Prologue
The Changeling Empire was once a thriving place to live in, hidden under the façade of any regular kingdom you would encounter. On the surface, ponies, pegasi, and unicorns lived their daily lives uninhibited by change, unknowing of what lay beneath. Those who even had a shred of doubt were sent away and replaced.
Replaced by what, you might ask? A Changeling, of course. The appearance, the voice, the attitude and personality, everything copied and represented in a false being. This was how it was done for centuries, before I was even born. Half of the empire we inhabited became Changelings, the other half the unsuspecting citizens. Those we replaced… what, you didn't think we killed them, did you? We simply erased their memories and sent them away. No use wasting food.
I'm not sure you have guessed by now, but my name is Chrysalis, Princess- no, Queen of the Changeling Kingdom. I have surpassed my mother, Queen Papilionem, after her death three years ago. I never knew my father; a culture of the Changelings. Every changeling knew only one of their parents, be it their father after the mother abandoned them, or their mother after seducing one of the normal citizens. It was how we got on with life, never really having ties except to the royalty of the kingdom.
The Queen of the kingdom was my mother. She was by far the tallest Changeling I have ever met, and the one I looked up to the most. Her face, unlike most, was squarer than the other changelings, giving her an angled beauty. Her thin wings were violet with a pink sheen, her eyes a deep fuchsia color, and her mane was as flowing as blue-violet willow fronds. She was whom I got my features from; the same willowy mane and tail, the slight angles to my own face, and the length of my legs.
She ruled with an iron hoof, but held the compassion for the well-being of her subjects. She ensured that our people never went hungry, rationed food if she had to, and even cut her own meal so that her people would not go hungry. And it was up to me to withhold her legacy.