Chibi Changeling

by Yukito

Changeling Hunter - Part 3

Berry Punch surrounded her body with green flames, undoing her disguise and revealing her true form. “I won’t let you harm my family anymore,” she said, narrowing her eyes at Blueblood. “If you intend to go on, then I will do what I must to protect them!”

“You talk about protecting your family,” Blueblood started, charging forward with his sword raised in the air, “But I intend to protect all of Equestria! You’ll never stop my blade, monster!”

“Try me! You’ll be surprised at what one can accomplish when they’re protecting their kin!” The changeling summoned a green barrier to stop Blueblood’s advancing, then fired a blast of energy at him. The Prince dodged, and used his own magic to break through the barrier.

A glow from Blueblood’s horn was followed by a similar glow beneath Berry Punch’s hooves, prompting her to jump back quickly, just narrowly avoiding an entrapment spell similar to the one that had caught Crunch Berry.

“Is that the only trick you’ve got?!” Berry Punch taunted, opening her mouth and spitting out a thick layer of green mucus at her opponent. Blueblood used his sword to slice through it, but didn’t expect to see a second attack behind the first. Fortunately, he managed to jump out of the way just in time, though a little of the substance still stuck to his left hind hoof.

“You vile creatures! Everything about you is horrid and uncouth!”

“Says the Prince who tries to kill innocent little fillies!”

“That thing is no filly, and she is certainly not innocent!” Blueblood turned to glare at Berry Pinch, who quickly hid behind an angry-looking Rumble. “I know that that thing has awoken. And I know that it has ‘fed’ off of several ponies already!”

“How?” Berry Punch asked.

“It’s simple, really. I’ve had my suspicions about this town, ever since I heard a report about a changeling scout asking a lot of questions about it.” Blueblood turned his attention to Crunch Berry’s body. “It seems the scout was none other than her. But, I was curious as to why she was so interested in this town. So I decided to watch over it, closely.”

Blueblood turned back to Berry Punch. “I found that there was a family of you things living here, but I was unsure of the number. I wasn’t even sure which ponies in particular I should investigate! But, with that young one’s awakening, I was finally given a lead. And from there, it wasn’t hard to determine who exactly the other changelings were.

“In any case, that thing over there, is just like the rest of you! It spares not a single thought about how we feel, having our emotions treated as if they were simply lunch for you overgrown bugs! It just saps all of our love dry, or in that one’s case, forces its love onto us!”

“You can’t tell me you have a problem with her spreading love around, can you?” Berry Punch asked. Blueblood’s glare hardened.

“She is not ‘spreading’ love, she is forcing ponies to love each other, against their will! Regardless of how nice that may seem, she is still playing with ponies’ feelings! And what of those who, after the effects wear off, are unable to decide between their love and their hatred for their partner?”

Junior remembered his meeting with Trixie not too long ago. How confused she was. How angry she was. How sad she looked, and how desperate her voice sounded. “…”

“There have been many cases where ponies suffer psychological breakdowns because they are confused by their conflicting emotions! Many fine ponies’ lives have been destroyed, all just so that you can feed off of our emotions!”

Berry Punch looked down at the ground with a frown on her face. “… Yes, there is always a risk, when it comes to messing around with love, and hatred.” She looked back up at the Prince. “But that it is why, we always do our part. Where possible, I have always avoided targets that I do not believe would be strong enough to handle the sudden change in their feelings. And in Pinchy’s case, I have kept a close watch over all of the ponies that she has ‘fed’ off of.”

“They require no help from you, monster!” Blueblood shouted, charging magic into his horn. “Every single one of your family’s victims in this town will be transported to the Canterlot hospital, to receive special treatment! Whereas you three, will be killed right here and now!”

Berry Punch’s horn also lit up, and began charging towards Blueblood. “Rumble, get Pinchy out of here, now!”

Rumble nodded, and grabbed Berry Pinch’s hoof in order to lead her away. However, the youngling refused to budge. “Berry, we have to go!”

Berry Pinch shook her head. “No!” she shouted. “I can’t leave mommy behind! I have to help her! I-”

“GAAAAAAH!” The two foals looked back at Berry Punch, to find her lying on the ground with smoke rising from her body. Standing above her, Blueblood raised his sword, and prepared to strike his foe down.

“NOOO!” Rumble shouted, running towards the Prince and jumping onto his back. He grabbed the sword and tried to pull it away from Blueblood, but was thrown to the side by the stallion. “UGH!”

“Stay back, kid!” Blueblood shouted. “Do not delude yourself! They are monsters, nothing more! I will be doing you, and all of Equestria, a favour by riding you of these creatures!”

“No! They’re not monsters!” Rumble shouted, jumping up to his hooves and running over to Berry Punch’s body. “I won’t let you kill her!”

“Move!” Blueblood ordered.

“No.”

“I said move!”

“I won’t do it!”

Blueblood grit his teeth in rage, and raised his left forehoof. “Last chance. Move, now.” Rumble simply shook his head, watching the Prince with fear in his eyes. Blueblood swung his hoof, and kicked the colt to the side. “Now, then…”

“RUMBLE!” Berry Pinch shouted, watching as Rumble struggled to stand back up again. She then noticed Blueblood once again raising his sword above Berry Punch’s body. “MOMMY!”

“Relax,” Blueblood said. “You’ll be next.”

“No…” Berry Pinch whispered. Blueblood’s sword began to move down. “NOOOOOO!”

Blueblood stopped mid-swing as he felt something behind him. He turned around to see what was going on, and saw a bright beam of green light heading his way. He quickly ducked to the side, but the beam managed to knock his sword out of his grasp, and send it flying a good distance away from him.

“I won’t let you hurt mommy, or Rumble!” Berry Pinch shouted, staring at Blueblood with a blank look on her face. Her eyes were glowing white, and moments later, she began to float up into the air.

Blueblood gasped and took a few steps back. ‘A magical outburst, at a time like this?!’

“Pinchy…” Berry Punch tried to get through to her daughter, but she was too weak to speak loudly enough for the youngling to hear her.

A beam of light shot from Berry Pinch’s horn, just narrowly missing Rumble, startling the colt and causing him to hover in the air for a second. Another beam of light shot out towards Junior, knocking the colt to the ground. A third beam hit a tree behind the youngling, creating a smouldering hole in it and causing it to collapse.

“Its magic is running out of control!” Blueblood shouted as he conjured up a barrier to defend himself against an incoming blast. His speciality wasn’t barriers, though, and it crumbled easily against Berry Pinch’s magic. “NO!”

The magic continued towards Blueblood, grabbing him and lifting him up into the air. He felt something wrapping tightly around his throat, and choked for air as he was lifted off of the ground.

“Berry Pinch! Stop!” Rumble shouted, running up to the filly. He was knocked back by another blast of magic, and felt a sharp pain in his wing.

“Neigh, child! Stay away from it!” Blueblood shouted, summoning his magic to protect Rumble.

“Shut it!” Rumble shouted back, pushing himself back to his hooves, and slowly making his way towards Berry Pinch. “I’ve gotta help her!”

“You fool!” Blueblood noticed another blast of magic making its way towards Rumble, and quickly used his own magic to divert it. “Run away already! Before it turns you to ash!”

Rumble, ignoring Blueblood’s warnings, made his way closer to Berry Pinch. He managed to reach her without any more sudden bursts of magic hitting him, and he placed both of his forehooves on her shoulders. She looked down at him, and seemed to calm down a little bit.

“Berry… it’s okay…” he said calmly as he pulled the youngling back down to the ground. She landed gently, and he leaned in closer to her. “I won’t let him harm you, Berry. So please, come back to us, okay?”

“Rumble…” Berry Pinch’s magic began to die down, but her eyes still glowed bright white. Until the colt leaned forward, and pulled her into a warm, comforting hug. Berry Pinch’s eyes slowly turned back to normal, and she returned the embrace as she felt her magic calming down. “Rumble… W-What happened?”

“It’s okay, Berry. You’re back, and that’s all that matters.”

The two shared a peaceful moment together in each other’s forelegs, what seemed like an eternity passing them by as they both wished to remain that way forever. However, it was not to last.

“Look out! Behind you!”

Rumble remembered that Blueblood was still there, and quickly pulled away from Berry Pinch, and turned to face the approaching Prince.

“Good. You’ve calmed her down.” Blueblood chuckled, and pulled out a dagger from his bag. “Now, move aside, boy. I’m going to finish that youngling off.”

“No, father!” Junior shouted, rushing to his father’s side.

“Junior? What’s the matter? Surely you aren’t defending this creature?!”

“I am, father! Berry Pinch is my friend! She’s not a monster, and I won’t allow you to harm her!”

Blueblood was shocked at what he was hearing, and let out an angry growl at his son. “You… How could you be on a changeling’s side? You’ve seen the devastation that they cause! You yourself are a victim, so how can you-”

“Because she’s different!” Junior shouted.

“All changelings are the same!” Blueblood responded, turning to the two foals and raising his dagger. “All of them! They’re all monsters! And I will not rest until every last one of them is dead!”

“NO!”

Blueblood began to charge towards Rumble and Berry Pinch, but was stopped by a sudden attack of green magic from his left. He was knocked to the ground by the attack, and let out a pained choke, before his eyes slowly closed shut.

Junior rushed to his father’s side. “FATHER! FATHER!” He placed a hoof to Blueblood’s neck. “There’s still a pulse… Thank Celestia.”

Rumble looked at where the attack had come from, and saw Crunch Berry standing on her hooves, pointing her horn at Blueblood and panting heavily. “Dumbass… Like I’d let something like that defeat me.”

“Grandma!” Berry Pinch shouted as she ran over to her grandmother. “Y-You’re okay!”

Crunch Berry laugh, and patted the youngling on the head. “Of course I am. I’m over a hundred years old. A blast like that may have knocked me out a bit, but no serious harm was caused by it.” She turned her attention to Junior and Blueblood. The colt stood over his father protectively as he met the changeling’s glare. “Now… to deal with him, before he wakes up…”

Comments

[llw88]

*GASP*

[Burnasius]

Oh no, the overly protective Grandmother will surely try and kill Prince Blueblood.

[Dementia Ravenmane]

How to punish Blueblood: Put a magic inhibitor on his horn, put a dress made by AJ during the season 3 ending on him and hang him upside down from his hoofs in a tree at Sweet Apple Acres.

[derpyhooves15]

2167590 No no no, we dress him up as a changeling in a convincing costume or spell, then drop him into Celestia's chambers. When Celestia realizes something is wrong, his pride will already have been hurt... as well as much of his body.