Transition
Okay, I HAVE to give props to Cortex Repository for being a) a bro, b) a complete BOSS. I would encourage you all to not simply read this chapter, but READ it. Maybe then your mind will be blown as much as ours were.
Enjoy
The castle had been breached.
The White Knights barreled through the winding corridors of their home, rushing forward with the single-minded purpose of protecting what was theirs.
As they approached the site of the invasion, however, their once unstoppable assault came to a grinding halt. Their fellow Knights clustered around the breach, the Invaders but a short distance away from them. The arriving Knights urged their comrades forward, but the Knights clustered around the breach did nothing.
The Invaders began communicating with one another, relaying information in their incomprehensible language. But to the arrived Knights’ surprise, their comrades began responding. But the Knights were hesitant to attack their former comrades, despite what was at stake.
Then, with uncharacteristic swiftness, the once-Knights turned on their allies, restraining them as the Invaders flooded into the castle. Most went deeper into the structure, but a handful remained with the restrained Knights.
The Invaders latched on to the Knights, corrupting them in some horrible and unnatural way. The Knights struggled futilely, but eventually stopped their resistance as an overwhelming force began overriding their minds.
Then, suddenly, the force receded. The Knights remained still, stunned by the contact. They could no longer remember why they were up in arms, nor did the breach before them seem like a pressing issue. And the Invaders suddenly seemed like old friends, friends that had simply been forgotten for a moment. It seemed that all was well, and there was nothing to be concerned about.
The Knights left the area, resuming their usual patrol routes.
***
The Invaders flooded through the halls of the castle, taking over everything that got in their way. The White Knights that resisted them slowly dwindled in number, and soon the Invaders found that the castle was no longer hostile, but had become a new home for them.
The Red Servants were left well enough alone, and only a few Invaders converted any of them. The Servants were no more able to resist the Invaders than the castle itself, which the Invaders began to reorganize, almost rebuild.
A group of especially potent Invaders made their way to the throne room, where the King rested on his mighty throne, completely unconscious. The Invaders clustered around the King, hovering close but not touching him in any way. The King shifted in his sleep, utterly unaware of his would-be predicament.
One of the Invaders placed a chain of ebony of the King’s lap, and slid a vial of elixir into his hand. Then the Invaders departed, leaving a few of their number to guard the room, and to act as representative to the King when he woke.
No sooner than most of the Invaders had left the room, the King stirred once more. Slowly, and with some difficulty-
***
-Jack’s eyes opened once more, gradually revealing more and more of the bedroom he had fallen unconscious in. He stared at the ornate doors that blocked the rest of the hive from his view, flickering green flames held in bowls suspended from the ceiling illuminating the intricate designs.
Jack’s mind took some time before it began to process anything, and the first thing the human realized was that his body... tingled.
It was a strange sort of energy, one that many nights of inadequate sleep had denied the teen from feeling in some time. He slowly pushed himself off the stone floor, taking a deep breath. He blinked a few times, a total lack of thought in his mind.
Slowly, Jack stood up. He began stretching, loosening up his strangely stiff muscles. As he loosened up his back, he became acutely aware of his spines shivering. A momentary flash of discomfort ran through him as he remembered what had transpired before he had blacked out, but an almost alien, yet strangely familiar presence soothed him, wiping away his concerns like a brush against cobwebs.
Immediately after he had fully woken up, Jack felt the presence in his mind enlarge, almost as if it was... connecting. Abruptly, his head was filled with voices, chattering back and forth, relaying facts, figures, and the slightest hint of emotion. The human took a step backwards in shock, then decided to raise his voice to join the symphony.
“What’s going on?” he asked. Like so many times before, the voices died down almost immediately. Jack’s vision flickered, and suddenly what could only be described as a heads-up-display formed in his vision. A three-dimensional model appeared, something that he somehow, in an unknown way, knew was a network. A network of changelings, each one of their thoughts forming the immense Hive Mind.
Lights were present across the network, each one representing the mind of an individual changeling. Each was like a small candle, indicating only the barest glimmer of sentience. They were all linked together by innumerable silken strands, each mind relaying its contents to the rest. But one mind stood out from the crowd, a massive fireball among embers.
The mind of the Queen.
Jack, unused to mental communication through the Hive Mind, tentatively reached out towards the mind of the queen. As his mind neared that of Chrysalis’, her thoughts became clearer and clearer, as if he was watching her very thought processes. As he watched, it became clear that she was coordinating the rest of the Swarm, directing groups of changelings with almost flawless skill. Eventually, he spoke up.
“Chrysalis?” he asked, the words not only coming from his mouth, but reverberating though the entire Hive Mind. The changeling queen’s attention shifted to him almost immediately, yet she still managed the Swarm at the same time.
“So, you’re finally awake,” she remarked, a cold tone to her words. “I assume you’re still taking up space on my floor?”
Jack gritted his teeth in aggravation. “You left me there. Not even a second thought.”
“Of course I did,” the queen spat. “Any one of us would have, you ungrateful monkey!”
With that, Jack felt a flicker of irritation. But as Chrysalis’ words cycled through his mind for just one repetition, he felt some part of himself respond. His irritation quickly turned into full-blown hyper-aggressiveness, to the point where only a glimmer of self-control remained with the human.
The Hive Mind itself shuddered with his next words. “Is that a challenge?”
A flash of curiosity and confusion came from the queen. “And if it is?”
Jack’s last remnants of self-control shattered, an angered growl coming from the teenager as he burst into a full-on sprint, the strange, energetic, tingling feeling that he had felt upon waking up now surging through his body, turning him into an undeniable force that had one goal.
“CHRYSALIS!!!” he yelled, bursting through the doors of the aforementioned changeling’s bedroom. As Jack blinked, the network-image of the Hive Mind vanished, suddenly replaced with another three-dimensional image, this one showing what could only be the layout of the outpost. Jack was faintly aware of his perception of the world being slowed as a red line was drawn from his location through the winding halls and passages of the hive to his target: the changeling queen herself. The barest flicker of curiosity flashed through Jack’s mind as he wondered what had turned what would have been an likely fruitless search into nothing less than a hunt. The curiosity was quickly submerged in anger, however, and Jack’s perception sped up, returning the world to normal time.
The human bolted through the hive, running down halls, scrambling up a few ledges, and darting around corners with a speed he had never been in possession of. The large image of the hive had disappeared, replaced by a smaller image in the upper left of Jack’s vision. His attention flicked to it at uneven intervals, making sure he was on the correct path to reach his target. The human swore as he misjudged when to turn, but was soon pleased by the red line instantly reconfiguring itself to compensate for his mistake.
As he neared the location of the changeling queen, his fist lit up with a green aura of magic, ready to accept the challenge that had been issued.
***
Chrysalis was impressed by Jack’s reaction. From what she knew of him, he was currently far faster and stronger than his previous lifestyle would have cultivated him to be. It was almost worrisome.
The queen scoffed at the thought, ordering a five-strong squad of changelings to stand ready at the entrance the incoming human was likely to come through. She patiently waited for him, smirking as she felt his anger rattle the Hive Mind in a way only she had ever been able to. As a side thought, she briefly wondered how he had taken so well to his implants.
Her time for thinking was over. Jack was nearing her at a rapid rate, a force that would certainly take some effort to subdue. The changeling flexed her magical muscles, her horn lighting up with the signature green glow of her species’ magic.She stared intently at the entrance before her, ready for the incoming human.
She blinked in surprise as a hiss was relayed directly to her, completely bypassing the connection of the Hive Mind. She then started as the human abruptly changed course, rounding a corner in order to flank her position. Chrysalis did not even have enough time to send the mental warning to her current guards before she was tackled by a very fast, very angry human.
Her world spun as she hit the floor, dazed for but a moment. The changeling was quickly aware of Jack on top of her, rearing back his gifted hand for a deadly punch. Chrysalis jerked her head to the side as the fist whizzed past her, missing her head by precious inches. A crunching noise and the cracking of the ground signified how deadly the blow would have been, but the queen prevented another strike from following by quickly bucking the human off her with her fore hooves.
Jack sailed backwards, landing on the ground near his entrance. He wheezed as he grabbed his chest, crawling to his hands and knees. His breathing remained heavy a few moments, allowing Chrysalis to climb to her hooves once more. No sooner than she did so than Jack began chuckling, then laughing. The queen blinked in confusion as she heard the same chuckle whisper in the back of her mind.
The human wasted no time in attacking again, rushing towards Chrysalis with his left claws bared to swing at her. She read the attack, both in the movement and through the Hive Mind, and reacted accordingly, unleashing a burst of paralytic magic into the teen at point-blank range, sending him into convulsions as he hit the ground, arcs of magic crackling across his immobilized body.
“What was that?” Chrysalis asked, genuinely curious as to why he had attacked her unprovoked.
Jack did not respond immediately, too preoccupied with stopping his body from spasming. Once the convulsions died down, he slowly stood up, breathing heavily as he did so. His gaze slowly rose to meet Chrysalis’, full of anger and resentment.
“You... left me... to... suffer alone...” he panted. “Then... you... had the gall... to just insult me? Where... do you get off...”
The changeling queen hissed and stamped her hoof down on the ground. “You rejected our- my! -gift! The gift of the Hive Mind!” she walked closer to Jack, putting a hoof underneath his chin as she leaned down. “I gave you the honor of feeling my direct control. I gave you my own body, and you think you are the one who has been wronged?”
“I never asked for you to control me. Have you ever heard of ‘individuality’?”
Chrysalis backed away. “In case you haven’t noticed, Jack, we are not an individualistic species.”
The human grunted and stood up, spines on his back standing up from his back. “I think I see what the problem is here,” he said, frowning. “We’re too different. Our cultures and ideals are clashing. We can’t cooperate like this.”
Chrysalis’ eyes widened as a feeling of dread washed over her, so strong that the entire changeling race felt it clear as day. “Y-you’re not...”
Jack shook his head, hearing her fears and denying them. “I’m not leaving, no. This isn’t an issue worth leaving over.”
“What are you getting at?”
The human allowed a small smile to come to his face. “Simple. I need to live with you. With the changeling race. I need to see things from your point of view.”
Chrysalis let out a small sigh of relief. “Well then, I suppose we’d better return to Kruziik-Ahrol. I think you should move there if you want to learn our culture.”
Jack grinned. “I don’t really have a choice, now do I?”
The changeling queen chuckled slightly. “I would never force you to do anything,” she said, sarcasm pouring from her voice. She closed her eyes and began preparing a teleportation spell.
“Place your hand on me.” Chrysalis’ voice echoed in Jack’s head. The human hesitantly put his right hand on her neck, and for the first time he felt Chrysalis’ hair, made of thick, soft and slick strands similar to that of wet human hair.
“Yes, like that. But lower.”
He nervously slid his hand down slightly, closer to the queen’s shoulder. A pang of sadness went through him as the queen’s hair left his grasp.
“I said LOWER.”
Jack’s hand slowly moved to her shoulder. In contrast to her hair, the chitin of the changeling’s carapace was much dryer, and somewhat rough. A sudden feeling sparked in the back of his mind.
“Oh for goodness sake, if that’s what ‘lower’ gets me, then AS LOW AS YOU CAN!”
A sudden and alien boldness washed over the teen as he took his hand off Chrysalis, biting his bottom lip before placing it on her flank.
Chrysalis’ eyes shot open as her magic sputtered and faltered.
“NOT THAT LOW, YOU IDIOT!” she screamed, her voice rocking the Hive Mind and causing Jack to wince and cover his ears even as he giggled to himself. Chrysalis smacked him upside his head, which only served to increase his giggles to full-on laughter.
The changeling queen glowered at the human, who continued laughing as her irritation rolled through the Hive Mind. Eventually his mirth subsided, and he wiped a tear from his eye, an immensely wide grin on his face.
“And WHAT do you think gave you permission to do THAT!?” Chrysalis half-asked, half-yelled. Jack chuckled once more and narrowly dodged another swipe by the queen before he responded.
“You did tell me to go a low as I could reach!” he cackled, his grin setting Chrysalis’ temper at a constant boil. “I never would have done that oth...er...wise...” He trailed off, grin and humor disappearing in the blink of an eye as something mentally clicked in his head.
“I... would... never do that...” he whispered. Chrysalis blinked as she felt his confusion, along with the slightest inkling of... fear.
Jack’s eye suddenly twitched, and he gasped as his neck muscles suddenly spasmed. The convulsions were nothing compared to the ones from when he had previously passed out, a mere annoyance. He rubbed his neck and looked at Chrysalis, imploring her to explain. The queen sighed and prepared her spell once more.
“Place your hand on me,” she instructed, knowing that he wasn’t about to attempt another flank-grab. Jack gently laid his hand on her back, faintly aware of her smooth plate of glossy green chitin that stood in stark contrast to its black surroundings.
Chrysalis closed her eyes, casting her teleportation spell with a bright flash of green light, sending herself and her companion away from the outpost she had spent a month and a half in.
It was time to go home.
***
The air in a deep, underground chamber began sparking and crackling around a central point suspended in midair. Then, with another bright flash of light, and a smokeless detonation, Jack and Chrysalis appeared out of thin air.
While Jack was simply dazed for a moment and refocused with a simple shake of his head, Chrysalis gasped loudly and fell to the floor, panting as she sweated profusely. Her vision spun hazily as fatigue consumed her, robbing her of the strength to do anything for the time being. Concerned, Jack kneeled down, nudging the queen’s shoulder.
“Hey,” he called. “You alright?”
Chrysalis did not answer, not even through the Hive Mind. Jack slowly began to feel drained, as if a part of him was dying. Panic began to form in him, fear for the queen replacing his fear of himself.
With a blink, the layout of the previous outpost flickered across his vision before fizzling out and being replaced by the map of a much larger structure. Jack closed his eyes and called out to the changelings he was mentally linked to.
“Brothers and sisters, give me the knowledge to help the queen!”
The buzzing voices of an entire species filled the human’s mind, coalescing into a legion of sounds that all spoke the same words. The words themselves were harsh, brutal, and sharp, resonating with an authority an innate power that transcended the teen’s ability to understand, yet they inexplicably gave him what he needed to know.
“Daal wah zii-laas-sos, saviik, leh monah-lun dir. Du Jun Sombra, zahrahmiik ok zii-laas. Lahney, Chrysalis, lahney! Kron fin Hokoron! Saviik, kron Dinok!”
The map of Kruziik-Ahrol was suddenly implanted with a red line, starting in a dead-end chamber and trailing down, deep into the hive, to a large cavern at the very bottom. Without a second thought, Jack slid his hands underneath Chrysalis, her exoskeleton now seeming much more delicate and the queen seeming less and less lively as her breathing became shallower.
The teen hefted the changeling up onto his back, performing a fireman’s carry as he set off with as much haste as he could while encumbered by the queen’s weight. A light jog was as fast as he could push his body to go, his teeth clenched as he felt Chrysalis’ heartbeat through her natural chitin armor as it pumped faster and faster, as if it would burst any moment.
As the human bounded through the changeling hive, an escort of the majestic insectoids formed around him, protecting their queen as best they could. Jack felt a stream of energy flow through the Hive Mind to Chrysalis, every changeling alive trying to preserve their queen long enough for him to reach... whatever it was he was trying to reach.
Jack travelled down what seemed like never-ending corridors and passageways, even sliding down a few sections too steep to be traversed on foot. After what seemed like a lifetime, he finally arrived at a large hole in the floor which, according to his map, dropped directly down into the chamber he needed to go. A mixed glow of bright blue and grey radiated from the chamber, sending electric tingles and malicious chills through Jack’s body. With a slight gulp, he took a few steps back, then ran forward and leaped down into the chamber.
Jack landed sloppily on the cavern’s floor, the changeling queen falling off his back and landing at the edge of a large pool of a bright blue, gel-like fluid that pulsed with an azure light. Bright blue vine-like plants seemed to crawl in and out of the fluid, arcs of electricity sparking between them as smokey blue particles drifted up from the lake, which seemed to stretch farther than Jack’s map had indicated.
The human took a moment to look at a small island that rested in the middle of the lake, a single, smokey-grey crystal that floated in the air, enveloped in a green, black, and purple bubble of magic. The longer Jack seemed to stare at it, the more interesting it seemed to become.
A loud mental hiss snapped the human out of his observations and refocused him on the situation at hand. He looked up for a moment to see his escort of changelings still above him, ears folded flat against their heads, as if they were too scared to descend.
Jack glanced over to the pool once more, eyes slowly widening in recognition of the strange substance. He looked down at Chrysalis, who had finally summed up the last dredges of her failing strength to crack open her eyelid. A sort, hoarse whisper escaped her lips in between her gasps.
“Please...”
Jack’s expression became resolute, and he nodded firmly. He kneeled down next to the blue lake and cupped his hands, submerging them in the liquid for a moment. He gasped briefly as an electric sensation rippled through his body before taking his hands out, the feeling fading but not entirely being eliminated as he did so. He held a small amount of the liquid in his hands, which he quickly brought to the clearly dying changeling queen.
Kneeling down next to her, the teen slid his hands under her mouth and gently let gravity slide the blue substance into her mouth. Chrysalis’ eye opened once more and she shakily swallowed, shivers running through her body as she did so.
Jack found himself slowly grasping one of the queen’s holed hooves in his hands. He took a moment to marvel at the way the chitin seemed to flow over itself, forming a beautiful, yet practical piece of organic artwork. Slowly, he closed his left eye, watching as the hoof became smooth and more uniform, taking on a cartoon-like appearance, and strangely even changing its very texture, as if Jack had changed one reality for another.
With a small smirk and a short sigh, he opened his left eye. The world returned to its more realistic version, and the human found that, despite the roughness, he preferred it that way.
Jack felt a sharp pang in his chest as the Hive Mind resounded with fear and anxiety. The changelings were afraid for their queen, but the human felt far closer to her than they did. The thought of loosing her filled him with a sadness, and the guilt of a debt forever unpaid. He squeezed the changeling queen’s hoof in both hands, hoping that she would be brought away from the precipice she rested on and banish the despair that seemed to permeate the air.
Slowly, Chrysalis’ gasps faded, becoming more regular breaths that caused the changeling species to let out a collective sigh of relief. She withdrew her hoof from Jack’s hand and slowly stood up, taking a few tentative steps toward the pool and leaning down, taking a few seconds to lap at the precious blue liquid that refilled her strength and thus brought her subjects comfort. Jack felt the electric sensation from before return, though it seemed greatly diminished. He shivered as Chrysalis brought her head up to look at him.
“...You feel what I feel, don’t you?” she asked.
“I... I think I do,” Jack replied hesitantly. “You feel kinda... tingly.” Chrysalis nodded.
“It seems we are closer than I had predicted,” the queen said, stepping closer to Jack. She lifted a hoof and gently placed it under his chin. “Yet another gift. Something I think I will look into. For now though... thank you.”
The changeling moved to take her hoof back, but some part of Jack made him gently grasp the retreating hoof and bring it to his lips, kissing it in a way befitting of royalty such as herself.
“Think nothing of it,” the teen said. “my... Queen.”
Chrysalis gave him a genuine smile as she enveloped him in her magic and levitated him out of the cavern, flying up after him. Dismissing the group of changelings that clustered around her, Chrysalis signaled with a wave for Jack to follow her.
“Come,” she said. “I think you would appreciate a tour.”
The changeling queen set off at a leisurely walk, unaware that her human companion lingered at the edge of the cavern for just a moment longer. He looked down at the pool blue liquid, a scowl etched on his features.
“Corruption of the foulest sort...” he whispered. “What business doth thou have here?”
With a shake of his head, he quickly set after Chrysalis, forcing himself to avoid thinking of the lake that the changelings kept hidden.
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me gusta
it good
It is good
MOAAAAAR
So... What is the blue stuff?
Is it a big, electrified vat of changeling blood? Are those plant-like vines supposed to be blood vessels?
Is it Phazon from the Metroid Prime series?
I have a terrible feeling that we're going to be kept in the dark about that substance for a good long while. Good chapter all the same, though.
“Corruption of the foulest sort...” he whispered. “What business doth thou have here?”
^This line seems to come out of no where or did I miss something?
1611852
Yes, we will be kept in the dark for a long time. Mostly becaus-
*SMACK*
Sorry, I said nothing.
1612996
You didn't miss anything, don't worry.
Something something pinka plonk,
-Cortex Repository
1611190>>1611281>>1611502
Thank you all. Truly, your long, varied, and sophisticated comments have given me deep insight into how my readers view my story. I look forward to hearing more from your scholarly minds.
1615014
*SMACK*
Silence, you fool!
1615758 so you have wished it, so shall it be
1615758 it very good
You won't disappoint, I predict. It is my hope this story continues to be fascinating. I cannot wait for the ponies to realize their mistake in attacking a human...
Heh, just did the translation! I see ya got something planned for this boy! Here it is for those who are too lazy to do the work:
Daal wah zii-laas-sos, saviik, leh monah-lun dir. Du Jun Sombra, zahrahmiik ok zii-laas. Lahney, Chrysalis, lahney! Kron fin Hokoron! Saviik, kron Dinok
Return to spirit-life-soul, savior, lest mother leech die. Devour King Sombra, sacrifice his spirit-life. Live, Chrysalis, live! Conquer the enemy! Savior, conquer death!
Yep, you've got something planned for this boy alright. I have to wonder though if it was the hive mind or something else. Dragon language being the core you gotta wonder where it's coming from with the writings and all that. Traveling around to find that unique dragon species or the local breeds, or it could just be ancient changeling stuff. Gets your mind wondering...
WHAT THE HELL? LANGUAGE OF THE DOV? I understand some of this is either the language of the dov, or similar to it. EXPLAIN YOURSELF!
Did Chrysalis just pull a Frieza?
trolino.com/thumb?id=36482
Monkey is the default insult for an alien race to give to humans
Wait a minute... So if they are a part of each other, then if they have sex, aren't they just fucking themselves?
Guessing right now, that stuff is the smooze...
And is his mind, damned puns, changing into that of a changeling?
1615758
P.S. This be gud store for reding. I likes it's.
Ok sorry but i think im the the only one here whos confused as to whats going on. Can someone help me?
... I now want to see Chryssie going Fus ro dah.
Curiouser and curiouser... What does Sombra have to do with all this?