//------------------------------// // Bad End: Damnation // Story: On Light Hooves I Tread 2: Homeward Bound // by AdamThePony //------------------------------// (NOTE: The following events are not canon to any future story in the OLHIT series. This chapter has been written purely for the sake of providing an alternate ending to this story for the sake of possibly scaring the hay out of more than a few of my loyal readers. Enjoy!) [Written for the Equestrian Legends Nightmare Night Fiction Contest] On Light Hooves I Tread 2: Homeward Bound A Fanfiction by Adam Nelon BAD END: DAMNATION Two Months had passed since that day. The day in which Discord had made his prescience known to Equestria, and in the process, took my best of friends. The same day in which, in one fell swoop, for one brief moment, I had become a living battery of arcane power, and weaponized my entire form to free my friend from the clutches of a mad god. In all this time, I had honed my body and my mind, and went through a number of trials to accomplish that task. And now that it was done, and those I cared about were now all in one general location, I was finally free to live my new life as I had wished. But something was odd about these two months that had passed. You know that feeling you get when you have way too much caffeine in your system, and it makes you extremely hyper and jittery? I had something like that, only it was producing the exact opposite effect. All this excess arcane power I had loaded myself with was taking a massive toll upon my own health. I've begun to feel very lethargic, often collapsing at complete random during classes, much to the shock of the students and staff at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I couldn't find any way to ground the energy safely. Every method I had attempted resulted in something exploding, being broken, or launched about a thousand meters in some vague direction I had not even specified. There was too much in me, and not enough ways to discharge it properly. I'm afraid that if I tried any harder, I'd risk getting Horn Rot. Was this my fate? Magical Narcolepsy? If it was, I was going to live a decidedly terminal life. That was, until today. As I stumbled through the hallways of the school with about as much grace and drive as a drunkard after tanking about five kegs of zap-apple cider, I began to feel that familiar aura. That aura of immense power and authority that only a hoof-full of ponies possessed. One of Her Divine Majesties was following me, and I had a very clear idea whom it was. "Adam, my student," hummed a lavender voice from behind me, "What seems to cause you ill? I cannot help but notice that you are feeling exceptionally unwell. Your proctors can most certainly attest to that matter." "I've no idea, your highness. I've just been unusually sleepy lately. Normally, at most, I slightly tired, but these days, I just feel like keeling over and sleeping. Even when I'm awake, I just feel so strange and full of energy," I said, attempting to map my description to some body language. "I see," Luna said, a hoof to her muzzle. "Perchance you could allow me to examine? I may not have a degree in medicinal magics, but I am certain that I might be able to help you resolve this problem." Ah, that motherly demeanor of the Mare of the Moon. How I always grew fond of that demeanor. It reminded me of just how kind and noble Luna and Princess Celestia were. They were always watching me and everypony else with an eye of vigilance and benevolence, ready to lend a helping hoof for anypony in need, even if an entire nation were having troubles. This knowledge enabled me to smile as the Princess extended a wing around my form and guided me to the Throne Room, which was oddly vacant. "Please. Lie down here," Luna said, poising me to lie down on the floor in front of her throne, to which I complied to naturally. As she sat down, she scanned me with her eyes for some time before nodding. "Close your eyes. I'm not sure if this will be painful or not." I nodded in turn, bowing my head and shutting my eyes, leaving my horn exposed for Luna to scrutinize. It was then I felt a beam of energy shoot from Luna's horn onto mine, spreading a tingling sensation all across my form. I could not note the color nor the intent of the energy, but it probed my entire being. It ran from my head all the way down to the last hairs in my tail, leaving a sensation similar to numbness throughout my body. I was unable to change my position from the prone form I had put myself in, and as it ended, I saw nothing completely amiss as I opened my eyes again. "Interesting," hummed the Princess, the lights of magic energy fading from her. "It would seem you possess an abnormally vast pool of magical energy. Not only that, but this is fairly potent energy, as well...as I would come to expect from the use of the Elements of Harmony..." As I looked to her, a very dark and foreboding grin slithered onto her face. It was that insane, toothy grin that existed solely to inspire fear and disease in any stallion mare or foal. "Just what I've been searching for..." chuckled the manic mare, her eyes glowing a very sickly green. Just as all possible feeling returned to my form, I was immediately caught in a cruel, searing, ghostly green flame, trapping me in a suffocatingly small circle of deceit. It became clear that this Luna was, for all intents and purposes, an impostor. "You will do just perfectly..." hissed the false princess as the flames began to trap me in a bubble and drag me into a place I had hoped I would never see. Blackness. For a brief moment, that was all I would see. Damp, moist, choking darkness surrounded me. While at first, it was a comfortable darkness, I quickly remembered that which had brought me here. A false ruler and deity, who had seemed quite impressed by all this energy I had in my system. It was then that paranoia then set in. Where was I? Was I alone? Who shared this expanse of blackness with me? What did they want? My body quaked as I tried to stand, before keeling over from disorientation. "What is this place...?" I whispered, my eyes searching in vain through the darkness. "Am I...in Hell?" "You could call it that," Said a much more sinister voluptuous voice as the room set alight with an array of ghastly green glows, revealing a vast expanse of brown, green and black. The whole room was filled with creatures of absolutely horrific design. They were all black, armored, and holed, two pairs of insect-like wings on each of them. They all bore fangs and horns, and all of them possessed blue eyes that glowed as forked tongues licked some of their fangs. "What you call Hell, however, I intend to make a heaven for all of my creatures...and to do that..they must feed...and you, my dear, will make the perfect meal for this whole swarm!" Cackled the creature directly in front of my vision. Unlike what I had assumed were its subordinates, this creature stood at the size of the Princesses, and she shared many of her underlings' features. But unlike the rest, she had key differential traits For one, unlike her lesser peers, whose horns were upturned and orderly, this creature's horn was jagged and twisted, filled with as many gaps and holes her blue hair and mane had. Second, she had an obsidian crown atop her head, but rather than it being a hat, it was instead a natural growth, as if she had evolved into this shape. Third, her eyes were a green color, with her sclera being a paler color than her iris, while her pupil was a frightening slit shape, akin to a reptile or a cat, both of which staring at me half-lidded as she approached me. Her vision was catching me into a hypnotic trance, or something akin to it, as I had no means of moving. My body was frozen in fear, and I had no means of convincing it otherwise. I was locked into a stand-off with this creature, and there was no escape. "Aw, look at you! You're quaking in your hooves! Seeing as this will be one of last days you'll ever spend as a pony, I may as well explain who I am," hummed the mare as she approached, circling me. "I am Crysalis. I and my race are changelings. We are creatures that feast upon the emotions of all creatures, but we take ponies as an exceptionally delectable delicacy. It is their love we were after so many years ago, but then you showed up, and you happen to be a much more adequate food source...perhaps you could be of some use after, as well..." I twitched. I honestly wanted to move and run, but I remembered I was surrounded. At that moment, the Changeling queen pinned me down and licked her chops. "Ah-ah-ah...can't have our little morsel scampering away...don't worry...this won't hurt...much," Assured the sly insect-like daemon who had asserted herself upon my form. Her eyes glowed a hellish bright emerald, a beam passing through her jagged, ragged horn into mine, making my eyes grow wide as she began to drain my energy. Second by second, I felt myself slipping away, my body growing ever colder, and my vision growing darker as more of myself was lost to the queen of this swarm. I was ready to submit to death. I could sense the pale pony coming to whisk me out from this hell into the Summer Lands, but it never came. I was doomed to die here, serving as but a large meal to a large crowd as I shut my eyes. Just as the cold had finally reached to the last centimeter of my body, it was suddenly and frighteningly changed to searing heat. My eyes immediately shot open as I began to look in horror at what was becoming of me. My hooves had just caught fire. But it did not catch the normal red fire which I was used to seeing, but instead, a hellish green flame. As it began to arc up my body, I saw my pale, grey body slowly burning away to reveal a black, disfigured bastardization of its former self. I could already see holes pocking my legs as a harder substance not unlike chitin replaced the coat of hairs on my body. The Queen smiled devilishly as she licked my cheek, and when she spoke, my worst fears had been confirmed. "Oh, this is ndeed a most delectable banquet that your body provides...there is much potential in your body...perhaps your reward shall be to serve forever as one more member of my ever-growing army...that way, you can continue to be of use to me..." And just like that, my fate had been sealed. These last seconds would be my last as a pony. Slowly, I was becoming nothing more but the absolute bastardization of all that a pony was and is, and my vision began to cut out. I slowly began to hear things in ring in my head. Your mind is full of delicious memories...memories that could prove to be a threat to your loyalty...allow me to remove them...so that I may open your mind to the hive... Suddenly, a strong headache filled me as my memories slowly began to painfully burning away from my mind, being replaced by the collective conscience of the swarm. The tiny little whispers of several of my soon to be brothers and sisters filled my mind. They all had two thoughts in their head: Feed and Welcome. As my eyes opened once again, the blackness had spread to my breast, and was close to completion...there was nothing left..just armor and darkness. And so, I surrendered myself to my new mistress, and before I knew it, all that excess I had was gone...there was emptiness now. My head was now so much clearer now that my mind was relieved of all my previous thoughts. It was so much simpler now...my mind was now focused simply on the will of my compatriots. After having completed her ritual, the queen lifted herself off of me, kicking me onto my...hooves, I suppose? They didn't seem to have changed all that much. Chirping, buzzing noises filled the caverns that I was inhabiting. I honestly couldn't tell what they had intended with this cacophony until I heard the word "welcome" in my mind. "They aren't much in the vocal department, sadly. Give them time, and they should warm up to you...in the meantime...we have plans for you...isn't that right, little one?" The Queen asked, placing a hoof upon my chin, her eyes glowing one last time as I caught one final gaze before the room was bathed in ghostly green light... "Yes my mistress..." I replied, without even making a single thought. My ability of independent thought was all but destroyed. Any notions of freedom and self-will were wiped away. No longer would I serve as the vigilant guard of Princess Celestia or Luna. No longer would I spend my days as their scholar, learning of the history of Equestria. I was now one of possibly thousands of soldiers in the brood of Queen Chrysalis, no longer a pony, but now a bastardized image of a pony, dominated not by my will, but by the will of my brothers and sisters. Sustenance was no longer eating hay, oats, and flowers, but rather joy, sorrow, love, anger, and fear. No matter what, my life had taken a fundamental turn, and whether I actually wished for this or not, this was to be my eternal fate. This new life was going to be delicious...