Conscripted

All around, the only thing he could feel was cold. And a pounding, throbbing pain in his head.

‘Ugh, my head...’

He groaned, slowly coming to, fitfully trying to get into a good position on whatever was under him. Something, however, was preventing him from moving in any direction.

‘What the hell happened last night...?’

Clarity returning to his addled mind, he opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a large cave, stalagmites glinting menacingly in the dark. Glancing down at himself, he realized he was firmly trapped on a torture rack.

‘Of course I do something THIS dumb on my first night off. Go home with her, they said. You’ll finally loosen up, they said. Well, look where that got me. Great job, Swift Strike, you’ve really outdone yourself this time.’

Then he did a double take.

‘Wait, how did I get on a torture rack? I’m pretty sure they’re not common in Canterlot... wait, there are caves near Canterlot? I know about the Crystal Caverns, but I don’t see any crystals around here...’

Swift struggled for a moment, but the ropes held tight. He tried harder, yet the ropes still refused to give. Letting out a strangled cry of defeat and frustration, he settled down for a moment to collect his thoughts, and possibly find a way out of this situation.

He looked around again and tried to find anything useful, perhaps to cut himself down with. Sweeping his gaze around the cave once more, he thought he saw a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness, but whatever it had been was quickly replaced with black as it faded into the abyss of the caves. He blinked a few times.

‘Am I still drunk or something? What time is it? How in Celestia’s name did I even get here anyways?’

‘~Because I brought you here.~’

Swift froze in fear, pupils dilating into pinpricks. That was not his voice, and he didn’t hear anything spoken either. Madly thrashing about on the metal rack, he struggled with renewed vitality, but the ropes held fast. He would not be moving anytime soon, and Swift knew this. He was completely and utterly trapped. Looking left and right but seeing nothing, he heard hoof steps on the roof of the cave. He flinched in horror, and slowly turned his head up to look.

There, holding onto a stalactite, was a silhouette. It looked like a pony, Swift could at least tell that much. It had a horn, but it was...awkwardly shaped for a pony’s. It was the same deal with the ears. And fin-like mane. It had more in common with a-

A blast of pain went through his skull, focused on his eyes. He screamed, and the voice chittered, but in his head, he heard laughter. And not the friendly type. His eyes were in so much pain, but being strapped to a torture rack, he couldn’t do much but scream. They felt like they were burning, as if someone had ripped them out and threw acid in the sockets. He squirmed, desperately trying to give his eyes some relief, but failing thanks to the rigidity of the rope.

As suddenly as it began, it stopped. Tears still flowing freely and rapidly, he cracked open his eyes only to see two big bright blue pupil less eyes right in front of him.

‘~Hello, pony. Well, not for long anyway.~’ The thing smiled.

It opened it’s mouth, giving him a full view of those fangs. Oh Celestia, those big, sharp fangs that were coming right for him-

He blacked out.

        Swift awoke for the second time that night with pain in his head, but this time, it was more of a dull ache that he was easily able to shake off. Opening his eyes once again, he was surprised to see, well, everything. Every nook and cranny in the room was illuminated with perfect brightness, and he could see much further into the cave passageway before it split off into a different direction at the end.

        As Swift was admiring his newly acquired night vision, he heard a soft thud and the sound of hooves kicking over small pebbles and dirt. Unable to look behind him, he braced for the worst as whatever was about to come into his sight was surely going to kill him. He took a shaky breath and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. When he heard nothing, he opened his eyes, only to instantly regret doing so.

        His eyes widened in primal fear as he stared right back into the eyes of a changeling. He started hyperventilating, but the changeling remained passive. Until, that is, it raised a hoof and hit Swift, knocking him out of his trance.

Smack

Swift reeled in pain and shock (mostly pain) as his breathing regulated, but kept a quick pace. His face now sported a neat new black eye. The changeling hissed at him and he recoiled, it giving him a look that could only be described as predatory. It reached underneath the rack, and pulled out a hoof held mirror. It was busy readjusting the angle for a few seconds, before giving up and holding it in front of Swift’s face.

        ‘What the-'

        His blood turned to ice as he saw his eyes. His icy blue, pupil less eyes.

        ‘No, no, no no NONONONO-'

        Swift’s stomach fell as he saw the changeling lick it’s fangs pointedly in the mirror, and smiled. He screamed, and the changeling only smiled wider. He could smell the damn thing, it was so close. Or was that himself?

'I swear if I pissed myself when I was passed out I will never live that down...'

The changeling-she looked contemplative for a moment. ‘Probably deciding the best way to torture me until the inevitable.’ he thought bitterly. He looked confused for a moment until she flew on top of the rack and loomed over his body. Swift noticed this particular changeling was larger than the average drone, and, for the briefest of moments, attractiveof all things.

        ‘This is all just a bad dream...!’

        The changeling frowned as soon as the thought flashed through his mind, hissing and closing the distance between their faces in only a second. It bared its sharp teeth and fangs, and slowly its lips curled upward in a smile.

‘~Oh no, I can assure you this is very real.~’

Suddenly, a hoof landed across his muzzle and there was an audible crack as something broke inside of Swift’s jaw. He howled in pain, which only served to aggravate the injury even more.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

His screams echoed around the cavern, down the caves, and eventually petered out somewhere a few miles away. Slowly, the pain subsided to a dull ache, although he could feel something was not right with his mouth. He couldn’t move it properly, couldn’t speak. Swift realized in horror that the only being he could communicate with was the changeling, at least for the time being. His face contorted in anger at her.

‘What the buck did you do to me, you stupid bug?!’

She chittered. Swift instinctively understood it as changeling laughter.

‘~Why, I’m making you one of us. Honestly, I thought you would be more angry about that broken jaw. No need to worry about it by the way, it will fix itself in time.~’

She flew off and landed behind him, picking something up with her magic, and then brought it in front of Swift. He looked at it with shock. It was a lock of his mane.

‘What did you do to my mane?! Celestia forbid, if you did ANYTHING stupid to it, I’ll-’

‘~Do what? Break out of the torture rack, and kill me? News flash, pony, your new changeling instincts won’t allow for you to consciously kill or otherwise bring substantial harm to your own. And, no, I didn’t do anything directly to your mane. Same with your tail.~’

The changeling levitated the mirror, and another one, from below the rack and angled them until Swift could see the back of his head. The first thing he noticed was that his mane was completely gone. The second thing he noticed, was the black spine-like fin that spanned the back of his head down to his shoulders. His jaw dropped, then slowly he took deep breaths and regained composure.

‘~There is no need to fear, soon you will be much better than a silly pony...~’

Swift looked down, noting his darkening fur and skin. Sure, it wasn’t perfectly white, more like a cream color, but he liked it. And his marefriend liked it, well, until they broke up.  But now, it was quickly turning dark grey, and falling off completely at his hoof tips. Which he couldn’t feel, of course.

‘~Soon, you will be a perfectly loyal changeling in service to her majesty, in body. It may take a bit for the mental conditioning of the hive mind to do it’s work, but no pony part of you makes it out alive.~’ She gave a sinister grin at that last part, then jumped down off the rack.

'Glad I didn't ask if it could get any worse, because after that, I don't think this could actually get any worse.'

Hoof steps rang out at the end of the cave, and Swift craned his neck in hopes of seeing a contingent of Royal Guards, or really anypony to help him out, but that was quickly crushed as he saw a second changeling making his way over to the rack. He had a pair of saddlebags on. Their eyes met for an instant, until the two changelings began to speak to each other. Motherbucker, of course things can get worse...

‘*I see our brother has begun his metamorphosis. I can feel him over the hive mind.*’

‘~As can I.~’ She glanced at Swift. ‘~Which means he has long passed the point of no return.~’

They shared a laugh, but only for a brief second. Their stoic faces returned quickly. Swift noted they sounded ever so slightly different from each other in his mind.

‘*The queen will be pleased with this development. I will go inform her immediately.*’

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, only to quickly seize up as the two looked to him in unison, with one of their horns glowing an eerie green color.

‘*But not before I speed things up a little. Consider it a little gift.*’

He shot a bolt of magic aimed squarely at the middle of Swift’s chest, whose fur had almost completely fallen off his hooves and legs. Swift flinched and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst, only to crack one eye as nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at the two changelings. They were both smiling widely, prominently displaying their fangs and sharp teeth. Imagine waking up to that in the morning....

The second suddenly flew on top of him and shoved his muzzle in Swift’s face, and his new instincts took over as he hissed at the invasion of personal space, then snapped his jaws at the changeling, only for his eyes to widen in shock. Their smiles only grew.

‘Did... did I just do that?’ He didn't bother to hide his trembling as he looked to his side, and gazed into the eyes of the changeling off to the side.

‘~Impressive, not all react that quickly. You will be a good one, I can tell.~

‘*Indeed. Your teeth are coming in nicely, might I add.*’ The second changeling snickered, which was little more than clicks and raspy breaths. Swift was beginning to understand their mannerisms and quirks with terrifying clarity, which scared him enough, but that last statement chilled him to the bone. He rolled his tongue over his teeth, only to poke a very sharp canine-like tooth. Tasting blood, he quickly realized the changeling was correct. They are pretty nice. Wait, where had that thought come from? He wanted his plant-muncher teeth back! Absentmindedly, he sucked the drops of blood up, then frowned. It tasted good. Really good.

‘*Take care, brother. When we see each other next, you will be perfect. But, for now, it's time for you to sleep.*’

The changeling glanced at his sister, then back at Swift while he levitated a syringe of clear fluid out of the saddlebags, in full view of the hybrid. As it slowly started floating towards him, Swift felt his resistance shatter as he began whimpering and tears rolled down his face. There was no way he could realistically get out of this. He tried squirming away from the medical instrument in a pitiful last attempt, but it was all for naught as he felt the needle embed itself in his neck, and then black.

Swift stirred, then cracked an eye and groaned.

'I really need to stop waking up like this...'

He felt extremely groggy and his head felt like cotton, but there was a pressure in his brain that told him now was the time to awaken. As feeling slowly returned to his body, the first thing he noticed was that he was no longer out on the torture rack, which sat some meters away in a corner. He struggled to sit up, but eventually flopped back down on the side of the cavern wall as he brought a hoof to his face. He slowly opened his eyes, but they shot open as he saw what was in front of him.

Holes. All over his glossy-black foreleg. Swift’s brain short-circuited for a moment as he sat, just staring with his mouth agape at the offending appendage. He shook it a few times, wondering if he was dreaming. He looked the rest of himself over, finding his both his hind legs and forelegs were all hole-riddled, glossy and black. His chest was furless and grey, but not glossy. That, however, was changing as he could see it darkening quickly before his eyes. His back, which had thus far been untouched, began to stiffen up rapidly and Swift could no longer take the pain of sitting up against the cave wall. He whimpered, but got up to his legs, and began walking towards the exit.

        He got about halfway before keeling over in pain as he clutched his midsection, falling to the ground face-first. His broken jaw exploded in pain and he screamed into the dirt until his voice gave out. Swift slowly got into a sitting position as something was tearing itself apart inside him. He rolled over onto his ba-carapace, before doing a double, then triple take at the blue armor-like shell. In fact, he was so enraptured at it he almost missed the two-no, four thin insectoid wings upon it that were still forming.

        The pain inside his lower abdomen began to lessen up, and he craned his neck to see his belly. Or, what was his belly. It was a hard shell, not as hard as his back, but still formidable in battle. It was sectioned off into three parts, but there were no visible breaks in the chitin. Not questioning why he used the word chitin, or how he knew how well changeling armor stands in battle, the pressure returned to his mind, guiding his eyes to the cave exit.

        Swift got up again, buzzing his new wings in anxiety before remembering he had no idea how to use them. Being an Earth pony-

        A sharp pain lanced through his mind at the thought, and he instinctively corrected himself.

‘-I am a po-changeling. No, I’m a changeling! NO!-’

        His voice seemed to take on a buzzing, distorted quality within his mind, further confusing the poor stallion. He grabbed the sides of his head as the pressure returned in full force. This time, however, it was his entire head that felt agony. Something was pushing out of his skull, he could feel it. Forgetting about his broken jaw for a moment, he cried in pain as a horn drilled through the front of his forehead. His head flashed with green fire for a long moment as his head was covered with the armor-like chitin. When the fire dissipated, he realized there was no more pain in his jaw. In fact, he felt fine, sans the fact he was now covered in a shell, like a bug.

        The metamorphosis complete, Swift stood up, pain fading away until the only feeling was the throbbing in his brain, telling him to go. He didn’t exactly know where, but it was definitely not here. He started slowly moving forward out of the cavern, picking up the pace to a casual trot as he began feeling better. That feeling would not last long, however, as his ears swiveled up at two sets of approaching hoofsteps and voices. They were inaudible for a moment, before getting loud enough for Swift to hear.

“I’m telling you, I know I heard somepony screaming down here!”

“And I’m telling you, no pony in their right mind would even want to be here! Have you heard all the rumors of the changelings in these caves?!”

        He looked at himself in horror. If they saw him, they would tell the Royal Guard, and then he would be executed! He frantically began trying to make himself look as he did before the transformation as the voices only got closer. Think, what did he look like before? His eyes widened in fear. He couldn’t remember.

        The hoof steps were almost upon him, and he hid behind a stalagmite as the voices turned the corner.

        “I don’t see anypony.”

        “Figure that out all by yourself, Sherclop?”

        “Buck off, smartass.”

        Thechangeling stole a glance at the two ponies, taking in their features. One was a stallion unicorn with navy blue fur and a two-tone white and sky blue mane. His cutie mark depicted a hoof holding a sword. The other was a pegasus mare with a tan coat and brown mane. Her cutie mark was a sun hiding behind a cloud.

The stallion spoke up again, “Look, we’re here, there’s nopony, let’s just go back, alright?” The mare, however, was defiant. She turned to him with a burning look in her eyes.

“No! We’re not going anywhere until we find and help that pony!”

He sighed in defeat, knowing better than to argue with a mare on a mission. “Fine. But if we’re captured by changelings, I will never forgive you.”

They continued forward into the cavern, leaving the changeling alone once again. It peeked out from behind the rock, exhaling slowly.

‘-Okay, let’s figure out this disguise stuff before they come back.-’ thechangeling thought to itself. It froze. It had forgotten it’s name. It sucked in a breath, closing it’s eyes tightly, trying to remember...

‘-Why can’t I remember my name? Fast? Sift? Swing? It’s getting tough to remember much of anything anymore...-’

Memories passed him by; old friends, acquaintances, The Queen, his brothers and sisters in the Hive-

He heard hoofsteps coming closer towards him, jarring him out of his thoughts. Something deep within his mind clicked into place at that moment. He couldn’t be nameless. The Queen would not approve. But what to name myself? He looked down his muzzle and licked his lips over his fangs absentmindedly. His fangs.

‘-Fang...yes, that will do nicely.-’

With renewed vigor, Fang opened his eyes only to see the stallion and mare walk right past him, even though he was no longer in cover of the rock. He was confused for a tick, until a thought occurred to him, and he chuckled darkly to himself, which sounded like chittering.

‘-Silly ponies, they don’t have night vision...-’ He smiled, if only for his own sake. ‘-This will be fun...-’ Fang’s thoughts trailed off as he watched them with a hunger that he had never felt before. Instinct taking over, his horn lit up of it’s own accord and rapidly fired off two bolts of green magic. Two short screams could be heard a second later, followed by two dull thuds as their bodies fell to the ground, legs disabled.

Fang slowly walked towards the two downed ponies, drawing out his movements. His new body felt great! Wait, new? he thought to himself. I’ve always been a changeling. Right? Any further thoughts to his past were pushed to the back of his mind as he came upon the ponies. The mare was practically radiating fear, while the stallion was wearing a smug smile on his face with his eyes closed. They were both sitting up against the cave wall at the end of the passageway.

“A changeling! I knew it! In your face, Swift!”

Fang stopped dead as the name triggered something within his mind, but the pain from the buzzing in the back of his mind forced him to stop thinking about it. He shook his head, clearing the fuzziness out, before reasserting his gaze on the stallion, who opened his eyes and turned to Fang. The smugness was quickly replaced by horror at being proven right.

“H-hello n-n-nice changeling, p-please don’t eat us!”

Fang gave him an evil grin while narrowing his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but only clicks and a chittering noise came out.

“I-I c-can’t u-understand you, nice c-changeling.”

“He probably can’t understand us either! And by the way, did you forget you have a horn?!” Swift screamed.

Fang’s eyes widened at the same time as the stallion’s. Seeing the stallion start charging up his magic, the changeling hissed and flew onto the ceiling. A purple bolt whizzed by his hiding spot, but nowhere near him. There he hung on a stalactite, out of sight of the ponies. The buzzing was a constant noise, and he was used to it by now. It was almost as if he could understand it. A bolt of pain shot through his horn as he felt a presence bearing down on his conscience.

{Do *not** let them escape.}*

He felt compelled to obey the voice. ‘-Yes, my queen.-’

“We need to get out of here, Scabbard!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice!”

The ponies scrambled to get up, until another two green bolts flew from the darkness. Impossible to dodge at that point, they slammed into the wall. There the pair stayed, as they realized it was not magic, but a sticky goo-like substance that was quickly drying. The unicorn fired up his horn to try and get himself out of the goo, until a final bolt came rocketing and stomped out any hopes of resistance by covering his horn, and by extension, most of the top of his head.

Fang buzzed down from the ceiling, looking at his prey. Now they were properly scared out of their minds. Both ponies were frantically struggling to get out of their bindings. Not like they can get out of them anyway. The buzzing in his mind intensified.

{Good.}

He walked up to the mare, getting up close and personal. For a while, they just stared at each other, until she meeped and whispered fearfully,

“W...what are you going to do to us?”

{Turn them.}

Fang only smiled, knowing full well it made the pony that much more uncomfortable. His fangs dripped with a green fluid that was definitely not saliva, the mare noted with utter terror. Suddenly, he lunged forward, wrapping his jaws around her neck and sinking his fangs deep into the skin. Running purely on instinct, he pushed something out of his fangs into the mare’s bloodstream. Then he fed. Some blood squirted onto his muzzle, but most of it went into his mouth. He reveled in the delicious taste of blood and took a few gulps to regain his strength, before finally removing his mouth from the mare.

Licking the wounds, he noticed she had passed out in the middle of his feeding.

‘-Oh well. At least she tasted delicious-.’

Scabbard, who had been watching the two with silent shock, could no longer hold in his anger.

“WHAT THE BUCK DID YOU DO TO HER?! I SWEAR WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS-”

A bolt of magic silenced the stallion, muffling his screaming and yelling. Fang looked at him, slowly moving forward while making a show of cleaning the blood off his teeth and muzzle. The stallion was good and terrified after that. After all, Fang could sense his emotions. He wanted to draw this out for him, his terror providing a unique taste that accented the blood on his tongue quite well.

Now at Scabbard’s side, Fang chomped his jaws in very close proximity to the stallion’s neck. Flinching, the unicorn’s pupils became pinpricks as he could feel the changeling breathing on his neck. Running his tongue over the fur, the stallion was about to faint until, in a flash, there were two fangs deep in his neck. He could only keep his mouth open in a silent scream at the pain. He could feel the teeth, but more importantly, he could feel them injecting something into his neck. He immediately felt drowsy as a dull ache set in behind his eyes.

        When the changeling removed it’s jaws from his neck, he cringed at the bloody smile it-he gave him.

        ‘-Soon. Soon, you both will understand.-’

        Scabbard blacked out.

        Fang looked at the unconscious stallion with a hint of amusement. The buzzing in the back of his mind grew in size and volume, and the presence returned.

{He will make a fine brother for the Hive. You have done well.}

He focused on the voice, or rather, the owner of the voice. Latching onto it, he sent the feelings of wanting to leave.

{Of course, my little changeling.}

His eyes snapped open, suddenly knowing the exact path to the surface. He could easily find his way out of here!

{You may need this too.}

Eyes unfocused, he sat still as a statue as the knowledge flowed into him. How to make a disguise. He didn’t question why he didn’t know it beforehand, when he met those ponies, but that problem was solved already. Shaking his head and blinking a few times, he stood upright and tested his new ability.

Green flames danced around Fang and licked at his forelegs, before covering his body completely for a moment. When it cleared, there stood the unicorn stallion, Scabbard. He grinned maniacally and let loose a few laughs, before looking around sheepishly, wondering if anyone had heard him. Or more importantly, if anyone had seen him! He berated himself for being so careless. The pressure on his mind returned in full force, yet it didn't hurt. Fang welcomed this change, then the Queen spoke to him.

{Your first assignment is to come meet your brothers and sisters.}

Fang broke out in a wide smile.

‘-Yes, my queen.-’