From Mars With Love

Chapters

1 Depression
2 Hive
3 Irony
4 Discovery
5 Remembering
6 Dawn

1 Depression

1 Depression

Some people say that your lover becomes the center of your world. I wonder if they ever realized how apt a metaphor that is? The center of any habitable world’s rotation provides the magnetosphere which prevents cosmic radiation from killing you, provides the bulk of the gravitational pull keeping you on the face of the planet, and if they leave you your entire world collapses before flying apart.

Mine did, that is my lover left; my world flew apart as well but that’s mostly because of my own inability to ever admit my feelings for her. Perhaps I shouldn’t call Charlotte my lover, as far as she was concerned we were only friends. I like to think this is because I was too shy to say anything, though sometimes the back of my mind a little voice tells me it’s because she wasn't interested. I call that voice Meg, as in ‘Shut up Meg.’

Without Charlotte work was absolutely unbearable. I only took that dead end quickie mart job to spend time with her. I didn’t need it, this is New York, there are plenty of ways to make money for a person of my talents. But I needed her, and that is where her skill set landed her. This stupid society doesn't believe it’s youth can possess any talents. Charlotte could have been an electrical engineer a whole year ago.

These are the kind of things I have thought about for the last three weeks. Ever since Charlotte had shown me those feathers, and I accidentally opened a portal… Most people wouldn’t have understood my reaction, the way I avoided her entirely for, well, the entire time she was still in this dimension. It was that portal. It’s not somthing I expect anyone to understand, but that circle of light blazed in my eyes like the fires of hell had swallowed a thousand suns. I have never seen a more horrifying flame in my life. It may not have been fire, but it was enough to send me into a panic. I saw a whole world on fire with flames which do not consume so they may blaze eternally. I saw my personal hell.

“Hina! Stop daydreaming and get back to work!” my manager Jessica’s voice shook me out of my thoughts. That was pretty strange, I usually was fairly adept at tuning her out.

“What am I supposed to be doing right now?” I asked, giving her a board look.

“I asked you to stock the shelves twenty minutes ago! You keep standing at that counter staring into space. Get the lead out, and stock these shelves or you are fired!”

There are times when she made me wish I could disappear, without causing a panic I mean. I considered all the ways I could take my frustrations out on the woman. She knew full well I had liked Charlotte, and she like most people believed she had committed suicide. Did she even feel a grain of sympathy for me? Nope, not even a single electron’s worth of pity. I know, I checked.

“You know what? No.” I informed her in a decisive tone.

She gave me a look both angry and indignant, “Excuze me?”

“You heard me, no. I don’t need this job. I don’t need to work for a woman who has no empathy because her mom took painstaking care to sculpt her into a successful businesswoman by scooping out all of her humanity while her father drank himself to death because he couldn’t stand the cow her married.”

The look of rage that built up on her face was something I will treasure for a lifetime. Sometimes you just need a little revenge, “I quit. No two weeks notice.”

I hopped over the counter as Jessica sputtered, “Who told you that?”

“You did. You should really stop thinking about personal stuff at work. Bye.” I wish I could have seen the look on her face at that, but I wasn’t about to turn around and give her the satisfaction of a second thought.

Ditching that dead end dull fest felt great, but it would have been far better if Charlotte had been there to do it with me. I turned to head south, my apartment was nowhere near hers. I only told her it was to have an excuse to go on a walk with her, talk freely without that bitch of a manager interrupting our conversations. It was also a lot crappier than her nice place, but who cares, it was cheap.

It was also a bit of a dangerous neighborhood. I had trouble a few times before but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Infact I usually walked home on a sort of autopilot, I imagine most people do. There was never anything new to look at, something very rarely happened, my entire life was pretty much one giant routine. The only thing which seemed appealing was that short blond haired girl… also Doctor Who, but that just invoked feelings of nostalgia.

“Hey girl, no one here to walk you home?” I looked over my shoulder to see who had spoken to me. Great, three guys in raggy hoodies. Surely these were fine upstanding gentleman.

I kept walking, the street was fairly empty. Of people at least, there were plenty of cabs and cars moving around. not that they would help.

“Didja hear me?”

I ignored him, or at least I was going to until his conscious thoughts turned to ‘punishing’ me for ignoring him. Oh well, three months since the last time something happened. I turned off into the next allyway and looked over my shoulder, yep they followed me. “I’m broke, and if you want sex you can forget it.” Might as well warn them.

One of them, a guy in a green hoodie shook his head, “Guys, I’m out.”

“You are a god damn pussy Frank!” The first guy spat as he turned to his friend.

‘Frank’ flipped his friend off and walked out of the alleyway. I figured I was clear to start solving this particular problem.

There were plenty of ways I could have dealt with the situation, but I felt like being cruel today. The two punks began to walk towards me, I closed my eyes for a second in concentration, reaching out in an instant to explore their minds surface thoughts. I wished I could have gone deeper, but I was never taught how.

“You in the grey hoodie, your name is Jake. You are planning to get behind me and hold me for your friend Richard. You have a knife and plan to hold it to my throat. It is a black folder, and is in your front left jeans pocket.”

Jake froze, “How did you-”

“Richard, you plan to rape me to prove your masculinity to your ‘friend’ here. DId you know he’s planning to rob your dad’s place? He apparently thinks he can sell his TV for a good sum.”

“What? Dude fuck this bitch.” Richard took a few steps towards me. Too bad, I liked picking people out best.

“Sure I would be happy to do this physically. Just give me a second to…” I trailed off, focusing on the techniques my old psionic arts teacher had taught me, within a second my skin morphed, pigmentation changing to a meta material to warp light around me, vanishing from sight. Fortunately my clothes were the same smart-material ones I had when I got here and changed with me.

“What the fuck?” Jake gasped.

“The hell did she-”

I quickly ran behind the two punks, maybe they saw the blur and warped light, I don’t know. I do know that the second I decloaked and smugly said, “Right behind you.” a half inch from Jake’s ear he screamed like a little girl and ran off.

Richard however, seemed a bit stupider. He pulled a small folder knife from a pocket, “You stay back!” he backed up into the alley wall, knocking over a trash can.

“What’s the matter? You were so confident you could handle a girl a second ago. Your exact thought was ‘I can take this skinny bitch as long as I wasn't because she has like no muscles.’,” I grinned as his eyes widened, “You know what, you are right. I don’t have visible muscles. Do I look better with some?”

Changing my basic shape has always been a piece of cake for me, a quick flex of my left arm and I added in a dozen or so pounds of sculpted muscles… I wasn’t too sure if they looked how a human females were supposed to but that punk’s terafied eyes were all I really wanted. “Oh shit! Please dont kill me!” he shrieked.

“Yeah that’s why I don’t usually do the whole ‘buff’ thing.” I returned to my usual shape before continuing, “Hey maybe I should just ditch this one for my original shape huh?”

My skin turned bone white, I grew a few feet taller, bone stopped and clicked as they rearranged, arms and legs elongating, waist shrinking until I had a mostly skeletal appearance, my skull stretched, mouth widened, filling with jagged teeth. I honestly couldnt remember how the rest of me was supposed to look, I hadn’t let my Martian heritage out like that in years. It didn’t matter too much though, Richard fained.

Hopefully too many people hadnt picked up that thought. I was so used to speaking out loud I ah completely forgotten my true form used telepathy to communicate. Funnily enough, I knew my chosen human body by heart. Returning to it was a piece of cake, only took me a few seconds as well, not the nearly thirty seconds my birth form had.

I resumed walking home, giving Richard a kick as I started moving. This had to be the most boring version of Earth in the multiverse. If I had gotten to the Earth I had been trying for, Earth-1, the normal, awesome blue marble, just a few million kilometers away from home, life would have been awesome. I could have popped into the JLA’s headquarters and in just a few hours been an awesome Superhero with my fellow Martians John and Megan. I could have just fought two guys with pyrokinesis and cryokinesis in this ally and saved some little old lady or something.

But no, one goddamn space pirate fires a singularity torpedo into the transport I stowed away on and boom! I’m stuck on a version of Earth entirely devoid of metahumans, magic, and generally anything realy cool. Even the science is humdrum, no teleporters, FTL spacecraft, or even interplanetary communications. I had no idea if my people even existed in this dimension. But I remembered my multiverse facts from school correctly, this was Earth-Prime. So probably not.

“I could just go find a news crew, demorph on camera, and see how long it takes for the government to stick me in a lab.” I mused out loud as I approached my run down apartment building. Nah that would never work, I’d chicken out at the last moment and just make up another human identity. There were far better ways to commit suicide.

Something caught my eye as I entered the lobby, my post box’s light was blinking. Looks like I had a package, probably more bills. Humans loved giving each other bills it seemed. Opening the box I was surprised to find a small package, apparently from an Elizabeth Brooks who lived at… “Charlotte’s place…” Was Elizabeth her mother?

I took the package up to my apartment, no sense pouring through what was, well a letter or whatever, in a public space right? I pulled a kitchen knife over to me on the couch as I sat down, my telekinesis would have made that stupid job a piece of cake, if only I didn’t have to entirely hide who I was to these versions of humans.

I slit the tape on the box expertly, the lid popping open thanks to a rolled up letter sitting at the top of the package.

Hina Maki,

My name is Elizabeth Brooks. I am Charlotte’s mother. I knew she had a friend who worked with her and pulled some strings to get your name and address from your work so I could send you some of Charlotte’s things. Your manager informed me you were Charlotte’s girlfriend, I wish she had told me her preferences. Perhaps she wouldn’t have done it if our relationship had been better. I certainly would have had no problems with the two of you.

I remembered my daughter was incredibly attached to the two colored feathers which are enclosed. I assumed they were a gift you gave to her and since I was unaware of you and therefore did not invite you to the funeral, please take them as a way to remember her by. Also enclosed is a photo of Charlotte and her class ring. I know it’s not much but those are some of the most personal belongings she possessed.

If you are in any way depressed, please seek a therapist. Or come and see me. We can work over our loss together.

Elizibeth Brooks

P.S.

I am sorry about the nut jobs claiming Charlotte went to an alternate dimension. My apartment has been swarming with those tinfoil hat types for days now and I can only hope you have gotten some peace and quiet. If you need help getting rid of them let me know and I will send you a copy of the official police report. It clearly states that her body was found too damaged for an open casket funeral in language even these nutballs can understand.

Well, one former mystery of mine had been solved. Her parents totally would have been ok with us. Or well parent. Poor woman, first her husband died and now the government had apparently tricked her into thinking her daughter killed herself. It was a good story, hell I would have believed it if I hadn’t opened a portal mysel-

“The feathers didn't go with her!” I dug through the box, tossing the photo aside to pick up those two vibrantly colored feathers. I turned them over in my hands, searching my own mind to make sure these were the ones. One cyan, and magenta, each one slender, lengthy, and impossibly soft. Yep, these were them. But did they have any juice left in them?

I gave the feathers a little wave through the air. The cyan one trailed a faint rainbow, and the cyan one trailed a little line of white sparkles. They still had some charge. In fact it took less movement to get them to trial then it had before. Perhaps opening the portal had let through some of that universe's magic for a few seconds allowing these otherworldly relics to gain a little bit of charge.

I stared at the feathers in my hands for a long time, wondering if I should try to use them or not. I had the power to go to the world where Charlotte had sent herself, but that world was connected to this one by a maelstrom of energy which was too close to fire for my taste. If it burned like fire and didn’t just look like it simply crossing over could vaporize me. What about the world which lay beyond? Through the portal everything had a flame like aura around it. That could just be how things look when viewed through that brand of space/time rip but what if it wasn’t?

Then again, it apparently was a land of magical talking ponies who did battle with spirits of chaos with spell and magical relics. Also the woman I had been crushing on for ages was there and if she wasn’t into girls like I thought I could always just take a male shape. Ah screw the consequences. “Charlotte, here I come.”

Closing my eyes in dread of the hellish fiery energy I smashed the feathers together, there was a blinding flash of light which I could see even with my eyes shut. Then everything went black.

2 Hive

2 Hive

When I came to I found myself in complete darkness. Not the sort of darkness which you get in a room with the curtains drawn, this was the kind of darkness you get in a cave. I could feel something solid under my hands, it wasn’t quite rock but it was hard, smooth, almost like a combination of stone and plastic. I really wish I had been able to afford a xenogeology class back home, It would have really come in handy helping me figure out where I was.

I concentrated on shifting my eyes, there was no sense having eyes which saw the visual spectrum here. It took some shifting, but after a while I found a combination of thermal and ultraviolet vision which let me get a look around. I was standing in a very smooth tunnel, cut right through rock, and even a vein of iron judging by the break in the wall’s pattern at one spot. The top of the tunnel was lined with a moss which glowed brightly to my eyes, it must emit UV light.

The tunnel was straight, no paths branching left or right, and I couldn’t feel any air moving so I wasn’t anywhere near the surface. “Left or right?” I mused before turning left with a shrug and walking down the passageway.

The tunnel went for a long time, it curved and snaked around a lot too. At a few points I saw hole sin the ceiling of the tunnel which seemed more like passageways then air vents. That seemed very odd to me, there was no ladder so how were you expected to get up there? Was this some kind of escape tunnel and you slid down into it?

The more I thought about it the more something started to feel wrong. That’s when I noticed the wall’s shape wasn’t like what you would get if you drilled or cut the rock out. It was more natural looking, like how water erodes away rock and leaves odd ripples and ridges. Except that couldn’t be the explanation, the tunnel was consistent dimensions, and the moss on the top was laid out in a neat uniform strip.

Suddenly a clicking, chittering sound reached my ears. “Oh no…” I whispered. That sounded like a really big bug… This was a massive insect hive. I quickly cloaked myself, hoping the creatures which chewed this tunnel worked by sight and not sent. I had to find a way out of here as quickly as possible before… Well I remembered a documentary on what ant’s do when they find something not an ant in their colony. I like my bits attached to each other thank you very much.

The chittering sound grew louder the further down the tunnel I went. Pretty soon I started to see other tunnels branching off of the one I was in on the sides as well as the top. I walked past a lot of them before curiosity had me poke my head into one of the openings. Inside was a large chamber burrowed out of the rock. Oddly enough some stone had been left in the room and chewed into furniture like shapes, kind of like backless benches, and even a table.

The table was covered with trays that looked to contain handfuls of the glowing moss, some resin, and a third compound I couldn't identify. Standing around the table mixing the ingredients into past and packing it into baskets were some of the coolest insects I have ever seen. They looked somewhat like a pony, but with a flatter face, four legs which ended in perforated hooves, gossamer dragonfly like wings which looked sadly ragged, a unicorn like horn, two odd pointed but split ears, and massive glowing blue eyes.

They were working with such coordination and obvious skill at whatever they were doing that they had to be sentient. I mean they had baskets, and were filling them with their glowing moss paste. It should be a simple matter to shape shift into one and simply ask where the exit was, claim to be lost and what not.

I started at the six insectoids for a a few long minutes, my shape shifting was good, but figuring out the anatomy of a new species for the first morph is always hard. It’s not like I had a book telling me how their joints worked, or how good their hearing was. But if I got the looks right I could get close enough to one for long enough to telepathically learn their language and read everything they knew about their own bodies and make the corrections. After all these things looked awesome! I just might dress in their form for fun sometime.

Finally I felt ready enough to give it a shot. I pictured them in my mind, concentrating on the change. I shrank to half my size, my skin darkened and hardened into chitinous plates, I felt wings sprout from my back which I made sure looked pristine, no rips, holes, and perfectly shiny. I felt my head and face rearrange, that’s the part which always grosses me out a bit. It makes a rather gross sloshing squish sound in your skull. A moment later I touched the ground with my four hooves, gave my new wings a twitch, and dismissed my camouflage.

My smart clothes seemed to have a slightly hard time finding a good fit for this form, they kept sliding and shifting around my torso attempting to form human like clothing. I gave them a quick mental command, setting them to form a red x shaped harness around my shoulders and barrel then trotted into the chamber, approaching the table.

The insect people didn't look at me as I approached. Good, I got the look and sent right. It was time for the rest. I carefully sent a mental probe to the one closest to me, gently brushing at it’s mind to see if I could find a way to slip in unnoticed. To my amazement the probe was responded to instantly with a probe back before the insect opened a mental link. They were telepathic as well! Amazing!

I let myself follow the link, I needed to quickly learn everything I could about...these… Changelings, they were called Changelings. They were also shapeshifters, much like myself though their technique was different, they changed all of their cells at once instead of using a step by step… The changeling I was connected to had a very hard mind to explore, it was just so fast, and almost completely alien. Fortunately I was able to pull the basics out of it, every part of Changeling anatomy. I quickly altered my form to match a Changeling's as precisely as I could. I was starting to get a headache from exploding the mental…

It hit me like a ton of bricks the second I corrected my brain structure. My eyes widened in fear I would have screamed but I felt paralyzed. They had a hive mind! I had just telepathically bonded to… My brain now possessed the natural structures for… I could hear countless millions of voices all talking at once! The hive was filled with tens of thousands of Changelings. I was… we were… hungry.

the voices whispered.

I replied in unison with a hundred other drones.

What? No! I couldn’t fall into a hive mind! Odds are good that I wouldn’t ever be able to leave it. My entire personality would be shattered, lost... to... the… we... must collect... food for the hive.

The hive was sick. The hive was dying. We could not gather the love needed to sustain the colony. The drones could provide plenty of physical feed, but we lacked the love required to sustain us properly. The queen gave us many orders. Find ponies. Trick them to come to us. Trap them in the hive. Care for them. Love them. Make them produce food.

The soldiers brought them to us. The drones kept them fed, cleaned, as happy as we could. Quadmatrix 259 attended to three mares from Ponyville. There were three drones working under orders… from… me? What is ‘me’?

the hive ordered.

Of course, our designation was One of Four, Primary Drone of Quadmatrix 259. ‘Me’ must be our self designation. We entered the holding pens. The ponies looked thin. We must provide them with more feed. The cream mare was bucking the resin bars of her pen, blue and pink hair flying wildly as she attacked the bars in a frenzy.

We asked her, directing our thoughts her way.

“Let us out you monsters! I don't want your food I want out!” The mare screamed at us. But she stopped bucking the bars to do so. Success.

“B-bonbon… Did that one just talk?” a pale blue mare with darker blue hair asked.

We offered. We ordered our subordinated drones to gather fresh bedding for the ponies. The three of them quickly left the chamber to carry out my orders… What is ‘my’?

“It did talk!” The mare designated Bonbon gasped.

“It want’s to care for us? Hold on, is it just me or does it look confused?” a third more, this one grey with sand colored hair and green eyes asked.

We asked, wings fluttering in confusion.

The pony designated Bonbon looked at me quizzically. “Girls, look, it’s wings don't have holes. They look well, nice. You think this isn’t a drone?”

Bonbon twisted to look at the other ponies. “Drone’s don’t talk! The queen did when she attacked Canterlot… Lyra told me. Girls, I think we can finally talk to these things!” Bonbon swiveled back to face me. “Please let us out. The Royal Guard will be looking for us, if they find us here, held prisoner by you well… They will have to attack you to free us. You don't want Changelings to die right?”

I informed the hive.

I looked at the mares,

The blue mare trotted over to the bars, “Starve? Are you going to eat us?” She asked in a tone suggesting she had suspected this would be her fate from day one.

Eat a pony? Gross! Equine meat is supposed to have a horrible… what am I thinking about? What’s I? I asked.

Bonbon took a hoof step back in surprise, “Girls… I think that we-”

I asked again my mental tone carrying a pleading quality to it. We must know what ‘I’ is!

“W-what is our name?” the blue mare asked.

“Then for you, ‘I’ means well… whatever you just called yourself.”

We didn’t understand.

“Yes! You are… girls a little help? I really don't think that it’s understanding… Oh right Changelings have a hive mind right?”

Bonbon nodded. “Yeah. That’s why this one is freaking me out! It might be a crazy one, or brain damaged or a young queen or something!”

Our drones returned, carrying several baskets of fresh hay. They set it by the pen’s door. I ordered, the three once more moving off.

The gray mare pointed to them as they moved, “What are their names?”

I replied.

“Are you any of them?”

“Ok, so when you are talking about yourself One of Four, you say ‘I’, or me. If something belongs to you, One of Four, you say ‘it is mine’ or ‘that is my’. Do you understand?” Something in her green eyes seemed curious. Exploitative. It was nice.

I needed to change their bedding. But if i opened the door they would escape. It would be rude to just dump they hay through the bars. These ponies were saving the hive, they deserved respect.

“Bonbon, Huckleberry, I think I just might be able to befriend One of Four here and get us out!” the gray mare said with a wide grin.

I ignored the ponies conversation which followed. I needed to solve this problem. How do we… I get the hay into their pen without letting them out? I can walk through things. How did I forget I can walk through things? I picked up the three bundles of hay with my magic and pushed them through the bars, setting them one by one on the other side. I informed before calmly stepping through the bars, blue light rippled along the resin where I passed through it.

“AHHH!” Bonbon screamed.

“HOLY BUCKING CRAP!” the blue mare shouted.

“Woah! That was awesome! What spell is that? You should totally show me!” the grey mare begged.

As I began to arrange their new bedding Bonbon looked at the gray mare, “Teach you? You are a unicorn?”

“Yeah. My mane’s just thick and I have a short horn so it’s kinda covered when I style my mane like this see?” She pushed he mane aside, allowing the mares and I to see a somewhat short horn.

I levitated the old hay out of the pen and fazed back through the bars. It would be best for these mares if I assisted my drones in bringing them food. We worked best as one.

“Why don't you open the gate with your magic so we can escape then?” The other two mares demanded as one. I was unaware ponies had a hive mind.

“W-well… I have no idea how the gate actually opens. So I cant open it, and I’m not very powerful I can't just break it.” the gray mare replied, kicking the floor with her left forehoof.

We liked the gray one. She was sweet, not just her love’s flavor ether. I shook my head to clear it. Why was I having problems talking? I pointed my right hoof at the gray mare.

She looked at me and smiled, “My name is Sandy Chrome. It was nice to meet you One of Four.”

I trotted off to get some bushels of lemon grass for them.

As I left the chamber I heard Sandy ask, “What? One’s a nice...um… huh… Let’s just call her a girl. She’s a nice girl. She might just let us go if were kind to her.”

Our gender is irrelevant.. N-no… It isn't. I am female. I think. Why is my gender suddenly important to me? I should let them know of my decision. I replied as I enter the tunnel to the surface and started to head out. If the mares were treated more kindly, perhaps they would produce more love.

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3 Irony

3 Irony

We had experienced twelve sleep cycles since I first spoke with the mares. Our drones do not seem to be capable of interacting with them even when ordered. This is perplexing. Sandy Chrome of the pony settlement Ponyville had informed us this is because I am special. I asked the hive if I was a special designation of drone, but it did not reply. Perhaps my query was simply silly.

Our Quadmatrix was assigned another chamber to service on the eighth day. As the Primary Drone I split our Quadmatrix between the two chambers, but the additional assistance of Three of Four was required by the others. Apparently pegasi are more difficult to care for. This left me to care for the ponies designated Sandy, Bonbon, and Pond Bubble with no assistance. The burden was not great, and the uninterrupted freedom to converse with the mares allowed me to form enough of a personal bond to extract the occasional love to supplement my nutrient intake.

A day ago we concluded… I concluded Pond does not desire anything to do with me. However Bonbon seems to believe our conversations have value of some kind, and Sandy rarely stops talking to me. For clarity of audio, I moved my bedding into the pen chamber. I wish she would speak mentally like a civilized person so I could go about other tasks without being rude and unable to listen.

“So One, how’s the hive doing today?” Sandy asked as I got to my hooves to begin this cycle’s work.

I replied, moving to check the mare’s feed, water, and bedding.

“I’m sorry… I understand being hungry. How about you are you ok?”

I answered looking around the pen. The other two ponies were asleep. This made my duties impossible as I could not adequately inspect their bedding.

Her face scrunched in confusion, “Because ponies can’t do that.”

I could swear there was some way for me to fix this problem. Unfortunately nothing came to mind, but I could feel something buzzing around my skull. Something I knew I could do but what was it?

Sandy trotted to the edge of the pen and stuck her hooves through the pars, resting on the mid bar much like you would lean on a fence. “So what would you like to talk about today? We have plenty of water and food for now. Oh! Could you maybe get us some carrots? A Grass only diet isn’t exactly good for the intestines…” she blushed, I wondered what this signified.

I asked the hive.

Suddenly I remembered, I could link an other’s mind to mine if they were close enough! I could let Sandy hear the hive’s reply. I quickly forged the link. Sandy twitched, “Ah! What are you-”

“What was… did you just link me to the hive mind?” Sandy asked, looking very afraid. This… unsettled me. I closed the link.

I am not sure I could explain it better to her.

Sandy looked at me thoughtfully, “You would let me hear all of your thoughts and feelings? That’s… that’s actually really sweet… You know if it weren't for the circumstances we could be go-”

The hive cut her off with an alert! <PONIES ATTACKING HIVE! SOLDIERS DEFEND THE ENTRANCE! DRONES PROTECT THE LIVESTOCK! WORKERS CONSTRUCT DEFENSES!>

The hive’s scream was painful, I fell to my knees, hooves cradling my head as I screeched audibly. The sound awoke the other two mares, Sandy winced and instantly asked, “Are you ok One? What’s wrong?”

“What the hell is it’s problem?” Pond moaned getting up slowly.

“You didn’t make her mad or something did you Sandy?” Bonbon asked.

I informed, staggering back to my feet… I don't have feet. I have hooves. The hive’s scream of fear must have shaken our head up.

The two recently awoken mares instantly disobeyed my orders. They begun to bite, kick, and push at the resin bars.

“Girls! Please! Listen to One. I think I got her… look she’s my friend ok?”

The other two mares gave her an incredulous look, “What?”

“She’s my friend. I am sure that if the hive is under attack by ponies-”

The hive cut me off again, screaming orders so loudly I only could catch mine. <DRONES! THE ELEMENT BEARERS ARE HEADED FOR THE PEN CHAMBERS! DO NOT LET THEM TAKE THE LIVESTOCK!>

The ponies were looking at me, Sandy had one hoof pressed against her head as well. This confused me until I realized in my panic from the hive’s scream I had reopened my link to her. “Owwww… One, please stop that. Um-girls, it looks like the Elements of Harmony are coming for us.”

“Yes! No way they will fail at rescuing us!” Pony pumped a hoof in victory before screaming at the top of her lungs, “Princess Twilight! This way! Follow the sound of my voice!”

Bonbon trotted over to Sandy looking at her with suspicion, “How do you know that?”

I informed, wincing at the headache the hive’s screaming was producing.

“Yeah and it kinda hurts hearing that many ponies speaking at once… Please stop it.” Sandy said closing her eyes tightly.

I closed the link, but did not destroy it. She was my friend… I had never had a friend before. Perhaps I could convince her to mentally bond with me one cycle.

“And you are ok with that thing rooting around in your head? What if it brainwashes you?” Bonbon chided.

When did I learn how to control my mental powers? When did I get my mental powers? I knew that Changelings could speak mind to mind, but I could also read a mind, was this universal? I didn’t know.

“It’s ok Bonbon, the only thing she’s done to me with it is give me a headache.”

Suddenly I could hear the sounds of fighting coming up the tunnel. I had my orders. I could not let the attackers take the mares… If they took the mares they would take Sandy. They were going to take my friend! I had to protect her! Looking around the chamber I searched for anything I might use to blockade the entrance. Within a few minutes I was levitating boulders over to the entrance to seal us in.

“What’s it doing?” Pond asked nervously.

“Ask her.” Sandy prompted.

“You ask her Sandy! You are her friend after all.” Bonbon huffed.

“One of Four, what are you doing?”

I continued to place rocks, there would not be enough to block the chamber entrance completely, but I could make a suitable defensive wall.

“One, please stop.” Sandy begged.

I turned to look at her, confusion coming off me in waves, mentally and physically.

“Yes. They are my friends, your hive took me from them in the first place. They are just trying to get me back.” Her tone and face held a sadness and hope which should have confused me. But somehow I understood.

I understood what the hive had done. I understood what a friend was, and that being parted from one would feel very bad. My friend had been parted from her friends. But the hive demanded she stay here…

“No one, I want to be with my friends. I want to go with them.” Sandy replied. The other two mares were looking at us with shock. I think they were amazed as I at what I was realizing.

I turned around and rushed out of the pen chamber.

“Did you really just get it to help us?” Pond exclaimed.

“No, I got her to help us.” I heard sandy reply in a grateful tone as I left earshot.

I asked the hive as I moved towards the entrance.

I didn’t get a reply, the hive was too busy to hear me. But within a few seconds I heard the sounds of fighting. Spellbolts flew through the air, one almost hit my left wing. Six ponies were fighting a group of soldiers in front of me, perhaps twenty feet down the tunnel. The soldiers were faring badly, within seconds the rainbow of ponies arrayed before them would have killed or knocked them all unconscious. Then they would attack me… Unless…

“Rainbow, another one just came up the tunnel, take it out!” A purple winged unicorn called as she blasted a soldier.

“Right!” a cyan pegasus exclaimed setting her hooves to charge me.

I begged, my mental tone both afraid and hopeful,

The cyan pegasus stopped mid charge, sliding to a halt. “Huh? Did you guys just?”

The others nodded, an orange mare proclaiming, “I ain’t never heard a drone talk a’fore.”

The purple winged unicorn seemed to be their leader. She stepped forward and asked, “Are you surrendering?”

Her face scrunched up in confusion, “Right… So girls what do you think, is this a trap?”

“Total trap!” The cyan pegasus exclaimed.

“I honestly don’t think that chinglings can set a trap right now Twi,” a white unicorn pointed out, “there are several hundred of the Crusaders charging all through their hive right now. We have made it past so many of their soldiers ourselves that it seems… they are a bit stretched thin to set a trap right now.”

I pointed down the tunnel where I had come from,

A pink mare suddenly popped up directly in front of my eyes! I leaned back in surprise, falling into my haunches. The mare stared into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity before smiling. “We should follow her! This one’s nice.”

The purple one looked at her suspiciously, “Are you sure Pinkie? I couldn’t find anything about friendly Changelings in any book.”

“Just because no one has written it down doesn't mean it can't happen. Besides, Changeling number three-hundred-thousand-four-hundred-and-twenty-two here smells a lot like Sandy, also Bonbon… and I think maybe Pond. So she knows where they are.” Pinkie retorted before leaping up to her hooves, “Lead the way Changeling three-hundred-thousand-four-hundred-and-twenty-two!”

I informed as I walked up the tunnel, the mares following along behind me.

“I don't like this one bit. What if it’s a trap?” Rainbow said through clenched teeth.

“Then we fight our way out of it. We have handled worse before.” Their leader informed.

A pale yellow pegasi spoke up quite timidly. I could not hear her clearly enough to understand her even one bit.

“Sugarcube, just ‘cause one Changeling is helping us doesn't mean we should let our guard down.” The orange one informed.

“W-well we should try and see if others are nice too! Maybe they have a reason for the kidnappings other than just being mean.” the yellow one timidly retorted in a way I had not known was possible.

I informed before realizing that I could help Sandy’s friends and the hive if I ordered the drones in the pen chambers elsewhere. With the hive mind so busy I might be able to command them all by issuing a warning. <DRONES ATTENDING TO LIVESTOCK! THE ATTACKERS ARE COMING FROM QUADRANT FOUR! MOVE TO INTERCEPT!> I screamed.

Instantly drones poured out from every chamber entrance. The mares I was leading screamed, spell bolts were thrown, hooves flew in jabs and punches, but within a few seconds the drones had fled down the tunnel. However I was currently on my back, the cyan pegasus hooves holding me down. “I knew it was a trap! I am going to buck you right into next week you lie-”

I pleaded, the pegasi designated Rainbow must be a soldier breed, she certainly was aggressive enough.

“Dash, knock it out. This Changeling is different enough that we should take it-” My world went black with a rather sickening crack.

~~

I awoke in blinding light. There were sounds of many things I could not identify filling the air around me with almost as many sounds a there were voices in the hive… The hive… I couldn’t hear the hive! Where were we?

I tried to stand up, I could only move my legs a little bit before they stopped with a clink. I blinked my eyes, clearing the blinding light as much as I could. I was above ground, that explained the light, and my hooves and neck were chained to the floor of a cart. There were bars around the cart. I was in a pen. My brain informed me this was called irony.

I repeated, my tone growing increasingly fearful.

My eyes slowly cleared enough to allow me to see where I was. I was in the middle of camp of ponies. Their soldiers were busily looking over the hundred or so ponies the hive had taken for livestock. I presume they had all retrieved their friends and were making sure they were ok. That was good. I smiled, it was touching. Also filling, the ambient love was more then enough to sate my appetite.

“What are you smiling at Changeling?” I blinked, the purple winged unicorn was standing next to my cage.

I informed.

The pony flinched, I don’t think she expected that response.

“She is getting fed and cared for by the parents and roommate. You really care for her don’t you? She said you spent the entire time she was your prisoner making sure she was comfortable.”

I replied. Unsure of what her tone was implying.

“You are a very wired Changeling… We are going to take you to Canterlot. As the only prisoner from the military operation you will be interrogated. But… If you behave I will try and see that you are treated as and prisoner instead of an enemy soldier. The law will let you go afterwards then.”

She tilted her head in confusion, “You are locked in a cage and chained up. You are not going-”

I stood up completely, phasing through the chains, then stepping through the bars before letting myself return to being solid. The purple pony gasped as I density shifted, quickly shouting, “Guards! It can walk through walls!”

I looked around for Sandy, she had to be nearby. Unfortunately plenty of ponies looked a lot like her so I had to look very-

I was suddenly in a lot of pain as a guard tackled me from the side, knocking me into the ground. I hissed in pain, I felt my wing rip on a rock as I was tackled. I whimpered.

“Princess are you alright? How did this one get loose?” The guard atop me asked.

“It literally walked right through the chains and bars like they weren’t even there! This is definitely not just a drone! Celestia will want to see it… We need to get it to cooperate… Changeling, if the guard lets you up will you get back in the cage and stay there?” Princess asked. It was so irritating to have to wait to hear a ponies designation before I knew… Oh yes! I could read minds. Right.

I stretched a mental tendril out to the pony called Princess, gently brushing at her mind until I could… Ah, her name was Twilight Sparkle. Princess was a rank, much like Queen. This pony was important… She was concerned that I was going to kill a pony and replace them.

Twilight and the guard looked at each other in confusion for a long moment. Eventually Twilight looked at me. “If I get her will you get back in the cage?”

I concluded.

The guard let me up. I stood up and opened my wings turning to check the left wing for rips. It had a large tear through the center. I focused on the wound, the membrane quivered, rippled then knitted itself back together. Repair completed I jumped up to the cart, phasing through the bars to return to the pen the ponies had constructed for me.

“Ummm… what?” The guard gawped.

“You are telling me… Just… Just make sure she stays there.” Twilight ordered jumping up, her wing snapping open as she flew towards the middle of the camp.

I obediently weighted for her to return. It simply made sense to me to obey the orders of a queen, even if that queen was of another hive… At least as long as I couldn't contact my hive.

The guard flinched, “C-could you please just talk.”

Ugh, how inefficient. I tried to speak out loud, but only chittering hisses came out. We both winced at the sound. Guard shook his head, “Look it’s fine ok? Just… It's really creepy to hear a voice in your head.”

“Because it’s not natural.”

“... Ok. Point to you.” Guard chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment, “I suppose it’s ok to tell you… Your queen was defeated in combat by Commander Lightning Dash. You probably can’t talk to the hive because there isn't a queen anymore.”

I fell to the floor of the pen with a loud thump.

“L-look I’m sorry… But you have been attacking ponies for decades now! Something had to be done.” Guard said defensively.

I replied, my tone morose, I felt I shouldn't mention that my hive might survive if a royal pupa hatched in time to reunite the drones. Though that seemed unlikely if no one was attending them.

“One of Four! Are you ok?” Sandy’s voice suddenly cut through my sadness. Her presence instantly cheering me up. “Twilight why is she in a cage? She isn't like other Changelings!”

“It’s Sandy, just call me Sandy. You don't have to say the rest of it.”

Twilight cleared her throat, “Look this… One of Four is a prisoner of war. Also it has abilities I haven't seen other changelings possess. It is my prisoner until Celestia interrogates it.”

“Princess, with all due respect, One is a girl and deserves to be called as such.” Sandy informed in an irritated tone.

“I-what? Sandy, you are aware that Changelings are well… both right?” Twilight asked.

I informed.

“Oh… well... ok.” Twilight looked rather taken aback.

I asked.

She nodded, “Yes. Thank you One of Four.”

“Of course we can still be friends. Just… be as polite as you can… If they let you go I live in Ponyville. Will you meet me there?” She asked.

“Whoa there Sandy, I don’t want a rouge Changeling in my kingdom. If Celestia decides One can go we will return her here to this hive. Its… touching that you could make friends with her though.” Twilight gave me a look of confusion and curiosity.

While her back was turned I could see Sandy’s eyes give Twilight the most hateful glare imaginable. I half expected lasers to shoot out of her eyes and melt Twilight into a puddle. Her eyes turned to em and softened as she quickly mouthed, “Link with me!” I happily opened the link.

Sandy wondered.

I answered.

I smiled happily. Much to Twilight’s confusion.

She asked.

I nodded,

Jump to top

4 Discovery

4 Discovery

They took me far from the hive. Very far, at least 5 cycles of travel passed as we traveled. More could have gone by which I slept through. I became quite bored in the cage. It made me feel sorry for Sandy. With no orders to perform and nothing interesting to occupy one’s mind with time simply blurred into one single chunk.

Sandy talked to me for the first three days, but at that point the freed ponies were taken by some of the soldiers to their homes or hospitals. Sandy had to leave with them. I still remember her last thought to me,

Amusingly enough her next hoof step pushed her past my mental range making a reply impossible. That was all right, I would see her again soon. But the rest of the days were far more lonely and I especially missed the patient way Sandy explained many pony concepts to me. She told me she was an assistant school teacher and was used to helping ponies learn. I hope this wasn’t her way of saying I was a child or stupid. I cleared recalled my age as 58 and I was perfectly intelligent… It’s just that pony concepts and the nuanced way of speaking they used clashed with Changeling efficiency.

I remember how the pony settlement Canterlot looked as we left the forest. The idea of building a hive not only above ground but on the side of a mountain was simply baffling. It would have taken much less work to cut the needed space out of the mountain. I remembered a hive to the south had attacked this settlement many years ago. A hive inside the mountain would have also made make the attack far more difficult.

Even though it was strange and exposed the pony settlement seemed quite lovely. Buildings were made from white stones, tended to tower high into the sky where they were topped with purple clay tiles, and gold decorations embellished nearly every building. The city was densely packed, and the streets aside from a few main roads were quite narrow. If I didn’t look up I could pretend I was in a very well lit network of tunnels. It was comforting.

The ponies on the other hand were definitely not comforting. Many of them lines the streets, jearing at us as we passed… No not us. Me. Even the larva seemed to have something mean to shout at me. It made me angry for a while but I showed them. I morphed my ears away until my cage was wheeled into a very large structure at the center of the city which the ponies who were not traveling with me seemed to be unable to enter.

Within seconds of restoring my hearing I heard a guard order, “So this is the weird one huh? Take it to the dungeons, cell five has been prepared for interrogation.”

I wondered exactly what the cell had to be repaired with for a moment but a massive tapestry on a nearby wall  took my full attention. It was a gorgeously woven piece of abstract art sure, but it’s loose cotton weave looked very warm and soft. If no one had been looking I might have had to take it down and make a nest of it. One of the guards pushing my cage noticed me appreciating the tapestry and asked the other “I-is it appreciating art?” He looked confused.

His unit-mate shrugged, “Maybe. You should have seen this one… I mean I didn’t personally but I heard first hand. Apparently it talks.”

I informed, eager for conversation.

“Ummm...ok.” The guard who had just spoken muttered in reply.

The other guard seemed more friendly, “Probably very soft. It’s made from Breezy woven threads. I almost bought a blanket made from the stuff but I am not paid my yearly salary in a month.”

“Silver! Don’t talk to the prisoner.” the other chastised.

“What? It’s a Changeling sure, but it talked. It’s not just some killbot drone. I was on duty back when these guys attacked our city. You couldn’t reason with those ones, they were just monsters. This one talks. It has to be well, a person. I think it understands we won't hurt it if it doesn't try anything funny, so it’s no different from any other prisoner.”

I said hoping to spark more conversation.

The less talkative guard decided to ignore me and just push my cage. His unit-mate however replied in a tone I now realized was an interested one, “Realy? You have a funny way of naming things. Does the hive’s name mean anything?”

“So the name of one of your hives tells you where it is?”

“Neat. Do you name everything like that? Do you have a name?”

“I realy wish you would just stop talking to it Silver…” The other guard sighed.

He nodded interested in what I was saying but stopped walking as we came to a large wooden door at the end of the hallway. He moved forwards, took a key from his belt and unlocked the door, relocking it behind our group as we entered. This space was filled with small pens made from stone bricks with one iron barred wall facing the hallway in which doors were set. Most of the cells were empty but I could smell plenty of ponies within the area.

The guards wheeled me a short ways down the hallway stopping in front of one empty pen. “Right, we put it in this one.” unfriendly guard informed moving to open my cage’s door. “Get ready to make sure it doesn't run away.”

I stood up and density shifted, moving forwards through the bars of the cage, hopping to the floor, and moving into the pen, phasing through it’s door to enter. Both of the guards jumped, exclaiming or cursing in shock. I understood now that phasing through objects was not common to ponies, perhaps not even to Changelings. It was however fun to scare people with it.

“Sooo…” Silver said in a shaky tone, “You are pretty much only here because you agreed to be? Could you please not just walk through the castle? I don’t even want to think about what princess Luna would do if… just please stay put ok?”

“Yes.” unfriendly guard grunted.

I quickly scanned the friendly guard’s mind. It took a lot of effort on my part, I was very hungry and focusing was hard.

The two guards walked away pushing the cage with them, “When did you tell it your name?”

“I didn’t you only mentioned my first name… How the hell did it know my name?”

Unfortunately they were quickly out of the door and I lost their conversation. I was alone again. There were the voices of a few other ponies in the… dungeon I believe this chamber had been called. But their voices were quite, hard to hear and probably not meant for me anyways. I lay down on my belly, crossing my forelegs in front of me to rest my chin on and waited. I waited for a long time, at least a quarter cycle before a unicorn mare entered the dungeon and trotted up to my pen.

She was mostly gray, but her coat faded to black down her legs. She had an interesting black fading to white tipps main and tail color, and kept her hair bound in a sort of puff behind her head. I couldn’t quite tell what her eye color was, her eyes were a bit… wrong. After a few moments of thought I realized there was a UV blocking substance covering each of her eyes. I wondered if she knew this made her eyes look like empty black voids and made her rather creepy.

She tapped one hoof on my cell door, “Hello, One of Four? Are you awake?”

I replied.

“Could you reply again please?” She asked, closing her eyes and lighting her horn with a magic aura.

I asked before a sharp pain behind my eyes rippled through my head. I scooted backwards until I was pressed against the wall, cradling my head in my hooves. I hissed out loud wondering what could possibly have caused the pain until I realized a mind was connected to mine. A totally alien one. I couldn’t read anything from it at all.

The gray and black mare flinched, “Oops! I’m sorry! I haven’t tracerout and connected to a Changeling before. I’m slowing my connection speed… Is this better?”

The pain slowly faded until I could nod,

“Because very few ponies ever develop telepathy or any such ability. Also as far as I know I am the only one with wi-fi… I’m always surprised that if something pings me I can connect to it using IPv4 protocols.” she giggled.

I asked, adding

“Because my firewall is preventing unauthorized data transfer. No, I am not Princess Celestia. I am Jaesa. Celestia asked me to make sure it is safe for her to interrogate you herself and to get anything I an out of you. After all I can tell if you are lying, also I don’t have any bias towards your species. Basically Celestia wants to make sure you are not a shape changed Queen lying in wait for her to come in range of a revenge attack.”

Jaesa frowned, “That’s weird… You don’t look like a drone, but you are not lying. Are there any significantly different families of Changelings?”

“Well,” Jaesa’s creepy blank eyes seemed to scan over me for a moment, “Your wings are shaped more like a dragonfly’s and lack holes in them, your hooves have fewer than the normal number of holes, you have the crimson x shape pattern on your exoskeleton, you are slightly taller than a drone, the shell which covers your wings is a glossy black instead of a deep blue, and according to the report you have the distinctly non-drone powers of speech and the ability to walk through solid objects.”

I thought about this for a while. I asked unnerved by her eyes more than I could explain.

“Sure.”

I had no idea what deep space was, but  knew it was very black.

“Do you see ultraviolet light? The outer layer of my eyes is a material which blocks… Did you sjut say deep space?”

I was beginning to understand that this pony was special. Her eyes were made from something different from normal pony eyes. Perhaps a special caste of pony the hive was unaware of, some sort of scout.

“How do you know about space?” Jaesa asked her face contorting into a shocked expression.

“Do you know what space is?” Her face expressed even more confusion.

The more I thought about the word ‘space’ the more i felt that it was important somehow. But I just couldn't quite put my hoof on why or how. It was infuriating.

“Yes, there is… Let’s forget about space for now. Do you intend to harm anypony?”

“I will see if anypony is willing to let you have some love.” Jaesa assured, “Just let me ask a few more questions. Do you know why you can do things other Changelings can not?”

Jaesa nodded, kicking the floor with one hoof thoughtfully. “I wonder if germline mutations are a thing here. I’ll need to ask Twilight for books on biology... You could be a mutant.” Her face stretched into a curious grin, “I heard you're species are shape changers, would you mind showing me? You know for science?”

I nodded, it wouldn’t be much of a problem to transform for her. But what to change into? I decided to shift into a copy of her, if only so she could see how freaky her eyes looked. I concentrated, the holes in my hooves slowly filled. My chitin split into fur, I developed an endoskeleton, my horn reshaped, my wings melted onto my back vanishing, my tail filled out as my mane grew in.

Jaesa’s grin widened a bit as she watched me morph, “That’s amazing! But why did you keep your red stripes? I don’t have those.”

I looked down at my chest, sure enough the crimson bands crossed over my barrel and shoulders, “Huh… Interesting.” I said out loud, mimicking Jaesa’s voice.

She reached through the bars and curiously touched my shoulder directly on the red patch, “This feels like… Rubbery skin…” She gave it a curious tug, the patch lifting off of my shoulder, stretching somewhat. “This is clothing… Do you remember putting this on?”

I shook my head, I answered. Speaking out loud was just… too weird for me.

“Ok, well I think I have enough information for Celestia now. I will see someone brings you food before she arrives later this evening… Also my eyes are pink. Did you not change your senses when you copied my appearance?”

I shivered slightly  and looked away from her voidlike eyes. I could see them normally now but the memory was more then enough to creep me out.

She shook her head, chuckled and trotted away, opening the door and leaving without another word.

Jump to top

5 Remembering

5 Remembering

The meal brought to me was quite delicious. I do not know exactly what it was, it had to be a cooked food though. It blew my mind that I was given a cooked meal, why ponies treated prisoners like royalty was beyond me. Whomever cooked the meal cared a great deal about their craft, while it wasn't a filling amount the meal had just enough love in it to get my belly to stop rumbling.

The energy the wonderful meal provided was more then enough to give me more energy than I had had in several decacycles. I couldn’t just keep still in the pen. I had energy. There was interesting things all around me. I needed to explore. I was sure none of the ponies would mind. So I had phased through my pen’s bars and then the dungeon chamber door. This brought me face to face with a massively tall white pony.

She had a mane which seemed to be composed of magic and swished as if there were some wind in the room even though it was still. She possessed wings, as well as a horn, her flanks were decorated with a yellow sun marking, and she had lavender eyes which seemed kind even though they were spread wide in surprise. Looking up at her face I waved with one hoof,

I think my response amused her, she chuckled and lowered her head. “You are quite the friendly little Changeling aren't you?” Her eyes narrowed as she gave me a dangerous look, “I trust you haven't hurt anypony on your little walk just now?”

My face fell, why did everyone think I would hurt ponies? I sighed, the actual sound reaching my ears as a sort of exasperated chitter.

This seemed to satisfy the large pony. “I am Princess Celestia, this is my castle and my kingdom. Do you understand?”

I nodded, dipping my forelegs and spreading my wings in a greeting to royalty. I attempted to explain hoping I did not just screw up.

“It’s alright little one. Jaesa tells me you are honest, I believe you did not harm anypony and given what I have seen you do I doubt anypony could make you stay anywhere you did not want to.” She paused for a moment looking thoughtful, “Would you like me to interrogate you elsewhere? I think my sister would find you amusing.”

I thought for a while. The pen was very boring. Every rock was so perfectly square, and the cubic pen didn't even have any interesting designs in it. Surely somewhere in this castle had to be someplace nice. I nodded.

She dipped her head towards her side, “Follow me. Don’t run off.”

I trotted along side Celestia as she left the hallway pausing only to ask a guard to get someone named Luna and Jaesa to meet her in her private chambers immediately. A few ponies gave me suspicious looks as she led me through the castle. The walk took us up a tower which had far to many steps to not be some form of torture for grounded creatures. She seemed amused when I started to fly up it’s spiraling stairs a quarter of the way to the top.

Soon after the ‘countless-stairs-of-hoof-ache-doom’ we came to a pair of large wooden doors carved with the image of a sun, it matched the marking on Celestia’s flanks. “Here we are.” She announced as she opened the doors with her magic.

The chamber inside was filled with many things I recognized, but was sure I had not seen before. There were bookcases, couches, rugs, paintings, and cloth wall hangings. I had no idea why I knew what they were. Or how I knew they were all arranged nicely promoting a comfortable place to talk. Seated on a couch was Jaesa, and next to her was another large pony like Celestia, except blue, with a darkblue mane which… I exclaimed, my eyes glued to her waving mane which seemed to hold the night sky itself.

“Sister, why is this Changeling not in the dungeons?” The mare with the hair made of night asked.

“Don’t worry Luna, it’s harmless. I am sure you are aware that a single Changeling is no Sombra or Discord. I could have handled any problems this little one created.” Celestia answered before looking at me, “Would you please sit somewhere?”

I informed, frowning slightly. I wish I could get people to call me the right gender. I also wish I knew why female was correct for me.

“True, but this is against the established rules of interrogation. What if other prisoners demand special treatment over this?” Luna asked.

“This one is a special case. She can walk through walls, that’s not normal for Changelings as far as I could learn.” Jaesa pointed out, making Luna nod in concession.

I sat down on the couch across from the blue mare designated Luna. Celestia took a seat on the room’s third couch where she could comfortably see everyone in the room. “I know it is unusual, but it was quite refreshing to find a polite and cheerful Changeling. I decided she deserved at least a small measure of kindness. Now then little one, we need to begin. Can you tell me your name, where you lived, and what you did for your hive?”

I nodded,

Celestia nodded, “Why did your hive kidnap my ponies? For food?”

Celestia’s eyes grew sad. “I see… Luna, it seems we have made a mistake. I am sorry little one, I had believed your hive to be the same one which attacked my kingdom years ago whom we are still technically at war with. If I had known you were not the same Changelings I would have attempted a peaceful solution first. Are all Changeling hives facing starvation?”

Luna frowned, “Why are the Changelings starving? Can you not feed of your love for each other?”

I felt a deep sadness welling up within my heart as I spoke. It looked like my species was doomed.

The ponies in the room looked at each other thoughtfully for a moment. I wondered if they had a hive mind of their own. “I see…” Celestia sighed, “We can no longer demonize and attack a people who are only hungry.”

Luna shook her head, “No we cannot. Thank you, One of Four was it? This is the first time we have spoken with a Changeling. Our sister briefly spoke to a queen but it was during combat. We will… attempt to bring aid to our neighbors. Assuming we can approve any hives we find without being attacked.”

Jaesa turned to Celestia, “I think the entire conflict between your species has stemmed from… It’s like the book Ender’s Game. The ‘Buggers’ attacked a few people, killed them, and dissected them to see what this new species was like. They were a hive minded species, so to them the death of a few individuals for the sake of knowledge was quite literally acceptable. With no concept of individuality aside from a few queens, they never imagined a race might be composed only of sentient members. Unfortunately they realized their mistake too late and they were destroyed entirely out of fear.

“If what One says is true, then in a way there are only four Changelings in Equestria. They simply might not understand why killing, kidnapping, or feeding off ponies against their will is wrong, because they would not think anything if we did the same to a drone. They might think we are just like them, mostly mindless drones with a few queens.”

Luna nodded, “So it appears.”

“This may be true, however it raises another question. If a Changeling hive is one creature, how does this Changeling have a personality?” Celestia asked as the three ponies turned to look at me curiously.

I answered, my frown deepening. I truly didn’t know why I was different from the others.

“I have listened to Jaesa’s report on you One of Four, and I believe what she has concluded is quite reasonable. But i want to be sure before I come to any decision of my own. I need you to think as hard as you can, what is your oldest memory?” Celestia asked, her lavender eyes piercing into my own.

I didn’t know. I closed my eyes in thought, navigating the corridors of my own mind. I don't think i had ever done that before. It was a very messy place, tangled, broken, many dead ends, and dark places with nothing in them. I don’t know how long it took me but eventually I replied.

“What are they?”

<... I can’t… No… Yes I can. Hold on.> I concentrated as hard as I could, the words becoming clear to me,

I opened my eyes to see Jaesa and Luna staring at each other with looks of total incredulity, “What?” They asked each other in unison.

“Those words mean something to you two?” Celestia asked them.

Jaesa nodded, “The rest of the last verse is ‘beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!’ It’s the oath of a fictional group of heroes from human comic books.”

Luna nodded, “We watched the movie the made of it a few nights ago. It was terrible…”

“So this Changeling knows of things from another world… I believe you are correct Jaesa. She can not have always been a Changeling.” Celestia stated bluntly.

I shouted fearfully. I had to be a Changeling! What else could I be?

Celestia gently set a hoof on my shoulder. “It’s ok little one, we are going to help you. If I put you to sleep Luna can enter your dreams and try to help you learn about yourself.”

I protested.

“We will see.” Celestia said as her horn flashed gold and I felt myself fall instantly into a deep sleep.

~~

I stood atop a brown rock within an endless sea of rusty red sand. Overhead countless stars shown in the inky black sky as orange-pink clouds glowed on the horizon. Lit by sunlight as the firey globe set. There were others like me here. I could not see them, but I could hear them in my thoughts. A million voices in my head, but each distinct, each an individuals. Not a hive but rather a city of minds.

I could not see what I looked like, my body was just a blank fog. But I could move. I sailed across the red sand, I was restless, I was unwelcome even though this was my home. I knew that there was a place nearby where I would be welcomed, where I could use the abilities I possessed to become a beloved person by protecting the week from the strong and cruel. A place of adventure and possibility, not like this desert of sand. Here there was only thankless work.

I moved across the desert towards something. I couldn't see it, I didn’t know what it was. But I knew it could take me where I wanted to go which was so far away only special things like this could take you there. Suddenly the world shattered as if everything was a reflection in a mirror which had just been smashed. Everything was black. I saw nothing. I felt nothing. All I knew was one thing. I had come here to find love.

~~

I awoke to Jaesa and Luna quietly discussing something… my dream. I had had a dream? What was it? I never had a dream before! I remembered… I remembered… nothing.

No, not nothing. I remembered one thing. I said sitting up.

Everypony stopped what they were doing and looked at me. Luna spoke first, “One, do you remember your dream?”

I winced, trying to remember anything I may have dreamed made my head hurt.

“Tia… One’s dream told me a lot. Not enough to tell what she is, but we know one thing. Whatever she used to be is basically dead. Her mind is a mess, she truly believes she is a Changeling-”

I said frowning.

“No one, you are not. Or at least, you weren't always.” Jaesa said in what I think was meant to be a soothing tone.

“Be still One,” Celestia gently wrapped her left foreleg around my shoulders, “It is ok. You are safe.”

“As I was saying, One’s mind is injured. The wounds are very old, too old to heal on their own and I doubt magic would even repair the damage completely. I believe, and Jaesa agrees, that she is… was once a member of a species of shape changers from a plane which is neither ours, nor Jaesa’s home. The wounds in her mind are nearly two years old, this would mean she likely arrived in Equestria around the same time Jaesa originally did.”

Celestia nodded, “I understand. The walls between worlds were thin that year… It stands to reason that many worlds exchanged many things. One, would you object if I attempted to heal you? I know you believe you are well, but from our point of view you are injured. But I will only attempt to help you if you wish me to.”

I asked fearfully.

“I would use my magic to try and connect the broken pieces of your mind. I can not bring back any memories you have lost, but you seem to have pain when you attempt to remember things, your speech is odd, and Twilight’s report mentioned you seem to have trouble understanding things. My magic would allow you to live like any of my ponies do. I won’t remove your species, or your abilities. Whatever you where you are a Changeling now, but I can restore your mind to that of a true individuals.”

Luna shook her head, “My sister means she can give you the ability to think better. Right now you appear to be thinking like a foal does… Or should I say like a larva? She can give you the ability to think like an adult. Ah! No, the proper way to explain it, my sister can make you think like a queen.”

I thought about what she might mean for a while. Her words almost made sense, but I was still missing a piece of the puzzle…

“Perhaps you will understand if I say I can make you a hive of one?” Celestia asked me gently.

A hive of one? Oh. Ponies were each their own hive! That… that made perfect sense. Each seemed so different from the others there could be no other explanation. They were a hive on their own. If I accepted, that meant the only orders I would need to follow would come from me. That sounded nice.

Celestia nodded, “Hold still.”

Her horn blazed as her magic ran up it’s length, eyes glowing white after a few moments. A golden ray of light streaked for me, I flinched, almost jumping out of the way a sudden panic welling up inside me, it looked exactly like fire! But then instead of burning a hole through me like I had feared, the bolt gently flowed around me. It felt cool, like stepping into a stream. After a few moments I felt a fog lift from my mind, pieces I had not known were missing from the puzzle connected. I felt… whole. Singular.

I was… me. But who was I exactly? I was a changeling, sort of. More like a Super Changeling. The Changeling from Krypton! No nothing like that, my powers were not even close to a Kryptonian’s… What the hell was a Kryptonian anyways? All I could remember the word meant was ‘an overpowered ball of nonsense’. I frowned as I tried to recall everything I could about me. I had likes and dislikes… but I couldn't remember anything further back than two years ago, when I had when to collect lemon grass for the hive.

“Are you ok?” Celestia asked me in a concerned tone.

I jumped up as the vague memory of my misery flooded my mind. I had gone somewhere to find love and then I was picking lemon grass. I couldn't remember anything else aside from a few skills I knew I could do.

Luna looked at me worriedly, “Will you be alright?”

I shook my head trying to stop remembering my pre-lemon-grass feelings. I tapped a hoof against my barrel and frowned at the holes in it. I quickly morphed, sealing the holes up before saying,

Luna nodded, a slight smile spreading across her cheeks, “I think you fixed her Tia.”

“Yes, she certainly seems to be well now… What do we do with her? I can't in good conscious return her to her hive as she is now. Or was before for that matter.” Celestia asked.

Jaesa shrugged, “The Crusaders could definitely use a shape shifter… Just saying.”

Celestia shook her head, “I wont ask a newcomer to my kingdom to defend it. However should you wish to help protect my kingdom one day One, you may certainly join my sister’s Crusader Corps. Is there any profession which you might like to try? It would be little trouble to find you a job within my lands and set you up with a life… I am certain you understand how my little ponies feel about your kind.”

I nodded, I exclaimed with a grin. Of course there was only one thing I needed to be happy! How had I even forgotten? The entire reason I had come here from wherever I had been!

“What is it?”

I gave the three ponies a shaky grin. Of course I couldn't do it looking like this. I looked frightening to ponies no matter how pretty black chitin was.

Celestia knew that as well, “I-I don't object to your wishes if the pony you are referring to shares your affections. But you will still need a job, and at least a less threatening-”

I softened my features, allowing them to become more rounded like a ponies was. My eye’s blue glow faded, pony like blue eyes forming in their stead. I sculpted my carapace to have more of a ‘soft’ look to it, added just a tinge of blue to it’s color and made sure it was shiny. I decided to sprout a long mane of straight hair the same blue as my eyes, and I altered my tail to match. Lastly I shrunk my fangs to be almost completely hidden. I still looked like a Changeling, just a more… approachable one.

“-appearance.” Celestia finished with a slight frown on her lips.

“Where does this Sandy live?” Luna asked.

Suddenly I remembered that ponies were disturbed by telepathy. I sighed and settled on a distinctly female voice, matching it as close to my mind’s sound a possible, “She lives in Ponyville. ... Oh god speech is so in efficient...”

“Pfff, she’s fine Celestia. Ponyville see’s weirder than that a lot.” Jaesa shook her head, “Like the giant flying iridescent purple ferret from two months ago.”

“True, Ponyville does seem to be a lightning rod of strange happenings. Well then One, you may live within Ponyville if you so desire. Try your luck at establishing a life for yourself. If you simply can’t as you are now, go and see Princess Twilight. I am sure she can help you come up with a pony identity.” Celestia stood up and walked to the door, I followed her.

She opened the door to her chamber, Luna and Jaesa left together mentioning something about needing to crush a dungeon. I was about to ask what they meant when Celestia asked a white pegasus guard something and he quickly touched my shoulder for attention.

“Remember Bronze Scabbard, be polite.” Celestia ordered.

Bronze nodded, “Yes your highness. Miss One, will you please follow me? I will set you up in a room for the night and get you a train ticket to Ponyville first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a happy nod and followed him towards the spiraling countless-stairs-of-hoof-ache-doom unable to stop thinking about getting to see Sandy again. I hoped she wasn’t missing me too badly.

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6 Dawn

6 Dawn

I awoke the next morning feeling incredibly excited. I understood much more about myself then I had yesterday, I was thinking clearly, I had eaten twice in the same day, and I had spent the night in a lovely room. Sure the bed had been too soft and I would have preferred a nice rock shelf to sleep on with some cloth bundled into a nest but in all I couldn't complain. It was also nice to awaken on my own. No implanted order waking me exactly at the beginning of a cycle was a feeling I could get used to.

The great feeling of being my own person didn't last forever though. I had been awake for about ten minutes when an orange pegasus dressed in a guard’s bronze armor walked in without so much as a knock. “One of Four? I’m Flash Sentry, I will be your escort to the trainstation.”

He reached into a saddlebag and took out a small piece of paper, “Here is your ticket for the 915 to Ponyville. Don’t lose it or you will have a three day walk on your hooves.”

His words dripped venom, I assumed at some point a changeling hurt him. I took the ticket in my magic, the green aura bubbled and whorled around the ticket as I held it. “Keep this ticket…” I mused.

Perhaps my harness had some form of pocket. I looked down and pulled at the two straps with one hoof searching for a pocket. To my surprise one quickly opened just beneath my hoof. Deciding to explore exactly how the cloth did that later I slipped the ticket inside and gave Flash a nod, “Are we leaving now?”

He returned my nod and trotted out of the room, “Follow me.”

Everything was fine until we left the castle. While inside it’s walls nopony really took notice to me. There were no rude words, mean thoughts or suspicious looks. The second we stepped outside that all changed. I instantly had a gap form around me at least three ponies wide, no one wanted to get close to me. A few times I heard a slur or insult thrown my way, but the worst part of it all were the thoughts. Telepathy is a two way street, even if I was not trying to read a mind, every thought directed my way I could hear.

It was almost like being in the hive again, if the hive had been far smaller and for some reason hated me in particular. After a mere hundred yards I couldn't take it anymore. I directed my mental voice outwards for all to hear shouting,

This was a mistake. The voices in my mind only intensified. I spent the rest of the walk through the streets looking down at my hooves and counting the cobblestones to try and keep my mind distracted. It mostly worked. “You could just change shape.” Flash pointed out, I guess he noticed my distress.

“Yeah I could. But I like this shape, and I shouldn’t have to change. Also I’m too stressed…” I still hated speaking out loud. Maybe I could stop that in Ponyville.

Fortunately the train station was less populated. Only a half dozen ponies stood on the concrete platform with Flash and I. Three of them quickly began muttering about me, one red unicorn seemed entirely unaware of my presence as he was busy looking after a larva. The other two however, a grey pegasus mare with a blond mane and a dusty brown stallion with a tousled darker brown mane approached me.

I looked them over in more detail as they drew near. The mare had a marking of a small cluster of bubbles on her flank, and the stallion had an hourglass marking. They both seemed friendly, smiling faces can be deceiving though. I had an odd suspicion that they were going to give me pamphlets and talk to me about the ‘Great Enlightenment’ or some such nonsense. The train had yet to roll into the station so I geared myself up for the inevitable conversation.

The grey pegasus spoke first, one eye drifting lazily up and to the left as she waved, “Hi!”

The stallion held out a hoof for me to shake, “Ello there, I’m the Doctor.”

I frowned, timidly reaching out and shaking his hoof, “One of Four, Primary Drone of… You can just call me One.”

“It’s so nice to meet a polite Changeling. See Ditzy? I told you she was nice, smelled it all the way across the station.” The Doctor let go of my hoof trotting around me with an analyzing look on his face.

I wasn’t sure what he was up to, and gently probed at his mind to scan for any surface thoughts. Was he sizing me up for any weaknesses to exploit? The more I tried to get a reading on his mind, the harder it became. It was as if there was nothing there to read.

“Doctor, stop harassing the poor thing.” Ditzy sighed, “Sorry, he’s just… curious.”

“What are you doing? I can't just read your mind and find out apparently.” I asked, stepping away from the circling stallion.

“You… are shape-shifted…” He mused, looking up as I mentioned my telepathy, “Oh, that’s just basic psychic shielding. Simple thing really anyone could learn it. Well, almost anyone. Anyone whose favorite color isn't mauve. Er- Would you mind showing me your real shape?”

I shook my head, “I don’t want to give those ponies more reason to hate me. I would rather keep looking… less… alien, I guess.”

“Ah.” The doctor nodded and trotted back to his companion’s side.

“I’m sorry they are being so mean,” Ditzy reached into a saddlebag and took out a small blueberry muffin, “I know it won't make up for anything but… muffin?”

I accepted the muffin, levitating it to my harness hoping I could pocket it for later, then thought better of it and simply ate the muffin. I replied not wanting to speak with my mouth full.

“You're welcome! So how come you are in Canterlot? I mean, Changelings live in Hives right? And well since you guys have been abducting ponies I mean so many people must be mad at you, but I guess you weren't a part of that because if you were I mean you wouldn't be standing at a train station… Oh hey where are you going?” Ditzy babbled.

I was about to reply, but between bites of muffin and the Doctor taking out a pair of 3d glasses, putting them on and going back to staring at me I was at a loss for words. The Doctor hummed and hawed for a few moments before reaching up to his mane and pulling out a small metallic device and waving it over my general direction. The device made a really obnoxious sound almost like a…

“Screwdriver,” the Doctor corrected reflexively before looking up at me over the 3D glasses, “How did you know what…” He shook his head and inspected the multitool.

I honestly had no idea how I knew it was an ultra/infrasonic wave multi-function probe. Or even really what one of those was. Whoever or whatever I was must have known, I started to try and recall anything Old Me might have known that would be useful, but all I could think of was: Where did a pony get a sonic probe in a kingdom which appears to be 1600’s era technology at best?

As I thought the two ponies began talking to each other, having some form of mild debate. I decided to listen in. Ditzy was currently talking, “Well I guess we could. But we don't have a spare room. Unless you want Dinky sleeping in the TARDIS I really don't know how we could manage-”

“Well… I wouldn't mind Dinky sleeping in there, she has a room after all.”

“Still? I thought you said you were deleting it to save power.”

“The TARDIS wouldn't let me, you know how much she likes Dinky. It’s like the broom cupboard outside the library all over again.”

I asked finishing the muffin.

Ditzy looked over at me… while still looking at the Doctor. I had enough time to guess her eyes worked like a chameleon's before she answered, “My husband wants to rent you a room. I don’t know if we have the space though.”

“Er-well that’s nice of you, but you don’t even know where I’m going.” I replied.

Ditzy and the Doctor laughed together for a few moments. The Doctor wiped his eyes and nodded, “Right! Well, if you happen to be traveling to Ponyville-”

“I am yes. I’m going to see a friend. Hopefully live there if people are nice enough.”

“Brilliant! Well, if you don't already have plans would you consider taking a room with Ditzy and I?” He squinted at me through the 3d glasses again.

Ditzy gave him a nudge, “Dear, you are frightening her… What have I told you about explaining things to ponies?”

The Doctor sighed, “To at least attempt to explain myself.”

“That’s right. Now tell her why you want to rent her a place to stay.”

“Well you see,” The Doctor began, “you are saturated with Void Stuff. It’s a sort of… ethereal gunk which gets stuck to things that travel between dimensions. Normally it carries a negative or a positive charge, kind of like a big invisible magnet. The charge can be used to pull something back into the dimension where it came from. But you… Hold on… What’s a good way to… Ah! Forget magnets, think about matter and antimatter. Most people don't know it but there is also neutral matter, that is matter without a charge which is perfectly stable.

“Basically the two coats of void stuff you have are so perfectly in balance with their charges they cancel each others effects out. I didn’t even know that was possible and I believe I could learn a lot from studying you… So if you would like, I can rent you a room. For a few bits a month, and permission to well… science.”

I blinked. So did the guard who was escorting me. I looked at him, “Did you follow any of that?”

“Nope.”

Ditzy giggled, “You either learn to tune him out or start understanding after a while. He means that he’s a scientist, and you are an interesting space/time anomaly he would like to learn about.”

“Oh.” I turned back to the Doctor, “So you want to learn about the Void… whatever I’m covered in? Um… is it harmful to be covered in it? Can I wash it off?”

He shook his head, “Nope. It’s just harmless background radiation which sticks to things which pass between dimensions. Oddly enough, you somehow are a perfect storm of… Basically you have somehow managed to cancel out the one negative effect. You can't be banished from this dimension using trans-reality-magnetics.”

I nodded, at least whatever I was covered in was harmless. “Ok and why do you want to study it?”

Ditzy grinned, “Oh! I know this one! If we understood what made the void stuff around you neutrally charged we might be able to upgrade the TARDIS to allow us to explore other dimensions safely… We’re adventures.”

That made sense… kind of. I had one more question I just had to ask. “What kind of adventurers? And what is a TARDIS?”

“Big blue box, bigger on the inside.” The Doctor replied nonchalantly.

“What kind? Umm… the fun seeking kind?” Ditzy answered.

I mulled the idea over in my head, “Well… I don’t think Sandy will want me to live with her at first… Ok you have a deal.”

The Doctor grinned, “Brilliant!”

The looked about to say more but the loud whistle of the most absurdly decorated train I had ever seen shattered the air. With a screech of metal on metal the train slowed, stopping at the station in a light cloud of steam. The Doctor nodded, “Right, there’s our ride. Allons-y!” Trotting off to the train alongside Ditzy.

I followed along, my body guard moving ahead and explaining to the fairly nervous looking conductor that I was in fact supposed to be here. I showed him my ticket, which after a look from Flash he punched with a sigh asking, “Miss, if you would kindly do your best to keep out of sight for the comfort of the other passengers, it would make my job a lot easier.”

I thought about it, perhaps it would be a good idea. Less annoying thoughts directed my way. “Sure,” I quickly cloaked, vanishing in a ripple of green tinged light, “is this out of sight enough?”

The conductor jumped, nodding before clearing his throat, “N-next passenger?”

I boarded the train and followed Ditzy and the Doctor on board, sitting in the same group of seats as them. To my surprise Ditzy’s left eye focused on me, she frowned slightly as she focused on me with her other eye as well until, “Oh! That’s a neat trick! I didn’t know Changelings could turn invisible.”

The Doctor looked over, “What are you talking about?” Ditzy pointed to me, he squinted at the area for a moment, “Ah, optical camouflage. That’s a very interesting trick… You are an odd one.”

I asked, figuring ‘stay hidden’ meant quiet too.

Ditzy shrugged, “I’ve always been able to see things others can't. My depth perception is terrible though, I’ve never been able to throw something and hit a target. Like last year at the fair…”

Ditzy it turned out was incredibly talkative. She spent the entire three hour train ride talking about everything which happened in Ponyville the last year. It seemed like a crazy place to live! Almost every week something of note happened, infestations of magical locust, rampaging monsters, a mental breakdown of somepony or another, a town wide party, even a meteor strike. It certainly wouldn't be a quiet town.

On the positive side the ongoing Craziness meant that both Ditzy and the Doctor were very certain I would be accepted eventually, and most likely not treated with cruelty. After the local forest ranger Fluttershy made friends and begun to date someone named Discord the entire town had become much harder to spook. But the most interesting thing to me was when Ditzy mentioned a cave in at the local gem mine.

I asked.

“Oh, yeah. Most of the town’s income is from the mine. Rarity has a talent for finding gemstones and uses a lot of them in her projects so she cut a deal with miners years ago and marked the largest veins of gems in the area on a map. It’s really good business, but it’s hard work and since it pays well many ponies work there for a few years then move on to other things. It’s a good place to get start up money for your own business, or to save up for a vacation to Germaney.” Ditzy answered.

I hoped I could, it would be nice to get underground again. Rock on all sides, stale air, and that lovely sent of cave was simply comforting. Besides, no one tunnels like a Changeling.

“Probably. The mine’s forepony is named Hewn Earth, he lives near the mine in a log cabin. Not hard to find at all realy. But as I was saying, there I was about to compete as a replacement for Dash in the Equestria games when… No sorry that was when the Doctor and I accidentally altered the timeline and Dash really was hurt… Ummm… Oh yeah! In the ‘correct’ timeline, you know this one, Dash had just stopped faking being injured…”

It was going to be a long train ride.

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