//------------------------------// // Ch. 20: One of Us, One of Us // Story: Extraterrestrial #51 // by TundraStanza //------------------------------// ---{Cier's POV} 12:00 PM Smatterday Chinatown - Manhattan At the rate the new girl was devouring hot dogs, you would have thought she was in a contest or something. I guess the shove into a changeling's body meant she lost her money and she couldn't find a handout. I'm not sure when Dad decided to pack a Benjamin Franklin in his wallet, but the hot dog vendor accepted it for "damages". I couldn't really smell anything from the food itself, but the scent of ravenous hunger made me sick to my stomach. Fifty-one didn't have any explanation for that. Ninety-nine broke the silence. "So... who are you? Are you Thirteen or are you the human mind?" She belched and wiped a hoof across her mouth. "Um... neither... both... hard to explain." I think we've got time. Immanue twitched his wings. "Well..." She twiddled her hooves under her muzzle. "I can hear... both Thirteen and Ashley in the back of my mind... but I also have thoughts that don't completely belong to either of them?" I sighed before Fifty-one's voice muttered, "No consistency when Discord is involved." "At least you're feeling better now that you've had a meal, right?" Dad chuckled. "Yes... I am." She nodded. "Thank you..." "Terry." Dad held down his hand and shook her hoof. Mom flicked her own ear. "So... if you're neither of your other two selves, what would you like to be called?" The changeling mare blinked and looked up a little. "Um... if I had to choose a name, I think I'd like... 'Thursday'." "Huh?" I titled my head. "But that's just a day." "I think it sounds pretty cool," she insisted with a pout. I held up my front hooves in surrender. "Alright. Thursday it is then." We went around the rest of our names' introductions at least a couple times for Thursday's benefit. As we walked along, we managed to learn a few things about her. At least, she told us what she was willing to reveal about her three selves. Aside from what Fifty-one knew about Thirteen, Ashley was just trying to get home one day when the change hit her all at once. She was stuck outside her house with no idea of how to use Thirteen's body. After scraping by for a few days with whatever she could find on the streets, the continued bodily changes happened. That included the loss of her fang, the alteration to her eye, and some of her outer body. "And... the birth of your third mind?" I tilted my head again. "Yeah, that was... weird." She chuckled nervously. "I know, that sounds like an understatement, but I'm really not sure how else to describe it." Her ears flopped against her head. "I remember both of their lives, but I can't really claim either as my own. Yet here I am, unwittingly controlling both of them with no way of getting them out aside from saying aloud the things I hear them think." Immanue rubbed his hooves against the area above his eyes. My head hurts. "It is rather difficult to all take in." Ninety-nine crossed his front hooves. "Hmm..." I mulled over this information. "It kind of sounds like a theory some guy made about the Pokemon Hydreigon, about how two consciences gave way to a third upon its evolution that didn't truly belong to either. Except in this case, she doesn't have three mouths." Mom shook her head. "You watch way too many YouTube videos about other people playing video games." I rolled my eyes. "Right, because watching other people's videos on Facebook about playing Farmville is so different." Dad patted both of our heads. "Now, now... you both know how I feel about flirting inside the family." "Terry!/Dad!" Mom and I pulled away from his touch and got red in our respective faces. Thursday blinked at our exchange. "Is something going on?" I... think this is normal, said Immanue uncertainly. "Just let them work it out." Ninety-nine waved a hoof dismissively. "They'll be fine." He was right. We managed to set our little dispute about doing as someone says and not as someone does. At least, we managed to stop and change the topic. Rather, Dad changed it. "How many more changeling-ponies do we need to find and where do we go with them?" I rubbed the wrist area of my hoof. "As many as possible would be preferable... and most likely the same base that Celestia and the six main ponies end up." "And how will we know where that is?" asked Mom. I nodded firmly. "The epicenter of a giant explosion that's surrounded with a rainbow light." Ninety-nine flicked his tongue. "Makes sense to me." Thursday nodded too. "Sounds about right." Immanue blinked. You're... serious. "You really think that's what it will look like?" Mom looked at me incredulously. "Mom, the magic of friendship is the show's go-to as a Deus Ex Machina and it almost always looks like colors exploded." I crossed my front hooves. "I'm positive that we'll be able to find the place that way." Dad shrugged. "Okay." "It's not a bad assumption." Spirit's voice was heard as she moved her hoof along the sidewalk. It was about right then that I heard a cacophony of voices, noises, and buzzing. It was physically hurting, even as I squinted and held my ears down. I could see similar reactions in Ninety-nine, Immanue, and Thursday. Mom tilted her head. I think she asked if we were alright, but I couldn't tell with all of the extra buzzing I heard inside my head. Dad looked up and stood agape. I fought the pain and looked up in the same direction. At first, it looked like a thin cloud was rising over the buildings. Then, I could see the actual consistency. It was a swarm... of changelings. They flew around in a swirling and zigzagging pattern. Now, why was this a bad sight to behold? Well, it may have had something to do with the giant green dominatrix with the long yet frizzy hairstyle levitating herself above the swarm. Augh! It's that... demon... from my nightmares. Immanue managed to squeeze words through the noise and pain. "The false queen: Mab," Ninety-nine and Fifty-one said together. "Urgh..." Thursday moaned. "What... is she... doing?" We didn't have long to find out. Mab held out a fist in front of herself. In the next, she turned it into a sharp thumbs-down. The swarm under her slammed itself against various buildings, breaking apart glass and neon lights to shower across the street. Some screams from people were heard only to be drowned out by the buzzing of several wings. "We... guh... have to... stop her..." I fought to stand. The growing headache and echoing white noise wasn't helping. "With what?" Ninety-nine nearly tripped just taking a couple steps forward. "They're so... many. We're... so few." "Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Mab's laugh somehow boomed over the sound of her swarm and their mishmash of thoughts. "We are a legion! Cower, human garbage! Behold the future that all life shall become!" Cier's... right... we have to... try. Her words... they're poison... in my ears. Immanue crawled over next to us. "Heh." Thursday chuckled humorlessly as she dragged herself over. "Me, myself, and I want to shut her up too." "You can't get in a fight!" Mom looked at me and held her hooves on my shoulders. "This is a real threat!" "That's why we have to take this seriously, Mom." I gently pushed her hooves away. "Dad, you and Mom get as far away from here as you can! We might not be able to stop all of them, but we'll sure as heck slow some of them down." "Uh, alright." Dad picked her up. "Whether you succeed or fail, make sure you come back to us. Got it?" "You got it." I nodded, watching them go before turning my attention to the incoming swarm. Pharynx says we're not going to win this, commented Immanue. I opened up my wings. "Tell him to shove his opinion down his mental throat and just help you fight." There is no need; he heard you say that. Immanue opened his own wings. Ninety-nine and Thursday followed our suit. In the next moment, all four changelings of our rag-tag team were racing into the sky. There was a cross between war cries and guttural screeches emitted from our throats as we made contact with the attackers. Turning my hooves into an uppercut, and forward jab, and a back kick, I managed to subdue three of the swarm. I saw Ninety-nine knock a couple heads into each other. Thursday did a lot of spin-kicking. Immanue seemed to lose his initial rage for a neutral expression as he whacked away four changelings by attacking their neck areas. "Why do you resist, changeling brethren?" Mab's voice bellowed. "Our purpose remains the same. Why not join the side that will outlive humanity? I'll even let you be my captains." "Shut up!/Be quiet!/Never!/Piss off!" All four of us knocked a changeling in her direction at the same time. They collided with her face, her hair, and her chest. She scrapped the twitching drones off herself. "You want to end this with violence? Have it your way then!" As I tried to soar up and strike Mab directly, I suddenly felt a bunch of weights clamp down on top of me. At least seven units of her changeling army were grabbing one of my body parts and forcing me to drop. I got a brief sight of the rest of my team struggling against similar chokeholds. I yelled out until I felt a heavy impact with the ground. My world went silent. I clenched my teeth, struggling to keep my eyes open. I could see the enemies' wings buzzing. All I could hear for sure was a loud thumping... a heartbeat. Aside from some numb pains, I couldn't feel my legs. I tried to stand up, but my position barely shifted. Well, that probably wasn't more than two minutes, I mentally lamented. To be fair, it was a few seconds longer than I thought we'd last in a swarm situation, commented Fifty-one. The green dominatrix floated in my peripheral vision. She was probably laughing or something. Maybe it was a false disappointment in children that would never belong to her. I didn't know. I wasn't insane enough to understand her mind set, and frankly I didn't want to be. Something clawed at her face. I couldn't tell what it was, but it looked blue and translucent. Somewhere behind it were some bright, yellow eyes. I'd describe more, but I was starting to feel really out of it. Slowly, the lights turned out for my conscious brain. --- ?????? ?????? A lucid dream Cier! I groaned as I lifted my head. "I'm up. I'm up. What's going on... Fifty-one?" I looked around my surroundings. It was some cross between a green-and-black cavern system and a purple mountainous landscape. The place looked like nighttime. I guess that figured. We were only ever here while we slept in the waking world. Are you okay? When, I saw the changeling whose body I possessed, I was kind of confused. "Um... did you get bigger?" Not exactly. Somehow you look like me now, even here. "What do you...?" I looked down at what should have been my hand. It was the familiar black, holey hoof I had been walking around with. I reached up with it and felt around my head. The frill, the muzzle, the currently uneven fang distribution in my mouth... it was just like real life was currently. I'm not sure what to make of this turn, admitted Fifty-one. I faked a laugh. "I guess... my mind finally caught up with the reality that I'm really... a part of you now." Cier... Fifty-one's ears flopped. You're still you, no matter what you look like. I shook my head. "Anyway, what were we doing before falling asleep?" I think we were fighting against the false queen. He spun around, without moving a limb. And a huge portion of my pack that was subservient to her. "Uh-oh, does that mean we lost?" I walked up next to him. I don't think so. Fifty-one held up a hoof to point out the expanse of this joined mind space. If we had, we'd more than likely be surrounded by the many television screens of her fake hive, full of static and backchat. Yet, here we are: safe and sound in our own shared mind. "So then... what did happen?" I still had no answer. He looked down. You'd probably think I'm crazy if I told you. "Buddy at this point, we've had way too many weird things happen to us for me to consider any concept farfetched." I patted him on the back. "What'd you see?" He lifted his eye level to look straight ahead. That Peter guy's ghost looked like a giant werewolf, while still clinging onto Spirit Redeemer's body as a center somehow. He jumped over the swarm and pummeled Mab over and over. I blinked my two different eyes. "I'm not sure what I expected." After that, the changelings looked like they came back to their senses. I lost consciousness right after, though. I have no idea what's going to happen when we wake up. "Well hey, at least you managed to see a lot more than I recalled." I smiled slightly. I'm sure you could have seen just as much, had our roles been reversed. He sat down on the cavern floor. I said nothing for a while. Our long silence in this dark place was only interrupted by the occasional echo of water dripping. I decided to lie down for a nap. So far, the drawbacks of inception-esque dreaming didn't really apply to us. --- Smatterday 6:30 PM Some Lounging Warehouse in Brooklyn "So then I found out there was still a bit of a heart deep down inside me that was just waiting to grow three sizes that day!" Something sounded like a high-pitched spring in between the young lady's voice. "Um... are you sure you're not thinking about Grinch Stole Christmas... maybe?" A different voice was holding back and actually trying to whisper. "No, no, no! I'm definitely talking about my jump-started love life!" The first chipper voice resumed. "Heh, you seem like you'd be a hoot at parties." It was a guy this time. I didn't recognize it. "Me? Nah, not so much." The first voice denied. "But if you're talking about the other me that isn't me, than yes! That's kind of her thing on a regular basis." I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. "You know I can hear you all talking, right?" "Oh gosh," the held back voice replied. "I'm so sorry. I'll just shut up now." I turned my head to look at the owner of that voice. "No, you're fine, Miss..." I stopped and blinked at the sight of a faded yellow and pink. "... Fluttershy?" "Actually, I um... kind of prefer to be called Ericashy." She fiddled with the glasses that did not look like they fit very well on her face. "Anyway, how are-" "How're ya doing?!" The owner of the chipper voice turned out to be covered in cotton candy pink. "Nice to meet you! What's your name? Oh! You're a changeling! That's so cool! I didn't know there were so many that merged with changelings. Well, I mean... sure there was Chryssie a few days ago, but I really didn't know how much of her hive was caught up in this whole shebang." I blinked again. "Um... Pinkie Pie, could you please back up just a few inches? I'm a little uncomfortable right now." "Oops! Sorry!" She hopped back several feet in one bounce. "By the way, name's actually James." I sat up a little and put a hoof over my chest area. "Cier Dylan." I looked around the bed I was sitting on. It looked like a fold-up, spring mattress. "Um... by any chance, did you happen to see my parents and friends? Er... my mom's kind of a ghost-whisperer earth pony, long story there. And my dad is still human and about, uh... yea tall." I tried to illustrate with my hoof, but it didn't quite reach to Dad's height. The guy's voice from earlier spoke up from a doorway I hadn't immediately spotted. "Mom's resting in this room right now." After digging my way out of the blanket, I practically jumped off the bed and galloped over. I barrelled past a dark cyan unicorn, apologizing quickly before I continued. After a short distance, I saw Mom face-up on another fold-up mattress. I slowly approached, wondering if she was alright after going through what Fifty-one had described as a werewolf ghost taking her over. Her slow, loud snoring convinced me to stop worrying. That was Mom alright. I chuckled and/or hiccuped. I wasn't entirely sure I could tell the difference. Come on, don't cry Cier. Fifty-one thought to just me. If you do, you're making me cry too, literally. I rubbed my eyes and sat there, barely registering Mom's steady percussion section of snoring. I was surprised at feeling the touch of another hoof on where my shoulders would be if I had any. When I looked to the opposite side, it was the unicorn I had accidentally bumped into. It looked like a stallion with gray hairs in his mane. Though, considering the Mayor of Ponyville dyed her mane gray, I couldn't immediately tell if that said anything about this guy's age. "H-Hey, man." I smiled nervously. "If this is about bumping into you earlier, I'm sorry. Okay? I was just... charged with emotion." "I know that." His expression remained patient and calm. "That's just how you react in the moment of an unusual situation. I don't always accommodate as well as I should, but I do try to understand what's going on when you're stressed." I tilted my head. "Do I... know you?" He practically beamed. "Don't let the sudden plastic surgery fool you. It's still me in here. I just might not be able to open fridges like I used to do." My eyes went wide. I used that expression a lot, but I didn't care. "Dad?!" "Yeah... looks like the pony pox got me too." He chuckled. "Th-That's another thing entirely than what you're referring to, but... I digress." I slowly reached around and hugged him back. "I'm so sorry." "Don't be." He shook his head. "Now our hugs fit each other again." "Eyyyyyy!" hollered Pinkie Pie's voice. "Really, James?" Somehow Flutter/Ericashy's voice echoed in the small hallway. "What? It was too easy to resist." Pinkie/James giggled. ---