CH 5 (new start)
White Light
Almost three weeks of feeding that changeling… I’m sure glad I’m not Princesses’ physician.
I was currently deep in thought about the last two days and the new development that promised a brighter future for our ‘guest’.
I was accompanied by two colleagues: Hued Pigment, a light blue pegasus filly with a short teal mane and a long straight tail, sea-blue eyes, and a colorful butterfly wing as a mark; and Heavy Band-Aid, a massive pink unicorn stallion with a two-toned red and white buzzed short mane and a short, cropped tail, sharp, vivid, lime eyes, and two red band-aids laid out in a cross as a mark.
“Where do you think he got the resources to build this cocoon in the first place?” I asked, for the tenth time. We didn’t offer him anything solid to eat after the first time, as Patchwork said it didn’t do anything for him hunger-wise. Which is why we were now looking over the room itself, as we have spent the last day and a half studying the cocoon, and hybrid within.
“From this of all things…” Doctor Heavy Band-Aid used his magic to lift the bed and the sheets of the makeshift cave revealing a large pony-sized hole. “And this… Seriously?” Another shove exposed the backside of the chest, now with a large section missing. He dropped the bed behind him with a loud crack.
“Fascinating,” Hued Pigment, our chief biologist approached the hole and the chest grabbing a swab from her leg pouch with a wing. She gently took some samples of what I believe was dried saliva. It was tinted pink. “Do you think he used magic to soften the material, or did he just go to town on it?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, my dear.” I reached for one of my left leg pouches with my hoof and offered her a tube for the samples. I nodded at her thank you and then looked at the source of this ‘desecration of solid foods’. “I don’t think our friend was even conscious when he did it.”
Patchwork was ‘floating’ in a large cocoon near the upper right corner of the room. The only thing keeping him out of sight was the dresser he somehow dragged there and shoved between himself and the rest of the room.
The cocoon itself was olive green and brimming with some sort of viscous liquid. We couldn’t get a direct sample, as any attempt at penetrating its outer layer failed, and we didn’t want to use anything stronger than a needle that could cause issues for Patch and prevent him from going through his metamorphosis/healing.
There were also two guards on the left and right of the mass, but they had to be rotated regularly because, and this annoyed Shield Strike the most, the cocoon was absorbing local emotions. Other than some light sleepiness after three hours, the guards suffered no further issues, and a good nap fixed it all.
On the other hoof, when we removed the guards, the cocoon started darkening rapidly. Which is why, when Doctor Band-Aid saw this, and after a short debate and guess game, we placed four guards for a good hour. The liquid inside returned to its original color shortly after, and I convinced Shied Strike to keep the guards. She wasn’t pleased, but we couldn’t risk anything happening to the hybrid now that Princess Celestia put so much of herself into this. Literally.
Apparently during the last feeding Patchwork managed to graze ‘something important’… The Princess never said what that ‘important’ thing was, and the matter was quickly dropped. I am still curious, but something tells me that I won’t be getting an answer any time soon.
“What makes you think he wasn’t conscious?” Band-Aid approached me from behind.
I turned my head and regarded his youthful features for a moment before answering.
“Because he kept telling me that half the time, he had no idea what his instincts wanted, and he just let it go on… what did he call it… auto-pilot I believe…”
“That doesn’t sound like he was ‘unconscious’ for the whole thing,” he said, making quotation marks with his forelegs.
“Sco~ore” came a melodic shout from our biologist. In her forehooves, she held long tweezers, and she had something small in them.
We both turned towards her, curious about the find.
“Watch ‘a got there Pigmy?”
Pigment flew over to a set of saddlebags we left nearby when we entered, giggling all the way. She opened them up and pulled out another tube, putting whatever she found inside.
“It seems my second question was correct.” She giggled again and tossed the closed tube my way. I caught it in my magic before pulling it close to my eyes. I took out my glasses from one of the pouches and put them on my nose with a gentle tinkle of magic.
Heavy Band-Aid approached me, eyeing the tube for a few seconds before bursting out laughing, throwing his head back and rearing on his hind legs.
“The bucker actually went to town on the Celestia-damned marble. What a ‘tal!”
As he was laughing, I was incredulously studying the tooth. I noticed Hued approaching me from the corner of my eye, but I ignored her in favor of the fang in my grip.
The tooth was milky white, cracked, and chipped in several places, even missing the very tip and the root of the fang. There was dried changeling blood (their blood is green, due to high saturation of his magic, which is emerald in color) in between cracks and, looking at the tooth from the front, I noticed a small, hollow hole in the center, probably to deliver the poison.
“It must have hurt like Tartarus when it broke…” She whispered, and I nodded numbly.
“Makes you wonder…” I looked behind me at the cocoon, still housing our hybrid. “I just hope we are correct, and he comes out healed.”
Celestia
It has been a full week since I last saw Patchwork. After he cocooned himself I all but threw myself at the piled-up work that was waiting for me. The three weeks of feeding him were exhausting, and I did the bare minimum that was needed, opting to let most of my trusted advisors and my wife handle what I couldn’t during my recovery.
I did hear it from my physician, she wasn’t pleased with me, and I had to listen to an hour-long tirade about how I should take better care of myself… It was adorable.
It was all worth it in the end.
I received a missive two days ago, informing me that Patchwork emerged from his cocoon and that I should give him a day or two before visiting, should I wish to do so… And I did. Especially after my Shield told me he went through some ‘changes’. She wasn’t specific, and my curiosity could only wait for two days.
So, I was now on my way there, passing the final guard checkpoint and entering the long hallway before his room.
I was told that he was relaxing today, as they put him through simple, but numerous, tests and examinations in order to verify his health and his state of mind, as well as examine the leftover cocoon. I tried to read some of the reports, but my wife did all she could to keep me in suspense. Successfully might I add. She was very tenacious about it too.
My fur tinted pink for a moment as some of the more risqué situations she put me through in order to keep me from reading the reports… Needless to say, we took regular showers to keep the smell off of us.
Anyway…
I shook off my thoughts and fluffed my wings before entering the room.
I opened the door with my golden-yellow magic, briefly enjoying how smoothly it opened now after it was fixed… It was during the third, no, fourth feeding that he smashed into the door while trying to chase down a volunteer…
‘I truly hope we are done with all that nonsense.’ I sighed before looking through the room trying to find him, keeping my ears perked for any sounds.
I spotted him sitting at a table directly next to the faux window.
I slowly approached him, using this time to study his new look with my sharper pegasus eyesight.
The first noticeable thing was that he wasn’t nearly as bulky as he was upon arrival. Back then, he looked like he wore a heavy set of armor plates over a gangly frame. That ‘ganglyness’ was even more accentuated during his starvation when his plates were form-fitting, making him look more like a mantis, rather than a pony.
Now he looked almost entirely like a pony his age. Much more toned and slimmer, with his plates and segments making him look much more muscular than plated. So much so that I had a hard time calling him insectoid in the first place. He was still black, but with a much lighter pigment though, with his mane and tail still keeping their turquoise coloration with a white stripe on their side. His midsection was also greenish blue, but a bit darker than the mane.
He had no visible elytra like before, so his two pairs of dragonfly wings were fully in the open and shimmering in the fake lighting of the room producing a soft, soothing buzz.
His body was covered in a short, fuzzy fur-like growth on its plates, and bare black skin in between them. His mane was cut very short, and his tail was barely longer than a long crop, just touching his hock. There was a much thicker patch of fuzz on a plate between his neck and barrel, connecting to his mane giving him a bit more of a savage look.
The horn on his head had an elegant curve, with lightning-like grooves on its sides. It wasn’t overly long, or thin, but rather short and stubby. It looked much cuter than the rest of his body would be led to believe. There was also a growth near the horn that I couldn’t at a glance identify.
He turned towards me for a moment, his turquoise eyes showing more life than they ever did in the last three weeks I saw him. I now saw that there was a symmetric growth on the other side as well, both looking like small antennae.
He gave me a large, toothy smile and grabbed a pillow under the table with his claws, and offered it to me.
I took the pillow in my magic with a smile of my own and sat next to him within wings reach.
“One moment, Princess.” He said. I noticed that he had a quill in his claws and was writing something down on a piece of parchment, in the strange language we saw on some of the alien items that arrived from the portal after him. “I’m almost done, and I’d like to finish this while my thoughts are still fresh.”
I nodded my head and kept watching his writing. It was impossible to read, both from the strangeness of it, and the occasional ink splotches from his, rather poor, quillwork. The writing did remind me of Minotian runic language, but without the rigidness of the letters.
“Right.” He put the quill down, shaking me out of my musings.
“I have to say, Mr. Patch, you are looking much better than I could have foreseen. But I have to ask first, how you are feeling. Have there been any other issues cropping up?”
He scratched his chin with a claw for a few seconds, looking somewhere above me. He ‘hummed’ and then turned to me. The buzzing also stopped. I looked towards his wings, spotting them slowly retract into a shell plate on his back that was pushed to the side. When the plate slid in place, it looked like he merely had more bulk on his back, and not like an elytra, hiding his wings.
“Nothing that I can think of…” He shrugged his shoulders, ducking his head, blowing on the still drying ink before lifting the parchment and examining it. “It took a bit getting used to this, changed, body, and its additions, but otherwise I’m feeling fantastic.” He said with a chuckle.
I nodded with a smile on my muzzle. He seemed to be much more animated and in control of his body (‘those twitches looked very disturbing’), and in greater spirits as well.
“I am glad to hear that. To be quite frank with you…”
“I thought you were Celestia, not Frank?” He blurted out, interrupting me. I raised an eyebrow at his foalish behavior, and he slammed both his claws on his muzzle trying to stifle immature giggling coming out of him.
I felt a slight twitch on my muzzle, which grew into a full grin watching him shake with mirth. I did not understand his current behavior, but I did not care either. He was happy and that’s what finally mattered. Happy enough to be utterly silly, but that was a fine change compared to before.
I let him calm himself down, letting out a few giggles of my own before we continued.
“I apologize for that…” He started and I shook my head, letting him know that no offense was taken. “But apparently my body is much younger, and I keep getting these bouts of immaturity these last two days.” Clearing his throat, he let off a weak chuckle before continuing. “To be honest it feels really good to let loose like that, but it’s also a bit scary.”
“I remember you mentioning that you were in your thirties,” I stated, tilting my head slightly to the right. “And if my little ponies are correct, you should be much younger now.”
“Way younger… Something like seventeen if they got it right.” He narrowed his eyes, looking at the faux window. He was quiet for a few seconds, studying the landscape. “To be fair, I expected my mind to be a mess, Princess.” He turned towards me, looking nervous. “Or at least, more of a mess. I am still waiting for the other… horseshoe? to drop. My kind had theorized that becoming younger like this meant that you lose your mind and your memories… Or something similar to that effect.”
He quieted down after that, head, and ears both drooping with worry.
“Something tells me, you have nothing to worry about,” I stated confidently. His ears perked up slightly. “After all, if there were any long-term issues with the state of your mind, it would have shown itself by now.” He narrowed his eyes at me, and I rolled mine good-naturedly. “I have a feeling, Mr. Patch, that you will be just fine, but some adjustment will be required though.”
He looked a bit more upbeat after that little pep talk, so I decided to turn the chat towards another issue I was curious about.
“Now that THAT is sorted out, to a degree mind you, I would like to ask… How is your hunger holding out?” I teleported a tea set, and a plate of cookies and started brewing jasmine tea for the two of us.
Patchwork eyed the set for a few seconds before shaking his head. He pushed the parchment and the quill to the side before twisting his forelegs in a strange and painful way, putting his knees on the table close together, and holding his head in his claws… It looked very disturbing, for a pony-like body, and I must have been showing it because he smirked at me.
“Ball joints and sockets… Makes me much more flexible than a pony.” He then frowned while I was shaking my head at his tone. “As far as my hunger is concerned it’s… strange.” He extended one of his forelimbs and grabbed a cookie from the tray, and threw the whole thing in his mouth, humming appreciatively.
“We have tried a few other foods since I came out of the cocoon,” he started. “At my urging, at that. I have less need of love now, and my hunger has started to feel closer to what normal hunger pains SHOULD feel.” He grabbed another cookie, rolling it over in his claw. “I have been craving solid foods…” he waved the cookie at me before taking a bite out of it, “sweets in particular. Can’t have enough of the stuff.
Feeding on love has also been easier, and less discomforting for others.”
“I see. Any reason why such a change would come by?” I asked, grabbing a cookie myself, and taking a dainty bite. A princess must have some decorum after all.
“No idea,” Patchwork shrugged with one… I’m calling it ‘arm’, he seems to treat it as such. “Those guys of yours want to do some more experiments with my body in order to figure it out, but I managed to talk them out of it… for now.” He visibly shivered in discomfort. “One of them mentioned about inducing my hunger again… A hard pass on that one.”
A frown touched my forehead for a split second before I decided to check up on that. While I would happily help should the need arise, again, I would rather it not come to that in the first place.
“Well,” I started while pouring a cup of tea for myself. I offered to pour some for him as well, but he declined with a shake of his head, opting to grab one more cookie, “it would seem that, at the very least, you have it a bit easier now.” I added some honey to my tea, spotting Patchwork watching the spoon float with rapt attention. I offered a spoon full to him and he grabbed it with glee, happily licking the substance off.
His tongue was almost serpentine, without the split, and before I knew it, he finished with the spoon and looked for more honey, which I gladly provided with a giggle.
I drank my tea, and we enjoyed a companionable silence until I finished with my cup, and he grabbed another spoonful of honey.
“Now, if you don’t mind… I would like to start with the actual reason for my arrival.” I said after he slurped up the last of the honey from the spoon.
The change was immediate.
He straightened up, almost snapping in military attention. His gleeful look changed into a blank expression that was entirely unreadable. His ears were trained on me, and he fluttered his wings a few times. I had his undivided attention, and it was almost funny how ‘professional’ he tried to look.
His complete lack of movement was a tad unnerving, though.
“Now, do you remember what we talked about a month ago?”
“Yes, I do. You wish to study me in exchange for food and safety?” He asked in a monotone.
“Indeed. But I would like to go into more detail today.” For a moment I wished to assume a similar, more relaxed, position as he did before, but I had to keep appearances. “If you would allow us to study you, in as much detail as possible without being invasive, I would offer you more than just a place to stay… for now anyway.”
“For now?” He frowned. “Are you saying you will let me leave eventually?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, pouring some more tea for myself. “Despite how it may seem, you aren’t a prisoner here.” Blowing at the hot liquid I peered at him from the rim of the cup. “Mind you, there is a good reason you are here, but it is not because of your situation.”
He seemed to mull that over for a few seconds, chewing thoughtfully at his lower lip, and looking somewhere behind me. I was quietly observing him, sipping on my jasmine tea. He seemed to have concluded his thoughts, as he slowly turned towards me.
“This may sound both cliché and rude, but what’s in it for me, Princess. Something being non-invasive does not mean it’s not painful.”
“I wish to assure you first, that we do not wish to cause you pain…”
“Assurances like that matter little.” He interrupted me with a low growl. He caught himself though, as he gave a quiet apology, before shaking his head and focusing on me, once again.
“Yes, well,” I poured myself some more tea, as well as some for him after he gingerly pulled a second teacup closer to him. He thanked me with a nod and went ahead to cool his cup down with gentle blows. It looked humorous, as he still sat just as rigidly. “I can promise you that we will try to avoid any discomfort you may feel should it be necessary. And if needed, you are fully allowed to deny something if it's too much for you. There is something in it for you though.” He stopped the teacup midway to his mouth. “Not only will you be learning alongside us about your new body, but I will also make sure you are prepared for our world. Which means you will learn our language, learn about our society, immerse yourself in magic (should you wish to do so), and in the end, once we both learn as much as we could, you will be released into our society, ready to do whatever it is you wish. I will even provide you a decent sum of bits so you can have a head start.”
He took a long sip of his tea and smacked his lips before speaking.
“So, all that if I let you essentially ‘experiment’ on me? What if I would also like to speak to you on occasion as well? I’m certain you have quite a few stories to share. Or what if I wish to learn how to fight in this body; what then?”
“So as long as your requests are within reason, I don’t see why I should deny you anything. And I am certain I can fit you in my schedule from time to time.” I added with a wink.
He sat still for about a minute before chugging the rest of his tea (‘what a waste’). “You got yourself a deal, Princess Celestia,” Patch exclaimed with a grin.
After shaking hooves (very strange with a hoof-looking claw) we chatted for another hour. Funny how much I learned about his technology in those sixty minutes.
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Very nice! I’m looking forward to his acclimation to his new circumstances. I wonder what kid of challenges he’ll run into along the way.
I have a feeling his playfulness and new love for sweets is because of him feeding off on Celestia. If they did another DNA and magic scan I wonder if it will come back similar to her now somewhat. 🤔
11052290
Surprisingly close speculation. More like, enhanced what was already there. My changelings simply love sweets.
11053855
no problem, a big problem I notice is comma misuse, but it would be really messy to correct those here, and I had just finished going through the first two chapters of my own story to fix mistakes, so I was in an editing mood.
Seems like Patchwork is becoming a changeling king.
I get the feeling from the change in behavior after he just mentioned that he turned down the doctors wanting him for a guinea pig that she was responsible for him agreeing and it wasn't entirely within his free will.
This is really engaging. I love this.
Cr*p. It's 12:09 AM so I have to go to bed now. But I really want to keep reading.
Don't know about you guys but I'm using these two images as reference.
i.pinimg.com/originals/18/75/bf/1875bfde11f744f8ebf6e0c626c7be03.png
i.pinimg.com/originals/c8/d5/40/c8d540084176c5df0b6e4a3629996f0a.png
I haven’t read it all yet but it would be interesting if the smoke breath he had earlier is elaborated on
11138404
Suprisinly close. I commissioned some art of Patchwork so there will be an official look for him soon-ish.
Small thing bothering me is how Celestia thinks of her powers as abilities of the pony tribes. I know it is to establish the world powers, but it doesn't come from any of the other ponies. So I think descriptions are best done outside of thoughts, and instead by a out of universe narrator.
Celestia has clear agendas, but indeed will Patchwork bebefit from it. Mefical knowlege if he ever get injured or sick, understanding his body and needs and having Financial support will help. Still he will need protection because i doubt Chrysalis would be fine just speaking with him anywhere near Celestias area of influence.
What a deal. Wonder what she would have done if he refused...
11121414
Been there buddy.
Interesting
11603643
I like the third one. Pink for someone male