> Size Matters > by ZackAttack > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue-Flashback > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 years before present. In the TARDIS, the Doctor, Roseluck, Techno Geek, a white unicorn about five years older than Tech, and an orange pegasus about four years older than Tech sit next to a bed. In the bed, a pegasus with a light grey coat and his dark grey mane styled into a Mohawk with electric blue streaks was lying down, unconscious. His coat was turning black, like ebony, and holes were growing throughout his body. “Is Computer Chip going to be okay?” the young Tech asked his mother. “I don’t know. I hope so.” replied Roseluck. "Don't worry, Tech," said the orange pegasus. "I'm sure he'll be fine" Rose looked towards her, and said, "Thanks for reassuring us both, Wire." Live Wire simply smiled in response. The Doctor peeled back one of Chip’s eyelids, revealing completely blue eyes. “I hope this experimental cure will at least help.” said the Doctor, pulling out a syringe filled with a glowing green liquid. He injected the sleeping colt with it, and the five ponies took a couple hoofsteps back. “Nothing.” said the Doctor. He checked the colt’s eyes again, but found that his eyes were now a lime green. “Well,” the Doctor said after analyzing the colt with his sonic screwdriver. “He will be able to resist the control of the hive mind. But he’ll have to change his eye color to fit in.” Rose looked confused. “What are you saying, Doctor?” she asked. “As he has only just been infected, he will not know how to change just yet. We can't just keep him inside of the TARDIS all of the time, and we can't let anypony see him. So, for now, he will have to stick with the hive. Hopefully, when he has learned control of his abilities, we can rescue him.” the Doctor explained. Rose looked stunned. She said, “Only if you can guarantee his safety.” The Doctor was silent. After a moment, he said, “I will protect him as much as I can. That’s a promise." Roseluck nodded, and said to the three other ponies, “You aren’t going to see your brother for a very long time. This is your chance to say goodbye.” Tech, Wire, and First Aid all walked up to the changeling. They whispered their goodbyes, and walked back towards their mother. Tech, looked back and whispered, "I will find you again." "Goodbye, Chip.” whispered Rose, looking back. 5 years before present. Chip sighed. It was his thirteenth birthday. He was thankful that all those years ago, he had learned to change his eye color. He didn’t know if Tech knew that he had heard his final promise. He followed the other changelings to the throne room, where Queen Chrysalis began giving them orders. Chip recognized the map that was being shown: it was of Canterlot! Chip tried to hide his surprise and fear. He had to go with whatever plan it was- “WE ARE GOING TO KILL CELESTIA AND LUNA, AND TAKE OVER EQUESTRIA!!!” If Chip was a normal pony, he would have paled, but that’s impossible for a changeling to do. Well, crap. He bit his tongue, and continued to listen. “THE CHANGELING ARMY WILL CHARGE IN WITH FULL FORCE AND DESTROY THEM ALL!!! I HAVE BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND THE SWARMS OF THIS ARMY SHALL NOT FAIL ME!!!!!” boasted Queen Chrysalis. As the changeling armies moved out, Chip formed a plan in his head to escape. As soon as they got to the Castle, he began "Phase One" of his plan. He quickly disguised as how he remembered himself, and ran away screaming into the crowd. The battle raged on, and Chip duplicated the performance of what he had done previously on other changeling raids. Suddenly, the Wonderbolts came out of nowhere, and Chip heard familiar cheering. Rainbow Dash?! He thought frantically. He looked around, and finally found her. Abandoning the plan, he flew towards her, and landed on the cloud she was sitting on. "Rainbow! Help!" he called. However, before she could turn around, he was tackled by a changeling, which startled him enough to drop his disguise. Another changeling walked up to Chip, and said, “The Queen will hear about this!” The changeling proceeded to tie him up, and leave him there. Ultimately, the changelings were defeated, but Chip was still tied up. He was struggling against his bonds, when a cold voice reached his ears. “Now, now. You know you can’t escape.” He looked up and said, “Chrysalis.” “Well, my changeling subjects call me Queen, but you aren’t one, now are you?” She picked up a spell book from the rubble with her magic, and began flipping through the pages. “What will be your punishment today? Mmm… size alteration spell is looking good.” She looked at chip with a malevolent smile. Her horn glowed, and in a flash of light, the ropes binding Chip fell to the ground. Chip rubbed his head and looked around. Especially up. He saw a gigantic, black hoof raised directly above him, and he flinched. "Chrysalis!" a regal voice cried out. "I thought you would have learned your lesson by now!" Chrysalis snarled, dropping her hoof, much to Chip's relief. A certain white alicorn landed in front of her, glaring. Chip quickly darted behind a rock. "We will return!" Chrysalis cried, before teleporting away. Celestia sighed, looking around. Chip inhale sharply, holding his breath. Celestia snapped her head towards the sound. She slowly began to walk towards the noise. Chip closed his eyes, and prayed that she wouldn't find him. Celestia looked around, and, eventually, down. Chip swallowed. Celestia tilted her head, examining Chip, who was attempting to control his breathing. "Do not worry, little one. I do not mean you any harm. You seem in need for help with your... current situation." Chip looked up hopefully. "I am sorry for getting your hopes up," Celestia said. "I cannot help you, but I can provide you with shelter, as well as protection. Do you have a name?" "C-Computer Chip, your Highness." Chip responded. Celestia nodded. "If I could ask a favor, Princess?" he asked. "Of course." responded Celestia. "I would rather be given supplies to make my way home, if you don't mind, your Highness." Chip said. Celestia nodded. "I will arrange supplies for your journey. Will you require any assistance?" "No, thank you, Princess." responded Chip. > Chip's Travels > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Present day I looked up at my older brother, who was working on something in a corner with Princess Luna watching him, and them whispering to each other. I wondered why they seemed so close. I looked up at my cousin Pinkie Pie, who seemed to have actually stopped bouncing for once, looking at me with interest. Twilight was studying me, and I saw fear in Fluttershy’s eyes. Rarity looked at me with barely-disguised disgust, while Applejack looked like she’s trying to read me. I wondered my older sisters were, since I didn't see either of them in the room. I didn't see my mom either, nor the Doctor. My brother came back to me with a small device, which reminded me of a retainer. Suddenly, the device shrank down to my size, and Tech offered it to me. "When you put it in your mouth, it will transfer any traces of love energy from any food you eat, directly to you." He explained. "There are also some controls on it, to alter your size. Right side for increasing size, left for lowering size." I quickly put it in my mouth, and felt for the buttons. I pressed the one on the right side with my tongue, and found myself back to my normal side. I stepped off of the table onto the floor, and grabbed my brother in an embrace. I stepped back, and looked at Princess Luna, before looking back at Tech. "Uh..." I said. "Not in any negative way, but what is Princess Luna doing here?" I asked. My brother gave the Princess a sly grin, before looking back to me, and said, "She's my wife." My jaw drops. “You-You’re married!?” I say, bewildered. My older brother laughs. “You have a lot to catch up on.” Tech says. “How did this happen, anyways? Your size, as well as how you got here?” he asks. “Well…” I said, and I began my tale. Five years before present. As Princess Celestia brought me into the castle, I was stunned by her kindness. “I-I don’t know how to repay you.” I said. She looked at me and said, “No need. Just let me study you, and tell me all you know." In short, I told her everything, including how I became a changeling all those years ago. She nodded and asked me, “Is it okay if I examine your eyes?” I said "yes", of course, and she put me under a microscope to examine my eyes. “Your eyes are very interesting.” she says to me, and, if I could, I would have blushed. Never thought I'd be complimented by a princess. After a while, Celestia asked me to start disguising and switching disguises, and I was more than happy to oblige. She examined me with a magnifying glass, and scribbled furiously using her magic. Soon, I got completely overwhelmed, and Celestia let me rest for a bit. When I woke up, it was already morning. Celestia accompanied me outside, and sent me off with a small sword built by her blacksmiths, as well as some armor, black like a changeling exoskeleton, and I flew off. Four years before present. I flew towards the nearest cloud I saw, and looked around. I noticed a familiar cloud house nearby. Rainbow? I wondered. I flew over to it, and through the open window. I found myself in a spacious kitchen, with plenty of Wonderbolt posters everywhere. Definitely Rainbow, I thought to myself. I landed on the counter, but then a strong gust of wind pushed my off of the counter. I caught myself with my wings, and saw a certain cyan pegasus outside. I sighed, thinking, This better go better than last time. I flew towards her, but I couldn’t keep up because…well, she’s Rainbow Dash. The fastest mare alive. I chuckled to myself. I decided to attempt to predict where she was going to fly next, and I noticed a pattern. So I got in her way, and her face slammed into me, and she stopped, as surprising as it may seem. “What the hay!?” Rainbow exclaimed, surprised. “Rainbow! It’s me!” I said, standing directly on her muzzle. She panicked, looking around, but then looked down at me. “Who the hell are you, and why are you so small?” she asked. “It's me, Computer Chip! And, I…it’s a long story.” I responded, and she brought me inside of her house, and then I told her everything that had happened. “Wow. You met Princess Celestia!” she said to me, sounding excited. “Rainbow, I still need some help getting to Ponyville.” I said, and she nodded slowly. “Let me just pack,” she says. “I’ve been wanting to move there.” She trots out of the room, and comes back a moment later, with a single suitcase. Minutes later, we were flying to Ponyville! However, a sudden gust of wind blew me off of Rainbow’s back. I was too shocked to scream before it was too late. Falling through the air, I saw Rainbow continue to fly away. I hit the ground, and I couldn’t move because I was still in shock. I got my bearings back, and got up, but Rainbow had already left this area. I looked around, and found myself on a hill. I felt something wrong with my wings, and noticed that they were broken. I sighed, and looked around. I was in a desert, but I saw buildings in the distance. I began my trek towards the group of buildings. ~~~ I snuck into one of the houses, and found it empty. I went around, and checked to see if there were any neighbors. Luckily, there was a couple living next door, meaning that there was enough love energy for me to feed off of. Two years before present. I heard the door of the house I had been living in open, and then close. Recently, I had discovered that I was in the Badlands, but, clearly, my time was running out. I quickly hid, and saw a griffin walk in slowly, looking around, his eyes narrowing. He then walked out of the room, and returned with an item I thought only existed in other dimensions, that I had only seen in the TARDIS' database. "A shotgun..." I whispered to myself in awe. He pumped the shotgun, and raised it. "Who the hell is in my bucking house?" he shouted. I froze. He knew I was here. After what seemed like forever, he lowered the shotgun, and I noticed something wrong with his wings. Instead of feathers at the end of each wing, he had razor blades attached. I covered my mouth to prevent any sound from coming out. I was living in the house of a very dangerous person. One year before present. I examined the map I had found. I had set my path for Ponyville, and was reviewing it. The couple next door had left a couple days ago, and I couldn't go without love energy for much longer. I packed up what little I had. I lost my sword a long time ago, as well as my helmet. I walked out of the mousehole I had been living in, and came face-to-barrel with a shotgun. The griffin grinned. "Gotcha." he said, aiming down the sights. I swallowed, but then I saw hesitation in his eye. He put down the shotgun. "Look, I probably look like an idiot doing this, but I have really good eyes. Really good eyes. And your don't look like any kind of vermin I've seen before, and I've seen just about all of them." He paused, and leaned down to pick me up, and I closed my eyes. "Who are you?" he said. I realized that, despite my appearance, I was still distinctly pony-shaped. "M-my name is Computer Chip. Please don't hurt me." I said, fearing for my life. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I'm trying to get home to my brother, in Ponyville." I responded, eyes still tightly shut. "I see. What's your brother's name?" he asked. "Techno Geek." I answered. I heard him mutter, "That bastard!" I opened my eyes, and he looked back down at me. "Alright, I'll take you to Ponyville. I need to have a talk with Tech." I breathed a sigh of relief. The next day, we left. > Epilogue-Catching Up > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Present day "...and that brings us to here and now." I finished. I was met with silence, until Tech broke it. "I think that I should take you home. You really need to rest." He said, and I nodded in agreement, disguising as the way I remembered myself. He then looked at Razor. "We'll find a place for you to stay, until you are prepared to return home." ~~~ I sighed, and look at Tech. “I haven’t been here for how long…?” “Ten years.” He replied, and we walked inside of the TARDIS. The Doctor was at the console, and, I assumed, trying to fix something. “Doctor, what are you doing?” Tech asked. “Ah, yes! Tech, you’re here. I need you to hold this panel down for me, and your friend can hold down the other side.” he responded, only glancing at us for a moment. We held down the panel, while the Doctor tweaked certain parts of it, . Afterwards, the panel stays down. “Now,” said the Doctor. “Introduce me to your…” he fades off when he sees me. "Chip..." he said, before grabbing me in a tight hug. "How are you here?" he asked, after releasing me. I go on to tell my story to him, and he nods slowly, in understanding. “So, the mouthpiece Tech built for you works?” he says, and looks at Tech. “Brilliant! But, how did you know how to do it?” “Well…” Tech said, thinking. “Luna and I became Avengers on our honeymoon…” I looked at him, confused, but the Doctor looks like he understands. “I’m sorry, but, what’s an ‘Avenger’?” I asked. “Well…it’s a team of superheroes in an alternate dimension.” He explains. I gave him a confused look, and Tech sighs. “Luna and I became heroes with codenames. Mine was 'Ant-Man', and Luna's was 'Wasp' Our powers were to shrink, and Luna could fly around and shoot energy blasts at our enemies. Also, our ‘real’ names were ‘Hank’ and ‘Janet’ Pym. Respectively.” I nodded in understanding. “So, you’ve been to other dimensions, Tech?” I asked. He nodded. He turned to the Doctor. “Where’s Mom?” he asked. The Doctor thought for a moment before replying. “She’s out grocery shopping, and should be back soon.” he said. Half an hour later, the TARDIS doors opened, and Mom walked in. She put down the groceries, and turned to us. She opened her mouth to say something, but then she noticed me. She blinked, realizing who I was. She walked up to me and grabbed me tightly in a hug. It took me a moment to realize she was sobbing. “So, what happened?” she asked, after finally releasing me and drying her eyes. I told her everything, from the beginning. She looked at me with a worried expression. “I’m fine, though.” I insisted. She nodded at me, smiling. She looked at Tech, and said, “You should show Chip around Ponyville.” He nodded, and we went outside. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. "Tech?" I said. "Yeah?" "Where are our sisters?" I asked. Tech's expression darkened "In short, after you... left, Live Wire and First Aid were pulled into a rift in the fabric of reality." Tech explained. "We.. we haven't seen them since. We don't even know if they're still alive." We stood in silence for a bit, my brain still trying to comprehend that my sisters were gone, with no evidence of their survival. After a moment, Tech put his hoof on my shoulder. "Hey, at least you've still got me. And Razor, too." He said. I smiled at him, and we continued to walk. We walked over to Sugarcube Corner, and, as soon as we stepped inside, we were met with a banner, which said, “WELCOME HOME!” We were then ambushed by none other than Pinkie Pie. "CHIP!" She yelled. "Surprise 'Welcome Home' party!" I stood there, my jaw agape. My brother snickered. "Come on," he said. "The party's not going to enjoy itself. Have fun, you've been through a lot." ~~~ After a couple of hours, I was exhausted. I checked a nearby wall clock. It was a little past two o'clock in the morning. We had arrived at the party at eight thirty the night before, and had kept going straight through the night. However the craziness had slowly died down in the past few hours, and some ponies had previously headed home. I approached my brother, and whispered, "I'm gonna take off. I'm getting tired." He nodded in response. I stepped outside, and began walking home. However, in the middle of my walk home, I was cut of by a trail of fire that had appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by the sound of a motor, quickly fading into the night. I stood there in shock. Who the hell was that? What the hell was that!? I thought. I closed my eyes, and took a breath. I opened my eyes, and stepped over the line of fire. I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very wrong as I continued my walk home. ~~~ When I finally arrived at the TARDIS, I pulled out the key I had been given, and stepped inside. Before I closed the door, I looked back outside for a moment. I saw a pillar of thin smoke rising into the sky. Probably from that trail of fire from earlier. I'll deal with it tomorrow. I thought to myself. I closed the door and dropped my disguise. I walked to where I remembered my room was at. I opened the door, and gasped. Everything was exactly the way I had left it. Hell, even my games were organized the same way I had left them. I flopped down onto my bed, and quickly fell asleep. ~~~ I awoke, and momentarily panicked, until I remembered what had happened the day before. I got up, and walked to the bathroom to get ready for the day, and cleaned myself up. When I was finished, I walked over to the dining area, to find Mom and the Doctor sitting at the table. The Doctor was reading a newspaper, and the front page had an article about scorch marks that had appeared during the night. I've got to investigate those today. I thought as I grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down. As I began eating, Tech walked in. "You said you had a letter for me?" he asked Mom. She nodded and gave him a letter with a strange symbol on the seal. "Well, it was for me," Mom said as Tech opened the letter. "But I want you to go in my place." I gave a confused look. "Mom, who's the letter from?" I asked. I looked at Tech. As he read through the letter, his eyes widened. "The letter," my mother began. "Is from your father."