//------------------------------// // Chapter 15 // Story: When a changeling gets a bright idea // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// The surge of arcane energy rushed through the air with unparalleled speed. Nopony in the entire town felt anything of it, since it was tuned to lift veils of arcane. Yet there was one pony who felt the full effect of the spell. And that pony, was Chara, the pegasus stallion. The wave continued to expand itself and eventually reached the stallion who was present near the lake. A burning feeling was felt within the heart, a desire to revert back to the form that it had originally taken. Chara didn’t knew what it was, but she had a difficult time controlling whatever it was. A grunt came while the head was dropped a bit. The eyes were shut with force and a shake of the head given. The agonizing pain, the will to revert back to her changeling form. Somepony had figured it out. Somepony in town had figured everything out and just wanted to be sure. “I’m not, gonna give you, that pleasure!” she grunted in her true voice. Sparks of red magic already flew off parts of the body. Revealing the disgusting truth that laid underneath it. Chara had to sit and bite through the pain as best as she could. There was nothing in the world that she could have done to counter it. Not as long as the wave was emitted though. She had to return to her hole, return to that one safe place and just wait out whatever had come next. A huff left the stallion before he turned around. The wings were spread and given a couple flaps to bring fresh air for the stallion. Only then would the gallop be set. With all the might in her body had Chara powered her legs. The wave was still being emitted and pieces of her changeling-self had shimmered through already. The hidden magic of her own covered the spots and she was just glad for the fact that nopony was around. If they had seen her the way she truly was, all hell would have broken loose. Galloping past the far outskirts of town, Chara hoped to avoid any kind of interaction with any other pony. The last thing she needed was a conversation while her heart was in terrible pain. It was near impossible to continue on with the way she had done, but the will of not reverting back kept the spirits high. Everything had just gone down the drain in that moment. The changeling could have cursed the day and everything that had happened. Of course she knew that there was one pony capable of releasing such powerful magical blasts and it was in fact the one pony whom she had left alone. “I’ll get you for this, Twilight, mark my words!” Chara grunted while her feathered wings shifted to the insectoid ones for a moment. A shot of pain went through her spine, causing the poor pony to fall. A splash of water followed and Chara realized that she had fallen in the creek that led to her cave. Beneath the waterline had her legs reverted back to the chitin changeling armor, which she quickly managed to hide again with her own magic. Terror and turmoil rose while the stallion left the water again. He was just so close to the hidey hole and within there, everything could happen. Another gallop was made and the entrance became visible. Just a quick dash more, before everything could be vented and released. The stallion’s pain, the changeling’s anger, they both were a terrible condition to live through. And the only way that Chara could get rid of it, was to revert back to her true self, to reveal the monster that she truly was. To show the world the succubus she was. Of course wasn’t the changeling too happy with the ordeal that she was put through. It was worse than being in the frontier town of Dodge Junction, and it was about ten times worse than being told that she was banished from her own hive. The grief and devastation that she felt when her queen spoke the words, never drove her as crazy as when she was forced to revert back to her true self. Agony, just plain agony. ~~~~ On the balcony of the castle has Twilight been keeping a watchful eye to the matter through her telescope. She knew that Chara was hiding something, but now she knew what it exactly was. As soon as the stallion had returned and dove in his hole, everything became clear to her. She gave a nod to herself and left the telescope for what it was. Having used the crystalline structure of her castle as an amplifier for her magic, the wave of energy would have continued on long after Twilight herself had cancelled the spell. She took a deep inhale and just went straight past Spike, heading to the library. The dragon didn’t spoke a word, yet. Entering the library of the castle, the alicorn moved over to a section she had hoped to not see that soon again. Everything that she needed to know about the matter laid there though. She allowed her horn to be charged and the books involving changeling were all levitated from the shelves. There was something strange about that one changeling, like it had gone rogue. Spike had entered the library as well and was just wondering what was wrong with Twilight. “Say, uhm, Twilight, aren’t you taking this a little bit too serious? I mean, you’re usually never this silent? What have you discovered? Better question: how bad is it?” he dared to ask. As much as she hated it to admit, it was the only way that it could have been done. Another deep exhale came from the mare while the books were stacked with her magic. “You were right...” she spoke in a near inaudible whisper. “What?” Spike asked her in confusion. He closed the distance and eventually sat down on a chair. He genuinely didn’t capture the words that had been spoken by her. And there was something about them that made him worry about it. “I said: you were right,” repeated Twilight while she opened one of the books. “There was something going on with that stallion, because that stallion is a changeling.” “A changeling? Like those we saw in Canterlot? But what’s a lone changeling doing here?” “Your guess is as good as mine. Though the eyes, which I saw for only a fraction of a second, gave away too much information.” Her magic shifted the pages until she found the subject that she was looking for. “The red color that they carried was something I’ve never even seen at all.” “So, is that a good or a bad thing?” asked Spike who wanted to know the finer details of the case. Of course he knew that it was a bad thing, but it never would hurt to just straight up ask it. Twilight lowered the book and just nodded to him. She finally sat down on a chair of her own and leaned back a bit. It was terrible to see that such a breed of changeling had been released in the wild. There was some information known about the red eyed ones, but by far not enough to draw conclusions that could have come to aid for anypony. “It’s terrible news, actually. The army of Chrysalis got defeated quite easily because they got an overdose of love. But red eyed changelings, they live for the more negative emotions. And that’s what been driving us apart.” Spike’s blood almost chilled more than usually. Never had he even dared to think of such a devastating thing to happen. Never had he ever even dared to think that they could be falling victim to it. He out a gentle sigh and nodded. “So, what will you do now with it?” “Whatever I can, Spike. First, I’m going to have to neutralize it. Not killing it though, because it is through that changeling that our friends are acting the way they are. They need to see it for themselves that it was that creature all along, not just among themselves.” An honorable cause indeed, even Spike had to admit that. And it also proved that Twilight’s theory was correct, not just some hot air that she spoke in the faint hope that her friends would remain together. It was a tough decision to make, but maybe, just maybe, there would have been a way in which the changeling could have been of aid to her. It was farfetched as it could be, but the option was there nonetheless. Twilight leaned even further in the chair and had a gander at Spike. “When captured, I’m going to study it, try to figure out more about this kind of breed of changeling, see what their origin is and what could potentially happen.” “No dissecting?” Spike asked with a slight tremble in his voice. The alicorn rose an eyebrow to that moments prior to her just shaking her head. No dissection would have come to that changeling, not as long as it continued to live, that was. “Come on Spike, we have a trap to set and if my feelings are correct, that changeling is planning a massive attack in the town right now. We need to be ready for it.” “What can one changeling do to a town like Ponyville?” Spike said more as a joking remark. The attention of Twilight shifted straight away back to him and she shot him a glare. “In just a few days’ worth of time, has one changeling almost managed to shatter the friendships we’ve had for so many years! I call that pretty dangerous, don’t you agree? I mean, it can revert to all sorts of measures in order to stay hidden. But if the behavior reports on red eyed ones should be believed, it’s going to charge straight into town, head first. Probably looking for me before doing something unthinkable.” “That’s actually really bad,” the dragon mumbled to himself. “But, does this mean that that changeling is more dangerous than, let’s say Chrysalis?” Twilight nodded while she closed the book and left her seat. Nothing would be brought with her, only her wits and magic, and enough time to give a warning to the ponies of Ponyville. Nopony had to interfere with that creature, not as long as it wasn’t dangerous for them at least. “Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis nor Tirek had the power to destroy our friendships, but one changeling almost did it from the inside out... That’s clever, even for a bug like that.” Spike became more terrified of the changeling after Twilight had spoken those words. All of the previously mentioned beings tried to break them from the sides or above, but never from within. One changeling had almost succeeded in what the others had thought to be impossible. Humiliation and danger, that was the situation for the others. The two left the library as a whole. They had to leave the castle and warn as many ponies before all hell would be unleashed to the town. Either Ponyville would see a swift, quick battle between the changeling and the alicorn, or it would be a war of rage that would last for hours, destroying most of the town in the process. None knew which one it would be. ~~~~ Hidden away in her caverns and galloping through the tubes, Chara still had managed to keep her pegasus disguise up through the agonizing pain. She had rushed to the pond and lit the candles again with a flick of the horn. The harmonious aura that it emitted was enough for her. It was time to shed her skin and show the world whom she truly was. And so, in a massive, bright red flame had the stallion been left behind and only the female changeling stood within the chamber. Growls and grumbles left the creature, maddened by the fact that the plan had been foiled. Only Twilight was clever enough to take her own and figure her out. Meaning that all of her sights were set upon that one mare. “I will get you for this, Twilight, mark my words, and it will be your pretty town that will be paying the price for it!” Chara snarled to the world above. But first, she had to take a bath fit for a queen. A bath that would hopefully empower her to take on the alicorn in a head on confrontation. Chara just didn’t wanted to see Twilight fall before her. But as soon as that happened, she wanted to paint the town red, literally. The changeling’s plans had been foiled, now it was time to return to much more drastic measures of action and being. The time of talk was over, never had been there. Chara, while she distend in the pond, declared war upon the town of Ponyville. A war she was destined to win. ~~~~ Twilight and Spike stood near town hall, in the middle of town, they were waiting for the changeling to arrive and to battle it out. The way that they both stood there invoked power and prowess, ponies actually became terrified of it and all went inside. Nopony knew what to truly expect from the situation as it was. Everything could have changed in the blink of an eye and Twilight knew that. The friendships that were at stake were far greater than any arcane knowledge that she might have gathered over time. The fact that one little changeling had almost succeeded in the fact that they would have broken up as friends, haunted her mind maybe a tad bit too much. Twilight would have spoken with her friends, but only when the changeling was captured and had in fact spoken the truth in front of all of them. A tear went the cheek of the alicorn, saddened by the fact that five wonderful friendships had almost been shattered, because they were too busy drooling over the new, near perfect stallion that had wandered into town. That should have been the first signs of trouble though. The tear wasn’t wiped away and travelled all the way down her chin, before dropping to the ground below. Spike just stood there, awaiting whatever it was that would be heading their way. He was ready for anything and everything in the moment. He was in for a good fight, wanting to kick the changeling’s butt for doing what it had done. He clenched his fits and was ready for it. In the meantime and near the edge of town, the changeling had entered it. Being the black, chitin armored bug that she was, looks were given. It was the first time that the ponies of Ponyville saw what the being really was and the powerful steps that it made. It invoked some concern by the ponies who went out of the creature’s way. Nopony dared to speak with it though, the red eyes gave of a slight hint of aggression and they became a little –rightfully– frightened by it. The very same fear went through the air as honey and the changeling filtered it all. There was something marvelous about the taste of fear, but nothing would have been better than the anger that she would consume from Twilight. There was no doubt for the changeling, Twilight was around there somewhere and all that had to be done, was to just follow the scent. Follow the scent of hatred that was given off by the alicorn, a hatred that originated from the changeling itself. A dark chuckle left the bug upon realizing that little fact. “Consumed by hatred, just the way I like my meals and the perfect way to start some mayhem!” the changeling spoke loud enough for the other ponies to hear it. They were all under strict orders of Twilight to not engage the being. Everypony knew that and that was one thing that they would heed. Frightened by the words, all of the ponies emptied the streets that would lead up to town hall. The way was clear for them to battle it out on either land or in the air. Chara followed the road for what it was but she was consumed by something herself. The wish to take revenge on Twilight for lifting her veil and thus foiling her plan had made her blind for everything else that could have happened. Steps were made, powerful and dangerous by the changeling, ponies all went for their houses as just the sight of the creature was terrifying, only adding the red eyes for an even greater effect. Terror had been struck in their hearts for sure. “If I can’t take out them from within, this entire town will feel the wrath of the changeling upon themselves, they are already terrified because of what I am, and they call Ponyville so tolerable. Hmpf, Dodge Junction was even more tolerable than this hole of a town...” Chara whispered the words to herself in the hope to not break the illusion that she had set up. She was tough, rough and wouldn’t stop at anything to get done what she wanted to get done. It was time to head to the town hall and confront Twilight once and for all. ~~~~ With a couple turns had the changeling arrived at town’s square. Of course she noticed how it was emptied out with the exception of both Spike and Twilight. Though in Chara’s defense, she didn’t knew who on earth Spike was. But the changeling ceased her pace, standing both tough and mighty across the square. The two beings were both one-pony-armies in their own right. They could devastate the whole town if they wanted with the flick of a horn. They eyed the other for the longest of time, only making a circle as they were having their standoff. Neither of them wanted to be the one that fired off the first shot. In the end, somepony would have done it of course. Chara eyed all of the motions that Twilight made, from the way her muscle lifted the hooves to how she arched her back with every step. The alicorn was doing the same thing, only a little bit different of course. The time had to come though, somepony had to open fire. The horn of Twilight charged up and a blast released to the real world. Milliseconds later had it reached Chara, who was unable to raise a deflector shield of her own and got hit by it. That was all that it took really. The spell that Twilight had cast was enough to make the changeling buckle under her own weight. She ended up falling down to the ground and while her eyes tried to fight it, they were shut under the weight of three ponies. Before the changeling knew it, she had lost her consciousness. Knocked out by the alicorn princess of friendship, just like that.