Well, as much as I grinned and said that pissing Chrysalis off enough that she decided to turn me into a changeling right away, what I didn't count on was the fact that being wrapped in a cocoon and turned into a changeling hurt... a lot. Basically what it feels like is your skin being peeled off and replaced with the changeling chitin stuff. To make matters worse, it wasn't exactly a quick process either. I think I was in there for a good hour and a half before my left hand began to curl up and turn black. My fingers were fusing together into hooves, and a hole even appeared in my forearm.
Yeah, it hurt about as much as one would expect.
Since I was upside-down, one would imagine that my blood would flow to my brain and kill me before I could be changed, but the cocoon I was in glowed green every few seconds. Each time it did, I felt the blood in my body flow normally. Of course, it also brought pain, so it evens out, really.
Now, right when I got into the cocoon, I began trying to struggle out. The changelings had taken my armor and knives, so I couldn't cut my way out. I couldn't really move much at all, really.
You know, as funny as it was when Chrysalis unknowingly said all of those innuendos, I was kinda getting worried that I wouldn't be able to get out of this one. Oh, don't get me wrong; I would fight tooth and nail to get out of this. Heck, I'd killed to get out of lesser situations. I wasn't just going to lie down for this one. Even if I was going to be fully turned into a changeling, I wasn't going to make it a pleasant experience for Chrysalis.
Dang it, now she had me doing it.
Now, on the whole, they left me alone to turn. Chrysalis told me that she knew that I couldn't get out, so she wanted to leave me alone to think about what I could do to please her once I was made hers. She didn't appreciate how hard I laughed at that, so she didn't come back for a while. When she did, she had that big, smug grin on her face once again. I returned it with a mischievous smile on my face.
"How is your conversion going?" she cackled.
I would have shrugged if I could have. "Eh, I'm not worried. You're only hurting yourself if you chose a guy like me to be a changeling. Do you really expect me to do whatever you want?"
Chrysalis chuckled and poked the cocoon. "Why, of course. All changelings are connected to the hive mind. I control the hive mind, thus I control you. I can make you do whatever I want."
I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah, because something exists on this planet that would erase my god given snarcasm powers. I'd be connected to the hive mind and you'd turn me back to a human just to get some peace and quiet. Either that or I'd teach the entire changeling race to be sarcastic, this causing you to abdicate."
Chrysalis glared at me. "I cannot abdicate. Do you not understand the nature of your new species?" Chrysalis smirked at me and spread her insect wings proudly. "I am a physical manifestation of the hive mind. My word is law, and you will follow my law."
I chuckled quietly. "If you're the manifestation of the hive mind, the hive mind is quite dirty."
"You keep saying that, but you make it up!" Chrysalis snapped. "You should think before you accuse your new queen of such words!"
"Oh come on, you just hand the jokes right to me." My smirk widened slightly. "Or, 'hoof' them over, as is the case."
The cocoon glowed green again, and I held back a grimace as my left hand fully became a changeling hoof. Chrysalis couldn't see any pain out of me, or else she would just begin bragging. I hate bragging when I'm not the one doing it. I mean, I was pretty sure that I'd get out of there anyway... somehow, so I'd wipe that smirk off of her face regardless.
I have to admit though, it wasn't looking very good for me.
Chrysalis chuckled and pushed on my cocoon, sending it spinning a little bit. "I will come back sometime later this evening to release my newest loyal soldier. Equestria will fall under my control thanks to your help." Chrysalis turned around, tossing her seaweed mane as she did. "You will enjoy bringing me pleasure by your actions." She snapped her head back and glared at me. "AND STOP LAUGHING!"
It was a good two or three minutes before I did, but I was alone by that point. My left hand was a changeling hoof, and I felt pain in one eye and the left half of my jaw. I ran my tongue over one of my canines and found that it had extended into a long, sharp fang. Now that Chrysalis was gone and I didn't have to play casual, I began to panic a little bit. It was hard to think straight when I was in excruciating pain, and every minute that passed made me more and more a changeling.
Well, every so often, the universe realizes that it's kinda been way too hard on me. It looks at my situation and goes "huh... maybe I went a little too far on that one." This was one of those times. See, I could hardly call him a deus ex machina seeing as how he pretty much is always around and even always finds me when he goes off to resurrect. So it was quite delightful, but only a little surprise, when I glanced next to the window that was my only source of light in the room to see a red-gold head poke through and scan it.
I laughed in relief, catching my phoenix's attention. "Oswald!"
Yes, Oswald had resurrected and through his natural sense of where I was, he flew into the fortress and found me. He chirruped happily and flew over to me, landing on the floor and looking up at my cocoon.
"You know, Oswald? I don't know if I've ever been happier to see you." Oswald chirruped again and nodded at me. He took off again and began scanning the cocoon for a way to get me out. "Claws, dude! Use your claws!"
Oswald levitated in front of me and cocked his head. He looked around the room and, to my supreme annoyance, he flew away. I wasn't exactly going to get out of here if he didn't actually cut me out of the freaking cocoon. I tried to struggle out again to see if I couldn't get some leverage, but I wasn't able to move. Of course, Oswald wasn't one to leave me hanging, so he did show up again.
Holding a key ring in his beak.
Oswald....
I groaned and shook my head. "Oswald... where did you even get that?"
Oswald chirruped proudly and flew around the cocoon, looking around for a keyhole. Oy. I groaned again and would have very much liked to bang my head against the wall. I love Oswald, and all, but boy did he... um... have some flaws.
Well, I didn't have time to hang around all day while I waited for my phoenix to realize that a changeling cocoon didn't have a lock like a few of their doors did. Either that or Oswald just got a key ring out of nowhere. I got his attention when Oswald got in my range of sight again.
"Oh Oswald." Oswald hovered in front of me and cocked his head. "Take the key. Poke the key through the cocoon. Tear the cocoon apart."
Oswald looked confusedly at me, but gingerly flew forwards and took one of the keys in his beak. As I instructed, he poked it through the cocoon. It took a little bit of effort, but the key tore a hole through the cocoon. I smiled at him, which seemed to give him more confidence about what I had asked him to do. Within a few seconds, he was poking holes all over the cocoon. He kinda looked like he was having fun with it actually. It wasn't the quickest of solutions, but I was out of the cocoon within about ten minutes. Oswald poked enough holes in the thing that I was able to move and tear the rest of it away. I landed on the ground on my shoulder, which normally would have hurt, but my shoulder had already turned changeling, thus was armored.
So I...
~~~
I am interrupted from a spell from Celestia's horn that collided with me, knocking me out of the chair. Oswald flies up to her and hisses at her with extended wings, but I call him off.
I chuckle and sit back up. "That's kind of a delayed reaction to my punch, isn't it?"
Celestia doesn't respond, and neither does anybody else. They're all staring at me. As much as I'm sure it weirds them out, I don't particularly mind that I'm still a little bit changeling. My left eye and some of my teeth have been changed, and my left hand is completely a changeling hoof. Same with my right leg. My shoulder that I mentioned before is covered, but still changeling.
I chuckle and those parts are bathed in a green flame as I change everything back to human form. I flex my repaired fingers and crack my neck. "If you wanted to see the new me all you had to do was ask." I clear my throat and sit back in my chair, meeting Celestia's even glare. "I know what you're worrying about, but trust me when I say that I'm still all TD..." I tap my head. "Up here. Yeah, I'm a bit changeling, but trust me when I say that Chrysalis isn't in my mind."
Celestia stares at me for a few more seconds before casting another, gentler spell. It's like a mist covering my head. When it fades away, Celestia takes a deep breath and slowly nods. "You are still TD in there. You are not part of the hive mind."
"But yer a changelin' now!" Apple Bloom cries. "That's gotta be pretty weird."
I smirk at her. "I'm still human, Apple Bloom. Human with a few changeling aspects. It doesn't really change anything. I'm still human as long as I keep it up, which doesn't take a conscious effort." I give the collective ponies a small smile as Oswald nuzzles up against me. "I know it's weird, but trust me when I say that I'm still me." I raise my hand and allow it to be bathed in the green flame. When it fades away, it's a bear paw, complete with deadly claws.
"I can just do this now." I change my hand back. "Now, I could change it back with Oswald's tears... I think, but I think this is kind of awesome."
~~~
Detour aside, I try to push myself to my feet, but I topple over when I can't balance on one foot and one hoof in a shoe. I topple back on the ground, but push myself back up to my front hooves. "Okay, all I have to do is figure out how to call upon my changeling powers to turn back to human. Piece of cake."
I close my eyes and try to find my zen or some nonsense like that. I envisioned the changeling parts of me as my normal human form. To my surprise, I felt the changeling parts of me engulfed in a cool feeling, and I saw that they were bathed in a sharp green flame. When the fire subsided, my normal human hands were there. I stand up and dust myself off.
"Okay. That's good to know. I'm part changeling now so..." I examined my hand, but couldn't see anything that made it obvious that it wasn't the real thing, "I'll reserve judgment on that until later." I turn to Oswald. "So, let's get my weapons and armor and let's get out of here."
Cue bad guy coming up behind me.
"Not so fast, human!"
I turned around and saw Chrysalis glaring at me, her fangs bared and her brood surrounding me. So, it was pretty much a normal circumstance for me.
Chrysalis growled and took a few steps towards me. "I'll admit that I did not count on your bird finding you, but that is an easily remedied mistake. There are ways to kill phoenixes, after all."
Yeah, she was monologuing again.
Chrysalis began circling us like a shark, laughing when Oswald hissed at her. "You have spirit, human, I shall grant you that. You have mastered transformation quite quickly. It is a valuable skill to possess." Chrysalis stopped right in front of me and smiled evilly at me. "I wonder what other valuable skills you possess that I can take advantage of."
Yeah, I facepalmed at that one. I don't know if the fact that she was saying that kind of thing was worse than the fact that she had no idea, but it was something else nonetheless. Chrysalis seemed to get the meaning behind my facepalm, though, so she returned it with a glare.
"There is no escape, human! I would prefer to have you in my brood. Don't make me destroy you."
I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes. "Well then you're out your supposed linchpin of your next planned invasion of Equestria." I scoffed at her. "What, are you going to knock on the palace door and ask nicely for Celestia to give you the city? It sounds smarter than your other plan."
Chrysalis cackled and licked her fangs, her wings fluttering in what I presume was excitement. "No, actually. I was thinking of going after Ponyville."
My breath caught in my throat, and my jaw dropped a little as Chrysalis' words registered to me. She picked up on my shock and took full advantage of it.
"Imagine how Equestria will defend itself if the Elements of Harmony fall to us. With them defeated, and their army so weak that they aren't even able to get themselves properly armed when an invasion force is clearly right outside the city, I see no reason that my changelings cannot gain Canterlot's total surrender. Once Canterlot falls, so too will the rest of Equestria." Chrysalis cackled again. "You are hardly the linchpin in my invasion plans, human. Ponyville is."
~~~
I glance up at Celestia who has taken some of Twilight's parchment, and is writing something down on it. No prizes for guessing what.
~~~
My shocked expression wears off, and it is replaced with a glare. I clench my teeth together and ball my fists, ready to crush this bug. "No. You won't do that."
Chrysalis scoffed and waved her hoof at me. "As if you could stop me."
My voice was level, and my posture didn't indicate that I was about to attack, but anybody who looked at me could tell that I wasn't in the most chipper of moods at the moment.
"No. I don't think that you quite understand what I'm saying. If you attack Ponyville, there will be a reckoning of the changeling race unlike anything Equestria has ever seen. I personally go through this hive and be so efficient at destroying everything that I see, that I will make a terminator on God Mode look sloppy. When I'm done, I will ensure that it only takes a few years before nobody even remembers what the heck a changeling is."
Chrysalis smirked at me, but there was a hint of unease behind it. She had crossed a line with me, and she knew it. Having said that, nobody ever said that she was smart.
You think you are strong, human, but for all your bravery, you have not strength." Chrysalis narrowed her eyes at me. "I think we'll take you to Ponyville as you are, and make you watch as we take over the town before we turn you. I particularly look forward to rounding up all of the foals and--"
If she thought that she had crossed a line by merely saying that she was going to go after Ponyville, she hadn't even begun to consider the line she had just crossed by daring to threaten the Ponyville foals. They were the one thing that had kept me going; the one major bright spot that I had when I first came to Equestria, and this bug was threatening them.
It was time to squish the bug.
Before Chrysalis could really register how big of a mistake she had made, I rugby tackled her, slamming her against the wall. I grabbed onto her horn with one hand and turned my other one into the bear claw that I just showed you guys. I began absolutely tearing into her. I clawed at every single bit of Chrysalis that I could reach, and was quite satisfied when I saw glowing green blood start flowing from her cuts.
Now, you may wonder why none of her changelings actually came to help her. I mean, she was their queen, after all. Well, the best that I can figure is that, as mentioned, she was the physical manifestation of the hive mind, and since she was in such pain from my onslaught, the only thing that she could think of was how much it hurt. Every time I thought that she was trying to get a spell out, I jerked at her horn as hard as I could and slammed my paw into her head a few times for good measure.
I hadn't even wailed on Purgle this badly. I dunno, maybe it was the fact that she threatened the Ponyville foals, or maybe it was the fact that I was a quarter changeling now, or maybe it was just everything that had happened to me the past six years coming out in one brutal three minute span. Maybe it was the third one because when I finally let her go, her snapped off horn in my hand and her blood covering the other, I felt... relaxed almost. Like a huge weight had been taken off of my shoulders.
~~~
I smile sheepishly at the gathered listeners, all of whom are staring wide-eyes and open-mouthed at me.
"Uh... I guess I was a little... irked."
"A little..." Applejack puts her hoof on her forehead. "TD, that ain't 'a little irked.' Ah ain't never heard of somepony gettin' so mad at anythin' before."
I bobble my head and scratch the back of my neck. "Yeah, well..."
"So..." I look up at Sweetie Belle, who is frowning as if she can't understand what she had just been told. "You beat the queen of the changelings up because she said she wanted to hurt us?"
"Wow," Scootaloo whispers.
"Yeah. Well..." I run a hand through my hair and take a deep breath. "It's like I told you guys before: you and the rest of the kids in Ponyville kept me going. It was a real bright spot for me and, while I know this sounds cheesy, they were memories that I really cherished when I was traveling the world." A wry smile crosses my face. "And that manifested itself when I beat the queen of the changelings to death when she threatened you."
"So she is dead?" Twilight says as she looks down at her notes to see if she understands right. "You killed her?"
"Generally when somebody has lost that much blood and you've snapped off their horn and broken their neck, then yes. They are dead." I look over at Celestia. "Right?"
Celestia stares blankly at me for a few seconds before sighing and shaking her head. "TD, I'm sorry to say that you only really killed that part of her. Yes, the body she currently inhabited was killed, but in order to truly kill Chrysalis, you have to kill every single changeling. Remember, she is a physical manifestation of the hive mind with a leadership complex. You... inconvenienced her for a few decades while she grows to her former strength again."
"Hmm." I crease my brow and stare down at an imperfection in the table as I mull over Celestia's words. Hopefully they won't be an issue, seeing as how I was hoping to go home in a day or two, but... "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Hopefully she learned her lesson about messing with me."
"Perhaps..." Celestia says quietly, though I can tell that she doesn't mean it. Chrysalis' words to me told me that she still held a grudge against Equestria for her defeat at the wedding. No reason she wouldn't come after me if she could.
Can't think about that right now, though. If Celestia is right, she has decades of re-growth time.
I shook my head and waved my still-human hand. "Oh, that reminds me." I unfurled my fingers and showed the group my palm. Two long, deep scars ran horizontally down the middle. "Did you know that changeling horns are really quite sharp? I found it out when I was giving Chrysalis her beat down."
~~~
Now that said beat down was over, all any of us could do was stare at the battered and broken form of what once was Queen Chrysalis. Her changeling brood didn't even move, they didn't even visibly breathe. They just stood there and stared. I dropped the horn on the ground and walked away from the scene. Now that Chrysalis and her changelings weren't a problem for me anymore, it was time for me to get out of here. I reverted everything back to my human form, and followed Oswald to a storage room. It turned out that he had been looking for me for a little while, and he knew where my stuff was. I got it all together and just walked out the front gate. Even if they weren't all connected to a hive mind, I don't think that anything would have really tried to stop me.
Well, with nothing else really to do, I kept going down the mountain path. I was rather anxious to get out of the mountains and to the Crystal Empire. It was another two weeks of traveling to get out of the mountains, and after that the weather started to get a little colder. I knew that I was getting close. Oswald flew off a week later to molt, leaving me to just keep going by myself. I followed Mesud's directions, and just kept going north-east as directed. It was another week-and-a-half before I found myself standing outside of the shield of the Crystal Empire itself. Surprisingly enough, nothing really happened between the changelings and here. As I'm sure you can imagine, the lands in between were pretty inhospitable to life. When it started snowing, I could only get in a few hours worth of traveling in some days. I'd just dig shelters and wait for it to die down. Eventually, I came here, and walked through that shield.
And here we are.
dwah?
3214262
You should get a medal for such eloquent speech!
is this near the end? awwwwwww
T.D has a really good memory.
3214302 Lot of big, life-changing events he had to go through.
MOOOOOAAAARRRRRR
So... TD is half changeling now? cool! oh, and the whole beating of the changeling queen was cool to.
3214311 He's more like a quarter changeling, but yeah.
Well, TD's part Changeling.... Didn't see that coming.
3214327>>3214318>>3214311
I could hardly "bear" it
So is he Morphling?
3214266 why thank you
I smell a sequel called Revenge of the Changelings!
It's a shame he didn't encounter Chrysalis before Pugle... those abilities would have made the fight more interesting.
"So, TD... you don't like Chrysalis and the changelings? How about we trade? I know I brought you to this world without asking, but whilst we are looking through the Crystal library, could you return to the hive... and level it?
I don't know if anyone will share my view on it, but I found the beatdown scene... rather anti-climatic. All that was written was "I slashed at her with a bear claw, she bled, and I jerked her head around when she tried magicking things up". No offense, but this doesn't sound nearly as grisly as it seems you intended it to be.
Take your time. Add details. Describe what each two or three strikes cause and where they hit. As it is, with two 6-line paragraphs describing it, it's really underwhelming.
too bad that its about to end.
Well…at least he can cure himself when he likes it, just some tears and he will be ready to go home…hurray he is almost there, is way home is just one last chapter away
3214334
3214362
There were foals present. I think he chose to spare them the gore details.
Also, I wonder if the Elements can revert the transformation. Even if TD can return to Earth via Crystal Heart, we would be forced to hide his mutations for the rest of his life (or more probably until some shit happened; don´t forget, the Universe loves to mess with him)
3213721 Thanks. Good to know.
3214396 It's stated clearly in chapter 1 or 2 that the Crusaders are fully-grown mares now.
So yeah, only if it's in his head, which actually sounds kind of plausible. He did protect Apple Bloom from the Princesses in "Citizen Powell" like they were going to harm her, purely out of protective instinct. There's something fatherly there.
EDIT: Well, well, well, look at that. Both of my comments downvoted for no reason. It looks like the lowlife troll kid that was stalking me from The Rogue Wolf's stories has come here too. Hi there! Thumb down all you like, you little bitch, it's not like you can do anything more about it, now can you?
Edit 2: Aaaand you did. So, tell me: does using your sockpuppet account to up the ante by one single point make you feel any manlier?
Edit 3: FOUR thumbs! Your dedication to this pointless and ridiculous little showcase is admirable, young Sith. Now go apply that to something constructive, like, I dunno, school?
3214384
The power of the bad pun! cdn.broni.es/images/emotes/mlp-tcrazy.png
3214355 XD Nonsense. It has to have Non-brony in the title, right?
...
"The Revenge of the Changelings upon a Non-Brony" XD
One thing you dont know, men, is that there is a sequel planned.
Universe gave him cool powers, but it's like: Going home, are we? Nope.
3214402 Or, someone just doesn't agree with your opinion.
3214402
I know your pain. I published a story, and not even 2 minutes later it had 2 dislikes. That's not even enough time to finish any significant portion of the story cdn.broni.es/images/emotes/mlp-dfacehoof.png
Interesting that I pick the story back up the hour it updates.
3214468
That's not really an opinion as much as it is pointing out what's already been said in the story with a little explanatory work. There was nothing really disagreeable with it, therefore it was just someone being rude.
3214304 tekstovi-pesama.com/g_img2/1/v/13128/veni-1.jpg
3214468 Don't meant to sound rude, but I see nothing in the second comment that people could have disagreed with. Even if they did, they should've said what we're not on the same page about; it's plain ol' courtesy. Red-and-run is just rude.
Besides, it's not just here. Even on my main page I got one red thumb on all comments.
Everything's come full circle.
3214380>>3214283
NOOOOOO!!!!!!!! why is this almost close to done!? WHY!?
3214492
Don't worry. There's still a little more at least. There's a lot of places he can take this if he wants to continue the story. After all, he hasn't seen the seaponies yet. Shoo be doo!
3214362 If you'll remember, TD didn't describe how he killed Purgle in a lot of graphic detail either. When it came to actual killing blows, he just said "I stabbed him a lot" and "the knife hit him." He could have been far more graphic, but he held back. This is an Everyone story, after all. Even besides that, TD almost seemed embarrassed by what he had done when he told it. Like he disliked that he turned into an animal like that. You completely understood what he did without him having to go into graphic detail.
3214484
see you in the sequel of this sequel lol
3214516 Ah, so it's a perfectly intended writing artifact. So, am I correct to assume that the amount of detail is inversely proportional to the brutality of the scene?
NNNOOOOOOOOOO
WHY?
chrissy best changeling
3214473 Yeah, it blows pretty hard. That made me stop caring about thumbs; only faves and comments (especially comments) really matter.
Holy shiznipples TD went full berserk on her o.O
And now... as story within a story ends, the story can continue.
"Pfchhh-Whahahat?!"
Shut up, you know what I mean...
"No I don-"
You're part of my brain...
"..."
-_-
"Fag..."
3214362
Why should he describe it -_-
This isn't a story that needs that...
3214528 What he did wouldn't have looked out of place in Saw. I told you that he was holding her snapped off horn and covered in her blood. It was exceptionally brutal.
I hope TD tested some tears out on himself just to be sure. Mainly around the head area, don't want any grey matter being loyal to the dirty red drone Communis... I mean Hivemind.
So, TD now has his major magic upgrade, plus combat skills, special magic signature weapon, light armour, support companion and friend, fitness, loyal friends in high places with favors to him in every region, a legend and the offical "Badass" atmosphere where ever he goes. Outside of becoming a gunslinging robo-cop coming back to the future with an old timer 2 days from retirement who has had enough of this shit in the near future I think he is ready for the next adventure arc. All the "high level badass adventurer" elements are ticked, lets see what the universe throws at him. (Princesshood probably, the multiverse wouldn't just use that twist in only ONE TD-verse; The universe would love to take the badass teacher thing he has been working on away from him.)
3214355
Obviously, it's the smell of sarcasm, a tub of hilarity, and a pinch of Changeling TD. Oh! And maybe baby Chrysalis!
I guess now that he's still part-changeling, does that make him similar to Locutus of Borg?
images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130214005128/memoryalpha/en/images/c/cd/Locutus_complexion_drain.jpg
Sorry for all the Star Trek references, it's just hard to resist when you're giving me more material for those than Chrysalis gives TD material for dirty innuendos.
Aaand there it is.
I must admit I didn't think you would have been able to comfortable fit a changeling chapter into the story and not slow the flow down, but you've done it really.
I was sort of expecting a little more 'Frankenstein's monster angst', if that makes sense? I know that he's become a much stronger person than he was before and that adrenalin and hate can hold these things off for a while, but... actually, never mind. He wouldn't bother telling them that, would he. They don't need to know about how he had a massive freakout over being part bug.
That said and done, this does open a possibility for another 'bad end' story, doesn't it. Set a few decades later for Chrysalis to respawn, obviously.
SWISS ARMY HAND
Hmm, these changelings are an excellent case for justifiable genocide.
Kinda like the Borg.
Upon reading the chapter title, I had a feeling Chrysalis wouldn't be having a good day.
Little by little, TD is sounding like someone who wouldn't be out of place on the Anarchy Reigns roster.
3214539
I do have 3 faves (which isn't that bad for a mosh pit of sheer randomness), but I've only had one person comment. It's lonely down there.