Chapter 7: Trying It Out
Johan sat on the balcony of his and Derek's shared room. Well, he was more so sitting on the railing, his back pressed up against a wall and one hoof on the ground to keep him from sailing over the edge accidentally. He sighed as he looked out over the 'Everfree' forest as the ponies called it. His face was blank, with no emotions on it, but inside he was a swirl of feelings. Sadness gripped his heart like a claw, but slipping through the cracks were feelings of anger, resentment, and even hatred. He tried pushing those feelings down, but they wouldn't go away.
He let out a long sigh as he sat back, his head pressing against the wall. He tried looking up at the sky, but his antlers scraped against the wall, letting out a sound similar to nails on a chalkboard, causing him to quickly sit up, a chill going down his spine. It would most definitely take him a while to get used to that.
A quiet moment passed, then too. He shook his head. This was his life now. He was stuck as a four-legged deer now. He would never see his mom, his friends, or anyone else ever again. Johann let out a sigh as he looked over the railing to the grounds below. Briefly he considered simply throwing himself down there, maybe the next world he arrived at wouldn't be as bad as this one, but he shook his head.
"Hey man," he heard from the door to the balcony. He quickly whipped around and saw Derek standing there, a small comforting smile on his face. "You doing ok?"
Johan sighed, turning his gaze back towards the forest. "No. Not really." He sighed, bringing one of his knees up to his chest. "Shouldn't you be at the party right now?" It was hard for him to hide the tone of spite in his voice.
"I've been in that doorway this entire time. I didn't want to go to the party without you," Derek said with a smile as he joined the deer on the railing, sitting down in front of him. "Just wanted to wait until you felt like talking... which I guess I failed at?"
"No. No. It's fine..." Johan said, turning away from the Alicorn.
A quiet moment passed before Johan finally spoke up again. "So, we're stuck here." He seethed. "Must be a dream come true huh?"
"Well... maybe we should make the most of it, ya know? I mean, this place is so... great!" Derek said, flapping his wings slightly and taking into the air, a smile on his face. The smile quickly dropped as he locked eyes with Johan, who was simply glaring. Derek let out a long exhale before he lowered himself to the ground.
"I'm sorry that was rude. I know how much it must suck for you to-" Derek started with a sigh of his own, but Johan cut him off by sitting up and growling.
"Do you?" Johan asked, his eyes narrowing. "You have all these cool powers just from being here. Magic, wings, hell even all of the women are basically flocking to you! What do I have?!? These two useless bones sprouting from my head! Oh, that and everyone thinking I'm your pet!"
The deer's voice rose into a vicious roar before he sank back into his chair. His eyes started to water before he looked back over to Derek. Derek looked absolutely dejected, his eyes widened in surprise and his mouth opened in concern. Johan sniffled slightly, shaking his head to stop his tears.
"I'm... I'm sorry. That was uncalled for." Johan started, covering his eyes with his hooves. Derek patted him on the back.
"No man. Not at all!" Derek started, a small smile coming to his face. "I can't imagine how hard it was for you to bottle that all up. I know I wouldn't have been able to hold that in if our places were traded. I'm sorry."
Johan exhaled, deflating slightly. "I..." He started, but he couldn't continue, choking up slightly.
Derek's smile widened slightly. "Come on man. Let's go downstairs. I think everyone's waiting for us." The alicorn exclaimed as he stood up
Johan shook his head. "You mean you." He said in a low tone.
"No. I mean us." Derek chuckled, reaching a hoof for Johan to take over to him. "Can you promise me something?"
"What?" Johan asked as he took the hoof and stood up slowly, head still facing downwards.
"Promise me that, before you write this place off completely, you'll at least try to find something you like?"
The young changeling ran through the castle once again... though this time without the youthful smile he was accustomed to. The entire castle shook with a boom, causing him to fall to the ground. The sound of collapsing stones and breaking rocks became all too apparent to him. Gazing out a window, he saw a nearby buttress give way, the tower they were supporting snapping in two and falling to the ground with a crash.
The nymph whimpered. He saw people on top of the tower before it fell.
The changeling waited for a couple of seconds before he rose to his feet again and started running. He had to make it to his mother and father. He had to.
"Young Lord!" a voice called out to him. He came to a stop, down the hall from him were two changelings in armor, who quickly ran towards him.
"Your father sent us to find you! We need to get you to your mother quickly! She is down that hall in the atashgah!" The guard said, quickly pointing down a hall to their right. It led deeper into the castle.
The younger 'ling turned to the guards, opening his mouth to thank them before, without warning, a golden blast of magical energy burst in from the wall to the guard's left. The younger one cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground.
The guards were both instantly disintegrated, but their pain was his own. He felt like his entire body burned, inside and out. Thankfully, it was over quickly as the beam dissipated, leaving behind nothing but ash, the smell of burnt carapace, and broken stone.
The changeling slowly and shakily rose to his hooves, tears in his eyes. He inhaled and exhaled several times, his breathing heavy. He looked at the piles of ash that used to be the guards before he shook his head and turned quickly speeding off towards the atashgah.
He soon arrived. A set of massive stone double doors, richly decorated in mosaic images, the chief amongst them was the head of an antlered white changeling, with two cyan antlers. Its eyes were narrowed as it leered down at him. The changeling shuddered slightly before he threw himself against the door, trying with all of his might to push the door open.
It wouldn't even budge. The changeling let out a weak whimper before focusing. He took a deep inhale, reaching out towards the door with his mind. His antlers and horn glowed a deep cyan, the door shimmering the same color shortly after. With a heavy inhale, he started to use his magic to slowly separate them. It was a slow process, and through it all, the nymph shook and sweat.
Finally, after minutes of struggle, the door had opened wide enough for him to quickly run through.
The atashgah was a large room, equivalent in size to a concert hall. Pews filled the room from the front to close to the back, stopping at a raised stage. At the front of the stage stood an altar, and at the back stood a tall metal brazier, a raging cyan, and white fire burning within.
Kneeling in front of it, no doubt in prayer, was his mother.
"Mother!" the Nymph cried, quickly running forwards. His mother flinched when yet another massive boom shook the building. She quickly turned around and saw her son running towards her.
That was the last thing she saw before the ceiling collapsed.
Johan let out a deep exhale as he stood at the end of the room. The party was actually pretty ok. While, as expected, Derek had been swarmed as soon as he arrived, Johan had been surprised when a sizable minority of the party-goers had actually tracked him down to talk with him, asking things like 'what was your home like?' or 'Is it true that you used to walk on two legs.'
A small hesitant smile came to his face as he took a quick sip from a drink he was holding. Surprisingly, at least to him, somehow he had learned in the past month that it was actually kinda easy to pick things up with hooves. Hands were probably still way better, but at least he didn't have to survive entirely by holding things with his mouth. That would have turned this place from a 1/10 to a 0/10.
The party was in the winding down stages, for which he was certainly thankful. It was way too kiddy for his tastes. He had almost left the second they busted out the 'pin the tail on the donkey' boards. He let out a sigh as he turned to return to his room before he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. On a table nearby him were a bunch of comic books. He raised an eyebrow before he approached, setting his drink down on a nearby bookshelf.
He sat down and grabbed one of the books. It was about something called the 'Power Ponies'. He briefly skimmed through it for a second before groaning and putting it down. It seemed way too generic. Like another run-of-the-mill avengers remake.
Then something else caught his eye. 'Spidermare Issue #1' was the title. His eyes widened before he reached over and picked it up. He skimmed it too and laughed. It was basically a 1 for 1 copy of the first Spiderman comic, except that Peter Parker was now a mare named Spinnerette Seamstress, and instead of a photographer, she was a fashionista. Well, that and it was published by a company called 'Wonder Comics' instead of 'Marvel Comics'. He rolled his eyes before he got back to reading.
Then he heard someone clearing their throat behind him, causing him to quickly jump and drop the book down on the table. He quickly spun around to see the small dragon, Spike, behind him. He hadn't heard him approach over the sound of people chatting and dancing and overall mingling.
"Whatcha doing there?" Spike asked with a smile. Johan quickly stood up and sheepishly stepped away.
"Oh um, sorry. I was just reading these... books here." He said clearing his throat,
"Oh, no worries," Spike said as he approached the table and straightened them up. "I ain't one of those kinds of people who freak out over creases or anything in his comics. Besides," he held up the Spidermare comic. "Not like this is one of the original Spidermare comics. It's just a reprint from a couple of years ago."
"So are you a Wonder or PC kinda guy?" Spike smiled up at Johan expectantly, obviously waiting for an answer. Johan blinked twice before shrugging. Might as well entertain the little guy or something.
"Eh... Marvel... or uhh... Wonder is a little too upbeat for my tastes and D-sorry-PC Superheros tend to be a bit too overpowered for my tastes. I've always preferred third-party comics." Johan said smiling slightly. Spike gasped, almost bouncing on his hooves.
"Like the power ponies?!" the dragon cried out with a smile, practically prancing in place.
Johan's eyes widened a confused look coming to his face. "The what ponies?"
"The power ponies! I have issue one of that! You have no idea what I had to do to get that! Want me to show you?" Spike shouted, quickly turning around and rushing in the direction of his bedroom. Johan shrugged before quickly followijg out after him. Through it all, neither of them noticed Derek watching with a small smirk.
"Told you you'd find something nice here." He said under his breath before turning back to Twilight to continue their conversation.
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What’s a nymph? And how are there people there?
The what?
How is that possible?
I thought he loved it there.
Looks like there's a lot going to happen this story. I think our boy Johan is going to need all the help he can get, if whatever's out can destroy a hive. It isn't like Johan is–
10893424
HAH!
Seriously though, Invicinble is one of the best stories out there, and as someone who read the comics, I can't wait for season 2 and beyond.
I won't lie, I actually like this Derek much better. It's pretty clear that he actually is Johan's friend and just got swept up in the whirlwind of everything that's happening, but once he got focused again, he was able to concentrate on what mattered. Remember that Derek! Stay fok'd!
Also, please, please, please do not turn Derek into the Ultimate Warrior, no matter how entertaining it would be.
10893582
That was the plan lol.
A non-dickish Derek.
10893424
I’ve interpreted the hive thing to be a flashback, maybe back to Old Equestria. I mean the only pony we know to have golden magic is also old enough to appear in near any flashback.
There’s also that whole thing with the only Antlered Changeling hive being contemporary and on the borders of Equestria. Maybe it’s a look back at the indigenous population of Equestria? Before the pony migrations. Before some sort of a devolution into the Chrysalis led, love starved changelings.
10893835
It's an actual building/castle not a hive but yeah XD
10893424
I was almost expecting the Candice meme...
P-sorry-DC Superheros
Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
10894387
Yes it is, my mistake lol
10893333
A nymph is a young bug. The word "people" can be used as a generic term for any sapient life forms and doesn't necessarily refer to humans.
An atashgah is a type of temple. You know you're on the internet and can search these words, right?
Something very powerful is attacking.
He never liked it there. That's the whole point of the story.
Very very amazing chapter. It shows that Derek still really cares about Johan, and Johan isn't that dense as to bottle everything up and let resentment stew. Seriously lovely.
I've sometimes thought that if I wound up in another dimension, I'd write children's books for $.
Sure, there's better, more important or more useful things to write but I could recite some Dr Seuss books 100% from memory. So, that's what I'd go with for fast cash.
Ah yes, he found comics. That'll surely make everything about his situation better.