The gloomy atmosphere felt appropriate for such a place. Dark, damp, small tinges of green with black overlay, and the occasional cesspool of green slime. If these do not equal to Changeling territory in one’s mind, then they do not get around very much.

At the center of this barren and dead wasteland was a tree. Obviously dead, its blackened exterior fit amongst the landscape. What could be described as a mixture of organic and inorganic materials ran up the the trunk of the tree, like veins. The veins ran up each branch, connecting one branch to many others which created odd-looking structures between the dead branches.

The exterior of the castle was abuzz with activity. Changelings zipped and zoomed around the trunk of the tree, occasionally entering and exiting a multitude of holes that have been cut into the tree.

In the highest structure of the tree, a changeling guard stood watch in front of a door. With a spear in hoof and a focused demeanor, the changeling scanned the hallway ahead for anypony who might disturb the queen.

“Hehe…”

The sound of giggling from nowhere made the changeling go on alert, tightening its grip on the spear. with another echo, they readied their spear and charged their horn, scanning the hall for what might come.

“Hehe...hahaha-OOH!”

That didn't sound like it came from the hall. Rather, it came from the queen’s study. With curiosity the changeling neared the study’s double doors, placing an ear to the door. Without a moment to react, the door was slammed open and the changeling guard was now stuck between the door and the wall.

A red orb bounced down the hallways, with each bounce the sound echoed throughout the hallway.

“HA!” Queen Chrysalis stood at the doorway of her study, pointing at the flying orb with a deranged smile. “I have you now!” The queen raced down the hall after the red orb, giggling all the way. Pouncing on the orb, she held it in her embrace before lying on her back and juggled it between her hooves, giggling like a filly.

As the door closed, the changeling guard fell face-first on the wooden floor. A rough outline of the guard’s figure accompanied by his spear was now embedded into the wall. As they stood, they trotted and sidestepped like they were just absolutely hammered.

With a vigorous shake of their head, their world stopped spinning. They watched with a deadpan expression as their queen played with the red ball like a kitten with yarn. The changeling stood in front of the queen, scratching their head with a hoof.

“Ah guard, excellent!” Chrysalis said, holding the red ball in her magic. “I need you to do something for me. Here.” Chrysalis held the ball directly in the guard’s face.

Is this a test? Is the queen testing me? The changeling’s mind raced, unsure what to do next. With careful hesitation, the changeling magic enveloped the red ball and held it in mid-air.

As the changeling's magic held the ball in mid air, Chrysalis jumped. She leaned down into a pounce position, head and front portion of her body close to the ground and wiggling rump in the air.

The changeling was really confused, why was their queen acting like this? More importantly, what does she want the guard to do?

Chrysalis grew impatient. “Well..” She said, keeping her excited demeanor. “Throw it!”

Her order did not make this any more clear to the changeling guard, not to mention any less confusing. The guard stood there with one eyebrow raised, pointing to the ball that was enveloped in its aura.

“Yeah, throw it!” Chrysalis nodded, her tail swishing back and forth like an overexcited dog’s.

The changeling’s confusion did not subside, and rather than trying to make sense of this whole...whatever this was, it would be best to just go along with it. The changeling sighed, shaking his head and feeling a headache coming along. And it was nowhere near noon.

The changeling opened their eyes, getting into a ready stance and held the ball high. With a throw of his magic, the ball flew several meters down the hall.

The changeling queen started her chase of the red ball with a skidding of her hooves on the wooden floor. “Ball!” She screamed, going into a full blown sprint down the hall.

‘I’m not getting paid enough for this…’ The changeling guard facehooved with a sigh. Nevertheless, it was his duty to watch the queen. With another heavy sigh, the changeling unfurled their insect-like wings and buzzed down the hall after the queen.

‘Wait...I’m not getting paid at all!’

Chrysalis ran through the halls, chasing the red ball she was so transfixed upon. In her sprint, the queen unknowingly barged past other changelings, guards or otherwise, and a few times crashed into the wall as the ball traversed down a perpendicular hall.

The changeling guard, now having lost sight of their queen, was not entirely lost. The signs of chaos and destruction of the dead yet sturdy wooden walls and floor were markers to where she went. It would be a pretty easy guess to say she was heading for the throne room.

The entirety of the throne room was a mixture of blackened wood and organic pods of green goo that surrounded a double dais. The queen’s throne on the dais was different from the rest of the palace in that it was fully comprised of black chitin, which shimmered in an eerie fashion under the green bioluminescence.

The changeling entered the throne room, the doors left wide open. As they had guessed, their queen had come to her throne, but was not sitting in it. In the middle of the room, there stood Queen Chrysalis, holding the red ball in her mouth and tail wagging happily. Surprisingly, her sharp and elongated canine teeth didn’t seem to puncture the ball’s hide.

“Gaw, ook!” The ball still in her mouth. “I caw heh haw!” She jumped happily.

“Mm-hm!” The guard nodded along. In the back of their mind, they were ferociously facehooving.

“Ah!” the queen blurted, removing the ball from her mouth and held it in an aura of her magic. “I have an idea! I should show this to Celestia!” She beamed, jumping once more before blasting a hole into the ceiling with her magic.

The changeling guard threw a hoof over their head as bits of wood and organic stuff flew past. Looking back, they were able to catch a glimpse of the queen before she darted upwards through the newly made hole with ball in tow.

With a heavy sigh, they unfurled their insect wings and followed their queen. From her direction of flight, it seemed she was true about where she was heading.

Canterlot.

From her throne she was Equestria’s ruler, her job to ensure the safety of her ponies was a tiring yet fulfilling duty.

“...and the ‘No Broccoli’ Bill will begin implementation in the new year. Are there any objections to this?” The regal Celestia faced her advisors.

With a collective shake of their heads, the advisers signaled their contentment.

Celestia nodded. “Excellent. Moving on to the next order of business, removing that chimera from the garden fountain.”

“CELESTIA!”

A beam of green magic penetrated the ornate marble roof of Celestia’s throne room, pieces of ivory marble flew past Celestia and her advisors. With the channeling of the goddess’ magic, a golden barrier protected her and the advisers.

The smoke cleared ominously to reveal the black and green insectoid, who sneered at the divine goddess with snake-like eyes and angled teeth each like a serrated blade. With an evil cackle, she stepped from the still lingering smoke.

Celestia’s pair of elite unicorn guards blocked the changeling’s path, holding their swords in the queen’s face, which elicited another cackle from the changeling queen.

“My, Celestia, is this how you greet your guests?” She joked.

Celestia’s demeanor remained constant. “What is you want, Chrysalis?” She snarled at the changeling queen.

Chrysalis chuckled, “Nay Celestia. Rather, I bring a gift.”

“Oh?” Celestia remained suspicious of the queen, lowering the barrier but trotted cautiously forward. Her guards retreated, but stayed relatively close behind with an ever watchful eye of the changeling that stood before them.

They stood one meter from each other, Celestia with her suspicions and Chrysalis with her toothy smile.

“What exactly is this ‘gift’ you bring?” Celestia questioned.

With a chuckle, the changeling’s horn glowed a brilliant green and suddenly a bright flash.

“Ball!” Chrysalis’ face changed from a toothy smirk to overjoy.

Celestia’s face changed to confusion as a ball materialized in front of her. “...Ball?”

“Ball!”

“Ball?”

“Ball!”

“Ball!”

“Ball!” The alicorn and changeling queen cheered and jumped in unison, taking a seat on their haunches. Chrysalis released the ball from her magical aura, tossing it to the princess and Celestia bouncing it right back.

The elite guards and Celestia’s advisors stared in bewilderment as the two alicorns played ball in the center of the throne room, laughing and giggling to their heart’s content.

The changeling buzzed into the ornate throne room from the hole in the ceiling, feeling drained from having to keep up with the queen. With weak knees, they landed next to an elite guard and took a quick breather before stopping, taking notice of the current situation.

“...Are you about as confused as I am?” The elite guard asked the changeling.

“Mm-hmm.” The changeling replied.

“Alright then.”

With that, the changeling guard fell to the floor, tired after flying so long with a head-splitting headache that persevered ever since this whole escapade started.

“I need a raise.”

Author's Notes:

Written in a few short days, just suddenly popped into my head. As always, I hope you enjoy it and comments and criticism are highly appreciated.