In the Gamer's corner of the Equestrian Multiverse, a lone changeling needs to get his bearings and come up with a plan to tackle the threats of Equestria. Knowing the future is half the battle.
Hi. My name is Switchlock. I'm a changeling. And I'm a Gamer. Naturally, this means I have to face threats against me, and the whole of Equestria. But I don't have to do this alone. I only have one question for you.
There was, once upon a time, a day when I was run over by a car. I lived, of course. The driver was concerned, and called the hospital for me. On top of that, he wasn't going very fast, so he only knocked me off my bike. The pain I felt was numbed by shock, but I still felt it. And I remember my limbs refusing to listen to my brain. I remember how it terrified me.
Right now, however, it's a completely different story. My body doesn't feel numb. I can feel everything. I can feel every hole in my arms and legs, I can feel my lack of fingers and toes. I can feel flimsy, hole filled wings on my back. I can feel the horn on my head. I can feel the two different sets of genitals between my legs. I can feel the Saber fangs in my mouth.
I can feel the body of a changeling. The mental image my body has given me… doesn't terrify me. It makes me want to jump for joy. This creature has powers I have always envied them for. The power to transform.
But I'm aware of Multiverse Theory. The first thing I have to do is gather the facts. Even if I know some things about the world and its inhabitants, that doesn't always mean it's true. I need to approach the world as if I know nothing, but seek information that tells me what I should know.
And thus has lead to opening my eyes at long last. I was in a hospital room. There were some unicorn and Pegasus doctors and nurses calmly going about their day outside my room. I could sense their emotions too. It was an odd sensation. But any time one of them looked in the direction of my room, I could sense curiosity. I don't know how I knew what this emotion felt like through my senses. It just worked, I supposed. But where I woke up and what I sensed told me two big things.
The first is that these ponies don't seem to mind that I'm a monstrous bug pony. The second is that they probably don't know what a changeling is yet. Now this can either work for or against me. There's no telling how many ponies saw me in my base form. Worst case scenario, everyone in town knows about me, and there is no point in wearing a disguise beyond personal aesthetic choice. Hopefully the consequences aren't too bad. But regardless, my presence in this world, knowing what I do about it, the butterfly effect is going to be powerful.
I was interrupted from my musings as a Pegasus nurse walked into my room. I could sense her joy and curiosity. That joy… it actually had a taste. It was pleasant, like a red gala apple.
"Ah, I see you're awake. Can you speak?" She asked. I decided to humor her, and answer.
"I can." I said shortly. Her excitement following that statement was like a quick sugar rush to me before she composed herself.
"Good! Can you tell me your name? And what you are?" She asked. I hesitated with a frown. I looked over myself for the first time, thinking about how to answer that. I looked… painfully decayed.
"I… I was hoping you could tell me." I told her. It wasn't technically a lie. The amnesia card, while certainly cliché, was the answer to a lot of the unknown variables. If I used it, I could get away with not knowing something that should be common knowledge.
The nurse frowned and scribbled a note onto her clipboard. I barely noticed she had that. "Amnesia then? That's a shame. Is there anything you can tell me that might help us learn more about you?" She asked. I paused to consider this. Should I tell her about my empathic abilities? The empathic vampirism might scare off people…
"Your sympathy tastes pretty sour." I answered. She stopped writing to look at me in surprise.
"... I'm sorry, what?" She asked. I could taste her confusion. She wasn't sure if she heard me correctly.
"Your sympathy. It tasted like lemon flavored candy. I can taste your emotions." I told her. The concern I tasted after that lead to her next question.
"Can you elaborate on that? I want to understand this… empathic taste of yours." She requested. I just shrugged.
"You and me both, lady. It's not every day you wake up in a body that isn't yours." I told her. This got her to stare at me for a good long minute before frantically writing in her notes.
"Please, explain." She asked. I decided to go as close to the truth as possible. Maybe having a confidant at the hospital could help me.
"Well, as best as I can remember, before I woke up here as this thing, I was just some human living with my parents in a world where only humans were sentient…" I paused. Every mention of humans confused her. "Uh, evolved, magicless apes, basically. The concept of magic existed, but magic itself was limited to sleight of hand and optical illusions. Everything a human couldn't do was done by machines they created. I was not one of the great humans who made great things. I was a shut in that sat around writing made up stories."
"I see… you seem to be taking this better than expected." The doctor noted.
"I'm rather surprised about my calm demeanor too. I fully expected to panic when I woke up, but I couldn't muster up any fear whatsoever." I answered. "Maybe a little concern on what feels like a monster's appearance, but not fear."
"That's very interesting… do you know of anything that could have done this?" She asked. She's thinking outside the box. I like that.
"A few things. Only concepts made up by humans for entertainment media however. One that comes to mind is an ability set known as the Gamer. It prevents any mental afflictions from distorting a person's judgement and allows them to treat the world as a video game, kinda like the popular role playing games of my world." I proposed. Her eyes widened.
"Oh! Well that explains why none of our tests made any sense." The nurse exclaimed, relieved. "Is there anything you could do to find out if that's actually what you have?"
"Maybe… let me see if I can open a menu or-" I was cut off by a game menu opening in front of me. Judging by the nurse's shock, she saw it too. In front of me hovered a massive wall of stuff. It looked pretty much like the menu in Borderlands. It showed me, front and center with a bunch of equipment slots either greyed out or empty on the left, and empty slots on the right labeled Inventory. There were five tabs with different icons on them in the upper left corner. From left to right, they were an exclamation mark, a map icon, a backpack icon, a gear icon, and a Medal icon. Tapping on these icons took me to each tab. The exclamation icon turned out to be the Quest Log, and the Gear icon turned out to be the settings tab that let me choose how my menu looks, and how it interacted with the world, such as when others can see my menus, what game it's based on, and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't possibly get into right now without completely forgetting I'm telling a story here.
The medal icon was just a bunch of challenges that gave various rewards for completing. Just scrolling through them, I could see they were divided into three categories. Feats of Power, feats of Time Vigilantism, and… Feats of the Harem?! I… didn't know this equestria supported that. Judging by the Nurse's amusement at me dropping my jaw at that one, apparently it's not uncommon.
The skill tree also appeared to take from the Borderlands format. I had one special ability at the top that was unique to me, and then three different skill trees under that that modified it in various ways. The ability was called Time Dilation. From what I could tell, it basically allows me to alter my perception of time so that I'm faster, and everything else is slower.
The three different skill trees had their own names too. The green one was called Parasite. Most skills their messed with my ability to leech stuff off a target, like health or Mana. The skill at the bottom of it, aka the final ability of the skill tree, allowed me to basically use my shapeshifting power to steal someone's body. Scary stuff, and the nurse thought so too.
The Red skill tree was called Cloak and Dagger. It was heavily based on stealth. The last ability in that tree allowed me to make someone forget I existed.
The Blue skill tree was called Love and Lust… and that one was just about as kinky as you'd expect. It gives me certain advantages when seducing people, such as being able to read their fetishes, and modifying my body to fit them… The last ability on that one let me basically fulfil sexual fantasies at a whim. The nurse was blushing hot red as I looked through that one.
"I don't get it… what's with these crazy abilities? You don't have to get them, do you?" The nurse asked.
"Unfortunately, I don't have this power for no reason. With great power comes great responsibility, and some day, either sooner or later, something will come along that will challenge my power. It's a trend I noticed in superhero comic books. Power invites challenge. Challenge forges heroes. And many heroes give up their personal lives to protect people. Naturally there are exceptions, and I don't exactly see myself doing that, but… who knows what will happen?" I explained.
"So… in other words, we're going to be expecting you to come back every now and then?" The nurse asked with a frown.
"Whether I want to or not." I confirmed. "My best guess is, some ancient evil is gonna rise from ancient legend and I'm going to have to face off with it."
"Well… then we're going to need some way to help you recover when they do bring you back here." The nurse said. I smiled, glad to see she's the type to take initiative.
I chuckled as I sensed something… deeper in her words. "What, have you taken a liking to me or something?" I asked, amused. She clamped her mouth shut and blushed before glaring at me.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I'm just interested in you because of how unique you are." She shot back.
"Sure." I said with a big toothy grin.
"Shut!" She said, putting a hoof on my mouth. I just giggled a lot. I clicked over to the settings tab and scrolled down to the Invite to Party section.
"Can I get your name? I want to see if you get this menu too." I asked her. The idea intrigued her, so she answered.
"I'm Nurse Bandage Cross." She answered. After putting her name in, the party invite box appeared in front of her. After she accepted it, she saw a bunch of stat bars appear in front of her. Health, Mana, Experience, the whole lot.
"Uh. Menu?" She tried. The screen popped up in front of her, and I dismissed mine. She definitely had the same ui as I did, but she actually had equipment that boosted her stats. Such as the nurse's dress that increased her healing by 15%. I had to laugh a little at the mental image of those old "this is my ass kicking outfit" memes.
Her abilities were sort of expected though. Her ability was Adrenaline Revive, which did just about what you expected. Her skill trees were a little… unique, though. Green was "First, do some damage", which is NOT what the doctor's oath is at all, the red was "Medical Hazard" which seemed to be about dealing damage over time to enemies and also leeching health off them to a teammate, and the Blue was "Surgical Precision" which was also odd because she's a nurse, not a surgeon. She seemed… really embarrassed to have those as skill tree names.
"Well, it definitely gives away my bad temper…" she muttered. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, these skill trees seem a little strange for a medical professional. Sounds like we have things to talk about later."
Cross nodded, but composed herself. "Well at any rate, your full health bar and lack of debuffs tells me you have a clean bill of health. You don't need to pay anything, however because you have given me the tools to better aid my patients in the future. I'll just have you sign here, and then you're free to go." Wow. She must be an avid gamer if she knows how health bars and debuffs work. I smirk as I go to sign the form… and fill in some additional information such as race, age, and preferred gender. (changeling, 22, and Female.)
Before I gave her the clipboard back, I stopped to wonder… how the hell did I manage the dexterity needed to write? Then I looked at the transparent hands my magic was creating. "Oh cool." I muttered before hopping out of bed. Seems this system was automatically teaching me a lot of stuff. Like how to control my new body so I didn't come off as some braindead fool of a bug. I decided to browse through my menu a little more and, though I found it odd that Shape Shifting was not on my spellbook (which was in my inventory after I left the hospital), Temporal Distortion and a few simple fire related skills were.
Further exploration of my menus found me discovering a Character Creator in my Options menu. At first I was very highly confused… but then I realized that this off-menu allowed me to design disguises like they were their own characters. Naturally, I went ahead and designed my few OC characters right away. There was Summer Dash; A fire colored unicorn mare who I had written for a Power Ponies roleplay. She had a decently well maintained mane and tail style, but mostly just went with whatever the wind gave her, and she had a brilliant emerald color to her eyes. She had an alternative form of a Werewolf with cryokinetic powers. I found it fun designing those, but every ability I gave them added another quest to my log to learn a new spell.
There was then Emerald Symphony, a Pegasus singer who happened to be Summer's sister. She was a green mare with golden eyes and yellow highlights in her properly maintained braided mane style. She also had an alternative form. She was given vampire blood in one of my old roleplays, so naturally I was given a quest to learn Hemokinetic powers and vampiric traits.
Lastly, I made what will be my standard form when living as a citizen. A Pegasus with a light green coat, red mane highlights, and some decently blue eyes. Not the most eye catching thing besides his lack of a mark, but…
Speaking of Marks, Summer's mark was an atomic cloud surrounding a Mana star. Emmerald's mark was a winged microphone. And the Default Boy, I decided to give a pixelated controller as a mark to show my skill as The Gamer. And as for my name? As I signed on the document in the hospital, I'm going by the name Switchlock. It's been my username online for ages, and was actually the name of my first oc ever: A surprisingly normal changeling.
Now that I've established my identity, it's time I established what I'm going to do next. Which is… well, I need to gather facts first. To learn about the world. Even if a lot can be assumed, that doesn't mean I should. So it's time to hit the library!
I could tell right away that I was in Ponyville. After all, Ponyville had its own unique house structure. Hell, every town had its own structure. That and the sign on the hospital said "Ponyville Hospital". Doesn't get much more obvious than that. Quickly setting up my live compass add-on over my experience bar, I started looking for landmarks in town other than the Hospital. For convenience, I bookmarked the hospital's entrance as a waypoint, and opened a minimap in my vision. It gave me a sense of empowerment to finally be rid of my absurd lack of direction. After I applied my Default disguise to get some ponies to stop staring at me, I started trotting into town.
The first thing I need to do is find out what has already happened, and what hasn't happened. To find that out, I need to visit the homes of the Main 6.
First on the list, at least that I found, was Carousel Boutique. Just down the road from it was the Treebrary, which was still a tree right now. Okay, so I know it's pre-Tirek right now… I noticed the Boutique was currently sporting a number of woven sun banners. Curious, I stepped into the boutique. Inside, I saw Rarity hard at work making designs for more banners. She seemed intently focused, but the ringing of the shop bell took her out of concentration long enough to spot me.
"Oh, hello darling! I'll be right with you in a second. I just need to finish this initial design." Rarity assured me before returning to the banner. I could see how hard at work she was. She had several banners ready already, but every banner was a different design. I could see how much passion she put into this project. Literally; my ability actually showed me a haze of Mana lingering around them and identified it as Passion. I only just unlocked the Observe skill after observing everything in the room and starting to figure out these decorations were related to the Summer Sun Celebration, when Rarity finished up.
"Ah. There we go. Now then, how can I help you, darling?" Rarity asked as I dismissed the notification. I smiled politely to her.
"I'm afraid I was only exploring, ma'am. I'm new in town, so I'm taking a walk to get myself familiar with the landmarks." I told her. She smiled in understanding.
"Ah, I see how it is. That is perfectly acceptable, darling. But even if it is only a visit to my shop, do you mind if I take your measurements?" Rarity asked. I decided it would be nice to let her. After all, if I can pay her later, I'll be able to ask for a functional suit. And maybe ask if she has any good sewing methods that make blood easier to clean off of it.
"Sure thing. I was planning on making a commission after getting some income, actually." I told her. "But do you mind taking three sets of measurements?" I asked. She blinked, staring at me in confusion.
"Why do you ask?" She questioned. I broke my disguise, revealing myself to her.
"Because I'm a changeling with three Personas." I told her. I opened the character menu, showing her all three/five forms.
"Oh my… sweet… Celestia!" She gave an ultramassive grin. "You're a shapeshifter?! This is the. Most. WONDERFUL THING!" She cheered. I was… extremely taken aback by the sudden blast of Love and Inspiration I was directly receiving. A notification appeared before me, telling me of a newly discovered affinity for Inspiration. "Just think of the application of your magic! With your help, I could fit dresses and suits to ponies more accurately than Mandick!" I had to stare in surprise at the reference. She briefly put a cap on her excitement. "Um… If you agree to it, that is. I know it can take a lot of patience to stand still and model for delicate work such as my art."
"Yes… Perhaps in the future after I study up on a clone spell or the like, I can give you a copy of me that can stand in and follow orders. I don't think I have the ability to sit still for longer than five minutes without doing something." I told her. Her eyes lit up in joy.
"Oh, thank you! I'd suggest check the library. It's just down the road towards the center of town." Rarity advised excitedly. I smiled as I glanced at my Mana bar to see it filling up as I drank in that joy and excitement. I did actually change my settings to make my passive ui only visible to party members. But I left my active menu aka my inventory screens and stuff visible to all.
"Thanks! That was my next goal, actually. After I finish checking out the town." I told her with gratitude in my tone. Given permission, Rarity then started taking my measurements. All three of them. It took longer than I would have liked, but we got them done thanks to what patience I did have.
"Alright. I hope you choose to settle here. This really is a great town for one to make their beginnings." She says. I nod to her, and with that, I left her to get back to work. After changing back into my Pegasus form, I headed off in the direction of the library to at least get it marked on my map. Along the way, I noticed Fluttershy orchestrating birds, bonbon selling sun-shaped candies, and a decorative overhaul happening to the market district.
I got a blip on my quest menu after I realized it was the Summer Sun Celebration. I needed to prepare for Nightmare Moon. Knowing I wasn't an Element Bearer, I had to prepare my own way. Once I got to the library, I looked around to see if Twilight was here yet. She wasn't. But there were a couple stallions here setting up furniture. I didn't pay them any mind. I just knew it had to do with Twilight coming soon.
So I began searching the alphabetically organized bookshelves for what I needed. "Cryomancy for Beginners", and "Applications of Aeromancy", "Elements of Harmony: a Reference Guide" was left on the desk where Twilight would see it when she gets here. I couldn't find anything on the blood magic or the cloning spell, but I thought I could potentially learn something from Twilight. After packing those books into my inventory, I headed out to see if I could try meeting the Apple family.
Upon stepping out of the library, however, I immediately saw Twilight and Spike in the carriage coming in for a landing. Welp… time to get started. Approaching them, I just heard the tail end of Spike telling Twilight to give ponies a chance… and because I was approaching, he instead pointed at me when he looked for a pony to give a chance to. I paused in surprise at the break in timeline, but composed myself anyway, briefly changing myself into a unicorn after thinking about the topics at hand. Twilight approached me while I was caught in surprise.
"Uh… Ahem, Hi! My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here to…" she sighed. "Make some friends." I chuckled after she got to finish.
"Oh, really? So Celestia does have a plan." I said with a big smile. This caught both Spike and Twilight off guard.
"What?" They both asked.
"You two have read the legend of the mare on the moon, right? And the prophecy about her coming back?" I asked for clarification. They nodded.
"But I thought it was just an old pony tale?" Spike asked.
"Legends have to come from somewhere, right?" I told them. That got Spike to doubt everything. "Nightmare moon, Tirek, Grogar, the Crystal Empire and King Sombra? None of these legends were born from mere imagination. Every legend has some measure of truth. I've already gone ahead and read up on the Elements of Harmony, but… I doubt they will be as powerful now as they were one thousand years ago."
"What? You have? Then… what are you planning on doing about all this then?" Twilight asked. Turning my charisma up to 20, I grinned.
"I was planning on learning combat magic. Something to help weaken nightmare moon while some ponies here in town get to charge up the Elements. I've been scoping this town out, and so far I've found a few ponies that could embody the Elements, but I'll need a second opinion on that." I told her.
"Whoa, slow down. What even are the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight asked.
"To put it simply, they are the spirits of Friendship manifested into pure harmonic magical artifacts. They are Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Loyalty. The one that binds them all together is unknown, but… I think whoever wields that is the pony that can unite the ponies who embody the rest of the elements." I told her. At that, she understood. She proceeded to facehoof.
"So in other words, saving the world really does rely on making friends. This is going to be exhausting." She groaned. "So… Who have you identified so far?"
"As best as I can tell, Rarity is the spirit of Generosity, and Fluttershy is the spirit of Kindness. Though I think the entirety of the Apple Family make good candidates for Honesty." I roughly "estimated" based on who I had seen and what is common knowledge for an outsider to town.
"So all that's left is Loyalty, Laughter, and Unity?" She asked. "Seems simple enough. I'll go through my checklist to see if anypony on it could be a Bearer."
"Alright. I myself am going to study these combat magic books and keep trying to find something on Blood Magic." I said.
"Oh, you're interested in Dark Magic? Have you been to one of the licensing agencies yet?" She asked. Licenses for dark magic? Huh. I think I read that idea somewhere.
"Oh! They have the material? I hadn't been to one yet, but I'll go ahead and visit it." I said.
"Alright. I think I saw one over there." She said, pointing down one of the many streets. I looked down it, and saw the sign of a curved red horn on a building.
"Thanks!" I said happily. I briefly wondered why I hadn't seen Pinkie Pie yet. Then I shrugged it off. My best guess is, she saw the both of us and dashed off to plan a surprise party. I let Twilight start her list with serious consideration. I headed to the Dark Magic place.
When I stepped in, I saw a vampire behind the desk wearing sunglasses. She greeted me warmly. "Hey, welcome to the "Shrouded Night" dark magic licencing guild. How can I help you?"
"Ah. I was hoping to get a license actually. I wanted to study blood magic." I said. The Vampire's eyes lit up with joy.
"Sweet! Always love a customer who comes to learn that. Alright, let me book you for an examination, and then we'll see you then. What's your name, Sugar?"
"Switchlock. And for race, put down Changeling." I told her. At that, she froze. She looked up at me.
"Changeling? I heard tales about them being heartless parasites." She said carefully.
"Ah. Then you've heard of the Black type. Those of us corrupted by Dark Magic used against us unwillingly or exposed to too much negative emotion turn into Black type, which are heartless feral beasts." I told her. Really I was just reading off a secret lore note that popped up in front of me when she mentioned that. Thank whatever deity ponies worship for the saving note. "I'm just a green type."
"Oh. That's good to know. Alright, I've got you booked for next Monday. Is that alright?" She asked me.
"Sounds good to me." I said, knowing I'll have an open schedule after Luna is restored...and if I survived helping restore her. Knowing I was going to have to wait on Blood magic, I departed the store to go find a place to sit down, read, and practice magic. I had until the next sunrise, so I needed all the time I could get to prepare.
I had taken to pacing while reading. I was using my wings to hold the book on Cryomancy, since I wanted to work on the werewolf guise first. And then a rude, cutting voice cut into my thoughts and interrupted my reading.
"What is a Pegasus doing with a magic book?" Spoiled Rich asked in a loud, judgemental voice. After looking at her, I could sense a sickening aura of pride. It was entitlement foul enough to make me want to throw up.
"I dunno, why does it matter? It's not like it's your job to know everything about everyone." I asked her rhetorically. The look on her face was like she had just drank spoiled milk mixed with lemon juice and bleach.
"Why I never! Do you know who I am?!" She demanded. I stared at her unamused.
"Should I care?" I asked boredly. This absolutely enraged her.
"I am the head of the board of education!" She shouted at me. I pretended to look horrified.
"Oh mother of Celestia, who put you in charge of children?!" I asked, even sounding horrified. I felt a sick feeling bubbling up within me. "Gods above, the idea of someone so entitled being in charge of a foal's education makes me-" I promptly vomited on her hooves. Or the ground. She dodged it pretty well. She shrieked and started running away. As I was coughing, I raised a hoof to wipe the black gunk I vomited off my mouth, and saw my black chitin. Wait what?
Looking myself over, I saw I was back to my changeling self. And my legs were leaking black fluid. I coughed up more gunk, beginning to sway a little bit. "Sh-shit…" an alert in my vision warned me of me contracting a thing called Negative Emotion Poisoning. Quickly reading over the details, I saw that the effects are… devastating. Stage 1 was that sick feeling I got. Stage 2 was the nullification of my magic. Stage 3 was rapid physical decay… and stage 4 was the point where I became Black. Stage 5 was the point where I could become an empty, eternally static husk. A fate worse than death.
Thankfully I had only hit stage 2. I needed to find a place to rest without negative emotions. The hospital was no good. The staff would worry, and worry is negative… Fluttershy is a good choice. Kindness itself could heal me.
"Wh-what is that?!" I heard Twilight shout in confusion, shock, and curiosity. I turned to her, and a startled expression came across her face.
"T-twilight? G-get Fluttershy." I told her. I didn't realize I was shaking so much. I didn't realize how close to stage 3 I was. I felt like I was about to pass out.
"It's you?!" Twilight seemed startled to recognise me. I nod as my legs give out under me. I fall into a coughing fit again.
"Yeah… I never did s-say my name, d-did I? I'm Switchlock." I told her. She looks around at all the ponies hiding from me.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." She told me. Her horn lit up and I started hovering off the ground. After that, my senses faded from me.
When next I woke up, I could hear Twilight talking to Fluttershy about me. She sounded concerned and confused. Fluttershy didn't seem to know me or what I was, which confused both of them. But Twilight seems happy to have met Fluttershy all the same. And Fluttershy is happy to have met Spike.
As I sat up, opening my eyes, all conversation stopped. I spotted a short notification.
Short Rest complete. N.E.P. reduced to stage 1.
A short rest, huh? This world must be familiar with and uses the D&D rest system. Which means I will need to rest in order to heal and avoid exhaustion stacks. Dismissing the notification, I saw Spike, Twilight, and Fluttershy looking at me curiously.
"You're an interesting pony, Switchlock. I haven't heard of anypony becoming a Gamer since Clover the Clever." Twilight said. That got a raised eyebrow out of me.
"Oh, so you're familiar with my abilities?" I asked. She nodded in answer.
"I had to read up on it, but yes. Would you care to explain a few things, however? Specifically, what even are you?" She asked. I nodded in acceptance. No use hiding something like this after I've been so careless about it.
"I'm a changeling. Known among few as a parasitic beast, the truth of the matter is, I'm just a shapeshifter that consumes the emotions of others to sustain myself. If I don't, I'll physically rot alive like some of the worst necrotic curses out there."
"Curses? Everyone knows-" Twilight started, but I raised a hoof to stop her.
"That the sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything as impossible. Curses do exist, and in very large quantity. Or have you never visited a Dark Magic licensing agency?" I gave her a hard, undeniable look. She gulped and shook her head.
"I haven't. Sorry." She said. I leaned back, coughing a little.
"Have you finished the list?" I asked. She shook her head.
"It's only been an hour. But I've confirmed Applejack as a candidate." She said. "And Fluttershy as well. If you have a thing with emotions, it was a good call to bring you to Fluttershy's place."
I nod. "The best thing to cleanse hatred from my body is exposure to raw kindness. Negative emotions are literally toxic to me."
Fluttershy gasped. She promptly dashed up and hugged me, radiating her care for me. "I'm sorry you had to go through that… I'm here for you if you ever need me." She promised firmly.
"That's great, Fluttershy. Thank you." I said, hugging her back. A notification pop up told me this cleared up the last of my N.E.P.
After Fluttershy pulled away from me, I looked at Twilight. "I still have some spells to learn. I'm sure you still have the other Elements to meet. I'll see you at the party tonight in Town Hall."
"Hopefully as a Pegasus. Your… bug form might scare a few ponies." She said with a small amount of amusement.
"Actually, I have a better disguise. I've been learning the magic art needed to mimic a character of mine." I said with a grin. I transform into Summer Dash. Fluttershy and Spike both look at me oddly.
"Huh. Makes me think of a comic book hero." Spike commented.
"This is Summer Dash. She's got a long and complicated history that I won't get into right now. But just know that in her backstory, I gave her Lycanthropy." I said.
"You what? Are you talking about this as like a made up fictional character?" Twilight asked.
"Yep." I answered.
"Cool." Spike said giving a thumbs up.
"Whatever. Let's get going Spike. It was nice meeting you, Fluttershy." Twilight said, collecting Spike and heading out the door. I looked at Fluttershy and dropped my disguise. She still seemed startled by the transformation.
"Um… If you don't mind, can I…?" She shyly requested. I nod, transforming into Summer's wolf form. Fluttershy squee'd and brought me into another hug. I enjoyed the warm feelings her excitement gave me. It was like filling my stomach with a fresh meal.
"I've never felt the fur of a real wolf before. Normal wolves are almost extinct in Equestria." Fluttershy said with a sad tone.
"Oh. Why is that?" I asked gently. Fluttershy nuzzles into my scruff to enjoy my warmth.
"The Timberwolves took over the Everfree. Every other wolf was pushed out to find territory elsewhere. And with ponies reactions to the wolves, it wasn't long before they started dying off. At least the Frost Wolves in the frozen north and the Zebrican wolves are still plentiful. But it's very hard to find them any time I try to visit." Fluttershy said.
"Well, if I can sleep at your house each night, I'll let you snuggle up with any animal you want." I told her. She grinned widely.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you! You're such a wonderful person!" She cheered. I had to blush for that. Me? A good person? I mean sure, kindness is my best virtue, but I have a crippling vice in Pride and Sloth. I can be a lazy asshole if I'm not careful.
But… the way Fluttershy was filling me with love, I could hardly argue with her. It feels great to be a good person. To fulfil fantasies, to share with someone who cares. This is what makes me complete. And this could be why I became a changeling.
I pulled away after a little bit, giving Fluttershy a frown. "Did Twilight talk to you about Nightmare Moon?" I asked. She nodded with a scared shiver.
"Yes. I think it's terrifying that somepony like that is going to show up… do you really think I could use an Element of Harmony?" She asked in uncertainty. I nodded, sure as can be.
"Anyone who can tame a manticore's wrath without hurting it is someone who knows Kindness down to their soul." I told her. She beamed with pride at that.
"I'm glad you have faith in me! I hope I'm up to the challenge… They're in the Everfree Forest after all." She said, somehow not stuttering. I put a paw on her shoulder.
"You got this. As long as you and the Element Bearers all stick together, I'll be there to help you out with anything you need." I promised with a smile.
"Thank you, Switch." She said, pulling me back into a hug. After a few seconds, we broke the hug.
"I still need to learn some combat spells. I have to make sure I'm ready to buy you some time." I told her. "What time is it?"
Fluttershy glanced at her clock. "It's about 3 pm. I should make sure all my animal friends are well fed tonight…" she said, getting up. "Angel! I'm going to the market. I'll leave you in charge while I'm gone, okay?" She called through her house. A loud squeak noise that my Gamer system translated came back. Seems he agreed in his usual snarky manner.
Satisfied, Fluttershy and I left her house. The two of us went separate ways once we got into town. I decided to seek out Rarity to talk to her.
It was time the element bearers knew who they were up against.
I arrived at Rarity's Boutique soon enough. Having already added it to my map markers, I made it a simple matter to fly over town to my destination. Over on another street, I saw Twilight talking to Rainbow Dash. I could see Twilight was currently in awe of the skill Rainbow just put on. But I knew Rainbow's performance wouldn't reveal her Loyalty until later. Maybe I could get Pinkie to help us find the Element Bearers.
Once I landed, I stepped into Rarity's shop. "Rarity? There's something we need to talk about." I called out to her. She was currently in the process of discarding bad banners from her design pile. She looked at me in surprise.
"Oh, it's you! What is it?" She asked.
"I needed to warn you about a prophecy that'll come to life tomorrow morning. Twilight Sparkle and I have both seen signs of it, but I think you embody one of the artifacts that can help us stop it." I told her. She looked shocked, to put it lightly.
"Oh dear. What prophecy is that, exactly?" She asked in worry.
"You know the Mare in the moon? It's not an old mare's tale. It's a prophecy." I told her.
"What? How could that possibly be true?" She asked.
"Well if you could live for a thousand years after banishing your sister to the moon and never once talk about her, she'd fade into false tales and stuff like that too. The legend specifically stated that Nightmare Moon will return on the thousandth year on the thousandth day of the summer solstice. And that the stars will aid in her escape."
"If this is true, then Princess Celestia should be warned about this." Rarity said. I held up a hoof.
"Twilight already has. Celestia has known for a long time exactly how long and exactly when Nightmare Moon escapes. After all, it was Celestia herself who banished her sister to the moon."
"Princess Celestia has a sister?" Rarity ask.
"Yeah. The legend writes about two Royal Sisters and Princess Celestia looks like one of the illustrations. So Celestia has a sister who once embodied the night." I told her.
"I see… If this is true, then we have a terrible calamity on our hooves." Rarity said. I questioned for a moment why she was taking me seriously, before she continued. "So what exactly is it I can do to help?"
"Well the Elements of Harmony are basically artifacts of harmony that you and Twilight can work together to get working. Each element represents a trait it's bearer embodies. You embody Generosity." I told her.
"Oh, I see. Then I just need to make friends with this… Twilight Sparkle?" She asked. I nodded.
"She should be stopping by here for a check up on the Summer Sun Celebration decorations." I let her know. "I'm going to be looking out for the other Elements. We already know Generosity, Honesty and Kindness. We just need Laughter and Loyalty."
"Oh! I would recommend looking for Pinkie Pie. The darling knows Everypony in town, so she should be able to tell you who fits these elements best." Rarity advised.
"Oh! Thanks, that helps a lot!" I said with gratitude. As I was leaving, I stopped when I heard her muttering something.
"A princess of the night… once innocent, now corrupted due to envy and negligence… maybe a gift could help her calm down?" Rarity thought out loud. I liked the way she was thinking. Maybe we didn't need the Elements? Maybe we just needed to show her she was appreciated.
Either way, my next stop was Pinkie Pie. Now if only I knew where to look? Knowing Pinkie was preparing a party at the Treebrary, I decided to head back there.
Once there, I saw ponies beginning to gather. They were holding invitations to the party, and I saw Pinkie darting in and out of the place faster than should be conceivably possible. But I stopped her by just showing up. She gasped in horror.
"Oh no! You aren't supposed to know yet!" She said in dread when she saw me. I chuckled.
"I know a lot of things I'm not supposed to, Pinkie. But don't tell anyone else that, okay?" I said with a light hearted tone.
"Okie dokie! But how do you know? Are you psychic? Are you a time traveler?" She stopped and gasped. "Are you secretly an alien that used to watch cartoons about us when you were back home but you can't go back home now so you have to try and survive future threats to equestria?!" I had to laugh at that last one.
"You got it on the third. I knew you'd get a hunch." I said with a big smile.
"I'm right? Oh my gosh, I need to-" she paused. "Wait, no. A secret between us. Gotcha. Were you looking for me?"
"Yeah. I might know who gets to use the Elements of Harmony already, but I kinda needed to talk to you so I'd have an excuse to tell Twilight as if I got the info from you. Get it?" I asked.
"Oh, totally. I could get them all together at yours and Twilight's welcome party if that helps." Pinkie offers. I grin, nodding.
"Exactly what I was going to ask for! I'll need Rainbow Dash, you, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight around the table I put the Elements of Harmony reference guide." I told her. She saluted like a mock soldier.
"Can do, Switchie!" She said. Although how she knew my name without being told by me wasn't a very big stretch, it was good to see Pinkie breaking the fourth wall regularly.
With that settled, I went back to my studies. Taking out the Aeromancy spellbook, I gave it a focused read on my way to map the other Element Bearers houses. Along the way, there was a light prodding at my mind when I passed Bonbon's shop again, but nothing that gave me a red flag. I did however notice that the Aeromancy spell book seemed incomplete. I suppose I'd have to finish it myself.
Same with the Cryomancy book, it seemed. Unfortunate, but at least I learned how to shape air and water. The rest I'll need to manage through experimentation.
About a couple hours later I had every landmark in town mapped, and I saw Twilight and Fluttershy approaching the Treebrary. I quickly caught up with them.
"Hey Twilight. Any luck?" I asked her.
"None. I couldn't find Loyalty or Laughter. Have you had any luck?" She asked. I nodded.
"I found Pinkie Pie. You'll see why she's Laughter soon enough." I promised. I looked ahead to the Treebrary as Twilight opened the door to let us in. As soon as the door was closed, the lights turned on. Pinkie and the entire town was in the library, shouting Surprise as one.
"Wh-what is this?! Why is the entire town in my house?!" Twilight asked, outraged.
"It's a surprise party, silly! You don't get out much, do you?" Pinkie asked. I looked at Twilight.
"Hard to enjoy a party without Laughter, right?" I prompted her. Twilight's angered face melted away into understanding.
"Oh! I see. Well, um…. Thank you, Pinkie Pie. I don't often go to parties." Twilight said awkwardly. "Libraries are generally supposed to be quiet."
"Well that would be boring. Quiet parties are for nobles." Pinkie said. Twilight chuckled at that accurate description.
"You're right. Now that I think about it, the parties in Canterlot never really get noisy beyond dull chatter." Twilight noted.
"That, and the nobleman's party generally consists of business bragging or courting." I said. Twilight looked at me in surprise. "What? You look at the grand majority of nobles and you see a bunch of snooty little entitled pricks, and you tell me I'm wrong."
"Well you're not, but don't say that to Rarity." Pinkie said as Twilight picked up a bottle and started drinking from it. After the first gulp, she actually paid attention and looked at the label on the bottle. She coughed as she set it back down.
"Oh horseapples!" She sorta cursed before looking for some water. Pinkie and I laughed while Twilight got herself a glass of water. After getting one, surprisingly, she started laughing at herself in good humor. "Wow. Can't believe I did that to myself!"
What a surprise. If she isn't stressing over something, she actually seems to enjoy herself. With that, the party began in earnest...and Twilight actually participated.
Hours later, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow were waiting in the crowd while Rarity and Fluttershy proceeded as normal. The element bearers had been briefed about the mission and what had to be done. Rarity suggested presenting gifts to nightmare moon since the legends say she was corrupted by negligence brewing envy. I was inclined to agree, but told her we would have to be ready to use the backup plan in the Everfree if it didn't work out.
Rarity hold her gift box close and dear as she was up on stage. The script went as expected… until Twilight spoke up to confirm Nightmare Moon's identity.
"No. We know who you are. You're the mare in the moon. Nightmare Moon." Twilight called out. I stepped up with her.
"Lost to Envy 1000 years ago because you were ignored and felt you had to force everyone to love you. You were neglected and forgotten. But no longer." I declared. Nightmare Moon was caught off guard, and frowned.
"My friends and I have gathered here today, not to fight you, but to welcome you back. You don't need to hurt anypony to make your point heard." Twilight declared with a smile.
"You have?" Nightmare Moon asked, uncertain if she could trust us. Rarity nodded beside her on the stage.
"As soon as I heard you were coming back, I decided to make you a gift. To show you that you still have a place in this world." Rarity said, holding out the gift box. Nightmare moon took it in her magic. As everyone in town held their breath. What Nightmare Moon took out was a dazzling lunar necklace made of some shining stone and with moon shaped sapphires embedded into it. She looked stunned. And a tear began to form in her eyes. I smiled. It was working!
"It's beautiful. I've… never received a gift like this before. Did you make it?" Nightmare Moon asked, her voice no longer booming. Rarity nodded pridefully.
"I'm afraid without your measurements I couldn't make a dress for you. This is all I could make on such short notice." Rarity said. Pinkie jumped up onto the stage next.
"Here! I wanted to invite you to a party I've planned for tomorrow. You look like you could use a smile, Princess. A real one, that doesn't have any hate. Ooh! And you could totally come to this year's Nightmare Night party!" She cheerfully proposed.
"A party? Really? I won't just be sitting around smiling and waving, will I?" Nightmare asked.
"Of course not! You'll be the guest of honor!" Pinkie declared. This brought a lot more tears streaming down the old mare's face. I looked at Applejack next. She nodded back at me and stepped up to the mayor's podium.
"Like Switch said. Nightmare Moon became a monster because ponies ignored her. It says so in the legend. Take one good look at this mare. Ah can tell ya it's the honest truth." Applejack said to the ponies of Ponyville. "What we need… no. What Nightmare Moon needs is a good friend, or a lot o friends to help her. To show her she doesn't have to be alone."
Rainbow Dash flew up there too. "If that legend thing is true to the letter, it means Princess Celestia didn't stick with her sister. That's not cool. So let's show Nightmare Moon some good old Ponyville Hospitality! No reason to leave her hangin like Celestia did." Nightmare Moon was smiling now as she openly wept. The town was starting to warm up to Nightmare Moon. Fluttershy came up to her next… and all she did was give the big ol Alicorn a hug. Next up was Twilight and me again.
"I hope we can be friends, Nightmare Moon. With Princess Celestia too. I'm her student, and I've seen how much she misses you. I can't imagine how much she has suffered without you." Twilight called out.
I flew up to the platform as well. "So what do you say, Nightmare Moon? Can we put this eternal night business behind us?" I held a hoof out to her. She looked eager to accept.
"Just call me Luna." She said. But just as she reached for my hoof to give it a shake, she froze. I looked at it confused for a second before looking at her eyes. They were filled with sudden pain. One was glowing bright white. The other was consumed by pure shadow. Luna recoiled crying out in pain, holding her head in pain.
"No no no! Get out of my head you wretched fiend!" Luna writhes, stepping away from us. She slams her head into a wall, making Everypony gasp in fear.
"What's happening?!" Rainbow asked. All of us were on guard.
"It's worse than I thought. We need the Elements after all." I told them.
"But the trip to the castle is a two day trip!" Twilight protested.
"You have- nng! No other… option!" Nightmare's voice distorted as she struggled against that inner power. "Hurry! Bring a warrior with you! The Everfree must be Feared!"
Those last words stuck with me as the bearers and I ran to Twilight's library. Once we got there, Twilight is starting to hyperventilate.
"Oh no, this isn't what we planned at all! What are we going to do, Luna's possessed!" I quickly put a stop to it.
"Twilight calm down. Now, you lived with Princess Celestia and studied under her, correct? Do you have any connections with the Royal Guard you could pull? We need powerful ponies to help us." I told her. I looked her straight in the eyes as I did so… and I briefly saw them flash green like I put her under a spell.
"Shining Armor. My brother." She replied almost blankly. I raised an eyebrow, and as soon as I lost eye contact we both shook off the spell.
"Sorry. Accidental hypnosis. Happens sometimes. I need you to give your brother a call. I won't be able to fight through the forest alone." I explained. Twilight looked conflicted about the hypnosis spell, but decided to forgive me because of how quickly I reacted to dropping it. I turned to the rest of the elements.
"Do any of you have family members or acquaintances you know that are absolute powerhouses?" I asked. Applejack raised a hoof.
"Mah big brother Macintosh could help." She said.
"And I know a griffon that loves to fight." Dash volunteered. "But it'd take longer for her to get here than for us to get to the castle."
"Then Big Mac and Shining are our best bet. I know a field medic from the hospital that could help if we get hurt." I let them know.
"Alright. Then we have a plan?" Twilight asked. I looked at the others, who nodded.
"Then let's get going. Applejack, I'd like to meet your brother in person. I have an ability I want to give him." I told her.
"An ability? Y'all are gonna hav ta tell me about this ability." She said cautiously. I nodded, and started explaining it to everyone present.
This adventure still feels like it'll get me killed.
