//------------------------------// // The Impersonator // Story: Requiem of Equestria // by TheBlox //------------------------------// Trek, Dozer and Flake waited at the entrance of the hive. Looking out into the open Equestrian wasteland, Trek and Dozer paced around impatiently. Flake stood there in silence, watching the two changelings trot around in circles. “Something’s going on.” Trek exclaimed, “First Plague disappears, and now Chitin’s taking forever to come back.” “He said he went to Ponyville, right?” Dozer murmured. Trek nodded in response. “That was where he said Plague went looking for the pony.” Flake’s eyes wandered as he listened in, and he backed away from the other two. Keeping silent and stealthy so Trek and Dozer didn’t notice his departure, he flew out into the open wilderness. “Should we tell the Queen?” Dozer shrugged with uncertainty. “I dunno. I doubt she will like this.” Trek shuddered. “Doubt I’ll like what?” the voice of authority made the two changelings cower. They turned to face Chrysalis, who was just walking in on their conversation. “Uh…” Dozer nervously gulped. “Chitin isn’t back yet.” Trek exclaimed uneasily. There was a pause. Chrysalis slowly trotted to the opening, and looked down upon the wasteland. She slowly turned her neck, examining every direction. “I expected to see him in my throne room a couple of hours ago.” she muttered. Then, she saw something off in the distance. She squinted and leaned forward, getting a better look at who was flying toward them. “Chitin…?” Chitin’s flying was very weak—he could hardly keep himself in the air. Chrysalis raised a brow and stepped aside, giving him room to land. Flying into the opening, Chitin stumbled across the floor and collapsed, huffing for air. The others all stared at him in silence as he tried standing with a harsh limp on his right foreleg. He kept his back turned from the others with his eyes to the floor. “What the hell happened?” Chrysalis was the first to say anything. “Plague’s dead.” Chitin muttered angrily, getting straight to the point. “What?” the Queen went wide-eyed. Chitin slowly turned around to face the Queen, and looked up to her to expose his facial wounds—the bloody lip; a black eye; his damaged horn. Chrysalis winced at the sight of him. “Explain yourself.” “She calls herself Daring Do.” Chitin grumbled, cringing painfully while lifting his wounded foreleg off the ground so pressure wasn’t applied to it. “Daring Do?” Chrysalis raised a brow. “The pony.” the captain revealed. Chrysalis’ eyes slowly widened, and she stood up tall in disbelief. “Wait, wait.” Dozer was trying hard not to chuckle, “You’re saying, that the pony did this to you?” “Shut up, Dozer.” Chitin grimaced. “Chitin, are you suggesting that this pony killed Plague?” Chrysalis questioned him. “She said that she will stop any changeling that gets in her way.” Chitin murmured and painfully winced, “She had me pinned, and nearly broke my leg.” he rubbed his wounded shoulder for emphasis. “She let me go and sent me back here as a warning.” He put his hoof on his head and cringed, “I tried cocooning her, but I crashed through some trees when I was chasing her, and I damaged my horn…” More silence. Chrysalis rolled her eyes and stepped up to him, leaning in closer to have a better look at his horn. “It looks fine. You should be able to cast magic again in a day or two.” She stood up and kept her glare on him, “Be more careful. You’re aware that our horns are much more fragile than a unicorn’s.” “Yes, my Queen…” Chitin looked to the side. Chrysalis then turned her focus to his wounded shoulder. She held out her hoof and lifted up his injured limb, making him flinch in pain. “I still can’t believe a pony did this to you.” she murmured with lacking enthusiasm. “I don’t know where she learned to fight like thaAAAAAOOW!!” Without a warning, Chrysalis pulled on his limb with one hoof, and using the other, she kicked his shoulder. “AAAaaAA What was that for?!” “Your shoulder was dislocated.” Chrysalis released his leg and stood up tall. “I had to put it back so it could heal properly.” “Ugh…” Chitin frowned and rubbed his shoulder. “Thanks… I think.” “Rest for a few hours. You’re in no condition to go back out there.” Chrysalis suggested to the captain, and turned to Trek and Dozer. “Are you two up for continuing the search?” “Yes, my Queen.” they replied almost simultaneously. “Good. The sooner we cocoon her, the better. If she’s out there for too long, she likely won’t be any good to us.” Chrysalis exclaimed, “I recommend you stick together this time. You know where to search.” Trek and Dozer both nodded, and turned to fly out back into the wasteland. Upon their exit, Chitin raised a brow and scratched his chin. “Strange.” “What, Chitin?” Chrysalis turned to him curiously. “No one said anything about Flake. He wasn’t here when I got back.” He turned to the Queen and shrugged, “Did he not make it back either?” “Flake?” the Queen questioned him. “Who is Flake?” “Flake. You know, the newcomer you recruit—…” Chitin paused, and winced at the sudden realization. There was a long gap of silence in their conversation. “Nothing, my Queen.” he glanced to the side and frowned, disappointed in himself. “Nothing?” Chrysalis waited an explanation. “I did not recruit any new changelings into your search crew.” Chitin looked up into the Queen’s green eyes and squinted in self-disgust. “It sounds like we have a changeling posing himself as a high rank guard.” Chrysalis murmured, frowning at the captain. “I… had my suspicions.” Chitin admitted quietly. “I’ll take care of it.” “See that you do.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Daring wandered through Ponyville, seeking a new place to rest. She passed through several vacant buildings throughout the town, but none of the restful stops seemed to satisfy her. She knew that the changelings would come back; she had to find a good place to hide. A place they wouldn’t think to search. “Where are we gonna go, Mercy?” she sighed, directing her questions to the bat in her mane. He responded with a twitch in his ears, and looked down to her. Flapping her wings, she ascended into the air and flew up above Ponyville. She perched at the top of the crippled town hall to have a better look around her from a higher level. A certain building came to mind, so she scanned Ponyville’s ruins of decay to search for it. “Hnh… Rarity’s boutique would definitely be a cozy place to sleep in.” she murmured to herself, remembering the place as a fabric haven. She turned her neck, trying to find it, but she couldn’t see the building anywhere. The sight of the town from this height made her stomach turn from heartbreak. She sighed and winced, trying to pull herself together, and just kept looking. “Where did it—…” she paused when she found the boutique in a heap on the ground. She could tell by the manikin pony statues that once stood close to the top of the building. “Oh…” she sighed and sat on her flank, turning her view to find other possible hiding places. Looking down at Ponyville’s debris made her feel homesick. After several minutes of staring down at the empty town, Mercy suddenly jumped out of her mane with a loud screech. His spontaneous startling act caused her to panic and turn around through instinct. Only meters away, she was standing face to face on the rooftop with a changeling. His horn was illuminated with green magic, and he looked like he was ready to fire. Daring panicked and stumbled backwards. A creaking sound emanated from the rooftop beneath her hooves, and just as he fired a dart of magic at her, in that split second the shingles at her hooves caved in and she fell through in a heap of debris. “AaaAAA!!” dropping through the insolated attic of the town hall, she crashed through the ceiling and fell to the wooden floorboards with a crackling thump. For a brief moment, she lied there feeling winded. Coughing dust to the floor, she pushed herself to her hooves, gnashing her teeth as she struggled. Looking up, the changeling descended down toward her from the hole in the ceiling. “So you’re the one causing all the trouble.” the changeling muttered. Daring cringed and stood on all fours, tensing her legs in position to fight back. She snorted from her nostrils and tapped the floor with her back hoof, kicking up a puff of dust. She gnashed her teeth, and she twitched furiously. “I’ve warned your captain.” she growled at the back of her throat, and with a powerful thrust with her wings, she leapt up into the air toward the airborne changeling. Her sudden lunge up after him caught him off guard, and she collided straight into him. Upon collision, the two bodies flipped through the air and fell back to the hardwood floor. After crashing to the floor, Daring pinned the changeling by his shoulders. “You freaks just don’t know when to quit!” “N—No!” the changeling snapped and buckled his hind legs, kicking her off of him. She stumbled backwards and collapsed onto her back. The changeling struggled to his hooves, and frowned at her, “I have to be the one… to take you down!” Daring just frowned at that, and after a short struggle, she was back on all fours. “What is it with you changelings, all trying to be the first to take me down?” she grumbled and squinted at him, “What benefit does capturing me serve?” “Pride.” he replied boastfully, and stomped his front hoof to the floor, “Acceptance!” Daring winced, trying to figure him out. “All I’ve ever wanted, was to feel like I am worth something to my Queen!” as he yelled, Daring realized something—he was crying. It was very subtle, but the dampness in his solid turquoise eyes was indeed there. “I’ve trained my whole life to get some acknowledgement, and the Queen doesn’t even know my bucking name!” The pegasus kept her defensive stance, but she was curious as to what was going on in his troubled mind. She squinted and sidestepped, holding back on striking him down again. “And you think, that by capturing me, that the Queen will accept you?” “Heh… Nopony’s ever escaped our hive before and lived.” He stepped forward, his eyes widening as he explained himself, “Bringing you back… and showing you to Chrysalis…” he paused for a moment, feeling as though his destiny was about to be fulfilled. “…This will show her I am worthy!!” Daring stepped backwards, her ears falling back from suspense. The desperation in her hunter’s eyes; his black horn illuminated of green magic. She had to attack him now, or he was going to fire his spell and cocoon her for sure. Before he could fully charge his magic, she galloped toward him with the help from her wings to pick up speed. “NaAAH!!” the changeling yelled and fired a burst of magic at her. She quickly sidestepped to her right to avoid the spell, but she wasn’t quick enough, and it struck her in the left wing. “No!” Daring panicked and stumbled off to the side, and watched as the neon dust from the spell fade away, and found her wing to be sealed inside a cocoon mesh. She could sense all feelings in her wing slowly going numb. Growling, she turned back to the changeling and frowned. “You can’t take me!” she yelled and galloped toward him, “I won’t let you!” The changeling snarled and began charging up his horn again, backing away from her as she got closer. He tensed up his legs to prepare himself as she lunged into him, striking his chest with her front hooves. She growled on impact and knocked him over onto his back, and had him pinned again. “I’m sick of you changelings!” “NooOO!!” he struggled through his desperation, and with his horn fully illuminated, he fired the spell straight up at the pony pinning him. She saw it coming, but a moment too late. The burst of magic struck her straight in the snout, and she immediately leapt off of him in an immense panic. Her wings fluttered from fear as she stumbled away from him, using her hooves to scrape the mesh that sealed the entirety of her face; she couldn’t breathe nor see. Struggling to scratch away at the sickly green slime, she managed to open a hole for her to breathe through her mouth, and took in a loud gasp for air. With his prey now blinded, the changeling took the opportunity to face her up close. He pushed himself back to his hooves, and trotted toward her, charging up another spell. To his surprise, the pegasus began flailing her hooves in random directions, bucking and kicking the air. “Come on!!” she yelled, blindly striking the air while spinning in place, “AAaAAAH!!” He stood there to briefly watch her, keeping a good distance so he wouldn’t get kicked. As she spun around hoofing the air, she bucked a wooden support pillar and cracked it. After she had kicked the fragile post, a few boards fell from the ceiling. “WHA—” the changeling had no time to react, and the boards came crashing down right on top of him, burying him in wood planks and splinters. The room was silenced with a cloud of dust, and she kept flailing her hooves. She heard a screech from above her, and she could hear the flapping of wings coming down close to her. “Mercy?” she briefly paused, gasping, “I-is that you?” Mercy flew up close to her and screeched again to signal that it was just him now. Hearing his screech calmed her down, and she sat on her flank with a sigh. He clawed at the mesh covering her face, tearing it away from her eyes and snout. Once her eyes were free, she blinked a few times. Her eyes were burning—they felt like she hadn’t used them in awhile from the effects of the mesh. “Awgh…” she felt relieved after noticing that the changeling wasn’t in the vicinity. “Thanks, Mercy…” She wiped her eyes with her hooves. After wiping her eyes clear, she heard a rumble coming from the debris. Her ears twitched, and she was quick to stare back at the pile of boards where the changeling was buried. She sat there, feeling adrenaline rush through her beating heart. Curious, Mercy cautiously flew over to the rubble. “AAAH!!” the changeling erupted from the pile of boards, pushing himself free. He climbed out with a limp, and his horn was glowing bright neon. “I won’t allow you to take this chance away from me, pony!!!” he shrieked, and furiously swat the bat out of the air. “No, Mercy!!” Mercy was punt against a wall, and he collapsed to the floor. Daring galloped after the changeling, yelling angrily, “Parasprite!!” “AAAH It’s Flake!” he shouted, galloping toward her as well. In mid-gallop, he fired his loaded spell at her, and she hit the brakes in surprise. The dart of magic struck her in the front leg, and she fell over onto her chest. “NOoO!!” she cried and tried pushing herself back to her hooves, but had a difficult time getting back up. Flake sidestepped while recharging a spell, and he fired at her again, sealing the top of her head in a cocoon. “NooOO Please, NO!” He fired again, and again, and again, striking her down and slowly sealing her in the cocoon mesh. “No, no no! AhAAAA!!” she struggled relentlessly, pushing her numbing hooves to stand back up. “My friends!!” she screamed in tears, “They need me!!!! I can’t!! I ca—” silenced by a cocoon sealing her face off once again, she could feel herself slowly losing consciousness. Squirming on the floor, she felt like time slowed down, and everything that she had believed in darkened with the rest of her fading world, and her mind went blank. The pony collapsed helplessly on the floor, completely covered in a cocoon. Flake just stood there, dumbfounded. “I did it…” a grin formed on his face as he murmured. The victorious changeling trotted up to the sealed pony and nudged her in the cocoon. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “Ha, I can’t believe this!” he exclaimed aloud to himself, and lifted the cocooned pegasus in his hooves, and flapping his wings, he carried her off the ground. “Sorry, pony… You’ve had a good run.” he sneered, “But you’re mine now!” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Many thanks to these gentlecolts: Proofreading and Editing done by David Hasselhoof. Prereading and other Assistance by Morfonious.