Fall of the Changelings

by Dream Whisper

FOTC: Chapter 7 - A new beginning

The sound of hooves had disrupted him in his thoughts. That strange sound of hooves, a sound he had almost forgotten. A sound like no other, calming as the neverending noise of rain drops impacting on cloth. He loved the rain because it had always helped him to keep calm, soothed him into sleep, even in the worst times he ever had. He had embraced not only the calm sound but also the predictability of rain. You knew that it would never just stop abruptly, it would go on for hours and only when the time was right, it would slowly fade into the noise of the world. He took a deep breath in as the memory of the soft massage of thousand drops returned. The image of a light curtain made out of millions of small droplets, each and every one finding their way down to earth. Landscapes drenched in water, grass overwhelmed by its weight and bowing down, trees waving in the heavy storms and clouds hushing through the sky. Rain was much more than a simple phenomenon, but a symphony of nature, a composition of each amazing note.

So, how came it to be that such a strange sound had entered his ear? This question plagued his mind as he was unable to find a suitable answer. They had given up the search for him, hadn’t they? Then who was it to disturb his slumber with such elegant and yet misplaced sound? Who was it to bring his mind into unease, a state it had not been in for a long time?

“Down there! There is something down there!”

An unfamiliar voice, sounding like a young mare. A soft, a soothing and pacifying voice. A voice that everypony should have heard once in their lives so they could immerse themselves in that heavenly bliss which was her voice. A voice as comforting as angels singing sweetest songs for mortals to be heard and hearts to be moved. A voice of such magnitude and yet sweet and calm. Nothing could have ever compared to such a voice, nothing could have sufficed to stand in its place.

“I think it is a pony! We have to help her… or him!”

The same voice. Other words, soothing words. Wonderful words, new words. He could listen to that voice for days, for years, for the rest of his life. His own voice had become so very deep, so very raspy. The softness of her voice was such a beautiful contrast to his own harshness. What sweet angel spoke these words that he would never forget? It had been an eternity since he last had pushed his body up, or at least it had seemed like one. His legs seemed to tremble in the first moments, but as soon as he was able to stretch them out a bit more, his standing was as strong as ever. How long had he been down there? He had forgotten time and its necessity in his isolation.

The hooves slowly closed in on him, slowly descending down into his cave. How would they react when they found out he was not a pony? Would the voice just leave? He didn’t want the voice to leave him alone, to leave him alone in crushing solitude once again. Too long had he been absent of its sound and too long had he been alone in his cave. Would they try to attack him? They could judge upon appearance rather than his actions, quickly ending his fate. The bigger question was, whether he would actually care about being attacked. Would he? He wasn’t sure. The primal instinct kept telling him to run or hide, but his mind was too broken to react. He had stopped reacting a long time ago…

Suddenly, he heard somepony screaming and the unnerving sound of the pebbles rolling down the hill, taking a body with them. This time, however, it wouldn’t be prey for him to feast upon. Would it really be a pony, or had the voice led him to false conclusions? He walked slower as he heard other hooves quickly approaching.

“Fluttershy! Fluttershy! Are you okay?! Are you hurt? Fluttershy?”

The sweet voice didn’t answer their call. He was almost there, almost able to see the pony. He continued to hear the ponies speaking, but he didn’t listen to their shabby voices anymore. For what beauty entered his eyes rendered all other senses useless. What meaning was there in feeling, tasting, smelling or even hearing, when before him was all the beauty of the world. It had all been darkness, all isolation, and now there was… A pony. Not just any petty pony though, but a true beauty. She lay on her side, all four legs stretched out as the desperate attempt to catch her had failed. He could see the bleeding wounds on her legs, but he did not have time to give them further attention. He had to spend every single moment gazing upon her beautiful face. It was covered with strains of bloody hair, but he could still make out every detail. The pink mane was more than just a beautiful contrast to the yellow coat, it was much more than he could have ever dreamed upon meeting a pony again.

Her face told stories of incredible sweetness, loveliness and kindness. It told stories of a shy pony, one that always valued others higher than herself. It told stories of a friend to everypony. He could not imagine that she would or even could hate. He trotted ever closer to stare deeper into those eyes. Those skyblue eyes which stole his senses, stole his time and stole his memories. He lost himself in them, unable … no, unwilling to look away. He had not known that such beauty had ever exist-

“A MONSTER!”

What had been sweet background noise before, now had turned into a shrill shriek as a white unicorn had discovered him. Her purple mane was curled in unusual matter, almost hypnotising. The strange unicorn was being followed by three other ponies. Not only would he meet one pony, but five of them? A pink earth pony mare was bouncing around the corner, but there was a deep determination in her eyes, below the layer of superficial happiness. There was an orange farm pony, a southern mare of incredible strength, but not only on the outside. Her eyes showed more than just determination, also anger, hatred, pain and fear. The mare however, that caught his utmost attention was the purple pegas… Alicorn. He had not seen an Alicorn before and the stories had only rarely reached his ears, stories of the two aspring princesses defeating evil again and again. A true alicorn! The way she marched forward made it obvious that she was the leader of the group. Her eyes were flaming in anger and hatred. This one would not hesitate to attack. Again, the question crossed his mind if or how much he would care. He couldn’t help but feel no importance to this topic that everypony else would have given their highest attention to.

The shadow had betrayed whomever had tried to approach him from behind. However, the betrayal didn’t weigh much as it was already too late to evade the imminent attack. The pain of a hard impact entered the corner of his mind, but it was quickly pushed aside by the ignorance he had learned in his loneliness and the newfound ecstasy about meeting other ponies. At first he thought he had indeed hit his head, but while time marched on, the image didn’t change. There was a rainbow colored mare standing above him. Although he admired the colors, they could not compare to the simple beauty of the mare he had seen first. His eyes glanced over to the body, still lying there unconsciously, but obviously still breathing.

“Oh no you won’t.”

The rainbow colored pony hovered her hoof and let it slide right onto his face, pressing his face to the ground.

“Just as nasty as the other ones. Oh, I hate these changelings!”

The alicorn stepped forward, something he could only make out from the edge of his eyes. She was slowly trotting, but there was more weight to her steps than he had expected. Most ponies - like that farm pony - simply walk. The alicorn however, had a weight in her steps that was unmatched. The ground itself seemed to tremble under her hooves, or maybe he interpreted too much into it.

“Let me have a look at it.”

He had thought not to be able to feel anymore, yet the last word still struck him. It. He was no pony anymore, he was simply an ‘it’. As the alicorn approached, she slowly slipped out of his field of vision, which was bound to the hundreds of dragonstones around him. While she was also increasing the pressure onto his head, the rainbow colored mare started speaking again.

“Guys! Did you see how I got this one singlehoofedly? You can thank me after we’ve squeezed everything out of him!”

“Look at his mouth! A beast! Poor Fluttershy! What has that foul monster done to her? I can only imagine the horror that Fluttershy had went through, the drama, the incomparable torment!”

His mouth? It took him longer than it should have to remember what could possibly be so upsetting about his mouth. The last prey had only been a couple of days ago and since then it had not rained. And this is how the circle closes, all turns back to the rain. The wonderful, most delightful rain. For days it had been amiss now, and he had missed the sweetness of its sound. Now he had found something of so much higher beauty, of so much more importance.

“Has he bitten her?”

This was going too far. Even though his mouth was pressed against the smooth edges of the dragon stones, his voice still came out clear, although wrought with the deep harshness forged in his solitude, echoing from the hills around them.

“I am not a barbarian, nor am I a cannibalist.”

Stating that he was, in fact, not a Changeling would just be foolish as it would simply grow their distrust. Maybe with the right words he could get a little bit more time to revel in her presence. The alicorn continued speaking with that voice that pierced through the landscape like a sharp blade.

“He can talk?”

“Isn’t it normal to talk? Everypony talks…”

“You are not a pony! You are a monster and you tried to eat her!”

The lavender alicorn punctuated this painful accusation with a stomp of her hoof, causing the earth to vibrate. Her eyes seemed to burn in some unholy fire, her anger spreading throughout the world like a dark aura.
The words themselves, however, were piercing his heart like a fiery dagger, but he knew the pain too well already. He had had his time to deal with the devastation, now he had emptied himself. There had been a time where he had sit in his-
The sudden change in lighting stopped his thought. There was only so much that could have caused it and the glowing purple reflection on one of the stones gave the presence of magic away. His reaction was almost primal instinct, turning his body to the side, taking the surprised rainbow mare with him through the momentum. While he was still turning, he pushed himself up, lifting his heavy, chitinous body a couple of hooves into the air, rotating until he finally landed on all four of his hooves. The spell fired onto the black stone, throwing him a couple of hooves back. This Alicorn was a huge threat, something well expected of such a divine pony.

The rainbow mare agreed and instantly thrusted towards him, leaving him no choice but to counteract. He would have refrained to use magic as he had involuntarily burnt every single prey to crisps, but he had no choice. The spell he channeled to defend himself was a simple levitation spell, but once again it turned into something completely different. Instead of stopping the rainbow colored mare in the air, it rammed her right into the dark stone below. She bounced and slid over the ground, until the wall brought an end to her motion. Her blood drenched body had stopped moving. He had not intended to hurt anypony, but looking at the red substance flowing out of her body, he knew that he had undeniably broken that promise he had tried so hard to keep. Never hurting anypony else was a goal that had always been unreachable. Sometimes, you inflict pain without even knowing it, or as in this case without even having the intention to do it.

The rainbow mare roared in anger, jumping high up into the air and flapping her wings two times. Any normal pony would have been unable to even move, while she was already behind him again. Although he disliked the thought of having to use his magic once again, especially after seeing the devastating results it could have, she still gave him no real choice in that matter.

“Oh, you want to put up a fight?! I am going to show you how real pegasi fight!”

foalhood. Without hesitating much further, he let the magic flow through his body, streaming through every limb, assembling his strength and binding to his will, until he finally released the finished spell through his horn.

The shield seemed to work at first... until the rainbow mare actually reached it. When her hooves touched the smooth magical surface, the shield burst apart in flames. A giant explosion not only outwards, but also going inwards. It threw him off his hooves, down another hill of dragonstone, down into another black cave. The Alicorn howled in anger somewhere far in the distance. He came crashing to a halt, and after a moment of pain, managed to stand up, even though his hooves were still aching from the explosion. If even he had been hurt so badly from that distance to his shield, how much pain had he inflicted on the pegasus?

Suddenly, he stopped, as he had just laid his eyes upon something that could very well mean his salvation. A cave to hide in, a cave to forget the whole story, a cave that would let him escape from this unpleasant surprise. He hesitated. Right in front of him was the end to this all, the ability to just end this chapter. Right behind him was an angry alicorn and an even angrier soldier of her’s. However, he still hesitated. What was actually holding him from the escape, what weighed more than his wellbeing? It was … the mare. It was impossible to just go his way without her, without the possibility to ever again have a glance at her beauty, to hear the voice that would never leave his mind again.

He waited. The alicorn came closer and closer, followed by some of her friends. He couldn’t hear the light flapping of the wings of a certain pegasus anymore... But that didn’t have to mean he had killed her! He had never killed anypony…

The distant thunder of the alicorn’s voice interrupted his grim thoughts.

“We are going to find you and you are going to rue this day! You will regret ever having done this to Fluttershy!”

There was one question he could not solve, a riddle that kept him busy, this problem he could not work around: How would he get to that sweetest of all mares, the mare of dreams, the mare of angels, the mare of purest beauty? How would he get to her, when there was an angry horde of ponies chasing after him? He would not be able to win against five ponies, especially not if one of them was an alicorn. There was only one way to see her again: To get captured. What would make them keep him alive though? Fear of wrath? Seeing worth in him? Having a hostage? There was really nothing valid enough to stop their lust for killing.

He would have to fight them somehow, pulling a trick from under his mane, or taking another dice out of his tail to weigh his fate anew. Only a miracle would help him now and that miracle would need to be his own hoof’s work. To fight a superiority was to use their weakness as your own advantage. He just had to create a situation where they would hinder each other, a situation of chaos … and his environment was the only thing that could help him with it. There was nothing inside of the cave, nothing hidden within the impenetrable darkness. There was only the cave itself, the cave and its gloom. His eyes knew the darkness, he had become used to it. They, however, were proud ponies, proud to walk on their bright soil, to bath their bodies in the sun above, to seek their fortune, while he hid in the shadows.

There was a way. Yes, he could already see it. It would require his utmost attention, it would be a highly difficult task with this horn of his, but it could very well pay off. There was no other choice anyway, so there was nothing to lose. To see her again, he would have to imprison the alicorn and her guards in his darkness.

“There is no escape for you anymore. You are trapped.”

“Come out!”

They were screaming, but soon their stubborn mind would force them inside.

“He won’t come out…

It tastes so sweetly to watch your plan being fulfilled, the sweet taste of victory. He always won over his prey, no matter how strong it was. He was the one who lingered in the shadows and he would be their demise. The sound of their hooves clopping on the hard stone ground was like the seconds counting down in a mighty clock.Their seconds were flowing away and they didn’t even know it. They couldn’t feel it, not the way he could. They couldn’t see it, they didn’t have his eyes. They couldn’t smell the smell of danger that lingered heavily in his shadows, something that would cost them dearly.

“I can’t see them. Twilight?”

The dim glow of purple magic swept through the cave; A sign. Like a giant clockwork tower, the wheels started turning, a simple gesture having initiated something far greater. Wheel after wheel was set in motion and his horn started glowing dimly. He took in the deep breath, letting the magic once again stream through his body, taking his energy with it, being formed to his will, being bent by his mind, until a cracking noise arose. The spell left his horn and spread quickly into the ceiling of the cave, into every crack, settling in every unseen fracture in the smooth skin of the soft stone.

But even before the alicorn had been able to charge her magic once again, his magic did its work. The stone had been weakened and now it collapsed. A sound of thousand thunders, a roaring cry of collapsing stone, trying to hold itself in position just to be crushed by the pressure of the rocks further above. The darkness filled every part of the cave, a darkness carrying thick air and dust with it, making it hard to even breathe. He had imprisoned them, now he only needed to use his advantage.

“Two little ponies in my lair. Tell me, what do you think is the most destructive force you know? Do you even know whom you have awoken?”

His voice echoed from the smooth surface of the dragon stones. However, there was something else howling back at him. Something from deep inside of the cave. Warm air was streaming towards him, flowing over his body. The ground started vibrating, as something seemed to have awoken. Something far more terrible than him.

---

A distant light, almost like a star twinkling in deepest night. A small, beautiful distraction somewhere in the distance. For just a moment, it seemed as if it would remain as small as it seemed, but then it quickly grew in size. A wall of fire burnt through the entire cave, illuminating the scared expression on his persecutors’ faces. It was the last image before the blinding light made it impossible to see anything. Within seconds, there also came an unbearable heat, consuming flesh and bringing piercing pain to him. The sheer force of the fiery hell forced him off his hooves, throwing him against a hard, burning surface. The impact almost deprived him of his consciousness, but he stood strong. What followed was a thick darkness, filled with hot smoky air that burnt the lungs whenever one tried to breath. Even worse than that was the pain when the dust reached the eyes, making it impossible to open them for much longer than a couple of heartbeats. It was a chaotic mess, an overwhelming disability of senses. He stumbled forward, just to instantaneously be rewarded by massive pain upon colliding with another wall and collapsing down to the ground.

A roaring scream followed the wall of fire, echoing through the cave. It seemed as if the whole world had started to blur in this darkness. There were ponies lying on the ground but it was impossible to count their number. Their bodies were covered with red stains, in which the black dust of the cave had accumulated. His own body hurt as if somepony had scraped his very skin off. He would have screamed if the impact had not pressed all air out of his body, leaving him panting in these burning ashes in the air. He had trapped them, but also himself. Their demise would now be his, so unless he would fight the beast alone, he would have to keep them alive until they had recovered from the burning breath of the monster deep down in its lair. He had disrupted its slumber and this was his punishment.

He took one last deep breath before finally channelling the spell he had failed to complete before. The shield would protect them all from further damage. Although he disliked the idea of saving his prosecutors, it was his only option to defeat the beast. He took his time with the spell, trying to perfect their only defense. He slowly absorbed the magic from around him, letting it flow through his body. Although the mind is the biggest contributor to form the magic that is lead into the body, the body itself still forms the spell the most, it gives it the essence and the characteristic aura. The mind only directs the spell, directs in what form the magic should manifest itself.

He had learned so much about magic by Silver Coil. He had been taught everything, from the way magical spells work to the finest controls over their exact execution. Silver Coil had obsessed about him learning every single piece of information about magic. Maybe that had been Silver Coil’s way of dealing with the inability to ever cast it himself... Silver Coil had always pushed him a bit further, to observe the spells that Starswirl himself had taught in praxis rather than just in theory. To some degree, he had been a protégé of Star Swirl, although a very indirect one. All the knowledge he had acquired from Silver Coil, however, would not help him fighting off a fully grown dragon.

Usually he wouldn’t have feared a dragon like this. While it is true that there are some frightening beasts out there, normal dragons can usually be defeated by a single magically advanced unicorn. A mistress - or master - of magic if you will. This however, wouldn’t just be any kind of dragon. Guessing by the traces he had seen during his desolation, this would be a shadowborn, a distinct race of dragons known for their resistance to magic. Furthermore, these dragons were often much more astucious than most other conspecifics. The harsh landscape and the constant lack of food had forced these dragons to adapt to the rough conditions.

A groan filled with pain startled him and he nearly let go of his spell. The ponies behind him seemed to have returned from their unconsciousness just to find themselves painfully burnt in a dark cave. He couldn’t even imagine what pain they were feeling as his own shell had mostly prevented heavier damage. They had nothing but their coat to save them, which is probably why they had fallen into unconsciousness unlike him. Without leaving them much time to react, the dragon seemed to have made its way further through the cave. Although he could not see the dragon itself, he could hear the deep vibrations of its heavy claws impacting on the hard ground again and again. A bright light suddenly flashed as the alicorn had pressed herself against a wall, unable to stand without the additional support. Her light did not only reveal the dragon slowly sneaking closer, but also the horrific wounds that the wall of fire had inflicted. They were much more than wounds, it almost seemed as if their whole skin had been peeled off, cut in pieces and then glued back on them. His last meal almost came up again, and it probably would have, if there had not been the steady treading of the heavy beast.

As soon as the dragon had realized that he had been discovered, he jumped towards the shield. The impact almost broke the magical surface, but he held strong against it, not letting go of his spell. The following roar almost shattered his ears as it came from just a couple of hooves in front of him. The gaping mouth of the beast was filled with razor sharp teeth and a blue slimy substance that one could only guess to be saliva, if not sevendayed ooze - and no, you should not ask about that, for your own sake. The teeth were arranged in three rows, each tooth having some sort of hook on their end to make it impossible for prey to escape once bitten. Not that the bite itself wouldn’t kill everything the dragon decided to push its sharp teeth into anyway. From inside the deep throat a fountain of fire spread over the entire shield, blinding everypony inside. There was nothing but a fiery hell around them, nothing but a dead-end with an especially painful death at its end. How would they escape from this predicament… if their escape was even an option?

The dragon seemed to realize that the fiery breath was doing nothing, and quickly changed its tactic. Instead of wasting its burning breath, it started to circle the magic shield, examining any weaknesses that it could possibly posses. While the farm pony slowly pushed herself up, the alicorn was already channeling some sort of spell. Within a moment, she was gone and with her was the earth pony. The darkness once again filled the cave, leaving him alone with the dragon...

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter although it was a bit shorter. I can tell you, I really needed to do this as I felt cornered in with writing.

I really hope you like it. Tell me if you do ;D

Comments

[Debonair]

[Dream Whisper]

3691303

If I didn't have you commenting on this story... It would probably be on hiatus a looong time ago. Thank you for making it worth to write each and every chapter

I don't often get so emotional, but there is nothing more INSPIRING than the commitment of somebrony, who gets up after every chapter and leaves a comment describing his/her reaction. It is heartwarming, probably more than heartwarming eve!

So, thank you once again for doing this.

[Debonair]

3691348 I know how much it means to hear encouraging words. Hell if I didn't have three of my friends calling me a genius, I'd have quit writing a long time ago.