White.
Pure white.
It was everywhere. It was the walls, the ceiling, the invisible floor.
I rose from the wooden chair I was sitting in. I rose on two legs, not four.
I looked at myself. Strange textures ran over me, each with a different feel to it. Textures that came with odd fabrics. One stretched from my waist, down my lower legs to my… ankles. Another covered my torso and chest, and some of my upper le… arms. Yet another covered the rest of my arms to my… wrists.
This strange body… it was so unfamiliar, yet it moved as if it had been my only one. I raised my arm to see my HAND.
The word resounded in my mind with unquestionable authority. The white set of flesh twisted and flexed, showing off small and dexterous digits. Then it flickered, replaced with a much larger hand, made of nightmarish black chitinous plates, before returning to its pale self.
The sound of running from behind me quickly refocused my attention, but not quickly enough to prevent the secondary fabric that my upper body from being yanked up and over my head. I scrambled, yanking the fabric off my head as feminine laughter filled the air. The voice made me freeze.
It was THE Voice.
The voice that had been with me since I had woken up in the Everfree those few short days ago. The voice that, even now, proved to be a constant companion, even if I sometimes wished it would go away.
“Love doesn’t just vanish. You said it yourself, ‘Conservation of Energy’.”
I frowned as I beheld the Voice. She was similar to my warped self, standing on two legs and with fab…clothing, draped over her. A black, twisted, and majestic horn on her head, coupled with a four-set of long, wondrous wings, stood in stark contrast to her flowing black robes and skin that was as pale as my own.
“Who are you!?” I yelled in frustration.
The Voice came closer, stepping in a perfect line towards me. Her hands were rigidly positioned perpendicular to her sides, and she bit her lip as she looked at the invisible floor.
“I wish I could tell you, but… I can’t.”
“Why!?”
Her eyes, sorrowful green orbs, rose to meet mine. “You told me not to.” She laughed lightly. “I’m technically not even supposed to be talking to you.”
I stepped back, confused. This was, by far, the strangest dream yet. The Voice turned and began talking to herself.
“’An experiment’, you said. ‘A harmless, simple experiment’. You couldn’t bring yourself to accept them as evil… you had to ‘give them another chance’. And look where it got you.” The Voice glanced at me before continuing.
“I begged you not to go, I knew what would happen. You knew I was right, you even ADMITTED it, but you said you ‘had to do it’. ‘It wouldn’t be fair’, you said. And I let you go, just like that. Because whenever you put your mind to something, you did it. Anything that could be done, you could do. I still wonder to this day why you hadn’t made yourself a god…” A laugh, bittersweet this time, came from her. “Oh that’s right, you even had a comeback for that. ‘Wouldn’t be any fun, then’, that’s what you said. I remember that cheeky grin you gave me…”
She sighed wistfully and turned to me, smirking at the weirded out expression that was written all over my face. She came closer, wrapping her arms around my neck and lightly pressing her body against mine. My lack of response didn’t seem to bother her as she placed her head on my shoulder.
“I miss that grin… I miss you…”
Everything started to fade away…
“WE miss you…”
For a moment, I could see nothing. Then, for a brief moment, I saw something so beautiful, I almost cried.
Frozen in time, Ponyville burned with the green fire of changelings.
***
The morning sun shone down directly onto me, warming rays seeping through my carapace and giving their heat to my body. I opened my eyes became acutely aware of a fullness that wormed its way into every part of my body, stifling the Hunger and filling my magic reserves to the brim. It was the kind of fullness that could only come from one thing.
Pure, unrestrained love.
I began wondering just how real my dream had been. Had I just fed myself, or was it the Voice? It was utterly confusing.
Shaking my head, I looked across the room from my resting place to see the unicorn that I had saved with her head buried in a spellbook.
MY spellbook.
I rushed over to the unicorn and swiped the book away from her, snarling and hissing possessively. The recently-revived mare whimpered and hid her head underneath her hooves, cowering like the prey she was. I almost attacked her right then and there, but I stopped myself from performing that one fatal lunge.
Levitating the book over to my saddlebags, I looked down at the pony, anger simmering just below the point where it would be uncontrollable. I forced down the idea of hurting her, as I needed to question her, not beat her.
… Yet.
“What’s your name?” I asked. The unicorn had a bewildered look on her face, as if she hadn’t expected me to
talk. I leaned in closer, not in the mood for her stupidity.
“Your. Name.” I said, enunciating clearly so that the mare could understand past her thick skull. When her jaw finally moved after a minute of silence, a weak whimper was all that came from her throat. A small snarl from me quickly brought forth actual words.
“I… I’m… L… Lu…” she stuttered. I snarled again loudly, slamming my hoof down next to her head.
“Stop your worthless blubbering!” I yelled. “Tell me your name, or I’ll rip it from your mind myself!”
The unicorn teared up and quick responded. “I’m Lulamoon!” she shouted.
I stepped away from Lulamoon and nodded. “Alright Lulamoon,” I began, walking around her in circles. “Listen, because I’m not going to repeat myself. First, you will do what I tell you to, understand?” Lulamoon nodded weakly, and I continued.
“Second, if you ever expose me to your fellow ponies, you will be the first to die.”
“Third-“
“Who are you what do you want with me!?” Lulamoon shouted, quickly covering her mouth when I jerked my head to face her and hissed.
“Shut up!” I yelled. “Third, don’t presume to ask about me! I’ll let it go this time, but don’t do it again!” I kept walking around the unicorn, trying to suppress my anger as I continued talking.
“My name is Revenant. I am a changeling. As for what I want with you, I want a servant. That’s what you are. A puppet. Nothing more. I’d prefer to have something other than your pathetic species, but since I killed one of my own to save you, which turned out to be a waste of time, I might add, I’m stuck with you.” I spared a glance at an upset Lulamoon, who was laughably upset at being called ‘pathetic’. I walked over to her and leaned down, getting right in her face.
“Aw, is the pathetic little unicorn upset?” I said in the most mocking voice I could. “Am I making you cry? Do you want to go home and cry to your mommy?” I chuckled, thankful for having finally found some amusement.
A buck to the side of my head promptly ended that amusement.
I stumbled backwards. Lulamoon’s buck was weak, but that was only a comparative statement. It still hurt, and my new headache was incredibly irritating.
“Pony!” I yelled, charging up a magical bolt. “You’ll regret that!” I launched the bolt at Lulamoon, who rolled out of the way.
I began firing bolt after bolt at her, but all the unicorn could do was dodge. I realized with a savage grin that she knew absolutely no combat magic, so I decided to take mercy on her.
I buzzed over to Lulamoon, ducking under a jab and driving my hoof right into her gut. Her breath was driven out from her lungs, and she collapsed ungracefully. She began wheezing as she tried to get enough air once more, a few cough coming here and there. I leaned down next to Lulamoon’s head to see fresh rows of tears flowing from her closed eyes.
“Four…” I whispered. “Fight me… you will lose… and if you try again… you will die.”
Lulamoon, having finally refilled her lungs enough to breathe again, cried softly. “What did I ever do to you?”
“Nothing,” I snarled. “But I gave one of your kind my trust, and they turned me in even after I saved their life. I’ve done nothing for you, so I can only imagine what you would do if I gave you the chance.”
“You’re a monster…”
I snarled. “I had my life stolen by a pony. Who’s the real monster?”
Lulamoon opened one eye to look at me. “You’re not any better than them.”
I recoiled at Lulamoon’s words. For some reason, they stung worse than any magic bolt or manticore swipe. I slowly stepped back, confusion mixing with my anger.
“No!” I shouted. “I’m not like her! I’m not like him!”
“Then sto-“
“NO!” I picked up Lulamoon with my magic and slammed her against a pillar. I walked closer to her, seething loudly.
“Don’t… Don’t EVER compare me with her!” My wings began buzzing by themselves, and I felt my eye twitching involuntarily. “I’m not a monster! I help ponies! And look what I got for it!” I gestured jerkily to the castle around us. “I get a run-down castle, another changeling’s blood and hunger on my hooves, and another stupid unicorn! I can’t even trust YOU, because I know if I do, I’ll wind up even worse than I am now!”
The blue pony was terrified by this point. She shook with tears and fear, but a slight flash of pity in her eyes only strengthened the rage I felt.
“Please…” She whimpered. “Let me go… I’m so hungry… I’m sorry… I wasn’t thinking…”
I growled lowly and released her, letting her fall to the ground with a small yelp. I turned and walked away from her, trying not to rip her apart. Her prospective usefulness was the only thing that really kept me from doing so.
But for now, I would have to vent my anger on something other than her.
“I’ll be back.”
I walked out of the castle, leaving the shocked, hurt, and pathetic unicorn to herself.
I had some hunting to do.
***
I made my way back into the Everfree, still twitching every now and then. Who was that unicorn to judge me? I had been through more than she had! I had my trust, my only friendship, ripped to pieces! And her? She-
A roar ripped through air, shocking me out my thoughts. A manticore ripped through the woods, murder in its eyes as it charged at me. As I sidestepped, I noticed with a hint of irritation that the creature had a large path of missing fur on its stomach, and a burnt side.
The beast whirled around and pawed at the ground, snarling. I frowned in disgust and charged up a good amount of magic. The manticore bolted toward me, and I responded by letting loose with a blast of magic so strong it flew directly through the creature and cut down the tree behind it before dissipating.
I walked up to the limp body that had been no further than two bounds from me and looked down at it, my thoughts swirling. This creature had seen a chance for revenge and had taken it… just like I was doing. But its attempt to get back at me had ended in it being killed. Was… was I going to follow in the same path?
I levitated the body behind me as I returned to the castle, continuing to draw parallels between myself and the dead manticore. We had both picked a fight and lost. We had both been at our weakest. Only, it had lost the next fight with its enemy, while I still had the chance to do so. Should I just let it go?
…No.
I wouldn’t let it go. But I wasn’t going to attack any ponies the moment I saw them. I would wait until I got stronger, and only then would I confront Twilight, her friends…
… and her.
I walked back into the castle, depositing the deceased manticore in front of Lulamoon. I smirked as she observed the corpse with disgust.
“Eat up.”
Lulamoon gulped and looked over her meal with dread. She glanced at me, then back to the body, then back at me.
“I… I can’t…”
“Rule number one,” I said flatly. Lulamoon’s lip trembled, and her eyes teared up.
“C… can’t you even cook it?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”
I created a magic blade and sliced off a small chunk of the manticore’s flesh. Then I began to concentrate. I had never tried casting three spells at once, but I was going to do so now.
Keeping my blade up, I levitated the meat up and fired a small magical bolt at it. The flesh flash-cooked, meat
turning from red to an earth brown, fur immediately burning off, and began steaming with heat. Turning it over, I cooked the opposite side as well, resulting in a well-cooked, delicious smelling piece of meat. I proffered the chunk to Lulamoon, who edged away slightly. A slight glare brought her back, and we gently exchanged her soon-to-be meal.
Lulamoon looked at the meat, her appearance giving the notion that she was going to break down and cry at any moment. A low growl, not from me, filled the air, and the unicorn winced. Her hunger finally getting the best of her, she slowly took a tiny bite out of the meat as I continued to cut up and cook the manticore flesh. Her reluctant chewing gradually turned more empathetic as she finally began to appreciate her food. All of this resulted in a tiny, almost imperceptible trickle of positive emotion that I couldn’t help but sip up.
My lips twitched on their own, and I got up and walked away before any real amusement could shine through my lingering irritation. I headed outside and sat down on the front steps of the castle, watching the midday sun and the blue, nearly cloudless sky through the hole in the tree cover.
“Eat up, Lulamoon,” I said to myself. “We have places to be, ponies to see…
“…plans to be made.”
Hey everyling, WASSAP!?
So yeah. School. Bit of a drag, always a time-consumer. Then there's the odd side-task, like the Planetside 2 Beta... or a Tau Battleforce... Getting off track here.
tl;dr- Not as much time as I would like, sorry and all that.
But yeah, stay tuned and patient for more of Revenant, because he's back with a vengeance.