//------------------------------// // 27 Transformation // Story: The Queen is Dead // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// David - 26th of Plantation ‘15 EoH - David I love an alien bug-girl. That’s a weird thing to know about yourself. That you can genuinely love someone that’s not your own species. It has to be the real thing too, because with everyone else I had been able to push them out of my mind and move on even while working with them for years after beating my emotions down. But when it came to Jade, I couldn’t do it. A week into our little trip is all it took for me to start liking her. Not much more than as a friend at first, but there had been some love none the less. That was pretty scary for me, I didn’t know what to even do with feelings for someone. Hell, until Lightstride told me about changeling’s lifespans, I thought she was underage! There can’t be many people who felt relief upon learning that the alien chick they liked was in fact an adult for her species. Or maybe there are. Ponies and changelings are not from a one-race world like this old Dog. Who knows what is common here? I certainly don’t. To be honest I don’t really care about any of that. Jade is a resourceful, determined, and smart if under educated person who wears her heart on her sleeve. That heart had just the right sort of parts to it to prevent me from ignoring her. All of the little things from her smiling when I showed her something new, to the way she didn’t object to being bait to save the world was why I loved her. That’s probably why I couldn’t push those feelings away. I’d kept hoping that one day my brain would click and go ‘Oh yeah, she’s not a human.’ and that would be that. Then I could just be her friend. But no. A second head voice always replied to the first one with ‘I know! Isn’t that awesome?’ and the first one would sigh and go ‘Yeah… It is.’ Despite all of that internal conflict, I was nothing if not stubborn and determined to will power my way into her friend zone, thus safely avoiding a relationship. Thus protecting someone I liked from winding up attached to the bad luck magnet which was my life. Thus ensuring the person I loved could continue being happy. But that was the old me, wasn’t it? Sure I was running for my life from a swarm of shape changing insectoids out for blood, but this time there was a reason behind it. It wasn’t just bad luck, a conscious entity had decided to put me in this position. Honestly, that wasn’t typical of my life over the last five years. I’d been on the receiving end of racism sure, but can you blame people for having a species that usually enslaves, rapes, and/or eats them? Nope. Sure I’d been homeless, but I’d gotten to travel and had a good time of it. I had always found some way to survive and only gone hungry once or twice. I’d even gotten together a pretty nice collection of useful personal belongings, all of which I still had in the cart I was even now pulling to a train station to take a train to a place I had been assured I could finally get that home I’d been wanting. Hell, I had learned to conjure fire and ice with actual motherfucking magic! How do you even rate that on a list of good fortune to come your way? David one, rest of humanity zero. That’s how. My life didn’t suck anymore, so I didn’t have that excuse to push someone away. That had made it hard to reject my feelings for Jade towards the end of our little ‘cruise’ to Zebrica. Then she decided to become pretty. My fucking god, if you love someone when you think they look ‘just okay’ and then suddenly they go all ugly duckling on your ass and transform into one of the most beautiful things you have ever seen, then in the very moment you are stunned by their transformation say ‘I love you.’... I don’t think a Shaolin Monk would have had enough willpower to control their emotions under those circumstances. I couldn’t focus on anything happening around me because of the shock I’d put my own brain into by accepting Jade’s advances. I was walking through an ultramodern take on ancient Egypt and Babylon populated by meter high talking zebras, and all I could think about was the fluffy bug girl perched atop my cart. The one thing that made sense to me was why I could like her to begin with. The first time I’d seen a pony, I thought they were an animal. An easy thing for a human to misunderstand, we’ve never seen a quadrupedal person. That mistake didn’t make it past being taken to that first pony’s village. Sure, one gray and black talking pony in a place filled with monsters is just a talking animal. But a whole village with professions and hobbies? That’s a people, and there was no mistaking that. I’d had five years to get used to quadrupedal persons. So at least I wasn’t busy trying to work out how I could love Jade. She wasn’t an insect, she was a person who happened to also be an insect. A silky, shiny, surprisingly soft insect with the most beautiful eyes of anyone I’d ever seen, who likes me! I closed my eyes and groaned, shaking my head slowly. God dammit Dave, snap out of it before you’re blindsided by the enemy. This is the entire reason you're told Jade to hold off until Equestria! A plan she agreed was for the best. She’s such a smart per- No! Focus! Safety first. Then… uh… whatever you do to romance someone. Yes. That. Perhaps dinner and a show. The movies always had the first date being a dinner. Oh! Perhaps they had movies in Equestria. I could take Jade to see something nice, and she would be amazed at what would be her first movie. Yes, that’s certainly romantic. Son. Of. A. Bitch. Focus! I took a deep breath and listened to the buzz of the crowd around me, while keeping my eyes locked on Lily as she led the way to the train station. He had been there yesterday to scout ticket prices. As I watched her walk I couldn’t help but remember that ponies hindquarters were surprisingly human shaped. So much so that I didn’t feel weird about finding Jade’s rump cu- “God damnit!” I growled out loud. Several ponies and zebras nearby jumped looking at me fearfully before realizing I wasn't attacking and going back to their business. Lily turned her head to look back. “Was?” she asked quizzically. “Nothing. I just can’t concentrate on anything right now.” I answered, grumbling a little. “Uh, Dave, are you okay?” Jade asked from her cart top perch. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I answered, “Just trying to focus on the task at hand.” “What language are you even speaking?” Light asked curiously from off to my left. I facepalmed hard enough for the back of my head to sting. How the fuck had I not realized I had been speaking in English just then? I took a moment to make sure I had the correct language in mind, took a deep breath and announced, “I’m okay. Just trying to put my life back into order.” “What’s wrong?” Jade asked in a concerned tone. I turned to look at her and instantly eardrooped. That red pegasus form was just so boring… It’s not like anyone was going to recognize her now. She could be herself- “Uh… Well… Just trying to take my mind off you and focus on the task at hand.” I admitted, figuring a lie was a shitty thing to do to a loved one. “Ah!” Lily exclaimed in a knowing voice, “Die alte ‘Gehirn stecken am geil modus’. Hehe!” I slowly turned to face the little smart ass. “Lily… Halt deine Fresse.” I grumbled. She snickered and stuck her tongue out at me playfully. “Wait,” Jade asked curiously, “First, is he finally being a mare all the time? Second, what do you mean by what you said?” Light stopped mid step, her head snapped to face Lily, one eye widened while one shrank, “You’re a colt!?” Lily blushed deeply and kicked one hoof against the cobbled road. “W-Whol, biologically ja… I’m nicht- Er, Biologically yes, mentally unsure. I’m still deciding… Leaning towards mare.” “You’re a colt?!” Light repeated, face entirely frozen in an expression pure confusion. Lily sighed and shook her head slowly, “Just… ugh… buck it. No, I’m a mare, they’re joking.” “Oh!” Light said, “You're trans! I just… You even smell female! Where did you get the work done? I’ve been wanting to get some smaller flanks. You know, streamlining, reduce drag. You must have found the best surgeon in the world!” The deadpan expression on Lily’s face combined with the seething irritation in her twitching eye made me want to laugh. But I didn’t, because I didn’t want to light that powder keg. “This is how I naturally look.” Lily explained in an aggressively weary tone, “I’m tired of talking about this to everyone I meet who finds out I’m not biologically a mare. I like girl things. I act mostly girly. I enjoy girl clothes. I’m not sure if I’m transgender, but I know I like crossdressing. Telling people this over und over und over is very aggravating. I have decided to be female all the time to prevent this exact situation. Please never talk about this again unless you’re asking me on a date und my sex organs are something to discuss due to preferences you may or may nicht have. Okay?” Light’s confused expression melted away, replaced by a look of understanding. “Alright. Sorry, I -er… well, I’m sure you understand how surprising it is for someone.” “Ja. I do.” Lily said turning back to the direction we had been walking, “I’m sure you understand I’m tired of dealing mit surprised people every day.” “Totally.” Light said with a nod. “So then, how much further to the train station, sis?” I blinked in surprise. The way Light had emphasized sister hadn’t mean in tone, it had been accepting. Even for ponies that was impressively respectful of someone else. Lily’s ears perked up into their normal happy positions the instant she heard the word too. “Not much further.” As we resumed our walk I realized that Light and Lily's moment there had pushed the incessant thoughts about Jade out of my mind. Instantly fearing them flooding back from realizing that, and also that I hadn’t answered Jade’s other question, I quickly looked over my shoulder into Jade’s currently ugly-by-comparison eyes and said, “Right, what I meant earlier is I was trying to focus on getting us to safety, but I couldn’t because I kept thinking about you being… well you. Light’s confused face snapped me out of it though. I didn’t know pony faces could even warp like that.” “Heh… ja. We can make pretty weird faces.” Lily commented. Jade said telepathically while giving me a wink and a grin. I raised an eyebrow at her. She said, blushing lightly. “Huh…” I mused, giving her an embarrassed shrug, “You know, I came to the same conclusion, only uh… flip the species around.” Lily winced. “Oh Faust nein! Light! They’re a couple und only one of them is telepathic!” Light groaned. “Oh… just… no… This will be so awkward...” I felt my ears droop as the embarrassment piled up. Jade said with a silent giggle, I thought curiously. Jade commented. I teased. Jade said, ears drooping. I commented. Jade exclaimed eagerly. I thought, frowning as I had a question come to mind, she answered. “Okay, there’s the train station.” Lily announced apprehensively, interrupting my train of thought. Looking up I saw her pointing with a hoof towards… an entire train yard. How did that sneak up on me? Right. Girlfriend mindspeach. Better question, why had Lily’s voice been apprehensive? “What’s wrong?” I asked in a casual tone. “Uh well…” Lily turned around slowly, “I’m not too concerned because I know you’re a practical person. We have a small problem, but I’ve sort of already solved it.” I raised an eyebrow curiously. “Uh, then how do we have a problem?” Jade and Light asked together. Lily bit her lip for a moment, then began to explain. “When I checked the prices the other day, I thought it would be gut to ask about well… David, you know how most Diamond Dogs are. I know we don’t let them immigrate into Germany, und there are also travel restrictions for dangerous species there too. I thought Zebrica might be the same.” I sighed, ears flattening in irritation. “They won't let me get a ticket will they?” “Nein.” Lily admitted. “But-” “How exactly did you ‘solve’ this problem?” Jade asked suspiciously. “Why didn’t you mention this sooner? We could have helped solve it.” I said, grumbling as I tried to push the irritation of being thought dangerous out of my mind. “Oh!” Lily gave me a bright smile, it was pleased with herself, but also friendly, “Jade hatching made me forget until a few minutes ago. I was going to tell you today since I had my solution ready. Sorry.” “Eh, understandable.” I said acceptingly. “What’s your solution?” “Well, I’ve been thinking about immigration issues since a few days into our travels. Equestria has three Diamond Dog clans und they cause all sorts of problems… They are not citizens.” Lily said with a frown, “So I thought Equestria might not let a Diamond Dog in. You’re not… You’re not a bad person so I decided to help you. It took me until a few days ago, und also a lot of help from Ändrin, but I found a way to let you be a pony when you want to be one.” “Wait, what?” I asked, dropping to one knee to get onto Lily’s eye level. “I said, I found a way to let you be a pony when you want to be.” she repeated. “How?” Light asked for me. “Yeah, I thought you said it would take you a year to change someone's species.” I said slowly. The idea of becoming something else had intrigued me since Lily mentioned she could in theory change someone's species. Not only because it would remove the race issues, but because half the god damn creatures here could fly and I couldn’t. “Ja, under normal methods it would take a year. Maybe longer.” Lily confirmed, “But, I realized that there is one species that can do it in a second.” “Changelings…” Jade said to herself softly. “You mean you figured out how we shift?” Lily nodded, “Ja! It wasn’t hard with you to be an example for me. Biomancy is my talent, I’ve learned how lots of biological processes work by watching them at work. While changing a species is hard, making a few small organs und making them work with existing ones is easy… at least... it is for me.” Lily turned her attention back to me, “I should, if my spell works properly, be able to give you a changeling's shifting abilities… but… Er… We could only figure out how to let you do a pony. I don’t think it’s possible to enable you to do anything other than a single pony shape. Upside, you could be a pony anytime you wanted, und also a Dog anytime you wanted. Downside, because you’re not an emotovore, changing will make you very hungry.” Huh. Well… That was an idea. “Is it safe?” Lily blushed and gave me an apologetic frown. “Uncharted waters. I designed the spell for you, it might not even work on anyone else.” I turned to look at Light and Jade, “Okay, that’s one idea. Anyone got another?” Jade shook her head. “No.” Light frowned for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face before she shook her head, “I got none. Sure I could use a contact to smuggle you into Equestria… But if you want to live there being a Dog would be a problem. Not if you could shapeshift though, the ponies would just think you were a changeling, and Equestria’s pretty accepting of them now.” I nodded slowly. “I don’t have a plan ether. Now, Lily, you are one hundred percent sure that I’ll be able to change back right? I like having hands.” “Nein, more like ninety eight percent.” Lily admitted. “You’re taking this better than I thought.” I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “Well… at least you’re honest. Do you at least know if this could kill me?” Lily nodded, “Ja, the chances of you dying are very small. It’s more likely you’ll take the grafts but reject them over time and need surgery to remove them before- Uh… Eighty percent chance you’re fine, eighteen you get sick later, one you get sick now, und one you die.” I frowned grimly. “I’m a medic Lily. I know how hard it is to graft in foreign tissue. That seems very optimistic.” She beamed me a smile, “It’s not foreign, it will be made with your DNA! But you body still may reject it if I don't get the sequence prefect.” Oh, well that actually was a lot better. I mulled it over for a few more minutes. I honestly couldn’t think of any better idea. We had to take the train, and they didn’t let Dog’s board the train. If Lily was right I could turn back whenever I wanted to, and with any luck I’d be a pegasus. “Ah what the hell, I’ve been transformed once before. How long will this take?” I asked. “About a minute.” she answered instantly. “R-really?” I asked raising an eyebrow. “Ja. Complex spells don't take much more time than simple ones. We can do it now, here even. I don’t need anything special.” Lily said casually. A bit too casually. She was trying to put me at ease. There was a risk she wasn’t telling me about… but what? Screw it, she was my friend, and I trusted her. “Alright, hit me.” I said. “Uh, okay?” Lily said with a confused expression. Then she drew back her right hoof and punched me in the shoulder. “Ow…” I grunted, pretending it had hurt at all. “Lily, that’s an expression. It means do it.” “Heh… Sorry.” She apologized amid Light and Jade’s laughter. “Actually, wait a moment!” I exclaimed, realizing something extremely important as Lily cleared her throat. Turning to Jade I asked, “Are you okay with this?” “Yes.” She said amid giggles. “Just like that?” I asked raising an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah.” She replied with a grin. “You’re okay with me becoming a pony?” I asked again. “Yeah!” She rolled her eyes, “David, what am I?” “Ah… right.” I said slowly feeling a wave of stupid slamming into my brain. Of course your shapeshifting girlfriend is fine with you shapeshifting! Why wouldn't she be? “My best friend pupated before I did. He became a blanket for me once.” Jade quipped to drive her point home further. “Alright Lily, pony up.” I said, using the pun to bolster my spirits. “Nein! Bad!” Lily shouted, waving a hoof at me accusingly. “It’s my revenge for your species naming a city Cloudsdale.” I griped. “I swear to god if it’s populated by Clydesdale pon-” “I’m going to cast before you use another pun.” Lily interrupted. Lily’s horn flared blue, my vision whited out, and I felt someone stick a billion sewing pins into my spine. My vision slowly cleared at the same time my other senses came back. I seemed to be laying on my side in the street. “Oooowww…” I groaned. Step one was to get back up. Step two was to bitch at Lily for not giving me warning. I twisted, slowly pushing myself up onto my hands and- Make that hooves and other hooves. I turned as best I could to get a look at myself. Unfortunately I was really stiff, and all I could make out was my fur color was the same rusty red. “Oh good!” Lily exclaimed eagerly, “Autonomic reflexes are working!” “The what?” Jade asked, from her positions standing over me and looking concerned. “It’s… complicated. Just be glad he has them, if he didn’t we’d be teaching him to walk just like a foal.” Lily explained. “Also uh… things your body just does on it’s own wouldn’t be working… so… things!” Huh. Pony hearing was really inferior to Diamond Dog hearing. I could barely distinguish the conversations around us from each other. Eye sight was way better though, it looked like Diamond Dogs were a bit colorblind as everything seemed much more saturated and I swore the streets didn’t have a pinkish hue to the stone work a moment ago. “I don’t get it.” Light commented. “Why did his clothes change with him?” “Uh… magic?” Lily asked in the feeble tone of an intellectual who had no idea. The stiffness started to fade away, allowing me to turn my head and- “Ack! Directional… smells!” I awkwardly exclaimed as a dumpster behind Lily aligned with my nose, and I instantly realized ponies smelled things in a manner similar to sight. Jade giggled, bringing one hoof to her mouth, “Yeah that is a weird sense isn’t it? I’m glad you’re okay, David.” I decided to breath through my mouth. Fortunately my body complied. Okay, good! Magic made it think-it do-it just like a normal body. Good to know. “Lily,” I growled, “That hurt like hell!” She frowned, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would hurt. Perhaps sting a little, or itch but-” “Ma’am, did you just force that Changeling to transform against their will?” A suddenly appearing Zebra in a city-watch-green cloak demanded. “Uh, well, technically yes.” Lily said shyly. The Guard turned to me, eye hidden behind his silver helm’s visor, “Do you wish to press charges sir?” That was illegal? Interesting thing to know! But also, avoiding the law was a priority here. I quickly shook my head, “No need officer. I got stuck, and my friend here just lent me a ha-hoof is all.” The guard nodded and gave Lily a glare before walking back off towards the train station. “Alright, but don’t cause anymore trouble, Germane.” Lily nodded and nervously shuffled her hooves on the street for a few moments. I couldn’t blame her, that guard seemed to have teleported right over her shoulder. “So… What exactly am I?” I asked everyone in general. “Unicorn. Same red fur, creamy white mane and tail. Kinda plane.” Light grunted. “I was hoping pegasus…” “You and me both.” I reached up with a hoof to feel for a horn and stumbled forward slightly. “Shit!” “Bend your hind legs a bit when you do that.” Jade said helpfully. Her eyes brightened suddenly, “Oh! You have a cutiemark too! It’s a shield with a little red cross on it.” “Thanks for the tip.” I replied, doing as directed before trying again, this time succeeding in feeling a short horn on my forehead. Not only did I feel it in my horn as I had expected, but I also felt it in my hoof. This was extremely confusing because I wasn’t feeling the ground with my other hooves. “H-how do these even work?” I asked wishing I had a mirror. “I-I’m going to go get us tickets… You two fill him in.” Lily said, still a bit shocked. Jade gave her a nod, “Okay, we’ll be right here.” “Your sense of touch only works through your hooves while reaching for something with one.” Light commented. “Okay. Now, how the fuck do I pick something up?” I asked in as dead serious of a tone as I could manage. “Uh… seriously?” Light asked raising an eyebrow at me. “Light, he’s had hands for his whole life so far.” Jade pointed out in my defense. Thank you sweetie, you're the be- No! Bad brain, stay out of that black hole of attention! Jade turned back to me, took a few things from the cart and proceed to show me how to lift things. It was far easier than I expected. Touch hoof to thing, flex hoof slightly to cup thing as much as possible, thing successfully gripped. Hell with a little work I could even manipulate things a bit. Not as good as with fingers, but good enough to turn the page of a book, maybe even pick up just a specific coin. By the time Lilly returned, I was doing well enough to put things into a bag and button the bag bag up. All in all, it was basically like manipulating things with mittens on. Not hard, just a bit annoying. As Lily walked up she cleared her throat, “So uh… Good news and bad news.” I sighed a long weary sigh. “What?” “Well, I got us onto the next train. It leaves in twenty minutes. But… Uh… Remember that Neighponese ship? It was dropping off soldiers, und a whole platoon booked the passenger part of this train solid. So we will be riding in a boxcar… With some of their cargo und an engineering team.” Lily said in a serious tone. “Uh, did you pay already?” Light asked. “Ja. Why?” Lily asked with a frown. “Because we could have just waited an hour and taken the next train…” She said giving Lily a deadpan stare of irritation. “Oh…” Lily admitted, blushing shyly. “I didn’t think of that…” I instinctively facepalmed. There was a sound like someone had banged two coconuts together and a blinding flash of pain in my skull. “Ahhh! Fucking Christ!” It was as if someone had made shards of glass from angry wasps and stabbed me right in the eyes with them! Light erupted into snickering laughter, “Oh, my, Celestia! Right on your own horn!” Lily bit her lip to hide her laughter, “D-David. This is why we ponies do that slowly.” Jade quickly wrapped me in a hug. “How about on the train I tell you things to not do in this shape?” “That’s an amazingly good idea.” I groaned, rubbing the side of my head to try and make the flashes of red go away. “Another good idea… Lily, how do I change back?” I asked giving her a pleading look. “Uh, you should stay like that for at least the train ride.” Lily pointed out. “Yeah, I know.” I grunted. “Still, how?” “Just think about it und reach for your magic.” She answered. “Unless changelings do something specific.” Her eyes widened a little, “Uh! Because you're changing is based off their magic I mean!” The fuck was that about? “You’ll want to picture how you want to look too.” Jade pointed out helpfully. I had a feeling there was a lot to learn about this body. Just because I had a grip on the basics didn’t mean that there weren't any other painful surprises in store. I nodded, “Okay. Simple enough I guess… So, Jade, hon… Please start talking before I do something else to give myself an even bigger headache.” “Of course, sweetie.” Jade replied with a smile. "First thing's first, don't hit your horn!" "You don't say..." I sighed. "Oh! When she's done with that, maybe since you have a unicorn's body, I can show you how telekinesis works!" Lily said eagerly. "We'll have three days on the train to practice." "That sounds like a great use of our time." I said honestly, still blinking away throbbing pain. "How about you lead us on to the boxcar? Oh.. and can someone help me pull? I dont think this body can do it alone." "Yeah sure, I can lend a hoof." Light offered, moving to grab one of the handles with a foreleg. Lily nodded, "It's number twenty two. Right over there I think." Lily said pointing into the train yard. "Cool, lead on... I'm just going to see about getting rid of this head ache." I grumbled taking the other handle. "Oh... Uh.. that's going to be there until at least nightfall..." Lily commented. "Sorry..." Great... Brand new body and you immediately give it a headache. Ah well, at least with this new ability I had a shot at a happy life in Equestria free of racist dicks. Over all things were looking up!