Hi everyone! This is my first story, and also the story for the Outside Insight Summer Writing Contest on Equestria Daily. Hope you enjoy! :)
Rating: K+
Word Count for this chapter: 2,072
Genre: Friendship, Adventure
Azrith was a humble Changeling.
At least, that's what she was told. She was brought up in a good Hive. The Changeling Kingdom was divided into several Hives of about a hundred Changelings each, plus two Hive Leaders, one male and one female. Azrith lived in one of the Upper Hives. The Upper Hives were made up of the Changelings that were destined to become the Queen's advisor, or leaders of the armies, or something high rank.
Azrith was told that she was brilliant, that she could get any job she'd like. However, she was contented with being a simple scout, a job normally reserved for Changelings in the Middle to Lower Hives. Scouts went out to spy on potential kingdoms that they were contemplating feeding from. The scouts had to be experts at changing form so that they could blend in with the locals. Azrith loved exploring, so this job was perfect for her. So far, she'd gone to The Divided Griffon City States, but it was in their name; they were divided. They were far too competitive and relationships formed there were weak. She'd gone to the Seapony Islands, but all she had found were a bunch of primitive life forms that only sang gibberish. Azrith had found them lovely, but according to the Queen, there wasn't enough love for the Changelings to feast.
No one except the Queen, the Queen's advisor, and the Changeling Army ever went on hunts. No one really knew what happened on the hunts, except that they always came back with bottles of love aura. The auras would be distributed to every Hive, starting with the highest class. The lowest of the Lower Hives got the weakest love. No one really questioned where the auras came from. The Changeling subjects were born starving. When they first hatched, they were placed in isolation and given the best love to devour, until they were about three years old. Azrith was told that she was released into her Hive when she was one.
The Changelings were running out of options. For some unknown reason, the Queen hadn't wanted to invade Equestria. Until now. From what Azrith had heard, it was a huge realm, and the primary race was a magical bunch called 'ponies'. Apparently, it had enough love to feed the whole Kingdom for years.
"Azrith!"
The young scout turned around to see her nichemate, Trezin, approaching their niche on the lowest floor of the Hive, an excited look on his face. He was levitating a scroll of paper with his magic.
"Azrith, guess what?" he exclaimed jovially, flitting around her in circles, a wide grin spread ear to ear.
"What is it, Trezin?" Azrith asked, amused by his antics. "I haven't seen you this happy since I brought that seapony home from my last exploration mission." She remembered getting the purple animal for him. It was meant to be a hatchday gift. Since it had been 15 years since his hatching, he was allowed a pet by Changeling law, whether to eat or to care for. He'd been ecstatic, until he took it out of the bag of water for too long. Apparently, he hadn't gotten the whole 'sea' thing.
Trezin scowled, finally standing still. "That wasn't funny! Bee died right in my arms!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Azrith laughed. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"
He perked back up right away. "The Hive Mother is going to be taking me under her wing, for special training to someday work with Queen Chrysalis herself! Can you believe it?"
Azrith blinked, slightly confused and a bit disappointed. "So… you're leaving?" she asked softly. It was common knowledge around the Kingdom that whenever a Hive Mother or Father took someone 'under their wing', you never saw that Changeling again until their training was complete, which could take years. "Just… just like that?"
"Aw, don't be sad!" he said. "You'll see me in a few years. I'll just be better and stronger! You've seen the finished product!" It was true. Every Changeling that got special training came back ready to be in the highest ranks in the army. Although, if Azrith really thought about it, their personalities were completely different as well. She shuddered and shook the thought off. She should be happy for her friend. She sighed.
"I suppose so. It is for the benefit of the Hive," she murmured. "I'll… I'll just miss you. You're the only thing I've got. You know everyone sees me as an outcast."
"Oh, you'll do fine," he said, rolling his eyes. "You're under the orders of Queen Chrysalis herself! Once that gets out, everyone will want to be your friend."
"No one here is anyone's friend," Azrith said glumly. "I try to be friendly, but they only stare at me like I'm throwing away aura."
"Well…" he trailed off, looking down and not arguing. "Sorry. Really, I am. They'll be coming for me soon…"
As if on cue, two official-looking Changelings flew over to their niche. "We are here for Trezin of the Forty Fifth Hive, Niche 98," one said. Azrith bit her lip.
"Yes. Yes, he's right here," she said. She wrapped her ragged wings around Trezin. "Be amazing." She dropped her voice to a whisper.
He trotted away with the other two Changelings. Azrith stared at him as he left their cozy niche forever. Not for the first time in her life, Azrith couldn't help feeling completely and totally alone.
She turned away and focused on levitating a clipboard with all the things she needed for work. She couldn't mope around just because her best friend was being taken from her for years. Azrith blinked away tears and remembered the steps to levitation, from so long ago. She was just a larva, barely out of isolation.
Focus on the object.
He was her only friend.
Feel the power building up in you? Let it flow.
If love existed within the Changeling Kingdom, she thought she might have loved him.
Let the power surround the object.
Oh, no. She didn't want him to leave her. She'd grown too attached.
No, Azrith, not that much power, you'll-
She gave a small chuckle at the memory as she began to make her way to work. She'd had the quill in the air. The teacher began to congratulate her at being the first of her class to manage to get the feather pen in the air. The power began to become too much, and the pen burst into flames. Everyone panicked, except for one male sitting in the back, alone. He had approached the fire calmly, and batted his wing across it, burning the limb but successfully keeping the fire from spreading.
"You saved us!"
"Guess I did, yeah."
"What's your name?"
"Trezin. Yours?"
"Azrith."
"You're late!"
Azrith jumped, dropping the clipboard. She quickly got it back up in the air, looking nervously at the desk lady. "I'm so sorry, Miss Wrelis. I-" She swallowed hard, blinking rapidly. "My nichemate left for our Hive Mother today. Special training."
"Well, that is no reason to be late on the job!" she snapped, glaring at Azrith. "You do realize that the Queen herself is waiting on you in the next room, don't you?"
Azrith's slit eyes widened to full circles. "You're not serious," she said, jumping a half inch in the air.
"I'm always serious, Azrith," the female sighed. "Go on in."
Azrith entered the wide meeting room, where it was often discussed the Changelings' next destination. Inside, there was only the Queen, sitting calmly at the far end of the long, wooden table with her eyes closed. The torches on the walls were out, casting an eerie shadow upon the wide room. Azrith gulped nervously, though the Queen hadn't even taken notice of her presence yet.
Azrith cleared her throat. "Your Highness," she said weakly, sinking into a low bow.
The Queen's eyes opened, and her muzzle curved into a wide smile that Azrith couldn't quite interpret. "You may rise, young one," she spoke, her voice a soft, chilling whisper. Azrith stood slowly. "Approach me."
The scout hesitated, but began making her way to the other end of the room, hoofstep by hoofstep. The room seemed to become colder the closer she got to the Queen, and Azrith shivered, whether in fear or change in temperature she couldn't decide.
"You are late," Queen Chrysalis said when Azrith had reached her, flicking her tongue as she spoke.
"I'm terribly sorry, your Highness, time just slipped away, and-" She was silenced as the royal Changeling held up one hoof.
"It is of no matter now," she murmured. "What is, however, is that I am quickly failing."
Azrith swallowed hard. "Failing, as in-"
"Dying, yes," the Queen said softly, staring straight ahead. "As you know, the auras are very important to each and every Hive."
"Yes, of course, ma'am," Azrith replied, trying not to let her fear show. If Queen Chrysalis was dying, who would lead the Changelings? Who would feed them? "You bring the auras back from races that are kind enough to grant us portions of their love."
"Ah, yes," the Queen almost smiled. "But what is not widely known is that I do not get aura until every other Changeling does. You feel the cold air, correct?" Azrith nodded sharply. "In our last hunt, we barely got enough love to sustain all the Hives. I did not receive any. Child, do you know what happens when a Changeling is starved of aura?"
"No, ma'am, I don't." There had always been plenty of aura for even the lowest Hive.
"We freeze."
Whatever Azrith thought she was expecting, this was not it. Freeze? "I-I'm not sure I understand, your Highness," she stammered. "What do you mean by 'freeze'?"
"I mean that quite literally, Azrith," Queen Chrysalis said, much too calmly. "Our bodies slowly become cold, and if we do not eat, we become covered in ice and unable to move. There is no way back from this state, for the lips are sealed shut. No aura is able to pass through, and even encased in fire, the ice refuses to melt. It is an unfortunate part of our biology, one that I fear will happen to me."
"How can I help?" Azrith asked desperately. "I won't let that happen to you, your Highness."
The Queen gave that mysterious smile again, the strange one that Azrith couldn't make anything of. "Ah, I was very much hoping you would ask," she said. "I believe you have heard our plans to go to Equestria for love?"
Azrith nodded. "Yes, I have," she said. "I have heard that they are bountiful of aura, but you were hesitant to go to the ponies. With all the greatest respect, your Highness, why?"
The Queen closed her eyes again. "Unfortunately, they do not blend well with those who do not look like them," she said. "If we go there, they might become hostile."
"A few of us could disguise ourselves to look like them!" Azrith said, an idea forming in her head. "We could befriend ourselves with the ponies, then once we become close to them, we show them that we can be trusted, no matter what we look like."
The Queen opened her eyes and studied Azrith closely. "You realize that you must fake friendship, correct?" she stated. Azrith winced under her heavy gaze. "You must not become close to these ponies. And once you have proved our race's diplomacy, you must leave immediately, before the army gets to their land to extract the aura."
Azrith nodded excitedly. "It is in my job description, your Highness," she said. "I am one of the best at disguises."
"And I shall go with you," the Queen said, and Azrith recoiled in surprise.
"B-but, your Highness, with all due respect, you are in no state to leave the Kingdom," she said, lowering her eyes immediately when Queen Chrysalis fixed her with an intense glare.
"It is not of your business where I decide to go. You are but a scout. Do you understand? You will not question my orders. Meet me back in this room in one month's time. I will have gathered the other scouts myself," she snapped. "That is all. Leave me at once!"
Azrith scurried out of the room and all the way back to her niche, heart pounding the whole way there.