CH 1 (or how I blacked out)
Patchwork
I yelped loudly at the buzzing sound coming from my back. My cellmate, lying on the lower bunk bed of our cell, lifted her head out of her hooves and looked at me with tired eyes.
“For the last time, those. Are! YOUR! WINGS!” She screamed at me before placing her head back between her beige hooves.
I calmed myself down somewhat, and sighed, “and I told you as well, I have a phobia.” The mare looked at me, flicked an ear twice in my direction, a gesture I didn’t understand, and went back to her… whatever she was doing. She pulled some of her bright orange mane over her blue eyes, likely trying to prevent herself from looking at me. I have been pestering her with questions for over an hour now… so that may have been annoying her as well.
I sighed deeply and looked down on my hooves. My black chitinous hooves. There were no holes on them, or in my wings and ears. My mane, tail and the midsection of my shell was turquoise, as well as my eyes. Not that I minded though, I was happy for the change, even though I missed my deep browns. There was also a streak of white in my mane and tail, which caused me some confusion, as I’ve never seen a changeling like that.
What surprised me tremendously is that I was covered in a layer of fuzz, especially on the parts that weren’t chitin. The chitin was slick, smooth and uniform, black all over, without any shine or lustre that I thought it would possess. Also confusing was the fact that I had something akin to claws on my forelegs and that instead of one pair of wings, I had two, one smaller and one larger pair.
The claws themselves weren’t long (roughly four centimetres), nor did they look sharp. There were four on each foreleg, and one was manoeuvrable like a thumb, which helped tremendously with grasping and examining stuff in this new world. Especially with the ring on my horn, preventing any sort of magic I could use. Not that I knew how to use it in the first place.
All in all, I looked strange for a changeling, and since I’ve yet to see another one in this world, I’m going to assume that I am an outlier. Which may not be a good thing.
“Hey, that’s me,” I whispered. “You are probably wondering how I got in this situation.” I leaned against the metal bars of the cell.
“Yes, I would very much like to know that young one.” Came a soft, soothing voice.
I yelped again, jumping back from the cell doors. The buzz of my wings caused my heart to hammer in my chest. I put a hoof on my thorax and took some deep breaths, trying to steady myself. I saw my cell mate rush over to the door and start babbling, but I paid zero attention to her.
There, on the other side of our cell door, was a large, white mare: Princess Celestia. I knew her, I recognized her instantly. Multihued mane and tail in soft rainbow colours, a horn and wings, and not to mention the golden regalia.
Her portrayal in the various media on Earth did not do this mare justice. Her mane and tail weren’t just multicoloured and billowing in a fake breeze, no; it looked like they were floating in vacuum while constantly shifting between several hues of colours. Her coat was pristine white and radiating a soft glow. Compared to the mare in front of her she wasn’t as massive as portrayed in the show. Yes, she was large, yes, she had visible muscle and yes, she looked slim and graceful as all get out, but she wasn’t towering over everything around her to the point where I could compare her to a horse in size.
Another thing that stood out was that, while looking at her, at moments between blinks, it looked like the area around her breathed and moved with her. Like some sort of power warped the space around her with every breath and I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not. It was overwhelming, and no amount of motherly kindness in her eyes helped.
‘Of all the multiverses, I ended up in one where alicorns are gods. Either that or I’m just exaggerating, again.’ Not that it mattered now.
After calming myself enough that I could think properly, I lifted my left forehoof and felt the ring on my horn. The mare in front of the door placed it on my head some time ago, and it was the only thing keeping me from huddling in a corner out of my damned mind. The fanbase was correct: changelings felt the emotions of others. What no one understood was just how overwhelming the experience is. So now not only could I not use magic, but I also couldn’t feel others’ emotions, couldn’t feed off of them (if that’s even an actual possibility, the show never specified in detail), couldn’t fly and had no way to defend myself… Comforting.
I looked around our cell before approaching the door, the other mare moved away, looking dejected. I really do not care for her right now.
The cell was surprisingly large with a bunk bed in the middle, a small table, a sink and a separate area where we could do our business with some level of privacy. The only way out was a wide cell door, with metal bars criss-crossing the entire length. The door itself was wide enough that three peo… ponies, could stand side by side. I should know, it’s how I was led in here. The cell door was also positioned in such a way that just by a glance one could nearly see the whole cell, minus the toilet and there were two guards stationed on left and right, looking directly at the cell itself. I could never tell if they were looking directly at me or if they were just zoning out.
I sat in front of the Princess, the doors being the only thing between us. Her magenta eyes boring into my blues. I had to crane my head to look at her, as I reached just barely above her torso. Considering I was nearly a head shorter than my cell mate it was concerning.
We sat there, or stood, in her case, for a minute. Then I got up slowly and took a step back and bowed. While getting myself to walk was easy, bowing still caused me to tilt slightly too far back, nearly tipping to the side.
“Princess Celestia.” I lifted myself from the awkward bow. She looked to her left and whispered something to one of the guards on the side.
Celestia fluffed her wings before turning towards me again.
“Mr. Patch,” she seemed to chew on the name for a second, “Mr Patchwork, Is the name I believe you gave us.”
“Yes, ma’am. Just Patchwork though. Mr makes me feel older than I actually am.”
She tilted her head to the left slightly, quirking an eyebrow, “And how old are you, precisely?”
I snorted, something I was rather excited to do, it always looked cool in the show, “Thirty-six in two months ma’am.”
She tittered, covering her mouth with her right forehoof and sat down.
“My, that isn’t exactly young, Mr Patchwork.”
“Are you calling me old?” I asked, rather annoyed at the consistent use of Mr.
“Not at all,” she said with a smirk. Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but my wings made themselves known again.
I didn’t jump, or yelp, or even move. I closed my eyes and let my nerves settle down slowly while I took some deep breaths. I needed to be present in the moment. I couldn’t let my own phobia fuck this up. Especially since I was now in front of Princess Celestia… THE Princess Celestia. Gotta keep up appearances.
“My apologies, your highness,” I opened my eyes and looked to the side. I was rather embarrassed by the whole wing situation to be honest. I looked to the princess again, “I’m still not entirely used to this body.”
Celestia waved off my protest with a light smile on her muzzle. “Nonsense little one,” she sighed. “Given the excitement you went through in the last six hours I would be rather worried if you weren’t nervous.”
“Six hours,” I whispered. That was rather worrying. I haven’t had anything to eat before landing in this world, and I certainly haven’t “eaten” anything since my arrival. I need to figure out how this body works. Hunger was not something I was able to deal with easily. Especially now. To further the issue, I don’t remember most of it, or if I did, it was a blur. I think they gave me something to eat…
“Yes, Mr Patchwork. Six hours of talking, discussing, examining and trying to understand you and your situation.”
I chuckled. “Heh. I didn’t know little ol’ me was that exciting.”
Now Celestia giggled before shaking her head, “You would be surprised at just how, exciting, you are to us.” She leaned her head down to my level, “Especially since a Changeling hasn’t been seen in several centuries.”
I started to feel sweat forming on my brow. Wait, sweat? I can sweat? Questions for later. The one and only thing I had to focus on right now was her knowledge of Changelings. This would mean that my little Hasbro comics were canon. The question was: how much?
Then she decided to throw another curve ball.
“Then again, human, at this point I’m surprised by quite many things. All things considered; this has been a day of surprises. Good and bad.”
I swallowed thickly. She knows about humans as well. And again, the question came up: how much? This time, however, I decided to give it voice.
I shook my head and looked at her: “How much do you know, exactly?”
There was a deep ‘hum’ coming from her for a few seconds. She then looked to the mare in the cell behind me before looking at me again.
“Enough to make some conclusions for myself. And plenty more that my scientists and mages could scrounge up together by observing you and studying your point of arrival.” There was steel in her voice this time. If she wanted to let me know that she had all the cards the only way she could be blunter would be by throwing a deck at me.
I took a deep breath and let it out in a powerful snort. I was amused when it came out in a puff of steam. I chuckled, which caused Celestia to raise an eyebrow at me, but I ignored it.
After schooling my features to a more thoughtful look. I turned my head towards the mare lying on one of the beds in the back. “She probably told you a few things as well, didn’t she?” I asked, rounding back to the princess.
“Yes, she did,” was the immediate reply. “I hope you understand that, given the situation, such information would be valuable.” She said, looking at the mare behind me.
“Well, then,” I started, “you have a powerful advantage, your highness.” I shuffled my front hooves slightly. “I guess now would be a good time to get back to your original inquiry?”
There was a small twitch in her ears, as they seemed to perk slightly and fully turn towards me. Like she just now acknowledged me. What started to get to me, though, was the fact that the longer I talked to her, the longer it felt like I was out of my depth. I cursed the fact that I let all those fan fictions affect my mind like this. All of us fans thought that chats with Celestia would be these battles of wits, jokes and barbs. But either I was the unluckiest bastard this side of multiverse or I need to get my head out of my ass, plot, whatever.
I dragged my clawed hooves down my muzzle in aggravation and took a deep steadying breath. I felt my wings this time trying to buzz but I managed to control them. I pointed my pony like ears at the Princess and readied myself. Time to take things seriously.
It seemed like my little psych up pleased her if the smirk was anything to go by.
I stood ramrod stiff, and gave her a quick nod, letting her know that I was ready.
She gave me a small nod back, before making herself a bit more comfortable.
“Very well then Mr Patch,” she started. “I’ve heard a statement from Miss Hoof behind you. I have questioned other eyewitnesses and heard their sides of the story. You are the only one left now,” she tilted her head slightly to the left. “What I’d like you to do now, is to give me your side of the story. How did you arrive here? What were you doing before your arrival? And what are your intentions?” Celestia turned her head back at me, looking me straight in the eyes. “And please, don’t try to lie, I will know if you do.”
I just sat there, in silence for a few seconds letting what she said, asked and threatened sink in. I felt my right eye twitch a few times in irritation; I hoped that the tick wouldn't stay a thing.
“First you say you want to hear my side of the story, then you ask me questions,” I whispered in a huff. “Indecisive much.” Another quirked eyebrow got me thinking that maybe her hearing is better than I gave her credit for. I gulped quietly when I remembered her arrival.
I cleared my throat. “I don’t know how I arrived here. I was getting ready to go to work before I came. And my intentions depend on yours.” That last sentence caused my mouth to close in an audible click and my breath to hitch.
There was a scowl on Celestia's face, and the guards on the left and right of the door were now tense and one of them had a spear half pointed at me.
“What did you mean with that last bit?”
I wanted to scream at myself for letting my snarky side get the better of me, but then again, I was surprised I managed to last this long without it surfacing… Oh well.
“I should have been a bit clearer on that last bit, your Highness,” I chuckled nervously before clearing my throat. “What I should have said: is that I have no negative intentions towards this realm, and, uh…” I trailed off watching as the guards slowly started relaxing their posture, the spear no longer pointed at me. I swallowed thickly. My wings buzzed again, loudly, like a furious hornet and I yelped, turning my head towards the offending appendages.
This has been going on and off depending on my mood and it has become very aggravating over the last several hours. I couldn’t fly with the ring on my horn, I tried it, but the blasted things reacted to my anxiety and nervousness by buzzing either loud enough to become deafening or softly enough that I had to question whether I heard it or not.
It’s how I discovered how to move them in the first place, and when I’m consciously moving them, the panic simply isn’t there due to my concentration. However, when I’m not paying attention, my old fear comes back. And that’s the annoying part. The buzzing sounds just enough like a bee or a bumblebee for me to freak out, which was the bad part, because if it sounded like a fly buzzing, I’d become angry, almost irrationally so, which I wasn’t sure if it would be better. Seriously, I nearly broke a window several times in my old studio just from my overreaction the moment I heard a fly trying to get in.
All things considered; I’m overjoyed to be a changeling, but I could have done without the buzzing… even though I wouldn’t be able to fly without the wings. A major upside of being a bug-pony: magic AND flight.
After that train of thought I briefly considered biting my own wings out of spite, but something told me that ponies already consider me unsafe as it is. That and having sharp teeth means plenty of pain. Adding fuel to the fire and making them see me as deranged on top of being a weird alien won’t help matters.
I briefly looked towards the mare in the back... Hoof-something, or something-Hoof, and continued my current observation of the rest of the ponies in front of me while I formulated a proper continuation of my thoughts.
My cellmate was sitting upright on the bed, ears pointed at me and nervously pawing at the bed sheets. I don’t know when she got on said bed, but it didn’t matter. Either case, she looked nervous and had tilted her head slightly downwards with a light blue corona covering her horn. She was ready to defend herself, I wondered whether she was overreacting or not like myself. It’s not like I directly proclaimed I would assault her… Then again, she did look nervous the whole time we were in here.
The two guards, on the left and right of Celestia, stood straight, with their spears pointed upwards, held in their blue magic, and I had a feeling that I wouldn’t take them a lot of effort to let the spears drop to my level and ready for offence. Their white coat and golden armour was spotless, proving to me that the fans might have been on to something with the whole illusion thing.
Celestia, on the other hand… hoof, just sat there. There was a scowl on her muzzle, and her ears twitched every few seconds like she was listening to something. Or at least, that’s how it seemed. While I managed to pick up a few things when it comes to pony body language, Celestia was hard to read. Other than her ears there was no ruffling of feathers, no swishing of tail, her pupils did not dilate or shrink, and her shoulders kept relaxed. She just sat there… waiting on me, like she knew I had something else to add to my previous faux pas. It was unnerving.
I cleared my throat again before continuing, noticing that her ears were again pointed at me.
“What I wanted to say, is that I have no evil, aggressive or negative intentions, your Highness…” I started. “But, depending on the way I am treated I won’t just sit down and allow others to bowl me over.” I said, with some conviction in my words.
The guards haven’t moved, but Celestia did remove the scowl. Small victories. I also heard shuffling of cloth behind me, and I assumed that my cell mate relaxed.
“I suppose that is understandable given your situation. But I assure you, nopony here means you any harm in any way, shape or form.”
“You say that, but I’m fairly certain that if I tried to do something, these two,” I pointed at the guards, “would happily skewer me.”
Celestia glanced at the guards before focusing back to me, “I can assure you that those spears are here merely as a deterrent.” She shrugged. “If it will make you feel safer, I can have them remove the spears. It will not hinder them from restraining you should it be required.”
I snorted. “You make it sound like I’m just itching to attack someone,” I felt my wings buzz in irritation, causing me to cringe. “I mean, if I wanted to attack people, I’d start with that mare behind me.” I pointed my claws in my cell-mate’s direction.
“Oh, I am not worried about her in the slightest.” Celestia smirked.
I blinked. I continued blinking.
“Excuse me what now?” I stammered out, confused. She put a, obviously scared, filly in here with me… and she isn’t worried about her? The shit?!
“Does it surprise you, human, that I do not worry about that filly behind you?” She pointed to the mare behind me with her right armoured forehoof. “Or are you surprised that I would, willingly, place somepony in a cell with an extra dimensional being that I knew nothing about?”
To be fair, I considered several reasons why another pony was placed in a cell with me. But to be also completely honest, I did not care enough to investigate it further than that. I had more important matters to deal with. New world, new body, new sensations, etc. I had plenty on my plate other than to worry about a scared filly that… Is… not… here?
Sometime during my thought process, I apparently turned my head around and found nothing behind me. More precisely, I found no ponies behind me. The bunk beds were there, and so was the toilet and the table. But that beige unicorn mare was gone.
I fully turned and examined the room looking for anything out of the ordinary. Flickers of air, movement or sounds of any kind knowing that magic is involved. I took a deep breath and focused on my hearing. Nothing.
Sufficiently spooked, I started to turn back to the cell door.
“All right, princess, what is going…”
Turning around, apparently, was a mistake, regardless of the direction. Because, as it turns out, the heavy metal door can pull a disappearing act as well. Namely, the cell door and the bars around them were missing and I was gawking at a wall of stone blocks. No door, no bars, no princesses and no guards… oh and the missing mare.
“Where did the door go,” I squeaked out, slowly backpedalling from the former entrance.
I was now genuinely panicking. My wings were buzzing as well, adding to the cacophony of noises I was producing, ranging from heavy breathing to my heartbeat drumming loudly in my ears.
I tried to calm myself down, but the more I tried the harder it got. The last thing I remembered was feeling the wall behind me, followed by the sound of porcelain cracking and a golden light before I fell into nothingness.
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Can't wait for next chapter
Man fuck you Celestia pulling the it was all a dream bullshit so she could get the answers she wanted without his consent.
Or at least that is what I think happened
11020303
Preety close. It isn't a dream a dream though.
Hmmm seems interesting so far.
Well this doesn't make much sense...
Oof, to fast but ok.
I’ll read it anyways since I’m curious
I believe this is improper colon use, as colons are used to build upon the statement preceding it with a statement or to make a list. I think a comma would be more appropriate here.
An example of proper colon use would be something like this. "Here's what I want: go away, never come back."
As two paragraphs up you didn't pluralize door, either that paragraph is wrong, or this one is in having door pluralized for all but the last one.
Otherwise, your story has been fairly enjoyable after I got past this first chapter, if fast-paced, but I'm guilty of having similarly paced stories.
11053727
Thank you for pointing it out, it completely slipped my radar.
This is an interesting start of a story, I'll be adding it to my favorites. 😊 Next chapter, here I come. 😂
This is interesting. Also, competent illusionists are Terrifying.
Finally a story without exposition dump in the first chapter, thank you
Celestia don't make a good first impression and her Guards less so. They are rather undisciplined or Celestia ordered them to threat him with body harm. Either way bad impression.
11092853
Indeed. It's just curriouse the Story has a amazing picture, but the Profil is standard...
11020303
Pretty sure that would be a Luna or Nightmare thing...
11101402
I wonder if Trixie will be one.
"Tell me, Mr. Anderson. What good is a phone call if you are unable to speak?"
I can only assume you mean "canon", unless he built a cannon out of comics
O donde varios dioses de las especies allí caminen entre los mortales... no lo sé, sería interesante esa idea
Acaso... todo era una ilusión? El sharingan?
Aren't alicorns always portrayed as gods? It seems a bit redundant to point that out.
I wouldn't either if she didn't vaguely resemble an OC I created a while back.
Alright, first chapter done, this is gonna be a ride.
11222367
Not always. I would say it largely depends on the setting and backstory for that universe's Celestia and Luna. In my own stories so far I think I portray them as gods or demi-gods 50% of the time. But something to remember is that just because they're referred to as goddesses doesn't necessarily mean that they are. I have a character named Zarathon who calls them and equally (if not more) powerful beings gods. Though they are not gods in that universe.
11222367
I mean most everyone and their grandmother seems able to beat them, I don't know about the comics, but in the show and most fanfiction Alicorns are only more powerful and long lived. An advantage to be sure, but nothing close to goddess.
After all, a group can move the sun and moon, and they aren't really portrayed as all that stron most of the time, or at least never get the chance.
11222367
Alicorns are potrayed as god-like being in first few seasons. But started from tirek, they become weaker and weaker. Kinda like what happend to most shounen anime.
the freaking out feels almost too real