Chapters Time: Unknown. Place: Unknown
I wait.
I have never been patient, but regardless, I wait.
I searched far and wide across this land, but found nothing but devastation. Where there were rivers, there are now cracked grooves in the ground. Where there were lakes, there are desolate pits. Where there were oceans... You get the idea.
It was during one of my early aimless wanderings that I actually came across something. As I flew through the dust-riddled air I managed to spot a light in the distance. A strange, purple-blue light. I was ecstatic. It was the first thing I had seen in this wasteland that wasn't just more dirt, dust, or rock! I beat my wings faster than they had ever gone before. I buzzed through the air like a hornet from hell. As I came closer I could spy movement. Whirling forms dancing through the air around the light. I kept flying, ignoring the strain of my wings that begged me to stop. Then I finally saw it.
It was the Rift Gate.
Two enormous circles made of dingy, copper-like metal spinning in circles. One circle within the other as small spheres and arches of the same metal orbited around it.
It was the Rift Gate. The same Rift Gate that had brought me to this place.
Except now it was open.
I didn't care that I had somehow circled back to the same gate I had come from, all that mattered was that the gate was now open!
Equestria - Minutes before the Rift Gate activated
Princess Luna was lost. Lost to dark powers beyond her understanding. The benevolent Princess of the Night had become the monstrous Nightmare Moon, and sought to overthrow her sister, Princess Celestia, the Princess of the Sun.
Celestia had no desire to fight her own sister, but Nightmare Moon had no such qualms, and struck her sister down with a powerful blast of purple-tinted magic. As Celestia fell from the sky, Nightmare Moon cackled in victory.
But Celestia wasn't finished. She returned to face her sister, now bathed in the rainbow glow of the Elements of Harmony. As the magical gemstones whirled around Celestia, they gave off trace amounts of harmonic energy. When Celestia and Nightmare Moon opened fire upon each other, their magics clashed and radiated magical energy throughout the area. Energy that was familiar to an ancient artifact that had been locked away within an underground chamber of the Castle of the Two Sisters. An artifact that nearly a thousand years ago had been fueled by the Elements of Harmony to banish a terrible enemy away from Equestria. This enemy had been shown to be able to feed off magic, and so using the Elements directly on him had been deemed too risky. Neither Celestia or Luna knew where the artifact had come from, but their court wizards and archeologists had believed it to be a gateway to another realm far from Equestria. And now, with the Elements active once more, the gateway followed suit.
The gateway began to float off the ground, its pieces swirled around it, and its magic ignited, opening the portal.
Then Celestia triumphed over her Nightmare Moon, using the Elements of Harmony to banish her sister to the moon, where she would be forced to remain until Celestia could find a way to save her from the dark forces that had taken hold of her mind.
With that, the Elements' power faded, and slowly but surely the gateway began to lose power as well...
I reached out for the gate as I dove. I was about to touch it. I could practically taste the Eco in the air.
And then it fizzled.
The light warped.
The circles stopped spinning.
And I dove straight through those empty circles right before I plowed into the ground with enough force to shatter stone.
Once I regained consciousness, I dug myself out of the crater I'd made as quickly as my mangled body would allow. I then looked back toward the Rift Gate... and saw it lying in the dirt, inactive once more.
I roared with a rage that echoed across the lands for miles.
I clawed at the ground, I punched it, I fired off Dark Eco blasts left and right. I didn't care that I was wasting energy and attacking lifeless dirt, I needed to vent and there was nothing else to take my rage out on! Then just as I was about to try and hurl the Rift Gate over the horizon, I stopped, and I realized something.
The Rift Gate had opened.
It could open again.
No! It would open again!
I would not be denied my freedom! My vengeance! This gate would open and free me from this barren wasteland! It was just a matter of time. And time was all I had now. Time and my hatred.
And so I waited. First for my body to heal, and then for the gate to open. I carried it with me wherever I went. It was nearly twice my size, but I still carried it. Eventually I managed to find a cave that was large enough for myself and the gate. I made it my home.
And I waited.
I did anything I could to pass the time.
I could have tried laying some eggs that could hatch into some of my more intelligent soldiers for companionship, but I knew that even my vast internal Eco supply couldn't be limitless, and creating life would take more energy than I could afford to expend.
And so I waited.
And I waited...
Deep down, I knew that there was a chance that the gate might not open again, but I had hope. If it opened once it would certainly open again.
... Right?
...
Suddenly there was a flash of light and the Rift Gate started to float off the ground.
"Oh, thank Gol. " I said with a relieved sigh.
Author's Note
I was originally thinking of calling this "Metalheading to Equestria." But that seemed like such a silly pun.
Edit: 1/31/17 - Changed "thank God" to "thank Gol."
Once the Rift Gate appears to be fully functional, I waste little time, grabbing my bundle of silk garments - comically small in my claws - and leap into the swirling vortex. I briefly close my eyes as I'm bathed in a flash of light, and when I open them I find myself in a familiar tunnel of rushing purple energy, all racing towards a blindingly bright threshold. Briefly, I tumble somewhat haphazardly through this maelstrom of time and space until I'm able to use my wings to steady myself and I fly as fast as I can towards the threshold.
As I fly and dodge errant arcs of energy, my mind can't help but think back to the first time I experienced this.
It was at a convention of some kind. The title of the event has long since escaped me, but I remember the basics: people going to and fro from booths to autograph signings, merchants peddling assorted items of some pop culture significance, and then there were people like me - the cosplayers.
All sorts of bizarre beings could be spotted among the crowd: armored warriors, alien creatures, people in spandex with no right to wear something so form-fitting... And then there was me: a disgruntled old man with bizarre facial hair and pointed ears three times the length of my head. I'd come to the convention as Kor, the villain from one of my favorite video games, Jak II . It had taken weeks to put the outfit together: the tattered blue robe, the yellow skull cap-like head covering, the lengthy prosthetic ears, the wooden cane with a zigzag handle, and of course the plumes of white hair sticking out from my head that flowed down the sides of my head like massive mutton chops that nearly reached down to my stomach and ended in a slight upward curve. In a word, my costume was flawless; I looked every bit the part of a monster pretending to be a harmless old man.
So why was I not happy?
For one thing, no one seemed to know who I was dressed as. I'd had numerous people ask me if I was supposed to be some elven version of Merlin, Gandalf, or Dumbledore. Secondly, and most infuriating, was the fact that none of my so-called friends had kept their promise to cosplay with me. We were supposed to show up as a group of various characters from Jak II : Jak (obviously), Torn, Ashelin, Baron Praxis, and me as Kor. Instead, I'd simply gotten a text the day before the convention that none of them were going to come! I forget if they ever even gave me a reason, but I doubt I would have cared to hear any of their excuses. So there I was, dressed in a great costume, and no one seemed to care. Hence my disgruntled walk through the convention as I tried my best to ignore the people who thought I didn't notice when they snickered and pointed at my ears. I was about to call it a day and just head back home, when someone called out to me.
"Well hello there, my angry young friend."
Even now, I can still hear that voice as clear as day. It was a strange, echoing, slightly labored sound, and when I looked to see where it came from, the source was clear.
It was Gol. Gol Acheron. The Gol Acheron. The villain from the first game in the Jak and Daxter series, and he was at this convention standing behind a booth full of merchandise. Whomever this guy was, he'd nailed the Gol costume to a T. The gray-blue skin, the manic yellow eyes, the plume of wild white hair and matching goatee, the ears, the navy-blue coat with missing right sleeve... He even had the metallic red gauntlet on his right hand with tubes that looked like they were going into his arm. I had felt rather proud of my costume, but this guy was on a whole 'nother level.
Many of my human memories have become rather hazy, but somehow the following has remained rock-solid.
Snapping myself out of my stunned awe, I noticed he was staring at me now. So I responded in my best old man voice, "Isn't that supposed to be my line?"
"Ahahahahahahaha! " Plenty a passerby stopped and stared as 'Gol' actually threw back his head and laughed. He then took a full minute of coughing and wheezing to collect himself. At that point I'd started to wonder if this guy was actually faking the labored breathing...
"Very true, very true... Tell me, would you perhaps be looking for some Precursor artifacts?" He then gestured to his table and sure enough, there was all manner of Jak and Daxter themed merchandise laying about. I spotted a Precursor Orb, the Time Map, the Heart of Mar, a Dark Eco bomb, and what must have been an inactive Power Cell - all of a clearly exceptional craftsmanship.
Then I stopped at something truly intriguing at the far end of the table: a Metal Head skull gem. There it was: an ovoid, yellow gem sitting in a display rack. What was so intriguing though was the fact that it actually seemed to have some kind of yellow glow to it, not to mention the swirling arcs of energy that seemed to be within the gem. It was almost hypnotic...
'Gol' noticed me staring and floated over to the gem. I couldn't see his legs behind the table, but it seemed like he was actually floating rather than walking. "I should have realized this would pique your interest... I assure you, I came by it though purely... humane measures..." He grabbed the football-sized gem in both hands and floated back over to me. "But I suppose it's only right it should go to you?"
He offered the gem to me and I couldn't help but take it, if only to get a closer look. It felt lighter than it looked, and gave off a distinct glass-like *ting* when I tapped it. It actually seemed to feel a little warm to the touch.
'Gol' now loomed over the table and eyed me. "So you're gonna take it?"
I started to reach for my wallet. "I suppose so..."
"Excellent! Enjoy! Wha ha ha ha ha ha!" And as 'Gol' laughed the gem went off like a flashbang to my face. I felt myself falling backwards, but the floor never met my back as I kept falling and my vision went dark.
When my eyes finally opened again, I found myself hurtling through a tunnel of rushing purple energy, all racing towards a blindingly bright threshold. I could pretend I was cool in the face of the impossible, but at that point I could only scream at the top of my lungs until I went hoarse.
And then I did my best to keep screaming.
Bolts of energy then struck me, and I felt electric tingles shoot through my limbs, followed by a splitting headache. Before I could fight through the haze of pain, I reached the end of the tunnel and found myself shooting through the open sky.
I screamed some more. My throat no longer felt raw, but I certainly sounded hoarse to my ears.
Hurtling at an impossible speed toward the ground, I tried anything I could think of to help myself. I spread my arms to catch more wind resistance, I tried to aim for something soft... I even tried flapping my arms like in a stupid cartoon. As I saw the ground rapidly approaching, I did my best to brace myself with the wooden cane that I still had somehow managed to hold on to. I did my best to make peace with myself, but instead found myself cursing everything I could think of: my friends for not being there for me, the hecklers at the con for driving me into a rational-destroying anger, 'Gol' for doing this to me... even God a little.
Then I hit the ground, but instead of being reduced to a bloody smear I seemed to skid along the ground on my stomach until I came to a safe stop.
When this fact finally dawned on me I leapt to my feet and shouted with joy to the heavens. I twirled my cane in the air like a baton and caught it multiple times. Most of all I gloated.
"Fuck you, universe, 'Gol,' and God! I fell from the stratosphere and walked away without a scratch! Hahahahaha!"
Some time later I finally stopped celebrating and decided to take stock of my situation. I still had my walking stick and my costume on; I could still make out the weight of my over-sized ears, so even they hadn't come off during the ordeal. Looking around, I could see I had landed in a small clearing surrounded by trees. Most likely a forest based on how deeply I could make out trees. I didn't recall any forests near the convention, so I was fresh out of luck at figuring out where I was at that point. The sky wasn't dark but looked like it was close to dusk. As I tried to figure out where to go from here, I suddenly heard voices in the distance.
"I'm telling you, whatever it was, it landed in the clearing!"
I could also make out the clopping of hooves approaching. So someone was riding horses? People out horse-riding? Ranchers? Mounties? It didn't really matter to me, as long as someone was coming towards me.
As I waited for my potential rescuers I idly scratched at my stomach.
It took me a minute to realize I had done it without the use of my hands.
I dropped my cane in shock and felt along my stomach, expecting something to be crawling on me, and instead I found something entirely more terrifying.
I found claws. And they were mine.
I grabbed through my robe and could feel the claws in my hands, and I could feel my hands on my claws.
Somehow I had grown something resembling vestigial T-rex arms on my stomach, stubby arms that ended in metallic-feeling pincer-like claws. I reacted accordingly.
"What the FUCK?!" I called out as I put my hands on my head in shock.
And then I felt my head. I ran my fingers over it. It suddenly felt harder, smoother, and bare. I could feel the cloth of my skull cap still covering my head, but I could also feel my... skull... underneath it? I tapped it with my fingernail and heard a distinct glass-like *ting* that echoed through my head.
"What. The. Fuck." I was a broken record at this point.
The clopping sound was very close now, and while I was still doing hysterical mental gymnastics given whatever the hell had happened to me, I grabbed my cane and did my best to look calm for whomever had come to find me.
Then they finally came into view.
"... What. The fuck?" Broken record.
They were ponies. No doubt about that. They were too tiny - their heads maybe coming up to about my chest, too disproportionate, and entirely too colorful to be horses. They were two little ponies standing there staring at me; little ponies: like something you'd see on a little girl's lunchbox, school notebook cover, or some TV show for 5-year-olds. They were little fucking ponies.
They both stared at me with confused expressions.
Then one spoke.
"Uhm... Hello there?" And he waved one of his hooves in the air like a hand wave.
The little pony could talk.
"Fuck this." I turned and started walking over to the nearest tree.
"Excuse me?" One of the ponies said in a bewildered tone.
"I said 'fuck this' as clearly I've been slipped some kind of hallucinogen, or pain killer, or suffered some kind of head trauma that slipped me into a coma because there is no way this is happening." I noticed that my voice sounded oddly old and weary, but I chalked it up to the hallucination/drugs/trauma/whatever. Coming up to a solid-looking tree, I set my cane aside and braced my hands against the trunk. "So I'm just going to wake myself up now." And I proceeded to bash my head against the tree. Repeatedly. The resulting crunching sound was oddly satisfying.
I could faintly hear the ponies arguing behind me about why and what I was doing, but I just kept on bashing.
After the twelfth bash or so, I noticed I seemed to be doing more damage to the tree than anything. My head didn't hurt as much as I thought it should, but there was a definite lingering ache from my skull... gem.
"Fuck."
I tore off my skull cap and felt my head again. It was smooth, glassy, and faintly warm. It was a Metal Head skull gem. Like the one I had gotten from 'Gol.'
"Uhm... Sir?" I heard someone stammer behind me. "Are you... okay?"
I turned around to face the stupid little pony that had asked the question. His eyes went wide as he no doubt saw the glowing, yellow gem that was now lodged in my head.
"Am I okay? AM I OKAY?! " I bellowed as I loomed over this ridiculous creature.I'VE TURNED INTO KOR! " The pony stumbled onto its behind as it tried to back away from me. "And you ask if I AM OKAY?! "
Tears started to trickle from the pony's eyes. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry?"
"SORRY?! YOU'RE SORRY?!" I got so close to the blubbering little thing's face that I can actually see myself reflected in its big Bambi eyes. My skull gem pulsed with an internal fire and my teeth had shifted to dagger-like fangs.
"Hey!"
Just as I was about to bitchslap this pathetic thing across the clearing, the other pony planted itself between us.
"Back off!" It tried to glare at me defiantly. "I get that you're angry but that doesn't mean you can take it out on somepony else!"
A full minute of awkward silence hung in the air as I let that line register.
"Somepony? Some-PONY?! " I can feel something in me give way. "Do you hear yourself? It's ridiculous!" My blood is boiling, my bones are aching, my whole body feels like it's crammed into a package ten times too small.UTTER INSANITY! "
With a blast of light I leap into the air and slam my fists down onto the ground as I land.
As I try to regain my composure I realize that my perspective has drastically changed. I'm suddenly towering over the tree line and the ponies are nowhere in sight. I look down at my hands and notice that they're now a shade of dark blue with only two fingers and a thumb on each hand, topped with long, clawed white fingernails.
"What the fuck? " Back to that old line.
I lift my hands off the ground, and notice a red smear in the small crater that I made with my fists.
I ignore the blood for the moment and look myself over. My body is enormous, covered in a leathery dark blue skin and slabs of gray armored plates. The two vestigial arms from before are now closer to my chest and resting over a bulbous blue belly. I'm standing on six legs that end in large, segmented metal spikes. Past my legs I can make out a long tail ending in a metal bladed tip, and covered in more of the armored plating, but also numerous tubes going over and into my flesh, as well as countless egg-like pustules covering the full length of my tail. I run my hands over my face and feel the familiar gem in my forehead, but now with several of the tubes like those from my tail connecting to it, as well as eight bladed appendages branching off my head like nightmarish flower petals. Under my mouth I note four large mandible-like fangs and I can tell with my tongue that all my teeth are now also nothing but sharp fangs.
Now I'm actually more curious than horrified.
"Hmm... I wonder... " Flexing something that feels oddly natural in my back I can feel wings unfurl from my body. I'm conscious of all four of them as soon as they're free from my body and I give them an experimental flap. I then grab one and hold it close to my eyes. The wing looks like a blend of leathery bat and flimsy dragonfly wings. As I turn in circles a few times, I can't help but note how instinctive my movements feel. Even with the six skittering legs and other numerous appendages, every movement I make seems smooth and... familiar?
Obviously this confirms it. I have become Kor. And not just as his human disguise.
Part of me feels I should be terrified, stunned, or horrified by all this. Another part of me is simply fascinated.
I am Kor.
Yes, Kor is terrible, monstrous, and evil; but... Kor is also powerful and imposing... Which means I am now powerful and imposing...
As I contemplate this, I finally notice the dripping sound coming from the blood smeared on my hands. I look at the blood and feel like I should be disgusted, but the smell... is so inviting... It smell like iron and sugar, like the juice of a savory steak mixed with a chocolate sundae.
Then I notice a slight movement coming from the smear on the ground that used to be ponies. It looks like little floating lights, like fireflies slowly fluttering in the night.
I lower my face down as far as I can to get a closer look and see the lights as they float just a few inches off ground, away from the gore.
Light green lights, as well as some red ones are floating around as tiny wisps of glowing energy. Where have I seen these before? ...
Then it hits me. I am now Kor. If that's my reality... Could this be... Eco? The mystic energy that was integral to the Jak and Daxter series?
I reach out to the wisps with one of my massive hands to try and touch it, but they just seem to bounce off my skin and lazily float above my hand once I stop moving it. Due to my jostling, the wisps seem to have merged together, and there are now two little cloud-like clusters of the green and red energy resting over my hand. This confuses me. In the game, Eco could be channeled. Green Eco would heal, and Red Eco would strengthen attacks. Bashing my head against a tree should at least have done some damage worth healing, and the Red should've simply been absorbed as soon as I tried to touch it. So why did they continue to float there on my hand?
I bring my hand closer to my face and glare at the clusters, and they just continue to float there as if they are passive aggressively defying me. I glare a bit longer before I realize how pointless it is to have a staring contest with floating energy and suck in some air out of frustration in order to sigh.
My sigh is cut short though when the Green and Red Eco clusters are sucked right into my mouth and disappear down my throat.
I'm immediately floored by the sensation it gifts me. It's like the jolt of a massive caffeine injection or a sugar rush throughout my entire body. I swear this must be what crack feels like! There's just a feeling of pure pleasure going through my senses for an all too brief moment of time. The feeling fades, but there remains a warm sensation somewhere inside me. It takes me a few minutes to realize from where, given my new body, but it seems to come from my bulbous abdomen. My stomach? Do I eat Eco instead of channeling it?am a Metal Head instead of whatever passed for human in Jak and Daxter . And I just ate Green and Red Eco... Does that mean I can eat the other kinds as well? Blue and Yellow? Even Light and Dark?
This would require... study.
I shake myself from my nostalgia as I realize I've finally made it to the opposite end of the rift. I cross the portal's threshold with little ceremony.
Part of me felt like proclaiming, "Finally! The last Rift Gate has been opened! " But one: I'm not wasting more time than I need to, and two: If anything is waiting for me on the other side then I don't want to give it any advance warning.
I'm actually a little disappointed when I exit the gate and simply find myself in a dark, stone room of some kind with no one there to welcome, attack, or cower before me.
The room reminds me of a dungeon mixed with a basement: bare stone walls, dank lighting, some collapsed wooden shelves and crates filled with mostly dust, a large ascending stone staircase on the far side of the room, and very little else to decorate the place.
I lavishly kissed the floor and nearly wept with joy at the sight of it all. After an indeterminable time in the wasteland I'd come from, this was the most welcoming place I'd seen in ages!
After I composed myself and I silently thanked the fact that no one could see that display, I turned to the source of my torment.
Just as soon as I could figure out how to turn it off.
After all, the Rift Gate was technically what killed Kor at the end of Jak II ... So I was definitely not touching it while it was still active.
That was a task for another time however. First I had to regain my energies. With that in mind, I opened my mouth and inhaled deeply to taste the air around me. The taste did not disappoint. Eco was in the air. It was like the smell of morning coffee - not filling, but still invigorating.
Then I caught scent of a particular Eco that stirred my bile instead of my drool.
I inhaled even deeper to verify what I'd tasted.
It was the sickly sweet smell of Light Eco.
"Alicorns... " I said with a growl as I turned towards the stairs.
Author's Note
Funny thing. At the end of the chapter I wanted to have Kor smell the air for Eco, and then I realized he doesn't really have a nose as a Metal Head... So now he inhales through his mouth and "tastes" the air for smells!
I'm practically giddy with maniacal glee as I make my way to the stairs.
No better way to celebrate my return to Equestria than finally killing an alicorn!
... Wait a minute.
Kill an alicorn?
A living embodiment of Light Eco?
My most devastating weakness?
And I think I can kill one after a near starvation of Eco?
...
I immediately stop walking and facepalm so hard I nearly break my skull gem.
What am I thinking? I can't face an alicorn in my current state! I have barely any Eco, no army, and no immediate means to remedy either one! Have I actually become suicidal after all that time in that wasteland?
Hell, what if Celestia was still alive? Weren't alicorns considered immortal?
Ooh.
What if Celestia is still alive?
That would be... fantastic. I can't help but steeple my fingers at the thought. Oh, the agonies I would inflict upon her...
First I'd break off her horn so she can't use her magic, then I'd tear off her wings so that she can't fly away, then I'd break her back legs so that she can't run away but I won't break her front legs so I can still have the pleasure of seeing her try to crawl away-
*THWACK!*
Thankfully my tail manages to whack me in the face before I lose myself in that fantasy.
No sense focusing on what could be when I should be focusing on the now. And right now... I need information...
I look up the stairs looming before me. My four eyes have no trouble piercing through the darkness, but even so I still can't see anything but steps going up.
All right then, reconnaissance. Need it. How?
Hmmm... Need something to scout ahead, something small and maneuverable, and I need it quickly. No telling what could be going on upstairs with an alicorn...
With a snap of my claws (it's harder than you'd think) I realize I know the perfect thing for the job. I concentrate and try to gather a small amount of the Eco I have left. At the speed of thought the Eco travels to the collection of egg pustules on my tail and it shapes into what I need. In less than a minute, a relatively tiny new egg sprouts and detaches itself from my tail and falls to the ground where it bursts apart to reveal my new minion: the wasp-like Flanker.Daxter game, and as far as Metal Heads go, they don't get much smaller than the Metal Bugs. Granted, a Flanker is probably still about the size of an average pony's head, but it should suffice as a scout.
The Flanker hovers in front of my face with a light buzz of its wings, awaiting commands. Newly born and already eager to serve. I'm such a proud mother/father/monster.
With a flash of my skull gem I send a mental command:
Go. Investigate. Do not be seen. Report back.
The gem on the Flanker's thorax flashes back accordingly and with a nod of its head for confirmation it flies away and up the stairs.
Ah, how I missed issuing commands with but a thought. Sadly, my telepathic range is pretty much limited to line of sight, so I can't just get an immediate response back. Which means I'll be stuck waiting for the little Flanker to return before I can know what's going on upstairs.
A soft 'thunk' sound suddenly catches my attention. I glance over my shoulder to see that the Rift Gate is no longer active and stopped floating, causing it to settle back onto the ground. Good news for me: no rift means no immediate return to the wasteland. That does beg the question of what exactly activated it in the first place? The alicorn upstairs, perhaps?
I certainly hope that Flanker comes back with some useful information, and soon.
Whatever is going on upstairs will definitely require my attention soon, and since I'd rather take the stealthy route of the stairs rather than crashing my way through untold levels of stone ceiling, it looks like it's time for some shape-shifting. Been a while since I did that, but it's just like riding a bicycle. A collapsible one. Made out of your own flesh, bones, and organs. And you actually are the bicycle...
Okay, so it's not really all that much like riding a bicycle, but it's at least like second nature to me.
I let out a calm breath that sends most of the dust billowing throughout the room. I then focus my mind on how I want to look, and ultimately force my body to do the same. With a sickening crackling of bones and squelching of flesh, my various limbs retract into myself. My tail and crab-like legs disappear, while my arms practically implode with the extent that they have to shrink.
You know how it feels when you suck in your gut? That's what follows, but for my entire body.
I fall forward and catch myself with my now spindly-looking arms as I no longer have legs to stand on. My neck retracts with another sudden crack and squelch as my skull and skull gem are forced to compress themselves to an otherwise impossible extent. Metal plating and tubing retract as well as more flesh grows to cover those areas.
I stop to catch my breath for a little bit. Evidently, I'm more out of practice with this than I realized.
With a last burst of effort, I kick a new pair of legs out from below my abdomen, thrusting them out of my own flesh. Before I try to stand, I examine my new feet briefly and confirm that, yes, I did remember to keep five toes on each foot. With some unsteady efforts, I manage to get myself to stand on my new legs. It's a little disorienting to go from being a hexapod to a biped after so long, but... well, I guess that bicycle metaphor actually fits a little better here.
Lacking a mirror, I make due with patting myself down to make sure I have my proportions still largely humanoid. Two legs, two arms, five fingers/toes on each appendage, no tail, no genitals (pointless to have after all when you're a self-fertilizing, egg-laying monster), and the appendages on my head now feel less like claws and more like hair again. It seems I still have my "human" appearance down pretty well.
Granted, I still have a pair of bladed vestigial arms by my stomach, a glowing yellow gemstone for a forehead, and some egg-like pustules on my ass, but that's why I brought my self-made silk robe with me.
Unfortunately, I briefly lost track of my clothes during my transformation, so I had to take a minute to find them again. Thankfully, they didn't get far and I start unpacking the bundle. I can't help but note though that as I look at my hands, they still retain their navy-blue skin tone rather than getting more... peachy. Oh well, a minor oversight. Not like I'm going to find a crowd of humans to hide in, here in Equestria.
Hmm... Humans. This reminds me of another detail as I grab hold of my ears to check how they turned out. Soft, fleshy, vaguely pointed, and only a few inches big rather than three feet long. All right, so I look more like a blue elf than a Jak and Daxter "human," but it's close enough, and more importantly, compact enough.
With my self-inspection done, I don my faintly yellow, off-white robe - complete with hood. I'll tell you this, you haven't lived until you've felt a robe made of your own silk. It's a little dusty now after I let it fall on the floor, and it's a bit too long for me - judging from the way my sleeves are about a foot or two too long and the way the hem trails behind me.
I wonder if this means I made my robe too big or if I made myself too small?
Whatever. Pointless details. I'm compact, humanoid, and dressed. Now I just need that Flanker to return...
Suddenly I hear a slight buzzing coming down the stairwell.
Speak of the spawn...
Sure enough, my Flanker comes flying over to me. At my current size, the Flanker looks to be nearly the size of my torso, but despite my change in appearance, it still recognizes me as its master and lands before me in its approximation of a bow. I motion for it to rise and it takes to the air again, hovering before me. With but a mental command, it presents the gem on its thorax to me so that I may delve into its memories. I stare deeply into the swirling energy of the gem, and soon enough, the Flanker's excursion plays back for me.
At first, there's simply its flight up the stairway. It's surprisingly longer and more winding than I realized, making for a dull experience. With a thought, I fast forward through this part, the Flanker twitching rather spastically in the process.
I let the memory resume at its normal pace once I see that the stairway ends. The viewpoint then inverts as the Flanker apparently started to crawl on the ceiling rather than fly. Clever little thing. Crawling to avoid anyone being able to hear its buzzing. After a short crawl though some dark halls, the Flanker finally sees something of interest.
Ponies.
The Flanker lolls its head involuntarily as I force the view in its memory to turn over.
Six ponies. No, seven! Celestia is there as well! THAT BITCH IS STILL ALIVE?! I WILL SHRED THOSE PONIES AND MAKE HER WATCH! I WILL IMPALE HER HEART WITH HER OWN HORN! I -
The memory suddenly stops playing as realize I just crushed the Flanker's head.
... Whoops.
Its body flops lifelessly to the ground as oily, black blood with a purple shine oozes from its head, and its gem ejects like the seat of a fighter jet. Thankfully I catch the gem before it can bounce off to who knows where.
I really need to get a handle on this rage of mine; I can't afford to get reckless like this. Only a few minutes back in Equestria and I kill my only Metal Head... Not a great start.
Ah well. At least I still have what matters. I hold the skull gem closer to my face and once again stare into its depths so the memory can resume.
Interesting thing about Metal Head skull gems: they're basically a black box. Whatever the Metal Head experienced before its death can be stored away in it for my later perusal. Living Metal Heads require Eco for their gems to power their bodies, but the gems themselves are virtually indestructible, and contain enough energy to sustain themselves almost indefinitely in a sort of sleep mode. Arguably, a Metal Head doesn't die unless its gem is somehow destroyed, making them virtually immortal, since I have yet to find anyone or anything capable of destroying them.
Although I did consider a possible means during my time in the Wastelands... But that's an experiment for another time.
I have the memory resume playing. Seven ponies are there. Celestia... A purple unicorn with a tiara that's nuzzling the alicorn... Interesting. Someone Celestia cares about? How exploitable. There's also a white unicorn, a yellow pegasus, a blue pegasus with a hair color that makes Celestia's seem reasonable, a pink Earth pony, and an orange Earth Pony with a cowboy hat.
Lovely, a smorgasbord complete with a free hat.
Hang on, the ponies are talking.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student."
Thank you, Celestia. I'll be sure to remember that name.
"I knew you could do it."
"But... you told me it was all an old pony tale."
"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return..."
Nightmare Moon? A potential ally?
"...and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart."
Oh gag me with a rusty spoon shiv...
"Now if only another will as well. Princess Luna!"
It's then that the memory's view angles to look at a little blue alicorn. Luna? That's Luna? That pathetic little filly is the Princess of the Night? Looking so weak and vulnerable, and SHE'S RIGHT UPSTAIRS?!
I immediately cut off my connection to the memory and charge at the stairs. Forget patience! When will I ever get an alicorn practically gift-wrapped like this? I don't stop to think of the danger that Celestia might pose. I don't stop to think of just why Luna looks so weak. I don't even stop to think and reminisce over the fun I had with Luna before my banishment. My race up the stairs becomes a blur as I race with a sheer feral lust for alicorn blood.
When I finally get to the top of the stairs, I'm foaming at the mouth as I gnash my fangs and am met... with an empty room.
...
It takes several minutes for my mind to reboot from my bloodlust.
I realize that I'm still holding the skull gem in my hand. With a fast forwarded memory delve I get the obvious answer: they left.
"Huhuhu..."
Of course they left.
"Huhaha..."
It's not like the Flanker didn't need time to make it up and down the stairs.
They could have been gone for close to an hour.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!"
I finally realize I've been laughing to myself. I don't stop when I realize it though. I just laugh louder.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
It's long, loud, and utterly insane. Here I was, thinking all sorts of elaborate plots of revenge, having to stop myself numerous times from throwing it all away in a crazed rage... And I throw it all away as soon as an alicorn filly gets dangled before me.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
I'm just a shark with blood in the water. A dog with a steak. A junkie in need of his fix.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
*CRACK!*
A stone-shattering headbutt to the floor finally gets me to shut up.
I shake off the blunt force trauma and lie on my back to look at the sky though a hole in the castle's ceiling. I take a deep, unsteady breath.
How did that go again? The first step is admitting you have a problem?
"I'm a fucking mess."
Sounds about right.
I want to sate my rage. I want to ravage Equestria. I want to make the Princesses beg for mercy.
But I can't do that. Not yet. I need to gather myself. I need to regroup.
"I need to be patient."
I place my hands behind my head to lie down more comfortably.
...
A wet feeling on the back of my head reminds me that I still haven't cleaned the Metal Head gore off my hands. A quick glance downward makes me realize I'm also covered in copious amounts of my own slobber.
"I also need a bath."
Ponyville
"Sister?" Luna asked.
During Pinkie Pie's "Welcome-to-Ponyville-and-Congratulations-on-Getting-Your-Sister-Back-After-a-Thousand-Years" Party - which was surprisingly elaborate for something she presumably put together in mere minutes (the banner alone was an impressive feat) - Celestia had suddenly gone stock-still and stared in the direction of the Everfree Forest. Her expression had stayed neutral, but the look in her eyes seemed almost.. fearful.
"Doth something trouble thee?" Luna asked, now with a hint of worry.
Celestia blinked and gave her head a slight shake, after which she looked down at her sister with her usual, loving smile. "Forgive me, Luna. I thought I..." She couldn't help but cast a glance back at the Everfree. "... heard something." She said with barely a whisper.
What had it been? Something had sent an icy chill running through her spine. Had she actually heard a sound, or was it more a feeling?
Celestia then realized that her sister was still waiting for an answer. "I'm sorry, Luna, my mind is elsewhere when we have a party to celebrate!" Celestia said with as much cheer as she could muster.
Luna pouted. Celestia did her best not to 'Dawww' lest her sister might take offense.
"Art thou really going to keep secrets from us so soon after reuniting?" Celestia made a note to get Luna a diction tutor for that 'Ye Olde Equestrian' accent.
"No secrets, I promise you. Now come on! You won't believe all the flavors of cake they have nowadays!" Celestia said giddily as she used her wings to usher Luna over to the snack table.
On the outside, Celestia looked as happy as could be. On the inside, her mind was going a mile a minute trying to put her fears at ease. Something was in the Everfree. Something other than its usual monsters. Something that felt... wrong. Could she send Twilight to investigate?
Celestia spared a brief glance over to Twilight to see her young pupil enjoying some party games with her newfound friends.
No. Not Twilight. She wasn't about to risk her on something as unknown as this. Nightmare Moon had been prepared for, however vague her instructions to Twilight might have been. Celestia considered investigating it herself, but she couldn't leave Luna alone so soon after her return...
Perhaps a few select members of the Royal Guard could benefit from a "training exercise" in the Everfree?
Author's Note
Finally an update!
Have I made it clear yet that Kor is not a stable individual?
I'm rather proud of that transformation sequence. If you find my visuals lacking, try watching the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transformations from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. They at least served as inspiration for me.
Also, slight edit to Ch 1, Kor will now say "Gol" instead of "God."
Note: Please let me know if the image fails to load.
