When a changeling gets a bright idea

by Rarity Belle

Chapter 01

Wheels screeched while the engine and fires roared like wildfire. The heavy-duty steam engine had its work cut out. It was finally on the way to its next destination. The train would roam through the desert landscape of Equestria, until it had faded away and been traded in for the lush, green grounds that the land had to offer. Canterlot would be its final destination and along the way the train stopped at places like Ponyville.

The burning desert sun was enough to make everypony both mad and deluded. Which resulted to many of the train’s passengers having their blinder shut. The cool air inside the carriages was a blessing. Though, not all ponies seemed who they originally had been though. There was one pony aboard that particular train who was perhaps a bit unlike the rest of them. Hidden all the way in the last carriage of the train sat a pony who was truly more than met by the eyes.

Sitting on the couch –having assumed a relaxed position– sat a chocolate brown coated mare, with mane in a light crimson shade and eyes to die for. She had boarded the train from its last stop, Dodge Junction. Many a stallion who saw her wouldn’t have been surprised if she was a former dancer of the local saloon and looked to try her luck someplace else. A mare of status and entertainment, but never for pleasure. Yet how wrong all those assumptions had been.

That particular mare went by the name of Rusty Bucket, her cutie mark hidden by the attire she wore, if she had a cutie mark to begin with of course. Nopony really minded her while she didn’t mind them. She was just another soul who tried to get away from the place. None of them could have told whether or not she would succeed.

The minutes had crawled by and the conductor came by. In the distance she already heard his voice saying that signature line. “Ticket please.” Silence followed for a moment. “Here you ma’am,” or “here you go, sir,” was then always followed. Rusty wasn’t really minding it at all. She took her ticket out of a saddlebag and she held it ready.

It seemed like agonizing minutes that the conductor took until he had finally reached her. She was one of the last ponies aboard the entire train, meaning that his job was almost over. “Ticket please,” he then asked to Rusty. She gave him the ticket and he inspected it. It was held in his magical aura as he was a unicorn. The eyes gave it a long glance, shifted to her for a moment and then tore the necessary part off. It was a valid ticket and she could continue her travels to, wherever she was heading to. “Here you go, ma’am, enjoy the trip.”

“Thanks,” replied Rusty in a bit of a sensual tone. One which was arousing to the stallions, confident yet seductive, mysterious even. “May you have a good trip yourself too.”

The conductor gave a tip of his hat and a smile. “And thank you as well.” With those words spoken would the stallion continue on his way again. He left Rusty for what she was, letting her sit on the train that was heading for Canterlot, even though she wasn’t.

Rusty wasn’t on the way to capital at all. No, she had gotten a crazy idea in her mind. One that maybe had been proved too much for her to handle, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying it anyways. She wanted to see it, she wanted to see them, she wanted to see how they really were. Her eyes went to the window and a hoof rested against her head. The near endless stare if ideas and insanity was given by her to the rushing landscape.

In the reflection of the window had she noticed something. A little fizzle of magic, little sparks just below her cheek. Her hoof was laid down and on the spot where her cheek should be. A strange blackness was to be found. What followed was a sinister grin given by Rusty. Her true self had shone through. The true being that Rusty was revealed itself just for a moment, just for a little moment in time. And the ponies on the train? They wouldn’t be any wiser on the matter. Not that the mare cared about them anyways.

She allowed the changes to happen more controlled. When her cheek was covered again, her eyes were shut. A tingling sensation filled her entire body, one that almost made her chuckle. Her own magic was tickling her, but she didn’t have a physical horn of any kind. It was behind the closed eyelids that the changes truly happened.

Seconds came to pass and then, just when they were opened, the biggest change of them all was revealed to the glass. Instead of her normal, azure blue irises, they were red. Red as blood and burning with a passion beyond anything ever seen. A grin of mischief formed by her lips when Rusty saw the change in her iris. “A great feast is awaiting me, a marvelous one,” she whispered to herself, sending a shiver down her spine. What she had planned was one unknown to the world since it was still forged within her mind. Her goal was simple in thought. It was the execution that worried her a bit more.

Her eyes were fixed at the window, it’s reflection staring at a second pony who wasn’t even there. Her sly and devious grin became only bigger. She gestured just with her head for the unseen –and most likely not present– guest to sit on the couch ahead of hers. “You might want to sit down for what comes next, it’s quite the tale that’s lying ahead,” whispered Rusty, keeping her eyes firm on the glass window.

She didn’t wanted that anypony would have seen her like that, if they did, the chaos that would have unfolded would be beyond salvage. No, Rusty had to take it easy, speak in hushed tones and whispers. A single nod came which was followed a deep exhale. Her mind was allowed to travel back, back down to a time that was much different. To a time where she herself was just a foal, a creation hatched from an egg. Her only purpose to serve the king or queen…

~~~~

The agonizing chirping and buzzing of the children rang through all the tunnels. Organic tubes dug out within the soils of the earth, all eventually leading up to the throne room where the queen had taken her rightful place. A queen that was a true monstrosity to look at, ruthless and always playing games with everypony. Her hive had been hidden for too long, far too long for anypony to have even remembered them. That was just the way that she had liked it.

Sitting atop her throne, the queen saw everything that her children saw. Their mental link enabled her to ‘hack’ into the vision of every last child she had. And the child that she had chosen was one of the many caretakers in the hatchery. Her offspring, though many, was dear to her. The queen wasn’t one for violence unless provoked. She glanced through the eyes of her child and saw an egg that was different. An egg-sack that didn’t look like the rest of them and rose her curiosity.

She focused upon that very egg-sack and let out a deep sigh. Something was wrong with it, but could have been of use after all? The vision was broken between the two and the queen’s wings spurted in action. Walking was beneath her and thus she hovered away from the throne. She hovered through the dark throne room and passed the guards who wore a thick, chitin armor and their near blood red eyes were clearly visible through their helmets, and through the darkness of the hive.

It wouldn’t have been too long until she had reached the reproduction chamber. It was located almost straight underneath the throne room, and even the throne itself. A grin came forth when she laid her eyes upon all of the eggs that were hers. All of them containing a whole new generation of children ready to come out when they were. It filled her with a strange sense of pride to see it in that light. The vast, poison green hue that was emitted by the room was just breathtaking.

Yet to her right, two other children were doing their job. She finally set her hooves down to the ground and made her way to them. In other part of the hive would the queen have just walked, but the ‘hatchery’ was one major exception. She walked tall and proud to them. They noticed her and made a bow before her.

“My queen,” one of them said with a feminine, caring voice, “what brings you here today?”

The queen’s smile disappeared and she began to speak herself. “There’s an egg that, troubles me.” Her voice was very feminine, seductive to some point even. At the same time was it also troubled and determined. The queen really was a being who always got what she wanted, via any way possible.

“And, which egg would that be, if I may be so bold to ask?” the child replied, rising up from her bow. Curiosity had taken her over, who wouldn’t be curious if the queen said something in that fashion?

The queen turned around and began to trot to the particular egg-sack. The child hot in her trail, of course. Past the thousands and thousands of sacks they maneuvered with grace and elegance, eventually just stopping by one in particular. The queen pointed to it and the child took a closer gander. There didn’t seemed to be anything wrong in the child’s mind, but the queen’s heart knew it all too well.

“It seems that we may have another Red Eye in our midst. The way that it’s keeping its eyes shut like that, it can only be that. Has the sex been determined yet?” the queen asked, looking at the sexless, highly developed embryo inside the sack.

A shake was given by the child. “I’m sorry, my queen, but we haven’t been able to determine that yet. It’s growing a bit slower than the rest. But, it should be hatching in a few months.”

“It better be,” returned the queen with a wicked grin, “I want to see what comes out of this one.” A hoof was placed on the sack while a glance of curiosity was shot to the embryo that laid in the liquids inside. The queen had become truly curious about what laid inside that very sack.

~~~~

A few months later, the egg had indeed hatched and brought forth a wonderful child of the queen. There was one slight little problem that they all had to deal with. Instead of the usual green eyes that the children had in that hive, that particular one was carrying red eyes. The queen didn’t make that big of a deal out of it at first. She would have bide her time and see what would happen to that very same child. Maybe something good, perhaps something bad?

When time went on though, the troubles became only greater and more apparent. The red eyes were the cause of a problem that the queen knew about and felt the backlash from. The red eyes didn’t allow the child to feed on the positive emotions that flowed through Equestria. Instead could children with red eyes only survive by feeding on the negativity. And Equestria just happened to be a land where negativity wasn’t found that often. Not anymore at least. Maybe when the likes of Nightmare Moon roamed the land, things could have been different.

The situation was tightening. Only the guards of the queen were those with red eyes and they were fed with the quarrels that the children had between one another. There was no way that one more red eyed child could have survived in the hive that wasn’t a guardian. To boot, the child was female. That made the entire situation ten times worse.

The queen sat upon her throne while the red eyed child sat before her, hopelessly awaiting whatever words would have left the queen. A growl filled the throne room and she moved, her massive wings buzzing a little bit. “You, are an abomination of my hive. You, are unable to keep yourself alive among the rest of my children. Slaughtering you, as much joy as it would bring, would make me a terrible mother. Your physic makes you unable to become a warrior and don’t even mention assassin or spy. No, I think the best course of action for you is to do the unthinkable.”

The child shivered in fear. The words of the queen were judging, deeming and the law of the hive. Whatever words would have come next, the child would be doomed either way. A deep sigh was let go by it, the red eyes kept firm on the queen. Not a single word was spoken by it, nopony would even dare to argue with the queen.

The queen hovered off her throne and began to circle her child, inspecting her from all the angles. A deep gander was given to ever last bit of scale that there was. Every dent in her exoskeleton was given a precise look. There might have been a way for the child to still survive, but it had to make use of every utility that it had. “From this day onward, when the sun sets again behind the hills, you will be banished from this hive. You will be hiveless, cursed to wander the wastes of the world above in whatever form you see fit. You might survive and thrive even. Or, you will be slaughtered like wild game. The choice is yours, as long as I don’t feel your presence anymore after sunset. Now go, leave me!”

Harsh words from the queen, but they were the judgement that was spoken about the child. Yet it was the only way that it could have happened. The queen hovered back to her throne and the child just left the throne room as it was. Never to be seen and sensed again by any of them.

~~~~

Banished from her hive, cursed to wander the world above, the child had no true aim in life other than to stay alive. Feeding itself from the pesky quarrels that Equestria was rich, but they were only enough to just make it through the day. No, the child had to find something else. Something that would have become a marvelous feast for her. A place where problems were aplenty and she could blend in with the clop of a hoof.

Perhaps strolling through the deserted, rocky, almost Western Frontier of Equestria wasn’t that good of an idea to begin with? Not that it mattered, it was in those parts that everypony was rough, tough and filled with negative emotions that she could filter. Wearing nothing more but a body covering poncho and a Stetson that covered most of the face, the child had been strolling through the desert wasteland, hoping to find that glory pot of negative emotion. Though she kept herself quiet on the side of the road, camping when the night fell and never staying somewhere too long. It was a nomad’s life that the child had chosen for herself.

Her way of living made her long to a place to stay though. A place where she could just remain hidden in plain sight, perhaps changed as somepony else? It was a wish she began to long for more and more. The days were long and the nights far too short. A banished child like that, possibly shouldn’t have survived that long. Yet the queen had said that she might have survived and thrived, that was exactly what the child was planning to do. If anything, she would become the master of living without a hive. Death was one option she wasn’t looking forward too and one she wanted to avoid at any the cost.

Having lost the count of days of strolling, the child’s hope may have been fulfilled, finally. Because in the distance had the scent of negative emotions emerged like a sweet pie. That smell of something sour and salty came as a massive relief to her. Her lips were licked and a grin created. Finally had the time been there to properly feast, of maybe the first time ever. Staying on the side of the makeshift road she had been following, the child finally encountered a sign.

A sign that read the direction she was heading. Her legs came to a standstill and her Stetson was moved back a little bit. The words on the sign were read aloud, “Dodge Junction, five miles.” Five miles wasn’t long for her, given the incredible distance that she had already wandered through the wastes. But now she had a heading to take and stuck to. Dodge Junction, the little town wouldn’t even know what was heading their way.

The Stetson was lowered again and she made her way down the road again. Humming tunes from nature itself to her, the child could have only followed it. Followed the road and the sweet, salty scent of negativity. She was ready for it, but were they ready for her?

In the end does every road have to end, and hers ended about half a mile before the little town. It had dawned in the horizon, in the blistering light of the merciless sun. How many skeletons she had encountered already? She had lost count after so many. Fortunately had her build allowed her to survive purely on emotion and her wings could help to cool her body down, meaning that water was one of her lowest priorities. But now she had to actually enter the town. She couldn’t do that in the way she was looking. She would be hunted, chased down with tar and feathers before banished again. No, the child had to play it right the first time.

Her nature would become a massive help with that. Because if there was one thing that she knew well, it was the art of disguise. So with a deep breath was the plan forged. A grin came across the dried lips of the child and she was more than ready. “My name, is Chara and I’m a changeling,” she said before her eyes erupted out in red flames. Soon, her whole body would follow.

Comments

[Aqua Drops]

Amazing!

[Stjonal]

YEAAAAH

het is nu klaar. Ik ga er nu nog eens van genieten.

1ste keer was het 8/10. Eens zien of het nu hoger is.

kusje
Sjonnieboi