> Changeling's new groove > by Blackdust > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > New beginnings 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A rainbow coloured meteorite had barely fallen onto Jackie Brightfellow's property just outside of Marfa, Texas. And as he went to investigate, bringing his shotgun and shovel along, and check upon his crops, he saw that while the crops were unharmed, the thing left in the flattened grass and obviously compacted dirt was a thing with glowing ocean-green eyes, a teal coloured head fin, fangs, a black carapace, and insect wings that seemed to have holes in it. Great gods above and below, did that meteorite release some kind of neurotoxin that makes you see shit? Jackie thought before slowly approaching the unconscious thing. But in his confusion, he accidentally kicked a loose stone and sent it flying towards the creature. And while it only tapped it, the creature slowly stirred and attempted to stand, only to fall back down with a sickening crunch. "Ow... how did... why is my carapace cracked...?" The thing-no. Not thing. Jackie knew what this thing was now that his mind had gotten over the initial shock. It was a changeling. "You probably landed too hard. Do you know where you are right now?" Jackie asked, calmer than he knew he should be considering that he was looking at something from a show that was very much for the younger audiences. "I... I don't know... I-OW! My chest!" The changeling cried out, suddenly clutching at a gash, not just a simple crack, on its carapace that neither had noticed before. Shit! How do these things feed off of love? Passively, right? Jackie thought, dropping his shovel and shotgun, and then immediately started thinking of his childhood friends, his first crush, his little sister that he never had, everything he could that he thought might make him feel the key emotion to changeling survival. It must have worked because he started to hear, and see, the changeling heal and start to stalk towards him. But rather than be frightened as the ponies were, he reached out his arms to embrace the poor creature. This naturally gave the changeling-gone-predator pause, as prey should never welcome it. Upon seeing this, Jackie rolled his eyes, and pulled the changeling into his awaiting hug and said, "Are you alright?" The changeling sensed the overwhelmingly pure heart of the hairless and under-muscled minotaur, as well as the fact that the minotaurs emotions seemed to be almost a hundred times stronger than that of a pegasus, unicorn, earth pony, zebra, dragon, griffon, yak, crystal pony, or regular minotaur. It didn't make any sense and seemed like an impossibility. Then it realized it had been asked a question and had been quiet for several minutes. "I... I think I'm fine now. Thank you. But why are you helping me? Do you know what I am?" The changeling asked, squirming slightly to try and get out of the minotaurs grasp. "Yes I do. And I don't care. When I saw your race attacking Canterlot, I wanted to do something to help you. I wanted Twilight and her friends to win, yeah, but I wanted to do something for you guys. To help end your poverty..." Jackie said while squeezing a little tighter and putting out a little more love. "I felt so bad, knowing there was something like that going on in a world that seemed so perfect, and yet was so terrible..." The changeling, having been fed more love than it had seen at the Canterlot Invasion was slowly drifting off to sleep, especially since it was tired to begin with, and was embraced by something warm and loving. The changeling woke with a start when it heard a sudden loud bang followed by some very colorful words. When it looked around, it realized that it wasn't in Canterlot, the hive, or the field that it had crashed into. Instead, it seemed to be in some kind of building that was not made of stone of wood, from what it could see. I should get back to the hive and share the love I gathered. If what that hairless minotaur said is true, I can't be too far from Canterlot, and that means that I'm not too far from the Royal Guard either. It thought, as it got off of the ridiculously tall bed that only a minotaur or something of similar height could, or would, use while trying to cause as little noise as possible. Unfortunately for it, Jackie didn't have carpet anywhere in his house. Believing that it would give burglars and other folks that meant him no good will the drop on him. So when the changeling's hooves hit the floor, it was very loud and clear. Everything went quiet. Almost as quiet as it was just before the invasion had started, as the ponies were torn between running and staring in disbelief. And then it happened. Jackie called out from wherever he was on the weird building. "You finally awake? If so, just open the door and follow the smell of someone failing to cook okonomiyaki!" While the changeling didn't know what 'okonmiyaki' was, but it sounded like something from Canterlot, further enforcing the changeling's fear that the Royal Guard were nearby. So it put on a disguise of a grey unicorn mare with black hair and fire like highlights and a cutiemark of a couple of smiling faces. After finding a mirror in what the changeling could only assume to be the closet and looking itself over, it deemed the disguise good enough to walk around in outside without getting questioned by the Royal Guard. It hoped that is... And with that, it proceeded to try and open the door, only to notice that the door didn't open after the changeling, having decided to call itself Blissful Manner for the time being, turned the door knob a little. So it turned it even more until the door knob couldn't turn anymore, yet the door still didn't open. "I can't open the door!" Blissful Manner called out, hoping that the Royal Guard weren't coming to lock it in a dungeon and interrogate it, or worse, kill it out right. > 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I can't open the door!" Blissful Manner called out, hoping that the Royal Guard weren't coming to lock it in a dungeon and interrogate it, or worse, kill it out right. "Pull, don't push! If you push, you'll break the door down!" Jackie called back, still doing whatever it was he was doing. The instant Blissful Manner pulled on the door knob, the door almost hit her in the face with how quickly it moved. With that scare out of the way, the changeling in disguise stepped out and followed the sound of sizzling and banging to what appeared to be a kitchen. With the weak and gutless minotaur standing, in different clothing from what he had on last night when he found the drone, in front of what appeared to be what ponies called an oven. But there was no wood around to fuel it, except for what was underhoof. "Um... How are you cooking if you're not using wood?" Blissful Manner asked in as innocent a voice as it could muster. "Simple. Electricity. What, do the ponies not have electricity? Do they cook and bake using wood?" The minotaur countered. "Not as far as I know, no. They- I mean... WE use magic to fuel the trains and ovens..." The drone replied, catching itself a second too late. "While inside my house, do not disguise. There are no guards to take you away, or hurt you," he, at least the drone had assumed the minotaur was a he, turned around with some kind of wooden spoon in... hand? Or would it be hoof? "And besides, I figured that based on how I spoke last night, you would use a disguise to try and avoid them. Ah shiiiioooot! I never introduced myself! Names Jackie. Jackie Brightfellow. You?" The drone, having been caught completely off guard by this turn of events, dropped the disguise from lack of love energy. Yeah. Lack of love energy. Not surprise. "Um... How did you see the invasion if you're not near enough to Canterlot for there to be Royal Guard, or any guard really, to be around?" The drone asked in complete surprise. Jackie stopped moving and his face took a look of anger. Then he set the spoon down on the oven and then squat down and held his arms out to the changeling like he did last night. When the changeling was cautious to the point of stepping back, Jackie sighed and stood back up while putting his arms down. "You know, I did ask what your name was. It's rude to ignore folks 'round these parts. I might just choose not to give you any more of my love," he said, looking rather upset. The changeling immediately started panicking. If it couldn't get enough love, it would die. But surely there were others that would love it as well, right? It was about this time that Jackie started to smile and then just started laughing for some weird reason. The changeling, for its part, felt love and joy coming from the weird minotaur. "Bwahahaha! Your reaction to that is just way too cute! You know what? Imma call you Joy! Nonono, Euphoria! That should fit wonderfully, right?" The changeling merely ignored the minotaur's comment about a name and proceeded to feed off of the love energy that he was putting out. Or rather, it was, until something shifted inside of it that made it look down at itself. Jackie had calmed down by the time the changeling, he was going to call it Euphoria no matter what gender it actually was because it had chosen a female disguise without a second thought, and noticed that it was looking down with what he could only assume was a slightly confused look. "Hey, you ok there Euphoria?" Jackie asked with genuine concern, "You look a little confused, is it the reason behind the name?" "Hmm? Oh, no. It's just... I felt something inside me move while you had named me and were giving me love. I don't know what it was," Euphoria replied, distracted from the hairless minotaur. "Well, if you work like other insects around here, my guess would be that what you felt was, in fact, an egg. But I don't really know a whole lot about your race since I only know you tried to invade Canterlot, and feed off of love," Jackie said, sounding like he was fixing to laugh again. This knowledge unsettled Euphoria, as only a Queen was supposed to have either a name, or eggs. So that meant that Euphoria had to get back to the hive even quicker now. Especially if what Jackie said was true. Wasting little time, Euphoria immediately tried to bolt for the window, only to have Jackie grab her out of the air and hug her to his chest. "And where are you going without a good stock of what's outside? I was able to pass off your snoring as a drunkard I found sleeping in my wheat field last night, and I highly doubt that you know how to shapeshift into a human properly," Jackie said while carrying her back through the building. When Jackie finally set her down, there was a very big furry animal with sharp teeth and claws in front of her. She was scared of the beast, as it was bigger then her, and almost bigger than Queen Chrysalis. It didn't help that the beast kept wagging it's tail and giving her looks of hunger. "This is my dog, Bessy. I want you to shapeshift into her, so I can take you into town and show you what you're dealing with around here," Jackie said, acting like it was no big deal. "But... that thing-" "Bessy." "Right, Bessy, is bigger than me... I've never transformed into anything bigger than me before, and I'm not sure I can imitate it-" "Bessy is a bi- a mare. And she don't talk much. Just act cute, and get love while around me in town, and everything will go smoothly!" Jackie said, quickly countering every other argument that Euphoria could come up with. > 1 month later... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Euphoria had arrived on Earth almost a month ago at this point and was devastated to learn that she was the only thing from Equis. Well, the only REAL thing. She learned that Equis as she knew it was actually a show for little girls and other humans that bore the title of "brony". It hurt her deeply, knowing that her existence was a lie in itself. She spent most of the week that she learned of the 'television show' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic crying and trying to give up, but everytime she came close to stopping, Jackie would find some way to bring her happiness and hope. And by the end of the second week since she arrived, she had accepted her fate and decided to make her existence known. It was only through Jackie's insistence of watching several sci-fi horrors that she didn't try anything too bold yet. Instead, she had taken to hiding in his basment. The shifting in her chest, she soon realized, was indeed an egg. But that wasn't what was worrying her, oh no, it was the fact that when Jackie left the room, she felt the egg shift towards where he was. As such, every time Jackie thought he had snuck up on her, even though she herself wouldn't feel any emotions, she knew he was there. Today was the one month anniversary, as Jackie put it, of her arriving on Earth, and he had something planned for her. Honestly he had been working on it for the past week, and every time she asked him about it, he would tell her to wait and see. Now that the day had finally arrived, she knew that something special was going to happen. And it made her giddy with anticipation, and fearful of the outcome. Euphoria looked down at the clock on her custom made, 'jailbroken' as Jackie told her, laptop and noticed that it was already 6:53. "Odd... he said he would be back by 6:45 or 6:50... maybe something bad happened to him?" Euphoria asked aloud. Then she felt it. The egg shifted up and behind her, indicating that Jackie had simply been running a little behind. But she also heard something else. More voices. "Come on, Jackie Chan. Let's see this 'changeling' that you claim to have helped," said a voice that sounded a bit gravelly, almost like the human yelled a lot at his job. "Yeah, but I still say those photos were faked," said another voice that was far sweeter by contrast, but drizzled in disbelief, this one seeming to be the voice of the owner of that dinner that Jackie took her to on occasion. "Believe me, Jessie, I wouldn't lie about something like this. And I gotta make sure that she's awake first, Alfred," Jackie said to the other two voices. Then came three sharp hits on the cellar door, followed by the shave-and-a-haircut that Jackie had taught her earlier that month so that she would know if someone else was at the door. She buzzed over to the door and unlocked it, returning the sequence as she did. "What the hell Jackie!? I know I did not just hear bugs buzzing around in your basement!" Gravel Voice shouted. "Relax, Alfred. That was Euphoria you heard," Jackie replied while opening up the door and revealing the undisguised changeling. The first human Euphoria saw was Jackie, her only friend. Then she saw another man, she knew it was a man because he had a beard and no teats, with brown colored hair, black eyes, a plaid overshirt with a white one under it, some blue jeans and boots. From the creases the boots had, she guessed they were steel toed. Because the clothes were kind of baggy on him, she couldn't quite tell if he was 'fit' or not. Then she noticed the other human. A female, if the bumps on her chest were anything to go by. This one having what seemed to be a leather jacket, plaid shirt, blue jeans as well, boots, and what Jackie said, and showed, was a cowboy hat. Her boots weren't steel toe, if the creases going all the way down the toes were anything to go by. Seconds passed. And then minutes. And just when Euphoria was going to just turn and walk away, the male, Alfred, pointed a finger and released a very unmanly scream, then promptly passed out. Jessie and Jackie looked at each other and sighed, then picked him up and carried him into the cellar. When they set him down on Euphoria's bed, Jessie promptly sat down on the floor and pulled out something from the inside of her coat. "Hey, you said you quit smoking," Jackie said, snatching the box away from her without looking at it. "I did, jack ass. That's gum, and it's how I deal with weird shit. And let me tell you, I'm gonna need the entire fucking box by the end of this story, so you better start talking," Jessie said, snatching the box back and pulling out a 'stick of gum'. Jackie promptly slapped himself in the face and apologized. After giving a very brief explanation of how Euphoria and Jackie have managed to communicate with the outside world and not be caught yet, which Alfred woke up in the middle of, Jessie and Alfred were silent for several minutes. "So... are you guys gonna freak out or anything?" Jackie asked after it seemed like they weren't going to speak. "Welp... I ain't all too sure what to make of this," said another voice from the top of the cellar. Everyone in the small room immediately turned towards the door to see a man in a black tux with dark sunglasses. He was white with dark brown, almost black hair and he seemed to have an expression of total disapproval. "Um... who are you?" Euphoria asked while everyone else was starting to move backwards away from the man. "Mah name ain't all that important. What is important, is that all four ah y'all need to have one of two actions. Have the past month of interacting with that alien erased from y'all's memory, or come with me to help make peaceful interactions with it," the man said. "Hey! She has a name asshole!" Jackie snapped at the man. Euphoria nodded and said, "My name, which he gave me, is Euphoria. Caretaker drone of the Badlands hive which is commanded by Queen Chrysalis." The man in the suit cocked an eyebrow and then sighed, and then took his glasses off while moving down the stairs into the cellar. "Well. I guess it's only appropriate that I tell you my name then. I'm called Agent B, and that's all I am allowed to tell you for security reasons," the man said while standing at the base of the stairs. > Changing priorities > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location: Marfa, Texas, USA. Name: Unknown Age: Unknown Race: Alien Gender: Unknown Agent sent: Agent Vulture Agent Blackdust Notes: Target seems to have been taken in by one of the locals. Target can shapeshift into any quadruped it has seen or has knowledge of. Target seems to be a parasite that feeds off of some kind of chemical released when something around it feels love, joy, excitement, etc. Target cannot be approached without it's knowledge. Might be telepathic. Can fly using its wings despite the holes in said insectile wings. Is capable of manipulating the environment around it. Seems to have limited telepathic powers. Seems to enjoy the television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic . Suggestion, watch the show for knowledge. Creature might be an interdimensional visitor and that is it's world. As Jackie had finished reading the folder that Agent B had given him and Euphoria, he looked up and gave the man the mother of all death glares. "Isn't this a violation of privacy? And I swear to the gods if you say no..." He said, while Euphoria felt, more than anyone, the barely controlled rage that he was pouring out. "Hey now, you know what Agent V is like? He would've simply came in, knocked her out, erased y'all's mind of the past month, and left without having done any clean up. I, on the other hand-er... hoof in your case Miss Euphoria, believe on so many levels, that that is wrong. So I try my best to get to the files before Agent V and bring them when I go to speak with the folks that Ah'm told to speak to. That way, when they do get angry at what we know, I can explain it and diffuse a possible hostile situatipn," Agent B said, while trying his best to ignore the barely hidden threat of the alien's caretaker. "Yeah, sure. You say that 'Vulture' guy is so bad, but your entire damn organization been watching us? I say all of you can go to hell!" Jackie yelled, standing and going to throw the folder at Agent B. The only reason he didn't is because he was stopped by a certain shapeshifting friend hugging him from behind. "Please... don't be angry with him. I knew about all of them, and did those things deliberately to give them the incentive to approach me like you did a month ago... if there's anyone you should be mad at, it's me..." Euphoria said, trying her best to keep the fear and sorrow out of her voice, but failing horribly. Upon hearing that, Agent B put his left hand up to his mouth and said some mandarin gibberish, while moving to go upstairs. He stopped at the bottom, turned around, and said, "We will not interfere with your lifestyle Miss.Euphoria. But Ah'm gonna say this much. In that folder is my email address. Send me a message if you need anything from housing to an income." With that, he turned around and left the basement. It was several minutes before anybody did anything. And when someone did do something, it was to freak because the holes in Euphoria's legs had started to release some kind of ooze that was quickly spreading on the floor. "Holy shit! Jackie, what the hell is going on!" Alfred screeched, immediately running to the base of the stairs. Jackie, for his part, merely looked down and shrugged. Jessie pulled out her pack of gum, swore when it was empty, and threw it at Alfred. Meanwhile Euphoria was freaking out, trying to understand what was happeneing, while the ooze started to move upwards. "Jackie! Stay back! I don't know what's happening and I don't want to lose you!" Euphoria cried out. But Jackie didn't listen. He reached forward, and, stepping into the forming cocoon, hugged her. "The fact that you care more about my safety than yours means I can die happy, knowing that I helped redeem your race..." Jackie said, just as the cocoon finally reached the roof of the cellar. Euphoria tried to get Jackie to let her go so that he could stay alive, but as the cocoon started to fill with liquid, she began to calm down. And then, after several minutes, Jackie let her go. No, it wasn't that he let her go, it was that she had dissolved. She could feel that a part of Jackie was dissolving as well, but as it was dissolving it was being fixed and improved. His right hand, having had carpal tunnel due to his mechanic work on his truck and being a veterinarian before that, was replaced with a sinuous Chiron that was both durable and flexible. Almost like what the hives were made of themselves, but far more living. The bones in his legs were reinforced with a for of chitin that enables him to run farther, and jump higher. Euphoria wasn't sure how she knew about what was being changed in her friend, but it felt right. On his back, along his spine, was set armor-like chitin to protect him from heavy objects falling on him, as well as to allow more weight distribution on his back so he could carry far more than the average human. His eyes were replaced with those of a changeling, allowing him to see in dark, and almost lightless areas. As for Euphoria, Jackie saw more than he felt, that she had gotten bigger. Almost 8 feet tall. She now had plating on her chest, back, and legs. Her wings had gotten bigger as well, so as to accommodate the growth. Her headfin was now a flowing purple mane with holes in it, and her eyes and changed from the standard eyes of a drone, to a purple variation of Queen Chrysalis. But there was one thing they both felt. A change in eating requirements. For Euphoria, this was unheard of. For Jackie, this was unusual, but not uncommon. It wasn't for what seemed to be an entire day before they both heard a light tapping coming from the outside. To Be Con- NAH! "Euphoria? Jackie? It's Agent B. Are the two of you alive in this... whatever it is?" To be continued. Seriously this time. > New hopes and new foods > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The last person that either Euphoria or Jackie had wanted to see so soon after the weird transformation, was Agent B. As such, Jackie reached out with the magic now flowing through him and shoved Agent B back. This act shocked all in the room and cocoon. However, shortly after Jackie stepped into the cocoon and hugged Euphoria, Alfred and Jessie ran out to try and find the Agent. He had already disappeared, so they decided to email him using the address in the packet. Agent B arrived ten minutes later, and had been waiting for some sort of sign that they were awake for several hours. During that time, the two in the cocoon seemed to ramble off and on about weird and random things. Probably going through their lives mentally. Agent B decided to send Alfred and Jessie home with some reassuring half truths and pretty words. He also got bored and started looking through Euphoria's browser history and was intrigued in what he found. Rather than it be filled with unusual things, like nope.avi and My Little Pony stuff, it was mostly filled with history on human culture, mind sets, and other things, like folk lore and music. Agent B found it amusing that the alien wanted to know about human history so much, and was also impressed by the combined technological knowledge of Jackie and Euphoria. If what the alien had said before going into the cocoon was to be believed, it was basically a doctor, or a nurse, not an electrotechnician. Which means it had help with making this. Name; Jackie "Hercules" Brightfellow Age; 23 Race; White/Caucasian Unknown D.O.B; 1995 12 10 Notes; Nicknamed Hercules by his friends for his obscene strength while doing construction work. Supposedly, he lifted a steel beam far enough for him to get underneath and proceed to lift it using his back as leverage. This incident sparked his carpal tunnel, and also got him fired. Since then he has been working in a farm he inherited out in Marfa, Texas.