Changelings Rise, Chapter I: The Hive

You are a changeling. You are one of many under the employ of Queen Chrysalis, and you have served her vigilantly up to this point. For now, you are resting in your pod, awaiting orders.

You are nameless, as are many of your brothers and sisters.

You are as anonymous as any other changeling you know, and yet, you are an individual with an individual mind.

 

Today, your individual mind is awoken by a shaking sensation. You crack open an eyelid, revealing one of your pale blue eyes. There's an average sized changeling standing outside. He looks rather impatient.

You open your other eye and slide apart the membrane to your pod.

 

>"Changeling. The Queen is rallying troops. You are to report to the amphitheater at once."

 

He moves on to the next pod in line and continues delivering the message.

 

Well, the day had officially started. You rise out of your "bed" and look around at the rows of similar pods, all containing either sleeping or slowly awakening changelings.

 

You figure that the announcement won't start for another hour or so. It takes time to gather all the changelings in the hive, after all. This means you have a bit of free time to wander around and get to know the hive, if you want to. Or, you could go straight to the amphitheater if you wanted to.

You decide that while going straight to the gathering is probably the smartest idea, it's not what you're going to do. Because you are hungry.

 

You feel your stomach growl underneath your chitin. You hadn't eaten in ages, and you had an hour or so to kill. You travel through the twisting tunnels towards the feeding grounds, which is on the way to the amphitheater anyways.

 

You divert from the main tunnel and enter the feeding grounds. The chamber is easily the biggest in the hive, its walls and ceiling covered in pods. These pods were different than the sleeping pods, of course; these were made to constrain food sources. Chrysalis had ordered a cutback on the number of prisoners they were allowed to take, due to the current witchunt for changelings.

The defeat at Canterlot was hard on every changeling. You were all ready to launch yourselves into a new era, to finally be out of hiding once and for all. You all came so close, only to be defeated.

 

You approach the nearest wall and observe your choices. Most of the pods are empty, save a few. You have a choice selection in front of you:

 

There's a mare, pink coat, yellow mane.

A stallion, brown coat, darker brown mane.

A small-ish minotaur, from the looks of it.

And what looks like some kind of monkey, except hairless, and he's wearing clothes. You decide to stay away from that last one.

 

You approach the mare, cutting off another changeling who had a similar idea. He scowls and moves on to the stallion.

You get up close and peek inside. She's sleeping peacefully, unaware of the bug ponies crawling around her. The pods engineered by Chryslalis kept all of their victims in a tranquil state. Scared ponies don't produce very much love, after all.

You touch your horn to the pod and focus your energy, entering her false dream. The toxins in the pod engineered a quaint little world for her, it would seem. It was her apartment in Manehatten, only without the doors, as to prevent leaving. You appear in her dream as a white stallion, altered by the affects of the pod once more.

She comes around the corner, holding a bowl of salad in her mouth.

>"Oh, I didn't see you come in, darling! Take a seat, we'll watch the bascoltball finals."

You follow her to the couch in front of the TV. It was all very cute, this setup. You find it humorous that she neglects to even notice you came in through a non-existent front door.

Being a dream, time is sped up rapidly. Only ten minutes go by in the real world as you spend the night with the mare, slowly but steadily absorbing background love as time progresses. The rate almost doubles as the TV switches off and she snuggles against you, falling asleep in your arms.

You exit the dream.

Ugh, synthetic love tasted terrible. It was much more fulfilling to feed from a live, willing subject. You had only done it once, long ago...

You exit the feeding grounds and make your way towards the amphitheater. The tunnels are much more crowded now, filled with newly awoken minions. They all seem excited, whispering to each about what the meeting could possibly be about.

That's when you notice one of your friends banging on a nearby pod.

Insignificant changelings rarely receive official names, but it's not uncommon for changelings to have friendly names among themselves. The changeling in front of you is the one you call Abdiesus, one of the changelings you've known since you were a hatchling. You take your place next to him silently and observe what he's doing.

>"Cyrene! Wake up! You're going to miss it, damnit!"

He notices your arrival.

>"Goddamnit, Cyr, even Anon is up before you!"

>"Give me five minutes. I'm tired."

"You don't have five minutes, Cyrene," You interject, "The Queen rallied everyone at least 30 minutes ago. Do you WANT to get banished?"

>"Ugh. Fine."

Cyrene exits her pod, hoofing Abdiesus in the carapace before heading off. The two of you follow her lead, as usual. She was a born leader, as most female changelings were.

 

"So, do you have any idea what this meeting is for?"

Abdiesus shakes his head.

>"No one does. There's a lot of speculation that Chrysalis is going to mount another assault, which would make sense."

"Have we invaded Canterlot yet?"

Abdiesus shoots you a nasty glance, but Cyrene is the one who responds.

>"Don't joke about that, Anon."

"I stopped by the feeding grounds for a snack and came across some weird two-legged thing in a pod. What's the story behind that?"

Abdiesus responds first.

>"Some weird thing Malcanth bagged, probably."

Malcanth was a named changeling, head hunter of the hive. He gathered the most food sources and considered it an art form. Chrysalis always went to him for exotic snacks.

>"Must have tasted like dirt, though, or else it wouldn't have ended up down here with us."

 

You arrive at the amphitheater. The seats are already being filled as changelings filter inside. The three of you take a seat in the 3rd to front row, somewhere around the middle column. The stage is empty for now, but you expect Chrysalis to appear on it at any moment.

You catch your breath as you see who's sitting in the row in front of you. It's Damian.

Damian has been your rival since you first met. He's bigger than you (most changelings are, to be fair), meaner than you, and all around just a general faggot.

 

You shrug off your hatred and decide this fight is best picked elsewhere.

The rest of the changelings file in from the main tunnel, and as soon as all the seats are filled, the room falls silent.

The sound of hooves on stone resounds from the tunnel at the back of the stage. The slow, deliberate kind of trot that belongs to royalty.

Queen Chrysalis emerges from the tunnel, and takes her place on the center stage. The room is absolutely silent.

>"Children! Too long have we lived in such petty conditions. Too long have we lived in holes, hiding from ponies like common vermin! We tried to take Canterlot; but we failed. For I was foolish to think that we would achieve greatness by strength. The Queens before me knew our true strength lay in deception, not power. I wish to honor their knowledge."

>"We are going to war, darlings. But it will be a secret war. Nopony will even know the danger that lies in their very face."

>"I promise to lead us to victory, my dears. We will see the sunlight again, and Equestria will be ours, whether Celestia knows it or not!"

With that, she delivers one of her signature cackles. The entire horde follows her lead, including yourself, and soon the whole hive is echoing with maniac laughter.

Minutes pass and the amphitheater is cleared out, leaving you standing with your two friends outside. Cyrene is the first to speak.

>"Well, it's obvious whatever is going on is quite big."

"Our Queen is so motivational..." You trail off your sentence with a sigh.

Abdiesus nods.

>"What could she mean, though? It's obvious we're returning to the surface, but for what? And how many of us?"

Cyrene and yourself both grunt in agreement.

Just then, Damian and his two usual cohorts walk out of the amphitheater and make their way towards you.

Damn, you had funny names for them, names that they absolutely hated, but you've forgotten.

Right, right, you had named them after cheese. Sometimes you referred to Damian as King Swiss. That usually earned you a hoof in the crotch, but you felt that it was worth it.

Damian, Gouda and Cheddar made their way over to you. Damian gave his usual glance of distaste and looked off to the side, allowing his pets to talk for him. Cheddar spoke first.

>"Quit clogging up the tunnel, Celene, your fat thorax is creating a traffic jam!"

>"It's Cyrene, beetle. You know I could kick your carapace up and down this hive and I've done it before. You must be real stupid to play with natural selection."

Damian finally spoke.

>"Before this devolves into senseless name calling like it always does, can I just have a word with Anon?"

Cyrene steps out of the way and you step forward, looking Damian in the eyes. He was almost twice your height.

>"Look. Rumor is, only small groups are going up to the surface this year. I want to make it absolutely clear that you WILL NOT be in one of them. Every spot you take is a spot that either myself or my friends here won't have."

He walks away before you have a chance to respond.

God, you hate that faggot.

 

Well, the rest of the day is open. You could explore the hive a bit, hang out with your friends, hit the training room. You could even just go back to sleep.

Man, buck Damian. If what he said is true, you would need to go train now more than ever.

You turn to Cyrene and Abdiesus.

"You hear that? Only a few people are going up. We should probably train."

Cyrene nods but Abdiesus shrugs.

>"I've gotta go get something to eat. You two have fun, though."

He unfurls his wings and flutters off towards the feeding grounds.

"Well, come on then, Cyr, let's go feel the burn."

You make your way towards the training grounds. It seems rumors traveled fast, because half the hive was there sharpening their skills.

The training room is separated into a few different sectors, each with their own mentors. There's the transformation wing, the magic wing, and the flying wing.

Cyrene takes her place next to you and looks around.

>"What should we do first? I know I want to brush up on my transformation skills, it's been ages since I've even had to review the theory."

 

"Sounds good. Let's go."

Cyrene leads the two of you over to the transformation wing. Dozens of changelings are present, transforming into a variety of different ponies in flashes of green flame. You spy Loki, one of the more known transformation mentors, giving instructions to a filly changeling.

>"Now, shapeshifting isn't like other magic. And not only because shapeshifting is actually FUN."

The filly changeling giggled at that.

>"Just close your eyes and concentrate. Really visualize the being you want to portray."

The filly sat on her haunches and squeezed her eyes tight, grunting quietly. After a few moments, she disappears in a flash of green flame, replaced by a little white and gold unicorn.

>"Oh, marvelous. You'll make a good trickster one day, just like your teacher Loki."

He turns his attention to you two.

>"Ah, nameless ones. Did you require assistance? It seems everyone suddenly wants to brush up on their skills after a speech like that."

Cyrene nods.

>"Anon and I felt like brushing up on out transformation skills. It's been a while since we've been in the field."

>"Oh, yes, yes, of course. And it is my duty to help you. So, shall we start from the basics or do you just want some refreshers? I could teach you some nasty special tricks if you're feeling up to it."

Cyrene looks at you and shrugs.

"Well, do a quick runthrough with the basics and then I wouldn't mind having a look at those special tricks."

Loki nods and teleports behind you both, pushing you into the training area.

>"First thing to remember: know how to focus your attention. Even slightly thinking about something other than your form will require you to start over. So, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and think hard. This comes easier to most changelings as they do it, to where it can become instantaneous."

You and Cyrene looked at each other before transforming. You close your eyes and envision a disguise; the only one you can think of is the stallion you used when in your meal's dream. You decide to go with it.

When you open your eyes, you're him, white coat and all. Cyrene is a rose colored mare with a nice pink mane.

>"Excellent response time, if I do say. Bravo! Remember, you can add bits of clothing if you need to, but it does take more concentration and more power."

>"Now, for the fun part!"

----------------------------------------------End Session 1----------------------------------------------

Loki takes a few steps towards the stone wall and stops. He turns to face the two of you and disappears in a flash of green flame.

Only unlike usual, he really disappears.

When the flame is gone, so is he.

>"Pretty good, isn't it? Just thought it up a few days ago."

Loki appears once again after another burst of green flame. Seeing the look of confusion on your faces, he explains.

>"What most changelings don't realize is that our power isn't just limited to disguises. A changeling can make his or herself look however they want, as long as they have the power for it."

You interject. "But surely you can't be implying we can turn invisible? That's an advanced magic."

Loki points a hoof at you and smiles.

>"Not invisibility. CAMOUFLAGE. Just change your color with the background and it's like you're not even there. Of course, it takes a lot of practice. And you can't move. But it's a great asset if you master it."

You and Cyrene practice it with Loki for a few minutes. Neither of you feel comfortable with it yet, but you feel like you could get it on your own if you practiced enough. You say goodbye to Loki and turn back to the training room.

"Well, Cyrene, want to go practice magic?"

>"You mean remind you how bad you are at it? Sure, I'd love to."

Cyrene leads the way, giggling to herself. Cyr was more or less the master of magic in your small trio. Abdiesus had the brawn, but she had the brains. You pretty much just sucked at everything besides disguises.

>>8142660

On your way there, you chat with some of the other nameless changelings. They all know as much as you do, which is to say, only rumors. Whatever Chrysalis was planning, it wasn't a full on invasion. It was going to start small.

 

You arrive at the magic wing. Oriana, the magic tutor, is teaching the same filly how to cast a basic levitation spell. While floating. And glowing purple. And spinning small rocks around herself in a little show.

 

Cyrene approaches her with a smile.

>"Greetings, Oriana. We thought we would refresh ourselves on the basics of magic."

Oriana smiles back and nods.

>"Hello, my favorite student. And... Cyrene's friend."

Ugh.

>"What would you like to learn?"

 

Magic was one of the most important skills to learn for a changeling, as it was the most commonly used weapon against them.

A competent mage could easily remove the disguise from a changeling, after all.

"Can you teach me anything about self defense?"

She nods quickly and shoos the filly away.

>"Basic spells for the basic changeling."

After a few minutes, she reviews some of the basic self-defense spells you were already taught as a colt. It's a few minutes before she gets on to something new.

>"Now, sometimes you'll face a target you really can't fight or defend against. So you just have to run. Flashing is the best way to temporarily distract them so that you can get away."

She teaches you how to discharge a blinding flash of light from your horn. The nearby changeling students do not appreciate it.

>"Very good, very good. That should cover it. Cyrene, was there anything you wanted to learn?"

Cyrene nods and refocuses her attention, obviously bored by your basic training.

>"Er, yes. I think I'm ready to learn how to use fyre."

Oriana puts a holed hoof up to her chin.

>"Well, I suppose. It's very advanced, but then again, so are you."

Oriana pulls her to the side and works on her teleportation magic, moving rocks and scraps of paper around the room using small bursts of green flame. Fyre came natural to all dragons, ponies couldn't use it at all, but with a little training and natural talent, changelings could pull it off as well.

 

You watch admirably as Cyrene applies her usual dedication. A shadow falls over you and you turn around to come face to face with Damian and his buddies.

 

He scowls at you.

 

He knows why you're here.

 

You pretend to not notice him and turn back to watching. He isn't buying it.

>"What are you doing here, prawn? I thought I told you to stay as far away from this as possible."

Well, he isn't leaving.

>>8143996

You're probably going to get your ass kicked no matter what you say, so you might as well be a smartass.

"No need to worry about me training Damian. If you're even a quarter as great as you think you are, those spots are guaranteed."

He doesn't seem amused.

>"Get out of here now, before I drag you out by your wings."

>>8143904

You give a half smirk as you cast the flash you've been preparing for the past few seconds.

It's the last thing Damian sees before you disappear into the crowd of changelings and slide up next to the wall.

Camouflaging against the plain stone wall is easy enough.

 

Damian is screaming with rage and looking around the room. He snorts and storms out of the training area angrily, leaving a lot of trembling changeling fillies behind him.

 

Loki appears next to you from thin air.

>"Like a regular chameleon, you are! You do me proud."

You thank him and make your way over to Cyrene. She's finished with her lessons and when she sees you approaching, she gives you a wide grin.

>"Damian may be big, but he's as dumb as a rock. You know how to to think on your feet, and that's what counts."

You accept her compliment with a smile and take another look around the room.

 

You glance around the room. Only thing left is to stretch out your wing membrane. You ask Cyrene if she's up for it, and she agrees. Abdiesus is the flier of your group, with you and Cyrene barely managing the basics. It is an important skill to have, however.

 

You approach the flight course. Several changelings are in flight around the area, navigating in and around hoops of harmless green flame.

The flight instructor, Kalem, is teaching the same filly from the past two instructors how to take off and land. As soon as he sees you coming, he diverts his attention, much to the filly's disappointment.

>"Greetings, Cyrene, Anon. Abdiesus not with you?"

"No. I'm sure you can run through the flying routines again with him soon, though."

Kalem is one of the nicest changelings you know. He spent a long time on the surface, and learned how to fly from the best of the best: the Wonderbolts. Rumor has it he even got in with Spitfire.

This was before Chrysalis called a full retreat.

It was a sad day at the Wonderbolt Academy when their favorite coach mysteriously had to leave.

>"So, what can ol' Kal do for you?"

Cyrene unfolds her wings and steps forward.

>"We'd just like some refreshers, if that's alright. Anything you could do to prep us for the surface."

He nodded and pointed to the rings.

>"Seems as thought that's what everyone wants. Go ahead and get started and I'll be over in a bit."

You start flying with Cyrene.

As much as you enjoy Cyrene's company, you've seen (and felt) enough faceplants to disuade you from any distractions while flying. Cyrene seemingly agrees with this logic as you both fly in silence.

Kalem is taking a longer time than he originally intended with the filly, so you take a break and sit down on the sideline with her.

"Flying never gets easier, does it?"

>"Nope. Is this how you feel with magic?"

You glance over catch the last second of her smirk before she hides it away. You can't help but smile with her.

"More or less, yeah."

A few seconds pass by as you just admire the changelings preforming complex aeronautical maneuvers together. Something comes to mind, and you speak up.

"What if only one or two of us is chosen to go to the surface? I don't think I could leave you or Abdie behind."

She nudges you in the exoskeleton lightly.

>"It'll all be alright. Even if we are separated, it's not like we'll never see each other again. Besides, we'll be the three best changelings for the job. No way we're not getting chosen. Long as Abdiesus gets his big fat thorax in here to train some day."

 

You give her a smile and a nod. You're sure everything will turn out fine, and if you believe it, it's more likely to happen.

Kalem finishes up his lesson with the filly and waves you over.

>"Alright, folks, let's get to training. Now that you're nice and warmed up, let me see some corkscrews."

The training goes as bad as it usually does. You crash into the ground more times than you can count, but you have a feeling that it's a slightly smaller number than the previous time you practiced.

Cyrene is better at not crashing, but only because she's light enough to pull up before she hits the ground. You say goodbye to Kal and both of you make your way out of the training grounds, sore and content with the day's training.

 

The rush hour after the assembly seems to have calmed down considerably. There are still a few changelings trickling down the main tunnel, on their way to some facility or another or just wasting time.

 

You aren't sure what you want to do next, aside from sleep, so you ponder on it.

You ask Cyrene if she's up to anything.

>"I don't know. I haven't eaten in a few weeks. I might go grab a bite to eat. If I see Abdie I'll kick his ass in this direction."

 

You decide to go with Cyrene to get something to eat. Changelings could go months without feeding, but that doesn't mean they enjoyed it.

You travel to the feeding floor with minimal conversation. Abdiesus is indeed still there, but he isn't feeding. He's talking to a changeling even bigger than he is; Malcanth, the chief hunter. You point it out to Cyrene.

"What do you think that's about?"

>"No idea. Let's get a quick bite to eat and we'll talk to him about it later."

Cyrene immediately goes for the brown stallion you saw earlier. The weird monkey thing you saw earlier isn't in the pod any more.

You look again at your choices. All that's left open now is the mare from before and the minotaur, unless you want to go looking for some other pods.

 

You return to the mare from earlier that morning. She still looks just as peaceful as she did before.

You touch your horn to the pod and enter her dream again.

 

The pod has simulated an entirely new environment. No longer is it the apartment from before; you are standing in an open courtyard, Canterlot's Palace rising up above the rooftops.

Once again, you're the white stallion.

You spy her looking in the window of a sweet shop. She beckons you over.

>"Oh, we can't say we toured Canterlot without having tried the local cuisine! Let's buy some hot cakes!"

You silently agree and follow her inside the shop. There are no other ponies in all of Canterlot, but she doesn't seem to notice.

They never notice.

There are a few cakes already hot and ready on the counter. You pick them up and set them down on the table, sitting across from her. The food is tasteless, as is all food, but the love you receive from simply being near her is filling.

You give her one final hug before departing from the dream and returning to the real world.

It's been 10 minutes since you started feeding. Cyrene is standing behind you, chatting with Abdiesus, who seems to be done with his conversation. You ask what's going on. Abdie is the first to respond.

>"Well, I had a talk with Malcath. He says I'd be best suited as a hunter. Apparently I leave for surface training tomorrow, as his personal student."

 

"I... wow, this is so sudden. Congratulations! Can't imagine what it must be like, knowing that you'll see the sunlight."

Cyrene nudges him with a grin.

>"Who knew the secret to success was to eat 3 times a day and never practice?"

Abdiesus thanks you both, but it's obvious he's still bothered. He has every right to be.

On one hand, it's a huge promotion. Being the personal student to a named changeling, especially one as important as Malcath, basically guaranteed your success in the hive.

On the other, this meant he was leaving. For a long time. Even if you were chose for Chrysalis's mission, there was no guarantee that you would see each other on the surface. Equestria is huge, after all.

You were going to miss your big, lumbering friend, and as Cyrene has these same thoughts running through her head, you think you see her watering up.

Well, buck it, now you are too.

 

The three of you give halfhearted goodnights and head back to your pods to rest until tomorrow.

You are awoken once again by a thump on the outside of your pod. You crack open an eye and spot the messenger changeling from yesterday giving you the same impatient stare.

You slide open your pod once more.

>"Chrysalis commands you to report to the amphitheater at once. Don't be late."

 

With that, he flies off.

 

Not wanting to waste any time, you start straight for it.

 

No time to stop. The Queen asked for you, and the Queen gets her wish.

You hurry down the main tunnel; you're up earlier than everyone else and it's completely empty.

You peek inside one of the living quarters and take note that Cyrene's pod is empty, even though all the others surrounding it are full.

You stop outside of the amphitheater to catch your breath. You push open the door and walk in with authority.

There are two royal guard changelings standing by the amphitheater tunnel on the back of the stage. The gesture you into it, and you follow their instructions.

The tunnel is a short walk. You arrive in what appear to be Chrysalis's royal quarters. The tunnel opens up into a private assembly room, where several changelings are gathered around the Queen herself, who stands before the group.

Oh god you hope you aren't late way to fuck it up.

You spot Cyrene and take your place beside her. She nods at you but says nothing. You both know you are not to speak in the presence of the Queen unless spoken directly to.

You feel a sharp pain in your back and turn to see Damian. Cheddar is sitting next to him.

Gouda is not.

You can't help but smile.

Damian can't help but kick you again, slightly harder.

You might as well already dead, but it was worth it.

Thankfully, you aren't late. Several changelings file in after you and take their own spots in silence. Chrysalis stares each one of you down in silence, observing you.

 

Chrysalis waits a few more moments to stew the silence, then speaks.

>"You have all been brought here because you are the best. I conferred with the tutors, the masters, and my general, and you were the people they suggested.

>You are the strongest, the bravest, the fastest, the wisest, and the trickiest. You have proven that you can turn any situation in your favor. All of your hard work is recognized, here and now. For you are to be the first party of changelings sent to the surface.

If the crowd wasn't in the presence of royalty, there would be mumbling going on about this point. You think you can see a couple of younger changelings go pale. You feel your own heart beating faster.

>"You are a test. If you are successful, I will send more to join you. Your only mission is to blend in. You can go with whomever you wish, and wherever you wish. All I ask is that you stay safe and well fed. You leave this evening.

She smiles at this last statement.

>"Make momma proud."

You file out of the room, leaving with the rest of the changelings. As soon as you exit the amphitheater, you, along with everyone else, go batshit insane.

The main tunnel is filled with shouts of excitement as well as terror.

Cyrene seems deep in thought, and isn't quite ready to talk to you yet. Damian is brewing in hatred, and you're pretty sure you can visualize a black cloud forming around his head as he shoots you death glares.

Loki is smiling at you from the corner, appearing from stone.

 

You make your way over to Loki and stand next to him. You observe the chaos together in silence. He's the first one to speak.

>"I don't rightly know why I chose you. I've got plenty of better students."

You give him a glance.

>"But you just seem like the type who can handle himself. Call it a hunch."

"Well, your hunch just became the gift of a lifetime."

He smiles.

>"Yes, it did. Use it wisely."

He teleports away, leaving you standing by yourself.

You see Cyrene speaking with Oriana. Likely she's receiving a similar speech from her teacher.

Abdiesus approaches from the other end of the tunnel, rubbing his eyes. He, like most of the other changelings, has no idea what just happened.

"Hey, Abdiesus. Nice sleep?"

>"Glorious. What's happening in here?"

"Oh, Queen just announced we're getting a swimming pool, is all."

>"Oh. That is pretty cool."

You shake your head and laugh.

"You're seven shades of stupid, Abdie, you know that? We just got released. Cyrene, me, tons of others. We're going outside!"

Abdiesus widens his eyes.

>"Good for you! We may actually see each other out there."

You nod. "If you weren't already taken by Malcath, I'm sure Kalem would have recommended you."

>"Yeah, well, everyone wants a piece of ol' Ab, but there's only one of me to go around."

Cyrene approaches you both. She's got a serious face on, but you can tell she's only barely holding back a smile.

 

You have one day left before things change forever.

You all have the same idea. You can see it in each other's eyes.

"Meet you guys there."

The three of you smile and go separate ways.

 

Noon is fast approaching. As soon as the sun starts to go down, you and Cyrene are expected to leave. Malcanth will be taking Abdiesus around the same time.

You meet up again at Abdiesus's pod.

Cyrene brought some cider. Her only bottle of cider. Probably the only bottle of cider in the hive.

Abdiesus grunted as he lay his weight against his pod, pushing it out of the way. Behind it lay a small tunnel. The three of you filter in.

 

It's small, it's damp, but it's nostalgic. This is the hole that the three of you had discovered before you even knew how to make your horn disappear. This was the hole you had hidden in multiple times while Abdie took the beatings from Damian for you. This is the hole Cyrene had stuffed you into when you refused to tell her where you hid her pet rock.

 

And this was the hole you would spend the final moments of your daylight in.

 

Cyrene cracked open the cider. There were no glasses, but that didn't matter. The three of you just took turns taking swigs and laughing, recalling events that had made living the hive life worthwhile. It tasted like minotaur crap, but that wasn't what mattered.

 

Cyrene took the final swig and put it back down, slightly disappointed.

 

You sit in silence, each lost in your own reminiscence.

Abdiesus is the first to break the silence.

>"I would give anything to switch places with King Swiss right now. I don't want to be a hunter, I want to do what you guys are out doing."

He sighs and tries to take another swig of cider before remembering that it's empty.

"I wish you could come with us, Ab. I really do. You're the best friend a changeling could ask for."

Cyrene nods and crosses her hooves.

>"Not to mention we'll have to deal with the ponies of Equestria AND whatever that hoofhead Damian tries to pull. And you know he's going to try to pull something."

The two of you nod in agreement.

Abdiesus checks the time and swears.

>"30 minutes to sundown. It's time."

"Wait. I want to do one thing."

You pull out a camera, and the three of them smile. This was indeed a moment they wanted to hold on too forever.

You take three pictures. You wait for each of them to develop, and give one to each changeling.

Now, it was time.

 

For the first time in years, you feel the soft caress of the wind on your face.

You were finally outside.

Cyrene sat on her haunches to one side of you, and Abdiesus to the other. The sun sat on the horizon, slowly dipping below the Macintosh Hills.

From atop your spire of rock in the badlands, no one would have known there was an entire army of changelings below you.

You weren't alone. A few dozen more changelings surrounded you, some of them frightened, some of them excited, some of them stone faced. They were waiting for the moment the sun dipped below the horizon to begin their life anew.

You heard calling from behind. Calling for Abdiesus. You trade final goodbyes.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see him go. He's flying off with his mentor, Malcanth, and his lackeys. Malcanth doesn't deserve him, you think.

That's when you realize you have one last choice.

Chrysalis gave you freedom.

Freedom to do whatever you want, as long as you didn't endanger the hive.

 

You had to choose.

Do you go and start a new life with Cyrene?

Or do you go with her and save Abdiesus, completing the trio?

You know she would be with you on either choice 100%.

 

You sigh. Abdiesus would have to trod his own path. You were foolish for thinking otherwise. Besides, he could take care of himself. He wouldn't have been taken as the student of the chief hunter if he couldn't.

You turn to Cyrene.

"We're going to Ponyville, right?"

>"Oh yeah."

"Do you have a plan?"

>"Sort of."

"Well that's reassuring."

You sit in silence as the final moments of daylight start to dwindle.

>"We need to separate. Get away from each other. That should throw Damian off."

"Agreed."

>"I'll go into Ponyville first. You wait a few days in the Everfree or something and come in after me. Make sure it's obvious for me to know who you are, but don't give yourself away to the other ponies."

"I'm not stupid."

>"Yeah, you really are."

She chuckles a little as you nudge her.

The sun sets as you share your final moment of daylight together. Immediately, the changelings take off, heading for whatever destination they had set in their heads.

All but Damian and Cheddar.

They stare at you.

Cyrene takes off, flying through the air at breakneck speeds.

Damian looks at you for a few seconds, expecting you to do the same. He snorts angrily as he sees you sit there with a smug look on your face.

He takes off after Cyrene and sicks Cheddar on you. You manage to shout after him before he's out of earshot.

"Come on! You don't even have the dignity to face me yourself, so you send CHEDDAR on me?"

>"My name isn't cheddar!"

It worked. Damian is pissed.

He turns around midflight and divebombs towards you. You unfurl your wings and go for the ground.

Both Cheddar and his Kingliness are on your tail.

You dodge around the back of a pillar of rock.

The moment you see Damian and Cheddar round the corner, you flash.

Before they have a chance to recover, you camouflage with the red rock, hoping the darkness is enough to conceal you.

It turns out it is.

Damian and Cheddar look for you for a good 10 minutes. They aren't very dedicated, as they soon give up.

Damian makes a snide comment and hits Cheddar over the head, and they fly off to the East.

You aren't sure where they're going, but you're pretty sure you'll see them again.

 

As for yourself, you had plans.

 

You fly into the air and survey the landscape, blanketed by the shadow of night. You can see the bright lights of Canterlot in the distance, and the slightly dimmer ones of Ponyville before it.

You stretch out your wings and dive forward.

--------------------------------------------End of Chapter One------------------------------------------