“Uh, guys?” Mismatch spoke up, gaining the other three’s attention. “The magical interference is gone and, uh, well, would you like the good news…. or the bad?”
Oculus sighed, shaking her head. “The bad first.”
“The creature is at the library not far from her house, the, er, princesses are there. They look like they are discussing something important with the librarian.”
“Just wonderful! What’s next? A full squadron of the princess's elite guard?” Neuron yelled hysterically, Synapse smacking him when he ran next to her. “Thanks…..”
“The good news?”
“Oh! It looks like it's going to go back to its house, the caretaker is carrying it on her back while it's asleep. Oh, and the magician pony is coming along too.”
“Alright, everyling!” Oculus yelled with command, every changeling in the room snapping to attention. “We have to get this done tonight. Mismatch and I will be the two to get it out of town, less trouble with my cloaking spells when there are less things to cover. Neuron and Synapse, you two will be carrying the preserved love and destroying any traces of us being here. If the princesses are going to get involved, which they probably are, they will be using the best trackers they can find, so be thorough! We will be back in a little bit.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Awww, with her…..?”
Synapse glared at Neuron, before giving Oculus a salute.
Midnight, at Dakota's house.
Everything was quiet as the two scouts entered through the attic window, quickly going downstairs after some listening for any sounds coming from downstairs. Oculus led Mismatch to their target’s room, getting ready to wrap it in a cocoon.
“Awww…. It's kinda cute.” Mismatch quietly cooed.
“That's what I thought when I first saw it.” Oculus agreed, her mouth starting to drip a glowing green goo. “Leff dif shtarted.” She slurred, starting to wrap their heavily sleeping target in the substance.
It was over quickly, the creature not moving an inch while they both worked, their result causing it to look like it was frozen in place inside of a crystal, an almost serene expression on its sleeping face. Quietly, Oculus levitated it onto her back, the both of them leaving the same way they entered.
Meanwhile, with the princesses.
“Sister, do you have any idea what those things are?”
“Hmmm…. I believe they are what Dakota has in her back. Though, they are smaller than what she has.” Celestia said, looking closer at the squirming things in the jar. “I could pass these to the ponies at R&D, have them take a good look at these.”
“We don't think that would be wise, dearest sister.” Luna shook her head. “The journal must have information on those creatures, it would be unwise to give this ‘are and dee’ anything that could be dangerous.”
Celestia sighed, looking at the cover of the journal, the thing looking like it had seen better days, splotches of blood marring the cover. “I did give it a brief look over on our way back, the writing in there is barely legible. One of the parts I made out, thanks to Spoon’s translation notes, were the details of that mechanism in Dakota's back.” Celestia shuddered. “He wanted her to be completely loyal to him….”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“The device manipulates the mind of the subject, keeping it docile and loyal, seemingly overwriting the original personality and most of the negative memories he or she may have. The other function is that it needs to be wound once a month, or she will be shut down. A few more pages in, he wrote how it made Dakota see him as her mother….”
“That’s monstrous!”
“He truly was a monster.” Celestia agreed. “Another passage revealed some other things, there were other victims of his experiments, I don't know how many.” She yawned, looking tired. “I think I'll just retire for the night, you can look through it if you want.” She told her sister, before walking to the door, stopping as she remembered something. “Oh! One last thing, how's Moonshine?”
Luna sighed, glaring at the journal like she had nothing else to blame. “It’s….. still that blade she made. The cursed thing just won’t change back, it’s almost like it wants to stay that way.”
Celestia chuckled and left the room, just in time for a cushion to hit the door.
Luna growled in annoyance, upset that her sister had to bring that up. Turning back to the book and notes, she started to slowly decipher the book…..
Day 10
I've finally figured out the means to transfer my mind into a new body…..
I already have a suitable vessel to inhabit, the only problem is that the means of transfer won't put the vessel's current mind in my, then empty, body. I believe I will need a third, preferably a little girl, might as well get some amusement out of this situation.
As a side note, he keeps calling me Dr. Crazy….. Funny.
Luna frowned at the entry, disturbed at what she just read, before shaking her head and continuing.
Day 17
The mind transfer was successful, albeit there were a few complications. The vessel's mind was sent to the girl, as I suspected, but the both of them seem to be clashing beautifully, the expressions on her half consciousness face were just fascinating to watch.
My new body keeps giving me memories of strange creatures….
Luna turned a shade of green, but continued reading.
Day 20
After some experimentation on some new subjects, I've made some new organisms. I believe I will call them spirits, on the account of their production. Strange, the only viable candidates for the process were mothers…...
The first one was implanted into her back, it being the first step to transforming her into a facsimile of the creature I keep seeing. She did live through it, her mental state seems to have the made the male as the dominant one.
He actually asked me for his body back! The broken expression on the girl's face made it even more funny!
It was hours later until I came back to check on her. The girl was back in control and babbling about her dead mother, crying and screaming for her. She had even argued with herself! This might actually be a problem…..
The rest of the page showed diagrams on how to make these ‘spirits,’ the things looking similar to the tentacles. They were made from other people of her kind, Luna almost growling in fury at the thought of more people experimented on by this monster.
After a while, he wrote about how he wanted to make her into some kind of vessel for some kind of necromantic magic, similar to a phylactery, the only difference being, it could defend itself and listen to commands. At one point, he decided he needed a failsafe, just in case she became violent, hence the device in her back. It was the first of its kind, it made out of spare materials he had lying around.
Luna looked at the jar full of tentacles, muttering a small apology to the things that were transformed, feeling conflicted. They are still alive, but they can't ever go back to their original form. Placing all the things under a spell that will notify her if they were touched, she left the room, two of her thestrals guarding the room.
She sighed and went to do the one thing she could think of, do some dream patrolling…..
Back with the changelings.
The scouts had done their job well, leaving almost no trace of them being anywhere near the town. Oculus was the one left carrying their target, her dragonfly like wings keeping the cocoon secured on her back. The rest of the group was carrying larger pink cocoons, the substance inside sloshing about visibly from the outside.
“This stuff is heavy! How do the gatherers even get this stuff back to the hive?” Neuron groaned, his legs shaking under the weight.
Mismatch huffed in exertion, walking with some difficulty. “They were grown to carry mass amounts of excess love inside their bodies, more than what any other changeling can safely hold.” She explained as they passed the border of the everfree, finally getting within view of the badlands from the hill they stood on.
“Ahh…. So that's why they look so fat?”
“Nah, it’s them being a little gluttonous.”
“A little?! You sure? The one gatherer I met was looked almost like that weird talking Tatzlwurm that attacked last month.”
“Oh, the Tatzlwurm? I was sent to the hive in the griffon kingdom the day before that happened, what happened with it?”
“All it kept saying was, ‘Jabba so hungry!’ It ate, like, twenty drones before Chrysalis herself to put that thing down!”
Oculus and Synapse shared a look. “It’s gonna be a long trip.”
“Oh, have you heard the rumors about Six Six?”
“You mean the ones saying that he has a crush on someling?”
“Not just anyling, it's one of the barmaids in the Slimy Slug.”
“Really? Which one?”
“Patch”
“..... My eggmate? Really?” Mismatch glared, not believing the rumor.
“Hey, like I said, it's just a rumor.”
One long trip later.
The sun was about to rise when they finally got to the entrance of their hive, the opening covered in many kinds of illusion spells. They traveled through pitch black tunnels for a little while, their connection to the hive being the one thing keeping them from getting lost.
It wasn't long until they reached some light, glowing orbs of slime dangling from the ceiling of the cavern they entered. Many kinds of changelings were running about, doing the jobs they were assigned to. One changeling noticed the group entering the cavern from his stall full of strange fruit, his appearance caused him to look a little intimidating, his fangs were larger than normal and his chitin was much thicker than a warrior's, meaning he was one of the newer boulder class changelings.
“Hey, more love!” He announced in his deep voice, pointing at the pink cocoons on the four new arrivals, everyling stopping what they are doing to stare at the precious resource hanging off their comrades.
Most of the crowd rushed the four, intent on getting their fill. The guards that were nearby stopped them with a quick barrier spell, effectively stopping the crowd.
“There's nothing for you here, everyling! If you're all hungry, just go to one of the love dispensaries, they will provide you with enough rations to hold you over for the day!” A guard instructed the crowd, before looking back at the four. “Go to the castle, the princess will be waiting for you.” Frowning at the love they were carrying, he continued. “Just, er, drop all of that off at one of the dispensaries along the way, don't want to be attacked by hungry changelings, eh?”
“That would be a wise course of action.” Oculus agreed, cloaking her group with a grunt of exertion. “Come on, I can only do this for a few more minutes.”
The four flew and dropped off the love without much trouble, Oculus about collapsing from exhaustion when they uncloaked. It wasn't too long until they got to the castle, the structure was a large obsidian spire that reached the top of the cavern, with glowing goo decorating the walls with a giant green heart with bug wings.
The guards at the front gates met the team and brought them to the throne room, Chrysalis and Six Six waiting inside. Sighing tiredly, Oculus carefully propped the creature’s cocoon on a nearby pillar and sat down. Chrysalis was silent as she walked up to examine the creature, her face expressionless as she checked the amount of love it held inside.
“.... This is it?”
“Yes, my queen.” Oculus confirmed, doing her best to not yawn in front of her queen. “Oh, and this was found inside the castle.” She held up the black key, it looking even more ominous than before.
Chrysalis took the key and examined it, levitating it to the throne when she was done. “Hmmm….. All of you are dismissed. Six Six will make sure all of you are awarded accordingly.”
The four slowly shuffled out of the room, Neuron sparing the creature a worried glance before the door shut.
“Six Six….” Chrysalis slowly addressed her head guard, glancing at him with a frown. “Please wait outside.”
His lone eye widened in surprise, before narrowing. “You don't mean that you want to release it? Do you have any ide-”
“Yes, that's exactly what I mean. I want to talk with it and ask if it would be willing to part with her love, you won't be much help.” She interrupted, giving him a thoughtful look. “Just look at yourself. You are pretty scary compared to most of the hive.”
Six Six sighed and nodded, leaving the room with an almost hurt expression on his face. “Scary….? That's not what Patch says….”
Chrysalis levitated the cocoon over to her throne, looking determined to make the creature listen to her. Sparing a moment to position it for the best first impression, she sat down on her throne.
Then her horn lit up…..
Dakota’s POV.
“Mmmnnn…..” I groaned, just loving the warm blanket thing wrapping tightly around me. Slowly, I opened my eyes, quickly closing them once goo glopped into them. “Wha-gggh!” I gagged on the surprisingly tasty slime in my mouth, panicking and flailing about inside the cocoon like thing I was inside.
There was a loud tearing noise and I tasted fresh air, my eyes assaulted by the color green. Coughing out the goop in my lungs and wiping my eyes of the substance, I looked around, before my jaw dropped in awe at my shiny obsidian surroundings.
The room I was in had many chiseled pillars placed symmetrically around the place, a glowing green orb hanging off every second pillar, lighting up the place ominously. There were green trails on the walls forming some kinds of tribal designs, leading to a weird heart shaped symbol in front of the throne next to me.
“What the heck? This had better not be some kind of weird xenomorph civilization…. Wait a minute…. I'm awake…… No, no, no! I thought I was done with the world hopping!” I panic, almost whimpering in fear.
A polite cough gained my attention.
“Oh, thank god. I'm still in ponyland.” I sigh in relief at the sight of the pony on the throne.
She looked a little strange, two cute little fangs jutting out from her mouth. Her body was covered in black chitinous armor, a small crown thing on her head. The slit eyes were the weirdest thing I have seen, strangely cute on her face. The holes in her legs worried me a little, not having seen anything like that in any living creature, real or fake.
“Cool, bug pony princess. Just one question, can I keep it?”
Alice ‘twitched’ inside my head. “Eww…. What is that?”
“Something that I think is adorable.”
“-Welcome to my hive, I am Queen Chrysalis, queen of the changelings.-” She greeted me with her velvety voice, smiling regally. The green lighting shined behind her, making her look like she was coming from heaven.
I clear my throat. “-Dakota, nice to meet you.-” I frown, realizing something. “-How I get here? No can speak well, yet. -”
She frowned and stared at me, those cool eyes of hers measuring me up. After a few moments of silence, she smiled, pleased with what she saw. “-You were brought here by my scouts. I was informed that you had something my hive was so desperately lacking.-”
“-Small word, please.-”
“-Er, you have a food I need. No need to worry, it’s a special kind of thing that only my kind eat.-” She explained, seeing me freak out a little at the mention of food.
“Great, she wants to eat me. Lemme guess…. She's a vampire.”
“Those fangs probably aren't for show.”
“Still….. She's cute, let's just let her get what she needs.”
“Blarg! She's a bug! Why is that cute for you. Need I remind you that she kidnapped us!”
“Just look at her! Small bug alicorn thing! What's not to like?!”
Ignoring Alice’s complaints about Chrysalis, I smile and ask one thing. “-What do you eat?-”
“-Love.-”
“Perfect, succubi. Best. Day. Ever!”
The sound of a facepalm echoed through my head. “Dare I ask what succubi means?”
Back at Dakota's house.
“Dakota, are you awake yet?” Ash yelled up the stairs, having woke up cooked breakfast for everyone.
Trixie was sitting at the table in the kitchen, absentmindedly shoving a doughnut in her mouth. “Trixie thinks Dakota needs her rest, let her sleep in for the day.”
Ash hummed in thought, before shaking her head. “Nah, she needs some food, then she can sleep in. I'll go check on her, don't eat all the food on us.”
“Trixie makes no promises.”
Ash went upstairs and slowly opened Dakota’s door, looking inside with a smile on her face as she saw the lump under the covers of the bed. “Come on, buddy. You gotta get some food in ya.” She said in an almost singsong tone, poking the lump with her wing.
Frowning at the lack of response, she slowly pulled the blanket off the bed, revealing pillows meticulously placed to look like Dakota was still asleep in bed. Suddenly serious, Ash searched the room with sharp eyes, finding a strange green stain on the floor. She gave it a few sniffs, scowling at the unknown scent.
“Great…. Just great….. The princess is gonna definitely be mad.” She muttered to herself, shuddering at the ideas of what the monarch will do to her for punishment.
She rushed downstairs and out the front door, Trixie hearing the door slam behind her. “What's her problem?” A black spike embedded itself into the side of her seat, causing the magician to fall down onto the floor. Nocturne was out of his little nest, his tail spikes fully out as he hungrily glared at her, not happy that he didn't get his steak of the day.
“Grrrr…..” He growled and left the kitchen, searching for the being that fed him as the Lagombi followed at a safe distance. Trixie scowled in the direction the strange creature left, muttering a quiet insult and earning another spike to the chair.
The strange duo hopped upstairs, following the Dakota's scent. Nocturne followed the trail into the attic, stopping at the window. The Lagombi squeaked, gaining his attention. She made some gestures and squeaked some more, telling him that she saw some strange creatures carrying Dakota out…. And that she's upset that she wasn't given a name yet.
Nocturne grunted and trudged past her, focusing on the new scents and going back the way he came, stopping for a moment to look at his prey with an expectant stare before continuing forward. She shivered and followed after him, wanting to help with the search.
It wasn't too hard for them to get outside, the Lagombi’s paws being nimble enough to open a window for them to jump out of. The ponies outside gave the little wyvern a wide berth, not risking any chance of angering the beast. The strange duo followed the scent towards the forest, a familiar pony stopping the two on the edge of town.
“Where are you two going?” Spoon asked them, interested in what her friend's pets were doing.
The wyvern looked at her with disinterest, pointing at the forest with a wing. The Lagombi chittered and mimed out she was saying. Spoon adjusted her glasses and frowned, watching the little bunny’s movements with growing confusion.
“Uh, you are searching for something?” The Lagombi nodded and pointed at the forest. “And it's in the everfree? Alright, what is this thing you are looking for?” It just scratched its head and shrugged, not sure how to explain without words.
“.... Great, now I'm even more curious.” Spoon groaned and eyed the duo's features, looking for any sign of them being able to protect themselves. She took a brief look around to check if anypony was watching them, before smiling. “Okay, here's the deal, I'm coming with you two, don't you growl at me.” She glared at Nocturne, who was giving her the meanest growl he could give her.
The Lagombi jumped between the two and chittered angrily, causing the wyvern to growl and march towards the edge of the everfree, stopping for a second to give them an annoyed stare and motion for them to follow him. The Lagombi looked at Spoon for a moment, before following after Nocturne with Spoon close behind.
“I hope you two can keep me safe from the things in here….”
Nocturne grunted as his eyes glowed red, his tail spikes fully extended and ready to deal some damage…..
Back with Dakota.
Chrysalis looked extremely relieved that I was so cooperative, probably having expected me to try to run at the first chance I get. We had left the throne room after some more explaining that they actually fed on love, you know, the emotion.
“I still don't like this.”
“Hey, it's gonna be fine…. I think.”
“That really doesn't inspire confidence.”
“Oh, be quiet. She said she needed some love and, with as much as I like bug races, it shouldn't be too hard to give her what she needs. I still don’t get how they feed on love, but I’ll believe just about anything, having seen a bear made of friggin’ stars and lived. ”
“Sigh….. I hope you know what you're doing.”
“Just trust me on this. I have played enough RPGs to know how these things go down. All we have to do is listen to her. Assuming she's the kind of queen worried for her people, it would be more dangerous to not listen and not cooperate at all…. Then again…. She may be one of those greedy characters that won't be satisfied until they have everything under the sun…. But, after seeing the way she looked relieved that I will help her, I can safely say that she is not one of those people.”
“You really are a nerd at heart…. But, I suppose that game knowledge might come in handy. Just, er, remember that this is real life, not one of those games.”
“Trust me, it's gonna be just fine.”
I was following Chrysalis in a hallway through a door behind the throne, a few bug ponies standing guard by the walls, these guy being bigger than Chrysalis and having even more fangs visible on their heavily armored faces. Having unknowingly gotten closer to Chrysalis’s side in fear, she visibly frowned and her horn gently glowed, causing any guards further down the hall to hurriedly leave. My drenched dress squished audibly as we moved on, a sickly green slime dripping off of it, my whole body feeling disgusting and sticky.
I shivered, the dark hallways carrying a cold breeze that, confusingly enough, smelled of maple syrup. We walked in silence for a while, until Chrysalis came to a large black door guarded by two tall bug ponies, these guys were taller than the other guards in the hall and were less armored, their horns were the only things that separated the two. The one on the left had visible frost covering his twisted horn, while its brother had fire engulfing his, them both seeming to not care that their horns did not look normal.
Chrysalis's attitude quickly changed into a proper queen as she addressed them. “-Are they gathered?-”
The fire one answered in an angry tone, his face scowling as he spoke in a familiar voice. “-Yeah, every damn changeling is right in front of the castle.-”
The ice one looked at his queen with an emotionless stare, his monotone voice sounding even more familiar. “-Apologies for this trash, my queen.-” He almost sighed.
"-Hey, who the hell are you callin' trash!-" Fire yelled at Ice, his horn flaring up.
Chrysalis shook her head, giving the duo a worried stare. “-Are you two alright?-”
Fire glared at nothing in particular. “-I hate these dark spells! This fire magic is making me even more pissed than usual!-”
Ice slowly blinked and nodded. “-Dark magics do tend to warp their caster after a few uses. The fact that we are easily susceptible to these… Mutations don't help the matter.-”
The queen shook her head, sighing at what the two said. “-You two can go take a break, try not to use any of those spells while you're at it.-”
The duo looked a little surprised, the icy one hiding it better. After a moment, they both passed us and went on their way, the fire one muttering something. “-About damn time….-”
I giggled at his behaviour and followed Chrysalis through the door, it leading us out onto a balcony, a whole swarm of changelings covering the area as they tried to get a good look. My eyes widened at the sight, the changelings covering both the ceiling of the cavern and the ground were giving me curious looks, most of which were hungry stares and I think a few were drooling, the strange goo dripping from a few of hungrier one's mouths.
“-Greetings everyling, I have some wonderful news for all of you!-” Chrysalis announced to the buzzing swarm, gaining some cheers. “-The rationing of love is over! Thanks to our newest ally!-” She smiles and nudged me in front of her. “-She has enough love to keep everyling fed for years! By next week, we'll have all the love we need!-”
She went quiet for a moment, basking in all of the excited cheering. It took a few moments for the cheering to quiet down, Chrysalis continuing with grace. “-In between drainings, she is to be allowed to explore the hive without being harassed, I'm looking at you, Zapp!-” A few chuckles came from the changelings on the ground. Chrysalis cleared her throat and finished her speech. “-That is all for now, we will begin the draining in a little bit.-”
As we went back inside, I shuddered as I felt some of the slime on me harden and crack, shedding off of me like it was some kind of snake skin. Chrysalis looked at me with a small smile. “-How about we wash you up?-” She asked before realizing something, turning sheepish. “-I probably should have done that before addressing everyling….-”
I pouted. “-Yes, you should have.-”
After a few more minutes of going through hallways, she led me into a large room with a pool of water in the center, two changelings with blue membrane like hair were standing attention off to the side. They both looked the same, aside from their fangs. The right one's left fang was larger than its right, the exact opposite of its twin.
Chrysalis addressed the two while she pushed me in front of her, my face turning red as I realized what was most likely going to happen. “-Splish, Splash, my guest is in need of some cleaning up.-” She paused, scrutinizing me for a moment. “-The royal package, if you will.-”
The twins nodded and drug me over to the pool, ignoring my protests, a mischievous smile on the Queen's face as she watched the spectacle. “-I'll be back in a little while, have fun you three!-”
Embarrassed screams echoed throughout the castle for the next hour…..
