“I hate her so much….!” Nightmare growled in my head, reminding me that she was up there as my group headed towards where Luna is. “Would it really be so bad to attack her when we see her?”
“For the last time, yes! She's open for some pranking, and that's it!” I kept a smile on my face as I walked down the castle halls with my little group, my tail gently wagging. “I'll give ya some ground rules for your plans later.”
“You think you can command me to-!”
I cut her off, mentally scowling. “Yes. Trust me on this, okay? Bad guys don't win, at all, especially when it comes to a world where friendship beams exist.” Yawning, I stretched as I walked. “It’s better to be a good guy, especially when you've been hit by said attack. It gives ya a good excuse to lay back and relax, maybe annoy the actual heroes with mass amounts of pranks.”
“.... It sounds like you've thought of this a lot.”
“I’ve been thinking of how I should explain you if anyone should find out. I don't wanna be hit by the rainbow, sounds like would burn like fire.”
“You’re right, I might be found if Luna suspects it's me up here…. And it did burn, a lot more than you can imagine.” Nightmare whispered the last part.
“.... For what it's worth…. I'll do my best to keep it from happening to you again…” I sighed, secretly cursing myself for feeling bad for the possible demon.
Nightmare went silent at my promise for a few moments. “.....Thank you…..” She whispered before disappearing deeper into my mind.
“Hey, are you okay? You've been kinda zoned out for a bit.” Alice waved a clawed hand in my face, speaking up in English.
I blinked and gave her a smirk. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just appreciating the quiet up here.” I gave my head a few taps, earning a mock glare.
“Are you saying I'm loud?” Alice pouted, crossing her arms and looking away. “Ugh, maybe we aren't friends.”
I chuckled, before giving her a fake serious look. “Well…. If ya say it like that, no more cookie dough ice cream for ya when we get back home.”
Her eyes comically widened and she grabbed me by my shoulders, shaking me a bit. “No need to be like that! We're besties, aren't we?”
“Hmmm…..” I mock hummed in thought. “I dunno…”
“Really? You have to think about it?” She punched my shoulder, giggling at my act.
“Heh, ya should know the answer.” I smiled like an idiot, putting an arm around her shoulder.
We both skipped down the hall like idiots on a yellow brick road, gaining a few laughs from our group and any changeling we passed. My pets, somehow unnoticed by everyone, stuck close to us in some kind of defensive position. Nocturne, who blended in with the dark surroundings despite the greenish stains around his muzzle, stayed inside my shadow as he gave every changeling a dark glare. The Lagombi, whom I forgot to name, stayed in front of us as it walked on its hind legs, regarding everyone who passed us with a curious flick of its ear.
“Your pets are kinda weird. Did you even name the bunny?” Alice curiously asked, pointing at the armored rabbit.
“I, uh, forgot….. Ya can give her a name if ya want, I guess she'll be yours while I keep the Nargacuga.” I gave her a wry smile. “Knowing how ya are, you would try to steal one of mine, and Nocturne isn't the cuddly type…. Yet.”
Alice squeed in excitement, detaching from me and quickly picking up the Lagombi in one clean swoop. “I'll love you and feed you, and call you Fluffy!” She declared as she started to scratch it behind its ears, the lucky little thing’s eyes rolling up into its head in obvious delight, a few purring noises coming from it. “Thank you!”
“No problemo.” I gave her a lazy smile, having one of my tentacles to pick up Nocturne and plop him into my arms. “And you, my little monster, are going to get some extra steaks when we get home, maybe even a whole ham. I wonder if I can get them to magick up some dinosaur meat for you….”
His eyes lit up at the mere mention of food, making me giggle a little as his tongue poked out in excitement. “Screeeee~!”
“Yep, I knew ya'd like that.”
Within a few minutes, we got to where Luna was, a deep hole in the ground just a few feet behind her as her wings got bandaged up by two changelings. Some splotches of red seeped through the white fabric, making me frown in worry
“Hay, you alright?” I asked in Equish, surprising the princess with my appearance. “Not look good.”
“We'll be fine, young one. We just have to refrain from flying for a few weeks.” Luna gave me a warm smile, the injuries forgotten for a moment. “How are thee?”
“I am fine.” I smiled back, my tail subconsciously wagging happily.
Luna raised an eyebrow and slowly levitated a familiar sword in front of me, earning a small gasp from everyone in the room as she dropped it into my hands. “We would like to ask about the changes thou made to our weapon.”
Giving her an unsure look, I examined the surprisingly light sword, noticing a few differences from its counterpart. “Hmmm… What it do?”
“It turned into a pony.” She deadpanned, rolling her eyes. “And it used all of the strange pink flowery magic you used in one of your dreams.”
I blinked and handed it back to her, suddenly realizing something with a laugh. “Ohmygod….. You gonna have fun with it, I think. Just find its true name.”
Luna's face turned into a scowl at my response. “Thou finds this amusing?”
I only laughed in response, nodding my head with a large smile on my lips. No matter what, I wanted to see what will happen with the sword. Who wouldn't want a princess to have a magical sword?
Luna sighed, giving me a relieved smile. “It's nice to know that thou is still normal, well, normal for thee.”
I nodded, surprising the princess with a small hug. “I am happy you came.”
It was almost as if she couldn't comprehend what I was doing, her mouth and eyes snapping wide open in shock. “We… We…. We thank thou, it's been many years since anyone besides our sister has been happy for us.” Luna hugged me back, a small smile on her face. “We thank thee, young one.” She said low enough for only me to hear, making my chest warm up in response. “If thou needs anything, just ask.”
“You know… if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you might be crushing on the princess.” Nightmare deadpanned, causing my face to heat up. “I can't say I blame you though, who wouldn't want a princess in her herd?” I'm pretty sure my face was bright red at this point, making Nightmare laugh. “You really are as cute as they said you are! I swear, if I get another body, I'm adopting you.” She paused for a moment, as if embarrassed. “J-Just forget what I said!”
“Awww! Thou’s face is the brightest shade of pink!” Luna cooed in my ear, embarrassing me even more. Her tone suddenly changed, her eyes gaining this mischievous look. “Thou art the male, are thou not? How is it, being the other gender? Oh, and don't try to deny it, we have already pieced together who thee’s friend is.”
“I've been kind of curious too…” Nightmare admitted. “I’ve been polite enough to not dig through most of your memories, but I did see what you got back.”
“I-I have pretty much accepted it at this point….” I replied to Nightmare, feeling self conscious about my body. “I-It was pretty, uh, strange for the first few days…. Made a mess in the bathroom on day three…” I hesitantly admitted to her, immediately regretting telling her that last bit.
“Lemme go.” I managed to croak out as my head filled with Nightmare's laughter, pretty sure that my blush was reaching my ears. “Please.”
I heard Alice laugh in the background, Spoon and Chrysalis joining in once they saw my pink face. My pale skin did nothing to hide my blush, it only made it worse. Realizing the situation I was in, Luna let me go, a mischievous smile directed towards me for a brief moment before she went back to her usual serious self.
“Are all of thou ready to go home? We can teleport all of thou within the outskirts of Ponyville in a matter of moments.” Luna calmly asked in her regal tone, her horn glowing a bit in preparation.
Chrysalis, somehow still in her filly form, walked up to the princess. “I-I want t-to go w-with.” She stuttered out, acting like a whole different person, then gave me a shy look. “I w-want t-to go w-with h-her.”
I smiled widely at the thought of having an amazing shape shifting changeling queen living with me, and all of the absolutely diabolical pranks we could accomplish. “She can come, I no mind, even got a room for… Er… what was the word again? Oh, right. Guests.” I smirked a little, proud that I remembered the Equish word.
Alice came up and ruffled the disguised Queen's mane, giving her a smirk. “I think she can come too. Oh! We could get bunk beds!” She squeed, sounding more excited by the minute. “Pleeeaaase tell me that you can make them with your weird tentacle magic thingy!”
“Oh, alright. I'll put them up in the guest room when we get home.” I chuckled at her enthusiasm as I agreed in English. “Tell ya what, we can have a little slumber party tonight, given that nothing too hectic happens later.”
Meanwhile, in Sugarcube Corner.
A certain pink pony suddenly twitched, her mane bursting out in an afro and scaring everypony inside the store at the sudden display. “Full body twitch and afro mane… Slumber Party!” She squealed, dashing into the basement at a speed that would've made Rainbow Dash jealous. “Thank you, Writer!”
Back with Dakota.
My tentacles started to tingle, a sudden wave of nervousness causing me to realize something with a groan. “Aaaaawwww…. Welp, I just incited Murphy's Law.” I face palmed, shaking my head at my mistake. “Kill me now….”
Alice chuckled at my attitude. “Don't worry, we can take on whatever comes together.” She put an arm on my shoulders, reminding me that she's nearly a whole head higher than me. “We got this.”
Spoon adjusted her glasses and looked towards the princess, wincing a little as the sunlight from the hole in the hive blinded her a bit. “I believe we are just about ready. We only need the pets to get closer to us, right?
At Luna’s nod, Spoon looked towards the strange duo of pets, the both of them curiously staring down the into Pitt. She whistled sharply, gaining their attention. At her gesture to come over, they both dashed to Alice and I's sides, seemingly knowing that something is going to happen.
“Alright, we'll see all of thou at a later date.” Luna informed, giving me a meaningful look. “Especially thee, Dakota. We have more questions to ask.”
With that, her horn flashed, blinding all of us and causing my recurring case of teleportation sickness to come back as I landed face first onto the dirt road. I dry heaved as I fought the nausea for a bit, jealously noting that Alice wasn't in the same predicament as me.
“Whhhyyyy!” I sickly groaned, realizing that we were dropped off at the entrance to the town, two royal guards watching our arrival with bored faces. “I haaaaate teleporting!” I groaned again, my tentacles rubbing my belly in some kind of attempt to make me feel better. “Why doesn’t anyone use portals! At least then it'll be like walking through a doorway!” I practically begged in English, feeling like a certain motion sickness prone dragonslayer.
I heard Twilight clear her throat right next to me, apparently having been waiting for us for a while. After Alice translated for me, Twilight went into lecture mode. “We don't use portals because they are too magically complex and expensive to maintain for any period of time.” Then she paused for a moment, rethinking something. “Some theories say that the cost can be reduced to practically nothing if it is linked to some kind of magical object. Nonetheless, most of the portalmancy journals were lost in the fire of the grand library, a few months before the unification event.” Twilight excitedly explained, making me wonder if all she did was read. “All that's left are the odd scraps-”
“Twilight….” I sighed, giving her a small smile as I got up, glad to hear her adorkable self. “Nice to see you too.”
Twilight blushed a little, realizing what she just did. “It's nice to see that you are all alright. I'm not going to lie, but you and Spoon both kind of had the whole town in a panic.”
“I am sorry.” I slowly apologized, giving Twilight a look. “Twi, I save a race of ponies.” I deadpanned, giving her a cocky smile. “What you do? Take that, you adorkable librarian.”
She met my stare with a smile of her own. “My friends and I prevented a dragon from covering Equestria with its smoke, though it was mostly Fluttershy….” She trailed off, frowning at the end.
My mouth dropped open at the bit of news, surprised that the pony, who is literally scared of her own shadow, stopped a dragon. “Flutters?!” I started in disbelief, checking around to see if she was near. “She get a… Dammit, come on, you know this one…. Award for it?”
Twilight blinked, her ears flattening against her head at the realization. “Er, does a group hug and a congratulatory party count?” She sheepishly asked, knowing that I have helped her friend with a certain devil rabbit whenever I had the chance.
“No, sigh…. I make it for her later.” I shook my head, already thinking of what to get my tentacles to whip up for the shy pegasus.
Alice clapped to gain our attention, giving us both a wide smile. “Oooookay!” She loudly started, holding up a finger. “Can we all just go home and relax for the day? I'm sure that Spoon’s parents are worried sick, and I have a date with some ice cream.” Alice gave me a look, pointing down the road. “C’mon, you promised! Hurry up!” She impatiently got behind me and started pushing, not noticing the almost predatory stare of Twilight
“Oh! Mom’s going to kill me….” Spoon groaned at the reminder and ran past us, stopping a few feet away. “See you all later! ….If I'm still alive…” With that, she was gone, disappearing behind a few houses.
Chrysalis gave Twilight a small smile and chased after Alice and I, leaving the librarian to watch us go down the road, her eyes lingering on my hybrid friend. I turned around the best I could as the hybrid pushed me, giving Twilight a wave goodbye.
Chrysalis spoke up a few moments after we left Twilight. “Alice, you do know that you are leading us in the wrong direction, right?” She asked dryly, giving me a look, noticing that I was visibly trying not to laugh. “When were you going to tell her?”
I snickered as Alice pouted and turned away from me. “When she asks.” I then gave the disguised queen a raised eyebrow. “How did you know?”
She tapped her head. “Hive link. Every queen has an unbreakable link to her hive, I can just bring up the details of your little… trip.” She quietly explained, taking care to not let anypony hear her.
Alice blinked in surprise. “Does that mean that I am connected to?” She worriedly asked.
“No, er, sort of….” Chrysalis closed her eyes in concentration. “It feels like you are a fellow queen, if only a newborn one. I'm sure if you tried, you'd be able to ‘peek’ into the hive link, you did come from one of my hive's eggs.”
“I'm royalty?” Alice happily giggled to herself, pointing at me with an over dramatic flair of her hand. “We order thee to take us to thine home!” She ordered me in English, adding a snobbish tone to her voice.
“Wait, wait, wait! I said you feel like one, it doesn't mean that you are one.” Chrysalis corrected her as I started to lead us home, making the hybrid girl deflate a little. “There's a whole process before a queen is crowned. For example, I have two sisters, and only one of them is an actual queen.”
“Does that mean I can be one? Maybe just a princess?” Alice asked, stars visibly appearing in her eyes, creeping out a few of the ponies we passed.
“It could be possible….” Chrysalis gave Alice a big smile. “I suppose if I really wanted to, I could announce you as my daughter. That might make my mom angry though….” She frowned a little at the thought. “She's really traditional, like super serious traditional, if you know what I mean.”
“Ah, I get it.” I chuckled as I spotted my house a few blocks down from us. “You not like her, different ways.”
“Yeah, she doesn't even let her drones, which make the entirety of her hive, have names. All they've got are these series of numbers and are pretty much mindless.” She shuddered at the memory. “Her hive is…. Cold, for lack of a better word. It took me months to get six six to openly show an emotion.”
“What about your sister? I remember that you mentioned her.”
Chrysalis instantly brightened up. “Queen Cocoon is much less strict with how she runs things, the only real difference from her hive and mine is that she doesn't even feed off of love.” She smiled proudly. “As a result of a slight mutation, she feeds on a potent mixture of arrogance and pride.”
“Okay, we are home.” I announced, giving my new housemates a friendly smile as I opened the door.
“Ash! You here?!” I yelled as I came in, kicking off my shoes and going into the living room.
“Dakota!” Ash screamed in relief, flying across the room in the span of a second to wrap me in an almost painful hug. “Are you alright? When you disappeared, I-I thought the worst had happened!” She bawled, still not letting me go. “Then, Luna was going to do the worst to me! Thank Celestia….. literally!”
I chuckled at her, kind of forgetting that Luna might've gone berserk on my semi-guardian. Now that I thought about it… “Something happen to you?” I asked as my little group and pets came into the living room.
“Ehhhh…. Does eternal nightmares count as something?” She sheepishly asked, sighing at my unamused glare. “I don't think that they could be all that bad. She did say that you're the one that made them up.”
I kept my face blank, trying really hard not to laugh hysterically. “Oh…. You gonna have a fun time with them.” I calmly told her, giving her a coy smile.
“Oh? Is Trixie’s otherworldly friend back home?” A familiar voice loudly asked from upstairs, a few loud thumps heading towards the stairs. “Trixie wanted to thank you for saving her!”
Trixie practically fell down the last few steps in her haste to greet me, her face greeting the floor with a loud thunk. “Trixie's okay!” She assured us from her position, holding up a hoof.
“Why she still here?” I slowly asked, raising a brow at Ash.
“Oh, uh, she kinda doesn't have anywhere to go.” Ash scratched the back of her head, pointedly looking away from me. “And, er…..” She trailed off, sighing deeply.
“So she stay?” I deadpanned, not even mad.
Trixie sprinted to me, putting on her best kicked dog look. “Trixie only means to stay until her trailer is repaired.” She then suddenly brightened up. “And Trixie would like to learn a few spells from you, they could make the great and powerful Trixie even more great!” Her eyes somehow turned into stars. “Just imagine how famous Trixie could be if she could show off a few your unique spells, she'd be one of the star shows in Las Pegasus…..”
“What did I tell you?” Ash asked, annoyed.
Trixie winced at the glare. “Er! I'm sorry, it's kind of a reflex at this point.”
Sighing and scratching my head, I gave the magician a small smile. “I guess you can stay.” I told her, before turning back to Ash. “She share room with you.”
At Trixie’s sudden blush, Ash gave her new roommate a wink. “It’ll be fine. On my mom’s honor as a member of the elite royal squadron, there won't be any funny business on my half of the bed…..” She promised, before whispering into Trixie's ear. “....unless you want it? It has been a while since I…..” She finished a little too low for me to hear, making the poor mare's face turn even more red.
“Er, uh, uh….” Trixie sputtered, apparently at a loss of what to say, before recomposing herself with a few shakes of her head. “There are children in the room! What kind of caretaker would offer…. ‘that’ with a child not a few hooves away from her?” She scolded, pointing out my new housemates with a wave of her hoof.
“Oh! I, er, didn't notice you girls there! Just, eh, gimmie a sec….” Ash tried to play it off, giving them both an embarrassed smile before quickly turning back to Trixie. “I thought it was just her here! She may be smart enough to piece together what everypony is saying with what little she already learned, but I am pretty sure she hasn't learned the adult stuff yet.” She quickly explained in her defence, before turning back to Chrysalis and Alice. “Now… How can I help you two?”
Alice and Chrysalis both shared a look, shuddering a little at what they heard. It's not like could blame them, I kind of expected Ash to at least talk about her…. habits without me in the room.
Alice shook her head. “You are a piece of work…..”
“That's for sure….” Chrysalis finished, facehooving with a sigh. “At least make sure there's nopony else in the room before you talk about your business.” She groaned, realising something worse. “I can't even imagine what you are going to be like during your heat, but it has to be pretty bad.”
Ash's face betrayed nothing, keeping her polite smile. “You have no idea…” She muttered under her breath as she gave them both a strained look. “Do you two need something, or are you two here to just listen about my love life.”
“Crys-er… Moss and I are going to be living here with Dakota.” Alice calmly explained, crossing her arms and raising a brow at the pegasus before her. “She did say she had a spare room.”
“Oh, uh, I guess it's okay.” Ash gave me a small frown, probably wondering why I am letting random people to stay at my house, before giving Alice a curious stare. “I don't wanna sound mean, but what exactly are you?”
A few minutes later….
“Okay, lemme get this straight….” Ash sipped on a cup of tea I prepared as Alice and Chrysalis explained what all happened at the hive. “She had a voice in her head? And that was you?” She asked earning a quick nod from Alice. “She made a body for you from a potentially dead changeling egg and put you inside it…. Wow, just….Wow….” Ash stared at me in awe, letting out a loud groan. “Ohhhh boy, and, before that, you saved an entirely new species of pony from starvation…”
Trixie smiled widely at me, her pupils turning into stars. “How would you like to costar in Trixie's show?” She asked, earning a burning glare from Ash. “Okay… Geez…”
Chrysalis shyly sipped from her cup. “I heard from a few drones that her love was refilling as fast as it was being drained….” She softly spoke up, earning looks from Ash and Trixie. “I-I'm sorry, I'm Poison Moss, sorry for not introducing myself.”
Ash smiled at the disguised queen. “It's fine. We're all buddies here, no need to be shy. So… How did you find your way into the hive?”
Chrysalis suddenly found her cup more interesting, her eyes tearing up. “M-My p-parents…. They f-fell in q-quicksand…. I did the best I could to get them out….” She let out a shuddering sigh, shaking her head. “I was found wandering the badlands a day later by a group of changelings.” Taking another slow sip of her tea, she finished. “It was supposed to be a simple camping trip…..”
“She's a pretty good actor.” Nightmare noted out loud, admiring the Queen's skills in deception.
“She's the queen of an entire race of shape shifters, It would be embarrassing if she couldn't put up a convincing act.” I rolled my eyes, taking a seat as the four of them talked. “Sooo…” I drawled, a little curious. “I wanna know something…. Would you like to tell me about the magical artefact that stopped your little eternal night scheme?”
I felt Nightmare bristle at what I said, obviously a little angry that I casually asked her about the object that foiled her plans. “They’re called The Elements of Harmony.”
“Real original name, but okay. I'm going to hazard a guess and say it is broken down into six or seven pieces, am I right? It always happens like that, unless we're talking about a giant robot, then it is five… And you don’t seem like giant robot material.”
“Er, it is in six pieces, and each piece has a bearer.” She explained, trying her best to ignore what I said. “You've actually already met the bearers.”
“Say what now?”
“Yeah, you met them all on your first day here.” Nightmare nodded in my head. “Twilight and her little group of friends.” She pointed out, trying her best not to sound angry at the thought of them.
“What's the name of each element?”
“Well, there's loyalty, generosity, kindness, honesty and laughter. The last element was a secret for the longest time and could only be found when the rest were together.”
I tried not to facepalm at the names of each element. “This sounds like a sailor moon ripoff… Sigh, lemme guess the last one… Is it….god, I feel stupid saying this, magic?”
“Yep, and I'm pretty sure you can point out who has what element.” Nightmare chuckled at my disbelief.
“It sounds like something I'd hear from almost every magical girl anime I've ever seen… Friendship is magic! Now taste the rainbow you vile fiend!” I almost laughed hysterically with Nightmare, a wide smile appearing on my face.
“Heh, you have a funny way of viewing things.” Nightmare seemed to smile, amused at my opinion. “Though I suppose that since your mind is practically an encyclopedia of countless magic systems, you'd find some magics kind of cute. Star Swirl would’ve had a field day with you if you showed up when he was alive.”
“Sounds like my kind of guy.”
“Dakota?” Alice waved a hand in my face, looking at me with a worried frown. “Are you sure you are alright? You've been zoning out a lot recently….” She trailed off, giving me a suspicion filled look. “....as if there's someone else in there….”
“Buck! She's onto us!”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Nah, just thinking about what else I could meet out in this world, ya know? There could be spriggans, water nymphs, maybe even some colossi in some remote regions…” I trailed off, scratching my chin. "Then there's the possibilities of subspecies of minotaur. I wonder if the holsataurus is a thing here...."
“Neeeerrrrrd!”
Meanwhile, in the abandoned mines below Canterlot.
“Praise the sun! Praise the sun! Praise the sun!” A group of robed ponies chanted in the altar room.
Three beams of sunlight coming from separate holes in the chamber's ceiling, shining down onto a pool of thick golden liquid, a golden stained unicorn slowly climbing out of it. He let out a slow, shuddering sigh once he finally got out, a robe gently floating over and wrapping itself around the shimmering unicorn as he walked to the altar.
“Greetings, everypony.” He calmly greeted the crowd, sleepily smiling at everyone. “I welcome you all to my grossly incandescent abode.” He then frowned at all of them. “But… I have terrible news for all of the loyal followers of the sunlight.”
The cult members started to whisper to each other, worried about what their leader might tell them. A loud clack silenced the whispers, all of them quickly turning back to the golden unicorn with a few gasps.
He smiled at all of his loyal followers, the action radiating a sinister vibe that went largely unnoticed by the cultists. “A new race of….. Abominations has been discovered. They are known as the changelings and they have sided with the false goddess!” He announced with a snarl, his face twisting into an ugly scowl. “And, to add to their mockery of ponykind, their appearance is a facsimile of our dear goddess of the sun! They are demons!” He preached with flair, the golden liquid forming into the shape of a changeling, most of its details exaggerated. “Behold! The vile fiends that allied with the false goddess!”
“Praise the sun! Praise the sun! Praise the sun!” The cultists chanted, stomping their hooves to a beat.
“Yes! My followers! We must show them the error of their ways!” The golden unicorn smiled widely, the fake changeling getting impaled by a golden spear, thick golden liquid spattering the audience. “By sending them to the great light!”
“Praise the sun! Praise the sun! Praise the sun!”