A Change of Face

by Redbow Rose

The Dream Cave

I groaned as I raised myself off the cold floor I was on, holding my head and trying to recall what had happened to me. I remembered riding my bike to the store when the loose handlebars twisted away from the wheel, causing me lose my balance and crash into an oncoming car. I remembered pain and loud sounds, but everything became a blur after that. Now I was in a dimly lit cave, body somehow intact.

At first I thought I died, but the cave didn’t look like cloudy, shiny heaven or hot, fiery hell. In fact...I’d never seen anything like it before. The entire place was lit by weird green glowing stuff along the walls, which themselves seem to be made of something other than stone. Despite my slight case of the spooks, I walked onward.

I soon found out that the place was a maze, tunnels twisting and curving in confusing ways. I felt like I was going in circles, and got frustrated. Cupping my hands to my mouth, I shouted out. “HELLO? ANYBODY HERE?” My only response was a distorted echo that made me shiver, It was kinda scary.

I decided to keep moving, trying to find my way out of the creepy cave. I then began to notice odd things. First it was just shadows caught in my peripheral vision, a trick of the eyes I thought. They refused to go away however, and only became more pronounced as time went on. At that point I was too distracted by the ghost-like figures to notice that I had stopped going in circles. Nervously adjusting my red, zip-up hoodie, I continued anyways as I sped up into a light jog.

I started hearing voices not long after. It was nothing distinct, just murmurs and whispers. This didn’t help my steadily rising fear, especially given the ethereal quality of the voices and the panic and sadness in them. It was like the cries of the damned or something. Hugging my hoodie closer to stave off the slowly growing chill, I broke into a run.

I didn’t know how long I ran, only that I had to get away. I could feel the waves of panic and depression pushing against me then, and it was causing me to feel my own feelings grow worse. When I saw a door at the end of the current tunnel I was in, I ran towards it with all I could, despite my aching legs and burning lungs. It was open, thankfully, and the moment I got past them I turned around and closed the odd, black doors. With a heavy yet muffled slam, the doors sealed shut, sealing the shadows and voices behind it.

I panted and sat down, leaning against one of the nearby walls, still of the same odd material of the caves. I had ended up in a large, circular room with an odd braiser lit with green fire at the center. I looked around, but I couldn’t see anything else. Deciding that I could at least warm up, I walked towards the heat source.

Like everything else, the brasier was made of an odd black material, which looked somewhat organic. I wondered what purpose it served as I got closer and was surprised to see that the fire seemed to be fueled by nothing. As I wondered how that was possible, I was glad that the fire gave off the heat I hoped it would. I stood by it, holding my hands out to the flames for warmth as I wondered what would happen next.

“This place is really fucking weird and creepy…” I muttered to myself, pulling my hands back and rubbing them together. Looking around again, I noticed that the only entrance and exit to the room was where I came from. I really didn’t want to go back through there, but there was nothing in the room I could use. Still, couldn’t hurt to warm up a bit more.

As I put my hands back towards the fire, I failed to notice how it seemed to lean towards me, the flames flickering hungrily. Then, before I could react, the green flames jumped forward and engulfed my hands.

“GAH! WHAT THE FUCK!” I jumped back and waved my hands about, trying to use the air to extinguish them. When they kept going, I dropped to the floor, rolling about and trying to get the flames under me to put them out. That plan backfired when the flames only spread further. I yelled out in a panic, feeling the flames searing my skin.

I ripped my hoodie off and threw it to the side in an attempt to save myself, but it did nothing. The flames continued to spread across my body, charring everything it touched. Already my hands were burnt to a crisp, the skin black and surprisingly shiny. Just as I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I felt a sudden shifting in my burnt arms, followed by a loud crack as they changed drastically. I then realized something important. I couldn’t feel any pain, despite how I was literally a human torch at this point. Looking at my body though, I was horrified.

My clothes were all on fire, burning into ash like they should. Both my arms were engulfed in green flames, along with my torso and part of my legs. My arms however, weren’t just burnt, they were bent in the wrong direction as well. My hands were stubs at this point, but they didn’t look right either. The stubs were black and shiny, as well as thicker and more circular than burned hand stubs had any right to be. Moving my arms showed that my...shorter than usual arms bending in the wrong direction.

“What the hell?...” I obviously wasn’t dying at this point, but I was still scared of what was happening to me. The flames started reaching my head, and my stomach was covered in that odd shiny black stuff like my arms were. I moved a hand, or stub in this case, to tap it. Both felt firm and sturdy. Before I could question that, I realized that there were holes growing in my arms. I pitifully flailed them about in a panicked fashion, even as the fire engulfed my head.

I closed my eyes from the light as I felt the changes going over me. Without my sight, I could feel the changes a little better, like the odd armour-like substance replacing my skin, or the odd growth that I felt as something protruded from my skull. I groaned as a headache grew, my insides changing with the rest of me.

I felt sick, everything about me was shifting in one way or another. My legs felt like my arms, something grew right above my ass, my bone structure shifted completely, and something new came out my back. After it completed I laid on the floor, panting and recovering from the ordeal, though I was bothered by the sound I made. It was much different than I was used to.

Eventually I moved to get up, trying to get used to whatever happened to me. Attempting this, I learned a few things. I was a quadruped now for some unknowable reason, I had hooves like a horse, and I also was covered in the armor-like substance. Kinda like a bug’s chitin or something.

I felt weak, but I was able to get to my...hooves eventually. I stopped and blinked, which I could thankfully still do, as I saw the braiser was replaced by a large mirror. The reflection in it...was really weird. It was like some kind of unicorn-horse-bug demon, black and shiny. Its legs were full of holes, it had a curved horn, and a weird blue fin on it’s head instead of a mane. It had two fangs poking out of its mouth, which I felt in my own, and two bright blue eyes. Entirely blue, though the middle was brighter like an iris and such would be in a human’s eyes.

I knew the truth, but I still had to test it. I waved one of my arms at it. It waved back. I stood up and walked closer, it did the same. I opened my mouth wide, the bug-horse opened its own, showing me it’s lower fangs and forked, green tongue. I closed my mouth and examined my reflection closer, morbid curiosity taking over. My new...muzzle was small and rounded, not like the horses I know, while the head and eyes seemed absolutely massive. I licked my tongue around my new fangs, feeling their sharpness and length. Other than sharper teeth, a forked tongue, and everything in my mouth being green everything was the same. Still had flat teeth in the back and such for chewing.

Looking at my eyes, I noticed that the white part in the middle was actually what replaced my iris and pupil and such, moving around to constantly look at me when I was viewing my reflection. I put a hoof up to my horn and tapped it, getting an odd feeling. The horn was a bit sensitive, surprisingly.

I began to turn and examine the rest of my new body, calming down as I studied myself. I found that the top of my back was covered in a different color chitin. It was an odd blue, odd because I felt like I could see the blue inside it. Connected to this were two large insect wings, which I found that I could control after some focus. They moved slowly for a bit before I set them back to before, flat against my back.

My back legs were not much different from my forelegs, and after checking my crotch I found nothing there. Just a flat surface of chitin, which was extremely odd. Then again I didn’t know much about bugs so it was probably normal. After checking my tail, which looked to be made similar to my head fin, I gave myself another lookover.

“This situation is too weird.” I told my reflection. This was the first time I said anything since my transformation and I was glad to still be able to talk. I found that my voice was much higher and uncomfortably feminine, married by an odd buzzing sound with it. That made it sound like two people were talking at once.

I continued to examine myself in the reflection for a while before attempting to practice movement. It was difficult due to my new leg structure, but I could do it slow. As I was walking around I felt a sudden lurch as the cavernous room around me faded away, leaving me floating in an odd abyss.

I blinked, confused. Before I could voice my frustration, however, another voice beat me to the punch. I felt it echoing around me, sharing the odd, dual quality my own voice had. “Get up!” It had a hurried, rushed tone to it. “Please! You all have to wake up!” I frowned. This was a dream? Well I shouldn’t be surprised, though I usually only learn that after I wake up.

“Please! The guard is here, and we can’t hold them off! Whoever you were before, it doesn’t matter. You’re all changelings now, and they WILL kill you on sight!” Now I was confused. What was this mysterious voice talking about? Besides, I was the only one around. Who was it talking to?

“Wake...UP!” It suddenly shouted and with a flash I blacked out, fading into a dreamless sleep.

Author's Note:

I did this one myself, with some help from friends. This one may feel odd and out of place, but trust me it's important. Sorry if it seems a bit rough though, and if you see anything comment on it! Next chapter will have some action!

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