The bottom of the sea, a vast wasteland where very few venture into, and even fewer return. From what limited visibility one can get, only sand can be seen in this aquatic wasteland. Several rocks of various sizes are sprinkled around the area, but being too far apart from one another, most would say they don’t exist down in the unknown. On one of the larger stones, the small, pink body of an Earth Pony lays there, lifeless. It had been hours since the poor creature had air in her lungs, warmth in her heart, eye contact with her long gone lover. Her golden hair had lost its glow a long time ago, and is now just a ribbon of yellow hair attached to a pink figure. The body once known as Princess Crystal Charm continues to lay there motionless, with no sign of life to be found anywhere near it.

However, Crystal was not truly alone at the bottom of the oceans outside of Trihearth. A voice, deep and ominous, echoes from seemingly nowhere and enters the ears of the mare, “Wake up…” The young mare’s eyes open from hearing the voice. All she sees is darkness and the pale ground surrounding her black island. The last thing she remembers before blacking out and waking in this strange place was her struggling to reach Seirbigh on the ship during the storm.

“Am, am I dead?” Crystal speaks, unsure of where she is or how she got here.

“No, nor are you alive.”

“What? Where am I? What do you mean by me not being alive?”

“So many questions, so much time, so much to do. And to think, I’ve only awoken from my centuries of slumber in less than a day.”

“Who are you? Where’s Seirbigh? Please tell me!”

“My, I can’t just let my newly appointed proxy struggle like this, I must enlighten you. You are currently on the ocean floor, a couple of kilometers off of the coast of Trihearth. Your life was depleted from your body when you drowned on the surface above by a storm one of my loyal servants summoned from me. However, you are not dead. Your body, your soul, your passion for this stallion you speak of still exists in this world. The love can be seen in your eyes that pulsate the colours of desire.”

“What does that mean?”

“Your body and soul do not thrive upon life anymore, but upon love. You have never broken eye contact with your love with the last seconds of your life, fueling your soul to never pass on and pursue the love that is now bonded to your essence. And now that you have no life within you, I shall now take over your body and breathe a new life into it, and make you my proxy.”

“But who are you? And what do you plan to do with me?” A loud rumble then shakes the ocean floor, nearly throwing Crystal from her rock. She sees something move in the darkness in front of her, it appeared to be massive. The large figure then moves forward and reveals itself to her. The voice that had been speaking to her turns out to be what appeared to be a massive dragon’s head, with a curved mouth resembling the structure of that of a parrot and millions of dark red scales masking its face. A pair of glowing yellow eyes opens near the top of the beast’s head and stares into Crystal.

“My name is Aspidochelone, the Great Beast of the Unknown Seas. I travel the world and display my power and majesty to all. However, one day I fell asleep and  could not wake up, most likely a sleeping poison was placed upon me by some hunter in attempts to slay me. As I slept for thousands of years, the backmost part of my great shell became the foundation for an island, the island you know as Trihearth. But, instead of respecting me, it appears that the citizens of this country don’t give their gratitude for me supplying their home, and have become corrupted individuals fighting each other for their own selfish reasons. And thanks to one of my loyalist of proxies, I have awoken to my fresh blood flowing through my veins. You shall serve as my instrument of revenge for the destruction of the prestige of my body.”

“But Trihearth is not corrupt. It’s just going through troubling times now, peace and harmony will return.”

“Are you sure? How then? Thrill me if thou must.”

“I was about to marry the love of my life, Seirbigh. And together in the future, along with my friends Dorch and Ceann, we’d take our place as rulers and repair the bonds that were once broken at the time of our parents’ reign.”

“You claim that this Seirbigh is loyal to you?”

“Why would he be not?”

“I sense otherwise. My shell hears what is happening upon the surface, and it hears of something that challenges thy statement. But you don’t believe me, does thou? I shall show you, my servant.”

The massive beast’s eyes close and deep rumble emanates from its head. Crystal groans in discomfort as she feels her spine and her hooves being stretched out beyond her natural limits. “What are you doing? My body, it feels strange…” She then looks down to see her lush, pink fur and sees it rot into a sickly black. “My coat, it’s disgusting!” Crystal then witnesses her golden waves of hair decay into streaks of teal vines. “My mane! Please, stop it!” No response from the beast is given to her as the transformation continues. Sharp pains spike across the princess’ body as holes begin to appear on her hooves. A long, sharp, gnarled horn sprouts from her forehead and stretches several centimeters in length. Thin, weathered, insectoid wings emerge from her sides with a crystalline structure forming around her midriff. Crystal, now crying as the pain drastically increases, begins to bash herself against the hard rock below her, trying to end it all, but only worsens the agony of the alteration. “Please... Stop…” But the dragon-like beast is not done yet. He continues to deform his victim even further by giving her fangs, a scrawny torso, and turning her eyes from their once magenta hue into a hypnotic gradient of cyan colours. When his work was complete, the beast known as Aspidochelone opens his piercing eyes once more to see his creation.

“You are now perfect, my servant.”

“Perfect?! I’m hideous!” Crystal weeps, examining her new form. Her voice begins to grow deeper and distorted, like two similar voices unsynchronized, “I hate everything of what you’ve done to me! Anypony will not recognize me and think of me as a monster. My citizens, my friends, my family, even Seirbigh will be revolted by my ugly appearance. I’ll do anything, anything you desire, just change me back to whom I was.” The behemoth stayed silent for a while, contemplating his vast array of options.

“I give you the ability to change your form. I shall now call you by that by the name of a Changeling, a name suited for you and other creature of your likeness. However, you can only change your appearance into that in which a pony loves. This shall include friends, family, lovers, or anypony that receives anything by the definition of love that I see fit.”

“What do you mean by other creatures?”

“Other animals, ponies, or botanical life that has a likeness to you and your abilities, this includes proxies that you wish to create to help execute my commands. How to create a Changeling of your own control, you must seep out the life of a living pony by either biting into his neck, or engage the pony in intercourse. This shall also be your means of self-survival, for although I am replacing your life, your body still needs food, and that food is love. Now, do as I say, and go to Trihearth. There you shall see the erring of your beliefs.”

“Why should I do anything you say? I might as well let myself starve to death than serve you and accept your disturbing methods.”

“You can. There is nothing I can do to prevent that. But what about Seirbigh, you still seek him. Don’t you? You are practically at the edge of your stone, wondering what is going on upon the surface world. There’s no use denying it, all I have said, you are accepting it to be possible, but thou doesn’t know if it is in actuality.”

“Stop this now! You’re putting words that I have not spoken into my mouth!”

“You may not have spoken it, but I can sense within the darkest, most secretive fragments of your body and soul. End this self-denial now, do as I say, and go back to Trihearth. Your new life begins now…” With that said, the massive beast retreats back into the darkness, with the last thing Crystal seeing are his yellow eyes. Now, back alone on the barren ocean floor, the disfigured mare looks at herself once more as she thinks of what to do next.

“Why must this have happened to me? What must I have done to deserve this? Am I a monster, or still a mare? Must I follow this ‘master’ and return to my home, as this disgusting abomination? Will Seirbigh still see me as Crystal Charm, or a demon of the seas? I still love him, but will he still love me? And what did that monster mean by me creating my own Changelings and surviving without a life of my own? Must I kill and turn the innocent into abominations like me, all for the pleasure of some mysterious creature of the deep? I can no longer trust what life tells me to do, for it is gone and replaced with the wishes of that foul beast. My body and soul say no, and yet, at the same time, it desires for me to return to my love, no matter the costs. I must go to Trihearth, I shall return to my home, and I will reunite with Seirbigh.”

The black creature looks up towards the sun above the surface of the water. Her wings unfold and begin to buzz rapidly, lifting her off of the black rock she had laid upon for hours. Crystal quickly ascends to the ocean surface and bursts from the waters, returning to the sunlight and air she was used to. Hovering several metres above the sea, the reborn pony looks around and sees Trihearth in the distance. Giving no time to take in her surroundings, the princess darts off towards the island, more eager than ever to see in her love’s eyes once more.

“Go, do as I command thee. As soon as chaos reaches its peak across each of the warring states, I shall make myself known once more…”