Chapter
I saw them. Hovering in front of the great fireball above, black inksplashes against blue beauty and white-and-yellow pain. When they descended, I trembled and whimpered, and ponies' voices came to my ears, panicked and confused. Was this punishment? Judgment for my sins against my fellow ponies?
Their wings buzzed, rapid flaps like young pegasi. White noise. Loud, overwhelming. Inside me, ancient, innate instinct battled fiercely with a lifetime of learned politeness, and when the former won, I fled. Directionless, a maze of streets and alleys and shrieking ponies. I navigated them. Shoved others aside. Selfish.
A green meteorite of fire and phlegm landed in front of me, and the stench of burning assaulted me. Burning what? Insects? Flesh? Mucus? Whatever it was, it certainly came from a living being. The impact left a crater in the cobblestone ahead, and as I watched it, frozen, nostrils flared, I recalled a moment from my colthood in which I witnessed a pegasus crash lethally into the ground. For an instant, I wanted to ask the crater if it was okay just as I had the pegasus, but then a monster crawled from it.
Shiny, black chitin, gossamer wings extending above a dark purple hard shell; it was like a pony and a beetle had been fused together in some horrific, illicit magic experiment. Sharp fangs, an unquestionably hostile hiss. It charged, and I fled into an open door.
The family inside was scared, and when they saw me, they yelped in surprise. They relaxed when they noticed I was a pony. They watched me run past. They watched me. Watched me leave through their back door. They screamed again, this time in unrestrained horror. One was a filly. Were they killed? I only asked myself this question later. At the time, all I could afford to feel was a mild pang of guilt so far in the back of my mind that it didn't even register as anything but a memory to be recalled later.
In the grassy, fenced-off yards of the upper crust, I continued to flee. Over a wooden fence so short that it was merely a polite suggestion more than a deterrent, around a pool, under a sheet hanging from clothesline. There was another crater in front of me, and as I fell forward into it, unable to stop myself, I briefly saw a black shape creeping into somepony's house. A silhouette punctured by the holes in its legs.
The smell returned, of burnt insect goop, and my face landed in it. It was absolutely disgusting. As I panicked and flailed about, I felt hot bits of the green stuff sticking to my hide. I pulled myself out of the hole, and coughed, nearly vomiting. I continued running, then, into a new yard after leaping another short fence. There was a toolshed, and I went into it, closing the door behind me.
A thin sheet of light spilled into the shed from a space above the door, possibly the result of poor craftsponyship. I could feel the strange ooze on me, and I began frantically swiping at it. As it came away, it left black splotches on me where it had made contact. As I rubbed at the spots, they felt solid, like my skin had hardened. Was I burned? I didn't feel any pain. I rubbed harder. Nothing. I tapped at it experimentally, and the keratin of my hoof clicked against it.
What the...?
There was a scream that was cut short as it became muffled. It seemed to be nearby, possibly coming from an adjacent yard.
Could I wait out the attack here in this little shed? I was too afraid to leave, and my hoof kept idly rubbing at my hardened skin as questions and fears assaulted me.
Suddenly! The door burst open, and there was one of them! It lowered itself into a crouch, ready to pounce, and I fell back into a sitting position. It sniffed at the air, then looked confused for a second. Then, it spoke.
"You! Stop hiding and help us fight! Don't forget what the Queen said. Cowards will be killed!"
I just stared. Something inside me demanded that I listen to this creature. I walked forward after getting up, and nodded.
"Good," it said. "And don't let me catch you hiding again, or I'll kill you myself, got it?"
I nodded again. It flew off, watching me closely until it was out of sight. I sighed in relief, and felt some kind of creeping terror crawl along my spine. I looked down at my body, and gasped.
The dark, hard spots had spreaded!
Before implications could sink in, another pony appeared from a back door, the same yard the toolshed belonged to. He was a unicorn, and he was afraid. Running, just as I had been. When he saw me, he stopped and shrieked, turning to flee back into his house. Something inside apparently changed his mind, however, and he came back out. His horn was glowing, and he fired a standard attack at me, much to my surpise. It struck me on my flank, and as I fell over, stunned, I saw him run past me. Green beams came from the house and I heard him yelp as one presumably hit him.
"That one is injured. Revive him while I take care of this pony," a voice said.
Seconds later, horrific black legs stopped next to me, its holes giving it an unnatural silhouette. The monster opened it's fanged jaws, and a pink, wispy stream came from its throat, and connected to my horn. I suddenly began to feel energized like the bunny from those commercials, like I could keep going and going. I stood up on shaky legs.
"Thanks," I said with my mouth.
"Your welcome." he said with his.
I glanced at the pony who had fled his home. He lay on the grass, body smoking and unmoving. I could smell his burnt flesh and hair, but couldn't see the wound that had ended his life. I can hardly belief they killed a pony right by me.
"How could you do that?" I asked. The bug thing sneered at me.
"Ponies are food, not friends. Never question the Queen."
"Ok," I said and breathed.
A sudden guts of wind made me realize something, then. I could only feel it running through about half of my hair, and when I looked down, I jaw-dropped as I saw how much black I was. It had taken over most of me, like some kind of spreading thing, like maybe spilled ink or something. But it wasn't ink. It was bugness.
My heart paced faster, and I wanted to cry, but that would give me away to the intruders, and the last thing I wanted was for them to know I was a pony. As my blood coursed through me, it seemed to cool, and I didn't know if it was fear or if my blood had actually changed.
"Come on, let's continue the assault!" the bug said. Its partner had already taken off. I nodded, and it flew off. I decided to run into the house they had come from to look busy. Unfortunately, when I went inside, I heard new screams. There, at the base of the stairs, was two ponies. A filly and a mare.
"Is Daddy okay?" the filly asked after she screamed.
"No, he is not Daddy anymore, but Deaddy," I said somberly.
The mare cried, and her daughter also cried, and it was hella sad. In fact I felt so sad for them that I shot them both with a green energy beam, killing them insanely before they even hit the ground. Nopony should suffer losing a family, and they were better off dead like their father. I shook my head. It was never easy..........
I was almsot all black now, like the other bugs, with ragged patches of hair clinging to me like burnt noodles stuck to a pan or like it was glued on by a foal. There was inconveniently a mirror in the room, and when I looked, I shocked. My eyes were all blue just like there's, and I could see that I had wings too, but weird bug wings. My mouth had fangs poking out and they were kinda cute but really mostly just scary because vampires.
A odd feeling ballooned inside my head, and I tried to push it away, but it was loud despite the silence around me, loud inisde my head. It felt like constant instructions from my boss, but I couldn't understand it. Yet, anyway.......
As I returned to the streets, many ponies kept dying all over the place, and it was kinda gross because some of them were bleeding and stuff, which made me want to throw up, so I did. But it was weird because instead of my sausage mcmuffin from brekafst i throwed up a pink liquid that became smoke, and suddenly a bunch of other changelings came over to eat my vomit.
"Hey, Ant, this is really good love," one said.
"Yes it is tasty like loveghetti with loveballs, Bee."
I ranned away from them and looked in another mirrer and I was copletely black all over my body like them and the voice in my head made sense. It was loud inside my head and said "Kill all ponies" but not in english, more like maybe german or something, so apparently I knew german.
"Ja mine qveen," I replied.
I begun to rampage the city with my bug friens and killed a lot of ponies like maybe 100 or more. They scremed and cried but I no longer mattered even to the saddest things like such as. When they cried. So I killed and kileled and ki;;ed until blood was on my face even in my eyes making them red not blue anymore and I saw red because of all tje blood.
Lot's of pony's tried to run but I was faster then them by miles, so they had no chance. I bited there necks with my fags like needles injection into there necks to suck blood and also love until I was so full of love that I was just so full. I laughed evilly and scrambled about and my wings were like buzz buzz buzz, it was really scary but not to me.
I came across two ponies that was expecially fritened, n when I killed them, something inside me seemed to break. A thin sheet of fragile crystal shattered in my mind, and when I saw their bodies, my heart stopped. I swallowed dryly, bile threatening to rise from deep inside me. I recognized these ponies.
"Mom... Dad...?" I croaked softly. "No..."
I broke down, then, sobbing over the bloody forms.
This crime could not go unpunished. But I was responsible. Or was I?
I thought of my new form, how it had made me lose my mind. I could already feel myself slipping back like a ice cube on a hill. I gave myself to it.
"Take me, so that I may exact my revenge!" I said very cheesily.
And then I was a bug again and I didn't even care that my parents were dead because I was powerful and a changeling, so I used my powers to become more powerful. I tranformed into a alicorn with patterns of red and black all over me to signify my ultimate revenge. Black because I was feeling angry and emo and stuff, and red like blood and rage or something.
My mane blew in the strong wind all badass and I went outside into the streets where a bug flew by and I instsntly explodded him with my horn laser. One was behind him and I made a bug zapper appear in front of him and he ran into it and electrocuted and I could see his skeleton for a sec as he was electricified. Then he fell down smoking and I said "Smoking is bad for your health" and threw my cigarette into the gas canisters and they exploded while I walked away from them.
Ten more bugs appeared to fight me and I sent a tornado at them and it sucked them up until they were gone, and even more kept comming forever like some kind of endless mode in a game. So like 50 appeared, so I made a Tommy Gun with my magic and said "Bug Out" as I killed them all with bullets.
"It's time to take out the gar-bug" I said as I killed more and reloaded by throwing the gun up and throwing a new magazine in it in mid air then catching it to shoot all the new bullets.
Soon the street was full of dead them and they had green blood so there was green everywhere (because of their blood). I kepot fighting with different styles, like a Katana, a Nunchaku, a Naginata, and a skull. I drunk from the skull full of enemy blood as they felled before me by the myriads.
"Time to die, Queen Crystals," I said as I found her in the throne room.
"Atttttaaaaack!" she cried (cried as in yelled not as in sad, because she is too badass to cry like that)
Then the biggest fight of my life began. I took out 2 bugs with a chain whip that instantly cut there heads off, and 2 more with a lethal kick that made them freeze in place then explode 2 seconds later, then 5 with biting and I ripped them to pieces with my alicorn fangs (I was also part bat). More came on me and I span around in a circle holding a Katana and none could get close to me as they all chopped into pieces. "Sushi Time," I said with a glint, then charged in to deliver the final blow, as I cut one and the cut went thru his body and into the next one kinda like a crack in glass or something but it spread and killed 10 chngaleings. Then with focus I made a power beam with my horn and blew away 58w946943 of them until only the queen was left.
"Queen used to be my favorite band... until I killed them!" I said snd she was so scared she peed on the floor and not in a kinky way so no I am not gonna tag this as fetish, if u dont like it then too bad. Anyway she was scared and she tried to fly away, but I made her wings disappear with a magic. She fell down.
"Now you will experience The Exterminator" I said as I drew my final revenge weapon... a knife made of the bones of my dead parents, their final gift to me before I killed them. It cut her cleanly thru and she gasped byt then smiled in her ironic defeat then she fell apart in 2 halves.
I sheathed my ultimat weapon and sighed as my revenge was xomplete.
I knew I could never return to my original form but tjats ok because now I could become a super hero and my tragic past is now how I fight crime in Manehattan.
For I am... Bugman.