//------------------------------// // Swapping places and kidnapping plans // Story: I'm a loli?!? // by aterriblewriter //------------------------------// “-Wow…. I did not expect that.-” Rainbow said with a raised eyebrow, having dropped me onto a cloud. Two of my tentacles quickly shot out and sunk into the cloud, causing the cloud to change from its normal white color into an ominous black and solidifying enough for me to sit on it without falling through it. I glared at Rainbow, not too happy that she dragged me out of my home to fly around with her friend, deciding to drop me onto a nearby cloud when she got tired of lugging me around. It was kinda fun at the start, riding on a pegasus's back as she flew around at breakneck speeds, until I almost fell off when she decided to do some loops and rolls. Alice kept frantically screaming in my head, absolutely terrified of being up as high as we were, eventually turning into incoherent babbling before she went quiet. The griffon kept a sharp eye on me whenever Rainbow did some stunts, looking like she respected me when I never lost my grip on Rainbow, my excited yells causing her to smile. “-It is somethin’, that's for sure.-” The griffon hummed in agreement, scratching its beak in thought. “Thank god it's over!” Alice cheered in my head. “I was close to throwing up in here.” “I'm fairly certain ya can't do that in my head.”  “It doesn't help the fact that I felt like doing it.” I shrug and look down at the cloud I'm sitting on, giving it a few pats with my hand. I blink at the black blood-like substance that stained my hand a smoky black, making me frown. The tentacles still haven't retracted from the cloud, all of them, except sylphid, sending excitement down their connection. Rainbow and her friend took their spots on large cloud next to mine, while I tried to figure out how to make mine move. After some experimentation, the tentacles twitched, causing the cloud to gently float forward at a slow pace. I smile, deciding to keep the cloud as my new ride. “Great, at least we won't be falling to our deaths anytime soon.” “Oh, be quiet. Flying isn't that bad.” Rainbow looked at me with a challenging smile, motioning with her hoof. “-Do you think you can make that go faster?-” I shrug and poke a tentacle, it sending amusement down the connection before the cloud sped around the two’s cloud, stopping when it almost hit Rainbow's face. She looked at her friend, who just flared her wings and smiled. “-Looks like we're gonna race.-” She nodded, quickly setting up a starting position with some stray clouds, before making a small track for us to follow. I floated the cloud over to the start, deciding to stand up and ride it like it was Flying Nimbus from Dragon Ball, my tentacles keeping my arms pointed down at the cloud. I grinned at Rainbow and looked down, seeing that we were on the outskirts of town, right above the apple orchard. The griffon flew next to me, somehow flying upside down and giving me a bored stare, me retiring it with a shrug. Rainbow sped back towards us and stopped next to her friend, telling her something that caused her to smile and get ready to race. “-Three!-” I heard Rainbow count down. “Oh, come on! Can't we just go back to the ground? You know, where it's nice and safe!” “-Two!-” “Nope, I'll be sure to treat ya something when we're done with flying.” “-One!-” “It better be ice cream!” “-Go!-” All three of us shot out of the starting spot, Rainbow in the lead while the griffon and I were battling for second place. She frowned and sped up, my cloud easily keeping up with her. After a quick glance in Rainbow's direction, seeing as her friend was a little occupied looking away from us, she grinned evilly at me, before kicking at my cloud, the thing vanishing below me in a puff of smoke. I suppose she didn't like that I was keeping up with her so easily…. I fell screaming, finally realizing how high we were flying, the ponies below looking like growing ants as I got closer to my doom. Sylphid shot out of the back of my dress, stretching out far enough to wrap around another cloud, abruptly stopping my descent and causing my back to feel like it was going to tear from where she was connected. The rest of the tentacles wrapped around the cloud and glowed, its color changing into an ominous blood red before it shot right at me. The cloud engulfed me, it changing shape around me like it was alive. After a few seconds, it formed four large cloud wings on my back. The tentacles sent rage down their connection, quickly disappearing into each wing and causing them to start flying me at an insane speed towards the race. Smiling at the griffon’s attempt to get me out of the race, I cheer and enjoy my flight, not needing to do anything to help fly. It didn't take too long to get to the side of the griffon, her giving me an incredulous look as I passed making me laugh. The tentacles\wings turned me around so I could see the cheater, me giving her the biggest smile I had. “Ya thought ya could get rid of me that easily?” I yelled, before flying after Rainbow. “You’re lucky that I'm nice!” It took some effort to get next to Rainbow, dodging some clouds and random birds as I flew. Rainbow looked at me with some surprise, probably not expecting something to gain wings and keep up with her. She gave me a small glare and sped up, shooting past me with a laugh. I laughed and zoomed next to her again, giving her a small wave before I shot past her and the finish line, cheering at my victory. I did a little victory dance in mid air, before my cloud wings melted and turned back into my cloud seat. Two tentacles retracted into my back, both sending exhaustion down their connection. Rainbow flew over to me and offered her hoof and gave me a begrudging smile, me returning both with a fist bump and a smug look. Her griffon friend showed up seconds later, glaring at me with some respect in that stare of hers. Deciding to get back to the ground, I wave at the two and point down, Rainbow smiling a nodding. “-We’ll have that rematch later, little buddy!-” She yelled as I descended, the both of them waving me goodbye. One I landed, the cloud I was sitting on vaporized as I dropped off the thing. After some thought, I decided to go towards my house, having landed in front of a candy shop a little ways from there. It was a good day to hang out there, a gentle summer breeze bringing smells of whatever is cooking at the various shops. Making my way through the crowds of ponies, I saw a small shop on the corner, a vinyl record and a music note on the sign hanging out front. With a shrug, I went to check out that place, a little excited to find some new music. “You do realize that all of the music is probably in their language, right?” “Meh, it's fine, definitely not the first time I had that problem. As long as it sounds good, I don't really care if I understand what the singer says.” I pushed open the door, a small bell ringing as I walked in. The shop was divided into two sides. The left side had a bunch of records and dubstep equipment on displays haphazardly strewn about, the DJ from the other day behind the counter, jamming out to some music on her headphones. The other side had stringed instruments of all kinds on some organized stands near the walls, a gray pony practicing with her cello. Shrugging, I went over to the new pony’s side, deciding to grab a violin and see if still I remember how to play. I went through some of the notes of Saria's song from Ocarina of time, smiling at the memories of playing that game. It wasn't too long until the grey pony started to add in her own notes to the song, catching my surprised stare with a raised eyebrow. We went on for a few minutes, stopping when I had put down the violin. She nodded at me with a small smile and walked over, After putting down the cello and grabbing an expensive looking violin from behind the counter. “-It looks like she won the contest, Vinyl.-” The DJ confusedly looked at the pony and cocked her head, before letting out a loud, “Ohhhh!” “-That contest? Nopony came, so I thought the thing was off.-” She shrugged, scratching her head with a hoof. “-Strange that she came in at the last second though…. She can't even read, er, maybe, she learned enough?-” She added, looking a little embarrassed. The grey pony blinked in surprise, turning back to a confused me. Putting the violin in my arms, she pulled out a small flyer from her counter with her mouth and showed it to me. “First…. Annual… string…. Something?… contest…. Prize…. An….. Special.... Edition….Platinum…… violin. Huh, cool. Oh, there's more…… Can…. use…. Any… Instrument…. In... Store… Only stringed instruments… Allowed for… Contest…. Song… Must be…an original piece.” I slowly read, coming to the realization that I had unknowingly won the thing. “Heh, I won two things in one day, how lucky can I get?” “-I guess she can read. Just look at her, she's smiling.-” DJ laughed. “-Hmmm…. Did you know she could play?-” “-No, didn't even know.-” She shrugged. “-Though, she looks more like a piano player.-” “Hey, uh, thanks for the violin. But, er, I gotta get going, the voice in my head wants some ice cream and I don't suppose ya have a complimentary case for this thing?” I ask, holding up the instrument, not really wanting to stay and listen to a conversation I couldn't understand. The grey one looked at me and blinked. “-Oh, right, the case.-” She dug around for a little bit, pulling out a black case, a purple treble clef emblazoned on the side. “-Here you go, I suppose I could give you some lessons, on the count of you sounding a little out of practice.-” She smiled at me. “-I'll just have Vinyl bring me over.-” She said with a wink. After putting the violin into its case, I thanked them and walked out of the shop, going in the direction of my home. I had gained a few stares in my direction, most of the gazes directed at my case. Once I got within sight of my house, a strange brown pony stopped me, the mark on his rear an hourglass. “-So, I don't suppose that you're the disruption? Strange….-” He muttered, pulling out a familiar object from nowhere and pointing it at me. “-Void stuff is all over you, hmm…..-” “His voice sounds familiar….” “Yeah, it does…. No, it can't be….” “Who is it?” “The…. The Doctor.” My eyes widened and I gave the thing he was holding a closer look, and sure enough, it was a sonic screwdriver. “No. Friggin. Way!” “Hey, uh, a-are you a time lord?” His eyes widened, giving me a surprised stare. It looked like he understood me. “Um, if you are…. Just, er, leave me out of the whole, “timey wimey wibbly wobbly” bullcrap, please?” I ask him, not wanting my life any more complicated than it has to be. He gave me one long, confused stare. Gently smiling, he nodded, before turning around and running off. Sighing, I walk inside my house and go into the kitchen, cracking out some chocolate ice cream from my freezer. “Alright, now that I know that the friggin Doctor exists here, I'm pretty sure I'll be meeting him again down the road.” I think with a loud sigh, scooping up a mouthful from the tub. “Let's just get you behind the wheel, alright?” “Okay…… What should I do?” “I'll just relax, then you should try to ‘push’ into the front. I'm not really sure if I'm correct on this though.” I closed my eyes, leaning back on my seat. It wasn't too hard to find Alice’s presence in my mind, seeming to reach out towards me. I latched onto the feeling, pulling it to the front and sending myself into the empty slot. It was…. Disorienting, to say the least. My body felt muted, as if I was partially awake. “Did…. Did it work?” I saw my eyes examining my hands, the appendages involuntarily flexing and moving about. Slowly, they grabbed the spoon and scooped up some ice cream. It quickly went into my mouth, causing a loud moan in delight. “Yes!” Alice cheered, arms going up in celebration. “I love you! Thank you! thank you! thank you!” “No need to thank me, you go have some fun.” I smiled mentally, happy that she could have some fun. Meanwhile…..  “Target is back at its nest.” Mismatch spoke to her teammates, eyeing the creature through the window she created. “Strange….. Its demeanor changed….” “What does that mean?” “It’s acting like a whole other being, a very childish one at that.” She noted, seeing the thing throw away the spoon and throw her face in the tub, a stupid little smile on its face. “Earlier, it was calm and collected, it didn't even try to get revenge on the griffon that tried to kill it.” “Strange indeed….” Oculus hummed in thought. “Synapse, do you have any idea why that happened?” She asked said changeling. Synapse shook her head, brows furrowed in thought. “Sigh….. This could be a problem….. Did we get any news from the hive?” Mismatch closed the window, her horn gently glowing. “Well, I did get told of the reason why the changelings that were here left. They were run out of here by an Ursa major, made the stupid mistake of trying to get some love from its cub.” Neuron squeaked in fear, jumping behind Synapse. “U-Ursa?!?” “It's fine, the cave it lives in is over on the other side of the forest.” “Oh thank Chrysalis.” “I've taken the liberty to give the hive your report on the creature.” Mismatch told Oculus. Oculus frowned, giving her subordinate a small glare. “I thought I told you not to tell them yet.” “I felt it was too important to not tell them and, besides, you're going to be famous at the hive! You just found the thing that could keep the hive from starvation for a very long time!”   “Yeah, but, sigh….. It's just a child, we can't just take it and drain the love out of it, we're not monsters.” Oculus sighed again, looking a little tired. “What did they say?” “We are to take it back to the hive, the queen wishes to see the creature herself.” Mismatch informed. “She had even personally requested for it to be brought over to the hive within three days, unharmed.” “Great, just great.” “The second request is to search the old castle that's deeper in the forest, not too far from our cave. The lings at intel have reason to believe that something was left behind on Nightmare's return. That's pretty much everything I was told.” “You can go back to observing the creature, I will take Neuron and go to the castle.” “Awww…. Come on, I really don't wanna go into the creepy forest.” Neuron whined, pointing at Synapse. “Can't you just take her?” Oculus glared at him, causing the guy to slowly walk to the entrance of the cave, a scared expression on his face. “You're more scary than the forest….” Turning to Synapse, Oculus smiled. “While we're gone, you figure out how we will carry all that preserved love back to the hive.” She ordered, Synapse responding with a sluggish nod and a mock salute. Ten minutes later. The duo hadn't had much trouble getting to the old castle, only having some trouble with the bridge. They both stopped for a second when they got within view, the broken down structure still inspiring some awe. They both entered the building through the still open front door, taking care to not make any noise. “Alright, let's split up and search the castle. You take the right side, I'll take the left, meeting up in the middle.” She said. Not waiting for an answer, she confidently took the hallway on the left, causing the small scout to hesitantly walk into the right hallway. Oculus searched the rooms as she went, the feeling of being watched urging her on. When she reached the end of the hallway, there was a fancy looking pedestal in a large room, a strange sculpture by the window in the back. She took a closer look at the pedestal, seeing something small sitting on it. “A key?” She asked aloud, raising an eyebrow at the object. The key was a deep black, a crescent moon painted onto the side. It looked far too big for any lock on a door. Shrugging, she picked it up and threw it into her pack. “Better than nothing, I suppose.” One hour later. The rest of the search turned up not very fruitful, a few strange relics were found and determined useless. Oculus kept the key, her curiosity getting the better of her. She couldn't get rid of the feeling that she was being watched, even after leaving the castle. When they returned to the cave, they started on planning to get the creature. “We can't just take it in broad daylight.” Mismatch told Neuron, looking at him like he was stupid. “I'm telling you, we just need to cloak up and grab her, it doesn't need to be at night!” “That would be stupid.” Oculus glared, not liking the plan. “Let's just grab it when it goes to bed tomorrow. No one goes up into the attic, so we can sneak in, put her in a pod and fly out without any trouble.”