My Little Changeling -- "I" is Magic

by Wing Dancer

...HUNGERING

Author's Note:

With dedication to Tulip and his comment

Princess Celestia delicately sat her rump on a pillow, the stinging sensation chipping away at her patience. All this stress, irregular meals and plenty of things to do made her develop a peculiarly nasty medical condition. The alicorn already tried some creams and medications, still unable to fathom how her immortal and well kept body could give out like this.

“I’ll need softer pillows,” hissed the day princess, squirming around. She rubbed a hoof at her tired eyes, stifling a yawn.

She was jolted awake by gentle knocking on the door. At this time of night, she would already be asleep if it weren’t for her little problem. More irritably than she should, the mare trotted over and flung the door open.

Shining Armor backed away a few steps, the beast before him nothing like the regal Princess he knew. Her mane was matte and still, the colors mixing into a disheveled pattern. Her bloodshot eyes developed slight bags, the nasty frown beneath them looking no better.

“I-I’m sorry to bother, Princess,” nervously said Shining, bowing as deeply as he possibly could. “T-There is something that R-Redberry requests of you. Normally I wouldn’t dare to bother Your Highness at this hour, but the stallion insisted it was urgent and needed your attention.”

Celestia stood still, looking down at the huddled figure. Her brain took a detour while trying to figure out who Reberry was and why would he ever need anything from her. “Who?” she blurted out, taking a few steps outside and gingerly closing the winded doors behind her.

“T-The pony you put under my command. The one who has to complete training in a month?” tried the captain, shuffling back to make room for the towering alicorn. He felt her angry gaze scorch his neck through his golden armor.

“Oh!” Chip wanted something of her. Of course. “What did he want again?”

“He wouldn’t say, Princess. He said it was for your ears only. Maybe I could help somehow?” suggested Shining, by now almost pressing his muzzle into the pristine marble beneath him. “You seem tired, milady.”

“No, it’s fine, Shining,” sighed Celestia, batting her unruly mane into a state of lesser chaos. “You have a wedding to worry about. I already put too much on your plate as it is. I can handle this. Where is he?”

“I-In my office, milady. We will have to walk since-”

Before he could finish, there was a blinding flash of light followed by searing pain in his brain as the powerful alicorn teleported, tearing through his protection spell like it were paper. It felt like his head being split apart with a flaming chainsaw in a freezer. He dropped to the floor, biting down on his teeth to not scream in agony.

* * *

“Shit,” cussed Celestia, seeing the purple bubble that enveloped the room deflate and dissipate. She ignored the stunned Redberry for now, raising a barrier of her own, her bogged down mind realizing what she must have done to the poor guard who put it up.

With a heavy sigh she teleported the squirming and groaning Shining Armor into his office. As fast as she could she cobbled together a painkiller spell, applying it to the unicorn who immediately went limp, breathing heavily.

“What happened to him, Princess?” asked Chip, looking between the alicorn and guard, recoiling from the heavy odors of pain, anger and confusion wafting from the pair. “Is everything alright?”

“You tell me,” cut Celestia. She tried sitting on the rug, but as soon as her flanks settled on the soft surface she felt the annoying burning in her rump. “Shit,” she cussed again, standing up stiffly. “What do you want?”

“I-I’m sorry,” blurted out the changeling, bowing before the clearly upset mare. “I-I wouldn’t dare to summon you if the situation wasn’t dire. A-As much as I’d love to get to the point, uh...” He hesitantly pointed at the Captain, giving the princess a meaningful stare.

“He’s out cold, don’t worry. He’ll be fine. You can speak freely.” Celestia summoned what little composure she had left, slowing her breathing and managing a smile. “What was it that you needed to tell me, Chip?”

“I’m terribly, terribly sorry Princess. It’s just that...when I started training, for real, the strain in my body…I started hungering,” he muttered out.

“Go on.”

“While the food that I eat lets me function, I’m afraid that a changeling body...or maybe just my body needs real food. I’ve tried to work past it, but being amongst the ponies I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to just-”

“You didn’t attack anyone, right? I won’t be hearing of recruits missing anywhere?” cut in Celestia, rising a hoof in unease.

“No! Nonono, Princess,” blurted out the changeling, lying on the ground and bashing his head to the cool surface. “I would rather take my life than defy your commands. But...as it is now, I am a danger to the camp. I have to struggle to keep myself in check, and as such my capabilities are hindered. I have no idea what I should do, Princess.”

Celestia looked at the bowing figure, biting her lower lip. “This is a problem, truly.” She began pacing around the room, absentmindedly glancing at the war heroes of the past. Most of them she recognized. Many were her friends at one time or another, all laid to rest centuries ago. All faithful servants of the Crown. She glanced back at the changeling, his face still humbly glued to the floor. Even this one, an alien to their kingdom, did what he could to aid them. The changeling traitor. The biggest strength and liability she had to deal with since her sister’s awakening to the Nightmare.

“There’s no way around it, yes?” asked Celestia in a serious tone. A faint nod from the shapeshifter made her purse her lips even tighter. She sighed and straightened herself. Maybe it was her dulled state of mind, the stress or the inflammation, but she really didn’t find it in herself to seek a solution when one was readily available. Even if the prospect of calling upon it was grim at best. “Fine then. I am here. You can feed on me. I trust you.”

Chip’s heart skipped a beat, the immoral offer striking him like a hammer. With renewed fervor he backed away a few steps, closing his eyes shut. “No, Princess, I can’t! W-We’ll find a way! I-I’ll fight through it!” he assured, shaking his head vigorously.

“Chip. No. I’m too tired to look for another way out. We’re out of time. You need to be fit, more so than me. I have my sister to help me out, while you are here alone, a wolf in sheep’s skin. I appreciate your dedication and sacrifice - with that in mind, it would be wrong of me as a dutiful and just ruler to idly sit back while you endure torture, heeding a command that goes against your very nature. I always accepted the possibility of having to...provide for you at some point.”

“B-But, my Princess! No! I’m sorry, I-I can’t! I won’t!” yelled the changeling, backing into a corner. He never felt so much panic and confliction in his whole existence. His distress caused his agitated body to respond, a flash of green burning away his disguise. His insectoid wings flared out, stiff and aching from the lack of movement in the past months.

“Chip. That was an order. As your Princess, I command you to take what you need. Please, don’t make this any harder than it already is,” said Celestia, her tone heavy with fatigue. She was angry. She was scared. She trusted the changeling, but judging by what Twilight wrote in her reports…

The distressed colt scraped his holed hooves against the glimmering walls of Shining Armor’s office. He wanted to escape, huddle into a ball and shiver. His obedient nature fought against the love he had for his ruler. He felt he could just tear himself in two, the hunger striking at him with savage ferocity.

He needed to feed. He wanted to sink his mental teeth in joy, love, friendship. He craved the mouth-watering honor, justice and compassion. His curved horn was tingling with anticipation, already probing the uneasy mare, going so far as to even reaching for the knocked out Shining Armor.

With a primal roar, he turned around and basked the room in green. His hunger was let loose like a wild beast, thrown against the two ponies.

Celestia closed her eyes, bracing against the growing force she felt intrude into her mind.

* * *

The royal mare woke up with a jolt. She didn’t remember the precise moment that she passed out - her head felt fuzzy, the rest of her body somewhat cold. Her protection spell was gone, but judging by the flickering of the candles, not much time has passed.

Next to her lay the twitching massive changeling, his eyes closed tightly shut. Just beyond him was Shining Armor, still out cold from the badly woven spell.

The mare shakily stood on all fours, inspecting herself. With some surprise she felt more energetic than before, her pains and woes lifted as if by a magic wand. The sensation was at least bizarre - there were empty spaces in her mind, but there was no pain or sense of loss connected to them.

“Chip?” she whispered, prodding the black plated creature next to her. “Are you alright?”

The changeling gave a long groan, blinking slowly, focusing his slitted eye on the Princess. A small smile cracked his face as he shuffled on the floor meagerly.

“I-Is it done? I do not feel any...worse. What happened? Did something backfire?”

“Noooooo,” moaned out Chip, an uncouth belch escaping his lips. “I’m done. I did what you asked.”

“What did you do exactly?” asked the princess, raising an eyebrow.

“I fed. On your emotions. Like you wanted me to,” hissed out Chip, heaving his massive form upwards.

“Which emotions?” huffed the Princess. Oddly enough, she didn’t feel irritated at the shapeshifter, which only fortified her suspicions.

“The ones that bothered you, Princess,” smiled the stallion, sitting on his rump. He gave another loud belch, smacking his lips with disgust. “I’m really sorry. There was so many of them, I just couldn’t help myself. I swear.”

“Of course,” sighed Celestia, shaking her head slowly. She sat down next to the changeling (despite the discomfort in her rump) and embraced him. He was all hard shell, but deep inside she swore she could feel the thundering of his gentle heart. “You’re impossible. Thank you. But believe me, I am not letting you off the hook. This is a serious issue we must deal with,” whispered the Princess into his ear. Despite his mane looking greasy and ruined, it didn’t have any particular smell. He felt like any other pony she ever touched, save for the chitinous surface.

Chip felt really sick to his stomach, having absorbed all the things changeling usually steered clear of. It took all his willpower to vacuum the pair of their insecurities, fears and negative emotions. Now he would probably be sick for days, halting his appetite at least a tiny bit. But it was well worth it - the pure love he smelled right now was beautiful, something so amazing it would be a sin to consume it. It wasn’t the love of a disguise or from a mind-altering spell - the Princess really cared for who he was. And what he has done.

* * *

Celestia, now calm and collected, expunged the numbness from Shining’s body. The stallion woke up gradually, dazily blinking at Redberry and the Princess.

“I’m sorry, Shining. I was in a really bad mood before. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” apologized the mare, offering a hoof to the captain.

“Don’t pay it any mind, Princess,” replied Armor, picking himself up and bowing slightly. “I feel better now anyway. While I was out, I had the most absurd vision. I’m not even sure it was a dream.” After a brief pause, he pointed at Redberry. “Redberry changed into some kind of creature, a chip I think. Then there was some shouting about feeding and there was this green light-”

The captain bit his tongue, looking at the shocked expressions of Celestia and Redberry. The air suddenly became heavy with tension. He felt like he has just put a particularly thick noose around his neck.

Comments

[The One and only One]

Chip and Celestia: He knows too much...get him!!!!!
Both jump Shining and throw him into the "Pit"
Shining: NOOOOOOooooooooooooo! spat
THE END

[Crystal Static]

4801005 Somehow I think turning this into a crackfic would be a bad idea on the author's part...

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

[Wing Dancer]

4801086
What's a crackfic

[Crystal Static]

4801132 Crackfics are those really bad one-shots that people write to be intentionally bad. Crackfics generally have no real plotline, a lot of fourth-wall-breaking or OOC-ness, and tend to be incredibly stupid, although sometimes funny.

Now for a few examples:
Butt Off, Applejack: Princess of Eyebrows, Princess Luna Gets Replaced By A Moon Rover, you get the idea...

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

[Booster Spice]

Oh dear, Celestia has had too much cake, so now needs Preparation Hay?

Pity about Shining, his ears still working. then again, he is now contaminated into not recognising Cadence, Chrysalis change?

[PiercingSight]

Shoot!

Well done, my friend. You've got my attention, and my focus, and all of my brain power. I'm afraid that I won't be able to properly function in my life until this cliff-hanger is resolved.

It itches.

May you be assisted by all the powers at your disposal to complete the following leg of this journey on schedule.

Anticipating,
PiercingSight

PS: Are you still going to do bi-daily updates? Was that break for something that's over now? Or will we have to wait more for new chapters? Sorry if I'm asking out of place, I want to read more...

[DarkPinkie]

4801727

It itches

Just like Celestia's rump xD

And I do believe that the break was because the author had to get through a very difficult hurdle in their life. Now that it has passed they should be able to deliver. Though I watch the bi-daily schedule with some scepticism. But if they wrote some during their two year downtime then they might have a buffer to maintain schedule.

[Georg]

4801316 and my favorite, Applejack is Full of Squirrels.

[MoldyShishkabob]

“Redberry changed into some kind of creature, a chip I think. Then there was some shouting about feeding and there was this green light-”

OH CRUD, HE'S ONTO US

HE KNOWS THAT HE'S ACTUALLY A POTATO CHIP

[Wing Dancer]

4801727
4801835
There is no buffer made, I'm afraid. I was gone for those two years, and returning was just something that happened by pure chance
While I'll try my best to make it with bi-daily updated, my day job kind of leaves me with a short amount of time to write in. I'll keep trying my best, though

[Wing Dancer]

4804069
Me too. Glad to be back

[katarjin]

4802152 what?

[Tulip]

With dedication to Tulip and his comment

You know, i influenced authors to assasinate, transform or ship their alicorns, but not add them hemorrhoids.
You got medal here.

[Alondro]

Oooo-kayyyyy... not sure where this story is going anymore.

[Morphile]

You goofed on the metaphor for pain Open brain surgery doesn't cause pain, because there are no sensory nerves Pain would leave less space for thinking

[tsaukpaetra]

Called it.