Life through Love

by SentientHydra

Chapter 16: I am me

I lay in the dark awhile, eyes closed and head placed on the ceiling, listening to the world trotting and cantering above me, watching their echo-forms go by in stuttering images.

How long? Maybe an hour, perhaps a little longer. The irregular rhythm of hooves on cobble left me little sense of passing seconds, minutes, hours. I heard the distant tremble of bells to signal a passing time, so I supposed that only a single hour drifted by, though I might have wished it was longer.

In time after that I felt ready to move however, and slowly stood up from the ceiling and looked up/down at the floor above.

'I should be uncomfortable with this' I thought almost aloud, trilling in a low buzz of innate language. I raised a hoof and examined it, the broken, holed black chitin covered in places by tight bandages and a single sticky plaster.

It had a smile on it, the plaster. I smiled too for reasons I cannot fathom, sniffing the plaster and nosing it, getting the scent of cotton candy and cupcakes.

It served no useful purpose stuck over one of the natural holes in my hoof, but it made me smile a little. With a teeny slip of the tongue I covered the smile in resin, preserving it there, maybe It would keep the sugary scent in until I could figure out who it belonged to.

Why did this body, which was mine, feel so alien? I controlled it with ease for it was mine, I was me, but I felt a sense of wrongness, of unfamiliarity while I looked around at the world upside-down. I couldn't shake the incorrigible feeling; that I should cringe when I looked up at the floor far above me, that I should feel nervous at my hold on such smooth and perfect stone. My bulk was held fast to the ceiling only by the stickiness of my hooves, my Alien and familiar hooves. Hooves, not hands that I felt like phantoms of a body I no longer owned.

Why did I feel an intruder within my own body? My mind shifted. I could feel fractures and breaks, chinks in my mindspace, crumbling while I moved my mind around; it felt as if it had been shattered, blown away and regrown.

Because it had been, I could remember now...

The spirit, cramming a mind within another, chaos not caring for the havoc its hasty suturing left.

Luna... The dream... Chrysalis...

It flooded back, I flooded back, my mind burned while it splintered around the edges. The memories of me, my human self, began to grow back and root themselves.

I snarled, loud and throatily until my mouth clenched it into a low, sub-audible growl of frustration.

Of course if felt alien, I was an alien! This was not my mind, I am not me! I am a human from elsewhere, who became this by.... By choice. Bedamned spirit...

My memories were incomplete, fuzzy, but I could remember Discord. The deal. I shook on it and made the deal, to become this thing... This changeling.

Me, the changeling. That is who I am now. I drew in shuddering, half gagging breaths as I came to terms with it. I was this, this was me. I am me, and thus I am the changeling, whose name I could not recall, whose memories I barely understand.

I had to accept it and make the best of my situation, which was all the harder with chrysalis in the picture, no doubt weaving lies and editing memories and minds to suit her ideals.

I thought back to my ^his? Dream. To the rage and snarl of Luna. Poisoned by her. I supressed a snarl at the mere thought of the traitor Queen's name ^{not my anger. His. How much of me is him?}

To what end? My mind scattered to memories and thoughts not mine. I lived still, thus I had use. Though a slim pillar of my shaking mind shimmered, sinking into my gut that such safe time was limited to the patience and mercy of Celestia.

Lower still into introspective depression I might have sunk but for the clip-clop of hooves above, familiar voices floating down through the rock.

If I could convince anyone of my plight, it would be Honesty herself. Though Loyalty might well taint my words with Chrysalis's shared venom.

Author's Note:

My apologies for goofing before. 1/3 chapters planned for the fortnight, the shortest by a wide margin.

R&R as always. I'm rather rusty from a few months off the wagon.

Comments

[VikingOtaku6]

This story can basically be summed up with, "a human becomes a Changeling in Equestria, before the Royal Canterlot Wedding, and everyone but Spike and Chrysalis are either stupid or victims". If anyone can name more than one example of the characters that have appeared on set thus far that don't fit the summary I've made, then you get an internet cupcake.

Literally, if anyone that mattered bothered to confirm any information they believe they have, then Chrysalis's plot would crumble, the human would be set free, (after Twilight interrogates him for science), and he can get to ruling his hive. I can imagine, after Luna complains to Celestia about the changeling's claims to consenting bites, and Spike and Twilight being involved with the medical report not supporting the claim Fluttershy recently made, thusly throwing "Cadence's" claim of mind alteration into question. This, will lead to mind alteration magic being discovered in her currently, and having it removed, revealing that it was contenting, and that someone else altered her to say it wasn't. And who was the only one to touch her mind since the incident? Cadence. She's called in for questioning, Luna reviews his memory of the scene, and it's revealed that "Cadence" is a changeling, and one that's planning something terrible for Equestria.

Literally everything then blows up in her face, and she has to kickstart the invasion early, leading to our protag encouraging his early release from detainment, so he can get his Hive to assist Equestria. Bodabing bodaboom.

[Crescent Glaive]

Ah. Nice to have ye back

[Skadia]

8324980
My bad, sorry about that

[Lightbuster30]

I really hope he calls everypony put on their bullshit. I'mma mid-tier brony, but I'd probably punch one of them in the face before calming down if they pulled shit like that on me.

[Aramisxx]

I hope to see more,

[Earthpatriot117]

Glad to see this back!!! Th ok ight for sure it was dead, glad I was wtong.
When more AWESOME chapters?

[astromormy]

This is a pretty interesting story. It's not often I find a story that has a human become a changeling king/queen. Hope to see you continue it soon.

[Cantankerous]

8570451
Um, sure, I'll grant your point.

I don't care. I forgot this story even exists years ago.

[Horrible_Writer]

2 years no update he forgot this its never getting a new chapter don't be idiots

[VikingOtaku6]

9186237
Does Luna even know that to be a possibility? Because she hasn't been shown to check any of them! So, unless she is seen for having at least checked both sets, she doesn't know about memory modification, and is intentionally working on partial information, ignoring the possibility that she just rape the moment from his mind, if only to show it to him, so that he knows she 'knows' that he's bullshitting her.

[JazzyWaffles]

Both a good and bad story. Characters are inexplicably stupid or ooc, and there are tons of little errors. But the premise is nice for 2012, and overall it was a decent read. I just wish the stupid parts didn't frustrate me so much.

[VikingOtaku6]

9408230
Of course, the bloody Somebody-Else's-Problem.

[Teraunce]

too bad this is dead.

[KvAT]

9408235
It's a stretch, but no one's actually acting ooc much aside of Cruelestia. Still, I'm fookin frustrated. Damn bloody story irks me to no end how much bricks they have in their brains, like dammit.

[valexto]

Seems like this story has been abandoned which is quite sad at it is a really nice one, well written an with quite the original take on the MC. Maybe one day.