//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Stinkbug the Unwanted // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// The tall diamond dog Hachikō seemed to be very kind and had a sincere love about him, Stinkbug could feel it. The steady trickle of love sustained him, gave him strength, and restored his mind. He was gentle with Celaeno, trying to comfort her, trying to ease her pain, and Stinkbug did not know what to think of the situation. He had nothing to draw from, no ancestral memory, he had nothing, only the knowledge that the world was supposed to hate him and it was filled with inferior, weak creatures. The burro was another creature that radiated love like a furnace. She was of equine stock, she was supposed to be food, but she was so strong. Her emotions were raw, unfiltered, she broadcasted with a force that Stinkbug had trouble dealing with. It was like standing next to the Queen when she was shouting and ranting. Too much volume to take in. A profound thought lurked in Stinkbug’s mind. They did not feed off of each other because changelings, by and large, didn’t have any feelings towards one another. They had no real thoughts of their own. They had no sense of independence. They were a hive mind, a group entity, and the queen discouraged any sort of emotion or complex thought, as it was disruptive to the hive mind. Sure, there were some feelings there, faint echos of emotion, but changelings were incapable of being self sufficient due to a lack of emotion among themselves. This was why they had to feed on others. Queen Chrysalis kept them all starving and dependant upon her leadership. If members of the hive had love for one another, had feelings for one another, they wouldn’t need to feed on other species. They would have no need for conflict with the other species. They could keep to themselves. Queen Chrysalis kept them all hungry for the sake of war and conquest. Confused, in pain, Stinkbug wasn’t sure if he could endure this troubling thought. It pained him, the realisation hurt him far more than any physical wound. Something strange happened to his faceted, insectoid eyes. They began leaking. Something was wrong with his face. It was leaking. Some unknown vinegary liquid was squirting from the corners of his eyes. “Aw, there there, cheer up, your friend will be okay,” Azure said as she clapped Stinkbug on the back. “I know it looks bad right now, but it will get better.” “Eyes are leaking,” Stinkbug mumbled in alarm. “Yes, you appear to be crying.” Azure wrapped a foreleg around Stinkbug’s back and gave him a squeeze. “I didn’t know changelings could cry. It seems that you aren’t so different from us after all.” The burro’s sincere and genuine affection did something peculiar to Stinkbug. It left him feeling full. For the first time in his relatively short life, the gnawing hunger in his insides abated and he felt content. An unknown sensation of peace settled over him and he leaned against Azure, not knowing what else to do to express friendship. “We have trouble,” Hachikō announced as he stood up and pointed at the sky with his paw. Stinkbug saw them, a whole flock of them. Harpies. The swarm approached and Stinkbug felt a growing sense of alarm. They were quite unlike Celaeno. These harpies were filthy, disgusting, and vile looking. He could feel the hatred they produced, and it made him feel queasy. As the harpies circled overhead, Stinkbug watched as Hachikō tensed. The many emotions that laced this moment were overwhelming. “Give us our troublesome sister and we’ll let you live,” one of the harpies said as she swooped overhead. “No,” Hachikō said in a flat voice as he shook his head. “I think not.” “Suit yourself, meat.” And with that, the harpies attacked. “The dog will make a fine meal and the cricket will be delicious!” “I want the donkey!” one harpy cried as she pulled out her blowgun. “Azure… RUN!” Hachikō commanded as he drew his sword. “I’m a burro!” Azure cried as she galloped away, beating a hasty retreat. The air filled with hundreds of tiny darts, none of which did anything to Stinkbug. They bounced off of his chitin, making little plink-plink-plink sounds. Wings buzzing, he took to the air, hoping to defend his newfound friends. He went after the harpies chasing Azure. He was not unarmed, he had magic, he had power, he had recently had a meal. Hachikō was at a complete disadvantage. There was little he could do but take swipes with his sword at any harpy that got too close to him and Celaeno. His body was covered in many tiny darts, and the big diamond dog was staggering around, having a difficult time staying upright. One of the harpies swooped down, turned her backside towards Hachikō, and with a loud blast of flatulence, she fired an egg at him. The egg exploded on impact, releasing a cloud of noxious stench and knocking Hachikō from his paws. The diamond dog’s sword clattered to the ground beside him as he collapsed into a bloody heap. Stinkbug blasted one harpy with his magic and she burst into a mess of blood, chunks, and feathers. Her remains rained down from the sky and all around him, the angry cries of her sisters filled the air. He fired upon another and she dodged. He fired again and managed to land a hit, turning another harpy into bloody bits and feathers. An angry shriek could be heard from the flock, and Stinkbug discovered that the entire swarm of harpies had turned their fury upon him. He was not a combat drone, his ancestral memories reminded him. At best, he was a last ditch defender if something invaded the hive. He was weak, worthless, and small. He wasn’t armored like his bigger, stronger, better suited to combat hive mates. He didn’t have time to think about this though, as the first rock had struck him and left him dazed. Wings buzzing, Stinkbug struggled to remain in the air. Several harpies had presented their backsides to him, and he knew what was coming. He was too dazed and too stunned to do much about it. The first of the eggs struck him and exploded with enough force to crack his chitin. The second egg hit and blasted off one of his wings. The third egg hit him where he was already weak, already vulnerable, and he knew no more as the resulting explosion blasted away his consciousness. When Stinkbug awoke, he discovered that he could not move. His body ached with fierce pain. His chitin was cracked and broken in many places. He was missing a wing. An eye was damaged and he had trouble seeing. Inside of his body, his blood burned and he didn’t know what was wrong. Beside him, Hachikō lay unmoving. A growing sense of concern welled up inside of Stinkbug, an alien sensation. Nearby, a gross looking harpy was sharpening up a wicked looking knife on a stone while humming to herself. He could hear them all around him, cackling, laughing, it sounded like a party. They sounded happy. Wiggling about, Stinkbug looked around, desperate to find Celaeno. There was no sign of Azure either. He hoped that the burro got away. The harpy, done sharpening her knife, turned her attention upon Stinkbug. She said nothing, but flapped over, and landed beside him. She was covered in filth, her feathers were matted, clumped, and there was a diseased gleam in her eye. Standing on one bird leg, she set down the sharp knife, picked up a stone mallet, and without further ado, she smashed the mallet down upon Stinkbug’s leg, cracking his chitin. Stinkbug screamed and there wasn’t much else he could do. He couldn’t make his magic work for some reason. The harpy put down the mallet and picked up the knife in her talons, then went to work on peeling away Stinkbug’s protective shell. An even worse fate awaited Hachikō, as he had to be skinned. With a wet sounding rip, a wide section of chitin was torn away from Stinkbug’s foreleg. The harpy picked up the mallet again and as she did so, a cry of alarm went up in the camp. With a clatter, the mallet was dropped as Stinkbug’s tormentor flapped her wings and flew away. Stinkbug felt love nearby… and with it, came hope. Something horrible was going on. Stinkbug didn’t know what was happening, but something truly awful was taking place. The sky had gone dark, black as night, and clouds swirled overhead. It had begun to rain and hail already, the storm had come out of nowhere. Doing his best to ignore his pain, Stinkbug crawled around as best he could in his bindings, trying to find Celaeno. Just outside of the stone outcropping which jutted out overhead, a hailstone the size of a cantaloup crashed into the ground. Once more, Stinkbug screamed, not knowing or understanding what was going on. Fearful for Hachikō, he wiggled over, and not knowing how else to grab the much larger diamond dog, Stinkbug sunk his fangs into the thick flesh found on Hachikō’s shoulder. Thrashing his body around, Stinkbug managed to drag Hachikō further beneath the overhang, where Stinkbug hoped his newfound friend might be safe from the storm that had arrived from out of nowhere. While he flopped around, Stinkbug kicked something, and saw that it was some kind of cage that had been covered in the skin of some poor animal. As the skin fell away, he saw Celaeno in the cage. She was unresponsive and didn’t move. He continued to pull and tug upon Hachikō, determined to pull his friend to safety. Overhead, the gathering storm wreaked havoc upon the harpies. Lightning speared down from the sky and struck them, electrocuting them, killing them outright on impact. It was a terrible, fearsome sight. Enormous hailstones plummeted down all around the camp, smashing anything they hit, including harpies. Wind blew rain into Stinkbug’s shelter, soaking him and his companions. He could hear the harpies screaming and he heard voices in the distance. The sounds of battle echoed in Stinkbug’s earholes. The bodies of dead harpies swirled through the air, flung about on dangerous gusts. The sounds of explosions could be heard and Stinkbug knew that the harpies were firing eggs. In the middle of the storm, a terrible figure flew into view, the mortal enemy of changelings everywhere, an alicorn! Woozy from pain and blood loss, Stinkbug watched as the majestic creature ripped the cruel harpies a new one. His ancestral memory screamed that she would be coming for him next. She would dash him against the rocks in his weakened state, and he would be done for. The emotion she radiated was overwhelming. The alicorn was a cocktail of love, hope, optimism, and rage. The bitterness of her rage stood out in sharp contrast to her other emotions. Stinkbug found that his senses were overwhelmed by the onslaught of emotions, his loss of precious bodily fluids, and the pain that wracked his now ruined body. The last thing he saw was the majestic fury of an alicorn smiting her enemies as he slipped into darkness.