Changelings never truly slept. A regular drone switched into standby mode whenever the Queen had nothing for it to do, which from the outside could be perceived as sleep. The servant psyche didn’t need to rest and was merely an extension of Chrysalis’ will, so the only time the hive truly rested was when the monarch did.
Spark-bearers on the other hoof had the luxury of being able to sleep. Some even claimed to have dreams, excitedly bragging to anyling within earshot about the bizarre events that played out in their minds during the night.
Primo hardly ever had dreams. He actively worked against having them, since they were an unnecessary distraction. Sleep was for resting and sorting out information, and if it wasn’t for that he wouldn’t bother to waste several perfectly good hours on lying unconscious on the floor.
With that in mind, the changeling conditioned himself to wake up precisely after 8 hours, just enough to spend the remaining 16 in a productive manner. Sometimes he cheated a bit and cut his sleep short or took power-naps during down-time between exercises for the sake of effectivity.
Today’s waking was unique, grossly out of his character. He didn’t remember when he fell asleep, which in itself was unusual. When he did come to with a jolt, the sun was already shining high over the canyon. He would have been really cross with himself if it weren’t for the company he was in.
Chrysalis was still asleep, her hooves wrapped loosely around Primo. Her psyche emanated a gentle aura, quite an uncommon feeling in the hive mind. Slowly, the first general recalled the events of the day before, his face melting into a smile.
He got close to mother. She showed him a side he never even dreamed existed. They talked into the night about the hive and its future. Mother laughed and nuzzled him as he described all the things he’d do to the ponies and the traitor. There was a lot of physical and mental touch that was gentle and loving, sending ripples of never before felt pleasure under his skin.
Primo stirred slightly, pressing himself carefully against his mother. Being this close to her was simply breath-taking for the changeling. The cocktail of emotions that brewed inside him would make any of his brothers and sisters salivate wildly. There was love, loyalty, passion, all wrapped up neatly in pride at being this close to the Queen. His heart fluttered wildly as Chrysalis stirred sleepily, her embrace on his body tightening. Acting on some long-forgotten instinct, the general put his head under his mother’s and sighed.
Strange, he thought, feeling a purr involuntarily rock his vocal chords. Is this what feeling is like? Are these the things that we feed on so eagerly? No wonder the ponies become so useless when we take them away. I’d kill if anyling so much as probed me right now… It feels so good to be with mother like this.
* * *
“Well well well, look who’s finally decided to join us!” chirped Wildstar, parting the little circle of ponies adoring her to meet Primo. “Where were you, brother? You kind of vanished there yesterday. You had us worried,” she pouted, eyeing the general suspiciously.
“None of your bussiness, sister,” replied Primo, unable to make himself sound cold or distant. It took all his power to keep his pleasant emotions under a lid. “I was busy with an errand.”
“It must have been something nice, brother,” mused the female changeling, circling her sibling and taking long whiffs. “You smell of love. Care to share?”
Primo huffed and took a step away from Wildstar, splaying his ears back. “No. And if you so much as think about touching me now...”
The mare raised an eyebrow, sitting on her haunches nonetheless. “Jeez, Primo. Relax. I was only kidding. I got all the love I need back there,” she pointed to the small group of ponies currently bickering with one another. “But seriously, where were you? Oddly enough, Dagaal of all changelings came to us yesterday and screamed something about you being taken away. I wanted to ask the Queen, but she didn’t respond to any of us. What’s going on, Primo?”
“Nothing that concerns you, Wildstar,” replied Primo, trotting past his sister. “You’d do best if you kept your focus on improving your performance instead of prying into my life.”
Wildstar snorted viciously. Telling her to butt out of something was pretty much an invitation to the opposite.
“Something is wrong with him, Boulder,” whispered Wildstar, observing her older brother like a hawk. “I mean, he always had a pole stuck deep up his ass, but today he must have discovered the vibration function or something.” She waited a few seconds for a reaction, but Boulder acted as if he hadn’t heard his sister at all. With a sigh, she continued: “He’s not only snappy, but he’s actually not even trying! He seems kind of, I don’t know, distracted? And is it just me, or is he actually smiling from time to time? ”
The smaller general spared Wildstar a bored look and shrug. As far as he was concerned, how Primo reacted to any of them was of no consequence. As long as they could cooperate when needed, any personal quirks or traits were just something that happened.
“Psh,” huffed Wildstar, squinting at Primo with a grim expression. “Somethings in the air. Primo’s changed, I can feel it. He disappears for hours on end, Dagaal doesn’t shoot him nasty looks anymore...or rather, not as frequently. And now he smells of love while we’re being rationed only the crappy mushrooms.” She sat down, allowing her circle of admirers to engulf her again. “What are you up to, dear brother of mine?”
* * *
Was it just Primo, or have the past days been marginally less irritating than usual?
Wildstar was silent, and even if she stared at him most of the time, her lack of jabbering at him was refreshing. Dagaal was as nice as he came, too distracted practicing his magic and fine-control. That also put the pony teachers more at ease, since they didn’t have to lure him away from trashing exercises with how bored the behemoth got waiting for his turn.
“The sun is warm, the wind soothing under the wings,” silently mused Primo, darting into a small maze dug for agility training. “I feel...content?” Was that the proper word for it? When everything was alright the way it was? “I mean, there are imperfections here and there. Of course there are,” Primo shook his head, taking a series of right angles that zigzagged up and down in the pitch-blackness of the drilled tunnel. “But they don’t seem as glaring now. Humph.”
So far, Primo managed to keep the training sessions a secret from Wildstar, who tried to follow them whenever she could. It was child’s play to either select a time at which the female was distracted with her entronauge or sic Dagaal at her if she was too persistent. When she decided to tell on him to the Queen, she had already been too late - Primo made up a story to Chrysalis about how these trainings should be kept a secret for now, while he developed and improved his teaching techniques. Her approval and pride in him was elating.
Life was starting to look up. For a time, Primo even forgot the reason why he was training and preparing. He was loved by mother, coached the most unruly of the generals into a presentable being and annoyed Wildstar. How could anything go wrong? The problem turned out to be everything going according to a plan.
* * *
“Dagaal! It is not your turn!” shouted the unicorn instructor.
As per usual, the sentiment was ignored by the massive changeling, who unexpectedly found himself liking a new puzzle game introduced by the ponies.
In a rectangular niche, fifteen shaved rocks were placed to fill up the space, leaving a single field unoccupied. The blocks were numbered from one to fifteen and scrambled for each general, the goal being sliding the tiles around on the ground until they were properly arrayed again. It turned out to be an entertaining distraction, and even Dagaal begun following the rules after having trashed three sets of stones.
“Hey, Dagaal, let others try too,” half-heartedly chimed in Wildstar. She was busy shaving the tip of her hoof with a jagged rock, a motion she found pleasurable and more lady-like than rolling around the dirty floor in hopes of a good scratch.
The behemoth could care less about the wants of others. He was having fun at the moment, and even the little annoying voice in his head became less of a pain in the flank when it begun helping out in figuring the best way to move the rocks. Not that he needed the help, of course. It just so happened that once in a while he’d make the same move the weaker spark mentioned a few seconds ago.
Move the blank to the third row and then down. But really, we should let the others have a go. We are doing so good as of late, without causing trouble, right? hopefully asked the inferior spark. It felt like it was actually having less trouble with the brute ever since Primo took him under his wing. While he still hated the stuck up general, he couldn’t deny him a thanks for making his existence a little less miserable. “Come on, it’s almost time for our training session anyway. Don’t you want me to go away while you smash rocks? Or changelings? Hmm?”
Dagaal merely grunted, deeply in thought. He moved the rocks around, leaving a blank spot on the second row. After a short bout of hesitation, he shifted another stone and then moved a row down. The puzzle was coming along nicely, with only a few bits out of place.
“Alright, brother, enough is enough,” said Primo, stepping forward. On reflex, he reached out with his telekinesis to grab Dagaal, as he has done countless times before. The action was so natural to him, so routine, he didn’t spare it another thought. He realized his mistake the moment the mana field wrapped itself around Dagaal.
In the past, the brutish changeling never had enough self-control to put up a fight in the arena of magical combat. He was strong and had energy to spare, but his technique allowed any half-decent spellcaster to scatter the power, making it as useless as wind gusting against an oak tree. Today, however, Dagaal knew much more. He understood the basics, at least. And that was more than enough.
With a loud crash, the mana field around Dagaal shattered, the feedback of having his grip torn away so violently rendering Primo half-blind with pain. In a haze, he saw his brother’s muzzle spread into an ugly grin, the bull-like head and jagged horn angling towards him.
For Dagaal, this was an exhilarating sensation. For the first time in his life, he resisted the shackles that would bind him. He set himself free, broke the vicious cycle of his spirit being contained over and over again. So far, ponies and changelings alike only sought to mold him for their needs. They punished him for his personality, for his wants and desires. But not anymore!
Today would be the day he finally said no.
Or rather, shouted out: “I WILL SET FIRE TO THE BLOOD RAIN.”
Oh st, here come Mungo.
And training was going Soo well.
You have no idea how happy I am to see this update. I can't wait to see what's in store for our adorably awkward hero.
5590449
Dagaal goes where he pleases!
5590458
Yep, took my sweet ass time to finally write another chapter. Hope I'll be able to write another one soon
Dagaal reminds me of the Goliaths from Borderlands
"I'LL DIG OUT YOUR EYES WITH MY THUMBS!!"
5590654 You don't have any thumbs.
Jeez I can't remember anything from this story and now I'll have to read over 71 chapters if I want to continue reading.
5590748 I'm a changeling. Buck you, I do what I want.
5590748
But he can have them! Everyling can! Thumbs for everyone! (mostly for the author though LOL)
5590765
Same here... Wait, that's not good, right? :U
5590654
Dagaal is the soul-brother of Krieg. Dagaal was the most name-like translation of War I could find (I think it's Somalian).
OMG! It's alive?! It is ALIVE! Mmmuhahahahah...
This awersome story wasn't updated so long.
Need ... to ... read ... new ... chapter.
5590890
*whips out pepper spray* Down boy, DOWN!
*winks* I really appreciate the enthusiasm though Hopefully I'll get to write some more
Glad to see more of this fic again.^^ And nice with Dagaal. Seems he likes puzzles in regards to geometric manipulation, as opposed to calculating based math, eh?
5590954
He's the kinetic type - he learns by doing or experiencing. Yep, he does enjoy anything he can touch, rotate, lick, eat, crunch, HACK, SLASH, MUTILATE, SET FIRE TO, GOUGE THE EYESOUTOFUNTILTHEYBLEEDTHEIRSOUL-
Yes.
The word you actually meant is "sic"; to attack or to incite to attack.
5591088
My bad - thanks!
5590974 lol ^_^ He actually seems like he has the potential to turn good when he's puzzling things out like that. XD ....but far easier said than done. XD
Hmm.... now that I'm thinking of it, would it be alright to ask ya to check somethin' out for me? Just this mainly that I've been brainstormin' on: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uF2ZivlyvQqmRQrcGx6hS2GL3GCjWRTB1LGDTKE3t0U/edit
5591206 When someone who is help captive starts to develop feelings for thier captor, romantic feelings or just contempt.
>see new chapter
>flip out
GAHHH!! YUUSS!!!
>read as fast as possible
What!?! IT WAS SO SHOR-HOR-HOOOOORT!!! *whimpers*
>grab a bag of chips to compensate for the lack of Chip and begin munching my sorrows away...
fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/118/d/2/yuzmey3_by_twilightbrony13-d7gavl9.gif
Actually I'm super excited for whatever happens next. KEEP GOING! KEEP GOING! KEEP GOING! KEEP GOING! KEEP GOING!... *repeats incessantly*
I have been satiated for now... *vanishes into the darkness*
It lives?..
IT LIVES!
5591680 IT LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I only just now realised how similar Dagaal is to Krieg the psycho. Will Dagaal share a meeting similar to Krieg meeting Maya?
5594909
... >.> Mmmmmaa-who knows?
5594974
I'd say it's already obvious, it'll happen when they assault Canterlot, with Celestia being the counterpart of Maya. :P
5595340
Great, now I can't use that scene, THANKS A LOT JERK *storms off in a huff*
And then Indiana Jones shoots Dagaal and he dies.
Moral: Indy always wins.
5597193
Revolver bullet harmlessly bounces off of thick carapace, followed by a backlash of mana that severes Indiana Jones neatly in half down the middle.
Moral: Don't fuck with Dagaal
5598173 INDY USES A CASTER GUN WITH A #4 SHELL AND BLOWS THE CHERNGLERNG UP GOOD!!!
(Otaku powers 4 da win!)
5604289
Invalid action - you did not specify which half of Indy performed the action. You lost your turn and both halves bled out in 0.4 seconds.
Nothing will contain the power of the beast!
5605740 You think this is a GAME?!?!?
THIS.... IS.... PONY!!!
And madness.
And at that moment, the entire hive collectively re-discovered bowel movements.
5604289
That's why, given half the chance, I prefer to summon clouds of chlorine gas around opponents. Even the best armored foe needs to breath, and they can't do that with liquified lungs. And the best part is that you're attacking the air, not them. That they happen to die as a result is not actually an offensive action on your part.
5645346
Assuming your opponent can't magic the gas away, or directly into your own lungs
#changelingsOP
5645346 You could also use ammonia or carbon monoxide or even just pure nitrogen, hydrogen, helium, argon... basically anything without enough oxygen.
It's the guys wearing gas masks with supplementary supplied of O2 you've got to worry about.
That and robots.
5647940 If one is going to use teleportation as a weapon, the best way is to teleport a solid object into the center of their brain.
That tends to end things rather quickly.
5649080 Sure, if you hit something important, like the brain stem. But there are plenty of examples of people who had parts of their brains injured/removed that still functioned. Not normally, but they still functioned. Point and case: Phineas Cage.
But, I personally would use nitrous oxide for my gas. You see, it doesn't have any carbon, so the brain doesn't realize that the body is suffocating. You just start getting sleepy without thinking anything's wrong. *yawns* Nothing wrong at all.
5683712 That's why you go for the center of the brain. You damage/destroy some very critical portions, such as the hypothalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and the crucial pathways of the internal capsule.
5706595
Oh god, I just watched that movie, it was so fucking adorable.
That's it, Chip is the new Chappie.
6430407 wasn't that bad.... I thought the concept of it was interesting.
6430407
I liked that movie a lot, actually. It did have a couple silly moments, but the message it put across was very interesting to me.
This post is made for the purpose of kickstarting your muse in order to bring Chip & co. back from the Realm of the Unwritten.
That, or to prompt you to update this story with the Hiatus status, that we might more accurately know your intentions.
When can we expect an update? Tis been over ten months since the last change was done. Tis fun story and I really wish to know what happens, like will Primo get banished like Chip when Crysalis finds out his original plan, what's going on with Chip? And much more. I can hardly wait for an update.
Upppdaaaaatttttttttesssssssss.
Uuuuuuppppppdaaaaaaatesssssss.
Where are you Wind Dancer?! We need MOAR UPDATES! I need more updates! Did you run out of ideas? Did you get a life? Maybe a wife?! Ples. Plesss... Plesss... I tried making this terrible comment to amuse you, man! Is this not enough?! Will you keep reading!? Will these other people keep reading?! Do they know I'm a virgin?! Did they need to know?!
I blame Wing Dancer, guys. I blame him/her for this.
By the way, have I ever told you I love you for this story?
Moooooaaaaaaaaaarrrrrr.... Moaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
A really good story this far, can't wait to read the rest. I hope you are going to finish it someday.
Maybe you just try to archive the world record for the longest cliffhanger
just wondering if and when you will be getting back to the adventures of Chip Wing Dancer ???
7758460 7505342
Soon, I hope. I'm trying to make an effort to get back into writing again. Sorry for the wait, and thank you for your patience
7758464
not a problem I just hate to see a story sit and die of old age witch I have witnessed way to many time.
Gah, i need more! I started reading it ages ago and forgot to fave it! And i've only just caught up now! I need more!
Would be great to see this story finished. Can't wait for it
7804456 I think you missed the point of my argument.
Perhaps it can best be illustrated by a story my high school teacher once told me, I forget the original lesson but I'll never forget the point.
She lived for a while with her husband down in California. They were happy, and healthy, but the couple next door were not so lucky. They would fight, and they would yell, and everyone knew what was going on but no one did anything.
One day, when she was working in the garden, the neighbor's daughter came out to talk with her. She was a cute little thing of almost ten years old, with messy hair and a dirty white dress, and they talked for a while.
She was shy, and respectful, but she asked a question that shocked the older woman. She said "so, how often does your husband beat you?"
It wasn't "if", it wasn't "when", it was "how often". In the little girl's mind all husbands beat their wives. She had never known anything else and so how could she know to WANT anything else?
In much the same way children of cannibals become cannibals, and the children of slave owners learn to treat slaves as little more than livestock, children assume that the reality imposed upon them by their environment is the only one- unless they find some source that gives them reason to doubt their belief. Chip, who has subsisted on the love energy of the hive and been shown and told that ponies are as cattle to be harvested, turns away everything because 'hurting ponies is bad, mmkay?'
It doesn't feel earned. If there had been anything, ANYTHING, to turn him away, and then a struggle of nature vs nurture, I would've been able to accept it. For example If he had always thought that the hive's love tasted sour and then, after sparing a pony for the night because he wasn't hungry, tasted sweet tasting gratitude directed towards him, if that experience has lead him to think 'there must be a better way', if if his push to reform the harvesting methods had lead the hive to reject him, I would have loved it.
But I never saw anything like that, I never saw his actions leading to a struggle he created, I never saw any struggle of any kind, I saw a story pushed by environment rather than character, so I stopped reading. Your reason from the beginning has been that 'Chip is a mutant and so is different' but the only thing that makes sense to me is that 'a wizard did it.'