End With a Bang
"Ooomf!" The changeling fell back against a stack of tools. The common room echoed from clattering metal as it snarled, tossed its blonde mane, and came running straight back for Rainbow with a blood-curdling drawl: "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!"
"Look out, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack phased through the nearby wall as she hovered above her anchor. "I'm comin' in for another charge—I mean... the changeling's comin' in—"
"I got it, AJ!" Rainbow Dash jumped high, flapped her wings, and flew over the creature's charge—or so she thought.
"Hressssh!" The farm mare's eyes turned compound in a green flash as its hat disappeares. Milliseconds later, its shoulder sprouted a tentacle that grabbed Rainbow by the lower fetlock. THWPPP!
"Rainbow!" Rarity exclaimed, floating close. "That spare limb is very brittle—!"
"Right." Rainbow simply spun about and swung her hoof through the appendage, instantly snapping it.
Green blood splattered across the stone floor of Darkreach.
"Mrnnghhhh!" The changeling backtrotted, its body rippling through orange, white, lavender, and pink coats. It finally settled for Fluttershy—or at least a Fluttershy with scorpion tails emerging from its shoulders. "Hresssssh!" It soared into Rainbow Dash, slashing and stabbing with its stingers.
Rainbow flew backwards, wrestling with the creature and dodging its tail-stabs with deft movements of her neck.
"Oh goodness!" The real Fluttershy covered her ghostly eyes. "Oh goodness it's too much!"
"Quick, Dashie!" Pinkie hollered. "Find a giant napkin to squash it!"
"It's a lot weaker than it looks!" Rainbow snarled back, being pressed against a table.
"Rainbow!" Ariel flinched, moving to lean Wildcard against a table. "Hold on! I'll help—!"
"No!" Rainbow sneered, dodging more stinger attacks. "Stay put!"
"But I can kick its butt! Honest—!"
"I know!" Rainbow spat, struggling. "But the moment you stop guarding Wildcard, he'll rush in on his lonesome and get hurt even more! And I'm not having that!"
With a frown, the last Desperado moved forward...
...only to be yanked back in place by Ariel. "You heard the mare." Ariel nevertheless gulped, staring wide-eyed at the fight. "She's got this."
"Rrrrrrrrrr—" Rainbow Dash pressed her rear hooves against the table behind her and shoved the metamorph backwards with her forelimbs. "Haaaaaaaugh—!" She then kicked against the furniture and performed a backwards bicycle kick, knocking the creature flat on its back.
WHUD!
Within a blink, Rainbow had finished her midair cartwheel and dove at the creature. Swoooooosh! She flew into it with beating wings, shoving the beast across the room.
Seraphimus' tear-stained eyes reflected the two bodies surging by.
WHAM! At last, Rainbow shoved the changeling into the wall on the opposite side. She pressed her weight against the squirming, bleeding thing and gnashed her teeth. "Give up!" she hollered. "You can't win against all of us! You're starving. You're weak. And you're confused! That's okay! We can friggin' help you!"
"Mrnnngh... Bloodwings..." The creature shrieked in Twilight's voice, and then in Bellesmith's. "Bloodwings!" As it hyperventilated, its pupils rotated through multiple ponies' colors. "Must... k-kill you all..." A whimper, and then Roarke's cold tone: "She will find you. I will show her."
"Don't trust her. Do you hear me?!" Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "You think she loves you. But Tchern left you here to be nothing more than a weapon. Well, you deserve more! Please, stop fighting! Let us show you there's another way!" Rainbow gulped. "This doesn't have to end in bloodshed!"
"Bloodshed...?" At long last, the panting changeling looked straight at her opponent. It swallowed, and an eerily smug voice rolled out its mandibles. "But Sparky..." Red on yellow eyes. Goat hair solidified beneath asymmetrical horns. "...if you did not like bloodshed, how would you have even made it this far?" A fanged smile.
Rainbow froze in place.
From across the room, Seraphimus sneered: "Fool!" She rattled in her chains. "It's baiting you—!"
It was far too late, the dragonequus skull headbutted Rainbow Dash savagely while she was transfixed.
"Ooomf!" Rainbow rolled backwards through a puddle of green changeling blood.
"Rainbow!" Ariel yelped and flew to her side.
"Mrmmmf... Mommy..." The creature shook, shivered, then bounded up the nearest stairwell. "Must... f-find..." Claws and chitin and buzzing wings. It was gone in a green blur. "Reveal..."
Goggles rattling, Wildcard hobbled after it.
"Mrmmfff..." Rainbow struggled to get up, bleeding from the head. "Wildcard... friggin'..."
Cold laughter.
"...?" Rainbow squinted at the nearby puddle of green liquid.
There was a flash of scales, and then a fanged grin formed against the surface of the changeling's fluid. "You know, the little bugger makes a good point..."
Before Rainbow could respond, she felt Ariel's hooves lifting her up. "Rainbow—!" She stammered. "Wildcard's giving chase! Want me to stop him—?"
"Never mind Wildcard, stop the changeling!" Rainbow shook Ariel off and stumbled after the Desperado. "It's heading upstairs! That can only mean one thing!"
"Hurry, Rainbow!" Fluttershy insisted.
"It's headed towards the loading area!" Rarity added.
"If Flynn got this place buzzing again..." Pinkie began.
"Everypony!" Rainbow hollered, her voice echoing through the colony as Kepler stirred to his feet way behind them. "Don't... let it... escape...!"
Panting...
Bleeding... ...
Stumbling... ... ...
The changeling changed bodies ten times per minute. It never once lost its pace as it galloped desperately for the upstairs loading area.
At last, it approached the concrete ramp leading towards the flat metal door.
Its head flickered—possessing Flynn's scalp for a brief moment. Wisened eyes wandered to the left, where it found a dimly-lit instrument panel. The changeling reached over, slapping a button with Seraphimus' palm.
Whurrrrrrrrrrrr!
The ramp opened up to hazy twilight and stars.
The top of the mesa was exposed in a silver line.
"Oh mother..." The changeling whimpered. A smiling muzzle... beak... tusks. It rose on leather and feather wings, flying limply up the ramp, empowered by tears. "Oh mother, I'm coming. We'll be together once again."
It rose higher and higher, almost clearing the door, gaining speed.
"We'll be—"
Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-THW-THWOOOSH!
A heavy axe flew up the ramp and—
CHTUNKK!!!
—embedded itself deep in the metamorph's thorax, almost cleaving the ceature in two.
"Grkkkkk!" The changeling spat a fountain of green slime out its mandibles. It lurched in midair, its wings buzzing in agonized desperation.
Far behind, down the ramp, a side door had slid open to reveal a vertical crawlspace. There Logan stood, covered in sweat and soot. He panted while squinting at his mortal blow from a distance.
"Mrmmmffg... grnnnghhhlll..." The creature let out a whimper, then slumped down hard on the concrete. It slid down the ramp, quickened by the pool of its own blood. Eventually, the friction caused by the axe impaling it caused the body to grind to a halt.
Taking deep breaths, Logan bore a somber expression as he marched towards the thing.
Meanwhile, Wildcard, Ariel, and Rainbow Dash emerged from the stairwell below. They scuffled to a stop, gawking at the bloody scene.
"Whoah...!" Ariel grimaced. "Big Show..."
Rainbow's ears drooped. "Awwwwww for frig's sake..." A heavy exhale. "Was that really necessary?"
"Jeez, you're welcome," Logan grunted as he retrieved his axe with a wet sound. "Better it than us... or the entire journey for that matter—"
"D-Daddy...?"
Logan's pupils instantly shrank. He peered beyond the dripping lengths of his axe.
The changeling had rolled over onto its back. Chitinous skin unfurled above the wound, turning into a soft, rose-peach color. An earth pony foal with a gold mane and blue eyes looked up at him, eyes tearing.
"Daddy... it hurts, Daddy..."
Ariel and Rainbow blinked in confusion.
Wildcard's headcrest lifted.
Logan, meanwhile, was struggling to catch his breath again. "...come on, you bastard freak..." He gulped. "Don't friggin' do this..."
"You said that it wouldn't hurt," the foalish half of the changeling sobbed as its eyes burned green. "You s-said it would be like going to sleep..."
Ariel stammered. "Big Show...?"
"Shut up..." Logan hissed. He clenched his eyes shut as his ears flattened. "Everypony... just shut up—"
"Logan..." The foal's bleeding gums took on a vicious frown. "Logan, you no-good son of a bitch..." The creature heaved forward, its skull enlarging into that of an adult mare, red-coated and howling: "I should have murdered you before I even foaled her!" Her eyes were literally smoking and her body hissed like a steam kettle. Fumes rose from every bleeding orifice of the changeling as the air filled with a pungent odor.
Rainbow coughed, her ears tearing. "Twilight—Kaff! Koff!—what is that?!"
"A chemical reaction!" Twilight gasped. "Oh Celestia—!"
"Quii-ii-iick!" Pinkie quivered all over. "Jump for cover—!"
Rainbow grabbed Ariel and dove aside. "Wildcard!"
Wildcard threw himself forward by his wings. He caught Logan by the shoulders and flung their combined weight backwards just as—
POWWWWW! The changeling's corpse erupted in an acidic bubble of flames that branched outward in every direction, filling the entire chamber with flesh-searing plasma.
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Holy throne....
...well that just happened.
Well, now we have to worry about potential kamikaze changelings! As if regenerating, super changelings weren't enough!
...Oh hell.
OH HELL.
Well...Big Show's gonna have one heck of a tale to tell soon. Provided, y'know, if everyone's gets out of this intact enough. And if he even feels like telling it.
Goddamnit, Rainbow...stop. Just stop. Luna told you well in advance that people here cannot be saved. Keeping this shit up is going to end up costing you. Either by your own life or the life of one of your friends, or by some other nasty cost.
Nice save Applejack.
fleash-searing ?
Holy shit
Looks like everybody just got faced with something painful here. Logan though... What the heck was that? What really is Logan's backstory?
8328548
Luna may have told her, but if I remember correctly, Rainbow didn't want to listen then either. She's surely not gonna listen now unless it actually bites her in the ass.
8328570
...Well...then that's just what it's gonna have to take, isn't it?
..that can't have been a proper changeling.
That had to be a Biological Weapon, a mutant, something.
Still, Sera seems to have grasped some semblance of the truth.
That this place is going to be incredibly dangerous.
And Ariel and Wildcard got to glimpse Discord when the changeling took his form.
-Through the path long forgotten, into the darkness long begotten. Ofolrodi.
8328570 And I doubt she'd actually be able to finish her mission if she *did* give up. What's the point of carrying a spark to the dark side if it's not going to be a light in the darkness?
So Logan's got some baggage with kids and spouses too? Was that part of the application form for the Herald or something? Like was there a line or two on there that read:
"Have you had any horrible psychological trauma involving a spouse/brother/parent/child who died? Yes/No?
If you checked 'Yes' to the above question were you also in some way personally responsible for said trauma? Yes/No?
If you checked 'Yes' to the above question will you also unhealthily suppressed said trauma so it can be worked out during a darkly themed adventure that will likely just cause more problems during critical moments? Yes/No?"
Well at least it adding some depth to the guy, but if he keeps this up and goes through the same motions Bard did then he's also the one most likely to get killed first. So be careful Logan, don't resolve you're personal traumas, because wrapping up your character arc also slates you for a body bag pretty quick.
In other news, Tchern has bio engineered her children to basically be walking middle fingers to the enemy... which kind of makes sense given the nature of the war, but dang. At least you tried Dash. Whatever bullshit Discord might want to bait you with, you didn't make it this far due to a love of bloodshed and unneeded killing.
Honestly its doubtful that Changeling would've gotten far, wounded as it was, so its debatable if Logan actually needed to kill it. Dash and Ariel probably could've caught up to it pretty fast, what with Fluttershy's ability to detect it. Top that off with the fact that there's nothing remotely nearby for scores of not hundreds of miles and... yeah the argument that the Changeling would've warned anyone or anything before being caught is pretty null and void.
Oh well, at least now you know they self destruct. Useful info, if nothing else.
Well, aside from the sound effects this was a real deep chapter full of revealing secrets.
Jihad Changelings, the worst kind of Changelings
8328635
Welp there's that.
Well this is just a barrel of donuts.
And now we have kamikaze changelings. Things are getting better by the second.
Skyrim reference?
vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/f/fd/Cicerio.png/revision/latest?cb=20141128000809
Is there any member of their party who doesn't have family issues?
Also, I'm sad for the poor thing. It was lost and confused and frightened, and it didn't have to die.
Jesus the Lings on this side are insane
...Whelp, now we need a cleanup crew.
ponychan.net/rp/src/1499194999446.gif
Shows aint over till the fat lady schwings?
How long have they got now before the remains of that changeling eats its way through the intervening floors and hits the mana core?
At the very least theyll be left with a base with a hole right through it and all its support equipemnt and total loss of power. Worse is a total loss of power in a very short period of time and extremely permanently
And again, Logan prooves to be my favourite heraldite of em all
OK then... that was kind of a heavy little cliffhanger. Logan has some serious baggage to deal with that is for sure.
( Crank It Up )
Weeeeeeeeeell its the Big Show!
It's a big bad show tonight. (oh baby, come on. oh yeah)
Yeah, its the Big Show.
Crank it up, turn on them lights! (turn them on)
I feel kinda sorry for the Changeling. Hopefully the next one can be talked down, like Rainbow did so long ago. Logan has some problems that still bother him it seems, and is likely using his showy persona as a way to distract himself from them.
Deep deep down,
the Heraldites are all broken inside.
But they all say broken pieces are deadlier than unbroken pieces, do they not?
Talk about a showstopper.
I think they need flamethrowers. It worked in Alien.
8329486
Fight fire with fire, they say.
Oooooh what the fuck.
Well.. that was quite blood-curdling
Please dont let one of them be burned...
Aww and here there was hope that Rainbow would impale it with one of its own stabby body parts
Well at least Seraphimus knew what was going on otherwise she would probably have ripped off all her bound body parts to chase rainbow as an enraged feathered caterpillar.
anyway
that is ..
... ..
well reading it makes me really teary eared
Changelings in this story are the most foul, awful beings to exist. Like, the show showed them to be, at first, more like basic insects, and the latest episodes portray them in a better light and redeem them, in fact, but this story makes them awful creatures of darkness. They will take advantage of your insecurities, your weaknesses, and your emotions in order to not only feed on you but kill you as well.
They are really messed up, man. Like, really, REALLY messed up.
> a Fluttershy with scorpion tails emerging from its shoulders
The one thing that's confused me about changelings in this story is how can they transform into ponies/creatures they've never seen? Are they somehow reading the minds of those they fight and are able to take on the appearance of close relatives/friends? If this was stated a few books ago then I have forgotten about it.
Wow, poor Logan. I guess it's about time we got his backstory, he was one of the few left.
Geez.
(end of chapter 55) Self immolation, and a plasmatic-flame explosion to boot. The scary thing is not this encounter, but what the other two factions of the Trinary War have in their arsenal to fight an army equipped with shapeshifting banelings. It keeps getting darker. And the horror will continue to creep. Almost caught up, but the remaining 11ish chapters will wait 'til after I have a dreamless sleep. To dream is to invite chaos into my mind, and the Abyss doesn't want to share.
Well to be fair, I believe falling asleep does feel like that - if you're doing it with an axe in your chest.
8329399 And then there's Kepler.
Oh god, it's a baneling!
Happy to see that Logan is getting some much needed development. He's always seemed like the "extra" character thus far. Also, hopefully Seraphimus is starting to come around. Her support for Wildcard is encouraging, at least.
Oh. Ohhhhh boy.
Is there nothing they can't do?
Changelings OP
So Big Show.....anything you wanna confess?
8390363
Just think about their Queen.
Well. Better hope that was the last liqui-bug we ever see or this is going to take a lot longer than previously thought.
And just like that, the Herald has defeated its first foe on the dark side. Now to repair and regroup.
11/13/2019
18:16 UTC
Yep he dun buffed them
Oh S***! That’s where that fanart came from!