Cover art created by Jesuka on Deviantart
Change is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfiction by tom117z. You can read it at Fimfiction.net
A mother will do a lot for her child, even give them up if it meant them having a safer life growing up, despite the obvious pain that comes for the parent.That pain is something Queen Chrysalis has gone through for eighteen years, but now the time is upon them, and she wants her daughter back. Even if that means invading Canterlot during a royal wedding.
The story is complete as of October 9th 2016. A sequel has been released called Change: Queen of the Hive.
See also Little Changes, a crossover between this fic and Little Glimpses, co-written by tom117z and Glimpses author Skijirama, staring Changeling Twilight and Princess Rainbow Dash.
This Fan Fic contains examples of:
- Absolute Xenophobe: The guards following the fake Commander Broad Sword
- Adaptational Heroism: Queen Chrysalis is not an evil queen at all. She is kind and caring and wants for all of her subjects to be healthy and happy, including her own daughter. She only invades Canterlot to gather love energy for her hive and save Twilight's life, not to conquer the land. She even tells the others where to find the real Cadance when the invasion is over.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: The climax for act 2 has Crudelis and her army attack the Badlands hive.
- Alternate Universe: Twilight is a changeling, not a unicorn.
- Arch-Enemy: Queen Crudelis, who is the story's Big Bad. She's also Twilight's great aunt.
- Artifact Domination: The regalia of the Changeling Empress, sought after by Queen Crudelis.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When a hysterical Chrysalis confronts Celestia over the apparent death of her daughter Twilight, asking why she shouldn't burn Canterlot to the ground for it, Celestia shocks the grieving mother into submission by telling her Twilight is still alive, being saved from the brink of death and is currently in a coma.
- Beneath the Mask: Twilight, who knew she was different but kept it hidden out of fear of rejection.
- Big Bad: Crudelis
- Big Brother Instinct: Shining Armor volunteers to go scout for Chrysalis' hive in a heat blasted wasteland, his real intentions are to find Twilight at all costs.
- Big Damn Heroes: Spike when he gouges an attacking dragon's eyes out to save Twilight from being crushed to death.
- When Longshot saves Chrysalis from Serpens' blade and shooting him with an arrow, at the cost of his own life.
- Big Good: Twilight Sparkle
- Break the Cutie: Twilight is her book loving adorkable self In Spite of a Nail, but then her mother is killed...
- Call-Back: Lesson Zero, Longshot was rather traumatized upon hearing that story.
- The Cameo: Discord in Chapter 63.
- Christmas Episode: One of the flashback chapters shows Twilight celebrating Heartswarming with her family, and she receives a gift with no name from the sender, a signed copy of the new Daring Do book from Queen Chrysalis.
- Cliffhanger: Many, many of these...
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Chrysalis' changelings VS Shining Armor, Longshot and Vladimir. The latter three are overwhelmed VERY quickly.
- Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Chrysalis had to give Twilight up due to infants (especially royals) needing more love energy than they could provide at the time.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Chrysalis, she invades Canterlot and replaces Cadance, but only to save her daughter's life.
- Decapitated Army Crudelis' death renders her army of changeling drones into a state of fear and panic as their hive mind collapses.
- Deus Exit Machina: Discord is absent for nearly the entire conflict, with his brief cameo revealing he was out on holiday in another dimension. Had he been there, he probably could have defeated Crudelis and her entire army with a single snap of his fingers.
- Doorstop Baby: Chrysalis leaves the newborn Twilight on the doorstep of Twilight Velvet and Night Light, knowing they would be the perfect home to take care of her daughter in a loving environment.
- The Dreaded: The dragon Niadhogr, who earned the title "The Consumer of Queens" by killing Queen Avia, the mother of Queen Chrysalis.
- Emotion Eater: Changelings eat love along with the usual physical foods.
- Eye Scream:
- Spike saves Twilight from the dragon Niadhogr by digging his claws and teeth deep into his left eye, and then his right eye too.
- Twilight ultimately kills Crudelis this way, by shooting an arrow into her eye at pointblank range.
- Fake Kill Scare: Twilight becomes enraged when Captain Carduus is seemingly killed by Crudelis, but medics later find a pulse revealing that he is alive, but crippled to the point where he had to leave the Changeling Royal Guard.
- Foreshadowing: “I know that,” Carduus said sternly. “Doesn’t change the fact that she is dead, and there was nothing I could have done. Next time I will do something, even throw myself in front of a magic bolt intended for her if I must.” - He does exactly that in the final battle.
- Talk of the Empress and her regalia throughout acts two and three, also acts as a Sequel Hook.
- Frame-Up: Serpens makes an assassination attempt on Twilight while disguised as Broad Sword, a royal guard pony, this framing Equestria for the apparent murder of the princess of the Badlands hive.
- From Bad to Worse: Changelings attack Ponyville after destroying the Badlands Hive.
- Good All Along: Chrysalis isn't as bad as the ponies first thought...
- Happily Adopted: Twilight was adopted by Night Night and Twilight Velvet after they found her on their doorstep, she was a Doorstop Baby.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Queen Imperatrix realizes 155 years after Avia leaves the hive that Avia was right about the way they should treat the ponies, and she has grown tired of being an evil queen. Before she can do anything to change the hive or herself though, she is immediately murdered by her daughter Crudelis.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Longshot dies saving Queen Chrysalis.
- Hive Mind: The changelings have this, they are all linked to the royalty but other than them can only telepathically communicate with those of the same class of changeling or those they set up a specialised connection with. They need the hive to live long lives, else they wither and die.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Chrysalis on attacking Canterlot.
- In Spite of a Nail: Twilight still loves books and all things magic, our lovable bookworm.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Pinkie Pie is just Pinkie Pie...
- Let's You and Him Fight: The original plan Queen Crudelis has for dealing with Chrysalis and Equestria. Using an agent from another hive, she plots to assassinate Twilight, the daughter of Chrysalis, and have Equestria be blamed for it. Chrysalis will become so enraged over the death of her daughter that she will declare war on Equestria, only to be wiped out due to her hive being outnumbered and weak due to a love shortage. Also as a potential bonus, Equestria could be left in a weak enough state afterwards that Crudelis could easily conquer it herself. However, the plan fails when Twilight survives the assassination attempt, allowing Celestia to calm Chrysalis before she can do anything drastic, and work together to bring the real assassin to justice.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Chrysalis is Twilight Sparkle's mother.
- Mama Bear: Chrysalis attacks Canterlot to protect her daughter.
- Princess Celestia and Twilight Velvet also have moments through the story, especially when Twilight is stabbed in an assassination attempt.
- Matricide: Queen Crudelis kill her mother, Queen Imperatrix, who is having second thoughts about the whole 'evil queen' routine.
- Mythology Gag: Discord mentions messing with that 'one bald captain'. This being a referance to Star Trek: The Next Generation where Discord's actor, John De Lancie, also played Q, who incidentally is also the character that Discord was based off of.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Shining Armor lashes out at Twilight on seeing her changeling form, resulting in the Princess running off in tears. Suffice to say, the others are a bit angry... until they find out why he lashed out.
- Oh, Crap!: Shining Armor, when the changelings turn to look at him and the others who are supposedly hidden.
- When Carduus spots a suspicious drone in the atrium.
- Past Experience Nightmare: Twilight after her near assassination by Infiltrator Serpens, and later after her mother's death.
- Perception Filter: Hides the Badlands Hive from view.
- Pyrrhic Victory: The xenophobic guards and their leader are stopped, but Celestia failed to talk them down, and Longshot is killed.
- Redemption Rejection: During the final battle with Crudelis, Twilight offered her one chance to change her ways, but Crudelis refuses and attacks Twilight again, forcing Twilight to end her life.
- Red Shirt: That one maid with the red coat...
- Regretful Traitor: Harvest Leaf joined 'Broad Sword' in attacking Princess Twilight, but later tells Celestia and Luna where their base is out of guilt.
- Sequel Hook: Ends with a teaser of things to come, not everything is resolved by the epilogue...
- Shout-Out: Right before Serpens stabs Twilight in an assassination attempt on her he whispers to her "Queen Crudelis sends her regards".
- Title Drop: In Chapter 47:
- Crudelis: "Oh I do, Chrysalis. But there is no tradition against… change."
- Tone Shift: It starts out with Twilight bonding with her mother, failing to fly and other slice-of-life interactions... Then Twilight is almost assassinated, one or two murders happen, Twilight's hive is destroyed and her mother killed and a giant battle is fought in Ponyville. Among other things.
- Wham Episode: Lightening Strikes, Que Est Finis: Part 1, 2 and 3.
- Wham Line: "While we mourn the passing of Queen Chrysalis, today a new era begins. All hail Twilight Sparkle, Queen of the Changelings."
- Whole Episode Flashback: Several chapters are flashbacks showing background for different characters between major events.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: As Chrysalis describes the ancient Changeling Empress.
- Also Queen Crudelis wants the Empress' regalia to control the changeling race and 'save' them.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Queen Crudelis slaughters the hive of Queen Vespula, who had been working for her, once she sees them as little more than a loose end. This attack leaves the sisters Soronis and Puellula the only survivors.
- You Killed My Mother: Twilight becomes VERY pissed at Crudelis after she fatally wounds Chrysalis, who dies in her sleep shortly afterwards.
- You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Crudelis believes Twilight won't kill her because she was raised among ponies and is a pony at heart. Twilight proves her wrong, because while she might have been raised a pony she is a Changeling Queen.
