Rise of the Changelings

Chapter 1 - Tea with the Changelings

I remember pushing my egg open, pushing so hard that it split perfectly in two. As soon as I took my first breath in, my stomach churned with hunger. I needed to feed. But being a larvae only a few seconds old, I didn't have a clue what to eat or where to get food.

And then SHE appeared. My mother. Everyone's mother. Queen Chrysalis. She was taller than a skyscraper in Manehatten, at least that's what I thought as I little larvae, her mane as green as mucus, her eyes as hypnotizing as a snake's, and a voice as determined as a queen should be.

Like the rest of us, her limbs were all punctured with unappealing holes. I didn't understand why she didn't pay any mind to them then. She soon scooped me up with her magic and brought me to her face.

"Look at you. You're as strong and handsome as your father, General Thorax lll. And now, you will follow in his footprints and carry on his legacy of the best of the best of my subjects." My queen's voice was the first thing I ever remember hearing, and I can't imagine a more blissful sound to be greeted with after being born. "The world is full of deception, little ones, and we Changelings are the physical embodiment. In order for us to defeat our enemies and conquer all of Equestria, we must use our powers of bringing our foes close—and then betray them when they least expect it."

At first, I didn't know what she was talking about—but there was something about it that just fueled the hunger and anger inside me. I didn't even know what I was angry for. My queen seemed to notice my growing intensity, as she looked down at me again and smirked when she saw me hungrily licking my chops.

"Yes, that's right, Thorax lV. There is a reason you are beginning your training far sooner than your fellow Changelings, for when your training is finally complete, you will be my second in command." Again, my rage flared and I couldn't help but grin with determination, and that made my queen smile once more. "Just remember, Thorax lV—as a Changeling, you must always do anything to make your enemy trust you."

Captain Golden Heart of Princess Celestia's castle was patrolling the main halls that lead to the royal sisters rooms with two other guards. He had been co-captain of the Canterlot guard, but he was promoted to captain when Shining Armor became prince of the Crystal Empire. He may have just been a guard, but Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had been great friends with Golden Heart for a while.

It was late in the evening, Princess Luna was raising the moon to begin the night by now, and Golden Heart would soon have to join the second fleet of guards to begin their nightshift.

"You are dismissed, Lieutenant," Golden Heart informed the higher ranking guard.

"Yes, Captain," the lieutenant saluted firmly before he and the other guard turned to leave. But just as the other soldiers left, something stopped them and Golden Heart in their tracks. A strange buzzing noise seemed to be surrounding them, echoing off the walls of the castle, but none of them could tell where it was coming from.

"Captain?" lieutenant demanded.

"Stand your ground, Men," Golden Heart instructed firmly.

Just as he said that, three shadowy figures could slowly be seen approaching from down the hall. The buzzing also grew louder as they came closer, so the guards immediately assumed they were the source of the irritating noise. It wasn't before they could make out wings on the strange figures, but they flapped way too fast to be a Pegasus, and the buzzing was a definite red flag as well.

But soon, the three figures landed and slowly stepped into the rising light of Princess Luna's moon. The guards' nerves all unclenched from the anticipation when they realized it was just a trio of the recently reformed Changelings…but that still didn't explain what they were doing in Canterlot at this hour.

"State your business," Golden Heart demanded.

"Our sincerest apologies, Captain Golden Heart. King Thorax sent us to present a peace offering to Princess Celestia," one of the Changelings explained, smiling politely like the other two.

"That's no excuse for not using the castle's main entrance. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to have you three leave the premises. And if you don't follow orders, I will have my men escort you if need be," Golden Heart warned.

"We completely understand, Captain. We won't cause you anymore trouble," another Changeling began, but then he and the other two began fluttering their wings, "Just one more thing before we go…"

"What is it?" Golden Heart questioned.

But when he expected a verbal answer, all he received was an unexpected act. The three Changelings grinned evilly and used their magic to grasp the guard's throats tightly and preventing them from calling for help.

They continued to hold the guards in a deathly hold, and they never loosened their grip until the first two guards finally stopped struggling; their eyes rolled into the back of their heads and blood leaked from their nostrils and mouth, letting the Changelings drop their lifeless bodies to the ground.

But Golden Heart was much stronger and resilient, and he lasted much longer. But even he knew he was running out of air fast.

"Why…are you…?" was all Golden Heart could choke up between strained gasps, and the Changelings still understood.

"Don't you know, Golden Heart?" the Changeling still holding him began, suddenly changing from a colorful creature and taking the form of the said captain, "The world is full of deception, and we Changelings are the physical embodiment."

The real Golden Heart was just barely able to see the other two Changelings take the form of the other guards, but his vision was already very blurred and his face was turning deep purple. Before long, all he could see was darkness. And once he was gone, his still corpse was dropped like a brick, too.

The three Changelings grinned at each other, for they knew it was just beginning.

Spike was in the kitchen preparing tea one afternoon, albeit still trying to get accustomed to the much grander kitchen compared to the more humble one in the Golden Oaks Library, but the baby dragon managed. He was excited to be preparing tea on this particular day because Twilight had invited Thorax to have tea with them in her castle, and Spike couldn't wait to see his best Changeling friend!

"Hey, Spike. What's got you so excited?"

"You didn't know? We're having Thorax over for tea," Spike informed Twilight's pupil while pulling the steaming pot from the stove top.

"Really? Any special occasion?" Starlight Glimmer asked with a quirked brow.

"Nope. Just a free day for us all, so we figured we'd enjoy it together," Spike replied with a smile, "You gonna join us?"

"Nah. I promised a lunch date with Trixie."

"Well, have fun with that!"

"Thanks, Spike." With that, the light purple Unicorn exited the kitchen, leaving Spike to finish pouring the hot water into three teacups. Once the water mixed with the bags of tea leaves, the baby dragon carefully lifted the platter and stepped backwards from his stool, leaving the kitchen to take the three cups of tea to the map room.

But just before Spike turned into the map room, he suddenly bumped into someone, causing both of them to fall back and spilling the contents of the platter.

"Oh, no! I'm so sorry, Mr. Dragon!" a tiny voice frantically apologized.

"Huh?" Spike breathed when he didn't recognize the voice, but he was surprised with what he saw. It was a reformed Changeling, only the size of a filly, and she had the normal green colors and spiked horn of most Changelings, but her wings, eyes and tail were ruby red.

"Are you ok, Mr. Dragon?" the small Changeling whimpered.

"Uh…y-yeah! I'm ok," Spike replied when he finally managed to stop staring at the small Changeling.

"But I made you spill your tea…"

"It's ok, I can make more. No harm, no foul."

"Spike, are you ok?! I heard a crash, and I-oh!" Twilight called as she trotted into the room, but she paused when she saw the filly-sized Changeling, "Who are you, Little One?"

"Wish I knew. She just appeared outta nowhere," Spike informed.

"Could you please tell me your name?" Twilight asked softly, approaching to get a better look at the smaller-than-usual Changeling.

"I'm Thorii, Miss," the young Changeling replied with a smile.

"Well, Thorii, it's very nice to meet you, but how did you get in here?"

"I brought her." The three instantly turned around to find none other than Thorax himself walking into the room. "Spike, Princess Twilight, I'd like you to meet Princess Thorii."

"Princess?" Twilight and Spike asked in unison.

"Yes. Thorii here was the last born female before Chrysalis' escape, making her the next queen of our hive. Most of the Changelings back home were busy, so I thought I'd bring her with me. Is that ok?"

"Of course," Twilight happily informed.

"Guess I better make more tea," Spike sighed jokingly, getting a chuckle out of the others.

"So, your father was the general, and his name is Thorax?" Twilight asked the new king of the Changelings before sipping at her tea.

"Yup," Thorax chuckled, "I'm the fourth. He and I pretty much came from a long line of the best generals, all of which were second in command."

"Is he still with you?"

"Sadly, no. He passed not too long ago, but just from old age."

"Well, at least he died happy."

"Yeah, he did. And by the way, this tea is really good, Spike!"

"Thanks!" Spike nearly blushed from his Changeling friend's compliment, and then he focused his attention back on the conversation he was having with Thorii, "So, what's it like being a Changeling princess?"

"I dunno. But I'm guessing it's not the same as being as Alicorn pony princess like Miss Sparkle," Thorii replied and pointed over at the said purple Alicorn.

"You're probably right. For one thing, you don't need to marry into the throne."

"What's 'marry'?" Spike choked on his tea, nearly forgetting he was talking to a very young and naïve Changeling.

"U-uh, it's nothin'. You'll understand when you're older," Spike stammered with a shrug.

"Ok, now I get to ask you something!" Thorii cheered and clapped her little hooves.

"What?"

"You asked me what it's like to be a Changeling princess, now I want to know something about you."

"Um, ok. Shoot."

"Shoot what?"

"N-nothing. Just ask me what you wanna know."

"What's it like being a dragon?" Thorii's eyes grew big and sparkly, and she leaned forward in her seat and smiled with curiosity.

"Well…" Spike hummed and tried to think of how to perfectly explain it to a youngling, "It's definitely not the same as being a pony—or a Changeling—for one thing, we breathe fire."

"Ooh, really? How do you do that?"

"There are these two magical stones that sit in the back of our throats; they rub together to create a spark and poof! Fire!"

"I wanna see!" Before Spike could react, the young Changeling suddenly lunged forward and pried his mouth open, pushing her little head deep into his mouth. Despite being only the size of a filly, her hold on Spike's jaws were like that of a pair of pliers.

"Princess Thorii!" Thorax called with a warning tone.

"Sorry, King Thorax!" Thorii immediately pulled herself out of the baby dragon's mouth, and Spike had a little trouble putting his jaws back into place from them being open much wider than usual.

"Sorry…"

"It's ok," Spike told the Changeling princess, "Oh, and we dragons love to eat gems, too."

"Gems? You mean those pretty rocks?"

"Yup. They're delicious."

"Ouch! Don't they hurt your teeth?"

"Nope. Dragons have the strongest teeth in Equestria, and that's what allows us to eat gems. But only the older and tougher dragons can eat the hardest gem of them all: diamonds."

Thorii quirked a brow when she noticed Spike was starting drool. "You dragons certainly are weird."

"Oh, yeah? You Changelings are pretty weird, too." The baby dragon and young Changeling both started laughing at that, knowing they were only joking with each other.

Thorii pronunciation: thor-ee-I

You guys interested in a little Changeling story? I know I am. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!