Darth Edris

by AntiBronyBenSwolo

The Cocoon

It was a cool and breezy afternoon. The Sun began to set on another busy day. The wind was hustling the trees brushing up against each other in the Everfree Forest, and the day was about to end on a perfect note. And even more so for young Fluttershy, who was tending to her regular duties as an animal caretaker. Her gentle wings floated her to the bird’s nests to feed the canaries and bluejays. Her kind hooves sprinkled feed for the hens. And vegetables were gifted to the rabbits and her other herbivorous pets.

The sky slowly changed color from an orange to a purple, and then to a deep blue, revealing the diamond-like stars in the sky. Fluttershy took a moment to admire the beauty of it all, how they pranced and glittered in the sky. And for a moment, Fluttershy could almost hear her name deep into the night sky. Almost as if the sky was calling her for adventure. Fluttershy had no idea why, but it was like a feeling for her. A nice, calm, soothing feeling to hear her name be called out by the stars.

Meanwhile, a great distance away from the cottage, the silhouette of a swarm of changelings drew closer to the unsuspecting cottage. The bugs zipped past the clouds, making them smaller clouds, as their leader spoke up.

“Alright maggots, listen up! We’re approaching the target quickly now! I want us to blend in and catch her by surprise! This is a stealth mission, not a full-blown attack, so keep yer yaps shut!” The lead changeling shouted through the whistling winds that zipped past each of the changeling soldiers’ ears.

“Sir, yes sir!” The changelings behind him responded as the lead noticed one of them paid no mind to the orders!

“And that means you too, Private Roach! We don’t want ya running off like ya did last time during the Weddin’ Incident! Do you hear me loud and clear, Soldier?” The commanding officer bellowed, catching the quiet changeling off guard

“Oh! Uh, yes sir, Sergeant Scabbers, sir! I’m sorry, sir!” Roach responded as he caught up with his troop. The changeling soldiers landed a good distance away and disguised themselves as smaller bugs, as to not be spotted so easily. Fluttershy still sat there, listening to the stars, letting the cold breeze brush against her coat and mane. The changelings used this to their advantage and quietly snuck up onto the shy little pony. Although Roach noticed Fluttershy’s calm demeanor and felt something...odd about her.

“Now!” The sergeant changeling commanded as the changelings removed their tiny insect disguises, startling Fluttershy. The small critters ran off at the sight of the ferocious monsters to their dens and nests to hide, leaving Fluttershy to fend for herself. Quivering, Fluttershy attempted to go around to call for help but was cut off by yet more changeling soldiers. The insectoid ponies cornered the whimpering pony up against the door.

"...For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally, it is," A voice whispered in Fluttershy's ear. The voice was old and croaky, but also kind and gentle. Fluttershy couldn't tell which changeling said it if it even was one of those changelings.

"Fear attracts the fearful. Fear is my ally," Another voice whispered, this one more dark and shadowy than the first one.

"Bring balance to the Force! Not leave it in Darkness!" One more voice bellowed, this one calm and collected, but also saddened, irking Fluttershy's curiosity.

“Help! Somepony help me!” Fluttershy yelled! Or at least tried to yell, as it came out more like a whisper. Some of the changelings found that kind of funny, even. But Fluttershy couldn't quite hear them over the strange voices, which called out louder than last time.

"A powerful Sith, you will become!" A loud, bellowing, and croaky old voice promised as Fluttershy was starting to lose focus on the changeling invaders.

"I will become the most powerful Jedi ever!" A youthful and arrogant voice proclaimed, as Fluttershy was starting to lose her balance.

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side," The first voice returned to warn Fluttershy about, though Fluttershy was a bit too dazed, confused, and overwhelmed to comprehend what any of these voices were saying.

“Hate to break it to ya, but none of yer pony friends are gonna come rescue ya. And that’s a promise!” Sergeant Scabbers snarled as he leaped towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy let out a blood-curdling scream in terror and covered her eyes in hopes this was just some bad dream. But what happened then was extremely peculiar. When the poor frightened pony opened her eyes, she found all of the changelings knocked back, as if something pushed, no, tossed them all out of the way. Fluttershy stared at her two front hooves, wondering what she did that was able to cause that. There’s no way she could have done that. Even if she’s the bearer for the Element of Kindness, she was still a simple pegasus.

Roach was able to quickly recover and found all his changeling brethren knocked back and rendered unconscious by some sort of blast. The changeling rubbed his head and looked on at Fluttershy, wondering how she was able to accomplish it. Roach got up and startled Fluttershy, flailing her hooves out in front of him.

“Uh...stand back you...meanie! I don’t know how I did...what I just did...but I will do it again...on you!” Fluttershy attempted to threaten, hoping to scare Roach off. Instead, the changeling raised his hoof.

“Woah, hold your fire there. I don’t want to fight. At least, not anymore. Listen, I just wanna ask you something!” The lone changeling asked as Fluttershy continued flailing around.

“I...I just told you, I don’t know how I did that!” Fluttershy whined, hoping whatever she just did would happen again.

“OK, listen! I think I might know how that happened. I promise I won’t harm you if you let me explain,” Roach promised as Fluttershy did not falter.

“How do I know I can trust you? You and your fellow changelings...were you going to kidnap me?” Fluttershy asked as Roach got just a bit closer. Roach collected his thoughts and thought this through carefully.

“OK, I admit, that is what we were sent to do. But I promise you that I won’t use that against you,” Roach promised once more as Fluttershy nervously stared down the changeling.

“Pinkie promise?” Fluttershy asked, catching Roach off guard.

“Wait, what?” Roach asked, stifling a chuckle.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye?” Fluttershy asked, hoping Roach would understand.

“What kind of…? OK, sure. Stick a cupcake in my eye and all that. Sounds a bit brutal to do that, honestly. Can you let me in now?” Roach asked as Fluttershy finally let her guard down and let Roach in to explain himself.

“OK, now could you kindly tell me who you are?” Fluttershy said, closing the door behind the Changeling and keeping an eye on her hooves to prevent them from exploding.

“You can call me Roach. That’s what everyone else calls me,” Roach introduced himself as Fluttershy couldn’t help but nod in response.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Roach. Now, Can you tell me how I did what I just did to your fellow changelings?” Fluttershy asked as Roach looked at his troop outside the window.

“How long have you had your Jedi powers?” Roach asked as Fluttershy raised an eyebrow in response.

“I don’t understand. I don’t know what these Jedi powers are. What even is a Jedi?” Fluttershy asked as Roach looked on at the scared and confused pony.

“To be honest, I was hoping you could tell me. I found an ancient crashed spaceship that belonged to these Jedi and thought there would be some hiding in Equestria. When I saw you with these powers, I thought you could be one of them. But, I guess I was wrong,” Roach sighed, almost disappointed by the result. Fluttershy had a moment to process what she was hearing. An ancient crashed spaceship? Alien Jedi powers? It seemed so hard to believe.

“Well, OK. Can you at least show me this spaceship?” Fluttershy asked as Roach’s ear perked up by the windows, hoping none of the other changelings were recovering from the blast.

“I wish I can, but I’m afraid we don’t have much time. I don’t know how long it’s gonna be till the other changelings will recover. I’m gonna have to cocoon you!” Roach instructed as Fluttershy jumped back.

“Wait, what? You promised you weren’t gonna capture me!” Fluttershy whimpered. She should have known better than to trust a changeling spouting nonsense about spaceships.

“I Pinkie Promise that I’ll take care of you, even when you’re in your cocoon, and that I’ll show you this spaceship when this is all over!” Roach promised as Fluttershy’s guard was raised just a smidge.

“But I--” Fluttershy muttered as Roach was having a hard time gaining her trust.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye?” Roach recited as Fluttershy looked on at the slowly recovering changelings. Finally, Fluttershy took a deep breath and cleared her mind.

“OK, fine. But don’t get any funny ideas,” Fluttershy begged.

"Hey, it's worth a shot, ain't it?" Roach asked as he laid her down onto her sofa.

“So, have you ever been cocooned before?” Roach asked as he conjured some green slime from his saliva and rubbed it all up against his hooves. Fluttershy was disgusted by the idea of being covered in changeling spit.

“Can’t say I have, so no,” Fluttershy replied as Roach began covering Fluttershy’s hind legs with the slime.

“Well, for starters, you’re gonna be rendered unconscious while in there as to hold the mind prisoner as well as the body. But, if you’d like, I can hypnotize you to help calm you down,” Roach offered as he made more slime.

“I think mind control would just stress me out even more,” Fluttershy argued as she loosened the slime so the cocoon wouldn’t end up being so tight.

“Oh, I’m not forcing you to calm down against your will. I’m just gonna have you go into a deep meditative state to preserve your mind while your body is in the cocoon,” Roach explained as he applied more slime. Fluttershy thought the idea over a bit more.

“O...kay. But that doesn’t put me at ease. You’re trying to convince me to consent to my own kidnapping like you’re certain Twilight and the others are gonna rescue me,” Fluttershy explained as Roach stopped his slime making in his tracks like he completely forgot something important.

“Yeah...about that…Don’t get mad when I say this, but...” Roach chuckled nervously as Fluttershy stared him down.

“You already captured Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony, didn’t you?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, not me specifically, but yeah, we already got them before you,” Roach explained, as Fluttershy facepalmed in disappointment. Roach sighed as he didn’t want to disappoint his new pony friend.

“OK, sorry for not telling you that part. And even if we already captured Twilight and your friends, I’m already betting your other friends are gonna rescue you. You got Discord, you got Starlight. I bet once they find out about your capture, they’re gonna come rescue you right away. And then I can show you that spaceship,” Roach said, hoping to raise Fluttershy’s hopes.

“Yeah. Yeah, I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Alright, Roach, you win. I’m gonna let you hypnotize and cocoon me, and you can show me that spaceship. I still want to find out more about these powers I never knew I had,” Fluttershy said as Roach let out a cheeky grin.

“Alright, Fluttershy. I’m gonna want you to focus on me for a second,” Roach prompted, with his eyes and horn glowing green. Fluttershy’s eyes stared back at Roaches and had a similar green glow.

“I’m gonna want you to take nice deep breaths,” Roach instructed as he simulated breathing. Fluttershy followed Roach’s advice and took deep breaths and felt her mind became calmer and at peace. Roach applied more slime to Fluttershy’s body to cocoon her in.

“Now, I’m gonna want you in a deep meditative state,” Roach said, making more slime and keeping an eye out on the changelings.

“Deep...meditative...state,” Fluttershy repeated as Roach applied the slime. As the time passed, Roach and Fluttershy took deep breaths together and chanted about their “deep meditative state” together, until halfway through, Fluttershy stopped chanting. Roach could tell she wasn’t awake, but she wasn’t asleep either.

“Huh. I guess a deep meditative state worked better than I thought,” Roach thought to himself as he continued cocooning Fluttershy.

The changeling soldiers got up from the surprise shockwave one by one, each one trying to figure out what could have caused such a ruckus. Among the confusion, the sergeant changeling rubbed his head and prepared to bust down the door.

“I don’t know who ya think yer foolin’, pony, but I’m bustin’ in whether ya like it or not!” Sergeant Scabbers ordered before Roach opened the door to reveal a fully cocooned Fluttershy, much to the Sergeant's shock.

“That won’t be necessary, sir! I managed to apprehend the target before she could get away,” Roach lied as Scabbers examined Fluttershy in her cocoon.

“...You cocooned her? Yourself?” Scabbers asked as Roach looked proud at his accomplishment.

“That I did, sir,” Roach answered, as that was the only truth in the web of lies he was about to weave to protect Fluttershy.

“Well then, what happened? What caused that shockwave?” Scabbers asked as the two changelings looked back as some of the still-recovering bug soldiers.

“Princess Twilight must have set a bunch of magic booby traps or something,” Roach lied once more to throw his superiors off his trail. The Sergeant looked down at the proud changeling.

“Well, then I guess you have no problem explaining all of this to Queen Chrysalis herself then?” Scabbers asked, catching Roach off guard. Not only would Roach have to lie in Chrysalis’ face, but was also at risk of being found out if Chrysalis could read minds. And Roach couldn’t exactly remember if she could or not. It's best to hope she can't.

"Well, hey. It's worth a shot, ain't it?" Roach asked as he carefully carried the cocoon back to the hive with his fellow changelings.

When she opened her eyes, Fluttershy ended up finding herself somewhere extraordinary. Fluttershy found herself in a golden forest decorated with white grass and trees. The rivers were filled with silver waters filled with the happiest fish a pony could find, even happier than the fish in the normal rivers at home.

Fluttershy followed the silver river to find even more bizarre sights. The wildlife and flowers looked like they were made out of the northern lights. The clouds dared not to block the shining light of this mysterious realm. And at the edge of the river, Fluttershy met a peculiar fellow. He had a peculiar bipedal appearance, with fair skin covered by no coat, a long brown mane which was partially braided in the back, had a small beard on his face, and wore an assortment of light tan to white robes with dark brown boots and a massive white bandage across his chest.

“Hello, little pony,” The figure introduced himself. Fluttershy couldn’t believe her eyes. She was speaking to an actual human!