Help! I'm not a changeling!
Chapter 9: "Why can't I remember my name?"
Edited by ShadowBeat. I'm running out of slogans...
A swear or two may be seen somewhere around this chapter. They are very sneaky! ... or not.

Many would assume the dark is evil and nothing else. That its only purpose is to harm others for some selfish reason and whatnot. No matter what you do, dark equals evil and you can't say otherwise because they say so.

Surrounded by nothing more than an empty void, I feel relaxed despite of the scenario I find myself in. I always thought darkness would only bring chaos, and aggression. But looking at this place, how could I ever think of that?

And in this moment, I am in the very presence of natural darkness. I am floating in an empty space, where the said natural embodiment is in control, letting me drift in peace as I relax inside of it.

I feel warm, I feel protected, I feel safe within it. If something provides you a safe environment and you are comfortable in it, how can you possibly classify it as bad? Or evil for that matter? If it a creature, then it is okay to have doubt about its original purpose. But a natural raw power? Nature has never ask anything from us, so why doubt it?

"Is something wrong? Was it something we said for such matter?" said a voice out there. Opening my eyes as I spotted the same darkness I am embracing, I looked around to see the source of the voice. Nothing.

"Thou did, didn't thou?" said that same voice again. A small fragment of fear was taking hold of my heart as I tried to find who was saying that. However, all I could see was darkness. Knowing that this place was filled with things I couldn't comprehend, I attempted to relax using my breathing exercises.

My senses began to lower as my fear diminished. I could feel my heartbeat slowing with the darkness's aura wrapping me like a child. Once I had my five primary senses in check and controlled, I looked around to try one more time.

"Why yes, we are here." I attempted to look around guiding my search by the direction I heard it better. However, it was empty. But there is someone in here, right?

"Thou don't? Tis is a rare incident," it said, recognizing it as a female voice once I heard it a few times, "Most creatures can perceive our presence even if they do try to ignore it."

"Well, I know for a fact that you are either invisible or a fabric of my imagination." I said bluntly, "I'm inclining towards the latter though..."

"How dare thou to say we are a fabrication of thy mind!" she said, with an angry tone filled with venom, "We shall let you know we are merely nothing else but real!"

"Well," I said with doubt and a slight bit of mockery in the back of my mind, "If you are truly real, then you can perhaps appear in front of me."

I heard silence reign the place for a few seconds, only to be replaced to by the female's voice.

As suspected, I waited a few moments for said voice to attempt something as my mind began to wonder where I was. Looking around, I saw the darkness I just defended roaming as I drifted inside of it. I never knew why, but both light and darkness have a gigantic appeal to me. Both forces, despite being power in a different shape, have always brought me comfort when I least thought of it. Maybe the only reason I don't have anything against them must be due to their aid when I was down in many occasions.

Almost everyone I know is afraid of the dark in some way. And I am no exception. But right now? I embrace it with full and wide open arms.

I turned around to spot the voice once again, but instead of expecting a shallow space as usual, I spotted a pony as my fellow changeling friend told me.

And, boy, it was tall! The creature stood at the same size as Chrysalis, bearing a similar dark color coat as her. However, it actually has a dark blue fur coat, almost like forged with midnight, giving it a rare, yet collectable warm feeling to anyone who sees it.

Her mane as well as her tail is... unique to say the least, nothing I have ever seen before. It looks abstract, flowing with something I can't perceive-- there is no wind, so that is scratched for starters--, but real as well. Well, real as magic allows it to be.

Her face is astonishing. It has female features everywhere you looked, but it imposes a regal aura. Her blue eyes could hypnotize any male into submission if used carefully. Good thing I do not find horses unbelievably attractive!

Her body structure reminded me a lot of a horse. I know this is a pony, but I have been told ponies are about the size of one of us, not like Chrysalis. But seeing a pony the size of her just shattered any sort of expectation of normal ponies. If others are like her, I should be more careful if I ever leave the Badlands.

Last, but most curious is the... thing in the back of her... rump. I have no idea what that is. It looks like a crescent moon, but surrounded in a black mark. Whether it is intentional or not is beyond my knowledge.

"Huh?" for the first time since I arrived at this place, I looked at myself and saw the changeling body I woke up in the Badlands, "Oh, you are right."

"What does that mean, changeling?" 'Luna' said as I continued to stare at my foreign body, "Were you expecting to appear as another creature?"

I was about to say yes, a human in fact, but something stopped me in that moment. The whisper was faint, but I believe it said 'No'

"It is okay changeling creature. Dreams can do that to anypony." Luna stated as she smiled. I smiled back and nodded as her explanation carved into my mind. Just one thing though...

"Yes, a dream. As a matter of fact, thou art thy first changeling to have a dream of its own!" she expressed surprised while looking at me with awe, "We are impressed. We have believed changelings could not have dreams until thou proved us wrong."

"Um... thanks?" I replied as tried to comprehend what she just expressed. My mind feels turmoiled for some unknown reason and I can't think clearly. As a matter of fact, I can't remember what was I doing before I arrived at this place... falling asleep I guess.

"Well..." I stammered as I recollected my thoughts, "I was wondering what I was doing before coming here. You know, before I fell asleep in God knows where."

"'God knows where'?" she repeated, looking to remember something, "Only he speaks that way... could it be?"

She proceeded to stare closer into me and squint her eyes. I didn't mind, but she was taking more of my personal space than I would have liked. Luna backed away as she saw a bit of annoyance in my eyes and began surrounding me, like a predator does to a helpless prey. Despite the situation I was, I mentally prepared myself for whatever she planned on doing. However, she didn't jump at me or anything similar. The mare simply studied me, staring at some areas of my body more than others.

"That's right. We, princess Luna, are the owners of the dream realm, as well as the fertility and sex realm!" she answered while placing a hoof on her chest and smiling, "What we are curious about is thy memory of yours."

"Very well..." she stood in front of me with a intrigued expression forming on her face, "Can thou remember thy name, changeling?"

"Well yes!" I replied with confidence, "My name is Ma... Muri... Mau.... ugh... what?"

"Hmph. It seems thou are having memory problems." she stated, tapping her muzzle with a hoof, "It is a normal occurrence for any who crosses our realm, so it does not become too much of a burden for us. In this case however..."

I didn't really listen to the mare in front of me. I was more focused on why I couldn't remember such a simply thing. Shaking any cache memory thought out of my mind, I used many of my existing memories where I recalled using my name or even think of it. But it didn't work. Whenever a thought appeared, it somehow ended with an abrupt interruption or clouding.

"Why can't I remember my name?" I mumbled as I placed a hoof on top of my head, rubbing slighty. Luna must have taken a shock as she proceeded to looked at me with.... well, shock.

"Oh... very well then Fire. Despite not being the one we were looking for, we are pleased to meet you."

"Any idea how he or she looks like?" I said as I approached the mare. Luna seemed to have trouble relocating her thoughts as well. Whether if it is the dream realm affecting or not-- as unlikely as it may be.

"No. The interdimensional quantum space is very complicated. Any creature that happens to cross would simply- ....Fire the Changeling. I must ask you to stop barging into our personal matter. We would like to keep this search by ourselves."

"In any case, we will like to proceed." she chirped bowing a few inches, "If you could possibly ask thou some questions, we would most pleased."

I turned my head sideways and raised an eyebrow, "Uh, sure... but if there any reason for that besides the creature hunting?"

"WHY YES!" she shouted letting out a powerful force from her voice, knocking both my mind and body away. Luckily, for some reason, I stood my ground and remained in my original position, sitting for a change of pace, "Oops. Luna, thou did it again. Yay us."

"Our deepest apologies Fire the changeling!" she stated with worry and regret, "We didn't expect that to happen! Our intentions are not of harm, we swear!"

"It's alright..." I replied rubbing my ears in the process, "I'm not angry at you. I'm more... surprised."

"Yeah! I mean," I explained once the ringing in my head came to a halt, "With a voice as powerful as yours, I'm surprised I haven't been shattered to pieces yet."

Luna's sight turned uncomfortable, almost as if she didn't expect me to say something like that.

"Considering this is a dream, yeah, I did." Getting back up in all four legs, I shook my body to remove the after effects of the force, "With my most recent dreams, I have come to experience some of the wildest imaginations I could ever experience."

"Although, it seems weird that I can remember my dreams and not my personal information..." Placing a hoof on my head and rubbing it with confusion, I stated bewildered, "To top things, they felt so real. A complete disorder but with sense. Almost as they were part of me or simply my imagination. Very wild."

"YEAH! THAT! That is the perfect word for it!" I happily expressed at her, while pointing a hoof at her, "I have no idea how you performed a bullseye on my lost adjective, but you have my thanks!"

"It was... nothing, really." she meekly replied, dismissing my praise with a waving hoof, "We are just doing our job- Oh right, the job."

"Certainly. We must not waste time, for we have little time to spare." she proclaimed, causing almost no sense in what she meant with little time, "Quick! Being a changeling yourself, have you encountered any abnormal events recently in your hive where you reside right now?"

I felt uneasy with her question, my mind unwilling to aid her for some forsaken reason. My heart on the other side, was more than happy to help after helping ME with this doubt about my dreams and the 'Chaos' I have been experiencing. Clearly, she was a stranger to me, even if she was in my dream. Doing the most intellectual option would seem the reasonable thing to do. However, she seemed sincere with her words, as well as probably utterly busy with whatever she had in hands.

In any case, despite my internal struggle, if what she was trying to accomplish was pure of heart, then who was I to stand against her request? Even if I decided to refuse, she could vaporize me into oblivion if she wanted. She entered my dream unlike anyone else I know, so it is very likely she is in control of it as well.

"Alright, let's see..." I recalled from the small amount of recollected memories and tried to remember if anything was out of place, or not normal as far as this world considers normal. There was this one thing though... "Um, I think I have seen one thing or two out of place."

"Truly?" she rejoiced, her eyes expanding in size, which I assume it means she is happy for results, "Pray tell, explain this thing, quickly!"

"Well, in the hive," I explained with self-doubt in my tone, "I felt a dark presence in one of the hallways of the castle."

Luna shook her head forcefully and said something in a foreign language I couldn't understand. Frustrated self talking, I guess?

"That is not important Luna! Focus!" she exclaimed, distracted with something I can't quite put my hoof on, "What else can thou tell us, oh Fire the changeling?"

"Um, well," I added carefully, trying not to give up too much detail, "This dark presence must be normal to them, but I somehow felt pulled towards it. It had a seductive essence, yet dangerous to anyone who dared to approach."

"And?" she hurried as she went into thought for a split second, "Anything else?"

"I have no idea. From I have been told, the hall where this presence was felt resided in the Queen's mother room, Chelsung."

"It is? Well, Luna isn't the exception." I affirmed. For better or worse, I didn't receive a nagging or even an insult back, but instead a big giggle. Wondering why this was the case, I asked her afterwards, "What's so funny, may I ask?"

"Oh nothing... It is simply that a really good friend of us said thy same thing when we had the wonderful opportunity of meeting." she explained. Once she finished, I showed a comprehending stare.

"I guess it must be really common for you." I stated, smiling for some reason. Luna shook her head and looked at me in a relaxed way.

"We're afraid that is not the case. As a matter of fact," she looked away and stared into the dark void surrounding us, "he is one of the few creatures that would say something like that, but that makes him much more special."

"But let's not waste time. I still have some things to- AGH!" she screamed as something caused harm to the mare, making her fall to her four knees and hiss venom at something. Worried about this, I approached the mare with caution and carefully inspect if anything was actually going with her.

I couldn't breathe. The lungs in my body twisted in ways I hadn't thought possible as my throat dried up unbelievably fast. My chest started to ache with my heart demanding to leave my body and my head suddenly gave in, causing me the worst migraine I ever had. I was starting to feel ill and completely immobile. To make things worse, I felt something really familiar embracing me from behind as my vision began to turn darker and darker with each passing second. Using all of my willpower, I somehow remained standing and looking at Luna as a course of electricity surrounded her body, her eyes cringing with the possible pain.

But to no avail, she seemed overpowered by this unknown force. Calling out didn't seem to help and I started to faint away, holding to that little willpower I still had. However, in a small glimmer of light, I resourced to a suicidal idea so ridiculous that it could work.

"HERE GOES NOTHING!" I shouted with a gigantic strain affecting my voice in every way possible. Charging my horn with all of my remaining magic, I shot a massive bolt attack to the mare in despair hoping to counter the electricity affecting her. With the little vision I had, I witnessed how my final resort came into contact with her, causing an electric discharge immediately.

Receiving my own attack in recoil unfortunately, my mustered strength disappeared immediately. Losing every ounce of fight within me, I slowly embraced the inevitable fate and closed my eyes.

And it may have been my mind playing tricks on me, but I think I saw Luna recovering immediately, her eyes glowing white, casting a very bright spell enough to blind me more even more, shouting.

------------------------------------------->Drive<---------------------------------------------
5 MINUTES AGO

"What do you mean that you can't treat him!?" I shouted at Eve as she stared back at me, "He is slowly passing away from internal injuries and you mean to tell me you can't help him!?"

"I'm sorry, but it is not possible!" Eve shouted back at me, making me growl in return, "If we could treat him back to health, we would have already!"

"Don't give me that!" I yelled, anger fueling up my head, "He is curable and that is that!"

Eve squinted her eyes and grunted some insults I couldn't understand, "Don't get me wrong Sir Drive, but we have tried what we can!"

Eve tried to look menacing, but a quick death glare from me placed her back into a cowering situation, "O-on it sir. Let- let me inform the changelings' guild r-right away..."

I winced in pain as I felt a sharp slap from behind with great force, forcing to lean forward. Getting a hold of my disrupted balance, I obligated my head to turn around and spot the source of said pain. Frowning at the responsible changeling, I twisted from my position and yelled in response.

"THAT, was me putting you in your respective place." she responded angrily, giving a hard stare plus a frown, "If you treat my guild like that, it is fair to give you a medicine of your own taste!"

"Would you tone it down old guy!?" she yelled back with a commanding tone, "If I recall correctly, you no longer have power on our guild because you left! So stop giving orders! That is my job!"

"Then do your job better!" I responded, letting some of my anger subside. Ivy simply scoffed at my remark and growled.

"Oh I am. And to answer your complain, they have done what they can! Don't think for a second that we are letting him die!"

I tried responding back, but I felt powerless in my reply. Even if I tried to force them into helping him, maybe they are right. Maybe they have done everything they can. After all, Ivy never says things just because. If she explains something, it would be for the best to listen.

And I am powerless to help out. If they have attempted everything they have, then it's useless for me to try.

"... Alright. I... I'm sorry." I apologized, bowing my head and sighing, "I know they are doing their best. It's just-"

"It's okay." replied Ivy as I tried to calm down, placing a hoof on my shoulder and showing me a compassionate smile in return, "I understand how you feel. We all do. But as long as they do their work, there is nothing for us to accomplish by yelling at each other, and I know you can understand that as well."

"That I do..." I sighed as I sat down with concern filling my head, "I apologize if I caused any trouble."

"Just a little." she replied honestly with a giggle, but caring as well, "But we are happy to see you again. What we didn't expect is to see you again in a situation like this."

Ivy sat down and looked away with shame, "We all know it wasn't your fault. It was a young changeling in a wrong situation at the wrong time. We all know death awaits any moment."

"That's why we train for..." I trailed off. Ivy looked at me with sympathy and smiled when I looked up at her.

Silence reigned over the room as the two of us began to relax, yet still worried. Ivy must be thinking about the event that transcended 1 month ago. It was supposed to be another simple mission. Not a bloody war. But I supposed it had to be done, right?

"ARGH!" yelled one of the many changelings inside the healing room. Ivy and I stood up immediately and turned towards the source of the sound. Looking at each other with concern, we sprinted towards the entrance and started looking around.

Out of the 5 healing changeling in the room, 4 of them were knocked out on the floor, out cold. I could only stare in shock as almost the whole medic squad were on the floor, unconscious for a reason. It was when Ivy nudged me to look in her direction that I noticed the reason why the medics were down. It was the kid.

His whole body was covered in an aura that could only be described as the magic outburst he had a week or so. I knew the magic of Fire was surprising, but this was right down ridiculous! With this kind of power, the puppet should not have been a problem! But why did it decide to activate now? Is it mentally active or did these goofs touch something to cause it?

No, that can be the case. Were that the case, this magic feature would have been activated in the fight.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Eve struggling near the table where Fire was residing, almost as if the magic was overwhelming for her. Using a portion of my magic, I pulled her towards us.

"I have no idea! We looking for a way to suppress his magic in order for us to operate his internal struggles!"

"I take it that said idea didn't go as planned." responded Ivy as she continued to endure the magic's pressure.

Her talk was short as a indirect blast from Fire put her to sleep. I looked at Ivy with awe and bewildered attention as I tried to comprehend the current situation.

"Out of all moments...!" Ivy shouted as she gritted her sharpened fangs in annoyance. She sprinted towards him and used a shield break spell in order to break through. Her efforts worked as the shield was shattered and Ivy entered. However, a drawback followed after as Ivy was shoved outside of the aura with great inertia to knock her out. Luckily, I got hold of her in midair with trouble and brought her back to me.

"I know! It's annoying! But it is the only known way to stop this! I just need to get close enough and I will be capable of turning him off!"

Ivy launched herself towards the kid once again to attempt shutting him down. Performing the same act as before, Ivy found herself again breaking the shield and breaking through. However, the same scenario happened all over again and Ivy was seen launched for a second time. Prepared as before, I pulled her again with problems, but safely right next to me.

"The first time!? I thought it was just an outburst! Not a whole aura protecting him!"

"Would you feel safe knowing that you are time bomb that could set off at any given time?!"

"I told her about it and I personally volunteered to look for a way to cancel said spontaneous outburst!"

I gritted my teeth as I began recollecting my thoughts. If he has a stop button, then it is logical to use that! But since Ivy can't get close enough, it would hard to even apply the right spell at the right time. I looked at the kid once again and began processing the given situation.

Ivy knows how to cancel the shield around him and pull off a 'trick', a spell, that can stop Fire's situation. But the event is harder than before and she can't get close enough in order to shut it down. She gets launched back every time Ivy tries to get close to him, and could get really hurt if left alone. That is where I come in.

My magic still feels weird after that puppet's battle, but I can still pull a powerful spell or two when needed. However, knowing Ivy's magic, it would not be enough to break the barrier and hold long enough. If I did try it, Ivy would be launched again and since I was focused on the barrier, nopony would be capable of catching her, either leading to her unconsciousness or really nasty bruise.

The other option would be to apply the 'trick' spell on him myself, while she holds the barrier with her magic. But what worries me the most is my own magic. I'm confident that one powerful spell wouldn't affect me that much, but how much do I need to pull it off? Not to mention that I haven't healed from my previous injuries. Given the current situation, if said aura managed to hit me, it would only reopen the stitches and healing spells, causing an internal bleeding. I would be the one in trouble and being old doesn't help either.

Killing is the last thing I want to do. Absolutely not a good idea. However, back up would take some time or magic to get here and Ivy said it herself. Fire is a ticking time bomb right now. By the time they get here, it would probably be too late. Even if it weren't the case, it would be too risky.

Each plan has the same ratio of failure and perhaps even more dangerous bets. If I don't choose right now, then he could....

"Why are you asking me that in a moment like this? .... Oh no, you are not going in there!"

"Yeah right, old fella! Leave it to me! I'll take care of this! Go be useful for once and call for backup!"

"Of course. I know I can do this alone, but you are going to insist of helping so much that I will probably submit in the end. Might as well just do it. I hate doing this with you, but it seems there is no other choice. "

"Obviously. It was expected. And listen closely, this is what you need to do once you come in contact with Maurice."

"Good, now listen! You need to perform an Exbentus spell, right where his X scar lies."

"Perfect. I know you haven't healed yet, but I... I need you to hold on as long you can, despite how much I'm against the idea. Just be wary, if you try to strain yourself, I'll pull you out of there!"

"You and I know the consequences. We are trained for it everyday. Just tell me when to go."

".... Fine. Wait for his next magic blast, dodge it and run like Tartarus. That's the perfect time to enter."

Doing as told, I prepared my whole body for the trial as we both waited for the next magic blast to show. Each seconds feeling like an agonizing minute, I mentally prepared myself for whenever danger decided to make its next move. Time seemed to slow down as we kept waiting, making each moment more painful than the other. As the aura around Fire began to twirl on its own, we knew the moment of action was close. Closer than known.

I dug my hooves firmed into the pavement and prepared my still injured body for action. Self doubts came into mind as I remained still, making my movements sluggish more than I knew. But the idea of saving a young changeling when I couldn't last time fueled my heart with determination, making my mind more set than ever.

Rushing like told, I sprinted towards the kid's location and focused all of my attention to any upcoming blast.

Foretelling the next attack, I glided in the air with the help of my injured wings and dodged the blast with ease. Well, I may have pushed my wings a bit to their limits with that jump, but that doesn't matter now. I know what to do.

Reaching where Fire was, I expected the aura to harm me as soon as I entered. After all, it was made of his hive magic, and if I'm not wrong, his magic rejects ours with a great force.

I embraced myself as I came into contact with Fire's aura, unaware of the effects that it might do to me. Having my left hoof as first touch, I immediately felt the effects of the magic. It was...

"What kind of magic is this?" I thought to myself, trying to adjust to this new sensation, "It clashes with ours, but it feels like a virus taking hold of my body..."

"Drive! What are you doing!? Snap out of it! You'll get yourself killed if you stand there for too long!!"

I didn't notice that I stood inside the aura motionless until Ivy called out for me. Thinking why that happened, I shook off those thoughts and headed to Fire's active body and hopped on top of him. Hoping for best, but expecting the worse, I charged the Exbentus spell in a flash and applied pressure to his chest, where the iconic scar in a shape of an X was originally placed.

"Charge!" I yelled outside the telecommunication channel and delivered the spell with utter precision. Performing an Exbentus spell may be exhausting, but it is really useful to restore hearts back their original heartbeat. Knowing I used the right amount of magic on him, I looked at him one more time expecting the aura and Fire's outburst to fade away.

Applying more raw power on a second Exbentus, I charged it a second time despite my body screaming out in pain. My old body's limits were very near to collapsing into a big magic discharge and my senses were slowing fading. Even so, I had an objective and I was planning to pull through, no matter what.

Completing a second Exbentus spell on the top of my horn, I felt my muscles tensing and reacting to the excessive amount of magic I was holding. Reenacting a powerful spell is exhausting, let alone to do it twice. However, I was very determined. I wasn't going to give up like that. If a changeling needed me, whether foreign or part of the family, I just knew that I had to help.

Not wanting to delay the process any longer, I used all of my willpower to deliver the final blow.

Help! I'm not a changeling!

by Ashardu

9: Why can't I remember my name?