A Whole Lot of Love
Rainbow Dash fluttered into the tight alcove, carrying the can of water.
The fettered changeling immediately jerked away, its fanged mouth warped into a sharp grimace.
"Shhhh..." Rainbow Dash murmured. She stopped flapping her wings, touching down softly on three hooves. "It's okay." She shuffled forward, sliding the cup of water towards the creature. "Here. I brought you some water."
"It'll just..." The changeling squeaked, its dragonfly wings twitching. "Just bleed out... j-just bleed out of me... forgive me, Mother. I d-deserve it... I deserve it all..."
"Hey." Rainbow Dash knelt down low, catching the creature's gaze. "Look at me." Her eyes narrowed. "Nopony deserves the kind of stuff that's happened to you. Do you understand me? Nopony."
The creature's shell rattled as it tilted its head up. "Do you really b-believe that?"
Rainbow smiled slightly. "Yes."
A hissing sound. The changeling grew chin hair while an antler and a horn protruded momentarily from its skull. "Liar." It immediately winced, drawing further back into the corner with a whimper.
Rainbow's smile faded. She glanced at the floor, clearing her throat. Nevertheless, she scooted forward and squatted right in front of the trembling specimen. Behind her, Aatxe shuffled around the corner, watching nervously from a distance.
"I was hoping that you might be able to help me," Rainbow Dash said. "You see, my best friends and I have been dragged here... into this trap. Some of us..." She winced, her voice wavering as she stammered, "Haven't been so lucky." She gulped hard. "The others—well—I don't know for sure whether they're alive or dying. But... I'm here, and I'm with you. And if there's anything you know that you can tell me... that can shed some light on what the changelings want with Stratopolis, then it would help me a great deal to know."
"Hit... it hits it..." the changeling whimpers as it took on Arcshod's facial tattoos. "It responds to the pain. It feeds off it. Dreit. Delivery more unto it..."
Rainbow slowly shook her head. "No. Not today. I've no pain to give you."
"None?" The changeling twisted hits head up at an angle. Red dragon scales flickered across its cheek while two rows of teeth formed in its mouth. "None whatsoever?"
Rainbow squinted at the creature. "How... do you do that?"
"It hits it..." The creature whimpered as its body fluctuated all over with a dozen different Xonan markings. "Hrakkan semnul drenna drensen zeminulien trennte!" It gasped sharply, raising its head up with regal unicorn eyes. "Blessed children of Xon know only how to curse." Seclorum's gray mane flickered across its scalp. "Spark's fire is everlasting."
"I don't bring fire and I don't bring curses." Rainbow slid the cup of water forward. "But I would still like to know more."
"You have all that you could want to know..." The creature fell over on its side, kicking its legs like a canine in labor. "Hrkkkk... bleed me. You know you want to."
"No. I don't."
A pair of fiery green eyes narrowed at her. "Why not?"
Rainbow took a deep breath. "Because I know what it's like to be a monster, chained up against her will."
Aatxe raised his eyebrow at that.
The changeling hissed long and hard, its face evolving into Aatxe's. "Somepony doubtsssssss youuuuuu..."
Rainbow smirked straight at the creature. "I didn't ask him, now did I?"
The changeling reverted back to its insectoid self, shivering awkwardly. It glanced back at Aatxe, then at Rainbow again. With a jerk of its forelimbs, it dragged the metal cup suddenly toward itself. Water sloshed out, but that was of no consequence. The thing lapped thirstily at the contents of the container, making tiny gurgling noises.
Rainbow Dash waited patiently. She fidgeted a bit until she was squating on folded limbs. Finally, she spoke, "Better?"
The changeling said nothing. It froze in place, hiding its face behind the emptied container.
Rainbow Dash's lips curved. "Bet it's been a long time since you ever felt the urge to say 'thank you.'"
"I will be cracked in half..." It batted the container away and curled up against the wall, turning its face away from Rainbow. "Mmmmfff... my insides sucked clean. The pulp will go back to Mother. Nnnghhhmfff.... supplement the hatchlings..."
"But why?" Rainbow Dash asked, leaning forward. "Why do you expect to be punished?"
"So sorry... so sorry, Mother..."
"Is it because you were captured?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Is she mean to the drones that get caught?"
"No..." It quivered, stifling a sob. "The flame burns both ways. They know. And we know. All is knowledge, and all is complete. Mother feeds and nourishes the young."
"The Hive Mind..." Aatxe stammered, his jaw agape. "Seclorum figured it was too injured to communicate back with its kind. But... but if—"
"Shhh!" Rainbow Dash insisted. She furrowed her brow and slid forward. "Did... your Mother want you to be captured?"
The creature's wings twitched. It shivered and hugged itself with porous hooves.
Rainbow Dash spoke. "What kind of a loving Mother would do that to her child?"
"No..." The thing hissed. "Not loving. The ultimate cruelty would be to starve us."
"I... I don't understand," Rainbow Dash said.
"Love is weak," the changeling spat, its shoulders shaking. "It is a refuge of the days before the Migration. The plains are ripe with chaos, both light and dark. Only a fool would feed on love."
"Then... it is pain that you seek?" Rainbow asked. "Pain? Strife? Bad stuff?"
"Do not tempt m-me..."
"Well, what is it?"
"I said..." The creature spun, brandishing Collins' face, amber eyes flaring. "Do not tempt me!"
Rainbow Dash instantly doubled-back, wincing.
"You've prevented nothing!" Collins' face was replaced with Sam Rose's. "Saved nothing!" The creature jerked, gargled, then breathed out long and hard. Its features turned to a wrinkled coat. "Tell me, young filly," Cold Canter wheezed, looking sad and dazed. "Are you happy... are you fulfilled on your lonesome?"
Rainbow gritted her teeth. "You think all I am is pain and regret?"
"Snkkkkt...!" The changeling rolled upside down, laughing hysterically with Bellesmith's voice. "Shouldddddd a monster know anything else?!"
"You shouldn't have to fear your Mother punishing you." Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Because she did. By giving birth to you."
"What's the matterrrrrr, Rainbow Crash?!" A stallion snarled before flashing a dark spectral mane and midnight eyes. "Doth thy temper betray thee? The worst kind of nightmare is the one thou liveth."
"And just who's keeping score, huh?" Suddenly, Rainbow flung her hoof forward and gripped the changeling's forelimb.
The creature instantly gasped, its green eyes billowing flame as it shivered from the grasp.
"Miss Dash!" Aatxe seethed, rushining forward to grab her shoulders. "What are you thinking?! Don't—!"
Rainbow spread her wings, knocking him back. "What's the matter?" she spoke firmly, keeping her eyes locked on the changeling. "Lost your spine? Do you bug ponies even have spines?"
"Please... don't..." The creature tugged and struggled to yank its hoof out of Rainbow's grip. "No... sh-she'll punish... punish..." It choked on a sob and clenched its eyes shut. "She hates... hates..."
"You know what I think Chrysalis does?" Rainbow Dash grinned. "She lies to you. There's something stronger. Something more potent than hate. She only hides it from you as a means of controlling her brood, making them think that hate is all that's worth foraging. And you know why?" Rainbow leaned forward. "Because she's a coward. Looking for love in the world? It's a lot harder. But it's also a lot cooler. And—believe me—you can't have pain without it. A life with nothing but agony on your palette is lame. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Please..." The changeling whimpered, crouching low and burying its face against the hard brick floor. "It's too strong. She will see... she will know."
"How can she?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Something tells me she hasn't had a good taste in years. Especially if her kids haven't."
The changeling shivered, continuing to hide its face.
Aatxe looked on nervously, his lips pursed.
"So..." Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, clutching the changeling's limb with a second hoof, kneading the rigid exoskeleton gently. "You hungry or what? Cuz this is all I'm going to give you."
The changeling trembled... trembled... then relaxed. Its body went limp. With a strong breath, it folded its dragon wings together. The gossamer material turned to gold, forming thick blonde fibers with a red hair-tie. By the time the orange coat had spread throughout its figure, Rainbow was already struggling to hold her ground.
Applejack looked up, her eyes teary as she murmured with a dazed expression. "It's a might bit warmer than I expected..."
Rainbow Dash clenched her jaw tight, struggling to maintain eye contact.
Applejack sniffled, rubbing her freckles with her other forelimb. Chains rattled as she sat up straight, squirming slightly. Her green eyes blinked, turning brighter and brighter—along with the sheen that made up her gorgeous coat. "Land's sake... I-I feel like I just gorged myself on a kitchen full of Granny's apple pies..."
"Yeah..." Rainbow's voice cracked. She cleared her throat and struggled to say, "You and me both..."
Applejack blinked curiously at Aatxe, glanced across the surroundings, then finally narrowed her eyes on Rainbow. "Sugarcube?" She gulped. "Reckon there was somethin' you were fixin' to ask me?"
Rainbow took a deep breath, then uttered, "Where is Chrysalis?"
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So....Changeling buddy for the next leg? Always good to attract more followers of the Austraeoh.
Though I would like to know how changelings appear to be able to copy memories.
oh... That's harsh.
I cried.
My heart aches for both Rainbow and the Changeling.
They're such tortured creatures.
Nothing like putting a face on your past...
... literally.
Poor Dash. Poor changeling.
Always nice to know exactly who the spy in your midst is. Means their operator cant trust anything they say, especially the truth.
A bit of therapy for Dashie. I like it. Come on, she needed this. She needs to be able to say goodbye. Even if it's fake, if it's all in her head, even if the ship is silly and best friends doesn't equal lovers, Dashie needs it.
Twenty-five wide-arm push-ups, ):(. Knock 'em out!
This was so sad and sweet at the same time. I really hope this changeling finds what it needs and can live a good life.
I swear, this changeling was trying to get beaten up.
So much happened in this short chapter. I don't even.
Damn...I had feels reading this chapter...
I think that somepony is schizophrenic.
Wow. Feels...
That changeling is just sad to see. I'd say this one has no chance becoming sane enough to join RD or live more than 10 more chapters, but we still have Elma.
That's a pretty cool new word actually.
It's nice reading Dash like this, as a well structured, solid and very much vivid character. Glad to see she's gotten past crying over their faces.
4265131 Well, given that it was attempting to feed off hate, that wouldn't be too far from the truth. It's difficult to get someone to both hate you immensely and not inflict suffering upon you.
Quite a lot of meat for such a skinny chapter. You really gotta feel for the changeling.
I also have to wonder: Why does Dash think it's Chrysalis? Has the story said it's her, and I just missed it? Because I've been assuming it was Tchern, if nothing else for the fact that the saga, alternate universe tag and all, only really departed from canon at the season two premiere, and this whole set up seems far too removed from canon for two/three years worth of causal deviation.
So this version of changelings morph into loved ones when presented with love?
4265867 Luna mentioned her in the last talk.
Chrysalis and Sombra were once another sister and brother of Celestia and Luna who became...addicted to power boosts from special crystals,in order to hide themselves away,they gave up their alicorn forms,Sombra becoming a unicorn,Chrysalis being twisted into a changeling.
at least that's what I recall Luna saying.
I could be wrong.
4264850 It's probably a side effect of their emotion feeding.
They eat the feelings,little bits of memories attached to it come through and they tweak they're form to match the vision from the memory that came through with the feeling.
Dash associates love with Applejack because of the crush she had on her,the changeling learned this from eating the love,and so copied the pony associated with those feelings to feed easier.
Like a mosquito. bite,anti coagulant,drink.
4266343
Yeah, I remember all that. But it also mentioned a second changeling queen, named Tchern (whom I think seems more likely to be "Mother"), but Rainbow seems fixated on Chrysalis. I dunno. I oughtn't get ahead of myself.
It seems a bit odd that chrysalis would be out this far. It's like 2800 miles away from where she was in the show. I think things are going to be a bit more challenging than that.
4266260 it is a defense mechanism at this point serving to protect the changeling. Would you kill a family member if they were begging you to put the knife down?
Man this arc is super interesting. I really did what's going on
It's alright. It's all alright.
4265216
I am a bit. Seventeen years.
This chapter is tormenting me.
4264850
A lot of people tie emotions to memories or vice versa. Otherwise only changing forms wouldn't work as a defense mechanism in a higher-functioning world.
Everyone's loving the changelings today, it seems. Belle, RD... who's next, Pilate and his mystery stalker? If this keeps up, the Lounge might be enemies after all.
4266511 Seccy mentioned Chrysalis earlier didn't he?or at least alluded to knowing her name.
It's possible Tchern is on the dark side and Chryssy is on the light.
That poor thing is a wreck.
4267433
Maybe you're right. I was just confused by the distances, both spacial and temporal, between what's happening here and Chrysalis' appearance at the end of season 2 (since the beginning of season 2 was the point at which this story presumably departed from canon). If the Discord Event hadn't happened, for example - if Rainbow and her friends had defeated Discord and gone on with their lives - would "A Canterlot Wedding" have never happened, since Chrysalis was way over in Ledomare feeding of hate from the war?
I dunno, maybe I'm overthinking it. Or perhaps the deviation between this universe and canon is simply wider that I (we?) had assumed.
The feels just hit the fan.
Yay after three and half weeks I've finnaly read all 851 chapter and caught up but now I'm gonna miss reading like 50 chapters per day
And the feels train just keeps on coming. I am very interested to see what happens to both this changeling and Elma. I'm hoping at least one if not both survive.
If anything, I'd say this bodes well for Rash. Rainbow will finally be able to get some closure, say goodbye to Applejack and everything. Maybe then she'll be able to move on... and bang Roarke! Woo!
This chapter was simply amazing.
-Spirit
OH DEAR.
That chageling is flipping through faces in Rainbows memory like a runaway remote control flipping channels...Must take ALOT of focus to keep eye contact and mental focus through all that lol
It's like that one thing from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The thing that steals faces. For some reason, this changeling reminds me of it.
Damn, go Rainbow Dash
. To have your mistakes thrown in your face like that, to see the faces of your failures in rapid succession, and STILL be willing to love the thing that does so...... Wow
. This is the point where we start the reconstruction after deconstructing the MLP universe. This is going to be great.
Now now, sugarcube. No need to get all soft.
Ouch, what a harsh mirror. If I had one of those that just reflected all the people who I screwed over, I'd break it. Good thing Dashie's stronger than that.
Spark's sake Colon. How many more feels are we gonna get before the end? This was both warming and tear-your-sobbing-heart-from-your-chest-for-the-feels at the same time. Tyshfycftf.
7031236
Sometimes I wonder if everybody is exaggerating over the feels or if it's unnatural that I never feel anything towards fiction.
In either case, it's still...disturbing/interesting to see all of these old faces revived in our minds.
Refreshing, in a twisted sense
Oof, this changeling really just wants to smash Dash in the heart. Also I guess it's not wrong either, based off of Rainbow's past actions, though it's wrong in that she definitely believes it didn't deserve this treatment.
Oh dear. Poor Dash...