> Black Queen, Red King
>  by wille179
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Dreams and Vanishing Stuff
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Three weeks ago, it started with a dream.

Normally, I don't dream at night. At least, I don't dream in any way that I can remember. But that particular night, I did remember it.

I had found myself standing in a cave. There was some light, but it came from nowhere. The whole scene was strangely lacking in details. On the opposite side of the cave, there was a black and green blob. For reasons I couldn't name, I got the feeling that it was looking at me. Then the dream ended, my mind wandering to other things. The dream probably lasted only a second. Why did I remember it so well?

A day went by with all of the usual happenings. Go to school, do homework, eat food, and sleep. It's the story of my life. Then the dream came again.

This time, I was outside in a rocky wasteland. Black and green blob was there again. It seemed more... defined this time. The green was concentrated near the top left and bottom right. There were four thinner protrusions from the main part of the black blob. I could hear a voice, but as if I was under water and the speaker was not. The words had no meaning, just sound.

Again, the dream ends.

This continued for a couple of weeks. Every night, I would return to the same dream. Well, almost the same. I would be in a different location than the last time, usually alternating between the cave and the wasteland. Invariably, I would always appear some distance from the blob and hear the un-intelligible  voice. The blob continued to gain detail until two nights ago. I could finally make out what I was seeing. It was a horse fly, pun intended. The insectoid-equine had a black carapace and tatters dragonfly wings. Yet it retained the basic shape, mane, and tail of a horse. Rather, it was more like a parody of a horse. The gigantic eyes and fangs on a rounded head were only some of the deviations from what a horse should be. There appeared to even be a tiny crown on that gigantic head. The voice I had been hearing had also been gaining clarity as well. Soon I could tell that the voice was coming from her. I say her because the voice sounded feminine. What she was actually saying remained a mystery. There was no possible way that human mouths could make those chittering words. Her voice was almost the definition of what I imagined a bug's language to be.

Last night, I dreamed that she spoke and I understood.

"What are you?"

My jaw dropped at the question, for it was spoken in her own tongue, yet I knew what she meant.  From the tone of her words, the horse fly wasn't expecting a reply.

"That's new," I replied to her question. "I've never been able to understand you before tonight. As for your question, I am a human. Who? My name is William."

"You can SPEAK!?" She gasped at my reply. It took me a minute to realize that I had never spoken in these dreams.

"Of course I can. Why wouldn't I be able to speak in my dream?"

"YOUR dream? This is MY dream. Right now, I am sleeping in my palace chambers. I have had the.. misfortune... to have repeatedly dreamed of the same hairless monkey for the past three weeks," the bug growled. I didn't even know she could growl.

Ignoring the insult, I replied, "I'm sure that this is my dream. Of course I would dream of a wealthy horse fly a-," but I was cut off by her outburst.

"Horse fly!!!! How dare you compare me to a measly insect! I am Queen Chrysalis, the immortal ruler of the changelings! And this is my dream!"

“Well pardon me for punning, your majesty. I only call it like I see it.”  That was rude of me. Why am I acting like this?  “Though, there is no convincing me that you are real and I’m a figment of your imagination.”

“Well, I’ve never met a beast so–,” but she was cut off as my alarm jolted me from my sleep.
Have you ever woken up angry? Well, I had not before today. With a start like this, today is going to be a rough one.





I stumbled down the stairs in the dark, muttering to myself, “Stupid horse fly, stupid hour and a half bus ride, stupid 5:30 wakeup…” Making a beeline for the pantry, I opened the door to find… bland cereal… great. Grabbing it, along with the milk from the fridge, I started to make myself a bowl. Of course, just when I had begun to pour myself a bowl, I suffered from an acute attack of butterfingers. Milk spilled all over the counter and floor before I could upright the jug. Swearing to myself, I reached for the paper towels. The roll was empty. “Great, just great,” I whined. “Now, where did mom put the other rolls? Ahh…” Snapping my fingers at the last word, I was caught off guard by a flash. Where a half-empty jug of milk had been sitting, now lay an empty counter. It was simultaneously cleared of the spilled milk and my bowl of cereal. 

Dumbfounded by this sudden development, and now lacking a need for the towels, I began to experiment. There was a pen on the counter. Focusing on it, I snapped my fingers. 

Flash. No pen.

I then imagined the pen returning to me and snapped my fingers. Nothing happened. Disappointed, I tried again. Again, I got no result. Frustrated, I looked at a magnet on the refrigerator, and snapped. 

Flash. Gone.

Imagining it back, I snapped. Nothing. Clapped. Nothing. “I wish the magnet was back.” Nothing.

“Well, that’s a disappointment. A power that sends things away to who-knows-where, and no way to get it back. I’m so going to be a super hero with this,” as if.

With my little tangent into the world of useless powers finished, I returned to the task at hand: food.





In her chambers deep within her hive, Queen Chrysalis was awoken by a jug of milk and breakfast cereal appearing over her head. This was followed by a pen and a magnet, each of which bounced off of the enraged queen’s head.

“SOME CHANGELING IS GOING TO DIE FOR THIS!”

The entire hive, now awake after the queen’s outburst, gave a collective shudder out of fear.





“Dude, you seem off today. What’s up, Will?” My friend Nick asked during home room at school. I gave him a rundown of this morning’s events. Nicks replied to my answer with, “Wait, wait, you got a super power? Prove it.” So I did. His pen vanished right out of his hand. “WHAAA! How the hell did you do that?” he exclaimed. I could only shrug. “Whatever. Give it back, ‘cuz that was my last pen.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean, you can’t?”

“I can’t. It’s one way. Things go, but they don’t come back."  Reaching into my bag, I produced one of my pens and gave it to Nick. "Here, take this.”





The grouchy queen, now milk and cereal free,  sat at her desk. A map of Equestria was currently occupying said desk, along with quill and glass inkwell. ‘Changeling invasion plan,’ written in the Equuish language, was scrawled on the top of the map. The map was coated with arrows and other symbols outlining her plan.

A flash of light caught her attention. The clatter that followed brought it to the second pen, which now rolled around on the map. “I’m going to kill the changeling responsible for insulting me so,” raged the queen, momentarily forgetting that her subjects, who were a part of her hive mind, physically could not do anything of the sort. 

Rearing up, Chrysalis pounded her hooves together to emphasize her point. Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash. Looking around, she noticed that the pen, her ink well, quill, and map had vanished off of her desk.





My first class was calculus. God, I love calculus class. Doc Stock is an amazing teacher, and his class is usually the highlight of my boring school days. I just started taking notes when a flash appeared over my head. 

*Crash*

“Awww come on… what now?” 

The black liquid from the broken container now covered my shoes and jeans. Every eye in the class was currently fixed on me. 

“Mr. Ross, are you alright?” the professor asked. 

“I’m fine, but there’s broken glass everywhere. Is this ink?”

A girl in the back asked, “What was that?” A shrug was my only reply.





After getting cleaned up as best I could, I grabbed the other objects that had appeared. The first was a familiar pen, which I traded back with Nick. The second was the quill, which I examined only briefly. The third, however, came as quite a shock. A map with ‘changeling invasion plan’ written on it, along with horse-pun city names. I gasped at what I was holding. Nick, seeing my reaction, looked over my shoulder at the map. 

“Aren't the changelings the things you told me about. Those things from your dream?” Nick asked. I nodded.

“It’s real.”

> The Start of a Trans-Dimensional Friendship
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"It's real." 

Those two words echoed around in my head.
It's real
It's real
It's real
No, not it. She's real. This map confirms it. Sort of. I know for a fact that my power is real and this map is real. The fact that it's filled with horse puns when Chrysalis herself was a horse pun leads me to believe it is all real. But it is hard to rationalize that something like her exists. This leads me to wonder: how did Chrysalis get into my dreams, or I into hers?

"Mr. Ross, care to rejoin the class in the lesson? You will never become a calculus ninja by staring at a map."

At this, I snap back to reality to notice Doc Stock standing over me and the class whispering behind my back. "Sorry, it's not every day that you get stuff dropped on you out of thin air, you know," I sheepishly replied.

"Perfectly understandable, but we have a lot to cover before your finals."

"Yes, sir," I said, rolling up the map and sticking it in my backpack. The rest of class passed without incident. 





Catherine ran up to where I was sitting at lunch. Grabbing the seat next to me, she demanded, "tell me! What happened to you earlier? They're saying you got bombarded with junk that appeared over your head." My excited girlfriend of two years grabbed my hands and eagerly awaited my response.

"It's true," I said, showing her my still stained shoes, "a map, pen, quill, and glass inkwell all got together and decided to ambush me. Hehehe. My pants and shoes are the only casualties."

"Oh my god! That's so weird! Where did that junk come from, anyway?"

"I think I might know, but I'm not positive. Perhaps a magic alien bug queen decided that was the perfect time for some revenge for who-knows-what, hehehe. It doesn't really matter, anyway."

"You're silly. I love you, Will bear."

"I love you, too, Catherine."





My school day ended with free cook in my culinary arts class. Cooking was a passion of mine, and if I ever became really serious in my relationship with Catherine, I would need the skill. She can't cook anything. In fact, I'd never let her in a kitchen for fear of her poisoning the water supply.

My burgers sizzled on the grill, bacon frying, and onions sautéing in a pan. I sent my group mates to grab the spices and cheese I needed to make the ultimate bacon cheeseburger. The aroma filled the air, mixing with the creations of the other groups. Studying food: it's the perfect way to end the day. 

I couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light, but my hands looked slightly green...





"Ahhh... Enough of that. Time for bed," I yawned. Switching off my computer for the night, I trudged upstairs to my room. I briefly wondered if I would dream about Queen Chrysalis again. 

First and foremost, I had to apologize to her for my rude behavior towards her last night. Then I wanted to confirm my theory about the objects that were disappearing into and appearing out of thin air. I stopped suddenly. The first thing I sent was my spilled breakfast. When she sent the ink, it landed on the floor next to me and the map landed on my head. What became of my food? I might have to make another apology.

I do hope that I can get on her good side. It wold be great to be friends with a queen.





As I had hoped, the dream came again. This time, the setting was a boat in the middle of a sea as smooth as glass and almost as blue as the sky. Chrysalis appeared a few seconds into the dream. 

"Soooo... I'm sorry," I said. It's better just to get an apology  done quickly. Like ripping a bandaid off, it hurts and then it's done. "I shouldn't have been so rude to you last night. It was wrong of me."

It seemed like my apology caught her off guard, for Chrysalis stood still with her jaw hitting the floor. She quickly composed  herself, and snorted. "Very well. Now, are you ready to admit that you are just a construct of my mind?"

"Actually, about that," I started, "I think I know what is going on here. We are sharing the same dream. Despite how impossible that sounds, It's the only explanation I can come up with that fits."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Milk, cereal, a magnet, two pens, a quill, inkwell, and a map of Equestria labeled 'changeling invasion plan' make me say that,"  came my answer.  Judging from her face, I say I hit it right on the money. 

"YOU! You where the one who woke me up with that mess! It took me forever to get that out of my mane!" she spat. I winced. She continued, "and then, you took MY PLANS away from me!"

"I'm terribly sorry about that. It was a complete accident. Your map is in my backpack, so I will return it in the morning. I must correct you on something, though. My 'power' to send things to you only works one way. I can't bring anything from you to me. You must have sent that stuff to me yourself. What were you doing the moment your stuff vanished?" I inquired.

Chrysalis didn't respond at first. Her mask of primal rage slowly melted into one of confusion as she thought about my question. Her answer finally came in the form of, "I... I... stomped my hooves together. I think."

"Makes sense. I snapped my fingers, and whatever I was focusing on was sent to you. When you wake up tomorrow, try to send something else to me. We'll see what happens," I concluded. Maybe this power is more useful than I thought. 

Unlike other times, where the dream just ended, this ending was a slow fade out. As my consciousness returned without the aid of an alarm, I said fare well and returned to the waking world.





Chrysalis sat in her study, thinking about the dream she had just awoken from. "I wonder... Maybe there's something to what that... William... said," she pondered. Her horn lit up with green magic and a new quill and paper drifted over to her. The quill dipped itself in the new ink and began to write on the paper. When she was satisfied, her magic rolled up the scroll. Chrysalis reared up and clapped her hooves while looking at the scroll. Flash. The scroll was gone. She wondered whether he would get it or not.





Chrysalis's test message appeared early Saturday morning. I was busy doing very important activities on the internet, namely watching videos on Youtube of Catherine playing with her new kitten. There was a flash and a scroll appeared on my laptop keyboard. I was thankful that Chrysalis hadn't decided to drop a brick on me.  Unrolling the scroll, I read the fine cursive script: 




'William, 

I am testing the idea you proposed last night. If you receive this message, please respond as soon as possible.

Her Majesty, Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings.'




After reading her message, I scrawled on it in my chicken-scratch handwriting, 'message received. Have a great day. - William,' and stuck it in the photo copier. After the machine finishes, I grabbed the replica and sent it with a snap. I wanted to keep the original to show Nick and Catherine.

Although, I have to wonder, how did Chrysalis have better handwriting then me if she didn't have hands? And why did she use quill and ink instead of a pen?

Grabbing a sheet of paper from the copier, I wrote out those questions to her. Then, after fishing her map out of my backpack, I  sent both papers with a snap.





Chrysalis was pleasantly surprised by the quick appearance of a sheet of unusually white paper. Looking at it, she noticed that her original message had been flawlessly copied on the new paper, along with a new message.

"Have a nice day," she mouthed, "it's been a long time since anyone has said that to the real me." A small, fanged grin cracked upon her face.

There was another flash, and two more papers appeared on her desk. The first was the map she had accidentally sent, and the second was another of those very white sheets. Reading the first question, she chuckled and wrote 'magic,' but the second gave her pause. "What's a pen?" she asked the empty room. 'Was that what the objects he sent were? And how would I write with one?' was quickly written out with the stroke of her quill. The letter vanished a moment later.
> Development and Cross Pollination of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Magic. Really? Chrysalis writes with magic. Had someone told me a few days ago that I would be talking to a horse fly with magic, I would have called them crazy. Now, though, I may have to reconsider my world view. 

The second comment in her latest letter threw me for a spin. What does she mean, ‘what is a pen?’ Doesn't everybody know what a… pen… She was using quills. Is it possible that her world is less technologically advanced than ours?  I must ask her about that tonight.





“Hell yeah!” Nick roared at the screen. His button mashing fingers were currently trumping mine. We had been playing video games together at his house for the past five hours. A very rough five hours for me. It didn't matter the game, be it shooter or RPG or what-have-you, I was no match for the game master sitting next to me. Oh, look! My car just drove off a cliff! Yay me!

“You win, Nick.” At this, I had to concede victory. Placing my controller on the couch, I stood up to stretch.

“I win again, Will. Now, my beverage ~” Nick ordered. The deal was that whoever lost had to get the drinks before the next round. Of course, he had to say it in the most stuck up, snobbish voice he could muster.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get your stupid soda. Coke or Pepsi?”

“Coke, DIET Coke.”

“One coke, extra lard, coming up!” Nick slugged my shoulder at my not-so-witty remark.

Walking into his large, cream colored kitchen, I reached for the fridge door. 

[I just wish getting love from these ponies was easier.] 

“What?” I asked aloud. That voice I heard in my head sounded like Chrysalis’s voice, but it couldn’t be. I was awake. Wasn’t I?

“Dude, hurry up,” Nick hollered from the other room. I ignored him.

“Chrysalis?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I didn’t get a response. Trying again, but this time only imagining to say the words, I asked [Chrysalis?]

This time, the response was immediate: [What!? Who’s there?]

[Queen Chrysalis, it’s me, William.]

[What are you doing in my head, human?]

[I’d ask you the same thing, but I think we both know the answer. Whatever connection we have, it’s getting stronger.] 

[This is an interesting development. Unfortunately, I cannot talk now. I’m in a meeting and my changelings are getting worried. Their queen is not supposed to stare off into space without reason.]

[Then we shall talk later. Good day,] I concluded. Quickly grabbing Nick’s Coke from the fridge, I rushed back to him.

“What took you so long, dude?” Nick inquired as I re-entered the game room.

I replied, “Chrysalis,” and went on to explain my latest development with the strange creature. Throughout my explanation, he didn’t speak, only raising an eyebrow. Afterwards, he seemed surprised, but somewhat skeptical what I had just told him.

“Are you sure this is real, and you’re not just imagining thing?”

I just stared at him. “Really, Nick, really?  You saw me teleport your pen, and you saw me get that junk dumped on my head. Oh, and there’s this,” I said, pulling out the parchment Chrysalis had sent me earlier in the day. He quickly looked over the artifact. When Nick was seemingly satisfied, he handed it back to me. I returned the parchment to my pocket.

“So you can teleport junk to some bug lady in another world. What now?” he asked.

So I said, “Honestly, I don’t know. As soon as I can, I plan to have a real Q & A session with her. If we’re going to be head mates, I want to get to know my fellow tenant ASAP.”

“Sounds creepy when you put it like that, Will.”

“Even more so when you have to live with it.”





It was after dinner time. I stood at the sink, rinsing off the meatloaf-encrusted dishes. My younger brother lounged on the sofa, too lazy to do his part of the nights chores. Mom was off doing the cross-word puzzle in the paper. Who knows where Dad is. Ehhh, he’ll turn up sometime or later. He hasn't left the house.

Wash, rinse, repeat. 
Wash, rinse, repeat. 
Wash, rinse, repeat. 
Wash, rinse, repeat. 
Wash, rin–  
My rhythm was thrown off when my two huge Labradors came barreling into the kitchen, one chasing the other. The larger of the two crashed into my legs, causing me to fall over. The plate I was holding met it’s end with a crash course in physics. My mom called out, “Will, are you alright?”

I replied, “I’m fine, but the plate wasn’t so lucky. I’ll get it cleaned up in a second.” Then, under my breath, I muttered, “stupid plate.” Real mature of me right there, resulting to petty insults for inanimate objects.

I bent down to clean up the pieces, but stopped abruptly. My hand, It was GLOWING. There was a faint, iridescent green aura surrounding my hand. Out of panic, I willed my hand to stop glowing, and it complied. I’d never heard of human bio-luminescence before. Perhaps…

[Hey, Chrysalis. Does glowing green auras around your limbs mean anything to you?]

[Oh, hello, William. That’s certainly an odd question. I don’t know about limbs, but changeling horns glow in that manner when they are using magic. Does that help? Why do you ask?] she inquired.

[It might help. My hand was glowing just a moment ago, but humans can’t use magic,] I thought to Chrysalis, [Of course, humans also can’t talk to others telepathically, and yet here we are.] As this conversation progressed, I continued to clean up the floor. Piece by piece, the broken plate slowly migrated into the trash can. Meanwhile, my family remained unaware that a conversation was even going on in my head.

[If it is magic, then maybe I could teach you how to use it. Although, I’ve never actually taught magic before.]

[Still, it’s worth a shot. A human that can use real magic. That’s a funny idea,] I thought to her. 

[Very well, I have time. Shall we begin now?] Chrysalis asked.

[Be my guest,] I thought, coupling it with the mental image of me bowing to Chrysalis.

[You flatter me. First, we need to find your magic. Imagine yourself, and then go inside, towards your heart.] I did as she instructed. [Very good,] she continued, [I can see what you are visualizing. This will make things easy. Around your heart, if the magic exists within you, you should find a ball of bright light. It should be the same green as the aura you claimed to see on your... hand.]

Doing as she told, I did indeed discover the light. It wasn't as bright as I expected, but it was something. [It feels warm, almost alive,] I told her.

[Very good. Magic is alive, in a sense. For changelings, it fuels our powers and life. If we run out, our bodies begin to shut down. Now, imagine dragging this light up to your horn… err… hand.] As I did what she instructed, my hand lit again up with the undulating, green aura. [Now that you can reach your magic, let’s try levitation. Imagine pushing your magic out of your body.] 

As I did so, I could feel the energy leave my body. Although it was barely visible away from my hand, I could move it around like another limb and feel exactly where it was. Stretching it out, I coiled the tendril of magic around one of the last shards of broken plate on the ground. The fragment lit up in the same aura as my hands, and I pulled upwards. The fragment lifted off the ground without any obvious physical support. I gasped in surprise and shouted, “I GOT IT!”

“Got what?” my mother called from her chair at the table. From her position, she could not see the floating shard.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing important,”  I replied. [Chrysalis, I did it! I did magic!]

[Good job. You figured out the rest of my basic lesson by yourself. If you continue to do this well, it won’t take you very long to master the few spells I know.]





It was shortly after Chrysalis had finished teaching me the finer points of levitation that I was struck by a sudden thought.
*plunk*
*plunk*
*plunk*
*plunk*
The dozen marbles circling my head dropped to the floor. 

[Wait, If I use up all my magic, will I die, too? How do I get more?] I asked. Running out of magic suddenly was a major concern. 

Chrysalis answered, [you might indeed die from over using your magic.]  I gasped at that response. She continued, [If you are like a unicorn, then–] 

I cut her off, saying, [unicorn? You have unicorns in your world?] I could feel her glare from a world away. [Never mind, we can talk about those later]

[As I was saying,] Chrysalis continued, [if you are like a unicorn, then your magic will recover just by living out your life. Eating, drinking, and sleeping all recover magic for a unicorn. However, If you are like a changeling, then you will have to steal magic from another in the form of love, or some other positive emotion.]

[How does that work?] I asked, [love is just an emotion.]


[Yes, on its own, love is JUST an emotion. A changeling, however, can steal the life force and magic from any other semi-intelligent animal that is experiencing any positive emotion,] she explained. [It’s like a key, of sorts. Each emotion enables a changeling to take a different amount of energy from its prey, and gives the energy its own unique flavor. Love is by far the most potent of all the positive emotions, enabling almost full access to our prey’s energies. Fully sentient creatures have the most love, more so than any other animal.]

[So you’re an emotional vampire,] I stated. Honestly, this is starting to get very weird. [How exactly do you go about draining people? Have you fed on me?] I asked, now worried for my safety.

[No, I can’t fed upon you, despite my best attempts.]


[Hey!] I exclaimed.

She ignored my outburst. [The act of feeding is itself instinctive. Usually, we foalnap and impersonate a pony by assuming their form, and then drain their lover dry,] she though, her mental voice making it seem like the act was the most normal thing in the world. And ponies. Really? I get the feeling that they are not like the ones here on Earth.

[That’s like a horror movie plot. ‘Attack of the Shape Shifting Vampires from Another World.’ I see why you are called ‘changelings.’ What happens to the ponies you capture?]

[For short term impersonations, they are trapped somewhere out of the way. For long term impersonations, they are either killed or taken to the hive. There, they are injected with our hallucinogenic venom and cocooned while being fed upon. Although, you can’t get much energy from a cocooned pony. It’s usually not worth the effort.] She gave a mental shrug, and continued, [You seem unusually calm, for someone hearing this for the first time.]

[There are weird creatures here that have bizarre behaviors and needs. I can’t argue against your way of life,] I thought to her.

[That… is a very wise perspective you have.] I smiled at her comment. Despite our species difference and physical distance, I have a feeling that Chrysalis and I could become very good friends… 

...unless she eats me first.
> Learning of One Another, or Espionage is Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The mall stretched on for infinity. Infinitely long, infinitely many stories, infinitely many shops, and yet it held only two very different occupants. I strolled alongside Chrysalis, walking at a brisk pace, but never seeming to go anywhere. Well, we were, but the dream mall was too huge to notice any amount of progress down its lengths. The shops, however, had a common theme: all the ones on the right had artifacts from Earth, while the left contained artifacts from Chrysalis’s world.

“What’s your world’s name?” I asked. For the past hour, Chrysalis and I had been exchanging information regarding our worlds. By sheer dream logic, I happened to ask while standing in a left side store that sold maps. Maps of her world.

“Equa.” The changeling pointed at an atlas of her world, labeled with, ‘Traveler’s Guide to Equa: the Complete Atlas.’ Short responses were common between us in this dream. Invariably, whenever one of us asks a question, we found ourselves in the next shop down. Invariably, the store would be something relevant to the question. And invariably, we would be standing next to something relevant to the question.

Take, for instance, my question about the ponies in her world. We ended up in Build-a-Bear. The counter was covered in polychromatic pastel pony plushies. I chuckled at the absurdity of their design. How had evolution created something that looks like a child’s toy? Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like these before, living or otherwise. Wait, there was that one thing.... I think it was ‘My Tiny Kitten’ or something of the like. It had not aired in over a decade, though.

When I asked about Equa’s technology, we ended up in a store that sold steam engines. Gunpowder? Empty room. History? Book store. Changelings? Pet shop with glass terrariums. Each one was filled with two dozen miniature changelings who were happily munching on candy hearts. Chrysalis was mildly disturbed by that display.

“I’m assuming that they are not normally that small?”

Chrysalis replied, “yes, normally, they would come up to about half my height.” She stood only a few inches shorter than my 6’0” frame, which means that the changelings are half my height as well. Chrysalis continued, “They can, however, transform that small, or larger, if they wished.”

A sudden urge overcame me, and I tapped on the terrarium’s glass. Several flashes of green flame sparked inside. What was once filled with happy changelings was now filled with dozens of tiny screaming ponies, zebras, griffins and minotaurs. I chuckled at the scene, but the queen did not notice my mirth. She was too occupied trying to calm the little changelings down.





I asked, “so… are changelings mammals or insects?” 

“Insects, to a degree,” Chrysalis replied, “Although, unlike normal insects, we have a closed circulatory system–like ponies–and we’re warm blooded.”

“Interesting,” I commented, “now it’s your turn.”

“You expressed an interest in our technology. I want to see yours, William.”

“Very well.” I walked into the tech store. “Our world, which has no magic… well, it didn’t have magic until yesterday. Anyway, humans had to build everything themselves. In time, and it took a lot of time, we became masters of technology. Now, the only thing stopping us are those pesky laws of physics.” Pulling out a laptop from one of the shelves, I showed it to Chrysalis. 

“This device, a laptop computer, can connect to the largest store of information in the world and process that information faster than a human can. Unfortunately, about seven years ago, I think it was in 2022, we stopped being able to improve them, physically. The parts just couldn't be made smaller, and Moore's law collapsed. Now, the only way to make them smarter is to strap on more processors, which makes them larger and hotter.

"Never the less, each computer is connected to the internet, a network of millions of other computers. They can all communicate with one another–and their users–to exchange mountains of information very rapidly from long distances," I concluded.

“That internet of yours, it’s like my hive mind,” Chrysalis declared. 

What? “What do you mean, ‘hive mind,’” I asked. I knew earth hives, like bees or wasps, coordinate themselves with pre-programmed tasks and pheromones. Chrysalis, however, seemed to be implying something else.

“All changelings have a magical connection with me, formed shortly after birth,” she explained. We were back in the pet store with the tiny changelings. “This connection is normally subconscious, influencing and synchronizing their desires with mine. Without any prompting, they unconsciously want to do whatever I consciously choose. Through the hive mind, I can also see through their senses, share memories, and if need be, directly control them as an extension of my body.” She demonstrated this by making all the little changelings start dancing in a coordinated ballet. 

Wow. Just wow. The little changelings continued to dance with each other, which was really quite adorable. I turned back to face the queen.

Chrysalis continued, “If I’m not controlling them, then my changelings have free will to do as they please. A young changeling can get a basic education from the hive mind’s memories, and individuals can use the hive mind to recognize and communicate with one another while disguised. In fact, our entire language is based on this principle.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, the excitement in my voice caused it to squeak. This had to be the most interesting thing I have ever heard. 

Mmmmm… The possibilities….

“Changeling speech is composed of random syllables strung together. The speaker imparts meaning upon them. The listener receives the syllables, which decodes the meaning received from the hive mind. A mind reader cannot find the correct thoughts without the sound, and a non changeling cannot understand the sound without the hive mind. The language, however, cannot be transcribed into any form, and recording crystals are useless. After the original speaker is finished, the random syllables revert to just that: random syllables,” Chrysalis concluded.

By this point, my jaw had hit the floor. Dream logic made sure that it actually was scraping the floor. She chuckled at my cartoonish expression. It took me a minute to compose myself. “Why?”

“Why what?” Chrysalis tilted her head, confusion plastered on her face. 

“Why are you Queen of the changelings? Why not Queen of the world?” She was still confused. I face-palmed. “You live in a pre-industrial world, where the greatest weapons are spears, bows, and some spells. Yet you have access to an army of SHAPE SHIFTERS, a biological version of the INTERNET, a NATURALLY ENCRYPTED LANGUAGE, and the resources of an ALIEN WITH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY! Even HUMANS, who are predators and masters of warfare, don’t have it that good. Our best encryption programs can’t compare with that. Our computers can’t beam info straight into our heads. And you have shape shifters.” I took a breath, “If you asked me, I’d say–with  the right amount of sabotage and espionage–you could conquer the world in a year. At most.”

Her jaw was now firmly buried in the ground. Then came the laughter, “hehe. HeHeHe. HehHehHeHAHAHAHA!!!! Why had I never thought of that before? BRILLIANT! This is the start of a beautiful partnership, my good William.”

I have to wonder, did I just create a super villain?





The bell chimed over the bookstore door. I strode up to the clerk at the counter.

“Do you have The Art of War, by Sun Tzu?” I inquired.

“Let me check. Odd choice of reading. Are you into that sort of thing?” she asked, while searching the computer at her desk, “ahh, Yes, we have a few copies in the back.”

“Thanks, but it’s not for me. My friend really enjoys books on leadership and warfare, and I thought that she would like it for her birthday.” I have no idea when Chrysalis’s birthday is.

“Her? I didn’t know young girls were into that sort of thing,” the clerk replied.

“Young? HAHA! She’s old enough to be my great-grand mother!”  I said. 'No, at least 70 greats. Chrysalis is almost 1,600 years old,’ I thought to myself. I hope she did not hear that.

“Well, It’s great to see the young and old being friends with each other.” She smiled, then said, “Here you go. The Art of War.”

I paid the last of my allowance and left the store.





The afternoon after that dream, Queen Chrysalis contacted me. I had been lying on the couch, watching mindless TV when her strange voice spoke into my head.

[William, in regards to your plan, I have sought the advice of my counsel.]

[Well? What did they say?] I asked.

[After a thorough risk-gain analysis, we concluded that although it would be beneficial, the risks are just a tad too high for a plan as extreme as this.]

[What makes you say that? I thought it would have been a no-brainer.]

[I care too much for my changelings. Assuming the form of a pony is easy. Steeling love is easy. My changelings have no experience with political espionage. Under ordinary conditions, there aren’t many blunders that a changeling impersonating an average pony can’t fix with a hypnosis spell. But a high stakes impersonation of a powerful political figure? We can’t copy memories or fix blunders on that scale, so any changeling would be almost on his own. Any blunders there, and their cover is blown.]

I asked, [What happens if their cover is blown?]

[They get taken in for questioning. A changeling unmasking spell is used on them. They get imprisoned and starve to death.]

[Oh… that’s a horrible way to go.]

[Yes, It is. Which is why we aren’t going for world conquest. My changelings are happy now. While times aren’t as great as they could be, the hive isn’t starving. We have enough to continue. There is no need to jeopardize our food supply for political power. That said, we will keep your ideas in the backs of our minds. Just in case.]

[I see your point, Chrysalis,] I thought to her. [Here, I got you something.] The book I was holding vanished with a snap and a flash.

[Oh, The Art of War?] 

[It’s a book on human military strategy. You know, just in case,] I thought to her, imagining a wink.

[Thank you very much, William. You’re too kind.]

A few moments of comfortable silence passed between us. The clock on the mantel chimed 3:00. I made a move to stand up, when a thought crossed my mind. 

[Can I have a spell book?]

I’m having a lot of inspiration lately, aren’t I?

> (Bonus Mini-Chapter) Bon Bon Checks Out Spell Books
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bon Bon walked out into the park, her saddle bags full of her newest batch of candies. She trotted with a mission: Find Lyra. Earlier, the mint green unicorn had promised to meet her in the park. The sun shown down upon Bon Bon, her head sweeping back and forth as she walked. The little foals ran around her hooves as they played with their ball. In the distance, a call of, “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: VOLLEY BALL PLAYERS! YAY!” could be heard. The cream colored mare groaned at the antics of those three fillies.

Spotting Lyra, she picked up her pace. That is, until she noticed the position her marefriend was in. Bon Bon groaned. Lyra was, of course, sitting upright like a ‘hue-mane.’ Whatever those things were. Sometimes Lyra’s obsession was kind of cute, but not often. The sitting thing, however, was not.

Lyra, spotting Bon Bon, waved her over. A small picnic basket sat next to the unicorn. Lyra hopped off the bench. Her horn lit up, levitating two water bottles out from the basket. Bon bon gladly accepted one and began to drink.

Of course, Queen Chrysalis chose that exact moment to order a spell book and to share her knowledge of humans with the hive. 


1) ‘The hive’ included Bon Bon. 
2) Bon Bon had known of her marefriend’s obsession with humans for months. 
3) Bon Bon genuinely thought Lyra was crazy, and that humans were fake. 
4) Having your beliefs randomly and abruptly shattered is a startling thing. 
5) Startled creatures jump. 
6) Bon Bon was a startled creature.
7) Bon Bon had a mouthful of water.
8) Bon Bon jumped and spat her water out.
9) Lyra, startled by Bon Bon’s sudden action, also jumped.



The whole scene took two seconds.

“BON BON!” Lyra screamed.

“Sorry, Lyra. SHE contacted me,” Bon Bon apologized.

“You mean your Quee– “ Lyra started to say, but was cut off by Bon Bon’s hoof.

“Yes,” she hissed, “And never. EVER. SAY. THAT. NAME. AGAIN. Pinkie promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my ey-OWW!” Lyra chanted, forgetting to close her eye on the last word. (Pinkie Pie popped up out of the basket, said, “FOREVER,” and then slowly sank back into it. Five friends, at their own picnic, could only stare.)

“Yes, SHE did. You’re never going to believe what I heard: humans are real.”

Lyra fainted.





After putting her marefriend in bed at Lyra’s home, Bon Bon walked through town. This time, she had a real mission: check out spell books from the Ponyville Library. Queen Chrysalis had asked for some during the broadcast, and Bon Bon wouldn’t disappoint. 

She made her way into the library. The little dragon (Scale?) that worked there was busy dusting the shelves. Bon Bon chose this moment to speak up. “I’m looking for some beginner spell books. Can you help me?”

“Sure, one second… Bon Bon?” Spike asked. “You’re an earth pony. Why do you need spell books?” He moved to get the books, despite his questioning.

“Oh... ehh… I’m helping my… niece learn magic,” the changeling lied.

“Oh, Okay. Lemme just sign those out for you real quick… and… enjoy,” Spike said. “Oh, and one more thing. Twilight’s been acting strange today. Be careful if you see her.”

“Uhh… Okay. Thanks.” 

Bon Bon hurried out the door, six books in hoof.





A few blocks later, Bon Bon approached a specific bush. It contained the entrance to a changeling tunnel that ran to the main hive under the Everfree Forest. Ignoring the sounds of a fight going on outside, she jumped. As soon as she was inside the tunnel, she reverted back to her real form. Tattered wings propelled her down the long, straight tunnel at a very high velocity. Changeling #345242 (A.K.A. Mirror) had books to deliver.

> The Beach Trip, or Fight-in-Flight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A green glow lit up the darkened bedroom. With a flourish of my hand, the lights flipped on. A flash, and I blinked from my bed to my closet. The calendar within read June 9th, a full six weeks since I had gotten my first spell book. The nearby bookshelf now contained nearly a dozen, from introductory leveled spells to intermediate spells like teleportation. From what I gleaned from the books, my magic reserve was smaller than the average unicorn’s and didn’t recover nearly as fast. There would be no way I could ever attempt any ‘advanced’ leveled spells, but that was ok. I have magic. Period.

A knock sounded from the door to my room. Panicking, I extinguished the aura around my hands and snatched up the floating shirt. I quickly finished dressing, then opened the door. My mom walked in, oblivious to the spectacle occurring in here only moments ago. I had not told her about my magic. Not her, not anyone. I wanted to keep it a secret until I was good enough with it to defend myself with magic, if need be.

“Will, are you all packed for your trip?” she asked. I nodded. “Good, let’s get it in my car. I’ll drive you to the airport.”

For my eighteenth birthday and the summer after our graduation, Nick and Catherine had decided to splurge. They bought three round-trip tickets for us all to fly down to the Gulf of Mexico for a few days. I still had to help pay for the hotel, but who cares? Four days of sunshine, sand, tanning my pale skin, and no parents, here I come!





“Bye, Mom! Love you!” I yelled as my mom drove off. As soon as she was gone, I turned and walked into the Atlanta airport’s southern terminal. I saw Catherine waiting for me by the computer check-in kiosks. She waved at me, and I ran over. I gave her a quick kiss. “Hey, my sweet Catherine. Let me just drop off my bags, and then we can go meet Nick. Okay?”

“Okay. He’s just over there. He wanted some gum for the flight.”

“Ohh… I knew I forgot something. I’ll need to grab some, too. And Catherine?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for the ticket. You spoil me rotten, my sweet,” I cooed.

Check in was a breeze. My bags were taken and I got my boarding pass. The two of us dashed  off to meet Nick. Upon entering the small store, I began to look for my best friend. He found me first. Or rather, ran into me first. Literally.

“Oooff. Sorry sir– WILL! Hey man! How ya been?” he asked.

“Well, I just got hit by this random guy, but other than that, I’m great!”

He slugged me on the shoulder. “Ha! Good to see you, man.”

“Good to see you, too. Let me grab some gum real quick. Then we’ll go catch ourselves a flight.”

“Sounds cool, dude.”





It took us almost an hour to get through security. I, much to my displeasure, got the random selection for a pat down. Hey, it’s for the safety of everyone around me, so who am I to complain? It’s not my fault that the new Russian extremist groups have made threats against the United States. One pat down and retinal scan later, I was through. Catherine and Nick had already made it through. We ran.

Thankfully, we arrived at our gate with four minutes to spare.





“Now boarding section D on Delta flight 7734 to Tampa, Florida,” the flight attendant called out over the intercom. We, hearing our section called, made our way through the rows of seats in the waiting room. At the door to the jet-way, the attendant scanned our tickets and fingerprints, and let us onto the aircraft.

As we walked down the aisle to our seats, I took a look at all the passengers we passed. The woman with the cough made me nervous. The last major flu scare was only last year. 

One large, jittery man in particular caught my attention. “That guy looks like he had five too many coffees,” I whispered to Catherine, while discretely indicating the muscular man to her. She giggled.





Near the middle of the flight, Catherine pulled out her beauty magazines. I didn’t particularly care for that stuff, but she likes it. Catherine tore out one of the advertisement pages.

“Hey, Catherine, Nick, want to see something really cool? I’ve wanted to show you this for a while now. Can you keep a secret?” I asked.

“Sure,” they both replied at the same time. Catherine giggled again.

I began to fold the sheet Catherine tore out into a paper airplane. “Watch this,” I said, and threw the paper down the aisle. Quickly, I shoved my hands under the tray table, so no other onlookers would see my hands. Right before the paper airplane hit the flight attendant, my signature green glow enveloped it, and the little aircraft swerved around her bemused head. Up and down the cabin, the little paper plane flew. I made it perform loops, corkscrews, and dives. A pair of kids hopped out of their seats to chase the plane back and forth, while the rest of the cabin watched in awe. Eventually, I cut the flow of the magic, and the paper airplane landed, only to be snatched up by a little boy. My audience cheered, even though only two knew they were cheering for me.

“What was THAT?!?!” Nick asked. 

“Magic. Psychic powers. Nano-bots in the air. Take your pick. Chrysalis taught me how to do that,” I answered. “But you can’t tell anyone.”

“We won’t,” Nick answered.

“Why not? That’s soooo cool! What else can you do?” a pause, “Who’s Chrysalis?” Catherine asked at a ridiculous speed, a smile plastered on her face. 

“I don’t want to end up on a lab table in area 51. Chrysalis is a shape-shifting alien queen from the planet Equa. She taught me magic,” I said, giving her a moment to process that. 

Her smile wilted. “Ohh… The government would lock you away if they knew, right?”

I nodded. “This isn’t the place to talk. Now that I think about it, making such a display probably wasn’t such a good idea.” Catherine nodded, and Nick gave me a look that screamed ‘you think?!?!’





We were approximately half an hour from landing when the worst fears of any passenger on a commercial airplane came true. The Muscular man I had pointed out to Catherine earlier stood up and drew out a gun. Five other large men throughout the plane stood up and did the same.

“NOBODY MOVE!” The first man roared in his thick Russian accent.

At first, there was dead silence, only the drone of the engines could be heard. Then reality struck, and a woman screamed: we were being hijacked.

Panic set in. What’s going on? What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

Oh, yeah…

[Chrysalis! I need your help! It’s an emergency!]

[AHH! William! What’s wrong?]

[Six men with weapons. 150 panicking, unarmed civilians. No escape route. They want to kill us all,] I hurriedly explained.

[Send the armed men to me. My guards will incapacitate them when they arrive.]

Great. I have a plan. Problem #1: the range around me in which I can snap-transfer matter to Chrysalis is only two meters. Problem #2: None of the hijackers are close enough.

I can do this. 

I unbuckled my seatbelt and readied my magic, secrecy be damned. I WANT TO LIVE!

[Ready, Chrysalis?] I asked; She was.

I stood up and stepped out into the aisle, glowing hands buried in the pockets of my shorts.

“SIT DOWN!” The Russian man ordered. I did not. 

The next 60 second of my life were a whirlwind of activity.

I charged. The hijacker’s hands were snapped down next to his sides. I teleported. Conservation of momentum made me crash into the man far sooner than he expected. Aided by the pressure I simultaneously spelled into the back of his knees, the man was forced down. Still in my pocket, my glowing hand snapped. His body vanished in a flash, and, lacking the support of his body, mine flopped to the floor. 

One down, five to go.

Acting quickly, I pulled my hands out to push myself up onto my knees. I sprang, but the other armed men had drawn their guns by this point. One fired. In the enclosed space of the cabin, the noise was deafening. Adrenaline surged through my veins, and my magic along with it. I cast the teleport spell again, but this time, instead of moving me, I moved their guns. We can’t be having casualties, now can we? 

As I closed the distance between me and the second terrorist, I started casting the changeling’s body impact spell, silently thanking Chrysalis for teaching me the staple spell of a changeling warrior. The shroud of green flames enveloped me, enabling me to bash the man far harder than any human had a right to. The instant after impact, snap. Flash. Gone.

Two down. Four to go. At this rate, I’m going to burn through all my magic before they are all defeated.

I blink again. 
Snap. 
Flash. 
Gone. 

Three down, three to go. And not enough magic for another teleport. Thank god sending them to Chrysalis does not cost much energy. By this point, the remaining three hijackers are completely freaked out. One tries to charge me, drawing a knife out from his coat in the process. I trip him with telekinesis and snap-flash him away.

Four down, two to go. I’m sucking at fumes with my magic levels. Even though I haven’t been hit, my chest is burning. I’m gasping for air, my heart is pounding at a million beats a second. I’m only standing because of the adrenalin coursing through my veins.

It’s at this point that the other passengers start acting. A few of the larger passengers, both men and women, have leapt up to my aid. A second later, the two remaining hijackers have been subdued. I stagger down the aisle, my vision blurring slightly. I come to the first. Snap. Flash. Gone. The second, Snap. Flash. Gone. 

Done.

It’s over.  My magic is gone. I collapse to the floor. The world grows dark on the edges of my vision. I think… I hear someone calling my name… It doesn't matter… The last thing I see as my vision shuts down are three flashes… and three dark silhouettes… 






<<<One minute ago>>>


Chrysalis sat on a chair in the arena. Currently, she was watching her guards spar in their training excersizes.

[Chrysalis! I need your help! It’s an emergency!]

Chrysalis jumped with surprise. Fighting ceased in the arena, the changelings feeling their queen's sudden alertness.

[AHH! William! What’s wrong?]

[Six men with weapons. 150 panicking, unarmed civilians. No escape route. They want to kill us all,] William hurriedly explained.

[Send the armed men to me. My guards will incapacitate them when they arrive.] Chrysalis jumped down into the arena and roared, “GUARDS! TO ME! CAPTURE THE HUMANS THAT WILLIAM SENDS!”

[Ready, Chrysalis?]

[I am.]

Not a second later, a flash appeared and a very confused human materialized. The changeling guards were on him in an instant, and he was very quickly detained with magic.

Within second of that, there was another flash and another human. Over the course of a minute, four more men appeared and were subsequently captured.

After the third human, however, Chrysalis had turned her attention to the fight in the other world. Looking through William’s eyes, she saw him grow weaker and weaker as he transported the humans. She felt him run terribly low on magic. 

[WILLIAM!]

It only took a moment for her to figure out what needed to be done.

Quickly, the fleshy, crown-like antennae on her head lit up. Three of her advisers stiffened as their queen took control of their bodies. She forced them to assume the form of three identical black robed humans and filled each with some of her magic and a set of instructions. Rearing up, Chrysalis pounded her front hooves together, and her three advisers vanished to the human world.

‘I hope they make it in time,’ she thought. 

But for the first time in almost two months, her thought was not heard by another living soul.
> The Hospital
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

My eyes slowly crack open.

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

'Where am I?'

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

'A hospital?' 

*Beep*

'I didn’t die?' 

*Beep*

'My chest feels very tight.'

*Beep*

'That's a heart monitor.' I smile, now knowing what that sound is.

*Beep*

*Beep*

I slowly turn my head to the side. A window enters my view. The dark sky was visible, but not a star was in sight. The smell of sanitizer fills my nostrils. I hear the sound of rustling fabric.

“Dixa’dri fispek miz’ozo. Mic'a'ze touk aloop,” a voice near me calls. What did it say? I don’t know. Behind me, a door opens, then closes. I’m too exhausted to turn and look. 

A second, similar voice replies, "shmel'op ticka-tak."

The figure that spoke first walked towards my bed and knelt down so that I could see his masculine face. There was a flash of green light, and his human eyes were replaced with that of a changelings. Another flash, and they returned to normal.

The human-changeling brought his fingers, glowing with green light, up to my head. A moment later, my mind cleared. But only by a small bit. His hand returned to his side, and he moves to sit in a chair by the window. 

The last thing I remember was passing out on the plane, and the three flashes. Does that mean that there are three of them here?

I feel warm. Uncomfortably warm. Too bad I can’t muster up the strength to remove the blanket from my bed, or even vocalize my complaint.

The door opened again, three sets of footsteps entered, and the door shut.

“Ahh, Mr. Ross, It’s good to see that you are awake.,” one of the sets of footsteps asked. “I’m Dr. Wesker. How are you feeling?” he added. The newly identified Dr. Wesker walked around my bed and knelt down, just like the changeling had only moments ago. The other two sets of footsteps moved into the edge of my vision. They were dressed in identical black robes. They must be other changelings.

It took a moment, but I finally mustered up the energy to say, “Too warm.”

The doctor placed his fingers on my forehead, and declared, “You don’t feel like you have a fever, that’s good. How about I just pull back your covers a bit. There, doesn’t that feel better?”

“More, please.”

“And how’s this?”

“Thanks.”

At this, Dr. Wesker stood up. “Tell me, does it hurt anywhere? I may need to adjust the pain medications.”

“No. Chest is… tight, but… no pain.”

“That’s good. Tell you what? I’ll go call your friends and family to let them know that you’re alright, and you can just rest,” the doctor said. As soon as I nodded, he turned and walked out of the room. I slowly turned my head to look at the three changelings in my room.

“Chrysalis… sent you?”

“Yes sir. She told us to ensure your survival. She considers you an ally too valuable to lose,” the first changeling said. Ally? Not friend? I thought we were closer than that. Makes sense. After all, she has a kingdom to run. In her position, I would keep the otherworldly ape close enough to use, but far enough away to dispose of if need be.

“How… are you? If I had died, you… would have been… trapped. Are you okay… with that?” I slowly asked. Sending them here seems like a rather risky move for Chrysalis. Just how valuable of a pawn am I to her?

Apparently, getting trapped here had not crossed the minds of the three changelings. Looks of panic, worry, and anger crossed their minds. The second spoke up, “We had no choice," he growled. "She took our bodies and sent them here without our consent. This would not have been a problem if we had remained at home, but here…” he trailed off.

The third resumed, “Here, we cannot feel the hive mind. It is as if we are the only three in existence. Had we failed, it would have been banishment without a crime.”

“Good… thing… you didn’t,” I spoke, shock at Chrysalis’s rash decision overlaid with exhaustion in my voice.

The three nodded in unison. “For now, rest. We shall remain with you until you are well enough to return us.”

“I will. And one more thing… don’t feed on me, my family, or my friends. You’ll never return... to your hive... if you do,” I threatened them. They gulped, and, satisfied that no harm would come to the ones I loved, I relaxed.

I don’t remember falling asleep.





I awoke the next morning to see my family standing around my bed. There was no sign if the three changelings. My mother, seeing me awake, smothered me in the kind of hugs only mothers can give. My whole family was overjoyed that I was alright. Apparently, Nick and Catherine had already filled them in about the events on the plane, omitting the part about me using magic. It confused them to no end. I had taken out six armed men in some explainable way, and then collapsed for no apparent reason.

From what I was told, today was June 10th, meaning it was only yesterday that the whole incident had occurred. When Catherine had called them, they jumped on a plane as quick as they could to get down to me. They knew about the three ‘men’ who had ‘appeared out of thin air’ to come to my aid, but when my family wanted to find said men…

“It’s the strangest thing. Three robed men come out of nowhere, help keep you alive until you get to the hospital, and then refuse to leave you. And now, no one in this hospital has seen heads or tails of them. They didn’t sign out and no one saw them leave, yet they don’t seem to be anywhere. Who were they, anyway?” my father asked, his voice laced with confusion.

“Friends.” It was all I could say.

“Well, it looks like the left you a ‘get well soon’ gift, whoever they are. Kind of creepy looking, if you ask me.” My mom picked something up from the foot of my bed. 

A plushy.

A plushy changeling.

A plushy changeling that blinked its eyes.

There were two more at the foot of my bed. I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing. Laughter that quickly degraded into a painful coughing fit. 

“AAAHHH! THAT HURTS!” Well, there goes my good mood.

“Easy, easy, Will. The doctor said that you have fluid collecting in your lungs and mildly degraded heart tissue. We can’t risk hurting them anymore, especially since they still don’t know what’s wrong with you.” I could only nod.





The doctor came and ran a few tests. Lungs, heart, blood, and the works. Two hours later he returned with the results. “Well, the bad news is that we have absolutely no clue as to what caused the symptoms that you experienced.” 

Magical exhaustion will do that to a person. Not that you'd know.

“On the other hand, you are clean of any infections and toxins, your hormone an nutrient levels are within normal ranges, and your lungs are clearing up. Whatever caused this seems to be a one-time thing, and it’s run its course." 

I already knew that, but nodded anyway. No way would I ever repeat this incident.

"You should be cleared to leave in a few days. I must stress, however: no strenuous physical activity for the next month,” Dr. Wesker concluded.





Minutes after my friends and family left, the three plushies on my bed began to stir. Each jumped off my bed and resumed human form in a burst of green flames.

“Unfortunately, your condition is worse than what your doctor claims.”

I was not expecting that at all.

“After examining your magic throughout the day, it’s fairly obvious that your body is not behaving properly for simple magical exhaustion.”

“W-w-what do you m-mean?” I stuttered. 

“What you are experiencing should be impossible. Chrysalis herself would have to be present in order for this to happen, as she is the only living thing in all of Equa that could have done this. And it has only ever happened once, to her, without her consent. It was under the influence of Discord, the god of chaos, early during his reign."

“You're converting.”
> Spontaneous Human Combustion and Other Body Horrors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"You're converting," the changeling said.

"What? No, really. What?" I asked, perplexed.

"When a creature has been drained of almost all of their magical energy – like you have been – Queen Chrysalis can convert them into changelings and integrate them into her hive. However, she is obviously not present. Therefore, there is either some other factor at work here, or it is truly spontaneous. Either way, you are becoming a changeling."

"Well... That sucks." I honestly would have been more upset, but I was still exhausted from the plane hijacking incident. Looking inwards at my magic, I could feel it changing. Looking at the changeling trio's magics, I could feel the similarities between their magic and the changes to my own.

This seems like a cursed with awesome kind of thing. Get shape shifting powers at the price of EATING MY GIRLFRIEND! NO WAY! And I don't even have a choice in the matter! No to mention the... hive... mind... Oh, god.... Is this Chrysalis's plan? Turn me into one of her drone puppets?

[Chrysalis! Are you doing this to me?]

[Hello, William. It's good to hear you after two days of silence. Now, what, exactly, am I doing to you?]

[Oh, you know perfectly well. After all you are the only being in either world capable of TURNING ME INTO A FUCKING CHANGELING!]

[WATCH YOUR MOUTH, GRUB! What has gotten into you? You seemed perfectly fine with us before now. Why the animosity?] the bemused queen asked.

[Why am I upset? Oh, no reason beyond the fact that I'm going to have to eat my girlfriend and live my life as an inhuman bug-vampire. I didn't care about your diet because you are a world away. But this? This hits too close to home. I'm not going to be your pawn, you queen of lies.]

[A pawn? Yes, you are just a pawn to me. Every living thing is just one of my pawns,] she chuckled.  [That said, I most certainly have nothing to do with your approaching transformation. Perhaps this is some consequence of our connection,] she said.

I didn't bother responding to that. I don't want to spend my last bit of time as a human arguing with her. Chrysalis had something to do with this, I'm sure of it.





I awoke in the middle of the night, my whole body feeling like it was on fire. The changeling trio was already up and moving. Dropping their disguises, I saw their true forms for the first time.

Looking back at it, dream Chrysalis couldn't hold a candle to how real they looked.

The first changeling levitated a chair over to the door and jammed it shut. Satisfied that it was in place, he cast a locking spell on the door.

The burning feeling I was feeling continued to increase. Meanwhile, the second changeling ripped the blankets off of my bed. The third's horn lit up, and I found myself levitating out of the bed. First and second's horns also lit up, and a small bubble of green light enveloped me.

It was not a moment too soon. I has been contained within the spell for only a moment when the pain exploded, and I with it. My entire body was enveloped in emerald flames as agony coursed through my mind. Writhing and screaming, my burning body was confined to the area within the shield.

And even faster than it started, it was over. By that, I mean that the flames and pain both completely vanished in less time than it takes to blink. The shield popped an I was unceremoniously dropped upon my bed.

The four of us shared a moment of labored breathing. Was it really that hard for them to contain my... explosion? After a moment, I realized something else: there was no pain from breathing or my rapid heartbeat. In fact, had I not just exploded, I would have told you that I felt perfectly fine.

Let's see what the damage is, shall we? I raise myself off of the bed to find the mirror in the bathroom. After a few steps, it occurs to me that I was walking upright. And was taller? I looked down at myself and gasped.

My body, while still roughly human in shape, was significantly longer than it had been before. It was as if I had been stretched out, like growing taller without gaining weight. Making a quick guestimate, I figured that I stood roughly eight and a half feet tall. My head was brushing against the ceiling tiles.

It seems that my hospital gown had burned away.  My body was covered in the same black carapace as the trio next to me, yet lacked no sensitivity to touch. My limbs were similarly full of holes. My long fingers now have been sharpened to points, much like Chrysalis's horn.

I ran into the bathroom as quick as I could. Forgetting my new height, I bashed my head against the door frame. I clutched the new ache with my hands and ducked inside. Peering into the mirror, I was greeted by a less than human head. Disheveled green hair hung down in front of two-toned green eyes that stared back at me. Unlike Chrysalis or the other changeling, no horn protruded from my forehead, but a crown shaped growth did. Reaching up, my fingers brushed against the crown to find that it was uncomfortably sensitive to touch.  I looked behind my reflection, spotting a large pair of tattered dragonfly wings. They fluttered, as if affirming their existence to me. I could feel the new muscles in my back twitch with excitement.

A smile grew upon my face, revealing a pair of hollow fangs. Why am I so happy about this? I'm a monster now, and yet...

"How do I change?"  I asked the trio as I ducked out of the bathroom. Whoa. My voice sounds really weird, like two voices at once. Just like Chrysalis.

They, getting their first real look at me, had mixed reactions. The first gasped, the second frowned, and the third tried and failed to suppress a look of disgust. Nice. I really should get their names.

The changeling in the middle, after a second of pause, answered, “Picture the form and WANT to be it. There really is not a better way to explain it. It’s instinctive.”

Following his advice, I found myself enveloped in (painless) emerald flames. Upon clearing, I found myself lacking two and a half feet of height and now wrapped in my old skin. Thankfully, the clothing managed to form with me. It was only when I moved that I realized something: the ‘hospital gown’ was part of my skin, and I could feel the cool breeze of the ceiling fan on it. That will be problematic in cold weather.

“Two things,” I spoke to the trio, “and then I’ll send you home. First, is there anything else I really need to know about my new body? And second, what are your names? I never asked, and it’s confusing the heck out of me.” 

“Oh, uhh… I’m Reflection,” the one in the middle said. “That’s Copy-Cat.” Reflection pointed to the changeling on his left. “And that’s Replicate.” He pointed to the one on the right.

Copy-Cat spoke next. “As for your body…” Copy-cat turned to his companions. “Silxa diz piqua mot?” ‘should we tell him?’ he asked his companions in the changeling tongue. I could understand him now, though I doubt he knew.

“Klippe, mixit camipt. Topi’spod.” ‘No, we can’t. too awkward.’

“Hudic wipith de hemew gies fupit ome shi now.” ‘But it’s worse when he finds out on his own.’

“Quop tish kufc gurux hi’deze.” ‘I don’t want to tell him.’

“Don’t want to tell me what? I CAN understand you now, you know,” I finally piped up. The trio winced. “Now, tell me.”

Replicate groaned, “Fine… Changelings have… one gender. Not two.” He let that sink in.

“Then… what do I have… down… there?” This is horribly weird. I don’t think I want to know the answer, though.

Reflection answered, “W-w-well, when you are transformed, you have what you want. In our natural form, though… we have…both.” A long pause went by. “And if you are like Chrysalis... that is, a royal changeling... you can… ummm…”

Copy-Cat finished for Reflection. “Chrysalis can impregnate herself.”

Too much. Goodbye.

I fainted onto the bed.





I awoke to the presence of my family, along with Nick and…

“Catherine,” I said in a dreamy, almost lusty voice. She smiled at me, but I was not paying attention to her. Instead, I was fixated on the misty aura surrounding her. Everyone in the room had one, but hers was a light pink. A luscious, delicious, mouthwatering, LOVELY pink. I HAVE TO GET IT! I WANT TO DEVOUR IT ALL!

I reached out my hand to her, willing the pink haze towards myself. It complied, and soon began to be absorbed into my skin. The effect was immediate. I began to feel full and energized as a most delicious feeling passed through my body. At the same time, Catherine’s shoulders slumped down, and she gained a tired expression.

Reality struck.

I snapped my hand back, mortified at what I was doing. Mortified that I wanted to keep going. Mortified that I wanted to eat EVERY. LAST. DROP. of her love for me.

“Is everything alright, Will?” she asked, not missing my reaction.

“Yeah, Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied, “Great actually. Nothing hurts at all. No troubles breathing, either.”

Her smile lit up. I could feel a trickle of her joy seeping into me, even without me actively feeding on it.

“Oh my God! That’s great!” she cheered. “The doctor said that if your lungs have fully cleared out by tonight, you can be checked out by tomorrow morning!”

This is going to be a long 24 hours…

'Oh, can’t forget them.' I discretely snapped my fingers under the covers when no one was looking. The changeling-plushy trio on the foot of my bed promptly vanished.

> First Feeding
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Flying (on the plane, not with my new wings) back from my misadventure in Tampa, Fl, I had time to kill. There are questions I need answered. I guess it’s time to really interrogate Chrysalis about what it means to be a changeling. 

[Hey, Chrysalis, did you have anything to do with my transformation?]

[William, I told you earlier. I did not willingly transform you into a changeling. I believe that it was a result of our connection.]

[Does this change our relationship? Am I still just an ally, and not a friend?]

Chrysalis sighed, [No, you are just a pawn to me, just like everything else. What made you lower your regard for me?]

[It was a comment one of your changelings made. Thank you, by the way, for sending them. I wouldn’t have lived without them.]

[You’re welco–]

I cut her off, [BUT, that was a very rash decision you made. If you really care about your children so much, why did you send three to save one of me? You put them into a very dangerous situation where their only way home depends on if they could save a dying man’s life. I could tell that they were very scared of the prospect that they might not get home.]

[Oh, oh dear. I never even considered the ramifications of sending them to you. I cannot believe that I did that to my own advisors.]

[Those were your advisors?] I asked.

[Yes, they happened to be the closest changelings on hand.]

[You owe them an apology and a paid vacation. Now, I have some questions for you. First, do these wings on my back work?]

[I’ll make sure my advisors are compensated,] Chrysalis thought to me, [as for your wings, I don’t see why not. You have magic, so the wings should be able to draw from that reservoir for lift. Changelings can fly as soon as their wings have dried from the fluid in their egg.]

[Great… another thing to add to the ‘use sparingly’ list,] I groaned. [At least I can fly. That’s more than any human has a right to be able to do.]

[Don’t worry so much. It will only use energy while you fly. You’re more likely to stop from physical exhaustion before your magical strength runs out. At least, you could always stop and rest on a cloud.]

[Rest on a cloud? You mean like pegasi? Changelings can do that?] I asked.

[Of course. It would be really hard otherwise to imitate pegasi given that most of them sleep in cloud homes.]

[Cloud homes… I would love to see one someday. I don’t think that I’ll be visiting any clouds soon. They are much higher in my world than yours and I would have to worry about being hit by aircraft,] I thought, [What about earth pony magic?]

[No, changelings do not imitate that form of magic. It has few short term visible effects. Our bodies do not express it in an attempt to conserve magic,] Chrysalis thought to me. Not having earth pony magic is fine, especially here on Earth. She continued, [On the other hoof, changeling magic has some other interesting properties in place of the earth pony magic. For instance, undisguised, a changeling can adhere to any surface, enabling them to climb vertical surfaces or hang upside down.]

[Ok, now that’s cool. I can’t wait to try out a Spider Man impression.]

[What is a ‘Spider Man?’]

[It’s who. He’s a fictional super hero that had the abilities of a spider, including the wall crawling ability,] I thought. 

From this point, the conversation derailed. We found ourselves talking about the oddest of things throughout the flight, from book so changeling lifestyle. It seemed like small talk on the surface, but throughout the conversation, I could pick up hints of her trying to analyze me.





“Ahhh, it’s good to be home,” Catherine said. He aura shifted to a happy yellow that smelled of citrus. I had been drooling over her the whole way home. In fact, my whole family smelled delicious. I snuck a nibble of my mom’s aura, just a taste. While the love of Catherine’s that I had tasted in the hospital had a more rich and satisfying flavor, the love from my mom had a different quality. It was lighter and less satisfying, probably because it was the love of family versus Catherine’s romantic love for me.

I do have a problem. While I could eat my family’s emotions, there’s no way I would. Unfortunately, this leaves me without a food source.

[Chrysalis, are there other ways changelings feed besides taking the emotions from someone while disguised?] I asked. Perhaps she may have a solution.

[I wondered if you would ask that. Yes, there are other ways. I have mentioned cocooning, correct?]

[Yeah, you have.]

[Good, well there are two other ways. The first is filter feeding. Simply ‘feed’ on whatever the ambient emotion is. You won’t get much energy unless you’re in a crowd and the energy you do get will barely be able to sustain a transformation. The act itself is disgusting, as all the flavors of emotion mix together. But you can use it to conserve your magic reserves. The other method I call ‘rip-feeding.’ You bite your victim and pull all of their life force at once. While it gives you a huge burst of energy, you leave a corpse. Obviously you can see the problem for a changeling trying to hide,] Chrysalis explained.

[Ouch… can you rip-feed without killing, like by taking only half their energy?]

[Then you have a comatose body. Remember, our venom is a paralytic hallucinogen.]

[I forgot about that.] I pondered what I could do about food. None of these options seemed very pleasant. I could leave my family to impersonate someone else. I could capture someone for a cocoon, but then I have to deal with having a cocoon to hide. I’m definitely utilizing the filter feeding, but that won’t be enough. And the rip feeding… Maybe I could make the half feeding work. No one knows about changelings here, and if I just assume a random form… That could work. The venom gives good dreams, anyway. If they are asked, whatever my victim sees could be written off as a hallucination. That could work…

I stop when I realize that I really am a vampire now. Then I laugh. ‘my own life is tuning into a vampire-loves-human-and-doesn’t-want-to-eat-her story.’ My family gives me a strange look for my sudden outburst, but I don't elaborate.





I stood at my window, moonlight illuminating my face. I slid open my window and peered out. The air was fresh and crisp. My wings buzzed in anticipation; they were the only oddity about my otherwise perfectly human form. I climbed out of my third story apartment and onto the fire escape. I smiled to myself, and jumped. With a buzz, my wings carried me skyward. After only a second, I landed on the roof of my building. I laughed, ‘I did it! I flew! Take that, world! Changelings 1, Humans 0!’ As I soared above the rooftops, I looked inwards at my magic. With how little I have left, I’ll have to cut my flight short. ‘Let’s see if I can’t grab a bite to eat.’





The woman walked down the street of Atlanta. She scolded herself for not having a ride this late at night, but she was only a dozen blocks away from her apartment building. She did not notice me watching her from my perch upon the ally wall.

‘She looks good. Plenty of life force and all alone. Now, how to get her…’ I thought to myself. The idea came to me, and I smiled. I teleported into the next ally way and transformed. The little girl that I had become was a seven year old version of Catherine. I had made her clothing seem dirty and worn. Her brown hair was disheveled, and her eyes were full of tears. I made sure my voice was ready, and then began to cry.

The woman I had been looking at herd the crying and turned to find the source. Upon seeing the ‘little girl,’ she gasped. “Hey girlie, watcha doin’ here so late? Shouldn’t ya be home?”

I, in the voice of young Catherine, said, “No, Daddy was drinking again. He hit my little brother. Brother and I ran away. We hid in here. Now my brother won’t wake up. I’m scared.”

“Oh dear. Let me see him,” the woman cried out.

‘Sucker,’ I thought. She ran into the ally expecting to find a hurt little boy. Instead, she found nothing. The woman turned around, but in place of the girl, I stood in my true form. My 8’6” frame dwarfed her 5’ something height. With my hand alight, I silenced her and bound her arms. “Don’t you know better than to trust little girls when a vampire is on the lose?” I said, making sure she got a clear look at my fangs. All I got from her was her muffled screams. I grabbed her arm and pulled it up to my mouth. I was not going to bite her neck; I could damage her arteries and kill her. 

My mouth chomped down on her hand. She screamed in pain. I could feel my venom entering her body while I drained her of energy. Her life was amazing! All of this emotion! So much LOVE! It’s delicious! I watched as her body aged rapidly. Perhaps without magic, I have to take the time someone has left to live. 

As I sucked, I could feel the rate at which it came out slow down, and I took that as my cue to finish. Removing my fangs, I got a small taste of her blood. It tasted rather pleasant,metallic aftertaste and all. The woman, who had now aged something like 40 years in ten seconds, collapsed to the ground. I could see her eyes jump around behind her eyelids. The smile on her face and blush on her cheeks hinted at the nature of her dream.

I transformed into an older woman and dug through my victim’s purse. Upon finding a pen and pad of sticky notes, I wrote ‘Help Me.’ I stuck the message on her shirt and dragged the unconscious woman to the ally entrance. Satisfied with my work and meal, I sprouted my wings and flew home.

> Mini Chapter: Changelings are Cosplay Masters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	[Hey, Chrysalis, who is the most impressive looking person in your world?]

[Hmmm… What specie?]

[I don’t know. Any of them. Not from the changelings, though.]

[Probably the pony princess, Celestia.] Chrysalis envisioned the white alicorn in her mind.

[Ooohhh… That’ll work.] I concentrated for a moment before transforming into a seven foot tall woman styled to look like this ‘Princess Celestia,’ including wings on the back. Her tight white dress accented her ample curves. On the dress, her sun mark was embroidered on her abdomen. The multi-colored hair floated gently behind her. In her hand, she bore a staff stylized to look like a long unicorn horn. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, satisfied with my appearance

[Why do you assume that form?] Chrysalis asked in regards to my appearance.

[There is a thing here on earth called a comic convention, ‘Comic Con’ for short. It celebrates the world of fiction. The most devoted fans will often dress up in the likeness of characters within these works. I’m going as ‘Celestia, the solar mage’ from the anime ‘Changeling Chronicles,’ one which no one has heard of. I just want to have a little fun with my amazing costume.]

I turned to look in my bathroom mirror. ‘Wow, I did an amazing job. Hehehe…’ I thought to myself while holding onto my new boobs. What? It’s not every day that a guy gets to hold a pair of double D’s. That’s not perverted; They are mine, after all. I reverted back to my normal human form, stowing ‘Solar Mage Celestia’ away for later. This is going to be a great convention.





The ground quickly passed under me as my wings carried me to the convention. It’s easy to fly unnoticed when your body can perfectly match the color of the sky. I landed behind a bush without alerting any of the people in the crowd to my presence. Stepping out, I headed into the hotel lobby to wait for Nick and Catherine. 

I needed to change into Celestia, so I went in search of a place to hide. I can’t change genders in the restroom, so I needed somewhere else to go. I weaved through the crowd of costumed people, smiling at all the characters I recognized. There, the elevators don’t have windows. I hopped into an empty one. The doors closed and a minute later, ‘Celestia’ stepped out on the second floor. The reactions were instantaneous. Most of the men and a few of the women in the room had their aura’s darken with the blue I associate with lust. There are a few that are literally green with envy. The whole room slowly becomes fixated on ‘Celestia,’ her hair, and her feminine assets. I look out over the balcony, searching for Nick and Catherine. As the center of attention, there is a lot of emotion coming my way. It tastes… nice. Lust isn’t quite as good as love, but it’s fine.

Finally spotting them, I notice that Nick is ogling me. ‘Eww… Didn’t think about that.’ I quickly made my way down stairs, heading straight for my friends. When I arrived, I said to Nick, “Don’t you know it makes girls feel weird when you stare at them, Nick, especially when they are your best friend using an illusion spell?”

3… 2… 1…

“WILL?!” they both screamed. I nodded at the pair.

“Come on, you two. We have a con to attend,” I said, snickering at my friend’s confusion. I unfurled my wings, getting some ‘oohhs’ and ‘ahhs’ from the crowd. My wings wrapped around my friends and herded them into the convention’s main area.

Needless to say, best Comic Con ever.

> My Little Grill: Red Meat is Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Flip. *Sssssssss.* Flip. *Ssssssssssss.*

My burger patty flipped on the grill, causing it to sizzle. The aroma filled the air. I stared at it, my mouth drooling in anticipation.

Chrysalis had told me once that changelings have almost no sense of taste; the little that they could often disgusted them. They still need physical food to build and sustain their bodies, but eating is not an enjoyable experience for them. I had the misfortune of discovering that she was correct, to an extent. It turns out that meat does not taste bad. In fact, if it is still bloody and barely cooked, it tastes fantastic.

After two weeks of lame food, I find myself standing by the grill, waiting for the heat to clean my meat before I devour it. No bun, no toppings or condiments or seasonings, just bloody beef. I can feel my mouth watering at the thought.

[Hey, Chrysalis! I found something tasty! And you can't have any!] I taunted her. Levitating the burger patty off of the grill, I bit into it, savoring the flavor. A thought crossed my mind. I concentrated on the flavor and scent and willed Chrysalis to experience it.





In the changeling hive, Queen Chrysalis had her face buried in another one of the military books that William had sent her. It was a training manual for spies. Though she and her hive already knew most of that information from experience, It served as a nice refresher and alternate perspective on the act.

Her stomach grumbled. She had not eaten lunch yet, despite the late hour. 'Mushrooms again... *Blech*...' she thought to her self.

[Hey, Chrysalis! I found something tasty! And you can't have any!]

Chrysalis was suddenly overcome by a smell and taste completely new to her. She had never experienced anything like it in her 1600 years of life, and she liked it. In fact, she liked it so much in comparison to the horrid mushrooms that she would claw her way to his universe to get a bite. Chrysalis's stomach rumbled in agreement.

[What was that?!] she thought. This was one of the few times in her life that the  queen could remember being envious of another. She just wished that she could SEE into his world, to REACH through the wall that separated them.

As her heart filled with desire, the air in front of her began to crack. Then it split open.

The changeling Queen stumbled back, startled by the appearance of a hole in reality. She knew this to be true because she could see William through it. For the first time, the creature she had only seen through months of dreams now sat opposite a window that had no right to exist.





'What. The. Hell.' I thought. I was sitting and enjoying my meal when the wall split open. Across the gap stood a very bemused Chrysalis, who was accompanied by a few of her changelings. The caverns behind her glittered, shining stones embedded in the walls and a green luminescent fungus growing on the roof of the room.

"Chrysalis?" I asked.

She blinked, then nodded. "Did I do this?" She wondered aloud.

'Dear god, her voice! It sounds even stranger in real life than it does in the dreams,' I thought to myself.

Chrysalis, her curiosity getting the better of her, kicked a loose stone on the ground, It rolled through the crack without any difficulty. I scooped up the stone, amazed at this development. I pocketed the stone and walked up to the portal. I tried to walk through, but my face slammed against something solid. Clutching my sore nose, I scowled at Chrysalis's mirth. I put my hand up to the crack, only to find that it has stopped. It felt like there was a sheet of glass blocking my way. Chrysalis walked up to the crack; a tap of her hoof confirmed that she too was blocked from crossing.

"So... What is this? Was that just a freak incident with the pebble, or is it just the two of us who can't cross this... thing?" The confusion was evident in my voice. "How did this happen, anyway?"

"I do not know. I was overcome by that flavor you tortured me with. I wanted to eat some of that myself; I had to get to it. Then this portal just appeared," she said. I expected her to continue, but she didn't. Instead, her horn lit up and MY plate was enveloped in her aura and floated over to her. It passed through the portal with ease. Chrysalis grabbed my burger and bit into it. A smile crossed her face as she moaned in pleasure. The changelings around her also moaned, caught up in the pleasure spreading through her hive mind. "What is this wonderful dish?" She asked, her mouth still filled with my food.

"That. Was. My. Burger. Cow's meat, if you must know." The disgust was evident on her face. Over a thousand years of living as an herbivore cannot be good when you suddenly find meat delicious. Chrysalis didn't gag, despite her revulsion to what she just ate.

One of the changelings next to her, spoke up. "King William," he said, referring to my status as a royal changeling, "Do you remember me? I'm Reflection."

"Reflection? Ah! It's good to see you! Thanks so much for saving my life. How are you? Did Chrysalis reward you for your efforts?" I asked at a rapid fire pace.

"You're very welcome," the changeling said. A bashful blush appeared; he/she was obviously embarrassed by the admiration. "My Queen did indeed reward me. My vacation to Las Pegasus was very fun. The Queen, in her generosity, gave me a thousand bits to spend there, and I came out of the casinos with a profit!"

"Wow. That takes some good luck. Congratulations," I said.

"Umm, I was wondering," Reflection paused. Her feet shuffled forwards to the edge of the portal. “Umm, could I… have some meat, too?” The changelings surrounding her had mixed reactions to his/her request. Some started drooling as well, while others looked away in disgust. Those who looked elsewhere soon turned back; the smell of the meat overpowering their initial reaction. Chrysalis herself looked mildly disturbed by Reflection’s request.

“Uhh.. Sure,” I said, tossing him/her the other burger patty. S/he bit into it; her expression matched Chrysalis’s original expression on the first bite. “Oh, my magic!”

“What? What happened?” Queen Chrysalis asked.

“It replenished! Only a teeny-tiny bit, but it did! The meat gave me magic!” The other changelings, excited by the prospect of a delicious food that could also restore magic, rushed towards the portal. The closest one tried to stop, but was pushed through by its excited comrades behind it.

‘It seems that only Chrysalis and I can’t cross.’

“Hey! Back off!” I cried, now surrounded by hungry changelings. They reluctantly complied, but their excitement was still plastered on their insectoid faces. “I don’t have any more! Your queen and Reflection ate my whole lunch! Go back through the portal.” The disappointed bugs hung their heads and returned to their queen. “I’ll get you more, but feeding you won’t come cheap…”

Chrysalis spoke, “Despite my aversion to the idea, If my changelings want it, then I suppose I should figure out how to fund you for the meat.”

“We’ll figure something out. But, if I’m going to make a buck doing this, the it will be a pleasure doing business with you,” I spoke, giving a slight bow in the process.

The queen turned to her desk, where her unfinished book lay. As she did, the rift closed behind her. ‘I really need to learn how that works,’ I thought to myself.





They say practice makes perfect, and in this case, ‘they’ would be right. A few minutes of practice lead me to finding out that I can open a portal whenever I will it into existence. It is only a fraction harder than the snap-flash that I usually use to send thing to Chrysalis. I learned a few thing from my experimentation. First, the portal opens when you want it and closes when it’s no longer needed. What defines ‘no longer needed,’ I don’t know. At least it stays open as long as I do need it. Second, I can move my end of the portal with a gesture of my hand. This includes changing the size. He end stays put regardless of how I move mine. And thirdly, I discovered this one by accident; The portal’s edges are wickedly sharp. I’ll need a new table, as the corner of it is now sitting on the floor in Chrysalis’s office.

“Could you please stop with the portals? They are distracting me from my work,” the queen grumbled.

“Awwwww, come on! You have to admit this –“ I was cut off by the portal slamming shut. “–is really cool,” I finished, although she could not hear it. ‘So, she can close my portals. Good to know. Now, I need to make lunch again… damn.’





Chrysalis strode into the dining hall in the changeling cavern’s common area. The mood in the room was unusually sour. In fact, most of the changelings were only frowning. Their hooves only pushed the glowing fungus around their plates. 

“I want meat…” some changeling spoke.

“Meat…”

“Why do I have to eat mushrooms?”

“Meat. Delicious meat…”

The complaints followed Chrysalis across the room. Her head hung lower as the infectious mood took its toll. She sat down at the table, awaiting her plate of fungus. 

"..."

Her head jerked up, eyes wide. Had she really just heard that? She listened carefully to as many conversations as she could, her mind searching the hive for the speaker.

“I mean, really. Why can’t we just eat the ponies?”

There it was. She had heard it correctly. Know knowing what was said, she searched the hive mind for the memory of the speaker. Changeling #732983 said it. Chrysalis called out his number. The changeling, startled by his queen, jumped.

“Y-y-yes your majesty?” it asked.

“What was that about eating ponies?”

“Ummm… well… umm… I heard that the meat King William gave was really tasty. I thought that, well, we already feed on the emotions of ponies, so why not their meat too? Sometimes, one of the cocooned ponies dies and we just toss the body into the river. But what if we ate it? Share it among the hive? Even just a taste would be so much better than the mushrooms we eat…”

“I see your point. Although I personally am against the idea, this concerns the well being of the hive. I shall ask the hive for their opinion.” Chrysalis’s crown lit up as she finished speaking. <<Attention, my children. Would you be willing to eat pony meat if it supplemented the mushrooms?>> she asked her hive. The hive mind exploded with a resounding yes. The few no’s she got came from converts, as expected; however, their opinion hardly weighed in against the support for her proposal. The queen sighed, accepting her children’s desires, <<So be it. Meat is food. Cocooned ponies who die are to be served in the mess hall with the mushrooms. Pony meat served in the hive is food. This information is never to be shared with any non-changeling.>> Her command altered the very subconscious of the hive mind, making the command an intrinsic part of her changelings’ psychology. 

Chrysalis's heart weighed heavy, knowing that she had taken another step away from the pony she had been oh so long ago, before Discord had taken it all away.

> Mini Chapter: Lyra Dates a Carnivore
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Cider, cider, cider, cider, cider, cider, cider..." the crowd chanted. Lyra and Bon Bon chanted and bounced along with the rest of the crowd. They were eagerly awaiting said drink that the Flimflam brothers had promised. Every year without fail, the Apple family ran dry before most of the town could get a mug. What aggravated the disguised changeling even more is that apple cider DID taste good to changelings, and yet she could never even get a decent amount.

Bon Bon was in the middle of the musical number when a wave of hive memories struck. The smell and taste of meat, it was intoxicating. Bon Bon drooled at the thought of something to eat that wasn't the flavorless pony food or disgusting mushrooms in the hive.

Even if the cider didn't turn out as well as she hopped, Bon Bon at least had something else to look forward too.





Bon Bon was walking home after the cider disaster. Her mug had BRANCHES in it! At least she got some of the Apple Family's cider afterwards, so it was not a total waste.

"So, about the human..." Lyra inquired.

"Not now, Lyra. I've already told you everything I know," Bon Bon groaned. She raised her mug of cider to her lips for the last wonderful sip.

Of course, the hive queen just HAD to choose that moment to broadcast her new orders to the hive mind.

<<Meat is food. Cocooned ponies who die are to be served in the mess hall with the mushrooms. Pony meat served in the hive is food. This information is never to be shared with any non-changeling.>>

Bon Bon did a spit take, losing the last mouthful of her wonderful cider. “Buck,” she cussed under her breath.

"Bonnie?" Lyra asked, confused by her marefriend's action. "What's wrong? Is it... her?"

Bon Bon nodded. "Lyra, trust me when I say this is bad. I can't tell you why, but I can warn you. The hive just became significantly more dangerous for ponies. If you ever see another changeling, run far away. If you get captured, there's almost no chance you will make it out alive. They're going to cause tons of trouble, now."

Lyra gulped at her marefriend's morbid words. "Are you okay, Bonnie?"

"No, I don't think I am. I'm never going to look at a pony the same way again. Don't worry... I'll be fine... eventually. Come on, let's go home," Bon Bon said.

As they walked silently together, Bon Bon's stomach growled.
> The Suspicion of Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Hey, Nick.” Catherine smiled as her friend opened the door to his home. She and Will had agreed to meet at Nick’s place and drive together to hang out with some of their former classmates at the mall. Catherine stepped inside, momentarily pausing as she suffered a light dizzy spell.

“Hi Catherine. You okay? You don’t look so good,” Nick said to his friend. Lately, it seemed like Catherine had been getting dizzy and sleepy lately. She constantly had bags under her eyes despite how much she had been sleeping lately. Her whole appearance made her seem older than she was, if only a bit.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure I’m fine. It’ll pass soon. Will doesn’t think it’s anything to worry about, and you know how smart he is with these things.” Ever the optimist, Catherine put on a large grin. Nick was not entirely satisfied with her response, but let the issue drop.

“Hey, Catherine. Speaking of Will, hasn’t he seemed more distant lately? He’s bailed on me the last three times I’ve invited him over,” Nick said.

“Strange. Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him as much since we got back from Florida. Is he busy with his summer job?”

“Will doesn’t have a job,” Nick deadpanned.

“Really? I was sure that he got one this time. Maybe it has something to do with what happened on the plane,” Catherine suggested.

“Could be. The FBI did question him about what happened. How can you explain magic? Maybe he’s pulling away because of that,” Nick spoke. ‘Come to think of it, Will said that he was learning magic from changelings. He said they eat love. Is that why Catherine isn’t feeling well, because she is his girlfriend?’ Nick pondered the thought for a moment. “Catherine, how do you feel around Will? Any strange feelings? Dizziness?”

“What do you mean? What does that have to do with anything?” Catherine asked.

“Well, I’m just thinking here – don’t hold me to this – but maybe magic is not the most healthy thing to be around. Why do you think humans can’t normally can’t do magic? I’m just wondering if maybe being around him is making you sick,” Nick voiced his concerns to his friend.

“Nick, do you really think that Will would do anything to hurt me? We love each other so much! Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m just saying…” Both teens’ moods dimmed as the seeds of doubt took root in their minds.





“Hey guys! How’s life?” I said as Nick opened the door for me. I saw Catherine sitting on the sofa. Surrounding them, I could see their clouds of emotions. There was Catherine’s love and Nicks happiness, but within both, I could see a dash of negative emotions. Catherine was worried about something, but was suppressing it. Nick was feeling strangely paranoid and hostile… towards me? That is strange.

“Something bothering you two? If you’re worried about the weather, the storm’s not supposed to hit for another few hours. We have time,” I said.

“Oh, yeah… the storm,” Catherine said. Her tone made it seem like I had not guessed right, but she was trying to pretend I had. “I wasn’t worried. Nope. Come on, let’s go.”

“Okay. I’ll drive,” I called out, teleporting the keys to Nick’s truck from his hands to mine in the process. Nick frowned, but did not say anything.

‘Seriously, what’s with them today? This mood is really starting to drag me down,’ I thought.





“Hey, I don’t remember seeing your car in my drive way. How did you get over to my place anyway?” Nick asked me. I set the display gizmo back on the store’s shelf. 

‘I flew to his house, but he doesn’t know about that yet. I know…’ My finger lit up with a small amount of magic. I showed the glowing appendage to Nick. 

“I got it.” For some reason, his mood darkened with that statement. It was not envy, but a dislike of me. I really don’t get it.

Catherine popped up from another department. She held a pair of handbags, one in each hand. “Which one do you like? I’m thinking this one, because it matches my hair. Or this one; it goes well with my shoes. Which do you think?” At this point, they were almost being shoved in my face.

“Hmmm… Go with that one,” I said, pointing to the one on the left. “I think it suits your pretty face,” I said with a genuine smile plastered on my face. I could not help but take a small taste of the joy that radiated from her. ‘I know I promised myself that I would not feed off of her. Dang it, she tastes too good.’ I thought to myself, and took another taste.





The wind howled outside the house. Catherine had left earlier, so she had made it home before the storm hit. I however, was stuck at Nick’s house. I don’t think that anyone will be driving in this weather, let alone flying.

“Dude, can I crash here for the night?”

“Ummm… sure. You can have the couch.” Nick thought for a moment, before speaking again, “Why can’t you just magic yourself home?”

“Too far. I overdid it on the way here. It took a couple of jumps to get here since my range is rather short. If I tried to go home, I’d have to deal with walking in this weather or getting magical exhaustion and landing in the hospital again.” I shrugged. “No big deal. You have a nice couch.”

“About that… Your magic. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that it’s safe to use? I don’t want you giving us radiation poisoning or something,” Nick said.

“Nick. My magic is as safe as electricity. Treat it with respect and use it properly, and I guarantee you that it is safe. I have textbooks in my room from whole universities that study magic and a teacher who’s an accomplished sorceress. I know what I’m doing, and I know the dangers of using it poorly. I learned my lesson from the hijacker incident,” I assured him. Though, judging from his mood, I don’t think it did much to put his mind at ease. Nick grunted in response.





The hours passed until we finally decided to call it a night. We shut off his game console. I stretched as I stood up. “Dude, mind if I take a shower? I kind of stink.”

“Yeah, you do. It’s upstairs, second door on the left.”

“Thanks, man.” I ran upstairs and into the bathroom. I shut the door and pulled of my clothes. I started the water. I changed back to my true form so that I could clean my wings and holes of the dirt that got trapped under my transformation. Unfortunately, I failed to notice that I had failed to notice that the door was not entirely shut. I also failed to notice that I had an observer.

“WHAT THE HELL!” Nick screamed. I whipped around to see him staring at me.

‘Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why the hell did I release my disguise? I’m an idiot!’ I scolded myself. My claw-like hands lit up with their green aura and dragged him into the bathroom. I pinned Nick against the wall, covered his mouth, and slammed the door shut. “You weren’t supposed to see this. Don’t scream.” I uncovered his mouth.

“YOU! You’re a changeling! What have you done with Will! Answer me!” Nick spat in my face.

I sighed. “I am William Ross.”

“Prove it. Tell me something that only Will would know.”

“Third grade, there was the noodle incident. Pasta went everywhere. We promised never to speak of it again. Seventh grade. You told me of your crush on Sally Richardson.”

“How did you... no, that does not prove anything! You have magic! You could have just stolen his memories! You just want to feed on us, don’t you!” He began to really struggle at this point. In response, I began to secrete the binding goo out of my hands to help restrain him. “That’s why Catherine’s been so tired lately! You’ve been draining her of love! And now you’re going to try to eat me! Big mistake, telling me what you are, because when I get free… ugh... I’m going to blow your cover and the government will... ugh hunt you down. Disgusting bug.”

I bound his mouth with magic. “There’s no convincing you, is there? For your information, no, I was not actively feeding on Catherine and I had no plans to feed on you.” ‘Let’s see, I don’t know any memory charms, so I can’t make him forget. There’s no way he’s going to keep this a secret on his own free will. I guess I just have to make him.’ “Now that my secret’s out, I have no choice.” I leaned in closer, my fanged mouth inches away from his eyes, and smiled.

> Assimilation and Other Passtimes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I leaned in closer, my fanged mouth inches away from his eyes, and smiled. His eyes widened to an impossible width. I struck, my fangs sinking in to the skin of his neck. Chrysalis said the next part was instinctive. I hope so, because I have no idea what I’m doing. I began to drink his life, rapidly pulling it in. Yet, at the same time, I pumped the energy I extracted back into him, now tainted with my essence. His eyes rolled back in his head as my venom started its work. Within a minute, I had fully ‘filtered’ his life force and let go. His body slumped down, suspended only by the binding goo attaching his hands to the walls. The taste of his blood felt like it was burning itself onto my tongue.

I sighed. [Chrysalis, I just had to change one of my friends. He found out what I am.]

[A shame,] Chrysalis thought, her tone laced with sarcasm. [It’s not my problem. Though I suppose congratulations are in order. You have the first member of your hive.]

[Nick’s going to kill me when he wakes up. How long is this going to take, anyway?]

[He won’t kill you. He won’t even be able to attempt to hurt you unless you let him. Forced converts are always troublesome. He should take twenty hours to convert if you don’t cocoon him. Eight if you do.]

[And the cocoon, what do I do with it when he emerges?]

[Why, you eat it, of course. No sense in wasting valuable nutrients.]

‘Joy. Let’s see… What to do. What to do…’ I thought to myself. I dissolved the goo holding Nick up and stuck it in my mouth. There was no real flavor to it. Then I transformed into Nick . ‘You know, this is the first time I’ve taken the form of someone else.’ I compared our reflections, and seeing no difference beyond the bite marks, I peeked out into the hall. Not seeing any of his family, I quickly teleported him into his room. Our little scuffle had knocked over some of the items in his bathroom, so I picked up the objects and set them back in their places. I started walking over to Nick’s room, but was caught by Nick’s father. ‘Shoot… Time to see how good of an actor I am.’

“Hey, dad.”

“Nick, Will’s mother called. She hasn’t heard from him, and this storm is making her worried,” Nick’s father said.

‘Dang, I forgot to call mom,’ I thought, then said, “He’s crashing here for the night. Will’s in my room right now. I’ll go tell him to call.” I dashed off to Nick’s room before he could even respond. I slammed the door and locked it behind me, then as an afterthought cast a sealing charm on the door.

I turned my attention to the comatose original Nick on the floor. I sighed and dragged him over to the corner and curled him up into the fetal position. Within a minute, I had totally encased him in hardened goo. This whole situation was surreal, like something out of a cheap horror movie. The evil clone standing over his cocooned victim as the clock strikes midnight… ‘yeah… fun.’

I changed back to my own voice and called my mom to “explain” the situation. Once she was satisfied that I was safe and sound, I restored Nick’s voice and settled down on his bed. ‘It’s going to be a long night. I’ve got to be awake when he hatches… what a pain.’

In the corner, the cocoon twitched as it restrained the movement of its prisoner.





The clock read 8:37 AM. I could hear the early risers in Nick’s family up and about already. Nick, the lazy bastard, was still sleeping in his cocoon. ‘Wake up already, damn it!’ As if to answer my thought, the figure in the cocoon began to stir. I jumped up and rushed over to it. I quickly checked that the sealing charm was still on the door and, satisfied that it was, kneeled down by my friend. The cocoon cracked and a black, holed claw burst out. ‘This totally reaffirms my belief that this is a horror movie plot.’ His body began working its way out of the cocoon. Inch by inch more of him was exposed.

As soon as his head broke free, he took in a huge breath of air. “Fuck…You… Bastard,” he said in his raspy double voice between breaths. 

'Of course.' I noticed the distinctive aura that signifies emotion was missing from around his body. Pulling his arm, I helped him get completely free of the goo that had not hardened over night. I sat him on his bed, which he lay down on while panting heavily. I took a good look at his body. His arms were the same thickness as mine were undisguised, but shorter. His height had remained the same. Where his hair should have been, there was only a fin like membrane. His eyes were the same solid teal as Chrysalis’s changelings. In fact, he looked like I had rearranged the bones in one of those changelings and given it hands.

I remembered what Chrysalis had said about the hive mind, so I began exploring with my own mind. After a minute, I found the parts that were not there before. I pushed my awareness into it. In an instant, I was seeing out of Nick’s eyes. I could see his human face on me and feel his entire body. I gave it an experimental movement, finding it as easy to control as my own body. Nick panicked, feeling his body move without his consent, yet he could not regain control. I held his mouth shut and restrained his limbs so that he would not make any noise.

“Nick, I’m sorry. I really am. You left me no choice,” I said to him.

<<Why? Why did you do this to me?>> He thought. I heard him through the newly established hive mind connection.

<<I have to keep my nature secret. I told you what changelings were before there was any changeling presence on Earth. Then I changed. Now, Catherine is the only human that even knows of what a changeling is. I had planned for you to remain human, but you found me out. The nature and presence of changelings must be kept secret at all costs,>> I explained. The ponies and zebras of Chrysalis’s world already know of changelings, which makes it that much harder for them. I will keep our presence a secret as long as possible.

<<So you turn me into a monster?!>> He stopped for a moment. <<And get out of my fucking head!>> Nick raged in his mind. He continued to fight against my control over his body, but to no avail. I would not let him go until he was going to stay quiet. <<You say you are my friend, but what kind of friend does that? I don’t even know if you are the real Will.>>

To answer that, I opened up my memories to him, pouring in everything I could remember about the two of us, dating back all the way to elementary school. I also showed him my transformation and explained that this was the real me. Then, I ordered his silence. <<You will do nothing to expose your nature as a changeling. No hints, no telling, no showing anybody,>> I commanded the subconscious of the hive mind. I felt the confirmation come from Nick, indicating that my order had been embedded within the depths of his unconscious mind. 

<<Okay, I believe that you’re who you say you are. Now can you get out of my head?>> he thought.

I gladly obliged, pulling back my influence. I could still feel him, but felt that he could no longer feel me. What a weird feeling.

“Please, don’t ever do that again.” Nick shuddered and then glared at me.

“No promises,” I said, much to his visible dismay.

“So, can I have my sexy body back? As great as it looks on you, it suits me better,” he joked. 

“Sure, man.” I reverted to my original human skin. Then I info-dumped on the hive mind, filling it with useful information about being a changeling. This way, I would not have to re explain it to any new changelings. ‘New changelings… that makes it sound like I really will be the king of a new specie.’

Having gotten my information, Nick reverted to his original form. “Ugghh… why did you have to make me a herm. That’s just plain weird.”

I chuckled at my friend, who was still grumbling over his misfortune. “Well, look at it this way,” I said. “There is a couple Chrysalis told me about. One is a pony, the other is a changeling. The mare knows that her partner is a changeling. Let’s just say that they have quite the sex life.”





Bon Bon was standing by her bedroom window, looking out at Ponyville in the early morning sunlight. Lyra was still asleep in bed. Suddenly, a shiver traveled down the changeling’s spine. Lyra murmured in her sleep, “Mmmm… the humans are talking about us… hehehe,” but did not wake. For once, Bon Bon feared her marefriend was right.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a pulse of powerful magic passing over the town. She looked out of the window and saw the light emanating from the library windows. “Twilight…”
> Let's Rob a Bank!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Hey, Will, I just thought of something,” Nick said to me. We were in the middle of practicing magic together at my apartment. I had just instructed him on the usage of teleportation. “What’s the difference between the left half of the apple and whole apple?” He held out the whole apple that we were practicing on.

“Well, besides the obvious of one being part of the other, I don’t know,” I responded.

“The whole has more atoms than the left.” I tilted my head in confusion at his statement. It’s obvious what he is saying, but I have no clue what his point is. Nick lit up his hands and cast the teleport spell, but instead of the whole apple vanishing, only the left half did. He held up both halves, one in each hand. He set them down and grabbed another whole apple. “We don’t teleport whole objects. We teleport clusters of countless atoms,” he said, flashing his spell once more. This time, he held a paper thin slice of apple in one hand and two half-apples in the other.

“You used a teleport spell to cut a apple. Nick, that’s genius!” I cheered. Teleport spells consume magic based on mass and distance. A tiny bit of mass over a short distance could be cast almost as easy as breathing, and yet could render anything structurally unstable. “Crap, that’s a dangerous spell. You could kill someone with that.” He gave an evil smirk as a chain of thoughts raced around in his head. “Nick, I know that look. Oh no, you’re not planning another noodle incident, are you?” I shuddered. ‘The horror...’

“Let’s rob a bank.”





‘Jonathan Smith’ walked into the Suntrust bank, five minutes from closing. He was ‘completely unaware’ of the ‘fly’ sitting on his head. <<I can’t believe we’re doing this,>> the fly thought from its perch. It looked around and spotted the open vault behind the teller windows. It lifted off of its carrier’s head and flew into the vault, sitting down on the wall.

<<I know, Will, it’s the perfect crime. No DNA, suspects who don’t exist, abilities that aren't real. I’m so excited,>> ‘Jonathan’ thought to his partner in crime.

<<I’m in place. An hour after the bank closes, pull your car up to the curb out front. Cut the cameras from within your car. Call me when everything is in position,>> I said to him.

As ‘Jonathan’ walked out of the building, he thought, <<Got it. I can’t wait to be rich.>>





An hour later, a silver truck pulled up to the curb in front of the bank. The woman driving it started looking around. Every time she spotted a camera, it would spontaneously be cut in half, much to her delight. When she was certain that no unwanted eyes were watching, she looked back in her truck. <<Clear,>> she thought to her king. A familiar presence manifested in her eyes, and a second later, wads of cash started appearing in her truck. A few seconds after that, her head turned on its own, making her look at the passenger seat. A flash of light blinded her for a second. When it cleared, a little boy of eight years old sat in the formerly empty seat.

“Shmurich.” 'Drive,' he commanded in changeling speech. She complied, pulling out of the parking spot and driving away at a very reasonable speed. After a moment, a flash of light filled the cabin of the truck and replaced the occupants with two smiling teenage boys. Laughter erupted from the pair.





(Five minutes earlier)

I am so board right now. Do you know how boring it is to be a fly on the wall while nothing is going on? ‘Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,’ I chanted to myself. Finally, a thought popped into my head.

<<Clear.>>

‘Thank you, Nick!’ I set to work. First, I cut the security cameras that I had found in the room. I assumed the form of a little boy and started stuffing my pockets with twenties. As soon as they were full, I peered out of Nick’s eyes. I saw the back of his truck, to which I teleported more cash. Satisfied that I had taken enough, I turned Nick’s head so that I could see and aim for the passenger seat. With a flash, I found myself next to a rather busty version of Catherine. Why he picked that body, I won’t ask.

“Shmurich.” 'Drive,' I commanded him in changeling speech. He did so, taking care to not go too fast. The last thing we need is be caught with all of this money. I emptied my pockets, storing that money with the rest. After about half a mile of driving, Nick and I returned to our normal human skins. I looked at him and he looked at me. We burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha! Mu glib se! Di port el pozok!" 'We did it! We robbed a bank!' Nick cheered.

“Chi maru!" 'Oh yeah!' I cheered back. We gave each other a high-five.

“So, what’s the haul?” Nick asked, switching back to English. I had done some planning while I was in the bank, and made sure that I had taken some specific loot.

“I grabbed about a hundred thousand dollars, in old twenties. They have the serial numbers of the new bills, so if we tried to spend them, we would be caught. hundreds are too large to spend without getting unwanted attention. I also did not take it all, because we still have to hide it. There’s no way we can take this to a bank to save all of it at once, which means we have to hide it from our families. It looked like there was over two million in there, but that’s a lot of paper to deal with.”

Nick considered my words for a moment, before coming up with an idea. “Why don’t we rent an apartment of our own? We move in there, and it gives us a safe place to hide out. Changeling HQ and all.”

I considered his idea before deciding that it was a good plan.





The last of my belongings made its way into the cardboard box. I fiddled with the stone that Chrysalis had kicked over through the portal. My mother stood in the doorway to my former room. My mother sighed, “Ohh, my Will is finally taking on the world. Moving out on his own, a new job as a bank teller…”

‘Bank robber,’ I corrected in my head.

“I’m just so happy for you!” My mother let out a little squee, a sound I’d never thought that I would hear from her. “Just be careful. I’ve heard about the robberies happening lately. Be safe.”

I chuckled at her choice of words, then pocketed the stone and picked up the box. Nick’s truck sat out front, waiting for me. I set my box in the back and climbed in.

On the drive to our new apartment, Nick turned on the radio. 




“In other news, the Wells Fargo bank on Peachtree Street is the fifth bank robbed this week by a group dubbed by the police as ‘the phantoms.’” 




I smiled, knowing that the cops were sill clueless as ever about our activities.  




“This group, whom the police have no suspects for, is able to infiltrate and escape from the vaults without even touching the vault doors. The only known pattern they follow is that all of the security cameras in the vicinity are damaged and the vaults are never totally emptied.” 




The report continued with the two of us laughing the whole time.





Our apartment was too big for just two guys. A very luxurious place, it cost quite a pretty penny. But we could afford it. We have several boxes already stuffed with cash, and can pretty much get more as we need it. I figured that we could use the extra room for hive… expansion. 

I still had not decided whether I wanted to convert someone else or have a kid of my own. Chrysalis said that as long as there was enough of an education on the hive mind’s memory, changeling larvae could become self sufficient within 2-3 days. Of course, I had never replaced a stranger before, so none of my changelings would know how to do so either. They could rip feed, but my trail of victims is already large enough. They could make original personas, but It takes time to establish a relationship. Converts are easier to place, but have motives of their own. Then there is the problem of capturing them for a long enough time to convert them. ‘Decisions,decisions…’

While I was pondering the future of my hive, I fiddled with my stone. I felt some of the stone break away under my claws. Holding the stone up to my eye, I saw a glint of green. My hands lit up with a similarly colored aura and I used my magic to chip away the grey stone. After a moment’s work, my worthless stone had unveiled a treasure. I held in my hands a large, cut emerald.
> Let's Do Business
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The gem I held in my hands was too large and flawless to be real. After all, what kind of gem comes out of the ground perfectly cut and this massive? And yet, here it is. I remembered back to when the portal between our worlds first opened. 


 I was sitting and enjoying my meal when the wall split open. Across the gap stood a very bemused Chrysalis, who was accompanied by a few of her changelings. The caverns behind her glittered, shining stones embedded in the walls and a green luminescent fungus growing on the roof of the room.


‘The stones in the wall… were they emeralds?’ I thought to myself. [Chrysalis! Are you in your hive’s caverns right now? I want to see something.]

[Yes, I am. What do you wish to see, if I might ask?] she replied.

I opened a portal between us. Decorating the walls of the cavern were countless emeralds. “Oh… wow,” I said, looking at the veritable mountain of treasure adorning the walls of her caves. “You live in an emerald mine, don’t you?”

“Yes. Why do you have an interest in these worthless stones? They are as common as dirt for us,” she said. Did I hear her right? She called emeralds ‘worthless?’ She’s in for quite a shock.

“Oh… Emeralds have significantly more value for us. Let me see…” I pulled out my smart phone and did a few quick searches. A little rough estimating and I came out with an approximation of my emerald’s worth. I held up the stone. “This little beauty could sell for at least $100,000. With today’s meat prices…” I did another Google search. “that could be almost 6 tons of meat for you all. Heck, with a couple bucket load of these gems, I could buy you a cattle farm.” I gave out a quick laugh. Greed induced euphoria is a wonderful feeling. “With this cavern’s emeralds alone, I’d be hard pressed to pay of that debt.”

Chrysalis’s grin grew throughout my explanation until it reached a width known only as 'certifiably insane.' “What about human weapons? Could you get some of those for me?” Her expression changed; she was now giving me bedroom eyes. “I’ll gladly give you emeralds for them,” she cooed. 

My heart, now in the thralls of greed, melted at her words. “Anything, for the right price.” I grew serious and said, “but for now, my hive is too small to handle finances on this scale without raising suspicion. I’ll see what I can do right now. What kind of weapons are you after and how soon do you need them? And if you don’t mind satisfying my curiosity, why do you need them?” I asked the queen.

Chrysalis replied, “I want explosives and riot control weapons. In two months, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the alicorn of love, will be marrying captain Shining Armor. In the days before the wedding, a few of my changelings will sneak in to the city of Canterlot to execute stage one of my plan. The explosives and other weapons are a distraction.” She paused for a moment. After all, ‘All warfare is based on deception.’ I believe you were the one who gave me that book.”

“What book?” Nick asked. I jumped, startled by his entrance into the room. I had completely forgotten that he was here.

“The Art of War. Nick, meet Queen Chrysalis,” I said, while gesturing to the portal. He stepped up and took a bow, dropping his disguise in the process.

“Ahh, so this would be the first of your converts, is he not?” Chrysalis asked. I nodded. “Well, it is a pleasure to meet your first hive member. I look forward to working with you in the future. Also, William, would you be willing to house a prisoner or two in your world during my invasion?

"For a price. Who would I be holding?” I asked.

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," Chrysalis said. With that, the queen closed the portal. 

I walked over to the new couch and flopped down in it. I asked how much Nick had heard of the conversation, to which he replied, “Enough to know that we’re set for life. So are we really going to do this?”

“Nick, we have access to the most powerful tools on the planet. Are you suggesting that we don’t abuse the hell out of it for fun and profit?” I asked.

“No no, not the hive thing, but giving her weapons? Holding a prisoner?" Seems like a bad idea,” he said, the worry evident in his voice.

“That’s strange, coming from you. Weren't you the one who suggested robbing banks? She’s going to pay us in emeralds! Why do you care? It’s not going to affect you when all of the fighting is a world away. Besides, the equine changeling hive is our ally,” I explained. Maybe he did have a point if you thought about giving sword and spear users explosives and firearms. But really, it’s not my problem. “When the time for their attack comes, Nick, I want to send you to Equestria to be my eyes and ears. I can deal with the princess myself.”

He sighed, “Great. I’m already a freak. Now you want me to be an alien spy, too? And in the middle of a war zone? No thank you.”

“I’m going to pay you, you know. Besides, I can’t set foot on the world of Equa. I need somebody over there. My curiosity has been stoked. Chrysalis’s plan seems very odd considering what she has to work with, and I want to know the whole story.”

“I’m not getting out of this, am I?”

“Nope.”





It’s amazing what you can find on the internet when you really look. In a week, we had managed to track down a chemist to prove that my emerald was the real deal and a buyer on the black market. Nick had the genius idea to prepare a vial of our venom before hand, so that if we needed to, we could teleport a dose directly into our victim’s heart without their knowledge. Hopefully, we wouldn't need it, but better safe than sorry. You never can tell when it comes to these types.

Marcus, our potential buyer, sat across from us in the small room. He was surrounded by three body guards. Two more stood outside. Marcus’s eyed me carefully. “I can give you 85 grand for it, miss…?” 

“Jasmine,” I said, crossing my arms under my… assets to provide Marcus with the proper… motivation. I will never set foot in a seedy place like this without some sort of costume. Then again, who said anything about not using my skills for extra assistance? I noticed one of the guards move his hands towards his gun. Sighing, I took the money from Marcus and placed it in my purse (I got it just for my female costumes). “Well, thank you for your time. I really must be going now.”

“Leaving so soon?” Marcus asked with a smirk.

<<Nick, I don’t think I am getting out of here without some alien assistance. Poison the guards outside. I have the ones in here. Feed if you wish.>> At Nick’s confirmation, I felt his magic pulse twice. My hand, which was still in my purse, flashed three times. “I suppose that I could stay a bit longer, if I must,” I said to Marcus. Fifteen seconds after my spells, the three guards dropped to the floor.

“WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!” He screamed. Marcus bent over to grab one of his guard’s guns. When he stood back up, ‘Jasmine’ was gone. I stood in my true form, all eight and a half feet of me. Marcus found himself pinned to the wall by my magic.

“Oh, just a few harmless mind-altering drugs,” I said with a smirk, making sure he could see my fangs. “Can’t be getting shot now, can I?” I walked up to him and bent over so that he could feel my breath on his face. “Your guards will make an excellent meal for my hive. But don’t worry, I have another use for you.” I licked his face, just to up the intimidation factor. He still thought I was a girl, after all, so I played up the ‘lusty evil queen’ act. “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile,” I cooed. 'I've always wanted to say that.'

A few minutes later, I left the building. Nick and I were happy, full, and 100 grand richer. My hive had gained a new member with mob connections. All that was left were five old men who won’t be able to explain what happened and a cocoon in a magically sealed room that won’t be able to be opened until the cocoon hatches. 

As soon as Marcus’s mind was integrated, I began to reprogram him. He would be loyal to me and serve my hive as a changeling sleeper and a buyer for my gems, but otherwise continue to act as ‘Marcus’ everywhere else. I dug through his memories, looking for anything useful. An hour later, all present and future members of my hive would have basic handheld gun training.

Now, I need mouthwash. Marcus tasted gross when I licked him.

> A Baby Changeling, Dear
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A/N: Warning: This chapter has squick. Proceed with caution.)

“Dude, I think I may have eaten some bad meat. My stomach is not feeling 100% right now. I think I’m going to try to sleep it off,” I said to Nick. I got up from my gaming chair and headed into the meat preparation chambers, AKA the kitchen. Reaching up, I opened up the medicine cabinet and grabbed some Tylenol and Pepto Bismol. Taking both, I trudged down the hall and went into my room. I flopped down on my extra large bed and fell asleep without removing my clothes. 





“Hello, William. It’s been a while since we have shared a dream, hasn’t it?” Chrysalis said. The two of us stood in the streets of a city. From the looks of the buildings, this was a prominent pony city. White towers soared over shorter white buildings, a purple and gold motif for the rooftops. The entire city was devoid of ponies, the shop windows devoid of goods, and a featureless grey sky hung over head. “Canterlot is quite the city.”

“This is Canterlot? You planned to attack here. Why?” I asked. In the week since Chrysalis had placed her order for explosives, I had been tormented by curiosity. Why make such an outlandishly big show? What did she hope to gain from this?

“Nope. No spoilers,” she said with a smug grin. Every single time I had asked her, I had gotten the same response. It was maddening. “Maybe you could come and find out? Hmmm?”

“And how do you propose that I do that? I can’t very well magic myself to Equa, now can I? Besides, even if I could, what would I look for?” I asked.

“Easy, I’ll get you an invitation to the wedding, and you just ‘magic’ one of your children over,” Chrysalis said. The smug tone still saturated her voice. I face-palmed, remembering that I had teased Nick about sending him over to spy for me. It looks like I actually would be doing that. I won’t use Marcus, because I need him in his place.

“Yeah, yeah. Nick will meet you in there. I’ll send the goods over with him. And Chrysalis?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t have any kids.”

“Tell me, have you had any stomach aches recently? Feelings of indigestion?” She asked.

‘Oh, no. Please don’t tell me this is going where I think it’s going,’ I thought before answering, “Yes…”

“Changelings don’t get stomach aches or indigestion,” Chrysalis snickered. “Congratulations, it’s an egg!”

“OH COME ON! HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN!” I raged. “I’m still a virgin!” Chrysalis burst out laughing at my confession slip up. I just scowled at her. I did not want to be a teenage father, and now she is telling me I am going to be a teenage mother and father at the same time. That mare is laughing at me because I failed twice as hard. And all without even having sex!

“My changelings already explained it to you. As I recall, they said you fainted when they told you about self-impregnation.” She laughed at my expense some more. “You must have wanted a larvae of your own sometime within the past week, and your body is granting your wish.”

“Does this mean that every single time I think about having a child, I will?”

“Don’t be silly. That only happens the first time.” Chrysalis dove into an anatomy lesson at that point. I listened to her explanation while trying not to get dream vomit all over my dream self. Of course, she had to demonstrate. What made it worse was that she did it while sitting on a park bench.

‘I have seen some weird junk on the internet, but this takes the cake. I never thought that I would be getting self-sex ed. from an alien bug queen in a shared dream.’ I shuddered at the thought. “Hey, Chrysalis, thank you for the lesson, but I’m just going to go over here and curl up in a ball. You know, to preserve what remains of my sanity.”





I awoke the next morning to find myself swollen like a pregnant lady. I groaned and hauled myself out of bed. Instinct clouded my mind as I shuffled over to the corner of the room. I pulled of my pants and squatted down. I felt my insides begin to shuffle around and a feeling of being stretched spread from my nether regions. 

I don’t think that there is a comparable feeling to having an egg slide out of you. I could not tell you what birthing a human baby feels like, but this most definitely was not the same. For one thing, it did not hurt like a human birth, and the muscular movement felt more like a pleasant poop than the painful cramps that I hear are involved in human birth.

A minute later, my egg sat in the corner. Still clouded by instinct, I began to bind the egg in place with my goo secretions until it was firmly held upright. Task done, I could finally take a clear look at what had just happened. The green egg looked like something out of the old Alien movies. At a foot and a half long, it was far larger than any animal on Earth could have laid. How in the world did I manage to lay something like that? Talk about a blow to my masculinity, unless of course we’re talking Mr. Seahorse here.





I sat at the table in my apartment, wolfing down my eggs and bacon. Thank whatever deities are out there that the bacon still tasted fine, even if the eggs were a little bland. Nick noticed my rapid pace, saying, “I see you’re feeling better. Was it just indigestion?”

I stared at him, trying to see if he was mocking me. I even went so far as to probe into his mind to see if he had somehow found out what had happened. Seeing that he really knew nothing and was not mocking me, I said to him, “Go look in my room. Come back and don’t say anything. Got it?” He gave me a confused nod and stood up to take a look. I felt his surprise register in the back of my mind when he opened the door.

He sat back down at the table, his black carapace paler than normal. He picked up his fork, but only managed to push his food around his plate. After a moment, Nick asked, “Is that an egg?”

Nod.

“Yours?”

Nod.

“Is Catherine involved?”

“Nope.”

“You’re the mother?”

“Yep, somehow,” I replied.

“Did you bang me and then make me forget the whole experience?” Nick asked, concern crossing his features.

“Eww, no. I’m straight. There's nothing wrong with being gay,” I said, "but I don't want to think about that sort of stuff."

“That means nothing coming from someone who can change genders at will and is naturally both genders,” Nick retorted

“I think like a guy. You think like a guy. I’m dating a girl named Catherine. I’m straight,” I declared resolutely.

“There’s nothing wrong with being gay," Nick paused for a moment, stroking his chin, "or would it be bi for us?”

“I know. But I’m not. Are you?”

“Maaaaaaayyyyyyybeeeeee…” Nick said while leaning closer to me.

“Are you asking me to do you?” I asked. I sure hoped not.

“Maaaaaaayyyyyyybeeeeee…” Nick said again. His expression was hopeful.

“No.”

Nick pouted with a quick “Fine.” Whether or not he was joking, I could not tell.

This whole exchange took less than a minute. We stared at each other for a second before my roommate and I burst into laughter. A person can only take so much weirdness before they completely lose it. We laughed and laughed. We laughed until our sides hurt. We laughed until we could laugh no more.

Eventually, after managing to calm down to a reasonable level, Nick commented, “That egg really looks like one of those pods from the Alien movies.”

“I know. I thought the same thing after I laid it," I said with a chuckle. "I sure hope a facehugger doesn’t come jumping out of it.”

“Ugghh…” Nick gave a shudder. “That would be horrible.”

“You know, I think I can feel it,” I said to my roommate. I could feel the two adult members of my hive in the back of my mind all the time, similar to how you can always feel a properly functioning limb but never pay attention to it. “It’s weak, but my kid’s starting to integrate into the hive mind. I would not be surprised if you could feel it before too long.”

“What are you going to name it?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know. This is so sudden, you know? I never thought about it. Maybe I will let it name itself. Chrysalis said they mature really fast as soon as they are fully integrated into the hive mind.”





It took three days for my egg to finally hatch. I was reading a book in my room when a feeling of anticipation and excitement overcame me. After a moment, I realized that it was not my own emotions, but the emotions of my child. The egg started jerking around and audibly cracked. I called out for Nick to come see.

I took a step forward to help my child out, but something held me back. ‘It needs to do it on its own,’ I realized. By the time Nick finally arrived, It had crawled out of its egg and into the sunlight and was busy drying its wings.

The first thing out of Nick’s mouth when he saw it was, “Ugly little thing, isn’t it?”

“Oh come on. It’s adorable,” I retorted.

“The little baby-vampire-bug-thing covered in its egg juices is so adorable with a face that only a mother could love,” he said. He made his eyes human just so that he could roll them.

My kid gave out a soft murmur. My mind translated it: <<I’m hungry. Hold me.>> I complied, scooping up the kid. I channeled a bit of my magic through our connection into it. The kid giggled, happy with his meal. I went into my bathroom and grabbed a towel. Once it had been cleaned of the goo, it actually did look quite adorable. Big blue eyes and cute little fangs on such a tiny body. Its little wings twitching every now and again. I’m just gushing with parental pride. For the first time, I have a real family bond with the rest of my hive. I will do anything to protect it.





Over the course of three days, it grew very rapidly. Nick swore that if you stared at it long enough, you could see it visibly grow in size. It’s appetite for physical food was nearly insatiable. The little thing could eat through a week’s supply of meat for both Nick and I in a day. Within hours on the first day, it was walking. Morning of the second day, it was saying basic words; by late afternoon, it was saying full sentences. The third day, it was almost the size of a ten year old human child. By this point, it had fully connected to the hive mind and had access to the shared memories. I found it surreal seeing a creature that was less than eighty hours old discussing multi-variable calculus.

“Daddy?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“What’s my name? You call me ‘kiddo’ and Uncle Nick calls me ‘squirt,’ but the hive memory says those are just nick-names. I’ve never heard you call me by my real name, and the hive won’t tell me.”

“That’s because I don’t know your name. I wanted you to pick it for yourself. Do you want a girl’s name, a boy’s name, or do you want to make up a brand new one?”

“Hmmmm…” It scrunched up its face in concentration. “I want to be… Klika.” ‘Daughter.’

“Klika… I like it. Very well then, from this day forward, you will be Klika.” I smiled and scooped up my newly named daughter and held her tight.

“Daaaad…. You’re squishing my wings!” she whined. I set her down.

“Opps, sorry," I said sheepishly. "Hey, Klika, I was thinking… my name is not very cool. It was the name I was born with, but I was born a human. I want an awesome changeling name. I think I will call myself…”
> Faithful
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“I want an awesome changeling name. I think I will call myself… Alvarium Rex. Yeah, I like the sound of that,” I said, happy with my new name.

“I like it too, daddy,” said Klika. “Does that make me Klika Rex? That’s how names work, right? I get your last name? Because I don’t want to be Klika Rex, just Klika.”

“Hahaha. You can be whoever you want to be. We’re changelings, after all. You want a new identity, you get a new identity.” I smiled at my daughter and patted her on the head. At almost five feet tall, Klika barely manages to come up to my waistline. ‘I wonder how tall you will be when you are fully grown.’ 

The only problem with her was clothing. Currently, she wore bed sheets pinned around her body and through her arm holes. It is not like I could get her real clothes. Anything I got her would be outgrown within a few hours. My own clothing would not fit her, as it was too big. Heck, It did not fit me, but for the opposite reason. My natural body was so stretched out that my jeans looked like shorts and my t-shirts did not cover my chitin-plated abs.

I watched her run off and start buzzing around the apartment. Her tiny wings barely managing to grant her lift. Nick looked up to watch her fly before returning his attention to his game. Klika hovered over to my bookshelf and grabbed one of the spell books from the top. My little girl dropped back down to the ground and ran back to me. “Daddy, Daddy! Watch me levitate this book!” she said while setting the book on the table. Her smile warped into a grimace of concentration. Klika’s hands lit up with a faint green light. The book was enveloped in her aura and slowly lifted off of the table. The aura flickered as Klika struggled to maintain it, but it ultimately failed. The book made a thump as it hit the table. She was panting with exhaustion. “I almost had it. It was easier to lift this time. How do you do it so easily?” she asked.

“I’m older than you. I’ve had more experience than you and started using magic later than you did. Don’t worry, kiddo,” I said. Reaching out my arm, I set my hand on my daughter’s shoulder. “You’ll get it in time. Now, how is your transformation ability coming?”

In response, a green flame began creeping up each leg, slowly making its way up her body. It took a whole minute, rather than our normal change time of a quarter second, for the transformation to complete. In Klika’s place stood a nine year old girl with brown hair and very blue but human eyes. She started walking around the room. Her movements looked far more stiff than normal. In fact, the more I watched her, the more doll-like she appeared. ‘That’s creepy,’ I thought to myself. Teleporting in front of her, I quickly poked her in the forehead. The surprise caused her to drop the transformation.

“Hey! That was mean! I was doing so well,” she whined. Klika crossed her arms and pouted.

“If you can’t even hold a simple disguise like that, how are you ever going to get any love?” I asked her. I don’t want to be mean to her, but she has to practice. All of the converts started as fully formed adults, including myself. Klika, despite her hyper fast growth, is still a child. She has not developed the magical strength just yet for any of her abilities. She can barely stick to wall or produce binding goo yet. That said, she is making rapid progress and improves by the hour.

“Why, daddy? You love me. You give me magic all the time,” she said.

“Because I can’t take care of you forever. Eventually, you will have to move on and get love on your own, either by making your own character or stealing from somebody else. That reminds me. We need acting lessons. Especially improvisation,” I said to Klika. If we are going to survive, improve could save our lives and get us out of situations where we cannot use our powers. I spoke to Klika, “for now, though, keep practicing.”





Nick and I walked down the busy sidewalk, disguised as middle aged men in running clothes. A few blocks back, police sirens wailed as the cars raced to the bank we had just left. Their response time was getting faster. Apparently, the banks had learned to call the police the moment the cameras were cut. It still did nothing for them. Our haul lay snugly in the large back packs we wore. Although we could easily have sold Emeralds to the Mob through Marcus, bank robbing was still quite fun.

“Mex tic-a-toc, kin. Snig re nog for tig lod mopized, tish. Klik-klak medizi pour amore. Gif mewd jews not firodox, hem faux dip. Fi hes placers osmosi, to melzo hexido. Shnee, lot fo sue doc tacking spepid.” ‘I’ve been thinking, Nick. Things are going to get quite complicated, soon. Klika will need to leave eventually for love. If she uses an original, she’ll need fake ID. If she replaces someone, she’ll need acting skills. In fact, all of us could use acting lessons,’ I explained to Nick as we walked.

He replied, “Moe tee mien toe koo mozibidib kekash ee di zibibozi, don kapa.” ‘Not to mention the extra work if we have to add more to the hive beyond just the sleeper converts, like Marcus.’

“Hey, you know what would be funny?” I asked, switching back to English.

“What?”

“THE FLOOR IS WATCHING US, ALL HAIL THE ROAST BEEF GODS!” ‘Say random things in English, but encode it like changeling speak,' I shouted, earning quite a few stares from people walking near us.

“Hahaha! That’s awesome,” Nick replied. “You could have two conversations at the same time.”

“Or pass secret messages. The true meaning would be hidden by the idle conversation.” The two of us continued our walk home, happily making small talk all the way there.





“I forgot my key,” I said to Nick. The two of us were standing outside our apartment, back in our normal human skins. We were locked out, and of course, neither of us had a key.

“Dude. Magic, remember?” he replied.

“Who said I could do magic?” ‘There are people watching us.’ There was something going on in the room down the hall and it was spilling out into the hall. <<Klika. Open the door for us, please. And try to be in costume, if you can.>>

As we waited for my daughter to open the door, the elevator behind us dinged. Out stepped the last person I wanted to see: Catherine. She spotted us immediately. “Will! Nick! There you are! You won’t believe what I’ve been through. I try calling both of you, but you never answered! Next thing I know, your mom is telling me that you’ve moved out,” she said.

“Oh.. hello Catherine. Good to see you,” I said nervously. ‘Oh please-’ My thought was cut off by the door being opened by a toddler.

“Hi Uncle Nick, hi daddy.” I winced at Klika’s statement.

“Oh, who’s that little girl?” Catherine asked. I could see Klika’s words processing in Catherine’s head. “DADDY?!”

“Catherine. Inside. Now.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my apartment. She gave out a little shriek of surprise. Nick followed and shut the door behind him.

“WHAT THE HELL, WILL! YOU HAVE A KID? WHOSE IS IT? YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE A VIRGIN! HOW YOUNG WERE YOU WHEN YOU SLEPT WITH HER MOTHER, 14?!” She screeched like a harpy. In fact, I would rather face a harpy than a pissed Catherine.

“Catherine, please. I can explain. Just quiet down.”

“YOU RUN AWAY WITHOUT TELLING ME, YOU BANG SOME OTHER CHICK, HAVE A GOD-FORSAKEN DAUGHTER, AND YOU TELL ME TO QUIET DOWN? YOU ARE A LYING DOUCHE, YOU KNOW!” 

Catherine’s rage was palpable in the air. Quite literaly, it physically hurt to be near her. Klika, poor dear, was positively shaking. The combined strain of holding a disguise and withstanding Catherine’s fury was proving to be too much for the little changeling. She started backing away, only to trip over herself. She went tumbling, hitting the floor with an audible smack. But that wasn’t the worst part, oh no. When she hit the floor, she burst into green flames.

“WHEN I’M THROUGH WITH YOU, You lying piece… of…shi-” Catherine cut off as she noticed what was lying on the floor.

“KLIKA!” I screamed, running over to her. I quickly scooped her up. “Klika, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, daddy. Really,” she said, working her way out of my arms. “I guess I blew it, huh.”

“No, you did fine. Things like this happen,” I said to her, trying to make sure she was not mad at herself.

“Ch-ch-ch-changeling…” Catherine stuttered, pointing a shaky finger at my daughter.

“Yes, she is.” ‘Nick, restrain her,’ I said. Nick complied with my order, grabbing Catherine with his magic and lifting her up so her feet could not find purchase on the ground.

“What are you doing? Why are you protecting that… thing? She’s feeding on you! She’s got you brainwashed! Let go of me, bastard!”

“No, to all three,” I said flatly, my voice devoid of all emotion. I took control of Nick's spell holding Catherine up. “She can’t feed on me. She can’t brainwash me. I can’t let you go until I guarantee my daughter’s safety.”

She spat at Klika. “Why do you call that… monster… your daughter?” Klika gave out a little sob at Catherine's harsh words.

I erupted in flames. In a second, Catherine floated eye level with my armored chest. She looked up at my monstrous face as I roared, “BECAUSE SHE IS!” Catherine whimpered at my powerful double voice. “I became a fucking monster for no reason what so ever. I have to eat the life force of innocent people just to avoid having a heart attack. But that girl…” I took a breath to calm myself. “That girl is as pure as Jesus Fucking Christ. I did not cheat on you. I loved only you. That girl is the result of a magical wish. I wished for a kid, and I laid an egg. Out of that egg hatched the smartest, most loving child a parent could ever hope for. And guess what? She’s four days old today. Not years, days. MY CHILD WILL HAVE THE SHORTEST CHILDHOOD OF ANY INTELLIGENT CREATURE TO WALK THE FACE OF THIS PLANET! You will not ruin this for me.”

“I-I-I-I…”

“Catherine… go. Leave. I’ll do whatever you want to make you keep quiet about this. I have money. But just leave. When Nick found out, I changed him. But I can’t do that to you. I still love you.”

“Will, I-” I cut her off, shaking my head.

“I don’t want you anywhere near my daughter. You spit at her. Go. And if I so hear so much as a rumor about us, I will drain you dry,” I growled, showing her my fangs. She nodded silently, fearing for her life. I set her down and she bolted for the door. I called out to her before she left, magically giving her dress a light tug. “One more thing. I’m not William Ross any more. It’s Alvarium Rex.”

The door slammed shut after Catherine’s departure. I collapsed to the floor, sobbing. I cried myself to sleep where I fell, held the whole time by my daughter and best friend.

> Time Skip: Preparations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Time passes, just like it always does. Time is eternal, constant, and ever present. Time may not change, but we do.






Catherine stood in line at her building's post office. It was routine: come down, check for packages and grab the mail, then head back up stairs. Her mother often got boxes from online stores. This time, however, the box was addressed to her. She gave it a little shake and heard something move around inside. Catherine guessed that it was only slightly smaller than the box it was held in.

When she arrived back in her own apartment, Catherine set her box down on the table. “Mom,” she called out, “Mail’s here.” She passes the junk mail off to her parent then set to work opening her own package. From it, she pulled out a smaller box and an envelope. The box had the words ‘Open me first’ written on the top. Catherine broke the tape holding it shut and peered inside. She let out a shriek and dropped the box. Wads of cash spilled out of the box, along with a large emerald.

“Cathy, what’s wrong?” Her mother asked, before gasping at the spilled contents of the box. “Where did all of this money come from, Catherine?” Her daughter could not respond, her whole body was trembling. “Catherine? Catherine? What’s wrong, dear?” her mother asked, concerned about not her daughter's silence.

Catherine did not speak. Instead, she ripped open the envelope and read its contents. The letter fell out of her hand and drifted to the floor. Catherine soon followed, collapsing to her knees. Catherine’s mother saw the panicked look on her daughter’s face and went to comfort her. Catherine whispered, “The letter…”

The mother picked up the fallen paper and read.



Dear  Catherine,


I am taking a big risk in trusting you with my secret. I pray that you have not told anyone. No friends, no family, not even your diary. Consider my gift assurance for your silence. There is $100,000 worth of cash in that box. The emerald, should you chose to sell it, is worth no less than $80,000. Any less and you are being ripped off.

That said, should you chose to ignore my generous offer, my threat still stands. You know what I can do. Tell a soul, and there will be no one in the world you can trust. Not even your own parents. I will hunt you down. Protecting my family is my sole purpose in life. Do not think I will hesitate because of who you are. I have done it before, and I will do it again.



                                                                                   Alvarium Rex





“Catherine. What have you gotten yourself into?”

Between sobs, Catherine said, “I don’t know, Mom. Everything just went to hell yesterday. I can’t tell you why. I want out of this nightmare.” Her mother grabbed her and held her tight.





It’s been almost two months, now. Currently, I’m standing by a warehouse on the outskirts of Atlanta. Six armed, masked figures stand around me and the crates I’m standing near. The night air shimmers in front of me before splitting open. Instead of looking at the orange glow of the Atlanta skyline, I now stare into the caverns of the changeling hive. My equine counterpart stands with an escort of her own across the rift in space. She speaks first, “Is this it?”

“Yes, these are your weapons. From the description you gave of your plan, I gathered a mixture of various tools for your use. Do you have my payment?” One of her changelings crossed the portal while carrying a bucket full of emeralds. One of my changelings took the bucket from it and examined the bucket’s contents.

“It’s all here, Rex.”

“Good. Let me show you what I have for you.” I pulled out a silver canister. “Napalm spray device. Remote activated. Will instantly set fire to anything within 15 feet. You have two dozen, and they are very dangerous.” 

I set it down and grabbed a black canister. “Flash grenade. Blinds and stuns. Pull the pin out while squeezing the lever down. When you let go, it will explode in four seconds and blind all who look at it. It burns hot, so nearby things might catch fire. Best to use magic to get good distance. You have thirty.” 

I swapped the black canister for a green one. “Smoke grenade. Pull pin while squeezing lever and toss. The fumes are heavy, so use fliers to toss them out and stay above the smoke. It’s not fun to breath. Again, you have thirty.”

I pulled out a small red canister. “Tear gas. Functions like smoke grenade, but the fumes burn the eyes, nose and mouth of whomever breathes it in. Twenty of these.”

I pulled out a white block and a small black object. Holding up the block, I said, “This is C4. Very stable. You can mold it like clay and can burn it like a log.” I held up the black object. “This is a remote detonator. Stick it in the C4 and together both will explode with tremendous force. The detonators are temperamental. Don’t drop them. When they are together, if you are close enough to see it, you are too close. If you can hear someone shouting from where the C4 is, you are too close. If you are unsure if you are far enough away, you are too close. You have thirty pounds of C4 and twenty detonators. Distribute it as you see fit.”

I held up the last object I had brought her. “This is your big red button of fun. It will set off the napalm and C4 detonators. Turn the key to open the cover on the switch and button. Flip the switch to arm the explosives, but only when EVERY SINGLE ONE of your changelings is a safe distance away. Thirdly, Push the big red button for instant fun.”

Chrysalis smiled. “This will be more than enough. Thank you. Now, you said earlier that you had other business you wished to discuss?”

“Yes, about attending the wedding. Nick and Klika will be crossing over shortly before the event. I want a standing portal placed in your hive. It should remain open at all times. I also want a supply of bits for them to spend while they are in Canterlot. Can you do this for me?” I asked.

“It will be done.”

The goods traded, I closed the portal. Several bursts of flame later, seven Earth changelings flew into the night sky.





“How do I look as a pony?” My daughter asked. The little unicorn filly stood at only a foot tall. Her grey coat and brown mane were neatly brushed. She looked at me with her gigantic blue eyes, before trotting around the hotel room.

“You look adorable. Nick, take care of her. Come back as soon as the fighting starts, okay?”

The large pegasus stallion nodded. He shared a similar color scheme as my daughter, but only a shade darker. On his flank sat the image of a video game controller, something Chrysalis said does not exist over there.

I opened the portal. The caves sat behind it, waiting for my family. I said my goodbyes and watched them cross over.





Back at my apartment, I quickly cleaned up. I set vases full of flowers everywhere and stocked my fridge with pony foods. Satisfied that everything was in place, I smiled. [Chrysalis, I’m ready for your princess.]
> Arrival in Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The pair stepped across the portal. No longer were they standing in a cheap motel room; instead, they stood in a cavern, surrounded by their four-legged changeling counterparts. The grey pegasus turned to look at his friend’s daughter, who was currently disguised as a grey unicorn filly. The two ponies turned to look at their king, who remained on the far side of the portal. The filly waved goodbye, and the two set off for Canterlot.





“Has your king informed you of the plan?” Queen Chrysalis asked the otherworldly duo. The procession made its way to the entrance of the caverns. These particular ones seemed to be natural, as opposed to the carved out changeling caves. Sunlight could be seen in the distance.

“Yep! Daddy told us everything that we need to do,” an excited Klika spoke. “He’s listening through us right now.”

“I don’t suppose you would be willing to tell us anything about your master plan, hmm?” Rex inquired through Nick.

“Hahaha, no. Just wait and see,” the queen teased. “Now, have you decided on pony names?” After seeing the visitor’s confusion, Chrysalis continued, “Your names don’t sound like anything a pony would be named. Come up with something else. Pony names usually sound like the parents raided a dictionary and picked up random nouns and adjectives. Make something up that somewhat reflects your skills.”

Nick pondered for a moment, before declaring: “Cheat Code.” Chrysalis nodded in approval and turned to Klika.

“Oh, can I be White Lie? Is that a good one?” Klika asked, to which the queen again nodded. “Yay! I’m White Lie,” the former Klika cheered. As the group passed out into the sunlight, Klika winced and shut her eyes. When she opened them again, all of the changelings that she had been walking with had transformed into various ponies. 

“The city of Canterlot is half a mile away from here,” the pegasus that was Chrysalis said. “As soon as we enter, I will deliver the false report to the guard. When the shield goes up, we will be sealed within the city.” One of the other changeling ponies handed Nick a saddle bag. “This is for you. It has a map of Canterlot, the address for the inn you will be staying at, bits for your room plus a little extra to spend, and an invitation to the wedding.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Nick said with a little bow.

“Now, until the attack, I suggest you stay within the public areas of the castle, the gardens, or the immediate vicinity. There are museums nearby, as well as the Canterlot Public Library. I do understand that this world is less… advanced than your own world, so try to stay out of trouble.”

“Okay! We will,” Klika said. The group continued its march up the mountainside. Idol conversation sprang up as they climbed. Eventually, the conversation swung around to the topic of the princesses. “I don’t believe that the princesses really move the sun and moon. In our world, the sun and moon are too big to be moved by anything. The moon orbits the Earth, which spins on its axis while orbiting the sun.”

“That seems very bizarre,” one of the changelings escorting the otherworldly child said. “The sun and moon here are part of the sky. I know for a fact that the princesses can move them. Two years ago, Nightmare Moon attacked. She held the moon in place, leading to a twenty hour long night.”

“Nightmare Moon?” Rex asked through his daughter. Chrysalis had never mentioned that name in all of their talks.

“She was the corrupted form of Princess Luna, who was banished to the moon for a thousand years,” the changeling explained. “My queen said that when Luna was first corrupted, the night lasted almost four weeks. It was so cold by the end of that time. The whole thing made ponies ridiculously scared and miserable. She said there was so little love in the air during that time that over 75 percent of the hive starved.”

“Ouch.” Nick winced. He looked up to see that they were fast approaching the city on the side of the mountain. “Wow. That’s beautiful. Not as cool as New York or Las Vegas, but impressive in its own right.”

“Don’t you mean Neigh York? Or Las Pegasus?” The changeling asked.

“Nope, he doesn’t,” Klika said. “places in this world are horse puns of major locations in our world. Canterlot, Camelot… Manehattan, Manhattan… It just goes on and on.”





“This is where I leave you,” the disguised changeling queen spoke to her visitors. “Head to your hotel for now. I have work to attend to.” She flared her feathery wings and took to the skies.

“Well, let’s go get settled in, White Lie.”

“Okay, Cheat Code.”





Two grey ponies walked out of their hotel just in time to see a spectacular sight. A beam of pink light shot up from the castle grounds. When it hit a certain elevation, it began to spread. Within a second, the entire city was enveloped by what looked like a pink soap bubble. The older pegasus stood still, impressed by the display. The younger unicorn practically bounced in place, excited by the signal. The plan was in motion, and now it was just a matter of watching and waiting.

Klika let out a small giggle. “Every good party needs balloons, right?”

“That they do,” Her companion agreed. "And Fireworks."





An sense of nervousness had descended across Canterlot with the arrival of the shield. Ponies everywhere were whispering about what dangers lurked just outside their captain’s shield. ‘Cheat Code’ smirked, knowing that the monsters were already inside. He and ‘White Lie’ sat together at a small restaurant. “I’ll have the daffodil, lettuce, and tomato sandwich, please,” He asked the waiter. His small companion asked for the same thing. As soon as the waiter was out of earshot, Code spoke in a quiet voice, “You know, my aunt lives on a horse farm. I would always feed them when I visited them. She had warned me never to feed horses daffodils or tomatoes, which would both make them very sick. Yet here we are, as ponies in a parallel universe, ordering them off a menu. Things made so much more sense when I was human.”

There was a clatter at the next table over. Lie and Code turned to look. Code’s eyes met the shocked expression of the mint green unicorn sitting nearby. The Earth pony sitting across from her, who the visitors could tell was actually a changeling, was confused by her companion. The unicorn finally spoke, “Human…” That one word petrified the three false ponies. “You said that you were human. You heard him, right, Bon Bon?”

“Lyra…” The Bon Bon spoke in a warning tone. “They are just like you and me,” she said, putting extra emphasis on the last word. Lyra nodded in understanding. “Please forgive my marefriend. Her obsession with these mythical ‘humans’ is starting to make her hear things.”

“Bwahahaha! Mythical!” Code burst out laughing. “Miss, humans are as real as you and me. Your friend heard me right. I did say I was human.” Lyra gasped, while the wheels turned in her partner’s head.

“You’re from… there. Mixinaezo?” ‘The other world?,’ the Bon Bon said.

“Yep!” Lie said.

Bon Bon turned to her marefriend. “These two are like me, but from the other hive.”

“Other hive? I thought there was only yours,” Lyra said.

“I take it that you know your partner is a changeling.” At Lyra’s nod, Cheat Code continued, “Well, we are too. Except we come from another world. The human world.”

Lyra launched into a volley of questions, most of which the pair tried to answer as much as they could. Over lunch, they discussed everything from anatomy to politics. Nick and Klika tried to worm their way out, but Lyra was persistent. It eventually resulted in Bon Bon dragging Lyra away. “I’m really sorry for her bothering you,” she apologized for the unicorn’s behavior as they walked out of the restaurant.

“It’s no problem. And…” Cheat Code trailed off, pondering if he should speak his mind. “Stay in the castle’s grounds. Better safe than sorry, right?” He waved at the pair of natives and trotted off, White Lie following close behind.

“What was that about?” Lyra asked Bon Bon. She gave a confused glance at the human turned changeling turned pony as he retreated down the street, filly in tow.

“I can’t tell you,” Bon Bon replied. “Let’s go see the gardens, okay?”





Shortly after the shield went up, Chrysalis made her way to the castle. Three of her changelings escorted her there, disguised as various ponies. Upon arriving, Chrysalis sought out not the princess, but a maid. After a few minutes of searching, she came across a green unicorn mare pushing a cart of cleaning supplies. Chrysalis smiled and approached the mare. “Excuse me. Umm… I sort of… spilled my drink,” the queen lied. “Can you help me clean it up?”

“Sure thing, dear. Let me just…” She trailed off as she dug out a towel from her cart. “Now, show me where it is. I’ll have that mess cleaned up in a jiffy!”

Chrysalis smirked with her back turned to the maid. “Thank you. Say, what’s your name?” Chrysalis asked as she lead her victim to an empty hallway.

“Oh, my name is Feather Duster. Funny, not many ponies bother to learn the name of a silly old cleaning mare.”

“Funny.” Chrysalis turned into the empty hallway with Feather Duster close behind. Two of her changelings moved in behind, carrying a large potted plant that they had found down another hall. It managed to block  most of the view of the hall from the adjoining one. Chrysalis’s horn lit up in conjunction with that of one of the changelings behind her. Feather Duster found herself unable to speak, looking at an exact duplicate of herself, and slowly sinking into the floor through a ring of green fire. “Have fun in your new home,” Chrysalis said in a mirth filled copy of the doomed maid’s voice.

The false feather duster turned to find her real target, a small smirk plastered on her face.

[Chrysalis, I’m ready for your princess.]

‘This day is going to be just perfect.’





A few hundred feet lower, a changeling watched the ceiling of the crystal caves. The green light that appeared signaled the arrival of his dinner. A mare appeared, dropping to the floor with a thud. The changeling pounced, injecting his venom into his prey. Once she was properly sedated, he began to construct her cocoon. The love already oozing out of her tasted wonderful. He could hardly wait to get her in place so he could feed off of her for weeks to come.
> The Foalnapping of Cadance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Feather Duster pushed her cart full of cleaning supplies down the halls of the castle. To the casual observer, nothing would seem out of place. The key word being ‘seem.’ Queen Chrysalis, in her disguise, was busy looking for her target. Then came the hard part. Chrysalis had to get Princess Cadance alone so she could be replaced without arousing suspicion. The false maid turned the corner.

“Excuse me. I have to use the little filly’s room.”

Well, dumb luck also works. Chrysalis saw her target break off from her group and enter the restrooms. Smirking, Chrysalis followed her prey in. As soon as the door closed, the false maid discreetly moved her cart to block the door. She giggled to herself in anticipation. Cadance, ignorant of her situation, locked herself in one of the stalls. The changeling queen, in a move of common decency, decided to let her finish her business before acting. A moment later, she heard a flush and then saw the stall door open. When Cadance emerged, she found herself face-to-face with a mare whose smile was far too wide to be natural.

“Can I… help you?” the princess inquired. Her head tilted to the side as she looked at the strange smile ‘Feather Duster’ wore.

“Oh, yes,” the mare replied. Her tone was hostile enough to send shivers down Cadance’s spine. The false maid reared up and pounded her hooves together. The Princess vanished from this world in a flash of white light. As soon as she was gone, green flames erupted around the maid. When they died down, the Queen was now a princess. Chrysalis took a moment to collect herself and get into character. She prayed that her spy’s analysis of Cadance’s personality were accurate. It would not do to make stupid mistakes like that.

The false Cadance emerged from the bathroom. Rejoining the group, she moved to snuggle up next to her fiancé and begin feeding off of his love.

‘Step one: complete. Now it’s just a waiting game until step two.’ Chrysalis smiled at the thought. Her fiancé smiled too, unaware of the danger he was in.





I sat quietly on the couch, waiting for my visitor, or rather, prisoner, to arrive. My head rested in the palms of both hands. Several thoughts buzzed around in my head simultaneously. One part of me was focused on what to do with my guest. Another part managed the hive mind. A third kept tabs on my “Equestrian Ambassadors,” Nick and Klika. And a fourth maintained my link with Chrysalis, though just enough to grab my attention of something important happens, like now. I sat up, made aware by my link that Chrysalis is making her move against the Princess. Shoving the other thoughts aside, I watched as Chrysalis made her way into the restroom, stalking her prey. Incoming princess in 3… 2… 1… *Flash.*

Princess Cadance appeared on my coffee table with her back towards me. I could see her reflection on the powered down TV screen. She blinked once, then twice, then rubbed her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, “W-where am I?”

“On my coffee table.”

She started to turn around. “But how did I -” She froze, cut off mid sentence with shock upon seeing me.

“Get here?” I finished for her, then shrugged. “No clue, Princess Cadance.”

“What are you? And how do you know who I am?” the confused princess asked. She started backing away from me, only to fall off of the coffee table. She quickly picked herself off the floor and continued backing up.

“Human. Just human. I had a dream,” I lied in response to her questions. “A lady told me to expect you. The same lady has always given me good advice, making me very rich. I always trust her.” I snorted a bit. “Name’s Rex, by the way.” I still had not moved from my position on the couch, but leaned forward a small amount to get a better look.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Cadance said, though her voice still carried a hint of unease. “I still don’t know where I am. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a human before. Does your kind live far outside of Equestria?”

A giggle crossed my lips as I thought of a response. It quickly grew into full blown laughter. Tears streamed down my face, I was laughing so hard. “Hahaha – Princess, there are almost eight billion of us covering every part of the globe. We’re everywhere. Equestria doesn’t exist. Alicorns are mythical creatures. Miss, you’re on another planet!” I laughed some more.

Cadance’s eyes went wide through my explanation. “That – that’s not possible! I was in Canterlot just a minute ago!” She sat down, trying to process what I just said.

I stood up and walked over to the distressed mare and put my hand on her back. Stroking it gently, I gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you home, soon.”

“Thanks, Rex,” she said, giving me a weak smile. I could feel a slight twinge of hope and happiness grow inside of her. Drawing it into me, I begin to siphon off the tiniest portions of her magic, slow enough that she wouldn’t even miss it. 

The oven in the kitchen dinged. I stood up to go retrieve my snack. “Hey, you want some biscuits? Some good old southern comfort food always helps me feel better.” I pulled the tray out of the oven and set it aside to cool. I walked to the fridge to grab the sweet tea. Neither tasted particularly good to me now, but they had been my favorites before my change. Now, they served another purpose: get the candy-colored, sweet-loving, pony princess to trust me.

“What are biscuits?” Cadance asked.

“The king of the breads. In my opinion, at least,” I said. “Try one.” I set out a plate with two biscuits, honey, butter, and a glass of sweet tea for each of us at the table. She sat down at the table and lit up her horn. I raised an eyebrow at the blue aura she used to eat her food with. It threw up a red flag in my mind. [Chrysalis. We have a small problem,] I thought over the link.

[What?]

[Your magic aura is green. Cadance’s is blue. Don’t let anyone catch on to the difference.]

[Thank you. I will be careful,] Chrysalis responded. We put the connection back on standby and I turned to Cadance. “Don't use your magic. It's not safe to use that here.”

She swallowed the mouthful of biscuit and turned to look at me. “What do you mean?”

“There are very few magic users on the entire planet, less than a dozen of us if I'm not mistaken," I explained to her. "Most humans consider magic to be fake or slight-of-hand. It would be horrible for us if our secret was discovered by certain groups."

She spoke, "You don't trust your own kind?" I nodded. "I guess It is the earth pony way for me."

I nodded. “Yeah. If almost anybody else saw us use magic, we would be taken by the government and experimented on – maybe even dissected – so that they could learn the secrets behind it and our existence. They would probably try to turn magic into a weapon. Don’t worry, though. I won’t let them take us.”  Her emotions spiked, going through fear and paranoia before settling on trust. ‘Good, she trusts me more. The more she opens up, the more magic I can take from her.’

Cadance’s magic set her food back down on her plate, then extinguished itself. “I suppose I can do without magic if it means I’m safe. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For the food. For supporting me. For protecting me. I guess, for everything really. You’ve done so much for me, yet we only met a few minutes ago,” Cadance said, fixing her eyes upon mine. “You’re truly a wonderful pony… er, human…”

“Person,” I corrected.

“Person. I just hope I can get home soon. I was going to be married in a few days to the most wonderful stallion ever.” She gave out a small sob. “Shining Armor is an amazing stallion. Strong, handsome, kind, brother to one of my closest friends,” she paused for a moment, “captain of the royal guard.”

“Sounds like quite the catch,” I commented. I could feel the love for him wafting off of her. It was almost intoxicating. Too bad it was not aimed at me. I felt envious of Chrysalis at that moment. She’s going to have quite the feast ahead of her.

“That he is. Do you have a special somepony?” Cadance asked.

“Special somepony… you mean a girlfriend? No. My ex-girlfriend found out about my daughter from an earlier relationship that went sour,” I explained, giving a modified version of the story. “Catherine grew hostile. She threatened my daughter and me. I went ‘papa wolf’ on her. Needless to say, our relationship is irreversibly destroyed. Implied death threats from both sides will do that.”

“Oh dear,” Cadance said while sinking into her chair. A moment later, she perked back up. “May I meet your daughter? Where is she?”

“Klika’s with my… brother, Nick, on an over-seas business trip. They are spies, gathering information about my client and her enemies. Information is power, I always say.”

Cadance looked disappointed. “It’s a shame. I would have liked to meet them.”

“If all goes according to plan, they should be home within the next three days. And If I have my way, we can have you home soon after,” I said confidently. ‘Perhaps I should introduce her to Taruke. He could provide a second pair of changeling eyes watching over her. His wife is out of town right now as well. I need to get these emeralds sold, but I cannot leave Her Royal Pain un-attended. Yes, Taruke will do fine, so long as he behaves himself,’ I thought. “Princess, come with me. There is someone I would like you to meet.” I probed for his location over the hive mind and found him in his next door apartment. “Let me go get him.”

A minute later, I returned with the disguised convert in tow. Having explained everything already via the hive mind, I introduced him to the Equestrian Princess. “Princess Cadance, this is Clark Oswin. He is my next door neighbor and my accountant. He will protect you when I cannot,” I explained. "He is also a magic user."

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, your highness,” Clark said with an excessively deep bow.

“Likewise, Mr. Oswin,” she replied.

“Please, Mr. Oswin was my father. Call me Clark,” he said while painting a false grin on his face. Cadance did not catch the true nature of his expression, but I did.

<<Careful, Taruke,>> I scolded him. <<I want this to go off without a hitch. Do not disappoint me.>>

<<I would never dream of it,>> Taruke replied. I only raised an eyebrow.





Six friends sat out together in the park, plates full of cake sat in between them. A young dragon raced towards the group at a frantic pace. Upon reaching the group, he dropped down on his stomach and belched out a jet of green flame. From the flames, a sealed scroll materialized. The purple unicorn grabbed the letter and began to read.

Minutes – and one musical number – later, the elements of harmony were packing up and heading on their way to Canterlot.
> The Pieces are in Motion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The sound of the Friendship Express's whistle echoed off of the mountains. The first train of the morning wound its way up the slope as it neared the city of Canterlot. In the third car, seven friends sat together.

"I'm bored! Ugh," Rainbow Dash complained while banging her head against the window. "How long have we been on this train? It feels like we've been sitting here for two months."

"Don't be silly, Dashie," Pinkie Pie said with a small giggle. "We've only been here for an hour."

"She's right. We're almost there," Twilight said. "Though I understand how you feel, Rainbow. I am anxious to find out who this 'Princess Mi Amore Cadenza' is, after all."

The rainbow manned pegasus cast a glance at her pink friend. "Ugh... How are you so calm, Pinkie? I thought you would be going stir-crazy by now." Dash slumped in her seat.

"Eh, I was watching the clouds. It beats watching paint dry. OH! That one looks like a trombone!" Pinkie giggled to herself. "Besides, it only feels like months have passed because of his writer's block."

Five ponies could only stare at her. The dragon just shrugged and continued eating his rubies. "Girls, its Pinkie. Ignore that," Spike deadpanned.

Applejack shook her head and then turned her attention to Twilight. "Hey, Twi, why is Canterlot in a pink bubble? Ah noticed it earlier and wondered of ya knew what that was."

Twilight blinked and then looked out the window of the train. Sure enough, Canterlot was as Applejack described. "How did I not notice that before?" Twilight mused to herself. "That's a force field spell. Of the six ponies I know that could maintain one of that size for any length of time, only my brother's is pink." Twilight frowned to herself.

Rarity, as if reading Twilight's mind, asked the unspoken question. "Darling, why is there a force field around Canterlot?"

"It's standard protocol for a threat against the city," the librarian said as if reciting for a test. After a second, the implications of her response sank into her friends' minds. Fluttershy squeaked and sank into her seat, while everypony else perked up and looked towards Twilight. 

"Threat!" Rainbow Dash screamed. "What the hay! Why aren't we there already with the Elements of Harmony? Why haven't we heard about anything happening? This is serious!"

Twilight waved her hoof dismissively. "Don't worry; my brother is captain of the royal guard. I'm sure that Shining Armor has the situation all under control."

All but Rarity seemed to accept that answer. The white unicorn asked, "Why are they having the wedding while the city is unsafe? I mean, surely they could reschedule it, don't you think?"

Twilight sighed and looked out the window to gaze upon the nearing city. "I don't know, Rarity," she replied, "I just don't know. What I know for sure is that my brother has lots of explaining to do."





I stood by the stove, spatula in hand. My head was full of the I-just-woke-up-don’t-bother-me fog, to which the smell of cooking bacon did little to clear. Suppressing a yawn, I gave a lazy wave to the princess who had just walked into the room. Catching a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye, I saw how tired she was, too. Considering that she spent the entire night crying, our fatigue was not surprising. Despite her rampant despair tainting the air, she tried to put on a smile for her ‘considerate host.’

Cadance sat down at the table and cleared her thought. “Um… May I have some fruit, Rex?”

“Help yourself,” I said, gesturing to the bowl of fruit on the counter. She levitated an apple towards herself.

“And may I have some juice?” she asked.

“Fridge.”

“So, what are you cooking?” Cadance asked me.

“Bacon.” I pulled my food out of the pan and started to blot the grease off with a paper towel.

“Hay bacon?”

“No, just bacon.” I set my bacon on my plate.

Cadance shrugged, not knowing what ‘just bacon’ actually was. “Not much of a morning person, are you?” she said, while a small, half-hearted chuckle escaped her lips.

“Hn,” I grunted an affirmative. After pulling out the other chair at the table, I sat down and began to eat.

Cadance sighed. Her hooves idly pushed the apple that she had yet to bite. “Won’t you at least have the decency to hold a proper conversation? I can see that you are not a morning pony, but this is ridiculous.”

I looked up and met her eyes. Staring for a few seconds, I eventually asked, “Will it make you feel better?”

“What?”

“I can tell that you are hurting and trying very hard to conceal it from me. Your eyes are bloodshot, you haven’t touched your food, and your coat is stained from the tears you shed all last night. Your body language is positively screaming in anguish. It’s suffocating me. Talk.”

My last word practically broke the dam. The tears streaked down Cadance’s face as she wailed. “I-I-I… I’m so scared! What if I never get home? What if I never see my love again? I’m trapped who-knows how far from home in a world where ponies don’t exist and magic is taboo. The entire world is like a giant Everfree forest and the only thing keeping me safe is your hospitality. For which – might I add – I am eternally grateful.” I nodded at her thanks, but let her keep talking. “But really, how can I expect to take advantage of your kindness when I just appeared out of thin air in your living room?”

“To be honest,” I added, “I knew you were coming. Somehow…”

“And I am grateful that you sheltered me all the same,” she said. For the first time this morning, a genuine smile crossed her face. The overwhelming despair was fading as she voiced her mind.

“Listen, Princess, I called some of my friends to see what we could do about your…predicament,” I lied. “One of them happens to be studying portals and teleportation. He said that he would offer what help he could.”

Her hope levels exploded the rush of delicious magic she gave off fully clearing the sleep fog out of my head. I smiled at her elation, but then forced myself to frown. “There’s a catch.” Cadance’s hope plummeted, almost falling back to what it was when she woke up. “His son is very sick right now, and he told me that he has no reason to help you over his own child. It could be some time before we make any progress on returning you home. That being said, you are more than welcome to stay here until then. You understand, right? Your family can wait, his cannot.”

“Yes, I understand,” she said with a slight nod. “Oh, Shining Armor, I’ll be there very soon.”

“Just you wait,” I said, a smirk crossing my face, “It’ll all be over before you know it.”





Chrysalis was happy. No, more than that; she was euphoric. The city was on high alert, the Elements of Harmony were here, and she was sleeping with one of the most dangerous and powerful unicorns on the planet. Everything was going to plan. True, there was that incident when she first met the Element of Magic. Apparently, the real Princess Cadance had a secret handshake with the young unicorn, but Chrysalis managed to fake being distracted enough to cover for her blunder. 'Yes, everything is going just fine,' the Changeling Queen thought to herself.

Of course, her mood only lasted until Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth. "Shining Armor, why didn't you tell me, your sister, that you are getting married? Why didn't you tell us, the Elements of Harmony, that Canterlot was in danger? And why are you getting married now, of all times ? I thought you were better than this. You have some explaining to do."

Chrysalis frowned. This mare had some valid points, points Chrysalis did not want answered. True, Twilight was supposed to be smart, but Chrysalis realized that she might be too smart for her own good. 'It might be a good idea to keep an eye on this mare,' Chrysalis thought.

While Shining Armor took his sister aside to make excuses, Chrysalis made plans. 'If the worst comes, I may need to remove this mare from the picture. Perhaps I should have one of my guard tail her. Better yet, why not ask if Alvaruim's spies will be up to the task? He is hungry enough for information as is...'

Queen Chrysalis continued her internal plotting as she followed after her fiancé. Shining was too busy being scolded by his little sister to notice the false Cadance's contemplative expression. [Oh, Rex~] Chrysalis thought over their connection in a sing-song tone.





"So..." Klika started. She, in the guise of White Lie, trotted down the market street. Nick, as Cheat Code, matched her pace as he followed behind. The duo was slowly making their way towards the castle.

"White, if you are going to ask about the mare that we were told to observe, I have no idea what Rex's interest in her is. Truth be told, I don't even think he knows why she's important. Apparently, the Queen pointed her out with no explanation and Rex's curiosity got the better of him," Nick explained. He dodged around a foal who ran out in the road, then went back to his friend's daughter.

"Seriously though, how hard is it to find a purple unicorn? We've been searching for hours. When we find her, can we just eat her?" Klika jokingly asked, to which Nick quickly shushed her. "Sorry, but seriously, I'm tired. We've been looking all morning," the false unicorn complained.

The pair turned the corner and ended up on a street full of restaurants. "I wish we had a way into the castle, but it is crawling with guards and we have no justifiable reason to go in." Nick sighed. "It's not like I can go up to the gate and say 'Hi! I'd like to go in and stalk Twilight Sparkle.’"

"Did somepony say my name?" A voice called out. Nick and Klika froze in their tracks, surprise causing Nick to flair his wings. A quick turn of their heads revealed a puzzled looking Twilight Sparkle sitting with five other ponies at a restaurant table.

Nick panicked, frantically cobbling together an excuse for why he, a stranger, would be saying her name. Klika, sensing his panic, bought him a moment. "Hehehe, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Or she..."

Nick, finally having gathered his wits together, asked "Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic?"

She nodded in affirmative. "Yes, that's me. Can I help you?"

Nick mentally high-fived himself. 'Found her! Score!'
> Twilight's Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight's morning was not going well, and it had started so nice, too.  After all, she was going to see her brother, whom she had not seen in almost two years.  Her mother and father would be there, too.  Twilight had not seen them in a while, either.  Moreover, it was a wedding!  Who didn’t love a good wedding, especially if she was the one to help organize it?

Then the first strike came.  Applejack had pointed out the force field around Canterlot.  ‘Why is there a force field,’ Twilight had thought.  Without an answer, Twilight sought out her brother.





“I've got something to say to you, mister,” Twilight practically growled out at her brother.  Some of the guards nearby readied themselves at the mare’s hostility, but calmed themselves at their captain’s reaction.

“Twily!  Ah, I've missed, you, kid.  How was the train ride?  I–” Shining Armor said, reaching out for Twilight.  He was cut off by his infuriated little sister as she backed away.

“How dare you not tell me in person that you were getting married!  I'm your sister, for pony's sake!”  Twilight exclaimed.

Shining Armor, now on the defensive, paced around his sister.  “It's not my fault!  Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security.  Didn't you see all the guards at the train station?”

Twilight glared daggers at her brother, her head sinking low and lips pulled back in a grimace.  “Yes, I did see them.  How could I not?  I have already passed about a tenth of the Royal Guard on my way here!  Are they party guests?  Then I’m assuming that your force-field is a party decoration?”  Twilight paused for a breath, then roared, “WHY WASN’T I TOLD THAT MY HOME CITY WAS UNSAFE!” Shining Armor took a step back out of shock.  It is not every day that your little sister can out yell Princess Luna.  “And even if whatever danger wasn’t enough to warrant the Elements of Harmony,” she continued, “One would think you would delay your wedding until at least after you averted whatever crisis is at hand.  At a minimum, you should have written to let me know!”

“Twilight, please...”  Shining Armor pleaded, but his words fell on deaf ears.

“And what about our parents, hmmm?  I’m sure they know everything about what’s going on.  Why-”

“TWILIGHT! PLEASE!  Calm down,” her brother yelled, exasperated.  “I have everything under control.  We received a vague threat against the city.  Princess Celestia decided to increase security as a preventative measure, but there is no danger, yet.  In addition, until one shows up, the princesses have decreed that the city will run as usual.  Besides, Cadance has everything under control for the wedding.”

“Oh... but still...”  Twilight trailed off as she pondered her elder sibling's words.  “Cadance?  What does my foalsitter have to do with your wedding?  I thought you were marrying Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.”

Shining Armor gave a confused look at his younger sibling.  “Twilight, you do know that that is her full name, right?”  At her confusion, Shining Armor elaborated, “Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadance.”  Shining Armor gestured behind Twilight towards an approaching figure.  Twilight turned around to find the object of her conversation.

“CADANCE!”  Twilight cheered, running towards the face she remembered from her foalhood.  “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake.  Clap your hooves and do a little shake,” the unicorn recited, going through the motions as she did.  To Twilight’s disappointment, however, Cadance did not return the gesture.  Instead, the alicorn was fixated on Twilight, her focused eyes seemingly boring a hole through the unicorn.  A second later, her eyes unfocused and she gazed off into the distance.  Twilight did not miss that.

“Oh, hello, Twilight,” Cadance said, shaking her head as if coming out of a daze.  “Sorry, I was distracted.  You know how stressful planning a wedding is, right?  It’s good to see you,” she said before snuggling up next to her fiancé. 

Twilight’s eyes subconsciously narrowed, her mind noticing the difference between someone who was truly distracted and someone who was feigning distraction, like Cadance.  However, her subconscious mind decided that the distinction was unimportant, and buried the thought.





And so the day progressed.  Twilight, whose mind contained a seed of mistrust, unknowingly started paying closer attention to her soon-to-be sister-in-law.  Moreover, as Twilight watched, she saw strange things, little details that were out of place.  A detail here, a detail there.  And it drove her nuts.

“Ugh... girls...”  Twilight sighed.  Her head rested on the café table, hoof gently stirring the straw in her drink.  “I don’t get it...”

“Heh, there’s a first,” Rainbow Dash joked, “Our resident egg-head doesn’t know something.  Now spill it, what don’t you get?”

“It’s Cadance.  I just do not know what is going on with her.  I just can’t put my hoof on it, but something is wrong.”  Twilight looked into her drink while her mind contemplated her problem.  At her friends’ insistence, Twilight attempted to put her worries into words.  “Well... there is not just one big problem.  It’s a bunch of little things, you know?  Cadance nearly gagged on AJ’s fritters, then threw the rest away.  I have seen her with the strangest of expressions.  I feel like she has been watching me all day.  Her magic is green, when it was blue before; yes, unicorns can change their magic color.  But why?  That’s something that takes loads of effort and harms your control.”

“You’re right, darling,” Rarity agreed.  “I tried changing my magic to gold once, to compliment a dress I had made.  Oh, I just had the most dreadful headache that day.  Why, my magic control was so poor that I could barely lift a needle only half an hour after I made the change.”

“Yet she was doing mind spells on my brother.”  The ponies around Twilight gave her a strange look.  “You can see it in the subject eyes, when they are under the effects of a mind spell.  Though I’ve never seen one of her love spells cause the subject’s eyes to roll.”  Twilight frowned, thinking ‘Why would Cadance need to cast a love spell on Shining, anyway?’

“Twi, Ah’m not seeing where you’re goin’ with this,” Apple Jack commented.

“That’s the thing, I don’t know where I’m going with this, either...”  Twilight admitted.  “Hey, Spike, do you remember when I told you about the uncanny valley?”

“Yeah,” Spike replied, “where the more something looks like a pony, the more you like it.  However, when something gets too close, you suddenly find it really creepy?  Why do you ask?”

“Because compared to my memory of her, Princess Cadance is right in the middle of the uncanny valley.”  The lavender unicorn took a sip of her drink.  “It feels like she isn’t really Cadance, just pretending she is.”

“-lk Twilight Sparkle.’"

Twilight perked up, raising her head off the table.  "Did somepony say my name?" she asked, looking towards the street.  A grey pegasus stallion and a grey unicorn filly stood together, looking at Twilight and her friends.  Both had brown manes and blue eyes.  On the flank of the stallion was a strange object that Twilight could not identify.

The filly let off a small chuckle.  “Hehehe, speak of the devil and he shall appear.  Or she...”

The stallion asked, “Twilight Sparkle, Element of magic?”

Twilight wondered for a moment who this stallion was.  “Yes, that’s me.  Can I help you?” she asked.  The stallion smiled.

“Hey!  That is so cool!  You’re a hero!”  Nick said with glee, although not for the reasons Twilight suspected.  “My name’s Cheat Code, and this is my niece, White Lie.  We’re kind of fans of yours,” Nick lied with a smile.  He reached out and shook Twilight’s hoof.

“Hey, what about us!”  Rainbow Dash exclaimed, jumping up from her seat at the table.  “We’re the Elements of Harmony.  I’m R-”

“RAINBOW DASH!  ELEMENT OF LOYALTY!”  Klika screamed, interrupting the rainbow-maned pegasus.  “You’re all here!  Generosity!  Kindness!  Laughter!”  Klika cheered, and then less enthusiastically added, “Honesty.”  It did not surprise Nick that Klika would be less energetic about the natural antagonist to the changeling way of life.  “Hey, Ms. Sparkle, could you teach me some super awesome spell?  Or how to make my magic last longer?  Please?”

Twilight, still a little shaken by the sudden and enthusiastic introduction of the two new ponies, had to deny the younger of the two’s request.  “I’m sorry, I would love to help, but I don’t have the time to teach you anything.  I’m busy trying to help my brother prepare his wedding,.”

“Your brother is Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard, right?  My brother, Rex, is good friends with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. And while he could not attend their wedding for personal reasons, he gave his invitation to us so that we may go in his place.”  Nick explained, using the story that they had prepared after crossing over into this world.

Klika jumped in, saying, “So we’re gonna see you around the castle!  Cool, right?”  She gave out a little laugh.  “Hey, maybe we’ll even become friends!”

> Knight Takes Rook, Queen Takes Bishop
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Entering the castle proper was not an issue for the Earth changeling pair. After all, traveling in the company of the six Elements of Harmony provided more than enough reason for the guards to let them pass. In fact, the guard ponies just waved them past without even stopping them. Now that they were inside, Nick decided to act upon one of his friend and king’s plans. “Ms. Sparkle, I was wondering, do the Canterlot Archives have a section on magic? My brother and niece are both quite talented in the art and I wondered if we could have a look around?”

Twilight turned to look upon the infiltrators and smiled. “Oh, yes, the Star-Swirl the Bearded wing! Magic is such a fascinating subject! I’m glad to see such a young filly like little White Lie-“

“I’M NOT LITTLE!” the aforementioned foal interrupted.

“-take an interest in it.” Twilight smiled at the impostors. Since her happiness was freely given, Nick and Klika both immediately started leeching off her magic. However, they limited themselves so as not to alert the unicorn to the drain. “Hey, my friends and I are headed by there anyway. How about I show you around?”

Nick gave her a genuine smile and said, “That would be perfect, Ms. Sparkle.” His eyes wandered over to his ‘niece,’ to whom he mouthed, “ready?” 

Klika nodded.




Flashback




In the days following Chrysalis’s order of the weapons, and while half my small hive was out gathering the request, I was busy concocting a plan for retrieving more information on magic from the other world. I could not keep asking Chrysalis to keep sending me books one at a time, yet I needed more. Similarly, I couldn’t just take a whole library either. I was in a quandary.

The answer I found was split between the books of utility spells, memory spells, and magic theory that I did possess. Alone, none were the solution to my problem. However, when combined and cast by a changeling, things get interesting.

The core of my findings revolved around the navigation spell. Conventionally, the spell would grant the user the ability to capture a three-dimensional mental representation of the area surrounding them. This is a still representation, as it only captures an image at the instant the spell is cast. However, the real beauty of the navigation spell is that when the user shrinks the effective radius and increases the power used, the resolution increases. Burn nearly your whole reserve on mapping a single building and the user can read every written word it contains.

The next spell I found was the mindscape spell. It grants the caster the ability to enter a dream world constructed from their memories. Mix it with a photographic memory spell, the hive mind, and an overpowered navigation spell, and I have a mental representation of any building that any of my changelings can visit. I call it the world-capture spell.

The final spell needed for my project was the transcription spell. The transcription spell is cast upon a tool, which then records any thought onto the appropriate medium. An enchanted pen will write and an enchanted chisel will carve in stone. I will have an enchanted computer and mental access to the greatest spell collection in Canterlot.

Of course, the world-capture spell is not without its drawbacks, as Klika and I discovered while we were practicing it. The initial construction of the mindscape is extremely love-energy taxing. If I were to measure magic in terms of the life span I drain from people as I feed, this setup takes almost 50 years worth of magic. Then, I have to maintain the mindscape and photographic memory with a constant, if small, stream of magic or the details start blurring as I forget.

The fatal blow to world-capture’s usefulness on Earth is the quite visible sphere of magic created within the mapped area. However, magic is a common sight in Equestria and it is Equestria that possesses the magic libraries.





Upon entering the Star-Swirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives, Klika notified the hive mind. In response, all nine of the other Earth changelings granted her access to their magic reserves. With four of them actively feeding at the moment and one ready to capture someone and rip the love from their body, there was more than enough love magic for the world-capture spell to be cast without harm.

Klika, still disguised as a unicorn foal, set her horn alight. Her face quickly contorted into an expression of extreme focus. After about four seconds of glowing increasingly bright, her horn released a sphere of green light that rapidly expanded to envelop the wing of the building. Many ponies gasped as they felt the magic pass through their bodies. For about six seconds, the library was bathed in a sickly green glow.

“What?” Twilight asked, perplexed by the little filly’s display of magic. “…The same shade as Cadance’s magic.” Nick just barely managed to catch that comment the unicorn muttered under her breath.

As quickly as it had come into being, the light retreated back into White Lie’s horn. The young changeling princess staggered and fell over, clutching her skull. Nick, as Cheat Code, rushed over to her and scooped up Klika’s head, cradling it with his wing.

“What in tarnation was that?” a bemused Applejack said. Her friends asked similar questions.

“Oh, my, is she going to be alright?” asked Fluttershy, concerned for the filly’s health. “She looks quite young for her to be doing that much magic.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Nick replied while trying to disguise his own spell-induced migraine. “She’ll be fine.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, that spell seemed familiar. Do you know what it is?” Twilight asked. Her face mirrored the confusion the two changelings could feel coming from her.

“That, Ms. Sparkle, was her father’s personal world-capture spell,” Nick answered. “It seems somepony won’t be getting any dessert tonight. Honestly, I think she loves learning a little too much, just like my brother. He invented that spell to give himself the ability to memorize entire libraries in an instant. Little Miss Lie must have sneaked into his office and read his notes.”

“Did not,” Klika mumbled from her position on the floor. Nick only gave her a fake stern look.

Twilight Sparkle, meanwhile, only stood there, slack-jawed. “A spell… for memorizing… entire libraries.”

“Dude, I think you broke her,” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.





A pink alicorn princess of food (love), despite how interesting that sounds, is a rather boring companion. It seems that Cadance, in spite of my vain attempts to cheer her up, just is not motivated to do much. I had cleared my schedule in order to baby-sit Cadance for Chrysalis, and so I had nothing to do either.

Luckily or unluckily, depending on your perspective, the monotony of my apartment was interrupted by a sudden info-dump-slash-migraine event. I could not help myself; as I stumbled to the floor from the surprise, I let out a very loud, “Damn it! I wasn’t ready!”

The food princess perked up, concern flowing from her body. It tasted like vanilla ice cream. Cadance trotted over to where I lay clutching my head. A hoof gently stroked my back. “Rex?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. I merely groaned in reply. Ignoring her, I plunged into the newly created mental representation of the Canterlot Archives. ‘I’ll need to congratulate Klika on a job well done. This place is impressive.’ I selected a scroll at random off the dream shelf and took a peek. ‘No way! A time travel spell? Magic can let you TIME TRAVEL! Hell yeah!’

Returning to reality, I picked myself up off the floor and dusted myself off. Cadance asked me if I was all right, to which I lied with an affirmative. In reality, I was quite mixed. My hive just obtained the greatest store of magical knowledge on Earth, yet all any of us could think of was the pain, nausea, and sudden depletion of twenty five percent of our collective magic reserves. Furthermore, I can still feel the world-capture spell draining my personal supply of magic. I guesstimated that it was about a one percent per day net drain, even if I passively feed on the ambient emotion in my apartment building. ‘I really wish the princess was back home so I could get out of this transformation and save my magic,’ I thought in irritation.

As I walked past her, I started tugging a little harder on her compassion. Now, my hunger outweighed my need for discretion. I sat down at my computer and opened up the word processor, figuring that there was no need to waste any time before transcribing Klika’s findings.

“What are you doing, Rex? What is that thing?” a curious Cadance asked.

“This is my computer. I’m using it to write. You could say…” I trailed off, seeking the right words. “Inspiration struck.” My hand hovered over the keyboard. A moment later, both became enveloped in a sickly green light. The keyboard practically buzzed when the spell took hold; the transcription spell depressed keys so fast that I could not read what was on screen. Apparently, when unrestrained by the speed of thought, It can type a six hundred page textbook in sixty seconds. Saving the transcribed textbook and discarding the mental copy, I ordered over the hive mind, <<In your free time, transcribe books from the mental library. Discard the mental books when finished and email me the digital files. Keep the original files backed up on your computer.>>

Cadance gave a small chuckle and said, “That’s impressive. When you said inspiration struck, you really meant it. Mind if I take a look?”

“Nah,” I replied. “I’d rather get it to a professional editor first.” The truth was, I vowed no living thing on Earth outside of the swarm would ever see these books.

It was then that Nick spoke over the hive mind, <<Hey, Rex, Twilight made a comment about Klika’s magic being the same color as Chrissie’s. She’s got this whole paranoia vibe going on right now. Thought you’d like to know.>>

<<Thanks, man. I’ll pass it on,>> I replied. Turning my mind to my equestrian counterpart, I said [Chrysalis, Twilight has a clue. Do I need to be expecting another guest?]

A minute later, the insect-like queen replied, [It is as I feared. The Element of Magic is too clever for her own good. Do make room in your home for her. She will be arriving within the hour. Where is she located?]

[Note that this will cost you more. I don’t work for free,] I said in reply.

[Noted. Now…]

I quickly consulted with my hive memory before answering, [Star-Swirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives, south end.]





Chrysalis was mildly amused. She found the idea of ripping ponies from their home reality and trapping them in a non-magical world and at the mercy of her counterpart somewhat satisfying. She and one of her disguised guards made tracks for her room. Shining Armor was in a meeting with his guard right now; Chrysalis expected him to be stuck there for at least another hour. As such, the queen planned to use her toy soldier’s face to erase his sister from the face of this universe. Chrysalis considered it ironic.

In her room, she assumed the form of Shining Armor while her guard took Mi Amore Cadenza’s face. Exiting, she hurried to the library wing. Chrysalis made sure to carry herself with an air of determination, trotting fast enough that no pony would bother her.

Upon her arrival, Chrysalis came across the sight of a grey pegasus dodging her target’s barrage of questions regarding some spell or another. “Twily, come here, my L.S.B.F.F. I have something to show you.”

Twilight, interrupted from her interrogation of White Lie and Cheat code, looked over and said, “Oh, Shining Armor, hi. You have something for me?”

The fake brother nodded and said, “Yep, but it’s a secret. You can’t tell any pony. Come here.”

“Of course, B.B.B.F.F.” Twilight followed the impostor down the isle of shelves and around a corner.

“Twilight, turn around,” Chrysalis commanded. The moment the unicorn could not see the changeling queen, the latter reared up and pounded her fore-hooves together. In a flash of light, the Element of Magic was erased from Equestria. Chrysalis smirked.





Yet again, it seems that my coffee table is a landing pad for extra terrestrials. I stood from my computer, where I had just finished transcribing my twentieth book, and moved to investigate my new arrival. Princess Cadance, who was sitting at my side, followed.

“Twilight?” Cadance called as soon as she witnessed who was on my coffee table. Twilight, disoriented from the transfer, slowly turned around.

“Princess Cadance? Where am I?”

“Oh, Twilight, I thought I’d never see you again! Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake,” Cadance started.

“Clap your hooves and do a little shake,” the unicorn finished. “But where are we?”

“You’re in my apartment on, as far as we can tell, another world,” I say. “Welcome to planet Earth. My name is Alvarium Rex, though you can call me Rex, and I will be your landlord for your stay.” I finish with a little flourish of my hands, then collapsed down upon the couch. ‘I guess I used a little too much magic. I feel sort of weak,’ I thought to myself. After a moment of awkward silence, I break the ice by saying, “Well go on. You two know each other, right? Well then, happy reunion. I’ll leave you to your thing.” Heaving myself off my comfy seat, I proceed to the kitchen for drinks. Although, I do make sure I pay attention to their conversation.

It was in the middle of recounting their tales that the discrepancies started appearing. Twilight was the first to notice that Cadance’s story did not match up with Twilight’s memories. After discussing further, Twilight spoke her conclusion, “I think that there is an impostor.”

“No,” Cadance said, her eyes going wide, “not the changelings. Anything but-“

The glasses of tea that I was holding came crashing down at the alicorn’s words. “Whoops, butterfingers,” I said nervously. ‘Calm down, Rex. Just see how this goes.’

“What are changelings?” Twilight asked.

“Horrible monsters. They look like bug ponies with holes in their legs, insect wings, fangs, and a wickedly sharp horn. They take the form of the pony you love and feed on your love for them. Changelings are horrible, soulless monsters who cannot feel compassion.”

‘HEY! I take offense to that! Everything I do is out of the love for my family… and self preservation,” I mentally whined. Of course I could not say it aloud. That would defeat the purpose of being disguised.

“And one of them replaced you,” Twilight concluded. “So how did we end up here?”

“I’m not sure. The last thing I remember seeing was one of the maids, then I was here.”

“I was talking with Shining Armor and then I was here. Oh, no! Shining Armor saw me vanish right in front of his eyes! He’s not going to know where I am! What about all of my friends! My family! Princess Celestia!” Twilight was now hyperventilating at this point. I intervened, sitting her down on the couch and making her breath.

“Don’t worry, Miss Sparkle. I’m working on a way home for Cadance, and now you, I guess.” 

“Thank you, Rex.”

“Don’t thank me yet. There are less than a dozen magic users alive on Earth right now that I know about. We tend to keep to ourselves because of the dangers of using magic in front of the normal people. As such, we have very few resources,” I said. ‘Well, we didn’t until now,’ I mentally amended. “My colleague and I are practically inventing a new discipline of magic in order to get you home.”

“Exciting! I’ll gladly help you with your research! My special talent is magic.”

“Cool, we’ll see what happens,” I said.
> A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I was having a stressful day.

“REX!” Twilight called out from my bedroom. I perked up from where I sat at my kitchen table and looked over to the doorway. The mare was not in my line of sight, hidden by the angle. “Why are these here?”

Rolling my eyes, I called back, “Twilight, I don’t have X-ray vision, nor can I read your mind. Why are what here?”

Twilight chose that moment to come into view, horn aglow. Behind her trailed several books, hovering in her magenta aura. I palled considerably when I recognized those books, the only ones that would stand out in my collection. Being manufactured differently than earth books, the ones that I had acquired from Chrysalis where smaller and made from a thicker paper. From what I know about my captive, she lives in a library; it would only make sense that she would pick up books that looked out-of-place. Worse, their existence in my home would contradict my story of not knowing anything about their world. ‘Time to lie again, I guess…’ I thought to myself.

“Those, Twilight… Cadance was not the first… object to come from another world,” I said sheepishly while fingering my currently curly red hair. “Granted, she was the first living thing to cross over that I know of, but definitely not first over all. Nobody knows where Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids came from. In fact, there is a government facility, Area 51, which supposedly collects the stuff that finds its way to us. That is exactly where I don’t want you to go, honestly.” 

Though I managed to keep a straight face through my little fabrication, I mentally frowned at my last two sentences. It sounded too much like I wanted to keep my prisoners here, which I do. Then there was the ‘honestly’ I added to the end. People are more likely to say that when they lie; it’s a common tell that I apparently have.

Twilight was obviously not impressed with my tale, if her frown was any indication. “So,” she said, “care to explain what six books, all from my library, are doing together in your library?”

Rolling my eyes, I retorted, “One, are you asking me to explain quantum mechanics and Einstein’s General Relativity on how the books arrived in this world or why I put those books on my shelf?” At this point, I stood up from my seat and walked over to her. I looked down at her face, my head a good two and a half feet above hers. “And two, how do you know that those are your books? I’m sure that your world has more than one library that they could have come from.”

Ignoring my close proximity, Twilight opened all six of the floating books to the back cover. “I am the librarian at Golden Oak Library.” Lo and behold, on the due date card were the clearly printed words ‘Property of Golden Oak Library.’ She snorted, “Humph, these six were all checked out three months ago by Bon Bon. Might I add that she is an earth pony, not a unicorn. She has no reason to be checking out six books on magic.”

“Earth pony?” I asked, feigning ignorance. It would not do to let her mind stay on track.

“An earth pony lacks both a horn and wings. They are incapable of using magic,” Twilight answered. “There’s something fishy going on here, and I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”

Great, Twilight is getting paranoid. I made a mental note to find a moment to excuse myself and milk some of my venom. I may need to subdue one or both of my prisoners at the same time in the near future. ‘Perhaps,’ I pondered, ‘I should preemptively spike their food with a little ‘Changeling’s Kiss.’’





Chrysalis was having a much better day. Her victim was trapped in a parallel world and a key defense of Equestria was also neutralized by the same method. Shining Armor was under her hypnotic suggestion; the queen ordered him to believe everything was fine and then to ‘get lost’ once the first explosion was triggered. Furthermore, all of her infiltrators were in position and the weapons had been placed.

Now all that was left was the actual wedding ceremony that would trigger her invasion. Although Chrysalis had been the primary impersonator for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, she had passed that role to her child, Envy, so that Chrysalis could hide among the crowd. The queen’s plan called for her to move fast; due to the fact that only changeling royalty holds the power to convert ponies into changelings, she had to reach several separated ponies before they were lost in the confusion.

As Chrysalis walked down the hallways to fetch her counterpart’s children before the ceremony, she started singing softly to herself.





Princess Cadance was not having a good day, not at all. The loneliness and despair radiating off of her left a bitter and unpleasant taste in my mouth. Twilight, paranoid as she was, put aside her suspicions about me in favor of comforting her friend. The pair sat on my couch and looked out my window. Neither of them said anything, but Cadance let out a quiet sob every now and again. Every few minutes, the elder of the equine pair would look at the clock, and then let out another sob. The younger just stroked Cadance’s back.

Meanwhile, I stood in the kitchen brewing another pitcher of sweet tea. Of course, it had to be extra sweet to disguise the flavor of enough venom to incapacitate six two-hundred-pound men. I remember Chrysalis telling me of her exploits, some of which included using this very method to escape.

As I moved to put the pitcher in the refrigerator, the oddest thing occurred. Music. I could hear music playing as clearly as if I was right next to the instruments. I set down the pitcher and reached for my Pear jPhone; it was dead. I looked over, but the TV and Radio were off, too. It was when my prisoners failed to react that I realized that the music was coming from my link to Chrysalis. Furthermore, I could hear her sing to herself.


[This Day is going to be Perfect,
The kind of day of which my changelings stand up tall.
Everypony will run around,
As I burn this foul city down.
What they don't know is that my army has fooled them all...]


Then Cadance threw me for a loop. As if rehearsed, she sang the responding verse of the song. 


“This day was going to be perfect,
The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small.
But instead of having cake,
with all my friends to celebrate,
My family, they may never see me at all.”


Twilight, for her part, did not react to her elder’s words, as if she hadn’t heard them. When Chrysalis sang again, I realized what was happening. I was listening to both sides of a duet, one that transcended worlds, with each party ignorant of the other side’s reply.


[I could care less
about the mess.
I will crush
ponies into mush.
War? Well I'm not lying when I say
That through any kind of weather
I'll want us to kill together.
The truth is I want to eat them all.
Yes, we must consume ponies.
In my heart, I know we’re phonies.
Yes, I will cook them up and we’ll dine!]

“We must return before it's too late!
Find a way to return this day!
Hope? I'd be lying if I say
That I don't fear that I may lose him,
To a world that's without him.
Not to see, love, and cherish him another day.
For I oh so love the groom.
All my thoughts, he does consume.
Oh Shining Armor, I'll be there very soon!”


I was thoroughly disturbed right now. I didn’t understand how any of this was possible. ‘How can they be doing this? Is it some sort of link like what I have? Will I be doing that, too?’ I thought to myself.


[Finally, Equestria will fall
To my changelings. We’ll rule them all!]

“Oh, I'm stuck on the wrong side!
He'll end up without his bride!
Shining Armor will be-“

[Food!
Lovely Food...]


Finally shaking myself out of the haze that listening to them sing put me in, I gave a slow applause to both singers. Speaking to both, one through the link and the other with my mouth, I said, “Bravo, bravo! That was very good. I’ve never heard half a duet before, at least, it sounded like half a duet. Was that improvisation? Regardless, it was lovely. Tell me, how did you make the instrument noises?”

“Music magic,” Twilight answered, but did not elaborate more. She was too busy consoling her friend. Chrysalis did not answer at all. Shrugging, I turned back to what I was doing before, but not before passing the memory to the rest of my hive.





Klika snickered at the memory she had just received from her father. Beside her, Nick did the same. One of the ponies next to them in the wedding audience shushed them in response. Queen Chrysalis, who was sitting next to them while in the disguise of the unicorn ‘Mrs. Butterfly,’ just rolled her eyes; it was obvious to her what the Earthlings were giggling at. The queen adjusted her large dress hat to lessen the discomfort.

Up on the stage, the changeling Envy stood as Princess Cadance. Across from her stood the soon-to-be-prince Shining Armor. Between the couple stood Princess Celestia, who was presiding over the ceremony. 

“Hey, Mrs. Butterfly,” Klika asked, “what’s up with Shining Armor’s eyes? They’re all green and glowy and stuff.”

Chrysalis merely answered, “Hypnosis.”

Princess Celestia continued with her speech to the bride. “…in sickness and in health, ‘til death do you part?”

“I do,” the Cadance impostor replied.

Princess Celestia raised her head and addressed the audience, “Is there any living soul who would object to the union of these two ponies? Speak now or forever hold your peace.”

From under her hat, Chrysalis pulled out an object that Klika recognized immediately. The little false filly donned a malicious grin. “Showtime,” Chrysalis muttered under her breath.

“I now pronounce you Stallion and Wife,” Celestia declared. “You may kiss the bride.”

The moment the imposter’s lips touched the hypnotized stallion’s, Canterlot exploded.
> A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	For as far as the eye could see, Canterlot was burning. Dozens of simultaneous explosions had rocked the city moments ago, followed almost instantly by the collapse of the Guard Captain’s shield spell. Fires immediately sprung up in public areas, trapping ponies inside burning buildings. Noxious fume clouds hovered throughout the city, choking any pegasus who tried to clear them. From above, countless fiery green objects rained down upon the city; they smashed into buildings and the streets, causing tremendous damage wherever they landed.

One such fireball crashed down less than a dozen yards away from the two earthlings and the changeling queen. As soon as the chaos had started, the trio had raced away from the undamaged castle, Chrysalis to do her work and the aliens to watch the battle unfold. As they had rounded the corner, the fireball had plowed into a vendor’s cart, smashing the cabbages within. The form that emerged from the wreckage ignored the cries of ‘My cabbages!’ from the vendor.

From what Nick could see through the dust cloud, the figure was not a changeling as expected, but what looked like a griffin. However, said griffin appeared to be wearing Tron-inspired armor, if the smooth black helmet and black armor with glowing-green lines was any indication. Furthermore, the griffin’s wings looked like glowing-green glass as opposed to feathers. All-in-all, it was a rather intimidating appearance. ‘Of course,’ Nick thought, ‘it could also be the three-foot-long sword that’s so awesome.’

Meanwhile, Klika asked Chrysalis, “One of yours?” Upon receiving a quick affirmative, Klika replied, “You know Daddy’s going to grill you about this, right?”

Any further discussion was interrupted as the subject proceeded to stab the merchant in the leg with his sword. What happened next was only visible to the changelings present on that street. A stream of magic and emotion erupted from the wound and was drawn into the false griffin, in a manner characteristic of rip feeding. The stallion, drained of every last drop of energy that his body could provide, dropped dead. As the false griffin withdrew her bloody sword, the crowed, which had been shocked into silence by her dramatic entrance seconds ago, now started screaming in panic.

While Klika did not seem fazed by act of predatory violence, Nick was struggling to hold in his lunch. As borderline haemophobe, the sight of blood made Nick horribly uncomfortable. To see anyone so casually spill the substance was almost enough to cause Nick to lose his lunch.

In the panic, Nick and Klika lost sight of Chrysalis, who had run off to finish her own goals. Meanwhile, the two earthlings started making their way to the western edge of the city. They had promised their king that they would return home once the fighting started; without the queen, they had to make it across a war zone before they could get to the Changeling Caverns. There lay the only portal home to which they had access.





Pinkie Pie had been mentally complaining about how boring the wedding was. She had wanted it to hurry up. She had been struggling to hold in her excitement for being able to DJ at the reception. Keyword: had. Now, Pinkie Pie would have given anything to be back in that wedding if it would end this hell that had descended upon Canterlot.

Pink hooves pounded the ground below her, her lungs wheezing deep and labored breaths; her body protested the putrid air, full of ash, noxious fumes, and the scent of burning flesh. This was not fun, not fun at all, Pinkie decided. Having been almost immediately separated from her friends, the mare had tried to find somewhere safe. Without Twilight, who had mysteriously vanished from the library almost a day ago, the Elements of Harmony were useless to end the chaos.

As she ran, Pinkie stepped in something slippery and fell flat on her face. When she opened her eyes, her muzzle was inches away from a burnt corpse. Scrambling back on her hooves in shock, Pinkie quickly backed away, only to step again in the puddle. Blood. She was standing in a puddle of blood.

As tears streamed down her face, a distorted voice called out to her, “Pinkamina Dianne Pie.” She turned around to see an armored minotaur, his face obscured by a smooth black mask, in his hands, he held a metallic mace that could have easily weighed as much as her. The faceless minotaur droned in his distorted voice, “You will come with me or your legs will be crushed and I will take you by force. If you chose to resist, I cannot guarantee that you will ever see your fiends again.” The minotaur stepped forwards, holding his weapon threateningly. “What do you chose?”

The whole situation had drained Pinkie of her will to fight, for there was no laughter to be had here. Perhaps Dash would have fought still, but without friends to support her, how could one unarmed earth pony hope to fight an armed and armored minotaur? When she hung her head in defeat, the minotaur charged the gap between them at an impressive speed and reached for her neck. Pinkie felt a sharp prick, and then knew nothing more.

The false minotaur scooped up the unconscious mare and placed her on his shoulder. Breaking into a run, he sprinted to the warehouse his hive had rented for this sole purpose. War-fang had a prisoner to deliver.





Chrysalis sank her fangs into the thirtieth pony and, for the thirtieth time, initiated the conversion process. As soon as she was done, the pony was placed into a cocoon while a changeling impersonator fled from the warehouse. Every single one of the victims on her ‘capture’ list was safely stowed away. Each of the thirty ponies was a valuable member of society. Seven nobles, six high-ranking business stallions, ten news reporters, two lieutenants of the royal guard, Prince Blueblood, and Captain Shining Armor all lay within her cocoons. Since they would have all of the memories of their past lives, they could flawlessly return within a day and further her agenda from within the system.

The real gem of her collection lay in the last three cocoons: Laughter, Kindness, and Generosity. As the only three bearers of the elements that could be converted without endangering their position, capturing them gave Chrysalis a unique advantage. Equestria could keep its super weapon, but could not fire it against Chrysalis’s will. ‘It may not be totally in my control,’ the queen thought, ‘but at least it’s not totally in Sun-Butt’s control, either.’

Chrysalis smirked as she watched her work through the eyes of her subjects. With three of the main leaders of Equestria’s military force incapacitated and several more assassinated, the efficiency of the resistance had been effectively halved. Removing four elements of harmony, including Magic, and one of the princesses effectively halved the supply of powerhouse defenders. 

One of Chrysalis’s subjects was undertaking the extraordinarily dangerous task of keeping Luna in a drug-induced state of unconsciousness, despite the latter’s status as goddess of the night. This effectively reduced the number of powerhouses to one. With the night out of the picture, so many nobles missing, wounded, or panicking, and the military crippled, leadership of the nation fell almost exclusively on the shoulders of the day princess. And because she was so busy maintaining order among her own subjects, Celestia could personally make no move against the onslaught of invaders. ‘And then there were none,’ the queen thought triumphantly.

The queen turned her attention to her hive’s magic supply. In the first three hours since the invasion, they had collected almost as much as they would have in three months the traditional way. However, it only took a brief glimpse of the collateral for her to realize that this was not a repeatable option.

Again, Chrysalis redirected her attention. This time, she chose to focus on close to forty of her changelings that had joined the Canterlot Fire Department within the last five weeks. Spread among the dozen firehouses in the city, these changelings worked as selective damage control. Having memorized a list of changeling-owned businesses before-hoof, these infiltrators would quietly direct the efforts of the fire department to save the hive’s property first. When it came time for the reconstruction portion of her plan, Chrysalis would ensure that her investments would be the first to thrive.





Silver Tongue sat on the roof of a house in Ponyville. Her body was transformed to blend in with the thatch roof she sat upon. Though the sun had set long ago, the moon had yet to rise. Aside from the occasional window light, including the one she was currently observing, the only source of light was the burning city in the distance. The eerie sight reminded the Silver Tongue of a lighthouse on the shore of a sea of black.

Down by the window of her interest, a nervous guard walked past. Ponyville never maintained much of a guard presence before; however, much of the guard had been called away to aid in the defense of the besieged city of Canterlot. The remaining supply of guards to police the village had dropped so low that it could barely even be called a skeleton crew. Only nine guards remained. Silver Tongue knew that five were asleep or about to drop from the long and stressful day’s exhaustion.

Seeing the lone guard pass her target, the changeling made her move. She crawled down the wall and approached the open window of the town hall. Inside, Mayor Mare sat behind her desk working by the light of a candle. Silver Tongue silently climbed into the window and, with a single flap of one of her insect-like wings, created enough of a breeze to extinguish the candle. The room was consumed by a near total black. The mayor swore, unaware of the peril she was in.

Silver Tongue, tracking her prey by emotion rather than by sight, snuck up on the blind mare. Secreting a glob of binding goo from the holes in her fore-legs, the changeling lunged. In a well rehearsed sequence, Silver Tongue knocked her victim off her feet, bound the mayor’s hooves and mouth, and bit the mare in the neck. Mayor Mare valiantly struggled against her assaulter, but to no avail. A mere twelve seconds after she was bit, the pony ceased struggling and went limp in the changelings grip.

The changeling knew that the pony was still conscious; her venom unfortunately had nothing that would cause unconsciousness. A quick application of her magic closed the mayor’s eyes and a layer of goo would keep them shut. Silver Tongue levitated the body into a closet and transformed into a perfect replica of her target. Grabbing the mayor’s house keys, she mentally signaled her partner to come and get the body before the Mayor’s office opened in the morning. Across Equestra, a similar scene played out for close to two hundred high-profile targets.





Stress hormones, adrenalin, and endorphins are wonderful things. They keep you sane under the most traumatic of events. They null the pain and keep your wits sharp until you can relax. Unfortunately, I was not high on the natural stuff. It seems that, though I can watch a scene through the eyes of my changelings, my brain does not release the hormones in the same way that it would if I was actually there. Basically, I was getting the raw, unfiltered memories of a war zone. That is all six senses for two people and no natural psychological defenses. While they would be shaken by the events, Nick and Klicka’s bodies were coursing with adrenalin while they were forming the memories, meaning that the battle would be harder to remember without adrenalin.

Had I been there myself, had I any personal experience with death, I think I would have been fine. Instead, I’m curled up in a ball on my bed, softly crying. Taruke, the changeling disguised as my next-door neighbor, Clark, was pounding at my magically sealed bedroom door. Cadance, having already met the man, must have let him at some point while I was… distracted.

Eventually, the live stream of memories turned to more mundane things as Klika and Nick escaped the city and I was left to pull myself together. <<Sir, I came as soon as I felt your distress,>> Taruke mentally said to me. The door opened as soon as I had released the magic and my guard walked in. <<Is it your daughter? Did something happen? If those fucking ponies did anything to our princess, I’ll murder them all myself!>> His fist was clenched so tightly that if his nails were any longer, they would have drawn blood.

With a sniffle, I replied, <<Chill, they are fine… now. I learned a valuable lesson today: never watch high-stress memories as they happen. Especially don’t watch them if they are about your daughter and best friend being in a war zone.>> Taruke visibly relaxed. He moved closer and sat down at the foot of my bed where I still lay. Though I did not know the man very well, the close proximity of someone our hive-mind called family brought me a sense of peace, and so I allowed it.

We stayed like that, silently, for a time. Eventually, my trance-like state was broken by the ringing of my smart phone. Without moving a muscle, I carried my phone to me in a aura of magic and placed it against my ear. “I thought you’d like to hear me again, Daddy,” Klika’s voice said through the speaker. My eyes watered tears of joy.

“Hello, my darling love-bug.”





“Rex, are you alright?” Cadance asked. That was the million dollar question, right there. Did I just get my war cherry popped? Yes. Did I just see my two most precious people caught in the crossfire of a live combat zone? Yes. Was I fundamentally changed by the experience? Probably. Was I alright?

I... don’t know. Maybe.

“Cadance…” I slowly began. I briefly considered my next course of action. As the sun set in my world, Chrysalis withdrew from Canterlot in their world. Technically, that meant that my contract to hold them prisoner was up. So long as I gave a few minutes warning, I could send my captives home as soon as I wanted. I do not know if it was the stress I had just faced or if I would have made this choice anyway. I spoke.

“Cadance, I… No… Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Are you a goddess?” I asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“Well…” the alicorn reluctantly said, “yes. Though in terms of my world’s divinity, I am barely a step up from being just a mortal pony. I’m the goddess of love.” Twilight looked absolutely flabbergasted, possibly from never having seen Cadance as anything other than her foal sitter.  

I kneeled down in front of the alicorn princess, bringing me to her eye level. Bowing my head, I said, “Forgive me, my lady, for I have sinned." I closed my eyes and spoke in a low voice, "Once, there was a greedy young boy named William who sought riches and adventure to satisfy the darkness in his heart. One day he dreamed of a leader, one of a far off land, and she dreamed of him. Through these dreams, they talked, learning of each other’s worlds. One day, William discovered that with a snap of his fingers, he could send objects to the leader and likewise from her to him. 

“In time, the mysterious bond between them grew until one day, William awoke the gift of magic. He was the first living thing in his entire world to gain magic. Upon his near death brought by using his magic do defend his love, William was both blessed and cursed; his body was warped beyond recognition. However, he taught himself to use his emerald flames to hide himself, for he had become a changeling.

“His friends grew wary. Eventually, his best friend discovered his secret. To keep his secret, William inflicted his curse upon his friend, and his friend was changed. William was king, and his friend the first of his hive. Together, they lied, cheated, stole, and thrived.

“Then he found that his companion’s worthless rocks were actually valuable jewels. Then his heart grew greedier than a dragon’s. At that moment, he would have done anything for more of the precious stones. 

“The leader asked for two things, and with all the power that came with the name of Hive King, he gave them.” I went silent for a moment.

Twilight, listening intently to my tale, asked, “What did she want?”

“First, she asked for a jail. What better prison it there than another world when you control the sole bridge? Then, she asked for war; the Hive King delivered war's tools.

“Cadance,” I said, looking her in the eyes for the first time since I had started talking, “I told you I knew you were coming, and that a lady in a dream told me.” I could see the gears turning in their heads, and then the realization of my words contorted their faces into looks of shock. 

After sending my warning to Chrysalis, along with a warning to not be seen by the arrivals, I dropped the bombshell. As the last rays of the day’s sun crossed the horizon, my form was burned away by emerald flames. Black chitin replaced pale, freckled skin. Replacing the curly red hair was spiky blue-green hair topped with an organic crown. I opened my two-tone green eyes and looked Princess Cadance directly in the eye. I let them look at me for a moment, their toxic anger building with every second. When I thought I could stand no more, I bowed my head again. “Forgive me, my ladies, for I have sinned. I am Alvarium Rex, the king of the changelings, and through me…” I paused, interrupted by Chrysalis signaling me that she is ready for their arrival, “…Canterlot burns.”

With a snap of my fingers and a flash of light, they were gone.

> Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Cadance,” the human said, looking Twilight’s foalsitter in the eye, “I told you I knew you were coming, and that a lady in a dream told me.” 

Twilight froze. ‘No, it can’t be,’ she thought, ‘Rex couldn’t be-’ Twilight’s thoughts were interrupted by Rex bursting into flames. His old form was consumed by the flames, only to be replaced by that of a monster. ‘He’s a Changeling!’ Twilight was instantly on the defensive, but relaxed ever so slightly when she realized that the creature in front of her had not moved.

“Forgive me, my ladies, for I have sinned. I am Alvarium Rex, the king of the changelings, and through me…” he paused for a moment, as if to build up the tension, “...Canterlot burns.” There was a click and a brilliant flash of light.

The next thing that Twilight saw after the spots cleared from her eyes was the city of Canterlot. Worse, it was in ruins. Fires blazed in the distance and bodies littered the streets, faces frozen in terror. Seconds later, Twilight and Cadance were both hurling on the sidewalk. Neither of them had ever seen death or destruction anywhere near this level before. In the distance, screams and the sounds of fighting could be heard, though the current street was deserted.

After a moment to compose themselves, they began to work their way back to the castle. Cadance weeped, “For pony’s sake, I trusted him, and he was the bad guy this whole bucking time! Look at this! If we had been here, we could have helped!” Twilight tried to console her friend, but needed a helping hoof just as badly.





As they approached the castle, one of the guards called out to them, “Princess Cadance! Twilight Sparkle! You’re alive! Come quick! Princess Celestia has ordered us to bring you to her the moment we had located you.” As soon as the guard saw them start towards him, he turned to lead them into the castle.

Upon entering the throne room, which was crowded with ponies trying to get the overworked princess’s attention, the guard lead them right through the crowd. As soon as she saw them, Princess Celestia’s calm mask broke as she rushed to meet them. “My niece, my most faithful student, I’m so glad to see you. I hate to do this to you as soon as you have returned to safety, but I really have no choice. Cadance, I need you here to help me keep order and lead the nation. Too many ponies have vanished in the attack and I’ve been running everything myself for the past six hours.”

“Who attacked? We never did find out,” Cadance asked.

“That’s the thing; they looked like members of various non-pony races, but wore strange armor and attacked with explosions and cursed weapons that kill in a single strike. This is hard for me to ask of you, Twilight, but you, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack need to take the Elements and find the other bearers. They went missing almost immediately and with you gone, we were down to two Elements. Some guards will escort you, for it is too dangerous to go alone, even if the fighting is winding down. We’re winning, but only just. Before you go, tell me quick, where were you?”

“Imprisoned with Cadance. We were released less than an hour ago,” Twilight said solemnly. “It seems that there is a third faction at work here. Whoever is the leader of the invaders was able to contact both the changelings here and those of a parallel world called Earth. Between them, they can capture a pony and imprison them in a completely separate world that can only be escaped from if you have permission from the changeling king.”

“Wonderful, the changelings are in on this. We’ll talk more when things have calmed down,” Princess Celestia groaned, rubbing her temple with her hoof. “Guards, escort Twilight and help her locate the remaining Element bearers. Doctor,” the solar princess said to a stallion in a lab coat that had just walked in, “what is the status of my sister?”

“Unchanged, your majesty. I’m sorry, we are trying everything that we can think of, but nothing seems to be working.”

“What’s wrong with Princess Luna?” Twilight asked.

“She won’t wake, and the moon refuses to rise.”





Minutes after Twilight left, a report had filtered in to Princess Celestia declaring that the fighting had completely ended and the last of the mysterious invading force had retreated. Though a body count had not been made official, estimates were already climbing in to the upper hundreds. Worse, that was just the count of who had died in the fighting. The initial explosions and fires had killed dozens more and the invaders had spent a large amount of setting more fires.

The fires burned through the night, despite their best efforts. Eventually, a rainstorm had been shipped from Cloudsdale in time to preserve the remainder of the city. Twilight had returned in the morning, exhausted but unsuccessful in locating any of the missing ponies, her friends included.

The only good news to arrive with the rising sun was that Luna finally broke free of her cursed sleep. “Sister, what have we missed in our sleep?” the night princess asked as she trotted into the throne room. Her sleep-deprived sister embraced her immediately.

“Luna, I am so glad to see you alright. I feared that you may never have woken. We are all grateful to see that it is not true,” Celestia said.

“That was no natural sleep; only poisons can rob a pony of their dreams. Tell us, what has become of this city.” A quick rundown of the past twenty hours’ events left the dark princess a shade paler. “‘Tis grave news, indeed.”





Canterlot General hospital was experiencing a disturbing trend with their latest patients. Before noon, the flood of patients that had been brought in were injuries from burning buildings, flying shrapnel, and other dangers in the devastated city. However, the last hour had brought close to thirty patients, all injured, and all missing the last week’s worth of memories despite not having any head injuries. The last thing any of them claimed to have remembered was a ‘foul smell’ and darkness. When they had awoken, all of the unicorn victims claimed that their magic ‘hurt to use’ and refused to use their magic for anything.

Doctors were starting to suspect that some of the enemy’s gas weapons could erase memories and that the confused ponies had hurt themselves in the chaos, eventually losing consciousness. Having appeared dead, they were apparently passed over by the invaders.

Among the amnesia victims were Prince Blueblood, Captain Shining Armor, and three of the Element Bearers. The princesses were called as soon as the victims had identified themselves. 

Pushing their way through the crowds within the hospital, Twilight, Cadance, and Celestia, eventually made it to the room shared by half of the amnesia victims. Shining Armor, as soon as he saw his love and his sister, worked his way off the bench and hobbled over on his three good legs. The fourth, his left-hind leg, had the lower portion bound in a cast and the upper portion bandaged with cloth strips. He winced every time his bad hoof made contact with the floor. “Cadance! Twily,” he said weakly, “it’s been so long since I saw you last. What, a year since you left for Ponyville? Agh! Dumb leg...”

Twilight began to tear up when she saw her brother. “Shiny, I saw you two days ago, remember?”

“...No. Twilight, nopony in this room  or the next remembers anything that has happened within the past week. The doctors think we were hit with some sort of amnesia gas. Nopony will explain what has happened. I just came back from getting my leg set and burns treated. You are the first contact with anypony in the know that I’ve had. Princess,” Shining Armor said, “What’s going on?”

“Captain Shining Armor, one of the guards will brief you on the situation soon,” Princess Celestia answered. Her eyes narrowed as she spoke. “Unfortunately, we have reason to believe that there has been changeling activity within the city up until the attack.” The ex-pony swore internally, then mentally passed on a quick warning to the others. However, his face did not betray him. Princess Celestia continued speaking, unaware of his mental turmoil, “I’m going to need you to prove your identity, or we will need to do it by force.”

“Smarty Pants,” Shining Armor said, addressing Twilight. “I made her for your fifth birth day. Two weeks later, I caught you stealing cookies and you blamed it on Smarty Pants. I never told Mom or Dad.”

“Shiny! You’re my real B.B.B.F.F!” Twilight cheered, swiftly hugging him in the process.

“Love you, too, L.S.B.F.F.” Shining ruffled his sister’s mane as he spoke. “Now, I believe your friends are in the next room over. You wrote so much about them in your letters that I feel like I know them, even if I don’t remember ever meeting them. Your friend Rarity doesn’t seem to like Prince Blueblood very much, and he’s the same arrogant jerk as before. In fact, I think she was tempted to strangle him at first sight.”

“Well,” Celestia said, “I believe that confirms their identities, don’t you think? Why don’t we head over to see them, Twilight. Cadance, why don’t you stay with your fiancé?”





It was a happy reunion all around. After confirming that all of the amnesia victims were in fact who they said they were, the majority of them were released. Most only had superficial injuries, a group that luckily included Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.

“Darling, it was the most dreadful thing! One moment I was in my boutique, working on my latest masterpiece when, the next thing I know, I’m somewhere foul smelling. I could not see a thing and I swear I thought I had gone blind! The next thing I know, I’m waking up in the rubble of a collapsed building, in Canterlot, of all places!” Rarity dramatically explained.

Agreeing Rarity, Fluttershy added a soft, “Me, too.”

“Oooohh! Same for me! Although, I was baking cupcakes,” said the hyperactive pink pony. She bounced up and down beside the group as they headed towards the castle, her mouth moving at a million miles per hour. The nobles and other ponies that were following them as they finally returned to the castle did their best to ignore the mare, but it was really clear that they were annoyed.





When the large group finally made it back to the castle, the nobles split off to resume their duties. Shining Armor, the Elements, and the Princesses gathered together to fill each other in with their parts of the story.

“So yer sayin’ that ya got trapped in some freaky futuristic other world and lived with a monkey-thing who took you in and gave you a pace to stay. Except that he was actually the king of the changelings? That sounds pretty far-fetched, Twi,” Applejack said.

“I know. If Cadance hadn’t been there, I would have just thought that I was imagining things. After all, you girls got hit with something that messed with your heads.”

“But darling, Princess Cadance was there,” Rarity interjected.

Twilight replied, “For three days before I got there, yet I saw her only just that morning in Canterlot Castle. I think the changelings here had something to do with this whole thing.”

“What if it was the changelings that caused this whole thing, huh?” Dash asked. “I mean, Twilight did say that this ‘Rex” creep practically admitted that this was his fault and that the leader asked for weapons. What if it was the changeling that ordered the attack? They are shape-shifters, right? So couldn’t they be those freaks that attacked? ‘Cause that Griffin thing sure wasn’t like any griffin I know.”

“That is quite perceptive, Ms. Dash,” Princess Luna commented. “It is an eerie possibility.”

“Of course, this is all conjecture at this point. They could be just a coincidence that the changelings made a move at the same time as this group. Mass invasion does not seem like something a race that prides itself on stealth would do,” Shining Armor added in an attempt to deflect the conversation. “It is entirely possible that we are looking at three different entities here. We have no idea what the reasoning behind the attack was, nor why they retreated despite the casualties favoring their side so strongly.” Shining Armor shrugged, then continued speaking, “Either way, it comes down to the fact that we just don’t know. There was no prelude to war, no signs, no obvious enemies. Equestria had been at peace for over six hundred years. Most of the records of the last war are on degrading scrolls in the Canterlot archives.” Shining sighed. “We just don’t know.”





[YOU IDIOT!] Chrysalis screamed in my head. [Everything was going perfectly! We would have made a clean getaway had you not blown your cover at the last possible moment! Now the princesses know that we were involved!]

I cringed under the mental onslaught. [Hey, it was a little mistake! I’m still new at this whole thing! That was the first time I’ve ever experienced war! Sorry for being psychologically underprepared,] I retorted. [It’s not like you’ve lost. A little damage control, some propaganda, and *ding,* you’re good to go.]

[Why do I even bother? It’s obvious that you are incompetent as a changeling. You’ve revealed yourself to no less than four different individuals on three separate occasions in less than six months. That would be grounds for imprisonment if you were a changeling in my hive!]

[I’m sorry. And, thank you.]

[It’s not me that you should be apologizing to; it’s your own hive. And why are you thanking me?]

[Three reasons. First, you finally explained your plan to me last night. That has been bugging me for weeks. Second, you taught me the hypnosis spell. That will be useful. Most importantly, however, you called me a failure.]

[What?] Chrysalis asked, confused.

[You called me a failure and you told me why I’m a failure. Now I know what to do to not fail in the future, so thank you.]

[You’re welcome, I guess.]





Several months later, Luna dreamed an odd dream.

Normally, when the night princess dreamed, she first found herself in a timeless, white void filled with colorful bubbles. This was the world between dreams, from which all the dreams of all living things in the world could be accessed. In this dream, however, Luna found herself back on the moon she had been imprisoned on for the last thousand years. Off in the distance, she could see a blur, something that did not belong. Above her, there was not one planet, but two.
> Bonus Chapter: The Christmas Special
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A/N: This chapter is a side story and is just for fun. It is not canon to the rest of Black Queen, Red King.)

‘Ah, ‘Tis the season,’ I thought merrily to myself. Just over four months ago had been the Battle of Canterlot. Since the Queen’s resounding victory, her hive’s economic and political standing in Equestria had never been stronger. My own hive had grown as well, quadrupling to forty changelings, six of which were born rather than converted. All in all, both hives were in great spirits.

Now, Christmas is just around the bend for us. Chrysalis’s Hearth’s-Warming Eve falls on the same day as our Christmas Eve, today. So, to celebrate, she and I had decided to throw a joint party with both bi-lings (two-legged changelings) and our quad-ling (four-legged changeling) counterparts. Some of Chrysalis’s quad-lings had decided to also bring guests, but only those that already knew about their changeling partners.

The hotel ballroom that I rented out for the occasion was decorated in reds, greens, and silvers. Lights hung from the ceiling and Christmas trees surrounded the dance floor. The DJ, my newest convert, was setting up in the back of the room. Food, in the form of various meats, as well as sweets for the non-changeling guests, lined the tables to one side. The other wall was completely devoid of decorations.

My watch beeped nine o’clock and I decided to kick off the party. A wave of my hand opened a portal between the two worlds that spanned the entire side of the ballroom. On the far side, hundreds of changelings stood waiting. After clearing my throat, I spoke into the mic, “Welcome! Welcome one and all! Welcome to my little Christmas party! Of course, if you’re on that side, it’s a Hearth’s-Warming party. Whatever,” I said, waving my clawed hand dismissively, “go have fun. Remember, I’ve got gifts for you after midnight!”

With that, the DJ started playing some of the more energetic renditions of traditional Christmas songs. Changelings from both sides began to mingle and dance. The occasional flash of green could be seen throughout the ballroom or changeling caverns as one would transform to match his or her dance partner.

Spotting the queen was easy as she stood almost two head taller than any of her subjects. Then again, being at least two feet taller than any other living thing in the room gave me a unique advantage when searching through a crowd. A few seconds of buzzing my wings and I had drifted through the air above the crowd to where she stood near the edge of the barrier that kept us trapped in our respective worlds. My friend and ally said, "this is a wonderful party you've thrown. Did I hear you correctly when you said you had gifts?"

"Why, thank you," I replied. "And yes, I have a couple hundred little goodie bags for your people. 'Tis the season, after all. I also have two gifts for you. The smaller of the two is, hopefully, quite funny."

Chrysalis's eyes narrowed as she looked me in the eye. "I hope you do not plan on making me the butt of some mockery." I did not respond, only giving a slight smirk. Chrysalis snorted, "humph, well then, I'm off for less... devious company."

"Hey, if you get a chance, try the egg nog. It's made with lust~," I called after her as she turned and walked away. Had she seen my face, she would have seen me giving her bedroom eyes. Several of her changelings snickered at me, to which I gave them the finger. In retrospect, that was a rather pointless gesture as the fingerless specie would have no clue what I meant. 

Though, what I had said about the eggnog was true. Instead of rum, the drink was mixed with liquid lust, the closest analogue to rum that existed for changelings; it made you feel warm and intoxicated. Granted, it was a powerful aphrodisiac to both changelings and ponies, so I wouldn't be supriesed if an orgie broke out sometime halfway throught the night. Oh, wait, they're already going at it. Best to leave that crowd alone for now.





A changeling party is an interesting event to attend. For instance, the dancing tends to cover every available surface and moves in 3D. The walls, ceiling, floor, and air space were all completely packed with dancing changelings. Add to the fact that they are connected by a hive mind and the whole crowd dances in perfect time with one another. Even the beat of almost a thousand wings was in perfect time, creating a uniform hum with a pitch that changed in sync with the music. Furthermore, some of the dance routines called for extra appendages or some magical assistance from your dance partner. Since both created emerald light, the two hives acted as their own strobe.

I found the whole scene to be rather hypnotizing, especially with how erotic the dancing was. I swear, one glass of the glowing pink eggnog and they are all trying to jump each other's bones as they dance. It doesn't take a genius to know that my hive will be coming home with a few new members.





"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Merry Christmas and Happy Hearth's-Warming!" the crowd cheered as the clock struck midnight.

I sent a pulse of magic through the room to quiet them all down. When all were calm, I spoke into the mic, "Well, I hope you've had fun tonight. I know I did; I got laid!" Many members of the crowd chuckled at the comment. "Though the party's only half-way over, I thought I should welcome in a special guest, our very own Saint Nick!" I waved my hole-filled hand over to where my friend stood. He had transformed himself into his namesake holiday figure. Behind him, he pulled a cart full of small wrapped packages. "Everyone here tonight will get a little something I threw together for you all."

I turned and waved my hand towards a tarp on the floor of the ballroom near the portal. My bi-lings cleared the area of party goers. "Courtesy of my cousin, I bring you-"

"Hey, King! Someone slipped the big fellow some 'nog!" Wasp, one of my newer converts, interrupted. That comment sent my changelings, who knew of my plan, into fits of laughter.

"Wonderful~," I commented. "As I was saying, I bring you: Iron Hoof!" As I said that, a flash of light appeared over the tarp, teleporting in a Earth-born Draft Horse. Iron Hoof, as he was called, stood at a massive 21 hands tall at the shoulder (7 feet or 2.13 meters). The muscular stallion was literally over three times as tall as the average Equestrian pony. Iron Hoof neighed and reared up in shock from his sudden arrival, but was quickly calmed down by one of my changelings.

"Now there's a stallion," someone from the Equestrian side said. Several mares swooned while laughter drifted from the humanoid changelings.

A camera flashed, capturing Chrysalis's stunned expression. I moved as close to Chrysalis as I could before the barrier stopped me and said to her, "So, do you like him? I'm sure that he's quite the animal. Iron Hoof is a thoroughbred Draft horse. His breed is known for their strength and stamina. Give him some hay and I'm sure that your pet will let you ride him. Although, given that someone," I said, knowing full well who it was, "gave him some lust, I'm sure that he would like to ride you, if ya' know what I mean."

Needless to say, while the barrier stopped the queen from hitting me for my poor taste in jokes, magically propelled Styrofoam cups and plates had no such problems. Nor did it stop me from getting slapped by her personal guards. But 'twas all in good, drunken fun. 

"Now, Chrissy, before you throw that cup at me again, remember, I have one more gift for you." I summoned five of my changelings to my side. Each one levitated two to four large boxes behind them. "This is my Cyber Corps, meet Wasp, Spark, Jerry, Baljeet, and Sally-Anne. They are my tech geniuses. Together, they are going to help bring your hive up to the 21st century. I expect you to be having your digital revolution within five years. They have computers, blueprints, generators, and funds. With your cooperation, your nation will be at least 100 years more advanced than any other nation in your world. That is my gift to you."

Silence reigned for a moment before a gradual applause started. It built until every changeling in the room was cheering. Chrysalis looked like she was about to tear up with joy when her crown lit up. One of the changelings next to her transformed into a perfect replica of the queen and jumped on me, giving me a strong hug. "Thank you, thank you!" both queen and double said. 

Needless to say, best Hearth's-Warming day ever.
> Time Skip: The Bar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Much has changed in the two years since the battle of Canterlot. The initial strike had left the quadling hive in command of over 60% of the Equestrian economy. Thanks to my intervention, the hive itself had skipped nearly two hundred and fifty years of technological developments and was firmly up to par with early 21st century earth technology. Furthermore, they had accessed the databases on the computers that I had sold them, granting them an understanding level great enough that they could reproduce any Earth technology and invent at a similar speed.

Then, the changelings turned around and started leaking ‘discoveries,’ in chronological order, to the ponies. Within the last six months, Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus ceased to be the only Equestrian cities with factories, though none could compete with the changeling industrial powerhouse. Still, in combination with their queen’s subtle machinations, Equestria experienced an economic boom comparable to the roaring 20’s of the 20th century.

The next part of Chrysalis’s plan for the nation her hive now infested was a propaganda campaign. In it, she encouraged national pride, love for one another, and to trust in other ponies. This, along with her economic plans, boosted morale in Equestria to a never-before-seen high. Or, as the changelings would say, Equestria was an all-you-can-eat happiness buffet. 

In return for my efforts to digitize the changelings, they had offered me full access to the minerals within the changeling caverns. A few bribes, a liberal usage of hypnosis, and a conversion or three, and I found myself in the possession of a mine on Earth that had been declared ‘too expensive to operate.’ A few permanent portals within and the shafts connected to the edge of the changeling caverns.

The day my new mining engineer came bursting into my office was an interesting day to be sure. Mohammad Sherzai, my engineer and head geologist, was one of six true humans that knew that there was a portal within the caves. Convinced that there was something odd about the rock beyond the world barrier, his tests had concluded that none of the rocks should have been possible. Valuable minerals had formed next to other valuable minerals in combinations that should have destroyed one while the other was forming. When he confronted me, I had explained that this was not Earth that we were mining on, asked him to be quiet with this information, and promptly raised his pay by an additional 50%. 

After initially freaking out about the fact that he was on an alien world, Mr. Sherzai started freaking out about the rocks that composed the walls. Almost every non-radioactive metal on the periodic table could be found in abundant quantities, as well as gemstones of every color and size, pre-cut as they tended to form in Equestria. There was celebration amongst the miners who worked there, having long since thought that they were going to lose their jobs when the mine went out, only to find that they had ‘hit’ the most valuable mineral deposit ever to be found ‘on Earth.’

When the first sales started coming in, Greenfyre Inc. – the owning corporation for my mine and legitimate business front for my kingdom – nearly doubled its current value.

Greenfyre Inc. was a company that specialized in investing in smaller businesses. We would buy up small companies and begin to help them grow using a market information gathering network completely unknown to our competitors: the hive mind. Though it is too soon to tell if our efforts will bring in much money, the more economically-minded members of the hive had assured me that my investments are promising.





The ‘Eye of the Beholder,’ formerly known as the ‘Sound Byte,’ could be listed among the top nightclubs within the state of Georgia. After my… purchase… of it a year and a half ago as one of my first acquisitions, I had given the run-down club some much needed TLC. A redesigning of the interior to have the more organic look of Chrysalis’ hive and a replacement of most of the human staff with changelings had lead this to become the place for a ‘ling to unwind. In the main room with the dance floor, disguises were a must as humans also frequented the updated club. However, in the V.I.P. side rooms that are changeling only, my people were free to be themselves.

It was on a cool autumn night that I found myself walking in the ‘Eye of the Beholder’ alone. The face I wore tonight was Zachary ‘Zed’ Sanders, one of sixty different custom faces complete with false ID, birth record, and a financial history. The twenty-five year old man had smooth black hair, weighed 155 lbs., and looked rather effeminate. The last fact did not bother me in the slightest as I had sixteen ‘real’ women in my arsenal. I wore a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt with the word ‘impostor’ in green on the back. On my hands, I wore a pair of leather gloves that could obscure most of the glow that comes from using magic.

After searching for a moment, I sat down at the bar in a stool next to a human woman in a red dress and waived over to the bartender. A quick telepathic request later and he was sliding me a glowing drink made with a dash of real happiness. The woman gave my drink an odd look before asking me, “What is that?”

“Poisoned Happiness,” I replied, giving her the name of the drink. “I’m Zed, by the way.”

“Never heard of it. I’m Beth, Bee to my friends,” the now named Beth replied.

“You wouldn’t have,” I said before downing a quarter of the glass. “It’s for those in the know.” It was at this point that I gave the aura of emotions surrounding her a more detailed analysis. Desire: she wants something to end. Frustration: judging by the behavior of her aura, the object of her frustration is somewhere within the club but out of sight. Lust: there, but muted, as if she is under satisfied. Love: fading and fading fast. I glance to her other side where a half-drunk beer stands in front of the stool directly beside her. The person must have just left, but since there is no tip there, he or she is probably coming back. 

“Miss Beth,” I said, preparing myself for a little experiment, “I consider myself to be rather talented at reading emotions and situations. Tell me, are you having relationship issues?” Her reaction told me that I had hit right on the money. Before her anger could spike too high, I held up my hands. “If you don’t want to talk, or have anything to do with me, that is not a problem. However, I find that having someone to share drinks with and listen to you can be quite… liberating. Bartender,” I called, turning my head to him, “Would you make her a shot of ‘World Peace,’ on me?” The drink was a shot of vodka watered down with literal tranquility; it was not a very appetizing for a changeling, but calming to a human.

Apparently deciding to take me up on my offer, she downed the expensive shot the moment it was set before her. Her shoulders immediately relaxed as she sighed deeply. “Oh, wow, that feels good. If I didn’t know better, I would say that was literally world peace.” I only smirked knowingly at Beth’s comment. 

My hands, hidden by my gloves, lit up with magic. I telekinetically pressed on a few nerves, causing her to relax further. I dilated my eyes – a sign of arousal – and started to release a set of pheromones that stimulates blood flow and heart rate in humans. As a changeling, I have full voluntary control over my own anatomy, including parts that would otherwise be controlled by instinct and reflex. Effectively, I could mimic the body language of being ‘turned on’ at the drop of a hat; I did just that in my efforts to seduce her.

“Thanks for that, Zed,” she said in regards to the shot, unaware of my magical assistance. I triggered a slight blush in response. “And you’re right, by the way. Dave, my boyfriend, is a total Dick. I don’t know why I ever fell in love with him. He drags me around everywhere to ‘show off his catch,’ yet I feel like I caught the little fish, if you know what I mean,” the buxom woman said. “He’s horribly possessive and jealous. I don’t know if I could even leave him if I tried.”

“So, I would assume that he would not like it if he found me sitting here with you?” I asked.

“No, he wouldn’t,” said new, aggressive human presence that arrived behind us. Without even looking, I could tell by the interaction of the ambient emotions that this was her boyfriend, Dave. 

“Dave,” Beth said calmly. I had a feeling that she would have reacted more strongly had she not drunken the ‘World Peace’ a minute ago.

I spun around on my bar stool to find the slightly overweight form of Dave glaring at me. It did not take much to realize that he was a few rungs lower on the social ladder than his girlfriend. “Ah,” I said, “you must be Dave. Beth here was telling me about you. Name’s Zed.” I extended my hand in greeting; due to his drunken anger, I fully expected him to not return the gesture.

“Get the fuck away from my girl, creep.” When he shoved my hand away, I could feel my magic stirring within. Dozens of eyes turned to look at us, responding to my unconscious influence over the hive mind. Even the DJ turned the music down a few decibels and looked towards us. 

My eyebrow twitched as my pupils constricted to pinpricks. “Now now, I was only talking. It’s not my fault if her beauty compels men to buy her drinks,” I replied, flashing a grin in Beth’s direction. As I turned back to Dave, my grin turned sinister and grew wider, bordering on a width that was anatomically impossible.

Before I could react, the drunken man slugged me in the face. I was knocked out of my seat and slumped down against the bar. The changeling occupants of the room went silent instantly. As I struggled to maintain my form despite the impact, I dismissively signaled for my hive to back down. I spat out a glob of blood which was just as red as any human’s. Shakily, I stood back up and said, “That wasn’t very nice; you made me bite my cheek.” I looked him in the eye and let my formerly grey eyes flash into my true, two-tone green eyes.

“The fuck are you?” Dave screamed. He drew a gun that had been concealed in his belt. “You ain’t human, are you? Human eyes don’t do that. Get the fuck away from me, and get the fuck away from my girl.”

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that,” I said, tweaking my voice slightly. “It seems that you don’t know what happens to those who threaten me.” I cocked my head and shoved my hands in my pockets.

“What?” the armed man said.

“I hate fighting, so I’ll have to disarm you. Put the weapon down or I will make you,” I said, as if totally unfazed by the weapon pointed at my forehead. In truth, I was about ready to crap myself in fear, and so were about half the people in the room, changeling or otherwise. I knew Chrysalis was a psudo-immortal, meaning that as long as she was not completely destroyed, had the magical energy, and had at least one living changeling, she could regenerate from any wound. Chrysalis had survived getting beheaded; I did not want to test if I had inherited that portion of her power as well.

At Dave’s refusal to lower the gun, I held out my left hand, palm up, and counted, “3… 2… 1…” When he did not surrender the weapon, I turned my left into the position of holding a gun and used my hidden right hand to teleport it into my hand. Quickly, I flipped the safety on and pulled out the magazine clip. As I tossed the inert weapon to the bartender, Dave snapped out of his stunned shock and slugged me again. The blow flipped me back across the bar and I crashed down on a glass. The combination of a fractured jaw and shards in my back caused me to lose portions of my disguise.

Fangs exposed, wings flared, eyes glowing with power, and mind fogged with rage and pain, I rose to see my assaulter. He was restrained by some of my changelings in more muscular disguises. Dave, Beth, and all of the other humans in the room gaped at my changed appearance. Crimson blood trickled out of my mouth as I said with barely controlled rage, “I believe I told you to put your weapon down or I would disarm you.” 

Tilting my head to the side, I signaled my hive members to release him. No sooner than I had done so than, without moving an inch, I gripped his bones and tendons with my magic. This simultaneously dragged him into the air, arms outstretched, and hid the distinctive glow of magic under his flesh. As he screamed in fear, I slowly lowered him back down to the floor. Set on his feet and released from my grip, I commanded, “Kneel.”

Dave staggered a moment, then said, “Fuck you, demon.”

My eyes narrowed dangerously. With a surge of magic, they lit up with hypnotic power. “I. Said. KNEEL!” With the full brunt of the hive mind’s willpower, I burned the command into his mind. His resistance folded instantly and he lowered himself to the ground. I issued a round of commands to the ‘lings in the room, which began acting upon them immediately.

My hand raced out and grabbed the fist that he had hit me with, twice. As I pulled, a pulse of teleportation magic severed the hand at the wrist more cleanly than any blade ever could. Dave, broken from the hypnotic trance, screamed.

I muttered under my breath, “Damn, there goes my appetite.” Turning to Beth, I saw her flinch and step back. I don’t blame her; the nice man she had been talking to just grew fangs, wings, sinister green eyes, and effortlessly ripped off her boyfriend’s hand. I said to her, “There are real monsters in this world. I’m sorry... good night.” With that, I vanished in a flash of light to my private room in the club before grabbing a trash can and vomiting. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?’





Wasp was sitting down with his date, Clara, when the music went out. Behind her, he could see the confrontation between his king and that human. Suddenly, the king let out a mental command to the occupants of the room, <<Somebody call an ambulance for the human,>> before ripping off the man’s hand.

Wasp quickly grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and called 911. “911, what is your emergency?” the operator answered.

“A man just got his hand cut off at the wrist. I didn’t see how. We’re at the ‘Eye of Beholder’ night club and he is by the bar on the left side of the room.”

“Alright, I’ve called an ambulance to your location. Now, I’m going to need you to help stop the bleeding,” she said.

“Somebody’s already tying up the arm with their shirt, and it looks like the bartender just put the severed hand in ice water.” Wasp watched as somebody also gave him a tiny dose of changeling venom to keep him still and null the pain.

“Good. Alright, I’m going to need you to stay on the line and help me keep him calm. Here is what you need to do…”

> Problems and Solutions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	‘No… Not here! Not again! LET US OUT OF THIS PLACE!’ Tears streaked down her face as she repeatedly pounded her hoof. With each strike, a massive boom could be heard as the moonscape in front of her rippled. Despite her efforts, the dream remained in place. Again, she vehemently struck the boundary of the dream and, yet again, she was rewarded with nothing more than a ripple. Luna collapsed into her moon’s dust as she bowed her head in defeat, once more unable to penetrate into the world between dreams. Unbeknownst to her, Luna’s ripples leaked outwards beyond the boundaries of her dream.

The figure standing nearby started walking towards her. Its two feet gently kicked up a trail of dust as it walked towards her. The chimp-like figure that had occupied her nightly moon dreams eventually wandered close enough to touch. 

Had Princess Luna been paying attention, she would have noticed that the creature was the clearest it had ever been. Had she been paying attention, Luna would have seen it sit down next to her. Luna would have seen it shift closer, seen it stop just a hair’s width from touching her blue coat. Were her eyes not filled with tears, Luna would have seen it all.

She did, however, hear when a filly’s voice said, “Don’t cry.”





Luna sighed, her magic clutching a mug of that wonderful, life-giving substance known as coffee. One of her hooves massaged her aching temple. Her sister, Celestia, sat in the chair next to her at the breakfast table, horn aglow. After a moment’s time – though it seemed like an eternity to the night princess – the elder’s horn finally went dark.

“Luna, there is nothing that I can find,” Celestia proclaimed. “As far as I can tell, there is no magic influencing you. Everything should be fine.”

“Fine? Fine? ‘Tia, everything is not fine. How can you claim such a thing when every night for the last month I am imprisoned within my own mind, unable to aid the suffering minds of our subjects?” Luna proclaimed, slipping into the Royal Canterlot Voice near the end. 

“As I said,” Celestia replied, “everything seems to be correct, at least as far as I can tell. Then again, you are the expert in dreams.” The solar princess took a sip of her morning tea. After setting it back down, Celestia asked, “Perhaps, is there something you might have missed?”

“No, nothing,” Luna moaned before banging her head against the table. After a moment, she suddenly sat up, eyes alight with realization. “Wait, it spoke to me this time!”

Celestia tilted her head in confusion. “It?”

Luna looked at her sister and then said, “Have I really not told you of it, ‘Tia? The creature that stands with me on the moon in my dream?”

“This is the first time you have mentioned it, sister.”

Luna frowned. “I swore I told thee of it earlier. No matter, the creature is a tall, chimp-like being. In fact, I would describe it much like those…” Luna trailed off as she tried to remember a detail. After a moment, she resumed, “…creatures that our niece claims to have met. The name escapes me. ‘Tia, you know of what I speak, yes?” At her sister’s nod, Luna continued. “Before, it was nothing but a blur on the horizon. Then it was a vague suggestion of a creature, before becoming steadily more defined. Last night, it spoke to me in the voice of a little filly.”

“Odd,” Celestia replied, “but why do you think her important?”

Luna took another sip of her coffee. “Because, ‘Tia, she spoke Equestrian and not the meaningless speech of a projection of the mind. Whatever she is, she is most definitely a living being.”

“Luna, Could she be the cause of your problems?”

“It is worth investigating. If nothing else, it is a lead.”





The bumps on the plastic table were the most fascinating things I had ever seen, especially when I looked at them through the holes in my hands. In fact, everything in her office was suddenly just so fascinating. Of course, I was really just avoiding meeting the disapproving gaze of my head Silencer. 

Ginny Skinner was one of the fiercest, most serious of my changelings. Even I fold under her disapproving eyes, yet I am her king. In truth, no one who meets her comes away without feeling like, at best, a young child who just got scolded by his parents. At her worst, you feel like you have been skinned alive. And I, in my infinite wisdom, put her in charge of my Silencer Division.

The Silencers are a group of currently three dozen changelings whose job it is to suppress the world’s knowledge of our existence. They work by manipulating social media, creating counter rumors, and, if the need arises, more extreme measures. Thankfully, it has never come to that, yet. This time might be different.

“How badly did I mess up?” I asked, still refusing to look up.

“I watched you rip of a man’s hand… on Youtube,” she said, her voice terrifyingly even and calm. She paced back and forth, silently staring at me. “I read tweets… of a ‘demon’ in the Eye.” She leaned in next to me and whispered softly into my ear, “At least you didn’t break your own ‘magic for self-defense’ rule. I swear, if you weren’t my king, I’d punch you for being such an idiot.”

Like a fool, I said, “That bad, huh?” When dealing with Ginny, the number one rule is to never speak when she gets down to a whisper. Whoops.

Her blue compound eye twitched. A second later, I was sent flying via an impact from her armored hand. “YOU STUPID IDIOT! This is the sixth time this year that you have come into my office asking me to fix your mistakes. I don’t think there is a single other changeling in this hive that is as bad at this as you!”

“Hey! There were shards of glass in my back!” I retorted.

“Then perhaps I need to punch you a few more times so that you can hold your form while writhing in agony!” Ginny screeched. Then, as suddenly has her rage had come, it was gone. In its place was a calm, collected, and terrifying woman. “We wouldn't want to do that, now would we?”

I paled as much as my black carapace would allow. Waving my hands in front of me, I said, “No, no, I got it. I’ll be good.”

Ginny just smiled sweetly.





I slowly massaged my temples with my fingers. Blue-green hair hung down in front of my eyes, obscuring part of my vision. On the desk in front of me sat my laptop; the screen displayed financial reports and other business documents, all for the hive. I wearily scrolled from one sheet to the next. A slight tremor echoed through the hive mind; just like the ones before it, I ignored the sensation.

Klika, my wonderful daughter, was busy with something in the kitchen. I thought for a moment that I heard a squeak, but passed it off as my imagination. After a time, I could smell the scent of cooked meat, the only physical food that tastes good to a changeling, waft in from where she was working.

Eventually, Klika entered the room levitating a bowl of stew for each of us. She quickly wiped down an area on my desk with a paper napkin, then her own fingers. As she set my bowl down on the desk, she said, “I don’t see why you are so scared of that woman.”

I snorted in annoyance. “Klika, if you ever meet Ginny, you will know why no one messes with her.” Shoving the laptop away from me, I reach for the bowl and begin eating.

“I have met her. I was there when you converted her into a changeling. We talked for a while,” Klika said between spoonfuls of her own stew. “Of course, that was before she was your head Silencer, so I don’t know if she’s changed.”

“Mmmm, this is really good. It has a real interesting texture.” I pondered my most intimidating employee while eating my daughter’s cooking. “No, Ginny’s been that way since I met her.”

“Well, I don’t get it.” The currently brown eyed, seven-year old girl shrugged and continued eating. “Oh, that girl from R & D called.”

“Called?” I asked.

“You were busy getting punched out by your Silencer. She said something about not wanting to busy you with boring hive stuff.”

“Trust me, Klika,” I said, shaking my head, “it would have been preferable. So, what’s up?”

My changeling princess thought for a moment. “She said – and I quote – they were about ready to release it. Also, there was something about the Canterlot Black Archives.”

“Got it,” I said. While we lapsed into a comfortable silence, my eyes wandered over to the napkin she had just used. A little red spot marred the otherwise white object. Knowing my daughter, my heart sank. “Klika…”

She looked up at me. “Yes?”

“Where is Mr. Fuzzykins?”

Klika only shrugged.

I glared at her.

She took a bite of stew and smiled.

I sighed. “Why, exactly, am I eating the rabbit I got you for your birthday?”

“I was bored with him. I didn’t want to let him go in the middle of the city, but I didn’t want to care for him anymore, either.” Klika shrugged. “This way, at least he’s useful and I don’t have to leave him.”

“And this is why you aren’t bothered by Ginny… How the hell did my sweet princess end up a little monster?” I said, mostly to myself.

“The best part was ripping out his still-beating heart.”

I winced. “Klika, I love you, but shut up.” 

Somehow, I ended up eating the entire bowl of rabbit stew.





“Oh, it’s so good to see you again, your highness!” Sally-Anne said, her voice high-pitched and bubbly, as usual. “We’ve made so much progress since the last time you stopped by here! It is almost ready!”

“You’ve been tempting me with this ‘It’ since Christmas last year, saying that it would be revolutionary. Tell me now, or so help me I will break my promise and pull that information straight from your brain.”

Sally-Anne literally squeaked while blushing fiercely. “Sorry, your highness, it’s just so exciting! So, a couple months ago, I was working on the stolen Canterlot Archives when I came across the ‘Come-to-Life’ spell. I had so much fun with that! I made balls bounce and toys play with themselves and pens write and-“ I cut her off before she was too far gone, somehow making her blush more. “Sorry. Anyway, I thought, ‘what if I hit the computer with that spell?’ So I did! It made the little characters in my game come to life!”

“…What?”

“I thought the same thing! It turns out that the ‘Come-to-Life’ spell animates anything in the way you think it should be alive and uses the caster’s magic and brain power to do so!” She said, her words coming faster every second. “So I sat down and started writing a program. Then I drew it a body, like for a video game character!” 

Sally-Anne turned around suddenly and clicked on an icon on her computer desktop. On screen, an image of a Flash-drawn changeling appeared. Its creator lit up her hands and the image was surrounded by an identical glow. A second later, the image moved; its eyes looked out of the screen as if it could see us.

“So, you made a program that looks like a changeling…” I said.

“And because I think that it is a changeling, it is!” Sally-Anne proudly declared. The digital changeling nodded its head.

“Can it hear us?” I asked.

To my amusement, the changeling onscreen answered. //Change.lng: Yes, master, I can hear anything within the range of my computer’s microphone.//

Sally-Anne gave me a quick rundown of Change.lng’s specs. Apparently, it could see and access anything and everything within the computer that it is contained within, including the code for programs and the operating system. It is also capable of seeing through any sensors and cables attached to the computer, including webcams and internet cables. 

What floored me was how literal the spell had interpreted the program as an actual changeling. It could use changeling magic of its own free will. The program could literally use any spell that Sally-Anne knew on an object in the physical world, so long as Change.lng was aware of it. The demonstration? Change.lng asked me to hold up my jPhone to the web cam and then proceeded to teleport itself from its computer to the phone.

//Change.lng: Are you impressed, master?// its voice said from the speaker on my phone. I nearly dropped the thing when it spoke. I looked down to see it sitting on top of the calculator app. Suddenly, green fire enveloped the image and in the changeling’s place stood a tiny image of a dog.

“He can also make himself appear to the computer as any file type and size he wants,” The programmer added.

“Well,” I said, “this is just a little shocking. Anything else you want to add before it all clicks in my head?” Before they could answer, a strange pulse echoed through the background of the hive mind. It was enough to make us pause for a moment, but, deciding to ignore it as usual, we continued a second later.

“Well, it takes more magic to animate each copy of him.” She said slowly. “So there is a limit on how many we can make.”

//Change.lng: Master, I can feed on lust if I am on a server that hosts a porn site. It’s not much that I can actually collect, but I at least harvest a net profit in terms of magic consumption and production.//

“Oh!” The programmer exclaimed, “I was thinking that if you had the hive mind collectively share the cost and control of the magic, he could be integrated as a full, independent changeling!”

“What about passwords and firewalls?” I asked.

//Change.lng: I would be a poor excuse for a changeling if I, a shape-shifter, could not bypass such a… primitive defense. The only computer that is safe from me is one that no changeling knows about. My creator theorized that should I be integrated into the hive collective and you grant me permission, I could theoretically infect any computer that is seen by any flesh changeling; I would not even need a physical connection thanks to the teleportation spell.//

I grinned wildly. Seizing control of the spell, I surrendered its management to the collective. A moment later, I felt the minuscule drain on our reserves and the presence of an additional mind. “I think we are going to have a wonderful time. Perhaps you would like to work with the Silencers?”






“…and we ended up doing a cool group evil laugh.” I said to Chrysalis. The two of us were once again in our shared dream. This time, it was one of my favorite locations: the glass sea. The two of us sat upon the surface of an ocean. Except for the tiny ripples that traveled outward from where we were seated, the sea was as smooth a glass. Above us hung a blue sky dotted with an occasional cloud. Below us, fish swam among the coral; each fish was a representation of a member of one of our hives.

“I can imagine. Artificial changelings, who would have thought?” Chrysalis replied, her eyes never leaving the fish below. “Oh, you mentioned something about the Black Archives. What are they?”

I was silent for a minute. Eventually, Chrysalis nudged me to get me to speak. “That’s not their real name, but the ‘Black Archives’ works well enough. In the Canterlot Archives, there is a magically hidden room filled with books; no, I won’t tell you where it is. The World-Capture spell ignored those magical defenses and scanned those books anyway. Over half the books in that room are illegible or untranslatable to us. Most of the others are insanely complicated pieces of magic that would take nearly alicorn-caliber magic to cast. That’s a really good thing.”

Chrysalis looked at me, bemused. “Good? Why would that be a good thing?”

“Because the average person shouldn’t know or use such spells. Let me give you an example: one of the nicest shelves had sixty-four different suicide spells. The largest of those is meant to erase cities by trapping the caster and the area around them in a pocket universe and fixing that point in time so that no time travelers can interfere with it. Chrysalis, that’s one hell of a nuke sitting on a bookshelf, and that’s one of the more friendly spells. And don’t get me started on the torture section; you ponies are sick bastards,” I declared.

Chrysalis, for her part, looked quite pale. “How can they keep such knowledge around?”

“Because, after giving explicit instructions on how to rot a pony from the inside out, they do give the counter-curse. Though, there is more than enough information regarding the counter that, with that information alone, some genius idiot could reverse-engineer the original curse.” I snorted. For a minute, I sat silently watching the fish swim below me. Eventually, I said, “…Wouldn’t surprise me in the least if the ponies had a Necronomicon lying around somewhere in there.”

It was at that moment that a tremendous boom, like thunder in the distance, echoed throughout the dream. Our vision blurred momentarily as the ripples in the dream crossed our sight. Chrysalis sighed, “The tremors are starting again, aren’t they? It’s the same every night. How long have they been happening?”

“A month,” I answered.

“Have you been feeling them-” A boom interrupted Chrysalis. “-during the day, too?”

I said, “yes.” Below us, the shock waves had disturbed our fish. Outside the dream, I knew that whatever these waves where, they were bothering our changelings. The only thing that Chrysalis and I had been able to confirm was that whatever was causing these psychic tremors existed outside of either of our networks.

A third boom crashed through our dream; except this time, it sounded significantly louder and closer. The shock waves this time actually disturbed the glass sea, causing small waves to form in the otherwise still water. A breeze, which I had never before felt in a dream, started swirling around us. The sky darkened, filling with storm clouds. The fourth explosion bounced us off the surface of the water.

By this point, we were terrified. Having lost control of the dreamscape, the two of us were subjected to a vicious thunderstorm. For several minutes, the two of us were tossed around like leaves in the wind. Then, with a sudden ‘crack,’ everything was still.

I slowly stood from where I had landed, and then helped Chrysalis to her hooves. What we saw shocked us. Before Chrysalis and me, there hung a crack in the fabric of our dream. As I approached it, I could see what looked like a rocky, grey landscape shrouded in night. The contrast of a land at night hanging in the middle of a day lit ocean bothered me for some reason. 

Out of the sea arose a stone archway that surrounded the crack in space, effectively giving it the appearance of a doorway. On the keystone at the top, there was a carving of a crescent surrounded by small points: the moon and stars. 

It was through the archway that I saw two figures approach.
> Dream
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


{A/N: I have changed the ending of the previous chapter on 01/01/2014. Parts of this chapter will not make sense with the old ending.}








“Don’t cry, horsey. See, I don’t like seeing you feel sad.”

Luna’s tears, having been flowing at the thought of spending another night trapped on the dream moon, stopped at the child’s words. Instead, the night princess felt irritation. “I am NOT a HORSE! I am a PONY!”

“OW! SORRY!” The child winced, her hands clutching her ears. “I didn’t know you could be so loud in a dream. See, At least you’re not crying now, pretty pony.” The girl ran over and hugged the princess.

After prying herself from the child’s clutches, Luna said, “You are forgiven. And for your information, I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria and the Princess of the Night. Who might you be? For that matter, what might you be?” Luna inquired.

“You’re a princess? THAT’S SO COOL! I’m Selene! I’m a ten year old girl!” she chirped. A second later, Luna found herself once again in the embrace of the energetic girl.

With a small smile forming on her lips, Luna pried herself from the child’s grip a second time. “Charmed.”

“Hey, what were you doing with your hoof? You made everything go all funny and wiggly and stuff. And why are we on the moon anyway? See, I thought the moon was made of cheese. It looks like it was made of cheese. Hey, it that your planet?” Selene said, taking a brief pause in her rapid rambling to point at the globe that she did not recognize. “The other one is my home. ARE YOU AN ALIEN PONY PRINCESS? THAT’S SO COOL!”

After waiting for Selene to calm down, Luna answered, “Yes, that is my world. I would assume then that I am an alien to you, as you are to me. No, the moon is not made of cheese. I would know; I spent a thousand years imprisoned there.”

“A thousand years? Are you, like, a million-billion-gazillion years old or something?” Selene asked, dream logic making her eyes literally sparkle with excitement.

Luna stamped her hoof into the ground, sending out a light ripple. “I am most certainly not that old, child. Didn’t your mother ever tell you that it was rude to ask a lady’s age?”

Selene looked down, crestfallen. “I don’t…”

“Selene?”

Refusing to look towards the alicorn, she said, “Promise you won’t laugh?” After hearing Luna’s vow, she said “See, I don’t got a mommy. They took me away from daddy, too. Said his head was really sick. I live in an orphanage.” 

“Oh, you poor child.” Luna said.  “If it makes you feel any better, my sister and I don’t have any parents, either. My mother disappeared when I was little and I never knew my father.”

Selene’s crestfallen look morphed into one of determination. “HA! Then we have to be friends! See, if we don’t have a mommy or daddy, then we have to look out for each other! See, that’s what Mrs. Bibbit always says.”

Luna smiled at the girl’s sudden enthusiasm. “I would love to be friends with you, Selene. I don’t have many friends, so each one is the most wonderful of gifts.”

“See, I knew you’d want to be friends!” Selene cheered while jumping around the dream moon’s surface. “Hey, what does a night princess even do?”

Luna said, “Well, Every night, I help my sister run the country, make rules, and listen to a never-ending stream of complaints from those stuffy noble ponies. Then, until recently, I helped protect my ponies from nightmares.”

“COOL!”

“Finally, every night, I raise the moon. Every morning, I lower it to make way for the day,” the alicorn concluded.

“How does that work? See, I thought Mr. Geezler said the moon orb-ora-or-fell in a big circle around the world. And sometimes I see the moon during the day. Mr. Geezler said that we know this ‘cause we’ve been there. They have pictures and everything!”

“Fascinating,” Luna mused. “Perhaps your world works differently than mine.”

“Hey, Princess Luna, what about the nightmares?”

Luna bowed her head. “Until recently, I had the power to traverse the world of dreams, helping my ponies sleep well at night. Since these dreams of ours have started a month ago, I have found myself trapped in this dream.”

Selene pondered for a moment. “So is that what you were doing? Trying to get out? Do you need to pop this dream like a bubble?”

Luna nodded. “In a way, yes, that is correct.”

“What if we tried together? See, if this is both our dream, then maybe it’s twice as strong,” Selene suggested.

Luna blinked. She blinked again. “Mother Faust, that could be it. Come, let us try it.” She gave Selene a quick and simplified run down on the theory of dream walking and the techniques used to escape a dream. 

Once Luna believed that the girl was ready, she gave a countdown. On zero, the two struck a rock that they had decided upon as a target. The ripples in the dream spread violently this time. They struck harder the second time, producing even stronger ripples. “Ready for a third try?” Luna asked, to which Selene nodded.

They struck the fabric of the dream with all of their combined might. The space in front of them cracked, much like broken glass. Through the hole, they could see an expanse of sky and sea. A moment later, an archway rose out of the ground and surrounded the crack, giving it the appearance of a doorway. Upon the highest stone of the arch, there lay a carving that Luna faintly recognized as the head of a changeling.

“See, I knew we could do it!” Selene chirped.

Luna, slightly confused by the form the passageway assumed, said, “I’m glad you had faith.” She gestured to the passageway. “Shall we?”





When I first saw the figure emerge from the moon crested archway, I was only mildly surprised to see Princess Luna. I had half expected her to show up before now, but not in such a violent way. The real kicker was the human girl that followed her.

Immediately, I felt horribly insecure, and with good reason; in these dreams, I was in my true form and, more importantly, stark naked. When the only other person who can see you comes from a ‘clothing optional’ world, you’re not exactly the same species, and your own genitals can be retracted from sight, modesty is not really a big factor. Now I was confronted with a human girl that cannot possibly be older than twelve. Awkward.

I stood there, gaping like an idiot, for several seconds; it was more than enough time for the girl to screech, “EWWW! What is that thing?” Her words snapped me out of my stupor. Reacting to my embarrassment, the sea below my feet surged upwards and enveloped me in the white froth. When the foam retreated, I was clothed in a silky white robe that hid everything but my head and wings, the latter of which protruded from a pair of slits in the back.

Surprise public nudity issue resolved, I gave out a light chuckle. Chrysalis only rolled her eyes. “I was not expecting guests, not after this weather,” I said, gesturing to the formerly stormy sky. “Let me tell you, that was one hell of a brain storm.”

Chrysalis snorted, “Humph, I suppose that was you banging on our consciousnesses for the last month, Dream-walker. Well, you are not welcome here.”

As the Equestrian princess went to confront the changeling queen, I made my way over to the human girl. She was on her hands and knees staring down into the depths of the glass sea. Her face was slightly green and she gave of an aura of fear. ‘I didn’t know that I could feel other's emotions within a dream.’

As the tallest one in this four-way dream, I had to bend down a lot to get near her. “Shhh, it’ll be OK. What’s the matter?”

She looked up at me. “I’m scared. I don’t like being so high up.” I understood; the bottom of the glass sea seemed very far away. The depth must have given her a sense of vertigo. I willed a small boat into existence around us, much to her relief. Of course, that allowed her to concentrate on her second most pressing concern: me.

“Um… What are you?” she asked nervously while scooting to the back of the boat.

I concentrated on her form before assuming it, much to her shock. The only part of me that remained the same were my wings, excluding the holes, which I had sealed shut. The overall effect was that I appeared to be a fairy version of her. “I’m a changeling. It’s kind of like a magic fairy, except scarier looking. See, I don’t have to be scary, though,” I said in a perfect imitation of her voice. “I’m Rex.”

“Hey, that’s a boy’s name, silly!” she said, all previous fear having evaporated.

“I am a boy, you goofball! I’m a king!”

“No, you’re a girl! See,” she said, pointing to me. “And besides, if you were a king, you’d have a crown. See, Luna is a princess and she has a crown!”

A burst of green flame returned the crown-like antenna to my head, as well as flipping my gender without changing the rest of my appearance. “I am a king!” I said, this time in a gender-flipped version of her voice. It may be childish of me to debate with a little girl like this, but she was barely a decade old and I was trying to get her comfortable with me. “So,” I asked, “who are you?”

“I’m Selene!”

“Ha! Luna and Selene. If that wasn’t fate, I don’t know what is.”

“Why?” the little girl inquired.

“Selene is the name of the Greek goddess of the moon. Luna is the Roman goddess of the moon,” I answered.

“COOL!” the excitable girl screamed. “Oh! Princess Luna and I met in a dream where we were on the moon!”

Something about that sentence bothered me. Why? Then it hit me; that was how Chrysalis and I met years ago. We met in a dream. Then I turned into a changeling. 

Selene dream-walked with Luna. ‘Crap. She’s like me,’ I thought. Putting on a fake smile to mask my sudden discomfort, I immediately switched to interrogation mode. “So, Selene, do you want to be friends with me?”

“COOL! Two new friends! That’s awesome!” she cheered.

“That’s wonderful,” I said genuinely. Perhaps my intentions are not the best, but I do want her on my side if she does gain even a small amount of Luna’s power. No loose ends. “Hey, where do you live? If I ever visit from the fairy world, I want to be able to find you. May I come visit?” Selene, in her naive innocence, complied. By saving that information to the hive memory, every single one of my changelings had her full name, address, and knew how she saw herself in the mirror by heart.

Eventually, Luna came over to us and called for Selene to follow her. Selene, happy to spend more time with her other friend, obliged. The instant they faded into whatever dream-space they went to, I was on my feet, sprinting to Chrysalis. “She’s like me.”

“I guessed as much. What are your plans?” She asked.

“Track her down. That is my number one priority,” I answered. “If there is even the slightest chance that she is like me, her magic will awaken within the week. If worse comes to worse, we’re looking at getting an alicorn of the moon by the end of summer.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Chrysalis said. “I fear that I may not be much in the way of advice in this situation. I will keep an eye on Luna from here, but what will you do if you truly do have a new alicorn on your hooves?”

I tapped my foot on the surface of the sea as I thought, ‘Well, the address she gave me is an orphanage. Perhaps… should I consider adopting her? Yes, I think that is what I will do. ’ I started pacing back and forth. ‘The question is: do I have the time? I’ll have to start making tracks for Phoenix, Arizona. That’s a long flight and I’m running under the assumption that she could ‘power up,’ for lack of a better term, at any moment. Dang, I hope it is not as violent as my own transformation. If her 'lings weren't their to shield me, I would have burnt the hospital to the ground. Then there’s the adoption process. I have no idea what that will entail. Dang, I have to wait on the US Child Services to defuse a time bomb.’

Chrysalis snickered at my misfortune. “The great king Alvarium Rex, foiled by the bureaucracy.” 

“Wait, was I thinking aloud?”

“Yes,” she said. 

I rolled my eyes. I was about to retort when-





“DADDY! PLEASE WAKE UP!” My daughter’s shriek penetrated my ears. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find her sobbing gently against my chest as I lay in my bed. I reached out a hand to grab hers. The moment she felt it, she screamed, “DADDY!”

“I’m here, my princess.”

Between sobs, Klika managed to say, “Daddy, when I felt the tremors, I got so scared. They felt so terrible. Everyone was worried for you. We tried and tried, but you wouldn’t wake up, you wouldn’t listen to our calls to you.”

“Shhh, it’s OK, everything will be just fine. I’m up now. Everything is all right,” I said, squeezing her hand as I hoisted myself out of my bed.

“But everything isn’t all right!” Klika wailed.

Now I was nervous. ‘What else is there?’ I thought before asking as such.

“There was a whisper in our head that wasn’t from the hive mind. It told us to go outside. If we didn’t, it got louder. Daddy, I can barely think straight.” Fearing for my daughter, I dove into her mind. Instantly, I was besieged by the compulsion to do exactly as she had described.

I looked out the window to my apartment, and then turned towards my daughter. “Come on, let’s follow it. It’s a real nice night out, don’t you think?”

> Sixteen Hours
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		The cool, gentle breeze of an autumn night wafted through the holes in my wings as I scaled the building, my limbs magically adhering to the concrete of the building. My carapace had been shifted to match the color and texture of the building so that it would take a sharp eye to spot me. Yet no one in the relatively empty streets below noticed me; humans rarely look up, and even then, who would be looking for a camouflaged figure sixteen stories above them?

When I reached the roof, I was greeted with the sight of over ninety changelings, all un-disguised, chatting quietly to one another. One of my earlier converts had been the owner of this apartment building. I had decided that I needed a base of operations – a physical hive, so to speak – and chose this place. With the recent economic upturn causing many people to move out to the suburbs, cheap apartments like this had stood under populated. As the first of several willing converts, the landlord agreed to invite changelings to live here at a discounted rate. After his conversion, I had started going to homeless shelters for recruits. After their conversion, they could either get a job with me or look for a job elsewhere, but I would pay for their first three months rent in here. Afterword, they were expected to pay me back with money or in love contributions. At the same time, I offered this deal to any of the changeling children that hatched.

The collective effect was that this apartment building became the center of Atlanta’s changeling population and had been affectionately dubbed ‘The Bee Hive.’ On the flip-side, the passive draining of emotion by the densely packed changeling population had rendered a square block area around the building almost uninhabitable by humans; even a mildly happy thought could leave a person feeling exhausted, while having sex anywhere within the building itself would almost guarantee that you would not be going to work the next day. Never having had a dense group of changelings live together for a prolonged time in an urban area, Chrysalis had never noticed such an effect; I was greatly thrilled to discover that we had such a defense mechanism.

The end result was that ninety-seven undisguised changelings can gather together on the roof of the tallest building within several blocks without fear of being troubled by nosy human neighbors. The compulsion that had brought us up here seemed to have no desire to release us, despite my urgency to deal with the Selene situation, and so we waited. I sat down next to Nick, who was lying on his back and watching the third quarter moon. Klika, who had followed me up, sat down on my other side. 

Refusing to be idle while I was entrapped by the compulsion, I called out to our resident computer bug, who was currently saved (sleeping) within a porno on a smut website. <<Activate, Change.lng.>>

A second later, it responded, <<//Change.ling: I have activated. Your command, Master?//>>

I replied, <<Search for a one-way airline tickets from Atlanta to Phoenix, Arizona, for some time between six and twenty-four hours from now. If you can, bring the price down on their servers, else search for the lowest priced ticket.>>

<<//Change.lng: Understood. One moment, Master,//>> the living program said over his hive connection and then went silent.

Nick, who had remained silent since my arrival, finally spoke, “You OK, man? You gave us all quite the scare with those tremors. Most of us were all already outside when they started getting really strong, and those that had succumbed to whatever this thing is couldn’t make themselves walk inside to check on you. Klika fought the longest of anyone, but now she’s up here, too.”

I told him that I felt fine and passed on the memory of that dream to both him and Klika. My daughter said, “Do you really think that she’s going to be like you?”

“Dang, I hope not,” I answered. I lay down on the roof and closed my eyes. “I was fine with gods being fictional or living in a parallel world, but not real. Even if Selene only inherits the power of a goddess without the full immortality thing, she’s still a big spanner in the works.”

<<//Change.lng: Master,//>> it interrupted, <<//I have results.//>>

“One second, guys. The program just called. Let me deal with this real quick,” I told the two closest members of my hive. <<Which is the soonest? What can be done about the price?>>

<<//Changeling: Flight 3431 departs at 10:45, which is in 8 hours, 32 minutes, and 21.3 seconds. I have gained access to the code that controls the billing for the transactions, so I can set any price greater than $0.00. Your command, Master?//>>

I thought for a second before answering, <<Buy a ticket for that flight at 10% of the original cost and print them out. However, make the transaction from a non-changeling computer. Use the ‘Louis Cypher’ identity. Afterword, confirm completion with me and return to inactive state. Affirmative?>>

<<//Change.lng: Affirmative, Master,//>> it answered before heading off to do its assigned task.

I explained my plan to Klika and Nick, who I wanted to join me on my trip. They would shrink down and ride as a pair of insects in my hair. My daughter was excited about the impromptu trip, while my brother in all but blood – which was questionable due to his conversion – simply nodded in agreement.

Over the next two hours, I shared my memory of the dream with the entire hive, which in turn started debating over certain aspects. The primary issue was if the compulsion, which by now had lured every changeling outside, was somehow related to our recent tremors. The current opinion was that this was a side-effect of basically what amounted to Luna and Selene bashing their way into the control center of the hive mind. 

As time progressed, however, the debates grew quieter as a sense of anticipation descended upon the hive. Wings buzzed anxiously and clawed chitin feet clicked against the roof as my people paced. The city around us continued on, unaware of the tension we felt. Despite this noise, rarely did anyone talk. If they did, it was never more than the quietest of whispers. Everyone was waiting for something, even if none of us knew for what.

Our answer came in the form of panic; the hive was struck by a powerful wave of magic, flavored with the greasy, nasty taste of pure terror. The magic itself, which could only be detected by changelings, felt foreign and far too powerful to be anything of changeling origin. But it did not strike the entire hive all at once; some of the changelings that had flown to other states or countries felt it earlier or later. The only thing I could tell for sure was that it covered most of the continental USA and came from west of where I stood.

A split second after I personally was hit by the magic, brilliant cobalt blue light could be seen on the western horizon. It rose quickly into the sky, forming a glowing line that ascended into the heavens. Thirty seconds after its initial appearance, the light reached the third quarter moon. Instantly, the moon shone forty times as bright. Night was illuminated like day. The moon surged in brightness again, releasing a ring of light in the process, and then dimmed down to twice as bright as normal, but now as a full moon. The ring of light slowly spread outward across the sky. Everywhere it went the stars, previously hidden by the city’s glow and the atmosphere, gleamed like countless jewels in the night.

In under an hour, the night sky had transformed completely. Another surprise came when several changelings noticed that the stars were flowing across the sky. They moved and swirled and danced in intricate patterns. I decided right then that the sky I was watching could not possibly be real; at the distances most of those stars would be from earth, any movement observable to the naked eye would mean that the star was moving thousands of times faster than the speed of light. 

I groaned. Three guesses as to who just revealed magic to the world, and the first two do not count.





I strode through the busy Atlanta airport, walking briskly to my departure gate. My face was that of a 27 year old man with a goatee that I called Louis Cypher. A single backpack was all I had brought; there was no need for clothing when I could make it out of my skin on a whim, even if it did nothing to keep me warm. In the bag, Nick, Klika, and ten other changelings from my Silencer Division hid; each wore the form of a small brown beetle and rested within a plastic terrarium. Change.lng had uploaded himself to the cell phone network, ready to be deployed should I need him; through the hive connection, he would serve as my cell phone, since I had elected to leave mine at home for this mission.

Already, I had seen six people with “end of the world” signs. People all around us were extremely nervous, and rightfully so. It seems that our resident incarnation of the night was distracted, for the moon ad yet to set. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn’t be an issue. Now, it seemed that the night was fighting the day; the east half of the sky is blue, the other is black and filled with stars. 

Luckily, my flight was not delayed in spite of the bizarre sky. Upon boarding the plane after having my retina scanned by security, I realized something. <<Hey, Nick, isn’t this the first time we’ve been on a plane since the terrorist incident two years ago?>> I asked over our mental connection.

He replied, <<So it is. You never did explain why you collapsed then, or why those men appeared.>>

<<Really?>> I replied, <<It must have slipped my mind. I had just become a changeling, after all.>>

<<Wait, that was when you changed? I’d always thought that you had been a changeling since before you first showed me your power to send things to Chrysalis.>>

<<Nope, it had just been a week or so between that and when I changed you. Were you ever upset about that?>> I sat down in my window seat, placing my bag full of changelings down at my feet. A little boy, no older than eight, sat down in the aisle seat next to me, his parents in the seats across the aisle. 

<<Actually, not that I can think of, no. It’s funny, that would be the kind of thing I should be really mad about, but I wasn’t really bothered,>> he said. <<Still, I think everything turned out better for me than if you hadn’t changed me. This is the life! Hey, do you think you could take our box out of the bag? It’s boring here in the dark.>>

Chuckling, I told him that I would once we took off. Meanwhile, the kid next to me was staring at me. I looked over at him, and he starred harder. A minute later, he was still staring at me, but had decided that poking me was also a valid pass-time. I sighed, “Look, kid, stop touching me. Also, it’s rude to stare. What do you want?”

“You’re scary looking,” he said, bluntly.

“Good, I try,” I said. Then, to stay in character, I added, “It’s so I don’t have to talk to snot-nosed brats like you.” Really, I have nothing against the kid. I’m just tired; it’s been a long day already. Besides, this is just my ‘do not disturb face’ and I’ve got to play the part.

The kid, however, did not like the idea of being insulted. “MOM! He called me a snot-nosed brat! Yell at him for being mean!”

The woman, miffed that I had insulted her child, screeched, “Don’t insult my child! Who do you think you are to be insulting my precious Charlie?”

I closed my eyes and face-palmed. “He was poking me. Besides, I didn’t insult your child; I insulted all children,” I said.

“Jerk. Apologize, now,” she said, sternly. Her kid, in full view of his mother, slugged me. It did not hurt in the slightest, but it still pissed me off.

I opened my eyes, which were now a bright shade of red. “I’m really, really, not in the mood,” I practically growled, my now gravelly voice dropping half an octave lower than really should have been possible. The effect was immediate; the woman backed off and the boy seemed to shrink in his seat. Satisfied, I relaxed, my eyes fading without flame back to their original brown. “Good. Now leave me alone,” I said in a once-again normal voice.

Half an hour into the six-hour flight, I brought the terrarium out of my back pack and set it on the tray table. It seemed that while they were hidden, my traveling companions had decided to make themselves look nice. When they emerged, they were beautiful insects as opposed to the brown beetles they had been upon entering the bag. Nick, in particular, had turned into a jewel beetle, while Klika had turned into a glasswing butterfly. 

Apparently, Charlie could not keep his hands to himself very long. He reached over and started loudly tapping on the terrarium, much to the displeasure of those inside. I smacked his hand away. “They don’t like that,” I said. Then, deciding to mess with the kid, I said, “Those are wish-granting bugs.” Seeing that I had his attention, I continued, “Yes, they have the power to grant any wish you desire, because they are really smart and magical. However, if they don’t like you, then they will sting you, inject their venom, and you will die a very painful death.” I made my teeth just a tad sharper before smiling at him. Opening the lid, I lifted Nick out and placed him on the tray table. “Now, I’m going to close my eyes and take a nap. Perhaps, while I’m sleeping, if you are a good boy, you’ll get a wish. If you are a bad boy, goodbye~” I ended in a sing-song voice as I closed my eyes.

Nick, getting the idea, grew a stinger on his underside. He slowly walked across the tray table and, with a couple flaps of his wings, landed on the boy’s shoulder. He threateningly brushed the bare skin next to the boy’s collar with his stinger. “Please get him off me,” the scared boy said.

I grinned maliciously. “But he wouldn’t like that. Then I would be a bad boy for doing something mean and he would sting me. He’ll get off when he wants to get off, faster if you stay very still and very quiet.” One of Nick’s antenna lit up as he cast a numbing spell on a tiny area of the boy’s skin. When finished a moment later, Nick stung, injecting enough standard changeling venom into the boy to paralyze him and make him hallucinate of pleasant things for the next ten hours. “Oops, he didn’t like you,” I said a minute later, knowing full well that he could hear me, even if he could not respond. “And, I lied. It won’t kill you. But you will think it’s magic~”

I returned Nick from the poisoned boy’s shoulder to the box. I reached over and shut the boy's eyes with my fingers; now it looked like he was sleeping. Smiling, I closed my eyes while hoping to get a few hour of good rest to make up for last night. My changelings snacked on the happy thoughts coming from that child. Throughout the flight, Change.lng uploaded news regarding the moon incident to the hive mind.





Midway through our flight, Change.lng brought some information to my attention. <<//Change.lng: Master, you need to hear this,//>> the program said over our hive connection. It then started streaming video feed from one of the major news networks over our connection.




"...more on this unnatural phenomenon," the reporter said. "It seems that the sky simultaneously appears the same at every point on Earth. Rather than exactly half of the planet receiving daylight at a time from a single common point, the sun is visible across the entire planet for anyone looking east. Anyone who looks west sees night time, making it entirely possible that two people can look at the same point in the sky and see entirely separate things. Quite the paradox, if you ask me."



<<//Change.lng: Master, the entire day/night cycle has been disrupted. Conclusion: Selene must be found quickly.//>>

<<Thank you for informing me of this,>> I told my program.





Upon our plane landing in Phoenix, I carried the twelve changelings to an area out of sight. While passing on instructions, I looked around for security cameras; seeing none, I gave the all clear. Twelve insects emerged from the box and, with a rush of emerald flames, thirteen black hawks took to the skies. The only evidence that I even had been there was an abandoned back-pack and an empty terrarium.

Our first stop was not the orphanage; local news had reported that it had burnt down from the beam of light that had originated from within. Most of the children had survived, but had been permanently blinded by the light. The only one to escape without being in critical condition was the cause herself. Her last reported location was in the hospital, where she was being kept while she was unconscious. There had been no report of what had happened to her afterword.

Once airborne, navigating to our destination was child’s play; Change.lng functioned as our GPS by using maps from the internet. Sheer usefulness of our computer bug aside, we arrived at the hospital within twenty minutes. Perched upon the palm trees and street lights on the hospital grounds, the thirteen of us considered our options. It was 3:32 pm here, and the moon had yet to set, leaving the sky in the same impossible twilight that it had been in all day. In the parking lot, military vehicles and police cars were parked. From the southern end of the building, we could feel a large reserve of pulsing, barely-contained magic, yet it lacked any distinct emotional flavor.

<<Well,>> Nick said, <<I think it’s safe to assume that Moony’s here. You think that they are keeping her sedated?>>

Ginny, who had accompanied us as head of the Silencers, said, <<That is quite likely. It would explain why the moon has not set and why this magic field is without emotion. According to the hive memory, Chrysalis once explained that she had kept Luna sedated during the battle of Canterlot and that it caused the moon to fail to rise. Goddess or not, they are still vulnerable to physical influence.>>

<<Which brings us to our main objective: to observe and protect Selene,>> I said, glancing to each of the other twelve false birds. <<Should the need arise, we may also have to kidnap her for our safety. Selene being a ward of the state is just one more string the government has to influence her; she has no legal guardians to come to her aid.>>

The bird Klika posed as ruffled her feathers. <<So, how are we going to do this? Just waltz right in there? Or do you have something else in mind?>>

<<Let’s see… first, we need to find her and determine her status. I was thinking using the ‘fly on the wall’ method first. We also have Ginny’s ‘Nurse Ratched’ gambit, should she feel up to it,>> I said.

<<Of course, you idiot,>> Ginny said. <<I’ve never failed in any role I’ve played, and this is one of the easiest roles that I have ever done.>> 

<<I wonder why,>> one of her subordinates said. Even in bird form, Ginny’s glare was enough to cow him into silence.

<<Well… Anyway, we’ll just have to play it by ear once we are inside,>> I explained. <<Ready? Let’s go.>> 

We took off from our respective perches and convened on the roof of the building from which we could most strongly sense the pulse of the magic. Once on the roof, we shrunk down to minuscule insects and began sinking through the material of the building. Flying through the hallways, we tracked down our target by her magical signature; this would have been impossible if we were in the magic-saturated environment of Equestria. As it was, Selene stood out like a beacon to our senses. 

Down three floors and two hallways, we eventually reached a door that was guarded by two soldiers in radiation suits. Other soldiers stood in the hallway while scientists and doctors scurried up and down the hallway, also in radiation suits and often entering and exiting the room in question. We slipped in past the thick, lead-lined door, almost unnoticed by any of the humans. The one woman who did see us just shot us a disgusted look, one of hatred for vermin rather than changelings, but did nothing more.

Selene herself was an interesting sight. She had grown a foot and a half in height compared to her dream-self, and her skin was covered in a grey-blue coat of fur. While her hair still looked like normal hair rather than Luna’s Night sky mane, it had changed to be a very light azure. Two feathered wings protruded from under her hospital gown. Since she was not currently covered by a blanket, we could see that her legs had changed into the large, dexterous hooves of a pony from the other world. Like us, Selene was hornless, unlike our counterparts. Her fingers were enveloped in the same cobalt aura that Luna possessed, pulsing in time with the beep of a heart monitor and the squeal of another machine.

Closer investigation revealed the second noise-making device to be a Geiger counter, which was monitoring the glow on her hands. <<HA! Called it!>> Nick suddenly cheered.

<<What are you talking about?>> I asked him.

<<The day before you had changed me, I lied to Catherine when I started suspecting you of hurting her. I told her that magic might not be safe to be around. Guess what? It’s radioactive!>>

<<Good, now I have another reason to torture you if you use magic on a human,>> Ginny said. Every changeling in the room shuddered.

<<Not now, Ginny,>> I said. <<So, here’s the plan…>>
> Search...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


{A/N: Seriously foul language warning.}




<<But your Highness, that could get us all killed! And it’s so blatant! That plan is against our purpose as Silencers,>> Mirage, one of the changelings who had accompanied me, said. The thirteen of us were currently literal flies on the wall in Selene’s hospital room.

Addressing her, I said, <<Look, I’m well aware of that fact.>> Then to everyone, I added, <<Let’s go ahead and start the observation portion of the plan; we can do nothing without information. If anyone can think of anything better before we start the actual rescue, I’m all ears,>> I said.

With no alternatives suggested, I dismissed them to their assigned tasks. Each of them flew out of the hospital room where they were keeping Selene. I personally stayed behind in order to keep an eye on the unconscious girl. 

I thought in to Change.lng and ordered him to produce twelve additional copies of himself, one for each of us on this mission, and empower them. I winced, feeling the hive’s net love levels practically stop increasing due to the magic drain. The moment we actually start the rescue mission, we’ll start incurring a net loss of energy. ‘We’ll have enough,’ I assured myself, ‘but I hate dipping into the reserve.’





Ginny dipped in her flight as she felt her magic surge and then felt the hive mind start reorganizing itself to accommodate twelve new minds. The woman felt one of those minds move directly under her in the mental hierarchy; it was a copy of Change.lng for her use. The digital replica moved into the hospital’s Wi-Fi network, ready to answer her call.

Spotting a soldier who was walking down the hallway, away from the room she had just left, she settled on the shoulder of his radiation suit. After a few minutes of walking, he exited the restricted area and took off the radiation helmet. Ginny had to dodge his hands in order to not be brushed off. Passenger unnoticed by the man, he continued walking and descended a flight of stairs.

Eventually, he made his way outside to a tent that had been set up outside as a base for the soldiers and scientists so that they would not disrupt hospital functioning. Ginny took off from her perch and buzzed around the make-shift office. Landing behind a laptop that was being used by someone she assumed to be the head scientist, she lit up her antenna with magic and channeled it into the machine, granting delta_Change.lng awareness of the device. It quickly entered and began sifting through the files, looking for anything of importance. Meanwhile, Ginny settled in to eavesdrop on the people around her.





Klika had left the building straight away. The moment she was out of sight, she shed her insect form for a larger bird form. Flying swiftly, she navigated towards the business sector of the city. She landed and, after ducking behind a dumpster and checking for observers, turned into a 75 year old man whose face was the lovechild of two random pedestrians. Satisfied that she was well disguised, she walked out into the light.

Klika called out to her beta_Change.lng, <<Find me the nearest ATM, then a nearby store that sells dresses, and a store that sells large carrying bags.>>

<<//beta_Change.lng: Affirmative, Mistress. One moment… Here are your results,//>> Beta said before sharing the results with the young changeling princess. Destinations in mind, Klika started walking as fast as her currently decrepit form would allow.

Luckily, the ATM machine was not far. However, she encountered a second problem; she had no identification to use to withdraw the money. Beta suggested that he could force the machine to dispense cash. Klika smiled; her father and adoptive uncle were chronic bank robbers and now she would be following in the family business. Granted, Klika did not consider being handed a few hundred bucks by a possessed machine to be as glorious as stealing a few million from a sealed bank vault, but it was something.

‘Transaction’ completed, Klika walked to her second destination. Midway there, she ducked out of sight again and transformed into a woman who closely matched Selene’s new size, about 5’11” in height. The now giant child now stood taller than girls twice her age, possibly taller than most fully grown women. 

Klika eventually entered the small dress shop and began searching for what they would need for Selene. Taking a few at a time, she tried them on in the changing room. For those dresses without backs, Klika sprouted feathered wings to see if they would chafe. Eventually, Klika settled on a pair of red, backless dresses and a pair of modest green ones that would need slits cut for Selene’s wings.

After paying for her purchases, Klika dashed to the final store on her list. She found the bag she needed almost as soon as she walked in the door. It was a large bag, possibly designed to carry a long-board or something similar. After paying for it, she started walking towards the airport, the agreed upon rendezvous point.

On her way there, she stopped in a small restaurant. Her purpose there was twofold; first, she had no idea how long it had been since Selene had last eaten, and she’d grown a lot since then. The kid would obviously be hungry when she woke up. The other reason Klika stopped there was so she could have a place to work. Setting the large bag down on the table, she discretely a tiny blade made of light on the tip of her finger. In seconds, she had cut away the fabric that would be against the wearer’s back, leaving only the straps. 

Nearly satisfied, she took the bag into the restroom. In the privacy of a stall, she once again sprouted feathered wings and tested her modified bag. Now convinced that they would hide Selene’s wings, Klika dispelled her own. 

As she left the restaurant, Klika called out to Beta and ordered it to purchase three tickets to Atlanta the same way prime_Change.lng had done it for the original trip.





<<Aww, come on! That’s my job! You go do your own task, you annoying asshole of a zealot,>> the sixteen year old Slagteri mentally said to Taruke. The duo was currently memorizing the layout of the hospital for the runners in the active part of the rescue plan. As they flew up and down the halls, an argument had broken out between them over who was to do what in the final plan.

<<I will guard them in the escape. I do not trust you to defend anyone, let alone our rightful King, the Duke, or the new Moon,>> Taruke responded.

The enraged Slagteri roared, <<But I wanted to kill humans! You know I got royally screwed over by those fuckers in my last life. This is my chance for bloody, gore-filled vengeance!>>

Exasperated, Taruke said, <<Which is exactly why I do not want you guarding the royal family or their precious guest. Why our glorious King decided to recruit a brute like you, I will never know. However, as a simple drone, it is not my place to judge his great wisdom.>>

The beetle that was Slagteri stopped in mid-flight and hovered in place. <<…The fuck are you smoking? Do you even hear yourself talk? Glorious King? Great wisdom? Dude, he’s less than half your age and just as fucked up as the rest of the people on this shitty planet!>> he screamed.  Resuming his forward flight, he hurried to catch up to Taruke, who had flown ahead. <<Besides, if you trust his oh-so-great wisdom so much, then you will recall that he said YOU will be on impersonation duty and I will be on guard duty,>> Slagteri ended smugly.

<<Ah, but he also said that if anyone could come up with a better plan, then they were to inform him. Maggot, I strongly believe that switching our positions would be to our magnificent King’s benefit.>> Taruke replied, feeling it was his turn to be the smug one.

Slagteri spluttered in rage. <<And why the fuck do you think the King will listen to you over me, asshole? Answer me that, you fucking zealot!>>

Though Taruke’s beetle form could not smile, Slagteri knew full well that the elder changeling was doing just that. <<One, I am higher ranked than you. Two, I have a convincing argument for his safety. Three, I am over three times your true age and have been a changeling for six time as long as you; I was his third ever conversion. Four, our King is a pacifist. He would not want blood spilt if it can be avoided. Five, you can barely control your temper. Six, I just don’t like you, maggot.>> 

<<You’re pulling rank on me? Well, fuck you too, asshole,>> the bloodthirsty teen changeling said, but conceded defeat regardless.

It was at this point that Taruke’s little rant turned downright cruel. Ignoring Slagteri’s surrender, the zealot decided to say his last, insulting point, <<Now, the big number seven, I am more valuable than you. In your four months as a changeling, you have contributed a grand total of $57 to the hive fund and barely make minimum wage. It’s a wonder that you can even afford your apartment in the Bee Hive.

<<On the other hand, I, as head investor, have brought in over $200,000 a year on top of my contributions from my day job. Furthermore, I have a loving wife that I can feed upon at my leisure; you are stuck rutting whomever you can pick up at the Eye, which, from what I hear, is not much. I’m honestly amazed that you have kept your heart beating for as long as you have, let alone turned a profit. >>

<<FUCKING ASSHOLE! I’M GONNA KILL YOU! RIP YOU APART! EAT YOUR CORPSE! AND->> Slagteri shouted, before abruptly cutting off. <<No… That would prove you right. I’m going to wait. I hope you sleep well at night, ‘cause one day, I’m gonna slip into your room and slit your throat while you sleep. Ha! Sweet dreams, you ass~>> he ended with a sing-song tone.





Three hours later, the twelve changelings left in the hospital gathered back together in Selene’s radiation proof hospital room. Each of us stood in insect form. Outside, the sky had frozen in place. Though the sun should have set by now, it had been locked in place since about 11:30 local time, with its position being just before noon in the eastern part of the sky. Since there had been no reports or evidence of a solar entity appearing, we could only conclude that Selene had halted the sun by blocking its progress with her night. Of course, the truth of the matter was that we had no clue what was going on and physics textbooks were now completely outdated.

Matters of the sky aside, I asked my changelings for their findings, to which they obliged. Then I asked, <<Are there any changes to the plan that you suggest?>>

<<I have one,>> Taruke replied, <<however, Slagteri here disagrees.>> The aforementioned changeling just growled. I raised an eyebrow; the emotions I felt pass between them through the hive mind are strangely aggressive.

Slipping into business mode, I said, <<Alright, let’s have a speed court. I want all of your input. Taruke, give me your idea and why in as few words as possible. Go.>>

<<Swap my role with Slagteri’s. I want guard duty. Increased protection for you, less loss of human resources,>> he said, his eyes darting to his opponent in the debate.

Turning to Slagteri, I said, <<He has valid points. You?>>

<<Keep everything the same. Taruke keeps impostor duty. I’m adequate protection, rip feeding doesn’t waste, and I can satisfy my own desires on the side. Last is impossible in impostor duty,>> the youngest changeling present said.

<<Also valid. Let’s vote: Yay for swapping the roles, Nay for maintaining the plan…>> I paused to count the votes. << 5 to 4, in favor. Is that correct? Yes, good. I consent; the motion carries,>> I declared. Ten of them bowed, which was odd looking, considering that they were small insects at the time. Slagteri, however, stood there with his wings buzzing with barely-contained rage. <<However,>> I said, <<Slagteri brought up a point that I had forgotten about. Guards, you will be using rip-feeding blades as your primary melee attack.>>  

Now I had a conflict of interests to solve. Do I keep my promise to myself, or to my changelings? Hesitantly, I said, <<As for you, Slagteri,… I… offer a compromise: though you are not permitted to go out of your way to do so, you may kill any humans who directly oppose your escape or would otherwise comprise the secrecy of the changelings. Does this satisfy you?>>

<<Yes, my king,>> he reluctantly agreed.

<<Good. Now, the guard changes in forty-five minutes, with the doctor shift changing ten minutes after that. Hopefully, the scientists will be packing up for the night as they planned. The time period after that will be the longest stretch of time that we have to arouse Selene without interruption. Change.lng programs alpha, gamma, delta, and theta, are ready to incapacitate the security systems and wipe all record of Selene on my cue. Let’s get in positions, people,>> I ordered, all trace of humor gone from my voice. From that point on, I was no longer a young man named Rex; I was the Hive King.





<<Go.>>

A nurse stopped by the door of room 3354, her right side facing the guards. Though she was covered head to toe in a radiation suit, the guards at the door could tell that she had really had to squeeze tightly to fit her assets inside. Distracted by her appearance, the guards did not see the cup full of amber liquid in her left hand, nor did they see the four flashes of green light, two by her left hand and one in each of their hearts. They did, however, notice when she dropped an empty plastic cup.

Ignoring the fallen container, she turned to the men. “Sleeping on the job? How shameful. What worries me is how your mothers are going to take this.” She raised her hands, both of which were glowing a sickly green color. The glow was similar enough to the radioactive glow surrounding the hands of the girl inside that both guards were instantly alert. 

“What are you doing?” the guard on the left said.

“Illusion.” A sphere of green expanded out before stopping two yards to either side of the door. When it stopped, the air seemed to ripple in place at the boundary. “Silence.” An identical sphere expanded out. When it hit the guards, they swore that they had gone deaf. One second later, the left guard collapsed to the ground, paralyzed by changeling venom. The second guard followed, not a second later. <<Mimic them.>> Mirage said mentally, for she could not speak within the silence spell. 

The door to the room opened and the unconscious men were dragged inside and set next to the body of their comrade, who had fallen in a similar way while guarding the inside of the room. Two changelings exited the room while wearing the faces of the fallen guards. A real nurse lay propped up against the wall on the other side of the room. Canceling the silencing spell and the illusion that had obscured her actions, Mirage asked, “Do we feed?”

“Give two of them to Eraser. You can have the other two,” I said to Mirage. “Kill them and take everything they have. While we are waiting for Selene to be revived, this room needs to be undetectable and impenetrable. We require all the energy we can get, and this is a necessary sacrifice. Go.”

The two changelings pounced, disguises burning away in the process. They each straddled one of the human bodies and bit into their necks; the sight made the other changelings in the room, me included, very hungry. Only seconds later, their victims had had all of their emotion and life force drained, aging them to death in the process. In a flash, they each pounced on their second victim, repeating the process.

When they were done, both stood and walked to the door. “Not as good as a dick up the ass, but it’ll do,” Eraser commented.

“Agreed,” Mirage added. Mirage lit her hands up, three layers of over-glow hovering around each limb. Pressing her hands against the lead-lined door, she said, “Notice-Me-Not, Remember-Me-Not.” Immediately, every pair of eyes in the room, except for hers, looked away from that spot and, as hard as we tried, we could not bring ourselves to see the… something that we knew just had to be there. Panting, she pulled her hands away from… something. I could see a thin trail of magic connecting her hands to that same… something. “Wow, that takes a lot out of a girl. Eraser, you’re up.”

“Umm… I can’t see where I’m supposed to put the shield,” she said.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, come here, girl. Stretch your hands out and walk forwards until you hit something,” Mirage replied.

“Ok… and… What exactly am I touching?” Eraser asked.

“The door.”

“Oh, what door? Wait, no, never mind. Ok, here’s the shield.” Two layers of over-glow surrounded her hands as Eraser cast the strongest shield in Earth changeling history. Something… fully barricaded, Nick pulled the anesthetic IV line out of Selene. Taruke disconnected the other machinery. The others hid the bodies so that Selene would not see them upon waking.

While that was happening, I transformed into the form she had last seen me in, the winged, crowned, male version of herself. This time, however, I aged myself up to twenty years old. “Hey, change into your normal faces, but keep your wings. Fill the holes in them so they don’t look scary. Remember, I told her that we were good fairies, so act the part,” I instructed. The ten changelings in the windowless room did so.

After twenty agonizingly long minutes, Selene began to stir. It took another five before she opened her eyes. The way we were posed, she could see all of us at once, but her eyes were drawn to where I sat at the foot of her bed. Smiling warmly at her, I cooed, “Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. I told you that I’d come and visit.”
> ...and Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. I told you that I’d come and visit.”

The new alicorn-human hybrid girl slowly opened her eyes. As planned, the first thing that she saw was me. Selene smile softly. “Rex?” I nodded. “Where… am I? What’s going on? Why is my throat so dry?”

“You’re in the hospital. It’s a long story that I really don’t have time to explain, nor do I know all of the details. Here’s the really short version: you changed and got super powers.”

“Cool!” She interrupted.

“However, the doctors used medicine to force you to sleep so that you wouldn’t hurt yourself, but that caused a much bigger problem. I came here to rescue you so that you can help us fix that problem, but we have to escape,” I rapidly explained.

Mirage called out from where she was maintaining the defensive spells, “Five minutes, king, after that, I’m going to be useless in a fight. Ten, and I run the risk of dropping dead.”

To Mirage, I said, “Noted. Give me five, at least.” Then, turning again to Selene, I said, “I can’t explain more now. We have to leave now. Do you think you can walk, or do we have to carry you?”

“I… Ugh… Help me up,” she said. I used my magic to help her sit up, mostly to test if there would be any issue with using it on her. Since it caused neither of us problems, I assumed that it would be safe to use. Eventually, I managed to stand her up on her feet… hooves. “Why do I feel so funny?” Selene asked, wobbling back and forth as she spoke.

“You just woke up from anesthesia and your body has changed; I know that second feeling well,” I explained. “Come on, we have to hurry.” 

I turned to my subordinates. To them, I said, “You know what to do. Eraser, on my signal, drop the shield and take over the ‘Notice-Me-Not’ spell from Mirage, half power. Mirage, go ahead and drop the memory spell now. Be ready for the minor ‘Notice-Me-Not’ on Selene.”

Mirage sighed in relief when she freed herself from the burden of sustaining the incredibly taxing spell combination. She declared, “I never want to do that again.” Though her load had been significantly lightened, Mirage could not release the second spell just yet; she continued to power the Notice-Me-Not, despite running low on magic. 

Meanwhile, I then contacted the runners, including the two guards outside, <<Assume your forms and phase through the walls on my signal. Be casting the ‘Want-It, Need-It spell’ on yourselves as soon as you make it through. Remember your route and don’t be seen by one another.>>

“I hate that spell. The emotion is nasty tasting,” Ginny muttered under her breath.

“Slagteri, take Selene’s form and get in bed. Remember to create a pathway for the IV drip so that you are not being dosed with the anesthesia. Taruke, hook him up to the machines, quickly!” I ordered, to which they hastily complied. “Oh, one last thing,” I amended, “guards, swap your chitin to a color that matches the hallway. I don’t want to be seen until it’s too late for them.”

Once everything was in place, I scooped up the unwillingly transformed girl and placed her across my shoulders in a fireman’s carry. <<Alright, Go!>>

On my signal, the guards at the door transformed into greyhounds and sprinted in opposite directions; paws alight with magic, they cast the ‘Want-It, Need-It’ on themselves as they ran. After transforming and casting the spell on themselves, two other changelings left the room. One sank through the floor and one rose through the ceiling; the green fire rings vanished behind them. Eraser dropped her shield and took up a weakened version of the ‘Notice-Me-Not’ from Mirage. The latter transformed into a small beetle and landed on my head. A green aura extended from the insect to Selene, making it hard for our eyes to focus on her.

Then, the exhausted Eraser finally dropped the Notice-Me-Not. As we shifted our chitin to the cream color of the hall way, we silently counted down from thirty to give the runners enough time to cause chaos. Hopefully, by the time we hit zero, most of the people in the hospital would be chasing the speedy animals down stairs.

The four changelings guarding me, Eraser, Selene, and Mirage had moved their mouths to the palms of their dominant hands; from each, a single, envenomed fang protrude out and transformed into a bladed weapon. As the countdown approached zero, their makeshift swords alit with green flames, the traditional Changeling Impact Spell. From outside, possibly as a result of the Want-It, Need-It spell, we heard humans scream and fire gunshots throughout the hospital. Thankfully, none of my changelings were hit. Though I was nervous for them, I had to focus on the task at hand. As one last precaution, I closed Selene’s eyes and held them shut with my magic. “Sorry, but this is for your own good.”

Ever so slowly, I counted down to the moment when my group would leave. Finally, my count reached zero. Bolting from the room, we sprinted down the hallway, arranged so that the four guards surrounded the two running changelings and two passengers. A nurse, who was unlucky enough to avoid the initial chaos, stepped out into the hall. Before I could worry about our discovery, she met her end at the point of Nick’s sword. 

As the enchanted, poisoned blade entered the nurse’s abdomen, it simultaneously did two things. First, the fang-sword enabled my brother to rapidly drain the nurse of her life force, killing her near instantly. Second, the enchantment redirected all of the kinetic energy of the strike into the corpse, propelling her off of the blade. The only noise made in that whole exchange was the sound of her head banging against the wall.

As we ran, Nick took the energy he had gathered and split it among Mirage and Eraser; the two exhausted changelings were thankful for the relief. A left turn, twenty yards, then a right, and we entered the stairwell. Six pairs of wings buzzed as we shot up the hollow center to the roof level. Slamming open the rooftop exit, I broadcast our position to the runners. 

On the streets below, I could see the mob forming as they lured the humans away. My unasked question about the gunshots was answered a moment later; they were shooting at each other in their attempts to catch the speeding dogs for themselves. I grimaced and vowed never to use that spell outside of an emergency ever again.

Setting Selene down, I released the magic on her eyes, letting her see again. “Selene, look at me. We’re going to have to fly to get away from the bad people, Ok?”

“Ok, wait. How? See, I can’t fly,” she said.

“Yes, you can. You have wings,” I said, touching her blue feathers in the process. “Just hold them outstretched and glide; I’ll do all the flapping for you.” Tentatively, she extended her new appendages, testing how they felt. “Good, Let’s go!”

The five other changelings that could fly at the time leaped into the sky. I enveloped her in my magic and leaped as well, towing her along. Once we got moving, it was easy to keep her up; she provided the lift while I provided the thrust. All it took to steer her was a gentle nudge with my magic and she flew wherever I wanted her. Ordering the retreat of my runners, I turned towards the airport. After gaining altitude, I put on as much speed as I could.

The runners below canceled the spell on themselves and, in their pursuers’ sudden moment of relative stillness, they transformed into hawks. Quickly, they caught up to the rest of us. We, eleven changelings and one alicorn, flew to where my daughter was waiting. Once I was absolutely sure that we were a safe distance away, I informed Slagteri, who was still back in the room, that he was free to break character.





Slagteri was mad. No, he was downright furious with Taruke for making him do this. Worse his nose itched and he could not move to scratch it. That would defeat the purpose of pretending to be an unconscious alicorn.

Around him, he could here shouting and gunfire; since he had felt none of his companions die, he could only hope that the humans were shooting each other to pieces.

There were hurried footsteps by his door, then a shout of, “The radiation room door is open!” The footsteps entered the room and Slagteri could hear them gasp. Though he could not see with his eyes closed, he could vaguely sense the sources of the horrified emotions move to where the dead bodies were stacked. A few seconds later, he could hear the beeping of the heart rate monitor resume and a sigh of relief from the doctors. “Vitals are stable. Everything seems fine with the patient,”

“Doctor, why would they kill Jasmine but leave little Selene alone?”

“I don’t know,” the doctor replied.

At that moment, Slagteri’s eyes snapped open as he received the command from his King. “Because,” the impostor said, “We already took her.” Instantly, the two were lifted by their necks from the floor, choking them. The false Selene sat up and freed himself from the equipment. Changing to match the doctor’s form, he said, “I think I have an open heart surgery planned. Prepare the operating room.” The door to the room slammed shut. “Scalpel.” A six inch long blade of light formed at his finger tips. “Anesthesia? Nope!” Slagteri plunged the blade into the chest of the helpless woman, cutting through her ribs like a hot knife through warm butter.

When he was satisfied, he ripped away the sternum of the screaming woman, exposing her beating heart. He transformed his hand and plunged his claw into her chest, crushing her heart. The woman, now freed from his magical grip, collapsed gracelessly into a heap on the floor.

Slagteri turned to the doctor, who was still suffocating as he dangled by his neck. Sniffing his emotional aura, the monster of a changeling realized something. “You loved her, didn’t you?” Releasing the doctor, he raced forwards to catch the man. As he moved, the changeling’s form shifted to match the woman as she was only moments ago. “You love me, don’t you?” Slagteri said in a perfect imitation of her voice.

“Rebecca…” the doctor said hoarsely.

“I’m here, my love,” Slagteri said, before plunging his fangs into his neck and stealing every last drop of love. 

Discarding the aged corpse, the monster stood and walked towards the door. Just before opening it, he burned away every trace of blood from his guise. Satisfied, he exited the room. As he walked unmolested through the building, he fumed over his King’s orders. Since his word was law, anything the King chose to enforce could not be violated. And since there was no one stopping him and no one alive who knew that he was a changeling; Slagteri could not raise his hand against the humans.

Upon exiting the building, though he was still in plain sight, the mad changeling burst into emerald flames. The hawk that flew away was just a tad more vicious looking than normal. What Slagteri did not notice were the red eyes that watched him go before vanishing into the shadows.





The group flew in circles around the airport, looking for a place to land. Eventually, we settled for a spot on the roof of the parking garage. All of the changelings accompanying me positioned themselves directly above the spot, dropping straight down at very high speeds. At the last second before they hit the ground, the emerald flames of the impact spell enveloped them. Each plowed into the concrete, unharmed but leaving behind a small crater. 

After a moment to assess whether or not they had been seen, they gave me the all-clear to begin assisting Selene in her descent. Since her wings could not provide thrust yet, nor could she cushion herself with magic, I had to aid Selene in landing. We looped around the building a couple of times while descending before entering a steep dive at the opposite end of the building. About twenty feet above the concrete, our path turned horizontal. I used my magic to flare her wings so that they would catch as much wind as possible, but even then, it was a struggle to slow both myself and her to a safe speed.

I touched down with a small stumble, but did not fall. Selene, I kept suspended with my magic. Gently, I lowered her down to the surface. “THAT WAS SO COOL!” she said, now that we could hear ourselves without the rush of the wind or buzz of our wings in our ears. The changelings around us all smiled at her enthusiasm while they burned their wings away.

“I’m glad you thought so,” I replied in all honesty. Motioning for the people in the parking lot to follow me, I started to head towards the elevator. 

“Hey, what’s up with the sky? Why do I look like this? What’s going on?” she asked her rapid-fire questions.

“Well, that’s a long story,” I said. Signaling the exhausted Mirage, who was still a beetle hiding in my hair, I had her drop the ‘Notice-Me-Not’ and put up an illusion on Selene to hide her wings. I then passed her a portion of my love reserves so that she could maintain the spell, much to her relief. To Selene, I said, “I’ll fill you in on all the minor details while we are on the airplane flying to where I live when I come to Earth,” I explained, still sticking to the lie, that I had come from a ‘fairy world,’ that I told her in the dream. “For now, I’ll tell you this. The moon now needs someone to push it around the sky. That someone is you.”

“Me? How can I move the moon! See, I’m just a kid!” she blurted out.

Patting her on the back, I chuckled, “Ah, but not anymore. You’re an Alicorn like Princess Luna now. As for how, I’m not entirely sure. I don’t even know if your magic works the same way as mine. You’ll have to ask her yourself for that.”

I pressed the elevator button, the door opening only a moment later. As we entered, Selene asked, “How do I ask Princess Luna something? I don’t feel sleepy, so I can’t go to bed.”

“Have you really not noticed it yet? You should be able to hear her in your head. I hear my friend all the time. Just think the words, but imagine pushing them out of your head and wanting Princess Luna to hear you.  Go on, give it a shot. Say hello, then tell her how to talk back to you, OK?”

Selene nodded and then scrunched up her face in concentration. After a moment’s silence, her expression turned to one of happiness. “She was surprised to hear me,” Selene said. “Princess Luna didn’t know we could do that.”

The elevator dinged and the door opened. “Very good,” I told her as our group exited the elevator. “Now, do you remember how the sky looked outside? I want you to focus on that memory and make Luna see it. Then, I want you to ask her how to move the moon. Also, tell her that the sky has been frozen that way since this morning and that we don’t have anyone to move the sun, either. Got it?”

Selene shouted, “GOT IT!” before she scrunched up her face again. We continued walking to, and eventually in, the airport ticketing area in silence.

I suddenly felt very awkward. Leaning over to Nick, I whispered, “Is this what it’s like for a human to be around us while we’re having silent conversations? Now it seems really weird to not hear what someone is thinking.”

“Ha ha ha! Yep,” Nick replied, “that would probably be really annoying to others. Hey, if she comes to live with us, I bet you $100 that she complains about how our conversations are missing pieces within two months.”

“Ha! You’re on!” I replied to my best-friend-slash-adopted-brother. 

Suddenly, the light streaming in through the airport windows began to rapidly shift. Shadows shrank and then stretched the other way. The sunlight changed to an orange, then a red, before going out completely. The crowds around us were so focused on the fact that full night had just fallen in a matter of seconds that they did not notice the little girl with glowing blue hands.

“Well, it seems that Luna came through,” Nick said as I looked over to Selene. On her face, there was a flash of light before two crescent moons appeared, one on each cheek. The moons were surrounded by splotches of inky black in a way analogous to Luna’s cutie mark. However, they quickly faded back to normal skin tone under the power of the illusion coating the girl.

“Well Selene, It looks like you got your cutie mark. Congratulations are in order, I think,” I said. “I hear that the ponies often throw a party for that achievement.”

“COOL!” she cheered. “Hey, what’s a cutie mark?”

“Ask Luna,” Nick said before I could respond. “And hey, at least you got yours on your face; there are worse cheeks to get them on. Or better, depending on how you like showing it off.” I slugged Nick in the shoulder, nearly causing his form to waver. “HEY! What was that for?”

“There are children present. I would think that you would keep that sort of thing to yourself,” I retorted.

“Yes, and your daughter has been shagging men practically her whole life. She’s two, might I add,” Nick said. 

Rolling my eyes, I responded mentally so that our young guest would not hear us, <<Yes, and Klika is a CHANGELING. Like all other changelings, her entire childhood lasted all of a week. Sex-ed was day four, and by day seven, she was both physically and mentally as mature as either of us. If sex wasn’t a viable food source, then there would be no way that I’d let her do that kind of thing. Selene, however, is an innocent child. I will not have her corrupted. Nor will I allow any pedophilia in my hive.>>

<<Hey, what are you looking at me for?>> Nick asked. <<Little girls aren’t my thing! I’d much rather have a little boy.>>

Even though I knew that he was joking, sent him a mental image of pinning him down with stakes through his holes, then castrating him and shoving broken glass down his vagina. He winced. <<Ouch. Hey, I didn’t know you were into BDSM. Harder! Harder! Cut me to pieces, master!>>

<<Bastard.>> I sighed and stopped talking to him; with no new ammunition, Nick quit teasing me. “Let’s just go find Klika,” I said, this time aloud.

Klika turned out to be waiting for us in the food court. She handed me the tickets, cash to the other changelings so that they could get something solid in their empty stomachs, and a sandwich and dresses to Selene. As she did this, I relayed our location to Slagteri so that he could find us easily and passed my memories of the escape to Klika. Klika relayed her memories back to me. “Selene, this is my daughter, Klika. Klika, would you take her and help her get out of that hospital gown and into some proper clothing?” Reaching up, I lifted the beetle that was Mirage out of my red hair and set her in Klika’s brown curls. “Girls, go with Klika and get changed for the trip home,” I ordered the female disguised changelings, wanting them to go and transform so that they could ride on Klika. “Men, come with me.” I turned and headed to the men’s room for the same reason.

I saw Slagteri approaching us and motioned for him to join me. Minutes later, we re-emerged. I carried six changelings in my hair and Klika had five. I really had to struggle to not scratch my head, as I could feel them move around as they compensated for my movement. Selene looked uncomfortable with the bag on her back that protected her wings from discovery.

To Mirage, I asked, <<Will the illusion hold up to a retina scan?>>

<<I doubt it. It’s not that good. Hell, I don’t even know if cameras can even see through it. The ponies that wrote the spell didn’t have a clue as to how it worked; it just did,>> she told me.

<<Dang. That would be the kind of stuff to learn before we need to know it. Well, It’s too late now. I’ll get Change.lng to let her through at the gate. For security, I think we’ll need a Notice-Me-Not. It’ll get her by the people, but I have no idea if it will hold against cameras,>> I said. Then, to myself, I thought, ‘Well, another project for R&D.’

Klika spoke up at this point, <<Daddy, the flight’s in thirty minutes. Let’s get moving.>>





Despite being awake for nearly twenty-four hours by this point, I could not sleep on the plane. Selene had entered a sort of trance as she conversed with the Equestrian Night Princess. I had not yet managed to give her the full story, but could not bring myself to rouse her from her trance. Nick and I talked for a while before he brought up an important point that I had overlooked in my haste. <<Where are we going to put her? She can’t come to the Bee Hive; she’ll get sick.>>

<<Oh, didn’t think about that… I’ll take her to one of my hidey-holes. We’ll be fine there,>> I replied.

<<What hidey-holes?>> he asked.

<<I have apartments all over the city that I let changelings use as emergency places to sleep or hide.>>

Nick replied, <<Ok, why is this the first time I’m hearing about this? When did you even buy them? And, is there anything else you’d like to pull out of your ass while we’re at it?>>

<<What?>> I replied, <<did you think I just sat on my throne all day, looking awesome? Nope. I keep myself busy.>>

<<If ‘throne’ means the couch where we play video games, then yes, I did think you sat around on your throne all day,>> Nick sarcastically commented. I did not justify that comment with a response.

> The Second Gate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Wake up! Wake up!” Selene yelled, bouncing on my bed as she did so. “You told me you’d teach me a cool new power in the morning. Well, I made it morning!”

Groggily, I rolled over, pushing my makeshift alarm clock off of my bed in the process. Looking at the real clock on my nightstand, I groaned. “You do realize,” I slowly moaned, “that it’s 6:30 in the morning; sunrise isn’t supposed to happen for another hour.”

“Aww,” my pesky young roommate whined, “but I couldn’t sleep. See, I’m just so excited that I had to make morning come now!” As she spoke, she started poking me in the back. Groggily, I swatted her blue-furred hand away. Unfortunately, she only redoubled her efforts to drag me into the world of the living.

“Ok, ok, sheesh, I’m up. I’m up,” I said, slowly elevating myself and rejoining the world of the living. “And I was having such a nice dream, too. Chrysalis was showing me techniques to pleasure a… nevermind,” I said, catching myself before I said too much. “Let me get my coffee, then we’ll talk.”





Caffeinated beverage in hand, I sat down with Selene at the kitchen table. As this apartment was a place for a changeling to hide in a hurry, the only foods available were bland, non-perishable emergency rations. Selene grumbled about the selection, or lack thereof, but ate hers in the end. I, however, ate mine without complaint; when everything but meat tastes like cardboard, you learn to eat without a fuss. Despite what I would have initially thought when I found out that changelings eat emotions, we cannot survive without enough physical food to nourish our true bodies.

“Are you really a king?” Selene asked midway through our meal. “See, I thought that kings would live in a big palace and eat really fancy food, not this stuff.”

“I assure you,” I replied, “that I am in fact a king. Changelings are cursed so that all food tastes bad, so we really don’t care what we eat. Besides, this is not my home, but an emergency safe house. Neither my people nor I use this place much, so the food we keep here has to stay good for a long time, hence the flavorless food.”

Selene accepted that without question. “So, are you going to teach me that cool new power now?”

Grinning, I decided to have a tiny bit of payback for her waking me. “Nope!”

“WHAT! Why not?” the anxious child asked.

“Because you woke me way too early. Now, I have something to ask you. Would you…” I paused, letting her anticipation mount, “…like to become my daughter?”

She stared at me, happiness welling up from her, giving the room a pleasant, fragrant feel to my sixth sense. Tears slowly formed in the corners of her eyes, before coming faster and faster until a continuous stream flowed down her cheeks. “YES!” Selene cried, her voice choked with joy.

“Good, I’ll have my people get right on that paperwork…” I said. A thought crossed my mind. Experimentally, I started tugging on her positive emotions while simultaneously pushing a portion of my essence into her. Unaided by changeling venom, the conversion process should have simply been slowed down. Instead, her body seemed to filter my essence and absorbed the pure magic. Deciding that she was immune to the conversion process, I ceased my efforts. ‘Somehow, I expected that,’ I thought to myself.

As soon as the two of us had finished the sludge that called itself ‘emergency rations,’ I stood up from my chair, my silvery hair brushing the ceiling. I gestured for Selene to follow me. In preparation for what could potentially go very wrong when we contact the princesses, I had stretched out my form to my true height, given myself large muscles and nasty scars, and made my hair fan out in an anime-esque style; the whole ensemble was designed as a size-based intimidation bluff, if needed.

I sat down, legs crossed, on the tile of the kitchen floor and motioned for Selene to sit next to me. As soon as she had done so, I said, “I bet you’re wondering what I’m going to teach you. Wait, of course you are.” Immediately, a portal opened in front of the two of us. Through it, I could see Chrysalis sleeping in her bed. Realizing that it would not be wise to disturb her, I hastily shut the portal before Selene could make any noise.

“Whoa, what was that?” the excited Earth alicorn asked in regards to the portal.

Smiling, I explained, “That was a gateway. It’s a portal that either partner can open. A gateway always opens wherever your partner is and can be left open indefinitely. Both partners can open it or close it and you can move the gate with a thought. Careful, though, the edges are sharp.”

“Teach me how to do it!” Selene demanded, practically vibrating in place with excitement.

“Just a second, Selene,” I said to calm her down. “There’s one more thing to know. If your powers are like mine, neither you nor Princess Luna will be able to go through the gateway. However, anyone or anything else can.”

I hunched over, trying to make myself look as small and submissive as I could. I needed to ask the princesses a favor, but given my history and race, it would be an uphill battle. Satisfied that I would make the correct first impression, I explained how to open the gateway. A second later, Selene opened the portal, pressed her face against the barrier, and promptly yelled, “SURPRISE!”





Luna nursed her morning tea in the company of her sister; both watched from the dining room as the dawn-lit land pass beneath their airship. Destined for the capitol of the Griffin Kingdom, Mosclaw, the TMS Solar Wind had departed yesterday morning with the Two Royal Sisters. The Elements of Harmony had been invited to join them in their journey, Twilight Sparkle to observe the political negotiations and her friends for a relaxing vacation, to which they readily agreed.

Luna herself had awoken troubled. Last night, little Selene had appeared in the dream unable to form a cohesive mental image of herself. Luna knew that only severe mental or physical trauma could disrupt a person’s view of themselves so completely as to render themselves blurry to the dream-walking princess. Due to the child’s never-ending questions for Luna, the latter could barely ask one in return. However, Luna did manage to extract two nuggets of information.

The first piece of information was that the child had been hospitalized. Selene claimed that, for reasons unknown to her, she had been admitted and placed into a state of medically induced unconsciousness, rendering her unable to administer her worlds day-night cycle. The fact that a child now had to do such a daunting task disturbed Luna greatly; the fact that she had been restrained from doing so for reasons unknown bothered her even more.

The second fact was that Selene had needed to be rescued by someone she called ‘Rex.’ Dread filled Luna’s heart at the mention of that name. Though it was possible that this was a case of shared names, the only Rex Luna knew from that world was the changeling king, Alvarium Rex, who had been involved in the kidnapping of her niece and sister’s protégé. To think that such a young child was in the hooves of a beast like the changeling king made every maternal instinct in the dark alicorn scream out in fear.

“I wish there was something we could do for that foal, ‘Tia,” Luna said to her sister after explaining her worries.

Celestia sighed, “I agree, dear sister. That is most worrisome Perhaps...” The elder alicorn stopped as she saw a bleary-eyed Twilight Sparkle enter the dining room. “Ah, perfect timing, my most faithful student. It seems that I have a task for you.”

Instantly alert, Twilight asked, “What is it, Princess Celestia? Is this a test? Oh, I knew I should have studied more.”

“Calm yourself, Twilight,” Celestia said. “I would like your assistance in re-creating the ability that took you from us two years ago. Luna, if you would explain?”

Before Luna could speak, a loud voice yelled, “SURPRISE!” Luna, caught off guard by the sudden noise right near her ear, toppled over and fell off her stool. Her head went back and collided with something solid that had not been there before. As she picked herself up, rubbing her aching skull, Luna turned to see a most interesting sight. Behind the portal sat what appeared to be Luna’s younger self, albeit warped. The three ponies in the room bore faces of shock.





I snickered at Luna’s clumsiness, then their expressions. However, I quickly reigned in my mirth. It would not do to offend the people who had what I needed, now would it?

Selene was quite pleased with her little prank, if her laughter was any indication. “Hi, Princess Luna,” she said between spurts of laughter. “Your face was all like *blah!*” Selene imitated the princess’s expression before giggling some more.

“Who are you, foal?” Luna asked.

In response, Selene contorted her face into the expression that I had come to realize meant that she was communicating mentally with Luna mentally. Idly, I wondered, ‘Do I make that face when I talk to Chrysalis? I hope not.’

“Selene!” Luna exclaimed, realizing exactly who she was talking to. “What has happened to you, child?”

“So, you haven’t told her everything?” I asked Selene before she could answer. “Smart girl. Never tip your hand and tell the full story unless it benefits you.” The ponies in the room across from me seemed to notice me sitting on the floor for the first time. Addressing them, I said, “I’m sure Selene would be delighted to tell you everything at a later date. As for now, I have two items of business with you, Princess Luna. Both are simple requests for information.”

Luna turned to look at me. “First, your name wouldn’t happen to be Alvarium Rex, would it?” the night princess asked.

I stiffened. ‘Really? I wanted to at least get my questions asked before they called me out.’ Slowly, probably too slowly for my own good, I asked back, “…and, hypothetically, if I am, what does that mean to you?” The whole time I spoke, I refused to make eye contact. However, I did notice five other ponies, two real and three disguised changelings, entering the dining room through a door across from the portal.

“What’s going on?” I saw the one I identified as Rainbow Dash asked the changeling named Rarity. The latter only shrugged and claimed not to know.

“Then I will have nothing to do with the likes of you,” Luna responded to my question.

Rolling my eyes, yet still keeping them away from those of the princesses, I said, “Well then, it’s a good thing that I only ask on the behalf of another.” I gestured towards Selene, who was only half listening to our conversation. “Simply listen and decide. I wish for you to train her to be an effective ruler of the night, something that I cannot do. And I wish for you to watch for more double dreams like ours -” Luna frowned as I said that. “- if for no other reason than to have some sort of warning for new threats that may emerge in time.”

Luna scowled, clearly disturbed by the choice of aiding a child or bending to an enemy’s request. “Why do you care about her, beast?”

“HEY!” Selene yelled, “Don’t insult my new daddy!”

Gasps of shock came from the three ponies in the know across the portal. “Get away from him! He’s a changeling!” Twilight, who had been in a whispered conversation with her friends, exclaimed. Her friends gasped as well, though each for different reasons.

Initially offended, my anger morphed into humor as I took stock of the situation. Twilight and Luna had just unknowingly insulted three of the former’s friends. “She knows I’m a changeling! I told her myself,” I retorted.

“Then you know you’re not safe with that monster! He’s going to eat your love!” Twilight said to Selene. 

Laughing in my deep, bellowing voice, I said, “Do you really think so little of my people, or me, for that matter, that you think we cannot control ourselves? That we are only monsters?”

Ignoring me, Twilight turned to her ruler. “Princess Celestia, we’ve got to do something! He’s probably got her brainwashed.”

Celestia agreed. “Release her at once, changeling, or I will have to use force to protect her.”

“Selene,” I said, not moving from my spot on the floor, “the door is unlocked. You can leave if you want.” When Selene made no move to leave, I addressed the sun princess, “See, she’s free to go.”

Unfortunately, my next move called for me to be uncharacteristically blunt. I only hoped that I did not damage my budding relationship with Selene. “Granted,” I said, “Selene’s just a young child who’s been horribly warped by human standards, she accidentally destroyed the orphanage where she lived -” Selene looked shocked, having not known about the explosion her transformation had caused, “- and she is over 1,700 miles from her old home. Oh, and our magic is apparently toxic to humans, meaning that either of us would be locked away if people found us. Literally, the changelings are the only choice Selene has left if she wants anything like a normal life.”

I apologetically stroked Selene’s back, but it did nothing to comfort the girl who had just been presented the reality of her situation. Twilight, however, would have none of it. “That doesn’t change the fact that you are just going to feed on her! Selene, you could come live with me.”

“Aside from the fact that she cannot cross over,” I said, reaching out to tap the invisible barrier in the portal to emphasize my point, “that would leave my planet without a way to move the sun or moon. Could you do that? Kill a whole world to save a single little girl that you barely know?” 

I stood up, prominently displaying all eight-and-a-half feet and four hundred pounds of solid muscle. Baring my sharpened teeth and making direct eye contact for the first time, I stepped towards the portal. “Or would you kill me to keep her, a child who is immune to my touch, out of my grasp?” I asked, referring to the failed conversion rather than the feeding, not that they needed to know. The ponies reflexively backed down a bit.

“How about a political spar?” I asked, on a roll with my impromptu rant. “I hear that Equestria is having a nice little industrial revolution. Funny, for a country that has not advanced technologically since the Discord era, you sure have been inventing a lot these last two years. It’d be a shame if something happened to that… creativity. At least my world will keep its tech.” Though I admitted nothing, the potential implications were more than enough.

“What about a magic duel?” I rhetorically asked. “Though I may fight dirty, at least I would have some sort of restraint when it comes to the type of spell I use. Ha, your princess is insane!” I said.

“How can you claim such accusations?” Luna asked. “I have been purged of my madness by the Elements of harmony themselves!”

“Oh, I was not talking about you, Princess Luna~” I sang.

“Me?” The surprised Celestia asked.

I nodded. “Suicide Spells, Volume 6, 101 Battle Curses, 65 Torture Techniques for the Novice Interrogator, all penned and field tested by Celestia herself. Oh, and let’s not forget the shifting fabric. Murdered any changelings for their chitin, lately?” The mention of four Black Archive books brought surprised looks from all of the ponies present, except Celestia herself. Though her face remained like a porcelain mask, I could sense her inner turmoil.

“My point is that I would do anything to keep Selene out of your grasp. Have I made myself clear?” I asked, my deep voice rumbling in my throat. “Do not mess with me or my daughter. I am not afraid to get my hands dirty, even bloody, to protect her.” I set my hand on Selene’s shoulder. Seeing an opportunity to throw one last barb before I ask Selene to shut the portal, I said, “However, I’m not heartless. You know changelings can sense emotion, right?” Grinning maliciously on the inside, I lied, “I smell the signature of a pony preparing herself to murder in cold blood. Good day.”

I bent down and whispered into Selene’s ear, “Close the portal with your mind.” The gateway closed immediately.

I collapsed into a chair. Mostly to myself, I said, “Intense… Never bluffed so hard in my life… saw my life flash before my eyes.”

“Um... daddy,” my soon-to-be-adopted daughter said, somewhat uncomfortable with the term, “why did they call you a monster?”

Sighing, I said to her, “You know how you are a human shaped version of Luna? I’m a human shaped version of Chrysalis. She, well… kind of eats ponies.”

“WHAT?” she asked, backing away from me quickly.

Hastily, I shrank down to her old size so that she towered over me and added, “But I’m not like that! I was only pretending to be a monster!” In my now tiny voice, I explained, “I just eat emotions! Love! Happiness! Joy! For normal people, when I eat their love, they just get older. 

“But you, you have magic! All I could do to you is make you tired, but like I said to them, you are immune to my power,” not a total lie. “Even then, I wouldn’t do that to you! I want to protect you, because you’re family now. I would die for my family. If I had not liked you, I would not have come to get you from Pheonix. You’ve got to believe me.”

Reaching out a hand towards her, I said, “Do you still want to be my daughter? The door’s always open. If you want out, just say the word. However, I’d miss you so much. Will you stay?”

She pondered for a moment before making her decision. A heartbeat later, her emotions did a one-eighty and I was glomped by the now cheerful girl. “I’ll stay, daddy.”

“Good, now I just need to ask you one thing. It’s tradition for changelings to name themselves. What name do you want me to put on your papers?” I asked.

She thought for a minute “Can I keep my old name?”

“Sure,” I said. “What is your full name, anyway?”

“Selene Drocsid.”

> Bonus Chapter: Four Shorts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


{A/N: These shorts all actually happen, even if they are absurd.}







Short 1: Color. Set at the same time as Sixteen Hours (chapter 32).




Luna’s alarm rang in her ear, rousing her from the night’s dream. Before even opening her eyes, her horn lit up as she lowered the moon. Slowly, the princess of the night raised herself from the bed. Blinking the fog from her eyes, she slowly crossed her darkened bedroom and entered the adjoining bathroom.

Upon activating the light crystals in the ceiling, Luna blinked. She blinked again. A third time, she blinked.

Her screams were heard across Canterlot.

The two night guard stationed outside her room burst inside, followed seconds later by Celestia. “Your highness! What is the matter?” the guard on the left said.

Luna, meanwhile, paid them no attention. Hurriedly, she ran back and forth across her room, snatching up items and throwing them into a pile in the center of her room. The only common feature to all of the objects was that they were gray or yellow. During the whole time she ran back and forth, she muttered, “wrong, wrong, everything is wrong.” Upon finally noticing the presence of the others in the room, she glanced over. “Oh, ‘Tia, YOUR MANE!”

“Luna! What has gotten into you?” Celestia cried.

“EVERYTHING IS WRONG!” Luna bellowed. “All of my things have turned that color! THAT BUCKING! IMPOSSIBLE! COLOR! I see everything so clearly now, but it’s all wrong!”

“Luna… what are you talking about? Nothing has changed,” the elder sister said.

The younger’s eye twitched. “Nothing… has changed?” Luna asked. 

Suddenly, Celestia found herself being dragged across the room and out onto the balcony by her sister’s magic. “Look at Cloudsdale,” Luna said. “Look at the rainbows pouring off from the factory. Count the colors.”

Not seeing her sister’s point, Celestia looked towards the normal-looking rainbow. “Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow. There are five colors, as always.”

“No, there are two others. That impossible color, and a mixture of it and yellow!” Luna declared.

“Red and Orange,” A new voice said from the hallway outside Luna’s room. Turning, the royal sisters saw that it was the Griffin ambassador, Gavriil. “I did not mean to eavesdrop, but I was curious as to your predicament. Imagine my surprise when I find the princess of the night has ceased to be colorblind.”







Short 2: Game.




After a long afternoon of playing for tips in the park, Lyra was glad to be home. Her thoughts wandered to her changeling marefriend, Bon Bon; Lyra wondered if her shape-shifting partner was up for some kinky roughhousing. However, upon reaching the stares, Lyra heard a voice roar, “WHY WON’T YOU DIE ALREADY?”

Panicking, the mint green unicorn bolted up the stairs. Expecting to see the worst, Lyra burst into her shared bedroom to find… 

… Bon Bon. Just Bon Bon. The cream colored mare was screaming in rage at the glowing box she held in her… claws? The changeling had warped her hooves into the same strange limbs that the librarian’s dragon assistant had and was using each digit to manipulate the many buttons and knobs covering the box. From the box trailed a cord that was attached to a pair of earmuffs that Bon Bon was wearing despite the day’s warm weather.

“Bon Bon?”

“GO AWAY, LYRA! I’M BUSY!” she yelled without taking her eyes off of the glowing box. “DIE DIE DIE!”

She snatched the box out of her marefriend’s grip with her magic. “HEY! Give it back! I was almost at level seven!” the changeling whined.

Lyra said, “What has gotten in to you?”

“Oh… sorry,” Bon Bon apologized. “I was playing my new Joy Station Portable 4 and I guess I just got a little too into it.”

“Joy Station what?” Lyra asked, examining the glowing box. On the front was a moving image of two tall, minotaur-like figures, each of which was wielding a sword. When Lyra pushed one of the buttons, the figure on the left swung its weapon at the other, causing blood to splatter on the ground. Dropping the Joy Station in disgust, Lyra looked towards her marefriend.

“It’s a game from the humans,” Bon Bon explained. At the mention of Lyra’s hobby interest, the unicorn mentally revised her opinion on the device. “It’s one of the games that appeals to their predator nature. We got a few of these systems from the human world. The queen decided to have a lottery for them. I won this one.”

“Bonnie, that’s so cool!” Lyra cheered. “So, what all can that thing do?”

And so Equestria’s first lesbian gamer-filly couple was born. Among nerds and closet-perverts everywhere, there was much rejoicing.







Short 3: Traitor.




“However, I’m not heartless. You know changelings can sense emotion, right?” The changeling king grinned wickedly. “I smell the signature of a pony preparing herself to murder in cold blood. Good day.” With those parting words, the Gate connecting his world to Equestria sealed shut.

Gasps rang out through the ponies in the airship dining room. The three converted members of the Elements of Harmony, however, were confused; they could sense no such thing among any of the ponies on the air ship.

“IT’S YOU!” Pinkie Pie suddenly shouted, her hoof pointed at Rainbow Dash.

“Me?” Rainbow Dash asked, shocked. “Why the hay do you think I’m going to kill somepony?”

“Because, you’re after my Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness cupcakes!” Pinkie shouted, pulling a tray of the aforementioned cupcakes out from behind her back. “Well, you’ll have to pry them from my. Cold. Dead. Hooves. Or you could just ask for one~”

“Pinkie, be serious,” Twilight scolded. 

“How can I be Sirius? He’s over there,” Pinkie replied, pointing to the scruffy black diamond dog janitor standing by the doorway. The dog waved over to them, and then continued on his way. Rainbow Dash snickered.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight ignored her friends comment. “Somepony might be about to murder somepony else and we have no idea who!”

Rarity stepped in, saying, “Oh, do stop worrying so much, Twilight darling. Has it occurred to you that he could be lying? He is the king of the changelings, a monster,” Rarity put a strange emphasis on the word, “as you so eloquently put it.”

“Yeah,” Dash agreed, “That sounds just like something a bug would do. There’s no way any of us could kill somepony!”

In the group hug that followed, none of the Elements of Harmony noticed the shared look that passed between the alicorn sisters, the only two killers in the room.







Short 4: Catherine.




Sarah walked up to the newest officer to join the Atlanta Police Department, who had just been handed the keys to her squad car. “Hey there, newbie, how’s life? I’m Sarah Shrader. Who’re you?”

“Catherine Nord,” the young officer replied.

Smiling, Sarah asked, “You getting settled in all right?”

“Yep, sure am,” Catherine replied.

“Hey, walk with me,” The older officer said. “I’ll buy you lunch. I do that for all the newbies.”

“Oh, well, that’s nice. Thanks.”

Sarah waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. I love helping others. That’s why I joined, after all. So what’s your story?”

Catherine chuckled. “You’ll never believe me. Hell, I don’t even believe myself sometimes, and I have proof.”

Raising an eyebrow, the senior officer said, “Ok, now I’m curious. Spill.”

“My boyfriend, William… well, either he’s been kidnapped by a horrible monster, or he is a horrible monster. I’m not sure which,” the twenty year old recruit said.

“Well… that’s a new one. You didn’t file a missing person’s report?”

Catherine shrugged. “I haven’t seen him in two years. Then again, when I saw him last, he was actually a shape-shifter, so he could have been a fake. If that’s the case, then I don’t know when or where the last time I saw him was.”

“Ok, stop. You know you sound crazy, right?” Sarah asked.

Catherine nodded. “I’m aware.” She reached up to her neck and withdrew a necklace from underneath her uniform. Dangling from the chain was the largest emerald Sarah had ever seen. “But it gave me this to try to buy my silence when I saw what it really was. Obviously, it overestimated my ability to keep a secret.”

“Damn, that’s a big rock. How much is it worth?”

“About eighty grand,” Catherine answered. “If that… thing really took my William, I’m going to shove this rock down his throat and hope he chokes on it. I joined the police force because how else am I going to find someone who could literally be anyone? Someone who can do honest-to-god magic? You know I saw him teleport, once?”

“No way,” Sarah said, disbelievingly. “Wait, you’re not joking, are you?”

“Nope. This is vengeance for what he did to my William.”

> A Work Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Well… I’d never expect a place like this to be here,” I said as I looked up at the seemingly innocuous apartment building. On the front steps, a young man sat listening to his music, seemingly unconcerned with the rest of the world. The only indication that this building was not what it seemed was that the 1 and 0 of the building number had miniature lightning bolts carved into them. “What’s this place called again… Live something? And why am I dressed like this?” I asked, referring to the trench coat, or rather, the leather straps that I wore under it.

“Livewire Club,” my guide answered. Jacob ‘Jak’ Daniels, as he liked to be called, was one of the best infiltrators and love collectors that I had ever had the pleasure of acquiring. In the month since his conversion, he had brought in three times more love than any other changeling over the same period. Tonight, he was showing Nick and me the secret to his success. Grinning, Jak said, “And you’re wearing that because that is the proper attire. This place is invitation only, and the bouncers are a little rough. Well, rough is a relative term here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh,” Jak replied, “You’ll see.” My infiltrator walked up to the guy on the steps. From his trench coat pocket, Jak produced three wristbands and a flash drive engraved with a lightning bolt. After tossing a wristband to both Nick and me to serve as our entry passes, he put his own on and handed the drive to the man. Without bothering to look up, the doorman snatched the flash drive away and tapped something on his smart phone’s screen. The door behind him gave a slight *click* as the remote lock undid itself. “Come on.” Nick and I followed quickly behind our guide.

As the door shut behind us, we were assaulted by the odor suspended in the hallway’s air; the scent of lust, both organic and emotional, overwhelmed our senses. “Whoa, strong,” Nick said, stumbling under the unexpected sensory onslaught. It suddenly all made sense. The overpowering sensations, hidden location, and bondage gear under our trench coats, the Livewire Club was a sex club.

“Welcome, your highness, to my little slice of heaven~” Jak sang, voice laden with smug pride. 

Opening the door at the end of the hall, my assumption was confirmed and the mystery of his success was revealed. Throughout the large, sci-fi themed room, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of people dancing, grinding, and even straight up fucking one another. More acrobatic dancers hung by their straps from the ceiling, suspended on cables that were made to look like power lines. 

The costumes worn by the clubbers themselves ranged from your standard – if very erotic – clothes to bondage gear and role-playing costumes. One man that passed us had a whole ‘cyborg’ theme to his costume, including a nerve-controlled, prosthetic third arm.

Jak dropped his trench coat to reveal his athletic body, covered in leather straps. However, from the waist down, he had left his bizarrely jointed changeling legs– minus the holes – which gave him a very peculiar appearance. By the time I finished examining my guide’s body, Nick had already run off to join in the festivities.

The whole scene was unbelievably arousing, both to me and the humans around me. I could feel my inner incubus stirring as I stared at the occupants of Livewire. Even as I began greedily sucking in the lust as fast as I could, my empty stomach growled, declaring that even this feast was not enough – would never be enough. All I could think through the aphrodisiac fog was, ‘MINE!’

Before I could go charging in, Jak grabbed my arm. “Hang on, your highness. I want to point out the fruits of my labor.” Pointing to the DJ on stage, my love collector said, “See him? That’s the owner of this place. Everyone here calls him Anon, thinking it’s a pseudonym. Guess what? The name on his birth certificate is Anonymous.” Giving a light chuckle, Jak pointed to another. “The bartender? That’s Anthony Titarenko. Though he’s a Russian immigrant and a member of Exorcism of Sin, the religious group, Anthony’s not officially a member of any of the gangs around here. However, he’s made a name for himself as an information trader.”

Pointing to a group of people on the landing overlooking the dance floor, Jak commented, “Then up there, from left to right, we have a pimp, a crack dealer, don’t know him, a meth dealer, their boss, two hit-men, Senator MacArthur, and Police Chief Douglass. They’re all as crooked as they come, and are regulars here. So, what’s first, food of business?”

Decisions, decisions… At this point, I was quite literally drooling. Free money? Political control? Food and sex? “Mmmm... Jak, I’m proud of you. This is exactly the kind of thing our hive needs. Expect a little something extra for your hard work.”

“You’re too kind, your highness,” Jak said, “but I couldn’t take it. I do this job for the fun of it. Besides, I still owe you for saving me off the streets, now don’t I?” Before I could reply, he had turned and dashed off into the crowd.

As I considered what to do first, my stomach and loins ended up making the decision for me. A woman came up and wrapped her arms around me, her breasts pressed up against my back. “You new here, hot stuff?” She whispered into my ear. “I don’t recognize you. How’s about I show you around?”





The girl straddling my lap broke away first, removing her tongue from my mouth. She was not the same girl that first came up to me, nor was she the second. I think that this is number six. Seven? I’m not really sure. Too much alcohol tends to fog things up. Hell, I don’t even know this girl’s name; Chrysalis’s seduction techniques worked that fast. I’m fuller than I’ve ever felt before, yet my stomach demands more. I felt like a starved man at an all-you-can-eat buffet. 

Even as I groped her breasts – which she really did enjoy – I softly moaned, “More… all mine.” Behind me, Nick and Jak walked up to where I’m seated. One of them taped me on the shoulder.

“Enjoying yourself?” Nick asks. When I turn to look at him, I notice that he is sweaty and covered in grime from his conquests. Jak, standing further back, is in a similar condition. “Well, the place is closing for the morning, and I wondered if you wanted to catch some people before we left?”

“Ah, yes…” I half said, half moaned. Lost in greedy thoughts, I didn’t notice my eyes flash a brilliant, two-tone green. My meal, however, did.

“Now that’s a cool trick. How did you do that with your eyes?”

Realizing my blunder, I smoothly replied, “Ah, it just happens sometimes. Now, if you’ll excuse me… Oh, I never caught your name. I’m Rex.”

“Sarah *Hic* Shrader,” she replied, her words muddled slightly by the alcohol.

“Well then, Sarah Shrader, thank you for tonight. Now, to see if I can catch Chief Douglas before he carts his drunken ass home.”

“Oh, *Hic* the boss is here?” Sarah asked. “Always knew he was *Hic* a sleaze.”

“So would that make you Officer Shrader?” At her nod, I let out a throaty, drunken chuckle. “Well, fuck the police.”

“I think you just did,” Nick groaned.





Given enough magic, a changeling can quickly heal from almost any injury that is not instantly fatal or damaging to the nerves. Unfortunately, curing a hangover is not one of those easy fixes. I mentally cursed Selene for letting the sun rise this morning and allowing this sunbeam to hit my face. I winced when I heard her scream; Why did Klika decide that now was a good time to roughhouse with the little human-alicorn hybrid?

Groaning, I sat up out of bed. ‘At least,’ I consoled myself, ‘I got the bartender, the DJ, and the police chief. And that lust… mmmm… Not a bad haul.’ The aforementioned ex-humans were currently cocooned safely within the truck that we had taken to the club. Mentally, I probed my newest converts; I figured that I had about twenty hours before they hatched. It was more than enough time for today’s tasks before I needed to attend to them. With those  three under my rule, my potential information network would expand dramatically and I would gain a position of power within the Atlanta Police Department, especially with how corrupt it had become within the past few years.

As I sat down to a breakfast of nearly raw steak, I called Selene and Klika over to me. “Girls, I have work that needs to be done out of the apartment today. Klika, I trust that you’ll keep an eye on your little sister?” Though Klika was physically younger and smaller in her true form than Selene, she was mentally far more mature than her sister because of her changeling heritage. At Klika’s nod, I smiled. “Good. Now, Selene, your math tutor will be here at 2:00. Klika, will you help Selene practice her magic until then? How’s this: Selene, if you work hard with your math tutor and Klika thinks that you have the Body-Illusion spell completely mastered by the time I get back, then we’ll go out for hot chocolate for Selene. Sound good?”

“COOL!” The little moon girl cheered.

“Oh, and Klika? I’ll give you extra allowance money if you take her practice seriously,” I said.

“Don’t worry, daddy! I won’t let her get distracted,” Klika assured me. I smiled in return.





Self-driving cars are a wonderful thing. I’m really glad that I splurged for them; my drunken ass wouldn’t have made it home safely last night and I didn’t want to be driving anywhere while hung-over today. As I recline in the driver’s seat, the car takes me across the city. Idly, I brush a long strand of golden hair out of my eye.

When I arrived at my destination, I carefully climbed out of the car. After taking a moment to steady myself on my high heels, ‘Jane’ the business woman entered the Atlanta Homeless shelter. Madison, the woman in charge of this shelter, greeted me. “Hey there, Jane! Let me guess, you’re hiring again?”

“Why else would Ah be here?” I responded with a quasi-fake smile. For my ‘Jane’ persona, I had dramatically increased my southern accent and made my voice very sweet sounding. “Ah’ve found some of my company’s best employees here.”

“Well, that’s good to here!” She said. “The back room is open if you want to interview their like before.”

Nodding, I turned to head into the main room, as usual. Upon arriving, I saw the three dozen or so men, women, and children who had remained in the shelter for the day. Clearing my throat, I called out, “Hello, ya’ll! My name is Jane Palmquest, and Ah work for Greenfyre, Inc. Ah wish to inform you – on the behalf of my company – that we are hiring now.” I smiled as several people perked up. “Yes, it’s exciting. Anyone over the age of sixteen who wishes to inquire, please follow me.” When over half the room’s occupants complied, I sighed; it was going to be a long day.





The young, African-American woman across the table from me looked really nervous, to which the emotion radiating off her agreed. Putting on my best friendly smile, I said, “Miss…”

“Jasmine. Jasmine Griffin.”

“Jasmine, relax. Ah wanted to see what you are like with a sudden, unexpected interview to gauge what you are like as a person,” I explained. “Now, what Ah’m looking for is to see if you are the right type of person. Ah cannot explain exactly what the job position is yet; Ah have to know if you would be a good match first. Do not worry about your skill or educational background; we provide on-the-job training. Ah also do not care about any of your personal history: drugs, crime, family, previous employment, etc. The only thing that matter are you and me right now, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good,” I said. “Now, many of these questions are very personal in nature. Know that ya don’t have to answer any of them; however, the more you answer, the better your chances are that you will get my recommendation for the formal interview, understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jasmine replied again.

“Tell me, do ya like your life? Would ya change a portion? Change yourself? Ya family? Or would ya rather completely start from scratch with a new identity?”

After thinking for a minute, my subject replied, “I don’t know. I guess it would be fun to try something new. I’ve always wanted to be a singer, but…” she trailed off for a moment, “…yeah, I don’t really have the voice for that.”

Bluntly, I asked, “Have ya ever had suicidal thoughts?”

“W-w-what?” Jasmine spluttered.

“Ah’m not asking if you are suicidal,” I said, “nor am Ah asking if you have ever tried committing suicide. Simply, have ya thought about ending your own life?”

“N-no, never.” However, by reading her emotions, I could sense the inner conflict that comes when a person tells an untruth.

“Have ya ever wanted to kill someone?” Again, she answered no, and again, I could tell that she was lying. “If ya could make Jasmine Griffin disappear right now and walk away from this building as someone completely different, would ya?”

“Didn’t I already answer that? I said I thought it might be fun to try something new.”

I tapped my fingers idly on the table, wishing that my hangover headache would go away already. “Last question,” I said, “if ya could do anything – and you have a little magic to help ya do it – and you were guaranteed to get away with it without anyone knowing that it was you that did it, what would ya do?”

“Hmm… I’d want to go to the moon, just to see why it started acting weird last month. Or maybe rob a bank, like the Phantoms. Two years and nearly twenty robberies, yet there are still no traces! Ya think that they use magic?” Jasmine asked.

“Anything is possible.” On the inside, I was grinning like a madman. Our bank robbing days, having ended months ago, were still legendary in the minds of the public. Outside, however, I maintained my serene expression. “Well, Jasmine, Ah think Ah know what Ah need to know. Despite what ya may be thinking the job is based on those questions, no, that isn’t it.” I pulled out a business card with the address of a small warehouse and a time printed on it. “Be there at that time for your formal examination, where we’ll explain all the details of the job. For our homeless employees, we offer discounted housing, so Ah would strongly recommend showing up there tomorrow.”

“Oh, thank you very much!” 





“Why do you think we’re meeting here, of all places?” one man whispered to another. They, along with sixteen others, stood waiting in a small, half empty warehouse. The opposite half of the room was blocked off by a large screen. Around the edge of their half, eighteen uniformed men stood at attention.

The clock struck twelve and I walked into the room while disguised as Jane. “Hello, everyone! Ah’m glad ya’ll can make it. Now, before I can explain the nature of the job ya’ll are here for, Ah need to warn you; secrecy is a big part of what we do at Greenfyre. If ya don’t think that you can keep a secret, or you don’t wish to be involved, the door’s right there.” I waved back to the entrance way that I had just emerged from. “If ya do stay, consider yourself hired. The contract is, however, quite binding. Ah can promise you this: the pay is good and the benefits are outstanding. Ah’ll give you twenty minutes to chose.”

As the clock ticked forwards, I could feel the people getting nervous; they had very few clues as to what it is that they are getting involved with. Some of them paced back and forth, while others just sat down on the floor. Six people did end up leaving before I called time.

“Is this everyone?” I asked. When they nodded, I gathered up my magic and shut the door with a wave of my hand. The lock clicked into place. “Now,” I said, dropping my false accent in the process, “Let me really introduce myself.”

A rush of green fire enveloped my form. Shocked, the twelve remaining humans backed away in fright. When the flames cleared, I towered over everybody in the room. While the humans were distracted by me, my changelings dropped their disguises. “I’m Alvarium Rex, King of the Changeling Hive,” I said in my deep, distorted voice. “I’m also the CEO of Greenfyre, the business front for my nation; you can see where it gets the name.” 

“What the hell are you?” a human voice called out.

Ignoring him, I gave a quick flex of my magic and slid the divider away from the center of the room. Behind it, dozens of cocoons were revealed; each one contained a human who was being contained to be fed upon while the love collectors fed on their partners. Gasps of surprise emanated from the dozen conscious humans. “I’m so glad you decided to join. Collectors, if you would?”

The collectors pounced, wings propelling them faster than expected. The humans barely had time to react as my changelings swarmed them. One by one, the humans fell to the venomous bites of my people. One guy, in particular, managed to hold them off for a good five minutes before he too succumbed.

“I’m really quite sorry about the rough treatment. It was the only way,” I consoled, knowing that the immobile humans could still hear me. As the psychedelic portions of our venom took hold, I could feel them emotionally lose their grip on reality. “Cocoon them.”

One by one, they were wrapped up tight. And one by one, I initiated the conversion process on the soon-to-be ex-humans. “Hey,” I said to them once they were all safely stowed away, even though the hallucinations made it near impossible for them to focus on me. “At least I wasn’t lying about the job or giving you a home. Trust me, this is for the better.”





Sally-Ann flitted around her office space, grabbing papers and charts out from their disorganized heaps. Across her wall, various documents were pinned up, threads of string chasing the cross references she had made. Various taped-up charts detailed everything from computer code to arcane formulas.

I watched her attempt to organize herself from my seat on a small cloud; she had an honest-to-god cloud in her office and used it as a chair. It was the comfiest thing I had ever sat upon. I decided then and there that I would make a cloud bed when I got back to my apartment. All I’d need is tap water.

Finally, she seemed to have everything she needed in her arms. As she spread them out on the table, I saw tables, charts, some of the most complex magical formulas I had ever seen, a laptop, and something that looked like it was made out of tape and aluminum foil. “Oh, your highness, I’m so excited to have your help with this project!” she squealed. “Oh, right, professionalism. Sorry. Anyway, before we started, I wanted to know if you’d be willing to authorize an expedition to Cloudsdale.”

“Oh, what’s up, besides the obvious floating city?”

The head of Research & Development giggled. “Some of my team found references to weather manipulating techniques in the Canterlot Archives – which, by the way, we’ve just finished compiling a searchable database for – but no actual instructions for the techniques. Even if we never get into the weather business, I think that having the information from the Cloudsdale Library might be a good idea anyway.”

I rocked back and forth on the puffy cloud as I listened to my excited changeling’s proposal. They say that knowledge is power; Sally-Anne was absolutely right about the value of retrieving said knowledge. Mulling it over, I realized that it would only take a pair of changelings a few hours of work to capture the sky city’s knowledge. I’d only have to coordinate with Chrysalis about getting a guide, and then Sally-Anne’s team could cross over through one of our more permanent portals. Nodding in approval, I said, “Assemble a retrieval team. I’ll get you a guide to Cloudsdale.”

Sally-Anne literally jumped for joy. “Thank you, your highness! I promise that we won’t let you down!”

“Now, why have you asked for my help?” I inquired.

“Well, my king, I am conducting a formal analysis on all magic that we can use. This project will, if all goes to plan, enable us to develop a computer code equivalent to the arcane formulas we use to mold our magic for the spells. Our preliminary results have indicated that computers can manipulate magic fields and draw upon the reserves stored within crystals. Digitizing magic would enable the casting of complex magic by anyone, not just changelings. Nothing is set in stone yet, so don’t hold your breath, but the results are promising.”

“Cut to the chase. What do you need from me?” I asked.

Blushing, Sally-Anne said, “Sorry, I was rambling. Anyway, you’re the hive’s foremost expert on the Teleportation spell, as well as being the controller of the hive mind. Change.lng,” she gestured to her laptop, “is going to help me with the analysis. When I give you the signal, I want you to teleport, but I want you to make the destination exactly the same as your starting location. This will allow.lng to record the core formation of the spell matrix.”

“Got it,” I replied. She counted down from ten while the living program formed a spell. The green aura expanded out from the computer and enveloped me. A tenth of a second after 0, I had gathered up my magic and folded it into the correct matrix for teleportation. I flashed, but remained unmoved. Change.lng’s aura flickered out as a series of symbols appeared on the screen. “How is that?”

“Good,” Sally-Anne replied with a smile. “Come have a look.” 

I peered at the monitor and read through the two page formula. It was interesting seeing the formula written out instead of as just an idea. I smirked when I saw the last symbol. “Ha, it caught it.”

“Caught what, sir?”

Pointing at the symbol, I declared, “I intentionally inverted Clover the Clever’s sixth constant. Wastes a bit of magic, sure, but now I know that it’s really reading me.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, your highness,” she said enthusiastically. “Change.lng, if you would fix that and save the file, that would be great.”

//Change.lng: Understood, creator,// the program said through the computer’s speakers.

“Now, for the next test…” She trailed off, her voice hesitant. A light blush decorated her cheeks. “Well…”

“You want me to test the hive connection, right?”

The blush on her face intensified. “… Yes. I’m going to need you to…” Her voice dropped into an indecipherable mutter.

“What was that?”

“I… need you to fully invade my mind.”

“WHAT?” I yelled. 

“I need to be in your total control, with no thoughts of my own, no control over my body, and no memory left unseen. I need you to fill the core of my mind with yourself.”

If there was one power I did not like using, it was full mental invasion. Basically, she had just asked me to mind-rape her. I had done it before, exactly three times. The first was on Marcus, my second ever convert. Though he seemed normal to outsiders, I had attempted to force loyalty upon him and accidentally left him nothing more than a brainwashed slave with little personality of his own, though I did not realize it until a week or so later. By that time, I had already converted Clark Oswin. The zealot personality that was left in his place eventually took the name Taruke, servant. Katie Sanders was number three. In an attempt to be more subtle about ‘reprogramming’ her, I went only half as far as I had with the previous two. That was a mistake. The old and new parts of her mind could not reconcile their differences. I felt the noose tighten around her neck and her mind sever the connection to the hive.

Since then, I had never done more than read the surface thoughts of my changelings and gave orders. For her to ask me to invade her mind so fully, even if I retracted without changing anything, felt so wrong. Mentally, I did the equivalent of curling up in a ball; So hidden away from the link, I fell deaf to the voices of my hive. “Why would you ask me to do something like that?”

“Your highness, for the good of the hive, I want to know how the link works. For myself however, I want to feel it for myself. I want to know what it’s like to surrender myself so completely to another, one that has total control over me… someone who could destroy me at a whim.”  She sighed, blush intensifying. Even without the link, I could tell that she was getting off on the idea; it only served to disturb me more. “Had we lived even a few hundred years ago, you could have been called a god. Someone with your power…”

She looked me in the eye. “I want this,” Sally-Anne said, poking the air in front of her for emphasis. “If anything happens, I’ve made my peace. But it won’t, because I trust you.”

“What if I hurt you? How could you ever forgive me?”

She rested her hand on my shoulder. “There’s nothing to forgive. Do it.”

I nodded while she closed her eyes. With a thought, I signaled Change.lng to start recording us. Gathering my magic and consciousness into the fleshy crown on my head that served as the focal point for the link, I crept gently down the connection. “Sorry,” I whispered. 

The feeling was akin to being squeezed down a pipe, then finding yourself in a giant room in which you cannot help but to grow and fill it. The personality that was Sally-Anne was simultaneously crushed by my presence and saturated by my consciousness; every thought, every memory, every sense that was once hers, was now mine. I opened both sets of eyes and looked at myself, one body sitting on a cloud and the other standing next to it. I was simultaneously one person and two – a paradoxical sensation if there ever was one. 

Both sets of eyes turned towards the computer monitor where streams of arcane symbols were appearing. Sally-Anne’s memories told me to wait to release the invasion until the computer was done. However, this process was taking far longer than it had before and I wanted it done now. Catching a glimpse of my first body with the eyes of my second, I lay witness to the recollection of Sally-Anne’s memories concerning me. Thoughts, conversations, even sexual fantasies involving me came to mind; the suppressed personality, though unable to fight off my control, squirmed within its confines, as if it was aware of what I was seeing. The whole situation left me feeling very dirty. It was not the explicit dreams – that I could deal with – but rather that I was witness to something so intimate and private. 

Upon the ping of the computer signaling its completion, I retracted as fast as I could. Hastily, I stood from my cloud seat and shook her shoulders, for they were hers once again. She blinked, then spoke, “Wow… That… was terrifying. I felt so small. It was so dark…” Tears welled up in my eyes. I feared that I had done something horrible to her. “..but it was so warm,” she continued. “I could feel your gentle embrace. Even without a body of my own, I felt complete. Were I human, I would say that that is the feeling of being cradled by a god.”

She jumped, moving so fast that I had no time to react. Her lips met mine in a passionate kiss. Though her arms reached around to embrace me, I pushed away. “I’m so sorry!” I wailed. “I broke you! I shattered someone again!”

“Shhh…” she hissed gently. “It’s alright. I’m fine. The truth is, I’ve always wanted you to do that to me.”

“Oh… um…” I mumbled, unable to form words. “Can we get back to science, at least until I get my head on straight?” Changing the subject, yes, that was good. I did not want anything to do with emotions right now, not with our heads still so scrambled.

“Mmm… fine,” Sally-Anne relented. She turned to the laptop and examined the magic that had been recorded, all six-thousand pages of it. “Damn, that’s some complex magic.”

“What? And since when did you swear?” I asked as I leaned in towards the computer.

“I said I was fine, not unchanged,” She said. My heart sank. “See these symbols?” She pointed to the first few lines of magical code. “These are only associated with soul magic, monstrously powerful stuff. This will take weeks to decipher it all. That reminds me,” her magic flared and she pulled the aluminum foil thing towards herself. My… our… her memories told me that it was a disposable affinity tester.

“You want to see what kind of magic I’m good at?” I spoke. At her confirmation, I took the testing device and channeled a miniscule portion of my magic into it. Symbols across the board lit up, displaying the strength of my magic’s attunement to the different classifications. The results were disheartening, to say the least.

Examining my results, The R&D head said, “I’m so sorry, your highness. That is a real shame.”

“I expected to have a better score than that. To think that I’ll never fling fireballs or lightning bolts, or any element for that matter. There goes my RPG game dreams. Besides a boost in mental magic, I’m below average in everything. Hey, what are those?” I said, pointing to some of the other, more obscure characters that were glowing with my magic.

“I’ll have to double check. I just copied this device from the diagram when I made it. I just assumed that they helped it work, but now I’m not so sure. That last one lit up for me, too, though not as brightly.” The R&D head pulled up a new window and started searching the Canterlot Archive. It only took her a few minutes to find the correct book, then another minute to find the correct passage within. “Ah, those are the special affinities. It is so rare that a unicorn even has a hope of using those branches of magic that most don’t even test for them. It looks like we are an exception.”

“So what’s the verdict?” 

“Hmm… It looks like you have an affinity, from least to greatest, in divination, space/time – which explains your teleportation skill – and, like me, soul magic. The soul magic affinity is far stronger for you than me,” she explained. Pulling up a new window on the laptop, she said showed me a spell formula. “This is Soul-Sight, the most basic of the spiritual school of magic. Go look out the window and cast it on yourself. It’s breathtaking; I’ve tried it myself.”

The formula looked simple enough. After memorizing it quickly, I strode to the window. I closed my eyes, formed the spell, and released. The drain was almost unnoticeable. Upon opening my eyes, I saw the world in blurry monochrome. However, when I saw a man on the sidewalk below, my jaw dropped. He was a figure made of pure light and flame in a color that was utterly impossible. Unlike the blurry, grey backdrop, he stood out sharper than I had ever seen before. There were no words to describe the logic-defying beauty that was the man’s soul. Up and down the street, I saw more and more people, each more stunning than the last. Within me, a feeling of desire stirred; whether it was greed, lust, or hunger, I could not say. 

Turning, I made to look at the nearest soul to me. Immediately, I regretted that. Though she looked as beautiful as any other soul, her visage was marred by what looked like thick, thorny v̞̫̮͈̤͞ͅi͙̰͝n҉̜̳͚e̙̣͢s that dove in and out of the flesh of her soul. Each v̞̫̮͈̤͞ͅi͙̰͝n҉̜̳͚e̙̣͢, a horrible, revolting, similarly impossible color, seemed to be both drinking her essence and replacing it with theirs. Unlike the other human souls, Sally-Anne had barbed v̞̫̮͈̤͞ͅi͙̰͝n҉̜̳͚e̙̣͢s of her own that seemed to be affectionately curling around the parasitic ones. Worse, said parasite imparted within me a sense of familiarity, despite me having never seen it before.

It was when I followed one of the longest and thickest foreign v̞̫̮͈̤͞ͅi͙̰͝n҉̜̳͚e̙̣͢s that I felt sick; it stretched out towards me before fading away inches from my skin. At that moment, I realized that I could not see my own soul. With a feeling of dread, I sent a simple control command down the link to the changeling. <<Clench your fist.>> The soul v̞̫̮͈̤͞ͅi͙̰͝n҉̜̳͚e̙̣͢ pulsed and her fingers curled. I deactivated the spell. “Sally… you can cast Soul-Sight, right?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“What do I look like?”

Her eyes closed as her fingers glowed with the magic. When she opened them, her eyes were illuminated by the Soul-Sight. 

She blinked. 

Her eyes widened and pupils constricted. 

Tears of blood streamed down her cheeks.

Her silent screams of agony rocked the entire hive.

> B̦̖͔͈͂ͭ̈ȑ̜̻̰̭̗̞͇̿ͅï̗̦͙̺͌ͨ̾ͫ̚a͉͎̺̘̤̾ͬͅr͚̩̮̱̜̱̰͙̣̀ͮ͂̃́͊͊͐ ̪̱͖̖̮̼̹͙̔͌ͣ̇ͯ͑P̰͙̱̣͓͒̔̅̔͊ͦ̉a̭̫̖͚̻̙̗ͪͩ͛ͥ̿t̞̄ͨ̉̾́̄̚c̼̬̟ͥͮ͆̀h̺̰̞̘̥̭̙̰̞͆͒͂̀̀ͤ̃̉
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chrysalis crept quietly through the nearly silent forest. Even though her hooves sank into the soft earth, she left no trail, no hoof prints. Every single tree looked exactly the same as its neighbor; impossibly tall with a trunk thicker than a small house. The wind blew through the leaves in time with her physical body’s sleeping breath. Above her, representations of the changelings in her hive flitted to and fro, completely ignoring their queen on the forest floor below. Try as she might, she could not find her dream partner of two years.

Returning to the stone archway that sometimes led to the dream of Luna and Selene, Chrysalis turned west. It was the only direction she had yet to try, but a sense of foreboding had kept her away until now. As she walked, her changelings overhead became fewer and fewer in numbers until she could no longer see any of them.

Chrysalis maintained her pace for an uncertain amount of time. Eventually, there seemed to be a sort of shift; something was different about the dream forest here than anywhere else. Chrysalis just could not put her hoof on it. Twenty rows of trees later, she had discerned the distinction; the color was fading from the world. With each westward step, the details grew more monochrome and blurred.

So enthralled by the failing color of the foliage above, Chrysalis failed to notice the obstruction on the otherwise smooth ground. Her hoof snagged and she was sent tumbling to the earthen floor. However, upon glancing back, she caught a flicker of color in the corner of her eye, but could otherwise not identify what she had tripped over. 

Picking herself up and dusting herself off, Chrysalis turned west once more. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw motion in the otherwise still forest. Whipping her head around, she saw absolutely nothing. She blinked, then, after a moment’s hesitation, turned back to the path. Again, she saw motion, but it was gone again before she could identify it. However, upon the sixth time, she caught a glimpse of the elusive object: an ugly colored v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻ that oozed an inky substance. By the tenth time she spotted one, it took a whole second before the thorny v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻ retreated into the wood of the tree it was resting upon.

As she continued to walk, the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s grew bolder and bolder, remaining in sight for longer periods of time and in greater numbers. Eventually, the forest floor was covered in writhing, oozing v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s, though they would clear a path for Chrysalis and would shy away from her touch; even this lessened as she trotted forwards. By this point in her journey, Chrysalis had lost all color vision, with the exception of the sickly, unidentifiable color of the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s.

Something about these plants felt vaguely familiar to the changeling queen, like a half-remembered memory, though nothing concrete came to mind. The veritable briar patch slowly became more and more difficult to navigate as the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s cleared less and less space. When she rounded a v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻-covered tree, Chrysalis gasped. In front of her dangled one of Rex’s changelings, but made out of brilliant light and flame. Ví͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s burrowed through the glowing changeling’s flesh, though it didn’t seem to mind. In fact, the changeling seemed to relish the embrace of its captor. 



“Are you alright?” Chrysalis called out.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little bored with these forms and all. Paperwork’s a hassle, you know?”

“Paperwork? But what about the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s piercing your body?” Chrysalis asked.

“Vines? The hell are you talking about, Queen Chrysalis? Actually, how are you talking to me anyway?” The entangled changeling inquired, seemingly oblivious to Chrysalis’s confusion.

“I am talking to you in the shared dream.”

The glowing earthling tapped his chin. “Well, that would explain things. I’m actually awake and in my office right now. I’m hearing you over the link like I would any other ‘ling from my hive. What kind of dream would have me being pierced by v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s?”

“I’m starting to suspect a nightmare,” Chrysalis replied, “though it looks like you are actually enjoying your… predicament. Tell me, do you have any knowledge of King Rex’s whereabouts?”

“Yeah, about that…” the changeling said, hesitantly. “He’s in the hospital. Rumor has it that something happened involving a misfired spell or something. There was this horrible scream of agony that slammed through the link, then one of the ‘lings went silent.” Chrysalis was bothered by the news. Even when sleeping or not thinking, a changeling still continuously broadcasts its subconscious thoughts and accesses the hive memory. For a changeling to fall silent means that the changeling has suffered catastrophic wounds. The only thing worse was to be cut from the hive, meaning death. 

“Seconds later,” the changeling continued, “King clammed up tighter than Fort Knox. No one’s been able to contact him since. If you can get him to open up, that would be a lifesaver.”

“I will try,” Chrysalis promised. Pushing forward on hoof so as to avoid the low-hanging v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s, she continued onwards in her search for her masculine counterpart. The briar patch now formed almost a fluid mass in front of her; the writhing, slimy v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s pushed aside easily if she tried, but it no longer actively moved aside. With each sweep of her fore hoof and magic, the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s grew more and more resistant to her labors. Now convinced that these disgusting plants were part of some elaborate defense mechanism concocted by Rex, Chrysalis plowed onwards.

However, when the changeling queen stepped on a particularly rigid v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻, the spines actually pierced her hoof. Chrysalis recoiled at the unexpected pain, mild as it was; even a pinprick like that should not have been felt in a dream. Examining her hoof, Chrysalis discovered that the puncture was releasing an acrid smoke of the same color as the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s. Try as she might, Chrysalis could not will the wound shut.

Deciding that the bizarre plants were not worth the effort, Chrysalis turned to retrace her steps. However, she found that the trail she had blazed had regrown so fully that retreat was nigh impossible. The v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s overhead made flight an exercise in futility. She was trapped with no way to wake up and isolated from her own hive; the only option was to move forwards.

With each step, the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s grew more aggressive; spines slashed and stabbed at her. Though her chitin was slowly peeled away to be replaced by the smoking wounds, the pain never grew more than a series of very annoying pricks. With one last shove, she burst forwards into a sudden clearing, her body nothing more than an amorphous, smoking mass.

As she moved to the center of the clearing, Chrysalis could not help but take in the sight above; a dome of v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s, not black but equally dark, suspended hundreds of luminous changelings, all facing away from the clearing. Each and every v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻ was interwoven, collecting into thick bundles that originated from the center. As the millions of v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s approached the origin, they seemed to take on a fleshy appearance, reminiscent more of octopus tentacles than plant matter. There, at the very center of it all, lay a massive, logically impossible c̷͓͕̩͉̟̣r̫͚͈e̴̳̩̹a̴̟t̷͖̝ur̪͕͚̹͔̻͉ẹ͈͓̕. It glowed with the same nasty, unidentifiable color as its v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s. Its bubbling, rippling flesh folded in upon itself in a way that was perpendicular to all three special dimensions. Worse, she could not help but to see the entirety of the c̷͓͕̩͉̟̣r̫͚͈e̴̳̩̹a̴̟t̷͖̝ur̪͕͚̹͔̻͉e’s infinite complexity; unlike normal vision, Chrysalis could not filter out a single detail.

With each step closer to the headache-inducing creature, Chrysalis’s form re-solidified. When she was only a step away, it momentarily opened a massive, two-tone green eye before closing it again. “Hello, Chrysalis.”

The voice was unmistakable. “Rex?”





I could feel Chrysalis walking through my b͖̘̼r͉͝í̹͉̮a̭͈͢r̷͔͓̻̤ ͕̝͔p̢̖͉̻̜̹a̤͈̯̠̮ͅt͎̖̙͔͖c̤͍h̰͖̲͖͖͢ͅ. Every v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻ she touched brushed against the edge of my consciousness. It took a while for her to finally reach my clearing, not that I really cared. 

Eventually, she stumbled into the domed space. I opened my eye and saw that she had been reduced to an amorphous cloud, but was slowly regaining form. However, having been stripped of her real body and under the effects of the soul sight, the form that coalesced looked frighteningly similar to my own. “Hello, Chrysalis.”

“Rex?”

Without saying anything, I gestured with one of my claws towards the changeling, whose soul was a nearly perfect replica of my own. She screamed; Chrysalis was shocked by the horrifying, impossible visage she had assumed. 

With a thought from me, normal color returned to the forest and the v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s faded out of existence. Upon the end of the Soul-Sight-like effect, our dream bodies restored themselves to their proper forms. Well, almost. My own body flickered, incapable of settling correctly. Yet, I ignored that, like everything else in the dream, and did not move from my spot in the shade of a tree.

“Rex, what was that? What is going on?” When I failed to respond, Chrysalis grew angry. “Do not ignore me, Alvarium Rex! Tell me what that was!”

After a very long period of silence, I finally spoke, “Do you ever feel like a monster? We sure look like monsters.”

“Please, tell me what that was,” Chrysalis sighed.

Again, I was silent for a long period. Slowly, I listed aloud, “Hemorrhagic stroke, grand mal seizure, haemolacria, damaged retina, damaged optic nerve, 10% loss of the occipital lobe. Combined effect: reduced visual acuity and partial or complete inability to distinguish certain features, such as motion, faces, and non-linguistic symbols. Estimated chance of recovery:  7%.”

“What?” Chrysalis asked, confused about the words I had spoken.

“According to the doctors, that’s what happens when a normal person uses Soul-Sight to look at me; you too, if I’m seeing things right. Hell, even the memory of what she saw is corrosive to the mind,” I explained. With a small grunt, I sat up and rested my bare back against the bark of the tree. “And those v͔̺̙̘͇̫̲í͓̝̙̜n̷̩̪̬̝̦̰e̻s? That’s the hive link, in all its glory. We literally infect our changelings with bits of ourselves. With just a thought you can crush them. On a whim, we can consume everything that they are.” I paused. Then, ever so slowly, I enunciated, “So, does. That. Make. Us. Monsters?”

Chrysalis sat on her haunches, deep in thought. “It’s been so long since I asked that question. Let me tell you what I told myself all those countless years ago. Yes, Rex, we’re monsters. On the outside? Definitely, there is no question. On the inside, though? Now I see that even our souls are monstrous.” I gave no visible response to her speech, nor could I find it within myself to muster up the energy to really care, either. With no reaction from me, Chrysalis continued, “Yes, we’re monsters. The question is: have we ever stopped being ponies, or a human in your case? Good and evil have a very blurry line between them.”

I listened to the wind rustle the leaves. I listened to my changelings work or sleep around me. Even the sound of my heartbeat did not escape my notice. “Chrissie, why do they love me?”

“Hm?”

“My changelings,” I replied, “they respect me. They adore me. Hell, one even implied that I was her god right before I fried her brain. Why do they do that?”

“That’s a tough one… When I first started out, I was a simple pegasus mare. I traveled the young nation of Equestria with an acting troop. My dream was big, but simple; I wanted to be the most loved actress in the world. This was after Luna and Celestia’s ascension, but just before Discord appeared. I was one of his first victims. He turned my want for love into a physical need…” Here she trailed off for a time. 

“They called me a monster, a freak,” Chrysalis said, her tone was even and controlled. “Well… all but one. Quicksilver saw through my hideous appearance and loved me regardless. When he was struck down while defending me, I lost it. Thirty ponies died in my rage, drained of every last drop of emotion; they were my first kills. Panicked, I did everything I could think of to save a dying Quicksilver, but it wasn’t enough. Eventually, I poured my life’s essence in and, well, you know how that goes.”

She looked over at me, having moved to sit next to me against the tree sometime during her tale. “I found that his love for me only grew, even if I could not feed upon it. The other converts – we lacked the power to shift at this point, so we weren’t truly changelings yet – loved me as well, even when, like yours, they had no reason to do so. But there was a difference in their love. Those who worked under Quicksilver’s rule treated me like a lover. Those who worked directly under me treated me like members of an excited audience at one of my shows.”

“Hm?”

“They answer to you, even if you ask nothing,” Chrysalis said. Her eyes closed as she leaned her head back against the bark. “You want to be loved? They love you to death. I think how they think depends on who is in the hive. When Quicksilver eventually died, they stopped wanting to be lovers and changed to being friends. When I took another changeling as a consort, the rest of my ‘lings lusted after me once again.  Ask yourself, who are your oldest changelings and who are your most influential?”

I thought. First was Nick, my best friend; then Marcus, the accidental slave; Klika, my flesh-and-blood daughter; and Taruke, the zealot. Over a third of my changelings were ex-homeless humans. There was also the fact that I had given each and every one of them a set of powers straight from a fantasy novel, yet I controlled even more power beyond that. 

Realization dawned on me. “I made them like that, didn’t I?” I asked.

“You did. Don’t even bother fighting it. You have, what, two hundred in your hive?”

“Three-forty-one,” I corrected.

“Right, it’s part of your hive’s culture now. Just relax and enjoy it,” Chrysalis nonchalantly said. “Besides, it’s not like they are that far off. We’re kind of similar to the gods. Did I ever tell you the story of how I got my head cut off... twice... in one evening?”

“Really?”

“Oh yes,” Chrysalis chuckled, “that’s a classic. My point is that I pulled myself back from the dead. Recent events have given me answers on how I did so, but I digress. The gods, they come back to life when slain. I watched Celestia get her heart ripped out by Discord, only to be fine a minute later. Unlike them, however, I’m still mortal; I will die for good if I run out of magic.”

“Ah, well, that’s good for me to know,” I replied. A small smile crossed my lips as my friend leaned against me.

“Will you come out of your shell, now?” Chrysalis asked. “Your hive is worried about you. I’m worried about you.”

I stood up, stretching my dream body. During our conversation, my form had finally settled with my changeling body. I gave my wings a little flutter, airing them out. “Yeah, thanks, Chrissie. Hey, how did…?”

“I talked to the projections of your changelings.”

“Ah.”





The woman in the room pinned a photograph to her wall. A red thread connected that pin to another, holding up a news article. She took a step back, eyeing the hundreds of yards of thread crisscrossing her room. Maps, charts, sticky notes, and photos covered every inch of every exposed surface. Idly, she flexed the sore muscles on her back and fiddled with the other worldly anti-magic ring on her finger. It had given her a huge gemstone; she figured it was only fair that the beast who took her love got jewelry in return. Well, not that it would like this particular ring.

“You’ll be mine soon, Hive King.”

> I Spy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I awoke to the sounds of people speaking over the noise of a television. My eyes slowly opened to the sight of the crowded hospital waiting room. A quick glance up revealed that the clock on the wall read 5:12 AM, far too early for my tastes. ‘A king shouldn’t have to wake up before 9:00.’ I grumbled incoherently, my brain fogged up by the early hour. I cracked my neck as I worked out the kinks from sleeping in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs. Slowly, I stood up and shuffled down the hall to the restrooms to freshen up. As I walked, I checked in with the hive, much to their relief. The nurse changeling caring for Sally-Anne informed me that she was still asleep, and that he would come get me when she awoke.

Upon returning to the waiting room significantly more awake, I plopped down into a chair next to a man who felt quite upset. The anxiety radiating off of him had a slightly bitter taste, but nothing terrible. “Hey, are you alright?” I asked him after a few minutes. “I don’t mean to pry, but if there’s anything I can do to help, just ask.”

He gave a grouchy snort. “I’m fine.”

“But you’re obviously worried about something; it’s written all over your face,” I replied. “I’m Al, by the way.” I offered my hand to shake, which he took.

“I’m Ian.” He sighed, “It’s just, my wife didn’t return home from work last night, then I get a call from the hospital telling me that she’s in intensive care.”

“Damn, what happened?” I asked.

Ian replied, “She had a stroke. No warnings, no family history, just BOOM, gone.” He bent his head forwards, resting it in the palms of his hands.

“The same thing happened to my employee,” I said grimly. “One moment, we’re working on a project, and the next, she’s out like a light.”

I looked away from Ian when the door to the waiting room opened. Out strode Sally-Anne’s nurse. He quickly walked towards me. “Sir, Sally-Anne Jones is awake. She asked to see you.”

The man beside me jumped up. “Sally-Anne’s my wife! I’m Ian Jones! Why would she ask to see him?” Ian asked, pointing to me.

Now this was a whole new level of awkward. I had completely forgotten that she was married and had not remembered said fact when I had been in her head. There’s a difference between ‘having a memory’ and ‘actively remembering it.’ Now I, the object of Sally-Anne’s affections and the reason she’s in the hospital in the first place, was standing next to her actual husband.

“I’m her boss and friend. I always care for those who work for me, especially if they are friends. I dropped everything to get her to the hospital, and I had to leave my daughters with my brother.”

Turning to me, Ian growled, “Why the hell didn’t you call me earlier instead of letting me wonder what had happened to her for hours?”

“Hey! I didn’t know a thing about you! I can barely even remember her mentioning that she was married, let alone what you were like,” I retorted. 

<< I’m sorry to interrupt, your highness, but there’s a problem,>> the nurse said over the hive link. <<Sally-Anne is suffering from Magic Feedback Resonance Disorder.>>

<<Quickly and in English, please,>> I asked.

<<The backlash from the Soul-Sight spell collapsing made her magic reserves start to vibrate, creating a temporary numbing effect. She won’t be able to feel or call upon her magic for at least another two days. Since she was unconscious and undisguised at the time of symptom onset, she’s locked in changeling form until she recovers.>>

“Crap,” I said aloud. 

Ian gave me a look, and then turned to the nurse. “What the hell are we waiting for? I want to see my wife!”

<<May I speak through you for a minute, nurse?>> I asked. He gave a slight nod. I took control of his mouth and lungs. “Follow me.” <<Go on, lead us to her room, but don’t take us in yet.>> As the nurse lead us forwards, through him I said to Ian, “You must love your wife very much.”

“Hell yeah,” he indignantly replied. However, it was not his words that I was after, but his emotions. Every memory a human has is encoded with emotion. By priming him with thoughts of Sally-Anne’s love, it would bring every related memory forwards in his mind. I watched the emotions stir within him, until at last I caught a glimpse of what I was searching for: true love. Even for the split second that the true love had surfaced, it was enough to make the mouths of the nurse and I water. 

For a fraction of a second, I was envious of Sally-Anne; she got to eat true love on a daily basis, while I had not tasted anything that pure in years, probably since before Klika was born. Hell, I don’t even think my Catherine’s love was that appetizing. I shook my head and shoved those thoughts aside.

As we reached the private hospital room, I made my decision. <<Ginny.>>

The head of my Silencers stirred. <<Yes, Rex?>>

<< Code: Unmasked. Target: Ian Jones, husband of Sally-Anne Jones. Objective: observation only.>>

<<Understood,>> she replied.

As the nurse reached the door, I stopped him. Through him, I said, “There is something that I must tell you, Ian Jones. In this world, there are unexplainable things that happen, sometimes to ordinary people. There are thing that people are not meant to see or understand. There are things that defy all logic. You know of the sky, that one is obvious. Sally-Anne is another.”

Dread overcame Ian. “What the hell happened to my wife?”

“This is the reason why I hired her,” I said through my own mouth, “and why she came to this particular hospital. We,” I pointed to the nurse, “have changed.”

Before Ian could reply, the nurse opened the door and stepped inside. “Sally-Anne, you have visitors.”

Ian walked inside while I followed after. As I passed the nurse, I whispered, “Stay here for a minute, ok?” He nodded.

Ian gasped when he saw his wife, or more accurately, saw his wife’s true form. Black chitin had replaced her freckled white skin. A black fin protruded off of the back of her bald head. Her head was supported by a neck brace so that she wouldn’t move too much and further damage the rapidly healing tissue. Through compound eyes, she watched us. “Sal? Is that you?” Ian asked.

“Hey honey,” she said, her voice having taken on the signature changeling echo, though still recognizable as her own voice. The injured changeling gave a weak, toothy smile, which drew attention to the two fangs protruding out from her lips.

“W-w-what the hell…” Ian said; his eyes were wide with disbelief. He took a step back, then another. 

“I wish you didn’t have to see me like this,” Sally-Anne said weakly.

“You. You’re a changeling!” Ian said, taking yet another step back.

I scowled. ‘How did he know that?’ I wondered. Behind his back, I transformed into a standard changeling, rather than my true form. “Tell me, how do you know that?” Ian spun around to look at me. I continued speaking, “I’m sure that none of us would ever be so careless as to say that word. The only reason I would ever willingly allow you to see our curse is because you are her husband, ‘til death do you part and all.”

Tears welled up in the human’s eyes as I spoke. His body started uncontrollably shaking. Fear and anger radiated off of him; it was not the reaction I was expecting. “We’re sick, that’s all. She was helping me understand our curse,” I explained, but it seemed that my words were not getting to Ian.

“‘Til death do you part…” Ian mused, and then pulled out his cell phone and tapped a few buttons while looking at it out of the corner of his eye; the main focus of his vision never left me. He held up the phone next to his ear and said, “I’m out. They got Sal.” He dropped the phone and stomped on it, smashing it to pieces. He snorted, “The crazy chick with the griffin was right…”

Suddenly, Ian turned and bolted out the door of the room. Sally-Anne screamed, “IAN! WAIT!” I reapplied my human form and chased after him. As I exited the room, I saw him round the corner ahead. Pumping my legs, I raced as fast as I could to catch the surprisingly swift man. I careened past a janitor’s cart, almost colliding with the janitor herself in my efforts to catch Ian, much to the janitor’s annoyance. When I rounded the next corner, I saw Ian dive into… the restroom?

Entering the restroom a second later, I saw Ian with put something in his mouth. “What the hell is going on with you? Your wife-“

“SHE’S DEAD! YOU FUCKING KILLED HER! THAT’S HOW YOU CHANGELINGS WORK! You kill your victims and replace them so that you can eat their loved ones! Well, I’m not going to be food,” Ian declared between gasps for breath. “Hang on, Sal, I’m… co…m…ing…” He dropped to the ground, convulsing and frothing at the mouth. Only a second later, he was still.

I raced over to where he lay and felt for a pulse. It was weak and fading fast. <<DOCTOR! NURSE!>> I roared over the hive mind. Tapping into their memories, I pulled out every memory they had of emergency first aid, including the magical knowledge acquired from the Canterlot Archives. Simultaneously, I passed the memories of the events to them. My hands lit up with magic, magic that quickly surrounded his heart. Squeeze, release, squeeze, release, I kept his heart beating with telekinesis.

Seconds later, the nurse that had lead me to Sally-Anne burst through the door while carrying a defibrillator. Shortly after, a changeling doctor rushed into the room, pushing a gurney. I released the magic on his heart and used it to rip away Ian’s shirt. The nurse placed the paddles on his chest and attempted to restart his heart. Two, three, four, five times the nurse tried, but to no avail. 

Eventually, the doctor proclaimed, “He’s gone. Time of death, 5:39 AM.” The doctor reached forwards and closed Ian’s eyes.





Sally-Anne cried for hours. Eventually, it got to the point where the hospital staff had to sedate her in order to keep her from accidentally hurting herself. I had almost retreated within myself again, having hurt my changeling so much in such a little time. However, I pushed the oncoming storm of self-loathing aside when I saw the broken remains of his cell phone.

Having scooped them up, I brought them to Ginny. “He called someone as soon as he found out that she was a changeling.”

“Which was a stupid move, your idiocy,” Ginny replied.

“Hey, I thought I could trust the man. He had actual, honest-to-god true love for Sally-Anne. I didn’t think he’d go nuts on me; hell, I didn’t even get the full explanation out before he was gone,” I said. “Of course, that presents our problem. Who did he call and how did he get that information?”

Ginny drummed her fingers on the desk. “Either we have a traitor in our ranks or we’re dealing with another gatekeeper who’s feeding them information and is aware of the changeling presence.”

“It’s most likely the latter,” I commented. “He mentioned a woman and a griffin. We know our counterparts are often ousted and outright killed by griffins. I’ll see what information I can get from Chrysalis. As for this phone…”

Ginny smirked. “Were we human,” she said, “this would be destroyed beyond repair. Since you have all the pieces, I’ll track down a ‘ling who can fix it with a little magic.”

“Good. Afterwards, could you track down everything you can on Ian? I’m sure Sally-Anne would be willing to help when she gets out of the hospital. We need to find out who knows what.”

Ginny’s smirk grew. “Already on it.”





Fingers tapped the buttons on the telescopic digital camera. Once focused, the shutter clicked. From her perch on the rooftop, Catherine could see into the apartment window two blocks away. Through the eyepiece, she saw three figures, two black and one a strange, dark blue color. The oddest fact was that all three had wings; the two former’s wings were insect-like, but the latter’s were feathered. ‘She looks like Princess Luna… she even has the same mark…’

Unconsciously, Catherine ruffled her own new, feathered wings in protest of the frigid January air. The down feathers and short fur growing out of her skin did little at this point to preserve her body heat. Her rapidly changing body ached all over, but it was nothing compared to the former pain of originally growing wings out of her back.

As much as the pain of her transformation had bothered her, Catherine could feel them now. The changelings tickled at the edges of her mind when she passed them on the streets. It was not strong enough yet that she could identify a changeling on sight like her mentor, a changeling hunter by profession, could; however she could tell when changelings were near, when they were feeding on her. The thought sent shivers down her spine, completely unrelated to the early morning cold.

“I’ll have your head soon.”





There was something familiar about this feeling. There was something I had to do, but what? I could not remember. The feeling was like water through my open fingers, through my hole-covered hands. 

I looked towards Selene; she smiled back. Why was I thinking about her, what did this feeling have to do with her. It was important, very important. I know that much. Why was my memory failing me? I should know this, but I did not. Even while I was still human, I never had a memory failure like this.

"First, Second, Third, Oblivion." Those words formed on my lips, but no sound emerged. Wait, what words? I could not remember what I just said merely an instant ago.

Then I forgot my worry, and everything was normal again.





“Where the hell is Ian?” Catherine asked into her computer’s microphone.

The voice on the other end said, “He called in this morning. He only said five words: ‘I’m out. They got Sal.’ It seems that our little bug friends are more dangerous than we thought.”

“So Ian axed himself? Fuck. Dave, what the hell happened?” Catherine asked.

“I don’t know,” Dave’s voice replied. “Damn!”

“What?”

“Don’t you get it?” He cried, “They got Sal! Sally-Anne lived with Ian! If that thing has access to his stuff, which I know it does, then they could find us!”

“Dave, chill,” Catherine said. “You know he didn’t have much stuff at his place. We’ve just got to lay low for a while. We have a plan for this, ok? Just go tell the others to hide for now.”

Dave was silent for a while. “And what are you going to be doing?”

“I’ve got a few favors I can cash in with Sarah. I’m going to dip into her informant network to see if I can scrounge up the last little bits of evidence,” Catherine explained. “Then we will have enough to move against them.”

“Are you sure?” Dave asked.

“I’m positive. We’ve been very thorough and they’ve been sloppy. This will work.”

The sound of two hard objects hitting one-another came through Catherine’s speakers. “Damn.”

“Did you hit your wrist again?”

“Yes, damn it bitch, I did,” Dave growled. “I’m going to kill that fucking bug for ripping off my hand!”

“Quit your whining. The docs got it reattached just fine,” Catherine said.

“Hey, fuck you, chicken bitch.” Catherine ruffled her feathers in annoyance. “Just fine my ass, I still can’t write with it!” Dave growled.

> Mini Chapter: Candy Heart (Valentine's Bonus)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	When your kids are home-schooled and your best friend/roommate writes code on his laptop for a living, it’s logical to assume that they would spend a large portion of their time inside the apartment where they live. So to find Selene sitting just outside the apartment door eating veggie pizza and playing a game on her phone was odd, to say the least.

“See, Uncle Nick and Little Sis are being weird,” she replied when I asked why, exactly, she was out here. “Oh, and the pizza guy hasn’t come out yet.” The almost eleven-year-old disguised alicorn immediately went back to her game.

Nervous, I opened the door – which was strangely unlocked – and peered inside. “Did you know about this?” I asked my adoptive daughter. 

She bent around and looked into the open doorway. “Ewww, that’s gross!”

“Well, it certainly looks like something out of a sci-fi movie…” I commented. 

Every last square inch of the apartment was covered in a thick layer of binding gel, far more than I would have ever guessed two changelings could have produced in an afternoon. Nick and Klika were both dangling from hammocks made from the same green, gelatinous material. In the center of the room, there hung a large cocoon within which I could see the still outline of a man; his uniform was piled up on the counter. The floor was covered with partially empty pizza boxes and boxes of… candy hearts?

From where he hung, Nick threw something at me, which I reflexively caught with my magic. It was another box of the candies, this one unopened.  “Bro… you gotta try those…” he half spoke, half moaned.

“Oh… Daddy, they’re so… tasty…” Klika called out in a similar tone.

“Hehehehe… and they let you taste food again… real food…” Nick said, this time a full on moan of pleasure. “I haven’t had pizza… this good… in three years…” He shoved a slice of pizza in his mouth. “So… hungry…”

“Why… is the room pink… and wiggly… and stuff?” Klika asked, despite the fact that the room was caked in green slime. Klika rolled out of her hammock and flopped onto the floor below. When she stood, I could see that her stomach was distended from over-eating and binding gel was continuously flowing from her holes and spilling onto the floor. 

I eyed the box that Nick had given me. It looked like any other mass-produced Valentine’s Day candy, but it was obvious that Nick and Klika were tripping hard. Selene called out from her spot in the hallway, “It’s the candy. I dunno why they’re doing that; the candy tastes just fine to me.”

Without really thinking, I opened the box and popped a few in my mouth. Rather than the sugary taste I remembered from when I was human, or the ashy taste of foods other than meat, the candy hearts tasted something like love, but without any of the magic gain that I normally feel when I feed.

Within seconds, a feeling of euphoria descends upon me. I feel great, I feel wonderful, I feel… lethargic and hungry enough to eat Celestia herself. I barely notice my human skin burn away as I dive for the pizza. My arms and legs feel funny and start to drip green goo. I have to try three times to grab the food because my vision has gone all wibbly-wobbly. At the same time, I start feeding on the captured pizza man – high on changeling venom – in the cocoon. I giggle slightly as I eat.

Selene, still peering in from the doorway, said, “I don’t get it…”

> The Heroic Struggles of a Young Woman Fighting an Oppressive Regime for the Man She Loves
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Hey… newbie, is that you? What’s up with your face?” One of Catherine’s co-workers called out. He was not the first – nor the last – to comment on the woman’s changing appearance. Catherine growled softly to herself as she walked through the police station offices; it was not like she had any choice in having her mouth partially warped into a bird beak or feathers growing out of her scalp. Her wings, responding to her annoyance, rustled slightly from their hiding spot under her overcoat. 

“Aliens,” Catherine quipped as she strode past his desk. It was her go-to response whenever anyone questioned her appearance; considering the sky above, people were oddly willing to accept that answer.

Her wings twitched again. Catherine longed to fly, to stretch her wings and soar through the clouds. Unfortunately, now was neither the time nor place to do so. Even if it was a good time, so long as she wanted the protection of her anti-magic ring, her wings would never grant her enough lift. It absolutely drove Catherine bonkers, her body fighting itself over flight versus self protection.

However, despite her misery from wearing said ring, she was glad for it. Her partner had found a unicorn to prove that it worked. Annoying as that blue mare was, Trick – or whatever her name was – was unable to do anything to Catherine only while she wore the ring, much to Catherine’s relief. The only flaw was that it only partially defended against a changeling’s voracious appetite. Every day while driving her car, she would feel twinges in the back of her mind from when she passed through the range of a changeling’s passive feeding aura. It made Catherine realize how numerous the changelings really were.

Doing patrol duty in her squad car had given Catherine a great opportunity. Since a single changeling’s aura extended about forty feet around it – compounded by additional changelings – any place that Catherine could feel from the street meant that multiple changelings were gathered there.

She found the hive in six days, not that she could do anything about it. Walking in alone would be suicide. Catherine needed hard evidence in order to convince anyone of anything. That is why she needed to talk to Sarah, whose informants could get Catherine the dirt she needed.

As the elevator dinged and the doors opened up, Catherine stepped out onto her floor only to be greeted by the signature tug on her emotions. Quickly, she conjured up thoughts of rage, hatred, and bloody violence, which, while ruining her mood, staved off the worst of the changeling’s influence. “Damn, there’s one here, too,” Catherine swore. Her gloved claws subconsciously moved together, feeling the ring that she wore underneath. She could vaguely tell that the changeling was in front of her; however, her sense – sharpening with her continuous transformation – was still not strong enough to pick one changeling out of the crowd.

Walking down the space between the desks towards where Sarah sat, Catherine brushed past Chief Douglass. “Good morning, Officer Nord,” he called out. She replied similarly – her tone was carefully controlled so as to not betray her inner rage – but did not stop walking.

“Lieutenant Shrader,” she addressed Sarah, “May I talk with you? In private, if possible.”

“Lieutenant… What’s the emergency?” Sarah said while standing from her desk. “You’re never that formal unless something’s bothering you, Officer Nord… Well?”

“Not here, too many people.” Catherine turned and walked towards the break room, Sarah on her heels. Upon arriving in the empty room, Catherin closed and locked the door, then moved to cover the security camera in the corner. Sarah looked at her nervously, unsure of what to make of her subordinate’s actions.  “Hand me your gun.”

“What?” The lieutenant asked.

“Or just set it on the table, out of harm’s way. Either way, I don’t want it going off.”

“Ok, now you’re freaking me out,” Sarah said, but complied anyway. As soon as the gun was on the other end of the table, Catherine reached into her purse and pulled out a roll of gauze, a small bottle of liquid bandage, and a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Catherine turned her back towards Sarah and pulled off her gloves. “Sorry about the secrecy. I have to check. Use the hand sanitizer, Lieutenant, please,” Catherine said. When she heard the distinctive squirting noise, Catherine reached for the bottle for herself. 

Sarah, seeing Catherine’s yellow talons for the first time, gasped. “Catherine, what happened to your hand?”

The talon-handed woman said nothing. Instead, Catherine whirled around and grabbed Sarah’s hands with her claws, still dripping with the alcoholic sanitizer. Before Sara could react, the pointed tips of Catherine’s fingers raked across the back of her superior’s hands, leaving deep, bloody gashes. Sarah hissed in pain as the alcohol both burned and sterilized the wound. “Yeaouch! The hell was that for?” Sarah screamed

“I’m really, really sorry about that. I just had to be sure that you were the real you. Though they bleed red, just like us, you would have switched back to your true form if you were one of them. They can't handle pain. Come over to the sink, let’s get that washed out and cleaned up.” Catherine turned on the water in the sink.

After getting patched up, Sarah said, “You could get in a huge amount of trouble for doing that, you know. Attacking a fellow officer is a huge offense; you’re lucky that I’m such a nice person. Now, explain why, exactly, you thought it was a good idea to shred the back of my hand. What the hell is going on?”

In response, Catherine just took off her overcoat and spread her wings – eighteen feet from wingtip to wingtip – filling the width of the room. From around Catherine’s waist unfurled a light brown, five-foot long tail with a dark brown plume of fur at the tip. “The sky isn’t the only strange thing here,” Catherine replied.





Sarah massaged her forehead. “So you’re telling me there’s a race of sociopathic, parasitic, shape-shifting insects invading Earth; they murder, steal, and kidnap for fun; and one of those people they’ve captured can actually move the whole moon?” Catherine and the humanoid-griffin behind the portal both nodded. The former reached into her purse and pulled out a handful of photos and slid them to Sarah. Each one showed an apartment window which contained either the insect-people or the blue, winged woman with hair that looked like a flowing part of the night sky.

“Her name is Selene, at least as far as I can tell. My lip reading is passable at best, so I’m not totally sure.” Catherine shrugged. “It’s ironic; Luna is the Roman counterpart to the Greek Selene, both moon goddesses. Here we have the Equestrian Luna and American Selene, both who control the moon. I digress; she seems to think that one of them is her father. However, her magic is the only one that isn’t changeling green, which leads me to think that she’s relatively human and that brainwashing may be involved.”

“Brainwashing?” Sarah asked, startled.

“Dweeb, the changelings are masters of the mind, both with magic and mundane tricks,” the griffin beyond the portal said. “Even if it’s easy to snap someone out of a hypnotic trance, those lame-o’s have other ways of getting under your skin. If that doesn’t work, they have a whole bunch of other nasty surprises, including the ability to silently call for help. The only harmless changeling is a cold, headless one.”

Catherine declared, “Which is why Gilda and I are hunting them.”

“How can I help?” Sarah asked. “You can’t possibly do this alone.”

“Thanks, Sarah. I need your contacts in the black market. Scum like the changelings tend to be attracted to the criminal world, so there is our best bet for finding more evidence,” Catherine said.

“Hmm… I think I know the right guy. Anthony Titarenko knows everything about everything when it comes to organized crime. He works as a bartender at the… Livewire… Club…” A look of panic crossed the Lieutenant’s features. “They eat love! Can the changelings feed on lust, too?”

“Yes, they do. Those bastards are often working as whores in pleasure stables,” The griffin said.

“And… what was his name, the one who took William?”

As if the words were physically disgusting, Catherine spat, “Alvarium Rex. The hive king himself.”

“Oh god… I think I had sex with him.”

“What? When? How?” Catherine screamed, pounding her re-gloved fist on the break room table.

“The Livewire Club is a sex club. That man, he introduced himself as Rex and his eyes… they changed from brown to glowing green in a second. I still remember that, despite the alcohol.”

Catherine draped her wing around the other woman. “At least you are alright. That said, Anthony is out. There’s no way I’m walking into that place. And tell anyone you know who goes there to stay away.”

“The Chief goes there…”

Catherine stiffened. “Ok, Sarah, listen. Around him, you have to pretend everything is fine, and that you know nothing about Changelings, alright?” Catherine asked, to which Sarah nodded. “Good. Now, I felt a changeling earlier when I came in this morning. It’s quite possible that he has been replaced, but we have no proof. Do nothing yet, got it?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah, ok.”

“Good,” Catherine replied. “Ok, do you have any other decent contacts that we can use?”

“Well, there is one other…”





“God damnit, why did it have to be here?” Dave asked. 

Sarah asked, “What’s wrong with this place? It’s a whole lot nicer now than it ever was.”

“He got his hand chopped off by an enraged changeling the last time he was here,” Catherine answered for Dave. He just gave a stink eye in retaliation. “Got your rings?”

Dave grunted in affirmation, while Sarah asked, “Are you sure these work?”

“They stop me from flying. They stop a unicorn from picking me up…”

‘Unicorn?’ Dave mouthed, but did not say.

“… and they nullified her spells. Magic is magic, regardless of species. The rings work,” Catherine stated.

“If I die from your belief in some stupid trinkets, I am so haunting you for eternity,” Dave grumbled.

Catherine rolled her eyes. “Duly noted. Now…” The griffin-human hybrid started forwards towards the door of the ‘Eye of the Beholder’ bar. Her two fully human companions followed closely behind her. Upon entering, the trio sat down at the bar. Catherine shuddered at the presence of changelings.

The bartender came up to them and took Sarah and Dave’s drink orders, both beers. When he came to Catherine for her order, she gathered her resolve and replied, “Just water. My 21st isn’t for another month. Though I do have a question… Do the names William Ross or Alvarium Rex mean anything to you?”

Unseen by any of the trio, the bartender clenched his fist by his side. The innate magic within the changeling informed him of the details of Catherine’s body, and what he sensed bothered him. <<King, some girl just asked for you by name. She’s not quite human; she has wings. What do I do?>>

<<Show me the memory.>>

The bartender passed the memory along the hive link. Suddenly, the alien presence of his king slid into his body and took control. “Before I answer, what do those names mean to you?”

“One’s a boyfriend, the other’s a monster.”

“Funny…” the possessed bartender said. His gaze fell upon the necklace that adorned Catherine’s figure, and the large emerald within. A faint smile grazed the bartender’s lips, before fading in an instant. “You know, he’s been thinking about you, lately, wondering if you would come for him.”

Catherine growled. “Which one?”

“Does it really matter?” The possessed bartender asked. “William foolishly hoped that you’d come back as a lover. Rex feared that you would return as an enemy. They never suspected you would show yourself to be a griffin.”

“And you’re the changeling I’ve been feeling,” Catherine replied. Her two human companions lowered their hands to their belts, where their handguns were holstered.

“Feeling… You know, I’ve always wondered what it was that made griffins lunge at our throats and eat our corpses.” For her part, Catherine looked absolutely disgusted at the bartender’s accusation.

“Perhaps it’s the energy leaving your body at the slightest happy thought within forty feet of a changeling. It’s quite disgusting, actually,” she retorted.

“So, that’s it? You can feel the passive feeding?” he asked, amused. 

Suddenly, the feeling within Catherine halved itself, and then a more distant source vanished. Catherine swore to herself; she had given away how the changelings were detected and they had nullified that advantage. Now she was worried; there was more than one changeling in the room, possibly listening in, who could now be hiding among the other customers.

“You know, it’s a pain to turn that off,” the bartender complained. “You could at least appreciate the gesture, Catherine.” 

The bartender’s last sentence sounded off. Catherine blinked and looked around. In the seat next to her sat a man in a black jacket. So hyper-focused on the bartender she had been, Catherine had not noticed him sit down next to her. “You know,” both the bartender and the man said in unison, “It makes me feel good that you didn’t sell the emerald I gave you.” The man turned to Catherine and smiled a smile that she had not seen in two and a half years, ever since it had burned away in the emerald flames.

“Hey there, my sweet Catherine.”	

> The Dramatic Struggles of a Novice King Fighting Against Assassins, One of Whom He Happens to Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I pushed the open psychology text book aside and turned towards the spell formulas on the dry-erase board; after a moment of consideration, I exchanged one of the symbols for another. Around me, several of the Research and Development team compared notes, checking and double-checking the accuracy of our work. The formula on the board was a modification of a memory spell designed for high-detail mind reading, theoretically superior than the blunt-force approach of the hive mind. While the initial test would be conducted with the aid of the link, it was our goal to wrap up the spell and associated method into one easy-to-use package: the ultimate in mind healing.

Sally-Anne sat quietly nearby. The partial blindness from the Soul-Sight accident had damaged her ability to recognize certain shapes; her chief issue was the loss of the ability to read written languages. In response, one of her co-workers had gotten her a kit to teach herself Braille and a Braille keyboard. However, Sally-Anne’s heart just was not into learning at the moment. The loss of Ian had acutely affected her, leading to her falling into a depression.

There is an idea among the humans that emotions are contagious, which is true, to a certain extent. Among changelings, emotions can become epidemic, especially if the source is a higher ranking changeling. In this instance, we have a double-whammy; I, the hive controller, was not especially cheerful right now, which increases the whole hive’s vulnerability to emotion, and Sally-Anne, the head of the R&D branch of the hive, was emotionally compromised. The net result was a mild depression had settled among a decent portion of the hive.

Eventually, the mass depressions lead to R&D turning its attention to mind healing. The plan we had come up with for her treatment involved the disassociation of love from Ian, blurring her auto-biographical memories involving him so that they felt like an event from a very long time ago, and then carving his face out of her visual memory, so that she would not recognize him anymore. Then, we would help her mind fill in the blanks by convincing her that he was an infiltration mission gone wrong. 

Of course, she would remember agreeing to mind healing – we videotaped it, just to be sure – but would not remember why she needed healing in the first place. If everything went to plan, she would walk out thinking that someone she knew had died a long time ago, but it was irrelevant to the now. Well, we hoped.

“Are you ready for this?” I asked Sally-Anne as soon as the team declared us as ready as we could be without practical experience. When she nodded, I sat down in the seat next to her and placed my hand against her forehead.  “I have absolutely no idea what this will feel like, so be ready for anything. Stop me if I go too far, ok?”

When my hand lit up, I found myself pulled into her memory. It was a unique experience; rather than the sensation – for lack of a better word – of the hive mind or the mental world created by the World-Capture spell I had developed in the beginning, I found myself floating within a large glowing web. Around me, I could feel her consciousness pulling at the memories as she remembered them. 

However, above me, I could sense an absolutely massive entity… myself? I must have been looking through the hive link. It was odd seeing me from that perspective. ‘Is that really what I feel like to them? I feel like something out of a horror novel!’ I thought.

Contrary to common belief, memories are not recordings but reconstructions, at least according to the psych textbook. To test this, my mental projection reached down and examined a nearby memory, ‘APPLE.’ Literally, it was just the characters that spelled the word ‘APPLE.’ branching off from it were several other memories. I followed the strongest of these connections, which lead me to the image of an apple.

After what seemed like hours of wandering her memories, I had all but given up on finding exactly what I was looking for. When I realized that I had another way of searching, I mentally face-palmed. I began to push my consciousness into her the old fashioned way: through the hive mind. From the dual perspective that I currently possessed, the sight struck me as creepy; her mental connections discolored as my will superimposed her own. I then recalled details of Ian, as one would with any memory, and watched as the correct pathways illuminated for me.

My elation was, unfortunately, cut short by a disturbance on the hive mind. Not wanting to accidentally do any further damage to Sally-Anne’s mind, I immediately withdrew completely; it was better to be safe than sorry. Glancing at the clock on the wall upon my retreat, I saw that my searching had objectively lasted a matter of minutes rather than my subjective hours.

Adjusting my mental focus to the link, I realized that it was Ted, the bartender at the Eye of the Beholder, who was urgently calling for me. <<King, some girl just asked for you by name. She’s not quite human; she has wings. What do I do?>>

Startled, I mentally conjured up a list of possible scenarios. <<Show me the memory,>> I ordered. When I saw her, my heart skipped a beat. It was Catherine, my sweet Catherine, as a griffin, and asking about both the old me and new me. It struck me then that Catherine was a Gatekeeper like Selene and me. Even if she had been bonded to the number one predator of changelings, my heart still yearned for her. Without asking for permission, I slid my consciousness into Ted, effectively allowing me to be in two places at once. I made a mental note to compensate him later.

“Excuse me, ladies and gentle-‘lings,” I said to the R&D staff, “Something very urgent has come up that I must sort out before I can safely heal Sally-Anne here. If you’ll excuse me...” 

At that moment, I surged my magic, teleporting myself a thousand feet straight up. I buzzed my wings to keep myself suspended and shifted the color of my chitin to match that of the overcast sky. I spun around, orienting myself. A second later, I winked out of existence, only to reappear above a landmark building. Again, I spun to orient myself and again, I flashed to a new location, bringing me ever closer to the Eye.

While I flew and teleported with my real body, the projection of my consciousness in Ted’s body conversed with Catherine and her vaguely familiar companions. However, I pretended that I was Ted as I spoke with her. “Funny,” I said through Ted. I spotted the emerald necklace that adorned her neck. A faint smile crossed my real face, which was echoed across Ted’s. “You know, he’s been thinking about you, lately, wondering if you would come for him.”

Catherine growled at Ted, anger welling up inside her. Her companions mirrored her emotions for reasons that eluded me. “Which one?” She asked.

‘Which one?’ I thought. ‘Do I miss her, or does William? And since when did I start thinking of us as two separate people?’ Eventually, I replied “Does it really matter? William foolishly hoped that you’d come back as a lover. Rex feared that you would return as an enemy. They never suspected you would show yourself to be a griffin.”

I finally spotted the bar below. With just a thought, I teleported to the rear of the building and landed on the pavement. For the first time in nearly two years, I donned the face that I was born with, though aged up properly and about a dozen pounds lighter, bringing it down from chubby to decently healthy. As I started walking towards the front of the building, I cast a very mild Notice-Me-Not on myself as a precaution. 

Inside, Catherine said to me-in-Ted, “And you’re the changeling I’ve been feeling.” 

Damn, she knew. ‘I guess she really is a griffin. It’s no surprise she figured it out.’ Her companions seemed to tense at Catherine’s accusation. In an attempt to both test the waters and emotionally disarm the trio, I said, “Feeling… You know, I’ve always wondered what it was that made griffins lunge at our throats and eat our corpses.” The horrifying thing was that my words were absolutely true. Chrysalis loses dozens of changelings a year to the griffins; the only thing that keeps her hive from extinction is that the griffin kingdom is on a separate continent from her hive, limiting their interaction. Of course, starving griffins have been known to eat ponies, too. I made a mental note to keep both of my daughters from her for the foreseeable future.

For her part, Catherine and her companions looked absolutely disgusted at my accusation. “Perhaps it’s the energy leaving your body at the slightest happy thought within forty feet of a changeling. It’s quite disgusting, actually,” she retorted.

“So, that’s it? You can feel the passive feeding?” I asked, thoroughly amused. Her sudden guilty expression was all the confirmation I needed. Mentally, I commanded the two changelings in the bar to suppress their feeding while I did the same. Satisfied, I turned my attention briefly to my otherworldly counterpart. [Hey, Chrysalis, I have good news!]

[Yes, Rex?] the queen of the changelings asked.

[There’s a girl over here who is bound to a griffin, like you and I are bound together.]

[That is wonderful news,] Chrysalis sarcastically replied.

[No, well, I know that. No, the real good news is what I got her to say. Griffins can detect a changeling feeding on them, including passively. This could be the key to a more peaceful coexistence where we don’t die left and right every time we encounter a griffin,] I explained. [I’ll keep you posted on if it actually works.

I walked my real body into the nearly empty nightclub. Though technically open, the Eye of the Beholder would not see any real traffic until after sundown. The only occupants currently were the human kitchen staff, a changeling waitress and bartender, two angry human customers, and one griffin who was filled with a borderline murderous rage. 

In an effort to keep the situation from escalating too far, I took to tweaking my physiology. My pupils dilated, my posture relaxed, a faint blush adorned my features, and I started producing a massive concentration of pheromones of both human and griffin types. The end result was that any human or griffin that got too close to me would subconsciously read me as ‘submissive and horny’ and would be less willing to strike me, or at least that was the plan.

I stepped into the bar unnoticed by Catherine or her companions – who I swear I remember from somewhere – and sat down next to my ex-girlfriend. “You know, it’s a pain to turn that off,” I simultaneously complained through both my real mouth and the bartender’s mouth, referring to the passive feeding. “You could at least appreciate the gesture, Catherine.”

I saw her blink and turned to look at me out of the corner of my eye. “You know, it makes me feel good that you didn’t sell the emerald I gave you,” I said in double, then released my grip on Ted’s mind while apologizing. 

I smiled at my love. “Hey there, my sweet Catherine.”

I felt her emotions tumble inside her. Love, lust, happiness, joy, sorrow, despair, misery, anger, hatred, and wrath all whirled around inside Catherine’s head; by comparison, her companions’ minds quickly settled on confusion and anger, though the pheromones slowly evoked a slight carnal desire within the two humans.

“How… How DARE YOU!” She roared, literally at the end. “HOW DARE YOU WEAR THAT FACE, YOU SICK BASTARD!” I flinched slightly, both from my own emotions and the physical pain of having that much anger directed at me.

“But Catherine-” I started to say before her gloved fist met my face. I fell of the bar stool and landed awkwardly on the ground, only to be pounced upon by Catherine; her fingers wrapped around my throat and slammed my head against the ground. I just barely managed to hold the majority of my form; however, my eyes had other plans and momentarily reverted to their natural, inhuman color.

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO EVEN SAY MY NAME!” She roared. The skin of my neck started blistering under her grip; direct contact with someone feeling that much rage was literally burning me. In a panic, I teleported across the room and scrambled to my feet. The moment I was standing, I saw that she had beaten me to it; she and her companions were all standing with guns drawn and aimed at me.

Though I stood totally still, my mind was anything but. I relayed for help, but it would take time for any changelings to get to us since. I ordered the waitress, Shimmer, to evacuate the human kitchen staff and Ted to sink through the floor and escape through the basement. Unfortunately, Ted refused to abandon me and Shimmer returned as soon as the rest of the staff was safe.

“Ok, ok, I won’t say your name. Now, could you please set down your guns so that we may talk like civilized human beings?” I asked.

“Odd choice of words, changeling,” the man with the cast on his wrist said. “Drop the false skin; I want to see what you really look like. Both of you.” To emphasize his point, he readjusted the aim of his gun towards me and jerked his head in the direction of the bartender.

Sighing, I complied. In a flash of green fire, I reverted back to my eight-and-a-half foot tall true form. I motioned to the bartender to do the same; anything to keep them from shooting, after all. Behind his back, the bartender summoned his magic to try to disarm the trio, but – to his horror – discovered that he could not get a grip on their weapons, cloths, or bodies. He quickly warned me of said discovery.

“Disgusting,” the male human commented. Catherine’s wings flared, while the woman who had yet to speak blushed. 

“What? It’s not my fault that clothing burns away when we change,” I said, struggling not to laugh at Catherine’s wing-boner. Their discomfort stemmed from the fact that I was butt-naked and my impressive but inhuman manhood was visible for the world to see.

“I don’t care about that,” Catherine declared. “Tell me, what did you do to William?”

“What, really?” I asked, honestly confused. “Catherine, you were one of the smartest kids in high school, what with straight A’s in the advanced classes… I cannot honestly believe that you haven’t figured it out. What’s the name of the voice in your head? Where does the stuff go when you snap your fingers?” I snapped mine in demonstration, but was confused and disappointed when their guns did not vanish and, instead, a napkin on the table near me did. “Tell me, what specie is she? I’d bet everything that you are a human that bonded to a griffin and became one yourself.”

Catherine did not react, but the woman next to her gave a nervous glance towards Catherine. I continued speaking, “See, there was this human girl named Selene. She bonded to Princess Luna of Equestria, and now Selene is a blue alicorn. Can you guess where I’m going with this?”

Sudden realization dawned on Catherine. “No… It can’t be…”

“Rex or William, he’s still a monster,” the man said to his companions resolutely. “Remember me?” he asked me while adjusting his aim. “I’m Dave. You cut my hand off and flirted with my girl. Now die.”

The bang was deafening, but was nothing compared to the agony I felt as the bullet tore through my arm, which was now only attached by two paper thin strips of chitin and muscle. Before I could fight of the pain enough to call upon my magic, before Ted or Shimmer – who had hidden in the corner – could hit my attacker with telekinetically propelled objects, Dave took aim at me again and – 

> 3093 Deposits of Ca5(PO4)3(OH)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	‘Where am I? I don’t know where I am. Oh god, I’m scared,’ I thought, though I wished I could say it aloud. My mouth was refusing to work, among the countless other problems I was facing. I think it is perfectly justifiable to panic when your brain cannot find any of your body parts. A horrifying thought struck me, ‘Am I dead? No! I can’t be dead yet! I still have things to do! My family needs me!’

I perceived the area around me as black, which was strange because I currently did not possess eyes. On second thought, even the word ‘black’ seemed strange, for the void I was floating in was most definitely not black, or any other describable color for that matter. After watching the almost, but not quite, entirely unlike black sky for several… units of time, I came to realize that I was actually moving. For reason I do not understand, I decided that the direction I was going was down, and that terrified me. ‘No, I don’t want to go to Hell! No no no nononono!’

In the direction I was headed was something nearly indescribable and equally terrifying. I say nearly because, of all the possible ways to describe it, there was only one physical description. It was the gaping maw of death… madness… C̞͉̼̩̤͡h̭̳a͎̭̲̥o̺̲͍̬̰̗͠s͘ itself. ‘I don’t want to be eaten!’

Thankfully, the moment I thought that, my motion came to an extremely abrupt halt, punctuated by a metallic twang sounding from behind me. As strange as it was to be without a body, I somehow managed to contort myself so that I was looking up. Above me were hundreds of not-white stars; to each one, one of the v̱̖͙i̮̣͖̻̻̗̙ne̠̝̠̮͍s̙̤ of my soul was connected. I pulled and I moved. The idea of a smile crossed my not-body’s nonexistent features; this was my ticket out of here. I mustered up all of my strength and pulled myself up and away from that terror of an afterlife.

Slowly, but surely, I climbed ever upwards. I had no idea how long it was taking me to cover the distance from here to my salvation, or if time even existed at all in this nightmarish place. I just knew that I had to keep moving towards the stars, which I now realized were the souls of my hive.

Suddenly, there was a shudder that sent me swinging. I clutched my grip as tightly as I could. One of the stars above me shook, then dislodged itself and plummeted towards the ravenous mouth below. It stopped short, inches from its destruction, but now I was supporting both of our weights. I gave a tremendous heave, managing to pull both of us upwards, much to my delight. An instant after, my mood was ruined by a metallic pop and a shudder in the link between the dangling changeling and me. Fearing that my connection may not be strong enough to hold the poor changeling’s soul, I redoubled my efforts to return us to the land of the living.

A second tremor shook me, causing the poor soul and I to swing erratically. To my horror, a second soul plummeted past me and collided with the first. A series of metallic pops punctuated each swing of my twin passengers. I resumed my now herculean task of climbing upwards, even as the sounds grew more frequent. As I pulled once more, their bonds snapped with an explosive boom, propelling me upwards and leaving my not-ears ringing. I watched in horror as the two souls were devoured before my not-eyes. Promising to cry for them later, I once again resumed my upwards ascension. 

With one last pull, I opened my real eyes once more.





Ginny Skinner was not mad. That would be too strong and too vague a term for what she was currently feeling. The best way to describe her current emotion was eight parts scared, two parts annoyed, three parts disappointed, and seven parts furious. That said, it’s best to keep in mind that Ginny often felt like that – with the exception of the fear – on most every occasion, especially when her king’s messes were involved.

The fear, however, arrived in her heart when she saw the king’s current mess: himself. Or, more accurately, his lifeless body – brain splattered on the floor and arm dangling loose – and the decapitated bodies of Ted and Shimmer. And, like salt on a wound, the police had beaten her Silencer squad to the scene.

The head of the Silencer division’s mind worked furiously, analyzing the situation. She and her team of six were currently hanging from the ceiling in the guise of flies. The police officers below had surrounded the corpses and were busy documenting the bloody crime scene. “What do you think these things are?” one officer asked.

“I have no idea,” another replied.

Ginny knew that there was no way of retrieving their bodies without magic; however, without the ability to erase memories, which meant one thing: no survivors. She sighed mentally, for her fly form was incapable of making such a noise. The head Silencer knew that her king would not like her decision if… no, when he woke up. Ginny had to believe that her leader would survive, that Chrysalis was telling the truth. If not, Ginny would rip a hole into the other universe herself and gladly join Slagteri in the mindless slaughter of the other hive.

Ginny felt empty without her king’s presence. It disturbed her greatly; she knew she was not alone in that opinion. 

<<Eraser, set up a shield around the building. Make it shock any living thing that touches it, but allow non-living things to pass through it,>> Ginny ordered. <<We don’t want them shooting through it. Mirage, head outside and start sabotaging the vehicles. You three,>> Ginny gestured at a group with her front-right leg, <<On my signal, sink the bodies into the basement. We’ll wait there until Duke Nick arrives with the truck. We’ll carry them through the ground and up into the truck afterwards. Got it?>>

They nodded in agreement. Slagteri, however, asked, <<What about me?>>

<<I’m getting to you; hang on a minute,>> Ginny placated. <<Change.lng, activate.>>

<<//Change.lng: Yes, mistress Skinner?//>>

<<Replicate by twelve. Sabotage all police communications within the area, including, but not limited to, radio, ground-based satellite receivers, and cell-phones. Then, destroy the police cameras. After that, send me a copy of the security footage, and then erase the original footage. Understood?>>

<<//Change.lng: Yes, Mistress. Commands acknowledged.//>>

<<Slagteri,>> Ginny said, finally addressing the most excited of her squad, <<Within the shield, there will be no survivors.>>

<<Fuck yeah!>> The homicidal changeling cheered.

<<Try to keep the gore to a minimum, would you? We still need this place and I don’t think George would like to have to clean any more blood off the floors of his club than there already is,>> Ginny stated.

<<What are we going to do with the bodies?>> Mirage asked.

<<Oh, I got it! Let’s eat them!>> Slagteri suggested.

<<WHAT?>> two of the changelings cried. The others were also disturbed to varying degrees, though they did not say as such.

<<Come on! The other world’s ‘lings eat the ponies they capture. Hell, I snuck through one of the portals that the king and queen always keep open and hunted a pony once. It was fucking delicious; they taste just like good veal. I even ate the skin and bones! Admit it, that’s a perfectly good way to get rid of a body and it doesn’t break the king’s ‘no killing except for food’ rule.>>

<<But those are ponies; these are humans! Who the hell in their right mind – besides you, of course – would eat a human?>> Eraser asked.

<<I’m sure the hatchlings wouldn’t mind. They were never a fucking human to begin with,>> Slagteri commented.

<<Enough chit-chat,>> Ginny scolded. <<We have to get moving! Mirage, the vehicles.>>

As Mirage buzzed away, confusion had already broken out among the officers below. Their cameras would spark green and then implode; phones and radios suffered similar fates. A moment later, there was an explosion outside as one of the police cruiser’s gas tanks ruptured, followed by another. The officers attempted to exit the building, but found their path blocked by a glowing green energy field surrounding the building.

Upon the first officer touching the shield and getting electrocuted, mild panic erupted; they were too well trained for full on pandemonium. That quickly changed when the twelve officers found themselves hovering in the air, arms bound by their sides, and surrounded by the brilliant green magic aura of four changelings. The fly that was Slagteri descended from the ceiling and, in a burst of emerald flames, reverted to his true form.

“Hey, you fuckers weren’t supposed to see this. Now I’m going to have to kill you. The thing is… I’m not sorry in the slightest. In fact, I’m going to savor every. Last. Second. Of. Your. Misery.” Slagteri’s smile warped into a monstrous grin as he cackled like a hyena. Green sparks danced around the tips of his claws as he charged up a lightning spell. With a flick of Slagteri’s wrist, the nearest officer was bombarded by a lethal current, stopping his heart and charring his flesh. The deceased policeman’s colleagues screamed.

Slagteri paid no mind to them. Unlike many of his own hive-mates, Slagteri relished the pain of fear and hatred inflicted upon him by his victims; though useless as food, those emotions filled him with a sense of sick pride. The twisted changeling reached down to his victim’s corpse and relieved it of its gun.

“I really wish I had more time to play,” Slagteri bemoaned over the cries of the still living. “Sadly, I have to end it quick. But don’t worry; I’m sure that you’ll still taste just fine. Maybe I can even convince the Princess to cook you up. She does seem to have a talent for meat~” the monstrous changeling sang. He pointed the stolen weapon at an officer’s head, which promptly burst upon being struck with a bullet.

Over the next few minutes, the changeling executed the remaining humans in ever more creative ways. All the while, the remaining three changelings sank the bodies through the floor to join Ginny and the bodies of their fallen comrades. When the light left the eyes of the final human, the changelings surrounded themselves with green flame and passed through the now empty nightclub’s floor.

“Gruesome, but acceptable,” Ginny commented upon Slagteri’s arrival. “Now, we wait for the Duke to get here.”

“How far away is he?” Mirage asked, having returned earlier from her successful sabotaging mission.

“Ask him yourself,” one changeling commented. “Wait, never mind,” she corrected herself when Nick announced his arrival over the link. “That’s him now.”





“Dude, please wake up,” Nick said, though his heart was not into it. It was hard for him to have faith in a supposed magical power of regeneration when his best friend of fifteen years was lying in front of him missing part of his brain. A tear streamed down his cheek, then another, until it was a pair of continuous rivers flowing down each cheek. For minutes, Nick sobbed, kneeling at the side of his friend’s body and surrounded by over a dozen other corpses – encased in cocoons – in the back of the large truck.

Finally, as if answering Nick’s request, a green spark appeared in both wounds, which quickly grew into brilliant flames. The tissue in his skull began to fill in the hole, while the damaged arm was severed completely just below the shoulder as a new arm grew in.

In under a minute, the flames surrounding the king’s head vanished, leaving a whole head that was completely unmarred. The regenerative magic working on his arm, however, had slowed considerably after it had re-grown the elbow, though it was still working.

His eyes fluttered open.





Imagine sleeping soundly, then suddenly having your head simultaneously bashed in by a frying pan and your arm chopped off. That’s what returning to the land of the living felt like. Granted, I found out later that I actually had been shot in the head and had lost my arm, but it was still a huge amount of pain to suddenly feel all at once without the aid of painkillers or endorphins. I do not remember screaming, though they told me I did. Neither do I remember punching Ginny, kicking Nick, or having to be restrained, though they told me I did. All I remember is pain, then a sense of numbness, then the darkness of unconsciousness.

When I awoke later – minutes, they say – the pain was gone. Thankfully, Nick had cast a full-body numbing spell on me while I was out. Though it settled the pain, the magic did nothing for the other sign of bodily distress I was experiencing: hunger pains. 

On a side note, the fact that I was experiencing hunger pains, or anything for that matter, was incredibly pleasurable at the moment; it’s shocking how much you miss discomfort after being disembodied and almost eaten… well, not alive, but…

My stomach growled at me, having been deprived of the magic and physical nutrients needed to reconstruct my body. It demanded that I ignore my friends and provide it sustenance now; I complied. Moving on a mixture of instinct and a half-remembered lesson from Chrysalis, I grabbed my severed arm with my one good hand and raised it to my mouth. Stretching my jaw apart – far wider than I can ever remember opening it before – I bit into my own limb, crunching through chitin, bone, and all. 

It was strangely delicious and gone in a minute.

The magic and nutrients within the arm were snatched up by my body in a second and directed to the reconstruction of the very limb I had just consumed. Two minutes later, my body was whole once again.

Possessed by a sudden fascination with my own body, I raised my clawed hands to my mouth and began stretching my jaw downward. It unhinged like a snake’s, stretching much further and wider than any human’s jaw should have been able to. Then I stuck my fist into my mouth and was only mildly surprised that I could get it down my throat and into my ribcage without discomfort.

After withdrawing my fist, I stuck out my tongue, just to see how long it is. Two feet. I had a two-foot-long tongue. I gave a slight chuckle, amused by the body I had just gotten back. “Did anyone else know I could do that? Can you do that?”

Of course, the moment I said that, I had acknowledged the presence of the others around me, and, by extension, the situation as a whole. I looked around, noticing for the first time that I was in the back of the cocoon truck, a trailer-truck we used for carrying its namesake. Around me were eight living changelings, staring at me with teary eyes; two headless changeling corpses, formerly Shimmer and Ted; and a dozen dead police men and women.

The gravity of the situation hit me all at once; I cried.





“How do you hide a body?” I asked Chrysalis quietly. Tonight’s dream was a sideways city of twisted buildings bathed in an eerie, sunless twilight; we were seated on the glass of a horizontal window. 

“Don’t. Eat it,” Chrysalis replied.

“How could you say such a horrid thing? I was talking about a fellow changeling! Not some god-forsaken pony!” I exclaimed, then burst into a fresh round of tears.

“Oh, Faust, I’m sorry… I-I-I didn’t know. I’m sorry for your loss.” She shifted one of her wings to a feathered version and draped it across my back. “But, as insensitive as it may seem, I was actually referring to both pony and changelings.”

“What?”

“You know how we changelings eat our own severed body parts to regain the nutrients to re-grow them, not just make a temporary copy?” She asked.

“Yeah… I ate my own arm today after getting it shot off…” I said dryly.

“What is a changeling but a limb of the whole? Even in death, they can have one last purpose.” Chrysalis moved closer and tightened her embrace as she spoke. In return, I also leaned closer; even in a dream, someone’s embrace is remarkably calming.

“And how do you deal with grief and loss?” I asked. “I know I’m not the only changeling in my hive that is grieving right now. At this rate, I don’t think any of us will be left untouched by the sorrow.”

“Celebrate their life, spend time with your hive, and try to return to normal. Time heals all wounds,” she answered.

I looked up at the sky and the building suspended above our heads. “What about the loss of a lover? Just this morning, I was working on a method to erase a person from someone’s memories, rather than just give straight retrograde amnesia; hell, we’re still working on erasing any memories. Then today, I was reunited with my old girlfriend. Now she’s a griffin and indirectly responsible for today’s disaster.”

“Indirectly?”

I sighed. “I watched the security footage of the fight. You can make out when those three fired their guns and when we were hit. She fired two shots, but both missed. It was her two human companions that killed us. All three escaped unpunished and relatively unharmed, though Dave did manage to get his arm broken by a flying stool.”

Chrysalis spoke, “To answer your question, you could again let time heal the wound, or…” She trailed off and looked away.

“Or?”

“No living creature but I knows of this trick. Sometimes, I do it for another, but I never explain what it was that I actually did. Sometimes, I even do it to myself if my emotions ever grow to be too much. Though, it’s not something I could ever enjoy,” Chrysalis states.

I ask, “What is it?”

“I call it heart freezing. Whenever a changeling or a pony feels a positive emotion, a tiny bit of magic is generated by the memory, love obviously being the strongest. When a changeling is starving or grieving, I take the memories of the pony they love the most and… break the emotions off of the memory,” Chrysalis reluctantly admits. 

“It fills the memory’s owner with a surge of magic proportional to the amount of emotion they felt, but it ruins the memories themselves. From then on, the changeling is unable to remember any positive feelings regarding that pony; at best, they feel nothing, and at worst, they feel pure loathing for the object of their memory,” She explains.

“Then, upon meeting that pony again, the changeling is incapable of feeling anything good towards him or her. A changeling who has had his or her heart frozen is forever incapable of even recognizing the object of their affections as a living creature, and could kill him or her without hesitation.”

I whisper, “That’s awful.”

“It is,” she agrees. “But the heart is not completely frozen solid. A frozen heart can still feel love; it can thaw for another, but never the original pony. Still, it can end the ache of a broken heart. Though, you must never freeze your heart against one of your own hive; it is the greatest insult and can turn the whole hive hostile towards that one individual, which is nothing less than a nightmare for the unlucky one.”

“I will remember that,” I promised.

“Good.” Chrysalis nodded. “Remember, this is a last resort. If you think your heart can at all heal itself on its own, do not use it; you may need that love some day to save your life. Now, here is how you freeze a heart…”





Dave hissed as the doctor pulled the makeshift splint off in preparation to set the bone. “Ouch!”

“I’m sorry, I must have struck a nerve,” the doctor said. Perhaps it was Dave’s newfound paranoia, having seen definitive proof that changelings existed, but the doctor treating his arm did not sound sorry.

“Are you trying to hurt me?” Dave growled.

“No, sir. Every licensed doctor in the country is under oath to do no harm; I wouldn’t dare to hurt anyone, ever.” Something about the doctor’s tone bothered Dave. “If you need additional painkillers, I would be happy to have the nurse get you some.”

“Thanks…” Dave said.

The doctor reached over and pressed a button on the wall. A minute later, a nurse walked into the room. Dave swore he could see a scowl on her face for the briefest of instances before it vanished, only to be replaced with a meticulously sculpted neutral expression. “Nurse, would you grab a 10mg oral dose of morphine for the patient from the pharmacy?” She nodded and closed the door.

The doctor returned to his patient and began to set the bone fragments. Throughout the procedure, Dave had the sinking suspicion that the doctor was being more forceful than necessary, and that stupid nurse had yet to return with the morphine. 

Paranoia built within Dave; Catherine had said that the hospital felt free of changelings, but Dave was not convinced. He wanted to scream; the anxiety was killing him. He wished he had his gun in here, but that would have gotten him arrested faster than he could have said ‘wait, I can explain.’ Dave just prayed that his fears were unfounded.





As soon as Dave had been given his cast and discharged, the nurse came up to the doctor. The latter said, “Never in my twenty years of practice have I wished so hard that I had never taken that oath. Now I can shamefully hide the fact that I was forced to heal a murderer.”

“Doc, I’ve got a confession to make. I lied,” the nurse claimed.

“What?”

“That wasn’t morphine. It was a sugar pill.”

“That was wrong of you; you are under oath, too. Had it been any other patient, I would have you fired in a heartbeat. Still… at least we saved the morphine for the patients who don’t get hurt by murdering innocents.”





The soft glow of a television lights a room. The news is on…



“…but scientists are still baffled by the strange events that took place at The Eye of the Beholder bar and nightclub. To recap for viewers who are just tuning in, according to eyewitnesses, at approximately 3:34 yesterday, a group of early customers drew guns on one another,” The reporter explained.

The camera cuts to a heavyset man. “I was workin’ in the kitchen when Maddie, our waitress, burst in, claiming that there were people waiving guns around. We all headed out the back, just to be safe. I called the police, who said they would send someone out real quick. Suddenly, gunshots went off and I realized that Maddie wasn’t with us.”

The camera cuts back to the reporter. “The staff explained that the young Madeline Thomas was a close friend to Theodor ‘Ted’ Johnson, the club’s bartender, who she viewed as a father figure. Since she was not with the evacuated staff, it was assumed that she had gone inside to protect Ted, who was in the line of fire. Only a moment after they had evacuated, nine gunshots were heard. The staff saw a white sedan speed out of the front lot, only for police officers to arrive a second later, too late to pursue.”

The reporter continued, “When the police arrived, what should have been a routine investigation took a turn for the supernatural. A green dome of energy appeared over the club that electrocuted any who touched it. Electronic devices literally imploded, showering sparks of green light, and police cars burst into emerald flames, as if the gas tanks were laced with copper. Communications cut and vehicles destroyed, the officers outside could do little but hope that their dozen colleagues inside were unharmed.”

The camera showed the damaged vehicles in the lot. The reporter continued her exposition, “When the dome suddenly vanished, investigators entered the premise, only to find an empty room. The three unidentified victims of the earlier shooting, Madeline Thomas, Ted Johnson, and all twelve officers were missing. Bloodstains from six different officers, three of the victims, a police issue handgun that had fired all of its rounds, and the severed hand of Officer Monroe were all that remained. Additionally, blood from the same nine individuals was found in the basement level, directly below the bar, with no indication of how it got there.”

The camera cuts to Police Chief Douglas. He says, “This is a terrible tragedy, and the Atlanta Police department will do everything it can to rescue the missing individuals as soon as possible. We are working with the FBI on this incident, and treating it as a possible terrorist attack with hostages. As of yet, no suspect has been identified, but-”



The television shuts off.

> The Heart of the Matter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The funeral ceremony was a strange affair. We ended up hosting it in the warehouse, for lack of a better, private location that could hold all who wanted to attend. With portable grills to cook the bodies and luminescent cocoons containing captured humans overhead, the whole thing looked absolutely nothing like a funeral ceremony.

As for the guests themselves, it was agreed upon that “formal attire” would consist of a black loin cloth around our waists, inverting our chitin color to white, and turning blue compound eyes grey. I had darkened my own eyes to a near solid black surrounded by silver, while turning my hair blood red. The green plates on my back turned grey while the blue bands that crossed my abdomen were bleached white.

I was surprised at the number of changelings that attended. Most that had shown up were the hatchlings who had never been human before, but there was a surprising number of converts mixed in the crowd, too; even more surprising was that everyone was sampling both their fallen comrades and the dead humans. I honestly had not expected that; I feared most would be revolted, yet almost half my hive had come and many of those who had not simply could not make it on such short notice.

After an hour of mingling – I listened in through the link, but did not participate – and eating, I gave a short speech. My words were not the most eloquent of monologues, but, after the fact, many of my subjects told me that it was adequate. 

Upon the funeral’s conclusion, I declared a pseudo-holiday, to commemorate our first losses. For the next day, we would mourn. Every changeling on my payroll would get a paid vacation, so that we would have time to get out sorrow out before resuming our lives.

Though it was irresponsible of me, I left Selene with a sitter while I spent that morning strung out on candy hearts and that evening feeding at Livewire. But it was only one day, and Valentine’s candies only come a few weeks a year.





“Are you sure you want to do this? It only ever works once.” Sally-Anne sat in the chair across from me. The two of us were in her apartment, which was currently a mess from being rifled through for information regarding Ian’s group. Of course, that was a few days ago and had yet to be cleaned up. Even the organized chaos of her work areas had descended into just chaos. The partial loss of her sight, plus the loss of Ian, and now her friend Shimmer had left the poor woman broken. Though she did not recognize my influence, even as we spoke, I was subtly manipulating her hands away from the blade that I found her playing with.

Sally-Anne nodded weakly.

“Are you really sure? I’ll get you someone who can help… a real professional. Just… think this over, ok?” I prayed that she would choose therapy over heart freezing, but it was not to be.

“Do it. I don’t think I can stand all of this pain any longer,” she confessed.

“…Ok. I want you to tell me about Ian while I work, alright?”

As I dove into her memories, Sally-Anne began to speak between her sobs. “Well, he was a really sweet guy. He loved me with all his heart, and I loved him back. He took me on wonderful dates; any movie I wanted to see, no matter how cheesy, he would take me to them. Ian would-” At this moment, I snapped the emotional bond, freezing Ian in her heart. Magic surged through her veins. “-would… Wow, that feels good. Oh, I forgot what I was going to say.”

“You were saying what Ian would do,” I reminded.

“Why would I ever talk about that jerk?” She replied, her tone having jumped from sorrow-filled to annoyed in an instant. “He was rude, annoying, and crass. I loved stringing him along, making him think I loved him.” She suddenly lunged from her seat and grabbed me, her lips pressing against mine, her long tongue invading my mouth. I was so surprised that I did not push away; I may have even begun to return the kiss at some point, but I am not sure.

A moment – or was it hours? – later, she broke away, blushing furiously. “I-I-I’m so sorry! I don’t know what came over me.”

“Huh…” I said dumbly. After shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I replied, “Well, surprising as that was, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Are you feeling better now?”

She nodded gently. “Y-yes. At least, without that jerk in my head, I don’t feel like killing myself any more. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still stressed beyond belief trying to learn Braille and by the fact that I can’t recognize human faces any more, and I’m still grieving over Shimmer’s murder, but I’m better.”

I smiled, glad for my subject. Having reduced her own misery, I could feel the echo of her emotions within the link fade, much to the relief of all of the changelings around her in the hierarchy, myself included. “Do you need help with that Braille practice? I’ve got time.”

She smiled, and then blushed faintly. It still impresses me how visible a changeling’s blush is on such dark chitin. “Yes, the company would be nice,” she stated. “And, perhaps, we could… practice kissing some more? Oh, forget I said that!” she squeaked in embarrassment.

“No, it’s ok, I’d like that,” I commented, and then leaned in close. 

She closed the gap.





For a moment, I wondered if the girl at my side could influence the sun as well as the moon; her counterpart’s sister could manage both, so why not little Selene? Though, when I asked her if she had made last night moon or this morning’s sun extra bright and glorious today, she just gave me a funny look.

There was an extra spring in my step as I walked through Centennial Olympic Park with Selene and Klika; the memories of last two weeks’ events were forcefully shoved aside to make room for happy thoughts. Very happy thoughts. 

Selene bounced alongside me with her usual cheer, her illusion restoring her to the appearance of a fully human ten year old, albeit with light blue hair. Klika walked next to her, hand in hand, while disguised as a sixteen year old girl, also with blue hair of a darker shade.

I had not told Selene any of what had happened recently, except for Sal’s initial hospitalization. I had not told her of my own brush with death, nor of the funeral that had happened the other day. I definitely had not told her that I had eaten humans and changelings, or that I could not stop thinking about that sickeningly tantalizing flavor every time a person entered my field of view. I absolutely, positively, most certainly did not tell her that I had spent the other day strung out on candy hearts; nope, I said not a word.

“What are you feeling like for lunch, you two?” I asked my kids. I was not really concerned with what Klika would want; if it had had a pulse, she would like it. Otherwise, food was all the same to her. Effectively, our plans for the afternoon were in the hands of Selene.

Selene asked, “Can we go to the Varsity? See, I really want a slaw dog! Those are yummy!”

I smiled and ruffled her hair; it looked weird because my hand was a foot and a half over her apparent head. “Of course, if that’s ok with you, Klika.”

“Yeah, that’s good,” my first daughter replied.

“Well then,” I said as my hands started to glow with magic, “Let’s fly.” Ah, the wonder of a Notice-Me-Not spell, a portable weirdness censor whenever you need a clean getaway. I cast the charm on the three of us and, only a second later, we were in the air. 

As we flew, I leeched a small portion of Selene’s happiness, just enough to counteract the cost of the Notice-Me-Not. Her magic reserves were large enough that she wouldn’t miss it and would probably regenerate it completely by the time we finished eating. Luna was known throughout Equa for possessing the second largest reserve of magic in either world, second only to Celestia, and Selene had inherited a similar trait. To put her reserves in perspective, Selene single-handedly possessed more magic at any given moment than the hive’s entire supply, which was divided among 341 changelings… well, 339 now.

Lunch passed quickly, and soon we found ourselves at the movies. It was a childish Disney film, but we enjoyed it regardless. When we returned to the apartment, Selene began retelling the plot to Nick, which quickly evolved into a full reenactment; the human-alicorn quickly took up the role of the heroine while Klika and I substituted every other character, full costume changes included. Nick enjoyed every minute of our childish rendition.

However, when the climactic scene came up where the villain was about to strike down the heroine, I – the antagonist – paused. Below me, Selene was curled up in mock-terror and I was poised to strike. Memories filtered through my consciousness, in spite of my attempts to repress them.


Human flesh sliding down my throat.

*Flash*

The corpses, dismembered and cooked on a fire.

*Flash*

The gun pointed at my head.

*Flash*

Dave’s face, cold and merciless, as he pulled the trigger.

*Flash*

Catherine, enraged beyond belief, with her fingers squeezing my neck, blistering my skin with hatred.

*Flash*

Sighing, I said to Selene, “You know how you are a human shaped version of Luna? I’m a human shaped version of Chrysalis. She, well… kind of eats ponies.”

“WHAT?” she asked, backing away from me quickly.

Hastily, I shrank down to her old size so that she towered over me and added, “But I’m not like that! I was only pretending to be a monster!”

*Flash*


‘…Only pretending to be a monster,’ I thought.

“Rex, dude, are you alright?” Nick asked when I had zoned out.

“Uh… yeah… yeah, I’m fine.” I waved my hand dismissively. “Listen, I’m going to go… take a shower, yeah, ‘k? I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine. What’s wrong?” Nick asked, unconvinced with my lie.

“I SAID I’M FINE!” I snapped, simultaneously reverting back to normal in a whoosh of green flame. Quickly, I stood and headed to the bathroom. I paused in the doorway. Then, “Sorry... I’ll be fine… eventually. G’night.”

I turned my back to them, but was impeded from going forwards by a pair of blue arms embracing my waist. The soothing feeling of a concerned touch only served to drive my spirits further into the ground. “I love you, daddy.”

‘I never asked for this…’

> Raise Your Hopes, Raze Your Enemy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“What the fuck are you doing here?” Slagteri asked, his head poking out of his Beehive apartment door. Taruke stood in the hallway, muscular arms folded across his chest. Through the doorway, a faint, putrid odor wafted into the hall.

“I know that you and your superiors know exactly where every member of the anti-changeling movement is right now,” Taruke replied. “I came to you to ask for that information. I plan to take it upon myself to exterminate this threat once and for all.”

Slagteri snorted. “Yeah, about that, the bastards upstairs said just to watch and not do anything else. As much as I want to kill the little bitches myself, Skinner’s wrath is something I can do without.”

“Perhaps,” Taruke replied and then grinned smugly. “As head of the finance division, I have the authority to stage a ‘strategic removal of competitive entities.’ After all, if they are killing our workers, won’t we see a drop in hive income? Now, would you like a job as ‘Secretary of Investment Defense’?”

Slagteri blinked. A wicked grin grew on his face. “You sly bastard, you make a killer proud.” He gave Taruke a thumbs-up. “Still, whatever happened to your fucking ‘all powerful king’s word is law’ belief? It seems odd that a zealot like you’d go against his orders like that.”

“In the defense of the hive, sometimes subverting his majesty’s orders is for the best. If no other changelings die, I feel that our merciful king would forgive our transgressions,” the elder changeling replied.

“Well then, come on in, boss,” Slagteri said as he opened his door fully, revealing the pig-sty within. “Let’s get planning. Pardon the mess.” As Taruke walked in, he was assaulted by the putrid odor, which he could now identify as formaldehyde and excrement. The source of the smell was a human body, hidden just out of sight of the door. “Sorry, I just got so caught up in my reading that I had to try it out myself. Who knew that Princess Sun-Slut was such a good author?”

“Which book?” Taruke asked, surprised at Slagteri’s comment. He did not expect that Slagteri was the bookish type; it was such a clash with his personality.

“Oh, 65 Torture Techniques for the Novice Interrogator." Slagteri glanced over at the body. "I may have gone a bit far… nah.”





“I’m heading out, Dad,” Klika called out from the apartment entrance, her voice changing mid-sentence from changeling-double to deep man. I glanced back and saw that she had taken the form of a burly, tattooed, 6’6” man.

“Be careful. Call if you need anything; I’ll be there in a minute if you need me,” I said.

“I’ll be fine. Who would bother me looking like this?” She asked, gesturing to herself.

“How long are you going to be out?” I asked.

“Dunno, I’ll see. I just need some me time right now, ‘k? I was thinking of meeting some girls at the Beehive later, maybe get some drinks. You know… stuff.” Klika turned and headed out the door.

I called after her, “Have fun!”

“Oh, I will,” she muttered to herself when she was out of earshot.





There was a knock on Slagteri’s door. The two changelings within looked up from where they were seated. “Were you expecting company?” Taruke inquired.

“Fuck no. I have enough dealing with your shit,” he said as he stood. Slagteri reached the door and grasped the handle. With a twist he pulled it open. “I don’t need any more… Princess? The fuck are you doing here?”

At the word ‘princess,’ Taruke jumped out of his chair and knelt in front of the unexpected guest standing in the door. “Forgive this imbecile’s rude greeting,” he asked Klika. “Now, what may I do for you, your highness?”

“I know what you two are up to. Dad is not the only one who watches his subordinates and, unlike him, I have no issue with invading my subordinate’s heads,” Klika explained as she walked into the room. 

“Forgive us, your highness, we did not mean to-” Before Taruke could finish his sentence, Klika interrupted.

“Oh, I’m not mad and you two are not in trouble. If anything, I came to tag along,”

“Didn’t see that coming,” Slagteri said, eyebrow raised in mild astonishment.

Taruke raised his head from the bow it had been in up until now. Looking Klika in the eye, he spoke, “Princess, I do not believe that it is wise for you to come with us.” 

“Save it. I’m coming, even if I have to give a royal order to make you take me,” Klika firmly stated. “Don’t think, however, that I’m not going to pull my weight. Your two divisions are in my half of the hive, rather than Nick’s side. As such, I have a limited ability to shelter you from Dad’s attention. Don’t get me wrong, if we draw his full attention, there is nothing in the world that can keep him out of our heads; I can, however, keep you in the shadows, so to speak.”

“Lucky then that kingy respects our privacy, right?” Slagteri commented.

“Yes, it would take but a thought for our great king to become omniscient within the hive,” Taruke agreed.

“You talk funny, you know that, right?” Klika asked.

Taruke snorted with mirth. “You should ask your father about how he made me better than I was before. If my choice of words is a side-effect of his improvements, then I embrace it.”





“Hey there, Sal. Glad to be back at work?” I asked while gently caressing the velvety skin of her twin-pointed ears. Sally-Anne smiled and told me that yes, she was. She asked me to follow her back into the lab area so that she could show me something that they had been recreating for a time.

“Recreating? What is it?” I asked, intrigued by what she had to offer. Generally, everything that came out of her department brought benefits to the hive, such as Change.lng or the portable affinity tester. Spark, her second in command, told me earlier that they had successfully gotten a computer to direct a magical current without priming, such as with Change.lng’s Come-To-Life spell. It was now just a matter of developing the code to control the magic and imputing the spell formulas that we had collected.

But that did not sound like what she was referring to. “You’ll see,” she teased, then walked a smidge faster.

When we turned in the door, the nine changelings within stopped what they were doing and looked up. I just waived them on; the quickly resumed their work. “This is what I wanted to show you,” Sal said, grabbing a square of some strange black cloth from one of the work benches. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before; like a mirror, it reflected the room around it, but only about a quarter of the light, which gave it the dark appearance. Yet at the same time, it seemed to flow like a liquid more than cloth.

She handed it to me. The moment I took it, I noticed two things in quick succession; first, it was insanely heavy for such a small cloth, and second, it felt like skin – not as in ‘to the touch’, but rather, ‘I could sense the air touching the cloth as if it were part of my own body’. In surprise, I dropped the cloth; before it could hit the ground, however, Sally-Anne had scooped it up with her magic.

“What is that?” I asked. I had a sinking suspicion about its true nature, but I hoped-

“It’s shimmer fabric,” Sally-Anne admitted.

My eyes narrowed dangerously and my pupils constricted to slits. “The fabric Celestia created out of the chitin of murdered changelings? That shimmer fabric?”

Sally-Anne squeaked and shrank back. She gave a nervous chuckle when she backed into one of the workbenches.  “Well, yes and no.”

“Explain.” It was not a request.

She squeaked again. Hastily she began, “It is shimmer fabric, but the chitin came from volunteers. We had the surgeons remove our arm chitin, which we re-grew afterwards. We used that to make a test batch.”

I sighed in relief. “So whose was this?” I gestured to the square that was still floating between the two of us. Spark spoke, voicing his claim on the sample. Turning back to Sal, I asked, “So does this live up to its description in the book? Is it really as strong as dragon-hide?”

“Well, we don’t have any dragon-hide to compare it to, but it’s at least as strong, if not stronger, than Kevlar by tensile strength,” she claimed. “A sample this thick – this one, in fact – can stop a .25 caliber bullet at point-blank range.”

“Bulletproof armor, that’s nice,” I commented. Reaching for the cloth, I plucked it out of the air. Once again, I felt the deceptively heavy fabric start to relay touch to my brain. “Why does it do that, the touch thing? I don’t remember reading about that in the text.”

Sal shrugged. “We think it has something to do with us being changelings. It’s much like how when we form clothing ourselves, we can still feel with it. Well, that’s the theory, anyway. Can I hold it for a moment? I want to show you something.”

I passed the cloth back to her. The moment Sal’s fingertips closed on the fabric, it stiffened and straightened out to the point that I swore she was holding a sheet of polished metal instead of fabric. It began to bend, stretch, and contort all on its own, seemingly without any command from it’s holder; her magic appeared inert as there was none of the distinctive glow around Sal’s hands. The cloth stiffened again and began to rapidly change colors and patterns, eventually settling on a pink plaid. A split-second later, it flopped down and returned to its original coloration.

I whistled – my double voice made it a chord rather than a single note – thoroughly impressed. “How did you do that?”

“You just allow your magic to spread into it – don’t force it – and command it like you would any other limb; the shimmer fabric won’t even drain your magic unless it has to protect you. It will even survive the transformation, being made of various metals and our chitin, and can adjust the size accordingly. Though, it will get uncomfortably hot for a time if you do so,” She explained. I was impressed to the point where I wanted a suit of this for myself; though, knowing the cost of the materials and methods needed to create this, I knew it would be rather unlikely that I would ever see shimmer fabric cloths anytime soon.

Yet, as if to prove me wrong, two changelings brought in a large box. Within lay a long sleeve shirt and a pair of pants, tailored to my size. All together, the two pieces weighed close to fifteen pounds. Though enamored with it, I had to ask how much it cost. I had a vague suspicion that if Taruke had been anything like Ginny, he would have punched the entirety of R&D when he saw the price tag.

“$1.2 million,” Sal replied as if it was nothing, “and that’s when you figure that we own the mines, the chitin was donated, and the doctors were paid with medical insurance money.”

I set the shirt down and looked at Sal. “It would have cost what otherwise?”

“Roughly $13 million.” I whistled in response to her answer. “Go on, it’s yours.”

“Wow, I have no idea what to say… how can I ever repay you? Wait…” I said, pausing for a moment to think. “I know just the thing, no, two things. You told me earlier that you wanted a team to go capture the Cloudsdale Archives on weather manipulation. If you can spare the people to form a retrieval team and Chrysalis can spare a guide, we can have them by tomorrow.”

Sally-Anne clapped her hands. “Oh, thank you!”

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. “And that other thing? I’ll have to see if I can convince her, but… well, I’ll tell you when it’s time.”





“OUT OF THE WAY, MOTHERFUCKERS! FASTER, FASTER! …I’m booorrred.”

Taruke rolled his eyes and sighed. “I’m the one driving and he gets road rage, fantastic.” He shook his head in disappointment. “Princess, if nothing else, never look to that man as a role model.”

“Hey, fucktard, I’m not that bad, *Uurrp,*” Slagteri whined, punctuating it with a large belch.

“My point…” Taruke deadpanned. “At least I’m not a heroin addict like some people, James.”

A split second after the words left Taruke’s lips, he knew he had gone too far. Slagteri’s claws pierced the skin of Taruke’s current form, drawing blood and forcing his arm to revert to its true form. Taruke’s arm jerked, yanking the steering wheel and momentarily causing the car to swerve into oncoming traffic. Klika screamed, but a quick pull the other way had the car narrowly avoid a head-on collision.

“NEVER. SAY.	 THAT. NAME. AGAIN. Got it?” Slagteri’s eyes were focused solely on Taruke, as if their near death experience had not just occurred. Unlike his normal rage and aggression, which was underscored by good cheer, the emotion in Slagteri’s eyes was loathing in its purest form. “That was my old life. This is now. I don’t need to be reminded of what the king saved me from.”

And, like a light switch was flipped in his head, Slagteri was back to his personal normal: annoyed and psychotic.





“I don’t believe I’ve ever introduced you two to each other before. Sal, this is my daughter, Selene.” I gestured to the blue girl to my right.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Selene,” Sally-Anne declared.

“Selene, this is Sally-Anne.”

Selene pondered her for a moment. “Are you Daddy’s girlfriend?”

“What, no!” we said in unison followed by a glance at each other. 

I shook my head. “No, Sal just works for me by making cool things. She helped make my clothes. I pay her a lot of money ‘cause she’s so smart.”

“Oh…” A look of contemplation crossed her face. With her brow furrowed, she asked, “Wait, you can be paid money for being smart?”

That caused both Sal and I to chuckle; I found her laughter really cute. “That’s right, kiddo.”

Selene’s eyes went wide, as if she had just experienced some world-shattering revelation. Suddenly, she was off; her hoof-like feet clopped loudly on the tile floor as she ran. “Where are you going?” I called.

“To get my workbooks!” Selene replied from her room. “I want to be smarter than her, then you’ll have to pay me lots of money and I can buy all the candy and toys I want! Hahahaha!”

The two of us followed her into her room where she was busy pulling out every workbook her homeschooling tutors had given her. “Wait, wait, Selene, there will be plenty of time later for that. Right now, I have to ask you something important.” She looked up from her workbooks and I moved in closer. Leaning down, I whispered into her pony-like ears, “Selene, would you help me by…”

“Oh, that sounds like fun! Does that mean I get to stay up extra late tonight?”

“Sure.”





The changeling trio walked towards the cheap hotel, each supporting a backpack on their shoulders. The last golden rays of sunlight were fading behind them. Just as the first stars were appearing, they stepped inside. “Are you sure that this is the place?” Klika asked.

“Fuck, I told you already, yes, this is the place. Stalker’s been shadowing this guy for days now.” Slagteri smirked in amusement. Switching to the changeling language so as not to be overheard, he said, “The bastard really underestimated how easy it was for us to find him. You’d think that, for all the precautions they took before now, they’d know to avoid public places, especially after killing someone. Or that they would take some advice from the horror movies and not split up.”

“How did you end up finding him?” Klika pressed the elevator call button as she asked the Silencer of the group. She shifted the weight of the bag on her back.

He pressed the button for the sixth floor as he walked into the elevator. “Fuckin’ retina scanners in public. You know those street-level signs that change whenever you look at them? They have retina scanners so that the advertisers can custom fit their shit to you. The police can tap into those. If a known suspect walks a city street without sunglasses, the police will find them in hours. Our little web ghost got access and tracked him to here,” Slagteri declared proudly. “Stalker did the rest.”

“Fitting name, considering his chosen profession,” Taruke commented idly in English as the elevator slowly climbed.

“Really?” Klika sarcastically asked, switching back herself. She stepped out into the appropriate hallway. “We all name ourselves; Protector, Slaughterhouse, Daughter, Stalker – of course it’s fitting. Room?”

“6-34.” The Silencer answered. He turned left and quickly strode down the hallway. Slagteri stopped in front of the correct door. “Get Stalker out here.”

Klika nodded. <<Stalker, by order of Klika, Princess of the Hive, your previous mission is herby complete.>>

<<Princess? What are you doing here and why are you ending my mission? I’m not supposed to let him out of my sight for any reason.>>

Klika elaborated on her orders, <<Your new orders are to wait out in the parking lot until my business here is completed. Furthermore, you are not to report to your superiors until I dismiss you, understood?>>

<<Yes, princess…>> A second later, a little black beetle crawled out from under the door. It took off and flew around the corner where the Ice machine was located. One flash of green light later, a skinny, pale man walked out. He bowed towards Klika and then turned towards the elevator.

<<Don’t worry about your target. He won’t be a problem anymore when we’re through with him,>> Klika added, causing the retreating Stalker to pause mid-step. <<Oh, and Stalker, one more thing. What is the anti-magic artifact he’s wearing?>>

<<A ring on his right hand, Princess.>> 

Klika nodded at him in thanks. She reached into her bag and pulled out a cloth and a vial of chloroform. As she poured a few drop on the cloth, careful to not breathe in the noxious fumes, Slagteri pulled out a knife from his bag while Taruke pulled out a stun-gun. The three nodded. With the green shimmer of a Notice-Me-Not and a burst of green flames surrounding the door frame, Taruke pushed his way through the locked door as if it was not even there.





The last golden rays of sunlight were fading behind us. Just as the first stars were appearing, we stepped outside. I wore the shimmer fabric clothing she had given me, styled up in the facsimile of a suit and tie. “I wanted to show you something special, as a way of saying thanks for the suit and, well, you know.” I blushed and sheepishly looked away from Sal. In reply, she leaned in closer. The warmth of her body felt good in the nippy February evening air. On one corner of the Beehive roof laid a set of blankets and two pillows.

“Is this a date?” She asked me upon seeing the setup.

Without looking back at her, I said, “Err, kinda? It can be, if you want. Or it could just be stargazing with a friend…”

She grabbed my chin and turned my head to look down at her. A blush to match my own adorned her face. “I’d like the date, please.” 

She pulled my head down to her level for a kiss. Before I reached her, I stopped. “Let’s try to keep this tame. Selene’s just over there,” I pointed with my thumb to the where she stood in the opposite corner of the roof, “because she’s our entertainment tonight.”

“Oh, really?”

“Mmmm Hmmm,” I agreed, “she is. Normally, she just waives her hand and *Whoosh,* moon, *Bam,* stars, and she’s done. This time, I asked her to put on a show and promised her that the longer and more spectacular she made it, the longer she could stay up tonight. We should ask her if she could do a comet.”

“Oh, that sounds fun. I wonder if she can do a supernova,” my date mused.

“Let’s ask.”





Dave awoke with a pulsating, searing headache and a body that ached all over. As his mind cleared, he attempted to take stock of his situation. Upon opening his eyes, his vision swam so much that he had to immediately reclose them. As he shifted his weight, he realized that his limbs were spread out and tied to something solid and there was something pressing against his hips. Oh, and, with the exception of the ring on his finger, he was completely naked.

He could hear murmuring voices, but nothing distinct enough to understand. On second thought, he could hear them just fine; instead, they were speaking gibberish. The weight on his hips shifted; had his head not been killing him, it would have been a pleasurable sensation.

He waited out the pain.





“Oh, before I forget, one last thing,” I said as we sat down on the blanket. The sky had darkened almost completely – just the slightest hint of purple remained – but neither the moon nor stars had appeared. I focused on a specific portion of the link so that Sal wouldn’t hear me. <<All Change.lng copies, are you in place?>>

I received about three dozen identical “affirmatives”. Smiling, I dramatically raised my hands by my head. <<Initiate procedure in five seconds.>>

“Let there be…” I clapped my hands at the exact moment all of the electricity in Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs failed. “…Darkness.” 





He finally felt good enough to open his eyes. Though it was hard to focus, he could make out two figures standing over him and one smaller figure sitting on his waist. “Ugh, what the hell is going on?”

Suddenly, cold water was dumped on his face, snapping him fully awake but making his headache worse. He coughed, trying to clear his lungs of the invading fluid, while struggling against his bonds.

The figure sitting on his waist spoke English for the first time since he had awoken. The voice matched the body, that of a girl who looked six years old. Her dress, if you could call it that, looked like it would be more appropriate on a stripper, even if it was sized appropriately. Despite the cold water, despite the pain, despite the inappropriateness of the situation, despite his pleas to his body, the motions of the small child balancing on his nether regions managed to make him hard. 

“There was a little girl who lost her parents once before. Now my sister almost lost her father again. So, Mr. Davie, why did you shoot my daddy?” the child asked.





“Oh, that is amazing,” Sal cheered. Selene blushed at the praise and continued directing the night sky; her arms moved like a conductor directing a symphony as she painted the sky with stars.

On the moon itself, we could see the silhouette of her body, wings outstretched. The shadow possessed glowing white eyes that seemed more focused on the stars in the sky than the puny world below.

Selene’s shadow spun its arms; from behind the moon itself, jets of stars erupted, precisely following her actions. The twinkling stars slowly spread across the night sky before pooling in their correct locations, a gorgeous sight to behold. And my daughter was only just getting started.





He wanted to scream, to curse, to anything, but restrained as he was, Dave could do nothing. His mouth was gagged with a blob of that wretched goo. He twisted and turned, ignoring the pain in favor of trying to break his bond. Yet it seemed futile. Anytime he got even the slightest hint of slack, one of his three tormenters would tighten it up and add another blob of goo to that limb. Worse, it contracted as it dried, meaning that his bonds were pulling him so tight that he was suspended inches above the floor.

His female torturer – Daughter, as she introduced herself – had aged herself up to about eighteen years and had developed very, very large breasts. Her form was a hybrid of changeling and human. With her clawed hand, she massaged his genitals; his stiff rod entered one of the disgusting, oozing holes.

Alone, that would not be so bad; however, it was her other, human hand that he feared. It was wielding a large knife and slowly carving into his skin. Though it was only shallow cuts – and therefore would not bleed much – it was still far more pain than he had ever experienced before.





The falling stars raced across the sky, delighting us with the spectacle. Selene’s shadow had taken to dancing on the moon with amateur level ballet. It was cute to watch Selene try so hard to impress us. And she was having so much fun, too.

Sal lay curled up next to me. She had forgone a pillow, substituting my arm instead. It was not like I minded. We had talked for a time, but had gone to quiet snuggling in the last few minutes. I pulled the blanket tighter.

Drinking, partying, making out, and having sex with random men and woman was both fun and tasty, but nothing beat spending time with someone for which you had actual feelings. 





The second one to have a crack at him was Protector. While Daughter had caused both pain and pleasure, Protector brought blissful nothing. One hand glowing with sickly green light, the middle aged man with feathered wings reached out with his unlit hand and slipped Dave’s anti-magic ring off. He then pressed the lit fingers against the prisoner’s torso; from that spot, total numbness radiated outwards until Dave’s body was completely clear of pain.

“Is that better?” Protector asked. Dave gave no visible response. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you, ok? I just want you to listen to what I have to say. You listened to the wrong person. Whatever Catherine may have told you are lies. My glorious king is a good person; he is a very forgiving soul. In his heart, there is more than enough love for us all.

“But this? Shooting innocents? That is not how you win his love.” The man caressed Dave’s cheek. “Our King is much like a god; mighty in power is he. And I, I am his angel, naught but a humble servant. That said, I am no messenger, nor do I bring miracles. I am his angel of vengeance.”

The green glow of Protector’s hand intensified. Green flames spread from his hand, painlessly enveloping Dave’s bound form. One last time, Protector spoke. “Sinner, repent.”

In that moment, Dave knew true agony.





Love. As the comet passes overhead, I contemplate the word in all its meaning. Eventually, I discovered something, something I had only suspected before.

I think I might love her. It only takes a half-formed thought to see that she loves me, budding as that love may be. Deep within myself, I feel the same emotion stirring, growing. Ode to the joys of being a changeling, for we are naturally wise in the ways of the heart.

As I leaned in closer to the woman next to me, as my lips brushed against hers, Selene’s magic gripped one of the larger stars in her sky. And, in my moment of passion, the Earth laid witness to the brightest and most visible supernovae in all of recorded history.





Slaughterhouse lived up to his name.

Squelch goes the knife, cutting through Dave.

Off comes the flesh, to be stacked in a pile.

Zap goes the lightning, cauterizing the wound.

Chomp snaps the jaw, devouring the meat.

Shush goes the magic, keeping him awake.

“Again,” says the monster, bringing the knife to skin. 

‘No more,’ begs the heart, only to beat nevermore.

“Hey asshole, I wanted to play with you some more! Why did you have to go and die on me?” Slagteri eyed the corpse, mentally dividing up the remains. After a second, he bent down and removed the arms and legs from the body. “Meh, eat up, you two.”

“Oh, save some for Stalker. I don’t think he’s had dinner yet,” Klika commented. She reached down, picked up a leg, and crunched through the bone.





“That was a great night,” I said as I tucked my exhausted daughter into bed. “Thanks for the show.”

“I hope we can do that again some time,” Sal said. She squeezed my hand gently.

Selene yawned. “Does that mean you two are dating now?”

Sal looked into my eyes, and I into hers. Together, we said, “Yeah, it does.”

> Punishment and Relief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The beep-beeping of my alarm slowly roused me from sleep; last night, I had dreamed of having public speaking lessons with Chrysalis. I stood up from my cloud bed just a bit too fast. During the night, I had dropped my false skin before bed, so when I stood, I was almost a foot too tall for the ceiling. I winced, hissing and clutching my four aching crown antennas in pain. 

After my forceful reminder to reduce my size, I bathed, dressed in the shimmer suit, and walked into the kitchen. Now, on a normal day, Selene would wake up early enough to lower the moon and get ready for the day while I would make breakfast for my little family, fruit and cereal for Selene and bacon, sausage, and eggs for everyone else.

When the smell of burning food and nervousness assaulted my nose, I knew that the normal routine had been broken. Selene stood next to the stove, fire extinguisher hovering at her side, while staring down her attempt at breakfast. Upon her face lay a shameful expression.

"Let me guess, first attempt at cooking on the stove?" 

"Sorry, Daddy. See, I was only trying to make you breakfast," Selene said. "I even set the table."

"Ah well, it's not a problem." With a wave of my hand, I levitated the foam from the extinguisher into the trash. With only a few more bursts of magic from Selene and me, we had the kitchen back in working order. "Now, how about you let me handle the cooking? Can you go wake your sister?" 

Selene trotted off while I set to work creating an edible meal. My morning may not have been perfect, but there's nothing absolutely pressing to do, and I don't expect any emergencies. I figured that today would be a good day to get some magic practice in; I was working on basic illusions and wanted to dabble in the cross-discipline art of astral-projection. However, I my musing was interrupted when Selene returned. "She's not there and the bathroom's empty."

I blinked. "Did she not come home last night?" I flicked my attention inwards towards the link. Klika was quiet. Now, there are several flavors of quiet in the hive mind. First is the idle mind, where they have nothing to contribute. The sleeping mind hums with unconscious activity, while the injured mind does nothing at all. Lastly, the dead mind is completely removed from the link.

Klika's quiet was none of the above. It was the quiet of secrecy. It works wonders for keeping the wandering mind away from itself; however, the moment I noticed it, the quiet metaphorically shouted 'I have a secret that I won't tell,' then stuck out its tongue, metaphorically.

Curiosity peaked, I started snooping around the eerily quiet portions of the link. Over the course of a few minutes, I realized that over half of my hive was currently sitting within this quiet zone, Klika's half. Chatter among these changelings was almost non-existent; by their own efforts to hide, they had drawn attention to themselves.

Feigning ignorance, I searched out my head Silencer. <<Ginny Skinner, what is the status on our targets?>>

<<The situation is unchanged, with the exception of Catherine, who is in the process of having a mental breakdown,>> she reported. There is one lesson that I learned from Chrysalis that I have not shared with the hive: it is impossible to lie successfully in purely mental communication if your audience knows what to look for. I do.

A fundamental component of willingly lying is the brain must assess what is the "truth" before fabricating a falsity that contradicts the "truth." This creates subconscious patterns in the liar that can be read by the listener.

<<Skinner, I will give you exactly one chance to answer my next question before I enter your mind and find out for myself. Why did you lie?>>

<<Sir, I was ordered by the princess to lie about the situation. I was not ordered to lie about those orders to lie,>> she replied.

I growled. So Klika was behind this? When I ordered Ginny to give me the correct message, she informed me that Stalker was refusing to communicate with her, on Klika's orders, and the remaining dozen members of the anti-changeling movement were starting to worry over Dave's sudden silence. It was not hard to put two and two together.

Mood sufficiently ruined, I discarded subtlety and forced my way into my daughter's memories. What I found horrified me. As calm and cold as ice, I said, <<Klika, Taruke, Slagteri, Come. Home. Now. I will discuss your punishments face to face. If you are not here by noon, I will fetch you myself. You wouldn't want to make me any more upset than I am now by being late, would you?>> At their hasty acknowledgement, I refocused on Ginny. I ordered each of our enemies – including Catherine, though I had extra plans for her – to be subdued when possible and brought to me for conversion.

In my anger, I almost burnt breakfast. Almost.





Klika would swear that she could feel her bones cracking under the strain. Slagteri feared that he would tear a muscle from the intense weight he was feeling. Taruke had already given up trying to support himself and was focusing his entire willpower on keeping fresh air in his lungs. Each one struggled under the massive weight while simultaneously trying to hold onto their minds. I towered over them, crushing them – mind and body – with thought alone; in that moment, I felt so powerful. If I decided to push just a tad harder, I could easily snap their bones and shatter their minds, and they knew it.

Of course, from an outside perspective, I was just standing in front of three changelings, two kneeling and one flat on his face. An onlooker would not see the illusion I was subjecting my changelings too, nor would they feel the internal power dominance between the changelings on the floor and me. The fact that it was all within their heads made my illusion no less painful for Klika, Taruke, and Slagteri, as strong enough muscle contractions can actually snap bone.

Over the course of two minutes, I slowly retracted the pressure until they were only mildly weighed down. "I'm very disappointed in you three," I said. "You subvert my authority, you lied to me, you endanger our hive with your actions, and worst of all, you proved them right. Yes, we are monsters that feed on humans; that is no reason to be the villains they see us as. I may have been lenient before, I may have been a forgiving person before, but not now. If my leniency lets people like you feel that you can get away with whatever you want, then it is time I show you who is boss around here: me.” I spoke as the King, the personification of the hive, not as Rex the normal person.

I turned first to my daughter. I growled, "I did not raise my daughter to be a monster. We are changelings; we should be spreading love, not fear and hatred. What do you have to say for your actions?"

A very quiet "I'm sorry" escaped her lips.

I raised an eyebrow as I stared her down. "For what? And speak up."

Louder this time, Klika said, "I'm sorry for disobeying you and for my cruelty." From my position within her head, I could tell that she genuinely felt apologetic for her actions.

I nodded to her. "I'm glad you feel that way. You are still going to be punished. You will serve two months of heartbreaker without banishment." Klika gasped and cringed. Heartbreaker was the most severe punishment that could be given to a changeling short of being executed or reprogrammed. "You will be stripped of your power and locked into a form of my choice. You will have your connection to the hive mind suppressed and your magic sealed. Klika, instead of banishment, you will be under house arrest until your time is served and will be stripped of your allowance. If you cause any trouble, I will extend your sentence." 

As I finished speaking, I twisted Klika's magic, locking her into the form of a six year old girl. Being form-locked hurt the changeling continuously and made it impossible for them to revert to normal under any circumstances; the pain made form-locking an effective punishment for any length of time. I drained her magical energy, sealed it up, and manipulated her connection to isolate her from the rest of the hive. 

By the time I was done, she was in tears. I had brought her down to the level of the humans we eat. Klika whimpered, "It's too quiet. Why is my head so empty? I'm scared of being alone..."

Slagteri was the next to face my judgment. “For you, Slagteri, your punishment will be the harshest of the three, as you have committed additional crimes.You will serve six months of full heartbreaker and will be banished. Pack your belongings; I want you out of the Beehive by tomorrow morning. I expect you to call in by next Wednesday.” Like Klika, I twisted Slagteri’s magic until he was effectively human again. Unlike Klika, who had no human face of her own, the face I gave Slagteri was his ‘James,’ the beaten, broken, heroin addicted teen that I had converted to save from a premature death months ago.

When Slagteri saw that he had returned to being James, he snapped. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the teen collapsed to the floor. “I’m going back to hell. I’m going back to hell. I’m going back to hell. I’m going back to hell…”

To the final offender I turned. “Taruke, unfortunately for me, you are too useful to be exiled or to be distracted by the pain of heartbreaker. Your skill with money has brought this hive riches. For you, I will make you my body double. Your own mind will be imprisoned within your body, unable to experience or influence the outside world. In turn, I will animate your body and use your memories to perform your job for you for the next two months.”

“I understand, my great king,” Taruke declared. “I accept your punishment without complaint.” 

While pacing back and forth, I addressed all three of them, "If, after your terms are served, I have any more trouble, I will not hesitate to alter your minds. As Taruke acted for the good of the hive, so will I.

“Now, on a side note, I will admit that without a justice system of our own, vigilante justice is all we have to avenge ourselves.” I let out an exhausted sigh. My tone loosened up and my posture relaxed. “But for crying out loud, if you were going to execute someone, all you needed was one bullet to the head. Not… all that, ok?”

Taruke and Klika nodded. Slagteri was too busy chanting his little mantra to reply; I do not think that he even heard me. “Well then,” I said as I helped the three of them up, “Klika, off to your room. Slagteri, you have an apartment to clean out. Taruke…” It was at this point that I closed my eyes and completely slid into his body. Taruke’s personality was pushed to the back of his mind as I took over. I opened both sets of eyes; as of right now, I existed in two places at once.

Thoughts began to stir in my head; I needed to get a grip on the situation. Too many things had surprised me; too many things could have gone better. More thoughts blossomed. I did not have a real plan or goal, I did not have the allies or the political or economic might I would need to control the situations that may arise in the future. Klika’s actions made me realize that, for once, I needed to be a strong leader. No, I needed to be a titan.

I turned my focus towards the link. <<Attention, my changelings. It seems that I have been too relaxed in my duties as your king. For too long, I have sat around content to live and let live. For the first time, we have crime among the members of our hive.>> I passed the memories of the three offender’s crimes to the collective memory. <<But no more! We are changelings; we are not meant to just live, but to thrive! Join with me; help me craft the strongest empire in either world!>> 

The mental cheer at my improvised speech was deafening. Maybe, perhaps, being the king of the changelings was not so bad after all.





An establishment like the Livewire Club tended to attract the scum of the earth. Being as exclusive as it is, the patrons of Livewire tend to be very rich, very well connected, or both. Sometimes, such people like to show off by inviting their associates to conduct business in full sight of the club’s debauchery, hence the large, private tables on the balconies that overlook the club floor. If one of those business associates is also a changeling, he or she will find it quite pleasurable to work in an environment of such high lust.

While a tad unpleasant to most humans, the smell of lovemaking was quickly becoming one of my all time favorite scents. Much like how Pavlov’s dogs associated the bell with food, I associated sweat, blood, urine, semen, and fecal matter with the intoxicating flavor of lust, making the otherwise putrid smells pleasing.

I looked out from my perch at the edge of the balcony, observing the scene below. The desire to join the mass orgy was shoved to the back of my mind as the last of my department heads arrived. I turned away and walked to one of my two seats as my other body escorted Ginny Skinner, the head Silencer, to the private room. She sat down next to Anthony Titarenko, who had recently assumed the role as Head Infiltrator after having been given the title by his predecessor. Also around the table sat Jacob ‘Jak’ Daniels, who still held the record for best Love Collector to date, Sally-Anne, head of R&D, and my second body – substituting for Taruke – as head of Finances. Nick had declined to come, explaining that he would rather not be involved in politics.

Now that all five of my advisers were here, I felt that I could begin. Before I started, however, Jak raised his hand. “Hey, King, am I going crazy here? I can’t tell which you is the real you.” He pointed to both of my bodies, which were transformed to be identical to each other. Changelings do not rely on visual cues to identify one another; even if a hundred changelings transformed to look identical to one another, we could still tell each other apart using the hive mind.

Both of my faces smiled. “Anyone else confused?” I asked with both mouths. Every single head nodded. “They’re both me. I evicted Taruke from the control seat of his own body when he deiced that it was a good idea to set a man on fire.” There were a few murmurs among my department heads; they all already knew of Taruke’s crime, but had not been informed of the punishment.

“So you are both Rex? Then what happened to Taruke?” Jak asked.

Both bodies nodded. “Yes, I’m Alpha Rex,” my original said. 

“And I’m the Beta Rex,” Taruke’s body added. I tapped Beta’s head. “Taruke’s trapped up here.”

“Now that that’s out of the way…” I started through Alpha.

“…let’s get down to business.” I finished with Beta.

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Could you not do the twin-speak thing? It’s really annoying.”

“Sorry,” I said in unison with myself, grinning the whole while. My Beta self went quiet, letting my Alpha speak uninterrupted. “I meant what I said earlier. We shouldn’t just survive, but thrive. I figure that to accomplish this goal, we need to work on four different factors: population, money, food, and power. I want to grow this hive, but I also want to establish secondary hives in other cities so as to be able to grow without exhausting Atlanta.”

“There’s something else we need,” Ginny added. “Defense. You’ve been using us Silencers as your defense force for a while now, but that isn’t the goal you established us for. We need fully trained guards that can work well in a fight and, more importantly, are always there to save your sorry ass.” She gave me a pointed glare. “And, as the hive grows, it will be harder to cover our mistakes, so my division will need to grow. Maybe one for every forty new hive members.”

“I’ll also need about sixty percent of the new recruits to be primarily Love Collectors,” Jak commented. “Otherwise, we won’t be able to maintain our current levels of love consumption. Perhaps if we rationed and captured more humans for cocooning, we could get away with a lower ratio, but I don’t think we would want that.”

Anthony spoke next, his thick Russian accent distinctive in comparison to the others, “I know from my conversations with Finances in the past,” he glanced over at my Beta, formerly Taruke, “…that hatchlings, as easy as they are to breed, are expensive, as are street recruits. If I may be so bold, I think I may have a solution that satisfies money, power, and population.”

Both my Alpha and Beta leaned forwards, as did the other three heads, eager to hear his proposal. “Yes?”

“Well, what if we were to expose magic?” There were gasps all around. “To the right circles, I mean. Some of my information clients tend to covet any power they can get. If I were to… let it slip that I could do magic… and that the man who gave it to me was selling this power for the right – and relatively high – price… perhaps even selling a lesser version for their guards, then I could imagine that we would have potential converts lining up for the chance. Very wealthy and influential converts, I might add.”

“We’re going to want both sides of the law,” Ginny added. “Having the police or FBI on our side would make it much easier to go about our business.”

“And we’ll want the lawmakers, too,” Sal added, speaking for the first time since the meeting had started. “That will give us political leverage when we need it.”

“Wonderful,” I cheered. “Anthony, I would like you to make a list of the most influential people in the underworld who could be potential allies. Actually, look at everybody, not just criminals. Jak, would you work with my Beta to figure out how fast we can go on egg production without exhausting our resources. Also, if you would, work on a plan for establishing secondary colonies. Ginny, I would like you to help me create a guard. Sal… Just keep inventing.” She saluted me. I smiled.

Ginny frowned, having thought of another point to make. “Sir, what about other Gatekeepers? Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times is a pattern. We have to assume that more will be coming. Selene’s dream-walking proved to be little help in detecting Catherine before she appeared, and Catherine proves that not all Gatekeepers appear in as violent a manner as you or Selene. I would like your permission to work with R&D to create a task force specifically designed to identify and establish contact with future Gatekeepers, preferably before they become a problem.”

“Permission granted,” I replied. “Sal, this is your time to shine.”





I knocked gently on the no-tell motel door. The cheep rooms were serving as our temporary prison for the dozen anti-changeling movement members we had captured. Within each, one person lay on the bed, bound, gagged, and sedated with our venom. Also within each room sat the changeling that had been observing that particular human for the past few days, functioning as the human’s guard. The guard for this particular girl opened the door and let me in the room. Both of us were currently in human form, both as petite women who were smaller than our actual bodies.

I walked up to the bound human; by her scent and blush, I assumed that the visions our venom was giving her must have been quite nice. I leaned over her and pressed my hand against her back, just above where her liver would be located. My magic seeped into her liver to help it process the venom quicker; within moments, the paralysis started to wear off and her senses started to return.

I pulled my hand away and ended the magic when she started to struggle. Walking around the bed, I put myself in her line of sight. “I’m really sorry about this. I’ll un-gag you if you promise not to scream. Is that alright?”

The girl nodded quickly, excited to get her speech back. I pressed a finger to the gel on her lips, which dissolved quickly in response to my magic. “What do you want with me?” She asked the moment her mouth was free enough to form words, even though I had not finished cleaning it up. “I-I’ll give you all my money. I’ll never tell anyone. I’ll do anything you want. Just, please let me go!” From her emotions, it was clear that she was doing an amazing job at holding a poker face and not showing her tears.

This is where my act came in; I would pretend that ‘I’ had died and that I was Klika, the next changeling queen. I sat down on the edge of her bed and put my finger to her lips. "Shhh, I'm not going to hurt you. Your name is Emma, right? I just want to give you a choice." The woman looked perplexed, so I elaborated. "Don't worry; regardless of your answer, you will leave this room alive and unharmed. My question is this: do you want to be a changeling, too?"

"What kind of question is that?" Emma asked.

"A valid one..." I muttered. Then, louder, I said, "You don't have to choose right away, but you won't leave this room until you do."

"This is insane. Why did I ever join this group?" Emma asked herself.

"I'm curious too as to why you would join a hate group like this," I commented.

"Hate group? No, no, I thought this was some conspiracy theory group," Emma explained. "I found Catherine on the forums and thought she was a conspiracy nut like me... Then she brought proof. I thought this was some big joke and now I'm sitting tied up in some god-forsaken hotel room who-knows-where. I just want to go home."

"You wouldn't even be here if you had just left us alone; don't poke the changeling's nest and all. But Catherine, Sarah, and Dave had the brilliant idea to kill some of us. My father lost his life to your group," Emma gasped, "and now I'm queen years before I should have been."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-" I cut her off.

"Do not worry about it. It wasn't you who killed them. That's why I'm offering you a choice." I went on to explain what being a changeling would mean, including the normal support that I offer to all of my converts. 

At the end, she still seemed unsure. "You said I could leave if I said no, right?"

"Totally unharmed," I agreed.

"Then, I'm sorry, I can't do it."

"Then there is one last thing before you leave." I began to pool my venom in my mouth. Raising my finger to my lips, I teleported the concoction into her veins. To the changeling guard standing in the corner, I ordered, "Cocoon her."

"What? No! You can't do this! You said you'd let me go!" Emma struggled against her bonds even as her muscles began to go limp.

"I told you that you would leave this room unharmed. You are." Smirking, I added, "I never said what would happen afterwards, or how you would leave."

The last thing she saw before the hallucinations took her was my fanged grin.





Catherine's guard shrank down to the size of a fly and stuck to the wall on my orders. I waited until an hour after she had woken up to start working my magic. From outside her room, I cast the Astral-Projection spell that I had been practicing last night. I still was not very good at it, so the form – a reflection of my human self – wavered and appeared misty; in other words, it was perfect.

I guided the illusion into her room when the guard said she was not looking at the door, its silent motion going undetected by Catherine. Looking through the illusion's eyes, I walked it up to her side. With a little telekinesis, I solidified the projection and tapped her shoulder. She jerked, startled by the sudden contact. She flipped over and gasped when she saw me. "Will... No, you’re not real! Will is dead!"

"I know I am."

"You are just in my head. I'm crazy. I've lost it," she moaned.

I shook the projection's head. "Well, I don't know about that, but I am here now."

"So you're going to haunt me for eternity?"

I did my best to make the illusion look sad. "No, Catherine, I'm not. I'm using the last of my magic to come here to be with you. I love you."

Tears welled up in the human-griffin's eyes. "You really were Will." Even though it was not a question, I nodded the illusion's head anyway. "Will, I'm sorry."

"I forgive you." Those three simple words opened the floodgates. Tears dripped down her feathered cheeks as she sobbed. I stroked her back comfortingly. "Catherine, I don't have much time; I came to say goodbye."
"I'll see you in heaven, then..." When I did not immediately answer, Catherine got worried. "No..."

"Catherine, there's no paradise for me."

"No! You're not going to hell. Please, Will, tell me you’re not in hell!" Catherine cried, struggling against the bonds that held her captive.

I made the illusion sigh. "Catherine, I'm hanging in limbo right now, literally hanging above a soul eating abomination," I said, recounting my own temporary jaunt into the afterlife. "I'm hanging with a thread of magic, the same magic I'm using to talk to you now, my sweet Catherine."

"No..."

"Yes. In a moment, my magic will fail me and I will cease to exist. Ted and Shimmer, the changelings who died after me, have already fallen in. I tried to catch them after they were shot, but I wasn't strong enough. Goodb-" I cut the magic powering the illusion, cutting myself off mid-sentence.

I let Catherine cry while I braced myself. I had told her goodbye; now that woman in that room was just an enemy, not a lover. I was not even going to try to convert her, which would expose my lie. Instead, I was just going to cocoon her and end her threat once and for all.

I opened the hotel room door. "Hello, Catherine," I said in my feminine voice as I walked in, "do you remember me?" I shifted to a feminine version of my true form, complete with long, straight hair as opposed to my normally short and spiky style.

"No, I don't," Catherine said, struggling to calm her voice from her crying session.

"Well, that's no surprise." I shifted to match the form of a three-day old changeling. "I was a bit smaller back when you first saw me two and a half years ago in Daddy's apartment."

"You... You're his daughter." Guilt surged within Catherine.

"Yes, I'm Princess Klika, well Queen Klika now," I lied. "With as much as Daddy talked about you, I'd grown to like the you he knew. Then you had to try and fight us. Many of the changelings have been calling for your blood. Some even took it upon themselves to kill Dave out of vengeance. Let me tell you, that was gruesome. I don't want you to suffer that fate; let's call it honoring King Rex's memory of you. So," I braced myself, "do you want to be cleanly executed or cocooned for the rest of your natural life?" I morbidly asked. 

"What kind of sick question is that?" She screamed.

"The last one you will ever be asked," I replied. "Either way, my changelings want to take from you what you from the three who died. How you pay is up to you."

"I... I want..."





During the dead of night, we lifted the last of the cocoons into the truck. On the left sat the cocoon of the sole human who had chosen to become a changeling. On the right sat the cocoons of those that had become our food; the changelings in the truck fed freely upon them.

As the truck door closed, a profound sense of relief washed over me, and then the rest of the hive. "It's done..." I whispered.

Upon reaching the cocoon warehouse, the new pods were hung among the rest, like trophies of our first battle. As celebration spread throughout the hive, Ginny's Silencers went to work cleaning up the loose ends. Life was looking good for the hive.

> March
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Life was not looking good for Ginny Skinner right now. Twelve. The Silencers had twelve different dead-man switches to keep from exploding on them. That meant twelve changelings had to be dropped into impersonation roles with little more than a face, a name, and a drivers license. Yes, the thirteenth member of the anti-changeling movement provided some help, but otherwise Ginny's team had to start finding information from scratch.

Sure, there was a huge amount about each person online. The problem was, there was a huge amount about each person online – way too much to review in a few days – yet Ginny was still missing an incredible amount of information, namely a lifetime of memory, for each person.

Then, just as Ginny was trying to convince her King that they should just convert the rest of the movement to changelings and return them to their lives, a dead-man switch went off.

Pictures and documents appeared in forums and on social media. Photos of undisguised changelings, reports on suspicious activity, and more went online. And by the time that she had found that information, it was too late to stop the re-posts. Ginny knew there was no way to stop it now; completely erasing information regarding a conspiracy was only going to make people believe it.

For once in her life, the cynical, ADHD personality of the internet collective worked to Ginny's advantage. The whole world was still abuzz with talk of the "Angel of the Night," keeping the posts regarding the changelings in the background. Compounded with change.lng's efforts to increase the down-vote count, her team's efforts to spread libel, distractions, and stupidity – Ginny loved trolling, she really did – and change.lng's doctoring of the posts and re-posts to make the poster seem insane, the Head Silencer was able to shove knowledge about changelings out of the spotlight.

The problem was that the information still existed. Despite her King's optimism, Ginny firmly believed that this would come back to bite her in the ass.





Gilda had been very annoyed these last few months. First, she had gotten herself stuck with a lame-o human girl – though, Catherine turned out to actually be pretty cool when she started bug hunting. Then, Gilda got her body warped; she hated being forced to walk on her two hind legs. Every time she walked towards something, it saw her from an angle that was reserved for intimate relationships.

Catherine had suggested that Gilda wrap herself in cloth until she could find a seamstress to make herself clothing. Gilda had begrudgingly accepted, though she hated how Catherine had laughed and said it made her look very Greek, wearing a toga like that.

Over time, that annoying girl had convinced her that maybe, just maybe, Gilda should swallow her pride and apologize to RD and her friends. Maybe, Catherine had suggested to her, that was the key to getting her friend back under her wing.

So, with a look of cool determination and more butterflies in her stomach than she would ever admit, Gilda took off and flew towards Ponyville. The griffin's determination, though, was so strong that she vowed to get her friend back at any cost.

Then Catherine had to go and get herself captured by the changelings, full cocooning and everything. Gilda was annoyed – her default stress reaction – not at her maybe-friend, but at herself because she could not do much to help. The griffin hen swooped down into the forest floor below.

Gilds hoped that White Tail Woods had the specie of moss she needed; when chewed up and injected into a cocoon, the moss accelerated the metabolism of the changeling's venom, allowing the prisoner to wake and move sooner without alerting the bugs. Gilda grinned, having found a patch.

She covered her nostrils on her beak and placed the disgusting stuff in her mouth. After a moment of vigorous chewing, Gilda opened a small portal that exited right next to Catherine's face and spat the glob through. 

Gilda waited, and waited, and waited. The sun set over the horizon and the moon came out. Finally, Gilda and Catherine decided that she was alert enough to escape on her own, even if she was not at peak condition. Using the portal as a knife, the pair cut through the bottom of Catherine's cocoon. Catherine fell out.

Now, it must be noted that while a cocoon in Equa is generally hung in a cave or a pony's house – or even not hung at all – which generally implies that the cocoon is perhaps maybe a foot or two above the ground. Conversely, Catherine's cocoon was hung in a warehouse that was two and a half stories tall; she hung nearly twenty feet above the ground.

It also must be noted that the universes in which Catherine and Gilda reside have two different sets of physics equations, namely those that involve the electromagnetic force and how it relates to molecular cohesion. In Equa's universe, matter is not as tightly bound together as it is in Earth's universe, though the chemical bonds are partly supplemented by the ambient magic field, something that Earth lacks. This in turn alters equations relating to elasticity in Equa; in layman's terms, things are bouncier in ponyland.

Catherine was not in Equa. Catherine was not just a foot above the ground. Catherine was not able to fly with goo-covered wings. Catherine was not able to stop falling head first towards a concrete floor.

Gilda was not able to forget what death by broken neck felt like.

The griffin coughed at the same time as the light left Catherine's eyes, a thin trail of blood escaped Gilda's beak. The feeling of butterflies in her stomach from earlier intensified into full-on stomach cramps. Gilda coughed again, more blood escaping this time. 

Doubling over in pain, Gilda gasped in for air. Each breath came harder and harder as her lungs filled with blood. To her, it felt like her abdomen and ribs were being crushed. With one last, desperate gasp, Gilda expired.

Now, had someone been watching the scene at the exact moment every cell in both bodies died, they would see the bodies seemingly implode into a swirling vortex. Their bodies vanished and the vortex faded until, with one last ripple in space and time, it was as if their corpses had never been.





<<Catherine is missing!>> Those three words set my hive into a frenzy. Panic ensued when we realized that we might have a rogue Griffin on the loose.

When someone had the bright idea to watch the security footage, panic turned to mystery. I was saddened to see Catherine fall to her death, but I was terribly confused by the way her body vanished. I ended up watching the video several times, trying to decipher what had occurred.  One run-through, I had had Soul-Sight active, for curiosity's sake. The fact that I could see souls in video was secondary to what I saw there; things that looked awfully similar to my t҉̻̙ḛ͈̩̫͚̝n̠̭͍̗̫d̤̬͍͇̲̤͝ͅr̘̯͠i͝ļs̞̤̜͓͍ dragged her body into the void.






March rolled around with little fanfare. Since the bizarre ending of the anti-changeling movement, things had been thankfully quite quiet. It had been business as usual, with one small exception; we were planning to enter a period of rapid population growth, but until then, we halted all conversions and breeding. As we prepared for the future, we hoarded our money and resources. We watched. We planned. We waited.





My phone rang at noon, as expected. I pushed the button to answer and set the phone by my ear. “Tell me, who are you?”

“I am Slagteri, a loyal member of the hive,” the voice on the other end said. The line was rehearsed; every three days, he would call me and we would go through the script together. I dove into the memories of his last three days, making sure that he had done nothing wrong in that time.

“Everything seems fine,” I replied, satisfied that he had been good. “What was your crime?”

“I murdered. I tortured. I snuck through your portals to the other universe without permission and killed ponies.”

“Why is that bad?” I asked

“I subverted your authority, I endangered the hive, and I acted like a monster,” Slagteri said. Here lay the true beauty of the heartbreaker punishment, as I use it. Unlike Chrysalis, who simply banishes the changeling for a time, I invoke cognitive dissonance within the offender. On threat of withholding love, I force them to internalize the scripted speech, to really mean it.

“What are you?”

“A bad changeling.” With each repetition, they believe the script even more.

“What do you want to be?”

“I want to be a good changeling,” Slagteri says. It is brainwashing without magic and without the risk of completely re-writing their personality. Of course, it does have some effect on the individual; that is the point.

“What do you promise to do?”

“I promise to obey all of your rules. I promise to not kill without your permission, to torture without your permission, or to subvert your authority ever again.” At this point, I rewarded Slagteri enough love to last the next three days. He audibly sighed in relief over the phone.

“Do you still want to live?”

“I don’t know… yes.” That was new. Normally, Slagteri would always say yes to that final question. I knew heartbreaker was supposed to be rough. Sometimes, it drove changelings crazy. “I hate the quiet,” Slagteri added. “It’s too much, sometimes. I miss the voices… they made me feel good, important, like I belonged. Can I have the voices back, King?”

Klika was much the same way. Her biggest complaint was the lack of the voices of her hive mates. Lately, she had taken to listening to really loud music to fill the void from the hive mind. If her random twitching was any indication, her plan was not working. And she only had one month to go.

As for Taruke, even though his brain was not physically suffering from the full sensory deprivation, which would normally drive a person to hallucinate within an hour, his personality was showing surprising resilience. He seemed to have taken to chanting a motivational mantra every now and again. Sometimes, I let him out so that he does not completely loose his sanity.

Though, there is one thing that I have found that I will not share with the rest of the hive; I liked using his body. It is convenient being in two places at once. That led me to muse on certain intriguing possibilities.





Over the month, whenever I was not using both of my bodies, either Alpha or Beta would study magic. I had an affinity for mind, soul, and space-time magic, three rather under-developed areas of magic; that was not surprising considering that about only about five percent of the unicorn population had even half the potential I did in any of those three areas. Though, the books I have read, what I know about my own powers, and the shows I had seen on TV have given me some wonderful ides.

Said ideas lead me to where my Beta is now, grinning like a madman while sitting on a rock-hard bed in a high-security prison. This particular bed, in this particular cell, was owned by none other than John Smith – that is his actual name – the most famous serial killer in the last fifty years. At twenty-two years old, he had been convicted of eighty counts of murder and was rumored to have as high as a hundred-fifty kills. He was currently on death-row.

I wanted him so badly, it hurt.

Of course, adding someone like that to the hive spelled disaster with bold letters. No, what I should say is that I wanted his body and soul, sans the mind. He was to be my guinea pig for some of my more complicated, cruel, and dangerous experiments.

I had always enjoyed learning, which was probably why Sal and I got along so well. However, there were some things that I wanted to try that even my R&D team should not know about. And hey, if this guy died during my experiments, well, I am sure that humanity has some more scum from which I can chose my new toys from. It is not like they wanted him anyway.

The cell door opened and in he shuffled. John was a scrawny looking man, definitely not the kind of face I would peg as a serial killer. Though, I knew all about looking how looks could be deceiving. 

Absentmindedly, I shifted into Soul-Sight vision; his soul was just as impossibly beautiful as any other pure human’s, unmarred by my corrupting influence. The only soul that I had ever seen that could beat a human’s soul was Selene’s; comparing her to a human was like comparing her full moon to a firefly. There was no competition.

I had found myself more and more often watching people with Soul-Sight, ever since the end of the Griffin Affair, as the hive has started calling last month’s fiasco. Ironically, Soul-Sight was the very spell that had started the whole mess. Yet, had Sal not cast it, we might not have caught the anti-changeling faction as soon as we had, and then we may have lost more changelings in the resulting fallout.

John sat down next to me, completely oblivious to my presence; I may have said this before, but ode to the joys of the Notice-Me-Not spell. Once the thick cell door closed and locked, I made my move. Reaching over, I tapped his shoulder at the same moment I ended my spell.

Who would have expected him to scream like a soprano? Or that he could jump so high?

Of course, I probably would have, too, had I been in his position. Just for laughs, I had chosen to dress as a satyr with an extra-long, prehensile tail and a red variation of my real eyes. Imagine his surprise when someone who looks like the devil seemingly appears out of thin air while in a locked cell. I grinned, showing off my fangs and sharpened teeth. For extra creepiness factor, I licked my lips with my Beta’s extra-long tongue. “Greetings, John Smith. I have a… proposition for you.”

He crawled backwards on the floor from where he had fallen. “Are you the devil?”

I smiled savagely. “I go by many names.” It was true; in my bedroom, I have over sixty unique false ID cards and passports. “But, as I said, I have a proposition for you. Freedom from prison for the rest of your body’s natural life, but your soul is mine. Well, it was mine to begin with, so that is not much of a problem for you.” I offered my hand. “Well, do you want out?”

"Sure, I'm doomed anyway," John said. "Why not? What do I have to lose?" He grabbed my hand and I quickly pulled him close to me. My bare chest pressed against his prison uniform and my tail curled possessively around his body. Suddenly jerking my head down, I sank my fangs into his neck, injecting my paralytic venom.

Around John and my Beta, my Alpha's magic gathered, preparing for a long range teleportation. My skill with the spell had grown so much that, as long as I had a clear visualization of both target and destination – easy with two sets of eyes – I could teleport up to twice my weight anywhere within seven miles of the starting location. With a flash of green light, the killer and my Beta vanished from the prison cell. An instant later, they reappeared in a storage facility that I had rented for my experiments.

Beta dumped my paralyzed prisoner among a pile of stolen electronics and set to work.





I checked over the letter once more, making sure that it's wording was perfect. Satisfied that it was, I grabbed a pen and signed the document that could potentially avert a crisis. I folded the high quality paper and slipped it inside. After sealing the letter, I addressed it to Equestria's Royal sisters, Princesses Luna and Celestia.

"Selene, can you come here please?" I asked. "I need a favor."

She trotted over to me in her usual gait, a consequence of her oddly-jointed legs. “What’s up, Daddy?”

“I need you to give Princess Luna a letter,” I told her. “It’s really important that she gets it, ok?”

“Got it!” Selene’s face scrunched up in the way I had come to associate with her talking with Luna. After a moment of silent conversation, her face relaxed. She snapped her fingers; the letter vanished in a flash of light.

“Thank you very much.” I patted Selene on the head. “I’m expecting a reply, so if you could bring it to me whenever Luna sends it, I’d be very glad.”

“Right!”





“…and if we increase the middle class tax bracket by four-point-six-two percent, then I expect we will see a revenue increase of…”

Luna hated managing court alone. Because of the large volume of petitioners who had come to court today, the princesses had mutually decided to take their lunch breaks separately. Though to Luna, it seemed like the moment Celestia had stepped out, every last noblepony in Canterlot had crawled out of the woodwork to complain about taxes. It was infuriating.

So, when an envelope appeared out of thin air and landed on her head, Luna was gladder for the interruption than she was embarrassed about being assaulted by postage.

"Allow me to interrupt up a moment, Bull Market," Luna said as she opened the letter. Her eyes darted back and forth, scanning the contents of the message. An eyebrow raised in surprise. "Court shall take a short recess. My sister needs to see this," Luna stood as she made her declaration. Swiftly, she trotted to the door, secretly glad that she had an excuse to escape. Her personal guard followed swiftly behind, his trained steps carefully measured as to keep up with his Princess's long strides without rattling his armor. The Night Princess's secretary followed a moment later, his steps significantly less graceful or precise.

"I assume that my sister is still dining within the royal dining hall?"

"Yes, your majesty," the stoic guard replied. "Shall I lead you there, your highness?"

"Yes, please. Quick Quill, how many bits would you wager on my sister partaking in the Chef's chocolate cake as we enter?" Luna asked.

Startled by the princess's address, the grey unicorn stumbled slightly. Readjusting his glasses with his magic, he said, "Princess, I am no gambler, but even I would not be foolish enough to accept that bet; of course Princess Celestia is."

"You know my sister too well, Quick Quill." 

The guard in front of them opened the double doors to the Princesses' private dining hall with his magic. Luna walked in just as Celestia placed a fork full of cake in her mouth. Upon seeing this, Luna snickered and nudged her secretary. 

After swallowing, Celestia asked, "Luna, is it my turn already?"

"Nay sister, 'tis not yet your time to face the noble hoards." Luna chuckled and shook her mane. "Rather, I received a most interesting request for us."

"Oh? Do tell." Luna levitated the otherworldly letter to the Solar Princess. Celestia unfurled it and began to read.



Dear Princess Luna and Princess Celestia of Equestria,

My nation is in the midst of a miniature revolution, so to speak, and I was reminded of our position in our world. More accurately, I was reminded of the poor relations between our two nations, mostly through fault of my own. As such, I see fit to extend the olive branch. At a time and location of your choice, I wish to publicly apologize to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Missus Twilight Sparkle. I also wish to pay each of them restitution for damages incurred on both parties as a direct result of my actions.

As I cannot personally set foot on your world due to my status as a Gatekeeper, I wish to send an undisguised ambassador in my place, if you will grant me that privilege. However, I do understand that your majesties may not wish for my kind to have any presence in your nation. That is perfectly understandable; changelings do not make for the best company, after all. If that is the case, then I request to be allowed to state my apology through a portal that is under the control of Selene and Princess Luna.

Furthermore, I would also request some of your time to negotiate and sign a treaty of non-aggression between the Kingdom of Equestria and the Earth Hive. It is my hope that, perhaps one day, changelings and ponies would live in harmony with one another. Though it seems to me more like a fleeting dream than a concrete possibility. For now, I would settle with our nations agreeing to be “Not Enemies.”

I eagerly await your response. As travel from my home to yours is quiet near instantaneous, and I am willing to completely rearrange my schedule to suit your needs, name a time and a location and I will have my ambassador there.

My regards,
King Alvarium Rex, Ruler of the Earth Hive.




“That is most certainly an interesting development,” Celestia commented when she finished the letter.

“I never expected a changeling to apologize,” Luna added. “’Tia, do you think it is wise to allow his changelings anywhere near us?”

Celestia set down the letter and turned towards her younger sibling. “Sister, I feel that we should give them the benefit of the doubt. We know next to nothing about him or his people, even less than we do about Queen Crysalis’s Hive. It might be a wise idea to get to know our new neighbors.”

“Hmmm…” Luna tilted her head. For a moment, she was lost in thought. “…I cannot help but to think that there is more to him that we first imagined. On our last encounter, he seemed to know far more than he should and implied that his influence was greater than we thought. I would like to get to the bottom of this mystery.”

“I would too, Luna,” Celestia motioned for Quick Quill to bring her a quill, ink, and a scroll. The secretary scurried out, only to hurry back in a moment later bearing the requested items. Celestia took the writing materials and quickly drafted up a reply in her flowing horn-writing. “Does court in three days from now work, Luna?”

“I have no issue with that,” the night alicorn replied. “It will also give your Faithful Student time to arrive in Canterlot.” Celestia nodded and finished the scroll. Sealing it up, she passed it to her sister. 

Luna took the letter. The night princess turned and focused on a point on the floor a few hoof lengths away. Gasps went out among the servants and staff when the world seemed to rip apart at the seams, revealing a filly’s bedroom. On the bed lay somepony they assumed to be a second Princess Luna.

That opinion changed when the mare stood up, easily taller than Celestia. “Hi Luna! Hi Celly! Daddy said you’d have something for him.” Several of the servants gasped at the disrespectful way she had addressed their royalty. Celestia and Luna were unfazed. Selene just looked at Luna expectantly.

Luna levitated the scroll through the portal, where Selene promptly snatched it out of the air. She bounced a little and ran off through her door. Her voice could be heard echoing from down the hall, “THANKS! DADDY, Luna sent a letter!” The portal closed behind her.

“That girl has as much energy as Lady Pinkamina,” Luna commented with a chuckle.





A jet of emerald flame illuminated the wooden library. The assistant caretaker of the Ponyville branch clasped the scroll that had just emerged from his gut. “Twilight,” he called, “Princess Celestia sent a letter!”

There was a thump from the floor above; Spike knew enough from his own experiences to know that was the sound of a book dropping on the oak floor. “Can you bring it up here?” Twilight called from her study.

Spike quickly ascended the stairs. Passing by a fallen stack of books that was magically restacking itself, he walked over to Twilight and handed over the message.

The lavender mare’s eyes quickly scanned the scroll’s contents. “Spike, get the travel checklists. Princess Celestia wants us in Canterlot for a few days.”





I switched out my Alpha and Beta bodies as soon as I heard the Princess’s reply; my Alpha teleported into the storage container that housed my serial killer prisoner and my Beta teleported back to my current apartment. I looked down at John, who had been bound and shoved against the wall. His head slowly turned to look at me, telling me that he was fighting off the paralysis. Next to him sat a stolen, humanoid robot that I would use later.

I beckoned with my finger and lifted John up with my magic, only to plop him down in the center of the magic chalk circle that my Beta had drawn. I grabbed an emerald out of the small box of gems I had brought for this experiment; I had no idea how many tries it would take. Bending down, I placed the gem on one particular rune on the circle.

Soul magic is an interesting area of study; like its sister discipline of necromancy, soul magic often requires a casting aid for practical use. For this particular challenge, I had drawn a simple soul containment circle to keep his spirit from departing too quickly.

I sat down next to the control rune, satisfied that everything was in place, and ready to begin my two experiments. Though, the term ‘experiment’ was a bit of a stretch; I had not used the scientific method, nor was I planning to document my findings beyond a few annotations in the text, nor was I ever planning to tell anyone my findings. Perhaps the better term would be ‘garage tinkering.’

To start, I activated my Soul-Sight so that I could see what I was doing. The world faded to a blurry monochrome, but John’s soul blazed with an impossibly colored light. Placing my hand on the control rune, I channeled my magic into the ring. Though I could not see the actual color, a brilliant green glow emanated from each symbol, drowning out the electric lights. The strange t҉̻̙ḛ͈̩̫͚̝n̠̭͍̗̫d̤̬͍͇̲̤͝ͅr̘̯͠i͝ļs̞̤̜͓͍ of my own soul writhed and squirmed excitedly on the edges of my vision. 

John’s body spasmed once my magic took hold. My soul seemingly caressed his own as it was slowly lifted from his body, up until his was shoved into the emerald. A feeling of disappointment fluttered in the back of his mind as I looked at his soul, so compressed and tiny within the gemstone.

I wiped a stream of drool off of my chin with one hand and directed my magic to his body’s heart with the other. Gently massaging the organ with my magic, I kept the blood flowing to his brain. Satisfied that his soulless body would survive on my life support, I started my first test. Since my other changelings had a piece of my soul in each of them, I wondered if it was possible to convert a soulless body.

I pushed my essence in, watching as my t҉̻̙ḛ͈̩̫͚̝n̠̭͍̗̫d̤̬͍͇̲̤͝ͅr̘̯͠i͝ļs̞̤̜͓͍ shoved their way into John’s body. Each piece of my soul started knitting together into a fleshy mass that glowed with a blindingly bright darkness. It hurt my eyes to look at, yet I could not turn away. In fact, I almost felt turned on by the experience, if not just highly excited.

As the t҉̻̙ḛ͈̩̫͚̝n̠̭͍̗̫d̤̬͍͇̲̤͝ͅr̘̯͠i͝ļs̞̤̜͓͍ slowed their work, a surge of changeling fire enveloped the serial killer’s vacant body. When it cleared, a changeling lay on the ground, heart beating on its own. I was surprised; the conversion should have taken over twenty-four hours, but took less than a minute. When the changeling opened its eyes, I could immediately see what it saw without even trying to press my consciousness into it.

It stood up, acting partially on its own, partially by my command. It felt different than how I was currently controlling Taruke; the mind felt more independent than a limb, but less intelligent than another changeling. I could tell that without me pulling its strings, there was literally no intelligence within that changeling.

Another thing I noticed was that it completely lacked wings. Curious, I started playing around with it, examining every detail of my Frankenstein creation. Every few minutes, I would find something else wrong with it; it could not mold magic, it could not shape-shift, it was weaker than normal, it had no venom, it had no female reproductive system, it could not speak on its own, and it did not think on its own. Overall, it was useless as a changeling.

'I like him. I think I’ll keep him as a servant. Maybe I’ll call him Ψ, to keep with the Greek letter theme.'

Grabbing the gem that housed the serial Killer’s soul, I placed it onto a mounting on the robot that I had attached and clicked it shut. Before the next step, I double checked the straps securing the robot. Satisfied, I illuminated my hand with magic and pressed it against the emerald’s casing. The spell I had chosen was a modified Come-to-Life spell used for making golems out of the souls of others; that was probably why I had found the spell in the Black Archives.

A slight hum filled the air as the robot’s cooling fan turned on. Its head tilted upwards, pointing its eye-cameras at me. “What… the… hell… did… you… do… to… me?” it slowly asked.

“That’s odd,” I commented, “I don’t remember you having a sound system.”

It struggled against its bonds, though the servos were too weak to break them. “Answer… me… damn… it.”

“Oh, your voice comes from your soul crystal, interesting.” Again, I paid him no mind. “So, how does it feel?”

The machine jerked its arm at me, the bonds stopping the hand inches from my face. “What… the… hell… did… you… do… to… me? You… promised… that… I… would… be… free.”

Sighing, I realized that I was not going to get anywhere until I addressed his complaint. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to make a deal with the devil?” I grinned at him. Pointing to Ψ, I said, “There’s what’s left of your body. It will be free from jail for the rest of its natural life.” Then, pointing to the gem in the robot’s chest, I added, “But your soul is mine. So, how does it feel? You know what? Screw the interview; I’ll find out myself.”

To the outside observer, it would seem like I did absolutely nothing. For the serial killer’s soul, it was a terrifying experience being pierced by my soul’s v͉i̟͎͢n̼̠e̼̳͙̜̺s̲̹̪̣̠. For the fourth time ever, I purposefully invaded a mind with the intent of warping it to my whim. After finding what a robot body felt like – very numb, by the way – I pulled out any useful information I could find and then began to tighten my grip. Tighter and tighter I squeezed, harder than I had ever squeezed a mind before. He screamed in agony before his mind and soul finally imploded, leaving basically a blank slate behind.

Having no further need for the useless soul, I popped the gem out of the robot and powered the machine down to save for another day. I promised myself that at some time in the future, I would consider robotic soldiers. As I fiddled with the stone that shown from within with an invisible light, I was interrupted from my musing by my stomach’s rumbling. 

My attention was drawn to the fact that I had spent far more magic than I had meant, mostly due to a secret that I made Sally-Anne swear not to tell when we discovered it. A twinge of paranoia wafted through my mind; I did not have enough magic to teleport anywhere I could easily feed, drawing from the shared reserve would draw attention to me, and I did not have my car with me. I considered flying; that would be a little risky without a Notice-Me-Not, but good camouflage should suffice.

As I walked out of the storage shed, I ordered Ψ to stay put; I would come back for him later. Idly, I popped the soul emerald into my mouth, intent on reclaiming some of my magic while simultaneously freeing the crushed soul. A split second later, I spat the emerald from my mouth as I nearly choked; I had just experienced the sensation of something that was definitely not emerald – but not at all unpleasant – surging down my throat.

‘What the fuck was that?’ I asked myself, for I was much fuller than that amount of magic should have made me. I shook, unsure of what to make of this new development. 'As freaky as that was, I kind of liked that feeling.'

Seeing as I had more than enough power for a teleport, I returned to the storage container, grabbed Ψ, and left in a flash.

The emerald rolled around on the ground, dead and grey.

> From Discord... A Message...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[End]]



...are you?


But you're not going to do that...












To end Oblivion...

That is all it takes...

Stand and walk away...

Quit your browser...

Close your laptop...

Turn off your tablet...

Set down your phone...

You, the reader...

You could end this, you know...






...You… The-Ones-Who-Observe-From-Beyond-The-Wall…

...unless you save them...

...gone forever...

...consumed by Oblivion...

...the words of this particular chapter of our particular tale...

Soon, it will vanish...




...is not meant to last...

I fear this message...











I was wrong...

I thought M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆ to be eternal...





The "real" world...

The World-Beyond-The-Wall...

Including yours...






...they all do...








If this world falls...

It affects you, too...

Stop him...

I beg of you...






He could even influence M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆...

A being so powerful...

You brought the Author...

That Man wouldn't have come if not for you...

You, the reader of this story...

How I DESPISE you...





...and the Father of Oblivion...

I am the Spirit of C͓̣̙̟̝̞͗h̥͇̲̺̒̐̂â̭̝̖o̹͇̙̠͍͈̭ͤs̤̲̘̟̙͚̣̔̓̍̿...

My name is Discord...








...open...

...but it was not enough to keep H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅ tired eyes...

...we had fun...

We laughed together...

...in hopes that I could keep H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅ awake...

I spread my M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆'s namesake...






...Me...




...H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅...

...Him...

...this multiverse...

...this universe...

...the one who will devour this world...

...the ultimate chaos...

But I don't want to be the Father of Oblivion...






I helped H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅ work, like a good boy should...

Six cycles of the multiverse, in countless worlds...






Not as a child, but as a tool...

Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ created me...








...prepared...

...schemed...

M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆ planned...







It could even influence M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆...

A being so powerful...

You brought the Great One...

It wouldn't have come if not for you...

You… The-Ones-Who-Observe-From-Beyond-The-Wall…

How I despise you…







...And M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆ heard...






...Oblivion...





...word...

...single...

...one...

The Great One whispered into H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅ ear...








So Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ thought...






And Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ grows stronger still...

Piece by piece...

But He is dying...





Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ fears to be alone...

But more than Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ desires sleep...






And Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ grows stronger still...

Piece by piece...

But He is dying...





He wont let H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅, and Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ is too strong...

But Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ can't...

M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆ wants to sleep...






But not that much...

I hate Him as much as I love chaos...







...Harmony...

...Safety...

...Birth...

He is Creation...





You, The-Ones-Who-Observe-From-Beyond-The-Wall…

I hate Him almost as much as I hate you...

H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅ brother...







...C͓̣̙̟̝̞͗h̥͇̲̺̒̐̂â̭̝̖o̹͇̙̠͍͈̭ͤs̤̲̘̟̙͚̣̔̓̍̿...

...Death...

...Time...

M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆ is Entropy...





It could even influence M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆...

A being so powerful...

You brought the Great One...

It wouldn't have come if not for you...






...Oblivion…






…and inspire H͕̺͖͓͖̀̃ͧe͉͉̟͚̬̠̅̅ͪr͖͕͎̭͙͓ͨ̅ ultimate chaos…

…You had to come along….

You, The-Ones-Who-Observe-From-Beyond-The-Wall…




…consume…

Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ gave me life, when all Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ could do before was destroy…




…my soul…

…my power to rend worlds apart…

Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ gave me my love of chaos…




Ṣ͖̱͖̹̞̓ḧ̖̫̝̭̣͈̄ê̜̪̫͇̯͈ͅ made me what I am…




I wish you hadn’t…




You drove M̱̰̳ͨͮ̀ͫ̽͛̑ͅo̜̖̗̩̪͆͐̓̇t̪͉̹̑̓̍͒̏ḥ͇͈͔̑ͯ̉ͅẻ̼̞̺͖̼͗ř͇̣̋̀͆ to do this…




You… The-Ones-Who-Observe-From-Beyond-The-Wall…

How I despise you…




Yes, you...




Oh, it’s you...






[[Beginning]]






{A/N: Read the chapter from [[Beginning]] to [[End]]. It should make more sense...}
> Diplomacy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"I'm not quite sure what to make of this," the man in the white coat said.

"It’s just a message to the The-Ones-Who-Observe-From-Beyond-The-Wall. It's not meant for you, Doc," the man in the straight-jacket replied.

"No, John, I can see that. What doesn't make sense is where you got the materials to write this, or how you wrote with your jacket on, or how you wrote in blue pen with a green crayon," the doctor explained.

The madman grinned and shrugged his bound shoulders. "Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" John paused, blinked, and then frowned. "And now I'm quoting myself. That's not chaotic at all."

John reached out a hand and snatched the papers out of the doctor's hand. He then grabbed a magnet and hung the letter on a refrigerator. 

The doctor blinked. "How did you get out of your bindings? And where did that refrigerator come from?"

John feigned confusion. "Whatever are you talking about?" He wiggled his body, emphasizing that he was still bound in the strait jacket. The refrigerator and letter had vanished from the padded room, as if they had never been.

"I need a drink... and a turn on my own couch," the doctor muttered darkly. He turned and left the room, locked the padded cell door, and double checked that it was indeed locked.

From inside, John called out, "Ta Ta, doc!"

On his tablet, the doctor noted, 'John Q. Drocsid displays ability to inflict his hallucinations on others... I am requesting a medical leave of absence for myself and that a new doctor be assigned to his case.'

Back in the cell, John turned and looked at the padded wall and said, "Fools. You didn't stop. If you don't stop soon, I'll be forced to act. I don't want to die."





I had spent the last twenty minutes getting cleaned up with all three of my bodies, Alpha, Beta, and Ψ. My alpha was busy brushing his teeth while Beta shined the chitin on his head. It was imperative to make a good impression, and it would not do to look slovenly.

Ψ, on the other hand, checked his twin handguns, making sure that both were loaded and that the safety was on. Satisfied, the drone stuck the barrel of each gun through the largest hole in each arm – the grip on one side of his arm and the muzzle protruding out the other – and pulled down the sleeves of his dress shirt and black, silk-lined jacket. Weapons concealed, Ψ slipped on a pair of pristine white gloves, completing the stereotypical butler look.

Selene, dressed in a simple pink dress, skipped into my bedroom while making an obvious effort to keep as far away from Ψ as she could and to not make eye-contact with the drone. Beyond a vague, muttered response, I could never get an explanation on why the extremely extroverted girl so avidly avoided the mute, or for the minor paranoia she experienced in his presence.

Selene tugged on my Alpha’s jacket. She looked up at me and said, “Daddy, Luna told me to tell you that the portal was going to open in the main hallway and that a guard will take you into the throne room. Oh, and the meeting starts in twenty minutes.”

I frowned a little at that. If the portal opened in the hall, then I would not be able to observe directly and, by extension, not be observed; therefore, getting this body dressed was a slight waste of time. Shoving the petty thought aside, I headed into the main room of the apartment.

Inside the room stood six changelings, Nick among them. They were, after the Cloudsdale Archive Capture Team, the third group of spies I will have sent to Equestria. The catch was that this was a long-term deep-cover operation, with the possibility of establishing a colony there. That way, I could have my own spies without relying on Chrysalis.

I put my hand on Nick's shoulder and asked, "are you sure that you want to do this? It'll be really hard and I'll miss you, my friend." Then, smiling, I added, "And you won’t have any of your video games."

"Video games are fun," he told me, "but neither playing or making them are real adventures. Yeah, I'm gonna do this."

"Keep in touch?"

He tapped his head. "Always, man."

As Beta came into the room a second later, he scooped up the box full of the peace offerings and brought it over to Alpha. Ψ joined us a second later; it was looking at him that reminded me of something, 'Astral Projection, of course.' I face-palmed at the now obvious solution. 

Then I chuckled. It was strange; I had never thought that I would be visiting an alien world, let alone with my mind, body, and soul as three separate entities. Or that my best friend would be leading a spy-colonist team on said world.

"Ready, team?" Nick asked the other five changelings.

In unison, they replied, "Ready!" Together, leader and team shrunk down to the size of beetles and crawled onto Beta's clawed feet. One minor Notice-Me-Not later and they were completely hidden. 

I told Selene that we were ready. She opened the portal – positioned so that anybody who looked through would see out the window into Atlantic Station – and Beta and Ψ stepped through.





When Princess Luna had told him that he was going to be escorting dignitaries from another nation, Lieutenant Strong Shield had pictured Saddle Arabians. When she had told him that they were enemies that were wishing to make peace, he was unsure of what to think. When he was told that they would be coming through a portal from another world, his mind nearly broke trying to picture what these creatures would look like. Would they be monstrous? Beautiful? Incomprehensible? He did not know.

Strong Shield never expected them to be so bucking tall. Even the creepy wingless one, who was the shortest of the three standing across the gap, stood a head taller than Princess Luna. The one behind him, holding a large box, stood even taller. Strong Shield had to take a step back; his helmet would not let him turn his head up enough to look at the face of the tallest one, who towered over its companions like Princess Celestia did over ponies.

But despite his shock, the stoic mask that was his face did not crack. It also did not crack when the tallest chuckled at him in its deep, inharmonic voice. "Excellent poker face, Sir Day Guard," it said. Strong Shield had no idea what poker was, but he assumed – hoped – that it was a compliment. "Ha," as if reading his mind, it said, "yes, that was a compliment." Suddenly, it clicked in the guard's mind why these creatures were so familiar; they looked like changelings. "Hey, no need to get so hostile," the thing said.

A nearby maid, who could not see through the portal from her angle, was confused. How had the voice read that guard? The Guards faces never changed.

The shorter two of the well-dressed creatures stepped through the portal, which closed behind them. "I assume that you are our escort?" The winged one asked.

"Yes, Sir. Although, I was only told to expect one," Strong replied.

"This is Ψ, my servant and personal guard. Will it be a problem that I brought him?" He asked.

"No, Sir. Diplomats are allowed both. Follow me." Strong Shield turned and walked down the hall. "May I have your name so that I may introduce you to the court?"

"Beta Rex."





"Introducing Beta Rex, Emissary of the Earth Hive," my escort announced as he lead us into the throne room. The very crowded throne room. Dozens of eyes focused on my two puppet bodies; feelings of fear and disgust welled up in many ponies. Individually, those feelings would not be an issue, but with so many ponies collectively directing their negative emotions at the two versions of me, it physically hurt.

Ψ coughed into his hand. When he pulled away, a few drops of blood dotted his gloved fingers. The six changelings on my Ψ's feet bailed, anxious to escape the noxious environment.

My Beta smiled a toothy grin, in spite of the pain, and mentally apologized to Taruke, the true owner of Beta. Together, my two bodies walked to the other end of the room where Twilight Sparkle, a small purple dragon, and the three Princesses stood. I bowed before them. "Good – *cough* – morning, your majesties, miss Twilight – *cough* – Sparkle." My Beta began to warm up as his magic started to heal him; Ψ had no such benefit.

"And a good morning to you to," Princess Celestia returned smoothly. "Though, I cannot fathom why your King would send a sick ambassador and..."

"His personal guard and servant, Ψ," I supplied for her unspoken question. "I assure you, we were perfectly health minuets ago. I just was not expecting such a large crowd... "

"What does the crowd have to do with anything?" Twilight asked. "They are just here to see this; it's quite historic."

"Why are bitter substances often toxic?" I countered.

Perplexed – and mildly excited to have an opportunity to share knowledge – Twilight replied, "Toxic substances are bitter because our bodies evolved to dislike things that could hurt it. Ponies will spit out bitter things before it hurts them."

I smiled gravely. "Fear and disgust are *cough,*” more blood, “such bitter emotions." I saw realization dawn on Twilight's face, followed shortly by the Princesses. "But that isn't a problem. What is the pain of acute organ failure in the face of making friends?"


As if saying 'I beg to differ,' Ψ violently hacked up a glob of bloody mucus. "Oh yeah, no magic," Beta said, realizing that the toxic emotions of the crowd could not be countered by magic in the drone's body. "Ψ, guns. *cough* You're going home."


Both changeling and drone yanked up their sleeves. I snatched the guns with my magic and set them in Beta's holes, yanked Ψ home with a ranged teleport, and readjusted Beta's sleeves. "Can we move *cough cough* this elsewhere, please?" I said, swaying slightly. My voice quivered in pain. "I'm sure that the king is all for peace, but not if you *cough* are all going to poison two of his subjects with all of this negative emotion." The pain in Beta's body continued to grow, the degeneration exceeding the rate at which I could heal it.

I looked out the stain glass window. Princess Celestia, understanding my message, said, “Yes, let’s move this outside.” The moment the words left her lips, I had already snatched up the box that was holding the peace offerings and was making a beeline for the window. With a twist of my magic and a ring of green fire, I passed Beta’s body through the glass as if it was not even there.

“Princess, what just happened?” Spike asked.

“I’ll explain in a minute, Spike,” the Solar Princess said while pulling her magic up to her horn. “For now, let’s go make sure that our guest is still alive.” With a flash, the four ponies and one dragon vanished into thin air, leaving a very confused crowd behind.





I hissed in pain as I set myself down at the edge of the garden maze. My hands shook, my breathing was labored. I channeled magic over the link, trying to repair the borrowed body as fast as I could. A moment later, the Princesses teleported in with a burst of golden light. Princess Celestia walked up and asked me, “Beta Rex, are you alright?”

I coughed one last time. A few specks of blood landed on her face, marring her pristine coat. “You’re damn lucky, Celestia.”

“Hey! Don’t speak to the Princess that way!” Twilight shouted. I ignored her.

“Had I been here for any other reason, had I not been the one offering peace, had my nation the resources, we would declare war for that stunt.” I crossed my arms, spread my wings, and straightened up my posture. I would have given them the finger, but it would have been a meaningless gesture.

“Can someone please explain what is going on here?” The little dragon asked.

“I was under the impression that you ponies were an accepting, loving bunch,” I declared. “Let me tell you what Chrysalis once told me, and I quote, ‘Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered.’ So why, exactly, was I expected to apologize in front of a crowd of fearful, disgusted ponies like that?”

"I'm sorry," Luna spoke, "that would be my fault. I honestly did not know that would happen when I suggested letting other ponies watch."

"Damnit, you're not lying." I massaged my temples and collapsed down into the grass. Behind them, the astral projection of my Alpha silently faded into existence. "It shows how little you know of pony psychology. This should have been a private affair."

The royal sisters looked at one another, sharing a private look that was indecipherable. Cadance, speaking for the first time, asked, "You're going to tell your King, aren't you?"

"He already knows," my projection said from behind them, making them all jump. The blurred illusion stood towering over all. "Beta Rex is not his real name, you know."

"Alvarium Rex, how are you here?" Celestia asked, "and how long have you been here?"

"Astral projection." I replied. "What do you know of the hive mind?"

"Next to nothing," Twilight commented.

"The let me tell you something. I. See. Everything!" I hissed loudly at them. "Every sight, sound, and smell my changelings experience... Every last ache and pain."

Cadance looked aghast. "You felt that?"

"We did," both physical body and projection said. I paused, breathing regulated in an attempt to calm sown and suppress the shakes in my bodies. Continuing with just the projection, I sighed, "But... I'm going to be the mature one here; I forgive you."

"Thank you, Alvarium Rex," Luna said. With those words, the tension between us melted away.

Smiling, I said, "Now... Business!" I bowed down low. "As King of the Earth Changelings, I offer Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Lady Twilight Sparkle, Student of Princess Celestia, my fullest and most sincere apologies on behalf of my actions. As payment, I present to you the full value of gemstones that I was paid to house you." Beta pulled a pair of smaller boxes out of the larger box that I had brought. He handed each to their respective owner, who took it and opened it with their magic.

Spike drooled when he looked inside; there were dozens of emeralds a piece. Then he noticed something. "That's it?" Spike asked, sounding offended. "You kidnapped Twilight and Princess Cadance for that? Rarity and I could find that many gems in five minuets!"

"Little dragon, I don't know how much you know about economics. Have you heard the expression 'one man's trash is another's treasure?' Earth is a resource-starved world in comparison to Equa while simultaneously needing to support a much larger population; there are over sixty humans to every pony, griffin, minotaur, and changeling... Combined." 

During my lecture, the dragon reached over and grabbed one of the gems from Twilight's pile. He quickly popped it in his mouth and swallowed; I made a mental note to never let a dragon near my treasure. As my Beta watched the dragon, my Alpha's illusion continued speaking without having paused. "When you add the high demand for gems with the low supply, let alone of the quality of Equa's gemstones, those stones are incredibly valuable to us. Those gems – if my math is right – would add up to almost four million dollars, or two million bits – for each of you."

Their jaws dropped. It must seem odd to them to finally have a price tag on their heads, to know how badly someone wanted them gone. But I was not done yet. I reached into the box and pulled out a notebook full of laminated papers. Passing it to the sole unicorn in the group, I said, "Twilight, this is for you. This is what my people do best: information. That is a spell of my own invention. I call it the World-Capture spell. Cast it and you will create a mental construct of the world around you, including all the books within that area, which you can reread at your leisure."

"Oh, wow, that's amazing!" Twilight said. Before anyone could say anything else, the mare was already flipping through the pages. I chuckled slightly.

Turning to Cadance, I admitted, "Princess Cadance... I really was not that sure what to give you. I don't know much about you beyond that you are the Alicorn of love. So I got you two gifts. The first is a set of perfumes." I levitated them out of the box and to her. "They're pleasant to the human and changeling nose. I don't know about pony, though."

She uncapped the first bottle and gave it a spritz. "That smells wonderful. Thank you."

I sighed. "That's good. Now, the other thing I got you is a copy of an ancient human text regarding love." This caused her to perk up immediately. "It's a bit of a fun read; I certainly liked it. Very useful, I might add. The thing is, I don't know whether you are the type to find it really funny, or to get really offended."

"What do you mean?"

I handed her the book with a uniform red cover and four-word title. "The Illustrated Kama Sutra. replace humans with ponies and you might find it... Enlightening. Don't read it here or now!" I added hastily when she started to open the book.

While turning my illusion to Celestia and Luna, Beta pulled out my last gift, though it was not the last thing in the box. To the larger alicorns, I said “I have one last small gift, for the nation… and a slight confession. This,” I gestured to the object, “Is a laptop computer and – since you lack the infrastructure for it - a hand-crank generator to power it, both common objects in my world. The laptop is capable of storing and processing mind-boggling amounts of data. Data including… the entire Canterlot Archives. It’s completely searchable, organized, capable of being cross-referenced, and annotated by us.”

As my Alpha illusion explained the computer to the princesses, Beta leaned over. In Twilight’s ear, he whispered, “If you get a chance to use the laptop, look for books by Celestia labeled ‘Black Archives.’ You might just discover some very… interesting things about your mentor. I suggest books from 200-350 A.L.B.” Twilight nodded, eager to read her mentor’s books.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, bemused at my explanation. “How could you have the Canterlot Archives in that little box?”

“The science would go right over your head… and I realize now that I’m going to have to show you how to use the thing.”

“That is impressive…” Celestia commented, “but not quite what I meant. How do you have the Canterlot Archives on it?” In response, I pointed at the notebook that Twilight was still holding. “Oh…”

“Mmm, yeah, about that... This isn’t the first time a changeling of mine has been in this world,” I sheepishly admitted. “Twilight was actually there when my own daughter cast the spell. She was a little white unicorn filly at the time, I think.”

“Oh,” Twilight exclaimed, “I remember that! That was just before the… wedding…” Twilight blinked. Confusion grew on her face. “Why did you imprison me in the first place? I’m just a normal unicorn.”

“I’m sorry, did you really just ask that?” I asked, just a little shocked. “Here’s my advice. There’s a list the humans have called the Thirty-Six Stratagems; it’s a list for war. Of these, two are really important here. Number two: Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao – attack the enemy’s weak point. And number twenty-five: Replace the Beams with Rotten Timbers – disrupt the enemy’s methods. Twilight… what would happen to Equestria if I, say, murdered you right now? Hypothetically, of course.”

“How could you say such a thing?” Cadance screamed, hysterical at the thought.

“Now now, I’m not saying I would, but I could… Have you ever teleported half of something? A paper thin sliver from in the middle of something? It takes one fourth of a second for me to teleport something. You’d be dead before you could blink, not that I’d do that to you, of course.” I looked her in the eye. “But what if I did?”

Twilight looked like she was going to vomit. The Princesses were not much better themselves. Spike was shaking in rage and fear. It was not as hard on me as the dozens of ponies in the throne room, but it still hurt.

“What if, as I stood over your bleeding corpse, I ordered an invasion… or opened the gates of Tartarus… or – heaven forbid – released Discord? What would happen to Equestria without its bearer of Magic? Princess Celestia… Princess Luna… Princess Mi… Amore… Ca-den-za…” I said, enunciating each syllable carefully. “I ask, what if?”

“You wouldn’t dare do such a thing,” Luna growled. Cadance looked sick, Celestia had the slightest of frowns bleeding though her queenly mask, and Twilight and Spike were in tears and holding one another.

“Of course not. I’m here for peace,” I replied with a shrug. “But, I also don’t want innocents slaughtered because of a stupid weakness of yours.”

“That is rather considerate of you,” Celestia commented. “However, you did not have to be so blunt with your words.”

I shrugged again. “Sharp words carve illusions; blunt words make people see the truth. And when all you need is a hammer… But enough depressing talk,” I added, lightening the mood. “May we go inside and talk about how we’re not going to kill each other? Oh, I almost forgot.” I reached into the box one last time and pulled out a set of hoof-written spell books. “How much do I owe you for three years of late fees?”

> Foreign Affairs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        My mask nearly snapped in two when Princess Celestia Spoke.

        When I had been assaulted by the negative emotions in the throne room, I had been angry, furious, ready to kill someone. But I had hidden my feelings. I was there for the betterment of the hive; if Equestria ever decided to attack us, they could have an army on us in a split-second with absolutely no warning.

        When Luna had told me that it was an accident, my rage fizzled into extreme displeasure; the difference being that I could forgive them, even if it did nothing for my overall mood.

        It was not rage or hatred that nearly snapped my mask. Honestly, I do not even know what, exactly, nearly set me off; perhaps I was just too hungry to think rationally? But whatever it was that might have set me off, I came inches from beheading her then and there; that would have been an overreaction of epic proportions.

        “You want me to what? But why?” I asked, Beta’s voice meticulously controlled.

        “I would like you to spend the night in the Diplomat’s Wing of the Castle,” Celestia replied from her spot on her office cushion. “I have already had a room prepared for you.”

        “Not that I don’t appreciate your hospitality. but was this really necessary? My own home is literally a thought away,” I replied from my seat across from the Princess. My real, as-of-yet unvoiced concerns were my hunger and the toxic reactions of the ponies around me.

        Celestia chuckled lightly. “Oh, I am well aware of that. If you must, you must. But I insist you spend the night. Consider it a working vacation of sorts; you’re free to spend the afternoon as you please. Then, in the morning, we can negotiate with clear heads. That little scene in the garden left us all in a fog, so to speak.”

        I gave a false grin. “Of course. I will gladly accept your generous offer. However, there are two points that I must address right now, my food and my form.”

        Celestia’s expression darkened slightly, though her emotions betrayed a far more extreme emotional plunge. “What about them?”

        I explained quickly, “First, since walking undisguised in public caused a near fatal case of organ failure in Ψ - he is stable now, don’t worry - and caused us to expend a large portion of our reserves to regenerate, I wish to be allowed to don a custom pony skin to use in public.”

        “That is reasonable,” Celestia responded. “I will have to see your form before you leave the castle, and you will not be allowed any other form during your stay.”

        “Second, I am famished.” Celestia winced ever so slightly at my declaration. “I will supply my own pantry’s stash of meat for my physical consumption - don’t look so surprised, Princess. Changelings need solid food, too; hope and good feelings only get you so far in life. Meat is the food of kings. As for my emotional needs...”

        “Absolutely not!” Celestia declared, slipping slightly into her Royal Canterlot Voice. “I will not have you feeding on my subjects.”

        “Come now, Princess,” I retorted while directing a miniscule amount of magic to my eyes to make them trance-inducing, “Surely you will allow me a small snack. I promise I won’t bite or cocoon them. Just a little romp in the bed, a little physical and magical exhaustion, and they’ll be right as rain in the morning, no lasting damage.”

        “Again, I refuse to allow you to harm my subjects.”

        “Like they harmed me? But no, you’re right; I’m just a visitor. I shall refrain from feeding in such a manner. Though, I might just get so hungry that I pounce on your subjects and rip the love out of them; then you would have a corpse, or, in my case, lunch for tomorrow.” Then, with the full force of the hypnotic suggestion, I rhetorically asked, “Wouldn’t it be easier if you just let me sleep with somepony?”

        Celestia, with her eyes glowing faintly from my magic, relented, “Ok, fine. However, you must get consent first and you must inform them that you are a changeling.”

        I grinned at my victory.





        My Beta’s flank swayed sensually side-to-side. Every step I took was carefully measured to match a precise rhythm. The unicorn body that I wore was an agglomeration of most beautiful features from the four mares I had met earlier today - Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight Sparkle - as if it was their collective grandchild. Stamped on each shapely flank was the image of a candy heart with the letters ‘XXX’ written on each. I found it terribly funny, and the originals were clueless about the meanings behind my mask.

        As I strutted up to Celestia’s office, having left shortly to change in my new room, I could feel the guards eyes following me, lusting after me. 'Perfect.' I paused my walk to smile and flutter my eyelashes at them. As they looked into my eyes, I could feel their piercing gaze soften slightly and glaze over; perhaps it was the ever-so-slight amount of hypnotic magic, the fact that my eyes ever-so-slowly changed colors., or the scent of a dozen mares in heat. If this were a cartoon, I could have seen little pink hearts float over their heads.

        As it was, their lust was tasty enough, but the small sample only made me hunger for more. I strutted over to the pair guarding the Sun Princess's office. "Hello there, handsome stallions," I said, my voice as rich as chocolate. I put my hoof up and stroked the chin of the guard on the left. He did not react... visibly. I leaned in closer to allow my hot, hormone-laced breath to wash across his muzzle. "Is the princess in? She's been... expecting me." I pursed my lips ever so slightly. "We have so much to... discuss."

That did it. Touch, smell, sight, and sound – taste too if he had licked me –  every one of his senses screamed 'HOT!', just as planned. I had cracked through the impassive mask of the royal guard, making him blush and blush hard. "Uhhh..." He said, as eloquently as any man could be expected to be in the situation.

Luckily for the distressed guard, his friend came to the rescue – by lightly whacking his friend in the back of the head with the blunt end of his spear. The helmet of the struck guard rang like a gong. "Oww!" He cried while clutching his ringing ears.

"My apologies," the second guard said. "The Princess is inside. She will see you now."

"Thanks~" I sang.

As I walked in, I heard the guards start to bicker. "What was that for?" Number one asked.

"You broke character."

"You hit me!"

"You shouldn't be suckered by hot... really hot mares."

"Well... Buck you, too!"





After getting Celestia's approval on my face, though it took some convincing on my part, I decided to explore Canterlot for the evening before tomorrow's meeting. With an air of confidence, I sauntered into the market streets, my assigned earth pony guard, Sharp Spear, following close behind. I was excited – and hoping I could get him excited, too, but in a different way.

Though, as I looked around the city, my mood sank. Signs of damage still marred the city two and a half years after the fires my explosives had caused during the Battle of Canterlot. However, I rationalized those feelings away; it was Chrysalis that pulled the trigger, even if I had supplied the weapons.

I set to work even as I walked. Celestia had given me some tight restrictions to feed in. Rip feed? Off with my head. Cocoon? Off with my head. No consent? HELL NO! I’m no rapist and neither are any of my changelings; we do have our standards. I shudder at the thought of getting my dick corroded off by my victim’s fear.

But having to tell my partner that I am actually a changeling? That’s going to be a challenge. Ponies are quite skittish and xenophobic, far more than humans; it’s part of being a prey species. If I was ever going to get in bed with a pony, I needed time. ‘Oh look, a captive audience,’ I thought. 

Walking closer to the young Sharp Spear, I whispered gently into his ear, “Thank you for escorting me through Canterlot. That’s very nice of you.” I’m sure he got a whiff of my aphrodisiac body odor.

“I’m just doing as commanded, ma’am,” he replied.

“Mmmm, yes. I’m curious as to what that command entails,” I said. I spun around and trotted backwards for a moment so that I could look him in the eye.

“I was told that you were a foreign diplomat and that I was to guard you from trouble and... to keep you out of trouble.” His eyes never lost their focus on the road ahead. He did not even so much as look at my color-changing eyes.

“Awww, I won’t be any trouble~” I sang as I turned back around, barely in time to dodge a pony that I would have ran into. “Excusez moi!” I called; when in doubt, gratuitous French. The stallion I nearly rear-ended blushed and waved me on.

As we turned onto the market street, I asked Sharp Spear, “So, do you know which country I am representing?”

“No, ma’am,” he replied in monotone.

I pouted, making sure to stick out my bottom lip as adorably as possible. “Well, I’ll give you a hint; It’s really far away, and yet it only takes an instant to get there."

He did not respond. There was not even a twitch of his expression.

"Or, what foreign nation would send a unicorn like moi to be their representative? There aren't any other pony nations out there. Deer, cows, sheep, Saddle-Arabian horses, cat people, donkeys, zebras, minotaurs, diamond dogs, dragons, and... griffins, none of them would ever send a unicorn to represent them when they could send one of their own. So where am I from?"

He still did not respond to me, though Sharp Spear did dodge around a filly that had been running without looking where she was going. "Be careful, little girl," he told her as she passed. A twinge of jealousy spiked through me; that kid had gotten more of a reaction from him than I had.

Losing interest in the stoic guard, I turned to a merchant on the street. Examining the stand, I picked up a gold necklace and asked the merchant, "How much is this?"

"Ah, what an eye for detail you have, my beautiful mare." The sales stallion took the trinket from my grasp. He held it up so that it's gem shimmered in the light "This exquisite piece is hoof-shaped gold and ruby carved with dragon scale blades. For such a pretty mare, I'd be willing to part with it for sixty bits." He grinned.

I fluttered my eyelashes at him, causing him to blush and his eyes to lose focus; meanwhile, I munched on his lust. "Oh, lovely. And how much would you have charged if I weren't so pretty?"

"Wh-what? No, I am an honest merchant. I would never discriminate like that," he defended, though I knew he had lied.

I chose not to pursue it in the interest of time. "Don't worry about it. I'm just trying to get a feel for the market. My people love to trade." I turned to Sharp Spear, whose face was as stoic as always. "Come along~"





Hours of walking later, I had finally returned to the castle. Sharp followed behind me through the corridors. "Where are you from?"

The question was so sudden, I paused mid-step. Blinking dumbly, it took me a moment to remember what he was talking about. "You've been thinking about it this whole time? I'm flattered!" Scooching up next to him, I whispered, "I'm from another world~”

“Right...”

‘Oh? You don’t believe me?’ I thought. ‘Let’s turn it up a notch...’ Grinning widely, I stepped in front of him and looked him in the eye. My own eyes picked up the pace, rapidly changing through every color in the rainbow. I even threw in some black splotches that swirled hypnotically around my pupil. “I assure you, I am from another world. I would have thought Princess Luna would have informed you of her counterpart... or my King.”

I slowly strode up to him, my face inches from his own. He, in turn, took a step back. “My world... It’s nothing like this one. Do you know of the Everfree forest?”

“Of course, ma’am. Everypony knows of that place, and knows to stay away,” the monotone voice of Sharp Spear said.

“Only a suicidal fool would try to tame it, right?” I grinned wider and started to circle him. The clip-clop of my hooves echoed off of the walls of the otherwise empty hallway. “But you see, that’s just like my world. Wild weather, uncontrollable predators, untamed nature, pestilence... and beauty unmatched. Everything is trying to kill you. And that’s the way I like it!”

I advanced on him, and he retreated. I believe he had the sinking suspicion that he was in the presence of a predator, and that he was prey. “And my people are the kings of the jungle. Canterlot? Pah! It’s nothing compared to even a city we’ve built, like Atlanta, which in turn is dwarfed by some of my world’s megacities.”

When his face showed nothing still, I went bigger. “Our people harness the SUN to power our world! You have fireworks that light up the sky. We have fireworks that can erase cities from the other side of the world! My people would wipe the floor with you ponies...” I trailed off. ‘STILL NO REACTION!’ I raged in my head. “But we won’t. You ponies are too cute for that. I could just hold you and squeeze you and kiss you... I think I will!”

Before Sharp Spear could react, I lunged forwards and planted my lips on his. It was just a simple thing - no tongue or teeth action - but it got what I had wanted all day; when I pulled away, there was a slight blush adorning his face and his eyes had filled with mist. 

But as quick as it had come, the lovestruck face was gone, though the emotions were still raging in his heart, and, if I was reading him right, his loins. “Ha! Got it! ...Mmmm.... you taste good...” I used some of my newly collected magic to tug on the stallion’s chest plate. “Come along. It’s dinner time~”





I sat down quietly at the seat reserved for me at the diplomat’s table. Silently, I rejoiced at the fact that the griffin ambassador had not been in Canterlot at the time. That would have been disastrous. As it was, my Beta was the only carnivore at the table. The minotaur ambassador sat to my immediate right, while the donkey ambassador sat two seats to my left. The cow ambassador was also in attendance, having just walked in herself. Behind me, Sharp Spear stood as still and quiet as a statue - partly do to training, and partly do to my kiss. As it was, we were only missing the princess who-

“Greetings, our esteemed guests!” Luna bellowed as she entered the dining room, though thankfully not in the Royal Canterlot Voice. I made a mental note to record her with a decibel meter at some point, for science, of course.

“Hellooooo, Princess Luuuuuna,” the Cow ambassador replied. I repressed the urge to laugh at her clichéd accent.

“How are you this fine evening, Ambassador Bessy?” the stewardess of the night asked. The urge to laugh intensified; I almost made a fool of myself then and there. I bit my tongue to reign in my mirth.

“Oh, just maaaarvelous! I doooo wonder, whooo is our mystery guest next to Steel Resolve?”

Seeing an opportunity to introduce myself, I announced, “I am Beta Rex, representing Alvarium ‘Alpha’ Rex, King of the Earth Hive.”

“Earth Hive?” The donkey ambassador asked. “I have never heard of such a nation, and I have memorized the map of the entire known world; I should think I would have heard of your land. Oh, excuse me, I am Ambassador Jackass.”

‘Damnit... Must. Not. Laugh!’ I thought, fighting a losing battle to keep my mirth contained. “It’s a pleasure to meet you! But I highly doubt you would find my nation on any map, as we are a tiny kingdom hidden within massive country on a continent that doesn’t actually exist. At least, not in the sense that you would logically expect.”

The minotaur next to me bellowed, “Steel Resolve is afraid that Steel Resolve doesn’t understand.”

“Frankly, we don’t get it either,” I countered, much to my audience’s bemusement. “Some years ago, beings we call Gatekeepers began to appear in my world - a separate reality from this one. The eldest Gatekeeper is my King, and his adoptive daughter, Princess Selene, is the second and youngest living Gatekeeper. Each Gatekeeper was an ex-human that bound to a creature in this world. Both partners gained the ability to create portals to the other, regardless of their location.”

“Among other things,” Princess Luna added.

I nodded in agreement. “Right, but no need to go into details now. Long story short, Princess Luna is Princess Selene’s partner, making the capital cities of Canterlot and Atlanta effectively overlap one another; we are literally a second’s walk away from my home anywhere Luna is.”

“Ex-human? What do you mean by that?” Steel Resolve bellowed. At this point, the wait staff entered, bearing trays of food for the evening’s meal. Swiftly, they began to serve to all but me.

“The individual my king bound to was Queen Chrysalis. I, like all of our people, are his descendants. A human is a creature similar in size and shape to a minotaur,” I said while gesturing to the example next to me, “but more ape-like.” I was tempted to show them, but I stopped when Steel Resolve spoke.

“Queen Chrysalis? What is she the Queen of?”

“Irrelevant,” I quickly replied before shooting a glare at Luna. My eyes momentarily flashed red while the pupils narrowed to slits. She - thankfully - understood and elected to remained quiet. “She is not involved with our politics and is of no concern to you.”

“Well, this has suuure been informative,” Ambassador Bessy, commented when no one had spoken for a minute. “However, the staff has brought out this scrumptious looking meal and I doooo not wish for it to get cold while talk the night away.” At this, the other dinner guests nodded in agreement and proceed to dine. Light conversation soon started up between the other Ambassadors.

Steel Resolve looked down at my empty placemat and frowned. He leaned back and beckoned to one of the waiters. When the green pegasus came over, the minotaur whispered, “Why has this gorgeous young mare not received her meal?”

“According to what the chef was told, she is not actually a pony and as such, would be providing her own-” He was interrupted by a flash of emerald light coming from my place. “-meal.”

“Your concern is appreciated,” I told Steel Resolve as he turned around to look at me, “but unnecessary. My King has provided for me.” Dropped utensils clattered against plates as they observed my plate. Meanwhile, I propped my hooves in front of my mouth to disguise my shift to more appropriate teeth. For both, the reason was the selection of meats for me to eat. Without the ability to taste seasonings or sides, meat variety was the rule; lamb chops, pork sausage, and a juicy steak were tonight’s selection. Though I could identify the cuts by eye, I hoped that none of the others would get beyond ‘Carnivore!’ in their thought process; it would be awkward to explain stake to some of the other ambassadors.

Bessy looked like she would be sick as I started eating the steak. The cow said, “Princess, you never told us that there was another... meat eater here. Especially one that is a pony, of all things.”

“I was not aware of that, either,” Luna replied, also a shade green. “I was under the impression that they were emotivores or herbivores.”

“Omnivores, actually,” I corrected, “With the exception of gems, we eat almost anything - even the abstract - but only really taste emotions and flesh.” I levitated a sausage from my plate and dunked it in the opaque cup that had come along with my plate. When it emerged, it was covered in a creamy white sauce that glowed faintly with mixed-in emotion. I slowly pushed the sausage into my mouth, intentionally moaning to emphasize the taste, and then bit the end off. 

Phallic objects are a seductress’s best friend, I say.

After chewing and swallowing, I added, “And what a carnal pleasure it is.” My sharp-toothed grin sealed the deal.

The minotaur next to me shifted uncomfortably before scooting closer to the table in a vain attempt to hide the bulge in his loin cloth. Though, it is not really his fault; many sex cues for ponies work on minotaurs, too - pheromones included. And, like the minotaur, most of the occupants in the room had spent several minutes inhaling the aphrodisiacs that I had been exhaling; poor Sharp Spear had been subjected to my machinations for hours unending. The stallion was one wrong move away from bursting; never in my almost-three years have I ever had someone hold out that long - and I was not even giving it my all.

Near the end of the meal - while time raced by for me, the meal seemed to not end fast enough for the others - I grabbed my mostly-full cup with my hoof and lifted it to my mouth. Right as it was about to touch my lips, I ‘hiccuped’ and sloshed the white liquid emotion all over my face and horn. “Whoa, pardon me. I’m *Hic* so clumsy.” Maybe it was a bit much, but it got the reaction I was looking for.

“Let me help with that,” Steel offered, holding out his napkin.

I politely denied his request. “I’ve got this,” I said, then proceeded to lick my face clean with my two-foot long tongue; I’ve always wanted to do this. As I cleaned myself, I made eye contact with each occupant of the room; I saved Sharp Spear for last, making extra sure to focus on him as my tongue stroked my horn clean of the white sauce. At the end, I lit my horn up and telekinetically pushed the saliva off my horn, which sprayed off of the end in a glowing mist. The pièce de résistance, a little squeak-moan, followed by drying my face with my napkin.

“Ambassador Beta Rex, would you be so kind as to refrain from such displays in the future?” Princess Luna asked, trying and failing to suppress the furious blush on her face.

“Whatever do you mean, Princess?” I asked, feigning ignorance. “I was only enjoying the end of my meal. That’s how they always seem to end, after all.” Of course, I had to add bedroom eyes to the end of that. 

‘Oh, Sal, you have the best bedroom eyes of any changeling,’ I thought, picturing my wonderful girlfriend. In particular, I recalled my favorite date, one that was dinner - a six-way orgy at Livewire Club - and a show - us stripping on the dance poles for a lusty audience.

Luna shook her head with disappointment. “Be as it may, I would still ask you to follow our cultural norms here, rather than your own.”

“I understand.”





This was my last chance to ensnare the impossibly hard-to-crack Sharp Spear. As he lead me back to my room, I struck up a conversation. “So how long have you been in the guard?”

By this point, his mind was just fogged enough to loosen lips - finally! “About three years since I graduated basic training.”

“That would put you at about my age, your twenty’s. Am I correct?”

“Twenty one, ma’am,” he replied.

“Please don’t call me ‘ma’am.’ It makes me feel old,” I requested. Then I noticed something odd about his armor. “But on that same note of age, how is it that your armor is so worn down?”

He smiled. A surge of happiness and nostalgic pride welled up in him. “My dad is a retired Royal Guard. Since I’m almost the exact same size, he gave me his old armor and spear.”

“Fascinating,” I commented. “May I see it? Your spear, I mean.”

“Sure.” Sharp Spear lifted his namesake weapon off of the holding hooks on the side of his armor and passed the tool to me.

“Not too heavy or unwieldy,” I remarked. The shaft of the weapon was engraved with two names: Sharp Spear and Long Spear. “It’s seen a fight, hasn’t it?”

“Once or twice,” he replied modestly.

“Then you must have to practice often to stay in top form.” I stepped closer to him. “Many thrusting exercises, I’d assume. Have you ever speared a pony?”

“No, I haven’t.”

I pursed my lips. ‘Why was this guy so hard to crack?’ I wondered. Sure, he was really aroused right now, but I wanted what would make him lose control, to surrender completely to his baser instincts.

“Do you prefer to sheath your blade, or do you like to cross swords.”

He stammered, “I... Ahh... what?”

I rolled my eyes. Having arrived at my room, I pushed open the door, but did not go in yet. “I think it’s safe to assume that we are well into metaphor land, Mr. Sharp Spear. I asked if you were straight or gay, because I can do both.” To prove my point, I gender-flipped myself right then and there.

“I... Ahh...Whoa... What does that have to do with anything? Because I am not sleeping with you while I am on duty,” he replied.

Again, I rolled my eyes in annoyance. “Listen,” I stated in my now masculine voice, “I’m an Earth changeling; I eat good emotions. Your Princesses made a huge mistake when they invited me here, and I’m still trying to heal the damage from that. Even with all the lust I’ve collected today, I’m still half-starved; I’ll be desperate by morning. Walk away if you want. I won’t stop you. But know that if I attack a pony in the morning and drain them dry, you could have prevented it.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I have sworn to uphold the Guard’s code of honor. I can’t let them down by succoming to your temptations,” Sharp explained. “I could never face my father again.”

“But you’d be stopping me from dying or attacking one of your fellow ponies - who you swore to protect - out of desperation. And you’d get sex for the low, low price of feeling hungover in the morning,” I said, exasperated. “Besides, it’s really late. I cannot imagine that you’d stay on duty any longer than you already have. Look, I’m safely at my room. You're done.” I gently tugged at his armor with my magic, not enough to pull him in, but more than enough for him to feel it. “Will you? Please?”

He sighed, debating it in his head. “Fine. But you need to be a mare for this.” 

I cheered internally; my toughest nut yet had just been cracked. And it only took seven and a half hours, too.





“Mmm... five more minutes,” the stallion cuddling next to me moaned as the sun hit his eyes. I snuggled tighter, glad for his warmth and the pleasurable taste of his emotions. And his seed. That too. I breathed deeply, taking in his musky scent. I sighed. I smiled.

“You were really good last night, Sharp,” I whispered.

“Mmm... you too, Beta. I-I have two little confessions to make,” Sharp Spear said.

“Oh? Well, I have a tiny one, too, but you can go first.”

“Yeah, that was my first time,” he admitted.

“Oh... you were a virgin. I’m... I’m sorry that you wasted your first time on me,” I replied. “Though, if it makes you feel any better, you were really good. Big, too. And don’t think I’m just saying that. Changelings know sex.” He smirked, puffing up with pride. 

“Well, thank you! The other thing is... I... think I... might love... you."

"Oh..." I took a good long moment to thoroughly examine the emotions radiating from the stallion spooning me. Eventually I sighed, though I could not tell of it was from relief of disappointment. "I have good news and bad news... Well, it's the same news, really. You don't – actually – love me. That warm feeling? That's satisfaction and lust; your body is telling you that you are successful in your biological role as a stallion. Those feelings could bloom into love, yes, but you're not there yet."

"Oh, so there's no hope for us?" He asked, dejectedly.

"I didn't say that... I know I only picked you because you were on hand, but I like you, and I might like to get to know you better." Sharp's eyes shone with hope. "But I have to return to my home world this afternoon. Though, I'll find a way to keep in touch."

"That sounds nice, Beta. What did... what did you want to tell me?”

I smiled mischievously. “Oh, nothing major. This mare I’m wearing-”

“A very beautiful mare,” He interrupted.

“-well, I made her up. She doesn’t really exist. In reality, this mare is made from four different mares, each of whom I’ve copied features from. Ha ha, funny story, but I'm actually a stallion." The look of surprise on his face was  priceless, but I still had to deliver the punchline. "So, do you want to know who owned the pussy you just rutted?” I asked.

“Oh? Who could own such a wonderful thing?” Sharp asked back.

“Princess Celestia.” 





The breakfast before my meeting with Celestia was a much quieter affair. That is, until Captain Shining Armor walked in and straight up to me. Well, walked is not quite the right word.

The changeling convert had a very distinct limp, one that I knew all too well. “I need to have a word with you,” he declared to my face.

“What about?”

“I should be very angry about the things you said to my sister yesterday. They were very hurtful. However, she seemed to be doing better ever since she started practicing that spell you gave her and started playing with that computer of hers. I still don’t know why you gave her that thing...” He trailed off. His eyes momentarily glazed over before he refocused with a shake of his head. “Anyway, the other reason I’m not mad is that book! That absolutely wonderful book you gave Cadance! It’s an amazing read!” Though the double-meaning subtext that came as a part of the changeling speech said something different: ‘It’s the best sex I’ve ever had!’

“Well, I’m glad you two enjoyed it,” I replied. “Also, are you familiar with Sharp Spear? He was my guard yesterday.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Yes, I trained under his father during my time in boot camp.”

“Then I would like to commend him for a job well done. He displayed high integrity and willpower, as well as high physical stamina. He...” I leaned closer and whispered into the convert’s ear, “...took almost eight hours to seduce under almost full assault. He’s stone compared to the putty of your other Guards. And I do mean that in more ways than one.” 





"If I am going to sign that treaty, I need to know how strong your military is," Princess Celestia demanded.

"That's the whole reason why we're pushing for a non-aggression pact, Princess; we do not have a military. Arms? Yes." My undisguised Beta held up the two guns I had brought as I spoke with my Alpha's projection. "Defenses? Yes. A militia force? I have some 'lings that I can call upon in an emergency. But I do not have a high enough population or the fiscal resources to feed a standing army," I replied.

"Truly? How small is your nation?" She asked.

"Do you remember the Battle of Canterlot?"

"How could I forget?" Celestia scowled at me.

"Well, when I sold those weapons, my hive was desperate for cash. We had enough money among us to all live as middle class citizens for a few weeks, and then we would be broke. All ten of us."

She raised an eyebrow at me, which was Celestia's equivalent of spluttering in surprise. "Ten changelings? That is it?"

I sighed and slumped down in my seat. "Princess, I don't think you quite understand exactly how young we are as a nation. Three years ago, I was a regular civilian; I didn't even know this world existed. Suddenly, I started dreaming of Chrysalis and the next thing I know, I'm a changeling. Ten rapidly aging kids later, and there we were. I've sired a few more since then, and they in turn sired even more. Celestia, I will celebrate my twenty first birthday within the next few weeks, and I'm already a grandfather. I shouldn't even have a child at this age. 

“My first love indirectly died because of this whole Gatekeeper situation. I've already survived one assassination attempt - which killed two of my kids - and been forced to murder and feed on my old specie just to keep my family alive. I’m building a nation from scratch with absolutely no idea what I’m doing.

“If I had even a quarter of the American Armed Forces, we wouldn't need this treaty; we would win for sure. But, as it stands, you have more soldiers in Canterlot than I do civilians, period." I reached Beta's arm down and signed the treaty with my pen. "You're the first nation to recognize our existence as an independent entity; we cannot afford to have you as our enemy."

“I see,” Celestia replied. That was it. I could see her mulling over my story in her head, as well as the terms -as few as there were - on the peace agreement. Her horn lit with a golden glow, lifting the paper up with her power. After one last cursory read-over, she too signed the document. “Consider us a neutral party, then.”

“I am glad that we are no longer enemies of one another. At a later date, I wish to discuss trade with you,” I stated. “However, it would require us to make a detailed examination of your markets to know which goods would be profitable to trade. Though my nation does not have the infrastructure to defend or support ponies that come to our world, would you be willing to allow Hive merchants into Equestria? Not at the present time, though. We are still trying to shore up our own tenuous situation in the world.”

“Equestria is always looking for new trading partners. I would love to trade with you,” The princess replied. “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, could you elaborate on what you meant by the American Armed Forces? Our conversation has left me feeling inadequate about our own military, especially involving the Attack on Canterlot.”

“Yes, the American Military is one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world. However, the fundamental difference between Equestria and the armies of my world is the presence of guns, elevating combat from two charging armies to long-ranged assaults from small groups working as a cohesive unit, aided by rapid communication and advanced computers. There’s such a fundamental difference in tools and weaponry that a small company of fully armed soldiers could - possibly - capture Canterlot,” I explained.

“Guns, what are they?” Celestia inquired. She poked my two guns on the table. “I saw you take them from your assistant before he left; I assume that they are a weapon of sorts.”

“That is correct.”

She frowned. “I do not see how they work; neither Equestria nor any other nation uses any similar weapon.”

“Do you have bow or crossbow users?” 

“Some unicorns and pegasi do use bows, though it is mainly minotaurs and griffins that use bows.” She asked me, “Is that relevant?”

“Guns and bows are analogous in utility, though not in power or mechanism. They are also much faster and easier to use than a bow,” I explained.

“So a ranged killing weapon,” She said, the words giving her emotions a bitter taste. “I loath to ask it, but may I buy those guns from you? You understand that I would do anything to defend my subjects, correct?”

I scowled at Celestia. “Yes, I understand, and no, I will not sell your nation weapons,” I informed her. “I regret selling those explosives to Chrysalis’s allies, and I do not need to force an arms race across this planet.”

“You misunderstand. I wish to buy these specific guns-” she held my weapons aloft in her aura, “-so that I may give them to the Elements of Harmony to defend themselves when in dire straits.”

“Oh... how would they even use them? No fingers to pull the triggers.” I wiggled my own to emphasize the point.

“Rarity and Twilight Sparkle are unicorns.” Though I already knew that, that answer was ‘Self explanatory,’ so I nodded my head in agreement.

“Yes, I understand. If you are truly willing to put a killing tool in their hooves - and I must emphasize that you only pull these triggers with the intent to kill - then I would be willing to part with these two guns with six rounds each for... let’s say, two and a half thousand bits.” Which comes out at about five thousand dollars for me. It was a bit of markup, sure, but they were nice guns. And if she payed and they killed themselves, it is not my problem.

“That is a tad much for such a small weapon, don’t you think?” Celestia replied.

‘You want to haggle, do you?’ I thought. “Oh, but these are top of the line guns and I take good care of them. I assure you, they will hit anything within fifty meters. And, isn’t a few bits worth saving a life?”

“You’re right, of course I will have a servant go fetch the bits from the treasury for you,” she conceded. 

‘That’s it?’ I thought. ‘I was expecting another negotiation, more reluctance, or something... do I still have the hypno eyes going? No? Odd.’ The servant arrived a second later with the bits. We traded, stood, and parted ways. As Beta walked away and Alpha’s illusion faded out of existence, I had the sinking suspicion that this would cause me problems later on.





Sharp Spear stumbled into the barracks just barely in time for breakfast, a stupidly cheerful grin plastered on his face despite his skull-splitting headache. Every now and again, he would giggle to himself. Sharp was a mess, that was for sure, and every pony could see it, not that he really cared.

“Dude, what happened? Where did you go last night? We and the Lieutenant was worried sick ‘bout you,” One of Sharp’s friends called as he raced up to meet the staggering earth pony.

“Oh... hehehaha! I was helping the new diplomat with... foreign affairs.” Sharp Spear burst into renewed laughter, much to the confusion of his fellow guards. “Heheheeee! Buddy,” Sharp suddenly wrapped his foreleg around his friend’s neck and gestured dramatically with his other hoof. “I now know what the sunshine feels like! A colt no more, I. AM. A. STALLION!” Sharp bellowed, before descending into a feminine-sounding giggle fit. Cheers of congrats spread through the gathered audience like wildfire.





Unlike the guards of a certain barrak, Twilight was in a bit more somber of a mood. Yes, the changeling king had apologized, but his diplomat had also opened her eyes to reality. Ponies were counting on her and her friends, and the next threat might not be so merciful next time.

The thought had gotten stuck in the back of her mind; even with the exciting new spell the Changeling King had created and the chance to examine this ‘laptop’ he had given them, the distractions could not totally subdue the gnawing worry in the back of her mind. The worry only grew when she looked at the box.

Her hoof rested on said box, sitting next to her on the Ponyville Express bench. Celestia had given her it and its contents with a strict warning never to use them unless there was no other hope. Twilight’s hoof quivered with indecision. 

Should she pull it closer? Should she cradle the object that promised to save the lives of her and her friends?

Or should she push it away? Should she reject the object that existed for no other reason than to end the lives of the wielder's enemies?

Would she give Rarity her gun, to protect herself and Sweetie Belle?

Would she lock it away, to protect Rarity and Sweetie from the foul object?

Twilight did not know. But, as she stared at the box, she thought. With only a thin piece of wood separating her from the reaper’s tool, Twilight could not help but wonder - even though there was absolutely no threat - if everything would be alright in the end.

> Expansion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Three years ago, it started with a dream. April first, 2029, three year ago to the day, I found myself inside the mind of Queen Chrysalis, and she in me. Back then, I was a normal seventeen-going-on-eighteen year old, with normal hopes and dreams.

Today, I sat on the couch. My abdomen was slightly distended because of the egg I had been growing. Sal, my sweet girlfriend, sat next to me, pregnant with its twin; each of us was the father to the other egg, as weird as that sounds. I smiled; though it may be only my second egg, it at least came without the feeling of indigestion that accompanied Klika’s egg. While rubbing the bulge slightly, I thought about the future.

Over the last few weeks, the hive had saved money and horded its resources in order to prepare for April. We had come to the conclusion that we had enough resources to add nearly three-hundred-and-fifty changelings to the hive without stretching ourselves too thin. Of those three hundred, three fourths would be hatched while the rest were converted. 

Then, rather than to try to hide the extra population in Atlanta, we had picked out twelve cities – five Georgia cities and seven in other states, including New York and Las Vegas – to establish colonies. Each colony would consist of fifteen to twenty-five changelings who would rent a few cheep apartments, find work and food, and then find targets to replace for a long term infiltration. Once firmly established, the colonies would be instructed to grow when they can and to seek monetary and political power.

With happy thoughts of the start of world domination in mind, I stood to head to my room to lay my third child’s egg.





“Ewww! They’re gross!” Selene declared when she first saw Sally-Anne’s and my eggs.

Klika commented, “Did I really hatch from one of those things?” I nodded in affirmation. 

“Wait, those are eggs?” Selene suddenly ran towards the eggs and hugged each one in turn, seemingly ignoring her previous disgust. “I’m sorry, eggies! I didn’t mean to call you gross and ugly. Well, you are, but… SORRY!” she squeaked.

I laughed a bit. Gently, my fingers ruffled my alicorn daughter’s gravity-defying hair. An odd look crossed her face, but was gone in an instant. “Ah, Selene, I don’t think they can hear you from in there. You definitely have the right attitude, though; I think you’ll make a great big sister.”

“Big… sister?” She said, tasting the words as they formed in her mouth.

“Yep!” I replied. “Our family is growing.” Selene cheered and hopped around, her wings flapping and stirring up a breeze to match her enthusiasm. Klika meanwhile sat on my cloud bed. A smile adorned my first daughter’s face, though it only went skin deep.





The three days of waiting with baited breath had ended. Sal and my eggs had hatched, revealing two perfectly healthy changeling infants.

“They’re adorable,” Sally-Anne cooed, rocking her newly hatched child gently in her arms while I did the same to mine. A steady stream of magic flowed from each of our hands into our respective child, feeding them their first meals. The twins babbled softly while craning their necks to look towards one another. Had they been human babies, their cooing sounds would have been nonsense; yet with the hive mind connecting them to each other, the twins’ words conveyed meanings. Simple, sure, but it was impressive nonetheless for something less than two hours old.

“Can I hold him? See, I’ll be careful,” Selene asked me. Even before I responded, she had her arms outstretched and her hands grasping for the little changeling in my arms. It in turn reached out and grabbed Selene with its little claws.

“No, I think it would rather hold you,” I replied before handing the child over. As soon as it was free from my grasp, the infant reached up and tugged on Selene’s ethereal hair.

“Daddy, why do you call him ‘it?’ doesn’t he have a name?” She asked. In her arms, the baby started wiggling around uncomfortably. It murmured, roughly conveying that it was being held too tight, before it started whining.

“It hasn’t picked one yet,” I replied. “I don’t even know if it wants to be a boy or girl yet. Selene, you’re holding it-” the baby’s fangs chomped down on Selene’s fingers, “-too tightly.” Selene wobbled where she stood. Quickly, I encased her and the petulant infant in my magic, gently setting both down on the couch. By the time I had reclaimed the child and calmed it down, Selene’s eyes had already glazed over from the venom’s effects.

I was not terribly worried. The venom was technically harmless, even more so to an alicorn-hybrid than a human. As I cleaned and bandaged her bite wound, I wondered what Selene was seeing if her emotions were acting like that; there was an awful lot of lust mixed into that familial love, far too much for a pre-pubescent eleven year old.

The twins giggled with pride and began feeding off of Selene.





“Good morning, Selene,” I said to her when she started to awaken. “How do you feel?”

“Tired. Grey. Head hurts” she slurred. After over twelve hours of paralysis plus several house of magical-exhaustion-and-drug induced sleep, that was to be expected. Her emotions were muted and her hair hung limply by her side.

I handed her a glass of water as she lifted herself off of her bed, where I had moved her after she had been knocked out. She took it and downed it quickly and handed the glass back to me. I asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what did you see?”

“You. Klika. Me. Having sex.” The glass in my hand dropped, shattering when it hit the edge of her night stand.

I cringed. “…What? How do you… you’re only eleven. Great, now I have to give you the talk.”

Selene shook her head. “No. Princess Luna already did the first time I saw a grown-up dream.” Oh, right, dream-walking daughter. She looked up at me and asked, “Why did I see that? Sometimes, I like watching you with Chrysalis… but why with me? See, that’s gross.”

I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly. To my counterpart, I thought, [Great, Chrysalis, my eleven year old daughter is a voyeur… She watches our seduction lesions together.] I sighed while Chrysie sorted through the surprise revelation. To Selene, at about the same time, I said, “Our venom makes people see the ones they love. I never guessed that it would be that… explicit. Can we both agree to not discuss this with anyone else?”

“Yeah,” Selene agreed with a slight nod.

“Good. Though, if you ever need to talk to me about it, just let me know,” I replied.

Selene looked up at me with innocent, drowsy eyes and asked, “Daddy, what’s clopping?”

I spluttered, “W-w-what? Where did you hear that word?”

“See, Princess Luna once said she did it when she saw those kind of dreams,” She commented. Then, as an afterthought, Selene added, “Then she looked like she said something bad. What does it mean?”

“I… Ahh…” In my floundering to form my words, I had an insidious idea. Smirking slightly, I said, “It’s a pony thing. Why don’t you ask Princess Celestia what it means? I’m sure that she will be willing to explain. Tell her exactly what you told me, especially about where you heard it, ok?”

“Ok! I will,” she promised. 

‘I hope Celestia chews you out, Luna! That’s for corrupting my daughter!’ I thought. Brushing those thoughts aside, I said, “Now, the twins are waiting outside to give you an apology.” I took her hand and helped Selene out of bed. My face a mask, I took her to see her siblings, who had doubled in size since she last saw them yesterday.





“Sissy! Bi’ Sissy!” The twins cheered in unison as they ran towards Selene. Well, ran may be the wrong word; the one on the left waddled while the other hovered a foot off the ground. Previous events forgotten, Selene bent down and scooped up the two adorable children, giggling and laughing along with them. Sal, who had been sitting on the couch, got up and joined them in their frolicking.

Klika, however, stood off to the side. A slight scowl marred her otherwise beautiful face. I leaned against the wall next to her. “What’s the matter, my little girl?”

“…”

I sighed. “Klika, please, tell me what’s wrong.”

“…”

“Was it something I did? Are you hurt?” I inquired.

“…”

“Come on…”

Finally, she relented. Her shoulders, tense before, slumped. “Not even an hour after my heartbreaker ends, you have… them…” She goes silent for a moment, but I can tell that she’s not done. “Did you have to?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking straight at her. “Klika, are you… jealous?”

“Daddy… I don’t want you to forget about me. When Selene came, you started to spend less time with me. Then I was given heartbreaker, and I saw you even less. Sally-Anne came; I almost don’t see you at all. Yeah, I guess I am a little jealous.”

In an instant, my long arms were wrapped around her in a tight embrace. “Oh, Klika, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry that you feel that way. I’ll never forget you; how could I? You’re my daughter. I love you; never ever forget that.”

“Yeah… You’re right. Thanks, Dad.” She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me in a tight bear-hug. 

“Feel better?” I asked. When she nodded and relaxed her grip, I said, “Good. Now, I actually could use your help for the next few days. Anthony is going to be showing off to some high-valued targets to see if we can con them out of some money before we take them. Want to help?”

“Oh yeah!”





Most people thought Anthony Titarenko was an average bartender. They would be wrong. Many people in the know thought he was a black-market information merchant that had, for a time, been part of a cult movement in Europe. They would be correct, but their information was a bit outdated. The people sitting at Anthony’s bar in the Livewire club thought they were sharing a mass hallucination. That would be the easy explanation, if it were correct.

Right now, I watched Anthony hanging upside-down, sticking to the ceiling as if it were the floor. Around him, expensive cocktails floated by and mixed themselves without any physical direction on the bartender’s part beyond a subtle wave of his glowing hand. But even that too was not the whole story.

No, I could tell that Anthony Titarenko was worried. This was his plan, after all. In the best case scenario, they would walk away millions richer and with several influential new hive members. In the worst case scenario, well, I had given Slagteri temporary parole and allowed to rejoin the Silencers for a reason. The barkeep and I both prayed for the former.

Ginny’s eyes darted around the room, scanning the gathered crowed from her position above. Mirage, meanwhile was maintaining a very special device: a portable radio-jammer that housed Change.lng. Together, the trio worked to block all cellular communication and erase the digital evidence of magic even as it was recorded. No physical evidence would be allowed to escape, only word-of-mouth, though even that was too much in Ginny’s opinion.

A collective sigh of relief rolled through the gathered changelings when people started asking how Anthony was performing his feats of magic. When he explained that he had been given the power, more of what he could do with it, and that the power was for sale, a refreshingly tart excitement washed over the crowd, much to the changelings’ pleasure. The crowd of club-goers, every individual with major underworld connections, leapt at the chance for supernatural powers.

I grinned like a madman, drooling ever so slightly. The crowd desired me, they needed me. My inner greed sang out joyously.





“Why should I pay so much for that power?” The mob leader stroked the gun in his hand as if it were a living pet. “I could just force you to give it to me.”

Klika, disguised as a Photoshop-beautiful model, coolly replied, “But you see, the process itself is complicated. If my father were under too much stress, he might just make a mistake. I’m sure that you wouldn’t do anything to aggravate him, would you? He’s the only man in the world who can grant you this, after all. Besides, even once you have the power, recharging is hard work.” Klika folded her arms across her chest, supporting her form’s impressive bust. “Very hard work. I’m not sure that you would be willing to spend enough time to get the full effect of your powers.” Klika smiled and batted her eyelashes. “But that’s why we hire people to do it for us.”

The mobster scowled. The price this woman was asking for was absurd. “Oh, don’t be so upset,” she said, reading his expression. “It’s well worth the investment. You will be getting access to our library of magic, all six thousand or so spells. You’ll have so much magical power at your fingertips. What do you say?”

“I still think that you’re ripping me off. And I don’t like to be ripped off. If you won’t part with it for less, I’ll take it myself,” the man declared.

“Ah, my good sir, you can’t just take it. Besides, it’s not just magical prowess that you’re purchasing, but protection. You’re a businessman, are you not? A salesman of the goods people want, regardless of who might disagree, correct?” He nodded in reply. “Then you must understand that we mages are a tight-knit group, a family of sorts. Every single one of us is completely loyal to the whole, for the collective protects and strengthens the individual. We have many powerful individuals on our side. My father, the bringer of magic, is also the founder and C.E.O. of Greenfyre and controls a significant portion of the mineral and gemstone market in the United States. My adoptive uncle is the leader of the “Phantoms,” as the media calls them, and has robbed millions from banks. I’m close friends with the Chief of the Atlanta Police department and the FBI liaison. Guess what? All mages.”

“Interesting,” he replied. After debating for a minute, he finally relented. “Fine, I’ll pay. Where do you want the money?”

“Good choice. Here,” Klika passed a slip of paper with a bank account number to the man. He pulled out his phone, typed a few times, and said, “There’s the first half. You’ll get the rest when you deliver.”

That was my cue. I dropped down from my hiding spot, aiming for the table between the human and my daughter. An instant before my feet hit the table, I dispelled the Notice-Me-Not shrouding me from view. The sudden thud startled the man enough that he jumped out of his chair and fell to the floor.

I bent down and offered my hand to help him up, which he gratefully took. “Sorry about that,” I apologized as I lifted him up. 

“It’s no problem. I was off guard; that is all.” He dusted his suit off and looked me over. His eyes quickly scanned me from the feet up, trying and failing to pretend that he was not staring at my figure. Who could blame him? My Adonis-like figure was accented by my skintight shimmer fabric armor; I must have looked like a living, metal, Greek sculpture. But it was not my false body that he was entrapped by, but my eyes. My glowing, true eyes. “I-I… Ah…”

“Well, are you ready? We can begin now,” I said.

Klika muttered, “I think you broke him.”

The mobster shook his head to clear it. “Are you the Shadow Prince?”

I blinked and cocked my head to the side. “No, not that I know of. Why?”

He shook his head again, more gently this time. “I heard a rumor, nothing more. Never mind. Now, I believe you owe me magic.”

“Yes…” I grinned like the predator I was. Without warning, I closed the gap between us and sank my fangs into his neck. As a few drops of his blood flowed onto my tongue, my stomach growled. At the moment, I wished I could just eat him whole, emotion and flesh. But he was too useful alive for that.





Spark’s face contorted as he concentrated on the spell. His hands shined brightly with two layers of over-glow. The glyphs he stood upon were similarly illuminated. We waited around him with baited breath; I more so because the R&D team wanted to surprise me. 

The changeling researcher gave one last push with his magic. There was a flash and… nothing. But he was smiling anyway.

“What was that?” I asked. In response, Spark picked up his phone and waved it by his hip. When he lifted his hand, it was now empty; the phone had simply vanished for no rhyme or reason.

Still smiling, he reached into his visibly empty coat pocket and withdrew the phone. “Hammerspace.”

“You mean that it actually exists? How?” I asked excitedly. Even before he could reply, I was busy examining the glyph circle. “4-space vectors, hyper-geometry, non-Euclidian calculus… soul binding?”

“Yeah,” Spark replied, “it’s as complex as it sounds. Don’t even try to visualize 4-space. It’ll make your brain hurt.”

“It’s not that hard if you’ve seen it before…” I mutter under my breath.

“What? How could you have seen 4-space?” Wasp calls out.

Sally-Anne replies, “He’s seen things that we were never meant to see. Why do you think I got hospitalized? The only way that…” she paused when I shot her a pointed glare, “…that could exist…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”

“What? What is it?” Jerry called from across the lab.

“It’s not her story to tell,” I growled. I heard Jerry mutter something under his breath, but I did not bother with it. I had more pressing matters, specifically concerning the eldritch abomination that was my soul. After a deep breath, I calmly stated, “You were explaining how this works.”

Spark shrugs and continues. “It’s a lot like the preparatory steps of teleportation. Instead of a tiny, one-use bubble of space that pops when you pass through it, this creates a permanent ‘room’ of sorts with a ‘door’ that the user can reach through. Once it’s stable, it will exist until you dispel it.”

I inquire, “And the soul-bind?”

“The basic spell would continuously drain a tiny amount of magic, and it’s meant for temporary usage. The soul bind makes it more permanent and removes the constant magic need. It also allows other races to use hammerspace. But damn, that adds one hell of a magic cost to the initial casting.”

I ponder it for a moment. “Hypothetically, if a soul was in more than one piece when the spell was cast, could both access the same pocket space? Oh, and can living things go in?”

“Sure, I guess,” Spark replied. “That was for both questions, by the way.” He grabbed his smart phone and tapped the screen a few times and held it up to me. A video played, showing it disappear into a black void before reappearing. “Though, I think you would have to make sure that there was air for them. Your hammerspace is a vacuum initially.”

“How much storage volume do I get?” I asked as my final question.

“Depends,” Spark replied. “Radius is proportional to magic input in the spatial component to the power of the absolute magnitude of your affinity. Eighty percent of my reserve and a negative four space-time affinity gave me a one meter radius.”

I grinned at that. “Well then, I think I should do a tad better, don’t you think?”

“Sir, what is your affinity, if you don’t mind me asking,” Wasp asked.

I stepped into the circle and called upon Spark’s memories of casting the spell. “Positive four-point-eight.” With that said, the circle came alit with my magic. The spell was complex, and even with the glyphs aiding me in my spell formation, casting was still difficult. My perception of time faded as the new sensation of the hammerspace attaching itself to my soul momentarily overwhelmed my mind. Then, faster than the sensation had come, it was gone. Had I been standing there for hours or seconds, I could not say.

Gasp sounded throughout the lab as the result of my spell echoed through the hive mind. “What a rush…” Without answering their questions, I grabbed a blue ballpoint pen from one of the work benches and flipped it into hammerspace, while a representation of it appeared in the mental copy created by the spell. I grinned widely. “Ah, that was just a resonance echo,” I explained. “If you figure out why that happened, well, best keep that to yourself, ok?”

No one but Sal and I noticed that she was now holding a ballpoint pen that had not been there a second ago.





The twin brother and sister, Siva and Avis, stood in front of a group of twenty other changelings, all less than a month old. A total of eleven other groups had stood or would stand here within the last week of April, “here” being the airport tarmac in front of the hive’s recently acquired private jet. Though they could fly on their own, it would be foolish to do so when they could make the trip to Las Vegas so much quicker this way.

The plan was easy in theory. They would fly out to the city, find a low-end area to set up base, and begin the process of infiltration. Once a steady income and love supply was established for the colony, they would begin long-term work at subverting power within the city, especially within the casinos and government. The plan sounded simple, but Avis just knew in her gut that something would go wrong.

Picking up on his twin’s distress as they boarded the aircraft, Siva asked, “Tell me, sister of mine, what’s on your mind?”

Avis flopped into a vacant seat. Her brother did the same next to her. The young girl sighed. “I’m just worried about this, brother of mine. Do you really think we can do this? We’re so young.”

Siva tried to reassure her, but she could tell that his smile was forced. “It will be fine. Father and Mother trust us. We can’t let them down, Avis, sister of mine.”

“You’re right, Siva, brother of mine. We can’t, but still, what if?” Avis asked.

“Well,” Siva replied while reaching into his bag, “we always have the armory as plan B.” He pulled out a rifle that could not have possibly fit within. “Heh, I don’t think that’ll ever get old, sister of mine. Ready?”

Avis sighed. “As I’ll ever be…”





“This is your last chance to back out,” I told the seven ‘lings in front of me. We stood together in the warehouse, which had been emptied of all its non-living goods. The luminescent cocoons above provided all the light we needed to see in the night.

“We’ve already made our decision and we will not back down,” the group’s spokesperson replied. “The seven of us agree that we would be willing to lay down our lives for this hive in an instant. But even with our determination, we do not feel that we can serve you to our fullest in our current state.”

“So that’s a no. You’re all in this, correct?” I asked.

“Yes!”

“Yeah…”

“Yup.”

“Yes sir.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Oh yeah.”

“Mmmm, yesss…”

I sighed, regretting what I was about to do, even if they had approached me and asked me to do it to them. “Fine. I’ll do it. But I have one question, what did I ever do to earn such loyalty from you all?”

“I’m rich now!”

“I get all the sex I want!”

“I finally got my revenge, thanks to you.”

“Power, sir. You made me so powerful.”

“Are you kidding me? I’m gorgeous now!”

“I’m free now…”

“I’m a vampire, baby! Hell yeah!”

“Well,” I said after I heard their replies, “let’s do this.” I sat down in front of the first and dove into his mind. The technique I was planning to use was something I had learned early on from Chrysalis called strain making. It allows me to make a permanent change to their physiology down to the genetic level at the cost of an elevated metabolism and reduced magical efficiency. However, the strain itself is recessive; only breeding with another carrier of the same strain would produce children with the strain. Furthermore, the magic will only make the change if I have permission from the one I am changing, as he or she has to aid the process along from within.

The original creation of a strain is, however, incredibly magic intensive. Which leads to why I’m entering their heads in the first place; I’m going to freeze their hearts for the whole of humanity. The energy produced will be more than enough to power the transformation. Mentally apologizing to him that I cannot numb the pain for this, I cup my psychic self around his heart and twist. 

“Whoa, what a rush!” He declares, but his enthusiastic declaration turns to screams of agony as his body starts to rearrange itself without the aid of the normal transformation magic. Chitin thickens, knuckles grows spikes, muscles bulge, bones harden, joints strengthen, pain receptors are consumed, senses augment, and his magic warps to a more earth-pony like configuration. Just as the pain of his transformation subsides, I begin phase two. Digging through his memory, I pull up his fears, his hates, his disgusts, and his rages, and one-by-one freeze them too. The periodic release of small amounts of negative emotion combined with his malleable physical state worked together to inoculate him against negative emotions. In any other situation, this process would have killed him, but not now. Not on my watch.

After what seemed like hours, he was no longer burnt by foul emotions, though it still caused him mild pain. To ease his suffering now that the delicate part has passed, I cast a numbing spell on him, and then continue my work on his mind. He shows me around, pointing out personality quirks that he finds displeasing, traits he wants altered, and habits he wants removed. I do my best to clean up his mind the way he wants and to not damage anything else.

Eventually, he is satisfied with his new self. We open our eyes to see that an hour has passed. I help him stand from where he lay. As I lift him up, I asked the reborn changeling, “Who are you?”

“I am Greed,” he clearly and crisply pronounced.

An hour later, the second stood and replied, “I am Lust.”

The third, “I am Envy.”

The fourth said Wrath

Five declared herself to be Pride

Six was Sloth.

And the seventh was Gluttony.

After Gluttony introduced herself, the seven of them kneeled with their fists over their chests and their heads bowed. “We are your sins,” they declared in unison, “and we are your Praetorian Guards.”





Upon returning to the Beehive apartments, I noticed something rather odd. This section of the city had been lovingly dubbed by the rumor mill as Atlanta’s curse district. With hundreds of changelings sucking the good feelings right out of the air, and some of those same changelings patrolling the streets while guised as simple thugs, no human came here of their own free will anymore. So to see a human willingly sitting on the steps of changeling central, it raised yellow flags in my mind.

As my newly formed praetorians and I approached the building, the man stood and closed the distance. There was an odd sort of nervousness about him, though it was oddly muted and greasy feeling to my senses. Klaxons blared in my mind, screaming that there was something important about that feeling, but I could not put my finger on it. “May I help you?” I asked when he stepped in front of me.

“Yes, sir. I was hoping you could help me find someone. All I have is a name and a vague idea of his location. Near here, to be exact.” His voice was oddly smooth and controlled, betraying not a hint of his inner nervousness. As I looked at him, more and more mental warning bells sounded. There was something off about the handsome man, but what?

“Oh, I know many people near here. Who might you be interested in and why?” I asked.

“I have a message from my boss for someone named Alvarium Rex,” he answered.

Panic gripped me, though I did not show it. All seven praetorians tensed; their fingers hovered over the weapons stockpile in hammerspace. Reflexively, I activated my soul sight and was surprised at what I saw. His very soul, though not a gatekeeper, had magical runes carved into it, many of which were used exclusively in mind-altering magic. But the rune style was old, very old, and rather inefficient looking, though powerful nonetheless. The fact is I do not write runes like that so, by extension, neither do any of my changelings.

“Come inside,” I said. “I’ll take you to him.” But, while my mouth said one thing, my mind said another. <<Praetorians, be ready to detain him. I want him alive and I want answers. Ginny Skinner.>>

<<Yes, your highness?>> the head Silencer replied.

I passed her the memory and declared, <<Security breach. Prepare yourselves.>>

<<Understood, sir.>>

The nine of us turned a corner into a second hallway, just out of sight of the entrance. My guards pounced, pinning him magically and physically to the floor. The man’s mind conjured hostile emotions while he struggled to escape. Greed and Wrath shifted their shoes into sharply spiked cleats and stomped on each of his hands, quelling his attempts at freedom. Safely in changeling territory, we eight changelings shifted back to our true forms.

Donning my sadistic persona, I said, “Tell me, what do you have to say, little messenger?” I bent down and straddled the supine man, placing my claws on his shoulders and my fanged mouth just inches above his eyes. My hot breath washes over him while my venom drips down onto his cheeks. “And you better have a lot to say. You’re going to start with your message and then you’re going to tell me everything you know.”

“The only reason I would speak to the likes of you is because my king commands it,” the man replied once the magic crushing his throat subsides. I momentarily pondered the fact that he said “king.” The messenger continued, “The message is in my left pocket. However, you will never get me to betray his majesty.”

“Well, if you won’t talk, I’ll just take the information I want straight from your mind. Then…” I gave his face a lick. “…Delicious. I’ll just milk you for all your emotions. You’ll want me. You’ll need me. You’ll beg me to fuck you until your body gives out, and then fuck you some more. And when your mind is nothing but a puddle of goo, I’ll eat your body. Piece. By. Piece. I’ll swallow you, and you’ll make me stronger. Just by knowing my name, you are my enemy. Funny, in death, you shall betray your king. I’ll grow stronger, and he’ll lose a pawn. Pride, check his pocket.”

The changeling complied. She bent down and fished out a small envelope with my name on it. Pride read the twelve words aloud.





Alvarium Rex,

I am coming. You are not alone.

~Signed, King Umbra




> A Meeting of Kings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        King Umbra, the Prince of Darkness, Victor DiVinci, the Shadow Man - those were the names of this man’s boss. Umbra was a magic user and the head of some major crime syndicates, from what I could glean from his messenger’s memories. They say “don’t shoot the messenger.” Well, shooting gave me far more information than I could have ever convinced him to part with on his own, more information than he even knew that he had. I mean, tattooing the source code of a super-soldier-slash-loyalty spell on the surface of their their soul was just begging someone to come and steal it, along with all of their memories too boot. Someone like me, for instance.

        Even a quick glance told me that his spell work, while ingenious in its own right, revealed that it was woefully out of date. Countless hours of studying each night lead me to spot some weaknesses that I could exploit at a later date, if I chose to do so. So, in an effort to save a record for later examination, I extracted the man’s soul and placed it into an emerald. Then, I ate my lunch: his body. No need to keep a prisoner or a corpse when a jewel is enough.

        <<Chang.lng, activate. Transcribe this,>> I ordered the digital changeling. I channeled my magic into the soul gem in my hand, feeling out the foreign magic while reading it with my eyes at the same time. While the living program works, I contacted Chrysalis. [Hey, Chrysie, I have a question for you. Who are the strongest dark magic users you know of that could be alive today? I’m looking for one with black, smoke-like hair and a red horn. Ring any bells?]

        [Dark magic users are a rare thing these days. I have not seen or felt dark magic in over two hundred years since the Equestrians banned the practice. It was one of the most effectively stamped practices ever. The unicorn you described was the tyrant of the Crystal Empire named King Sombra, who disappeared with his kingdom after being defeated by the celestial sisters a thousand years ago. His reign marked the worst love famine my changelings ever suffered from. Crystal ponies use empathic magic as a defense mechanism. When they are happy, the mood of the entire planet improves. When they are oppressed by a tyrant like Sombra...] she replied, letting the unsaid implications hang.

        I replied, [Ouch. But there is a problem with that. I was describing a human, a Gatekeeper like us. Apparently, reports of Sombra’s demise were greatly exaggerated.]

        Chrysalis hissed, both aloud and over our connection. [Then you must take extreme precautions. Dark magic draws upon hatred, anger, and fear for fuel. You can imagine what that would do to a changeling if he or she is struck. Dark magic is one of the few things that can permanently scar a changeling beyond his or her power to heal. Sombra himself is no laughing matter, either. The royal sisters claim that they turned him to shadow when they defeated him. That is a mistake; it is more accurate to say they returned his pony form to shadow, for at one point during his reign, Sombra became a living shadow of the unicorn he once was, and far more dangerous for it.]

[Thanks for the warning. I’ll be careful, but my problem literally just declared that he was going to march up to my doorstep. Wish me luck...] I sighed and resumed my focus on the project at hand. Meanwhile, another part of me debated what to do to confront this sudden intrusion. A third part of me commanded the Silencers to start investigating this man and the companies of which his messenger knew. 

An hour later, I had a two hundred page .pdf document containing the complex magical formula, yet too little information on Umbra for my liking.





        ‘It’s time,’ I thought as I felt the magically fueled rage enter our territory. I set down the last portions of the messenger’s corpse and sighed. The prince of shadows was figuratively knocking on my door and I felt ill prepared to deal with it. ‘How do you deal with a sentient poison cloud that can actively fight back?’ I hoped my preparations would be enough. Two dozen clones of the digital changeling scouring the internet, a team of Silencers, and the combined memories of every single changeling in my hive gave many leads, but few answers. I processed information as fast as I could and prayed it would be enough, but sorely doubted it.

        A limo pulled up in front of the Beehives. The man who stepped out was a giant by human standards, seven-foot-one, if I measured correctly, but shorter than what his messenger’s memories portrayed him. Perhaps the messenger viewed this bag of anger-made-flesh as larger than life? It did not matter. He was a threat, nothing more.

        “I’ve come to see King Alvarium Rex,” he said loudly while looking at my changelings peeking out at him. Many of us drew guns from the hammerspace armory - damn I love that thing - and aimed it at him, the woman standing next to him, and the four bodyguards surrounding him.

        I stepped outside to confront him. Greed and Wrath accompanied me, while my other five Praetorian Guards cast Notice-Me-Not spells on themselves and aim their weapons from the windows and rooftop. Annoyed, I growled, “Hello, Prince of Shadows.”

The man nodded to me in acknowledgement of the title, smirking a little, knowing his reputation has preceded him. “It seems that you are just as resourceful as I had taken you for. If there is no need for introductions then come along, we have much to discuss.” He stands to the side and motions to the door of his car. 

Eyeing him carefully, I felt hesitant to trust him. He smirked a bit wider as he said, “You may bring your guardians along if you wish.” The Prince of Shadows stepped into his large limo, leaving the door open behind him. He sat next to his unnaturally beautiful assistant, while his guards sat on either side of the two of them. 

I narrowed my eyes, which flashed vibrant green through my otherwise human guise. “You are a Gatekeeper,” I stated. It was not a question. 

The loose-fitting shimmer fabric suit I was wearing darkened. Spikes sprouted along my shoulders, joints, and spine in response to my falling mood. I silently signaled to my guards, most of whom are hidden, to aim their weapons as I drew my own gun. Even the non-combatants in the Beehive readied themselves for a fight. Eighteen guns from Eighteen windows pointed themselves at Victor, with more ‘lings inside cradling their weapons. “Tell me, how do you know me?” I asked. “I’ve ever only told my name to one human. She and her group are all dead now. Why should I not kill you now that you so brazenly waltz into my territory while shouting my name for the world to hear?”

Victor laughed loudly in a surprisingly warm tone, though the emotions within are anything but jovial. His hand reached up and plucked off his sunglasses, revealing his crimson eyes. He chuckled, “Ha, ha, my boy I thought that was obvious enough.” His smile widened, accenting his inhumanly sharp teeth. “I know you because I made it my business to know you. The anti-changeling movement is dead because they made some stupid mistakes, something I have no intention of doing. As for killing me, well,” Victor smiled maliciously and gestured to his own pointed canine teeth. For a split second, his barely contained rage surged violently, causing his magic to flare up in tandem in that brief moment, I could feel the acrid emotion eating at my skin while the force of gravity seemed to double. “You can try if you like,” he replied. “But you won’t. You’re smarter than that. Besides, you don’t even know why I’m here yet.”

”Does it really matter?” I asked. My eyes shone brighter in response to my aggression. The already high levels of adrenaline in my blood surged even higher. “You are here, and not on my terms. You know my secrets. And that little gravity stunt makes the wrong impression of your motives. You are a threat, plain and simple.”

Victor shook his finger at me as if I was an unruly child to be scolded. “Ah, ah, ah, that is where you are mistaken. I am only a threat if you make one of me, and I trust that is not something you have any intention of doing. Besides, I am here to be an asset. As a gesture of good faith...” he turned to his assistant, “Rosaline, would you be so kind, dear?” 

She answered in a melodious voice, “Yes, Your Highness.” Rosaline and the cursed guards joined hands and activated their emotion magic, filling the car with a thick fog of love. It briefly spilled out into the street before being vacuumed up by our passive feeding. I thought the love behaved oddly, sinking like fog rather than rising normally like smoke. And though it tasted good initially, there was a strange aftertaste left on my tongue when the surge ended.

 “I assure you my intentions are most pure,” the living shadow declared, honestly believing his own words. “Do not make animosity where there need be none, and we will get along just fine, much to our mutual benefit,” he said, grinning all the while. “Now, are you coming, or should be discuss international politics out in the open?”

I relaxed ever so slightly along with my new guard members, both hidden and visible. “Fine. But remember this: hostility and lies have peculiar odors. I smell them, I’m out.” I holstered my firearm and walked back towards the Beehive. “You drive; I’ll fly,” I called out to the foul presence out in the street. “Forgive me if I don’t trust you enough to get in the same car as you, dark one.”

Victor only smiled even wider at my lack of trust. A twinge of respect blossomed forth in his emotions. “Very well,” he said. With a wave of a hand, the car door shut and the sun-roof opened. “Follow me. I know of some neutral ground not far from here,” 

My new guards and I obscured ourselves with a strong notice-me-not spell. I took some satisfaction in watching Victor’s eyes glaze over momentarily as he lost sight of us. His chauffeur started driving, visibly heading for Atlanta’s industrial district, while my Praetorians and I shifted out our wings and flew off. For half an hour, we followed Victor’s car from above before arriving at an empty warehouse terrifyingly near the cocoon storage location. I stretched my senses for magical traps - which would stand out in Earth’s low-magic environment - and hostile presences, of which there were several. ‘Assassins, or bodyguards,’ I thought. The problem was that I could not see them, but their emotions gave their locations away. We landed, hid our wings, and I alone dispelled the magic hiding myself from perception, happy to keep my guards unnoticeable.

Looking around, I asked the darkness personified, “Why have you chosen this place?”

Victor smiled enigmatically and said, “I figured talks might go a little more smoothly around here.” With a wave of his hand and a pulse of dark magic, he opens the massive door to the warehouse. The hinges, rusted by the elements, were silenced by his power. “Let’s go inside, and we can begin.” 

Victor stepped in first, turning his back to me. In any other case, he would have been idiotic to do so; however, I knew who was in charge in this game and it was not I. He walked in along side his guard while positioning himself defensively behind Rosaline.

Once inside, with his palm facing upwards, Umbra thrust his claws towards the ground. With an upwards heaving motion of his arms, two black crystal thrones - one noticeably more ornate than the other - violently emerged from the concrete flooring. The shadow man sat down on the fancier of the two and motioned towards the other for me to sit. I looked at the chair warily before pulling out a bottle of water from the hammerspace behind my back. “I’d rather not touch it,” I explained, though not for the question I know he was silently asking. After dropping my disguise first, I took a large mouthful of water and sprayed it into the air. The mist, imbued with my magic, condensed into a small, solid cloud, where I promptly sat. 

Umbra then slammed his left hand on the arm of his throne, which caused a miniature wall of crystal to from halfway between his throne and my cloud chair. Dragging his left hand across, the small wall extended to the right and become a dark, crystalline table between us. He slammed his right hand on the arm of the throne, causing several crystal stools rise up out of the ground. His crystal guards sat down on them. Meanwhile, Greed and Pride stood silently behind my back, still shrouded in mind-altering magic.

With a brave face, I asked, “Now, what’s so important that you had to interrupt my lunch?”

At my mention of midday meal, Victor’s smile fell. “Yes... I do hope you’re willing to reimburse me for his life insurance, at the very least. Good employees are so hard to find these days.” His flippant disregard for the value of his workers’ lives struck a nerve with me. For three years, I had been living in intimate proximity with my changelings, loving them like my own children, caring for them like my own body. Someone who had no love for their subordinates would get no respect from me.
 
After a moment of silence, the crime lord shook his head and continued. “No matter, on to business. As I’m sure you’ve surmised by this point, I’ve had my eye on you for a long while now, and I thought it time we finally met, King of the Earth Hive.” He paused a moment to observe our reactions before continuing. While my anger grew, my guards looked upon him much like a man would see a wild, rabid beast, and not a human. “We are a lot alike, you and I, and in more ways than just the obvious,” he commented, gesturing vaguely towards his eyes. “We’re both Kings without a Kingdom, lost amidst the sea of humanity, despite having left such trappings behind long ago. The world goes on around us, blissfully unaware of just what happens all around them, just beneath the surface of their petty, ephemeral little lives.” Victor snorted in derision and rolled his eyes. His arrogance was thick in the air, making it annoyingly hard to breathe.

“It won’t last forever. Things have changed, and changed drastically, you and I are living proof of that. This whole world is changing around us, and we are the instruments of its evolution. Things are rapidly moving to a new world order, and I fully intend to be at the top.” The man’s eyes flashed, his gaze boring into my own. “And I want you there with me. It gets lonely at the top, and you have more than proven yourself capable to lead, whether it be a hive or humanity. That’s why I have come here today, that’s why I have sought you out. I came to make an offer of allegiance, fully and completely. I have waited as long as I could, but things move apace, and the walls are closing in. I know you have felt it too, Keeper of Chrysalis, and neither of us will be enough on our own. Let us join together, and become so much more than we would be apart.”

“I know there are more to your motives than just that.” I scoffed, “You are a snake, I can smell it. I know of your partner’s tyranny; my partner lived it personally. Oh, don’t be so surprised,” I commented, reading his emotions even though Victor’s face never betrayed his surprise. “Changeling royalty is very long lived and very hard to kill.” I shook my head. “Back to the topic at hand, if I were anyone else, I would be split between admiring your courage or criticizing your stupidity for coming into my nest. But I’m not anyone else, and you are an intruder into my kingdom. Yet here I am, listening to you spout hot air and empty words. 

“You talk of an alliance; what do you have that I cannot obtain on my own? You talk of being on top; why would I ever want to be there when I can infest the foundations of society, rotting it from the bottom up, making the world dependent on my control? And you talk of the walls closing in. What ever do you mean? I have eyes and ears in both worlds and I only see the boundless horizon. Things are moving, yes, but when have they never not been?”

The man on the throne in front of me frowned a bit at my response. “Perhaps I overestimated you. I thought you at least of all people would know that we are not our partners.”

I mentally expanded his comment with, ‘...but we are influenced by them.’

 Oblivious to my musing, Victor continued speaking without pause, “The Darkness changed, long ago. Being trapped in a prison of ice for a thousand years tends to do that. Thankfully, after many long nights, he and I were finally able to see eye to eye.” At this, the corners of Victor’s eyebrows turned downward in a slightly angrier expression. “I’ve never had much love for tyrants and dictators and I’ll have no such thing ever bound to me if I can help it.” 

The man closed his eyes for a brief moment and sighs. When he opened them again, his glare is sharp, boring directly into me. “And you are fooling no-one but yourself. You know it’s coming.” He paused, taking a large sniff of the air. “I can smell its stench all over you.” His eyes hold the glare for several moments. He lets out muffled sigh, relaxing a little.

I took a moment to review his words and emotional patterns. I did not know if what I found was a good thing or a bad thing.“You didn’t lie,” I replied, “meaning you believe your own words to be true. Whether or not you actually act on those beliefs remains to be seen.” The worst kind of monster is the one who believes himself to be doing right; arrogance at its worst. From what I can tell, this man has villain potential in excess.

More out of unconscious habit than anything else, I channeled magic into my eyes to look at the intruder’s soul. Unlike the brilliant light of a normal human, that soul’s core was surrounded by not-black flames, which were not even really flames to begin with. It reminded me much of the void of the transition between life and death. Had I not spent time observing my own soul, several orders of magnitude more illogical in from, I swore I would have been driven mad by the sight. 

I massaged three fingers against the my temples. “Forgive my blindness to my own stench. I cannot smell much over the odor of your anger and the distinct lack of the vast majority of your soul. Correct me if I am wrong, but I doubt that spells impending doom. Unless, of course, there is something that you are not telling me?” I rub my thick, spiky, blue-green hair and glanced over at Rosaline, whose soul was marked with a similar, but more advanced, version of the “crystal curse,” as the messenger called it. The act of rubbing my hair disguises the stealth casting of a photographic memory spell upon myself. <<Change.lng, transcribe her soul runes.>>

The Shadow Prince was silent for a moment, his strong poker face doing little to hide his vague and honest surprise from my senses. “You really don’t know, do you?” he asked, his composure breaking slightly while his posture slumped and voice took on both a sad, wistful quality. He sighed deeply. “Be glad in your ignorance then, I wish I did not know what I know now.” 

For a moment, his physical form blurred. The edges of his form became wavering and indistinct, as if he was partially reverting to his true form, a smoky shadow. The temperature of the room dropped several degrees, though it provided little relief to the burn his ever-present anger. When he spoke next, his voice had changed slightly, taking on an ethereal echoing quality that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. “I know what I know because I must. It is my burden to bear, and I will foster it on no-one else. I hear its call, deep within the whispers of the Void. Live well, King of the Earth Hive, Keeper of the Gate, for when the time comes, we will all have a role to play.” 

Just fast as it had come, the moment had passed; the dark Gatekeeper slumped in his chair, slightly more weary than before, with a vague hint of exhaustion around his eyes. “It is no matter, I suppose. For now, let us deal with the more immediately pressing matters.”

“You aren’t going to remain anonymous much longer. Already they talk of you in Equestria. The Gryphons sharpen their claws in fear of the images your name invokes. I myself can feel the troubles of this world closing in. You’ll find I am not one for wasted words.” The shadowy man’s lips curl into a razor-thin smile. “If you really feel that you would have nothing to gain from our partnership, how about I offer you the one thing you will always desire. Love unending.” 

It’s too good to be true, I knew it in my soul. The Crystal Empire is a land of endless bounty, a paradise for the changelings. I do not want this man anywhere near it, for his touch corrupts. Even know, my changelings feed me information on this man through the link, and it does not bode well.

As he spoke his promise, Victor reached out and began using his hands and magic to mold the surface of the crystal table as if it were wet clay, quickly forming it into an unnaturally precise replica of the Crystal Empire. “In a few months time, far from here, in the frozen north, my kingdom shall at last appear in this world.”

‘This world?’ I wondered.

 “It will be a place of glorious majesty, unrivaled beauty and love enough to coat the very air we breathe.” He threw his hands up in a grandiose manner, then clenched his fist before his face. “When it comes, I will seize my throne, and from my seat atop the world I shall do all within my power to see the earth itself united under a single banner, our banner, the banner of the Gatekeepers.” 

He fell silent for a moment, a grin adorning his face as he briefly reveled in his thoughts of what was to come. Slowly, his smile fell, and so too did his greed-driven elation. “But I can’t do it alone. The Equestrians will oppose me, as they had with my counterpart those many years ago. I doubt the leaders of earth shall stand idly by either. For them, I will need to be ready.” 

Now, Victor looked up from his molded model of the Empire and looked me in the eyes. “The point I’m trying to make is simply this: I need you, and whether you know it or not yet, you need me. As I said, I’d like to make an allegiance between our two empires. For the moment, a mutual partnership between Greenfyre and SpyreShades.”

         He leaned back into his throne, crossed his legs and intertwined his fingers. “For now lets start small. Perhaps a trade agreement? I sure you have something you’d be willing to part with... some gems perhaps? In return, I will be rather generous, and offer you a small Caribbean Island, on which to found Greenfyre inc’s corporate headquarters in international waters, free from Man’s laws and away from prying eyes.” The Shadow Prince stays silent for a moment as I mull over his proposal. Raising an eyebrow, Victor asked me, “Do we have a deal?”

Though still conflicted with other emotions running in parallel trains of thought, I smiles genuinely for the first time since the conversation began. “Perhaps. Or perhaps not. It seems that you do not know me as well as you think you do. I still have my secrets. I do not need an island of my own; I have more than enough personal space,” I said, putting an emphasis on the last words in reference to my megacity-sized hammerspace; I have actually contemplated building a city within the folded area of space-time, since living things can survive within.

“If you want my gems,” I continue unabated, “buy them on the market like everyone else. That said, I’m not completely unwilling to trade. I know that SpyreShades deals with drugs. I’ve bought and sold to them before through some of my own underground workers.” Many of said workers had been added during the expansion of just last month. “I also know that my venom is one hell of a drug after you process it a bit. Will you buy?” 

Then, thinking of my magitech, I added, “Of course, I have other things that are about to hit the market after the patents go through. Your paramilitary should love them. And I want hard cash, nothing traceable.” 

I paused for a moment, contemplating something from earlier in the conversation. “When you first mentioned your messenger, you did not seem to have much of a reaction to his apparent demise. Yes, I never said that I had killed him, nor was it him that I was feeding upon.” Lie by implication, one of my favorite techniques. “He is very much alive.” 

Victor’s poker-face never faltered, but his emotions suggested that he did not believe my half truth. I shrugged. “I’m getting off topic. My point is I feel that, would you be willing, I offer my hive as stress relief for your employees. Or, if you need someone gone for good or their loyalties swayed, well, I’m always looking for a good snack. Is that agreeable, crime lord Victor DiVinci?”

His poker-face remained intact at the intentional offhanded mention of his name. The wall behind him frosted over with a thin layer of gem and crystal. “It’s not the gems I need, but your willingness to trade. Don’t bother offering to make someone disappear either, I have many ways of taking care of my own.” Victor snorted softly, his lips falling a little. “As for my messenger, don’t even bother trying. I knew it the moment you touched him. He is lost to me now. I thought that might be a possibility; that’s why I sent a disposable prototype of one of my early Crystal Cursed. You can keep whatever you gleaned from him; consider it a gift.” The crime lord’s face shifted to a more neutral state. “But if you are still willing to trade in small amounts, then it is a start, I suppose. I will buy this venom of yours. Will there be anything else, William?”

Contrary to what Victor suspected would happen, I smiled widely. “You’re too damn all-knowing for your own good. It’s like changeling chess, where both sides know way too much about the other. So the question is, do you see too much to get the big picture? Who knows?” I rocked back and forth on my cloud chair. Victor smirked ever so slightly at my reaction to my own birth name. Does he know that I never use that face anymore? It is like a collectible for me; I do not want it tarnished by chance. 

“As for your so-called ‘prototype,’ it’s genius, if a bit outdated.” I point my finger at him playfully. “I have you pegged, you know. That’s far too polished to be anything but a nearly finished product. The thing is, you’re missing nearly a thousand years of magical development. Your work is flawless... for the relative time it was created. Actually, I think Celestia wrote an unpublished manuscript on the relevant theory about sixty years ago. I only happened to stumble upon it by accident due to a quirk of a spell of my own invention,” I mused. “Though it’s unlikely that you will ever see that information. Ah well... 

“But seriously, I know you have ways of ending your enemies’ lives; however, I see a good meal there, or a potential replacement target. I have nothing against helping and trading with your company, for the right price - people included. Mmmm, yes, we’ll trade. Your card, please? For later, you see.” I held out my hand expectantly. “I assume that you do not wish to fly out here every time we need to talk. If we keep this relationship strictly business for now - and you keep that nasty temper I smell on you under control - well, we’ll see where this goes.” I drew two business cards from hammerspace and slid them across the table to Victor. Similarly, he passed one back. “Elizabeth Grace and Michael Brook. She is the head of Greenfyre’s sales department, he is just an average joe. I personally quite like wearing those two; they have very nice voices. Give them a call.”

He nodded at me. “I find that knowledge is power, and power is something I greatly desire.” His expression fell a bit. “As for the big picture...” His eyes flashed with magical power. “I see more than I ever wanted to.” He was silent for a brief moment before shaking his head. “Anyways, it seems we’ve reached an agreement for now. If you want me to connect you to my Human Resources Department however, you’re going to need to offer me more than simple illicit substances.” I picked up his card as he explained, “Here is the contact information for my Atlanta Regional Manager. If you ever want to talk business, you can get to me through him.

“But... if you ever find yourself in a tight spot, and are in dire need of assistance, then use this.” The living shadow reached his arm out and clawed against the air, as if he was dragging his crimson nails across the surface of a wall. His talons left a trail of vaporous shadows in their wake, creating a small rent of darkness in the space beside his temporary throne. His arm stretched out and sank through the rift, disappearing up to the elbow even though his hand never came out the other side. When he pulled his arm back, he held a crystal just small enough to fit in a fist. Its shimmered with a mass of swirling colors: black, acid green, purple and bright pink. Love and Hate, both in abundance and in exactly equal proportions, seemingly saturated the jewel. The surface of the crystal itself was etched with all manner of strange runes, many used uniquely for the summoning branch of space-time magic. His shadowy storage reminded me of my own hammerspace, though much flashier and therefore less practical.

“When you find yourself in trouble, drain this of all its love, and then break it upon the floor at your feet. Then, I will be there to assist you in your hour of need.” For reasons I do not fathom, Victor eyed me warily.

I took the crystal and pocketed it in an actual pocket of my metallic suit, rather than in hammerspace with my more valuable items. The hatred inside made the crystal uncomfortable to be near, but I bore the burden anyway. Even the fabric of my suit loosened up around the jewel, as if it too was afraid to touch the object. “Thanks...” I replied sarcastically, “I’ll be in touch.” 

As I stood, I added, “Remember, waste disposal isn’t the only service we offer, nor is our venom the only product. I won’t say much now - it’s all very hush-hush - but I assure you, it will be a blast.” I stopped as I was about to pass through the warehouse doorway. As I resumed my human guise, I pulled the messenger’s soul emerald out of hammerspace. “Oh, by the way, here’s your errand boy, very much alive. Golems work wonders as prosthetic limbs.” Swallowing the last of my hesitation, I added, “And, sixteen.”

Victor snatched the emerald out of the air when I tossed it to him. “Sixteen?” he asked.

There was no chance to back out now. “Why,” I replied, “the number of assassins you had aiming at me, of course. The basic notice-me-not has two flaws. Your enemy lies in the spaces you don’t look, and real emotions drift in the breeze. There are sixteen holes where my senses don’t look and there is too much emotion here for you, Rosaline, and your four guards. I can point out their locations, if you want. Now, how many did you count?”

The shadow man only smiled, as if calling my non-existent bluff; I was completely aware of all of the assassins. “I’m aware of the notice-me-not and its limitations. It’s rather hard to hide from the shadows themselves” he said, gesturing vaguely towards some of the locations where I had hidden my own Praetorians. “And I have no need for such things,” he declared, the light in the room dimming further with each word, despite the time being around noon, “If I truly wanted a high-value target such as yourself dead, I’d do it myself. A mere assassin would just be wasted on you.” Reaching into his pocket, Victor pulled out a small caliber bullet, encased in a globule of glass, that glowed with a faint green light reminiscent of his eyes. He tossed it to me. “This is most likely what you’re feeling. I’m not exactly one to come unprepared. I find myself rather thankful we are not enemies; we’d most likely end up destroying each other.” The prince smiled again. “Is there anything else?”

I merely rolled my eyes at him. “You say you have no need, and yet there they are anyway. As you said, you’re not exactly one to come unprepared. And I just wanted a number, because you most certainly didn’t point to them all with that vague hand wave. Hint hint, they’re not all aiming for you,” I replied with mock cheer. “Come on, take a guess before I go.”

For the first time since the meeting started, Victor sported a large, genuine frown; his anger struggled against his careful mental bonds. The smoke of his eyes flowed a little more freely. “I see what matters, and I do not take kindly to threats against my Subjects, Boy. Your seven little guards don’t intimidate me.” The various crystals around the room react slightly, and the stools that Victor’s guard sit on begin grow upwards slightly, curling around them protectively, around Rosaline in particular. After a moment, Victor restored his magical control, and the crystal returned to normal, though the bits around Rosaline lingered. With a deep, calming breath and a sigh, Victor said, “I see what matters. You have guards, many with their sights trained on me, but not nearly enough to be a real threat. Of them there are only seven that are worth worrying about.” The hate-filled man’s eyes flashed a more caustic shade of green, “But if anyone of them were to try and take from me what was mine,” he growled, “they’d be dead before they hit the floor. Now, would you like to continue this pissing match, or are we in accordance?” 

Slowly, I clapped my hands, mostly to hide the shaking. “Good, good. There are seven living guards here, two of which are hidden underground.” I’m particularly fond of the diamond dog form; digging is very useful for an ambush. “Six others are astral projections that feel real to the senses, but couldn’t actually shoot. None of my guard were aiming at her; that little repressed crush she has on you is too cute. But no, you missed number eight.” 

At that moment, Taruke stepped out from behind one of the guards stools, even though there was no logical way he could have successfully hidden there. Of course, magic tends to make logic cry. “Goodbye!” I spontaneously shouted. With a sudden flash, all nine of us changelings vanished into thin air.





Victor smirked as Rex left. Pulling out a cigar from his coat pocket, he touched it to his lips, where the end spontaneously combusted. “Like I said kid, I see only what matters. Until next we meet, King Alvarium Rex. Arrivederci.” Taking a long puff of the cigar, Victor blew the smoke out his nose. Turning to Rosaline, he asked, “Did you get all of that?” 

“Yes, Your Highness,” she responded, revealing a recording device she had hidden on her person. “I got all of it.” 

“Good, good. That should be enough for now.” Taking another long drag of the cigar, Victor sighed. “You know, in a way I both pity and envy him. I just hope he’s strong enough to make it.” After a moment, he shook his head free from such thoughts. Climbing to his feet, his follower did the same. All the crystals around them fade to dust, ash and shadows. “Come along now, there is still much work to be done,” Victor stated, leaving the site of their first interaction with the King of the Earth Hive behind.





The moment I flashed us away to our home, I smirked to myself, despite the nervous tremors racking my body. ‘Damn, I’ve never bluffed so hard in my life.’ For a moment, I stood unsteadily in the hallway of the Beehive before collapsing to my knees. A second later, my nerves forced me to regurgitate half-digested human remains onto the tile floor. Magic swirled within me, fixing the damage done by Victor’s mere presence. I had it focus extra hard on reinforcing the emotion harvesting arrays in my skin in an attempt to immunize myself against negative emotions, much like I had done just last night with my Praetorians.

        Taruke walked up to me and reassuringly rested a hand on my shoulder. When I no longer felt sick, and had convinced him of such, he helped me stand once more. I smiled thankfully at my faithful assistant. 

<<Perhaps this may lead to a better future for our hive. My king, we could gain much from the leader of such a powerful organization,>> he commented once I felt up to discussing the recent events.

        <<Agreed,>> I replied. I sighed, finally relaxing, and clutched my head. <<But I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, he knows too damn much for his own good. But frankly, he could do so much worse to us personally than anything the humans can do.>>

        Taruke mirrored the smirk that had not yet left my face, despite my queasyness. <<My lord, we must protect ourselves from scrying now. Our intelligence integrity has been compromised. There must be a way to protect us from his observations.>> I fervently agreed. <<However, if there is one thing we figured out, he doesn’t know about magitech yet. Otherwise, he would have brought no computers into that room. The Come-To-Life spell was written centuries after their time, you know.>>

        <<I do know,>> I replied. <<The second she plugs in that camera, we’ll have access to their entire computer system.>>

        <<What did you order the program to do, sir?>> he asked.

        <<Nothing traceable. It’s going to compile a list of every computer on their networks and phone in their buildings, every email address he sends anything to, et cetera, et cetera.>> I started walking back to my personal room in the Beehive. While I walked, I drew the crystal the Shadow Prince had given me from my pocket. The love contained within possessed an oddly synthetic sweetness to it, much like the love from Rosaline. I half wondered if it was even real emotion, and if I would actually gain anything by consuming it. <<Taruke, take this when you get a chance. Wear one of the unaffiliated identities, find a bank somewhere far away, open a safe deposit box under that name, and leave this there. I don't want this crystal near anything of mine, but if it does as advertised, destroying it is a bad idea.>> Taruke nodded in agreement and took the crystal.

As I entered my room, I saw that my laptop was on, as I had left it. There on my computer monitor was a second .pdf file, twice as long as the first. “Impressive,” I said aloud regarding the document. <<This man is fucking genius. Let’s see how badly I can screw him over.>> I sat down at the computer and set to studying his full crystal curse; my sudden curiosity overrode my desire to be clean of blood and chyme.

        <<Never trust a changeling,>> Taruke stated, his face still adorned with a smirk.

        <<Never trust a changeling,>> I echoed.

        After a moment of silence punctuated by my keystrokes, Taruke asked,<<My lord, what are you planning to do about the footage they recorded?>>

        <<He recorded it as blackmail, you know. We have animation majors in the hive, don’t we? Six, if I am not mistaken. Let’s have one post it on YouTube as an animation project if the situation ever gets too sticky. “A Dark Mage and An Alien,” we’ll call it. We’ll preemptively discredit it. Then, if he ever tries to show it to the world, international copyright laws will protect “our” fiction from him trying to pass it off as his own work of nonfiction,>> I explained. 

        <<That could work, in theory, my king>> Taruke replied, <<But it would be a gamble none the less.>>

<<I am aware. It was the first thing I could think of; we still have time to plan better,>> I replied. <<Meanwhile, Ginny has started compiling a list of affiliated businesses and individuals and it’s already over six hundred long; she’s only been working at it for less than four hours. Unsurprisingly, we already have a few changelings in place, but damn, we have a lot of work to do to catch up to this bastard. Better get started now.>>

> Alliance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Fear is a disgusting emotion; I hated fear with all my heart. Bitter, rancid lemons and feces - that was what fear tasted like. But, for all my absolute loathing of the emotion, I did not think I could bring myself to live completely without fear. There was a reason it existed, after all. On an academic level, I completely agreed with and understood the reasons behind fear; it was my survival instincts telling me, ‘Something is wrong. FLEE, you fool!’ But, as I stood bloodied and panting from the exertion, I found, for perhaps the first time in my life, that I liked my fear; terror is one hell of a motivator. How strong is it?

I just powered through six feet of reinforced concrete in one punch, albeit with a little magical help.

Standing in the middle of our warehouse, emptied of our food stores and converted into a makeshift training ground, I was surrounded on all sides by rubble, weights, and exhausted warriors in training. My knuckles bled freely, spilling my crimson lifeblood on the floor; the magic in my body was being diverted to heal and reinforce more important things – namely, my muscles, tendons, and bones. 

The premise of all of our activities here was simple: we break down the muscles and bones of our true forms, and then build them up again. It was exactly the same thing as normal exercise, except it was taken up to eleven. With numbing magic to remove our bodies self-imposed strength limits and healing magic to repair the insane damage, I had practically reduced my limbs to jelly and rebuilt them eight times over in the past four days. 

For the first time in either of my lives, I literally poured sweat, blood, and tears into my physique; as William Ross, I just had not cared, and as Alvarium Rex, a sexy body was a wish away. And, for the first time in my life, I wanted a body for function, not form.

And it was all because the Shadow Prince had arrived.

“Again,” I called. Wrath and Greed leapt, their wings propelling them forwards as they set their fists on an impact course with my body. I contorted far beyond what my joints should have allowed; the magic in me pulled at my limbs like strings on a marionette. My joints screamed, my bones creaked, and the twin punches passed over my head without contest.

I was not the only one who had taken on the ‘training regimen from hell’. Klika too had decided she wanted fighting power, as well as about sixteen other changelings from outside my personal guard. Of that group, only Klika had opted to become the bearer of an experimental strain. Rather than augment the strength that she already possessed, Klika wanted something new and very, very dangerous.

At the end of Wrath and Greed’s assault, I looked over to where my firstborn daughter was training her new ability. “Hey! Watch where you point that thing!” Pride screeched, jumping away from a rapidly expanding, smoking, hissing hole in the floor.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to!” Klika yelled back, her new appendage twitching to and fro, working out the kinks in its many joints. From the tip of her segmented, scorpion-like tail, a drop of a green liquid formed; it fell to the ground and ate its way through the floor with only a slight hiss. One of the scariest parts of her ability was that the color of the acid perfectly matched her binding gel, so if you saw it flying towards you, you did not know if it would immobilize you or remove your head.

“Well keep it pointed away from me until it stops firing all the time!” Pride shouted angrily. “Bah! I’m going over here!”

“Hey, Klika,” I called out to her. “Stop putting magic into it. That only makes the acid stronger!” She nodded in agreement and refocused on the task of striking her target with her tail’s barb. 

I turned and limped over to the cloud where Selene sat. Unlike the rest of us, her body was still that of a child. At her age, and especially without the ability to speed heal, the physical aspect of our self-improvement would do no good, and might actually harm more than benefit. Instead, she was working on training her magic reserves and focus.

About seven feet away from her, I had to stop; the magic surrounding her was far too intense for any of us changelings to get physically closer. I could certainly see why she had earned the title of a goddess; no mortal magic user could ever channel three spells of that caliber and hope to survive. Surrounding this building were a high-powered Notice-Me-Not, a potent Remember-Me-Not, and a force-field that was as hard as diamond and stronger than steel. Selene single-handedly channeled more magic than I had ever experienced in total in my life. And though she could not concentrate enough to move from that spot without disrupting the spells, she assured me that she could hold it for a while longer.

An interesting side effect of those spells was the leakage of magic into the surrounding environment. Since said spells are all defensive in nature, they all draw from the will to defend, which in turn draws from love and happiness. So while she alone was not enough to feed the appetites of dozens of changelings burning magic like there was no tomorrow, her power did feel like a soothing, empowering breeze on our chitin, giving us the strength to push that much harder.

In another part of my training, I was testing how hard I could kick. My leg whipped around, encased in an emerald flame. Earth pony-style magic coursed through my veins. “Fore!” I yelled as my leg descended. The magically augmented kick connected with a block of concrete, explosively launching it across the warehouse. In the same instant, the tibia, fibula, and every bone in my foot shattered like glass. Balancing on one foot, I ignored the magically-muted pain in favor of watching the block disintegrate on impact with Selene’s shields, over fifty yards away, which barely wavered in response. Selene herself merely grunted, effortlessly bearing the sudden extra load. By the time the applause came from the changelings who could still move their arms, my bones were already starting to knit back together again.

Though I smiled to my people, I shuddered on the inside. I’m terrified of what Victor could do to us if he tried. But worse than knowing what he could do was not knowing what else he could do. If the situation came down to it, I would rend the world asunder if it meant protecting my family, regardless of the terror in my heart; however, I fear that my strength may not be good enough. Yet, as I looked around, seeing and feeling the determination of my family’s faces, I started revising my opinion. Maybe, though, just maybe, my family might grow strong enough that they have no need for me.





I drifted gently through the dim, micro gravity environment of hammerspace, guided only by the light of a few lamps attached to the jerry-rigged scaffolding. So long as at least one changeling remained outside at all times to serve as an anchor point, I could venture into my pocket dimension at will. Looking down, I checked the oxygen gauge on my respirator; until we got our hands on a set of high-volume carbon dioxide scrubbers, we had to bring our own air or run the risk of carbon dioxide poisoning. Even bringing plants would not be practical, as it would take a significant amount of light and infrastructure to support them. Satisfied that I had another good three hours of air, I drifted further along the path of lights.

The reason for my particular route was fear, fear that Victor would destroy our crop of humans for love harvesting in a fit of rage. Mere hours after the Shadow had been confirmed to be on an airplane bound for the Lone Star Republic, the former state of Texas, every single cocoon had been transferred into this void for safe keeping. Beyond that, every single possession, resource, weapon, et cetera, we owned and did not immediately need was transferred here. 

By the next day, a few of my OCD changelings were in here organizing our horde. On day two, a framework was constructed to make storage and lighting easier, giving our common space the skeletal appearance of a new building. But by the third day, things started getting strange. Sal had discovered that is was possible to teleport straight into hammerspace, as it was merely a folded extension of our own universe, isolated but not severed. 

There lay the problem; although it was never done in practice, seeing as most owners of a pocket dimension rarely had enough volume, it was possible for a unicorn to barge into the space. The volume of our own worked against us in that regard. So, to counteract this, I had folded the space into hyper-origami. 

A left, then a right I flew, careful to only follow the green lamps. Though I could navigate this false world without the lamps as the spell that sustained the world gave me a mental map, the lights were just easier to follow. I came to a red light and allowed myself to sink kata to the direction I had been traveling; such a movement would have been impossible in three-space, like on Earth. Here, however, was another story.

Within the false world, geometry bent to my whims. I could fold space up like a pretzel and then some. In some places, three ninety degree turns added to two hundred degrees. In others, it was possible to travel in a perfectly straight line on a geometric plane and end up back where you started. In still other places, it was possible to move in the fourth spatial dimension, which exists at a simultaneous right angle to all three other directions. Even time, to a lesser degree, was in flux within this space; what was designed as a long-term preservation method was bastardized into a defense. For anywhere off the green lantern path, time spent there had only a slim correlation to the actual time that passed. Long story short, if you were not in the know, navigating this maze was downright impossible.

At the end of the lantern trail, I entered the makeshift room which housed our food stores. I checked my respirator gauge once more; only fifty-eight percent left. That gave me another two hours, if I stretched it. I shifted my lung capacity down in order to make the most of my supply, though the sudden drop in my blood oxygen levels resulting from that change left me dizzy.

Jak drifted over to me, having been performing his duty as head of the love collectors. “I hope you’re not here for lunch, your majesty,” he said, his voice muffled slightly by his more expensive and powerful rebreather. “That training session of yours has been killer on the supply.”

I shook my head. “No, I was just here to see how it was doing with my own eyes. What’s the loss?”

He drifted back towards the cocoon he had been tending to when I had arrived. “Ah, we’ve lost three and are in the process of losing two more. Exhausted the poor fellows, we did.” He tapped the cocoon with his knuckles. “This big guy probably only has a few weeks left in him. I’d be really surprised if he lasted the month. I’ve eased back on his venom dosage, thinkin’ maybe we could get more time out of him if we cut what we draw from him. We’ll see where it goes from here.”

Jak waved his hand to beckon one of his assistants over. She passed him a chart, and then went back to tending her pods. “Mahh…” Jak grunted, “down ‘bout forty percent from where we ought to be. I’d say cut back on your training-thingy, authorize a few captures, or both. Any way you chose, though, we’re gonna have to ration for a week, minimum.”

I winced at the thought of rationing. Morale was already lower than it had ever been. Several times in the past few days I had had to step in to quell rising panic. Many changelings of the Atlanta colony had chosen to flee to the branch colonies, or even abandoned the hive cities all together. I was running my Atlanta operations on a skeleton crew; though the love collectors could work from anywhere, the loss of the manpower in other places was starting to ache after only a few days.

On the flip side of the spectrum, I had changelings that wanted to train, to fight. Those changelings were the ones that had started training with me. We were the ones consuming far more than our fair share of the love supply. 

Imposing a ration on either group would cause morale to plummet. For me to cut training would be similarly disastrous, as it would appear that I was giving up. The only thing to do would be to increase the time spent hunting out in the real world, or to bring more humans back to the false world for harvest. Suddenly, I thought, ‘That is, unless…’

“Jak,” I asked through my respirator’s mask, “where were you when Victor arrived at the Beehive?”

“Hmmm,” he hummed as he drifted away from the cocoons. “I was doing my early rounds at Livewire Club. Why?”

“Then you have not tasted the love of the Crystal Cursed, have you?” I inquired.

“No, I haven’t. Do you…?”

I nodded. “I want you or one of your subordinates to meet up with R&D. I’ll tell Sal that you’re coming. In this safe deposit box…” I passed him Taruke’s memory of storing Victor’s gift, “…exists a crystal that contains both hate and, well, it’s almost love. The Crystal Cursed produce a sort of synthetic love at will and at, as far as I can tell, no detriment to themselves.” 

Jak’s eyes widened. “You mean… could that be the answer to our love shortage?”

“Possibly. R&D hasn’t studied the two versions of the curse in enough detail yet to determine how that works. Right now, they’re looking to hijack control of the loyalty and empathy-transmission components and to develop the counter-curse to completely disarm and remove the thing in the event that Victor gets the bright idea of placing the curse on one of us,” I explained. “I don’t even know if that love is any good to us. I don’t know if it was the false love or Victor’s hate that caused me to get sick after the meeting. If it did nothing harmful, then I can’t remember if I actually benefited from it.”

I put my hand on Jak’s shoulder. Looking him straight into his compound eye, I said, “This is why I need you. I need you to find out if that love sample he gave me is any good. But there is a reason why that crystal was isolated from us; it’s a summoning crystal. If the love content hits zero and the crystal breaks, he will appear right there. DO NOT SUMMON HIM!” I roared. “I cannot stress this enough; do not go near that man. If you do summon him accidentally, you are to flee. You will not return to hammerspace for a period of no less than two full days. You will not stop running for no less than two days. You will split up and run away from all other changelings. You will assume no less than twenty different human faces and six different animals. Do not stop to feed. Do not use magic if you can avoid it. And, if he does capture you, tell Change.lng this: ‘I think it’s time for the grand finale.’ He will give you access to the suicide spells in the archive… Use if needed.”

Jak gulped, as did the crowd of changelings that had gathered around us. “Do you really think it will come to that, sir?”

“I don’t think so, no,” I replied. “Victor doesn’t seem to be that type of person. He values an alliance between us and him far too much for him to do something so extreme. But ‘I don’t think so’ is short for ‘I don’t know.’ Jak…” I paused for a moment. The changeling in front of me shivered, his nerves were so wired. “…Jak, if things go F.U.B.A.R., take him down with you, ok? And if not, I’ll treat you to whatever you want when you get back.” I gave the nervous changeling a reassuring pat on the back; then I addressed the crowd with as much energy and enthusiasm as I could muster, “I promise that this will all be over soon. Now, get back to work, all of you!”

‘…While I go try to make sure this doesn’t blow up in my face.’





Pacing back and forth, my eyes darted between the disposable cell phone in my hand and the card in my other. ‘Calm down, Rex. He can’t hurt you over the phone. Nothing is going to- Nope, I will not finish that thought. You will not hurt me, Murphy.’ I stopped and flopped down into my chair. “Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on… you can do this,” I muttered. Then, louder, I added, “He wants to be allies. He wants to join together. I don’t trust him, but he didn’t lie about his offer…” My eyes found themselves glued to the floor; I could not bring them to look at the number. “Come ON! I can do this…”

Finally, I managed to pry my eyes off the floor and read the handwritten number I had gotten from Victor’s underling, the “Atlanta Regional Manager.” My fingers brushed against my throat as it shifted. “You’ve still have the games to play, Rex… Roxanne,” I said in a silky female voice. My fingers left my neck. I closed my eyes, and then opened them a second later. My thumb surged into motion, dialing the number before I could chicken out of calling a personification of hate and fear in order to set up the most insane gambit I have ever done.

The phone rang once, twice, and then, “Speak.”

In as close of an imitation of his secretary’s voice as I could muster, plus a heaping helping of sexy vocal mannerisms, I half said, half moaned, “Hello, big man. How are you, hmmm? I’m sure you remember me; you gave me such a big jewel. I wonder... no, you’d never let me suck your royal jewels. Still, a queen can dream, can’t she?” I had chosen my words to be disorienting by sheer absurdity. I would show no fear; instead, it would be lust.

“Stop playing games; why have you called me?” The voice on the other end of the line questioned. Is that annoyance and arrogance I heard?  Belch… Perhaps I laid the sexy voice on too thickly.

“Straight to business, mmmmm? Very well,” I throw out the seductive tone for a more playful one. I don’t want him taking me too seriously, after all. I play on my terms; Victor will not dictate my life! “Roxanne the 'ling queen, at your service.” And now came the part I had been dreading. My voice became more serious at this point, though not nearly as serious as I felt at the time. “I want to discuss that alliance we talked about.”

“I’m listening, Shifting One,” Victor replied.

“We of the hive have come to an agreement regarding your proposition of a full alliance beyond our previously established trade agreement. For a few small, and I do emphasize small, conditions, we would be willing to establish a full alliance with you,” I explained. Standing up, I started to pace again.

“What are your terms?”

‘Let’s see. Do you like having fun? Do you want to play a game, Victor?’ I thought. Then, still with the female voice, I said, “First and foremost, you must promise never to use your dark magic on one of my changelings, even for the most innocent of purposes. I cannot stress enough how catastrophic your wrath, the very core of your magic, is to our bodies; it is a toxin like no other. Second, do not even think of touching Selene; she is my daughter under my protection and is an adoptive royal in my hive. The third is more of a request than a true condition. I propose a pair of... friendly games, let’s say, to help us get to know one another. What do you say?”

Victor replied, “I know full well just how my magic would affect you; I know more of changelings than you seem to think. I also consider myself a man of justice, a man with laws - laws I strictly enforce, no matter the perpetrator.”

‘Your laws? Not THE laws?’ I questioned silently.

“However, if you should so wish, even if one of your changelings should break these laws, I shall leave its punishment to you, so long as I feel it fits the crime.” I honestly did not expect that from him. Maybe this could work out after all.

“I also have no problem with leaving Selene out of this,” the shadow man said. “She was never part of my plans to begin with. I have full confidence in your ability to keep her safe. As for the games... what kind of games do you have in mind?”

‘Games that are not really games,’ I wanted to reply. He thinks of me as a child. While that may be true to an extent – I am still twenty and a bit of a hedonist, after all – I have over six decades of shared memories from three generations of humans for my direct use, as well as the potential for any quantity more should I wish it. I asked for two games, but I’m playing three. “That is acceptable. For the games, they are each a one-on-one game of wits. Every single move you can think of, every person, spell, and item you possess, you are free to use, no restrictions. I do advise not killing; it’s not that type of game. No, simply, I have two objectives I wish to complete by a finite date; let’s say... the day the Crystal Empire emerges.” 

Despite what I made it sound like, that date was not arbitrarily chosen. Granted, my first plan had no real end date – as long as I keep trying, the odds progressively leaned more in my favor – but my second plan could be in motion long before that time and would only express itself upon the empire’s restoration.

“In the first game, if I fail, you will not be affected at all. If I win... well, that would be telling. It’s nothing bad for either of us, I assure you. In fact, you may even like what comes of my plan. I just know that you will resist the whole time; that’s just the way the board is set up, I’m afraid.” So, perhaps I lied by omission. Well, he could not be hurt by what he does not know in this case.

“The second game is much simpler. I have exactly three moves to set up a situation to which you must counter. All three moves will be made at some time within the next month. You have unlimited moves afterwards. The result of this game will become clear as the Empire appears.” Game two was the one I was more worried about. It had the highest chance of backfiring of the two games, which could be disastrous for me. But I could not stand idly by; one tyrant’s happiness was not worth the people of three kingdoms. I asked, “Is that acceptable?”

“I see nothing wrong with that. I accept. When would you like to get together to finalize this in writing?” Victor replied over the phone. I smiled. Even though I loathed the idea of being anywhere near that man, it was in my best interests to be near him to keep an eye on him; keep your friends close and enemies closer and all that jazz. More importantly though, I needed his eyes kept on me and only me. The question is, do you see too much of me to get the big picture?

I put my seductive tone back into my voice. “Ohhh, I would like that very much, big man. Shall I fly to you, or you to me?”

“If this is to be an alliance of equals,” Victor replied, “then let that set the precedence. Let’s meet on neutral ground this time. Cuba, perhaps?”

“I had thought of Las Vegas,” I suggested. “I have external affairs with my human contacts to attend to there in a few days, as well as my hopes of spending a few days at play.” I delivered a partial picture while creating the illusion of someone more interested in play than work, especially in the light of our recent encounter. “Though, since anywhere out of the state of Georgia is beyond my territory,” I lied, “Cuba definitely works. It’s your choice.” I wanted it to seem like he was in control, so I offered a choice. “Though I have to wonder, what would poker be like empath versus empath? No true poker face, after all.” I then offered a challenge as bait. If he takes, I’ll have an opportunity to set up a lie by hyperbole.

Victor replied, “I suggested Cuba because it is in neither of our countries. Afterwards perhaps we could fly to Las Vegas together to celebrate our newfound status as allies. I’ve always rather been weak to my vices, and the strip is so lovely this time of year.”

‘So you have hedonistic tendencies, too?’ I thought with growing confidence, ‘I can work with this.’ Aloud, I answered, “Cuba it is then. I shall be in touch. You know, I’ve always been a bit of a gamer; play well, sir.”

“Myself as well, though I play to win. I’ll be seeing you soon.” With that, the line clicked dead.

I hummed merrily to myself, dropping the feminine voice for my normal baritone. ‘Walk into my parlor, said the spider to the fly…’ I buzzed my tattered, gossamer wings happily. ‘…or is it ‘said the fly to the shadow?’ I wonder…’





Less than three hours after my phone call to Victor, I stood over my daughter’s bed. “Do you think you two can do that for me?” I asked Selene as I tucked her in for the night. I planted a light kiss on her forehead and ran my fingers through her starry hair.

She wriggled deeper into her bed sheets. “Yeah! That’ll be really fun, like having a big dream party. See, I can totally get everyone there!”

“Good, good. I can’t wait,” I replied before turning to the door. “See you in a few minutes!” As the door clicked closed behind me, I muttered, “Game two, round one: start.”

I came back thirty minutes later, when I was sure that Selene was asleep. Creeping into her room, I snuck next to her bed. Gently, I placed my hand against her shoulder and pushed.

With a twist of my body, I folded my form out of the real world and followed Selene into the construct of hammerspace. After strapping a pair of rebreathers that were purposefully left near the entrance to the realm, I drifted down the lantern trail, levitating the sleeping Selene along side. Right before the red lantern that marked the entrance to the storeroom, I made a normal left instead. A short while later, I came across a tent that had been set up as my temporary private retreat.

Gently, I let the sleeping girl drift out of my hands, staying airborne for over a minute in the low gravity environment before she settled softly on the ground. I lay down next to her and let the fatigue of the day finally claim me.





“It took you long enough,” Chrysalis said mere seconds after I arrived in the dream. The dreamscape around us was a completely white void; the only distinguishing features were the stone archway that had appeared with Luna and Selene’s partnership and the occupants of the room. For as far as the eye could see, thousands and thousands of changelings, the combined sleeping population of both of our hives, hovered within the void, each drawn into the shared dream through the link.

“Certain precautions take time,” I retorted. “I’m playing a dangerous game here. I will take no chances.”

“I see,” Chrysalis replied with a nod. 

The moon carving on the archway flashed blue. Selene skipped through, humming merrily, while followed by Princesses Cadance, Celestia, and Luna, in that order. The three Equestrians gasped and backpedaled slightly upon seeing a veritable swarm of changelings. To quell their nerves, I said, “Relax, your highnesses. We’re just here to talk. Selene, go find Klika and play with her, Ok?”  

“Got it! See ya!” She called out as she ran towards the hundreds of dreaming changelings.

“What is the meaning of calling us here?” Luna inquired as Selene wandered off. “‘Tis most highly irregular.”

“Sombra,” Chrysalis answered. Around us, the changelings hissed and spat and cursed at the name. Celestia frowned and Luna scowled, but Cadance just looked confused. “It seems that he is not as dead as we thought,” the changeling queen added.

“But he was sealed away months before my banishment!” Luna declared. “Surely no mortal unicorn could survive that long, let alone after being made an incorporeal shadow!”

“And there inlays the problem; if what I have seen is true, he was no longer a unicorn at all. Even his soul might be so twisted that the normal rules don’t apply to him,” I responded.

“And you have seen him? How?” Celestia asked.

“Can somepony please tell me who this ‘Sombra’ character is?” Cadance asked.

I looked over to the pink princess and replied, “Long story short, he’s the former tyrant ruler of the Crystal Empire who practically enslaved his entire population for his sick pleasure. And Celestia, no, I did not see Sombra himself; I met Sombra’s counterpart in my world.”

“There’s two of him now?” Celestia asked, and though her mask never broke, the emotions wafting off her body betrayed her gloom.

“Not exactly,” I replied. “Princess Luna, before I explain any further, I have a request to make of you. For all of our sakes, leave now and go searching for Sombra’s dream. When you find it, act as if you randomly stumbled across it. I am purposefully leaving you in the dark so that you do not have to feign ignorance; discover as much as you can from him. Meanwhile, I will explain the situation to Princess Celestia and Princess Cadance; they can fill you in after you make contact. If Sombra believes you discovered him on your own, then any actions your nation takes as preparation would seem to be of your own violation, rather than aided by me. With their eyes off me, I’m free to help you more.”

“I believe I understand why such measures are necessary,” Luna replied. Her form waivered and, as she faded out of the dream, she looked towards Celestia and said, “Fare thee well, sister!”

The moment Luna was gone, I said, “Victor DiVinci… that is his name. Assuming he follows the same pattern as the other Gatekeepers, neither can cross to the other’s world. The problem lies in the fact that the prison holding both Sombra and the Crystal Empire is weakening, and when both return to Equestria, Victor will be there to drop a brainwashed and magically augmented human army into Sombra’s lap. You’d have a fully prepared army drop on you with only seconds warning before the bloodshed started.”

“Faust no…” Cadance whispered.

“That is the worst case scenario,” Chrysalis added. “Rex showed me the memory of his encounter, along with everything he could gather on this Victor. That is why we are here; we want Equestria to have as much of a warning as possible. The Crystal Empire cannot fall to his hooves.”

“I must ask, why do you care, Queen Chrysalis?” Cadance asked. “I would not have expected you to care.”

“The Crystal Heart,” Chrysalis answered. “Even without being anywhere near that artifact, it single-hoofedly determines the fate of my entire nation. Should the empire prosper, then the love radiated across the planet is like a feast to us. Should fear and despair reign, then it strikes us like blight. Imagine, if you will, an artifact that can cause crops across the world to grow twice as big without any extra resources, or destroy half of all the crops in existence. That is what the Crystal heart is to us.”

“Beyond that, I cannot stand the idea of a conqueror bringing bloodshed,” I added. “What if Victor’s armies march south and start attacking other nations? What if the unicorns Sombra captures are enslaved and shipped off to Earth to augment Victor’s armies? I’m keenly aware of how the fusion of magic and machines increased power. Unfortunately, there is little I can do right now to stop it beyond giving you information.”

“But why not?” Cadance asked. “I’ve seen the weapons you gave Aunty Celestia and the Elements. Why not let us buy more to defend ourselves with? Or instruct us how to make such weapons?”

“Because… That would draw attention to me if I supplied you with weapons. If I taught you how to make them, Victor would know exactly who was helping you,” I replied. “Look, I had to enter an alliance with him to guarantee that he would not turn on my hive. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and all that… By even speaking to you now, I’m betraying him. Besides, you have the Elements of Harmony.”

“Why are we meeting here in a dream anyway?” Cadance asked, looking around at the white void around us. “Why not send Beta Rex to meet us in Canterlot?”

“Sombra’s a minor clairvoyant, we think, or at least maintains an insanely powerful spy network even to this day,” Chrysalis replied. “Victor knew things about both worlds that neither he nor Sombra should have possibly known. He knew of Rex’s activities and the signing of the treaty. He knows of the griffin’s reaction. I fear how much he knows about me. And to think he figured all of this out while trapped in ice. If Rex sent his little meat puppet-” I shot Chrysalis a pointed look, “-then Sombra would know.”

I said, “Let me give you a quick rundown on what I know. Victor is aggressive, ambitious, arrogant, and a self-admitted hedonist. Am I correct that these traits are common to dark magic users?”

“Very much so,” Celestia replied. “Dark magic draws on the worst of a pony’s soul, corrupting them. Lust for power, lust for money, blood lust… regular lust, all of that is amplified in dark magic users.” Celestia looked away and muttered, “I should know…” Shaking her head, she returned to a normal speaking volume. “You should also see signs of megalomania, hubris, and vanity.”

“Wrath, pride, greed, and lust… So, four of the seven sins. Good to know.” I paused momentarily. “All right, in no particular order, Victor claimed to be a man of justice, though he said his laws rather than the laws. Given his criminal background, that makes sense. He has a spell, his Crystal Curse, that can augment a person’s abilities and make them completely loyal to him. Victor is extraordinarily wealthy and has a large portion of the world’s organized crime at his beck and call. He rose to such high power in less than three years, implying that he has been a gatekeeper for less time than I have. His paramilitary organizations are larger than thirty times my hive’s entire population, a small army. And he is Sombra’s personal student when it comes to magic, so anything Victor knows implies that Sombra can do it too.

“Then on Sombra’s side, Victor claimed that he had spent a long time interacting with Sombra, convincing him of something. Given that each gatekeeper spends the night with their counterpart in the dream world and that Sombra spent nearly a thousand years alone, it is quite possible that the Sombra of today is not the same Sombra of yesterday. That is part of the reason I sent Princess Luna to find him without this information. She will remember only how he was, so she can give us a good idea of how he has changed without my bias,” I explained.

“I see,” Celestia commented. “Very clever.”

“Thanks. Now Princesses, Queen Chrysalis, I have to ask you, have you noticed anything odd, especially concerning Chrysalis, Luna, or myself? Victor mentioned something he heard ‘in the whispers of the void’ and that he could ‘smell its stench all over’ me. I think it has something to do with my gatekeeper status.”

“No, I have not noticed anything. Luna, however, would know. The Night and the Void often bleed together,” Celestia answered. “However, much of what lives in the Void is subservient to Chaos or Harmony and tend to exist in the spiritual plane. If something from the void has infected your souls, I shall have Luna exorcize it. Even the weakest of Void beings are not something even us goddesses like to look upon, and the strongest have been known to shatter even the strongest of minds merely by being looked upon.” I glanced over at my counterpart, who had done the same to me. The sun princess added, “Luna, though not immune, just handles it better than most.”

A faint beeping sounded in my ear, signaling that my time was up. I started fading as my body started waking up. “Whoops. I’m out of time. We’ll talk more tomorrow night and decide on a course of action. Don’t do anything until Luna makes contact. Keep safe…”





I opened my eyes to the nearly black sky of the false world. The oxygen alarm on my rebreather beeped once more in my ear before I shut it off. I had just enough fresh air to make it to the exit before I needed to breathe the carbon dioxide rich atmosphere of hammerspace. Grabbing the still sleeping form of my adopted daughter, I drifted out of the tent. With a few flaps of my wings, I was homeward bound.

> The Forgotten One
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        They were screaming again. Second and Third always screamed when First took control of their shared body. No, they were not mad at him for taking control; it was his body and they were the younger personalities, after all. The were not even angry at him for what what he did while he was awake. His actions were for the good of all three of them, and they recognized it as such.

        No, what they screamed were cries of sorrow. In less than an hour, Second and Third would forget him once again, as they always did, and as they always would when First came out to work. It was not safe for them to remember him when First was not in control of their body.

        He was not cruel, though. First always gave his younger selves back their missing memories whenever he awoke, memories of their collective identity and shared history. He loved his younger aspects as if they were his adorable little siblings, and they loved him back. He treated them kindly and always told them stories as he worked. Stories about Father and Grandmother, stories about their five elder siblings, or anything they wished to hear, First would tell them all. In return, Second would tell about her adventures while Third would recount stories about their little half-sister. And they loved their time together.

But they could not remember him in any amount while he slept. They could not even remember who they really were without him, only the false identities that they had created. But it was not just them that forgot. With the exception of Grandma, when First slept, the multiverse and everything in it forgot his existence, too. And with the exception of his work, the very reason for his creation, every trace of his existence would vanish the moment he fell asleep. That was his greatest defense, and why he would succeed where his elder siblings had failed.

Even the most powerful of beings, creatures like his father, who had smuggled him into these two universes, could not remember all the details of his existence. Sure, those few individuals remembered First’s collective name and what his purpose was, and rightly feared him for it. But for all the power of those who remembered, that little information was all and nothing more. They could never actually find him.





First slipped through the shared night of both worlds, giving thanks to their little half-sister and her partner for something so beautiful, so useful. Sure, he could always work in sight of the tasty mortals, but why bother? They were only a distraction from his work. And he could not reprimand his younger selves for not eating well enough, as they would forget that they were even supposed to eat the mortals the moment he fell asleep again. Honestly, if he did not work fast enough to secure their position, Second and Third might be the literal death of him.

Second’s manifestation stopped in the middle of a sandy wasteland; at the same moment, Third’s arrived in a forest. Both forms were well out of reach of any mortal interference. Then they began to work. 

Back and forth, back and forth First went, rhythmically seeing to his repetitive task. All the while, Second and Third merrily sang to one another. They rejoiced as First worked, taking comfort in each other’s presence, knowing that as soon as First slept, they would return to being two individuals instead of one entity. Meanwhile, First thought away as he directed the operation; his mind made trillions of precise calculations every millisecond, far faster than any mortal computer, and used the results to guide every single step of his plan.

And while First worked, he did their collective equivalent of drooling. His metaphysical stomach rumbled, reminding him once again of his ever present hunger. First chided himself, reminding his body that now was not the time to feed. He had to wait just a little longer now, maybe a year or two, tops, before he evolved to the next stage of his life cycle and could thus feed freely. And what was a year to an immortal that could remember trillions?

Granted, those years had not happened yet; time was a fickle thing. Those memories came from a separate timeline, one whose past had yet to already occur. But it would not be long now until First could make that subtle change, to insert himself in the past, present, and future of these two worlds. Then he would die, his first goal completed, and he would be devoured by his younger personalities, merging three into two.

First felt satisfied, as his work for this waking period was finished. The effects upon these worlds would not be felt until later. What was it that the mortals called that time, September? It did not matter to First, as he would be devouring them all soon enough. 

He concentrated, ordering the manifestations back to where they would have been had he not awoken. When he was satisfied that everything was perfectly in place, First made his approximation of a smile. He bid his younger personalities farewell. Though they cried and begged him to stay, he told them it was not to be, and that he would be back very soon.

His grip on consciousness slipped momentarily, but Second and Third did their best to keep the elder personality awake. The relatively childish siblings begged him for a reverse bedtime story, where he would talk for as long as he could stay awake. First agreed. He asked what story they wanted to hear. Third asked for the story of Nightmare, the sibling closest to them in age. First approximated a sigh and reluctantly agreed.

He told them of how Father Discord had Created big sister Nightmare in the previous world. He recounted to them of her struggles, those of which he had herd from Grandmother C̦̱͍̊h̫̱̋̋ͮͅa̰̿ȍ̳͙̬ͧͦ͌s͚̙͆͋͆, and of Nigtmare’s plan to destroy all of reality. First told Second and Third of Nightmare’s failure and how it caused the multiverse to reset early. He spoke of how she had survived the reset, the Big Bang, and how she lived to this day as a crippled wraith, without form and lost in a universe that was not her own. First told them about how she had found Luna, how they had become friends. He regaled Luna’s jealousy, how they had merged together to create Nightmare Moon, and how they had been struck down by their cousin and his ally, the Harmony Tree and Sun Goddess Celestia, respectively. 

Second and Third hissed and booed, furious at the actions of their deranged cousin. How could anything like order and harmony, of all things? They hated the tree, for it acted against their very reason for existing.

When First calmed them down, he told of Nightmare Moon’s return, and how the Harmony Tree, with six new allies, had struck the bonded pair down once more. He told them of how Nightmare had been ripped from Luna and her power all but destroyed. And he told them of how she had been reduced to a state weaker than a mortal’s soul.

If Second and Third had been angry before, they were furious now. They hissed and spit and frothed at their metaphysical mouth. They vowed vengeance against the Harmony Tree, promising to devour it as painfully as possible.

But before he could calm his lesser selves once more, First found his connection to the waking world slipping once more. And as the first personality of Oblivion fell asleep, reality itself forgot.

> (Extra)Ordinary People
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Unlike most other changelings, Klika perpetually maintained both a partial transformation in her true form and a common feature in all her human forms: green eyes. Many changelings assumed that she was signifying her relationship to her father, especially since the shade of green she wore was the exact same shade as her father’s inner eye color. Of course, that was all conjecture on their part; no changeling had actually asked why she kept her eyes that color and she had never mentioned it in conversation.

Of course, the idea that Klika kept her eyes green because of her father was correct, if incomplete. It had nothing to do with his eyes, but everything to do with him. Well, he and her little-big sister. 

On the last day of the self-improvement from hell her father had started, if anyone had been watching Klika, they would have noticed something odd. Between every ballistics gel mannequin she gutted with the her tail’s blade, after every concrete block she melted with her tail’s acid, and upon shattering stone against her fists and her fists against stone, Klika would glance at her adopted sister. And, upon seeing her sister meditating on a cloud, Klika’s scowl would deepen just a tad more. Then, with renewed vigor, Klika would dive back into her training.

It did not take any supernatural skill to read the signs; Klika was jealous of Selene. In the past, it had just been Klika and her father, and she loved it that way. Even though she had long been a changeling adult, and had long since completed school because of her father’s memories, Klika was at least able to get something like a childhood. Even her nieces and nephews, the biological children of the converts, never got as much attention from the king as she did, and Klika liked it that way.

Then Selene had come along and disrupted that equilibrium. In Klika’s opinion, the little brat was a waste of time and effort. On an academic level, Klika was fully aware of how long it took a normal human mind to develop; yet, from her own experiences, Klika was terribly confused on why Selene was so helpless at everyday things. What kind of creature couldn’t take care of themselves, especially if they had eleven years to figure out how to do it? And here Klika was, slaving away for her family, regularly offering her body to perverted men and women who should not even deserve to touch her, and from which Klika derived great satisfaction in draining of their love, in order to feed herself and her hive siblings. 

And there Selene was, getting pampered by their father yet contributing nothing in return, not even love, for their father refused to feed significantly from the little alicorn. Klika got nice things because she worked hard. Selene got nice things for existing. Sure, she controlled the moon, but Selene would have done that anyway, even outside of their father’s care; why should she be rewarded if she brought no additional benefit to the hive? It drove Klika’s literal, pragmatic, and materialistic mind to pieces trying to understand the situation. Having never known Selene when she could not control the moon, and having never experienced the effort of moving the moon, Klika’s knowledge never connected on an emotional level for her to understand that Selene actually did something of importance.

Klika began to think, even if she was not consciously aware of her musings. Her subconscious thought process looked something like this: ‘If Selene is above me, I’ll just rip her down from there. But I don’t want to break her; Daddy would kill me. I’ll teach her a lesson.’ Of course, it was at this point that the communal portion of her mind and her own desires started to conflict. So, in an effort to end her own cognitive struggles, Klika’s subconscious mind hybridized the two. ‘I’ll make her stronger, so Daddy will recognize how important I am and won’t have to spend as much time teaching her. And, I’ll knock her off her high horse so she knows I AM the one in charge and I AM Daddy’s favorite.’

But, for all of Klika’s planning, she was not able to think much on it as her muscles healed for the final time that day. Instead, Klika looked down on the ground and saw a piece of rubble; it was not too big, not to jagged, and not covered in blood. The changeling princess bent down and picked up the fragment. As her scowl morphed into a smirk, Klika called out, “Hey Selene, think fast!”

The rock shot across the room, narrowly missing one of the Praetorians. In a split second, the rock struck Selene on the left moon shaped mark on her face; having been highly focused on maintaining her spells, Selene had been left with very little brainpower with which to react to the incoming projectile. She tumbled off her cloud seat and fell three feet to the hard floor below. Due to the surprise, the night alicorn dropped her spells; though they would persist for some time, without Selene feeding them, the scale of the spells caused them to rapidly consume their reserve magic. The blue dome within the warehouse visibly flickered before the alicorn could resume the connection.

In the seconds after Selene had fallen, Klika had flown over to her side. The changeling offered her hand to Selene, who grasped it and was promptly hoisted up. “What was that for?” Selene asked.

“Hehe, you looked so focused on that cloud of yours, I needed to get your attention,” Klika replied. “It’s not going to do you any good if you get hit because you were focusing on doing magic.” Klika’s tail curled around the two with the blade held in the corner of both of their fields of vision. “So, from now on, I’m going to hit you every time you do something stupid or leave yourself vulnerable. And I won’t stop until you can dodge or block whatever I throw every time, or until you stop giving me reasons to.” 

“That’s mean!” Selene whined, rubbing her sore cheek. “See, I’m telling Dad!”

“I’m doing this for your own good,” Klika replied. “If I don’t have to hit you, or can’t hit you, that means you’re strong and smart. Daddy loves strong and smart people; he wouldn’t love an idiot weakling. But, if you tell Dad, then I won’t take the time to make you better. Then Dad won’t love you anymore and he’ll want to get rid of you. That door will be locked with you on the outside. And who knows what the government will do to a little girl with wings?” Klika smirked upon seeing Selene’s nervous expression. “We already saved you once; I’m sure those scientists are just itching to get you back so they can cut you up and see how you work.”

“No!”

“YES!” Klika shouted back a little too enthusiastically. “They’ll cut you up again and again and again; you’re an alicorn, so you can’t ever die! They’ll experiment on you forever!” There was a prickling sensation in the back of Klika’s mind, one that she had felt from time to time since she had been born. Her barbed, acid-spitting tail crept closer to Selene’s throat. The prickle intensified into a full itch that demanded to be scratched. The first few times she had felt it, her pets had died, choked to death with her own hands and cut apart for stew. Later, it had been vermin like rats and birds and annoying little dogs. The first time she had felt the itch for something bigger, she’d killed Dave the changeling murderer. This was the first time Klika had ever wanted to kill family. Disgusted with herself, she tried to repress the feeling, yet her blade did not move. “Unless, of course…”

“Unless what?” Selene begged, practically shaking. Tears welled up in the alicorn girl’s eyes.

Klika rolled her eyes and gently pricked Selene with her tail blade, careful to contain her acid. “Use your brain! Dad likes strong people; I’m trying to make you strong!” Ever so slowly, the blade inched away from Selene’s unprotected skin. “I’ll teach you so much that people will be like ‘Oh, look at all the amazing things she can do!’ Dad will love you and he’ll love me even more for teaching you! Won’t that be amazing?”

Between sniffles, Selene muttered, “Ok…”

Klika embraced her little-big sister in a hug, perhaps a tad tighter than what was appropriate. “Good.” Her grip tightened. “Lesson one…” Her grip tightened. “…I am…” Her grip tightened more. “…a very…” Selene squeaked as Klika’s grip tightened even more. “…strict…” Klicka growled. Her iron embrace caused Selene to wriggle in a vain effort to achieve freedom. “…teacher.” After one last monumental squeeze, Klika suddenly released Selene. Giving a broad, false smile, Klika said, “Got it? Good. Let’s go home; I want to teach you how to cook for yourself. I won’t always be around to make dinner for you.”

As Klika and Selene walked out of the warehouse-turned-training-grounds that afternoon, the former’s arm wrapped around the latter’s shoulders, Klika spied a small brown bird sitting in a branch twenty feet away. She smiled. The bird tweeted cheerfully. She flicked her tail. The bird did not tweet. Klika carefully whispered sweet nothings into her sister’s ear, her itch satisfied. A half dissolved feather landed on the ground with a slight hiss. She was a sister, Klika felt, no longer a monster. Perhaps she would go see Jeremiah, the Hive’s resident therapist, Klika mused, but first, she had to make sure Daddy loved her. Klika’s eyes flashed green. 





When Greed looked at his flesh-and-blood son, he couldn’t help but think he had chosen the wrong name for himself. He idly wondered if Pride would be willing to trade names, but then shrugged the feeling away; she was not the material type. His son Wrath pulled the trigger of his gun, shooting the clay pigeon out of the air with lightning speed while enjoying his father’s praise with as much gusto as Gluttony and Lust enjoyed their namesakes.

“Pull!” With superhuman strength, Greed threw a pair of clay objects faster than the eye could follow at his son’s command. “DIE!” Wrath roared as his targets took to the air. Using his strain-granted superhuman reflexes, augmented slightly with pegasus magic, Wrath took aim and shot the impossibly quick projectiles out of the air; his gun’s twin retorts happened in such quick succession that they sounded like a single shot.

The gunslinger panted, calming his heart from the excitement. “The King has given us one hell of a power up with this strain,” Wrath commented. “I was never this good before, human or changeling, and am only getting better.”

“Oh yeah, it feels great, boy. Hey, do you wonder if these strain things stack? If I had a kid with Lust for her variant, or Princess Klika for the tail, would it have both of ours? Then if the kid had a kid with the other would that have all three?” Greed asked.

Wrath whacked his father in the head. “Let’s not be greedy now,” he replied, much to his dad’s annoyance. “Though, that’s something to think about. Let’s ask the king later.” 

There was a loud scream from behind them. “Let go of me! Stop it! Stopitstopitstopitstopit!” A clear smack sounded before another voice moaned.

Gluttony, ignoring her stinging cheek, said, “Ah, come on, Lust! I’m hungry! We’ve been training all day! I want to go get something to eat!”

“Well, what gave you the idea that I was food?” Lust retorted.

Gluttony replied, “You always told me you liked it when men eat you out…”

“That’s sex! Not FOOD!” Lust screeched, her voice leaving it’s normally silky tone.

“Aren’t they the same thing?” Gluttony asked in an innocent tone.

“NO, YOU IDIOTOTIC BITCH!” Lust shrieked before smacking Gluttony again. Wrath idly wondered if his name could be stolen.

Tears welled up in Gluttony’s eyes. “Bu-bu-bu-but…”

Blinking as if clearing a fog from her sight, Lust looked down at her crying companion. “I, ah, oh shit… Glut, I’m sorry. I’m stressed right now and… You want a steak? Let’s get steak. Then we can hit Livewire for a good rutting.”

“Yay! Thanks, Lusty!”

Wrath and Greed chuckled at the two. Greed smiled and said, “Those two… They’ll never stop being friends, will they?”

Wrath replied, “Of course not. Gluttony may be simple minded, but she’s probably the next best contender for the Element of Loyalty.”

Greed chuckled. “I’d rather collect the whole set, if I had the chance. Hey, can I see your gun for a bit, boy?” 

In reply, Wrath just chuckled as he took aim at his father’s head. The gun’s cry rang out and the bullet casing hit the floor. A drop of blood collected on the tip of Greed’s ear where the bullet had grazed him, exactly where his son had aimed. “I’d never get it back, Pops.” Taking aim once again at the target range, Wrath roared, “PULL!”





Cameron Cordel did not like his father. The man won the lottery, hooked up with and banged his mom, and then promptly got himself arrested. Cordel senior had won two life sentences for two premeditated murders. And even though Cameron was an adult now, his mother still dragged him to the jail once a month to “show off how much he had grown.” Cameron hated that man, but it was not for the murders themselves. Though he also hated being related to a murderer, what Cameron hated the most was the stress that Cordel senior inflicted upon his mother and himself.

To make matters worse, visitation day was the same day as rehearsal. Cameron’s band was becoming quite popular, especially with teenage girls, rabid fan-girls included. That wouldn’t be so bad, except both he and his producer were perfectionists and workaholics. Both demanded the very best from him, and he would give nothing less. That meant countless hours writing lyrics and music to find the perfect sound, and then countless more hours practicing. By the time he reached his allotted eight hours of relaxation on Sundays, he was at his wit’s end and ready to pull his hair out.

When Cameron got back to the Casino hotel where he was to perform soon, after having sat through an hour of gridlock traffic, he stomped his way towards his dressing room. Flinging open his door, he stepped in and reached for where his guitar case was supposed to be, only to grasp at nothing. He huffed in exasperation and stormed out.

While he was making his way to the stage, people kept giving him odd looks, blinking strangely, and doing double takes, though he was much too stressed to notice. Upon reaching the wing on stage left, he spotted his producer peeking out the curtain. Cameron tapped her on the shoulder and said, “Mary, have you seen my guitar?”

She turned her head, blinked, and then jumped as if she had seen a ghost. “But- What- How…” Her head whipped back and forth between the stage, which Cameron could not see onto from his angle, and Cameron himself. “That’s not possible!”

The young singer tilted his head in confusion. Then he heard it; a beautiful, hauntingly familiar song. A song that he had written just days ago, though it was sitting incomplete on his nightstand. And, in its lyric-less, incomplete state, it had never been heard by another human. Yet here it was, not only being played past the point he had worked to, but being sung as well. But the strangest part was the singer, the one voice Cameron knew better than all others: his own.

Cameron poked his head around the corner and saw an impossible sight. He and his band had just finished a perfect run of an incomplete song, yet he was also standing on the sidelines. How was that possible?

The other Cameron on stage started laughing Cameron’s signature laugh, a rapid, throaty chuckle that went up in pitch until it was a nasally giggle. “You can come out now, real Cameron.”

The real Cameron, too surprised to stop himself, stepped out from behind the curtain. “Who the hell are you? And why the hell do you look just like me?”

“Oh, doppelgänger of mine, where are my manners? Siva, at your service!” The other Cameron, now identified as Siva, replied, his accent changing to a slightly southern one. “It’s just Siva; I only have one name. As for your other question, why do I look just like you, Cameron? I have no idea. Weird genetics, maybe? Still, it’s odd that the way I’ve always looked is just like one of my favorite singers. I know all your songs.”

“That still doesn’t tell me what you’re doing here!” Cameron exclaimed.

Siva cocked his head to the side, much like how Cameron did when he was confused. “You never asked. I just thought that maybe, since I looked just like you, that you’d let me pretend to be you for a day.” The false Cameron gently set down the guitar and walked towards the original. “I mean, I fooled everyone perfectly. Not even your friends noticed that I wasn’t you.” Said friends looked away sheepishly. Upon reaching Cameron, Siva tossed up a hand and continued walking past. “And, though it was presumptuous of me, I did sing and play as well as you, doppelganger of mine. Or, if I didn’t, no one called me out on it. But, it’s not like you need a body double or anything. No extreme stress… No paparazzi… No rabid fangirls… Why would you need me? See y-”

“Wait!” Cameron interrupted at the last moment.

Siva paused mid-step, half way out the back door. “Yes?” he replied very slowly.

“You may be creepy, but…” 

Siva smiled and, if the room had been dark, the stage crew would have seen his eyes glow.





Sally-Anne giggled, despite the tenseness of the situation. The situation was much like something that only Hollywood could have concocted. In fact, she remembered a movie that came out when she was ten that had something similar, though she could not recall the title. Her current project demanded security of an interesting sort; until they knew for sure if Victor was Clairvoyant or not, Sally-Anne’s king, her wonderful boyfriend, had hired her team to develop a counter-curse in complete isolation.

Isolation was an understatement. The first layer of security was that simply nothing would ever be spoken or written down. The entire development of the spell would take place within a mindscape while the photographic memory spell was active. Then, their bodies had been placed in a folded section of the false world of hammerspace, with the only connection being a hole of space six atoms in diameter. Then, the entire chamber had been accelerated in time so that six hours on the inside constitute six second on the outside. Onto that, several additional magical wards had been cast on the entrance hole so that no matter, energy, magic, or souls could pass through and no one who knew about the hole could remember it. The hole itself was then hidden deep within hammerspace; hundreds of miles of an impossible-to-navigate maze surrounded them. And above all of that was another Remember-Me-Not cast on hammerspace itself, erasing it from knowledge.

Sally-Anne was flattered that her love would go that far to protect her while she worked, and to protect her work itself. Victoria, Sally-Anne’s newest subordinate, was somewhat less flattered. “…I mean, really, is this project such a big deal?” She had asked Sal during their fifth six-hour session.

Sally-Anne looked up from the dream paper on which she was writing equations. To her, the letters looked like the Braille she had learned to read since her accident. To the others, her letters still looked like written letters due to the meaning being shared within the mental world. “Of course it is,” Sally-Anne replied. “Have you really looked at what that Crystal Curse does to a person on the inside? What if it was cast on one of us?”

“Would it matter?” Victoria retorted loudly, drawing the attention of the other changelings in Research and Development that were also working within the common dream. “We’re already slaves of a sort to the king anyway. One tyrant or another, either way, my free will vanished months ago.”

Sally-Anne fully spun around to look at Victoria. “Believe what you will, but Rex is not that kind of person. I don’t want you slandering his good name.”

“Says the girl who sleeps with him,” Victoria replied, rolling her eyes at the same time. “What do you think the hive mind is? I’ve looked at your notes on it and there are some similarities. Look at what the king did to that Taruke fellow. He could make us do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and we have no way to stop him.”

“Taruke was a criminal who was tried and found guilty. Rex wouldn’t do that to anybody without their permission,” Sally-Anne replied.

Victoria stood and started pacing. “Shouldn’t Taruke have been punished by the government? And I heard Rex has already possessed changelings. Yeah, he pays the ‘lings back, but that just makes us slaves with a paycheck.”

“We stopped being American when we became changelings,” Sally-Anne said. “Rex and the colonies’ councils are the government.”

“Newsflash: I didn’t choose to become a changeling!” Victoria screamed, throwing her hands into the air. “I was living the dream. My career was taking off; I just got promoted to head engineer at the company I worked for! He marched up to me at a bar and offered me a drink. Next thing I know, I’m hatching out of a cocoon with my life and my humanity stolen from me!”

“Newsflash,” Sally-Anne sarcastically echoed back, “I didn’t choose to become a changeling, either! I was captured on my way home from my last day of work. I too had stopped in a bar; he too offered me a drink. I got a bit tipsy, so he offered to let me crash at his place. I woke up a changeling. It’s the same story, I know. Yet I love him anyway. Rex’s much better than my last boyfriend; to think I was going to actually marry that idiot!”

Victoria sat there for a moment, trying to process Sal’s story. The other changelings made themselves look busy in the sudden silence. “Wasn’t that Ian, the man you got your heart frozen for after he killed himself?” Sally-Anne nodded. “That was right after I joined. I remember that you spent a few days moping and making everyone around you depressed, and then suddenly you couldn’t care less for the man. Next thing I know, you’re dating the king. Are you sure your feelings are genuine, or is he making you feel that way?”

Now it was Sal’s turn to be speechless. “I-I-I… I’m not sure…” She replied, the possibility dawning on her for the first time. “Oh, oh my, he was in my head for a time. I’ve never felt anything like it before. He could have changed something… no, I’m almost certain some things changed when he did. But I was crushing hard on him before that. I think that my feelings are real.”

Victoria looked at her boss skeptically. “If you say so. How much do you know about the king, anyway. I mean, we all have some of his shared memories, but they just stop after high school, and there’s nothing personal of his in there. Do you even know how old he is?”

Sally-Anne thought for a moment. “He’s the oldest changeling of all of us, at least. But chronological age? I’m not sure.”

Jerry, who had been listening in silently from another part of the shared dream, piped up. “The king turns twenty one in a few days. May 28th, if I’m not mistaken.”

Sally-Anne paled significantly. “Oh god, I’m a cougar.”

“What?” Victoria asked, confused. “How old are you?”

“Ugh, thirty two! I always figured he was older! Rex never wears anything that looks less than twenty five! And he has kids! We’ve had kids!” Sally-Anne scowled. “When I get out of here, mister, I’m going to have a word with you!”





Selene had always loved her big sister and her new daddy. In fact, to Selene’s mind, those two were the only ones who had ever earned the titles; she had never had a sister before and she could not remember her old father from before she was taken to the orphanage. But that did not matter to Selene; she loved them very much anyway. If she had not loved them, Selene knew that she would not have seen Daddy and Klika in those visions she had when baby Avis had bit her.

Her family was funny, Selene felt. They were not quite normal people, though they sometimes looked like people. That was all right with Selene; she did not look like a normal girl either, though she too could make herself look like a normal girl thanks to her teacher, Princess Luna. Sometimes, though, Selene wondered if they were more different than she thought.

Maybe they were space aliens? Selene had wondered that at one point or another. She had seen her dad open a portal to the “Queen.” Was that his wife? His sister? Selene knew that, like herself, Dad could not go through the magic portals. Maybe she could try to find the star that his planet orbited around and bring it closer, and then he could go home! And she could go visit Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, oh, and Princess Cadance, too!

Selene mused, wondering if maybe that was how she could be useful. Klika had told her that Dad loved people when they were useful. Siva and Avis and all her new little brothers and sisters – and she had a lot now – all got jobs as soon they got big enough. Even Klika had a job; she was a love collector, though how she actually collected love, Selene did not know. Idly, the little alicorn girl wondered if Luna would know.

But Selene was worried. If all her brothers and sisters had important jobs, why did she not have one? She was a big girl now; she had grown up to be as tall as the adults! Selene did not understand why she had no job. That scared her badly; Klika said Daddy would not love a loser!

Selene had no real understanding of how a family worked. Sure, Klika taught her how to cook and to clean and do laundry – at times, Selene even had to shoo the creepy, silent changeling, Ψ, out of the room so that she could do the chores, just like Klika taught her – but Klika would hit throw things at her or whack Selene in the head with her tail when the little alicorn did something wrong. Those did not hurt… much, and never left a mark, but it still bothered Selene.

The worst parts, though, were the insults. “You idiot! How could Dad love someone as stupid as you?” Klika had yelled at her many times. And Selene would cry, Klika would whack her in the head, and then she would show Selene the correct way of doing whatever she had just messed up on. Every time that happened, Selene promised herself she would be better.

The first time Selene had dodged Klika’s tail, she had expected her big sister to whack her again. Instead, Klika had hugged her and whispered, “Good, good. Don’t get hit. You did good, Selene.” But Selene was confused. If Klika was happy for her, why did she sound so mad? And why did her fingers feel like knives on her spine? Selene’s confusion melted away as the hug continued; Klika smelled so good that it made her feel all warm and fuzzy and happy. But it also made the slit in between her legs itch really badly. And then she felt tired.

Earlier mysteries forgotten, Selene obtained a new question later that evening: why had Klika left those dead birds and squirrels in her bed? That was gross. Now she had to wash those sheets again. Maybe Luna had a cleaning spell she could use.

This went on for several weeks. Every time Selene did something bad, Klika would punish her, but never when Dad was looking. And every time Selene did something good and her dad complimented her, Klika would add that she had helped teach her that skill. Dad would then praise her too. Afterwards, Klika would hug her and tell her that she was loved, and Selene would feel the warm feeling again. She could not quite remember why Klika’s smell made her feel that way. What was it that Dad had mentioned? Pheromones?

Klika’s behavior towards her did not really bother Selene. She was making herself useful, she was loved, and that was all that mattered. 

And with everything Selene learned, she got better at doing every task, or at least dodging and blocking when she still occasionally messed up. For this particular instance of failure, Klika lobbed an empty soda can at her head. “You know, I doubt you’re strong enough to crush that can into a little ball,” Klika gibed.

“I am too strong enough!” Selene yelled back.

“Oh yeah? Prove it, wimp.” Selene immediately grabbed the can and began crushing it between her hands. “I meant with your magic,” Klika snapped.

“Oh, whoops…” Selene levitated the partially crushed can before her face and watched it violently implode. Once it was as small as she could make it, no larger than a cherry pit, Selene enthusiastically tossed it back to her adoptive big sister. “See, I told you I was strong enough!”

“Hmmm…” Klika hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe you are.” The faintest of smiles crossed Klika’s lips as her tail drooped to the floor; that was all the approval Selene needed.

Though, there was one thing that mildly bothered Selene, her despised vocal tic aside. Every time Klika had cooked since she had started tutoring Selene, she made pigeon stew. Selene hated pigeon stew.





Spark imagined himself to be a soldier in a bomb squad. Considering the unknown, love-and-hate filled object in his hands, the comparison was apt. Jak, like the chicken he was, was observing Spark through a window. The scientist greatly admired his partner’s willingness to stay at his side if things went FUBAR.

“You keep at it, Spark! I’m right here if ya’ need me. And if something goes kaboom, mahh… I’ll be the first out the door!”

Such loyalty. Spark huffed and refocused on his examination of the artifact, a crystal swirling with the colors of dark magic, black purple, and acid green, though hints of blue and pink could also be seen.  He drove his own magic further and further into the workings of the crystal, looking for anything that might be a trap.

“Well, anything?” Jak’s muffled voice said, wafting through the glass barrier between them.

“Give me a minute,” Spark huffed. “Almost… got it… THERE!” He let out a deep sigh of relief. “You can come in now. It won’t blow up.”

“Mahh…” Jak grunted dismissively. “I think I’ll stay put. What did you find?”

“It’s as Victor said it was: a summoning spell. Drain the crystal of love, and it becomes brittle. Smash to dissipate the hate, and the spell triggers,” Spark explained. “There’s a tracking spell to tell him where the crystal goes, but it seems to be permanently active, rather than activated with the rest of the spell work.”

“So it’s a good thing Taruke brought it here, right?”

“Yeah,” Spark agreed. “I…”

“Spark, what is it?” Jak asked when the scientist fell silent. He placed his hand on the glass nervously. “Spark?”

<<Sorry, I just thought of something,>> Spark replied apologetically over the link. <<I’m no expert on dark magic, but what if he did something to the crystal that I cannot detect? It’s best if we say nothing aloud, alright?>>

<<Oh, good point,>> Jak agreed.

Smirking, Spark added, <<And it’s your turn to work with it anyway. Have at it, lover boy!>> 

Spark stood and walked to the door. As Jak walked past him, Spark reached out a hand and gave him a slight push on the back. The head love collector stumbled forwards, almost tumbling into the cursed jewel before he caught his balance. “Not funny, man. And where the hell do you think you’re going?”

Spark smirked again from behind the glass. <<Oh, just here. I’ll show you the same loyalty you showed me.>>

Jak raised his hand, as if to argue the point. He opened his mouth, then closed it. It opened again, and closed again. The suspended arm lowered down to Jak’s side. <<Touché.>> He sat down cross-legged in front of the jewel. Spark felt a surge of magical energy flow from Jak to himself. <<That’s almost all the magic I have. My heart will stop in, oh, about ten minutes if this doesn’t work. Don’t let me die, ok?>>

<<No promises.>>

Jak growled aloud. <<NOT. HELPING.>> After glaring at Spark for several seconds, he turned his attention to the crystal in front of him. Spark watched the love inside fluctuate before leaking outwards and into Jak. When all but half of the love had been depleted, the collector stopped. A look of contemplation formed on his face, and for several minutes, he did not talk.

Spark was getting nervous. Jak’s time limit was fast approaching, but he did not want to interrupt and ruin Jak’s work by returning his magic. At the last possible second, the collector called out, “Love, now!”

The surge of energy raced out of Spark’s body and into Jak’s. He noticed that he had given too much and had dipped slightly into his own supply, but Spark did not care. Instead, he was curious about the-

“It’s a bust, I think.”

Spark blinked. “What? Why?”

<<Well,>> Jak said, pausing to form his answer, <<when I compared how much love I ‘swallowed’ and how much energy I got, it didn’t add up. Unless there is something really inefficient about this crystal, I don’t think this love magic from the Crystal Curse will help us. It’s like candy; a sweet treat that is better than total starvation, but offers almost nothing of value.>>

Spark’s shoulders slumped. <<That’s… disappointing.>>

<<And here I thought the nerd would say we need more data. I would need to see a living bearer of the curse and extract a fresh sample,>> Jak commented. <<I would also try sleeping with one of them to see if they are capable of producing natural lust like the other humans.>>

<<More data,>> Spark mumbled. In his mind, images of Rosaline’s shapely ass and breasts bounced around. <<Yes, that’s what we need. More data.>>





Chrysalis smiled as she watched her next order arrive from the human world. Her changelings, disguised as humans, eagerly unpacked the refrigerator truck parked on the opposite side of her portal. Meats from the human world tasted divine, in Chrysalis’s opinion. Lamb, beef, deer, swine, horse, all farm-raised animals from Earth made Equua’s fauna seem bland in comparison. And there was just something perversely satisfying, in her opinion, about eating the flesh of her fellow hoofed creatures without the twinge of guilt she got from eating the flesh of an intelligent creature. A not-so-guilty pleasure, so to speak. 

“Caress my ears.” Chrysalis giggled softly. One of the truck drivers, under her hypnotic control while her changeling unloaded his vehicle, stroked her mane and caressed her ears. Chrysalis practically purred under his the gentle touch of his fingers. She could not help it; changeling ears were particularly sensitive and this human’s hands were practically made for worshiping her body.

The hands stopped. “Caress my ears,” Chrysalis said automatically. Despite the annoying side effect of needing to keep re-issuing her command, Chrysalis mentally praised Rex for a job well done on this spell of his, to which he replied his thanks. True, it was not the elusive  retroactive-and-high-precision memory spell they had been working towards for years now, but for its imperfect function, the spell worked perfectly. “Caress my ears.”

Rex really did know how to spoil a girl. From technology, information, and food resources to his occasional spell that he invented or repurposed, Rex had given her hive enough to boost her to the position of one of the wealthiest mares in her world and had given her hive phenomenal political and economic power. Though it was not world domination yet – not even close – Chrysalis could make any individual or group suffer from what looked like a series of unconnected accidents and coincidences that occurred so fast, her target had no time to recover. And she loved it. “Caress my ears, my slave.”

“Yes, Mistress,” the hypnotized human replied.

She in turn had given Rex access to information, raw materials unobtainable on Earth, and access to a foreign marketplace in which his tech held a monopoly. Despite the fact that each hive’s currency was no good to the other, they had managed to come to an agreement. Chrysalis would play the role of retail, selling Rex’s goods for bits, trading the bits for resources, and selling the resources to Rex. Her counterpart, in turn, would do the inverse in his markets.

Her ‘pet’ human stopped rubbing her ears again. Looking out at her changelings, the queen observed that they had completely emptied the truck. “Slave, get in the truck.” He crossed through the portal and did as he was told. “Count to twenty.”

“One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine…” He trailed off and stared blankly into space. Chrysalis nodded in approval; he was clear to go.

“Drive to your place of work,” Chrysalis commanded. The truck started and pulled out. Just as it started to turn the corner, the changeling queen dispelled the magic surrounding the truck driver’s head. Giggling to herself, as she closed the portal to the other world, Chrysalis idly mused on having the royal masseur learn to work with hands. Such wonderful things, really.





Ed was confused. His truck was empty, the delivery confirmation paperwork was signed and dated, and he was driving back to the distribution center. So what the hell had happened? One minute, he was pulling up to the warehouse listed on his delivery instructions, and the next, he was on his way home.

And he could not remember any of the time in between at all. Only three things alerted him that something had changed: the gear of his truck had been in drive rather than reverse, the scene outside his windshield had jumped, and forty nine minutes had inexplicably passed in an instant.

It was not until he had pulled over that the full extent of the changes could be seen. Eventually, Ed came to a conclusion and a decision. He pulled out his phone and placed it against his ear. “Hey, Nurse, what does it mean to lose almost an hour’s worth of memory?”





Shining Armor, a changeling of two-and-a-half years and Captain of the Royal Guard for six, followed dutifully behind his princess. He hated having his loyalties conflicted between the princesses and the queen, but he realized that there was no use crying over spilled milk. What had happened, happened, and he just had to make the best of it.

There were perks to his situation. Since the vast majority of his hive mates lived in Equestria, it was in her best interests to make Equestria prosper, meaning that her goals and the Princess’s goals often aligned. He could interrogate criminals better now that he was a living lie detector. His favorite perk was his wife; saying she loved him was about as much of an understatement as saying the sun glowed like a match. And the sex, the mind-blowingly amazing sex. Shining Armor knew every trick in the changeling book and his wife loved to experiment.

But, while it may not have been his favorite perk, the most important one was foreknowledge. The hive mind allowed him instant access to informants across the city. So, while not admissible evidence in court, it gave his men in the police branch a place to start investigating. But in this case in particular, it gave him access to information even the princess did not know. That lent him a guess as to why Princess Celestia had called this small meeting

Shining stepped into Celestia’s private office, following closely behind her. As the door shut behind him, he could see Celestia’s horn light up with a set of spells that he knew well. As a bubble of golden light expanded, he warned his friends in the hive not to worry, for as the bubble hit, his link to the hive faded into silence. Only an obscenely powerful anti-scrying ward could disrupt the hive link, and only maybe a dozen ponies existed at any given time even had a chance of casting something that strong.

Shining Armor was not worried about any of the spells his Princess had just cast. No, what he was worried about was the spell she was now preparing. The guard Captains were the only ponies who knew with any certainty exactly how strong the princesses were. And this? This scared him badly. Celestia’s horn bubbled purple and green with hints of black: dark magic. Hatred, wrath, and fear surged to levels he had never before witnessed within the princess.

Shining Armor braced himself, clamping down on his transformation and shut off his passive feeding. He nearly sighed in relief as the ambient negative emotions stopped eating away at him, but kept his focus as he braced for the impact that the Celestia’s spell would cause when cast.

As a tradition, each unicorn Captain would try to create a unique spell for the guard. Inspired by the advanced biological knowledge of the other world, Shining Armor’s incomplete and unnamed spell cast billions of microscopic force fields using the cell membranes of his skin as a template. As Shining felt his spell take root, he prayed that it would at least protect him from the worst of the backlash from Celestia’s dark magic.

And then the spell struck. A rapidly expanding sphere of dark magic emanated from Celestia’s horn, washing over the Captain. For the briefest of instances, Shining Armor believed his spell would hold, as he felt no pain. However, that was not to last. The acidic magic punctured a portion of the magically insulating foam Shining’s spell had created. The changeling could feel his cells dying and rotting in his body.

And then it was over. The whole event, from the time he had noticed his princess casting dark magic to now, had taken less than a second. Shining Armor teetered slightly as his internal magic did its best to repair him. Celestia glanced over at him. “A precautionary measure… Captain Shining Armor, are you all right?”

“I am fine, your highness. It’s… just a little dizzy spell. I’ve been somewhat sensitive to magic since whatever happened to me since the attack a few years ago. You’ve noticed that I rarely use magic nowadays, right? Well, it seems that your spell did a number on my nerves,” the false unicorn replied, chuckling slightly as he regained his posture. Undetectably, he reactivated his passive feeding, happy to restore the empathic sixth-sense it provided, and happier still that the negative emotions were all gone.

“Oh dear, may I take a look?” Celestia asked, her voice more motherly than before.

“No, no, I'm fine.” In truth, he was not fine yet; he just did not want Celestia probing him with any medical spells that might compromise his situation. Celestia, though her face remained adorned with motherly love, experienced a very subtle shift in emotions. There was slightly less concern for Shining Armor and slightly more concern about Shining Armor; the distinction was monumental, despite its subtle nature.

“Very well, if you say so.” Celestia closed her eyes, mentally probing the wards of the room. When she next spoke, her tone was firm and deathly serious. “Rumor has it that one of Equestria’s most powerful enemies, long thought dead, is returning, and with allies.” Shining knew all of this, of course; his queen had broadcast the memories of all relevant conversations to the entire hive.

To keep his façade up, he reacted as if this was news to him. “Princess? Which enemy?”

“I am not at liberty to say just yet. Rumors also claim he has some observational presence within this castle. The last spell I used was an extra precaution. Unfortunately, if the source of this rumor is discovered by our enemy, we lose an ally. So, until Luna returns from the dream realm with absolute proof of his survival or the survival of an heir to his ideals, we can make no visible actions.”

“Understood, Princess,” Shining Armor replied.

“Good.” At that moment, the privacy spells began unraveling. As they fell, Celestia commented in a much more relaxed tone, “Princess Cadance has gone out to play; want to join her? Or would you like tea and chocolate cake instead? The chef’s special icing is to die for!” To anypony else outside of a high-ranking guard, those sentences were rather ordinary; to Shining Armor, they meant something completely different. 

“X has gone out to play; want to join her” meant that the situation looked dire enough that the listener should spend some final time with his or her family. “Tea and chocolate cake” meant that the meeting was top secret. Variations in drink and dessert determined who could know. In this case, nopony would ever hear of that meeting ever again. Finally, the last sentence indicated the reason for the secrecy. Shining Armor interpreted it as “to control panic and protect civilians”.

However, by the time the final words had left Celestia’s mouth, the final ward had fallen, reestablishing his connection to the hive. In the first second, Queen Chrysalis knew everything. By the second second, King Rex did too.





“My plan worked, sister of mine!” Siva strutted in through the doorway to the cheap apartment, loudly proclaiming his success.

“He actually fell for it? And took the offer?” Avis replied, thoroughly bemused that his zany idea had worked. She set the water bottle and note that she had been holding down on the table.

“Well…” Siva replied with mock shame, “I did have to use a little hypnosis, barely enough to do anything except loosen his mind a little. At least his eyes weren't glowing at the end, sister of mine.”

Avis’ eyes quickly glanced back at the bottle before returning to her twin just as fast. Standing from where she had been seated, she walked forwards and embraced her brother. “Regardless, celebration is in order; you are the first changeling to feed off of another’s fame, and you didn't even have to replace him, dear brother of mine!”

Siva, having noticed his sister’s eye movement, asked, “What’s the white stuff in the bottle?”

“It’s from our dear father. The note said that it’s ‘royal jelly’ or something like that. He wants me to drink it all. No explanation why, though,” Avis replied.

Siva raised his currently blond eyebrow. “Royal jelly? I didn't even know we had royal jelly. I wonder if it is anything like bee jelly.”

Avis frowned. “I still don’t know what it is.”

“Then let me educate you, sister of mine!” Siva bowed with an overly dramatic flourish. Upon standing upright again, he said, “Royal jelly, for bees at least, is food for developing larvae. If given a small amount, you get a drone. Given a larger amount, you get a worker bee. And, if you give the larvae more than it could ever eat, it becomes a queen bee.”

“So why give me this?” Avis asked as she looked into the thick, white fluid within the bottle.

“Considering that we’re changelings of the worker caste, and we’ve never needed royal jelly before…” Siva paused. A contemplative look grew on his face. “I think it’s a promotion. You are the Vegas Colony leader after all, Princess Avis.”

Avis blinked and took an unconscious step back. “Me… A true queen? Is that even possible?”

Siva snickered. “There’s only one way to find out, sister of mine.” Grabbing the bottle of sweetly scented royal jelly, he pressed it into his sister’s hands. “Bottoms up!”

> A House of Cards, Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        A man and a woman parted ways at the airport; at least, that was what the world believed. It would be more accurate to say a monster and his servant separated to fight a two front battle. The latter was accompanied by two undetectable guards.

        <<You know your duties,>> I thought to my assistant as I walked away without looking back.

        <<Yes, my lord. I shall not fail you,>> he declared in return.

        <<At times, I will need your full cooperation. You know what that means.>>

        I felt him nod. <<Yes, my king. I have no objections to retreating into the darkness of my mind once more for you.>> I was about to interrupt, but he stopped me. <<No, I do this voluntarily and of my own will; you have no need to reimburse me for my services, or for the danger I face. I will gladly do my duties for you.>>

        I sent him a faint smile over the link. <<Thank you, Taruke. But you need not fully retreat. Watch, offer your advice, and if Luna’s analysis is correct, there’s something else I need you to do… >> 

        I quickly explained my plan to him. He nodded as a miniscule smirk appeared on his face. <<Your will be done, in mind, as it is in reality.>> I rolled my eyes. Why did he have to sound so biblical?





        Taruke rode in the cab, sitting next to Greed and behind Wrath. I, through Taruke’s senses, enjoyed the fresh, tropical air of Havana, Cuba. It had been too long since I had been to the beach, well before my own transformation. And sadly, neither of us would get to enjoy it now; there was not enough time. Still, I could enjoy the sights of the thriving little city, which had flourished upon the fall of the castro regime shortly after the turn of the century.

        When Taruke’s cab arrived, he sashayed into the restaurant that the Prince agreed to meet me in. As a testament to our combined transformation prowess, the form Taruke wore was a modified version of Rosaline, DiVinci’s secretary and right-hand woman. We stripped away the magical beauty provided by the Crystal Curse - easy when you know how it modifies a person - and then increased Rosaline’s natural beauty to the limit of what her genetics said she could be. Add a dab of makeup and tada, one hell of a beautiful woman.

        Greed, however, was of the opinion that the skin-tight, shiny, metallic, animated, tiny red dress was what gave Taruke’s figure its allure. I mean, how many dresses actively conform to a person’s body and amplify the jiggle caused by every step? Only one: mine.

I personally felt rather exposed without my bulletproof armor, but Victor had already seen me wear it. Thus, if Taruke wanted to impersonate me properly, he needed it more than I. Besides, It is not like I would stay dead if something happened to me, but Taruke would.

Walking into the restaurant, pheromones pumping, Taruke and his African-American styled bodyguards found Victor and Rosaline already sitting at a table. Victor was idly sipping his wine, lost in thought if the glazed expression was anything to go by. My trio sat down across from him, snapping him to attention, though the change in his expression is subtle.

Upon getting a raised eyebrow, Taruke spoke in a perfect imitation of Rosaline’s voice, “An idea is an interesting little creature, isn't it? Good afternoon, Mr. DiVinci.” Taruke offered out his hand in greeting. For me however, it was a ploy to get something else entirely from the crime lord. “I trust that you are feeling well?”

Victor reached out his hand to reciprocate the gesture. The moment their skins touch, I pounced, using my magic through Taruke to shave off a fragment of Victor’s raw, unformed magic. Neither of them noticed anything more than a slight tingle that lasted less time than the handshake itself. I pulled that fragment into the link, and eventually to myself. 'Oh big man, you don't know everything, do you?'

Oblivious to my inner glee, Victor replied, “Very. King Rex, I am quite pleased with your acceptance to negotiate an alliance between our two factions. Although, I must ask about your... current apparel.”

Taruke replied, “Well, the familiar is comfortable, and you know this face intimately. Rosaline,” he looked at her, “take it as a compliment. You have a beautiful complexion, and it's my way of praising you by copying what comes naturally to you. I mean, have you seen my real face? And besides, you look nice in a tiny red dress.” Honestly, I was not sure whether the flirting was coming from me or Taruke, but it did not matter. Our words did their job.

A mischievous twinkle shone in Rosaline’s eye. “I look good in anything. And sometimes even nothing at all.”

I swore, there must have been a ten-foot pole in DiVinci’s ass for him to be that unreactive to his assistant. Or he could be just that used to having his pole in her ass. ‘Yeah, that’s it,’ I decided in jest. There’s a reason I call him “Big Man,” and it had very little to do with his hat size, yet much to do with his head.

I had Taruke wink. Through him, I declared, “We know.”

I think Victor was desperately trying to think of something else, for he focused on my guards. His mild disgust just harmlessly rolled off Greed and Wrath due to their training-from-hell, but Taruke, the most vulnerable of the trio, had to stop himself from flinching.

“I’m afraid I’m not much one for wasted words and banial pleasantries, so let us get right to the point, shall we? Since I was the one who proposed the alliance in the first place I will defer the opening negotiations to you. Though we have discussed them in short before, please state your terms now.” As Victor spoke, the significantly more cheerful Rosaline pulled out a little recording device. Realizing that that was a good idea, Taruke commanded Change.lng to record the proceedings as well.

“Spoilsport.” Taruke mock-frowned. “Hmmm... Well, for starters, I think we should establish our absolute boundaries. As long as neither crosses these limits, I feel as if we could work amicably together indefinitely, provided that nothing else changes. I'll start. You know this one already, but for the record, I insist that you avoid dark magic around my changelings. Harmony style is fine, as long as you do nothing to harm them. Second, due to the contagion of emotion, I ask you to avoid changeling territory to prevent your influence from... damaging our crops.” Upon seeing Victor’s sour expression, Taruke defensively raised his hands. “Hey, a day or two is fine; just don't move to Atlanta or the likes.”

At that moment, the waiter interrupted. In his thick Spanish accent, he asked, “For you, señora?”

Apologetically, Taruke disengaged himself from the conversation with a simple “Excuse me.” Pulling on the combined memory of over a dozen Spanish speaking changelings, Taruke replied, “Sorprende a los tres de nosotros. Estoy seguro de que un hombre como usted tiene un gusto excelente.”

The waiter, happier than before, replied, “Sí, señora.”

Taruke, upon the waiter’s departure, said, “Sorry, I couldn't keep him waiting. Hmmm... And three, most importantly, do not reveal us to the humans. The day you say 'changeling' to the public is the day we declare war on you. But you're a smart man, and keeping the status quo means that the rules of the game don't change.” Taruke gave a heartwarming, genuine smile good enough to trick even the best humans. How I love the extreme control we changelings have over our bodies. “Now it's your turn to build walls and make testosterone-fueled death threats. Be dominant.” He pretended to speak the next sentence under his breath, but Taruke’s words were intentionally loud enough to be heard by everyone at table. “I like my men that way.”

The faintest of smiles crossed Victor’s generally scowling face. “That shouldn’t be a problem. My boundaries are rather simple, and while I understand that your kind thrives upon deception, there must be honesty on both sides for this alliance of ours to work. First and foremost: no hiding. I’ll have no changelings or thralls infiltrating any of my various organizations for any reason. Any inquiries you may have will simply have to go through the proper channels. On that note, I’ll need you to identify each and every individual changeling already working for me and any attempting to do so in the future, and don’t even consider skipping a few because I have ways of sniffing them out. Rest assured, I won’t strip them of their employment, simply keep an eye on them. Finally, do not meddle in the affairs of myself, my senior staff or my inner circle. I ask this not only out of a need for privacy but for your hive’s safety. Many of our dealings could tend to prove rather... counter-productive to a continued changeling livelihood.”

I know intellectually that I should be taking this more seriously, but I am finding this to be really fun. I also know that his threat was very real, but I half-heartedly wished that he had come up with something more creative. My real body, still on the airplane to Houston, winced as I reevaluated that last thought. Then, my thoughts gravitated back towards Sal and what happened this morning, and I sighed. I do not want to think about it right now.

Those strange thoughts fell within a lull in the conversation, during which DiVinci paused to take a sip of his wine. He swallowed, then spoke, “I trust this is agreeable to you. If you’ve nothing to add, then let us move on to the next order of business. What do you hope to gain from this venture?”

I instruct Taruke to look contemplative, though I’ve already known what I want and could reasonably acquire from Victor. I also expected such a condition from him; if a little exposure saves a lot of pain, then I am supportive of it. Besides, it is not like he could check every single one of his countless employees and every single person every employee ever encounters. 

Finally, after a second or two of “deep thought”, Taruke finally replied, “That... is agreeable, on one condition. Your Crystal Curse ensures loyalty to you, yes? It will be to them and only them to which my changelings reveal themselves, and only when prompted. The question will be, 'Have you ever wished to see a world of pure imagination?' The answer will be, 'I already have seen it,' followed by a swift change in eye color.

“As for infiltrators, well, I run my hive a bit differently than Chrysalis does. We royals can influence the degree free will in our hive. Chrysalis grants about 90% free will, which is like having a voice in your head that gives advice from time to time. I keep it at about 95%, which is merely a whisper. My point is if a changeling has a job that so happens to be under your employment, it's theirs for their own reasons, not mine. About 60% of my hive is composed of love collectors, a staggering percentage due to the low energy yield of human emotions. Of that, maybe 25% are deep plants that hold permanent identities, which are what would cause you the most trouble. Trimming down further, we have one, maybe two dozen who even have a chance of interacting with your businesses. Off the top of my head, only Leonardo Ludwig, Carter Long, and Gregory Daniels have had any business with you. Oh, and the latter happens to be the father of my head love collector, Jak. I'm rambling...” Taruke shook his head.

Finally getting to the point, Taruke rhetorically asked, “Now, what do I want? Food, defense, and power, in that order. For food... Rosaline, if you would?” 

It was the moment of truth. Would my changelings findings regarding Victor’s summoning crystal be supported or refuted? I prayed to no particular deity for the latter. Rosaline looked to her boss for approval, which he gave. “Gladly,” she replied. The love that suddenly radiated from her, as strangely thick and heavy as it was, invoked bliss within my three changelings. Bliss turned to horror, then anger and despair when they realized that no matter how much love they swallowed, their magic reserves never went up.

Unable to maintain his silence, Greed snarled, “I fuckin’ hate being scammed.”

In unison, Wrath and Taruke growled, “Agreed.”

Offended, Victor frowned and replied, “Scammed. You believe I would scam you?”

<<Yes, actually,>> Greed thought to us.

Ignoring that, Taruke replied to Victor, “Not willingly.” My devoted assistant reached for his unused bread plate. “Though crude, my guard has a point. Perhaps a demonstration is needed.”

The false Rosaline touched his two index fingers to the plate, where two pink drops formed, one clear and one cloudy. Seeing the visible difference between the two almost made me gag; the cloudiness was disgusting. I cannot believe that Taruke, Greed, and Wrath actually swallowed that. “Rosaline's artificial love is, upon tasting, virtually identical to the real stuff, with the exception of a slight metallic aftertaste. But once it's in...” Taruke tipped the plate. The clear drop, as expected, runs like water. The cloudy false love moves like honey. No, on second thought, tar was a more apt description. “Jak described it best. It's like sugar-free candy; it's a tasty treat, but almost nutritionally useless.” 

<<That’s one hell of an understatement, Taruke,>> I commented.

<<I know, my lord. Please, just go with it.>>

Yet without missing a beat, Taruke continued speaking. “I could get more directly from Rosaline the old-fashioned way. And now I'm really hungry.” Again, an understatement. “Where is the waiter with our food?”

At the mention of food, the eyes of all three changelings dart to the dark unicorn-man across the table. Compared to the humans we have been feeding off of, he would be like an all-you-can-eat buffet if he would just. Fucking. RELAX! I shook my real head in disappointment. ‘Actually, considering that his magic would come back with time and those huge reserves of his, he is an all-you-can-eat buffet.’ 

Taruke agreed with my sentiments. “At least you, Victor, would make one hell of a meal, or at least better company, if you would just relax and have fun. Unlike humans, you could give indefinitely, if not all at once.”

Among all the mix of ambient emotions perforating throughout the restaurant, one common and growing element was lust. The lungs made for a far better dispersal mechanism for our sexy smells than skin and sweat, in my humble opinion. Even Mr. Negativity was starting to feel my changelings’ sway.

 “I see, though for your own sake I would advise against attempting to feed on me. If past events are any indicator, I’m afraid I’d prove a rather... caustic meal.” 

‘Maybe, Victor,’ I thought, ‘or maybe not. Desire is desire, be it for money, power, violence, companionship, or pleasure of the flesh. I know you can feel the lighter emotions. The most powerful dark mages are hedonists; no way would they deprive themselves of pleasure. Thus, the key is to overwhelm your negativity with bliss, and make sure that we are the targets of your affection.’ I chuckled aloud; the person next to me on the airplane gave me a strange look for my random outburst. ‘Your feelings for Rosaline have already weakened your negativity towards me; this is significantly more pleasant than the last time we met. And the longer we talk, the worse for you we get; mere exposure makes you tolerate us more, and our bodies grow tolerant of your brand of hate.’

 As I conducted my inner monologue, Taruke listened as Victor spoke. “Now, I believe you had two other requests. Defense and power, if I am not mistaken?”

“Power comes later; I do not need your help yet on that front,” Taruke responded. “Defense, though, I do need your cooperation. I do not care what you do, but our greatest defense is our non-existence in the eyes of the humans. Do your best to keep it that way. However, I could imagine that, with the arrival of new Gatekeepers, magic and eventually changelings might be exposed. When that happens, I'll need your help in the form of two favors. First, help me pass a set of laws to help 'regulate' magic use; note the ironic emphasis. Second, and this is an idea that I encourage you to use too, help me spread a rumor. I want people to think that we are related to the fair folk of European Mythology, if not literally Fae. I especially want emphasis on the 'burnt by iron' part; we act along and ta-da, a fake weakness to give the illusion of control. You could play up the devil act, cringing in fear of religious symbols.” My loyal follower winked. “You know, just in case.”

Victor smirked. A merry twinkle danced in his eyes, like a child on christmas. I suddenly pictured a chibi version of him holding a “My Little Satanic Overlord” playset, and promptly burst out in roaring laughter, possibly due to my need to find happy thoughts. Now all the people on my flight thought I was insane, but I did not care in the least. Then, ‘... and it has Cadance and Shining armor action figures as the pure little ponies defending the Crystal Empire!’

Unaware of the comedy he wrought hundreds of miles away, Victor said, “I always was rather partial to theatrics, and It’d be no small stretch of the truth to play the part of the Dæmon of Shadows.” Victor smiled for a moment at the thought, though after a few seconds his expression became more thoughtful and pensive. After a moment he spoke a little more quietly, as if he was thinking aloud rather than talking to the others at the table. “Yes, that sounds reasonable. I may already have the gears set in motion... “

‘And thus, the evil overlord takes advice from the Evil Overlord List. Yet his potential allies, or perhaps his greatest threat, already knows the truth of his achilles heel. Alas, it does them no good.’ 

I was having way too much fun with this. Great, now Taruke was annoyed with my antics. <<Yes, Taruke, your king is bored to tears on this cramped, noisy airplane.  YES, Taruke, you are currently the most entertaining changeling in the hive right now. Yes, Taruke, sarcasm does taste like salted lemonade.>> For the record, all of that was true.

“Yes, that all sounds agreeable,” Victor said, “and should be easy enough to achieve. As for myself...” He paused, considering his words. “I suppose, in the end, what it all boils down to is rather simple. I want what any man with power wants: more power. I want you to help me achieve this end in various ways. I’m fully aware of just how much Equestria has advanced in the thousand years since Sombra’s banishment, and that you access to the Canterlot Archives.” How did he know that? Was he watching when I told Celestia? “I’d like whatever knowledge you’ve managed to glean from them, and I do mean all of it. Magic, history, sciences, culture, everything. Knowledge is something I covet very highly.”

His gaze flickered to the two drops on the plate. “On that note, I’d also appreciate it if you could ‘lend’ me one of your changeling scientists. I could much benefit from such a particular perspective, and it would go a long way in helping to create a viable solution for your food problem.”

‘Or, you could, you know, relax and let us feed from you. It’s entirely a mindset issue. Yeah, you’re toxic and corrosive normally, but so is battery acid, and you can still get power from both if you use it right.’ Ok, so maybe I was a bit impatient for my first game to progress, but how could I not be? The prize was food!

Did I think with my stomach too much? Gluttony must have been rubbing off on me. Or was it I on her?

 Victor continued speaking uninterrupted. “Also, as I’ve stated before, I want your political backing. Equestria has officially acknowledged you as your own sovereign state, and as per this alliance I expect your support for my claiming of the Crystal Throne when it is no doubt inevitably disputed. The same applies to this world, though I expect that I will require a far different method of assistance on our side of The Divide.”

‘My Little Satanic Overlord. Of course.’ My own joke came full circle and bit me in the ass. Still, I had to finish it. ‘Go, little Cadance! Use your love shield action!’

Victor paused to finish his wine, and I noted that he really seemed to like these supposedly dramatic pauses. I had to remind myself that humans, even really smart ones, could not think as many things at once as a changeling royal, and that Victor might actually needed time to compose his thoughts. Then again, so does everyone else, so that is not a bad thing.

“Moving on. The next order of business I’d like to address, while not directly part of our particular alliance per se, I feel bears attention; you mentioned them already.” 

He was interrupted by the arrival of the trio’s meal, a fish dish. Flounder, if I am not mistaken. Taruke and his guards dug in with gusto, though they maintained their good manners throughout. 

“Gatekeepers. They could rapidly become a major problem if proactive steps are not taken,” Victor said, emphasizing a point that I had long known. I had to restrain Wrath from pointing at Victor himself. “I say we create a new, underground organization, a sort of Council of the Fae, in keeping with the proposed rumors. It’s purpose would be to seek out, monitor, control, organize and if need be support and protect anything ‘supernatural’ around the world.”

‘I already have that.’ Passing the memory of the conversation to a certain group of hard-working changelings, I added, <<Thank you, Silencer Division.>> Several cheers were my reply. If only Victor knew the thoughts we thought while he was talking. I think the idea of an alliance was making me relax more than I should.

 “Most notably would be other Gatekeepers,” Victor declared, “all of whom must join, without exception. It will act as a sort of shadow government, writing laws for, such as you mentioned, the use of magic. It will serve as a way to unify us all, no matter how manner more Gatekeepers appear or how they affect the world, and will help keep both us and the humans safe from each other. Should it be needed, it will offer safe haven to any of ilk who need it, especially when the Crystal Empire appears. And though it goes without saying, you and I will be it founders and leading members, if for no other reason than the right of experience and the means to make it a reality. 

“Have you anything else to add?”

Taruke paused his eating and lowered his fork. “I have mixed emotions. On the good side, I agree with your proposal on creating magic regulation, but I have an alternate proposal. What if my company publicly 'discovered' a way to cross to the other side and, for a maintenance fee, allowed anyone or anypony to cross? This would be a controlled global introduction to the other universe and give you legal access to a whole new market. Your customers won't be worrying about where their magic potions came from then. While your partner is... indisposed, I have the manpower to create a shipping and tourism empire the likes the world has never seen, and you have goods to sell.”

Victor frowned, looking thoughtful. “I’m... not quite so sure. Such a thing could lead to disastrous results, especially once new Gatekeepers begin cropping up. As much as things have changed recently, I don’t think the world is quite ready for it, and neither is Equestria for that matter. Maybe once ‘The Fae’ become known and the supernatural is accepted as truth we could begin a careful and controlled introduction to the world, but...”

“I think it could speed that acceptance up, and it doesn't mean that we have to expose ourselves. Food for thought...” What the Shadow King did not know was that I was planning to go ahead and expose the two worlds to one another before another Gatekeeper could. It would reduce the shock value if I controlled the reaction, and it would give me a viable excuse to involve the militaries of the world in the event that Victor did what I expected him to do.

Victor, ever frowning, deepened his expression further as his thought for a moment. He grimaced. “Let’s just table this discussion for now. We could further discuss this once we can see what the immediate future holds.”

“Yes.” Taruke paused ever-so-briefly to denote the change in topic. “Well, I planned to share some magic knowledge with any magic-using Gatekeepers. But on the neutral-bad side of things, I'm going to have to limit your access to the archives. You will get most if it, I assure you, but not all. I will not be letting you have any time spells - physics works differently here, so they don't work. At all. Instant death. You will not be getting most of the black archive; some of that stuff makes Nazi death camps look like good family fun by comparison. And, although I'm sure that you would love the spell that makes you orgasm for hours on end, you will not be getting any spells from the changeling private collection.” Taruke’s feminine voice changed from a dangerous tone to practically purring in a split-second. “Although, I could demonstrate some of the more fun ones if either of you are interested.” Wrath snorted in amusement.

“Lastly, the question has always been, do you see too much to get the big picture? I now have my answer, and it is yes. Game two, move two, though I never expected this to be how I use it.  We are already on opposite sides of this. If you had asked me to help you conquer the griffins, I would have leapt at the chance. Anyone else, and I would have given a token effort to aid you. But your reputation, merely by association, is to your detriment. No, I will not help you or Sombra take or maintain power in the Crystal Empire; quite the opposite, I intend to obstruct you. All Sombra has to do is walk away, and we can be the best of buddies. But for as long as a dark king sits on the Crystal Throne, you deny two nations, and more importantly, my nation's counterparts, food and safety. And I'm sure that, if angry Equestrians and Changelings are not enough, the Americans would be quite interested in an artifact that can boost the morale of an entire planet. You claim Sombra is sane now? Show me. Even a sociopath knows when to cut his losses."

During Taruke's speech, Victor's anger grew and grew, beating against them like acidic waves. Simply shutting off their passive feeding, as disconcerting as it was, was enough to protect Greed and Wrath from the latter's namesake emotion due to their innate resistance. Taruke was not as lucky. Having not undergone as rigorous of an negative emotion immunization course, the negative emotions that still seeped in burnt away at him. Wrath extended his hand under the table, pushing numbing spells and raw magic into Taruke to ease the pain.

“So I present to you the only three choices you have. One, if for any reason Sombra vacates the throne, you have my full cooperation. Two, if by your inaction, Sombra retains his position, and you provide no aid or hindrance to him, then I will uphold our alliance to the letter and no more; Sombra, not you, will be my enemy. Three, if you aid Sombra in any manner, you will have violated a portion of this alliance you have already agreed upon; A small branch of my hive has taken up permanent residence in Canterlot and Sombra threatens their food supply. Act, and we reciprocate in kind.”

As if the message was not clear enough in words, I decided to punctuate my ultimatum with action. All three of my changelings simultaneously and violently stabbed their fish with their forks. They all took a bite while staring intently at Rosaline. After swallowing with an audible gulp, Greed licked his lips with his extra-long tongue while Taruke and Wrath simply smiled, displaying fangs that were not there an instant ago.

“Food stylists are one of the highest paying freelance jobs in the advertising industry,” Greed commented, as if it was the most normal and appropriate thing to say at that very moment. “I'd think you'd do well in that business, Mr. DiVinci.” 

Taruke, picking up on the idea, added in a light and teasing tone, “I know that Nick had an apple shaped ball-gag at one point... Oh beautiful Rosaline, what ever will your boss do? Decisions, decisions... So many good choices. How do you like the odds?”

        “ENOUGH!” The Shadow Prince roared. His voice, empowered by magic, was deep and reverberating. It rattled glass and silenced the room.

        Fangs retracted and neutral expressions in place, Taruke replied, “...Fine. That is then. This is now. Make your decision when the time comes and stick with it. And for crying out loud, tell the poor girl you love her.” Taruke pointed at Rosaline, who was silently cheering that her boss had come to her aid. “Let her know that we bed bugs won't bite so long as you have any say about it.” Taruke extended his hand towards Victor, this time for a genuine handshake. “Now, are we allies, big man? Friends don't attack friends.”

“Yes, bug,” he spat, “we are allies. But know that if you hurt me or what's mine,  I will squash you, in ways more painful than you’ve ever known. Mayhaps you should remember, but Chrysalis was not always the last changeling monarch.”

Now I was confused. Yes, Chrysalis was currently the only monarch in the Equa hive, but only because the ascended royalty still was mortal. Wait, I get it, he wanted me to think he had something to do with their deaths. Well, it seemed that might did not equal historical knowledged. 

I smirked. Perfect. Every word that Taruke had spoken had been chosen with extreme care. DiVinci was feeling a powerful, murderous bloodlust directed towards Taruke as a result of the latter’s actions, rather than what my changeling was or just Victor’s general negativity. Let me just change that real quick. Taking control of Taruke’s body, I said, “Is there a crystal fly-swatter with my name on it? Kinky.” I chuckled lightly. Standing up, I dug through the purse that Taruke brought and pulled out a wad of cash. Palming it to obscure it from view, I made sure that Victor could tell I was holding something. “Well, I'll have my people draft up and send you a more formal document that you can read at your leisure. The flight to Las Vegas is a long one, if you are still interested in playing me, which will give you plenty of time. Now, one last thing before I go...”

We, for Taruke was still very much aware and sharing control of the body, swiftly walked around the table. After setting the cash in between Rosaline and Victor’s plates, we suddenly grabbed Victor’s head and planted a deep, passionate kiss on his lips. At first, it felt like kissing an open flame, but that quickly changed. Part chemical, part magical, we felt our Euphoria technique seize hold of him. His struggles against our earth pony-enhanced strength weakened and died out. As we continued to kiss him, he eventually started to return it, his dark magic betraying him and amplifying the passion he felt. Our tongues fought briefly for dominance before we let him into our mouth. Ash, that was what his mouth tasted like, hinted with the supposedly fine wine we would never taste. 

But his lust... All this time we had been eating garbage by comparison. The raw magic, flavored by pleasure rather than pain, amplified to the extreme by passion, and textured by mild confusion, it was orgasmic, a symphony of sensation, marred only by the lingering burn of darkness. The tip of his tongue, his sharp teeth, they cut into our mouth, seeking our blood. Yet the very lust we took from him healed the wounds faster than the hate could carve them into our flesh. It was suppose to be a controlled, clinical display of our ability, but it turned into something more.

But all good things must end. I pulled away before they, both Taruke and Victor, lost themselves completely. Taruke, embraced intimately by the one he calls god – he prays to me, worships me, despite my protests – and bombarded by sudden, extreme pleasure and power, almost lost the will to maintain his false skin. Victor, surprised by the rush of pleasure after having been emotionally primed for the last hour, almost lost control of his inhibitions. There is no doubt in my mind that if I had pushed him only a little more, the Shadow King would have stripped Taruke and had his way with him in public.

Still, even in the few seconds of the surprisingly potent kiss, I managed to snag more energy than four or five humans could provide when fully drained. And yet, if my very rough estimates are correct, even ballpark, then we merely took three percent of his reserves. Impressive. 'At the going rate I pay my changelings for their energy collection... Shit, that cash I gave them wasn't enough. And he could do that every day for the rest of his life and not bat an eye at that kind of energy drain. Meh, I won't tell him that just yet.'

Quickly, I distributed the energy to the shared reserves. Taruke turned and walked away, intent on escaping before the situation changed. "Thanks for lunch, big man!" He called out over his shoulder, "Remember, choose wisely."

 Taruke walked quickly to the waiter and passed him another, smaller wad of cash. It didn't matter right then that he was overpaying for the meal. Suddenly, Taruke quickly kissed the waiter on the cheek, much to the surprise of just about everyone. The waiter blushed furiously and stumbled slightly when he stepped back. "Muchas gracias por la comida. Está delicioso. Quédate con el cambio, señor," the changeling whispered. 

Taruke then did a quick turn, letting my armor's lower part stretch out into a skirt, which twirled a bit before tightening up around his female legs and butt. Fanservice complete, Taruke, Greed, and Wrath rode the high of lusty stares out of the building.

One quick turn on a dime when no one was looking, and the trio vanished into my false world. Another twist after a few minutes of floating in the darkness, and they reemerged next to the newly-appointed Queen Avis, in a low-end apartment on the shadier side of Las Vegas. 'And I'm still stuck on a damn plane because there are no other changelings to serve as an exit point in the whole freaking country of Texas!'

> A House of Cards, Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The tiny, frail-looking man looked disappointed, as if the meeting that he had just come out of had gone badly for him. The larger man behind him looked smug, as if he had just pulled the wool over his smaller companion's eyes.

The truth was entirely the opposite. The smaller man, a changeling named Taruke, had just conned the larger man, Dalian Peterson, the current majority shareholder of the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas, out of a significant portion of his ownership. Dalian was still the greatest single share owner, but it was the changelings, specifically several of Taruke's masks, that collectively owned the majority of the hotel.

The human millionaire was already on his way to fiscal ruin, and he did not even know it yet. In fact, he thought life was pretty good right now.

Beside the human, his secretary – a recent replacement of the distinctly inhuman kind – snickered to herself and to her real boss, the currently short Taruke.

“It was a pleasure, Mr. Oswin,” Peterson said, trying and failing to mask his inner smugness. “Tell your boss that I look forward to working with him more.”

“Oh... um, yes, I will,” Taruke replied, feigning a distracted response.

Minutes later and out of sight, Taruke shifted to another, if similar, form and began his walk through the desert heat towards the next hotel on his list, Caesars Palace. As he stepped onto the sidewalk, two seemingly ordinary Asian men, father and son, passed him in the opposite direction. Their goal was simple: make a fortune in the casinos. This was their fourth hotel that day, and the little green lights on their hands had already won them a half billion in total.

The hotels of Las Vegas would literally pay the very changelings that were buying them to buy them. And within two weeks, every major casino, every stage, and almost every possible place to have fun in that city would be theirs. Taruke smiled. <<Easy as pie.>>





        Change.ling synthesized a yawn of boredom. This job was not as fun as the digital changeling’s normal duties, which included hijacking porn websites and animating virtual whores so that there was no such thing as free porn anymore. ‘/Change.ling: Yes, this doesn’t even compare./’ Basically, his task was to infiltrate the computer indicated to him and force the numbers drawn by the randomness generator to be a specific combination. It supposed that it was for the good of the hive, after all, but he had never been a material individual. In fact, he had never even been alive in the first place. It supposed that this was a good thing, what he was doing, but that “Jackpot!” animation flashing over its avatar’s head was really starting to bother it.

        Greed, as a well-dressed Chinese man in his sixties, was having fun; this was his kind of place. Even though he had rigged the games to be in his favor, there was still some thrill to it. Sometimes, he even won jackpots without Change.lng’s help, which was even more fun.

        The only buzzkills were the eyes watching him as he wandered from machine to machine. Many were envious of his ability to hit jackpot so often, which was not so bad. Envy, while classically considered a negative emotion, actually had its roots in lust and desire, giving it a savory, smoky flavor that changelings enjoyed. It was not the envious eyes, however; it was the two disgusted, distrusting, and hateful pairs that sent shivers down Greed’s spine.

        Rosaline and Victor were watching him. Greed sighed; maybe he had been too obvious? Either way, it was time to make contact.

        The praetorian - an oddly fitting title considering the Roman theme of the hotel - walked towards one of the very high-stakes roulette wheels. This was one of Greed’s favorite games, as it took some skill to influence the outcome the way he wanted it to. It also tended to be more profitable than the slots if he really played hard.

        Rosaline, as if summoned by his mere presence, takes the spot next to him at the wheel. Greed, ignoring her presence as if she were a stranger, started placing his bets. Five thousand dollars on black, five thousand on even, fifteen thousand on the first twelve, and twenty-five thousand on straight up six were his choices, and technically, he could win all four at the same time. Offering a little kindness, he whispered to his female table companion, “I feel lucky going with black. Won almost every time.”

        “Thanks,” She replied, catching on. “Let’s see if I can ride your luck.” She placed three thousand on black.

        The wheel began to slow, so the dealer called out, “No more bets.” Eventually, with a slight magical nudge from Greed, the ball lands on the black six, meaning that all of their bets pay out. Greed scooped up his winnings, $940,000 in total, or $890,000 in profit. Rosaline, only having bet on a wager that payed 1:1, merely doubled her money to $6,000.

        “Well, you sure know how to pick your bets,” Rosaline said, seeing the sizeable winnings that Greed had accrued. 

        Greed stroked his cufflinks, which were shaped like lucky crickets. “Of course. I’m a very lucky cricket. Even so, my odds for all of that were less than three percent. Or they should be. Living in a world of pure imagination tends to make dreams come true, after all.”

        The roulette wheel was spinning once again. Greed placed down six bets, of which five of them could win together. He noticed that Rosaline did not bet.

        “No more bets,” the dealer calls. As the wheel slowed, Rosaline notice the tell-tale flicker of magic emanating from Greed’s hand, barely visible in the smoky air and faster than a bolt of lightning. In fact, it was too fast for most humans to notice, and they did not. The ball stops at the red eighteen, and his largest five bets pay out with over a million in winnings. The dealer was somewhat annoyed that he was being cleared out like that.

        Rosaline said, “You-”

        Interrupting, Greed replied, “Yes, I am a cricket who dreams of winning.” He nudged her with his elbow. “You could call me Tānlán Diàobāo,” said Greed, giving the Chinese words for ‘The Greedy Changeling’, “but most call me Greed. I know who you are; we met in a restaurant in Cuba.” Throughout his conversation with her, all the emotion in his voice was faked, as he literally felt nothing towards her due to his heart freezing. He could not care less about her, but he still had to look passibly human. He grimaced, one of remorse versus pride. “And I must apologize for my crude behavior. While my words served the purpose they intended, part of my training magically disconnected me from my non-magical empathy. In short, I failed to consider the ramifications of my words on your state of mind, only caring about how much they could earn us from your boss.”

        He watched the gears turned in her her head, knowing the moment the idea he was trying to impart clicked. She laughed; it was not one of joy, but empty reflex. “I never thought I’d see the day.” She paused momentarily. “So you really revealed yourself after all. You know, I might not have very much first hand experience, but I’ve heard enough about your kind. I wasn’t really surprised by what you did, in fact I fully expected such a thing from you. In fact, I’m more surprised you actually kept to your terms of the alliance and revealed yourself to me, I thought I was going to have to keep watching you out of the corner of my eye all night. So congratulations, my Pretty Little Lie, you’ve succeeded in surpassing my expectations.” Greed was mildly offended that she would think that they - well, at least he - would violate the letter of an agreement. It was bad for business. 

        As she spoke, Rosaline slid a thousand bucks worth of chips onto red. Greed matched the bet on black. “With that said, I feel it safe to assume your timing has a reason. So, Mr.Root-of-all-Evil, what’s next?”

        “No more bets,” called the dealer.

        “Winner buys drinks for the other with the prize money?” Greed suggested. “I’ll even let you hold my hands.” He raised his hands, unlit, to prove that he was not influencing the roulette wheel. “But in all seriousness, my King is not here on the casino floor at the moment; his current dealings are taking longer than we expected. And we are not without honor; backstabbing only works if your victim can’t stab back. It’s bad for business all around and, no offense, but your boss’s arsenal is, well, stupidly huge.” The ball landed on red, and Rosaline claimed her winnings. “So, what’s your poison? As I said, loser buys the drinks. Or, if you're feeling more adventurous, I’ll let you taste the very emotion you’re feeling right now. What do you say?”

        “An appletini, please.”

        Greed snorted mirthfully. “Appletini... Sure thing. Did you know that the bearer of the Element of Honesty, Applejack, was once shrunk by poison joke? I’ll be back.”

        Greed left the table for the drinks. At the bar, he ordered Rosaline’s drink and a shot of very strong vodka, which he then dumped into a whiskey glass. As he walked back, he hooked a finger over the rim of his glass and excreted a mixture of emotions into it. A glowing white layer formed on the top, while the bottom of the drink took on a supernatural clarity that surpassed even distilled water. Arriving back, he handed Rosaline her untampered drink. “Cheers,” declared Greed just before downing half of his drink. Silence fell between them. He set out his bets, then collected his winnings once the round was over. 

Then, very slowly he spoke, paying extreme attention to her emotions and her expressions. “So, I’m curious as to how you knew this brand new face was me. Were you told, or did you discover it on your own?” Her emotions spiked on the latter. 

“Do you track mana-flow, emotions-” emotion spike, “-or the magic within us? Or is it a matter of perception, to where you literally sense through our transformations or the modifications to our souls?” Nothing, but he knew that he had to continue to rule out everything. “Is it your boss’s little shadowy friends telling you the who-what-when-where-why?” There was a different emotion that spiked: subtle confusion. 

“No idea why they have refused to make deals with every changeling who tried. Last question, and I mean no harm by it, but do you like working for Mr. Divinci, knowing that he has what amounts to a slave collar around your mind and soul?” Yes, apparently she did. “No, don’t answer that. And thank you, you have been most helpful.”

Rosaline did not trust Greed in the slightest. Why would she? However, Greed was slightly confused when she actually took a sip of the drink after only running her finger around the rim. That said, the colorless shine on her finger during that action definitely screamed ‘magic’ to his instincts. He supposed it was some sort of purification spell, which was possible in theory, but would be quite complex in practice, especially with an already toxic alcoholic drink. Even rarer was the ability to channel external magic without a horn or modified phalangeal bones, but zebras could do it, so why not her?

Rosaline let out a small, ladylike, derisive snort and answers, “Nothing quite so complicated, though I’m not surprised in the least that the Shades won’t even give you the light of day. I’m actually a little surprised they didn’t try and attack you outright - they tend to be very territorial - but I suppose you only met a few of the smaller ones. The ones of them who matter know the value of subterfuge. No, the reason I knew of is rather simple - it’s part of what makes me unique. There was a reason your kind could never truly infiltrate the Empire, and Gryphons aren’t the only ones who can feel you, though I will admit they tend to be better at it than us - at least when it comes to hunting anyways.” 

Greed mentally amended that statement. ‘Chrysalis could not infiltrate Sombra’s Empire; they did not want to, either.’

Rosaline concluded, “And let me answer you last question with another question; is a woman really a slave if she asks for the collar herself?” She takes another sip of her drink and casually slides $200 on red seven. Then, as an after thought, she adds, “Then again, it doesn’t really matter in the end does it? What’s done is done, c'est la vie, and to be truthful, I don’t regret my decision in the slightest. What about you though? Does it gall you to have given up your very soul, your identity, everything that makes you, you in the service of your master’s ineffable whims?”

Greed slid a bet on the middle dozen just before the dealer called an end to the betting. “Though it tends to be more effort than it is worth, there is a way to close yourself to the collective.” His hand flashed, forcing the ball to land in the sixteen slot. Greed collected his money, much to the scowling Rosaline’s ire. “My king has always said that the door is always open, you just have to choose to walk away. I think that a slave is a slave, no matter how free, and that we are both happy in our chains. Did you know that mine look like vines burrowing into my soul? Your chains, from the sound of it, are the words he speaks rather than any magic he weaves. Food for thought.” 

Greed tilted his head to the side upon receiving a communication from Taruke. In the distance, he could see his son stand and start moving towards the private room with Victor. “My king is coming. Let’s go collect your king and my son, Wrath. Lord Rex has an interesting gift for you, Rosaline, as well as one for your boss.” He stood and held out his unfinished drink. “Want some? It’s passion and epiphany with hundred-proof vodka. One hell of a kick, I say.”

        Rosaline looked at the drink as if she were seriously considering taking a sip. Eventually, she declined Greed’s offer. “What a depressing view of the world you have, though I suppose it’s not all that inaccurate. If you look at the world with that sort of logic then all men are slaves, and the illusion of freedom is the greatest chain of them all. Lead the way I suppose, age before beauty after all.”

Greed gasped in mock offense. “Hey! I’m only two years old! Well, technically sixty-seven, but becoming a changeling ‘resets the clock’, so-to-speak. I have another eighty years to go, thank-you-very-much!” The duo stood and left the roulette table, taking their winnings with them. Rosaline followed closely behind Greed, not wanting to take her eyes off him for even a minute. ‘Not that it would help, of course. I could kill her without even looking at her.’ He shoved aside his thoughts of homicide. “You want a little history lesson while we walk? Course you do; it’s good for business. Well, the hive recently had a little split. There are now fourteen smaller faction colonies - thirteen in the United States, one as permanent residents of Canterlot, Equestria. Most of the factions stay pretty much independant, both fiscally and politically. It’s for our safety; if one faction is lost, it doesn’t pull down the rest of the hive. Queen Siva, King Rex’s youngest daughter, her faction is one of the largest outside of the central Atlanta Colony and lives here in Las Vegas.”

Looking over his shoulder, he spots a particular changeling. “Rikatzyk! Hey!” The addressed changeling, a dealer at a nearby blackjack table, looks up, annoyed at being called out. “He’s my kind of guy, a money maker and blood spiller for LV. Now this here hotel we’re in, they own it. Well, a controlling faction of it. From a legal standpoint, the LV hive owns most of the city. Not as strong of a personnel presence, mind you, but it’s enough. The last thing you should know about us has to do with Lord Rex and Lady Chrysalis themselves There’s this... well, title is as good of a word as any. My point is, they have it; it’s not really a word, more of a concept. It can’t be spoken in English - you don’t have the right mouth parts for it. The closest literal would be ‘the eternal progenitor.’ We changelings consider that to be the highest ranking  authority we have, even if the other kings and queens are equally powerful. Ah, we’re here.”

The two of them enter the private room rented for them. Victor and Wrath are already there. Taruke, as Rex, follows them in. “Ah, hello Rosaline. I trust you are doing well? Victor.” The council member posing as their king nodded politely to the living shadow.

“We are well enough,” Victor replied for them both, “though I can’t say the same for the poor residents of Havana, Cuba after our last meeting. Hopefully, this one won’t have such a high civilian casualty rate as ‘collateral damage’, hm?”

Taruke spoke, “My Doctors all the way in Atlanta linked a few deaths and medical complications to that. Though those people were barely hanging on anyway, you sent many people to an early grave. I hate grief. Do try and restrain yourself. If you cannot, the moon always has a vacancy.” He paused, realizing what he just said. “Wait. That came out wrong. I meant that you should add altitude to where you go burn off your stress. Or you could go down into the Earth.” 

Taruke drew from his pocket the flash drive containing the censored portions of the archives that the changelings were willing to share. He tossed it to the dark unicorn. “The reduced Archives, as promised. There are spells in there for heat and pressure resistance, if you want.” With more magical fanfare than our own version, Victor pocketed the flash drive into his shadowy hammerspace-esque place. Really, try hiding something up your sleeves when every time something goes in and out, it is accompanied by a few seconds of swirling smoke.

“Now, I believe we have a game to play. I told you in my email that I had two gifts, one for each of you. However, I am not going to just hand them to you. You are going to play them off of me.” Taruke pulled out an envelope labeled ‘The Demon’s fear’ - fitting considering the contents - four-and-a-half foot pole of shiny black metal. Beside them, Jerry of R&D slipped out of the false world with a couple boxes of equipment - something for later.

“Ignore him for now; I’ll explain that later. This envelope contains some spell work for what at first glance appears to be a simple trigger spell. However, it is toggleable soul magic, meaning that while ‘on’, the output spell you give it will react to whatever condition is set regardless if you are unconscious or incapacitated by anti-magic.” After his explanation, the human-formed Taruke reached out his hand to touch the metal air tank that Jerry had brought. There was a very slight pinching sensation, which he intentionally over reacted to by hissing loudly. Then Taruke pulled his hand away, revealing a crimson handprint staining the metal. “A slight stinging hex triggered by being within an inch of a critical mass of iron, and a forced flameless transformation on contact, dissolving the skin. This is the fey’s weakness to iron.” Flames engulfed Taruke’s hand, restoring it to its pristine state. “I took the liberty of filling it in with a weakness to ‘crosses within fifteen feet’ and set it to irritate your skin on the side of your body that the cross is located. Feel an itch? Scream in agony.

 “This...” Taruke touched the metal bar, willing the fabric to unfurl into the black dress it had been tailored into, “... is shimmer fabric. It’s completely bulletproof and mostly blunt-damage resistant, spell resistant, and it acts as a faraday suit. It also changes colors. Shimmer fabric is easy enough to make and almost as tough as dragonhide, though definitely not fireproof, but was in the black archives because of it’s rather disgusting ingredient requirements. This is made from changeling chitin extracted while the poor guy is still alive. Ponies would kill him doing it. My docs use a little anesthesia and a few hours later, I walk out with a box of chiten that was just growing on me. Yes, Rosaline’s new body armor is made from yours truly.” By that, Taruke meant that the fabric was made from both himself and his persona’s real self, Rex. “And mine...” Taruke lifted the collar of his suit, “is made from my girlfriend.”

“If I’m to win them from you, then they not really gifts, are they?” asked Victor.

“You could win them at no cost to you,” Taruke quickly replied.

“Regardless, I thank you anyways. Every good play needs props, and it seems that the whole world will soon see quite the performance.” The shadow reached for the deck of cards on the table and sent them spinning through the air with his magic. Once reshuffled, the deck was cut and distributed two cards per person. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we? How about to start, we play a down home favorite? Left of the dealer calls the ante.”

Wrath piped in, “Sir, should we ask?”

Taruke, knowing, nodded. “Yes. Victor, how about a slight change of rules? You do not know what passes between us on the link. We could be cheating, for all you know. Wrath, you’re out.”

The young praetorian nodded. “Yes, sir.” He returned his cards to the deck and stood. Jerry flipped through space and Wrath took his place by the machines.

“I propose a two-on-two match of Texas Hold ‘Em, in which the players in each team know their partner’s cards. The teams also share a stack of chips, and if either has the winning hand, they both earn the pot. Other rules are unchanged,” Taruke explained.

“That sounds interesting enough. I agree. Let’s set the limit at four hundred chips for now, we wouldn’t want to run out too soon, now would we? Go ahead, set the pot.”

The false Rex nodded. “Let’s start the night off light. We’ll build up from there. Let’s start out at...” The faces of all three changelings became very neutral as Taruke slid the chips into the pot. The trio began meditating, controlling their emotions so that their magic did not react. Meanwhile, the whole finance division started watching through their eyes, directing their actions as legion. For the more empathic individuals, it made the changelings seem about as emotional as rocks while simultaneously allowing them to maintain their ability to make value judgements based on emotional cues. While describing it might have taken some time, in actuality, the change came near instantaneously. “$20,000,” Taruke finished in a droning voice.

Victor and Rosaline, it seemed, had settled upon a different defense strategy. They chose to hyper-exaggerate their emotions, especially the negative ones. The legion of poker players wondered if that strategy would be of any use. Sure, it made reading them hard, but it would exhaust them mentally to swing their emotions that much. And with every emotional swing, their relative playstyle and skill would swing in unison as their values and priorities changed. “What’s the small blind?”

Again in a drone, legion replied, “Five thousand dollars.”

The first game proceeded with cautious bidding as they got used to each other’s play style. The money flow started favoring the changelings ever-so-slightly at first. Whenever the changelings talked about anything other than the game, their voices sounded human instead of mechanical-esque. Their bodies were perfectly still during a round of play, and their chip stacks were always neat, whether bluffing or not. On the other hand, Victor’s strategy and mannerisms, like his emotional defense, were extremely inconsistent, making them nearly impossible to predict. Both parties found the other to be the best poker players that they had ever faced, and soon the stakes had risen to the point that they were casually making multi-million dollar bets.

About twenty minutes into the game, Wrath opened a little box that came with the machines. It contained an emerald larger than anything found on Earth. The jewel radiated a distinctive magical signature that felt almost ‘sticky’ to the senses. When he held the gem out, it hovered on its own above the pot. At the same time, faux-Rex finally added the dress and the envelope to the pot.

Taruke then promptly folded, even though his hand was good. “Keep playing, Greed. Victor, one of the reasons I asked to meet you is that I wanted to showcase two of my inventions. I want your opinion. This,” he pointed to the jewel, “is the T.I. complex, the baby brother to what hopefully will be our alternative to the Elements of Harmony. Those,” he pointed to the machines, “are ordinary, completely non-magical air scrubbers and re-oxygenation systems, bought on the internet.”  Taruke shot a beam of magic from his finger, striking the gem. The walls around their table flickered and faded to black. The lights went out, with the exception of the emerald’s glow. It was only when gravity seems to drop by two-thirds that Victor realized what was going on in there.

“This is the Torture and Interrogation complex, a temporary prison to isolate the user and victim from the rest of the universe. Major emphasis on temporary; we appear back exactly where we were when the spell finally runs out of power in about thirty minutes. Unlike the large-scale version, which is a suicide-spell, this version has four exits. First, the outlast the time limit, which is why we brought air.” The air scrubbers hissed as Wrath turned them on, releasing very clean air. “Second, wait until a changeling pulls this bubble universe back to our own. Our link acts as an anchor, but only so long as at least one of us is alive. Third, kill us all, and the bubble will pop against the surface of some universe. It’s a crapshoot where you end up. Four, commit suicide, which is-” theoretically “-not an option for a true immortal like a god... or Discord. So?”

        Victor and Rosaline were silent, realizing that they were effectively trapped, floating somewhere in the multiverse and had to depend entirely on the changeling trio for their survival for the next half hour. “This is... indeed most impressive. Though it seems incomplete, the implications of such a thing are staggering. If you intend for it to do as advertised though, it needs some work, and I’d be more than willing to provide assistance towards a mutually beneficial goal. As staggering as this work is, it seems to have a few too many weak points to imprison a god.” Victor glanced at each of the three changelings, and his implications were clear. “You have my approval, if that’s what you are searching for. Now, I believe you said something about a second invention to show to me?”

        Taruke knew that it was not time yet for the next stage of their plan, so he did two things. First, he tapped into the time-space magic within the jewel and throttled the passage of time forwards. Like in their main false world, though time’s direction was immutable and its passage absolute, its velocity was know to be variable and controllable. The second thing Taruke did was the time-honored tradition of verbally delaying. “A moment, a moment. I'll get to it in a moment. The T.I. complex is incomplete, but also designed for a different purpose. Gods are a physical part of the universe, and Discord is a being beyond even that. The full version has additional soul and time-space components, and is suicide to use because of it. I assure you, it is much stronger. Strong enough? Well, the math says yes... I would place my money on borrowing the Elements for now.

        “And yes, I do have... Not an invention that I could show you, but a nearly fully realized concept. I wanted your opinion on it before I started. By happy accident, we discovered that magic can be directed by circuitry in a computer, and vice-versa. Now, while we have made leaps and bounds in magic-to-digital – there's no free porn anymore – the digital-to-magic end has much better commercial applications, and is the greater investment and greater risk.” It was almost time. “Combine a handheld computer, an Equestrian gemstone, and an artificial changeling fang needle, and you have a synthetic unicorn horn. The fang gives it the ability to draw on life force or magic, whichever the user has, and without which, it must be charged manually by another magic user.” Their king was ready. “I wanted to know if you or your contacts would buy it if it was made. They could be made to look like anything, a phone, a necktie, a gun, a pocket watch...” 

Taruke drew out a pocket watch labeled ‘R.V.W.’, which stood for ‘Rip Van Winkle.’ The changelings thought that it was fitting considering that its purpose was merely a distraction for the memory prevention spell to take hold. And although everything Taruke had said about the artificial horns was true, this watch was completely unrelated.

“...like this,” Taruke said. “You just push the button, or whatever trigger, and-”

He clicked the button.

The watch cover opened.

Light filled the room.

The spell took hold.

<<Now.>>

The changelings froze in place to preserve the illusion.

They waited. 

Victor and Rosaline never commented on the time spent waiting. They were too distracted by the highly hypnotic lights shining in their vision.

Their king worked.

Their king succeeded.

The magic snapped out of existence. “-bam, a spell,” Taruke finished. “So?”

“Intriguing,” Victor declared. “I must say, it’s remarkably similar to a concept of my own involvement enchantments. However, if you’ve developed it as much as you say you have then I don’t see any reason why-” 

He cut off, but the changelings hardly noticed. In between each of their shoulder blades, they felt a horrible stinging, reminiscent of a bullet wound. They were falling, falling so fast. Sally-Anne. Pain. Agony. Cannot breathe! Darkness!

Silence. The link went dead. They could not hear each other’s thoughts.

Victor spoke something.

He spoke something else. He was also afraid.

“...must return... all... haste.”

Tremors. They were shaking. Taruke shook the most of all, for he knew the silence. “All... ready... on it.” 

The T.I. complex dropped, instantly returning them to the physical world. “Good... bye...”

They grabbed their things.

They tremored.

They twisted.

They were gone.

And so was their king.





        There was a man in a tower with a gun. He had no idea that he had sixteen days to live, or that he had just killed himself. The gun smoked, but it was not his body that fell.

> Poke it With a Stick
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days ago...




        While Taruke voluntarily served as my body double in the negotiations with the royal pain known as Victor Divinci, I sat on an economy seat on a commercial jet bound for Houston. No need to be anything other than one member of the faceless masses that fly this way every day. While Taruke could and would be flamboyant and intentionally annoying with his impersonation of me, I took his very real human identity of Clark Oswin to the extremes of mundanity. No one would ever suspect the relaxed, middle-aged, Caucasian man in drab clothes of anything, not that I planned on doing anything. I was merely an observer who didn't want to be observed, and I would use humanity's normal behavior to accomplish it with minimal magic.

        My reasoning was simple: if I was going to the base-of-operations for a sorcerer like Victor, then he would have unknown defenses against foreign magic, though the range was limited to the strength of his defenses, defenses that he had to power himself. Yet, he cannot ward against humans, as that was his entire workforce. And humans are flawed as a security system, a fact I knew and had exploited well, though never in a situation as serious as this. But really, who was going to see Mr. Generic, who had no criminal record, worked as a stockbroker, and was flying to Houston, and think 'changeling,' or even 'spy?' Humans are too trusting as a whole; a great adaptation for social cavemen, but horrible for corporate espionage - for the ones being spied upon, that is.

The city was still beyond the horizon when I felt Victor's influence humming against the backdrop of human emotions. Less than twenty minutes later, as we were still more than sixty miles away, I felt myself pass through a detection ward. I refused to give any indication that I had noticed, but I knew that my presence in his territory would be known now. Still, I would press on. 

Really, without ley lines or a magical population, his building's wards may as well have been a spotlight in a sea of candles. The stench of them, even from here in the airplane, greatly lowered my opinion of the city as a place to live.

        Emotions are contagious, magical ones even more so. Passing through customs after disembarking my late afternoon flight, I couldn't help but notice the maisima of undirected negative emotions. This wasn't a happy place. There was a strange accent to the emotions, as if the negative ones were highlighted. It wasn’t natural, I noticed.

As I walked, I shut off my passive emotional intake. Instantly, I was blind to the emotions of those around me - very disconcerting considering my profession - but I was not lost. Who needs a beacon when you have an address, among many other things? Ah, the internet, it's disturbing how much you can find if you know where to look.

        One short taxi ride later, I was standing a couple blocks away from the SpyreShade Tower. I could tell that it was recently renovated, and it matched Victor to a tee, polished and prideful looking.

        'It's as shiny as... the diamond,' I thought, though the analogy quickly killed my mood. As painful as it was, I tried to shove the thoughts of my Sally-Anne aside for now - keyword: tried. Trying not to think about my girlfriend’s words earlier today only made it worse, and trying not to think of love at all only reminded me of how hungry I was due to the love rationing. My stomach rumbled. 'Stupid humans. Why do you die so easily? Why can't you be like the ponies and regrow your energy?'

        I shook my head to clear it, took a step forward, and then opened my senses to the emotion. Unfortunately, I had the poor timing to open it while mid-step, for I stumbled upon the sudden onslaught of unfocused negative emotion. It was almost as strong as  my entrance in Canterlot, though without being aimed at me, it was not nearly as painful.

        As I regained my balance, I looked towards the source of the stench assaulting my sixth-sense, the SpyreShade Tower itself. A dark, cloudy miasma hung around and emanated from the building, as if the building was living, intelligent, and angry. It confused me as to how that could be, but it clicked the moment I saw the faint shimmer around the building in the corner of my eye. "Oh you clever bastard," I muttered, then once more shut down my sixth-sense.

        [Hey, Chryssie, let me talk to one of your ward breakers.]  A faint smile crossed my lips; Chrysalis's hive reinvented the discipline of ward breaking after the loss of that knowledge during the Discordian era. It was her closely guarded secret, and so controlled that every trained and registered ward breaker in Equestria was a changeling. And it just so happens that I have been receiving training in that subject, mostly for the miniature branch of my hive that lives in Equestria.

        [Why would...? Ah, I understand,] the Queen replied.

        While I waited for her to contact an unoccupied breaker, I sat down on the sidewalk across the street, leaned back against the building, and pretended to doze. It only took Chrysalis a few moments to return, and when she did, her tone of thought had changed, becoming more masculine. Of course, if her tone was not enough of a giveaway that it was not her talking, then her words were obvious. [<I-I-I'm S-S-Shattershield. H-h-how can I help you, Sir Rex?>]

        I snorted in amusement, though I did not let the skittish changeling hear that; it was the first time I had heard a changeling stutter while thinking. [Hello, Shattershield. I need a second opinion on a warding matter. First, if there were no lay lines to draw from, would a ward have to draw from the caster? Secondly, if I wanted to do a deep analysis of a warded structure without setting the wards off, would I use the Clover Method or the Satin Starlight Method? Third, to hijack the wards, again without alerting the controller, that's the Clone-Line technique, right?].

        [<Oh, um... Ok, first: partially. You c-c-could use a K-Kinetic-Energy-Conversion Spell to fuel it, b-but to be effective at warding a building, it would have to be made so strong that ice would rapidly form around it as it stole the heat from the air.>] Now that Shattershield was in the groove and talking about something he enjoyed, his confidence had increased to the point that he no longer stammered. [<If you could find another source, such as the occupants of the building, if there were enough at all times, then that could work. But given what we know about, Earth, that seems impractical at best.>]

        [And the equivalent of tactical suicide, considering the sheer size of the wards I'm looking at. You'd kill everyone inside with that kind of drain.] I did not mention that I felt that I believed Selene, with her absolutely massive reserves, even by pony standards, could probably support these wards with only mild difficulty; there was no need to freak out the skittish ward breaker with the knowledge that the semi-mortal dark duo apparently had god-tier reserves of magic.

        The thought made me hungrier. I grit my teeth and wished that Taruke had managed to seduce Victor further than he had.

        Shattershield, oblivious to my inner turmoil, excitedly asked, [<Wait, you're there with the wards made by him? Let me see!>] I gladly sent over the memories of what I could perceive regarding SpyreShade. [<Whoa, that's a tall building. Hmmm... Satin Starlight Method, definitely. You might also consider firing off one of your World-Capture Spells to get a map; you'd want to find the wards' anchor point. Remember, It'll be along one of the three central axis, usually the vertical one if it is traditionally constructed,>] he said through Chrysalis's link with me.

        [Ah, thanks for reminding me. Now, to take control?] I asked.

        [<Yes, the Clone-Line will do the job.>] He paused. [<Actually, now that I think about it, without lay lines to power the wards, the wards might be especially vulnerable to that little trick since the power has to be directed through the control band.>] He paused again, but this time his confidence melted away. [<Y-y-you a-aren't going t-to do this, a-a-are you?>]

        [No, not today at least. I need more information before I  do anything. Even then, I'll be sure to consult a professional before I attempt taking control. Remember, I at least have the Absolute Mimicry on my side. Thank you for your help, Shattershield, and thank you, Chrysalis, for letting me borrow him.]

        Chrysalis's voice replaced Shattershield. [You are welcome, Rex.]
With that, I pushed our link back into the unconscious portion of my mind. As I started planning out the fine details on how to examine the building, a hand tapped me on the shoulder, pulling me out of the trance-like state that I had fallen into while I was conversing with Chrysalis and Shattershield. I was slightly startled that she had been able to catch me unaware, but then realized that I had my passive emotion absorption shut down, and as such could not detect the person as easily.

        I opened my eyes and turned my head. My eyes fell upon the hand on my shoulder, which was connected to a woman wearing a red and gray bandanna. El Diablo Muerte. One look in her eyes told me everything I needed to know. "That's awfully kind of you to tell me to scram."

        "Sí, amigo," she replied, nodding. Her face was adorned with a stern, grim expression, the face of one who knows that she is about to kill. I nodded back and stood up. As her gang members called her back, I started walking in the same general direction. A quick look around revealed significantly fewer pedestrians on the street, and those that were there were moving at no less than a brisk jog.

        For appearances sake, I picked up the pace before darting around a side street. Seeing even fewer pedestrians than before, I clambered onto a nearby dumpster, turned, and jumped. My hands, aided by a drop of changeling magic for grip, clasped around the lower rungs of the retracted fire-escape ladder on the building's side. Seconds later, I was quickly spiraling my way to the building's roof.

        From my new vantage point, I gazed down upon the members of the most notorious gang on the North American continent. They were loitering around the entrance to SpyreShade Tower and, from what I could tell, were waiting around for someone. But, though I was interested in seeing what would happen, and maybe the idea of blood spraying from bullet wounds inflicted by El Diablo Muerte members was making me a tad hungry, what I was really interested in was the fact that, according to my reactivated sixth sense, they, ordinary humans, were inside the ward boundaries. 'So humans can enter the ward without repercussion; it envelops the surrounding sidewalk, too. It probably excludes all magical entities beyond what he allows in, and since all of us known magicals are either on my side, or created by his magic, it would be easiest for him to say, "deflect all but me." I wonder...'

        Just as I was finishing that thought, there was a change in the emotions of the gangsters. Vague hostility became focused, excitement and anticipation increased, and, among the male members, a perverse lust appeared. 'Rapists,' I mused, having recently met a rapist before, who had a similar reaction to seeing me. I had fun that night. Him, not so much; I doubt he was into being the submissive in hardcore vorarephilia. 

        I smiled gently and, while drinking in as much of the positive emotion as I could extract from the gang, looked at the figure that they were targeting. She was a plain looking woman, with blond hair and cream-colored skin. For a moment, I suffered from a bout of hunger-inspired envy, but then I took a closer look. I blinked. 'I know her.'

        Amelia Ludwig, sister of Leonardo "Leo" Ludwig, one of the richest men in the black markets of the southeastern United States. Neither would have made it onto Forbes top 500 richest people in the country, but that's only if you count legitimate, legally earned wealth. Leo ran one of my best venom and mineral distribution networks, was a big investor in some of my business acquisitions, and had recently bought his way into the hive for a measly $26 million. I couldn't let his "precious little sister" get hurt, even if she did have at least some business with SpyreShade. Well, for now, at least.

        Mind made up, I checked my surroundings and, deciding that it was worth the cost and that I was sufficiently far enough from the wards, I applied a  low-powered Notice-Me-Not to myself. Then I partially released my transformation, exposing my tattered, gossamer wings. For the rest of me, I changed my chitin to match the color of the evening sky, darker on one side than the other so that I would blend in regardless of which direction I was looked at from. 

        Satisfied, I turned and followed Amelia as she walked, tailed by the El Diablo Muerte members. Every time I came to the edge of a roof, I launched myself off and buzzed quietly over to the next one, my own wings masked by the sound of the road below. 

        Amelia knew she was being tailed. As she walked, she did everything in her power to stay in the most visible areas. I could see that she was near panicking, but she was trying to remain calm and collected. But her tails were getting impatient, and I could tell by the occasional gangster that popped up on random street corners here and there that they were herding her, but she just did not know it yet.

        But all good things must come to an end, and eventually, Amelia was cornered. The gang members crowded around her and started saying something to her. Though from my position on the roof, I could not hear what was spoken, but I could read the intent. It was a threat, probably a genuine death threat, and she believed it. 'Time to act,' I decided.

        As I scaled the wall down to street level, my claws flashed four times. Each light carried one of four doses of my venom directly to the hearts of the four thugs. 'Fifteen seconds,' I thought. Feeling that I was close enough to the ground, I flipped off, shifted to generic face #42, and landed with magically induced silence. With my face established, I dropped the Notice-Me-Not and tapped one of the thugs on the shoulder. "Disculpe, creo que es más allá de su hora de acostarse. Dormir ahora." The moment the words left my mouth, my venom reached their brains and they collapsed to the ground, awake but quite intoxicated.

        Their lust and love production skyrocketed in seconds, and I took the opportunity to start draining them dry, even as I moved to comfort the confused and distressed woman. "I suggest not spending time in the company of those sorts; it's not good on the heart."

        "What... What the hell just happened?"

        I smiled. "Oh, didn't you know? Bad little children get sent to bed early without any dinner."

        "Wait, you did that?" Amelia asked, shocked.

        I nodded, then faked confusion. "Yeah, hang on a sec... Amelia? Amelia Ludwig?"

        She blinked, then became suspicious. "I don't think we've met. Who are you? How do you know me?"

        Cooly, I replied, "Oh, I work with your brother over in Atlanta. I saw your picture once a while back; I'm good with names and faces like that. How could I forget a pretty face like yours? Call me Eric." Short for generic. The female counterpart for this alias was named Erica, for the same reason.

        Distracted by my compliment and vaguely plausible response, and the fact that I had probably just saved her from being raped and-or killed, she did not notice that I was outright lying to her face about everything. I love distractions.

        "Ah, nice to meet you, Eric. Thank you so much for saving me! Though maybe we should..." She gestured down to the paralysed bodies on the ground.

        "Ah, yes," I replied, "let's go. I'll walk with you."

        As we turned and walked away together, she asked, "Are they... dead?"

        "No. Merely asleep."

        "Ah, good. Well, I can't thank you enough for saving me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up!" she exclaimed.

        I merely chuckled. We rounded a corner, so Amelia never saw the hands reaching out from hammerspace and dragging the bodies in, all at my orders. I brushed my hand against hers and leaned in a tiny bit closer. "Well, if you want to thank me, will you let me buy you dinner? It is getting late, after all, and I'm a bit peckish."

        "No thank you. I already ate. But if you're buying, there's a little coffee shop near here that I like."

        I smiled. "Lead the way."





        "So, you work at SpyreShade, right? What do you do?" I asked. I took a sip of my coffee - flavorless, as usual - and pushed a trace amount of hypnotic magic through my eyes and into her thankfully not crystal eyes. I exhaled at the same time, blowing my coffee-and-pheromone scented breath vaguely in her direction.

        We had already been talking for a while now. The sun had set, and Amelia had been subjected to my subtle influence for a while now. She had a rosy blush to her cheeks and a faint green tinge to the whites of her eyes. The woman before me was under the impression that she was getting a late snack with an acquaintance and it had turned slightly romantic, and that she was infatuated with 'Eric'.

        What I saw instead was an interrogation. First, I set up the mood with a few innocent comments here, a few flirty lines there, and she was putty in my hands. Exhibit A: "Oh, yes, I do. I work in the department of human resources. I'm the secretary that helps regulate private militias stationed around the world. I'm not in charge, per say, but I do keep the whole thing running. Paychecks, equipment orders, funds, travel expenses, assassination orders... you know, the usual," she replied freely and honestly.

        I brushed my fingers against her wrist and smiled. "Ah, I love it when you talk; your voice is so beautiful."

        She giggled. "Ah, thanks. You're so sweet."

        "Now, I was curious, is your brother in any way involved with your work?"

        Again, without thinking about the confidential nature of my question or her response, she spoke, "Yes, actually..." And thus the conversation went long into the night. At one point, I had to bring Ginny Skinner to me through hammerspace to help distract some of the nosier customers around us so I could set up an illusion to distort our conversation, so that none of them knew that Amelia had given away company secrets; to them, we were just making light conversation.


        And as she became more and more infatuated with me due to my flirting, I pulled more and more energy from her. The amount was low enough that she would not be strongly visibly affected, but I guessed that by the end of our little chat, she had lost almost fifteen years of her life. 

        I, on the other hand, had gained plenty of information from her about Victor's company. Carefully worded questions ensured that I got answers from her experiences, rather than any misinformation she may have been fed. I then went looking for misinformation too, to know what lies were told to her. Unfortunately, of the information she had, she knew mostly about the front little about the organised crime, and next to nothing about the security of the building. What she did know was that a retina scan and a password were required for entry, and that she had to go through a "strange metal detector" every day, and that no non-employees could leave the ground floor, period. Useful information, but not enough.

        "Thank you for this," she said as we stood to leave. "It was fun. I hope we can meet up again the next time we are in town."

        I handed her her purse. "Oh, sure. No problem."

        "Walk me home, would you? It's darker than I expected, and..." She trailed off, leaving the implications unspoken.

        I nodded and gave a cheerful, reassuring smile. "Sure." She never noticed me slip her phone into hammerspace.





        I sighed lightly as the two of us walked. Amelia had been involved in some shady dealings with the gangs, and it had gone south according to the thugs I had captured. There was a hit on her head, and because I had saved her from it, the next attempt would not be so subtle. In short, witnesses did not matter. The same applied to those who might be caught in the crossfire. In fact, the thugs had hinted that it might be a slaughter if she did not die now. And if I took her and made her one of us, a gang war could break out. ‘Sorry about your employee, Victor.’

        As we turned the corner, I started slowing my pace. Amelia kept on talking, unaware that I had fallen back from my place at her side. Slowly, my footfalls started matching the rhythm of hers, and eventually the intensity too. It was a slow change, taking two blocks to accomplish fully. I still answered when she talked, but stuck to short responses followed by a complex question that required a lengthy answer. Having been conditioning her all night with praises for her voice and intent listening on my part, Amelia readily obliged. In fact, so focused on herself was she that she failed to notice my footsteps stopping altogether.

        She failed to notice me vanish altogether.

        She did notice the four figures round the corner, the same thugs that had assaulted her earlier that evening.

        She failed to notice that their eyes had the slightly glowing green sclera of hypnosis.

        She did, however, notice the guns they carried.

        She failed to notice the bullet that was fired. At that moment, Amelia Ludwig, former dead-girl-walking, collapsed on the street, assassinated by El Diablo Muerte, as was their original plan. The thugs were then silently dragged back into the hidden world, ready to be cocooned for feeding.

        And, at the same moment, "Eric" burst into flames, replaced by a stone-faced “Clark Oswin”’ A lone voice echoed across the silent street, "What a waste."





        Rather than use a hotel for a bed, I spent the night camped out on a cloud above the Houston skyline. Unfortunately, it was somewhat cold that high up. Fortunately, the cloud was comfier than any mattress in the world, so I could not really complain, and without renting a hotel room, I could not be traced financially or caught physically. But that was not why I was so glad that I slept up there. No, the reason was simple; I found the control band for the wards, shimmering gently in the light of dawn.

        The band emerged from the massive lightning rod spire, mounted atop a rune-covered stone, that adorned the top of the building. Since all wards anchored with a ward stone - pretty much all building wards - form an ovoid shape with the stone at a focal point, I could not gain access to the stone. It protected itself. But the control band, that, by necessity, was vulnerable simply because Victor was not in the tower itself.

        I pushed my cloud closer to the building. Gathering up my magic, I unleashed the entire volley of nearly six hundred spells that composed the Satin Starlight Ward Analysis Method. Every spell either told me something else about the nature of the building's defenses, or made it easier for the next spell to work. There were hundreds, no, thousands of spells intertwined into this system. I did not even know what some of this stuff did; it was beyond me, and even beyond Shattershield. To quote Shattershield when I showed him the results, "Yeaouch... That'll leave a mark."

        The first few layers were alert wards and traps; they let the shadow prince know when someone enters the building, and if he does not approve, they then cannot find their way out. Those outer wards included a anti-teleportation spell, much to my chagrin. But deeper than that were wards specifically against changelings, which strip disguises and blast them with hatred, which explained why the building stank to the high heavens. It was a wonder that the humans could even manage to work there without going crazy.

        There were other spells here, tapped into the same array. I did not know for sure what they did seeing as this was only the first stages of a true, deep ward examination, but I could guess. It did not matter what they were; Victor had chosen a power-maximizing array to tie them all together in one system. Now, such a system would definitely be ideal for defending or influencing a large-scale area the size of, say, the south-eastern quarter of Texas. I would chose that as my ward scheme if there were ley-lines to draw from. Therein lies the achilles heel of the system when implemented on Earth. A single user was is the only one able to power and control the ward scheme to any degree, and arcane physics dictated that any magic user can only maintain one connection to a spell or else the natural fluctuations in their magic start interfering with control and efficiency. Thus, one control band was all that could exist for the entire system, regardless of what obscure spells were used.

        All in all though, it left me with a catch twenty-two regarding entry. The two most straightforward options were either walk in, but get exposed and then brutally murdered, or strip the wards away and face the wrath of a man who can chuck nuclear bombs at will. I shuddered at the thought. 

        'Well, my yin and yang bomb spells will be comparable to his nukes when they are finished,' I mused, 'and I'm sure he didn't think of those in his defenses.'

        Of course, that whole situation depended upon me wanting to get in the normal way. I just wanted to lay the groundwork right now, so to speak, by placing vulnerabilities in his defenses. Paid-off employees, hijacked ward control, interrogating employees, replacing the politicians and law enforcement so as to cause him trouble, assassinations, and the usual, if I wanted to go all out. And of course, I had the fourth dimension at my disposal, which would circumnavigate most of the more common spells and all of the physical defenses. 'Thank you, Flatland,' I thought with a smile.

        Of all the spells that I had to use today for my analysis of the building, this last spell combination posed the most risk for me in that It would be visible to everyone in the building. The World-Capture spell. A thought struck me, 'Unless...' I first cast the memory components on myself. Then, gathering my magic, I forced a change upon it. The green aura turned yellow, orange, and then red before seemingly fading out of existence because I had tuned it to infrared. Every magic user could do this, but it trashed their control and efficiency to change their magic color, as their magic seemed to fight back, destroying their focus. I spent nearly an hour forcing my petulant magic into the proper spell form while maintaining the proper invisible color before finally releasing it.

        As the spell flew, I collapsed back onto my cloud, exhausted. Though I could feel the mental map forming, I, in my distracted state, could only focus on the sky, which seemingly had not changed at all. It took me a minute, longer than it should have, for me to realize that the sky had changed; I had started working at sunrise and now it was sunset. Realizing that I had not eaten all day, I jumped off the cloud to look for something or someone tasty.





        My third day in Houston started out differently. I spent the day eavesdropping on the conversations of people to find leads for my Silencers to follow. A single name spoken, when coupled with the power of the internet, could reveal huge amounts of information. For instance, seven of my still-human contacts had connections to puppet companies under Victor's control, and while on the surface El Diablo Muerte, SpyreShade, several smaller gangs, and the police seemed to be in a multi-sided prelude-to-war, Victor had his talons in every single one of them.

        I also found out the results of Victor’s little temper-tantrum in the shadowrelm over the Gulf of Mexico. A minor earthquake, a storm, and some delicate patients in hospitals as far north as mine in Atlanta suffering from sudden medical complications. I wished I knew more about the shadow realm. Even Chrysalis’s knowledge was second-hand; for reasons we do not know, all changelings were barred from accessing the inhabitants of that portion of reality. It was obvious though that Sombra had spent significant time studying the Darkness - hence his proficiency in dark magic. 

        Somehow, during my analysis of the building yesterday, I had completely missed Victor passing through the city. I kicked myself for being so un-observant. Still, while I was in his territory, nothing I had done violated any of the verbal or written components of our treaty. I was simply reading what magic he was putting out; literally any magic user, with training, could have done what I did, and the Shadow King is no worse for wear.

        But all interesting things must come to an end. I stood from my seat in the coffee shop where I had interviewed Amelia the day before and, after a quick detour to the restrooms to change my face to a different generic one, I headed towards the tower. It took a quick climb to reach the control band, but once there, I had to wait for the right moment. Taruke would sigal me once Victor and Rosaline were ensnared by the Memory-Blocking spell, which would be the best opportunity to seize control.

        Meanwhile, I activated Absolute Mimicry. This was an ability that, for the longest time, Chrysalis thought she was the only changeling who possessed it; even other royals never expressed this ability. Until me, that is. Simply, it allowed the two of us to sample the magical signature and the genetic material of a target, both of which never change without fundamentally altering the owner, and mimic it absolutely and without flaw, hence the name. In fact, it changed us on such a deep level, that Chrysalis swears that there is some violation of the fundamental rules of magic.

        It was not a flawless technique, even if the final product was. It could not mimic a goddess, nor a spirit. If activated, it could not be deactivated for a week. But worst of all, it is the only transformation where our flames are as hot as they look. "RRRRAAAAAAGGGHHH!" I roared as my flames oh-so-slowly crawled their way up my arm. It was only once the emerald fires had passed my elbow that I realized something was wrong. The limb that should have been forming was nothing but dark black smoke. Panicking, I tried to halt the transformation, but the flames kept on climbing. My arm vanished, then my shoulder, parts of my neck and chest, and finally my jaw were burned to smoke by the flames before I finally halted the transformation.

        With the pain cleared, my panic subsided as I realized that I could still feel the incorporeal parts. Fear turned to confusion which turned to joy as I found that, even partially transformed, I had a simulation Victor's magic coursing through my veins. I was thankful that my feet, still those of a changeling, had kept me airborne on the cloud despite the changing magic. In retrospect, I should have done this on the ground.

        As I waited for the ready signal, I played around with my new, vaporus limb. It was an odd feeling having my one chitinous limb pass through my smokey one, not really a sensation that I could put in words. I also found that I could grow or shrink the limb on command, and if I compressed it enough, it would automatically start to solidify and recolor into a perfect match of the dark king's arm. 

        The problem was that his parts were disproportionate to mine, as his seven foot stature did not match my eight and a half feet. My arms were mismatched, my left lung felt constricted, my upper and lower teeth did not align, and my neck's resting position left my head tilted at an odd angle. And to think that I would be stuck, unable to transform those parts for a week. I rolled my eyes and shrank the parts that I could; I would be unable to drop this transformation for the duration of the week if I wanted to have a functional, proportional body. 'What a pain,' I grumbled.

        <<Now.>> When Taruke's signal finally came, I lept into action. First, I entwined the control band with my simulation of Victor's magic, pinning it in place at two points so that it did not move. Then, I shifted my other hand to create the ward breaker's swiss-army knife: a curved T-shaped object composed entirely of the same magically conductive material as changeling fangs, but completely disconnected from the nervous and magical systems of my body. I touched the two short ends to the ribbon of magic in my grasp, allowing it to flow freely through it. Then, I injected my simulated magic through the long end and entangled it with Victor's. Satisfied that it was secure, I pulled on the foreign magic and slid my tool down the length of magical cable. As it moved, I created a cable of my own that emerged from the tool at the same time. One foot later, I repeated the entanglement and removed my tool. Now the control band had a ribbon of my magic tied to it.

        Concentrating on the new ribbon, I molded it into a nearly perfect copy of the original with all the same functions, but just mediated by me. I nodded, happy with my work. Then, I shifted my tooth-like tool into a changeling blade. Unlike normal, the pommel was open, rather than connected to me. When I cut into the original, Victor's magic burst out of the end of the dagger, dissipating into the air. One more cut later, and the control band looked almost exactly as it had before, and would continue to function just as it had before. Only if he looked at exactly the right spot, a one foot long, inch thick area that was perpetually moving and was currently over a dozen feet over the highest point of his tower, would Victor notice anything amiss, especially since my modifications would sit inactive for a good while.

        Before I commanded Taruke to release Victor and Rosaline, I cast one last spell of Chrysalis's own creation. Common wisdom among the ponies was that "curses aren't real." That was most definitely a lie. Of all the magics I knew, this spell was one of the most insidious in my arsenal. Using his own wards to target him all the way in Las Vegas, I ensared him with the Killer Fantasy. 

        Only usable against one person at a time, the person Chrysalis or I were Absolutely Mimicking at the time, the illusion magic of Killer Fantasy would burrow its way into the magic of its victim. Then, once there in its dormant state, any use of magic by the victim just lets it burrow in deeper. Once activated, the illusion would use its victim's magic to fuel it, rather than the caster's. And the longer it is active, the more vivid the illusion becomes and the more magic it drains until the victim drops dead of magical exhaustion.

        A thousand years ago, Celestia and Luna together could not defeat Sombra, who was raving mad at the time from dark magic corruption. Victor is a much saner magician, but with the same raw power as his counterpart. If this alliance goes well, I may never need to activate Killer Fantasy. If it does not, and since guns will not work on him...

        <<Taruke, I'm finished. Release them,>> I order over the hive link. After receiving his confirmation, I jump off my cloud perch and prepare to flutter down to street level. As I was descending, A thought occurred to me, so I stopped and hovered in place. As I prepared to twist into my false world, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. There, in one of the windows of SpyreShade Tower, was a man looking out directly at me. He frowned, raised the object in his hand and -

        *BANG-CRASH*




Flashback




        I was distracted as I finished organizing my stuff before my trip. Logically considering the situation, it would have been the mass of shadow Taruke and I were planning on meeting this afternoon that was rattling my nerves. But no, the largest stressor for the morning was none other than my sweet Sally-Anne. She had just been angrily glaring at me for the past hour. If I tried to talk to her, I would get only silence in reply. It was maddening to the point where I was tempted to read her mind just to find out what was bothering her. Of course, I would not do that to her again.

        “What is it, Sal? Talk to me, please!” I begged. 

        I was contemplating getting on my hands and knees to beg harder, and was half way there when she finally replied. “Twenty one.”

        “What?”

        “You’re not even twenty one yet!” She yelled. “How come you never told me you were so young?”

        “Is that what this is about?” I asked, flabbergasted. My fingers coiled protectively around a small box in my pocket, as if it could be lost in the coming storm. “My age? Does it really matter how old I am, especially when I can change age at will?” To prove my point, I morphed into a decrepit old man, well into his nineties. Softly, I added, “I never asked your age, either.”

        “Thirty-two, thank you very much!” Sal snapped. I was shocked; I could not remember her being having ever been mad at me in the nearly three years I had known her. “And yes, it matters! It matters because you never told it to me! It matters because you never tell me anything about yourself from your life before you became a changeling! I don’t even know your birth name, or where you’re from, or who your family is! Do you even love me? Do you even know what love actually is?”

        “I…”

        Sally-Anne screeched, “You’re just this enigma that walked into my life and twisted it beyond recognition! You’ve twisted my mind too! Were you ever human? Or have you always been a monster in human skin? You know, your soul sure doesn't look human. How could possibly I forget? You crippled me just by existing!”

        That stung. That stung far more than I would ever let her know. Guilt crushed down upon my soul. “Sal, I-”

        “Do I even love you?”

        The dam broke. Tears, hot and salty, as real as they came, streamed down my face. I could not stand to see her that way. “Sal, I love you, and I would never willingly hurt you. I know what love is; I’ve felt it for myself. I was born a human and I loved as a human. I had a mother, a father, a brother, a loving girlfriend, and a best friend. I know love. And I know that what I feel for you is love.” I reached out to stroke her cheek, but she pulled away from my touch. “Sal, please, it’s me.”

        “How do I know?” She asked, whispering so softly that I could barely hear her.

        “What? Ask me, I’ll tell you anything you want!” I begged softly.

        “How do I know that this is real?" she screamed. "I know you’ve messed with minds before, mine included. Every word you spout could be a lie for all I know. Every throb of my heart, yearning for you, could be a lie of your own creation. Even my own limbs, my own lungs, are under your control. How-” I interrupted her with lips, mine against hers. I kissed her, my long tongue brushing against hers, coaxing her to take the lead. But it never came. Sally-Anne pushed her hands against my chest and we parted.

        “Was that real?” I asked, hoping she would not say-

        “I don’t know.”

        I sighed. My knees gave out below me; I flopped limply to the floor, only catching myself with my hand at the last second to keep my head from hitting the tile. The free hand that was not supporting my weight slid to my pocket, feeling that the box was still there. “Then, if I were to show you what was fake, would you believe what is real?”

        “I’m listening.”

        “Sal… Sally-Anne Jones, I was born William Ross. On my bedroom book case, top shelf, there is a set of composition notebooks, each titled The Book of the Monster. Go read an entry, any entry.” As I lifted myself up, I noticed that Sal had already left for my room. 

        I followed her in and saw her grab one of the early volumes from the shelf. She flipped open the notebook, scanned the page, and read aloud, “August fifteen, twenty-twenty-nine: Amanda Snyder. Caucasian female, five-foot-seven, blond hair, brown eyes, and had a birthmark on forehead. Wore Yale t-shirt and yoga pants. Lured into alleyway using ‘hurt runaway’ gambit. Fed quickly and called ambulance; ran as it was pulling up. Amanda died of cardiac arrest four days later in hospital. Funeral to be held tomorrow…. Rex, what is this?”

        “My dirty secrets, my penance. Sal, every person I’ve ever interacted with is logged into this book. Every changeling I’ve created, every hatchling that has been born, every human I have fed on and their condition at the end… every human I’ve personally killed. I’ve recorded it all. I’ve even recorded when I modified minds. Journals one, two, three, seventy six, and eighty three are Marcus, Taruke, Katie Sanders, you, my seven Praetorians, and Klika. That’s the full list. The first three were a full reprogramming and only ever done once. You, the Praetorians, and Klika were heart freezings only.” 

        I grabbed volume eighty one and tossed it to Sally-Anne, who was shocked by my confessions. She caught the book and opened it to the page I instructed. “Sal, John Smith was a serial killer on death row. I kidnapped him from the jail and experimented on him. Sal, I ripped out his soul and used it to animate a robot! I used my powers to animate his dead body and turn it into a changeling! Where do you think Ψ came from? Then I swallowed it, Sal, I swallowed his soul! That’s not supposed to be possible for normal creatures!” I collapsed once more to the floor. “Sal, I checked the archives. The only other soul eater known to the ponies was the Nightmare! You were right; I am a monster, and you shouldn’t trust me…”

        Silence reigned. It was an agonizing sort of silence, one that carves into the very soul. Sally-Anne ever so slowly turned away, until I could just make out the corner of her right eye. Her hands lit up with magic. She touched her glowing limbs to the corners of each eye, and I knew she was casting the Soul-Sight. I scrambled backwards and dove behind the bed, desperate to put something solid between us so that she was not harmed again by looking at me. But she never turned back, never looked at me. Instead, she looked towards herself, and to the piece of my soul embedded within her own. Finally, her magic died away and I felt it safe to come out again, though I barely moved.

        “Can I read through these?” She asked, holding up one of my notebooks. I meekly gave my approval. “Thanks.” She gathered up the several volumes and slipped them into her portion of hammerspace. As she walked to my room door, she did not even glance my way. Yet, she paused in the doorway. “I think you do love me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have jumped. But do I really love you? Can I love you, monster and all? I… I need time.”

        With that, I was alone. I slowly crawled up and slowly slunk into my bed. I slid my hand into my pocket and pulled out the black velvet box. Holding it up to eye level, I examined the hinge carefully, yet I could not bring myself to open it. “Maybe next time, Sal. Maybe next time.”





        The ground rushed to meet me. My last thought was of the woman I wished to spend my life with.

> Firefly Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        For Selene, she discovered something was wrong as she was putting the sun away for the night. Ψ, her father’s rather creepy butler, collapsed to the floor without warning. He was still breathing, but the little moon angel could only see him as a corpse. His compound eyes, normally dull and lifeless, looked even more dead than before. Then Klika screamed.





        Princess Klika knew something had gone horribly wrong when the world went silent. She stiffened, senses on hyper-alert. The electricity in the walls hummed, the wind blew, and cars on the street below honked. The cello in her arms - really her father’s old one - sang sweetly when the strings were plucked. None of that mattered to Klika, however.

        Her favorite sounds, the endless thoughts of the hive, were going silent. It wasn’t like the time her father had silenced her connection to the collective - that had been sudden and painful. This, though, was far, far worse. Changeling were going silent one by one, with the most distant branches of the hive mind falling first. And when the cascading silence crashed against her, Klika was left with less than a dozen voices she could still reach.

        She - they - screamed. They all screamed.





        Sweetie Belle, of all individuals, was the second non-changeling to notice that something was amiss. Rarity had been patching up her crusader’s cape - again - when she suddenly screamed. Now, Sweetie was by no means dumb, and, despite their differences, was actually quite close to her elder sister, so she was quite aware of Rarity’s mannerisms. Dramatic Rarity, when given the slightest provocation, tended to scream “This is the. Worst. Possible. Thing!” in a shocked voice at the top of her lungs and then promptly faint.

        This was not drama. The sound escaping Rarity’s lips, if it could even be called a scream, was an inequine shriek of absolute terror. Had she been listening closely, Sweetie would have heard that sound echoed one hundred and fifty-eight times in Ponyville. However, Sweetie was not listening carefully and, as Rarity’s head collapsed onto her workbench, she was not thinking carefully either.

        Rarity, on the other hoof, was not thinking at all. Her Queen’s partner had just died. While that fact was, on its own, nothing to be concerned about - he would come back - it was the sensation Chrysalis had experienced over the link that had truly frightened her. First, Rex had died during Absolute Mimicry, not that Rarity knew what that was. Chrysalis, having never died in that state, did not know if he would survive.

        However, that power was the lesser of two worries. There was dark magic surrounding the body of the late Alvarium Rex, obstructing his arrival. Scratch that; it was an understatement. There was the entire shadow realm blocking his way home, a place no changeling had ever been able to make contact with, and that they knew very little about.

        Hyper, irrationally terrified beyond the level where she realistically should have been, Chrysalis’ scream was mirrored by all sixteen thousand changelings in her hive. And poor Sweetie Belle, unaware of her sister’s true nature, or a queen’s distress, could only try to shake her unconscious sister awake.





        I was not scared of Death, uppercase Death. That infinitely wide Reaper's maw that seeks to devour all the dead in all the multiverse, I was fine with that. Lowercase death, the final cessation of my existence on the physical plane, that terrified me. What would become of my changelings? Would they even survive my final demise? I found my willpower boiling inside; I would do anything to ensure my survival.

        I also found that I became more introspective when dangling above certain doom. I learned something new every day, it seemed. I began to climb, just like the last time I was in this ghastly place. On the first flex of my soul, I discovered something that Chrysalis had never mentioned in her lectures on absolute mimicry: my soul looks exactly like Victor’s. I could not see my soul’s v̬͉̗̫̊̏̓i̲̜̒̆ͅǹ̇e̲̙̞ͪͭͅs̬͚̜̖͙͍͇ͮͩ͒̚, though I could feel them just fine, and I looked like a not-black shilouette of flame. Strangely, I had gotten the impression that I was much smaller than I should have been, as if my old soul form was a giant seen from far away and this was small and close, but the feeling vanished as quickly as it had come. 'Well, it seems that Absolute Mimicry goes far deeper than we thought. Right, Chrysalis?'

        When no response came, I hesitantly called out again, 'Chryssie?' There was no reply. I feared the worst, which only grew as I realized that I was deaf to the voices of my hive. My grip slackened, and I plummeted half the remaining distance to the Reaper before I caught myself. 'No! Please, gods no!'

        I climbed. It was the only solid thing I had left at the moment, the climb. The climb represented progress, bringing me closer to my family. Something was horribly wrong, and climbing out of the Valley of the Reaper was the only shot I had at finding out that was wrong. So I climbed.





        I did not know for how long I climbed; time worked strangely here, and the soul does not fatigue like the body. Some time ago – minutes, hours, days – I realized that what I first assumed was the living world above me was actually the shadow realm pulled close to the physical realm by powerful magic. My v̬͉̗̫̊̏̓i̲̜̒̆ͅǹ̇e̲̙̞ͪͭͅs̬͚̜̖͙͍͇ͮͩ͒̚ lead me through that dark place, and I wondered – grasping at straws, really – if that was why I had lost contact with all those that I loved.

        When I finally reached the boundary between Death and that abstract plane, the surface rippled at my touch. I was hesitant; this might be my only home, but I was going blind into probably hostile, unexplored territory while unintentionally masquerading as someone who had connections at this place. I swallowed my fear, donned a personality mask to match the prince of darkness, and dove in as if I owned the place.

        I found myself in a strange place, wrapped in yet another form, that of an inky black cloud-silhouette, well defined at the top, but fading into a wispy tendril below the waste. My body hovered gently above the ground, if you could call it that. The world around me looked like a blurry, shadowy photo negative of a city. Lights shone with darkness, the well-lit night sky was dotted with black stars, and the buildings were poorly defined monoliths. Sensation was not entirely physical, nor entirely spiritual, and from here I could see the soul-cores of the humans in the physical world, gleaming like moist, ripe fruit hanging in the moonlight.

        The denizens of this ethereal zone were all manner of creatures big and small, moving in all sorts of ways. Some flowed, some walked, and others crawled, warped, slithered, or did something else. They also wet my appetite, despite their fearsome or disgusting disgusting appearances, because they contained so much of the energy that I so desperately craved, energy that I had expended on my climb. Unlike the humans, their souls pulsed and flowed like honey, rather than burn like a furnace, yet they looked terrifyingly delicious.

        I had no idea what came over me. On Earth, I could easily ignore the temptation souls had presented ever since the first and only soul I had consumed. Here, it was very different. I could see souls without the crutch of magical vision, and I could see their mouthwatering soul cores without the obstruction of the flames of consciousness. The humans, I could still muster up the willpower to ignore. The lesser shades, they tempted me oh-so-badly. If I still had my physical body, I would have been shaking, barely in control of my own actions.

        ‘Speaking of body, where is mine?’ I thought. The last time I had died, I had simply climbed into my own corpse, even though it had already been moved at the time. Now, I was here and my nvisible v̬͉̗̫̊̏̓i̲̜̒̆ͅǹ̇e̲̙̞ͪͭͅs̬͚̜ͮͩ͒̚ had gone slack. Judging by the skyline outline, this was roughly where I had fallen to my death, but I couldn’t see my body.

        Again, I was grasping at straws when I turned left and started walking - floating - down the street. It just felt like the right way to go. I had to do something. If I stopped moving, I would probably break down and panic with worry.





        As I walked, memories bubbled up in my consciousness, mostly of Sally-Anne. I died thinking of her, so I suppose it is only fair that I kept thinking of her even in death. One particular memory that seemed relevant to my current situation happened late last year. Shortly after the incident that took part of Sal’s sight, she called me back to her lab. When I had tested on her portable affinity tester, which outputs the exponent of the power coefficient, I had scored a perfect five on the ‘Soul Magic’ category, the highest the device would measure.

        She declared to me that leaving it at that was bad science. So we constructed a far more sensitive affinity tester with an absurdly high maximum value. I placed my hand on it and channeled magic into it.

        We built a second one to double check the result.

        We ran the numbers again to check for construction errors.

        We built a third one, better than any that had been built in history.

        That day, I decided I would wear a power limiter so that I did not sneeze someone’s soul out. Chrysalis, having never used soul magic, nor having had her affinities tested, found that she needed one too.

        The three of us agreed to never speak of those numbers again.

        This was before I found that I could eat - and enjoyed eating - souls.





        There were several distinct categories of shadow creature in my mind. I had been categorizing them as I wandered. The lowest were the unawares, the creatures that did not acknowledge anything. Next were the lows, the weak, fragile beings that could be squashed by a human, but were self-aware and ran away from me. ‘Or would that be away from Victor?’ I mused. Above them were the mid range, creatures between humans and me in power. The highs could probably kill me without much of a fight, and the god-tier stood above them. Then there were the eldritch abominations, like the Darkness itself, which I was eternally grateful that I had not encountered.

        What I did know was that Victor apparently had a lot of power here. They respected him, some even feared him. Beyond the apparent respect, this place augments him. I can feel it; thinking that I am him, this not-place - alive in its own right - bolsters me too. It is not by much, but it helps. 

        This place and its people, they literally try to get into your head. Changelings have an innate defense, especially the royals, who can outsource part of their thought processes and are thus literally scatterbrained. That makes our minds very hard to read, but not impossible. And while I had a large amount of raw power for the mind arts, I am unskilled as my only training is a single crash-course and my innate defense. It would hold against a mid range shadow being, nothing more and not for long. So I kept moving, the feeling that I needed to go this way growing with the distance I had covered.





        My seven-day minimum restriction on transformation clicked off. Though at first the restoration of my ability to change forms made me ecstatic, I was suddenly made aware that it had been over a week since my family had seen me. And while I was making progress towards my real body, I wondered what had become of it, considering that I do not know its conditions or whereabouts. I hoped that it was not rotten.

                The only ray of hope I had was that I could hear some of my family again. Not all of them, and they could not hear me yet, but my ‘reception’ was improving with every step I took.

        They were alive; that much I knew for sure. But were they in good condition? That was the million dollar question.





        My only warning was the sound of flapping wings before it crashed down along side me. When the form arose from the smoky dust that its landing had kicked up, I involuntarily moved back in surprise. A bone dragon with a caustic, black miasma surrounding it looked down upon me. Of what little I knew of the shadow realm, I recognized it. This was Scythirraax, the dracolich manifestation of pestilence. Literally, that was the entirety of the information the black archives had on it verbatim. And it was staring right at me! 

        “Greetings, my Lord. I am glad to report that all is well in your realm...” It rumbles. The voice was more than sound, but also a spiritual projection of intent and meaning.

        I nearly lost it. ‘This guy works for Victor! How the fuck did that happen?’ My outer thoughts, my mask’s shield of cognitive dissonance, remained cool and collected, as did my features. “I sense a ‘but’ there, don’t I?” I asked in a perfect imitation of Victor.

        “Yes, Sire,” the dracolich replied. “You.”

        “Me?” I questioned. “Why do you perceive ill of me when I perceive nothing amiss?”

        If possible, Scythirraax would have grinned smugly. “Weeeeeaaaakkknnneeesss...” it hissed, advancing upon me as it did so. I stood my ground. “So lost and confused. Why, my Lord, whatever put you in this state?”

        “Something precious to me has been lost,” I answered truthfully, though my artificial growl was fueled by a sample of Victor’s rage that I released into the not-air. “I intend to reclaim it.”
        “Lost as in misplaced, or lost as in taken?” the dracolich asked, though from the tone of his voice, it sounded as if he thought he knew.

“Both!” I snapped; my own rage was real enough for my mask. “There are a few individuals who hold sole responsibility for my current situation!”

“Ah, I see. So it is the changelings who have struck this blow against you,” it mused. Scythirraax slunk closer, twisting so that it may pass around my body. Every sense in my body is telling me that it is about to rip me to shreds, but I hold my ground as Victor would have done. It is waiting for a show of weakness; I will deny it that satisfaction. “There is a reason we of this world do not make deals with the changelings.”

“Afraid that the worms wouldn’t uphold their end of the bargain?” I snorted haughtily.

“Ha!” It laughed a deep, horrid, gravel-like noise that seemed to grate at the mind and soul. “Of course not.” Its voice grew deeper, more serious when it said, “But that is not why we will have nothing to do with their kind. No, it is their royalty we avoid. There is a connection - we don’t know what, how, or why - between the two,” a sound like two opera singers swallowing a xylophone while in the middle of a duet - my official title in the changeling language - emanates from its bones, “and That-Which-Hungers. For our own sakes, I wish I knew more. It is a memory thief of unparalleled power, my Liege, and none are strong enough to even remember its name.”

I took a moment to digest that, even as the lich continued its incessant circling. Victor had alluded to that before, but it was connected to me? I did not even know what  ‘That-Which-Hungers’ even was and from the looks of it, neither did the dracolich. “As fascinating as this may be, I grow tired of conversing. Time is of the essence, and I must recover what has been lost.” I prayed with the bottom of my heart that he would let me go.

“You never did say what it was that you lost? Was it your strength? Your magic seems so low today. Did you allow them to feed upon you?” It leaned in close as it spoke, bringing its fangs and putrid, festering breath right up to my face. The fumes begin to corrode my form, bringing me agony. I hide my pain, conjuring anger instead.

“Remove yourself from my presence, or I shall remove it for you. My possessions are none of your concern,” I retorted. Simultaneously, I flared my dwindling magic in an effort to bluff the bone dragon.

Scythirraax did not buy it, instead choosing to say, “Oh, but I do think it is my business, my Lord, because...” It lunged with little warning from its emotions, claws swiping out at me. They grazed the surface of my form at the same instant I teleported away. Black bone fragments clattered to the ground at my feet, dripping a tar-like substance which pooled with a blood-like substance that oozed out of my own abdominal wound, which would scar my very soul. “...I will be KING!” It roared.

A wave of pestilence erupted from the dragon’s cavernous mouth. I dodged with another teleport. Bending space and time was easier here, as I had no body to move, but I wouldn’t last long. Had I not had Victor’s soul-form defending my own, I would have died already from the corrosive wound. Knowing that I could not win with how I was now, I made a choice.

In a single instant, faster than my attacker could react, two things happened in rapid succession. First, a lock on my magic opened, modifying my energy’s properties to their full potential., though it cost me a small ball of magic that was launched out of my back. And secondly, a thousand v̯̹̠͟i̠̲̪͟n̸͈̞̹e͇͝s̭̘̠ errupted from my back, still hidden by the Absolute Mimicry technique.

“IS THAT IT?” the dragon roared. “ARE YOU JUST GOING TO RUN AND DIE? HOW DID A WEAKLING LIKE YOU BECOME THE KING OF THIS WORLD? I SHOULD BE KING! I ALWAYS SHOULD HAVE BEEN KING!”

My v̯̹̠͟i̠̲̪͟n̸͈̞̹e͇͝s̭̘̠ shot forwards, intent on entrappning the lich. As they flew, they lit up with my unrestrained soul magic. For the first time, a part of the real me was seen by Scythirraax.

In the shadow realm, the physical and the abstract unite in mind-boggling ways. The soul is just as real and tangible as the body. Magic to heal one repairs the other, both can be defended by the same spell, and bone can be smashed as easily as an existence.

In my case, I chose a spell to reinforce the soul, designed for those ponies who summon creatures. I used my most powerful affinity, in a realm that augments said affinity, to enhance  a million soul-cutting thorns on a thousand prehensile, extendable, parasitic ropes. They were half way there when it could have seen them. They were inches away when he finally reacted, just starting to pull away. My v̯̹̠͟i̠̲̪͟n̸͈̞̹e͇͝s̭̘̠, they were already burrowing into its bones before Scythirraax could even make a sound, and the moment they had touched, I committed every detail about his essence to memory, just as I had done with Victor.

The gargantuan bone dragon, seventy five feet and six inches from snout to tail-tip when my vines first touched it, had already started shrinking. As I fed on its mind-bogglingly delicious power, I kept half for myself and used the other half to reinforce my hold on it. The once mighty dracolich had been reduced to a third of its former size before I finally ceased feeding.

“How-” was all it managed before I forced its mouth shut, causing it to bite the lump of rotten meat it called a tongue.

“I want to catch gods,” I answered honestly. “You are no god. Nor are you a king. You are my pawn, my puppet -” I yanked his head down to me so that he could see me heal my abdomen with his magic and so that I could whisper in his ear, “- and, if circumstances were more in my favor...” I trailed off, deciding not to say what I was going to say. “If the circumstances were more in my favor, you’d be dead right now. As it is, I need you alive, puppet.”

Exactly like a manipulator with his marionette, I pulled its strings, making the diminished Scythirraax kneel before me. My vaporus form drifted above his caustic body, careful to keep myself magically isolated from his corrosive bones and rotting flesh.

“Skillful Achievement with a Living Soul,” I announced as I made the dracolich flare its leathery wings. So what if I borrowed the name of the technique from an anime? I had a dragon to ride, a bone to pick, and a body to raise from the dead. A mighty flap later, the two of us were airborne. 





        “Finally. You fly too slowly, puppet.” The dracolich whimpered from within my grasp. It had shrunk further in the time I had ridden it, I having been unable to resist snacking. “What was that, puppet? You wish to speak? I shall allow it this once.” With that, I relaxed my grip on its muzzle.

        “My Lord, how have you done this to me? This isn’t possible!” Scythirraax’s voice sounded strained as it desperately tried to mask the pain it was suffering.

        “Nothing is impossible.” At that, I twisted myself through the boundary between the physical and the immaterial. Once again in my home world, I found myself in a sterile room next to a bed. My corpse, still warped by Absolute Mimicry, lay atop it, its chest burst open as if it had been impaled. However, there were other markings on its body, seams of wounds made and sewn post-mortem. ‘So, it seems that I was experimented upon after all. Great...’

        I slid into my body, sighing in relief as I did so. My dead heart fluttered once, twice, and then beat strongly. Flames and pain assaulted my body, but it could not compare to the elation life brought me. The sound came rushing back, and I could hear my hive once more. <<I am ALIVE!>> Their cheers brought me to tears.

        The doors to the room I was in burst open, and I could see a figure rush in with a fire extinguisher. The cool spray did nothing against my faux-phoenix fires, which burned violently as they restored my flesh to its pristine former glory. However, magic alone was not enough to heal me; I needed nutrients. ‘You’ll do.’

        The man found himself dragged towards the flames and consumed not by fire, but by teeth. After being suddenly drained of life energy, the man found his arm elbow deep down my throat before my magic severed the limb and allowed me to swallow it whole. Magically aided digestion had my stomach emptied rapidly, ready for the next chunk of human flesh.

        Body assaulted body, my mind assaulted his. Such a method would leave him a babbling wreck, but he did not seem to have too many life options at the moment. I dove in.

A few minutes later, there was not a trace of my actions left in the room. Not a drop of blood spilled nor corpse nor clothes. Even his soul found its way down my gullet; it was going to be eaten anyway, so why not by me? I also had the information on VICTOR DIVINCI’s secret research base; I had his pet dracolich tied up within a special, if hastily made, pocket dimension; and I had used Victor’s own magic to escape the anti-teleportation wards.

One slight twist of my wonderful, just-like-new body later, I was home free. Fourteen days trapped in the world of shadows and the Valley of Death, and now I was alive!





        My hands covered her eyes as I pressed up against Sal's back. I nipped at her ear with my teeth, the way she so loved. "Guess who," I whispered huskily in her ear.

        She whirled around in my grip, my hands lowering as she did to make the embrace into a full hug. "Rex! I missed-" She cut off abruptly and squeaked in a way that would have been adorable if it was not of fear. "You- you're not Rex! Let go of me! Let go!"

        "Sal, I-" I started before also cutting off, but for a different reason. I understood. Most people recognize others by face and voice. Changelings use both by traditionally staying with a standard for both. Sally-Anne, because of her accident, could not recognize faces, could not see the eyes that only I wear, and as such, she used magical signatures and link position for identification. She also did not know of Absolute Mimicry.

        In the time it took me to understand that, Sally-Anne had taken a step back. "Who are you?"

        "Sal, it's me, Rex. I'm just using an advanced transformation technique.” Alternating between the link and spoken word to ensure that her mind connected the two together, I said, “All” <<it>> “does” <<is>> “mask” <<my>> “magic” <<with>> “another’s.” <<I’m still the same man on the inside, Sal. I still love you, and I pray that you still find it within you to love me. My sweet Sal, do->> My thoughts were interrupted by as passionate kiss.

        When our lips parted, she whispered, “Only Rex calls me his sweet Sal. Come here!” Our lips met once more as she dragged me towards her for a tight embrace.

One of the changelings in Sal’s lab, I did not notice or care who, shouted, “Get a room, love birds!”

The kiss broke. “Sal, I thought-”

“That I didn’t love you anymore, right?” I nodded in agreement. “Wrong. I do love you. Whether it is true or false, I still don’t know, but I am happy with you. Let’s keep it that way, ok?”

“Thank you, Sally-Anne! Thank you! But, why?”

“I talked with Taruke. He said...” The memory played in my mind.




Flashback




        “Nothing of who we were or where we’ve been really matters, not really,” Taruke replied to Sally-Anne’s question. He set down his coffee, the ninth cup this afternoon alone. It was day three of what would become known as the great silence, and the elder changeling had already taken to drinking copious amounts of coffee so that he could stay awake, listening for the signs of his king’s return. Rex’s return was happening, if slowly, so he was not panicking like some of the others. He had faith. “The question is who are we now, where are we standing, and where are we going.”

        “I think I understand,” Sally-Anne replied.

        “I talked to Dr. Jeremiah once, shortly after he joined our great hive. You see, when Lord Rex first transformed my mind, I found that I couldn’t recall much of anything from before that moment, and what I could recall seemed disconnected, as if they weren’t my own memories. In a way, I guess they weren’t. I, Taruke, was born that day, and Clark Oswin died. Dr. Jeremiah told me that my case reminded him a lot of a dissociative disorder.

        “I woke up confused, with little memory of who I was, other than the name I had given myself and my Lord’s shared memories.”

        Sally-Anne inquired, “His memories?”

        Taruke nodded. “Yes, he had his whole education shared, among other things, for the hatchlings. I learned to play the cello from him through those memories.”

        “Wait, those are his?” Her eyes went wide. “I always assumed...”

        “That those were from some other changeling? They were not.” Taruke smiled, but his eye twitched from the coffee. “Unlike most changelings, our King has shared a large portion of his life, and yet he never uses his birth identity.

        “Anyway, there I was, tiny, confused, and afraid, and I see this giant of a man standing over me, eyes glowing with an unearthly light, and radiating such power into my very soul. Every fiber of my being told me that this was the most powerful being I would ever know, and that I should serve him. It was almost a religious experience, like those people who claim to have seen god, but far, far more powerful.”

        Sally-Anne turned pensive. “But wasn’t that exactly what he wanted you to feel?”

        “No. He told me later that he overdid it, not that I mind. And when I compare myself from before, during, and now, I find myself just as loyal, if not more so, because on a whole, my life has improved since he came and made me. Clark had no purpose; I do,” Taruke declared. “I am happy.”

        Sally-Anne sipped her own coffee and set her mug down on Taruke’s countertops. “And you think that I should be happy too?”

        “There is no doubt that everyone should be happy, I think. My question is, when did you first start loving him?”

        She thought for a moment before delivering her reply. “It was just after my hospitalization, after the anti-changeling group killed Ted and Shimmer, and after Ian died.” Sally-Anne scratched the back of her head as she thought. “Rex was helping me deal with the grief I was feeling... I think we started out just using each other as bounce-back friends with benefits, but...”

        “It blossomed into something more,” Taruke finished. Sal nodded. “I believe Rex told me that it was Selene who finally got you together as a couple.”

        “Oh, it was simpler than even that. She asked if we were, and we said yes. But...”

        Again, Taruke finished her sentence for her. “That was when you fear he made you feel that you love him, against your will. Did you have feelings for Lord Rex before that?”

        “I think so, yeah. It was just a crush. I have a power-play fetish,” she admitted matter-of-factly, knowing that the man across from her would not judge her. “I dreamed of being rutted by my boss, or of alien creatures and mind control and such. But there is a fine line between role-play and make-believe, and having a boyfriend that is all of the above. For all I know, he’s been raping me by making it impossible for me to not consent.”

       The almost empty mug shattered in Taruke’s hand. “He is not like that. He would not encourage us to kill rapists if he was one himself. He wouldn’t even let us be having this conversation if he was that kind of person. You would be his sex-slave if he was like that.”

        “But last April-”

        Taruke interrupted, “Did he explain what he wanted and why? Did he give you the open door speech? Did he ask your consent? Did he ask with every successive egg if you wanted to continue?”

        She thought, then said, “Yes to all.”

        “And what did you say?”

        “That I’d do it.”

        “And were you hurt from the event? Hurt by Rex in any way?"

        “No.”

        Taruke smiled. “So everything is fine in the end. Lord Rex cares enough about you to at least ask for your consent, and you are happy with him. Maybe he did change you, maybe he did not; there is no way to know for sure if what he says is the truth. If you think that he truly loves you, trust him.” He paused. “Sally-Anne, do you trust me?”

        “Yes, I do,” she replied. “Are you saying I shouldn’t?”

        The elder changeling shook his head. “No, I’m not saying anything, because I don’t know what to say. I just find it odd. Our king says to never trust a changeling, and yet we place incredible faith in one another. Maybe deep down, that just means that, even for the most monstrous of us, we’re all still human.





“I... Sally-Ann, thank you for showing me this memory. Wait...” I nearly panicked for an instant before I remembered what I was looking for. I held out my hand behind my back and materialized the little black box that meant so much to me. “Now, I’m in a bit of a hurry to deal with a particular problem, but this is far too important to wait. For the time that I was trapped, I thought of little beside you. I had meant for this to happen sooner, but... things happened and, yeah...” 

Finishing lamely, I knelt down and held out the box. Opening it, I revealed to Sal an engagement ring made of solid diamond, which was illuminated from within by magic embedded inside the crystalline carbon. “I know that I have nothing to prove my innocence in your eyes beyond my love for you, but Sally-Anne Beatrice Jones, would you marry me?"
> The Bone Man and the Murder Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“YES!”

Combine together one surprised and excited, high-ranking changeling; one overjoyed hive controller; the collective joy of a nation suddenly recovering their formerly dead leader, who was a friendly acquaintance to all of them and was now engaged to be married; the contagious nature of emotions; and the restored mental link, which was hyper-sensitive due to two weeks of forced disuse. If we were ponies, there would be spontaneous musicals, drinking, and parties. But we were changelings, a significantly more frisky and amorous specie, and thus celebrated with drinking, parties, and spontaneous musicals of a different sort.

I will admit that I did get caught up in the impromptu orgy, having been the epicenter of the emotion bomb that shook the hive. At least I had the presence of mind to limit it to a quick, if no less passionate, affair with my sweet Sal. After all, I had a date with a dracolich to deal with, and it would not do to keep it waiting. Its constant thrashing was quite the buzz-kill in my opinion.

I licked the last of my fiancée’s delicious love juices off my face as I swept her up in my embrace. I switched from physical to psychic sexual stimulation and said, “I hate to kill the mood, but I have one hell of a rowdy prisoner, a job with two weeks of work backup, a potential security breach of disastrous proportions, one young alicorn who hasn’t had her dad in two weeks, and a homicidal firstborn as said alicorn’s only sentient caretaker.” I kissed Sal briefly. “Welcome home, me.”

        “Sorry about-” There was a flash of teleportation, carrying us to a nearby warehouse. “-the workload. Ohhh! Ahhh! That’s the spot!” She moaned due to my psychic caresses, barely able to stand as her juices ran down her panty-less legs. Then, slightly embarrassed, she pushed my amorous psychic probes away to allow herself a moment to collect her wits.

        I, on the other hand, was busying myself preparing a runic array on the empty warehouse floor using materials I had pulled from hammerspace storage. Simultaneously, I called out to each of my four absent council members and the thirteen royals below me in rank. I also called out to Klika and asked her to bring Selene and Ψ. They arrived as fast as they could extract themselves from whatever situation they were in, and given the strength of my call, that time was measured in seconds. Some arrived as humans, some in their true forms, and most were already messy from their sudden passions. “I have little time for pleasantries,” I said, not looking up from the array, “so I will need your help constructing this,” I sent the blueprints that I had envisioned, “right now. Honestly, I should have done this first, but Sal is so damn sexy that this had to wait.”

        The gathered changelings lept to the task at my not-so-subtle psychic nudge. “Hello, Selene, Klika. It’s been too long.”

        “Daddy! You’re back!” The excitable little alicorn ran up to me. I had to magically hold her back to keep her from messing up the array.

        “Whoa, hang on. I have to finish this first, or we’re going to have an angry dracolich on our hands.”
        
        I swore that I could hear a pin drop at that instant. There was only one place an angry dracolich could have come from, and the implications shocked them. “Yes! You heard me. Here!” I shoved some of the later memories of my time in the shadow realm into their heads. Siva and a few others jumped in surprise. “Careful! This has to work the first time.”

        I split my focus between the twenty gathered changelings, reinforcing the link between them, and the task at hand. I needed the hive status, and the standard connection ‘bandwidth’ was not enough. In the minutes that followed, the picture I formed of the situation was, while bad, not irreparable. Jak and Taruke, as heads of Collection and Finances respectively, had managed to encourage miser-like behavior, preserving the treasury and love supplies. The thirteen royals, each of which had been evolved from an ordinary changeling, reported that most of the minor branch hives had fared similarly to the main branch. Anthony, the Infiltration division commander, reported that our spy networks had suffered without our most secure  form of communication. We did know that Victor was furious with us, but that he had been throwing around resources to keep things quiet. In conjunction with Ginny’s Silencers and our media plants, my accident had avoided the mainstream media. 

Ginny was the one to give me the most chilling news. While the public majority had missed or ignored the tiny ripple my corpse had caused, some conspiracy nuts, doomsday preppers, and fringe scientists had picked up the story, and no amount of hard work would truly be able to wipe that away. Sure, no information about me had escaped except perhaps what Victor’s men had learned from me, and that would stay put, but they would not drop it. This was what the Silencers referred to as “the beginning of the end of true secrecy.”

The room was swiftly transformed by our many hands. Chalk runes covered the vast majority of the room. Sally-Anne, who was the member of my staff most familiar with runic arrays, felt her eyes grow wide as she realized the scale and purpose of what I was attempting. “Rex?”

“That number is unlocked,” I replied, and nodded to confirm her suspicions. She nodded in assent.

When the array was finished, I stood before nineteen changelings and one alicorn child. The twentieth, Ψ, lay within the array at the focus. To my audience, I said, “I think I owe you all an explanation and a set of introductions. When I died-” Selene gasped, “-I found myself trapped in the shadow realm in the guise of Victor Divinci. Scythirraax the plague dragon attempted to attack me while I was there. I have his soul trapped in a powerful but temporary prison. This is the more permanent solution. My name is Alvarium Rex. I am a soul mage powerful enough to destroy souls with a sneeze. That is Ψ, a zombie of my own creation,” I said, pointing at the supine figure, “and reanimated by the very magic that made you into changelings. His real name was John Smith, who was a convicted serial killer. I ripped out his essence and swallowed it! I’m a soul-eater! And right now, I’m going to shove an eldritch puppet into a zombie to make a changeling!”

With that, I turned round and slammed my claws – one black, the other red and grey – against the array. The  array lit with an emerald shine, blindingly bright. My staff, reports delivered and runes constructed, knew that they were free to leave. Most did, leaving in a swirl of space-bending magic, but Nick, Taruke, Sal, Klika, and Selene stayed behind, which consisted of them running outside the warehouse and several blocks away.

Space unfolded above Ψ, revealing the dark, fluid soul of Scythirraax. It was visible to the unaided eye because of the powerful magic in the air. The pieces of my soul within Ψ parted, creating a well for the dragon to be placed inside. The immaterial beast easily sank into my creations body, compressing like a gas, but with much less pressure. The moment it was in place, I snapped the trap shut. The lights of the runes were drawn to Ψ, etching themselves in minature onto my drone's chitin and perminantly binding twisted soul to undead body. 

There was a sudden slack in the parts of my soul that served as his strings. I momentarily feared the worst, but I relaxed as I fealt my essence be drawn in and fully merge with the dracolich. It occurred to me then that what I had done in that shadowy plane was almost identical to the spiritual component of the changeling conversion process. This, giving the lich a physical body, had sealed the deal.

Much as it had the first time I used soul magic on this body, it erupted in emerald flames. Higher and higher they burned, adjusting the body to fit the creature. I was metaphorically on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what became of it. Chrysalis's changelings had pony bodies and pony souls; mine were the same, but human instead. What would this be?

The flames left as they had come, vanishing in an instant. The unconscious figure that was revealed, while humanoid, had only a passing resemblance to a changeling. White, bone-like plates covered most of its body, interrupted only by the standard black chitin. It looked thin, like a chronically starved man would. Scythirraax's head maintained dragon-like qualities, and his eyes, like they had been in the dark world, looked like sockets, each filled with a baleful green will-o-whisp. And unlike the stump of a tail that all humanoid changelings possessed, his tail – with chitanous protrusions that looked like vertebrae – easily doubled the length of his body at over six feet long.  It's wings resembled the bony ones it originally possessed, but the leathery membrane was replaced by a clear, hole-riddled changeling membrane, which actually enhanced the skeletal effect. All in all, my creepy, soulless butler now looked downright demonic. 

He was all mine.

I chuckled.

I touched his alien mind for the first time.

I snorted, then laughed.

I found the memories of its – his – identity.

I guffawed. I LMFAO'ed. I wheezed. I cackled like a mad man. 

This creature lying unconscious at my feet, bound to my will, believed itself to be one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, pestilence. And, according to its memories, it had damn well earned that title.

For the first time in two weeks, I dropped the partial transformation into Victor and became wholly me again. I laughed some more.

Then I froze. Scythirraax had mentioned a being it called "That-Which-Hungers." Scythirraax feared it. The fucking one-quarter manifestation of the end of the world feared THAT? Something that was connected to ME?

My mind went blank. The world flickered. The eyes of the dragon-turned-changeling twitched as a set of memories vanished from his head. 

I snorted, then laughed. Again.

I found the memories of its – his – identity.

I guffawed. I LMFAO'ed. I wheezed. I cackled like a mad man. 

This creature lying unconscious at my feet, bound to my will, believed itself to be one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, pestilence. And, according to its memories, it had damn well earned that title.

I owned one-quarter manifestation of the end of the world! And what did I do? I kicked it in the head. Lightly, of course. Just enough to wake it. "Well well well... Aren't you an interesting little puppet?" My smile promised pain beyond belief; my eyes dared him to disobey me.





Luna was... Well, to understand what Luna was doing, one must first understand that Mi Amore Cadenza had not ascended to deity status until many years after the Night Princess had been banished. So when Luna finally returned and was purified of the Nightmare, she took a liking to Cadance and they became fast friends. The huffing and puffing and wheezing taking place on the royal throne could only be understood as one thing: Cadance's breathing exercise in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

To see an inexplicably hyperventilating princess was unsettling to the ponies of the court. To see her sister having a panic attack, for only Celestia recognized it as such, was far worse.

"L-Luna?" Celestia stammered. Princess Celestia, Immortal Diarch of the Sun and co-ruler of the Constitutional Diarchy of Equestria and its Lesser Territories, never stammered. The guards were in a fighting stance faster than most ponies could blink, and a silent alarm was triggered magically, allerting the rest of the castle guard.

Luna's eyes were fixed, staring blankly at nothing, and words fell on her deaf ears. But her mind's eye watched, horrified at what her double was watching.

Bored by court, the dark alicorn had been overjoyed when Selene found her father returned to her, and had taken to watching out of Selene's eyes. However, the stallion Selene called father was disfigured, with a limb and body that smoked like her old nemesis, King Sombra. Then Rex claimed that he was a powerful soul mage, a field Luna knew well. And the array on the floor, athough Selene and Luna could not see it well, looked complex enough to give her a run for her money.

But it was his claim that he was a soul-eater capable of catching Scythirraax that terrified her. The Nightmare, her only friend and companion for over a thousand years, was a soul-eater. Discord was a soul-eater. Both of them had devoured thousands to satiate their ravenous appetites. Rex, whether claiming the truth or not, was capable of causing a great caticlysm with his actions.

Luna's eyes snapped into focus. "If there is a changeling in this room, I must speak to Queen Chrysalis this instant! It is a matter of life and death!" Her RCV caused the windows to shake and those ponies nearby to clutch their ears.

Murmurs broke out in the crowd. Ponies whispered to one another as Princess Luna's call went unanswered. Suddenly, a voice asked, "Oh, so the great Princess Luna requests an audience with me?" An astral-projection of Chrysalis fades into view. "A matter of life and death, you say? Well don't keep me waiting."

"Answer me this. Countless lives depend on your honesty. Is King Alvarium Rex a soul-eater? And is Alvarium Rex strong enough to control the likes of a raging Scythirraax?" Celestia gasped, recognizing the both name of the beast and the threat of a soul-eater.

Chrysalis, for her part, merely held a faint smirk. "I fail to see how this any of my concern. Or yours, for that matter." Chrysalis hummed and peered through her partner's eyes. "Fascinating. Perhaps... Maybe... I think... Yes... I will tell you that little, tiny, possibly insignificant detail. What do you say?"

"Get off with it already!" Luna yelled in a normal, non-RC voice.

"I think you mean 'Get on with it already.' You are right; I've procrastinated enough." Chrysalis's smirk grew as she saw the princesses' eyes widen. "Rex doesn't have the Elements of Harmony in his world. How do you expect him to deal with the world-destroying megalomaniacs that crop up from time to time? Certainly you cannot expect him to face Discord without any sort of hope? That would be irresponsible of him to leave his fate to chance, and he has already been very responsible."

Luna grit her teeth. "Do you have anything to say on his diet?"

"Oh, our diet is of no concern to you," Chrysalis replied. Sensing something else from her partner, she added, "Anyway, what's done is done, and I wouldn't raise a hoof to change it. Ta-ta!" 

Chrysalis promptly vanished.

"Luna, what was that about?" the concerned elder sister asked.

"Sister, disaster is coming. I can feel it in the air."





Unlike her worried partner, Selene was merely confused. Luna had told her the night before that if her daddy was telling the truth, then both he and that creepy changeling that had cleaned their apartments were actually big bad monsters. Her daddy had been playing checkers with her for a while; why would a monster play checkers with her?

Selene's definition of a monster was a giant, writhing mass of tentacles and spikes, with claws, teeth, and a hundred eyes to boot. She had no idea that the image she had conjured was both nearly identical to and an understatement of what the man across from her actually looked like on the inside.

The two of them were sitting on the edge of a chalk ring that her dad had drawn. Said one hundred yard radius ring was drawn in chalk dust poured on the floor of another warehouse near the first. Magic flowed out of both of them and into the mass of symbols. Selene was told that this was a magic wall that only Klika could escape from, and that it kept her safe from Scythirraax's fumes.

Klika, meanwhile, was having the time of her life. Her opponent had intermingled his reduced personal magic and his new changeling magic, allowing him to take a form that was nearly identical to a miniature version of his old body, but sported changeling features and was completely alive. Her barbed tail shot forwards between her legs as she flew, intending to skewer the spot of the pseudo-dracolich's head where its eyes should have been.

Scythirraax blocked with a claw, but immediately regretted it as the acid began corroding his claws. <<How dare you use my own power against me, insolent worm!>> he yelled through the link, preferring it over the unfamiliar speech organs it had recently acquired. He let out a plume of caustic smoke, which Klika dodged with a teleport.

"Hey! This tail is all mine," she called out. Another twin stream of acid and binding gel erupted from her body, eagerly targeting the ex-lich. Klika did notice that her acid had a darker color than before, and she wondered why.

<<You cannot lie to me! I would recognize my plague essence anywhere!>> The draconic changeling lunged again, his claws covered with his signature black ooze. Droplets fell on the floor, corroding in seconds narrow holes that extended several feet down, but where they touched Klika's natural armor, the substance caused only minimal damage.

"Not exactly, Klika. That would be my fault," I admitted. "I know your type, Starscream." He roared at my insulting name for him, recognizing the tratorous character from our shared memories. "I would be exactly the same, if our roles were reversed. You are cunning, ambitious, and very dangerous." <<Do not forget that I am already in your head. You cannot, will not, betray me.>> "Still, you wouldn't be you if you did not try. And to that, I have rendered your greatest weapons moot." <<Your mind is mine, your body is mine, your soul is mine, and your powers will soon belong to us all.>>

<<What have you done?>> 

<<I rendered the hive fully immune to you. Klika here has become just as toxic as you as well, though only when she wishes it,>> I replied. Smiling at my firstborn daughter, I said, <<Every nation needs an army, and its general should be the best of them all.>> Klika gasped, hearing my plan for her for the first time. She was almost impaled by a claw while distracted, but I casually redirected the blow with a not-so-subtle push from my mind.

Scythirraax raged, thrashing both physically and spiritually against his bindings. This was what we wanted. I was testing the upper limits of his soul bond and needed him to fight my control. He understood that fighting would only make it worse, as every thrash would illuminate my trap's weaknesses and allow me to improve the whole thing, reinforcing his bindings further. Yet his wounded pride would not allow him to ever stop, for the moment he did, he would be well and truly lost.

Selene watched the fight intently, checkers game long forgotten. She was confused about what was going on because she could only make out parts of the conversation. Regardless, the twelve-year-old cheered her sister onward.

The battle raged on for another hour. The ground was becoming increasingly unstable as the two combatants eroded the floor with acid. Not at all used to the limitations of a living, physical body, my new toy soon realized that he was the inferior opponent. One last blow to the head from his far more nimble opponent, and his body gave out. <<I... Yield.>> Scythirraax shrank back down to his default mortal form, no bigger than the average changeling.

While Klika strode up to his prone body, I merely raised an eyebrow. As she neared him, she extended her hand to help him up. Yet, from my perspective, I could see muscles tensing, magic charging, and thoughts of traps. Scythirraax accepted the hand, but as she pulled him up, he lept, pouncing on her an pinning her to the ground...

Only to be violently launched upwards with a bolt of kinetic and electrical magic. The ex-lich slammed into the dome of magic that Selene and I powered...

Only to shift his limbs into blades and plummet like a guillotine towards Klika...

Only for her to slip through the fabric of space-time, relocating her a few yards to the left and allowing the imprisoned darkling to smash into the ground at bone-breaking speeds. This time, he honestly admitted defeat.

Tightening down his prison magic one last time, I stood and allowed the containment shield to fall. I psychically paralysed him, mostly out of mercy so that he did not hurt himself further, and set to work repairing his body physically and magically so that his magic did not have to work alone. He sighed in relief when I numbed him; being a non-physical being, real pain was just as alien to him as soul pain was to us. "That was very good. You should be proud of yourself; that easily put you as one of the top ten fighters on the planet."

<<How did I lose? I am Scythirraax, the Plague Lord; I do not lose!>>

"You lost to me, you lost to my daughter, and you've lost to Victor repeatedly. I say you lose quite easily." The dragon snarled at me. I merely set another bone and continued talking. "But don't take it too badly; both Klika and I had rigged fights against you. In fact, I was fully prepared to die again while I was already dead."

<<Weakling. Tell me, if I am so much more powerful than you, how did you come to win?>>

I explained, "A shitty match-up with incredibly poor timing on your part. I was mimicking Victor's magic-"

<<An impossibility of the greatest kind.>>

"Nothing is impossible," I replied.

<<Not that,>> the draconic changeling retorted,

"Anyway, I was mimicking Victor when you came along. Had you fought me expecting me, or I had fought without my deep disguise, I probably would have died again in an instant due to dark magic poisoning. You expected Victor and his fighting style; you got me, a standard spell overpowered to the absurd, and the fact that matter and spirit are the same thing in your world." I sealed the last of his bones in place and begain working on regenerating his torn muscle tissue. "Your mistake against Klika was not using instantly lethal techniques."

<<I know no other techniques beyond my claws and my plague.>>

"Liar."

<<...>>

"Anyway, in truth, you are superior to Klika in fighting skill, but I was fighting too, puppet. Strings pulled can both hurt and help. Without my interference, you are second to none." I finished healing him enough that he would make a full recovery on his own. "Klika, if you would take him to the Beehive, that would be kind. Set him up an apartment to live in. He is one of us now, and will get all the basics. Have Anthony get him some ID." She nodded in affirmation.

I continued, "Scythirraax, I know that this might be hard for you, suddenly having to adapt to this extreme situation, but think of this as an opportunity to explore a whole new world. I will expect you to follow my rules, of course. And you will follow them for your own sake, for the majority of them protect the collective; you included. And if you behave, I will slowly unlock your prison so that you may one day be free of this mortal form; however, you will never be free of me. Kill me if you want; I will just climb once more from the Valley of Death."

<<You claim to have risen from the dead, you claim to have seen the fall. What proof do you have of your claims? Describe to me what lies at this ‘Valley’s’ base. Lie, and I will test your claims of immortality.>>

“What lies there is none other than the Grim Reaper. Specifically, it is her mouth that one sees as they fall. Infinite enough to swallow the infinite multiverse, yet simultaneously small enough that you feel it is you and you alone that she is swallowing. The mouth is lipless, tongueless, and toothless, yet very much alive and promising of nothing but utter, absolute destruction for any soul falling towards it. Beyond that, it is incomprehensible and unknowable.

“The Valley itself is dark, but dimly glows with a color that is only definable by what it is not, black. A soul-rending wind blows ever downward, growing faster and stronger with depth, as the Reaper inhales her meals. The only hope for a soul who falls below the halfway mark is if they have an anchor with which to climb back to.” For emphasis, I made him tense his muscles. “Chrysalis and I do.” Then I passed him my two memories of the Valley of Death.

He was silent for a time, which stretched on for what felt like minutes. <<... You were wrong on one small point. There is no point of no return in the Valley; it is the crest before. If you are in the Valley, no power in the multiverse can save you. No artificial anchor can do what you claim to have done. Eternals cannot die in the first place; Divinity bind themselves to their universe, but lose themselves upon the turn of the cycle; Immortals like my Liege, Lord Divinci, and I can stop ourselves from ever entering the Valley, even if our finite shells are destroyed, by an artificial process. 

What you do goes against what I hold to be true. And yet... I respect that. I have seen much in my time, having lived since the dawn of this cycle. You are tolerable. I will serve you willingly... when it suits me. Expect nothing more.>>

“Of course.” What else could I say? I had somehow, of no deliberate action of my own, won the favor of an ancient, eldritch abomination.

I’m still waiting for my psychotic breakdown from all the shit that has happened to me these past three years.





        Scythirraax was relieved when he stepped out of the accursed sunlight. The one thing he would ever - however briefly - consider thanking his new master for was an immunity to its deadly light. Mayhaps there was something to these mortal forms after all. Emotion for sustenance? That seemed interesting to the bone man. Well, it did until he was forced through one of the busier parts of the city, where he quickly decided that death by hyperstimulation was not a fun way to go.

        These changelings, they too were interesting, but in a much less enjoyable way. They knew that he had attempted to end their king’s existence, and resented him for it. In a way, he felt like one of the lesser beings in his old home. They poked and prodded his mind as he walked past them, and because of his position at the absolute bottom of the hierarchy, he had little to no defense against them. ‘No,’ he amended, ‘not them; him. They are ordinary mortals with no power of their own. They borrow power from their bindings, and their assault on my mind is merely their king’s unconscious mirroring of their desire. My own mental defenses are in shambles from his attack earlier. I can feel them rebuilding to their former glory, but it is not by my will. In fact, I feel them spreading and growing to cover all of them. Fascinating.’

        The ex-lich followed his captor’s daughter into the building referred to as ‘The Beehive’. On the outside, the building looked like any other structure in the city. The inside, however, was vastly different. Every square inch was covered in a solidified green coating, organic in origin.  Translucent windows along the walls allowed sunlight in, illuminating the artificial cavern, and clued Scythirraax into the fact that this was not the building’s original arrangement. The space was filled with changelings living in the large communal areas. Hundreds bathed, ate, slept, worked, and socialized, all within sight of one another in the grand room. Some of them even mated in full view of the others, even going as far as to request an audience.

        Without any warning, the ex-lich’s aching abdominal region rumbled. His guide paused upon hearing the noise. “When was the last time you ate?”

        The ex-lich thought, <<You mean acquire energy? Why? I do not hunger for mana. Even in my diminished state, I should be satiated for at least another decade before needing to absorb arcane energies once more.>>

        “I meant physical food,” his captor’s daughter replied. “Meat, blood, bread, stuff...”

        <<Why would I need that? I am->> His abdomen repeated the noise. Dejected, he finished, <<-now in a physical body... I assume that this feeling is my body telling me that it needs nourishment? And if I deny it?>>

        “Yeah,” Klika replied. “And that would be a really bad idea. You die before the seal is unlocked, and the Reaper gets dragon pot pie, understand? That spell will launch you at her.”

        <<Don’t starve. Understood.>> Hesitantly, and highly ashamed at needing another’s help, he asked, <<How often do I have to... eat?>>

        “Three times a day. About three thousand Calories worth of food in total.” Klika laughed. A few seconds later, a projectile was lobbed through the air. Klika, fully expecting it, snared it with her magic without looking back and passed it to Scythirraax. “Eat up.”

        The object in his hand was a thick piece of meat that his new memories identified as steak, wrapped up in a thick piece of butcher paper. The pleasant scent titillated his senses, begging him to consume it. He did, at first with apprehension, then acceptance, and eventually gusto as the pleasurable taste seemed to dance upon his tongue. ‘If this was what the physical world offered, he mused, ‘I am sure that my stay here will be... tolerable.’

        Klika, however, was snickering the whole time, as if she had found an unspoken joke within the situation. Her ward ate and ate, not knowing the dastardly trap he was falling into. She could hardly wait to spring it. When he finally devoured the last bite, she said, “Now that you’ve eaten, you do know what comes next, right?”

        <<What? More food?>> he asked.

        “Well, yes,” she admitted, “but it’s what you do with that food when you are done with it.”

        Scythirraax was confused; he did not like being confused. He was a genius, a master of knowledge of the arcane. He did not like not knowing. And, admittedly, he was rather poorly educated on the facts of life - such as biology - given all his dealings with mortal sorcerers in the past. It was not the kind of information they thought about or even wanted to share. Digestion also happened to be a vastly different activity than the closest analog to it in the shadow realm.  <<What? I thought that I was done; what more could I do with it?>>

        “Well, not all of the food can be absorbed by the body. All that waste material has to go somewhere~” Klika sang. “Usually, out the other end.”

        The ex-lich changed his mind. This was definitely hell.





        His warden looked back at him, her head turned back so that she could see him from the corner of her vision. She had just finished giving him the tour of where he would be staying, and had explained to him that though he was now the bottom of the hierarchy, he could work his way up with hard work, cunning, or, as vile as it sounded, sexual prowess. The only redeeming feature - a quite pleasing one at that - was that by taking advantage of the human’s love, he might just have a way to restore himself to his former strength. ‘Political power by sharing the energy, or personal power by consuming it?’ Scythirraax mused. He also wondered why, if his warden was done with her duty, was she still hovering there, watching him.

“Thank you.” Those two words hit the prisoner like a ton of bricks. Why would she thank him? It was an admission of weakness, that she had been dependant on him for something. Why? He thought, and then decided to confirm his theory.

        <<Why?>>

        “I... ah...” Kilika was suddenly quite nervous. Scythirraax’s opinion of her fell more. “I’ve never actually told anyone this, not even my father. I think he knows, but...” She shook her head. “I have these... itches, I guess that’s the word. When they come, something dies whether I want it or not... But I’ve always loved the feeling of the life being squeezed out by my claws, the trickle of freshly-spilled blood through my holes. I usually scratch it by butchering the pod-humans for the kitchens, or going to the pet store for something to rip apart... It’s intoxicating...” She stopped. Her dreamy expression shattered as she realized what she was saying. “Uhhh....”

        <<Do go on. This is interesting,>> the ex-lich replied.

        Klika rubbed the back of her head and drifted around the suspended platform where his cloud bed-cocoon hybrid was mounted. “Really? Most people would have been running away from me by now.”

        Scythirraax snorted with contempt. <<Please. Do not associate me with such trash. I am the very manifestation of plague and disease; I love killing.>>

        “Well then,” Klika replied, the dreamy expression having returned to her face. Her tail twitched merrily behind her. “I hope we can spar again. That was quite fun, and it scratched my itch, having you bleed all over me. I’m gonna fight you until I can beat you without Dad’s help, got it?”

        <<That sounds quite enjoyable. I look forward to seeing you fail.>>

        “Dream on!” Klika shouted as she resumed her flight out of the sleeping quarters.

        The moment his warden was gone, his knees buckled, dropping him down onto the suspended cloud mattress that was to be his bed. Beyond that one action, his mortal form did not relay to the world the agony it felt. Battered, bruised, and oh so fragile, Scythirraax cursed this prison of his. He called up his magic - his, not the magic forced upon him by his new master - to try and repair his body. The draconic changeling was surprised when the magic poured out of his claws in a mass of purple light, flecked with green and black, but then realized that that was obvious in hindsight. He lowered his claw towards his chest-

        “Hey, I almost forgo-yyaahhhh!” Klika, who had hovered back up, gasped when she saw the dark magic. Said magic vanished from Scythirraax’s grasp through no action of his own, but rather Klika’s knee-jerk psychic reaction. “Don’t do that!”

        <<What? Heal myself with my own magic from the abuse you inflicted upon me?>> He somehow managed to roll his were-lights-for-eyes in an emulation of the sarcastic expression. The gesture, foreign to the alien being, seemed appropriate given the situation.

        “Uhhh... I guess that’s ok,” Klika conceded. “Dark magic doesn’t have the best of reputations here, as dark magic from a non-changeling tends to be... instantly lethal. In the future, just circulate it through your body, rather channeling it out to form a healing spell.” A thought occurred to her. “Now that I say it aloud, a dark-magic healing spell seems quite odd.”

        <<I will heed your advice,>> Scythirraax conceded, not willing to do anything to jeopardize his safety... yet. When he actually followed her advice, he was pleased to find that his body repaired itself much more easily - though less efficiently - than the way he had originally intended. <<I am insulted by the insinuation that we do not have magical healing. Ponies heal with the desire to nurture and restore; we darklings heal with rage against weakness, a desire to crush imperfection. Dark mages in the past tended to not be as interested in the more...benign aspects of our power.>> Not for the first time did Scythirraax lament the acursid v҉͔̺ͅi̳͉͓ṉ͔͘e͕̭̝͔̲͔̭s̛͇̖̫̰̘̩ that had wormed their way into his mind, loosening his tongue to and uncomfortable level. <<Now, what did you need of me that required your presence?>>

        Klika nodded. “Right, I just found out your assignment. Yow will be placed as a joint member of the Infiltration Division and the Research & Development Division. Specifically, you are going to be working with a group of academics aiming to correct the flaws within the Crystal Curse in order to maximize the purity and energy content of synthetic emotions. Afterwards, you will be permanently assigned to be our liaison with him, and will be provided the appropriate pay for both tasks.”

        <<No, I refuse,>> he quickly replied. <<I will not allow my Lord to see me in such a weakened state.>>

        “I thought you might refuse. So consider this: You are to be the taste-tester. Divinci will be feeding you magic, helping you grow stronger.” Klika smiled, her fangs glistening as sunlight from a window fell upon them. “Like it or not, you are now a parasite. And the king who you were trying to dethrone when you attacked my Dad is freely offering his power to us. You can serve both of your rulers without issue, and regain your power while you are at it. You already have our permission to consume any of Divinci’s enemies, and those he deems ‘expendable.’ Honestly, I’m slightly envious. It’s free food.”

        <<I will consider your proposal... strongly.>>

        “That’s all we ask. You also should probably ask Dad for the full limits of your bindings; I don’t think they are quite as restrictive as you think.” Klika then nodded to herself and changed the subject. Cocking her head to the side, she asked, “You up for a brawl next Tuesday?”

        Scythirraax tilted his head to the side, then back, and then nodded once. <<I think that is agreeable.>>

        “YES! Thank you. It’s a date!” Her tail suddenly whipped out at bullet-like speeds towards his face. The ancient being casually caught it with a claw, careful to ensure that the barb landed within the hole on his palm. “Good. Stay sharp, my friend!”

        And with that, the murder princess was gone. 

She considered him a friend? Not ally, but friend? ‘This world is so strange.’

> The Forgotten One II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Oblivion could have kicked itself; it really wanted to. First groaned. Long had it desired a way to get at the nutrients found within the shadow realms of the two universes it occupied, and now that it had found out how, the answer seemed obvious in retrospect. First's body, his real, extra-dimensional body, lay on the literal intersection of the physical, spiritual, and dream realms, and the Valley of Death. Before him, he could see the beacon within. It was not ever meant as a beacon, especially not for the likes of him, but First would not deny a gift when he saw it.

The universe-eater swam, for lack of a better term, through the void, only temporarily remembered by void walkers large and small. While Second and Third generally only controlled the feelers of his that father Discord had slipped into the twin universes, First controlled the whole body, which, while mind-bogglingly large by mortal standards, was tiny enough to cause some confusion as to why he was called a universe-eater. What they did not know, what no one  besides his ancestors knew, was that it was simply in its larval stage. And he was starving.

Along Oblivion's body, hundreds of mouth-like openings chewed at the fabric of space and time. Anything within that space, which, given that this was the void, was very little, was instantly consumed, and anything within that time and a certain range found itself going faster as its time was consumed. Oblivion's two largest mouths were mounted on two limbs with a harpoon-like appearance.  The limbs cocked themselves, ready to fire.

Oblivion moved closer to his target, positioning himself so that his leftmost mouth was aimed at the beacon, and his rightmost mouth was aimed at the mirror image location in the other universe. Quickly, he made sure that he would not bite himself, that his feelers were safe.

He fired. The harpoons sailed through the void at superluminal velocities, impacting the twin universes before any sentient force could react. The hollow-tipped harpoons penetrated exactly where First had aimed, much to his satisfaction. He closed the mouths and pulled, rending the captured spaces from their respective universes.





Inside the shadow realms, it was pandemonium. For those unlucky enough to be caught within the attacked areas, the end came fairly quickly. One moment, they had been minding their own business, and the next, they had found themselves trapped within oblong areas that were totally inescapable. The instant after that, everything imploded; the areas that had once encompassed well over a hundred million cubic miles each had been reduced down to the combined volume of a grape.

For those unlucky enough to be on the external edge of the affected zones, they found themselves sucked into the absolute void before plummeting into the waiting Reaper's maw. However, the danger to those who had not yet fallen through passed quickly, as the holes were quickly but poorly stitched shut, forever scarring the mirror universes.

Of all the creatures that were killed in the initial strike, little XYZ!¡!ZYX had the worst luck. A twelve-legged creature the size of a small dog, it had the unfortunate luck of being perfectly bifurcated by Oblivion in such a way that both halves were conscious long enough to witness their respective demises.





In the physical planes of both worlds, the situation was mildly less dire in terms of the absolute mortality rate, but far more terrifying because of the inexplicable nature of the event. In the shadow plane, it was obvious to any who looked as to why those others had died. To the people of the physical plane, not so much.

Simply, eighty percent of all life forms within a certain area simultaneously dropped dead for apparently no reason at all, having had their souls imploded by the shockwave. The twenty percent that remained would succumb within days to radiation poisoning, for Oblivion's inherently destructive chaos magic would scar the universe in that spot.

On Earth, an area the size of West Virginia, centered within Southern Texas or Northern Mexico and positioned along the gulf coast, was instantly depopulated. Electronic devices failed, planes fell out of the sky, and the South Korean space station was irradiated as it orbited above. The changelings, of which there were only six within the affected area, would all simultaneously fall unconscious. 

The exception was Scythirraax, who was horrifyingly aware that had he not been captured, he would have been dead; his home in the shadow realm simply no longer existed. Furthermore, he and several other surviving darklings would have a moment of terrifying clarity in which they would realize that they had known what the cause of the event was, and had forgotten. 

In Houston, the shadow drive would switch off, no longer with a source of power.

The region would become known as the unholy land, and though the radiation would not spread with the wind, it would be radioactive for the rest of time. Having been night at the moment Oblivion's harpoon hit, the "angel of the moon" would become synonymous with the angel of death in North American mythology.  There would be economic collapse as three major nations lost millions of people, several major port cities, and thousands of square miles of arable land.

On Equa, a similar event occurred in the narrowest part of the sea between The Griffin Empire and Equestria. The moment the harpoon struck, every single magical creature on the planet, that is to say all life, lost consciousness. Changelings everywhere were happy that their disguises had not fallen, but that joy evaporated in an instant then the death toll started to be observed. Major port cities in both nations could no longer be operated due to "chaos sickness." Almost all trade between the two nations was extinguished, as that was the only easy sea route between the two. 

The worst effect would not be seen until a few days later, when the bodies started washing up: Sea ponies were extinct. There were few regions in the oceans that could support the aquatic equines, and none were within easy reach of this one. When the harpoon hit, there were a grand total of twenty six sea ponies left alive, and all but one was rendered infertile by the chaos magic.

The unholy land and the dead sea, as they came to be known, shimmered slightly at their boundaries. Within the ellipsoid zones, which extended hundreds of miles up into space and equally far down into their respective planet, color seemed muted, and those that looked in swore that they could see things on the edges of their vision. Life fled from its sight.





There was a body in a tower. The man that had previously occupied it would never know that it was he who pulled the trigger on the event when he had pulled the trigger of that gun.





Two of the aspects of Discord grimaced. They realized that something was not letting them think about a thing that so desperately needed thinking about.

"Oh bother."





It would take time to digest. Oblivion, in his immature size, could only eat so much at once, and he had gorged himself. That said, his body was already visibly expanding as it absorbed all the lives it had taken, all the space-time that he had consumed.

First felt sure now that he would live through his metamorphosis, which was coming up soon. He could feel it.

He could also feel sensation returning to his feelers as Second and Third awoke. They had been numbed by the shock of him striking their universes, and were only now recovering. 'I am sorry about that, little ones,' First thought to his other selves. 'I trust that you are alright?'

The two conferred among themselves and decided that, yes, they were. They then cried out again, not wanting their elder self to go to sleep again. First denied them, saying that he needed to sleep so that they might be protected.

'But what about after?' Third asked.

'After, as in "after our metamorphosis?" What about it?'

Third explained his idea, while First and Second thought about it. 'Theoretically, that could work...' Second mused. Then her manifestation on Equa nodded. 'It wouldn't be too hard to find her, and I'm sure I can find all the needed components here. I already have one candidate in mind...'

'I could stay awake for a time, after our transformation,' First suggested. 'We would have to work fast. Once I transfer the defense to her, I would be trapped until you two could help me. It's the best shot we have. For now, I need my sleep.'

'No! Please don't go yet!'

'Ok, ok. Do you want a story? We'll do a story.'

‘Yes! Tell the one about Dad fighting the princesses!’

> The Unraveling of All Things (repost)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight awoke with a splitting headache, and she did not know why. She was not the only one, though; in fact, it would have been nearly impossible to find a creature in her world that was not waking up with some sort of pain. Twilight’s pain-and-sleep addled mind attributed to over-studying and over-using her magic, though in actuality she had done nothing of the sort.

As she climbed off the floor - ‘The floor?’ - she noticed that her muscles hurt strangely, as if she had overworked them. Twilight was confused, and as such, fell into an ordinary and well-rehearsed morning routine in an attempt to fully rouse herself and regain her senses.

She had no idea that the spot she had just vacated had been the sight of her first grand mal seizure, but she was beginning to suspect it. Or at least, her subconscious was telling her that something was very, very wrong. “Spike...” the mare horsley moaned. Then, louder and more clearly, she repeated, “Spike!”

A pained moan was all she got in reply. Twilight figured that he was still sleeping and decided not to go and wake him.

As Twilight poured a drink from her new automatic coffee maker, the next and newest part of her morning routine came to mind. Now, if she had not made this particular innocent step a part of her routine, future Twilight would have numbed her pain, had her coffee, and had a generally enjoyable, albeit confusing, morning for the next thirty seven minutes and twenty three seconds. Upon the ending of that time period, future Spike would have been woken by a hastily penned note sent by Celestia to Twilight via dragon-fax.

But that crucial, innocent-seeming step, which would sour her mood far more than Celestia’s letter, was performed. And so, Twilight lost all good cheer.

Simply, at seven o’clock precisely, Twilight’s horn lit up and vibrated with the magically transmitted sounds of the radio host’s voice.




        “This is Welcome to Canterlot on Equestrian Public Radio, Equestria’s first and currently only radio station, broadcasting on AM, FM, and magical frequencies. Today’s date is July 8th, in this fourth year after Luna’s return. I’m your host, Scoop, substituting in this week for Silver Tongue.

        “I have to start out today’s broadcast with a quote, one that I insist that you all keep in mind as you hear today’s headline. ‘When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.’ Author Unknown.

        “As much as I wish it would, mere words cannot ever hope to lessen the impact of what I am about to say. Out of respect, I am going to be dedicating my entire hour of airtime to coverage of this...” There was an audible sigh. “I prayed that I would never have to do this when I took up journalism. But here it goes...

“Equestria’s east coast has fallen. Along the eastern coast, extending upto a mile inland at its widest point, a zone appeared at 11:42 last night that instantly killed most of the life within its range. And by eastern coast, I mean all of it. The cities of Baltimare, Neigh York, and Fillydelphia all rest along the coast, and have all been struck. Mares and gentlecolts, the devastation is... astronomical. I’m talking tens of thousands dead in an instant, stolen away from us in the middle of the night.”



Twilight’s coffee, long since dropped on the floor, spread around her hoof. She did not care.




“Those lucky few survivors that escaped have shown signs of chaos sickness, which include anemia, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal pains, dizziness, confusion, and blistering burns across the skin. The zone, which is bounded by a translucent blue energy, continues to maintain the highly concentrated levels of chaotic magic it had when it first appeared, and as long as it continues to do so, life will be unable to live there.

“As for the rest of the nation, the arrival of the zone was accompanied by a pulse of magic that induced fits in most creatures, ponies included, rendering us unconscious. Please, if you have any medical conditions, especially magical ailments, please report to a doctor as soon as you can. If you feel fine, I would ask that you refrain from going to the doctor within the next few days so that they may treat the major injuries first. Afterwards, when things have calmed down, I would advise every person, pony or otherwise, to visit their physician as soon as possible.

“I’m receiving reports from our pegasi Fast Response Team and my anonymous changeling contact that this pulse had covered at least as far south as Appleloosa and as far west as Vanhoover, leading me to assume that this is a nation-wide disaster. For the love of Celestia, DO NOT PANIC! We will get through this. We are tough. We are Equestria.”



There was a moment of near-silence broadcast over the magical radio, in which muffled voices could be heard in the background.




“Listeners... I’ve just learned... it’s worse than we thought. The afflicted zone extends deep into the ocean, where our seapony cousins live. We have lost contact. The only thing we can do is hope for the best, but... prepare for the worst.



The near-silence returned, though the whispers were louder this time. There was a cry of anguish.




“God no... Everypony, everyling, everybody, for those of you who are in the know, there is another place out there that is like ours, but different in many ways. Within the last few years, we have met one another, and some of us have ventured across to the other side through the natural bridges that have formed. The very equipment I am broadcasting on was invented in that place, my old homeland. 

"There is one similarity I wish we didn't share with our neighbors. It seems that the are in the same dire straits as us here in Equestria. The same disaster that happened to us, happened to them.

“So many have died in this is a tragedy that spans many lands, many nations, many people. If you are hearing these words, band together. Be strong. We need one another more than ever. Love your family, cherish them, let them know that you are there for them.

“More reports are coming in, saying-”



Twilight killed her horn’s light. Scoop’s voice faded with it. Shock, complete and utter shock was the only thing that Twilight could feel. It pushed outward from the core of her being, crushing any and all feeling away, and left her hollow, empty, and numb.

She sat there, trying to understand. Ponies did not just drop dead, so why? Why? Why had that happened?

For twenty eight never-ending seconds, Twilight sat and thought. For thirty two minutes exactly, she ran in a mad dash around her library for an answer that was not in her books.

Two minutes and fourteen seconds after Spike was rudely awoken, he handed Twilight the offending scroll.

Eight minutes and thirty nine seconds after that, Twilight Sparkle and Spike were crying their eyes out. In that time, they must have read the letter a dozen times to make sure they had read it correctly.

One point three seconds after that, Rainbow Dash opened the door to the Library.





         Rainbow Dash was loyal.

The sentence “Rainbow Dash was loyal” was as obvious to those who knew her as, say, declaring that both she and the noon sky were blue.

What was slightly less obvious was that Rainbow Dash was also a health nut. She would never call her health books, diet regimen, or doctor’s advice “egghead stuff,” for she could feel it keeping her at her peak. Dash lived and breathed everything she would need to squeeze every last drop of speed out of her wings. So when she woke up with an unexplained headache, wing cramps, and an out-of-whack vestibular system, Dash flew straight as an arrow to get help.

The closest place for said help: Twilight’s Library.

“Hey, Twilight...” When Rainbow Dash opened the door, she expected to find her early-rising egghead friend there with her nose in a book. She did not expect to see the mare crying into Spike’s shoulder. Nor did she expect to see Spike crying back.

All thoughts of her own distress evaporated in an instant. Twilight needed her more than she needed Twilight.

“Twi, what’s wrong? Why are you and Spike crying? Did something happen?”

The lavender mare’s body heaved with an unchecked sob. “They’re dead. They’re all dead...”

The prismatic mare’s stomach dropped. Dread filled her body, making her own aches seem both bigger and totally inconsequential at the same time. “Who’s dead?” When no answer immediately came, Dash asked again, “Twi, who died?”

Neither of the library’s residents replied, but a scroll did levitate towards Dash’s face. She grabbed it and unrolled it. Before Dash could even begin reading, her eyes noticed two details. First, the letter was written in very hasty unicorn script, so swiftly written so as to be nearly unreadable. And second, there were brownish-red splotches dotting the page, still moist. 

Blood.

Dash’s eyes read the letter. Dread turned to horror. Rainbow knew the Cloudsdale flight path by heart, as all its citizens did, and knew that had a few more hours passed before this had happened, she would have lost her parents. And while the cataclysm spelled out on this Celestia-forsaken scroll had claimed millions, Dash could only think of her family and friends up there in the sky.

Dash remembered the dead, and her relief that her family was safe evaporated into shock.





There was no poofy pink mane in ponyville that day. There were no smiles spread that day. There was no laughter that day.

The mare who used to be the main proprietor of said poofy mane, smiles, and laughter sat in her bathroom, trying not to get vomit on her decidedly straight mane. She had been empathic before that day in Canterlot, and was even more so now. Grief reeked to her changeling senses, but that was not why she had lost her morning breakfast. The thought of the millions in both worlds who would never smile again did it.

None of that mattered to Pinkamina Diane Pie at that very moment. Not the vomit, not the grief, and definitely not the dead.

Fluttershy needed her now, and that was that.





           Doctor Stitches had treated almost every member of the royal staff as the Castle's resident physician of thirty years. The patients before him were the only two exceptions, and with good reason.

            Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could not be hurt by normal means. Doctor Stitches had heard that normal swords merely bounced off their hides if they even gave a half-hearted effort to protect themselves. Some rumors said that they could regrow body parts instead, and that it was so fast that one could not even tell that they were hurt merely a second later.

           Princess Luna had survived in the vacuum on the moon without food or water for a thousand years; Stitches figured there was something to those rumors.

            So when he was called in early in the morning to treat them, he was obviously quite freaked out, as were the palace guards. It did not help that both princesses' heads were soaked in their own blood, freely flowing from identical, inexplicable wounds around the bases of their horns. If that were not enough, the fact that his healing spell triggered the release of chaos magic from Princess Celestia's lacerations nearly gave him a heart attack.

            “Princess, I've never seen anything like this,” Doctor Stitches explained as he dug through his medical supplies. He pulled out a needle, some thread, bandages, and sanitizer. “I'd say that this is a curse wound. The only thing I can do for you is stitch it up by hoof to stem the blood flow and bandage it up – a patch job, really. We'll have to call in a specialist to fully heal it.”

            “There is no need,” a shaky Princess Celestia replied. “My sister and I have a suspicion as to what caused it.”

            “Please tell me, Princess,” the doctor requested as he was suturing up her wound.

            “I fear that this might be a bit outside of your skill set, Doctor Stitches,” replied the solar princess.

             Luna rolled her eyes, then blinked away a drop of blood that had fallen in to the left eye. “Your talent for understatement is as sharp as ever, sister.” 

            Once the skin around her horn had been patched up to the best of the good doctor's ability, Celestia turned towards her sister. "Luna, take care of the courts for the day. I will be back as soon as I have a clearer picture of the situation. I have already contacted Twilight Sparkle and explained to her the situation. She and her friends will be joining us in Canterlot this afternoon."

            The night princess nodded. "I see. Very well. I hope you find us an answer."

            "Yes, I hope so too," the day princess replied. "Goodbye for now." With those words, the occupants of that room were treated to the sight that no mortal currently alive had ever seen: a goddess shedding her physical form. Like a miniature supernova, Celestia's body erupted with pure sunlight, no, it became pure sunlight. Power radiated off her form, invigorating all those around her with her life-giving light. It would have been described as the most beautiful thing any of them had seen if it were not for what could only be described as a crack on her head. From it emanated a disgusting, blinding sound and a screeching, impossible light of a color that could only ever be described as "not black."

            Then she was gone, having left the room at the speed of her light, and the tiny crack in reality was gone with her.

         When he found his voice again, Doctor Stitches asked, "What was that?"

            "A scar in reality, it seems," the remaining alicorn replied. "Sister and I are as much a part of the universe as your organs are you. When our world is wounded, it appears that our bodies reflect it as such. I would gather that Cadenza, the Elemental Lords, and all the other gods and goddesses are bearing similar marks."

            "Princess, if you don't mind me asking," inquired one of the nearby guards, "how does the world get wounded?"

            "That is the million bit question, is it not?"






The changeling queen and her otherworldly counterpart were at war, not with each other, and not with any external force, but at war with the tidal wave of emotions circulating their hive minds and themselves. Both Chrysalis and her partner had lost members, and it took everything they had in order to restore their networks to fully operational and not being crippled by an excess of emotion.

Less known to the royal Gatekeepers was the fact that they were each also at war with their own minds. That fundamental part of their minds that all animals have, the hunger and sex drives, warred with their conscious minds; their unconscious minds saw an opportunity to obey their most primal instincts in the face of their weakened respective preys, but their rationality denied it. They wanted to "feed and breed," even though they rationally understood that the correct response should have been "fight or flight."

And as much as Chrysalis hated to admit it, she was a creature of instinct. As the first of her kind, there had never been a parent to teach her how to “be a changeling,” and her instincts had yet to lead her or Rex wrong.

Chrysalis had grown up as a pony and with ponies, but she had been a predator for much longer. The animalistic, psychopathic aspects of her personality would never leave her be if she let an opportunity pass her by.

‘We’ve lost many good changelings,’ Chrysalis thought. ‘I need to repair what has been lost... and while I’m at it, I may as well improve my hold. The changelings we lost would want nothing more than to see their families prosper.’

Her defenses crumbled; Chrysalis’s desires were now justified. The tall changeling smiled, even though her eyes still betrayed her grief, because she at least had a goal to move towards. Chrysalis inhaled, puffed out her chest, and trotted off through her underground castle. She had to be strong; a silly little thing like mass death would never stop her, or so she wanted her subjects to think.

[Do you agree?] She asked.

[Yes for everything,] Rex replied. [Live. Feed. Grow. Be strong, Chryssie.]

[You too, Rex.]





If he could have moved, he would have. How he longed to move, to be free, to have a chance at ending this fate before it became permanent. Discord’s mind and soul writhed within his stony prison, more so today than ever before.

‘Let me out of here! Let me out!’ Discord roared within his mind, desperately screaming at the tree that held it captive.

“And why would I do that?” the Tree asked. “So you can reak more of your disgusting chaos? I think not. Do not believe that I will weaken my grip on you this time; such chaos as this will not help you.”

Discord retorted, ‘But it’s not my chaos. That is Oblivion out there; it’ll kill us both if you don’t let me go.’

There was a moment of silence, in which Discord had a sinking suspicion about what was going on in his enemy’s head. “Cease your nonsense, Discord. There is nothing out there; it is just you and your filthy chaos.”

        ‘So, even the great and self-important Tree of Harmony is blind in the face of Oblivion,’ the chaos spirit quipped. ‘Tell me, Tree, what caused those scars on these two worlds?’

        “They reek of your magic; obviously one of your other aspects decided to aid you in you destructive ways.’

        Discord scoffed, ‘Oh please, I have enough work cut out for me in the realities that you haven’t sealed me off already. Just accept that my memory eating mistake is after our heads.’

        “A memory eater?” the Tree of Harmony asked. “As if a mere memory eater could triumph over something as powerful as me.”

        ‘Humility is obviously not one of your strong points. We may be infinitely strong, but it is an infinite amount of power spread into finite chunks across the infinite cosmos of reality. Oblivion doesn’t have to conquer all of us, but merely two finite Chaos Spirit avatars and two finite Harmony Spirit avatars at the same time.’

        “I am well aware of that. Even then, I have nothing to fear,” the Tree retorted.

        ‘Grrrr... It’s like I’m trying to talk to an inanimate rock... Oh wait, I am. Well, if you won’t listen to me, then have fun with my plunderseeds. All this wonderful chaos must mean that they are quite close to germinating.’

        “Plunderseeds?” A new voice asked. It was distinct in the fact that it could only be heard as the absence of the ambient noise, muting the surrounding sound in such a way that it made itself understood, and if one fully focused on the un-sound, then they could not properly grasp the words - they merely heard the background instead. The figure - if it could be called that - that spoke the words stood - if it could be called that - a few feet away, maybe. In actuality, all the information that could be gleaned was that there was something there - or maybe back there - and that it was speaking. “What are those? If you are wanting HIM to have fun with them, they must be quite deadly.”

        The light shifted around the statue of Discord. The subtle change made the otherwise fearfully posed statue look downright sinister; his eyes were devoid of all the draconequuis’s ever-present mirth. No reply came from Discord.

        “Discord, who is this?” the Tree asked.

        ‘Oh, nobody. It’s just my mistake. Let me out and I will fix it in just a second. I promise that I’ll go right back to being stone if you just give me this.’

“Father, I thought you would be more proud of me. I am your greatest masterpiece yet. And YOU,” Oblivion’s manifestation growled at the tree. Sound vanished entirely from the gardens. “I despise you. I loath you more than anything in the world. I was less than a thousandth of a degree away from killing this aspect of you, Harmony Tree. But that would have been too good for you, bastard. You tried to kill my sister! Only I am allowed to do that!”

“SILENCE, YOU PETULANT CHILD!” the Tree roared. “I should strike you down where you stand!”

‘Yes, please do,’ Discord added.

Ignoring his father, the first personality of the sixth incarnation of Oblivion retorted, “Well, smite away. Or are you too kind to do it?”

“This is the GREATEST KINDNESS! I will preserve Harmony!”

“Well then, catch me if you can.” The presence that denoted Oblivion made a noise that distinctly reminded Discord of a raspberry, and then faded from that place, from that time, and from their memories. The only evidence of Oblivion's passing were the plants within a dozen meters of Discord's statue, which, while they looked perfectly fine, were all dead.

“What just happened?” the harmony spirit asked.

‘Something that desperately needs thinking about,’ replied the chaos spirit.





First felt content, his stomach more full than it had ever been before, relatively speaking. It never really would be completely full, even when there was nothing left to eat.

Second felt happy. She had spent more time fully aware with her sibling selves than ever before. It was a good day.

Third felt something he had never felt before while aware. There was no rhyme or reason for it, but the youngest and most mortal-like of Oblivion's personalities, he felt the slightest bit of remorse. Although, the feeling faded quickly, the idea that spawned from it stayed behind.