And Then There Were 10...Er...67

by Grey Ghost


Buggy Love, or How Jason Got His Stalker

“I thought you were a male...?” the doctor stated in confusion, peering at Jason’s bare chest. The human just rolled his eyes, sighing in frustration.

“I am a male,” he retorted, annoyance easily carried by his tone.

“Then why do you have teats?”

“Oh for the love of...” Jason said, facepalming hard enough for it to sting. “Look, I’m not going to give you a freaking anatomy lesson on human beings, I’m just not.” After he had woken up, Twilight had suggested he let a doctor examine him. He had resisted at first, but she pointed out that it would allow them to treat him more easily in the future.

“Isn’t that why I’m doing this examination?” the stallion asked, raising an eyebrow. Jason just glared but didn’t answer the question. They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before the door opened. Celestia walked in, followed by Luna and the rest of the girls.

“Twilight informed me that you had urgent matters to discuss?” Celestia patiently watched as the doctor performed a few scanning spells on the injured man.

“Yeah. First off, I’m not gonna try to sugarcoat this, I. NEED. MEAT.” he spoke bluntly, getting the point across. Celestia and Luna didn’t seem too bothered by the news, nor did the doctor, though he did pause for a moment. The girls though, they had a wide range of looks, from uncomfortable understanding to shock, horror, and outright disgust.

“You... eat other creatures?” Rarity asked, her face twisted in disgust.

“Well, yeah. Humans are omnivores, we can survive for a while on certain vegetation but we need animal protein to really stay healthy,” Jason said with a shrug.

“Um... would fish work?” Fluttershy asked, seeming to be the least disturbed by the news.

“Not a big fan of fish but yeah that’ll work,” Jason said with a nod, rubbing his chin a bit. “Actually I don’t think I’ve ever even had fish before...”

“I can bring you some, I have animal friends that need to eat meat too,” Fluttershy said, smiling faintly.

“That would be great, thanks Fluttershy.”

“Can’t you just turn into a pony and eat the same stuff we do?” Rainbow Dash asked, still grumpy because her left wing was in a cast.

“I have no idea if that would work,” Jason said. “Plus, I’m not gonna just turn into a pony everytime I get hungry,” he said as he rolled his head around, stretching his neck. “Just don’t go around talking about it, I don’t want ponies thinking I’m going to eat them.” He cracked his knuckles. ”Ok, there are a few other things we need to talk about. First off, I bet you're all wondering where I was, yes?” The assembled ponies nodded. “Well, while you guys were fighting The Arishok, Ansem showed up and threw me into a portal. I ended up in another Equestria.”

“Another Equestria?” Twilight asked, her interest piqued.

“Yup, I didn’t see much of it though. I saw you there Twilight, you had a daughter,” Jason said, glaring at the doctor, who was poking at his foot in interest.

“D-daughter!?” Twilight asked, her eyes going wide at the very idea.

“Yup, your library got blown up and you got a really tacky crystal castle.”

“What?!” Twilight shouted as her mane started frizzing out and her eye started twitching.

“Jay I think you broke Twi,” Dash said, shooting a worried look at Twilight.

“Eh, she’ll be fine,” Jason said, waving off her concern. “I also met another human. His name was Ben, and he also had an Omnitrix. Oh!” he said and reached over into his jeans to pull out the badge Ben had given him. “He gave me this, I think it lets me call him or something.” He looked at it in thought, stroking his beard. “I should make something like this...”

“Did you learn anything else there?” Celestia asked, gazing at him intently.

“Well there was something about a demon but I don’t remember the name,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “This also brings me to my next point, Princess.” He turned to Celestia. “I want to train with your guards.”

Celestia blinked and raised an eyebrow, not having expected that. “May I ask why?”

“I don’t have any combat training at all and I’ve only been in like ten fights my whole life. Look, the Omnitrix is a big thing and well... I want to help people with it. Any fighting experience I get will help me help others,” Jason said, gazing long and hard at the Omnitrix.

Celestia considered his words before giving the human a smile. “I have no qualms about my guard training someone who is willing to fight for others,” she said, turning to the doctor. “Are you finished?”

“For now, Your Majesty,” the doctor said with a nod.


“Good, then follow me,” she said, then walked out of the room with the others. Jason quickly threw his jeans on, but his shirt had been destroyed by the medic to tend to his wounds. His shoulder was doing better, though it still ached.

A few moments later and the group came to a training hall, though only one pony, a jet black pegasus with a green mane, was there.

“Captain Air Razor,” Celestia greeted him, approaching the pegasus. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Of course not Your Majesty,” Air Razor said in a rather deep voice, bowing.

“Air Razor, please reveal your true self,” Celestia asked, watching him. When he hesitated, she gave him a smile. “It’s quite alright Slash, they can be trusted.”

“As you ask,” he said, nodding and closing his eyes. His body was suddenly consumed by green flames. He grew in height to match Celestia. His fur hardened into a jagged carapace. His wings lost their feathers and became thin and transparent - insect wings. His tail reshaped itself into a long scorpion-like tail, tipped with a stinger. Finally, a long curved horn grew out of his forehead; it was thin and razor sharp, like a sword.

The gathered ponies stared in shock, trying to cope with what was in front of them.

“Everypony, this is Slash. He is a changeling king,” Celestia explained, looking at them.

“Y-you have a changeling in the guard?” Twilight asked, almost rendered back into her stupor.

“Be at ease Twilight, Slash is a loyal subject,” Luna reassured her with a gentle smile.

“B-but he’s a changeling!” Twilight argued, wide-eyed.

“I understand your distrust Twilight but Slash is at least as loyal as any other Royal Guard. More so, in fact. As a king, he is independent of any changeling hivemind,” Celestia explained.

“Thats... amazing,” Twilight said, her expression changing to one of intrigue.

“Slash, I have a special assignment for you,” Celestia started.” I would like you to train this young stallion in the art of combat,” she said, gesturing to Jason.

Slash looked the human over before nodding his head. “I can do that.”


“I am assigning you to Ponyville, is that agreeable?”’

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Slash said with a nod. “May I have a few minutes alone with my new student?”

Celestia nodded and ushered the others out of the room. Jason gulped, looking at the insectoid pony, who was currently looking him over.

“You are a strange one,” Slash spoke, getting in close. “The guard have been informed of your device, it is a rather frightening prospect.”

“Uncatalogued DNA detected.” A yellow beam shot out of the Omnitrix and ran across the changeling king’s body.

“Ah yes, I have been informed of that as well. You can take the form of a changeling now?”

Jason nodded, meeting Slash’s gaze. “I can.”

“Good. This is going to be very interesting,” Slash said with a toothy grin. The changeling transformed back into his pony alter-ego, and they left the room.

****

“Good, good, that’s it,” Slash said, watching as Jason jogged around him. For the past few days since their return to Ponyville, all that Slash’s training had amounted to Jason performing mundane tasks around the changeling.

“Why am I doing this crap?” Jason asked, huffing a bit. The ponies probably didn’t notice it, but he was slightly out of shape...

“In order for me to effectively teach you, I need to know the limits of your body, how fast you can run, for how long, how it stretches and moves, all that fun stuff,” Slash responded, nodding his head sagely.

“Thats such BS,” Jason snarked, giving the changeling a glare.

“Oh hush up and keep running,” Slash said, waving his hoof dismissively.

“At least I don’t look like swiss cheese,” Jason mumbled, slowing down. “Ok, that’s it I’m done running.” he declared, leaning against a tree, sliding down to the ground.

“I suppose we can move onto something else.”

“Good,” Jason said, activating the dial on the Omnitrix. “Let’s try this one,” he said and pressed the core down. In a flash of green, Jason was replaced by a changeling king, though unlike Slash, this one’s mane matched the green of the Omnitrix.

“Not bad looking,” Slash said, looking him over, nodding in approval. The two of them were too engrossed with Jason’s new form to notice a black shape watching them. After a few beats it flew off, leaving them.
***

“D’you hear that?” Jason asked, looking up into the sky. It was a low buzzing sound, which was steadily getting louder. “What is that?”

“Oh great. A hive found us,” Slash said, annoyance clear in his voice. As if on cue, at least a dozen changelings appeared in the sky, led by a much taller one. They landed nearby and the tall one approached.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? A pair of strapping kings I see,” she, judging by her oddly distorted voice, spoke to them. Unlike the other changeling, her eyes were green, as were her mane and tail. Atop her head was a small crown, nestled behind the gnarled black horn jutting from her skull. She looked over them both though her expression fell when she recognized Slash. “Oh, it’s you. Well that just ruined my mood.”

“What do you want Chrysalis?” Slash asked, sighing a bit. “We were in the middle of something.”

“I’m looking for a mate, and one of my drones just happened to spot a pair of kings. I couldn’t pass it up,” she shrugged, looking at Jason. “I must say, you certainly are quite the stud,” she said, letting out a snicker at his befuddled reaction. She moved her wings, rubbing them together, creating a chirping sound.

Despite himself, Jason responded in kind, making Chrysalis grin.

“Why don’t we go back to my hive and... chat?” she asked, giving him a seductive look.

“I... uh...” Jason stammered out, having no clue what to do. Luckily, he was saved as the Omnitrix timed out, returning him to human form. “Oh sweet merciful Odin!”

“What magic is this?” Chrysalis demanded, lifting Jason up in her magic, turning him this way and that, confusion written all over his face.

“Sorry to disappoint you but, this is his true form. Unlike us, his shapeshifting only lasts a short time,” Slash explained, snatching the shaken human from her grasp.

“No matter, I’ll just make him return to his changeling form,” she retorted, licking her lips as she winked at the human.

“Queens,” Slash said with a roll of his eyes, quickly teleporting them out of the forest. They reappeared in the apple orchard, startling Applejack.

“Where in tarnation did ya’ll come from?” AJ asked, to which Jason just shook his head.

“I’m going to sleep,” he said, trudging past her and into the farmhouse.

“Don’t look at me, I ain’t saying anything,” Slash said. Returning to his disguise, he flew off to the barn, leaving the farmer standing there scratching her head.

***

Slash shook his head as he walked into the library, letting out a groan. Officially, he had been assigned as Twilight’s guard, so he stayed in the library’s guest room.

“Oh good you're back!” Twilight said, looking up from her book. “I was hoping you wouldn’t mind answering a few of my questions?” she asked with a hopeful look.

“Worry not dear Princess, I will answer your questions,” Slash replied, taking a seat across from her. He chuckled as she let out a squeal of joy and gathered her writing supplies.

“Now,” she started, clearing her throat. “You are a changeling king correct?”

“That is correct.”

“And you're not a part of any hive-mind?”

“I am not.”

“So then, what role does a king have?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Kings live outside of hives. When a queen needs to mate, she sends out her drones to find a king. Once one is found, a queen will do everything in her power to woo him.”

“So, kings are more heavily armed and armored because they live solitary lives?”

“Correct.”

“I take it the stinger is for self defense?”

“Correct, but it is also our reproductive organ,” he said, grinning at her.

“O-oh my,” Twilight said as she adjusted her wings, a blush on her face. Slash just chuckled, starting to get into the subject of changeling mating rituals. Oh this was going to be fun.

***

Chrysalis glared at the spot her potential mate had been with a scowl on her face. She had been so close. No! The invasion may have failed but this male was not going to escape her. “I will find you, no matter how long it takes, I will make you mine!” she shouted to the heavens, slamming her hooves on the ground.

Back at the farm, Jason shivered, pulling his blankets tighter around himself.