Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow and Fluttershy barreled inside, followed closely by a very angry, very dirty Rarity, and a disheveled Applejack, who was covered in wood splinters from the crate she had busted when she was shoved into it.
Trixie, who had been the one responsible for Alan's sudden exit, sat on the floor, staring through Twilight and her friends, out of the door, eyes fixed on the spot she had last seen Allan. Starlight stood close by, torn between wanting to comfort her friend, and berate her for her idiotic stunt. Her eyes flicked between Trixie and Twilight, between friend and teacher, before she finally settled on the third option of standing aside. She couldn’t really do either without getting in the
doghouse with somepony.
Twilight stepped up to Trixie, eyes stern. “Trixie.”
Trixie remained silent.
“Trixie, why did you do this?”
Trixie slowly turned her eyes up to face the Princess. “I…..just wanted to help…..”
Rainbow snorted. “Some help.”
“As tactless as that was, Dash has got a point.” Applejack said. “Y’all didn’t have a clue what y’all was doing, did ya?”
Trixie shook her head, slowly. “He said he hoped I got eaten by a monster.”
Fluttershy went pale. “He what…..?”
“He said he hoped I got eaten by a monster.” Trixie repeated, despondent.
“He wouldn’t do that….” Fluttershy said, quietly. “He wouldn’t say that….” Her soft voice was plagued with disbelief. She knew him best, but Twilight realized that perhaps that’s why she couldn’t see it. He wasn’t a pony. He wasn’t even a changeling.
“We gotta go get him!” Rainbow cried, drawing approval from the others. “The Everfree
forest has been building up a storm for days, and now it’s starting to break! He’ll be in danger!” “We haven’t a moment to lose, darlings, let’s go find our friend!” Rarity cried, for once ignoring her disheveled appearance and muddy mane.
The mares charged out into the now darkened streets, the bright light of the moon shining overhead, and the deep, ominous, rumbling shadow that hung over the Everfree forest as a thick blanket of oily darkness.
************************
Allan ran. His sides heaved as he struggled to breathe through his wailing sobs, unable to stop the emotions welling up. Why? Why had he gone along with Trixie? Why had he said those things? He loved Anna! Why had he thought about Fluttershy? Why had he said any of it at all? He could have lied! Why didn’t he just lie?
The confusing tumble of questions roiled on as his hooves started to splash in water, and as his coat started to stick to the body that Trixie had designed. The rain beat down on him, trying to slow him down, trying to bury him in the softening mud. His frantic hooves churned the horrid material, with the pale brown coat of his current body completely darkened to near black with viscous dirt. He hadn’t even given thought as to where he was going, but it was very easy to ascertain the fact that he was both very lost, and very deep in the bowels of the Everfree Forest.
He galloped up a hill, and finally, came to a stop. The rough stone and soft, gloopy mud that formed the hill poked up out of the trees, and on a good day, it could quite possibly have shown him just how far away Ponyville was, and in which direction. But with the stormclouds churning overhead, and the howling winds whipping the trees about like ragdolls, there was nothing to see except more of the storm. Lightning flashed overhead, and thunder rumbled in titanic enormity.
Allan stood atop that vantage point, despite the storm, and despite the lack of visibility,
trying to see anything that might help. The rain got into his the eyelashes of his persona, making sight impossible. Attempts to wipe the water away only made the situation worse, gumming his eyes up with thickening mud.
Growling, Allan went to adjust his step- and fell, the edge of the hill collapsing under it’s weight, and his. There was no time for a shout, only a startled yelp, as his back slammed into the ground, and the loose mud sent him careening downhill at a rapid pace, unable to do anything as he flew past trees and boulders, just glad that none of them had been in his path.
The stream of mud carried him on a winding course, snaking down on the path of least resistance. Allan managed to clear off some of the mud from his eyes, and opened them in time to see that the trees he was now passing between were not the same as before. The trees here were monoliths to time itself, standing several dozen times taller and a few times wider than regular houses. The hill Allan had fallen from wasn’t just some old hill. It had been a ring, he could see that
now. The slope circled around a large, central point, which Allan was rapidly approaching.
The river of mud slalomed between the great roots of the innermost trees, before Allan was swept into the very center, where he saw his destination. A huge pit, right in the center of it all. The mud and water were cascading into it at an alarming rate, and if he did nothing, he’d be going over with it.
A medium sized sapling that had become caught in the current caught his eye, and he tried to maneuver over to it. It had broken in two near the bottom of its trunk, creating a sharp spike. His flailings did little to keep his head above the deluge, but did succeed in getting closer to the small tree. Desperation spurred him on, and the tree lifted up, out of the filth, surrounded by the blue glow of his telekinesis.
“Only get one shot at this!” He cried, and, levitating the tree above and in front of him, before thrusting it down as hard as he could, slicing through the loose mud and into the more solid ground.
Then he was slamming into it, the tree tipping over and flinging him up, a spray of muddied water soaring gracefully overhead and into the center of the pit before dropping out of sight. The tree had somehow gotten wedged on something in such a way that the trunk had ended up stretching out over the pit, and Allan was left hanging on for dear life.
“I never should have left! I never should have left!” He screamed, unable to keep his panic down. His hooves gripped the tree as best they could, but he could tell his purchase would not last. In the reprieve he had, he was able to focus long enough to shapeshift back into his Changeling self. He tried to buzz his wings, but they had quickly gotten waterlogged, and were useless. There was nowhere to go, no help that could reach him in time, no way to get a better grip without sacrificing
what little he already had.
“I shouldn’t have come out here….” He moaned. “I shouldn’t have…..”
His right hoof suddenly lost some of it’s purchase, causing him to fall, just for a brief second, in a quick, jerking motion. He barely managed to cling to that poor sapling, it’s wood obscured by a thick layer of mud and dirt.
“This was stupid. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!” He raged at himself for his idiocy. He’d had a chance, back there. A life. And now he’d wasted it all. Now he was going to fall a watery grave, and nopony would ever know where he’d gone.
“Fluttershy...I’m sorry.” He whispered, thinking to apologize for what he’d confessed during Trixie’s show. This would destroy her. “I’m so sorry for-”
His hooves slipped.
He fell.
****************
They yelled until their voices were raw from overuse, and even then, they kept shouting. The trail Allan had left had gone deep into the forest, deeper than anypony had ever gone before. Rainbow hovered a few meters overhead, trying to spot any kind of indication of Alan's passing from a distance, while Twilight, and Fluttershy peered at the ground and tried gleaning information from the local wildlife. Applejack, who had run back to the farm to fetch Winona, followed the
Border-Collie as she sniffed for the Changeling’s scent. Pinkie bounced about, calling out for Allan. “Allan! Come on out! You can stop playing hide and seek now!”
“Allan! Please answer us, darling!” Rarity cried. The fashionista was making every effort to ignore her own disheveled appearance, for the sake of their friend, to the point where she was visibly holding back her disgust at the mud, and her dripping mascara.
The storm had died down somewhat, going from howling tempest to pattering rain. Even still, the clouds above were thick, swirling, and just waiting to drop more of their worst on the group. The girls were beginning to think that charging out after Allan may have been a mistake.
“Allan!” Fluttershy called, pushing her voice to it’s limits in order to reach the volume required to pierce through the storm. “Allan! Where are you?!”
Rainbow dropped down out of the sky, grimacing. “It’s no use! I can’t see anything up there! If this keeps up, we’ll never find him!”
“There’s got to be something!” Twilight protested. “Maybe if-”
A bolt of lightning slammed down somewhere nearby, causing them all to scream. The wind rose in strength, the clouds grew even more agitated, and the rain turned to thick hail. Twilight cast a shield spell over them all, though Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy all received bruises.
“We can’t stay out here!” The Princess cried. “If we do, the storm could seriously hurt one of us! Let’s go back! We’ll start again in the morning!”
Fluttershy whirled upon her friend the moment the suggestion left her lips. “He may not have until morning! What if he’s gotten hurt? What if…..what if he died?!”
The others were silent, even Pinkie. If something happened to Allan, would they ever be able to forgive themselves? Another lightning bolt struck, illuminating Fluttershy’s pleading eyes. How could they say no without breaking their friends heart?
Before any answer could be given, a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky overhead, followed by another that speared down towards them, before smashing into Twilight’s shield. The energy crackled and arced along the shield, but also followed the spell to it’s source and then through Twilight, causing her to jerk and scream as her feathers curled, her coat smoked, and her limbs spasmed.
The blinding light died away, and the girls all gasped in horror at a very unconscious Twilight lying there, body smoking and mane in complete disarray. The tip of her horn was white hot, glowing and smoking, occasionally sparking when the poor mare twitched.
“Sweet Celestia!” Rarity cried. “We have to get her back to Ponyville, now!”
Nopony had any argument.
******************
Cold. That’s what he felt. Cold. Frigid. Freezing. Frozen. The darkness swirled about him, taunting him, teasing him. It whispered things. Vile things. Crumbling cities. Empires torn down. Enemies drained of all emotion, hypnotized, or downright killed. The voice was chilling, cold, and delighted in it’s own savagery. It praised it’s victories and reviled it’s own failures. It scared him. The voice scared him.
Then, Chrysalis stood before him. She was exactly as he remembered her. Long, putrid green hair, cat slit eyes, black shell, and a devious, vicious smile. His parents stood next to her, faces slack and devoid of emotion.
She trotted around him, staring at him, her eyes drinking in his appearance. “I have them now, boy. Soon, I’ll have the lovely Katie too. Then the rest of your miserable city. Then the country, and the continent, and then the world. Then. Then, I will claim my vengeance. And I have you to thank for it.” Chrysalis leered at him as she spoke, and as she reached the end, she started to chuckle, which devolved very quickly into full on, demented laughter. “They’ll all be mine! And it’s all
your fault!”
Allan just stood there, aghast, tears dripping down his face at the crowd of people, human people, who stared back at him with accusing eyes, and hateful stares.
“You let her in!” One cried.
“You did this to us!” A woman screamed. “You made this happen!”
“I hate you!” Screamed Anna.
“I wish you died!” Josh cried.
“I’ll kill you!” Roared Mike.
Katie, his sister, his big, loving sister, stood there, staring at him, eyes filled with seething rage, and hate. Allan tried to reach her, but the crowds pushed back, keeping him from her. His outstretched hand could not reach her, and the desperate pleading expression on his face could not stir her.
She looked him in the eye, and spoke. “I wish you’d never been born, you changeling freak.”
Allan couldn’t move, could do nothing at first but watch in horror as he fingers shriveled up, shrinking into a hard, bronze mass. He stared at in in horror, as the chitin spread up his leg, then across his chest.
“Katie! Please! Stop it! I didn’t mean to! Please stop! I just want to go home! I can’t- I can’t-”
**************
Allan sat bolt upright, screaming. He stared, horrified, at his own hooves for a moment, until reality returned, telling him that, for now, this was what he was supposed to look like. His ragged breaths came quick and heavy, leaving him light headed and dizzy from improper breathing.
He was lying on the bank of what appeared to be an underground river, still covered from head to tail in mud that was now dried on, and cracked and flaked off where he had moved. Looking around, it became pretty obvious he was alone.
The river itself was still awash with muddied water, though it wasn’t as thick as the stuff he’d been washed away in. The banks were strangely normal- as in they were covered in grass, something one wouldn’t expect from an underground… anything.
Allan groaned, pulling himself fully up and out of the water. Even though he was brown normally, it would be obvious to anyone who could have seen him that he was absolutely filthy, as his normal, slightly metallic bronze hue was lost beneath a thick layer of dried on mud-paste. About the only place where his natural colour could be seen were the areas of him that had still been in the water, as the current had washed his legs and underbelly clean.
The river snaked in two directions away from him, and Allan was pretty certain which way he should go. Following the river current back the way it came, Allan shoved his way through the tall grasses and ferns that had managed to grow down there. The minutes and meters passed by slowly, with Allan having to stop every so often. His hole body ached, and the rough terrain, full of uneven patches of rock, covered in moss, large, winding tree roots, and a few pitfalls created by a
combination of the previous two. It took some doing, but eventually, he reached the river’s source, only to be dismayed by
what he saw.
Two streams merged into the one he had been in, and there was no telling if he could find out which one was his, travel back up it, and then find the way out. That would be a stupid thing to try and do. His mind drifted back to his childhood, watching documentaries, the ones about caves in particular. The stories they’d told about people getting lost in them…. dying….
Allan felt bile in his throat at the thought of possibly starving down there, alone, and far from his friends. His thoughts lingered on them as he stared at the twin rivers. Twilight, and her love of books and experiments. Applejack, with her honesty and love for her family. Rainbow, for her integrity and love of flight. Rarity, for her generosity and her artistic flairs. Pinkie for…. Well, her zany-ness and humour. And Fluttershy. For her kindness, her playful snark. Her smile. Now, she was going to be sad. Because of him.
She was going to cry.
Just the thought of making her cry stirred anger in him. He ground his teeth together, tears stinging the corners of his eyes with their saltiness. Screw this! This sucked! Being stuck here sucked! Being alone sucked! He wanted his friends. He wanted Fluttershy! He fumed, his anger setting a fire in his soul. This wasn’t where it was supposed to end, or how it was supposed to end!
Screw dying! Screw nearly drowning! Screw starving! He hadn’t traveled between worlds just for it to end now!
The fire in his soul blossomed into a bottomless well of determination, and Allan's eyes burned with an inner light.
“Not today! I will not die in this dump!” He whipped his head around, looking for anything that could help him, before dashing over to the nearest wall, climbing up as high as he could, and, bracing his hoof against the looser stone, preparing to start digging. “If the other changelings can build a shapeshifting hive, then I can dig too!”
He slammed his hoof into the stone, knocking loose several loose rocks. Then he did it again. And again. And again. And again. Another hit. Another. Another. He removed his other hoof from where he had been bracing it against the wall, and had it join its twin. His two hooves gouged out fragments of rock, stone and mud, leaving a growing depression.
“I will not die here! I refuse!” Allan growled. “Keep digging! Keep on digging!”
Stone clattered to the floor in clumps, and Alan's chitin was completely obscured by the dirt again. The divot in the stone grew to a hole, which then grew to a short tunnel. Alan's determination didn’t waver. He wouldn’t let it. Every time he thought that it was too much, he conjured up an image of Fluttershy and the others crying over his grave, and the fire would grow stronger again. The rock became more brittle, having been cracked apart previously, with soft mud and dry dirt having wedged itself inside those cracks.
Allan pulled those cracks wide open, sending more stone to join the growing pile. Something else was happening though…. Something….peculiar.
A voice. A voice calling out his name. It wasn’t an actual voice, but one in his head, and somehow, he just knew that it was someone out there, watching him, rooting for him.
“Go on, Allan Ryder! You can do it!”
Allan didn’t know why, but it was exactly what he needed. His hooves hit the stone faster, harder. Then another voice joined the first.
“You got this, brother!”
And another. “Keep going!”
And another.”You’re awesome! Show the world who’s boss!”
“Wow, is that what humans are like?”
“You better get out! I’m looking forward to meeting you in person!”
“Kick that Chrysalis-damned dirt’s flank!”
“Fight!”
“Go Allan!”
Alan's hooves struck the rock with the speed of jackhammers, and with the strength of dynamite, creating craters with each blow. Tears of joy flowed freely as he understood. The hivemind.
He was connecting to it. All the voices he was hearing were the voices of his new hive-mates. Even as stone chips flew past him, he could see them, all cheering him on, hooves drumming on the hard stone floor of the real hive. And there was King Thorax. Smiling as he seemed to ‘see’ Allan.
“You can do this. Just believe.” He said, proud smile on his muzzle. “And trust that we’re here, rooting for you.”
“Yeah, you got this!” Another changeling cried, grabbing the ‘Allan’ who was there in the hive in a great big hug. “You’re bucking awesome!”
“Hey, let’s lend him a hoof!”
“Yeah, let’s help him!”
“Everyling chip in!”
Strength surged through his heavy muscles, the tiredness fading as energy flowed into him. Allan let out a yell of triumph, drawing back his right hoof one more time, while bending his rear legs. Then, he snapped his hind legs out, sending him flying forward, as he channeled all the energy he now had into one last hit.
Apparently, he had been closer to the surface than he thought, as the mud and stone ahead was thrown meters up and around with the strength of the blow, which had enough energy to also carry him up, out of the hole, where he then landed heavily besides the crater he had just made, panting, and wide eyed.
His mind’s eye was amid a crowd of cheering Changelings, who were hugging him and each other in excitement. He didn’t have to ask for names. Just looking at them was enough for him to know each of them by name. Tears of happiness were flowing freely down his cheeks. They crowded around him, trying to ask him a million questions at once. He tried his best to answer them, but very soon, King Thorax intervened on his behalf.
“Everyling. I think Allan needs to return to his body now. I promise, you’ll all get another opportunity to talk to our new hive-mate soon.” Thorax waved his subjects away, though they hovered about just long enough to say goodbye, and promise to find time to talk to him later. Allan waved, and reciprocated their goodbyes with cheery promises to give them all as much time as he could. “Well, they’re all certainly excited to meet you, aren’t they?”
Allan cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, they are. Are they usually that energized?”
Thorax shrugged. “Give us another few months to get used to freedom and benevolent leadership, and then I’ll let you know.”
Allan laughed, before pawing at the ground. “So…. um, this is awkward…. But how do I get back?”
Thorax just smiled. “Close your eyes, and think of where you last were.”
“What, just close my eyes and……” To Allan, it was as if he had blinked, and he was suddenly lying on the grassy floor of an Everfree clearing, right next to a large hole. “Oh….”
*****************
Allan lay there for some time, staring up at the canopy of leaves that swayed in the wind, and pattered with the falling rain. The deep greens and bright greens meshed together, a gentle swirl of hues and shades that calmed the mind and soul. Even in the storm, nature’s beauty remained.
The forest was unchanged, though the storm overhead was decidedly less volatile than it had been before Allan's underground excursion. In fact, it seemed to be breaking, with patches of blue sky showing through grey clouds. The rumblings of thunder still reached him, but they were distant, and seemed to be growing increasingly far away. That was good. Allan wasn’t sure if he could survive another storm like that.
He took the time to think. To think about his situation, properly. Not panicking about one thing or another, or over-thinking things. Just…. Thinking. He thought about Anna. They had done stuff together, like go to see movies, and hang out at places, but none of it seemed all that….special. Nothing romantic had ever been done, save for him asking if Anna would like to be his girlfriend.
Beyond that….it was the same as when they were friends. The two of them had, at best, just been pretending, for themselves, and for the other. Despite talking about doing things like move in together, they had never acted on those ideas, never even attempted any of them. Luna was right. They weren’t in love. Him and Anna were friends, not lovers. They’d never shared a truly romantic evening, they’d never just sat down and enjoyed each other’s company. No,
no, instead, he was falling for Fluttershy. The mare who he could just hang out with, enjoying just being in the same room with her. He could envision them living together, working together, as a team. He could imagine them taking long walks and staring into her eyes, he could imagine them together...Ew, no, don’t go there. Not something you think about until you know for sure that she likes you. Allan imagined just what sort of things she might like for them to do together, if he asked
her. Nature walks, definitely. Camping? Maybe. Wildlife sanctuaries? Maybe not, she’d probably try to free all the animals. Bird watching? Definite yes.
Of course, now that he was actually considering the two of them in a relationship, little worries began to surface. He wondered if she’d say no. He hoped she wouldn’t, but the mare could turn him down, flat, easily. Although his brain told him she wouldn’t, he couldn’t help but see her laugh at him.
Eventually, the pessimism was too much for him to take, and Allan forced himself to stand. Allan groaned as he clambered to his hooves. His limbs were once again shaky, and this time, Allan knew that he needed actual rest to properly deal with it. Thinking about the hivemind, and all his hive-mates, was quite uplifting though. He wouldn’t have to worry about being lonely…..although, he could think of a few times he might want privacy.
Walking, not trotting, through the trees, a about half an hour later, Allan saw a rather familiar sight. The hill that had collapsed under his weight looked much less structurally sound than he remembered it. During the storm, it had seemed to be a crest, formed of rock, and a little dirt. Now, in the light, Allan could see that the majority of the area he had been standing on had consisted of mud. No wonder it had collapsed.
Allan climbed back up it, as he had done before, but this time, he was careful, remaining several steps away from the edge, close enough that he could peer over and see just how far he’d slid down the embankment, and far enough away that he was in no danger of it falling apart on him again.
Just as he had predicted last time, he could just about see the buildings of Ponyville in the distance, and the distant spires of Canterlot well beyond that. Smiling, Allan turned in their direction, picked down the hill, and walked his way back, a more confident smile on his face.
*******************