The Changeling Princess

The Changeling Princess slowed her pace, glancing around furtively. The town had long since been been deserted, but there were always stragglers to round up; stubborn ponies who refused to leave their homes even after the Hive descended on Canterlot. There were many such such towns, and their stories all ended the same way. What resistances did spring up were so poorly organized, it was as if they wanted to be captured. Hastily assembled militias prone to paranoia at the mere mention of a changeling. The princess preferred to break them personally, and never went with her disguise. A gift of much needed food here, a promise of power or safety there, and one by one the members were brought in, writhing in ecstasy beneath her. She so loved it when they begged for her touch, mares pleading with her to fill their bellies with her brood, stallions quivering with the need for release. And after a lecture on the importance of proper organization and logistics, their princess would oblige them. Then, once the negotiations were over, the Changeling Queen would gain a new Hive, and the princess, a force loyal only to her.

However, something about the current town struck the princess as odd. The buildings were far more pristine than she had initially expected. The outskirts, in fact anything that could be seen from outside, were in disrepair, while the further inside one went, the more apparent it became that the town was anything but empty. The princess knew that the roof of each building would be in a similar state, to throw off aerial scouts, though she would rather not fly up to confirm. It was a clever ruse, she thought, even if she felt she had seen it somewhere before. Though now that she thought on it, much of the town seemed familiar. The princess glanced at a structure as she passed, and her mind automatically began the appraisal. A hollow tree, two stories. Plenty of room to house a hatchery, and the branches and walls could hold many more cocoons than another house of the same size. The princess had already begun to compile the supplies within the library when her thoughts caught up to her. Of course, this was the Ponyville Library. It felt so long ago now.

"Twilight!"

The princess turned at the sound. Five voices in unison, quickly followed by their owners, appeared as if from nowhere. The first, a bright pink earth pony, bounded into view and dragged the princess into a shell breaking hug. If she noticed the princess' appearance, she gave no indication. None of them did.

"Oh, Twilight we were so worried about you when you went to Canterlot Castle and we heard there were changelings and then the sun went all crazy and we were totally stuck here it was soooo scary but we sang song songs and weren't afraid but we really were afraid but that doesn't matter now because you're back and we can finally throw your welcome back party!"

The pink pony-Pinkie Pie, that was it- paused to breathe, and the princess took the opportunity to break the  hug, shoving her off.

"I'm not Twilight," the princess said, her wings buzzing in irritation. This was the last thing she needed to be dealing with now. The princess turned to leave, trying to avoid eye contact with any of the ponies watching her. There were so many things that needed her attention, five rebellious ponies could wait. She had to get out of this place.

"Oh," one of the ponies started, and a name flashed through the princess' mind. Rarity. "Would you prefer if we said 'your highness' then?"

The princess whipped around, flaring her wings and pressing her ears to her head. "How did you-"

"Please, darling," Rarity continued, with a knowing expression. "I know royalty when I see it, and you are certainly a princess at the least. Perhaps even a Queen." The white unicorn blinked uncomfortably for a moment. "And we found your notes."

The princess couldn't hide the sudden excitement in her voice. "You found my List of Traits and Behaviors Common to Changeling Royalty and various Insect Species with Discussion of the Higher Castes!?" For the second time, the princess' thoughts caught up with her after the fact. Her excitement vanished, and her voice soured. She idly glanced at one of her hooves, hollow and covered with holes. "I guess I don't need it anymore."

"Um," Fluttershy began, shrinking under the princess' gaze. "A lot of insects send out younger queens to start new hives. Is that what you're doing, Twilight?" The yellow pegasus looked like she was ready to bolt at any moment, but she held her ground, even against the glare the princess was giving her.

"My name is Princess Pupa. You're all making a big mistake. Don't any of you get that we're enemies?"

"I reckon that's a lie," Applejack interjected. "Y'see, Twi, the changelings 'round these parts have been actin' real weird. They've been goin' after all the ponies they see," The orange pony tipped the hat she always wore, presumably for emphasis. "'cept, of course, for us. Whenever one of us shows up, the critters skedaddle."

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash said, jumping in. "At first I thought it was just 'cause we're so amazing. I mean, who in their right mind would want to mess with this?" The pegasus was making an all encompassing gesture that somehow managed to divert more attention to herself than anything else. "But they even ran away from Fluttershy and Spike, and they weren't even doing anything!"

Rarity saw the princess' expression and spoke before the question could be asked. "Spike is fine, he simply didn't want to come to...see you. Like this, I mean."

The words hung in the air for a long time, while the princess stared at the ground. Something about the thought hurt her, when it shouldn't have. She was the changeling princess, she didn't feel love for anyone. That was for the prey, not her. The princess desperately tried to push it away. She looked at Applejack. The orange pony's brother, Big Macintosh, was perfect breeding stock. Big, strong, tough, he could produce physically better changelings than almost any other pony. The princess didn't need to imagine, she could see exactly how to break him. He and Applejack both could be played against each other. She would force Applejack to watch while her brother fertilized the changeling eggs within the princess, then slowly, she would lay them into Applejack. She would make sure they enjoyed it, and it would not be long before the new brood mare was begging for eggs, to have her belly swollen with life. The stallion would watch her break, and then he would be hers. The princess nodded to herself. That would be how she would do it.

"But ya couldn't do it, could ya?" The earth pony asked. The look Applejack was giving her told the princess she knew what she had been thinking, or could guess. "That's why you came here alone, no guards or anythin', right? And why the changelings run?  I reckon the only reason a changeling'd run was if they were ordered to, and only a princess could give that order."

"And that'd be why we're here," Rainbow Dash started. "We've got something to say to the princess." There was a gust of wind, and Rainbow Dash was gone. A blur of blue and rainbow colors flashed by the princess, and in an instant the pegasus was right next to her. "We've still got your back."

"What?"

Pinkie Pie started up again. "C'mon Twilight, no matter what you look like now, you're still our friend and we're always gonna be right there when you need us. We all know you're still totally you under there with your lists and your plans and pretty soon we all know I'm gonna throw you a not-a-changeling-anymore-party!"

"Quite right. Once you defeat that dreadful Chrysalis, we'll be able to focus on your unfortunate condition, and I'm sure we'll have a fabulous cure in no time." Rarity gave the princess a conspiratorial wink of her eye.

Fluttershy gave a squeak. "We'll help you any way we can."

"That's all, kick some bug butt for us!" Rainbow Dash rose up into the air again, flying in circles until a colorful tornado formed around the five ponies. Dust flew up in all directions, and when it cleared the ponies were gone.

Twilight turned to leave, when she felt a pressure on her head. She quickly removed the object, and turned to look at it. When she did, she nearly dropped it. The big crown thingy, the Element of Harmony representing Magic, somehow made it onto her head. She looked at the gem, a simple purple star, and enjoyed a smile for what felt like the first time in forever.