Chapter 9: Shades of the Past 2/2
I sighed, steeling my nerves for what I was about to do. The Changeling's fear was palpable, permeating the air around it. It smelled bitter, yet... intoxicating. Like pure ambrosia. As Andromeda's magic worked its way through the Changeling's consciousness, I could almost... feel the intense cocktail of emotions swimming around in its head...
And that terrified me.
I could feel the love, the hate, and everything in between. It felt wrong, so, so wrong, to be able to peel away the curtain of a creature's mind and see everything laid bare for me to see, practically gift-wrapped for me to pick apart and analyze. Normal ponies weren't meant to have this kind of power, not in a million years.
"I'm sorry." I said gruffly, a faint feeling of pity washing over me. the whimpers and cries of the creature whose life I had clutched in my hooves almost made me regret my actions, and for that matter, the one I was about to take.
I relaxed my grip on the Changeling and brought my hoof back. Its eyes were still screwed tightly shut in anticipation of its impending demise. Only...
I never let my hoof fall.
"Apologies for the trouble." I swiftly pulled away from the Changeling and quietly slid out of the booth, Andromeda making sure to grab the tarts off of the table as we walked away. I wrapped my scarf tighter around my neck, as if that would lessen the impact of what I had almost done, or temper the residual bloodlust that was still coursing through every fiber of my being. I knew I could never kill a pony... but Andromeda certainly could. I didn't know if what I was feeling was my own anger and hatred, or simply her playing around in my head.
I mentally huffed, keeping my gaze level and proceeding to exit the train.
The sobs of the insect were replaced with the chirping of crickets and the cacophony of birdsong that permeated Hollow Shades at every hour of every single day. It felt... comforting, to say the least. I hadn't been home in quite some time, and hearing the ambient background noise of my fillyhood home felt soothing and invigorating, like a day at the spa, or having a warm blanket draped over you in the middle of winter. My earliest memories flooded back into my mind, filling me with the sweet, sweet feeling of nostalgia, as well as the softest touch of melancholy.
I was home now. And I wouldn't let the sinking feeling of guilt in my gut stop me from enjoying it while I could.
Hollow Shades is what could best be described as a rural, almost medieval village nestled firmly in its namesake. The large, leafy canopy shrouded it from the sun for most hours of the day, and the houses were built into the trees themselves. Overall? It was... cozy, I think would be the best word I could use to sum up my home town.
"Interesting, indeed. I had not expected you to part ways with it so soon, nor as peacefully as you did." Andromeda noted, dragging the veil of illusory magic over my form once more, giving me the appearance of a unicorn, as well as shoving a custard tart into my mouth.
I snorted, quickly swallowing the treat. "Mmh, killing it would have caused more problems than it solved. Plus, you said these things are supposed to be long gone and extinct, and one popping up here would get Princess Sunbutt and her golden goons so far up our flanks we'd be puking up Sunny D. Better to just let the bug go and hope it doesn't cause us any trouble." I tried to look at it pragmatically, but I think she and I both knew I was just blowing hot air.
She let out a bout of laughter, and if she had a physical body I had no doubt that she'd be choking on her tart. "That is... certainly a way to put it! But alas, I am proud of you all the same, even if I had originally wished harm upon it. You conducted yourself appropriately, and measured the ramifications and consequences of your actions accordingly. It took quite some time for Luna to think before she acted... ah, that brings back such lovely memories."
I chuckled to myself, allowing her to feed me another tart. "Sounds like a fun story." I stopped, noticing something... odd as I walked into town.
There was nopony outside. Nopony going about their day, no colts or fillies playing together or flitting about, nothing. In the absence of the usually jovial nature of the town, trash and balled up paper tumbled around in the noiseless breeze, and the only sound that dared to shatter the pensive silence was the grating sound of crickets chirping their telltale song.
Hollow Shades was never a ghost town. Not like this.
"Uh... where the hay is everypony?" I asked, frozen in place. Posters littered the ground beneath the tree houses, rolling around in the wind. I could still see ponies moving about through their windows, a shivering sensation rolling down my spine as their silhouettes watched me from their windows.
Andromeda made no comment, but lifted up one of the posters and brought it to my face. I didn't want to believe what I saw, but it gave me a sobering realization of why the townsfolk were acting so oddly.
It was a poster of a missing foal, asking for his safe return.
Andromeda swiftly retrieved more of the posters, and they all bore similar fruit. Missing foals. Dozens of them, gone missing over the last few weeks.
Hay, Hollow Shades was a village of a few hundred, there couldn't have been many more foals left.
Not after this.
"Oh dear... that isn't very good, now is it?" Andromeda asked, concern apparent in her voice.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, divining any and all detail I could from the posters. "None of the foals were above the age of ten... not a cutie mark to speak of on any of them... aaaaand they were all stolen away in the middle of the night. Lovely combination we have here, isn't it?" The sinking feeling of fear and concern set in, but I compartmentalized those emotions away. In my line of work, you couldn't afford to let things like this bother you. All that mattered was the truth, and nothing but the truth. A few dead ponies didn't change that. You couldn't allow it to.
I let my shoulders slump a bit as I began trotting away, Andromeda swiftly stuffing a few of the posters into my saddlebags. "So. We are off to see your parents?"
I sighed, scanning my surroundings. I remembered Hollow Shades as a happy place, not whatever it had become in my absence. The lovely, happy village of my youth had been replaced by a dreary, gloomy shadow of its former self.
And that crushed me.
"Yeah. It's been a hot minute since I've seen 'em. Maybe they'll know somethin' about whatever the buck is going on."
The short trek to my parent's house was nothing to write home about. Just more trash rolling around in the wind, a silence too thick for its own good, and the all-encompassing feeling of dread that fell over the sleepy, downtrodden town. Y'know... the usual trio of cliches that you'd find in every cheap mystery flick on the market.
I paused as the large, dark and gnarled oak tree of my youth came in to view. It was... sobering, to say the least. I could vaguely see the form of my mother through the kitchen window, hunched over from a combination of arthritis and old age, her frayed and graying mane held loosely in a bun. I imagined that 'Pa was comfortably resting in his chair, prolly' reading some news article from the week before, quietly sipping on his bottle of liquor as Mom cooked some form of casserole or fruit lasagna.
"Faust, I can smell it from all the way out here..."
I slowly approached the door, my heart racing faster and faster with every step I took, my nerves choosing to fail me when I, arguably, needed them the most. I raised my hoof to the door, the traitorous appendage deciding to shake violently.
Andromeda sighed, mentally rolling her eyes at me. "Oh for... Must I do everything for you?!" She let out an exasperated snort, taking control of my hoof and rapping it upon the door, as well as dropping my disguise.
There was a brief moment of silence, before I heard my father's heavy hoofsteps clomp against the polished wooden floor and mosey over to the door. My ear flicked attentively as the deadbolt was undone with a heavy CLUNK, and the wrought iron door squeaked with the intensity of hinges that hadn't been oiled in at least a decade.
And there, standing in front of me, was my father. Old age had certainly done a number on his looks, but he was still the same stout wall of a pony I remembered from my youth. The faintest hints of a beard were beginning to form across his face, and I could tell from both the scraggly mess of mane he was sporting, as well as the dark bags under his eyes.
"He's been up for a while, hasn't he?"
I smiled bashfully, avoiding his shocked gaze.
"H-Hey Dad."
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Princess really dropping the ball lately
9895681
That they are.
I can't be the only one that's worried as hell about the missing foals, right?
9895715
With an author like me, you should be!
9895859
9895892
Oh don't worry, they're mostly fine. mostly.
9895901
Dear God...
9895967
DON'T PRAY TO YOUR GODS BOY, PRAY TO MINE!
Reviewed.
9949651
Thank you!
9962951
Nah, way too unoriginal. Currently in the process of revising the story to make it much more clear as to what happened there, and just to make the story much higher quality in general.
Dang it. I get caught up just as it's getting even more interesting.
9991581
Sadly, you also got into it just as I have begun revising the story to be more readable and to get all my metaphorical ducks in a row regarding the plot! If you want to get updates on the progress of the revision, I would recommend following me to get notified of when I blog about the progress of that!
If you don't feel like following, then don't fret. I will be done with the revisions by March, and will release a chapter notifying people of such.
Glad you're enjoying the story so far!
Was literally just thinking... What if Nightmare Moon was a Symbiote... I mean Isn't that basically how Nightmare Rarity became a thing? (I honestly don't know)
Hopefully we get to see the Lobster scene... or The part with the loud Neighbor (in this version Vinyl Scratch?)
I was originally pretty put off by just how closely the story was mirroring the venom movie, but it definitely takes a turn for the better when the equestrian elements are more introduced and story diverges much more and gains a more unique feel.
Very entertaining, not enough symbiote related stories around.
Changelings are a great addition to the story, even with the altered changeling lore.
Be warry about making celestia be completely incompetent. You haven't done anything too crazy yet but it is a common problem I see writers make. Luna herself has shown little remorse for her old ways, she and nightmare seem to act pretty similar.
This is curious, as she was still purified by the elements. Though, to be fair, we haven't seen much of Luna or Celestia yet. And again, their canon personalities are more of suggestions when you use the alternate universe tag.
I don't think it takes away from the story, but why the technology increase? I'm sure the story could fit with regular tech level with only minor changes.
10029168
Yeah, I'm actually in the process of revising the first bit of the story to flow more smoothly and generally improve the quality of it, but I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so far!
Don't get me started on how much I love Changelings as antagonists!
I wouldn't say Sunbutt is incompetent, even in the instance you're referencing. She's always tried to see the best in creatures to the point of reforming baddies like Discord, Tirek, Swiss Cheese Queen, and even Cozy Glow. She can be naive in that regard, but she's kept Equestria stable and intact for a millennia. I'll be sure to show more of her... Princessy side later on.
As for Luna, I can't spoil much in that regard, but I will be expanding upon that at the end of arc 2, and even moreso after that.
As for the tech increase? My last major story that I was writing was a very low tech setting, and I decided I wanted a change of pace. I plan to incorporate the increased technology in a lot of ways later on, once we start getting to the meat and potatoes of the story itself.
If you've got any other critiques, criticisms, etc, be sure to voice them! I always enjoy being shown where and how I could do better in regards to my work!
10029397
Glad to hear all of these responses. Nice to see that you are eager for constructive criticism. I commented on pretty much everything that I could think of. One thing I thought of later on was how off that breakup scene with her boyfriend felt, but that one review in the comments put that concern well.
10029684
Yeah, that's one scene in particular I need to go back and fix drastically.
Now, do i add this to my conspiracy or drama folder?
10052718
Why not both?
Probably the conspiracy one, in all seriousness.
10176353
Mhm. Life has been kinda dicking me lately, so I'm only now able to actually get shit done.
10029684
It’s actually really realistic and has happened IRL, your BF/GF can’t make the time with to continue the relationship or want to try for an alternative since they more focused on their carrier. Life isn’t always centered around the MC bruh, if someone doesn’t think they can make the relationship work then they’d do exactly what that stallion did and it would be completely within his right to do so since it wouldn’t be fair to her or him if he continued that relationship half-assed.
Just wanted to see how you were doing in terms of revising and continuing this story. Especially since Venom 2: Let there be Carnage is coming out soon! (The trailer is on YouTube)
Also, perhaps you could put this in front of each chapter's title so that we know it's been rewritten: (Revised)
10825440
Hey!
I'd put out a blogpost regarding it, but Nightmare has been on hold as due to some... rather unfortunate experiences with the community, I'd ended up losing my muse and will to write at all. I've spent my time learning and improving, however, and I think I may try finding the will to re-do this story at a later date.
Just wanted to drop by and say I hope you continue the story. I read it a while ago and just now found it again.