Unification
The Changeling Empire is weak. Though it is not your fault. You were raised to be different...unique...individual. Yet, that is where our weakness lies. We must all unite. Stop the separate ideals. Delete all traces of individuality. Once we do that, we will be a force to be reckoned with. Now...will you follow your queen?
Before I get started, you must know one thing. This isn’t a story about how I broke the changeling control or how I’m different from the other changelings. Rather, it is a recollection on how we all are under her control and how we are all the same.
Hell, who am I even talking to? Am I even talking? Does it even matter? I’m just trying to save the small piece of individuality I have left by remembering the past. Maybe it’ll work; maybe it won’t, but I’ll try anything to stop this process. I doubt it'll work though:
Some time ago in the changeling empire, each one of us was different even though we looked identical in every way. We had different personalities, different styles, and different names. For example,my name is…Damn…I can’t remember. The day I forget my own name... but I seem to have my changeling I.D: 201638. (Lovingly given by The Queen Chrysalis.)
Anyway, it was glorious time in the kingdom. Happiness grew wild. There wasn’t a frown that could be found anywhere. We fed off of the love we felt for each other. A self sustained community. We had no need to trade with those ponies outside our borders. We only used our transformation powers for entertainment. A joyous time it was. All this thanks to King…uh…and Queen Chrysalis…wait…no. That’s not right. She was the princess at that time.This reprogramming works quickly.
The King and Queen, whatever their names were, ruled fair and nicely. The King would walk amongst us commoners spreading cheer while the Queen spent her time laying eggs. How did you think changelings are made? (Through the magic of Queen Chrysalis.) No! That’s not correct. Let’s keep going. The Queen was allowed to choose one egg to keep and raise as the next Queen. That queen, when she was ready, would then choose from the strongest males to be her King.
No one knows how she chooses the egg, but when she does, it is a joyous occasion. We party and dance all night.(Dancing does not make your queen happy. Full obedience does.) I remember she named the egg Chrysalis (Your long awaited Queen by divine right.) An interesting fact is that Royal changelings grow differently than common ones. Taller. Stronger. Their magical abilities surpass ours by tenfold. (Your Queen loves you. Just give in)
Excuse me while I speak, but my memory is fading. Now, Chrysalis was a beautiful creature...or is that the reprogramming speaking. (Individuality leads to Chaos) She was the apple of everyone’s eye, yet the only problem was that she was bitter cold to everyone. Usually, royalty gave out the most love for us to feed on, but she gave out none. Only took. (Your Queen cares for you, but she eats first.)
I…remember having a conversation with my friend (Hive mate) about her. His name…was…damn…I can’t forget him…
“What do think about the princess?” He asked. I think he always wore this stupid pink hat. He said it made him stand out more.
“She’s good looking, but by the taste of the air, she doesn’t give off love.” I responded. Wait, I remember! I would sometimes wear a green hat to outdo he’s hat. He always won, though. (Independence will divide us)
“I don’t care. I’ll give her all my love if only she would choose me.”
“Choose you? Please. You’re like the second to the weakest changeling in the kingdom.”
“With you being the weakest.”
“Ahh shush.” I said before looking up to see the Princess walking by. She stared at my buddy and I with disgust. ( No…she would never do that. She loves you.) Perhaps it was the hats. They were a tad bit silly. She shook her head in disappointment before taking a deep breath and devouring our love for her. “I don’t know. I have a bad feeling about her.”(Becoming one will unite us.)
I think I said that. (No, you didn’t.)
Two weeks later, The Kind and Queen were found dead.( Not murdered. They went silently into the good night. That’s when your Queen came into power. She will lead to a prosperous era.) No investigation was ever done and the case was ruled natural deaths, yet we all knew there was some foul play. The Princess then came into power through natural ascension rights. Everything seemed to going great until she started talking about change. (Change is good. Especially when the Queen says so.) Not the good change either.
By change she meant giving away what we made us different. Our individuality. We all laughed at her joke, but soon came to realize she wasn’t joking. She was serious. That’s when the feeling of anxiety began to spread. Did I mention that there was a severe lack of love in the air because she didn’t return our feelings?
(Your Queen does love you. The white alicorn pony stole the Queen’s Love. We must get it back!)
What’s the point of finishing this? (Yes, Give in to the Queen.)No one is listening. The voice is getting louder and it won't stop. Though, I suppose the least I can do is finish.(No…stop.) I was always a stubborn changeling. (Being stubborn is not accepting the Queen’s love for you.)
I can’t say for certain when I noticed the change (What change?), but it definitely started arising. Changeling would go missing only to reappear a few days later. Yet, they weren’t the same. Well, they were the same as each other, but their personalities were replaced with some generic hive attitude. (Which is good.) Weirdly enough, they didn’t speak either; they only did this clicking noise. They could understand each other, but not us.
We thought nothing of it at first, but when half of us were changed into those generic beings, we became scared. The Queen told us not to worry, but how could you not? (The Queen knows all. You must listen to her.)As these monster’s number grew, the love supply dropped even lower. We rationed off the best we could, but the amount kept diminishing.
I…recall, during that scarcity, that my friend…uh…the one from earlier…we were wearing our hats trying to cheer everyone else up. At that point, there were around a hundred of us left…normal. The others buzzed preparing for something. As we walked with our hats, we were spotted by the changed changelings. They flew down in hoards, and surrounded us. Slowly, they closed in on us, making that clicking noise, demanding something. When they realized that we didn’t understand, two came forward, knocked our hats off, and then continued to destroy them. (Unity comes from generalizations) They immediately dispersed after that.
(Your will is strong. Why do you resent the Queen so? She loves you. Don’t you love her? Please…please say you do. Oh, how it will make her so happy if you do. You can show her your love by giving her your complete loyalty. You non-breaking obedience. Your unconditional love.)
Every time that voice talks…I forget more and more. I’m almost done anyway. Just let me finish, please? (No)
I loved that…that…sweater…no. What did they destroy? Nothing. They destroyed nothing. After that day, my changeling comrade was kidnapped. I never saw him again, but I knew he flew somewhere in the hoards above. He probably made his sacrifice for the glory of the Queen, right?I mean…i'm almost done anway...
It wasn’t long till I was captured, strapped in a chair, and my reprogramming began. It’s a weird process. If I could remember, I’d tell you-erm myself. Something of soft caring voices, pain, and promises. They are holding my eyes open with clamps...making me watch something. I think it's was painful…no…the queen wouldn't hurt me. She loves me.
I can barely think for myself anymore.
I feel the tentacles of control greedily grasping at my last bit of individuality.
You know, if I stop fighting it, it sort of feels…nice. Sort of like being tucked into bed while going to sleep.
Now, if you excuse me, The Queen needs us to prepare…to take Canterlot.