Much has changed in the two years since the battle of Canterlot. The initial strike had left the quadling hive in command of over 60% of the Equestrian economy. Thanks to my intervention, the hive itself had skipped nearly two hundred and fifty years of technological developments and was firmly up to par with early 21st century earth technology. Furthermore, they had accessed the databases on the computers that I had sold them, granting them an understanding level great enough that they could reproduce any Earth technology and invent at a similar speed.

Then, the changelings turned around and started leaking ‘discoveries,’ in chronological order, to the ponies. Within the last six months, Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus ceased to be the only Equestrian cities with factories, though none could compete with the changeling industrial powerhouse. Still, in combination with their queen’s subtle machinations, Equestria experienced an economic boom comparable to the roaring 20’s of the 20th century.

The next part of Chrysalis’s plan for the nation her hive now infested was a propaganda campaign. In it, she encouraged national pride, love for one another, and to trust in other ponies. This, along with her economic plans, boosted morale in Equestria to a never-before-seen high. Or, as the changelings would say, Equestria was an all-you-can-eat happiness buffet.

In return for my efforts to digitize the changelings, they had offered me full access to the minerals within the changeling caverns. A few bribes, a liberal usage of hypnosis, and a conversion or three, and I found myself in the possession of a mine on Earth that had been declared ‘too expensive to operate.’ A few permanent portals within and the shafts connected to the edge of the changeling caverns.

The day my new mining engineer came bursting into my office was an interesting day to be sure. Mohammad Sherzai, my engineer and head geologist, was one of six true humans that knew that there was a portal within the caves. Convinced that there was something odd about the rock beyond the world barrier, his tests had concluded that none of the rocks should have been possible. Valuable minerals had formed next to other valuable minerals in combinations that should have destroyed one while the other was forming. When he confronted me, I had explained that this was not Earth that we were mining on, asked him to be quiet with this information, and promptly raised his pay by an additional 50%.

After initially freaking out about the fact that he was on an alien world, Mr. Sherzai started freaking out about the rocks that composed the walls. Almost every non-radioactive metal on the periodic table could be found in abundant quantities, as well as gemstones of every color and size, pre-cut as they tended to form in Equestria. There was celebration amongst the miners who worked there, having long since thought that they were going to lose their jobs when the mine went out, only to find that they had ‘hit’ the most valuable mineral deposit ever to be found ‘on Earth.’

When the first sales started coming in, Greenfyre Inc. – the owning corporation for my mine and legitimate business front for my kingdom – nearly doubled its current value.

Greenfyre Inc. was a company that specialized in investing in smaller businesses. We would buy up small companies and begin to help them grow using a market information gathering network completely unknown to our competitors: the hive mind. Though it is too soon to tell if our efforts will bring in much money, the more economically-minded members of the hive had assured me that my investments are promising.

The ‘Eye of the Beholder,’ formerly known as the ‘Sound Byte,’ could be listed among the top nightclubs within the state of Georgia. After my… purchase… of it a year and a half ago as one of my first acquisitions, I had given the run-down club some much needed TLC. A redesigning of the interior to have the more organic look of Chrysalis’ hive and a replacement of most of the human staff with changelings had lead this to become the place for a ‘ling to unwind. In the main room with the dance floor, disguises were a must as humans also frequented the updated club. However, in the V.I.P. side rooms that are changeling only, my people were free to be themselves.

It was on a cool autumn night that I found myself walking in the ‘Eye of the Beholder’ alone. The face I wore tonight was Zachary ‘Zed’ Sanders, one of sixty different custom faces complete with false ID, birth record, and a financial history. The twenty-five year old man had smooth black hair, weighed 155 lbs., and looked rather effeminate. The last fact did not bother me in the slightest as I had sixteen ‘real’ women in my arsenal. I wore a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt with the word ‘impostor’ in green on the back. On my hands, I wore a pair of leather gloves that could obscure most of the glow that comes from using magic.

After searching for a moment, I sat down at the bar in a stool next to a human woman in a red dress and waived over to the bartender. A quick telepathic request later and he was sliding me a glowing drink made with a dash of real happiness. The woman gave my drink an odd look before asking me, “What is that?”

“Poisoned Happiness,” I replied, giving her the name of the drink. “I’m Zed, by the way.”

“Never heard of it. I’m Beth, Bee to my friends,” the now named Beth replied.

“You wouldn’t have,” I said before downing a quarter of the glass. “It’s for those in the know.” It was at this point that I gave the aura of emotions surrounding her a more detailed analysis. Desire: she wants something to end. Frustration: judging by the behavior of her aura, the object of her frustration is somewhere within the club but out of sight. Lust: there, but muted, as if she is under satisfied. Love: fading and fading fast. I glance to her other side where a half-drunk beer stands in front of the stool directly beside her. The person must have just left, but since there is no tip there, he or she is probably coming back.

“Miss Beth,” I said, preparing myself for a little experiment, “I consider myself to be rather talented at reading emotions and situations. Tell me, are you having relationship issues?” Her reaction told me that I had hit right on the money. Before her anger could spike too high, I held up my hands. “If you don’t want to talk, or have anything to do with me, that is not a problem. However, I find that having someone to share drinks with and listen to you can be quite… liberating. Bartender,” I called, turning my head to him, “Would you make her a shot of ‘World Peace,’ on me?” The drink was a shot of vodka watered down with literal tranquility; it was not a very appetizing for a changeling, but calming to a human.

Apparently deciding to take me up on my offer, she downed the expensive shot the moment it was set before her. Her shoulders immediately relaxed as she sighed deeply. “Oh, wow, that feels good. If I didn’t know better, I would say that was literally world peace.” I only smirked knowingly at Beth’s comment.

My hands, hidden by my gloves, lit up with magic. I telekinetically pressed on a few nerves, causing her to relax further. I dilated my eyes – a sign of arousal – and started to release a set of pheromones that stimulates blood flow and heart rate in humans. As a changeling, I have full voluntary control over my own anatomy, including parts that would otherwise be controlled by instinct and reflex. Effectively, I could mimic the body language of being ‘turned on’ at the drop of a hat; I did just that in my efforts to seduce her.

“Thanks for that, Zed,” she said in regards to the shot, unaware of my magical assistance. I triggered a slight blush in response. “And you’re right, by the way. Dave, my boyfriend, is a total Dick. I don’t know why I ever fell in love with him. He drags me around everywhere to ‘show off his catch,’ yet I feel like I caught the little fish, if you know what I mean,” the buxom woman said. “He’s horribly possessive and jealous. I don’t know if I could even leave him if I tried.”

“So, I would assume that he would not like it if he found me sitting here with you?” I asked.

“No, he wouldn’t,” said new, aggressive human presence that arrived behind us. Without even looking, I could tell by the interaction of the ambient emotions that this was her boyfriend, Dave.

“Dave,” Beth said calmly. I had a feeling that she would have reacted more strongly had she not drunken the ‘World Peace’ a minute ago.

I spun around on my bar stool to find the slightly overweight form of Dave glaring at me. It did not take much to realize that he was a few rungs lower on the social ladder than his girlfriend. “Ah,” I said, “you must be Dave. Beth here was telling me about you. Name’s Zed.” I extended my hand in greeting; due to his drunken anger, I fully expected him to not return the gesture.

“Get the fuck away from my girl, creep.” When he shoved my hand away, I could feel my magic stirring within. Dozens of eyes turned to look at us, responding to my unconscious influence over the hive mind. Even the DJ turned the music down a few decibels and looked towards us.

My eyebrow twitched as my pupils constricted to pinpricks. “Now now, I was only talking. It’s not my fault if her beauty compels men to buy her drinks,” I replied, flashing a grin in Beth’s direction. As I turned back to Dave, my grin turned sinister and grew wider, bordering on a width that was anatomically impossible.

Before I could react, the drunken man slugged me in the face. I was knocked out of my seat and slumped down against the bar. The changeling occupants of the room went silent instantly. As I struggled to maintain my form despite the impact, I dismissively signaled for my hive to back down. I spat out a glob of blood which was just as red as any human’s. Shakily, I stood back up and said, “That wasn’t very nice; you made me bite my cheek.” I looked him in the eye and let my formerly grey eyes flash into my true, two-tone green eyes.

“The fuck are you?” Dave screamed. He drew a gun that had been concealed in his belt. “You ain’t human, are you? Human eyes don’t do that. Get the fuck away from me, and get the fuck away from my girl.”

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that,” I said, tweaking my voice slightly. “It seems that you don’t know what happens to those who threaten me.” I cocked my head and shoved my hands in my pockets.

“What?” the armed man said.

“I hate fighting, so I’ll have to disarm you. Put the weapon down or I will make you,” I said, as if totally unfazed by the weapon pointed at my forehead. In truth, I was about ready to crap myself in fear, and so were about half the people in the room, changeling or otherwise. I knew Chrysalis was a psudo-immortal, meaning that as long as she was not completely destroyed, had the magical energy, and had at least one living changeling, she could regenerate from any wound. Chrysalis had survived getting beheaded; I did not want to test if I had inherited that portion of her power as well.

At Dave’s refusal to lower the gun, I held out my left hand, palm up, and counted, “3… 2… 1…” When he did not surrender the weapon, I turned my left into the position of holding a gun and used my hidden right hand to teleport it into my hand. Quickly, I flipped the safety on and pulled out the magazine clip. As I tossed the inert weapon to the bartender, Dave snapped out of his stunned shock and slugged me again. The blow flipped me back across the bar and I crashed down on a glass. The combination of a fractured jaw and shards in my back caused me to lose portions of my disguise.

Fangs exposed, wings flared, eyes glowing with power, and mind fogged with rage and pain, I rose to see my assaulter. He was restrained by some of my changelings in more muscular disguises. Dave, Beth, and all of the other humans in the room gaped at my changed appearance. Crimson blood trickled out of my mouth as I said with barely controlled rage, “I believe I told you to put your weapon down or I would disarm you.”

Tilting my head to the side, I signaled my hive members to release him. No sooner than I had done so than, without moving an inch, I gripped his bones and tendons with my magic. This simultaneously dragged him into the air, arms outstretched, and hid the distinctive glow of magic under his flesh. As he screamed in fear, I slowly lowered him back down to the floor. Set on his feet and released from my grip, I commanded, “Kneel.”

Dave staggered a moment, then said, “Fuck you, demon.”

My eyes narrowed dangerously. With a surge of magic, they lit up with hypnotic power. “I. Said. KNEEL!” With the full brunt of the hive mind’s willpower, I burned the command into his mind. His resistance folded instantly and he lowered himself to the ground. I issued a round of commands to the ‘lings in the room, which began acting upon them immediately.

My hand raced out and grabbed the fist that he had hit me with, twice. As I pulled, a pulse of teleportation magic severed the hand at the wrist more cleanly than any blade ever could. Dave, broken from the hypnotic trance, screamed.

I muttered under my breath, “Damn, there goes my appetite.” Turning to Beth, I saw her flinch and step back. I don’t blame her; the nice man she had been talking to just grew fangs, wings, sinister green eyes, and effortlessly ripped off her boyfriend’s hand. I said to her, “There are real monsters in this world. I’m sorry... good night.” With that, I vanished in a flash of light to my private room in the club before grabbing a trash can and vomiting. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’

Wasp was sitting down with his date, Clara, when the music went out. Behind her, he could see the confrontation between his king and that human. Suddenly, the king let out a mental command to the occupants of the room, <<Somebody call an ambulance for the human,>> before ripping off the man’s hand.

Wasp quickly grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and called 911. “911, what is your emergency?” the operator answered.

“A man just got his hand cut off at the wrist. I didn’t see how. We’re at the ‘Eye of Beholder’ night club and he is by the bar on the left side of the room.”

“Alright, I’ve called an ambulance to your location. Now, I’m going to need you to help stop the bleeding,” she said.

“Somebody’s already tying up the arm with their shirt, and it looks like the bartender just put the severed hand in ice water.” Wasp watched as somebody also gave him a tiny dose of changeling venom to keep him still and null the pain.

“Good. Alright, I’m going to need you to stay on the line and help me keep him calm. Here is what you need to do…”

Author's Notes:

*Ding* Have a chapter!

I wrote this while on pain meds from having my wisdom teeth yanked. I got knocked out, loose four teeth, take drugs, and slave away on a chapter for you anyway. Aren't I dedicated?

In this chapter, I wanted to get a little world building done while I skip into the future. (A note on the MLP timeline: it is stretched out in my story. Seasons 2 and three have 2-3 years in between them, rather than all 4 seasons occurring within 1 year like S4, E1 implied.) This is also a little look into the activities of Rex before his day becomes shitty. Honestly, despite his aversion to fighting, his predatory nature will peak through. Given a few years, I could see him killing in retaliation, even if he never throws the first punch. Possibly, he may even start eating human meat in the distant future like Chrysalis does now with captured ponies (see here). The truth is, at this point, Rex doesn't consider himself human anymore.

Don't flame at me; look at the vampire genre. They want to kill and eat you any time they are not fighting the urge to fuck you first (*Cough*Sparkling Vampires*Cough*), yet we still love them (albeit irrationally).

Also, Dave, though we may never see him again, does live. Don't worry, the hospital gets his had reattached with minimal scarring and a complete recovery. Had his hand been cut off by anything less sharp, it would have been much harder to attach because the cut would have been so much messier.

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Changeling horcrux! Totally awesome! F.Y.I. He does have that power, but doesn't know it and doesn't want to find out. Also, he feels 100% of all the pain any injury inflicts upon him, even if he uses that power to survive.

2001: A Space Odyssey reference! Totally unplanned!

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Stats time!

year: 2031
Changeling population: 324 (259 converted, 64 hatched.)
Changeling owned businesses: 6
Funds: $52.5 million cash + $128.9 million raw materials + $60.1 million in businesses. (Total wealth: $241.5 million, or $0.74 million per changeling.)

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The hypnosis spell works by using your willpower to suppress the personality of the target and create a false personality to do your bidding. This depends on your will being far stronger than your victim's. While unicorns can use the spell, most of the time the difference in willpower between user and victim is too close and the victim breaks out. Changelings have an advantage in that they can use the hive mind's willpower to supplement their own. 324:1 is not a fair fight in a battle of wills.

The hypnosis spell, for all its uses, is actually quite pathetic. It, like other mind spells (in my headcanon), leaves a visible tell in the eyes (glows the color of the user's magic). (It's just like how Sombra's fear door gives Sombra-eyes.) Furthermore, pain, electric shock, nerve damaging injuries/poisons, or a (painful but harmless) magical pulse inflicted upon the victim after being hypnotized can disrupt the spell. Those same thing beforehand, however, can aid the caster by weakening the mind of the victim first.

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Wasp is an OC belonging to lord scoro.