Cursed

by Strata

Eye of the storm (literally)

Almost every single one of the elements of harmony was not sleeping well. It was a windy, thunderstormy night, the one that made your mane stand up straight when a sudden wind buckles your bedroom, or a sudden gust slams against your window. It's nights like these that you just want to spend in a structurally sound house, drinking hot cocoa and chatting with your friends as the rain clatters on against the windows. But only Sugarcube corner, (lucky Pinkie) was made solidly. The other houses were swaying in the gale. But no-one hates thunderstorms at night more than Rainbow Dash.

As you know, clouds are what cause rain, and they are not secured to any solid object. So all throughout the night different parts of her house were drifting off, and she had to go and bring them back. At one point, the ceiling started raining. Just before she thought;
'Well I'm going to spend the night at Twilight's'

The front wall of her bedroom blew out, and she saw a huge twister, right in front of her house, and in the eye of the storm, was two green eyes, with narrowed slits for pupils. It cast a green light onto the house, and the eyes flashed green and disappeared. So did the twister, and even though it was still raining, it felt strangely eerie. Rainbow had glimpsed into the eyes of Queen Chrysalis before, when Cadence revealed her true identity, but these eyes, although similar, were not only unnerving, they were utterly terrifying. The worst part about them is the feel of ancientness, pure hate, like an evil that had refused to die for millions of years. She contemplated what she saw for a couple milliseconds, and then dived below the storm, and started the desperate flap to the tree library.

"It is certainly a storm."
Twilight observed, pouring hot cocoa into a mug, while a dripping wet Rainbow stood nervously in the living room, wincing at the mud prints on the floor.
"Yeah..."
Rainbow Dash mumbled in a small voice. Still staring out the window, where the twister used to be. There seemed to be a void of reality, like all existence was warping around that one point, where the eyes had appeared ten minutes prior.
"Rainbow?"
She turned around, to see Twilight holding out a mug if hot cocoa
"Oh... Uh, thanks."
Twilight shrugged sleepily, and stood beside her friend, staring at where the twister had been. Her face was grim, for she also saw the twister, and the flash of green inside it. Maybe dash hadn't seen it. Maybe she was asleep. Unlikely.
"Your cocoa is getting cold."
"Huh? Okay."
She took as sip of the cocoa, and the entire top storey of the tree bent over a full 30 degrees.
Rainbow jumped back, and juggled the cocoa, trying not to spill any.
"Is that supposed to happen?"
"It is very common for the Quercus genus of multi-fibre-"
"How about Equestrian?"
Twilight rolled her eyes,
"It's meant to do that. And that's why I'm downstairs."
Rainbow relaxed, and began it stare out the window. Everything was completely still, just like the calm before the storm. You could hear the silence in the air.
Twilight opened her mouth to start a conversation, but found nothing to say. She was concerned, but she did not know why. She just needed to place her hoof on it...

Bam. It hit her like a bad mark in the final exams. (Not that Twilight would know what that felt like) the flash of green, the twister, it was the curse of the first Changeling queen, Iris. She researched it after finding a rune on a wall in a cavern that was used by changelings thousands of years ago, on a 'study abroad' program. Apparently, the first Changeling queen was actually older than even Celestia, for she had ruled the changelings in the dark ages. She was not only a queen, but a god. Immortal, and there is a theory that in some forgotten cave, she sits on a throne of thorns, waiting until the royal sisters die. She was forced into exile after the war with Celestia and Luna, but in the end, the elements of harmony defeated her. She cursed the elements, and said that if they ever interfered with her or any future changeling queen, they would undergo a transformation. Apparently, ponies that are converted into changelings hold the power of the changelings, but are a lot more superior to them. She used them to preform task regular changelings did not have the skill to complete.

She walked over to the table, and levitated a book off the shelf and onto the desk, where it hit with a slam. Rainbow, awoken from her trance, went over to see what the fuss was about. The book was extremely dusty, and on the top it wrote;
'The history of magic' in old fancy letters. Twilight flicked through the pages, chanting the alphabet as she did. she stopped when she got to 'I', and slowed down.

The legend of the Pegasus Icarus, the Icy wastelands, Illusionary spells, ah, there it was. Iris. Twilight started reading off the page, with Rainbow looking over her shoulder.
"The first Queen and God of the Changelings, Iris has existed since 2500BC (before Celestia) and was said to have ruptured retina's, so that her eyes look shattered, and terrifying. Inventing conversion of ordinary ponies into slaves that looked like changelings using curses, these slaves possessed the power of changelings, multiplied tenfold.

She waged war against the royal sisters, and before she lost, she cursed the elements of harmony that had defeated her. She said that them or any future Elements that interfered with the plans of any future Queen would feel the wrath of the curse, and undergo the transformation. The name for these were 'Irids'."

Twilight took a deep breath and turned to rainbow.
"Rainbow dash, PLEASE tell me that you did not see the flash of green."
Rainbow paused for a moment, and made a quick decision.
"No."
Twilight frowned slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I didn't see a twister, or a flash of green. I was just sleeping, when my house basically broke in two. I woke up while falling, and went to your house. It seemed a lot more stable than mine at the time"
"But why would you go to all the trouble to get here?"
"Twilight, there WAS no trouble. I'm the fastest Pegasus in ponyville, maybe even all of Equestria. Flying here was a breeze."
"You're not lying?"
"N-No. I am not."
Twilight relaxed.
"Thank Celestia for that!"
"Yeah!"
"To think, all that fuss over some silly legend. Curses probably don't even exist."
"Of course. Now I'm tired. Where do I sleep?"
"I'll just get a mattress."
"Thanks."
But as Twilight fell asleep that night, there was still doubt in her mind.

Author's Note:

Another chapter done, but the seventh dimension calls. I will be back though.

Comments

[Arctic Wave]

GOOD STORY!

[Monochromatic Rainbow]

Well, the pacing is a bit fast, but other than that? It's surprisingly well written for such a short chapter (I have nightmares about some stories I've read). And I do love me some changeling RD!

Thumbs upped, and added to read later, where I shall stalk your story.

[Strata]

3356856 why thank you! It is my first one (published), and all praise is gratefully accepted. Future chapters are coming, so sit tight!

[Strata]

3356920 thank you. I'm glad that you will be following this story, for a new chapter is coming out tomorrow! Hopefully!