Rainbow Dash growled as she was escorted back into the main hall. The last half hour had been one of the most horrible in her life. First, Twilight was missing from her brother's wedding after that spaz attack last night, then suddenly she burst in with a clone of the bride, then the bride turned out to be a mad tyrant bug thing that mopped the floor with Celestia, and of course they were unable to get to the Elements because the bug swarm outmaneuvered and captured them. But the worst thing, the absolute worst thing of all...
"You do realize the reception's been cancelled, don't you?"
Her wings would NOT stop TWITCHING!
"Go! Feed!" The black bug creature laughed as her drones buzzed into the city, strolling up to the bearers with a sultry smirk and stroking Twilight Sparkle's cheek. "It's funny, really. Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along. Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicions were correct." She giggled as she practically bounced away to the balcony.
Dash managed to tear her eyes away from her flanks with a blush. Why the hay were her wings twitching?! The bug had holes all in her legs, her long... graceful... curvacious legs that were not hot at all dang it hormones!
It had to be some sort of bug magic. That was it. Everypony was magically attracted to the bug and they were all hiding it out of embarrassment. Yeah, that's how the bug ate love, by using magic to make ponies think she had that lovely, soft neck that was so huggable and this line of thought was caused by magic REMEMBER THAT RAINBOW!
"It's not your fault," Twilight reassured her friends. "She fooled everypony."
"Hmm, I did, didn't I?" The bug mare chuckled, her wings fluttering and setting Dash's heart aflutter. Even knowing that it was magic, the pegasus had to admit those were awfully pretty wings.
And then she began to sing.
"This day has been just perfect... The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small; Everypony I'll soon control, Every stallion, mare and foal--Who says a girl can't really have it all?"
That voice sounded so... glorious and--
Rainbow Dash shook her head, focusing and taking deep breaths. The bug mare was the enemy. She was not a sexy beast. She was a magical love-eating mind-twisting thing. She was not attractive. All it was was a spell.
The pegasus swore, once all this was over, she'd get some serious therapy. And pray to Celestia she didn't develop a chitin fetish.
While she had been distracted by the spell, Twilight had managed to free herself and the (real) princess. "Quick! Go to him while you still have the chance!" The alicorn nodded in thanks, rushing over to the hypnotized stallion at the altar and wrapping her wings around him and giving him a sad kiss.
Apparently that was enough to shake off whatever spell the guy was under. Hooray true love!
"Wha- whe- huh?" Shining Armor looked around the room in confusion. "Is...is the wedding over?"
"Oh, It's all over!" proclaimed the totally not smoking hot it's just a spell bug mare triumphantly.
"Your spell!" Twilight shouted. "Perform your spell!"
The bug mare chortled. "What good would that do? My changelings already roam free."
The captain of the guard tried to summon his reserves, but his horn fizzled out. "No! My power is useless now..." He let his head droop. "I don't have the strength to repel them."
For half a second Dash considered surrendering just so the bug could jump on her and--nononononono stupid brain stupid magic she's not sexy stopitstopit!
"My love will give you strength," the real princess proclaimed, channeling her energy into the captain's horn.
"Ahaha. What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment...." The bug mare turned around and all too late caught sight of the two rising off the ground. "Stop! What are you--no, no! Noooooo!"
Rainbow Dash smirked as the bug mare was sent flying by the captain's spell. Ha! Equestria was safe once again--
The wave of energy hit her like a train. She spun through the open double doors, spiraling through the air until she slammed high against the far wall of the hallway.
"...ooooooooooow..."
Her last thought, before she blacked out, was to wonder if Shining Armor had decided to do that because he'd seen her checking out what he had, at the time, thought was his bride-to-be.
***
"....uuuuugh."
Ah, pain. An old friend.
Rainbow Dash greeted her companion blearily as she opened her eyes, flicking a hoof in the air to try to ward him off. She decided to listen to his ramblings for a moment, to better determine which parts of her were injured.
Apparently, every part of her was injured. Pain needed to learn to be more specific.
Bruised and battered, but very definitely still alive, Dash lifted her head to take stock of her surroundings. An odd clinking sound caught her attention, and she turned to the source; apparently there was a chain on the wall. Weird. The wall itself seemed to be made of stone bricks, stacked tightly together.
"Wow. Weird hospital."
She turned her gaze around, examining her surroundings with a bit more interest. The iron door across from the chain made her gulp in fear.
"...okay, not a hospital."
Soooo she was in a cell. Great. Dash rolled her eyes as she brought a hoof to her neck and discovered a metal collar around it. Well at least she knew what the chain was for.
"Oh look. Hoofcuffs too." She brought the restraints before her eyes. "Nothing too good for... the..."
...last time she checked, her hooves weren't black. And they didn't have holes in them.
Experimentally, she twitched the right hoof. Sure enough, the holey appendage rotated back and forth. She did the same thing with her left hoof and received a similar result.
With bated breath, Dash poked one of the holes. She shivered when she realized she could feel what it was feeling.
Her hooves lowered to the ground again. A deep, shuddering breath was taken.
"...okay. Okay, so... okay..."
Slowly, she twisted her neck and looked at her back. Instead of the familiar feathery wings that were her pride and joy, she saw a pair of translucent, hole-patched flaps that would befit a housefly. The carapace underneath was the same cyan shade as her fur. She let her eyes trail out to her tail, a raggedy spectral blue bundle of silk vaguely in the same shape as she recalled her own rainbow flag to be.
"...riiiiight. So... this is a coma dream. I'm in a coma, and this is my mind dealing with... the aftereffects of that bug mare's magic." Rainbow Dash nodded to herself. "See? Cool. Keep your cool, and don't panic. Yep."
She smiled, giggling a bit. It was really kind of funny... knowing that you were asleep. Hey, maybe she could do the lucid dreaming thing Twilight talked about sometimes! "Alright, subconscious, I want a huge barrel of cider!"
"Quiet in there!" shouted a voice outside the door. "You, go tell the captain the prisoner is awake."
"Wow, my subconscious hates me. Hey subconscious, where am I supposed to be?"
"You will speak when spoken to, changeling."
Rainbow scoffed. "Yeah sure, whatever. I gotta admit, I didn't expect my mind to put me in a cell. Hey, if any of this is reaching the real world, could you doctors tell my friends I'm trying my hardest to wake up?"
There was no reply. Rainbow sat down, rocking back and forth as she waited for something to happen. It made sense, she couldn't just wake up because she was in a coma. It wouldn't be that easy, right? Otherwise all the coma patients would wake up quickly. So, she'd take it as it came.
Shortly thereafter, the door opened. A stoic Shining Armor marched in, glowering at the changeling before him.
"Well hey there!" Rainbow greeted brightly. "My subconscious doesn't hate me completely after all. Nonono, wait, let me guess: You represent my guilt at finding my friend's brother hot? Actually, wait, that doesn't make sense, that would make you Big Macintosh--"
"Changeling, do you know why you are here?"
"Yep! Coma dream." She tapped her forehead, then began feeling it more carefully. "Oh wow, I have a horn! How cool is that? I guess that's a side effect of being a changeling. I wonder why I'm a changeling?"
Confusion appeared on the unicorn's face for a fleeting moment, but he managed to repress it before the prisoner noticed. "I can assure you that you are completely awake."
"Yeah, that's what you psyche fragments would say. Oh no wait, I got it! You're the captain of the guard, so you represent my sense of duty, and you're angry that I didn't back Twilight up!" Rainbow nodded at her brilliant deduction. "Well, yeah, okay, I'm guilty of that. I am so ashamed. Can I wake up now?"
Shining Armor narrowed his eyes. "Changeling, you are being accused of replacing, or at the least assisting in the capture of the pegasus known as Rainbow Dash."
"Of course! That makes total sense!" She facehooved. "I should have seen it, that's how the coma dream justifies itself. I mean, it wouldn't be a coma dream if it didn't convince me it was real, right?"
And then the captain of the guard slapped her.
She stared at him in shock.
"Next time I come by, I suggest you take this situation seriously." The unicorn marched out of the cell. "Otherwise your stay will be very long."
The changeling shakily raised a hoof to her cheek as the door creaked shut. "That.... that hurt..."
"Watch her, make sure she's fed at regular intervals."
She heard his hooves clipclop away, but that didn't... didn't seem important anymore. She rubbed the spot where his hoof had connected; it hadn't hurt as much as it should, but there seemed to be a bit of a crack in her chitin.
And she could feel it.
"But... coma... sleep... not pain..."
The hoof was brought before her eyes again, quivering in doubt and terror.
"...Oh Celestia. I... I'm awake.... this is real."
Her tongue ran across her teeth, finding a pair of fangs; she brushed her hoof through her mane, feeling how silky and thin it was compared to the coarse rainbow she remembered.
"This... this is really happening..."
For a moment, she was silent.
Then the corners of her lips twitched upward. "Heh...heh, aheh... hehahaha... hahahehhahaheeheehehhaHAhahaHAHAHAHEEHEEHEHHAha, ahahahahHEHHEEHEEHA haha!" Tears began streaming down her face as she curled up, laughing and stroking her tail. "I, I, I, hahah, I'm not real! Haha, oh Celestia, I'm not real! Heeheeheh hahaha! This is happening, and, and I'm not real oh Celestia I'm not real! I want to be real! I want to be... I, I'm not real, hahahahaHAHAhahahaheeheeheh! I'm the New Rainbow Dash! Oh Celestia, I'm not reheheheal!"
She sobbed and sobbed until she couldn't breathe, and her tears never stopped flowing.
MEMORY SPELLS GO...Uhh Twilight your supposed to do the obvious here! Oh well...
MOAR!
POLICE BRUTALITY
C'mon, Armor, be professional.
The Bi parts really detract from the story, and remove cool points from Rainbow Dash. In those parts she is totally OOC, and it messes with the reader's head. turning a pretty great story Idea, into a confused nightmare. Instead of an infatuation, you could have some kind of instinctual draw. Or simply make RD not Bi, and make it seem unnatural to her. The hole she's so sexy but I hope not fetish bit was kinda jarring. All in all, I'm sick of people casting RD as gay because of her colors and tomboyish attitude.
God had ownership of the rainbow first ya know.
((Rainbow Dash smirked as the bug mare was sent flying by the captain's spell. Ha! Equestria was safe once again--
The wave of energy hit her like a train. She spun through the open double doors, spiraling through the air until she slammed high against the far wall of the hallway.
"...ooooooooooow..."
Her last thought, before she blacked out, was to wonder if Shining Armor had decided to do that because he'd seen her checking out what he had, at the time, thought was his bride-to-be.))
Less clunky, but still a little different. Also, that last line sounds really strange.....
Everything after that is pretty good. The moments where pain was ranting were fresh and imaginative, the part where she breaks down could have been 20% cooler, but you did it pretty well.
All in all, I give this story a 50. +90 for mostly good writing, -30 for the awkward OOCness of RD at times, -20% for being so mean to poor Rainbow and making her think :P, and +10 for Dashieling.
I second the motion for moar.
Deus ex machina spell incoming
2189831 Apparently "professional" isn't his thing.
Rather obvious test for this situation.
The changeling claims to be the real Rainbow Dash.
Bring the Element of Harmony to her, and activate all of them.
If the changeling has a reaction to the element - or vice versa - she's the real Rainbow Dash, and you've got a problem.
2189915
But you need all of them to be friends. Hard to consider her a friend now.
Or not? EoH workings depend on the head-canon. Or, rather, story-canon.
Still, it is an idea. But of course, no way they are bringing the Elements nowhere near that monster. Probably afraid she would break the necklace with awesomeness...
And you know, this entire "let's hit/torture/kill a changeling, just because it is a changeling" starts to get boring for me. They could peacefully talk for once. Without physical abuse, mindrape and all that jazz.
Now, I do not say it's bad that it is/will be/might occur here. It is merely a general sentiment.
The worst part is when they refuse to accept that the changeling really is the same pony they know and love. Even with all the evidence backing this up. Then again, it is what drives those kind of stories. Adds a bit of drama.
So, RD looks different than others, ey? Should win her bonus credibility points. Hmm... maybe it's tied with EoH?
You got yourself a fave, mate!
Keep up the good work!
2190036
Well, they just have been invaded, Princess Celestia hurt, Shining was mind controlled for a while and Cadence was temporary replaced. I think I can understand his bad mood
2189831 3.bp.blogspot.com/-mVIXSxhWTBA/TivCS0HnD8I/AAAAAAAAAI8/0EWy03B6S-Y/s1600/food-riot-police5.jp
Professional.
How long until the next chapter cones out? I need MOAR!!!
2189849 Why is it wrong for Rainbow Dash to be portrayed as a bisexual?
Anyway, I'm loving the story!!!
2189849
She's not being portrayed as bisexual. The changeling that replaced the filly Rainbow Dash is male, and those are just her instincts kicking in. Or his, depending on how you look at it.
2189849
It sure seemed like base instinctual attraction to me. As to Dash being Bi, have you considered that in this story she's a changeling? I would imagine that Changelings are Bi by default.
2190036
Evidence? What evidence? Sure, we the readers know that it's "really" Dash, but even Dash doesn't know when she was replaced and all signs currently point to "during the invasion" for everyone else.
2190282
....Nope.
2190246 Because, seriously, It's old. I just want a Rainbow Dash is a changeling fic.
And to insinuate that RD is even half gay is kinda insulting. RD is 20% cooler than that.
But hey, it isn't my decision. I can just leave. but... I'm hoping the author can just focus on the main issue, and forget about BI-RD.
EDIT:Oh look a pun... XD
2190325
Ah. All I noticed was the "little guy" bit. Well, it's probably just a headcanon thing then.
I would just like to break up the arguing and take time to tell the author that this chapter was quite good and everyone else to chill and see how things turn out.
2190325
Well, in that case keep in mind that this RD is, by nature, a changeling, which feeds on love from both males and females as she can assume either form. Therefor, it actually makes logical sense to develop a pansexual nature - being attracted to anypony, be they male, female, somewhere inbetween, or somewhere not on the spectrum - so as to not interfere with any potential feeding activities. Actually, given pony society interacts with other species, her sexual nature would more likely make her attracted to anything-sentient-that-moves, since that would give her the largest natural feeding range.
Or, as I would put it, this RD is 20% too cool to be bound by the constraints of any preconceived notion of sexuality.
Uhg! You ended it just when the drama started! I know you want to work on your other stories, but don't leave me hanging too long!
2190325
Wait, how is that insulting?
It seems like you are implying that there is something wrong with being gay or bisexual, and THAT is kinda insulting.
That is, claiming that it is insulting to Rainbow Dash for it to be insinuated that she is gay or "half gay" is rather insulting to people who are homosexual or bisexual.
2190325AAAANNNND. Now you come across as prejudiced. I mean do you have a problem with bisexual people. I mean they would have the most fun at orgies. Oh that's it your just jealous.
2190591>>2190546 Not going to start an argument. I'm just going to hope, and if my hopes are wrong, leave. I have no interest in a fight. If I have nothing to gain by debating this, then there is no reason for me to.
This is all that i can think of doing right now...
2190398
...which might explain Gilda, come to think about it...
But then again, I just want another Gilda in general, so I might be biased.
Back on topic. Dash's mind has been broken. That aside, there are a few ways to verify that this is the same Rainbow Dash that defeated Discord and freed Luna. Things like a reaction to the Element of Loyalty or Twilight checking for a memory marker left behind when she had undone Discord's mindrape.
Sadly, neither of those are likely to be used, since both Twilight and Rainbow Dash believe that Dash is a fake. However, Dash, knowing that she's fake, also realizes that she only has Dash's memories, and not a second set from the Changeling Insurgent. Clearly, that means that her own memories were completely overwritten with Dash's memories, and the best way to find the real Dash is to check for any marker where more recent real memories give way to implanted ones.
...of course, this is exactly what happened. It's just that the switch happened much longer ago than anypony or anyling in that cell is expecting.
As I see it, Twilight will narrate which memories she's seeing, growing more worried as backtracks along the events of Season 2. ...and promptly become flabbergasted once reaching Discord and spotting her own memory marker. At this point, Dash is confirmed as Element of Loyalty Rainbow Dash, but out of morbid curiosity, she goes on. The Grand Galloping Gala, the red dragon, telling the CMC how she got her Cutie Mark, her breakup with Gilda (insert Dash trying to blush through natural body armor), defeating Nightmare Moon, moving to Ponyville, getting her Cutie Mark, a foalhood trauma involving the Equestria Games... wait, back up. Right between receiving the Cutie Mark and the proceeding Sonic Rainboom! The swap happened literally just after the Rainboom but before Dash received her Cutie Mark!
...and then the implications of that statement hit Twi and Dash, and we cut to next chapter.
In my openion I think that RDs "bi"ness is a natural changeling thing that she is misunderstanding as love it works and I hope it calms every ones chiz
Odd. No notification. Am I the only one who didn't get one?
Guys, guys, seriously. Drones have both testes and ovaries, but only queens have a uterus and associated pheromones. Geeze.
Oh wait that's a spoiler. OOPSY!
2190772
I keep track of stories by sorting the Fav's list by Update. It's better this way, now that I think about it. My Notifications list is constantly spammed with blog posts I never read. I have a hard enough time sifting through that mess for new story additions. If I tried using it to check for updates as well, I'd end up loosing stories in the shuffle even more than I already do.
2190859
...wait... I'm confused. Did you just say Dash can't have nymphs? Your statement lacked context and was thus hard to parse.
Now it gets good!
Though, now that we're out of the whole 'you know how this episode goes' part, maybe slow down the pacing just a bit? I'm loving this, but it's coming across as a bit jumpy.
2190863
I'm talking about the red Favorites button with the number next to it. I don't think the Notifications list even notifies on new chapters.
This is only the beggining! Soon this fix will take up ALL your free time! Muhahahahaha
That is the best realization, rationalization, and acceptance of finding out you're a changeling that I've ever read. The denial and hysteria were top notch.
The plot thickens!!! (pun intended)
Spike, turns out Rainbow's actually a changeling. Congratulations, you're the New Old Rainbow Dash.
personally, the large amount of detail you put into RD being attracted to Chrysalis was kinda annoying. I suggest toning it down a bit. However, the rest of the story was really well written and quite enjoyable. Keep it up.
MOAR, GIVE ME MOAR NOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!
2190859 Wait, both ovaries and testes? Dash is a herm?
Huh.
Well, at least now we know that included in the range of reactions to, "So it turns out I'm a changeling," is "Psychotic Break."
What I'm especially eager to see, however, is how the whole "Where is Rainbow Dash?" interrogatioin will play out, particularly since I hope it will completely challenge her worldview. So much at the core of sapience is self-identity: She's been Rainbow Dash for so long, and if she's not Rainbow Dash, then who is she?
Good, but I have one problem: Dash woke up in pain, which mysteriously disappeared until Shining hit her, thus supposedly convincing her this was real...?
If you want to work on other stuff then go ahead, no need to rush things on our account.
A great chapter but it felt slightly rushed.
I've read lots of fics where the gang all accept the changeling as their friend after they've made some impassioned plea. Considering they've just emerged from the invasion, i hope they don't accept the changeling dash so quickly.
2191866
Waking-up pain could easily be real-life pain carrying over into the coma dream from when the shield-wall-thing hit Dash, wheras Shining hitting Dash was an in-dream event and shouldn't cause pain due to not happening in real life (unless one of her friends or a doctor punched her across the face at exactly the same time, which is highly unlikely). Since Shining's slap did cause pain, it was a real life event, and quid pro quo, this isn't a dream.
2190036
An often used trope for "Dream Denial" is for the dreamer to ask someone to pinch or slap them to wake them up (or to prove that they're not dreaming). Not that Dash asked in this case, and Shining was a bit too eager. Other than the slap, it doesn't seem that Dash has been tortured. The pain she's feeling is residual from the spell that blew every other ling away. Is she chained up in a cell? Yes, but she is technically under arrest on conspiracy charges, and is considered dangerous. Canterlot just thwarted a changeling invasion, is it realistic to expect those involved to "just talk" to their prisoner, especially one that may have been a sleeper agent?
Compared to some of the things other authors have had Twilight Sparkle do to changelings (baseball bat... chainsaw... dissection for SCIENCE!), this is tame. So far.
oh jesus christ do another chapter please that is amazing
wot song is that it sounds cool and freaky at the same time
Mah wifu is nao a changeling. well fuck time to be one two
This i must say is pretty darn awesome. I loved the fact that she thought she was having a lucid coma dream and that she actually started to justify and re-justify the things happening because of that. Keep up the good work. I look forward to the next chapter XD
Nicely done. Some of it’s a bit rushed and feels awkward but I’ll admit you’ve caught my eye. I particularly like Rainbow’s hysterical reaction to finding out, I get like that sometimes when it comes to needles…
I like the artwork to. It’s not masterpiece material (I think the holes aren’t supposed to be so high on the legs) but I can really feel the emotion leaking out of it.