, held control over several massive forest regions in Equestria. Back then, we had the upper hoof. Armed with only pitchforks and meager courage, ponies in small towns and villages were next to completely defenseless against our power. We numbered in the tens of thousands, possibly even more. We drained everyone and everything in our sights of all of its love and happiness, leaving nothing behind but a cold, dull husk each time. All we were trying to do was feed ourselves, but no one saw it from our point of view. All they saw were thieves and bloodthirsty marauders.”
It’s for a good cause… Roseluck repeatedly spoke to herself in her mind, despite the numerous times she has done so before. The creepy description of their past was enough to give her nightmares.
“But, as time went on, the ponies became smarter and stronger,” Chrysalis continued. “They crafted better weapons and defenses, and they even used advanced levels of unicorn magic to keep us away. It was at this time my mother gave birth to…my sisters.”
“Your sisters?” said Roseluck, eyes wide.
“She gave birth to my sisters first, the queens to be. She gave birth to me last, when my sisters were much older. I never knew their names. I was the youngest and just barely older than Ditto is now when my older sisters left the central hive for other unoccupied lands to expand our empire and keep the changeling species alive and thriving. Even with their newfound strength, the ponies could not stop us from multiplying, and things ran smoothly for about a year. Our numbers doubled, then tripled, until we grew so large that we covered nearly a full quarter of the entire Equestrian continent, but then, when we least expected it, everything fell apart.”
“W-what happened?”
“Canterlot, or as we call it, the golden city, was being filled with thousands of loveless refugees and injured ponies from all over the land. Keep in mind that back then, we did whatever we could to obtain love, even if it meant bringing destruction to our victims. The royal princess, Celestia, who held rule over what was left of her kingdom, grew worried and angry. It took them some time, but with enough support, Celestia drafted hundreds of ponies until they had formed a small army. Of course, my mother could only laugh at the idea of such a miniscule force invading our lands, but they held with them a secret weapon. While we focused on expanding our numbers, the princess focused on developing an overwhelming, ancient magic derived from a city lost from time. My mother was frightened of this new magic, but retained enough courage to continue her rule. She and her changelings fought bravely, but in the end, the magic of the royal princess proved to be much stronger than she was. We could have won the war, but with the way our species was growing, our sources of love ran dry in a matter of days, starving us to death.”
Like parasites…
“My two sisters, including their hives, died off as well, and my mother was struck with grief. With nowhere else left to turn, and before the royal princess could finish off what was left of her empire, my mother and I, along with what was left of the central hive, fled to this forest, the Everfree, where we continued to live for many centuries…until now. When my mother passed, I took up her role as queen of the changelings, and I promised that I would do anything just to keep our species alive.”
Chrysalis sighed before going on.
“So, here I am, sending away as many of my changelings as possible in hopes that we will live to see another day. They will feed and divide as quickly as possible. It probably won’t work, but I am without additional options.”
Roseluck was hit severely with a juddering sensation. Never before had she heard such a tale of struggle and survival in all of her life. Chrysalis was right. It was as if all of creation despised them so greatly that they were born only to be forced to commit atrocious moral acts just to stay alive. What did they ever do to deserve this?
“My queen!”
Suddenly, the commander, clad in its battered soldier getup, burst into the room through the front entrance, covered in bits of wispy foliage. Though winded, it took a respectful bow.
“My queen,” the commander repeated. “Your orders are completed, though there is a slight problem. I have divided the others into groups and sent them away, but the final group was too small to go out on its own. I ordered them to stay here at the central hive.”
“Thank you, commander,” said Chrysalis.
“I alone cannot protect you, my queen. With your permission, I wish to take the idlers out each day for regular combat training. I have acquired junk swords and armor from a trash dump nearby, and will train them in the ways of using them.”
“You most certainly have my permission, commander. I knew I could trust you in a time like this.”
Instead of bringing itself to give its thanks, the commander humbly acknowledged the queen with a single nod of its head.
“Of course, my queen.”
“You may go.” Chrysalis smiled.
“Yes, my queen,”
Like the good little drone he was, the commander bowed and began walking towards the exit. Roseluck breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her forehead of cold sweat knowing that she would not have to see the commander’s stout, black face for most of the day from now on. Chrysalis chuckled for a brief moment, but changed her expression when she suddenly realized that she had forgotten something of the upmost importance.
“W-wait, commander,” Chrysalis stammered when the commander was only inches away from leaving the room.
“Yes, my queen?” said the commander, looking over its shoulder.
“Collect one of the special fruits from the trees at the edge of the hive’s boundaries and bring it here. Roseluck needs to eat.”
The commander rolled its eyes, grunting, openly showing its distaste for the mare.
“One more thing,” Chrysalis continued. “Search the borders, or at the same dump you visited earlier, for a blanket of some sort. The condition it’s in does not matter.”
The queen could feel the warmth of Roseluck’s smile beside her. If she was going to take care of her child, then she most certainly needed to take care of the source of his daily nourishment.
“…yes, my queen,” the commander sighed, doing a fairly miserable job of hiding its discontent as it left the room.
“Thanks,” whispered Roseluck, smiling softly.
“I cannot sleep knowing that you would remain cold and hungry through the night. Besides, I am going to need your help, for tomorrow is a big day.”
“A big day?”
“With…with the leave of my changelings for lands elsewhere, the hive will be empty for most of the day. As you heard before, the commander will be taking what is left of the changelings here and will be training them to defend their queen. This means it will be out of the hive. It will be just you, me, and Ditto, meaning that you will no longer be confined to this one room. With this new freedom, I can now begin to teach Ditto.”
“Teach him?” said Roseluck, confused. “Teach him what? He’s so young, though.”
“I was very young as well when my mother began teaching me. How to fly, how to blend in with your surroundings, how to change, of course, and most importantly, how to gather love from even the most ambiguous of places.”
“Don’t you think you should wait a little longer? It’ll be months before he can speak, and he’s only a few weeks old!”
“For changelings, an opportunity like this comes only once. If I don’t teach him now, then he won’t know how to take care of himself when I am away or worse…”
“So…how long will it be until he learns all this stuff?”
Chrysalis rose up and turned to face Ditto’s crib. She looked down at her sleeping ball of hope, brightening her smile every time his tiny, warm breaths turned to steam in the cold air.
“As long as it takes, Roseluck,” replied Chrysalis as she rubbed Ditto’s forehead. “As long as it takes…”
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First, and well done.
I do like this Changeling archetype, where they are simply at the wrong end of fate.
And I also do say, I like how you have taken a seemingly ruthless villain and transformed her into a pityable, loveable excuse for a mother.
Well that was depressing.
Interesting! But very depressing. Damn it. Ditto, Roseluck, Chrysalis, y'all better pull through, you hear?!
Hmm, A little bit of background. I like that.
EDIT: Also, I feel you forgot a </i> somewhere around:
Am I right? The rest of the chapter is in italic right after Rose's thought
Daww.
Yus.
Now, could you please close the italics? It slightly ruins the chapter when I have to figure out what the emphasized thoughts are, not to mention italics gets annoying when it's the entire page. Thanks!
good but it needs to update more!!
1647981>>1648003 What in the... Both of your comments and usernames are in italics for some reason. And they're the only ones that are doing that.
...Is my computer starting to go crazy? Am I starting to go crazy? Maybe.
Or is it bleeding over from what 1648019 pointed out? Oh Fimfiction, you so silly dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Applejack_lolface.png
1648227
Yes it is bledding over from this part. I simply added a </i> at the beginning of my post to stop the italics
As you can see, it stopped right where my first comment is.
1648019
...yes.
Fixed it, though!
1648037>>1648089>>1648021>>1648019>>1648280
FIXED IT!
Please don't hurt me
Edit: That italics thing was when I forgot to close out the italics with a / after the second i in the code. I feel like an idiot for not noticing that @_@
Italics galore!
1648276
Aww sush -hugs-
It's over now. Everything's okay, dun worry!.
Gah....Right in mine feels!!!
I suddenly want a Ditto plushie.
Can't you just picture it?
Just curious, but why no Roseluck tag?
Was it, perhaps, not out at the time you first started?
Or is she not, a mane character?
Enjoying this so far, quite an interesting story.
1648927
Good question... will resolve later
1648744 Oh my god yes. Someone do this now.
Another good chapter. Please write more soon, I'm curious to see how it all ends.
1651341
Not to dive into too great of detail, when Ditto was born (when his gender was still undetermined) he was only a few days old. The queen, several confusing, brand new emotions filling her mind, was unable to sense anything wrong with Ditto. The commander, who is pretty much the queen's right hand changeling, however, was focused enough to discover that Ditto was indeed born with a gender, though it took a few days for it to figure this out, what with its own duties to fulfill first.
i like how rose-luck has not felt sympathy for the changelings yet. as i see it at any time everything could go wrong whit this little delicate situation the changelings are facing. i can only see interesting things on the future,
>>>We drained everyone and everything in our sights of all of its love and happiness, leaving nothing behind but a cold, dull husk each time. All we were trying to do was feed ourselves, but no one saw it from our point of view. All they saw were thieves and bloodthirsty marauders.”>>>
Chrysalis... you just admitted that EVERYPONY you encountered was sucked dry and left to die... and you still can't comprehend why nopony took your point of view? Wow... that's just an obscene level of cluelessness.
hello i was wondering if i can add your story to my group "villains of Equestria" you see i am the only member so if i add your story the group might get some notice so i would love to have this story in the group . o and feel free to join if you want to or tell people about it
1862275
Feel free to add it. Though I am seldom on, I just may visit it.
1863368 feel free i'd love it if you join
My mind now ships Roseluck with the changeling commander.
I read too much romance.