Mirror's Image

Chapter 8

"What are you doing all the way over there?" Chrysalis asked. "He won't bite..." She said, before showing that toothy grin again. "I'm lying. He will bite. Might even puncture your skin."

"That's the reason why I'm all the way over here." Twilight said. She sat and watched from a relatively safe distance. The egg wiggled around due to the inhabitant trying to escape. Twilight wasn't sure whether or not it was some kind of creepy creature and thus stayed away for the time being.

The room itself wasn't helping either. Whereas the other rooms she had been in thus far had been illuminated by an eerie blue light, this 'nursery' was bathed in a dark green glow. The light created strange shadows in the various indentations in the walls, which made Twilight feel rather uncomfortable.

The egg itself wasn't aware of her discomfort or the odd feel of the room. It just wiggled around a bit, occasionally cracking a bit more. It had done so for the past hour or so and there was still no newly hatched Changeling to behold.

"Shouldn't we help?" Twilight asked eventually. "He's probably tired now."

"No." Chrysalis said flat-out. "Every Changeling needs to do this on their own. There is no place for weak soldiers here." She added.

"Oh." Twilight simply said. She frowned as she thought about what the queen meant.

'CRACK!'

Twilight jumped back a little more, much to the queen's amusement. The egg had gone from relatively intact to splitting down the middle, in less than a few seconds.

"That's it, my son." Chrysalis cooed as the egg shook with renewed vigor. "You can do it, make your mother proud!"

The egg fell apart entirely and Twilight braced herself for what monstrosity might dwell within.

But instead, she saw a tiny Changeling tumble out of the shell. No tentacles, no mandibles or overly creepy dexterous appendages. Just a little Changeling with bright blue eyes that stared curiously at everything around it. He had a short, fin-like mane and a stub for a tail.

"There we go." Chrysalis said, leaning down to nuzzle her newborn son. "This one will be a strong soldier, I can tell."

"Is it a boy?" Twilight asked as she gingerly stepped closer, trying not to scare her newest sibling.

"It is indeed." Chrysalis said as she levitated the remaining pieces of shell off of the Changeling nymph. "All Changelings born are male." She told Twilight. "Except you and I, of course."

Twilight inched closer and closer to the little Changeling. For some reason that she couldn't explain, she felt drawn to this little guy. "This must be how Shining Armor felt." She told herself as she lowered herself to the floor, to be at eye level with her little brother.

The nymph stared at her curiously. He stood up on four shaky legs and took a step towards Twilight, only to collapse mid-step.

Twilight's horn flared and she grabbed ahold of the nymph before her could fall over. "No!" Chrysalis's horn lit up too and seemingly broke Twilight's grip on the nymph. "He needs to learn on his own. You must not coddle them."

"I was just trying to help." Twilight said defensively.

"I know but you'll only hurt him in the long run." Chrysalis said, her eyes fixed on the nymph as he struggled to get to his little hooves again. "He needs to do this on his own. I did, you did and every Changeling hatched before him did and every Changeling hatched after him will do so too."

Twilight nodded. As usual, she understood what the queen meant. That didn't mean that she liked it though. What was wrong with lending a helping hoof every once in a while?