//------------------------------// // My mind, my rules! // Story: I'm a loli?!? // by aterriblewriter //------------------------------// “You know…. I would love this fight, but she won't put me down!” I thought to myself as I tried to duck out of the way of a stray magical blast from my spot in Shade's tentacle's grip, only to be violently swung to the side, the beam missing my head by an inch. “Hey! Are ya tryin’ to hit me?!” “I don't see you helping!” Nightmare yelled back, dashing down the hallway and blasting any tentacle that came close to her. “Stay still!” Shade screeched as she chased the dark alicorn, tentacles bursting from her arms in a shower of blood. “Not going to happen!” “Awww, come on! It's only going to hurt for a second, then you won't hurt ever again!” I scowled at Shade as we got outside, Nightmare taking to the skies the moment she had the chance. “That's called being dead!” “Oh shush, you.” Nightmare’s horn glowed brightly as she flew in the dark sky above the forest edge, her form disappearing a moment later. Shade stopped moving and closed her eyes, listening closely for any noise, only to be sideswiped by Nightmare’s high speed tackle. Dropping me onto my face, Shade's tentacles moved to wrap around the mare, who just teleported us both away in a flash of magic a second later. “No fair! That's cheating!” Shade’s voice echoed throughout the forest. I closed my eyes as I tried to keep from hurling. “Urp! I hate teleporting...” Nightmare laughed a little as she tried to catch her breath. “Teleportation sickness? We're in your mind, it shouldn't affect you.” I slowly got up, wobbling a little. “Tell me about it. Teleporting just doesn't agree with me, even when I try it myself. Now, what's the plan with evil me?” I asked Nightmare, leaning against a nearby tree as I kept an eye out. “I assume we can't kill her? It is never as simple as that.” She shook her head, glaring into the darkness. “Trust me, she'll only get stronger if we tried.” I smiled at her tone, finally putting some pieces together. “I think I get it… You and Luna were both the same person, am I right?” Nightmare only blinked widely at me. I only frowned and pointed at her, “That tells me all I need to know. You look and sound like her. The thing those ponies used against you just kicked you out of Luna, recently too, from how modern you talk. How long were you in control?” Nightmare stared at me for a few minutes in silence, stunned that I could figure all of that out. “A thousand years.” She told me, before scowling at me. “You're an observant little girl, aren't you? I was born from that failure's jealousy towards her sister’s day.” “Probably because everyone slept during the night and did just about everything during the day? Sigh… It's official, I now live in a kids’ show.” I facepalmed, groaning at the realization. “It would explain everything, even the stupid singing that happens everywhere.” I sighed in resignation, shaking my head. "At least I know it'll be mostly safe. Nothing too bad happens in a kids’ show, right? It's not like there'll be some kind of magic eating tyrant that can hyperbeam everything he sees.” “Stop hiding, or I'll turn this whole place into ashes!” Shade yelled, her angry voice echoing throughout the forest. “I'll give you both the count of three!” She announced, a bright red light burning through the darkness. “Quick! Do something!” I panicked, trying to blend in with the tree. “There's gotta be something you can do!” “One!” Nightmare calmly looked at me, her horn flaring up with a cloud of night sky colored magic. “There's one thing…. Do you trust me?” “Two!” I nodded after a moment, giving the alicorn a smile. “Two and a half!” Nightmare melted and flew towards me, latching onto my bandage covered chest and spreading out to cover my body. “Just think of the strongest things you can think of, I'll take care of the rest.” Her voice came from the goop, making me smile widely. “Three!” And everything turned red… In the changeling throne room. Luna's POV. “You have an awesome hairdo.” Alice pointed out, smiling as she played with my mane in front of everypony. “How do you keep it moving like this? Are you part ghost or something?” Everypony, including me, was shocked as the girl openly touched me without fear. Shaking my head, I frowned at her. “Nay, we are not a spirit. Our mane has always done this.” Alice giggled at my tone. “I like the way you talk.” She told me, oblivious to everypony’s disbelieving stares. “I think it makes you more… princess-ey.” She admitted, scratching the back of her head with her clawed hands. I smiled at her. “We thank thee, it has been too long since anypony said anything positive about our Royal Canterlot speech.” Six Six coughed, earning everypony’s attention. “How about we change the topic?” He spoke up, scowling at me. “Maybe back to the dead changelings that are buried under a ton of stone, hmm?” I winced. “The most we can do is help with reconstruction. Again, we apologize for the incident.” He growled, his eyes flaring up with green light as he glared at me and every guard in the room. “Saying that you're sorry isn't going to get you my forgiveness. The blood is on your hooves just because of your little tantrum, so you, princess, are going to pay the Pitt a little visit.” Moss gasped at what the king said. “Not there!” Shining Armor raised a hoof, awkwardly raising an eyebrow at Six Six. “Uh, what's the Pitt?” Six Six chuckled, smiling cruelly at me. “Oh, it's nothing special… Just a little arena that some of my subjects like to practice in. Heh, there are some special challenges in there for the brave ones.” “...How long will we be there?” I asked after a moment, regarding him with a cool expression. “Oh, it depends on how quickly you finish the challenge I give you.” “Princess?! You can't really be-!” “Just…sigh… Let us deal with this.” I interrupted Shining with a sad smile, before turning back to the king. “Will the guards be involved?” “No. Remember, it was your yelling that caused the cave in.” He pointed out with a pointed glare at me, before his expression softened. “I know that you didn't really mean it, you couldn't have known. But with the amount of lives lost….” “We understand.” Something suddenly growled loudly in the room, Alice's face turning a light green as she chuckled nervously. “Sorry, I, uh, haven't ate yet…” She pointed towards the door and started walking. “I'll, er, see about getting some food.” “Heh, heh, heh!” Six Six laughed, making Alice stop in fear. “That stopped the heavy mood, eh? Anypony up for lunch? We can continue this after we all eat.” He asked everypony in the room, smiling widely as he got up and joined Alice’s side. “Oh, one of you should go and get whatever Dakota needs while we're at it.” “Agreed. Shining, do thou know a teleport spell? Then you can go to Ash and get the key.” I ask the captain, earning a sheepish smile from him. “Err, no… I don't have that one down yet.” Late Thunder spoke up, taking a few steps towards me. “I can fly there, I am one of the fastest ones in our group.” “Then thou can go.” I nodded, levitating Dakota and placing her on my back, her pets joining my side with a few cautious noises. “Just be quick.” He gave me a small salute with his wings and flew out of the room without word. Our large group followed Six Six as he led us to the dining room, two streams of pink water flowing into small pools on both sides of the room. A long table was placed in the center of the room, platters of various exotic fruits and vegetables adorning its stony surface. Alice all but ran to the food, intent on trying everything there. Before anypony assaulted the feast, a changeling mare wearing an apron walked into view. “All of the food is pony safe.” She informed with a forced smile, gesturing at the table. “Everything here was grown and harvested inside the hive. As a side note, don’t drink the pink water.” A guard snorted, earning everypony’s attention. “If you need love to survive, then why do you bugs grow food down here?” The changeling took a deep breath and calmly explained. “We may need love, but we can taste other foods too. Most of us like to have some variety in our meals.” “Thanks for the explanation, Blackberry.” Six Six nodded thankfully to the mare, taking a seat at the end of the table. “You are dismissed.” He said with a wave of his hoof, the mare leaving with only a glare sent in the guard's direction as she passed him. Shining took the seat on the ruler’s left, eyeing some of the stranger fruit placed in front of him as Alice took the opposite seat. The rest of the guard took all the other seats, eating only the foods they recognized. Alice reached over and picked up a bright red pineapple like fruit, little fleshy tendrils hanging off the bottom. “Uh, what's this?” She asked, pulling on one of the tendrils, only to have it pop off and start dripping a bluish liquid. “Ah, nice choice. That one's for the brave or a good prank, a Frostbite.” Six Six smiled at the hybrid and levitated the tendril over to his mouth, sucking the juice from it for a second before eating it. “They start off as a kind of pleasant peppermint-ish taste, before trying to incinerate your mouth like dragonfire.” Alice paled and slowly placed the fruit onto his plate, looking at the other foods. “Is there any sweet things in here? The others took all the apples….” “Here.” Six Six levitated a bright pink banana and dropped it into her hands, chuckling a little at her reaction. “These are a special kind of banana that grows only on the shores of the nearby underground lake, the newly hatched just love these things. The best part is that you don't even need to peel them, you can eat them whole.” Alice took a small bite, her face lighting up at the taste. “It tastes like strawberry milk!” She noted to herself, reverting back to Dakota's language for a moment. “I love these! Can I take a few with me when I leave?” “Heh! You can take whatever you want with you. You were hatched from a changeling egg inside of this hive, you're practically one of us already.” Six Six said with a smile, patting her had with a hoof. “Leave? Where is she going to go?” I asked, walking up to the little hybrid. Alice nervously looked at me, taking small nibbles of her food as she tried to explain. “I… was in Dakota's head for a little bit. And before you ask, no, I don't know how I got in there.” She shook her head, smiling a little. “She's been pretty nice to me since I've met her, even tried to make this body human just for me, so I think it should be pretty clear that I'm going with her.” “She must be quite skilled in the arcane to change a body and put an entity inside.” I note, taking a glance at the unconscious girl on my back. “And thou seems to have learned Equish faster than her too.” “I just listened… It did help that she had what little she did learn in her head too. ” Alice scratched her head and grabbed another pink banana, everyone in the room curiously listening to her as she talked. “Look, Dakota and I might as well stick together.” She gave me the most serious look she could muster before she finished, her voice almost venomous. “If you or anyone else has a problem with that, I'll do my very best to make you all regret it.” I stared back, the whole room going silent at what she said. “Oh, really? What would thou do to oppose us? Do thou realize that we are the princess of the moon?” I questioned Alice, leaning in closer with a blank expression. She blinked and glared back into my gaze, taking another slow bite from her food. “I dunno… but I will figure it out, believe me!” Six Six laughed. “Ha! Watch out, princess! She's got the heart of a manticore in her!” He warned with a smile, getting up and ruffling the hybrid's green hair, earning an embarrassed squeak from her. “Seriously though, nopony said anything about not letting you go.” He then turned to me, still laughing. “Right?” I gave him a neutral look, before giving Alice a warm smile. “You are free to come with us. Now, let's get back our feast, we believe that those pink things are something that we should try.” Back in Dakota's head. Dakota's POV. “Ugh….” I groaned, holding my head as I got up. “That kinda hurt.” I blinked at my surroundings, seeing as I was in an alleyway of some kind of city. I was wearing a yellow suit with a red cape with matching gloves and boots. Panicking a little, I reached for my head, making sure that I still had my hair. “Oh, thank god.” I sigh in relief, feeling my hair. “Now, let's find that Nightmare lady.” “I'm here.” A voice dryly spoke from behind me. Turning around, I almost started drooling at the sight of the cyborg woman in front of me. Her long hair had kept the same qualities as her pony counterpart, still flowing in an unseen wind and filled with stars. Her well endowed chest was covered by a simple black hoodie, still somehow making me feel a little jealous of her. “I think I've accepted this being a girl thing a little too quickly…” I thought to myself, giving my own chest a once over. “So, Nightmare, what did you do?” She gave me an annoyed glare before explaining. “I just gave your thoughts power. Remember, I told you to think of the strongest things you can think of.” She flexed her metal hands for a moment, trying to get used to them. “I guess that your mind sent us into another section to protect itself from any damage the oncoming battle.” “Huh… Then where did Shade go?” I asked, taking a peek out of he alley way. Nightmare shrugged and leaned against the wall, looking thoughtful. “She should be near, if I'm right. So, what did you think of? I just modified the form of the second thing you thought of.” She gave me a calculating stare. I looked back at her with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of my head. “Just a hero for fun and his disciple.” “A… hero for fun…?” She just stared at me for a few moments, before face palming. “We're doomed.” “Hey! He is Saitama, also known as One Punch Man, the only guy to win every battle with one punch!” I defended myself, dramatically gesturing to my clothes. “That…. actually sounds kind of amazing.” She blinked in surprise, looking at her hands with with newfound interest. “Then, who am I?” “The blonde cyborg, Genos. He ca-!” “Hey! I know that you all are out here!” Shade's annoyed voice echoed throughout the city, sounding much closer than I expected. “Dang! Alright, you're gonna have to figure them out later.” I tell Nightmare, dramatically walking out of the alleyway with a flick of my cape, feeling cocky. “I’m gonna punch an evil me into submission.” I then dashed down the road, in the direction of Shade's voice. It took a little bit, but I found her just outside of a supermarket, all of her tentacles released from her back and arms. We both stared at each other for a moment. “So… where's the pony?” Shade asked me, raising an eyebrow on her deadpanned expression. “Oh, ya know, around….” I casually answered, waving a hand behind me. “Why do you want to kill Nightmare? All she did was protect me.” Shade bristled at the mention of Nightmare, a few tentacles violently slamming into the sidewalk, cracking it slightly. “She hit Mama! I will never forgive anyone who hits my Mama!” She growled, before smiling. “It just gives me the perfect excuse to make a pony doll, too. I've always wanted one.” “Well, about that, I've already kinda promised to help her. So, maybe, just maybe, could ya not try to turn her into one of your dolls? Besides, it looked like it didn't even hurt the guy.” I suggested with a frown. “No! Mama always says that I should take out anything and anyone that dares to try to harm her!” She recited with a scowl, as if she was corrected many times before. “You should be helping me hunt that pony down, not trying to defend her!” Shade screeched, sending a tentacle directly towards my face. “That means I must break you too!” I chuckled and caught it with one hand, surprising her as I replied with an amused smile. “So… how about we make a little bet?” I asked, still holding onto the tentacle as it twitched wildly in my grip. “...I'm listening…” Shade growled out, taking deep shuddering breaths. “If I beat ya in a fight, you'll listen to me from now on.” I told her, before adding another thing. “That means your ‘Mama’ cannot order you around anymore.” “....and if I win?” She asked, glaring at me. “Well, lemme see….” I drawled, playfully putting a hand on my chin in fake thoughtfulness. “I guess that you'll get two new dolls in return.” I finished with a wide smile, letting go of her tentacle, the thing retracting back to Shade's arm. She was silent for a moment as she closed her eyes, all of her tentacles retracting back into her skin without a sound. “....” Blinking at her actions, I frowned and took a step away from her. “Uh, that's definitely not a good sign…” Nightmare came dashing in from behind me, her arms glowing orange as she held her hands out towards Shade. “What have you done! She's calling something here!” She frantically informed me, blasting her target with a beam of fire, a large plume of smoke erupting from the blast point. “Gyahahaha!” A screechy voice laughed from the smoke, a pink light shining through. I face palmed, the action making a small shockwave from the force. “She just had to bring him into this….” Nightmare sighed and glared at me. “It would appear that she called in one of the villains you know of.” “Okay, here's the plan. You take Shade, while I take on Mr. Bubblegum.” “Mr. Bubblegum?” The smoke cleared, revealing Shade and Kid Buu standing in the middle, the pink alien giving us a manic smile as steam shot out of the holes in his head. Shade gave him a high five and smiled smugly at us, saying only one thing before she snapped her fingers. “Deal.” Kid Buu shot forward, grabbing me by my face and flying me away from Shade and Nightmare at the speed of sound. A moment later, he threw me through a skyscraper, me painlessly going through it and a few other buildings until I hit the ground, digging a mile long trench with my body as I tried to recover. Crawling out of the trench, I glared at Buu as he floated above me, a large orb of pink energy coming into existence above his outstretched palm before he hurled it at me. Jumping to meet the ball, I caught it with one hand and threw it back at him, only for him to dodge it with a laugh and try to punch me back into the ground. I caught the fist and ripped his arm off, beating him across the face with the appendage and sending his head flying off into the distance. “Ha! Home run!” I yelled, his body falling to the ground with me. Buu’s remaining arm twitched, his head growing back in seconds, a menacing snarl gracing his mouth as his arm grew back with a loud squelching noise. With a stupid smile on my face, I punched him in the chest, his back stretching out for a mile like rubber, Buu whimpering at me for a moment before he flew backwards to meet his back, stuck inside of a wall like a piece of chewed up piece of gum. “Ugh… He was way more stickier that I thought he would be.” I noted, looking at my gloves, pink chunks sticking to them. “Hey!” I yelled at Buu as I ran up to his splattered form, the poor guy visibly shuddering at the sight of me. “Soo… Wanna help me out?” He tilted what little of his head that wasn't stuck to the wall. “Geeeh?” He made a questioning noise as I grabbed his leg and pulled. “What? I've always kinda liked ya. Not so much your fat form, but you know what I mean.” I admitted with a small smile. “So… What do ya say?” I asked as the last of him peeled off the wall, his body regenerating back to normal. “Gyahahaha!” He replied with gusto, grabbing my shoulders and flying upwards. We both flew around for a bit, looking for Shade and Nightmare. It wasn't long until a plume of fire shot towards the sky, Buu flying us both towards the battle with an excited laugh. With Buu dropping me, I landed right next to Nightmare, one of her arms hanging limply to her side as she fired round after round fire after Shade, the girl gracefully dodging like it was some sort of ballet recital. Buu stayed flying above us, both hands held upwards as he charged up an attack. “Soo… How's your fight goin’?” I asked with a smile, batting away a tentacle that tried to spear my face. “What. Do. You. Think!?” Nightmare said, shooting a beam of fire with each word. “This bucking foal won't stand still!” “Bucking?” I casually asked, scratching the back of my head as I watched the show. “Yeah, bucking!” Nightmare repeated, missing another shot. “I'll tell you when you're older! Now, are you going to stand there, or are you going to hel-!” She was interrupted by a tentacle going through her arm, tearing it off like paper. “....” She stayed silent for a moment, eyeing the empty slot with an annoyed glare. “I think I hate you….” “I love ya too!” I chuckled, patting her cheek and running at Shade. All of Shade's tentacles went for my chest, only to be caught by my hands. Pulling as hard as I can, she was lifted off the ground and sent flying towards me, meeting my outstretched fist with her face, her nose snapping loudly. Before she could fall to the ground, I swung her tentacles upwards along with her. “Do your thing, Buu!” “Gyaaaa!” Buu screeched, an energy ball the size of a small planet erupting into existence in his hands before it shot towards his unfortunate victim, his body vaporizing shortly after he launched his final attack. “Aaaaaaahhhhh!” Shade screamed in pain, her silhouette visible in the center of the attack. When the orb finally dissipated, Shade stayed in the air for a moment, her clothes badly burned and torn, before dropping like a rock. I jumped up and caught her in my arms, landing without a sound as I laid her down onto the ground. “Hey, you still with me?” I asked her with a worried frown. Shade's eyes slowly opened, her mouth curling into a small smile at the sight of me. “It’s nice that you're worried for me… Not even Mama gets like this.” She muttered, wincing as her nose loudly snapped back into place. “.... I guess that you're my Mama now, though.” “Eh, no, don't call me that.” I told her, shaking my head at the term. “Just to be clear, your ‘Mama’ is a guy. The voice and the whole smoke monster thing doesn't really help his case either.” “Hey!” Nightmare yelled at us, having turned back into her pony form as we were talking. “If you two are friends now, can't we do what we came for?” She asked with an exasperated sigh, shaking her head. Shade sat up, giving the alicorn a distrustful glare. “What is it?” Nightmare pointed at me. “She wants to remember what happened to her. I was helping her find the memories, but our search led us to you.” She explained, her horn lighting up with magic as she eyed Shade’s tentacles. “Huh, that’s odd…. You are an artificial construct in her mind, made to keep most of her memories.” Shade blinked in confusion. “Wait… Her mind?” She asked, pointing at me. “This is not real life?” “What kind of reality would teleport you randomly and let you summon fictional villains?” Nightmare dryly pointed out. “.... It happens more often than you’d think.” Shade admitted with a shrug. “Let’s get back on topic, the missing memories?” I cut in, taking a seat next to her. “I am pretty sure that they are not going to be pleasant, but I would like to at least know what happened to me.” Nightmare’s horn glowed along with her eyes. “Just hold her hand, I'll take care of the rest.” Slowly, I reached out and grabbed Shade’s hand. Nightmare grunted from exertion and shot a cloud of black magic at my head, my vision turning white….