Sitting in the Dark
I fidgeted the moment the strange mare raised a hoof towards me. The two guards beside me both glared at me. That was all the warning I needed. I exhaled, and closed my eyes. I felt a hoof on my chin, pushing my head up.
"Are there any signs of injury, Nurse Redheart?" Miss Sparkle asked. Nurse... It was one of their words for healer. I doubted this mare was truly a healer, but I was in no position to voice opinions.
"Nothing immediately visible, as you could tell." Redheart responded, tilting my head to the side. "Of course, I've never worked with a changeling before, so I couldn't tell you much."
I had to keep myself from snickering at the thought of a changeling in a pony's hospital. It almost made my stomach churn. Redheart tilted my head the other way, and made a ah noise. Her hoof left the side of my head, and I opened my eyes. She was a few steps away, digging around in a bag.
When Redheart turned around, she was holding some sort of device in her mouth; a mix of rubber and metal tubes, with a disc-shaped cup at one end, and two... Earpieces, perhaps, at the other. She maneuvered the earpieces into her ears, and raised the cup to my chest. It was uncomfortably cold to the touch, but I kept myself from flinching.
Redheart moved the cup to two different places for a moment, before she turned back and gave Miss Sparkle a shocked look. "I think I hear two heartbeats."
The room fell still. All the ponies traded confused or wonder-filled glances. Miss Sparkle dropped what she was doing and trotted over to Redheart. She glanced at me, then back to the mare.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
Redheart nodded, and gave Miss Sparkle her strange apparatus. Miss Sparkle listened for a moment, and shook her head.
"I don't believe this... Spike, prepare a letter to Princess Celestia! She has to hear about this, right away!"
And Spike scribbled furiously on a scroll of paper. A few moments later, Miss Sparkle took over for Spike and wrote herself, whilst Redheart continued to examine me on her own accord. She was surprisingly... Polite. But I assumed it must have been a habit in her line of work.
When it comes to a changeling, especially a drone or other highly-mobile subspecies, they'll tell you that their wings are one of their most important body parts. And especially sensitive, and frail, body parts. The thin membrane can easily be torn, and as such, the majority of our species is highly defensive about our wings, and anything involving them.
Redheart had made her way to my side, and the two guards stepped back to let her do whatever she had planned on doing. I wish they hadn't. The mare carefully lifted her hooves, and pulled my right wing out. I fidgeted slightly, but apparently not enough to draw the guards' attention. Redheart, at first, gently prodded at the membrane of my wing. Just enough for me to feel it. Her second prod was firmer. I winced, but didn't let out a sound. It was more of an unusual sensation than a painful one.
Her last jab was painful. I highly doubt she intentionally stabbed at my wings like she did, but I felt something tear. I jumped back and yelped in pain, slamming my side against a table. The sound of my sudden vocalization startled the entire room. Miss Sparkle dropped her paper and quill, Spike fell off the stool he sat on, Redheart stepped back, and the two guards both stumbled for a moment.
Of course, they gathered themselves quickly, and had thrown me back inside my cell before I could truly realize it.I sat on the floor for a moment, just waiting to register exactly what had happened. By the time I slowly managed to clamber to my hooves, the two guards were apparently checking if Miss Sparkle and Nurse Redheart were unharmed. A moment later, they escorted Nurse Redheart out.
I scowled as they left, and extended my wings to check myself. When I looked back, I was relieved beyond belief to see that the membrane wasn't torn, simply stressed. It would be back in proper shape in a day or two.When I turned back to the rest of the room, Miss Sparkle was standing at the glass wall, looking at me inquisitively.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
I huffed, and shook my head. "My wings are delicate. I would prefer if you refrain from touching them."
Afterwards, I found recluse hidden behind the shower curtains once again. With absolutely nothing else to keep my attention, I set my head against the wall and closed my eyes.
I felt a gentle nudge on my side."Wake up. Hey. Hey. Hey! Wake up!" The nudge turned to a hard shove. Before I knew it, I was face-first on the stone floor.
I rubbed the back of my head, and looked up to find a taller changeling, still just six or seven years old, like me, standing before me. The grin plastered on his face just irked me.
"Phalanx, you idiot..." I murmur, rising to my hooves. "That hurt, y'know."
Phalanx just rolled his eyes at me. "Oh, come on. It was a joke."
I gave a chuckle, "And so are you."
Phalanx gave me a playful shove, and waved his hoof. "That's the spirit. Now come on, something's going on down in the Nexus. There's a big crowd gathering." Before I had the chance to protest, Phalanx had taken off.
I sighed, and chased after him. We weaved through small groups, jumped over rocks, and occasionally bumped into others. Of course, we apologized, and for a few steps, walked as we were told. After that, we took off again. Looking back upon it now, it seemed like a stupid thing to do, but, we were young. We knew no better.
We had found ourselves staring at the backside of a rather large crowd gathered in the Nexus, a sort of meeting hall in the nest. By the time I had caught up with him, Phalanx was already scanning the wall in an attempt to find a perch. He waved a hoof, and took flight towards a cubby in the upper level of the wall. I landed just a moment behind him.
"Look, over there..." Phalanx said, staring out into the sea of faces.
In the middle of the crowd, I could make out the shapes of the Praetorians, the Queen's personal guard. It took a moment, but I found Queen Chrysalis, surrounded by a batch of Praetorians, simply looking out among the crowd. After what seemed like an eternity, Chrysalis' gaze fell onto us.
Phalanx and I both froze. The Queen's gaze eventually turned elsewhere.
"Phalanx?" I asked. "You saw that too, right?"
"Yes..." He replied. "The queen just looked right at us..."
We both just stared at each other for a moment. After that, Phalanx bolted, heading back the direction we came. I followed him quickly.
I felt a sudden jolt as I awoke. For a moment, my breathing was heavy and sporadic. I ran my hooves along my forelegs to calm myself, and eventually rose up to my hooves. Though I couldn't see outside, I had a feeling that it was evening. I could hear muffled chatter from outside. Not bothering to be subtle about it, I pushed through the curtain and stepped out into the rest of my cell.
Miss Sparkle had two guests; the rainbow-maned pegasus and the pink earth pony. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, their names were. My sudden activity seemed to startle the ponies, and I kept myself from laughing. For some reason, the sight of a startled pony is just so amusing.
Within the first few seconds of my appearance, Pinkie Pie had positioned herself right in front of the glass wall. She reared up and placed her fore-hooves on the glass with an ever-growing smile.
"Ooh, can you do that trick? You know, the changing thing?" She asked.
I blinked. It hadn't occurred to me to try changing form. Of course, in any other given situation, if any creature other than the queen herself asked me to change form for their amusement, I would've told them to go get eaten by a hydra. But this situation was... Different.
I planted all four hooves solidly on the tiled floor, clenched my eyes shut, and focused. I felt a familiar tingle over my body, for a moment. In the next second, the tingle fizzled away, replaced by a piercing pain in my neck. A moment later, the piercing was replaced again by a painful buzz, all over my body.
I fell to my knees, attempting to resist whatever had happened. I failed horribly. The last sight I can recall was Miss Sparkle staring through the glass with an almost shocked look on her face.
When I finally came to, I only had the faintest memory of what was happening. Something about a pink pony, morphing, and this damnable collar. Around me, the three ponies, and dragon, had gathered, and I was outside the cell. Miss Sparkle had a hoof on my throat... Checking for a pulse, it seemed. I was in no mood for it.
"Get your hooves off me!" I gasped out, struggling to roll onto my stomach. "I won't be touched by your kind!"
The group that formed around me scattered, most of them seemed to move towards the stairs. Miss Sparkle was the exception. When he noticed her standing there, Spike stood at her side, tugging at her hoof.
"Twilight! Let the guards handle it!" Spike pleaded, still unable to move the lavender mare.
Miss Sparkle seemed to not hear him. She just stared at me. I couldn't make out her scent. It took a moment to register that she had found a way to magically mask her scent. Which completely tore away any advantage I had.
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash soon stood beside Miss Sparkle and Spike. Rainbow Dash had a look on her face that indicated her eagerness to fight. Pinkie Pie stood with a grin that seemed to not fit the moment.
I backed myself against the wall, lowered my head, and bared my fangs. I instinctively vocalized. Undoubtedly, the sound of my call drew the guards' attention. I could hear the clatter of their hooves on the stairs.
At that moment, with my fangs still bared, I faced a decision. Stand and fight a battle I'll surely lose, or revert to a passive posture and pray to the Great Beyond I came out unscathed.
I'm not exactly sure what compelled me to do so, but I chose the latter. Just a moment after I made my choice, I felt a blow to the side of the head. It wasn't quite painful, but the shock of an unexpected blow stunned me. It gave the two guards all the time they needed to pin me on the ground.
"No, don't be so rough with him!" Miss Sparkle scolded. Her words shocked me as much as it did the guards. For a moment, I saw a trace look of regret come over her face. Regret of what, I was not sure. The look disappeared as quickly as it came. "... I need a compliant subject to study, and hurting him won't help the matter."
"Yes ma'am." One of the guards replied. Both of them clambered to their hooves, and yanked me up as well.
They 'escorted' me to my cell, and slammed the door behind me. I heard the clack of the lock, and I just stared at the wall for a moment, trying to take in everything that had just happened. I made a move for the cover behind the curtain, but before I did, I noticed something in the corner of my eye... Miss Sparkle stood there, giving me the strangest look I had ever seen.
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You updated right as I finished reading 7 other story updates.
IT'S A CONSPIRACY!
`Yay
1122845 *Nervous laughter* What? Conspiracy? No, never!
Buck da police! Those guards are such dicks. Needs more Nurse Redheart.
Otherwise, please continue because I do so enjoy this.
This guy can't catch a break.
Well I'm enjoying this so far... well except for the lack of chapters! xD
However, it HAS been a good read and I'm looking forward to reading more.
Sweet an updated, unlike Mr. Muffins...this is the first updated for me all day.
Awww, won't somepony be nice to this guy already, and by nice I mean more than casual indifference/protection of a science project.
Where's Lyra, she likes other species right?dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra2.png oh just humans? finedl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra_cry.png
Also saw this: I felt a sodden jolt as I awoke. Should that be sudden? I don't think jolts can get wet.
1123073 Thanks for pointing that out. It has been corrected.
New chapter please. This is amazing to read and your doing a fantastic job with it.
yay update
I hope it wont take soo long to next update
I can has moar nao?
1122970
Twi seems to be getting tired of the guards harassment of the poor fellow though. Not like she wants them to beat up the changeling everytime he gets hurt. dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Twilight_Sparkle.png
Heh, it's fun to see stories in which the ponies are the assholes.
1122860
We shall see
I'm excited about this piece of literary work.
Two hearts? Changelings must have to go to the bathroom a lot. No wonder he likes to rest in the shower.
The Guards' paranoia is amusing too. "OH MY GOD, HE MADE A SOUND" "GET HIM!"
I'm curious to what kind of look Twilight is giving the protagonist. Here's hoping for the next update to come by soon!
ow.
awww, I think Twilight has "feelings" for the changeling, I definitely wouldn't say love just yet but something none the less, besides he has to be getting some sort of energy to be saying alive.
1123073 obviously you haven't sufficient experience in depravity
1124071
Only in regards to sleep, and I took great strides to correct that.
Another great chapter Aim. Now That you showed me your work let me show you my latest piece of work. Hope you enjoy!
Fuuuuuuu! you give me nothing! Nothing's happened in the last few chapters! I liked the old one better.
twilight has a crush on the changeling am i right or close to it plz reply
1124553 Uh... There's a romance tag and Twilight is on the cover...
1123105 shit good thing im not this guy. i would "damage the goods" of TS sience project aka go and die in the cell
1124659 WHAT! HOW does someone even me miss a perfectly placed picture sometimes I wonder how i don't notice the obvious things
>Changelings have two hearts...
They're TIMELORDS?!
Get away with all the things! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/lolface_Queen_Chrysalis.png
1124116
... lack of sleep is deprivation. Depravity is different.
Deprivation is a lack of something considered necessary.
Depravity on the other hand, is psychological. It refers to having corrupt morals, in this case harming another or allowing another to come to harm. Some more extreme examples -enjoy- what they do.
1122970
I am also rapidly running out of interest with this story. We've gone four chapters so far, and the only actual character interactions we've had were with the CMC!
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Sweetie_Belle_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Scootaloo_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Applebloom_lolface.png
I get that... that... Wait. Were we ever told this guy's name?
At any rate, I get that he's a soldier and giving his capters (Sp?) the silent treatment, but it is seriously killing the story, to say nothing of skewing Twilight's research. If he had actually SAID that his wings were sensitive, Redheart would have backed off after the first touch. If Twilight had warned him not to shapeshift, he wouldn't have been knocked out like that.
1124659
...I just checked the front page again. Where are the "Sad" and "Tragedy" tags? How the hay does this qualify as "Slice of Life"? and Stockholm Syndrome does NOT a "Romance" tag make.
1125218
Yes depravity is used to reference corrupted morals, but deprave is about corruption of something, so I just used its base meaning of corruption in reference to my formerly terrible sleep patterns...I think I'm allowed to do that, should have paid more attention in grammar class...though I don't think the word 'deprave' or any other form of the word ever came up on those vocab quizzes.
But yes, I have very little experience in depravity for corrupted morals. I think that's a good thing though.
Anyway you look at it though, I want the next chapter of this story to enjoy.
1125291
Um... I don't think you can do that, but I'm not entirely sure now that I looked it up.
1125364
Lets just agree that it's a word to mean bad stuff. I can't think of any version of the word in any context that has a positive result.
1123438 2 heeartbeats? HE'S PREGNANT!
or you know has a distinctly different physiology.
1127074
the term is "Preggers"
Also, Im pretty sure Twi is falling in love with the changeling, read a story similair to this one.
Minus the captivity part
I think it's way too early fo Twilight to fall into love with this changeling, they haven't even had a decent conversation yet. Not to mention looks. But compassion is a possible option, i don't think Twilight enjoys seeing a sentient creature treated this way, even if it's a former enemy.
1124659 le gasp!
are you being serious cause i must be pretty thick cause i diddnt notice that
Are Changelings Galifreyan?
I've had this on my "Read later" section, just read all the current chapters and now I'm just waiting for the next one to come out. It's really a great story, well written and able to keep me drawn into it. Good job so far!
more
i come to say that this has been one of the better fan fics that ive read i putting this near the top with the prologue to my little dashie.
Two hearts huh? But he is not a Timelord is he?
I really hope that Doctor Who reference was deliberate. Anyway, I like how this story is going, in my opinion its pace is just right and I love it.
Wuhuuu.
EDIT: Hm I don't know what is missing, but I feel like this story is about to become a part of my Favourites. Do tell, what are your plans for this story and its progression?
Any news on an update?
Moar. Now. DO IT.
Moar?
I'd start this fic... but it's on hiatus. I hate starting stories that won't ever be finished. It's sad, because this looks awesome... oh well, will be watching, just in case...
Please don't forget this.
*pokes story with a stick*
You alive, buddy?