Volthoom came back from his flashback when the changeling, no longer disguised, was flying over the Badlands, formally know as Flutter Valley, but almost nobody knew that.

Celestia in her guilt tried to erase Flutter Valley, her parents and her sister of the history of Equestria but she left enough information about those to be considered legends. Other nations have better historical records of those times, even if they were not 100% accurate.

As the warrior changeling landed one of the many canyons of the Badlands, he entered a hidden cave, navigated through what seemed miles of tunnels and emerged on a subterranean city in a very large chamber, the city was bigger than Canterlot.

The city had an almost alien architecture with a resin-like material harden to look like the stone as well as the stone itself making the walls of the building that covered the ground, the walls of the cave and even the ceiling and the pillars that hold the ceiling of the cave. Also, a see-through resin of many different colors and opacity made up the windows and door while subterranean rivers divided parts of the city on the ground.

The soldier went to the center of the changeling city where a castle built around the biggest pillar holding the cave.

Once inside he navigated through the hallways, opened a black double door and entered a circular room with seven thrones arranged in octagon pattern with the entrance being the eighth point. Six of the seven thrones were occupied by changeling queens, the one closest to the entrance on the right was empty, the only indication of their presence was their glowing eyes in the shadow of this dark room.

Fun fact, changelings had excellent vision and because of that, they adapted to live in dark places like this cave since they don’t need much light, despite the fact that they had many artificial lights on the ceiling that simulated the day and night cycle.

“Your Majesties,” said the changeling warrior as he knelt on the center of the room.

“Was Chrysalis successful on her mission?” asked the queen directly in front of him.

“Yes My Empress,” said the warrior as he offered the box to the changeling empress.

The Empress got up from her throne and walked to the near center of the room, where the warrior was kneeling and revealed herself.

Like Chrysalis, the empress had a smooth thin and flexible layer of black/dark gray chitin that acted as her skin, a band of black silk around her breasts and a long black slitted skirt but unlike Chrysalis she was 10ft tall, her “corset” was chocolate brown, her mane was also brown but with white streaks and her horn was slightly curved like a blade but had small “teeth” on the front and on the back, giving the look of a serrated and curved knife.

The changeling empress took the box in her hands, opened and saw the Phantom Ring.

“Leave us,” said the empress as her horn lighten up with a light brown aura.

The guard left and a small pedestal with a bowl shape carved on the top raised from the center of the room, the bowl made of stone was filled with clear water. The Empress carefully picked the ring and unceremoniously tossed the box aside. Then she carefully lowered the ring in the bowl of water and let it sank to the bottom and the water started to glow with many different colors.

“Now what, mother?” said one of the queens, the one that sat at 3 o’clock from the entrance, with only her blue slitted eyes visible.

“Now dear Iso, we wait for Chrysalis to arrive,” said the empress as she went back to her throne.

While all of this happened Volthoom listened from inside the ring but was unable to communicate with the outside world. He could possess whoever tried to use the ring so long he was awake because if he wasn't anyone who tried to use the ring would lose control like Celestia when she tried if they weren't trained to use the Emotional Spectrum. Also, he couldn't create constructs without a body.

The irony was that Volthoom's body from before was a construct constantly being remade and reinforced by the ring but the moment he lost his body he would need the help from someone from the outside to create a body for him to inhabit. His train of thought was interrupted by the door opening showing Chrysalis with cuts, bruises and probably a few broken bones by the way she walked.

“Wow, those equestrians really kicked your ass, big sis,” said the red queen, the one that sat directly in front of Iso, the blue queen.

“There is no need to speak with big sister like that Arachne, her mission was a success,” said the orange queen that sat at Arachne’s right.

“She is right Arachne, big sister Chrysalis did what was asked of her regardless of the events that transpired,” said the yellow queen that sat at the Arachne’s left.

“Vesp, why you always take Chrysalis’ side?” asked Arachne as she looked at the orange queen.

“It isn’t a matter of side it is a fact,” said Vesp simply.

“And why you always have to be the nice one and defend her Apis?” asked Arachne as she looked at the yellow queen.

“It wouldn’t be fair to let you bully her just because of what those equestrians did to her,” said Apis.

While this discussion was going on Chrysalis approached the throne of the Empress.

“Mother,” said Chrysalis as she stood before the Empress.

“You did well Chrysalis, soon we’ll be able to free Lord Volthoom from his prison,” said the empress as her horn glowed and she used a powerful healing spell on Chrysalis, it was all she could do at the moment.

“Thank you mother,” said Chrysalis as she got up still feeling the effects and pain of her injuries but they will pass soon enough, so she turned and went to her throne.

“At least you could have done something to make this defeat less humiliating,” said Arachne in an almost condescending tone.

“As if you would do any better,” said the purple queen, who sat at Iso’s right, to Arachne before she asked Chrysalis, “Are you sure you can continue Chrysalis?”

“I can deal with the lingering pain, the revival of Lord Volthoom is more important Mili,” said Chrysalis as she sat on her own throne at Iso’s left.

“If you say so,” said Mili because she knew how stubborn her older sister could be.

“Now we can finally free Lord Volthoom,” said the empress as she charged her horn while her six daughters did the same.

As their horns shined they revealed themselves and they look pretty similar to Chrysalis only with a different color, the shape of the horn and slight variation on the height and body frame, but then again all of them were shapeshifters. Also, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the younger ones to model their current forms based on their mother and elder sister out of admiration.

They released the energy in the form a beam each and all of them directed at the ring. They poured all the available energy and while it was impressive it didn’t help that they were starving. All the royal changelings were left exhausted and were about to pass out when a burst of Emotional Spectrum Energy came from the ring. Contrary to what many believe changelings could feed on any emotion, love just happen to be the “tastiest” for most of them and the most nourishing.

The Emotional Spectrum Energy spread through the chamber, then the castle, then the city, passing through the many tunnels connecting to others cities beneath the surface, soon emotion flooded the empire and fed all changelings in its borders. On the surface unicorn mages and scientists only detected a small surge of magic but thought nothing of it and dismissed this phenomenon as a natural occurrence.

The queens, now completely recovered, felt relieved for the first time in years, they no longer felt the hunger clawing their minds, they no longer had holes in their limbs and their bodies no longer looked malnourished. The rays of light that were coming from the ring started to bend into a familiar shape, soon enough Volthoom was floating above the pedestal in the lotus position, extending his right hand the ring floated to his middle finger, he finally had a body again.

Volthoom moved in the air to float in front of the throne of the empress and stood up, still floating above the ground, and he looked her in the eyes.

“You have changed Wind Drifter,” said Volthoom.

“I haven’t used that name in more than a thousand years, I go by Phyllia since my rebirth,” said the changeling empress, now named Phyllia.

“It sounds like quite a story,” said Volthoom.

“Are you not surprised by my appearance?” asked Phyllia as she got up and got closer to Volthoom.

“No, I’m not, I learned about the changelings by hearing and observing the dreamscape and the mindscape while being in contact with The Elemental Forces of Life. I know what happened to you over this millennia, my only regret is that I couldn’t be there to help you or your people,” said Volthoom with sadness in his voice.

“All that matters now is that you came back,” said Phyllia as she hugged Volthoom and because of her bigger frame she let his head rest on her breasts while she rested her chin on his head.

She could feel her body being flooded with his energy, it was so invigorating but besides that, she was just happy to have her teacher and friend back. And the moment was ruined by Chrysalis clearing her throat.

“Mother, aren’t you gonna introduce us?” asked Chrysalis curious to meet the one she and her sisters heard stories about since they were nymphs.

“There's no need, I already know who all of you are and you already know who I am,” said Volthoom not even bothering to move, in times like this he missed having a living body, the way he perceived the world was so dull, if it wasn’t for his constant meditations he might have gone mad, it was very similar to a person going through sensory deprivation for a long period of time.

“I never felt so much emotional energy before,” said Vesp to herself while relaxing in the throne, to her it felt like the embrace of a lover in a warm bath with her favorite bath salts in the water.

“Considering that I’m literally made of that, it is only natural,” said Volthoom and the queens just sat there basking in the energy.

“It seems there are two things I need to do, one is to help your kind to become ‘lightsmiths’ so you no longer have to feed on others but you can still do it if you want,” said Volthoom as he returned his attention to Phyllia.

“And the second thing?” asked Mili trying not to get too comfortable, otherwise she might just fall asleep.

“I need to make a new body for me to inhabit, in order to ensure that what happened in the frozen north won’t happen again,” said Volthoom as he suppressed the output of emotional energy, much to the disappointment of those present.

“What happened there anyway? At the time we heard rumors that you killed the king and queen,” said Phyllia releasing Volthoom from the hug.

“That’s indeed what happened, I became an avatar of Death and if the King and Queen did not stop me I would have destroyed all life on this world, and in order to make sure that doesn’t happen again I will need a body, a living body of flesh and bone,” said Volthoom as he floated in front of Phyllia.

“And how are you going to get a body? While there are many that are willing to make a sacrifice for their ‘God of Light’, I would like to avoid losing one of my subjects,” said Phyllia as she worried about the implications.

“There will be a sacrifice but not a live one, I just need samples to create a template in order to make my new body,” explained Volthoom.

“So you can make a body of any species? If so, what race you want? My changelings can get any ‘sample’ you need,” said Phyllia.

“I need the scale of a dragon, the feather of a griffon, the blood of a changeling and a lock from the mane of a pony, but I can use substitutes,” said Volthoom.

“We have most of the ingredients in storage, they make quite useful potions after all,” said Phyllia.

“I have locks from Princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s mane, I was going to use them on a spell to get revenge but this is more important than a personal vendetta,” said Chrysalis as she interjected into the conversation.

“Good, after that I will be needing a room to conduct the ritual and another for me to sleep, with a new organic body comes all its pros and cons, like eating, sleeping and so on,” said Volthoom as he already knew they were going to ask about the second room.

“Don’t worry Lord Volthoom, me and my sisters will make sure to help in any way we can, you just saved our race after all,” said Apis and her sisters nodded.

“We can use one of the empty ritual chambers after picking the ingredients on the laboratory here on the castle, I’m sure the alchemists and mages wouldn’t mind if you took a few ingredients,” said Arachne.

“I need to make an announcement for the Changeling Empire,” said Phyllia as she left the meeting room.

“I’m going to pick the locks of mane from the newlyweds and meet you all in the ritual chamber,” said Chrysalis as she was about to leave the room.

“Before we go I need to take back something I lost more than a thousand years ago I can locate you with my powers, so wait for me at the at the lab it shouldn’t take long,” said Volthoom while a circular white portal appeared in front of him.

Volthoom went through the portal while keeping his energy suppressed to not be detected, so he stepped into the Castle of the Two Sisters, more specifically the chamber where the elements were once housed and the place where Nightmare Moon was purged from Luna.

The First Lantern looked around until he found what he was looking for, a pile of black fur, skin and blue armor, the remnants of Nightmare Moon. He extended his right hand and the remnants started to melt into a black goo that later coalesced into the fragment of his broken black ring. The goo jumped on his hand and entered the Phantom Ring and he felt the power of The Black starting to balance itself with the White Light and the Void Energy inside him.

Volthoom also felt the lingering connection to Nightmare Moon, or more specifically the Nightmare that corrupted Luna, he reached into the connection, he “grabbed” Nightmare and pulled her out of the edge of the dreamscape together with all the nightmares connected to her. They condensed into a single sphere the size of a bowling ball, now he could either let them go or devour them like he did the windigos and umbrums more than a thousand years ago.

Volthoom reasoned that they might be useful later, so he pushed the ball against his chest and let it sank into his body. He made sure that the nightmares joined the windigos and umbrums trapped inside him. And with his mission accomplished he reopened and entered the portal, then he appeared on a laboratory with the six queens and a group of changelings without armor working in the lab, the alchemists and mages he assumed.

“You came back. Did you get whatever you were looking for?” asked Iso ignoring the mages and alchemists that were on their knees bowing to Volthoom, which was to be expected since Volthoom is the main god of the changelings.

“Yes I did,” said Volthoom before he added, “I hope you don’t mind if I pick a few potion ingredients and reagents for a ritual?”

“Of course not Lord Volthoom, take anything you need. It’s the least we can do to thank you for everything you have done for us and our ancestors,” said one of the mages, a normal changeling without armor and the “lenses”, which showed his purple slitted eyes.

“Thanks,” said Volthoom looking at the many shelves with different plants, herbs, mushrooms, body parts, minerals and already made potions, with this he will be able to create a better body than he initially thought.

Tendrils of light came out of Volthoom's body and picked the necessary items, not only the scale of a dragon but also one of its bones and the feather not of a griffon but that of a phoenix. He was about to go out of the lab when he looked at a small black branch of a tree, but what mattered to him was the energy he felt from the branch.

“Where is the tree from which this branch came from?” asked Volthoom.

“It came from the tree in the sacred pools of the changelings,” said a mage, a diamond dog in blue robes.

Unlike what almost all ponies thought diamond dogs could be very intelligent, they just didn't have many opportunities when it came to education, so it was no surprise that many clans, or packs, that came in contact with this subterranean empire choose to live here together with the changelings. The result was that they had far better lives than the dogs outside of the Empire.

“I see,” said Volthoom before turning to the queens and said, “lead the way.”

The queens and a guard for each queen lead Volthoom through the castle, they went down until they were past the entrance at the ground level of the cave and walked a very long hallway. A hallway that was designed this way so if something went wrong on any type of ritual they could seal this place.

Before going down further Volthoom asked the guards to bring a block of stone at least 12ft tall, 6ft wide and 6ft deep, four of the guards went to get the stone and Mili asked why he needed such a thing.

“I need to make a mold,” answered Volthoom.

At the end of the hallway was a circular room with five doors made of stone, each door going to a different chamber. They choose a random door and enter in a wide domed room made of stone with many runes, sigils, and glyphs on the walls. It didn’t take long for the guards to come back carrying the block of stone using their combined magic and to lower it onto the ground.

Now with the block laying on the ground, Volthoom used the ring to cut the block horizontally, created a giant hand of light to grab and lift the upper half of the block. Two tendrils came out from the ring and started to carve the general shape of the body on the halves of the block of stone, once done he put the upper half over the lower half.

“Now we wait for Phyllia to arrive,” said Volthoom.

About an hour earlier on the upper levels of the castle

Phyllia walked out on the balcony with the emblems of the Changeling Empire’s two factions ruled by her.

The first faction was the one made by the six queens and their hives, they have been on this city, the capital of the empire, since the start of the changeling race more than a thousand years just half a decade after the banishment of Nightmare Moon.

The second faction came into existence when Phyllia had a disagreement with her oldest daughter and three of her sisters, all of them queens, and they decided to leave the Changeling Kingdom, as it was named at the time and took their hives with them. It was only centuries later that they reconciled with each other and joined their kingdoms, creating the current empire.

Phyllia was the first changeling, transformed when she and the other survivors of Flutter Valley found the sacred pools, pools filled with a strange black substance that had a similar energy to Volthoom but not quite the same. Even today she still remained the only empress in the Empire and on the world.

Phyllia not only became the first changeling but also the first queen, she watched over the descendants of her friends after they transformed, to all changelings regardless if it was of her brood or not, she was considered their mother, to the Empire she was their Empress, she was their All-Mother, Great Mother, Queen Mother or anything similar. Even to this day, there was no more the ten changeling queens in the whole world.

“Citizens of the Empire,” said Phyllia as her voice and image were projected not only all over this city but also in all other cities of the Empire as well.

All citizens regardless if they were changelings or not stopped to hear the announcement of their ruler. A portion of the population was composed by other species that somehow ended up here, for one reason or another, the non-changeling population was one of the reasons that helped the changelings not to starve or go mad with hunger, a symbiosis but the problem was that there were too many changelings.

“As all changelings can tell a burst of emotional energy flooded the empire and saved our race from a slow death by starvation. Had it not happened we would be forced to take desperate measures,” said Phyllia and the population listened to their ruler, curious as to what happened earlier that day.

“It’s with great pleasure that I tell you all that it was thanks to Lord Volthoom, who was freed from the prison he was unjustly placed by the Sun Tyrant more than millennia ago,” continued Phyllia and the people cheered, knowing that their once guardian was freed and with them once again.

Volthoom was the protector and teacher of the ancestors of the changelings, so it was no surprise that this admiration and respect turned into a religion over a thousand years. To them Volthoom was a wise and fair god, Celestia who was also worshiped by many both in and out of Equestria’s borders and the one that imprisoned Volthoom was an evil god that wanted to impose her “harmony” on others and they acknowledge but are mostly indifferent when it comes to beings like Luna and Discord.

Phyllia motions for them to calm down and they do so to hear what else she had to say.

“He is still recovering but after he is fully healed and used to his new body, he will help us guide our nation to a new golden age and we shall see what we will do about Equestria,” said Phyllia.

The citizens cheered again not even bothered by the fact that he was “getting used to his new body”, they knew he was not only a being of energy but also a god to a nation full of shapeshifters, so unusual facts about him were expected.

“Thank you for your time and consideration my beloved subjects,” said Phyllia as she ended the projections and went back to the castle to meet with her daughters and Volthoom.

Underground levels of the castle, present time

Phyllia arrived on the chamber and saw Volthoom and her daughters waiting for her.

“Waiting for me? It’s so sweet of you, you were always thoughtful,” said Phyllia with a cheerful tone.

“What about us?” asked Apis, pouting showing that she is the least mature of the group.

“I was referring to all of you,” said Phyllia before giggling, showing her good mood.

“Since you are all here we can start,” said Volthoom as his tentacles of energy prepared the potions and ingredients.

Volthoom lifted the upper half of the block, at this point it was just like a rectangular sarcophagus made of stone, after he put the ingredients inside he extended his right hand, palm up, above the lower half of the mold. He concentrated on the White Light of Life, the Black Darkness of Death, the Elemental Forces and unknowingly the Void Energy, a kaleidoscopic liquid starts to pour out of the ring into the mold until it was filled to the brim without spilling out and after that, he turned to face the queens.

“Now I need at least a drop of blood from one of you to complete the solution, one drop is enough but more will make this process easier and smoother,” said Volthoom.

Phyllia without hesitation approached the mold, once she was standing beside it she made a deep cut on the palm of her right hand using a small cutting spell and let her blood pour from her wound into the mold, the blood phased through the kaleidoscopic liquid energy as if it wasn’t there and mixed with the ingredients at the bottom.

Phyllia’s daughters were at first shocked but then they felt that Volthoom was giving energy to their mother, replenishing her blood in the process, and they wanted to help, so they did the same and soon the level of blood was just below the level of liquid energy.

“Now I need you to hold and gently lower the upper half after I dispel this construct acting as my body, my ring will fall on this solution and became part of my new body, it might take two or three days, after that the upper part of the mold will crack and explode so be prepared for that,” said Volthoom as he healed the cuts and after that the queens took a hold of the stone with their combined magic.

The queens just nodded and soon the light of Volthoom’s body started to disappear into the ring, once he was completely inside of the ring, it fell on the liquid with a wet *plop*.

The queens slowly lowered the stoned on top of its other half, the weight completely sealed the inside from outside.

“Now we wait,” said Phyllia as she looked at the mold.

Author's Notes:

The only thing I didn't put on the queens' designs is that small black crown. I find that silly, nothing against it though.
For those that are curious about the names of the queens, here are the inspirations:

Arachne: spiders (from Greek mythology) and the origin of the name for the Class Arachnida

Mili: millipedes (Millipedes, without the double 'l’) from the latin root mille meaning "thousand"

Apis: bees (Latin for bee), it's also the name of the Genus of the honey bee (or honeybee), also the name of many figures in Greek Mythology and the name of an Egyptian Deity and a city

Vesp: wasps (Family: Vespidae) and form the latin for wasp/hornet "Vespa"

Iso: termites (Infraorder: Isoptera), its also a Genus of sardines, it comes From Ancient Greek ἴσος (ísos) meaning "equal"

Phyllia: moths (Genus: Anchiphyllia) and an extinct type of arthropod (Genus: Camptophyllia)

Lastly, here a reference for how the Queens and the Empress look like, just with small variations when it comes to size and color:

As well as a reference for the average changeling:

Also, check some of kevinsano's other artworks.