Sitting atop one of the thousands of twisted trees that littered the dark desolate place known as the Everfree forest, sat a lone changeling. The changeling had it’s aberrant anatomic visage in check, black hairless skin that was riddled with holes, almost swiss cheese in texture. The glossy bug-like thorax, all the way down to her tail, which was short. It had been practically cut clean, all that remained as a stub of green hair that was held together desperately by some filthy white tape. The changeling was lanky with an almost proud stance as it stood on a tall branch that perched itself over an opening in the forest. On it’s head was a dark and poorly made crown that was tiny in comparison to her head. So tiny in size, that it could easily fit on a baby alligator's head. The crown sat atop the changeling’s long hair that reached past her shoulders, it’s teal hue reflected the sunlight as the sun set behind her.

The changeling smirked, almost in triumph as it looked out into the seemingly empty forest. She had lived here for almost a week now after conveying herself from the hive. In her short time of residence, she already knew her area like the back of her hoof. From the texture of the bark of the oaks and maples to the nearby den of snakes that was hidden from view by a bush near a drop-off. She had learned the name of the forest from passing travelers that come through the woods, she would blend in the shadows and listen to their conversations. The Everfree forest was what they called it, frequently a place of unmixed heinous sin, impure came from the lips of those who passed in fear of what may pounce at them at any given moment.

The changeling had dubbed herself Morello, since her new found freedom she had given herself a name, a name that would separate herself from the rest as she was previously almost a number among the endless ranks of insect-like creatures. The changeling began to quickly flap her wings and hovered above the trees, throwing her hooves out wide as she took a deep, sharp breath.

"I'm the queen of the Everfree forest!" She bellowed out, causing some nearby birds to go astir and fly off away from the sudden booming noise.

“No you’re not!” A voice yelled back from beyond the trees, shortly after her claim.

Morello gritted her teeth, exasperated that her prideful moment was already broken by a stray voice. She threw a fist out in the direction of the voice, "What did you say, punk?!"

“Y’ain’t no queen missy! Now shut yer yap!” The voice snapped back again, sounding peeved from her remark.

She could tell by the pony’s tone of voice that he was quite old, “You wanna go, you Crysalis-damn old geezer?!” She barked out in the direction the voice came from, now back on the branch, riled up and ready to fight the stranger with her hooves circling in front of her chest, taking a jab at the air every moment or two as she bounced back and forth, causing the branch to shake.

“Take a number, ah got enough mares in line, thank ya!" The voice hollered back once more from beyond the sea of branches of leaves.

Morello bit her lip, hovering back down from the treetop in defeat, ‘Lame...’ She went below the treeline with a sigh, ‘No point in even being called a princess when you don’t have anyone that will listen to you... I’m almost starting to miss those brainless puppets back at the hive, at least a few of them listened to me...’ She had retreated to a lower branch, still well above ground-level. Morello took another moment to look around in her area. All that was in plain view were trees the nearby clearing, some birds, and her hut nearby that she made out of sticks, leaves, and a bit of rope that she swiped off the travelers.

Her hut wasn’t glamorous, nor large, but it got the job done. It kept her fragile buggy body safe from the elements that rolled in by flashes in the Everfree. It sat in a bunch of trees, she had to break and place branches carefully to make space and a decent flooring. The task had given her the first taste of manual labor, at the hive she was just given her home which was basically just a hole that was padded for her. The sense of nobility that they had was strange, you just got a title, a crown thingy and a comfy hole in contrast to the workers and soldiers who just got plain, sometimes smaller, holes.

The changeling sat on her branch in contemplation, thinking of any possible things she could need other than her home. "I... think that's it really, food and water isn't hard to come by, I just have to wait for the scary stuff to go to sleep." She shuddered at the thoughts of the wildlife around the forest, ranging from gigantic spiders to panthers that stalked around, looking for subsistence.

Morello sighed, "I'm bored... I wonder if..." Her words trailed off as she remembered that the travelers were heading towards a small town. The conversation still rang in her head from the last few ponies that came through yesterday.

A small party of four ponies were passing by beneath Morello's hidden home, they spoke as they slowly walked by.

"Dangit guys, are we ever gunna get outa this place? I'm startin' ta really miss Bostallion." The smallest of the bunch said, weary of nearby shadows.

"Don't be a sissy, maggot, we're almost there so keep your nerve, son." One of the stallions huffed back. "We're Equestrians, and we don't back down from no sissy ass forest."

"Weil, we all aren't Equestriahn, I mean I am obviously Ge-" One of the other stallions said, but was cut short by the largest looking stallion. "Oh uh ja, I mean yes we are all Equestriahn."

"Right! Now let's get to this Ponyville place they told us about, mooove out men!" The stallion marched ahead, leaving the pack lagging slightly behind after they all face-hoofed and trotted after the cretinous leader.

She let out a short giggle from the memory of the stallions, but it slowly faded as she turned her head back to her tail with a frown, "Gosh I feel really stupid about that... T-tails grow back soon, right?" She shook her head, too embarrassed to even think about how she lost her tail.

She moved her attention away from her tail and back to the town mentioned, "Ponyville, huh... Hmm, I think they went that way." She pointed herself in said direction, "I wonder what that place looks like... I bet I can find something fun to do there." She poked at her chin, "And then  maybe I can stop talking to myself." She sat down on her branch and looked out into the forest, Ponyville it is.