//------------------------------// // Chapter 41 I can feel it right now, in my mouth // Story: Spike the Knight // by vadram //------------------------------// I can feel it right now, in my mouth “Zecora?” Spike tried to talk but only managed to move his mouth. “Can I move?” He tried to move, a twitch there, a muscle flex somewhere, a little movement, progress. Slowly he lifted his arm, when it was almost fully extended he felt something... something solid, colder and smooth. It provided a little resistance when he passed his fingers on the surface, but even the tiny bit of resistance it provided was more than enough to make it that Spike could barely move his arm. He tried running his claw on top of it. It did not take him long to regret it. Even if the sound was muffled and distorted it still caused him discomfort, well at least it did not hurt. Actually there was very little pain at all, sure he could barely move, and everything was greenish, and keeping his eyes open for a period of time gave him a headache, but except for that nothing hurt, everything was good. “Imamu, our little drake, Appears to be awake.” “Zecora?” Again he could not be heard. “Spike?” “Huh?” “Inner voice Spike.” “Right, can you hear me now?” he told himself. “Loud and clear. So how are you?” “So and so. I mean nothing hurts, but everything is green and I can barely move.” “Well that is to be expected.” “What do you mean?” “Hmm, how to put it... Have you ever eaten one of those candies that are hard on the surface and juicy inside?” “Yeah, but what does that have to do with me.” “Well, you sort of are in one of those.” “I AM INSIDE A PIECE OF CANDY?!” “No, of course not. You are inside a regrowth pod.” “A pod? Like a pea?” “Not quite more like a butterfly or...” “A CHANGELING?!” “Oh, you know of changelings? Well that make things easier to explain. You are in a changeling pod.” “WHAT?” Spike panicked and tried to swim out of the green viscous liquid that surrounded him, but, except for a few muscle spasms nothing happened. “Have you calmed down yet?” He continued to try to escape, with no success. “How about now?” He was still in a state of panic. “You know what kid, call me when you’re done.” He was still trying to move his arms. “Kid?” He stopped, not that there was much moving involved. “Imamu? Is that you?” “Looks like you have calmed down. From your reaction I take it that your run in with the changelings was not a pleasant one.” “Pleasant? They tried to take over Canterlot, they captured princess Celestia, she put Shining under his spell, she was a monster...” “Wait. She? You met a queen?” “Well yeah I did... Wait... A queen? As in more than one?” “Huh? Aaaa... You thought there was only one queen. Nah kid, there are... or were, quite a few. So did you happen to catch her name?” “Chrysalis.” “Chrysalis? Chrysalis. Chrysalis... never heard of her. She must be new.” “Did you catch her full name?” “Her full name?” “Yes her full name. Changeling queens have the second longest names of all the creatures.” “Huh, no I didn’t, she only called herself Queen Chrysalis.” “Interesting, she must have been hiding her full name in case she failed, smart girl.” “Smart... girl? Chrysalis? Imamu are you alright?” “Of course I am.” “Riiight. So just out of curiosity who has the longest name?” “What an odd question. Dragons of course.” “Dragons?” “Yes dragons. Wait, why are you asking me this? You are a dragon, you should know that.” “Well my name is Spike, and it is not long at all.” “Your name is Spike? Your actual name is Spike?” “Well yeah. Why are you surprised?” “I... Zecora told me that you were living with ponies, but I thought that... never mind. I guess you didn’t know your mother.” The tone he spoke in changed. “My... mother? Twilight... She... She took care of me since I hatched.” “I see...” “Imamu?” He did not answer for some time. “So... Umm, why I am in a changeling pod?” “To heal. You were in pretty bad shape, so we patched you up and placed you in the pod to heal.” “So changeling pods heal?” “They heal changelings, but we modified this one to work on anything.” “You modified a changeling pod? How?” “A little bit of magic, a little bit of herbalism, a little bit of this, a little bit of that...” “I see...” “... and with a little bit of help she made it the way it is.” “I see. She?” “The queen that layed it.” “Layed? Like an egg?” “Of course. Most pods are the shells of changeling eggs.” “So I am in a changeling egg?” “Yes.” “I think I am going to be sick.” “Don’t worry, you can't throw up in there.” “I know I will regret asking this but why?” “The pod is sealed so the liquid you are in has nowhere to move.” “But what does that have to... do... It is inside me isn’t it?” “Of course, it filled every bit of free space it can. Every organ is bathed in it. This is why it is so efficient at healing.” “Every organ?” “Yes. Stomach, intestines, lungs, to name a few. There is also part of it in your bloodstream so it can reach all the places it would normally not be able to go, like your brain or your...” “There is changling goo on my brain?” “Actually it is more like around and in your brain.” “One last question.” “Sure.” “What is it made of?” “This egg is special, you sort of are in the changeling equivalent of the yolk, the yellow part. But this egg was made without a male’s contribution so it is sterile, and considers you to be the embryo that it needs to nourish and make sure it grows, or in your case grow back.” “That is all nice and good, but it didn’t really answer my question.” “Hmm... How can I explain this so that you can understand... Well I can tell you all the ingredients that make it up, but I doubt that that would help you. Hmm... Do you know where babies come from?” “Lets just drop it okay.” “Okay. And don’t worry about moving, I see you are healing much faster than I expected. If you want we can let you out for a bit in a few hours.” “That would be great.” “Alright then. We will come to check on you in a few hours.”