//------------------------------//
// Atmospheric Entry 
// Story: Falling Stars 
// by Aceofgods 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 2: Atmospheric Entry
With Fallenstar Nighthoof and Ace Deus Fenrir






Ace started to come to, his magical and physical senses both scuzzy from… whatever had sent him unconscious. Disoriented, the world spun as he started to rise up as he pressed a hoof against his head before shaking it to clear his thoughts.

Ace’s horn lit in its black glow as he cast a spell to clear his senses, both physical and magical, as he climbed onto his hooves under the lean-to made of leaves and the like.

He looked around to regain his bearings, but could only tell that he was in the middle of the forest somewhere outside of Hoofsdale, and that he was not alone - there was something out in the camp that he could not detect with his magic. As he made his way out to take a closer look, he recalled the events that led to his unconscious state, remembering, if only slightly, who it was that awaited outside.



After the… whatever it was... passed out, Fallen simply went to the hard-feeble thing it had come out of in the first place and proceeded to dig a hole to secure a makeshift camp, deliberately ignoring the seemingly-unconscious changelings scattered about. ’Great... I have no idea where I am, or whatever  saved me, or what I am even hiding under!’ he continued to grumble as he made a fire and sat down.

As time passed he eventually started to hum, starting out with simple five-note songs and eventually creating small symphonies. After what he guessed was a long time, the thing started to wake up. Rather, it at least started moving.

“I have no idea what you are, and only know that you tried to save my hide. I guess I thank you for that, even though you seem to have tried to knock everything out for a while.” He rubbed his mane nervously, “I may or may not have dragged you across the large amount of ground to get you here.”

The dark-grey creature shook out its coat, letting loose a small cloud of dust before it appeared to shrug. “If you are concerned about my well-being, I suppose ‘tis fortunate I am unable to feel much of my body… Oh, I suppose an introduction is in order,” it commented before lowering its head, a hoof rising to its front as it did so.

“My name is Ace Deus Fenrir, a magically gifted Unicorn and owner of the Dragon Eyes spell shop in Hoofsdale,” he finished before ending the odd gesture. “Also, a good samaritan with a more-than-passing interest in you; you are a changeling, correct? What caste do you represent? You were a part of Nyteshade’s Hive, yet those were her scout drones if I am not mistaken.”

Fallen shook his head and chuckled at the barrage of questions. “Oh, you’re curious about her. Well to discount any idea you had of me being with her, I am a mutant and she was scared of me. I am unable to connect to the hive-mind, which would scare any Queen enough, but not only that, I had true sentience too. To help really kick it off, I also have enough magic resistance to keep her, and all the other ‘lings in the hive from destroying me instantaneously. A bit over” – 

Ace’s horn lit in the black glow of his magic, a studious look on his face, before a small cloud appeared over Fallen’s head, which then made a boisterous noise as a bolt of lightning fell over him, though it did not appear to have any effect. -- “nine-hundred if I’m correct. Was that really necessary?” Fallen asked in an annoyed tone.

The strange creature began to walk in a circle around Fallen, a hoof rubbing beneath its chin as it appeared to observe him from every angle. “Beg your pardon, but experimentation is always the most certain method to produce the most accurate results. You say you can no longer connect to Nyteshade’s hivemind? This is not wholly unusual, as this happens whenever a changeling becomes self-aware.”

At this juncture, Ace started lifting up Fallen’s hooves as he examined each detail of the specimen, paying the most attention to the mane, tail, hide, wings and his long, straight pointed horn. “I see I am not the only pony to take a closer look at you. Whatever had interested the changelings of your hive - a mutation, did you say? - must be most uncommon. Is it not the prime directive of the race to evolve and adapt?”

Fallen shook his head “Yes, you are normally right, but I was hatched like this - I have always been sentient. The fact that I was not only completely free-willed and sentient, but also mostly immune to magic made her very nervous. You should have seen her face after she and the whole hive tried to make me combust,” he said with a chuckle as the memory replayed in his head.

“Back then was the first time in my life I truly laughed. Right after that, she locked me up in a dark hole in the deepest part of the hive and probably hoped I would become docile. For the most part, I just insulted everyling that came by and generally annoyed them all. I found a patch in my room that was dried out and weak, broke through it, and got out. You found me after that.”

Ace did another pass around the unusual changeling, his eyes roving over the number of incisions and other tell-tale marks from the intrusive examinations the other changelings had conducted. With a nod of his head, the Unicorn started looking about as though he expected to find something. Afterwards, he started making his way into the forest without a word.

“Hey!” Fallen yelled after the creature. “I want to know more about the outside and you are the only thing that I know who can help me,” he said as he started trotting after Ace, easily catching up as he turned around, one side of his features raising as he looked back, as if in question.

“And I full well intend to help you,” he said before resuming his trek at a leisurely pace as Fallen followed. “However, if you wander around in the forest with those cracks and openings in your carapace, you will fall ill,” he explained.

“You see, the reason Nyteshade chose this forest to house her hive is because this is one of the few remaining places where Shade Leaf flowers grow freely,” he said as he started looking around at the forestation. “The petals of this plant can be used to make an effective poison for most ponies, though for a changeling, it is a most effective healing salve.”

Fallen chuckled, “I don’t have a carapace, I have a hide. And I can simply heal myself at will, like this-“ he stated as his wounds closed in mere seconds.

“I did say I had some unique traits, one of which is the fact that while I cannot magically transform, I can control every physical element of my body perfectly.” Fallen looked around curiously. “Do you know what these things around us are? I don’t and they are kind of weird to me,” he asked after a brief pause.

Ace’s features turned up again before he looked around the forest once more. “You mean… trees? My word, you truly must be a hatchling… Normally the changelings educate their young in the first few hours with a combination of genetic memory and their conjoined hivemind.”

Ace started to make his way back to the campsite, the fire burning lightly in the distance. Seeing that the flame was weakening, he carried back some tinder and dried branches to stoke the fire in his magic as he went. “What other questions plague you? I have the feeling it’s going to be a long night,” he called over his shoulder as they went.

As Ace looked over his shoulder he saw an unusual duck flying at his head at high speeds, quacking in terror. ”Don’t call me hatchling!” Fallen shouted recalling the meals the changelings had given him, the feathery, noisy things the guards called ‘ducks’. Shortly after he proceeded to grow more of the odd morsels from his body and launch a barrage of quacking death at Ace.

Perplexed and caught off-guard, the first of the unusual instruments struck the unicorn square across the jaw before he managed to erect a barrier, black with the color of his magic, to block the attacks that followed. 

When the ducks came across the barrier, however, they simply continued through it, their feathery assault unrelenting as they struck the shocked Unicorn.

After another pair of the fowl blows, Ace’s horn brightened, the tinder and branches falling to the forest floor. A number of branches, roots and stalks began to glow in the matching black of his magic before they all elongated, stretching towards both he and Fallen before entwining themselves into a more physical barrier around the Unicorn and a much more forceful grasp over the changeling.

As the newly grown barrier tightened its grip on the changeling he simply dissolved into a large pile of confused ducks. As Ace shifted his gaze to the first duck to have hit him, it suddenly grew into the mutant changeling who proceeded to use a pair of ducks as close-quarters weapons.

After a single blow from the downy weapons, Ace teleported out of the earthbound prison, appearing through a blackened flash of light at the camp, the weak flames of the fire waving to one side as the light passed over it. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Ace watched the earthen sphere with fervent interest.




Meanwhile, in the darkness of the second cage to attempt to hold Fallen that day, Fallen shook his head as he started to ponder to himself once more. “Hmmm, I think I should stop attacking him but this is a bit too fun. Time for Duck-a-toa!”

As Ace watched the sphere, it started to shake and then suddenly erupted in a massive tide of quacking doom with a certain mutant riding the wave on top shouting an odd cry.

His jaw slackening as the coming wave of feathery fowl began to crash down upon him, Ace’s horn alighted as he teleported back atop the hill where all of this trouble started, watching with his own eyes as the chaotic event took place in the forest, thousands of pitch-black ducks crashing over a single area of forest.

As the wave of feathered flesh crashed against the trees, a thundering crash could be heard, shaking the foundations of some of the nearby buildings of the budding Hoofsdale. Shortly after, the sound still echoing and cascading across the town, the wave started to roil up a thankfully-large cloud of dust, sheltering the event from wandering gazes.

Lights started to alight behind the Unicorn as the event awakened just about every pony in the small town. Already some faces began to emerge from their homes, some lit by lanterns or candles, others by the glowing magic of their horns or other luminously enchanted objects.

“What’s going on over there, Ace?!” shouted the alarmed Twisted Vine as he ran to the base of the hill, a lantern attached to his saddle bags as he sought answers from the pony he already viewed as the leader of the town. “Are we in any danger here?” he asked as Tempered Steel barely managed to catch up to him.

Ace looked back for only a moment before looking back to the forest, the tsunami of dust and obscured feathery fury fervently following close behind it. “I’m not sure, to tell you the truth of things, my friend.” Ace watched as the cloud of dust and feathers finally managed to die down, leaving a large clearing the size of a city, the once-forest floor littered with the once-forest trees and plants.

Ace turned back to the couple, his countenance portraying worry and concern. “This is either the single most powerful discovery I’ve made in my fight against Nyteshade, or I have doomed our entire town to destruction.” Twisted Vine and Tempered Steel looked to each other nervously.

“Tell the others it was likely a freak accident and that I am personally going to attend to the cause,” Ace said with a grave tone. “Tell them to sleep lightly tonight, but sleep all the same.” Twisted and Tempered shared a look, a nod, and a hard gulp to quell their fear before going throughout the town to spread the message.