Acheron, Meet Equestria!

It had been a week since I arrived. Chrysalis, the changeling queen, and I, had been hiding out in the random basement we had taken cover in. With the Codex in my case, and a few of my models to demonstrate, Chrysalis followed  everything I said in regards to Warhammer. As the days kept dragging on, I had made the room more... homely. There had been a cot sitting in the corner, folded up, which I had brought out for her. It had been quite... mundane, to say the least. At least, until the question popped into Chrysalis' head about who I was.

“I know I've told you my name, but I don't know yours.” I froze. Normally, when someone asks that, I reply with my real name, but when in an unfamiliar locale, well, there are nicknames upon nicknames I could use.

“I'm... I'm Acheron.” I stood up, brushing myself off. I looked around the basement again. While it was not all that large, it was enough room for a guy and a changeling. For some bizarre reason, there had also been quite the supply of potato chips in boxes beside the ladder. A question formed in my head, one that I believed Chrysalis would be able to answer. “Hey, Chrysalis?” She looked up at me like so many new gamers had before.

“Yes?”

“Why do you suppose no one, or pony, has checked in this basement? I mean, I was accused of assisting you, even though they saw what I was doing. How could they consider this-” I motioned to my Imperial Guard models, “-assisting you in an invasion? I just don't get it.” I had long since unpacked my backpack, checking the CO2 canister inside my CP99. I knew it was not an actual weapon, but I preferred the fact that it looked cool. Chrysalis had, on multiple occasions, shot a potato chip out of my hand with it, followed by me scolding her for using up precious CO2.

“I don't know. I really don't.” A noise from the hatch above the ladder startled us into realizing that something may have found us out. I stood below the ladder in the vain hopes that, if it was even possible, whatever was up there would not come down. All that happened was the hatch shifting as I heard... rhythmic... pounding?!

“Okay, now I'm sure I don't want to know what's going on up there.” I looked at my pants, walked over to them, and fished out my phone. “Zero bars. Wonder why I was expecting anything different. No internet either. Eh.” I checked the battery. “Good for an hour, if I'm careful.” I shut the phone off, grasping my pants. I slid them on as fast as possible, tightening the ever-fraying belt that I always wore. Chrysalis watched in fascination as I finished my dressing.

“Why does your kind wear clothing all the time? Ponies only wear them on special occasions.” My hand mentally slapped my face, trying to keep my mind from descending into madness. I should explain that point. My mind is an ever-twisting fountain of chaos. Even I cannot understand it. All I know is most of the time it is serious, while other times it decides to descend into a random composition of syllables and gibberish. It has always been like this, no matter what anybody who knows me says.

“Okay, to clarify, that's kind of an odd question.” I looked up at the ceiling, attempting to figure out the best way to explain what I was trying to get across. “All right. Where I'm from, nudity is a taboo in a lot of cultures, which means we cover up. Some cultures do not have it, and it is very odd to go from my culture to theirs.” I sat down, resting my chin on my hand. A thought crossed into my mind as I thought of what changelings, according to legend, could do.

“Well, that is all right. Changelings would only wear clothing if the pony we impersonated would wear them.” I looked up at Chrysalis, who had begun to sway back and forth. As I watched, she collapsed. I had no inkling of what could have caused it.

“Chrysalis!” I knelt down beside her, looking down. Even though she was large, for a changeling in that world, she was just as tall as me, barely. I am quite tall where I am from. Over six feet tall. She looked up, her eyes glazed over.

“I... forgot... to survive... we changelings need to feed off of love...” An idea formed in my head after her statement. I had love for anything that took my interest...

“Chrysalis, what about me?”

“... what?” I shook my head and gave her a hard stare.

“Why not use the love I can generate to feed?” Chrysalis stared up, confused.

“We changelings can sense emotions, but all I can feel from you is passion. Not love.” And the wind billowing in my sails was quickly removed. I stared down, looking at the ground. I thought back to my family. I loved my family very much, and I missed them very much. Chrysalis stared at me in wonder. “... that is an abnormal amount of love. What is it with you humans?” I smiled down at her, a single tear escaping my eye.

“Well, emotion, for what I used to do, was something I always had to keep under wraps. Even on my world, for a male to show emotion was more for him to show weakness than anything. All that emotion has to go somewhere, right?” At that point, I wished that I could have seen it from Chrysalis' point of view. She smiled, standing up. She took a deep breath, sparkling dust blowing out her nostrils.

“And that emotion is delicious! Forget the ponies-” I clasped my hands firmly over her muzzle, holding her mouth shut.

“No. I refuse to be someone's food source. Now, will you drop that? I'll let you have some emotional overflow of mine whenever it is needed, but for now, don't speak of it. Besides, we're... kind of conspicuous at the moment.” I pointed down to myself. My clothing was the custom shirt I had made, with the same old pants I tended to wear a lot. My phone was on its last dredges of life, which meant that I was about to lose the last technological connection I had with home. “I mean, if this is a land where magic is real – I'm genuinely assuming it is, considering the fact that those two, from what I assume was a wedding, used some – then minotaurs should be real, right? We just need to observe how they dress, and I can follow accordingly!” I looked down to my pants with a small red tinge covering my face. “... as long as I can keep my underpants on, though.” Chrysalis looked at me with amazement.

“I never thought of that!” We laughed at each other, the thought crossing my mind that she reminded me once of a girl I had met. Forgetting that for a moment, I glanced out the window. As coincidence would have it, a minotaur walked by the window. I had never seen an actual minotaur before, and the images from legends that I had read through were completely different. Where, in legend, did it mention that a minotaur had an entourage of goats?

“Are minotaurs... usually followed around by a crowd of goats?” Chrysalis stood straight up.

“His name is Iron Will, and he teaches assertiveness to ponies.” She looked out the window. “Although... it tends to make them more aggressive than just assertive.” She sighed. I sat down beside her, looking at my pants. My wallet was still there, which meant... I reached inside, withdrawing a photograph. There she was, the girl of my dreams. Naturally, I became tongue-tied whenever I attempted to talk to her. I showed the picture to Chrysalis.

“Can you mimic this female of my species? Although it is unprecedented, it might be a good way to test just how far your... transformation can go.” I let go of the picture, it floating in the air due to Chrysalis' magic. She transformed, but how she did is not something I can ever forget. As she transformed, her front legs transformed into fleshy, muscular human arms. I can only imagine the pain she felt as she shifted. The middle joint on the hind legs cracked forwards, shifting to how a human would walk. Long brown hair fell from her new head, sea-green eyes staring out at me from underneath the strands. Her voice was still her own, but she looked the same as the photograph I had... minus the clothing. Turning away, I let my face burn with embarrassment. Walking over to my backpack, I looked inside. She had not copied the genitals of the opposite sex – thank God – but she had still, for lack of a better reason, mimicked the breast perfectly. At least the shape. I tossed her a pair of camouflage cargo pants and one of my several camo shirts.

“Why are you giving me these?” I pointed down, trying to keep myself from quivering in excitement. I did not understand it at that point, however.

“Because human females cover up the same as males in my culture. Unfortunately, the only human clothing here happens to be mine, so yeah.” As she dressed, I turned to my backpack. That green military surplus backpack had seen me through so much. It was a beautiful thing. A tap on my shoulder alerted me to Chrysalis. I turned and almost fell backwards in shock. My clothes fit her perfectly.

“How do I look?” She was trying to figure out how to walk similar to how I did. It was amusing. She would attempt to walk on all fours, then stand, followed by toppling backwards.

“Besides the constant falling, you look good. Now, how does it feel?” She glared at me, brushing strands of hair out of her eyes.

“Like a million bits. That transformation hurt more than I'd hoped it would. I can still feel my magic, though.” To test, she concentrated, her magic forming around her fingers. A single guardsman lifted from the case, floating towards her. Sweat pooled on her brow as she continued that activity. “It's... a lot harder than before.”

“Well, humans aren't magically inclined, I would suppose. I'll pack up my stuff. We've overstayed our welcome here.” She nodded, her face furrowed in a look of pure hate when her hair fell in front of her eyes.

“How do you deal with your manes?! Mine refuses to cooperate!” I laughed, patting her on the back.

“I don't take care of mine all that much. I get it trimmed every once in a while. In your case, we'd need a pair of scissors. I do know how to cut hair.” I put my fist in the middle of my chest. I beamed proudly. “My mother taught me, along with cooking, and various other things.” I packed up what I could into the backpack, letting Chrysalis figure out her fingers by allowing her to pack the Warhammer models away. As I finished, I heard a growl of irritation.

“How do these infernal models fit into these slots?!” She was about to throw a model when I grabbed her arm.

“Be careful. These are irreplaceable. They don't exist on this world. Let me show you.” I slid each model carefully into its designated slot, Chrysalis watching over my shoulder. If I had turned around, I probably would have noticed her sticking her tongue out at me.

“So, I should have put them in length-wise, not width-wise?”

“Yeah. So, ready to go?” She nodded, grabbing the case carefully and holding it close. I lifted the green backpack and slid it onto my back. I grabbed onto the ladder, climbing up.

“Ready.” A world awaited me outside, a world of endless possibilities...

A world of empty towns. I looked around. Each building was quite unique, flowing curves, and smooth symbols. It would have been perfect, had there been any sign of life. Chrysalis stood beside me, her eyes scanning the area too.

“This... this isn't natural, Chrysalis.” I looked over at a nearby table. Food was still left out, which meant that they had left in a hurry. Apparently very quietly too.

“There are usually ponies around, including my changeling spies as well.” I turned with a glare to her.

“Spies? Really... and you wonder why they don't like you.” She shrugged. She was gaining more precise motor control as she moved. I looked down at the ground. Her feet had nothing to protect them from anything on the ground. I removed my backpack, rummaging around. “I thought I had put them in here somewhere... aha! Here they are!” I removed a pair of sandals from the backpack, handing them to Chrysalis. Just for clarification, I have big feet, so when she put them on, and they fit perfectly... I was dumbstruck.

“Thank you, Acheron.” I rubbed the back of my head, smirking at the praise.

“Well, we should get going- is that cheesecake?! Gimme!” In the window of what was probably a cake shop, there was the most blessed of all desserts. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a New York Style cheesecake, my absolute favourite. Chrysalis stared as I ran into the shop, grabbing the cheesecake. I walked out with a box in one hand and a knife and two forks in the other. “Can't say no to New York style cheesecake!” I sat down on an abandoned table, setting the cheesecake between myself and Chrysalis.

“Why do you love cheesecake so much?” I nearly choked on a bite I had taken of the piece I was eating.

“Why do I love- cheesecake is one of the perfect pleasures of life! Delicious and smooth, with that slight amount of texture that makes it melt in your mouth!” I coughed as another piece decided to try to enter my windpipe.

“So... about the female human you had me take the form of...” I stopped with a wide-eyed stare at Chrysalis. The cheesecake slid down the right pipe, allowing me to talk.

“She was a friend. However, I liked her a lot... but she never gave me notice. I never really knew much about her.” I sat there afterward  in silence, eating the cheesecake. Chrysalis looked down, her unruly hair falling in front of her eyes again.

“So... you had me transform into her so you could get a chance you never had?” I looked up. She was leaning forward, striking up a provocative pose.

“Not quite that simple, really. I don't want to be the only human here in- what is this place called again?”

“Canterlot?”

“No, I mean... well, the land, the area around.” I looked at Chrysalis with impatience.

“Oh, Equestria.” I nodded.

“I'd rather not be the only human in Equestria. Even though you are a changeling... you're the only friend I have here.” I sat there, staring up at the sky. I missed my home, but, then again, I never really had much of a life before I landed there.

“So... how many humans live where you're from?”

“Earth? Over six billion people.” It was Chrysalis' turn to choke on cheesecake. She stared at me with utter shock in her eyes.

“Six... billion?! You outnumber even Equestria several hundred to one!” I shrugged.

“Earth is a big planet. Although it is currently dying because of how humanity treats it.” I returned my gaze to Chrysalis. While she had transformed into the girl from the photograph, her eyes had returned to the green of her own eyes. She leaned sideways, leaving nothing to my messed-up imagination.

“So... how are the females in your society.” I shook my head. I turned away, looking elsewhere.

“How the heck would I know? None of them wanted to talk to me at all. It was like I wasn't even there.” I stood up, closing the cheesecake box. Tying it to the top of the backpack, I repositioned it on my back once more. “Oh, I've got a question for you.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“If you tell the ponies your name is Chrysalis, they'll arrest you – and me – in a heartbeat. Would... Chrys work? Just using the first five letters?” Chrysalis looked down at her hands. She seemed deep in thought.

“Yeah, I suppose that would work.” I turned around to come face to face with a guard holding a spear in my direction. Chrysalis looked around, trying to figure out what was happening.

“W-We were o-ordered to t-take you in, by force if necessary.” I shook my head. An idea formed in my head.

“I'm Osiris, and this is Chrys. We're albino minotaurs. Now, could you tell us where everyone has gone? It's kind of urgent.” The guard seemed to relax visibly.

“They're at the castle for some kind of celebration. The wedding a week ago was a bit of a bust, so they moved it to today.” Chrysalis looked at me, smiling innocently.

“Uh huh. So, could you take us there?” The guard  pointed at the obnoxiously large gates a few hundred metres away from where we stood.

“Just go through there. You'll see the crowd soon enough.” As the guard left, Chrysalis looked at me questioningly.

“Osiris? Really?” I smiled sheepishly.

“I've got a lot of nicknames. If they figure out who I am, I can use the one I gave you.” Laughing, we walked to the gate. I never liked weddings, but for some reason, something felt extremely off. Chrysalis seemed to feel it as well.

“You feel like something bad's going to happen?” I nodded at her.

“Sense of impending doom. Always at the wrong times, too.” I turned to look at the wedding that was not far from us. Ponies and other creatures were running around screaming. Strange skeletons marched around, chasing them down. “You have got to be kidding me... why is it skeletons?!”