Chapter 35: Battle in the Forest
Smolder was gently stirred awake by the feeling of a wet cloth dabbing on her brow.
"Mom?" she ventured.
"It's me, Occelus."
Smolder opened her eyes and looked at the changeling. "Damn. It wasn't just some nightmare."
"I'm sorry," Occelus said. "I wish it was, too."
Smolder looked to her other side, to the still form of her brother. "Is... is he..."
"He's alive," Occelus said. "But I'm not sure for how long. He's been almost completely drained of his magic. He needs a hospital, but father won't let me take him."
"Then let me go," Smolder said. "Let me take him."
Occelus looked away. "I can't."
Smolder didn't need Luke's feelings sense to tell Occelus was conflicted. It was clear the changeling wanted to do as she asked, but couldn't.
Smolder wanted to demand she be let loose, but she didn't want to scare away the only friendly one there.
"What happened, anyway?" Smolder asked. "I remember that thing laying down and throwing up a crazy storm cloud looking thing, but... did it really..."
Occelus nodded. "Yes. Nergal is inside you, as we speak."
"Wh-what?" Smolder said, panic rising as she pulled and yanked at her bindings. "What do you mean he's inside me?! What's he doing to me?!"
"Please, calm down," Occelus pleaded. "You're only going to hurt yourself."
"I don't care!" Smolder yelled. "I need to save my brother! I need to rip this thing out of me! Why are you just letting this happen?!"
"Because I have to!" Occelus yelled back, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but my entire species will be wiped out if we don't do this. Can you really say I'm wrong for risking you and your brother to save thousands? I don't like this, either, but what else can I do? I want you two to survive this, and am doing everything I can to make sure you get to go home with your brother."
Smolder had to take a few breaths to calm herself down and actually think about what she said.
Use your brain, not your skull, Ember had told her, once.
"What's this queen doing that's so bad, anyway?" Smolder asked.
Occelus released a breath and let herself relax. "She's planning on attacking Canterlot."
Smolder's eyes widened in surprise. "Okay, wow. Yeah, that's stupid... but how's that translate to your species being wiped out?"
"My species can't produce magic on our own," Occelus explained. "We have to draw it from others. We do this by feeding on the excess magic ponies release when feeling strong emotions, especially love. We do this by taking the place of a pony and spending time with their loved ones.
"This means we need to make the ponies think we are the pony we're replacing. That only works because ponies don't know we exist. If they did, they would become more and more suspicious. The more suspicious ponies are, the more often we get found out. The more often we get found out, the less love magic we can harvest. Eventually, we won't be able to get any magic and we'll die."
Smolder had to admit, that sounded... complicated. "Why don't you just make friends with ponies? If you feed off love, then making friends with them as yourselves would mean you'd never have to worry about things like that."
"It's been tried before," Occelus said. "A few centuries ago, three changelings tried to make friends without a disguise. They were killed before they could even say 'hello'."
"Killed? By ponies?" Smolder asked, incredulously.
"It's true!" Occelus insisted.
"I just find it hard to believe that ponies could kill any creature," Smolder said. "I mean, ponies and dragons have been at each other's throats for centuries, but they accepted - argh!"
A sharp pain stabbed at Smolder's abdomen, ending the conversation as she curled up, pulling at the chains binding her.
Occelus gave Smolder her hoof. "It's okay, I'm here. It'll pass soon, just bear with it. I won't leave you."
Smolder squeezed the hoof, desperate for the pain to pass. After what felt like hours, it finally did, leaving Smolder gasping for air.
"Wh-what... was... that?" she said between gasps.
"I don't know, exactly, but I think it has something to do with Mister Nergal," Occelus said.
"What's he doing to me?" Smolder pleaded.
Occelus sighed. "I don't know."
We tried to make good time, but we were slowed by our attackers launching random surprise attacks.
It was only ever a few shots, sometimes three, sometimes four or five, but they never kept it up enough for us to locate them again.
At night, Ember erected a magic dome of force that kept us safe so we could sleep. Still, sleep was difficult. Not just because of the fear of attack, but concern for Smolder.
At least, knowing it was changelings, I was pretty sure she was alive. From what I remember Leo saying, changelings feed off emotions, so they would keep their captives alive.
That eased our minds, but it didn't alleviate our fears. I didn't know what changelings feeding did to someone. I didn't know if it could cause long term damage.
That spurred us on ever harder. Despite our harassers, we were still making good time.
After two days, I picked up a scent. It was a familiar scent, too. It was the same scent as that mare in Canterlot whose aura I couldn't sense.
So, we followed my nose the rest of the way, to a cave entrance.
"Smolder's in there. I can sense her," I said.
"Well, then what are we waiting for? Let's go get her." Ember started for the cave entrance.
I put a paw on her shoulder, stopping her. "Wait. They've known we were coming for a few days. They have a trap waiting for us."
Ember looked at me then back to the cave. "Yeah, I guess they would have one ready."
"And considering they probably know we're aware of their trap, it's the kind that doesn't matter if we know about it or not," I said. "We're going to take this slow. Be ready for anything, keep your magic at the ready."
"Right," Ember agreed. "Let's go get Smolder back and kick the ass of whoever took her."
"Hell yeah!" I cried and leaped from the bush, only for a flash of light to blind me.
Ember stared, dumbfounded, at the spot Luke had vanished. Did he learn a new power? No, he would have at least hinted at it.
There was no 'hey, watch this,' or 'look what I can do,' or anything even close. He was just there one moment and gone the next.
"Foodin," someone said, nearby.
Ember looked and saw a strange creature. It was like a hairless cat, or maybe a fox. Its skin was a mix of sandy and brown with the only hair being a long mustache and held a pair of spoons in both paws.
"Who and what the heck are you?" Ember demanded.
"Foodin din," it replied.
"Huh?" Ember began, but before she could say anything further, she felt a force slam into her chest and throw her back.
She slammed into a tree, right on her bad wing. She cried out in pain, feeling one of the bones snap.
She focused on her magic, numbing the pain as she struggled to her feet.
"Damnit! That was almost healed!" she roared. "I'm going to rip you apart!"
When my vision cleared, the cavern was gone.
"What happened? Where's the cave?" I asked as I turned back. "Ember? You disappear, too? Oh... I disappeared. Damn."
I focused on my aura sense to try and see if I can sense Ember. It was the only thing that saved me.
Something charged me with incredible speed. I barely had time to leap to the side, a green blur slashing where my neck had just been.
I looked up at my attacker in surprise. Its mantis-like form with large, broad bladed arms was familiar. I would have been excited if not for the fact that it just tried to kill me.
It was a real, honest to God scyther. It was always my favorite pokemon back when I used to play the games.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk things out?" I asked.
It responded in, I'm guessing, Japanese.
"I take that as a 'no'," I said as I formed my blade rush swords.
Suddenly, another aura flashed toward me. I leaped just as a little black cat with massive claws tried to sever my Achilles tendon.
I groaned, glancing between the scyther and the... what was it called? Sneezy? Whatever. It was two against one.
"Well, this just isn't fair."
Smolder felt like her stomach was going to tear open. It was unlike anything she had ever felt.
"Smolder, what's wrong? Where does it hurt?" Occelus asked, fearful for her new friend's wellbeing.
"S-stomach," Smolder cried.
Occelus' father arrived, followed closely by another changeling.
"Father? Pupae? Something's wrong with her," Occelus said. "You said she wouldn't be hurt."
"I said it will probably survive," he replied. "I never said there wouldn't be pain. Pupae, make sure it doesn't die before we're finished with it."
"Yes, sir," Pupae replied, hesitantly. "Occelus, why don't you go to the nursery and take over for me?"
Occelus shook her head. "I promised Smolder I wouldn't leave her."
"Occelus, it's just a dragon," her father scolded. "It's a savage beast. Don't treat it like an equal."
"She's not a savage beast," Occelus said, quietly.
Pupae cast a spell on Smolder, the green flame washing over her body.
"It's growing too fast for the dragon's body to keep up," Pupae said. "At this rate, both will die."
"Well, then you'd better do something," the boss said. "I couldn't care less about the dragon, but Nergal must survive."
Pupae nodded and got to work. She began casting spell after spell, Occelus' father even calling for a dozen magic storage crystals for Pupae to drain so she could continue to cast.
As she worked, Smolder's pain lessened but never vanished.
Then the cramps came. It was a familiar feeling. She had felt them every fall since her first molt.
But, that couldn't be right. It was still much too early.
Any doubts vanished when she felt that familiar pressure. She was laying. It felt different this time, though. It felt bigger.
"It's time," Pupae said.
Smolder wasn't listening to them, though. She was only thinking one thing; it's bigger. But, that couldn't be true. It would only be bigger if it was fertilized, but she wasn't fertile when she banged. She couldn't have been. She couldn't be fertile for another week.
All other thought vanished as her muscles instinctively pushed and an unreal pain shot through her.
Smolder cried out as she desperately tried to expel whatever was trying to leave her body.
It's not an egg, she told herself. It can't be.
But as she pushed, she could tell it was. She was laying two weeks early.
A part of her knew what it meant, but she had to deny it. She couldn't accept it.
Another wave of pain forced her to push. A sharp, unimaginable pain wracked her body and the pressure vanished.
"There!" Pupae exclaimed. "It's out."
"Excellent. Prepare to retreat," the boss said.
Smolder's senses seemed to fade.
The last thing she saw was an egg, black as the void and seeming to drip with wrongness.
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Ohhhhh shit...
So he got a mortal incarnation? Interesting.
yep, thats about what i thought...
I knew it. But hoped that it wouldnt be true.
The wrath of Ember will have no bounds when she hears about this......
And then I smash the egg!
Nergal, "... I never thought about someone doing that..." Dies.
VICTORY!
Well, if the Changelings are getting involved this early into the "official" timeline, they might be given their good ending long before they get a bad name for themselves.
Somehow the image of Dark Spyro come to my head, also if the problem is that Smolder is too small, just let her grow a little with greed
Well... Shit
Nergel made this very personal...
His end will be a violent one...
Nergels end is going to be messy, glorious.
10418017
Dark Spyro? u mean Spyral? thats what i call call him...
1 I hope they get what they deserves and Nergel Damm they horribly 2 I hope Chrysalis is doing what she she's doing for good reasons and she can be reformed.
Now i have the feeling that this "Nergal" fella is some kind of pokemon like maybe Darkrai, or something similarly incorporeal.
10418280
I'm talking about the one from "The Legend of Spyro"
10419041
yeah, i called the form Spyrel, in particular after Skylanders...
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING, FIRST THEY'RE ATTACKED BY POKEMON - not humans in the bodies of Pokemon, but actual Pokemon - and now this Nergal dude literally pregnant and birthed out of Smolder! THERE IS TOO MUCH HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!
10422211
Nergal is the name of the Sumerian God of war, plague, death, and disease.
10422215
If you remember, Luke's friends explained that in this version of Equestria, Pokemon can be summoned with a special magic ritual.
As for the rest of it, things will make more sense in time.
10425953
I get it, that’s an old comment that’s been answered.
Hmmm....
Huh. Went from almost comedy straight to ptsd-inducing gruesome sh*t all of a sudden. Though as much as i love this story i actually resent my decision to dive in it while this is the last written piece.. Welp, as saying goes here - "if i knew the draw, i would live in Sochi", so i'll just stick around moping in anticipation for the next chapter. :)
10433805
This is going to be as dark as it gets, so don't worry about it staying here. It's not going to just be sunshine and rainbows, but it'll be brighter from here on.
She was just implanted with what seems to be a fuckin demon egg. Now I’m not an expert, but I’m gonna throw this into the ‘not good’ catagory. Hopefully Luke fuckin yeets it into a hot sidewalk
I thought nergels character seemed a bit rapey AND I WAS FUCKIN RIGHT! Poor smolder. Someone is going to die and die horribly.
There's ominous descriptions, and then there's that. The sort of thing where you're halfway through asking what the expletive it means before realizing that you're better off not knowing.