Changeling No More

by Breaking News

What?

“Ugh, my flank.”

Drone 9417 felt like he’d been run over by the Friendship Express. He was barely awake and wondering what had happened. Five hours ago he, like the rest of Queen Chrysalis’ changelings, was assaulting Canterlot. Now he was embedded in a field near the foothills of the Unicorn Mountain Range.

It was all slowly coming back to him, though. Beforehoof he was one of several Changelings sent to Ponyville to research the Elements of Harmony. That had gone well, and he’d retaken his place in the swarm before the attack on Canterlot. The day was going just perfect; they bested the Elements before they got their magic jewelry, took the city hostage, and the Queen had even defeated Princess Celestia one-on-one.

Then it fell apart. The pure love of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had defeated them and expelled them all from Canterlot by force.

But while he remembered all of that, he couldn’t remember why he didn’t feel right after his impact. He saw no sign of the other changelings; they must have been propelled further on to parts elsewhere. Something was up though. As he got to his hooves, he heard something that felt like the cracking of ice. He took a step and something snapped in his right front hoof. The odd thing was he didn’t feel it.

He looked down and saw that his black exoskeleton lay broken off just above where the changeling leg holes began. But that wasn’t what caught his attention; the pastel green pony hoof that now lay exposed amongst the broken black pieces did, though. He held it up.

“What in Chrysalis’ cocoon?” he asked out loud.

He tried to transform and got no response, it was like there was nothing there to transform with. Instead he felt a tingle in his backside. He turned his head just in time to watch his insect-like wings fall off, taking another chunk of black with it and revealing a feathery green wing underneath. His jaw dropped just in time to feel a crack run down the middle of his face, hook up with another on forehead and fall off, taking his horn with it.

“No, no,” he said.

The drone saw a creek nearby and started to walk toward it. More cracking, more black bits falling off. At this point he knew what was coming. He reached the creek and looked down into it. A perfectly normal green pegasus with sky blue eyes, an orange mane, and a matching orange tail looked back at him. A small tear ran down his cheek and dropped into the water. He recognized the face; he’d used it for the last month before the attack as a disguise. And now it was really his forever…

There was no stopping it now as the rest of his black exoskeleton crumbled and fell off. Drone 9417 just continued to stare at the reflection of the green pegasus stallion looking up at him. A cutie mark of a little black pony kicking a cloud now adorned his flank. The idea of a changeling becoming a pony wasn’t unheard of in the hive. There were ways it could happen. Several changelings over the years even left for an equine life, but Drone 9417 hadn’t meant to do it to himself. He had seen it before, though. He remembered his lost sibling, Drone 9413, who’d left on a mission to Dodge Junction and never returned. By the time another member of the swarm found him, he had permanently become a ruby red earth pony stallion named Lambert Cherry who was obsessed with romancing some mare with an orchard.

As his memory returned, there was no question how his transformation had occurred. There were some types of unicorn magic or zebra potions that could achieve such a result, but neither the purple or white Elements of Harmony were using that, nor was the wedding couple. No, this was an accidental transformation, and there were ways to trigger them.

Usually mode-lock occurred when a changeling overloaded its transmogrification magic to the point it simply burst and locked you forever in the form you were using the most. The only way it was possible was to hold a form for days on end, and he knew that he had. He’d spent three weeks in a row living in Ponyville with this pegasus form using the name “Cloud Breaker.” He dropped the disguise for the attack on Canterlot, but that fight with the Elements must have kept his magic level far too high. Switching from the blue to the yellow to the purple pony so much had seemed like a good idea at the time, but he hadn’t expected that magical expelling blast. His body absorbed so much magic during the explosion that it must have triggered this reaction. As the shock lessened slightly, the realizations of Drone 9417’s change started to come into his mind.

“Well, um, what now?” he pondered.

Becoming a pony permanently always came with a price. You forever lost your connection to the swarm, and, depending on your new form, you lost your magic, your flight, or possibly both. As he examined his new feathered wings he had a feeling he wasn’t going to be casting anything ever again. Of course that left him wondering where he could possibly go. The other changelings wouldn’t be looking for him, he’d be presumed dead and all would move on. Even if they found him he’d be “just another pony” to them. Despite the bedtime stories that parents told to scare their foals, changelings were not an assimilating race that could absorb anypony to make new hive members, you had to be born as one. He always wondered who made up those stories, feeding on love usually left them hungry more than most in this world. Why would they want more mouths to feed?

With a return to the hive out of the question, that only meant one option: a new life somewhere else. For the first time since he crashed in the field, a smile crossed his new face as he thought of all the possibilities. He could have a new life anywhere he wanted…but then he immediately remembered that he had no money and no place to live. The smile vanished just as fast as it had appeared.

Adjusting to life as a pony probably wouldn’t be too hard—he’d been impersonating them for years—but getting a job might be. With changelings in the news, everypony would be suspicious of outsiders for a bit. That was also saying nothing of getting anywhere, he was in the foothills of a mountain range without a town nearby or even train tracks. He was isolated and he needed to find shelter, he may have been a pegasus now but he had no idea what the weather schedule would be. There was also the whole “food” issue now that he wouldn’t be able to feed on love. He heard ponies in a pinch could, what was the word, “graze” on wild grass, so he’d probably have to try that and hope for the best.

He thought about what places would be close by, and of course the “Big Three” came to mind; Canterlot, Cloudsdale and Ponyville. Canterlot was on a mountain in the range, but obliviously he wasn’t about to go back there. Cloudsdale would be perfect for a pegasus, but he might not have any luck with everyone iffy on outsiders. That left Ponyville, where memories of a personal connection were coming to mind. He’d spent all of that time there living with a pegasus mare and her special somepony, so it was probably the easiest place to start.

When he was sent on his mission, the changelings had given him a stipend of a few thousands bits which he had sent to the couple in Ponyville when he left. Perhaps he could get some back? That’s what he would do, he would go see them again. What was her name? That’s right, Sunny Rays. And her coltfriend Serenity.

Author's Note:

Is it right to use the changeling tag when "our hero" isn't a changeling anymore?

Comments

[Lunar Wing]

I fail to see an issue with the tag. He still has his changeling mind, no?

[Breaking News]

2747368
I was mostly joking there, he may not be a changeling anymore but there's still a strong changeling presence in the first act (and flashes of it throughout the story) justifying the tag. I don't know if he still has his mind but he's got his memories and that's pretty close.

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Well. This is different.

How did I not find this before?

~Skeeter The Lurker