{Luna's study, a little while ago...}
Luna was hard at work, trying to resolve an issue between two neighboring farm ponies, regarding a certain fruit tree that grew squarely on the border between their two plots of land. Every year, come harvest time, it was the same: each claimed that it belonged solely to themselves, and that the other had no rights to it. This year, she was getting an early start on the issue, just to be prepared.
And as fate would have it, her nightmare sense went off, big time. Somepony, somewhere, was having the nightmare of a lifetime... So Luna went over to the small bed she kept to one side in case of such an occasion, and lay down.
Entering into a sort of trance-like state, she searched for, and quickly found, the source of the nightmare. The problem was... she couldn't find an entry into the dream! She quickly scanned the mind of the individual, only to recoil at the sheer alien-ness of its inner workings. What shocked her was how fast it was becoming even more alien as she watched. All the same, there was also something familiar to its structure.
Before she could try anything, the dream came to an abrupt end, and she could feel the being's physical, real-world pain. There were fleeting glimpses of the familiar stranger's surroundings before the link broke. "What was that about?" She asked herself, debating whether she should alert her sister.
Moments later, she sensed the being falling asleep once more. This time, though dreamless, the stranger's slumber was not untroubled. She picked up feelings of fear, despair, entrapment, and confusion in these dreams. She did what she could to assuage the negative emotions from the outside, but it was of little use.
Luna sensed the stranger awaken once again, though they still felt half asleep. She had to act fast. Seeing the telltale sign of a half forgotten memory that had been provoked, she grabbed it, and dove into the stranger's mind.
It was strange, and caustic, and most of all, it seemed to be at war with itself. Nevertheless, she managed to discern where the tendril of memory was trying to go, and with a supreme amount of effort, bridged the connection. It was all she could do, before she forcibly withdrew from the being's mind. An instant later, the being woke almost fully, and was beyond her range of influence once more.
All she could do now was watch...
~~~~
{Caldoric: the present}
What we saw was a guard, ready to attack. There had been something unusual in the way he's said the word, but I didn't have time to think about it. "Run!" I said, and the two of us took off down the tunnel.
"W-- hey, GET BACK HERE!" Cried the guard, who then fired off a green spell. Strangely enough, it actually bounced off the walls of the tunnel and skittered away, missing us both completely.
"That was a warning," gasped Midge, "we should get outta here fast."
I shrugged as best I could, given my new form, and said "Lead on, McDuff." This got me another strange look, but we kept moving nonetheless.
We ran for several minutes, meeting no resistance as we made our way forward. I almost lost Midge a couple of times when the tunnel forked, due to inconveniently timed yawns. I was still tired after all, and not yet used to moving in my new form.
I finally took a moment, before rounding a sharp bend in the tunnel, to look behind us, just in case we were being followed. This was a mistake, however, as when I looked forward, I saw the tunnel had forked again, and I had no clue which one Midge had taken. I could hear him moving away from me, but it was far enough away that I couldn't discern anything from that alone.
"Midge!" I called. "Miiiidge! Which way'd you go?" No response, except for the continued fading of his hoofsteps, and then nothing.
I waited a few seconds more, then made a snap decision. I bolted down the left tunnel, hoping to find my new friend. It wasn't long before I came to a screeching halt, however, because I once more caught wind of Chrysalis' singing. It was the same song she'd used to put me to sleep in the cell a few minutes ago, and though it was faint with distance, it still made the air heavy, and my mind fogged up as the first line rolled through my ears.
♪Come little changelings, I'll take thee away...♪
I could distantly hear someone humming a slightly different tune, as my body began moving of its own accord, back up the tunnel from whence I'd come. The humming turned to full-on song as Chrysalis' song hit its second line...
♪Into a land of enchantment...♪
(Hear this song, and remember...)
I wished whoever else was singing would stop, because I so desperately wanted to hear the Queen's music in it's entirety. It was soooo beautiful...
♪Come little changelings, the time's come to play...♪
(Soon you'll be... home with me...)
Ok, now I was really getting pissed. Not only was my Queen calling for aid, there was someone who had the bright idea of singing over her, so the Queen's message was hard to make out clearly. Thus, my job as an officer was being made harder. When I found whoever was singing, I'd give them a smack upside the head they'd remember for a good long time.
♪Here in these caverns of shadow...♪
(Once upon a December...)
I stumbled to a halt, once more at the fork, snapping out of the illusion by the last word. What the hell? I'd been brainwashed into thinking I was part of her army... and worse, that she was my Queen! I had to keep singing, though I couldn't actively remember the words...
♪Dancing bears; Painted wings...♪
I sang, loud and clear enough to drown out the echoing verses of Chrysalis' song. I began running up the other tunnel with a renewed sense of anger, taking each twist, turn, and fork almost without care. I now knew, deep inside of myself, which way to go.
♪Things I almost remember...♪
How dare she try to take my memories, my identity?! She'd already taken my freedom, my humanity, and my time.
♪And a song... someone sings...♪
I would not let her have my sense of self as well, or my loyalty.
♪Once upon a December... ♪
I barreled onward, scattering changelings with wild abandon. Some I knocked out, while others I slashed at with my bladed arm. The message soon spread ahead of me, and my path was mostly cleared, with only the occasional guard standing in my way.
♪Someone holds me safe and warm,
Horses prance through a silver storm...
Figures dancing gracefully,
Across my memories....♪
I allowed my newly-found bestial side take over at times like these, making short work of the various guards. That was another thing: they'd injected me with Hordika Venom, of all things. They'd pay for that.
I was close, now, to the main chamber. I could almost smell it. I couldn't stop now.
~~~~
{Chrysalis: seconds in the future... but not many}
♪Far away, long ago,
Glowing dim as an ember...
Things my heart used to know,
Things it yearns to remember...♪
Chrysalis faltered in her own song, then stopped completely, the magic aura surrounding her jagged horn fading as she did. Somepony else was singing, and it was interfering with her summons. As whoever was singing came closer, their voice became clearer, it's point of origin narrowing to one of the side tunnels: the one that the traitor lying at her hooves had come from.
♪And a song... someone sings...
Once upon a December...♪
The voice was much closer now, and approaching fast. The song that it carried was similar enough to her own, but the lyrics were different. Whereas hers had been about abandoning hope and surrendering to the will of the singer, the newcomer's song told of remembrance, and trying to reclaim one's forgotten past.
♪On the wind, 'cross the sea,
Hear this song and remember...
Soon you'll be... home with me...
Once upon a December...♪
This... was bad. Chrysalis quickly finished what she had been doing, then looked up to face the figure careening through the tunnel entrance and into the main cavern. To her surprise, the figure then launched themselves high into the air, their abnormally long right arm aglow, then seemed to hang there for longer than should have been possible...
~~~~
{Caldoric: the present}
♪--remember...
Soon you'll be... home with me...
Once upon a December...♪
I barged into the main chamber, unfolding my right arm to its fullest extent as I charged up a spell. I wasn't sure it'd work in my new form, but I had to try. With a subconscious flap of my wings, I leapt high into the air, arm drawn back, then hung there for a couple seconds as I drew out the final line of the song.
♪Once... upon... a Dece-em-berrrrrrr!♪
And with that, I dropped, plunging the bladed portion of my right arm into the ground as far as it could go. This released a shockwave of magical energy, which rolled through the multitude of changelings and Visorak that were present.
I wasn't sure how I'd stayed in the air that long, but there really was no point in questioning it at this time: there were more important matters to attend to.
Looking up, I saw I wasn't too far from Chrysalis herself, who looked shocked at my appearance. Still filled with somewhat righteous fury, I gave her a predatory smile, ripped the blade out of the ground, and said:
"The Knight is awake.
Your shit is wrecked."
~~~~
{Luna: minutes ago}
Pretty soon, she could vaguely sense a mixed range of emotions from the stranger. Rage, sorrow, companionship, then elation. This was followed by surprise, slight fear and, finally, confusion. Then the stranger seemed to start falling asleep again... But moments later they fought their way back to wakefulness, and became entrenched in rage.
This... isn't good at all, Luna thought to herself. Focusing on the stranger's mind, she worked to find a better way in. She didn't get far, though, before there was a knock at the door. Rousing herself from the trance, Luna used her magic to lever the door open.
"Milady," said the Night Guard in the hall, "we've just received information from several urgent visitors. They are clamoring for you and your sister to help them rescue their friend."
Luna frowned. "Could this not wait 'till the morrow?" She asked. The guard shook his head.
"They said he and some others of their number were captured by four-legged spiders and dark, bug-like ponies in the Everfree."
Luna's eyes narrowed. "I'll see them, then."
~~~~
{Chrysalis: the present}
The changeling Queen was shocked, to say the least. Not only had her new project managed to throw off her control, he'd managed to escape the cell as well. His appearance was a little intimidating now that he was really angry, too: there was a section of his chest that positively glowed orange under the chitinous shell, creating a sort of "lava-peeking-through-cracks-in-volcanic-earth" look. The glow also made its appearance along the back ridge of his rough head, though it was more uniform there, and a green glow emanated from deep within his throat.
Wings spread, teeth bared, and an ominously dark ball of pulsating purple magic cupped in his left hand, she could easily see him at the head of an army.
"What's going on?!"
Chrysalis swung her head around to face Roodaka, who was not happy. Evidently, she'd been interrupted in the middle of one of her endless personal experiments.
"Our new pet has gone rogue," replied the Queen, "and he's managed to sway the allegiance of at least one of my hive."
Roodaka gave her a questioning look. "And this ability is surprising... why? After all, you did supply me with genetic material from both your warrior and commander castes for the venom."
Chrysalis returned her attention to... what was his name? Caldoric? Anyways, she focused on the former human again, because he was getting antsy. She didn't want to leave herself open to a surprise attack, though she wasn't sure why he hadn't taken the opportunity to attack while she was distracted. Perhaps he was going by some sort of code of honour, or something similar?
"White moves first," said the human, "and then we play."
Chrysalis sighed. Humans, she decided, were strange. "Let's just get this over with," she said, then sent a mental command to the figure at her hooves...
~~~~
{Caldoric: the present}
In front of me, Chrysalis sighed, then said; "Let's just get this over with."
Without warning, Midge leapt up from his prone position at the Queen's feet, and attacked with a ferocity I wouldn't have expected, coming from him. Almost without thought, I hit him with the ball of magic I'd prepared in my left hand, and he landed in a heap several feet away. He didn't get up, or even stir.
This appeared to shock both Roodaka and Chrysalis. "Why would you strike him so readily," asked Chrysalis, "if he was your ally?" Meanwhile, Roodaka looked on with mild approval.
"He isn't my friend, you dumbass," I growled through clenched teeth, "he's my brother." I then decked Chrysalis in the face. She didn't like that very much.
"Oh, you'll pay for that, you misbegotten little traitor," she growled, as she rubbed her bruised cheek. "You'll pay dearly indeed."
"Hey," I countered, "mutating shit was your idea in the first place, so you've only got yourself to blame for the 'misbegotten' bit. And, (fun fact!) you can't betray someone you're enslaved to."
I caught Roodaka's surprised glare as I said that. While I was distracted, Chrysalis ignited her magic once again and used it to lift me, bodily, bringing me face to muzzle with her. "I hope you enjoyed that jibe," she said menacingly, lifting her left forehoof to just touch the bottom of my chin, "because it was your last. Once I counteract however you negated my Hivesong--"
She never finished that sentence, as an explosion broke through the cavern wall off to my left. I don't mean "the wall shattered violently and fell to pieces all over the place," I mean "fire and flames and ballistic chunks of wall flying everywhere, with lime green magical energies flickering amidst the chaos." Yeah, BOOM. The aforementioned slabs of wall that had been displaced by the detonation ploughed into the amassed ranks of Visorak and Changelings nearby, decimating that area of the army. It was the perfect distraction.
Apparently, my right arm thought so too, because it suddenly acted on its own. It jerked backwards, initiating a strange spinning sensation in my wrist as the blade whooshed twice behind my back, before snapping forward once more. This brought my crystalline appendage around and up in a great sweeping arc, accompanied by a wave of heat and a flash of orange and black.
*Swish! Shwlock-chk!*
"NGYEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
I was nearly deafened by Chrysalis' incensed, gutteral scream of fury and agony. And, because of this, I almost didn't see Roodaka's blind-fired Rhotuka spinner (prefaced by a loud "no!") in time to smack it out of the air with the crystal blade.
Right as that happened, the thaumic aura around Chrysalis' jagged horn dissipated, and I was dropped to the ground. My fall was accompanied by the tip (about ¾ inches) of said horn, and most of her left foreleg (cut off just above the "elbow" joint.) I caught the earthy scent of charred flesh, mixed with the odor of singed hair, sautéed almonds, and something else that I couldn't place. That, coupled with the lack of blood gushing from the severed limb, and the slight wisps of smoke emanating from both the Queen's severed horn and ruined foreleg, meant that the blade had somehow gotten very hot, and very fast. But I didn't have time to wonder how or why just now.
Folding the blade back along my arm once more, I paused to deflect another of Roodaka's spinners at the cavern roof before bringing the "hilt" down on top of Chrysalis' wailing head. She shut up immediately, and sagged the rest of the way to the ground. Looking up and around myself, I saw green spells and spinners flying every which way. Any that were (seemingly) aimed my way either missed by a mile, or came uncomfortably close. Looking at the ruined wall, I saw what had gone on while I was fending off Chrysalis.
The explosion itself had been caused by a ragtag group of Changelings, Visorak, Vahki, various folks who looked like prisoners, and several abominable looking entities. This was a prison break if I ever saw one. I had to make a snap decision here.
For a moment, I considered snagging the severed foreleg and pulling some form of "stop hitting yourself" thing on Chrysalis, but it would be wasted. Instead, I picked up the severed piece of horn, grabbed Midge by the chest, and booked it for the escapists.
"Rebels, with me!" I shouted over the din, followed by the first warcry I could think of as I thrust my bladed arm into the air: "EULALIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" And with that, I physically delved into the fray.
An unknown age of fear, confusion, and fighting later, I found myself alongside the crew that had smashed through the wall, and with a little urging, we made our way over to the exit. By the time we got there, Midge was back up on his legs and fighting like a mad thing to help us. The way he and I both worked together, it was as if we'd rehearsed the whole thing. Suddenly, a loud voice rang out amongst the melee.
"STOP!!" Commanded Roodaka, from where she stood by the still-unconscious form of Queen Chrysalis. And shockingly, everyone complied, including myself. "Surrender, now! You and little band of friends have--"
"Have fought bravely, but if you join me, blah blah, mercy and riches, yadda yadda!" I interjected, earning everyone's attention. "I know, Roodaka, I've seen this trope unfold too many times. And so, it seems, have you. Look around you! Your so-called 'troops' aren't fighting at full force, because they can't tell friend from foe right now. If they could, this cavern would've been brought down around my ears before I even got close to Chrysalis. So, let's make this easier on everyone, alright?"
I spread my arms, and lifted my voice even higher as members of the impromptu rebellion behind me slunk off down the tunnel. "Any of you who are tired of slaving away under the regime of Roodaka and Chrysalis, or living in constant fear of being nabbed for experiments; if you want out, then come with me to freedom. I won't judge you for it. Hell, I could probably even use your help, after this."
There was a shaky silence, and then movement, as several members of the opposing group came over to join me. Many of those left behind had looks of concern and hesitation, or consternation, on their long faces. People of various species continued trickling out through the tunnel.
"Not again!" Complained Roodaka, exasperated. "Why does this always happen?"
"Maybe it's because I offered them an actual choice? Obviously something you two never did..."
"Yes we did!"
"What?" I asked, sarcastically, "work or die? Not much of a choice in my opinion."
"Midge!" came Nymph's voice. "Midge, you get over here right now! I am your older brother, and you will do as I say!"
"Buck you, Nymph!" replied Midge, "You flipping disowned me a few minutes ago, in case you've forgotten."
"Oh I remember alright. It's called 'hazing'! I never actually thought you were dumb and weak enough to believe me, though! Boy, was I wrong!"
"Piss off, asshole," I interjected, yelling in his general direction, "you have no honor, and have forgotten the face of your father. You don't deserve a brother like him!"
"ENOUGH!" cried Roodaka, and launched another spinner at me. I moved to slash it, but something... something went wrong. I cut through the glowing wheel of energy, but instead of dispelling, it merely split and warped as my blade made contact, before the two pieces flew around me. To my horror, they then converged on Midge, hitting him as he had moved behind me to look for his former brother.
He cried out in pain, and I called to the last few in the group as they moved to make their escape. With the friendlier Changelings picking him up in their magic, and the two or three Visorak standing guard, we made haste into the darkness. As the remainder of the horde surged forward to give chase, my newfound allies somehow brought down the tunnel's entryway behind us, and continued collapsing the rest of the tunnel as we absconded.
Thanking them profusely for their efforts, I moved up the tunnel to where Midge was held aloft, embraced in the soft green glow of his fellow Changelings. Well, former fellows.
As I had feared, he had been hit by a mutation spinner, Roodaka's signature parting gift. For within the embrace of Changeling magic, ribbons of purple energy danced and played across his form, doing what they did best.
Motioning for the carriers to let Midge go, I took him in my arms, gently holding him as he occasionally spasmed. This was my fault, my cross to bear. I had failed him, allowed him to come to harm, and this was the least I could do. Seconds later, the ribbons broke, and the pent up tension in Midges rigid body was released, at which time he visibly relaxed. Nevertheless, he still slept fitfully in my arms. I barely felt his weight as I continued along the tunnel, but there were many possibilities as to why that was.
I continued like this for several minutes, near the back of the group, before something strange happened. My surroundings began greying out, and the Changelings slowed way down, before freezing entirely in place. I slowed as well, but through my own free will, and a desire not to walk into anyone. They hadn't come to a rest, this much was evident.
Soon, even they had become mere blurs in the grey nothingness around me. My nerves, already on edge, became even more alert.
"Ah," said a voice that sounded suspiciously similar to my own, "I was wondering when this was gonna happen again."
I turned my head to the left, attempting to look at the speaker, but some force seemed to intervene. As I moved to turn around, my actions met greater and greater resistance, until I came to a full stop, my chin resting on my shoulder. What little I could see in my peripheral vision was... strange, to say the least. There was a figure, whose back was to me, and holding two swords at his sides. He, too, seemed to have wings, and--
"Yes, Storm, I'm you from the future. For the sake of convenience, and to head off that whole 'future-past me' nonsense, call me Drake."
"Uh," I said, "dude, what are you doing? No time travel!"
"Hey, you remember the second Simon Bloom novel, where he met his future self?" Asked the being calling himself Drake. "This is like that moment, except neither of us is causing this. It's some outside force beyond our control, like circumstantial simultaneity, so don't worry about it. How's Midge, by the way?"
"He, uh..." I was a bit confused by the abrupt topic change, but rolled with it. "He's just been hit by Roodaka..."
Drake chuckled. "Ah, yeah, those were the days. That explains a few things on my end, too, now that I think about it."
"Like what?" I demanded, exasperatedly. "What does Midge's circumstance explain?"
"Like I said, circumstantial simultaneity. The worldwalls are really thin thanks to that spell the Makuta stole a while back, just before the Convergence. It was unstable. So, certain events can connect to others like what we have here. Anywho, don't worry about your journey back topside: It's smooth sailing the rest of the way."
"Whoa, whoa, back up. What, exactly, is circumstantially simultaneous about our two points in time?"
Drake sighed, and flicked his tail. "Emotions. We're feeling sorrow, and guilt, and rage. We're feeling all these towards ourselves, because we believe that we've failed a friend in a moment of need... That we weren't there to help them the way we should've. And it'll come to bite us in the ass eventually."
I looked at the mutated Changeling in my arms, and realized that what Drake had said was true. I was angry at myself, and disappointed, and guilt was also present.
"Fortunately,we both know the remedy for Midge's condition," continued Drake. "But that won't be too hard to make amends for. Just figure out a way to get Roodaka to undo the change, if he's willing to return to normal. But, in the meantime, you should go visit the New Altero Hospital after you hit the surface again. There's someone there you should speak with."
"Someone I need to talk to?" I asked, then realized what he probably meant. "Ackar, of course!"
"And another someone, Storm. Don't worry, you'll remember soon enough, though I'm disappointed you don't remember him right now."
I wracked my brain for a moment, before I realized what he'd meant. "Durath...!"
"Bingo! Give the guy a prize!" Replied Drake. This made me wonder about something, though...
"Why am I supposed to be called 'Storm' in this conversation?"
"Because of the idea we had a while ago, before we arrived on Terra-1, for a procedural trans-timeline self-referential naming convention."
"Oh. Forgot about that..." I muttered.
"Yeah, but now that you know, you should probably work on expanding it to at least a tenth-level encounter. Meaning, of course, ten of us together at one time."
I parsed that for a moment, before he began speaking again.
"We don't have long before this contact breaks up, so a few final things. First, the sword you bought is a sabre, not a cutlass. Don't let the handguard fool you. Second, the things you got from Dave are respirators, not rebreathers. Third, work on your magic and other new skills, even if it means giving up a few other things. Trust me, it'll help."
"Ok..." I replied, turning to face forward once more. "Hey, uh... Drake?"
"Yeah?"
"Something I noticed... you haven't turned to look at me this entire time."
"That's because I don't look back. I stopped thinking about my past after I went looking for our family, and my home. Took me a while to finally find it, though."
"Oh. Well, uh... that sounds promising." I began to feel hope rekindling itself in my chest. "Hey, um... You're from the future, so you probably already know this, but I have to ask nevertheless..."
"No, I'm not telling you what element we wield. You have to figure it out for yourself, or it won't actually work, ya know?"
"Alright, alright, damn," I chuckled, "I get it, Mr. Miagi. Wax on, wax off, and all that."
Drake chuckled back. "Yeah, paint the fence. Anywho, time's up, Storm, so take care of yourself, and Midge. I don't want to stop existing because you screwed up somewhere, regardless of alpha timelines."
"Ok, then. And good luck with whatever you're doing, Drake. Bye."
"See ya, glad I've already been ya."
With that cryptic statement, everything faded back from greyness, and reality returned to it's rightful place. I blinked for the first time in what felt like forever, and was nearly knocked over as one of the Changelings behind me walked straight into my backside.
"Ey!" He said sharply, his voice slightly buzzy. "Give a pony some advance warning before you just stop on a bit like that."
"My apologies..." I replied. "Just... I had a bit of a wierd moment there, like vertigo, déjà vu, and an out-of-body experience all rolled up into one."
He inclined his head momentarily in understanding, and gave a minor apology before continuing on past me.
"...stop on a bit..." I muttered to myself, amused, "that's hilarious." I resumed walking, looking down at my new friend. At first glance, you'd think the mutation spinner hadn't done all that much to him, aesthetically. He still had the same general profile of a Changeling, but there were some more noticeable differences. His face was a bit more... well, predatory, I guess. His wings had changed as well.
Whereas previously they'd been single, jagged-looking affairs with a cyan/teal hue to them, they were now distinctly blue, and seemed to be almost completely separated into three distinct pieces. They were also now made of a tougher material than they had been before, among other things.
Then there was the fact that he now had a second set of wings to complement the first. These were a bit more bat-like, and folded flat against the sides of his chest like those of a Pegasus, instead of sticking up like normal Changeling wings always seemed to.
Both his ragged black tail and his dark grey, sail-like "mane" had changed color as well, matching the blue color scheme of his insectoid wings. The array of holes in his fore- and hindlegs didn't seem any different, as far as I could tell.
In my arms, Midge stirred slightly in his unconscious state and mumbled unintelligibly. As he waved his forelegs a bit, and rubbed the side of his long face against my chest, I felt my heart melting, and a new weight settling on my shoulders. He was my responsibility now, for better or worse.
In my arms, Midge began stirring fitfully...
~~~~
Fears, half-formed images, and mangled memories were all that came to visit Midge in his unconsciousness. And they only got progressively worse as time went on, until he suddenly woke with a start, lashing out with a foreleg at the imagined terrors. This had the unfortunate effect of catching Caldoric a good solid hit on the chin. Midge felt his new friend staggering, and Caldoric nearly dropped him before bumping forcefully into the tunnel wall.
"Oh, geez, sorry!" Cried the Changeling, as the biped blinked and tried to clear the stars from his vision.
"Anyone get the number of that donkey cart?" Caldoric slurred, sliding to a sitting position. Midge carefully rolled out of his arms and stood up. Chalking the strange (and slightly racist,) phrase up to cultural differences, he reached out with a forelimb to investigate the point where he'd made contact. There was a slight dent in the chitinous-looking shell on his friend's chin, but barely noticeable in the long run.
"I'm so, so sorry for that..." He apologised, hoping the former human wouldn't just dump him for his mistake. What little information that had been gathered about Humans in general was unsettling, to say the least. From the looks of it, they were quite a violent race from a rather unfavorable planetary situation: They were the only dominant species on their world, and their worst war-based death toll was supposedly 85 million! And that had been in something called a World War, which he refused to consider the implications of...
The only qualities that came close to their capacity for violence were their sheer ingenuity and their pure determination, and even those tended to be channelled towards the whole violence thing, especially when provoked. Or, so Chrysalis and Roodaka had told them. Knowing that, Midge had become determined to find out for himself if that were true. And now, here was the moment of truth.
Caldoric blinked a few more times, then seemed to get his eyes to focus again. He gave Midge a strange look, cocking his now unnatural-looking head to one side. Then, rubbing his jaw with a slight smile, he spoke.
"You got a mean punch there, bro." He then held out a fist at arms length, and Midge gently tapped a forehoof against it with some trepidation. That done, the humanoid gingerly got to his feet and gestured for Midge to follow.
"So..." the Changeling began, quite nervously, "y-you're not mad about that?"
"Nah, not really. I mean, I sorta am, but mostly at myself, because I couldn't do anything to help you fight whatever you were dealing with while you were unconscious." Caldoric's brows furrowed a little as he lumbered along, then he looked at Midge with some mild concern. "What was that about anyways? Bad dream or something?"
"..." Midge opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find anything to say for a moment. "I... I really don't know. Something like that, I guess, but I honestly don't remember."
The taller of the duo hummed in acknowledgement, and they both fell silent for a bit. At last, he spoke again.
"What I'm wondering is, why did the spinner knock you out? Or, what remained of it, anyways..."
"Uh, don't they normally do that?" Asked Midge, confused. He hadn't had much interaction with the Visorak portion of the combined armies.
"Nah, not all of them." Caldoric scowled a bit, obviously reliving some not-so-fond memories involving the four-legged biomechanical arachnids. "There are about as many spinner powers as there are folks who can use them. From what I've heard, that spinner would've normally left you conscious as your body changed. Then again, there are some variables to consider..."
"Like what?" Midge was curious now. He'd been surprised to find that the former human seemed to know Roodaka almost personally, as if they'd met before, even though she hadn't reciprocated.
"Well," he began, and Midge could tell that his companion-- no, his new brother, was about to go into lecture mode, "there is the fact that you're completely organic, whereas the only instance I've seen of it in use was when she took retribution on two Toa that'd stolen a valuable Kanohi Mask from her... They kept running, even as they changed."
He paused in his diatribe, gathering his thoughts. "Then again, the original Toa were made of sterner stuff... Not to mention I have no idea what effect my magic might have had when I tried and failed to stop it, so it might be my fault. The fact that I have no way of finding out what that last spell was, and if it could be reversed... that's gonna haunt me."
"So..." Midge began, fear rising like bile in the back of his throat, "will I... will I be stuck like this? Forever?" He could definitely feel that his body had changed from what he was used to, and had some very valid concerns.
"No, not necessarily. If we can eventually get Roodaka to set the mutation setting to the exact opposite of what she tried to use before... But there's still the issue of the spell I used..." Caldoric began muttering to himself, seemingly trying to work something out. Midge felt hope beginning to glimmer in his heart, and it flared up when he saw Caldoric's lime green eyes glitter with an idea.
"Hey..." he said, turning to Midge in excitement, "you know about magic, right? D'you think there's some sort of spell or charm or something that could, like, check what the last bit of magic someone used was? Like, um... augh, what was it called... oh, yeah, Priori Incantatum, from Harry Potter."
Midge was taken aback. That sounded like a good idea, but... he had now knowledge of such a spell existing. He did think he had an idea of who to ask. "I don't know of any such bit of magic myself, but... we could always ask a pony called Twilight Sparkle. I hear she's good with magic..." He trailed off, startled at the sudden upsurge of negative emotions in his newfound friend at the mere mention of the name. "Caldoric, what's wrong?"
It was Caldoric's turn to search for the proper words. "I... I'd rather not say just yet. The gist of the fact is that I'm not sure I'm ready to talk to her yet... Or her friends..."
Midge shook his head, silently. He could tell that his companion was hiding something, but there was no use prying. Caldoric'd speak about it when he felt like it, no sooner. "Well, what about you, then?" The Changeling asked, throwing him a bone with an ease that came from years of emotional juggling.
"What about me?" Returned Caldoric. "Whaddaya mean by that?"
Midge rolled his eyes. "I mean the fact that you got mutated too. Whats the plan on that?" Caldoric's gaze dropped to the floor, then his eyes widened in fear. Midge could literally feel the fear rolling off Caldoric in waves now.
"Oh... Shit." Was the only response.