Once Bitten

by Damaged

Slicing Life

Screaming tore sleep away from the three pledges of changelings in the little cave. Articulate had woken up early and couldn't stop himself from yelling.

"Wh-What's wrong?" Shining Armor jerked awake from her sleep, memories of gently cuddling Vinyl fading slowly as her adrenaline kicked her body into overdrive. Looking about, she saw the cave was still sealed, and that the screaming changeling was Articulate.

Thorax reacted without thinking about it, and reached out to Articulate, hugging them until the screaming stopped. She comforted and cuddled the distressed changeling tight, but spoke no words to him.

"Sky Soar!" Articulate inhaled the relaxing pheromones of Thorax, pressing his snout in tight against the young queen. "My name was Sky Soar…" The squeezing hug grew a little tighter, and reminded him of a faceless mare from his foalhood. He felt good, safe, and calmed down significantly. "I can't remember what… they took me away…"

"Sky Soar." Thorax held Sky in her grip and felt the drone seem to cling a little tighter at mention of his name. "Welcome back, Sky. I bet you have some questions." She gave a reassuring little chirp of her wings.

All the changelings were now at various levels of awake, most climbing closer to Thorax to cuddle, but Shining Armor sat aside and watched as Sky Soar regained himself. Apple Bloom stumbled up against Shining, and reached one foreleg around her back for a hug. "Good morning, or whatever time it is." She gave a little chirp and hugged Apple back.

"What are your odds of getting back to sleep?" Sunset joined Shining and Apple Bloom, giving them both a hug. She mused for a moment that she had become a lot more "huggy" since regaining her sense of self.

"Not likely." Scootaloo approached her fellow crusaders, Sweetie at her side, and practically fell into hugging them. "What are we going to do instead, then?"

"We didn't really get to know them yet." Apple Bloom reminded her fellow Crusaders that there was two new nymphs in the cave. She pointed a hole-filled hoof at the newcomers and then puffed out her little chest. "Come on."

Sweetie Belle looked at the two newcomers and nodded to her friends. "And then we just need to get the last pledge in our pail, and we will have the whole class." She smiled at the thought of having so many friends. Since becoming a changeling, Sweetie had noticed other changelings didn't trigger her shyness quite so much as they would have, had she been a pony.

Getting to her hooves, Shining brushed past Sweetie, giving a soft chirp to her before walking over to the two newcomers. "Hi." Of the two of her sides, Shining preferred Vinyl for such interactions, and adjusted her mindset to match the entertainer. "How's it doing?"

"Hi… uh, a little strange." On edge from the rough awakening, but getting calmer thanks to Thorax's pheromones, the nymph shook her shoulders a little. "My name's Scarlet Peaches, and this is Pepper Dreams." Scarlet took a step between Pepper and the newcomers.

"It's okay, Scar." Pepper reached a hoof up to touch at Scarlet's shoulder. "Th-They are just normal ponies, like us." He made a point of stepping around Scarlet and holding out his hoof.

"Hi Pepper." Vinyl held out her own hoof and gave a gentle clop against the other nymph's. "My name is Vinyl Scratch."

"They said your name was Shining." Scarlet pointed a hoof at Vinyl. "I heard them, you shouldn't lie!" The words tumbled out of her mouth so quick, just like her mother had used to explain to her, that she didn't realize what she had said until she was done. "Uh… unless you are in disguise… I guess."

"It's a long story, but I guess we got some time to waste." Vinyl settled down and took a deep breath. "It started when I was a little colt—"

"You were a colt too?" Pepper cut in on Vinyl. "I wasn't sure what to do, but Articulate… I guess he is Sky Soar now… he said I could be a colt if I wanted." He tilted his head on a slight angle. "But I don't get why you have two names?"

"Well," Vinyl felt nymphs tuck in around her and couldn't help but feel safe and relaxed, "when I was a little colt, my name was Shining Armor, and I was the best at everything." She grinned. "Running, kicking, even eating."

"There's a 'but' coming." Pepper snuggled between the other "colt" and his new friend, Scarlet.

"Well, it wouldn't be a story if there wasn't a but somewhere in it." Vinyl couldn't hold back a chuckle. "But he wasn't completely happy. Shining wanted to do other things sometimes, he wanted to look pretty, and be friends with fillies… so he started pretending to be one."

"Just like that?" Apple Bloom blinked.

"He was nervous, but then he thought up the coolest name ever, and focused on being the filly who had that name." Vinyl closed her eyes and focused on her own memories. "When I tried to hang out with fillies my own age, they ridiculed me. But then some nice fillies—about your age, Apple Bloom—asked me where I had gotten the hair tie I was using." Vinyl's thoughts returned to that first moment she had been validated. "Shining has to be the big brave stallion all the time. He has to do so much for everypony around him, it leaves him a little hollow. I get to break free, I get to be the mare who sits down at her mix desk and kicks out amazing music."

"But you're a filly now?" Pepper's voice carried a little awe to it. "Uh, well, a nymph like everypony… everyling… else."

"I am a filly again. It feels a lot different to my first time around." Vinyl lifted a foreleg and hooked it around Pepper's neck. "But hey, now we can all be whoever and whatever we want, right?" She let go of the other nymphs and stepped away, turning as she did. "This is me." It still wasn't as quick as she had seen Sky Soar do it, but after the flames left her body she was a perfect image of Vinyl Scratch.

"You were an adult?" Scarlet froze and stared up at Vinyl. "I mean, you are a nymph now, just like us!"

Vinyl flicked her sunglasses up and smiled at Scarlet. "Yeah, funny how that happens, but this is what I look like. The big lug Shining Armor…" She fixed Shining's image in her head, pushed it into her horn and threw her magic through it. "This is Shining Armor." The shift in mental focus was almost as quick as the transformation. "This is me."

"But, both of you are white unicorns, with blue manes and tails!" Scarlet was indignant. "Everypony would have recognized you!" She crossed her forelegs over her chest.

"Only one pony ever caught on." Shining grinned and called his fire to return him to his changeling form. "She is a princess." She grinned and trotted back over to settled down with the other nymphs. "The prettiest, too." Gasps came from almost all the nymphs. "It's totally true." Shining and Vinyl were both in firm agreement on the fact in question.

"But fillies are…" Pepper stopped himself before he said something that would have made his life extremely uncomfortable. "Uh… well, I just mean I am not one." A snuggle pile of nymphs piled around him, each hugging him tightly. "I mean, I don't… I just don't know…"

"That's easy." Apple Bloom booped Pepper on the snout. "You are a colt."

Pepper tried to object. "But I—"

"You think it mattered to Vinyl that she couldn't be a mare for years?" Shining spotted three more nymphs wander over, two rubbing their eyes.

"Why is it so noisy?" Pickle lowered her hoof from her eye and looked at the others all snuggled together.

Scootaloo turned to look at the Beet sisters. "Articulate remembered who he was. He was just a little foal, and was all alone when they grabbed him." Three little gasps of shock met the revelation.

"That's terrible! We were all together… I don't think I would want my sisters to go through this without me." Silver looked to Pickle and Golden. "All together, right?" She lifted her little hoof up in a salute, and had two more clop against it from her sisters.

Shining looked at her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders and grinned, but her grin faded a little when she looked to Pepper and Scarlet. "So what's your story?" She snuggled back down beside Pepper.

Scarlet stared at Shining, and struggled with her feelings. "They took me first. I woke up when the thing was crawling into my mouth…" She couldn't stop a sharp little chirp leaving her wings when she thought back to the memory. "It didn't hurt, it didn't let me. But… but she seems nice."

"I woke up and Scarlet was already there. She said they put something in me already." Pepper tried to reach for the nice changeling in his head, but being awake made it almost impossible. "Scarlet is the best pony in all Equestria." He gave a sharp nod.

It was obvious to Shining that Scarlet had taken care of Pepper, despite her own problems. Even with her heart breaking at the thought of the filly doing that, she watched as Silver hugged in against Scarlet Peaches side. "They did me last, but you are right, Scarlet, it was terrifying."

"Sh-Shining? You're an adult!"Scarlet leveled the accusation, and a hoof, at Shining Armor. "You aren't meant to tell us you were scared!"

"It was scary. And if I can help it, it won't happen again." Shining smiled back and lifted her own hoof to tap it against the accusing one.

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

"I wonder what they are talking about?" Sunset was sitting with Thorax and Sky, watching the nymphs talking. "Seems like Shining is telling them quite the story." She smiled and leaned a bit closer to Thorax.

"She really cares for them." Thorax lifted a leg up and around Sunset's shoulders. "Shining Armor is also going to be the key to getting our warning delivered. Royal Guard Captain…" She grinned and turned to look at Sky. "How are you feeling now?"

"Calmer…" Sky Soar kept inhaling deeply, not realizing why she was doing it. "What happened? I don't understand. Last night I felt relaxed and normal, and when I woke up all the… the smoke in my head… it was gone."

"Queen Chrysalis." Sunset's mood soured a little, and the scorn in her voice was almost outright hostility. "She messed with my mind." She looked to Thorax and nodded. "Just being around a queen changeling makes your mind…" Gathering her thoughts, Sunset Shimmer pushed at the words to get them out. "A queen can literally control you, make you think, make you believe, whatever they want."

"But why did it wear off now?" Sky Soar looked to Sunset. He blinked at the wry expression, and turned to Thorax. Warmth flowed over him, and he realized it was just nice to be near Thorax now. "T-T-Thorax?"

"I'm turning into a queen." Thorax shrugged. "I don't even know what I am doing, but sleeping near me seems to undo whatever screwed up thing Queen Chrysalis is doing to everybuggy."

"How do I know you aren't doing the same to me? You could be controlling me right now!" Sky was panicking; he had just gotten free of one monster's influence, and now he was stuck in a small cave with another.

"For a start," Sunset cut in on the stallion's panic, "she probably wouldn't let us think about it, if she wanted us under her control. Thorax is my twin, Sky. She is a good changeling."

Sky stared at Sunset, then changed his look to gaze at Thorax. Desire to please Thorax welled in him, and try as he might, he couldn't find a way around it. "Ugh, you are right, it just feels strange wanting to… wanting to please you like this."

"You didn't want to please Queen Chrysalis?" Thorax studied Sky Soar. "Weren't you ready to help trap and brainwash fillies and colts into becoming monsters like us?"

"We're not monsters, Chrysalis is." Sunset glared at Thorax. "And we need to make sure everyling, and everypony, sees that."

Sky couldn't help himself, he leaned in against Thorax and nuzzled against her—it felt really good. "So what are we going to do?"

"There is just Scythe to get next. If we can get her and her pledge, we will have the whole pail with us." Thorax saw amazement dawn in Sky's eyes. "And then we will leave, and warn the ponies of what Queen Chrysalis is planning."

"Okay, I have to admit, that is a pretty amazing idea, but Scythe is not a nice 'ling at the best of times. What about if we just take the nymphs out from under her?" Sky Soar buzzed his wings a little, then let them chirp a little as he set them back flat.

"Then we do what we must. We will be leaving with the whole pail. Everybuggy is leaving here." Thorax leaned in and rubbed her cheek against Sky's, and watched him close his eyes and smile a little.

Author's Note:

Thorax: are you aware how influential you're becoming? What will the Queen think if she finds you?

"If she finds me she will probably kill me. I don't think there has ever been another queen born, but if there was there is no evidence they survived long." Thorax gave a shrug. "Leaving here is important to me for many reasons, not all of them are unselfish."

~~~~~+++++~~~~~

So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and I they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, I they will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! I They will pick one question per chapter.

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Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
Boulder
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
Ian
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And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
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Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Viva la Resistance!
Look at the cute little children-powered squadron! You just don't see that in adults...
WHERE ARE THE REVIEWERS?!? How are we the first comment in two days????
Thorax better be on her A game when she goes to beguile Scythe...
Keep going! ;)

[Damaged]

8099195 Well, there is three things:
A) A convention
B) New episodes airing
C) Easter

[tsaukpaetra]

8099218 well, yeah, we're running the con... I suppose it just shows our loyalty!

[Boulder]

"Calmer…" Sky Soar kept inhaling deeply, not realizing why her was doing it.

she
Ooh, leaving Scythe out of their plans ain't a good thing.

[Mortefleur]

Question for Vinyl Scratch: "Since you've alluded to Cadance knowing about your..... shall we say double life, are both she and Octavia happy in the knowledge of this relationship and will you try to form a herd with both of your partners?"

[Chrome Masquerade]

"Well, it wouldn't be a story if there wasn't a but somewhere in it." Vinyl couldn't hold back a chuckle. "But he wasn't completely happy. Shining wanted to do other things sometimes, he wanted to look pretty, and be friends with fillies… so he started pretending to be one."

"Do you know what sells a sitcom?"
"The word butt?"